OEMS OF THOUGHT A BOOK BY 17 WELL KNOWN AUTHORS MRS. M. T. LONQLEY COUNTESS CONSTANCE WACHTMEISTER MRS. CORA L V. RICHMOND PROF. C. W. LEADBEATER DANIEL W. HULL PROF. W. M. LOCKWOOD PROF. J. S. LOVELAND A NAZARINE REV. MJNOT J. SAVAGE PROF. ALEXANDER WILDER DR. J. M. PEEBLES MRS. ELLA DARE P. J. COOLEY PROF. ELMER GATES M. M. MANGASAR1AN BABA BHARATA MRS. HELEN P. RUSSEGUE i Class _B-E—LCl£2 Book • r ^ 2 Copyright N?. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. I eejvia op .t^oug^t From Leading Intellectual Lights. Educational, Soul Elevating and Spiritualizing. Designed to Iffustrate Certain Grand Truths Which Are Connected with the Spirituaf Phifosopfiu. COMPILED BY JOHN R FRANCIS. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ! THE PROGRESSIVE-: THINKER PUBLISHING HOUSE 1906. ',- ^ iugle-mindedncss. To safely awaken these faculties you must have no double purpose in doing 28 PSYCHIC AND ASTRAL DEVELOPMENT. it. You must not want them in order to pander to the curiosity of others, or from a desire to have a great noto- riety; you must not develop these faculties because you want to make a living out of them, but you must be single-minded and unfold them because you want to help others; because you want to be of use to humanity. Then you must have self-control, for you could not work on the astral plane with full consciousness if you gave way to temper. A very slight temper would produce most terrible havoc on that plane, setting up very destruc- tive vibrations there, therefore you must have perfect self- control. Remeber that on the astral plane there are all kinds of entities; as varied and voluminous as on the ani- mal plane here on the physical earth; also you will find beings other than human there, a vast legion of them, and if you come in contact with some of these entities before you have attained self-control they may frighten you most terribly. I have read a very interesting book called Christian's Magic. Christian wrote of the various kinds of trials a neophyte in Egypt had to pass through before he was per- mitted to develop the psychic faculties. Development alone, he said, is impossible; you will only get into trouble if you attempt it. Each neophyte had a master. The master will show the pupil a great furnace with red-hot iron over it, and he will order him to walk over that iron. Now if the pupil has fear and does not immediately do the master's bidding he fails under that trial. The master says he has not sufficient courage to qualify him to go on the astral plane. Then again, you have to pass through water, great rapids. If you have the slightest fear, again the master will say, you have failed. Another is that you have to pass through a den of wild beasts. If you show the slightest fear you have not passed the test. Again, beautiful women surround the neophyte, singing their siren songs and wreathing their garlands of flowers around him. He has to remain calm like a marble statue. If he succumbs his weakness is proved. Those are the kinds of trials that in olden days the neophytes had to pass through before they were considered worthy to enter with knowledge on the astral plane. The next qualification is calmness. That is absolutely necessary, because one of the chief works on the astral plane is to help the souls of the dead. When people die PSYCHIC AND ASTRAL DEVELOPMENT. 29 they always find those on the other plane ready to receive them. This work would be impossible for yon if your mind is not in a state of equilibrium. You must have per- fect calmness and then when these troubled souls arrive you can render the service they need. Many a soul be- lieves when he comes over on the astral plane that there is a hell and is in mortal dread, terrible dread, because he finds no trace of a hell. He knows he is not in heaven, but he expects the pit will open every moment and that he will fall into it; therefore you can realize that many souls are troubled when they come over because of the false teaching they have received here on earth; perfect calmness and gentle vibrations are necessar ,T in you if you are to help them. The next qualification you must have is knowledge. You must study to obtain a knowledge of the conditions of the astral plane. Work there is far more effective if you have studied the teachings of those who know. It is far easier to one who understands what he will find than to one who arrives there in ignorance. The next qualification is unselfishness. You will make no progress if you enter that plane with the slightest de- gree of self-aggrandizement in your heart. Your desire must be to help and give yourself to others. The last qualification is love. That intense love which will make you forget yourself, which will make you want to help others, that intense love which will make you long to make yourself an instrument so that God's divine power may come through you; that love which will make you ready to sacrifice yourself in every way that you may help those around you; that perfect devotion which will enable you to go up the steps of the path of holiness. Blessed are those who really enter into the path now, be- cause they will develop, and as they progress will be able to help on their weaker brethren. But those who are lazy, who turn aside, who laugh and ridicule — and there are many of them — they will have to go on being born and reborn until at last the law of evolution will sweep them with resistless force into the great stream together with all other laggards. They will have to suffer much, because they have been laggards. I have given you some slight idea of what qualifications are necessary when you enter tin 1 path. When you have obtained these you are ready to become a candidate for 30 PSYCHIC AND ASTRAL DEVELOPMENT. entrance into the school. Then you can be trained. You will have one more advanced than yourself who will teach you here on the physical plane. You will find a teacher when you are ready to enter on the astral plane; as your faculties unfold a teacher will instruct you on the heaven- ly plane, and so you will find teachers on all the steps up the ladder that you may unfold your latent powers on all planes and thus become one of the helpers of humanity. The astral plane is a very wonderful one. There are not only all the human beings or deceased persons who have passed on, but there are also innumerable entities which belong to that plane. There are all the nature spirits. There are all the devas who are less evolved than human beings, and a whole kingdom of devas who are far more highly evolved than man. There are all the devas of the earth, the air, fire, water, and all the classes that are under them; when you reach that plane you will come into quite a different kingdom than what you have known here on earth. How foolish then to imagine that you can enter that plane without having a teacher who has passed through it and knows the perils, one who understands the dangers and who can help you, one who can guide you. And when you are fortunate enough to have obtained such a teacher all the vibrations that I have told you of open out, and as they open all these wonderful things become known to you. Now certain other things are requisite. You have to develop aspiration, concentration, and meditation, and 3'ou have to gain control over your thoughts, because without such control you can never govern yourself. Madame Blavatsky has told us of a method of concen- tration which she called mental gymnastics. There is nothing occult about it, but it is helpful. Keep a little pebble in your pocket and when you have a moment take it in your hand and fix your mind upon it. Your mind will run off; bring it back to your pebble; you will find it running away again like wild horses prancing on all sides; each time bring it back to the pebble. Persevere in this about two minutes at a time, then five minutes perhaps, and then a quarter of an hour, until at last you are able to concentrate your mind on the pebble at will. That is what is called making the mind one-pointed. Until you can fix your mind on the one point you can never gain concentration. PSYCHIC AXD ASTBAL DEVELOPMENT. 31 x\nother thing which she taught will be of help to you when you are frightened with things in the unseen world. You can protect yourselves against them. You can with your mind build up around you what is called a shell. You can manipulate the ether with your thought and build around you a shell which no evil thought can penetrate. You cannot see this shell with the physical eye, but it exists in reality, so that no psychic influence, no astral influence can ever penetrate into that shell if your will power is sufficiently strong to enable you to build that wall. And when you have created it, Mme. Blavatsky said, "Be sure that you fasten it up at the ends so you do not leave a hole where something can creep in." Should one of those deceased entities come to you who is unpleasant and disagreeable, make the five pointed star in your mind before you and throw it against the entity and then he cannot approach you. This can also be ap- plied to the astrals of living persons who try to obsess you. A great number of the children born to-day are sensitives and I rejoice to be able to give you these little preventives so that you can teach your children how to protect them- selves. Let me finish with these words: If you really want to develop these astral faculties, do not go the wrong way about it. Gradually learn the laws of the astral plane. When you are a pupil of a true master you will be pro- tected so there will be no danger to you. Build the six qualifications which I have placed before you into your character. As time goes on you will find that persons will become more and more psychic in your country. As the Americans gradually become this sixth sub-race you will find that the psychic faculties will blossom out more and more, and you should know how you can develop them in the right direction. You have the potentialities within you to enable you to respond to every vibration, and as they unfold your inner vision will become wider and wider, and your mental faculties also will expand, and you will find that all vibrations proceed from the One, and you will try and become in harmony with that One. And when your vibrations are in harmony wild that One, you will reach the "Divine vibration/' We have the poten- tiality of this within us. Boundless as Deity is, every man has all the possibilities of the Divine within him. Twentieth Century Fulfillments. A Discourse Given Through the Mediumship of Cora L. V. Richmond, Before the Church of the Soul, Chicago, Illinois. The 20th century fulfillments forms the theme around which our remarks will cluster this morning. "Whether there shall be prophecies/' it is said, "they shall fail;" yet ultimately all prophecies come true. Cyclic fulfillments are just as certain as the recurrence of the seasons and the revolutions of the planets, and their conjunctions, and the reappearance of comets. It only remains for one to have knowledge of the great spiritual forces of the universe to understand that spiritual life contains all these prophecies and their fulfillments. A fact which you think is to be upon the earth, really is; and therefore it only needs the spirit vision, penetration and prescience to understand that which is to come to the earth already somewhere abides. The 20th century has not only been the subject of great hopes, but is a century around which many prophecies have clustered; and it is really to be a century of great fulfillments. These prophecies that have come in the guise of scientific predictions of various things that are to set the world in greater commotion; of that which is to supersede the noisy steam engine, and even the fairy and swift- winged electric appliances; these like many other things are in their turn to entirely pass out of use in tin' world and be superseded by still greater inventions. From day to day you have indications of this. Of course it will A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. 33 not be very distant that the navigation of the air will be a fixed possibility in the earth's atmosphere. Already its success is assured as a fact, it only remains to be appro- priated as a means of transportation. There is much more prospect of it now than there was in the first years of the steam railroad, that that would become the universal means of land transportation; or that electricity, when the telegraph was introduced in a hall in a little country town and it was actually found that a person could telegraph from one end of the room to the other, would reach such proportions that ultimately the earth would be too small for it to attain to its greatest possibilities. Now you are expecting wireless telegraphy; but this is only the pre- cursor to that added telegraphy that will unite the earth with other planets. This has already been talked of. But electricity may not be the means of communication, nor even electrical "vibrations." There is a system of more subtle vibration between worlds, and when you discover and avail yourselves of that, as you have of the vibrations of electricity within the earth's atmosphere, you will have found the means of communicating with other planets. Besides you have knowledge of communication with the minds of others; telepathy is no longer doubted, conse- quently there will be intercommunication between minds and minds upon the different planets as there now is com- munication between minds and minds upon the earth. The solar engine is in the imminent future and is to supersede steam and electricity as well. Those rays of light that now seem to be squandered, or are held in solu- tion somewhere, will be made available. Science has gone far to prove what John Ericson dreamed of many years ago: This solar light and heat will be conserved and used in the winter time, so you will have solar light and heat for your dwellings; and you will be able to temper the rays of the sun in the summer time, by having large reservoirs or receptacles to take the surplus light and heat from your streets and dwellings and thus make a suitable tempera- ture during the entire year. The solar heat will be made available for the new motor power. The electric light, which you now consider so resplendent, will be superseded by this great solar light, which in many respects resemhlc- the electrical vibrations. All this will come in the early part of the 20th century. As the means of transportation increases in rapidity, com- 34 A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. munication with nations will increase in facility, and this will be one of the means for the obliteration of war. For, as we have many times said, with air-ships throwing bombs into fortifications there will be little possibility of resisting the encroachments of an approaching enemy. Human intellect is using all of its force and power to con- centrate and utilize the destructive substances of nature. So it will come to be a fact, that war will be such a danger- ous experiment that nations will hesitate to resort to it. This, perhaps, more than any sense of brotherly love, will prevent nations from warring. Then, naturally, will fol- low courts of arbitration, and international congresses of arbitration, and at last the world will cease to see these formidable preparations for war. In Psychical directions in the past century, especially the latter half of the past century, such manifestations have occurred as to induce many people to believe that, externally (in the phenomenal sense), you are to have greater manifestations of psychic power than in the past. We venture to differ with these. We think the increase in psychic power will be with individuals; that perception of psychical principles will be to the unfoldment of the race. The race is to come into the heritage of those spiritual forces that have been denied you through super- stition on the one hand and materialism on the other. Material religion and material science have both combined to deprive the human race of the legitimate exercise of spiritual power. Where known they have been appro- priated by those who were supposed to be spiritually en- dowed as spiritual teachers and guides, who have been en- rolled under some denominational sect. Religion has closed the door to individual spiritual experiences and made the race dependent for spiritual teaching upon ex- ternal forms and theological training. All this has been interfered with, and much of it has been set aside in the last fifty years by the advent of Modern Spiritualism. Of course, just as soon as human lives become aware that religion is a spiritual expression, and that each one is entitled to exercise any of the spiritual gifts that are in the universe; as soon as people become aware that proph- ets and seers and those endowed with spiritual gifts were human beings; that these gifts, according to the growth and needs of the human race will become more and more the possession of humanity, that, in other words, all that A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. 35 realm that has been clouded by ignorance, superstition and bigotry is being opened as a portion of the legitimate possession of the human race; the psychic growth of the world will be wonderful; instead of little children being punished and treated by physicians because they have .psychic power, it will be encouraged and strengthened, and people will gradually learn that the possession of psychic gifts is not a weakness but a strength, and that they only require recognition and the surrounding of the sensitive with as careful conditions as those with which you surround your chronometer or your compass to make you aware that they are among the rarest and best posses- sions of the human race. Finally, as the world has entered upon a new psychic era, that psychic era is to culminate in a great degree in the 20th century. "We mean to say, that a larger number of people upon the earth's surface will enter into the knowledge of spiritual things and possess psychic power; will understand psychic subjects; will know that these are a legitimate source of inquiry, and that the human mind may intuitively be open to receive influences, impressions and teachings from those who have passed from human life; that this will be no longer sacrilegious, nor sinful, nor forbidden, but it will be one of the great strides in human recognition. It is even so to-day. You cannot take up a magazine, scarcely a daily paper, without find- ing one or more articles impinging upon or actually treat- ing of these subjects. All this open recognition of the spirit realm, instead of being a hindrance to humanity is a great help, a luminous background to human endeavor. Edison and every great inventor admits freely that the inventions do not emanate from his own mind; that he is aware of receiving help; that behind him is some one who gives the impressions; that these impressions usually come, either in visions of the nighc or when the active du- ties of daily life are hushed and shut out; that all unex- pectedly the point which he had been struggling for is at once revealed to the mind. Every great discoverer, like I hi -schell, in the discovery of the planet that formerly bore his name, freely admits that there is some a priori knowledge or vision from the realm invisible. This knowledge is forced upon the outward consciousness. All the realm of discovery, so-called, must be in the realm of That which you invent or discover to-day, somewhere is 36 A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. actual knowledge — of those who are higher and wiser, an actual and practical reality. Whatever planet is be- yond yours in unf oldment must have already in operation those forces and motors which you are striving for; and, no doubt, visitants from those worlds, either from the spirit realms surrounding them, or actual inhabitants, do approach the earth and give these impressions to those ready to receive them. You cannot limit the powers of mind, you cannot re- strain the intelligence that will speak, even across the spaces. Neither can human beings, unaided, claim _ to gather these truths from the great reservoir of unthinking invention. There never was a thought in the universe that was not thought by some intelligence. Neither was there an invention that was not perceived by some intelli- gence. The primal source of every invention must be the Great Creative Intelligence; as intelligence is the only power that can discover, so intelligence is the only power that can impart discoveries. The steam engine did not go prancing around in the universe for some inventor to find it. It was the result of this great thought motor that is so much greater than the force of steam that in its pres- ence steam becomes but a toy, a bauble merely. There are no great thoughts floating around for you to think them, but thought responds to thought by intelligence, personal and individual. Those souls that are alive and are freighted with knowl- edge do not think their knowledge far away from earth and dole it out in parcels. Just as fast as human lives are ready they are ready to impart it. The teacher does not withhold knowledge from the little child through any selfishness or miserly instinct of keeping the knowledge to himself, but according to the growth and ability of the child imparts % the lesson that is needed. So as human lives grow these lessons are waiting in the minds and thoughts of the higher intelligences for human beings to possess them. The forces of nature, so-called, do not communicate themselves directly to intelligence without an intervening intelligence. These forces themselves you think un- intelligent, but behind each pulsing orb, behind each manifestation of nature the great power of deific intelli- gence is manifest, and there man must find the secret source of his knowledge. A FOEECAST OF THE FUTURE. 37 This 20th century is expected to wipe out war; that is, largely to bring about the reign of peace; that is to see international arbitration; that is to witness the inter- change of human commodities without commercial greed, with nothing of the spirit of barter will not bring the millennium; human brotherhood on earth is to come to its fulfillment by better spiritual understanding. Religion, when crystallized in any form, in any given theology, has not been able to bring this about in any gen- eral way, although it is quite certain that the early disciples lived together in a sort of fraternity. It is quite certain that the Quakers and the Shakers and many isolated religious bodies have at first illustrated that fra- ternal spirit; but it is usually at the sacrifice of some mate- rial or other law. The usual form has been too great asceticism, something that is not grounded in the usual needs and requirements of the human race. The monastic life of many religious bodies; the seclusion of the adepts in the East; the separation from their kind of many orders of Brotherhoods have made possible these ascetic and ex- alted lives, nevertheless they do not illustrate the general progress of the race. The Christ that ate and talked with publicans and sinners; the Christ that visited all classes of people, from the palace to the cottage; the Christ that found humanity where it was, this is the Spirit of that Truth that was to reach and renovate the world. Of course there must be prophets and teachers, those who point the way and declare the truth, but the growth must be by the molding of the individual lives that make up the communities, the societies and nations. When these nations have outgrown war there can be no war; when they have outgrown certain kinds of selfishness in the lines of commercial dealing there can be no such methods as prevail to-day. These methods are not ,to blame. People talk about certain conditions in life as if the methods themselves were responsible. Creeds have been blamed by the materialists and the agnostics for the ignorance of the human race. You might as well blame the shell in which the young bird is incubating, and say, "the bird could fly if it were not for the shell." Of course when the bird is ready to fly the shell will break. So there never was a creed strong enough to hold a person who had outgrown it. When you see multitudes flocking to the Romish eh inch and to other churches, you may know il is 38 A FOEECAST OF- THE FUTURE. their place of incubation; you may know that it is just the place adapted to their needs. That all attempts that seem to outsiders to keep people from thinking are really their shelter. It is very difficult for people to think when they are not able to think, they do not know how. The meth- ods of knowing how to think and of growing toward it are not prevented by creed and dogma or a prison cell. Per- haps you could not write as Pascal did if you were in prison. Neither can you out of prison write as he did. The restraining walls would not cause you not to write, but you have not grown to those heights, you have not conquered in those spiritual ways. Those "mute in- glorious Miltons" that we have read about so many times, those "flowers that are born to blush unseen and waste their sweetness on the desert air," are largely in the poet's imagination. If there is a Milton, even though blind, he will have visions of paradise; and if there are blossoms they bloom, not for eyes to see, but because to bloom is the loveliest and sweetest thing they can do. All this talk about genius being hidden away in some dark corner of the earth is a mistake. The New England rocks could not hold the genius of Webster, could not fetter the songs of Longfellow, nor could the rules and severe asceticism of Quakerism prevent Whittier from singing the songs of the people. Nowhere upon the earth is there a rocky cave in mountain or valley that can hide the eagle when it is ready to come forth. So when the people are ready this great inheritance is to be theirs. There are present indications, which science is well aware of, that the earth is making ready for one of those great cyclic changes, to which we have referred. You are aware that not only in the conjunction of the planets and other great astronomical facts there are mutual influences that planets exert over one another, but there is that in astronomy called the "precession of the equinoxes." You understand that the poles of the earth are gradually, grad- ually, gradually changing; that there must come a time when there will be a reaction, and with this change there must come that which is known as one of the great glacial periods, where continents are destroyed, where the whole earth undergoes a geographical change, where, perhaps, only the Noahs, the precursors of the future generations will be preserved. Of course, there must always be left the seed of the human race, and of the animal kingdom, A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. 39 the germs of the plants, that which is to bring forth the future results. ]f people were not so anxious to find faults in the Old Testament instead of finding the inner, esoteric meaning, they would know that the great Xoachian deluge is but one of the traditions or records of a certain period of time, of a cycle in which there was a glacial deluge. We compute the time to be about 25,000 years between each of these great cyclic changes. We con- sider that the time since the last glacial deluge time is nearly passed, but it will not probably come to the cata- clysm in the 20th century. The precursors, however, are already here: In certain lines of prophecy, in the appear- ance of many religious zealots who see the "end of the world"' every few minutes and try to make ready for it: and among scientific people, as well as among those who have studied these great cycles and their spiritual mean- ing: and we claim to be among those who have announced this great cyclic change. The precursors are already here: in the greater agitation and variation atmospherically; in the greater disturbances by land and sea; in the effect upon human lives, causing many mistakes to be made: more accidents upon railways, and street cars, and acci- dents upon the oceans, in the great physical epidemics, and moral epidemics. These great crimes are precursors of this change. These are days of culminations. There are just as great geniuses in crime as there are in inven- tions, and people also discover new ways of torturing their criminals; new ways of putting the criminals out of the way instead of teaching them how to do better. Electro- cution is one of these discoveries that enable people to demonstrate (as they suppose in the interest of the law) the best method to torture each other, whether a matter of, so-called, or mis-called, justice, or whether as a matter of revenge, which finds culmination in such a period as this. Human lives will also seek to find many palliations for existing wrongs. But palliations are not cures. Social reforms are usually moral anesthetics. The science of materia medica has discovered a great many anesthetics, and it is the present form of practice in materia medica to soothe the pain more frequently than to cure disease. It is left for the Christian Scientist, the Spiritual and Mag- netic healer and that sort of people to cure the patients. Doctors are proficient in surgery and anesthetics, and that 40 A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. means that the causes of human ailments have not been removed, but palliatives are used. Of course attention to the sanitary conditions of the crowded, cities makes a good beginning. It is quite a dis- covery in the right direction when men and women of eminence are seeking to-day the knowledge of how you house your people, not your wretched poor, but your laboring people, your mechanics, your day laborers. To find in many instances in the densely populated portion of your city that there are more than one thousand people crowded into one block. Not where the buildings are the highest, but where they are so close together that at best they offer small chance for sanitary conditions. These houses are a much better solution than those discovered by the science of medicine, of that which has caused scarlet fever and typhoid fever to crop out in such places. Scarlet fever and typhoid fever are sounds of alarm, they call upon you to cleanse the streets and clear out the places of filth. We propose to make it a part of our busi- ness to teach the necessity of letting in the light, the daily light, the sunlight, materially as well as spiritually, to clear out the "slums" and "levees," in fact the entire city of Chicago, and make it clean. It will be a glorious cen- tury if this can be done. London and New York have but partially solved the problem. It was a part of the genius of Napoleon the great to make Paris a beautiful city. He did it at the expense of the whole country, but he suc- ceeded. If your city can be beautiful without injustice try to make it so. With added facilities of transportation you would be surprised if cities, in the sense they now exist, shall have no existence in another century. People will not then stay in cities unless they are obliged to, and nobody will be obliged to from lack of being able to see fields and have fresh air, cottages and homes, not houses and tenements. What will it be then? It will be a race of people grow- ing up in the midst of the beautiful scenes of nature, ap- preciating the blue sky, the starry vault, the sunrises and the sunsets, the flower gardens, the fields and meadows. The whole country has room for homes for all the people. How beautiful it would be. Then the cities would only be occupied by shipping interests, railroads and commerce as distributing centers. We see that rapid means of trans- A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. 41 portation and changes in the methods of hnman life may bring this about. Of course people swarm together for the experiences they get. It is only after the experience that they want to be isolated. The recluse of refined taste is the man or woman who has met the world and has been polished. They are great lapidaries, these cities of to-day, they rub off the refuse of ages. People rush together because they think they are lonesome, only to find there is no greater lonesomeness or barren desert than the crowded city. But people become humanized in that way. There are few that can appreciate the lonely grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, or the Alps. The vast prairies do not appeal to people until they have been ground out in the mill of humanity. Consequently the next aim will be to civilize the cities, to make them tolerable places of abode, instead of in- tolerable. To make it possible for this aggregation of human beings to dwell together in a little better sort of way. Yet these people that are hived in so closely to- gether are marvelously kind to one another. You turn a man away from your residence whom perhaps they would feed. There is fraternity and sympathy among them. Sometimes this is a great lesson to you. And, possibly, you will ascertain when you cast your ballot for the one that is to see to it that there are better means of housing these people, that it is not simply that they wish to be there, but because the grinding poverty, and the treadmill of daily toil does not offer any better place for them to live in. You have a limited income, you live where you must. If your income were less you would hav« to live where they do. Now the great problem is to have the income and the home combined for a place of comfort, fresh air and sun- shine. Spiritually there is a great deal of light being *et in upon the earth. The upper lights have been turned on for more than half a century; the hadean darkness has been dispersed, the great gaunt vaults of fear, and the horrible thoughts concerning death have been scattered. Yet there is still much to do. Your cemeteries are places of disease; your crowded cities grow and include them. When the vaults of your 42 A FORECAST OF THE FtTTUBE. spirits are opened you will understand that your friend is no more in the ground than enclosed by the garments they have worn when on earth, and you will have changed the whole aspect of that which relates to, so-called, funerals. The 20th century will note, not only a marked change in this respect, but you will perhaps be surprised when you see that not only flowers for the wealthy, but for all classes will come, blossoms of hope and joy, with the tran- sition of the spirit from the body, and there will be no more this terrible form of grief and mourning. Spiritual illumination has done much; spiritual com- munication has done much; the opening of the avenues of thought between the two worlds has done much; but more and more will be accomplished in the gradual growth of the people away from the thought of death. Life is con- tinuous, changing, yet everlasting, and the transition of human beings from the earth to the future state will be accounted as a great occasion of rejoicing. It was our privilege to officiate just a few days ago after the tran- sition of a young girl from human life, when she went singing songs of praise, and calling her loved ones about her, she told them not to mourn, that she would still be with them. Her vision was opened, she beheld those who came to her, and un to the last moment was talking cheer- ingly to those who were in human life. There is to be a great reformation in Death. More people will have visions; more people will understand that it is but another step in life; mourning shadows will grow less and less and the darkened pall will give place to re- joicing. The opening of the vision to the immortal wond of those who are passing away is not new in the world, but it will be more anc 1 more recognized. This taking of tne next step will neither be dreaded before it comes, nor mourned as annihilation after it comes. Such will be the illumination that will spread abroad almost imperceptibly over the world, as it has spread in the last fifty years. The hanging of flowers on the doors, the draping of the casket and room with blossoms, has done much to express this thought. But really, dear friends, the best thing you could do for people is to give some blossoms while they stay with you, instead of spending a vast amount to make yourselves be- lieve that death is beautiful. Let their lives be adorned A FOEECAST OF THE FUTURE. 43 with flowers; let the good things you say about them be said while they are here. Tell them how much you love them every day instead of keeping it stored away until their forms are silent; it will help them as well as you. It is a great deal better to do this while they are in human life than when the change comes. Then there is no lack of blossoms when they enter spirit life. The spirit of life is this blossoming. Ah! it is the tombs and sepulchers that you find in daily life that makes you so full of grief when the loved are gone. But they do not go, they do not pass from you, they are in your midst, and whatever blossoms you bind their lives with, of hope and love and joy, these they pos- sess when the time of transition comes. Yes, Satan has been reformed in the last half century. Now the old-time enemy of the world, Death, is to be re- formed, and Death as a reformer will take the right place in your thoughts and in your lives. Flowers pass and fade, corn-fields stand stark and bare, you have the harvest stored away carefully in the grana- ries, at least the farmers should have. But you do not house your treasures of love, nor harvest your fruits of kindness, therefore, when the change comes you feel the loss. But in the great storehouse of the spirit, in that which makes the fruitage and final triumph of life, you only cast aside the stalk, the leaves, the outward covering, the husks, the grain is yours. This great treasure-house of the spirit lies all about you, environs and girds you round about with its ministering presences and powers, and all the great and wise and true who have passed on are helpers. Those who were not en- lightened, who were unfortunate, who have not con- quered, are in their own shadows. But the great burdens of the world you are continually aided and strengthened to bear. The 20th century marks the death-knell of Death in the old-time theological sense. Churchyards and all their be- longings will give place to knowledge of the realm of the spirit, of the light that is beyond, of the strength and beauty and greatness that abide there. The 20th century is the precursor for the great cata- clysm, for the glacial deluge, and all the forces of mind and spirit mark the epoch faster than matter does. Therefore, there are culminations inwardly which will 44 A FOEECAST OF THE FUTUEE. bring about a culmination in ways for devising peace; cul- minations in religion that will bring about a great deal of sectarian struggle to the new enlightenment of the race; culminations in commercial relations that will bring about a general readjustment, since nations will be so girdled around that they will be checkmated by other nations through the interchange of commerce. There will be great changes in the relation of capital and labor, since now they are divided. But a man will stand for more than a dollar, and humanity will stand for more than money. The time is coming when these forces will be allied of necessity, and necessity will bring about equalization and growth. Fraternity cannot be compelled, but fraternity will gradually take the place of selfish aggregation. As soon as people understand that each is included as a part of the whole. You fight the world now, the "I" being against all the rest. It was a great proposition in science when the sun was made the center of the solar system, instead of the earth. It left the earth because science found it was too small to be the center of so much magnificence. When the center found its own place the universe seemed to be better adjusted. Now the "I" is supposed to be the center of the universe in every human mind. Just as soon as that is changed and the "I" is relegated to its own place, as a part of the whole — the soul preserving its identity — the universe will run smoother with you. The whole human family will not be against you, you will be one with it. There is a vast reciprocity of souls, a mighty com- munity of eternal intelligences, of which you, as a soul, are a part, no smaller, no greater than any other soul. Your interests are no more important and no less import- ant than others. And you, as one of that immense num- ber of souls, move in response to Infinite law. Nations, communities, personal interests, all are governed by this great purpose. When you understand it; when you know this, all this rebellion and warfare and striving against the Infinite purpose and against the small petty personal experiences will vanish. If you walk the thorn-path, others have walked and are walking it. If you have a hard task to perform, others have hard tasks. If you have great grief, others have grief also. There is no isolation in sorrow or A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. 45 in joy. A common pulsation runs throughout the uni- verse and through the races for the mighty purpose of human experience. This 20th century, releasing many things that have been chained in the past, will yield greater beginnings than you suppose; will teach each human life that he or she is no better, no worse in the great economy of souls than demons or archangels; each is only a state of growth and expression. When James Phillip Bailey made Lucifer at last to be restored as an angel of light, it was a great spiritual lesson. When Sir Edwin Arnold makes the Magdalen the princi- pal expounder of the teachings of the Master, it is a great spiritual lesson. Xo one is higher or lower, ultimately, primarily; and the various conditions of human life are but that you may find expression in some century like the 20th century and see how you long have moved with one mighty purpose toward that event, that in itself is no greater than thousands of events that have preceded it, or will follow it: that all culminating periods have nations of people like yours. At some time in the garden of earth the lily blossoms; but for that lily there is the darkness that hides the germ, the bursting forth of the shoot, the transmutation and transfiguration toward the flower, then finally the open- ing of the blossom, the one supreme event of that lily's life. Yet to those who gaze on fields of lilies miles and miles in extent that one lily means little or nothing, yet it is the one event. Somewhere in the Garden of Life the great immortal Lily of Love has its hiding place in the darkness, in the midst of rocks and thorns and briars, possibly hidden away, and no one suspects that it is there. There is strug- gle and there is growth; the stalk comes forth, then the leaves, and finally, for that life the supreme moment ar- rives, the white Lily of Love has awakened, has blos- somed. Yd to those who watch thousands and millions of completions of souls this is hut an event, usual and common, hut it is tin- Bupreme moment for that life; not an angel would turn away, nor an eye be filled with scorn in all the heavenly company to see the blossom of im- mortal love in any and every human life. So. beloved friend-, this century will shape itself to great fulfillments; hut there were other ages and will he 46 A FORECAST OF THE FUTURE. more of equal importance. And as you are standing upon the threshold now beholding the mighty mysteries of the past, remember it may be that this immortal Lily of Fra- ternal Love will blossom upon the Earth, and human life will reveal it in the gardens of earth, and that angels will bend and at last behold it. Dreams and Their Significance. A Lecture Delivered in the City of Chicago, 111., by C. W. Leadbeater, of London, England. The subject of dreams is one which I think ought to be of very general interest, because all of us sometimes dream, and it must have occurred to us that we should be glad to have some explanation of these dreams; how some- times they are quite confused, improbable and absurd, and at other times they seem to have a certain feeling about them, a kind of stamp of truth, and we feel that they are very different from the ordinary type of dream. And then I suppose that quite a number of us must have had the experience of dreams coming true; that is to say, dreams which prove to be previsions of something that is about to occur, or else which indicate to us something which had already occurred or was then occurring at a distance. Now, all these different varieties of dreams demand some sort of explanation. There is a good deal of diffi- culty in arriving at a satisfactory explanation along the ordinary lines that are laid down by students of psychol- ogy; but we have in our Theosophical system an explana- tion of all these, which seems to us to be more perfect and more satisfactory than any which we get outside of our system, and I propose to-night to try to indicate to you as far as can be done in so very short a period what that ex- planation is. DREAMS AND THEIE SIGNIFICANCE. 47 Those of you who have done me the honor to listen to other lectures which I have delivered will already be aware that our Theosophical teaching takes for granted the existence of various planes in nature — that is to say, of other types or orders of matter very much finer than what we ordinarily call matter of this physical plane; that we hold all this to be in essence the same matter, but in a state of very much greater subdivision, vibrating at a very much more rapid rate, and consequently in various ways not exactly obeying what down here are the laws of nature with regard to matte?, but still perfectly real, ex- isting just as truly as does matter down here, and equally perceptible, although not to the ordinary senses. We hold also that man has within himself matter of all these different planes or types, and that by means of the matter corresponding to any particular level in nature (the matter within himself, I mean, which corresponds to that level), he is able to sense this level and receive im- pressions from it if he has developed the necessary facul- ties; because we hold that just as on this plane which you all know man may receive, and does constantly receive im- pressions from outside through the channels of his senses, so he can and does receive impressions from these various other planes of more refined and subdivided matter by means of the matter within him which corresponds to these respectively. We, therefore, credit man with something very much more than merely the soul and body of popular theology. We say that he has belonging to him not one body or ve- hicle, but several, and that all of these are channels through which communications may reach his soul, and all of them also are instruments which that soul can use when it learns how to use them, and through which it can express itself just as it does through the physical body. Before you can understand how these impressions are given, it will be well for us just to glance at the vehicles through which these things come to us — to see what is the mechanism by which we receive impressions from outside. Now beginning at the bottom, there is, first of all, this physical body with which we all consider ourselves to be familiar. How are impressions received through the physical body? Any physiologist will tell you thai the whole scheme of receiving impressions, of whatever kind, from outside, is managed by the nervous system of man; 48 DKEAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. that we have all over our body a network of exceedingly fine nerves, and that these convey messages to the brain; that if you put out your hand and touch something and feel that something to be hot, a message is telegraphed from the nerves at the end of your fingers up to the brain, and in consequence of the heat you withdraw the hand hastily. That is done because the brain has in turn tele- graphed back another message: "If it is hot, then with- draw from it." All that process takes place in the in- stant of time which elapses between your touching some- thing too hot to hold comfortably and dropping it in- stantaneously; science will tell you that that is so; indeed two separate processes have taken place, and the time oc- cupied by them is quite measurable by the fine instru- ments used in scientific investigation, although it would seem hardly measurable to us without those instruments. This nervous system is liable to be affected very much by external conditions. The whole of it centers itself in the great nerve axis which runs up the spine and. which leads into the medulla oblongata at the back of the neck and up into the brain, and all these nerve impressions are received and registered by the brain. That brain is very liable to be considerably affected by all sorts of comparatively small disturbances in the body. People often think of the brain as being always absolutely reliable, as far as it goes and up to its own level of com- prehension. It is no such thing; it may be very largely affected in its power to respond to impressions by quite a number of what we should probably think very small in- fluences. For example, it is absolutely dependent upon the condition of the body for its true working, for its ex- act registration of any impressions which are received. The blood which circulates through the brain affects it very seriously and that in three separate ways — by its quantity, its quality and its speed. In regard to the quantity: If there is too much blood in the brain, then at once we have congestion, and from that comes irregularity of action, which quite often may extend to hallucinations of various sorts. If, instead of having too much blood we have too little, we obtain a to- tally different effect. First of all, we should have irrita- bility produced, and then very shortly lethargy would su- pervene; so that the mere question of the quantity of blood which is supplied to the brain makes a very serious DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 49 difference in its power of responding to impressions and registering them. Xow in regard to the quality of the blood. Suppose that it is not sufficiently oxygenated — that there is not sufficient oxygen in the air we breathe, then it becomes super-charged with carbon dioxide; at once our power of responding to impressions is seriously affected. We can see that 'for ourselves when we have been for a little while in a crowded room like this; then we often find ourselves becoming sleepy. Why? Simply because there is not enough oxygen in the air we breathe, and consequently the lungs are unable to give the proper amount to the blood; the blood cannot supply the brain with the oxygen that is wanted; in consequence the brain fails to respond readily to impressions and falls into this semi-conscious condition. As to the speed with which the blood flows — if it be a little too great we have fever; if it be a little too slow, then again we have lethargy; so that very slight deviations from normal health or the normal condition of affairs may entirely alter the power of our brain to respond. I want to make that matter clear, because then you will see how exceedingly easy it is for the various curious thoughts that come in our dreams to occur. I shall show you how later on. That is just one side of the thing, the physical vehicle through which we receive our impressions; and you see that there we need practically perfect health— -we" need a perfectly normal and regular flow of the blood in order that we may be sure our impressions are correctly re- ceived and registered, and that what we think we perceive through our senses we are really perceiving. There is another part of man's physical brain which is not usually taken into account at all, and that what we in Theosophy call the etheric part of the brain. It is still physical matter, but it is physical matter in a much higher state of subdivision than even gaseous matter. It bears the same relation to gas which gas does to liquid, or liquid to solid; it is a higher state of matter, vibrating differ- ently, a much finer subdivision, freer in motion, and in many ways differing greatly, but still it is purely physical matter, and does not belong to the astral plane. Man has within his brain a large amount of matter of this nature, and although it belongs to this plane it differs in different 50 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. ways from the ordinary physical matter of the brain, so that we very frequently speak of it as the etheric brain of the man. Now this etheric brain of man corresponds very closely with the denser physical, and it also must be in perfect condition in order that communications from the Ego to the lower brain may come through properly and without distortion, or in order that any message from outside in the nature of a sensation or impression may in turn be clearly carried upwards to the Ego. Now this etheric part of the brain, and in fact the whole of man's etheric body, as we call it (that is of the etheric matter in his body) is also the field of a circulation — no longer a circulation of the blood, but a circulation of a vital magnetic fluid which we call prana in our Theosoph- ical books. That is simply an Indian name for life, for this is the life fluid that is circulating — running not along the arteries and veins but following the course of the nerves, running through the nervous system of man; and we find by experiment that unless that flow of the life principle (which of course is entirely invisible physically and not received or accepted as yet by ordinary science) is duly taking place sensations are not properly registered. I can give you examples to show you that this is so. For example, if your hand is numbed with cold, you have no sensation in it; it may be pricked and you do not feel it. Something may touch you; you do not feel the touch; your nerves are not registering as usual. Now it may be said that is due to the fact that circulation of the blood in that hand has been checked by the intense cold. Perhaps that is not the whole reason, but never mind, we may let that pass. The hand appears to be for the time a dead hand, dead from cold. Take another case which will show you a little more. Suppose you have that same hand or arm operated upon by a mesmerizer. If you have ever seen a mesmeric ex- hibition of any sort you are aware that it is an easy pro- cess for a mesmerist to make a few passes over the hand or arm of a man and utterly take away all sense of feeling from it, so that you may run a pin or needle into it and the man does not feel; he will be quite unconscious until he happens to see what you are doing. That is not a case where the circulation of the blood has been checked; that hand is warm and living as before. What has happened DKEAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 51 to the nerves? Why do they not register as before? I do not know how ordinary science explains that; probably it does not explain it; but from the occult standpoint we should tell you that a clairvoyant looking at that hand or arm would be able to tell you precisely what had hap- pened. He would say that the mesmerizer had simply drawn away the man's life fluid and poured his own mag- netism in instead. Though the arm is still warm and liv- ing, because the life fluid is still flowing along the nerves, it is no longer in connection with the brain of the man; it is not his life fluid, and consequently although the physi- cal nerves are there, yet they fail to report to the brain; they are kept alive by the flow of a foreign life current, but it does not convey sensations to the brain of the man. Here are these nerves obviously failing in their office; be- cause this life current was not there, they failed to report the prick or pinch or touch, not doing their work; so that evidently a regular flow of that life current also is neces- sary in order that sensations may be properly registered by the brain. Now we come to a stage further than that. Let us leave the physical man altogether and think of his astral vehicle. That passes at once quite outside of the domain of science, of course, but nevertheless in Theosophical in- vestigation we have established entirely to our own sat- isfaction that there does exist this astral vehicle of man. To tell us that it does not exist would simply provoke a smile, because it is a thing we are using every day, and to say we cannot use it is like telling a man that he has never fallen asleep, and that if he thinks he has he is laboring under a delusion. There are many of us who are con- stantly using all these faculties, and it is to us absolutely absurd to hear so many people say these things are all impossible. This astral body is also a very great channel for sensa- tion to the Ego; in fact, it is really the vehicle of all sen- sation. It is the seat of emotion, passion, etc., and from it and through it all sorts of impressions may be conveyed to the Ego within; all kinds of thoughts may excite desire or emotion or passion in that vehicle, and all of those feel- ings will be duly conveyed to the Ego inside; so there is another channel through which the soul may be reached by outside impressions. There are further and higher vehicles to be considered, 52 DKEAMS AND THEIK SIGNIFICANCE. but I need not trouble you with those now, because we simply want to see in what condition is the consciousness of the man during sleep and in what condition are these vehicles, so that we may see in what way the man's con- dition when asleep differs from his state when awake, and how the impressions coming to him will come differently and be received and registered differently when he is what we call asleep. We must not forget, however, the con- sciousness, the real Ego of the man behind all these ve- hicles of which I have spoken, because those are all simply his instruments. We must remember that the Ego, the soul of the man differs very much in different people; that the souls of men are by no means all alike; that some are very highly evolved, very advanced souls, that have had very many births, and very much experience in conse- quence, and have progressed and have learned very much. Others are young and undeveloped souls, and conse- quently are very much less able to make anything of the various impressions which come to them from outside. That is a fact that we should bear in mind in our investi- gations. Then we must remember that this ego or self within is trying to gain control of all these vehicles of his, these different bodies, but that in very many cases he has by no means complete control over them. Very many of them are still quite liable to be carried away by a sudden rush of emotion or desire. A wild desire comes upon us to do something which we know we ought not to do, something utterly silly or definitely wrong and harmful, but still we do it on the impulse of the moment. We say, "I could not help that." It is the astral vehicle which originates this desire and not the man at all; the man has not yet gained perfect control over the thing. He is swept away. It is not the man who does all that. It is his weakness which allows the lower vehicle to sweep him away and govern him for the time instead of his holding it in order and governing it. It is exactly like the case of a runaway horse which ought to be guided and used, which for the time is allowed to take the reins and follow its own bent and run away. It is the function of the ego to make up what is presented to him as impressions from without, to combine them and sort them and rearrange them. I have not time to give you instances of that now, because I am anxious to go further into the dream side of the question; but you may easily see it for yourselves if DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 53 you think of what is really the impression conveyed to your eyes when you see a landscape; here is your retina which places it upside down; then you get nothing but the flat picture of a house or a tree, nothing but a flat pic- ture in outline, no feeling of the perspective or anything of that sort. Think that out for yourselves, and you will see how very much your brain does in the matter and how little comparatively your eye does; how your brain by vir- tue of its experience adds to and fills out that picture for you. You will find further particulars of that in the book on Dreams which I wrote, if you like to read it. You must remember the self has to combine and sort and rearrange and amplify these impressions that you receive, and it may do it wrongly; it may translate its impressions in the wrong way. There is a celebrated Hindoo example of that in which they speak of the man who in the dark comes upon a rope and takes it for a snake. In such a case the man becomes terrified just as though the thing were real, the ego per- ceives something that is translated from what he sees; all he is told in this case is that down there in the dark in front of him is something long and waving, and at once he thinks of a snake. There is no snake there, of course; so we see that he may misinterpret the impressions that come to him. Then again, we must remember that this ego, this self, can be impressed when he is away from the physical body. He leaves it during sleep or trance, and even when he is away from it he is still very impressible. "We have made experiments which tend very clearly to prove this. I remember one, for example, in the case of a man who had been given to drink. He had been a terri- ble drunkard, in point of fact, but he reformed utterly. He had progressed so far with his reformation that the smell of any kind of alcohol was exceedingly distasteful to him; but he said that for years after he had got rid of the desire, he was still liable to dream that he was drink- ing, and then in his dreams he drank with pleasure, al- though when awake he shrank with horror from the idea of the thing. That shows that the ego is liable to receive impressions during sleep and the impressions are received through this totally different vehicle, the desire persisting up there 54 DEEAMS AND THEIK SIGNIFICANCE. long after down here it had been entirely wiped out of the man. We made other experiments which tended to show that. This that I am telling you about dreams, is based on a se- ries of experiments lasting some years, conducted upon this subject by one of the Lodges of the Theosophical So- ciety over in London in England. There we devoted our- selves to investigation in ways I shall be able to describe to you later on. This group of students had among them several who were clairvoyant — who had the sight of higher planes, and not in the vague and somewhat ineffi- cient way in which so many possess it, but definitely and orderly in their methods, to be used at will, and applied always in very careful tests in the most scientific manner. In this way they investigated this question of dreams, the clairvoyant members standing by to see what was taking place, while others observed the effect on the physical plane, etc. Now let me go on to try to explain to you what is the condition of this ego and these vehicles of his during sleep, and in what way they differ from the conditions when awake. First of all, take the physical brain. Dur- ing sleep the whole of the circulation of which I spoke to you is still going on; the ego is still subject to these cur- rents of blood which are passing through, and anything whatever which affects that circulation, even such a trifling matter as indigestion may easily affect the capacity of the brain to receive and transmit these various impres- sions and vibrations from outside, so that if there is any- thing the least wrong with him, then these things will be- come jumbled and senseless. It is a very curious fact that while the ego is quite away from the physical body, whe*D the man is what we call en- tirely asleep, that action is still taking place; that is to say, that while the man himself is away and may be think- ing out his own line of thought entirely outside of that brain, the brain itself is still — I can hardly say thinking, but still slowly evolving images. This physical body of ours has a kind of curious consciousness of its own, a very peculiar consciousness, about which there is still much to be learned, because to learn about it would explain many things which as yet are very vague and uncertain to us. This lower animal kind of consciousness which sub- sists in us when the man is withdrawn for the moment DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 55 from it, seems to be quite unable to register anything at all but the most concrete tilings. It translates all ideas with reference to itself; it can see nothing as apart from itself. All stimuli of whatever sort it translates immedi- ately into perceptual images; it cannot receive abstract thoughts or memories but at once it translates them into imaginary percepts of its own. Suppose when you are away from it, it thinks about you, as being in your own house, and then some thought connected with China comes into it. The only way in which that physical brain can take up that thought is by imagining itself transported to China, so that at once that local direction of thought takes the form of this spatial transportation. In the same way every association of ideas, no matter how far apart they may be in reality, no matter how curious the association may be, at once be- comes a combination of images. So if one thing sug- gests another by some association connected perhaps with some thought you had during the day, however grotesque the two would look side by side, at once they appear side by side; or one of them changes into another. That is the kind of effect you get. Whatever can be dragged from the immense stores of memory at once appears as a picture. This curious animal consciousness magnifies and it distorts the smallest sounds or touches in the most extraordinary manner. If you have ever read anything at all of the literature on this subject of dreams, any of the collections of stories of such things, you are sure to have met with some cases in which a very tiny touch given externally was magnified enormously, and always some sort of picture is invented to account for it. Cartesius tells a story of a man who re- ceived a slight scratch from a pin or something in bed while asleep. At once he magnified that into a fatal wound and concocted a story, with himself, of course, for the hero, in which lie had received this wound in a duel or something of that kind. Very many such stories as that you will find. Most of these impressions that come to the physical brain in the way I have described are not at all recover- able in your memory in the morning, heeause they are merely senseless successions, as a rule; so mostly you do not recollect these things that have been sweeping about in your brain in the night. 56 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. There is the other part, the etheric part of that brain. There we found in the course of experimentation a very interesting feature. This etheric part of man's brain is also, while the man himself is away from it, liable to re- ceive impressions from any thoughts that are floating about. Please remember that thoughts are definite things; that every thought creates a form — a form which is temporary, of course, which lasts only according to the strength of the thought which called it into existence, which nevertheless is perfectly definite, floating about, capable of impressing itself on any other brain with which it comes in contact. That is the whole secret of thought transference; you can direct these intentionally, if you will; but anyhow, the thought of any person near you is always liable to act upon your mind for a moment if you are not thinking strongly of anything yourself, so as to keep other thoughts out. These are not in the least your own thoughts, but simply the cast-off fragments of other people's which your brain picks up casually because you have no strong currents of thought of your own at the time. At night then this etheric brain is ready for any kind of impressions from the thoughts which come pour- ing into it from all sides. The experiment was tried of isolating this etheric brain by putting a magnetized shell around it so that the thoughts from without could not come in, and then we thought that this etheric brain would rest. It did not; it began very slowly to evolve for itself memories out of the past life of the individual. These are two of the vehicles (the physical body and the etheric brain), which are very much more open to impres- sions during sleep than they are when the man is awake. When the man is awake his own thoughts and feelings af- fect these brains. When he is asleep both of these are really inoperative, ready to receive any impressions that may be given to them from outside. As to the man himself, he is floating outside of his physical body in his astral vehicle. I say floating, be- cause the quite undeveloped man as a rule never leaves the neighborhood of the physical body at all, but simply floats about it, and if you had any clairvoyant sight and looked at either a savage or a man of very low type, you could see the physical body asleep on the bed and the real man in his astral body (a duplicate, in fact, of the physical, but of DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 57 course of finer matter), probably very little more awake than his physical body. But suppose you have a more developed man (one of yourselves perhaps), a perfectly ordinary person of cul- tured type of this advanced race, then you would find that sort of man when away from his body at night much more awake and conscious and capable of moving to very much greater distances from his physical body. He would be largely wrapped up in his own thought, proba- bly' not very conscious of the places around him and of those through which he moved, or only spasmodically conscious of them, because of his own thought images which would blind him to anything outside, but still he has his faculties about him, though they are directed to his own thought, and only occasionally are roused up suf- ficiently to take note of where he is, what he is doing, or whom he meets. He may not necessarily be very wide awake to what is going on around him, but still he may receive impressions of a broad and general character very readily indeed. If he drifts into an atmosphere of low sensuality assuredly that would act upon any similar quality or germ of such corresponding quality in himself and he would be stirred by feelings of that nature. Sup- pose he drifts into very devotional surroundings during his sleep, he would certainly receive an impression of strong devotion from these surroundings, even though he might not be able to see what was taking place clearly enough to remember it afterwards. Then, again, for him there is a different kind of con- sciousness, for he seems to think very largely in symbols and not in words. He has the most marvelous faculty under this condition of making up a story, of composing quite a long and elaborate history to account for any sen- sation that happens, and he can do this in an infinitesimal fraction of time. There are a good many stories afloat to illustrate this. I remember Richers tells a story, a very remarkable one, of a man who was awakened by the firing of a pistol shot in the street outside. Now it was the sudden pistol shot which awoke him and yet he woke from a dream into which that came as an integral part, and of which obvi- ously that sudden shot was the cause. As far as I remem- ber it, the man had gone through various experiences. He dreamed he had enlisted as a Boldier: that be had mel 58 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. with very severe treatment and eventually had deserted; that he had gone through all kinds of adventures, had been pursued and captured, brought to trial, sentenced to death and led out to execution, and the shot was the firing of the volley which wound up that long story; and yet it seems absolutely certain that he composed the whole of that story in the second that intervened between the sound of the shot and his full awakening. The ego evi- dently catches the thought a moment before the physical vehicle and makes up all this story to account for it. That is not the only instance where that is the case. You will find a series of stories in Carl Duprel's "Philos- ophy of Mysticism/' a large number of stories of this kind collected from various sources, which show how in a mo- ment the ego makes up his story, and a very wonderful and exceedingly clear story it frequently is. I remember the German writer Steffens gives us a cu- rious account of a thing that happened to him when he was a boy; how he slept with his brother and he had a frightful dream of being pursued along the street by some dreadful wild animal. It was gaining still upon him — as they always do in dreams — and at last he turned up a staircase and tried to escape, but the creature followed him and bit him severely on the thigh. He awoke feeling the bite of the creature upon him, and found his brother who was sleeping with him had simply pinched his thigh to wake him. That was all there was to account for that dream, and these are only two out of a great number of instances. It is a very wonderful faculty that the ego possesses of distorting anything tha.t occurs or of combining things altogether in a moment of time, of transcending our ordi- nary theories of time and space. A very fine story is given in Addison's Spectator which illustrates that very well. I do not know whether that particular story is true, but if not true it is very well invented. It is exactly the kind of thing that does happen. It is stated that there was a certain sultan of Egypt who had a great religious teacher. This teacher used to ex- pound to him the Koran, the Mohammedan bible. One day they came across a passage in which it was stated that Mohammed was carried into heaven by a certain angel; that there he was shown all kinds of wonderful things, the narration of which occupied a number of pages of the DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 59 Koran; yet that when he was brought back into the body by the angel; the bed from which he had risen was still warm, and a jug of water which had been upset when he departed had not had time to empty itself. The sultan of Egypt took leave to doubt that statement. He said: "This thing is not possible; it could not be done in that time/' which seems reasonable. The teacher said "I un- dertake to convince you, not that that story is true, but that it might be true/ 7 and he asked him to order a bowl of water to be brought, and then he said to the sultan, "Please dip your head into that bowl of water, and take it out again." The sultan complied with the request and dipped his face into the bowl of water. Suddenly he found himself in an entirely different place, no longer surrounded by his court, but far away on a lonely shore, a place entirely strange to him. Well, his first thought was (I suppose it was not an unnatural thought for an Ori- ental manarch) that his teacher had put an enchantment on him — that he was suffering from witchcraft of some kind. Anyhow he found himself on a strange and lonely shore at the foot of a mountain. Presently he began to get very hungry. He looked about and saw some men cutting wood not far away. He met and conversed with them and asked them to give him some food. They said if he would help them by working for them he should share in their food. Presently they gave him some food and he went home with them. He thought the enchant- ment was still going on and he did not know what to make of it, but he had to live this new life; so he settled down with the wood-cutters. He spent some years at that busi- ness and gradually amassed a little money, and bought goods in a small way and met with success and prosperity, and in the course of time became a rich merchant and married the daughter of another merchant and brought up a large family. Be had a married life of something- like fifteen or sixteen years, if I remember rightly. Then there came a time when he lost all his money, and remem- bering his old training he again took up wood-cutting. One day he was wandering by the seashore where he first came into this Btrange new life and was feeling very de- pressed by his change in fortune; then he said to himself, '•Let me take a bath in the sea, and perhaps 1 shall feel better. So he went into the sea to bathe and put his head under the water; when he lifted it up there fie was 60 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. with his courtiers around him and with his teacher stand- ing before him smiling. They say it was almost impossi- ble to convince that man that the whole of that long story was nothing in the world but a mesmeric suggestion made by his teacher; he had literally done nothing but dip his head in a bowl of water and take it out. I do not know whether this is true or not; anyhow things just like that are taking place. A good story which illustrates this point was told to me by a leading man of science. This man, like many of us, had to go to a dentist. He had to have a couple of teeth pulled out and of course he took gas in the usual way. He was a man who was very much interested in Theosoph- ical study, so he made up his mind he was going to see what were the real sensations through the operation. He was prepared to watch everything very closely. He in- haled the gas and was very much in earnest, very keen to • see exactly what was happening, but a sort of pleasant sleep finally seemed to steal over him, and in a moment he found himself delivering a lecture. He could not exactly account for this, did not understand how he had gone from the dentist's chair without remembering, into the lecture hall, but he was delivering a lecture before the Royal Society, and he found he was exceedingly and un- usually brilliant. He was able to make all his points in the most wonderful manner with much greater eloquence than he ever did before. He was very much elated. Ev- erything went off magnificently. He went home after the lecture and went into his laboratory and went to work in his usual way, but every experiment he tried came out successfully in the most marvelous manner. He was dis- covering all the while entirely new things, new and beau- tiful facts in nature; he lived through this life for about three weeks, a life of exceedingly real pleasure and enjoy- ment, continuing his lectures again and again, always to the most enthusiastic and appreciative audiences; made discoveries and wrote books such as never came into his mind before. One day he found himself lecturing as before to the Royal Society, when suddenly some rude man among the crowd said "It is all over now." He turned to rebuke this man, and another one said "They are both out." It took him some time to recover from the audacity of people speaking to him like that. When he revived he found himself sitting in the dentist's chair DBEAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 61 and he saw by the clock in front of him that less than a minute had elapsed (forty-five seconds I believe was the exact time), in which he had lived through this three weeks of exceedingly active life. That, at any rate, is not a story out of the Spectator, it is a story of the present day and told to me by a leading man of science. That shows how this ego is able to make up a story as he goes along, and how independent he is of all our ordinary canons of time and space, how he can make within an inappreciable time a whole long story. You will find a great many such stories in DuprePs book. He tells you of a man who falls asleep while smoking a cigar and lived through several years of strenuous life, and awoke to find the cigar still alight. There are a great many stories which show the powers possessed by this ego when away from the physical body. He also possesses the faculty of prevision to some extent. A leading literary man told me a very curious story about this prevision. He said that he was in the habit sometimes when he was seated doing nothing of getting what is called automatic writing; that is to say, if he was not thinking of anything particularly his hand sometimes would begin to write spasmodically, as happens at Spirit- ualistic seances and with mediums. This hand would sometimes write a message which professed to be from liv- ing friends as well as from the dead. In some cases the stories which were told in this way proved to be perfectly true although the friend never knew anything about it. One day he got a communication written in this way which professed to come from a lady of his acquaintance, and it was to the effect that she was in a very great state of annoyance and disgust because she had arranged to de- liver a lecture down at South Kensington, but when the time came for the lecture, by some foolish mistake it was found the notices had been issued for a wrong day and there was no audience there. She was very much annoyed at this. He met the lady a day or two afterwards and told Iter laughingly of this curious message that had professed to come from her. He knew quite enough not to suppose it did come from her, hut thought it was a trick of some sort by some spirit; hut he told her. She said that was very curious because Bhe was going to lecture at South Kensington within a week, and hoped it was not going to Come true. They laughed about it and passed on. Never- 62 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. theless it did come true; when a few days afterwards she went to deliver the lecture she found that very mistake had occurred and there was no audience there. Possibly it may have been her own ego (I do not know, of course) who foresaw this mortification which would come upon her and could not impress it upon her but tried to impress it upon the man who was more sensitive; tried to make him understand in order that he might warn her and pre- vent the mistake, which no doubt she could have done if she had taken it seriously. This same journalist told me on another occasion he had actually written through his own hand a communica- tion professing to come from another lady whom he knew. The story was to the effect that she had been forced prac- tically by the advice of her father and friends into a cer- tain course of action from which she was very strongly re- pelled. She had to do something against which in- stinctively her higher nature seemed to warn her, though she could give no reason for it. It was a question of mar- rying a certain exceedingly desirable suitor. She had no reason whatever to give against the man in any way, but had a strong inner feeling she should not accept him, yet she did it because she could give no reason and because he was very desirable in various ways. After a year of married life, however, her situation became absolutely in- tolerable and her intention was to commit suicide. She was just about to do this; this was the story written. The lady in reality was not married and knew nothing what- ever about the thing. The next time our friend, the journalist, met her he told her the story; remembering the other one which came to him he said perhaps this was a warning. He described the man and his characteristics. Now she knew at the time no one who at all answered to that description, but about a year afterwards such a per- son did appear in her life and she was pressed by her father and friends to accept his offer of marriage. At once the whole story which the journalist had told her came to her mind and she refused. She said openly "But for that I should certainly have given in, because I had no reason to give for my strong repugnance; I should have certainly yielded, but because of that I refused." Nothing there- fore happened, but if she had yielded it does not seem at all improbable, judging from the other case, that the mis- ery and unhappiness might have followed. If so, that DREAMS AXD THEIR SIGNIFICANCE, 63 shows where this sort of prevision may be of use, where the person is able by taking warning to avoid part of the evil. These previsions frequently come to the ego in what we call dreams, and it is just as well that we should heed them when they come. There are all sorts of allegorical dreams that come to us. I have said the ego often thinks in symbols. Some- times he gives you the interpretation of the symbols and sometimes he does not. You have probably all heard of various interpretations of curious dreams. You have heard people say, for example, that to dream of water always signifies that trouble is coming. One does not see why the dreaming of water should make trouble, but that seems to be the explanation among those who know about that sort of thing. I presume we may take it that the ego is aware of the fact that if he can make the impression on the physical brain he can warn him of approaching trouble; so he may take advantage of such an idea, curious superstition though it seems. In order to do what he wants he uses this method because he is not yet able to control his vehicle perfectly, otherwise the ego could im- press upon the physical brain the knowledge of what was going to happen quite definitely and there would be no need of the symbolical system; but he himself seem> to think largely in symbols, and the symbols differ in very many ways with different people. I remember, for example, a lady who used always to dream of a great fish whenever misfortune was coming to her family. Once she was away in the North of England a considerable distance from her home and Bhe dreamed that this greal fish Lit two fingers off her little boy's hand. She had had tin- cnrious impression often enough before to think there was something in it, so she was not sur- prised when she got a letter from her governess in charge at home saying thai two fingers of her boy's hand had been seriously injured by a playmate with a hatchet. Very Curious, hut obviously a symbolic prevision and an at- tempt by the ego to prepare her tor the new.- which was to come, ><> thai Bhe Bhould doI he as much upsel by it a- she otherwise would have been. 1 am trying to cut the thing shori because 1 know that the time for a lecture i- necessarily very limited, hut if you w.mld like to have it all in much greater detail you can gel it by reading that Bmal] look which I wrote on 'the 64 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. subject of dreams; but I want just to give you a list of the kinds of dreams that are possible. First of all, this ego, going away from the physical body may have a real, definite experience of some sort. It may go to some place and see certain things. It may meet some person and converse with him. In the morning it- may be that the man will be able to bring back a recollec- tion of what has happened,. There would be a case of the true dream, which might be called perhaps not so much a dream as a vision. Then, again, there is this sort of prophetic vision by which the ego gets a glimpse of something that is about to happen, usually to him or to some friend whom he knows, and then he comes back and delivers that message to his brain; the brain reports it, but in some confused way usually, because it has been all the while outlining up old memories and these things are liable to be mixed with the true report which is brought back. Let me give you an instance from our experiments tried in the London Lodge. We were trying experiments with people in this sort of way: We would formulate a very strong image, let us say, of a landscape, or face, and then try to impress that on the mind of the sleeping man and see whether we could make him dream of this, as it were, and then whether when awake he would have any recollec- tion of it. It was in this way by such experiments that we discovered the habit of the etheric part of the brain to bring up old memories and turn them over and over when other thought was shut off from it. We found it was im- possible entirely to quiet it, because when outside thought was shut off from it it began evolving memories of its own. Without giving you all the details of the experi- ment, I may tell you that we tried to image to the ego of the sleeping man a splendid landscape in the East, a very beautiful view from a mountain peak on the Island of Ceylon, with other mountains all covered with verdure, falling away in the most beautiful gradations from it on all sides; forty miles away you could see the Indian Ocean, making a kind of setting for the picture — one of the most splendid views I have ever seen. We tried that view on various people, for example on some quite uncultured egos, but we found they did not respond to it at all, and did not see the beauty of it; whereas ai. battle scene impressed on that same undeveloped ego would at once DEEAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 65 awake in him, not a memory of what he had seen, but the dream that he had been fighting! You see at once how that would be; it conveyed not a recollection of the scene but a vague thought of something connected with fighting; he thought of the thing at once in relation to himself, that he had been engaged in fighting. We tried this experi- ment of putting this beautiful landscape before the mind of another and farther developed ego, and in this case a very remarkable result was obtained. The ego at once fastened upon it, as it were, and was intensely impressed by its beauty and very much in- terested in it in every way. At the same time observations were being made of the etheric brain of this sleeping man; a kind of magnetic shell had been put around it so that no outside thought should drift into it in order to give him a chance to remember more clearly, as we thought, the scene we were putting before him — the whole experi- ment being to see how much he would remember, and, if there be any distortions, what they would be and how they arose. Here was this beautiful view put before the man; in his astral body he enjoyed and appreciated it and we thought was more likely to remember it distinctly than the former subject. Then we turned to examine the etheric brain of the man to see what was going on there; it was carefully shut off, you will observe, from all outside thought, but evolving thoughts of its own. The particu- lar scene which it had before it was something that had happened in the playground of his old school years and years ago, a winter scene in which the boys were snow- balling one another. That was very slowly in sleep going through the etheric brain while the man himself was en- joying this other splendid view. Then the man was awakened, and then came the question what did he re- member. He remembered that view from the hill; he had the view as clearly as possible, the shape and arrangement of those hills were given, and he was able to draw part of it, able to describe it with great accuracy, but all these hills were covered with snow instead of being covered, as they should have been, with tropical verdure! And while he was in the midst of the enjoyment of this splendid landscape, suddenly the whole thing changed into the playground of hie old school and he found himself play- ing there with other boys. That shows you the way things get mixed in dreams 66 DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. Part of the thing may be a remembrance of earlier life. When the shell is not around the man's body then all sorts of wandering thoughts may drift in and cause confusion when the real ego comes back with his tale of what he has seen and done it has to make its way through all these memories before it gets into the brain; so the whole thing becomes mere confusion. It is only by long experience that a man can learn to sort out the real impressions given by the ego from these transitory fragments of other thought. It is not an easy matter to sort them out, still that example will show you exactly how the thing is done. I would say if you are interested in this subject study the little book which I have written on Dreams, and study the book of Duprel on the "Philosophy of Mysticism." You will find many other books on psychological subjects, but few so interesting as Duprel's. On the subject of dreams, then, I would suggest to you to take a middle course; neither be supeistitious and be- lieve in everything which you happen to dream, nor, on the other hand, be foolishly skeptical and cast aside all dreams as unworthy of attention. Remember that you are told in your Scriptures that people were warned of God in their dreams, and sometimes exceedingly valuable and useful information may be given to you in that way by your own higher self or by some friend deeply inte- rested. If you happen to dream frequently and if you have reason to suppose there is something special in your dreams then it is worth your while to test them. For ex- ample: Suppose you dream of being in a friend's room; look around very carefully in that room and see whether everything in it is exactly as when you were last there in the physical body; if it is then you have no definite proof; your dream may be merely a recollection and suggestion. But suppose you see alterations, some new piece of furni- ture, some new disposition of it, a new picture on the wall, a fresh book on the table that you know did not belong to your friend before. If you see that in a dream it is dis- tinctly worth your while to go round and call on that friend in a day or two and see whether the alterations have been made that you saw in your dream. If they have not, it is simply a mistake of some sort. If they* have, then you have seen that place and you have really gone there in your sleep; then you can realize that what you thought a dream was in point of fact an experience, and DREAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 6? that would be of value for you to know. So, I say, take the middle course, not superstitiously believing every- thing and troubling yourself about things which come to you in dreams, nor, on the other hand, foolishly rejecting everything. Be very careful as to the arrangements you make before you sleep, because you can very largely affect your dreams. Remember, your last thought before you go to sleep is a matter of very great importance, so start your night with a good thought in your mind, as many people go through the night practically elaborating their last thought, and rarely get beyond it. Let that last thought then be a good one, be a thought of health per- haps for someone else, because then you can go and give them help when you are away from your physical body. That is another vast subject; you will find that touched upon in the book which I wrote called "Invisible Help- ers." It is an exceedingly interesting subject. You will find sometimes you will dream very much, at other times not at all. From the various points I have given you about the different vehicles and the necessity of their all collaborating if good results and memories are to be ob- tained you will not wonder at all that it is very rarely you get such a perfect arrangement. There may be times when nothing at all comes, when the man does not dream simply because he cannot bring back any memory; or he may bring back a mass of confused memories when he is disturbed. But for the man who is highly developed there is no longer any dreaming possible because he gets the consciousness through fully into that astral plane, there- fore night and day become the same to him; he carries an unbroken consciousne>> through and remembers every- thing that he does on those other planes; he dreams no more because he has got beyond the stage of dreaming into the stage of knowledge, and then he sees opening up before him a magnificent vista of usefulness and of help- fulness; he is able to use these higher faculties, to use them not only for his own evolution 1ml (what is BO much more important) to help forward evolution generally. Thai i^ the higher world into which lie obtains admit- tance, and remember that admitance into that higher world may be sometimes obtained through the gate of dreams; If you realize that then yon Bee that your dreams an- imt altogether unimportant, that the subject is an ex- ceedingly interesting one, and one that will well repay G8 DEEAMS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. your careful study. You will find a great deal of informa- tion in our Theosophical literature that will lead you into further examination of these higher planes, and so into the Theosophical concepts on the subject; and I am sure that when you thoroughly understand it you will be, as all of us are, very thankful you undertook the study and gained the splendid knowledge which that study can give you. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage. His Influence on the Thought of To=day ; His Life On Earth and in Spirit State. — Given Through Mrs. Cora L. V. Richmond. "Now we see through a glass darkly; then face to f ace." "What we are we know; what we shall be doth not yet appear." Within the last few days there has passed from earth, from human sight and human affairs, one of the most prominent clergymen of this country: Eev. T. DeWitt Talmage. His life, like that of Mr. Spurgeon in London, marks with its closing a certain cycle of theological thought, a certain order of ministration of religion. We might just as well say here, that we think Mr. Talmage's life almost closes that kind of theological ministration. We are not here to discuss Mr. Talmage personally. Of course, his life, his associations, and his relations were not only his own, but he was, undoubtedly, true to his con- victions in every walk of life. We believe he was true to his convictions in his theological life; for no man could fully accept or preach the kind of religion that Mr. Tal- mage did, if he did not believe it. He would try to evade it, he would talk about something else, as a great many ministers of the same and similar denominations do. But he did not seek to avoid doctrinal sermons, he did not seek to turn away from the severity of the creed which he REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 69 believed. Therefore, we think he was sincere. Perhaps between hypocrisy and that kind of religion it is better to be sincere, whatever one believes. But with the passing of Mr. Talrnage that kind of re- ligion ceases to have sway over a very large number of people. Owing to a peculiar arrangement of the Associated Press his sermons had a very extensive circulation. We do not say that a great many people believed in his the- ology, but he had a great influence personally. He was a man of strong convictions and opinions, and a nature whose opinions would blind him to the truth, if it differed from those opinions. We do not think that he ever willfully falsified against any liberal movement, but his convictions were so strong against them that he believed the statements that he often made, we mean concerning the Liberal churches, concerning the Spiritualists, con- cerning all things that were not in accordance with the theology which he believed in. A great many people are sincere in their statements when a little effort would convince them that they are mis-statements. A great many people do not wish to be informed if their opinions are wrong. This is the case often with scientific men, so-called, as well as theologians. When Mr. Huxley said he "would not cross the street to find out if Spiritualism were true" he proved his nar- rowness and bigotry, notwithstanding his supposed sci- entific enlightenment. We say it is quite in keeping that he might make some statements of opinions that are grounded in prejudice, and that having prejudice for their outgrowth must, of course, narrow down the out- look of the individuals in an age like this. Some people have the courage to look at a subject through an open window; others only look at it through a key hole; others do not look at all; and that constitutes the difference in the point of view concerning the thoughts that are in the world. But for the most part the world is moving, not only scientifically and in all directions of human thought, but the theological world is impelled by the greal undercurrenl of change thai is go- ing on in the world, despite prejudices, and the clergyman that can see this and float with the current is the popular minister of to-day; while the clergyman that can see this and endeavors to resist it is often popular for his resistance. 70 REV. T. DEW1TT TALMAGE. Mr. Talmage reached a class of people that do not, as a rule, do their own thinking — religious thinking; in fact think it is wicked to have opinions that are not in accord- ance with the religious teachings they have received; and he reached psychologically a much larger class, a class that has no opinions, or do not know that they have any opinions and are moved or swayed by the powerful thoughts that come in their way. All such clergymen reach their followers either through fear or through a swaying magnetic impulse. Henry Ward Beecher was largely a man of impulse; he swayed by his great magnetic heart. He had a good brain, but unless his heart was in his sermons he did not preach, it was merely talk. Mr. Talmage probably had a heart, but his sermons were full of the theology in which he had been trained, appealing to the fears of the people. When we say that the cycle of fear is passed, we mean it. We mean that the world, in Protestantism, has so far advanced that sectional and sectarian barriers are re- moved; that creeds are being remodeled; that when the Presbyterian Church can change the creed that has been handed down almost from the time of John Calvin, it means progress. When the church to which Mr. Talmage belonged can go so far as to have one clergyman preach a liberal Unitarian sermon, while another preaches per- haps, Orientalism, it shows the world changes its religion, and its theology along with it. That Mr. Talmage exercised such great influence, seem- ingly, must be owing to the fact that people are easily con- trolled through their fears. Far other was the influence of Mr. Moody, the revivalist. He did not so much appeal to human fear as to human love to rescue people from their danger. To rescue souls from darkness of Hades he presented a strong picture of a lost soul; he presented as the influence of his life the exalted love of Jesus to save, it was the salvation of God's love that he presented most effectively. Of course Mr. Talmage considered ethically a great many of the propositions of human life; presented them vigorously from his standpoint. But the underlying the- ology of his existence was the theology that appealed to human fear; to the possibility of bein^ eternally lost. Souls were to be saved in Mr. Moody's religion and the love of Jesus was to save them. In the building and teaching of Mr. Talmage souls were to be saved, REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 71 but they were to be saved by having the picture presented to them of eternal torment, of being lost, and being urged to fly or escape from doom. Mr. Spurgeon also was that kind of a theologian or preacher. He would picture to his people the heat — or supposed heat — of Hades, and he would slide down the bannisters of the steps that led to his pulpit to illustrate to his people the rapidity with which people went to hell. A great many of those things were exaggerated, yet he was perfectly conscientious and sincere. Mr. Talmage took occasion to visit some of the mining regions of England when he was abroad, where the ore was being wrought out in the fur- naces while there, and afterward he described it to his friends, telling them that he considered hell a literal place and a million times hotter than those iron furnaces. Of course, believing that, it would be his duty to try to save souls from such a doom. All the sweet logic of the Sermon on the Mount, all the petition of the Golden Rule, all the life and love of Jesus could not avail when the horror of such a picture has to be presented; and at this moment, if the mass of the peo- ple could be shown a literal picture of Hades, like that shown in the play of Faust, or purgatory exaggerated, and people believed it to be true, would they not from very fear fly to the religion of Jesus? It would not be for the love of Jesus, but for the fear of Hades. Witness the panic in a fire, or when there is a storm at sea. It is very seldom that human faith, however well trained in the Christian religion, prevents a panic. Here and there a devotee may be calm; here and there a philosopher, who does not claim to be a church member, may be calm. But the great instinct of human life is to fly from danger physically. When that danger is presented as a moral danger, a spiritual danger, and when the fire instead of be- ing transient is eternal, you do not wonder that people try ing transient is eternal, you do not wonder that people seek to fly from it if they can be made to believe in the literalness of the fire. It seems a strange thing, when you turn to the first four Gospels in the New Testament and read exactly what Jesus taught, how there could be considered such a Hades, such a religion out of the few simple utterances there recorded. Of course Paul waa the doctrinarian of ( Christianity. But it is very difficult to find a literal hell- 72 EEV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. fire even in the writings of Paul. Human fear, which is the basest of human passions, cupidity and ignorance con- stitute the foundation for that kind of teaching. And yet it must serve its purpose. It is the stepping-stone to something higher. Perhaps it is this belief in the fear of Hades that refines the gold of the spirit and sends it forth purer. Then it gives to the mind another suggestion. It is a very subtle, psychological suggestion: that people do not believe it after all; that although the mind may accept it and the fears may be dominated by it, the soul does not believe it, for every human being who actually believes in the literal, eternal hell-fire would be bound to be insane. We have known of a great many mothers who have been driven insane when the ministers have told them that their children were in hell. We have known a great many people whose hearts rebelled against such a thought and who turned away from the austerity of such a creed, and the rest, without knowing it, have a protest down deep in the spirit — an a priori knowledge that it is not true; or else they hold a slender thread of creed or of hope on which they think that their loved ones may cross to a place of safety; the "deathbed repentance," at the last mo- ment, in which the spirit may admit or acknowledge the great supremacy of Christ. There is always a chance of escape. But if it were true that you believed that any friend of yours, any child, any sister, any brother, any father or mother, wife or husband were literally in Hades you would not be human if you were not insane. With all his sincerity, with the power which we ascribe to Dr. Talmage, with the great spirit of invective, with the spirit of misrepresentation, with the thought that he believed what he preached, we think, nevertheless, that there was down deep in his spirit a certain protest; that if his intellect had been broader, or he could have burst the barriers of precedent, he would have spoken more liberally in his later days. But having committed himself in any one direction he did not have the courage to retract. He did not believe that he could retract; he even reiterated things that were not pressing in order to be literally true because of this spirit of blindness, this prejudice. Later on, as his life grew older he did, indeed, endeavor to adapt his sermons to the needs, the growing needs, of the people. We remember he gave a series of sermons, not many years ago, on "The Occupations of Spirits in Heaven." REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 73 Having read the Bible very carefully, especially the New Testament, you know there is very little said about what people shall do in heaven there. As Mr. Talmage did not admit the possibility of spirit communion, or of modern visions or seers, we often wondered from what source he received his information concerning the occupations in heaven? He never vouchsafed to tell. He did not say he had a vision like Dante, or like the prophets, or that he was upon the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and the two disciples; he did not say that any of those "min- istering spirits" referred to in the Bible had told him. But he seriously talked about the occupations in. heaven as though he knew. Does not that prove that when a man says there can be no intercommunion between the two worlds, he, after all, knows there is intercommunion? Because without intercommunion, one way or another, no human being could tell what are the occupations of souls in heaven. Perfect as is the flood of inspiration accompanying the present spiritual teachings thai are in the world, the "many mansions in the Father's house" are closed and sealed, unless by visions through angelic presences or by ministration through spirit communion those states are revealed, and no man knows what the "many mansions" hold. If Mr. Talmage was a seer, then all he said against Spiritualism must be accounted false. If Mr. Talmage had messages from spirits, then that controverts what he said about the impossibility of spirit communion; and if all spirits are "lying spirits sent to deceive," then might not he also have been deceived? These are contradictions that do not occur to the ordinary minds, to the minds in- tent on believing whatever their pastor says; to the minds that do not think that he preaches sermons one year that contradict the sermons of the next year, or the reverse. But people accept that which they like to believe. The best minister is the one who tells his people their own thought-: the best minister is the one who tells you what you would like to say if you had the language. If your • deals are high and your minister tells you those ideals arc true he pleases yon; if you are seeking for money in the world, and your minister tell- you how to gel it. that pleases you. He may also tell you to be honest, to have integrity, hut that you do not have to literally ohey the Golden Rule, and you like him for that. We have heard 74 EEV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. ministers of as great popularity as Mr. Talmage, saying to their congregations, that the "Golden Eule was never in- tended for practical life." What was it intended for? If it was for life in heaven, why was it not kept there instead of being imparted to earth? If intended for an ideal life, apart from business, why was it thrust into human exist- ence? Or was it only to apply to the Great Teacher and not to all who followed him toward the fraternity of man? Oh, no! you "cannot serve God and mammon." And yet some Christian clergymen tell you you can, and tell you so in many of the churches of this city and those on Fifth avenue, New York. The sermons that are preached at the head of Wall street in Trinity Church are very ten- der of the feelings of those who try not to think that the Golden Eule is intended for daily use. But when the Eev. Dr. Huntington, fresh from the heart-beats of the people, consecrated his life to their service, said he was going on a missionary tour to Fifth avenue, he meant that there was more need of missionary work there than at the Five Points. Just the spirit of what Jesus said when he said "the publicans and sinners" — with whom he sat down to their table — "were nearer to the kingdom of heaven than the scribes, pharisees and hypocrites." The great baptism of true humanity is rising in the world, and we are glad that Mr. Talmage has done his work and passed on to his reward, because he must have felt the waning tide of that theological life that brought him into such great notoriety; he must have felt the sands receding from under his feet that formed the foundations of that "house of God" which could not save the souls that He is said to have made; he must have realized that the great tide of human affairs was setting the other way spiritually or religiously. Though his successor in name and in theology repeats very weakly some of the things Dr. Talmage said years ago, it is but a faint echo, it bears no trace of the original vigor. But this vigorous life expended itself in the great energy he used in building a false fabric of the future, a fabric destroyed by knowledge; and his going forward among the multitude to do his work is a spectacle; it is presented as a picture. We have sometimes wished that people had half the en- ergy in advocating a work for the truth of the Gospel that is merciful and loving and free. If people would exercise BEV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 75 one-hundredth part of the enthusiasm over a religion of love that they do over a religion of fear the world would be in the millennium. But you see they cannot. We were told very seriously by a noted Unitarian min- ister, that he thought that the hold upon human thought was waning in the Unitarian church, and we asked what he thought was the reason? "Well," he said, "the mo- ment people begin to think for themselves they do not think there is any need of thinking together, they each start on an exploring expedition of their own." Of course there is no authority in the Liberal churches; fear and au- thority constitute the source of energy and power in the evangelical and in the Eoman Catholic churches. There is no better piece of mechanism than the organization of the Koman Catholic church. But it is grounded in the fears of the masses. There was not a better piece of humanitarian influence than that which Mr. Moody strove to exercise in his great revival work; but that also was founded in the fear of humanity. There is no better or more merciful organiza- tion in the world than the Salvation Army; but it is to save souls from hell. If humanitarian societies; if the people could be per- vaded by as great love for humanity to save them from the slums, and from the existing conditions of human life, there would be an upward movement instantly. Jane Addams illustrates what can be done with love for hu- manity in their present state. Souls are valuable, therefore God does not mean to lose them; humanity here and now is given to man's charge and the great Philanthropic work of the church con- stitutes its stronghold. It is not the mystic rites and ancient truths of Freemasonry that bind men to it; it is the spirit of fraternity, of loving kindness and loving service. Every human being ought to do for each other that which they bind themselves to do in the lodges of the Freemasons. When Christianity came into the world this principle was recognized by the few, and every human be- ing recognizing it made a pledge by thai recognition to do good to his fellow-man. What is the need of fraternal or- ders if the spiril of Christianity prevails? And what i- the need of all this talk ahoin SOTllfl when it is the body, the mind and tin.' spiril that are to be trained to express the BOUl? 76 REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. Mr. Talmage taught that only a portion of human be- ings were to be saved. He did not arrogate to himself the right to say the number or to designate those who were to be saved; he spoke vigorously of those who would not he saved, and urged people to fly from the conditions that were not conducive to salvation. In the changes of human life, at the last moment of existence there is always another message; there are always ministering ones attending those who are to pass from earth; there is always more or less consciousness of this transition; there is always preparation. But you may be perfectly well assured, that during the interval between the last of human consciousness and the realization, in its fulness, of the spirit state, that there was preparation for Mr. Talmage on his entrance into spirit life. Yet with all preparation and whatever there may be in the spirit of hope, whatever uplifting power of faith, you can also be aware what a vast surprise awaits every human life on knowing that the body is really cast aside and the spirit is consciously set free. The ordinary human life is not so much surprised as two extremes: the materialist and the theologian. The materialist is surprised to find himself alive, and very much doubts that his body is dead, then he proceeds sophistically to say, "Even if my body is dead this is only a little effervescence outlasting the body, which will also pass. This is a sort of a delirium which will shortly pass away." But when there come thronging around the spirit of the materialist those friends supposed to be dead who welcome him, the surprise of the material- ist more and more increases. Not long ago, the late Eobert G. Ingersoll, whose spirit spoke through the in- strument who stands before you, said, "it was as though the scales had fallen from my eyes." When the theolo- gian hopes to enter the kingdom of heaven, that which he has described to his people; when he expects to be wel- comed by angels and borne into the presence of Jesus, and perhaps of the Infinite; when he has pictured to himself that which shall be his reception; possibly, if he is favored of heaven with that exalted, immortal state; when his fears have been merged in his faith so that he dares to hope for that estate; you may imagine his surprise when he sees around him the familiar friends of his childhood and his youth; when he sees the loving ones of his own household; and when there is no great gala occasion, REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 77 when there is nothing of the prevision of the great apoca- lypse, no passing away of the earth and the rending of the veil, nor angelic presences to herald him into the presence of eternal life when all is dust, but it is only the next step of existence. Yet so conscious does the spirit become with the throw- ing off of the earthly organism of its own inadequacy, of the lack of spiritual possessions, that every spirit enters spirit life from the human state with some degree of hu- miliation. So after the first greeting there is a season of introspection, and the spirit meets what it sows, reaps the harvest of the seeds that have been planted, and, if suffi- ciently advanced or aware, perceives the inadequacy of that planting. What do you suppose must be the thought of the Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage when he sees no fires of Hades, when he hears no voices from those who are condemned, when he meets face to face his friends and companions, and even those with whom he differed in theology; and when, above all, there is no sound of rustling pinions, no open- ing of ineffable gates; but he enters the spirit state for which he is prepared by the thoughts and deeds done in human life? It is a surprise to every human life. We do not follow any spirit into those introspections and reflections that are for the individual spirit alone. We give that which is granted even by the most of earth's relations and friends, we give the spirit the solitude that belongs to the disembodied spirit. When that spirit enters into its own inheritance it is known within and it is known to God. There are none to point fingers of reproach or scorn, none to praise unduly. Every life sees that which it has sown. With the greatest tenderness, and with a devotion in which human love has become spiritualized the friends of the earthly estate receive those who pass from earth. Do you not suppose Mr. Talmage is happier in his spirit home, surrounded by his friends, the relations of earth and those who were COngenia] with him, than lie would he in a far-off heaven with the knowledge thai Made- had engulfed some of his companions and friends? And do you not suppose it is greal relief to any kind-hearted and affectionate human being to find thai the fires of Hades are within instead of without, thai the judgmenl there is a voice from within the soul instead of an external censor ?8 £EV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. or judge? Even though every human life walks into its own portion of the shadows that have been fashioned by itself, is not that a great merciful respite compared to what has been taught by theology? Now after this shall have been learned, do you suppose that there is anything that will prevent a sincere, honest spirit from endeavoring to un-teach that which was wrong in his teaching; to help the people out of the fear that he must have engendered by his false theology? Whenever the great awakening comes, whether it be at the moment of transition or whether by slow degrees it dawns upon the spirit, that spirit must teach that intercourse with spirit friends is possible and continues as long as love abides. Such time as Dr. Talmage learns that there is no literal hell-fire, and that the way to the kingdom of heaven is within, will there not be for all the rest of the time that any human life is on earth that is swayed by his influence enough for him to do? And such as have passed to spirit existence and have found his teachings not true, will they not be willing teachers and helpers of him, who, like the revivalist, was tethered in the small cobweb of his own fashioning out of the theology in which he was reared, and fettered by that until death set him free. And if through the shadows that thus arise the glim- mering of this perfect immortal state, and the love of mother, father, child, brother, sister and friend shall come cleaving in, how blessed to know that neither the the- ological heaven nor the theological hell holds any other soul when that life outgrows the thought. Then the great mission and ministry must be the unsealing of the eyes of others. When John Calvin awoke to the enormity of the crimes committed under the name of religion, he felt that eternity was too short for him to undo what he had done. Now hither and thither, night and day over all the earth and in spirit states wherever a mind can be impressed, wherever a minister can be told he inspires from within by the voice of truth, that there is no hell save that which is within. Like John Calvin, seeing that the seething fires of Hades are not true, will not the true spirit of Mr. Talmage, rising from his place of theological bondage and amenable to the light of the new religion, set the seal on this which has been said and speak from out the voices of REV. T. DEWITT TALMAGE. 79 the skies for this man who has risen and say: "Whereas he was blind, now he sees; whereas he was deaf, now he hears, and the light of the spirit has burst through these barriers and mists of theological shadows and behold! he will become as one of those who like little children shall be led by little children and shall teach the kingdom of God's love. Cycles and Their Significance : Relation of Spiritualism and Easter. A Lecture Delivered by Daniel W. Hull, at Villa Ridge, Illinois, "For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." — I. Cor. 5:67. The word "Christ" in this passage, is an untranslated word, and means "anointed." A better reading of the passage would be "For the anointed our passover is slain for us." While Jesus was a Christ, or anointed, he was not the only Christ. There were Christs before his time and also after his time, Jesus was slain, if we may credit the biographies given us, on the day before the passover Sabbath; which comes immediately alter the first full moon after the vernal equinox, and as the passover Lambs were slain at the same time it required no great stretch of poetical figures of speech to make him a passover. Be became a passover, by virtue of the time he was slain. A word or two by way of apology is necessary here. There arc a great many people who are horrified when thcv find a statement verified by something in the Bible. One of the greatest reasons I'm- tin- is, because their knowledge concerning the Bpiril of it> teachings is so superficial. They think they know all aboul it, and will quote a long Btring of very obnoxious texts t<> prove in you they do. These people will he surprised when they 80 CYCLES AND THEIE SIGNIFICANCE. learn that the Bible nowhere professes to be a book of authority, threatening punishments or promising rewards in another life according as people shall accept or reject its teachings. The trouble is, that they have accepted the teachings of those who claim they are the' authorized ex- ponents of its teachings. It may surprise some to learn that the Bible is not a single book, but a small collection of books which was kept by the Jewish people. Some of these were bio- graphical, some historical, some spiritual and some mythological. The biographical were somewhat like our biographical books of this day — they aimed to make heroes of their subjects, by leaving out their faults and extolling their virtues, often at some expense to the truth. The historical, I regret to say, were not always exact, but since we have historians in our times a bit given to ex- aggeration, we should not complain. The accounts of spiritual manifestations no doubt were overdrawn, but since the relation of spiritual narratives were similar in manner of production and manifestation to occult mani- festations of this time, we may be assured they have a foundation in fact. The mythology of the Bible and in- deed all pagan books have been sadly misunderstood. Beneath the symbols of paganism and Hebraism were great truths, which for want of a knowledge of the subject taught and our poor comprehension of the tropes and figures used by scholars of ancient times we are unable to comprehend. What the world does not comprehend, it invariably condemns. To philologists and people who want to learn the roads by which modern civilization has reached its present altitude, the Bible is an invaluable book-. We do not study the Bible as authority in matters of religion, ethics or conduct, but to find out something. In some sense it interprets to us the ancient mode of thought, and some of the habits and characteristics of peo- ple who have bequeathed to us much that has given shape to our lives. We find by a critical reading of the Bible and observing of its literature with that of other books, that many things within it have been wrongly interpreted by us, simply because we have drifted our ideas and changed our environments. Language has also changed and is ever changing, so that words have lost their former meaning. To illustrate, the word "God" has now a very different meaning from that it represented in some of the earlier CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 81 mythologies, including the Hebrew. Once it was limited to the forces of nature, referred to astrology or 6pirits of departed men and women. The word OM or AUM was all-inclusive in its meaning. It usually referred to the potency and directness of infinite nature. The Infinite was not only incomprehensible, but it was also unspeak- able. It was not matter, neither was it the essence of matter, but a sublimation of the essence of matter. It had no locality, and though it infilled all matter it could scarcely be said to be an attribute of matter. It would be more proper to speak of matter as a property of AUM. At this time many people are disputing over what they call God. A thinking man would not enter into any of their disputes. A God who is supposed to rule the uni- verse must be infinite in all his parts, and as such a being is beyond description and even comprehension, his exist- ence can neither be proved nor disproved — it must be per- ceived by the spiritual senses or not at all. It may in- definitely be conceived, but no one can conceive it for another, and that a man cannot conceive it for himself is no evidence that he is incorrigible; neither should we re- gard a man who believes such an entity in the universe as superstitious. Religion proves to us, as many other things do, that there has been a civilization in the world little inferior in some respects to the civilization which we pride ourselves belongs exclusively to this age. We are apt to condemn people who pass judgment without previous investigation on Spiritualism. Yet we as Spiritualists treat other re- ligions in the same way. Men who bring down the ap- plause of an audience by their condemnation of the Bible, often know as little of the spirit of its teachings as those who condemn Spiritualism know of the spirit of its teach- ings. All religions have a common origin, and all are in very many respects similar. And I might say, nearly all have a basis of Spiritualism mixed with their astrology and nature worship. CYCLES. In most of the great religions, time is divided into cycles. Anciently, time was divided into days, weeks, moons, years, etc., and, excepting weeks, each period was Bgail) divided into a light and a dark half, thus claiming that these divisions exisl in nature and arc independent of all artificiality. A week was the fourth part of the moon, 82 CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. the end of which was celebrated as a sabbath, the word meaning sun worship, the moon only being a time keeper to direct the mind to the proper time for worship. All of the feasts, and I might say the whole ritual of the Jewish religion was regulated by the moons — generally the new moon. As the moon could not be equally and exactly divided without breaking the day into fractions, it was assumed that there were 28 days in a moon, and that it quartered each seven days. The sabbath would then come on the last of each quarter. T Ve are told that Abraham came out of ' Ur of the Chaldees, where we find the divisions of time exactly corresponding to that afterwards adopted by Moses and the Hebrews. The Hebrew sab- baths came somewhat artificially, and perhaps the Chal- dean sabbaths did also, and did not follow the exact divisions of time as marked off by the moon, gaining a day in the time of each moon. This probably was because they misunderstood the purposes of the sabbath, but this defect was compensated for by making the moon a measure for the division of time. The moon or month was made to correspond with the 24-hour day. It was a day, having a light half and a dark half. The years were also divided into a light and a dark half, or into a day and night, regulated by the motions of the sun in its descent into the southern skies and its reappear- ance again into the northern skies. But like the moon the sun loses a little time in reaching the same point in the heavens each year. That is, he seems to fall back in the ecliptic. This is called the "precession of the equinox," and amounts to about one degree in 72 years. This the Hindoos call a Saura year, or day, and is sup- posed to have a light and dark half to it, for the Hindoo was very precise in his cycles and supposed everything in nature to be a type of something still greater. The loss of time each year which in 72 years amounted to one de- gree would in 2,154.86 amount to 30 degreees, which would take him out of that sign into the next one. This he supposed to be composed into a light and dark half, and was called a Brahma day. Then there was a day of the Gods which was only reached once in 25,856 years, when the sun had fallen back through the entire circuit of the heavens or .the twelve signs of the zodiac. This was supposed to occur in the sign of Scorpio, and at that time, all the planets would arrive at the same point in the CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 83 heavens with the earth. And then the earth would be burned up with fire. In Grecian mythology we are told that when Phoebus drives the chariot of the sun around the universe, when he conies into the Constellation Scor- pio, he drives so near the earth that he sets the world on fire and burns it up. I believe all religions contemplate a universal conflagration, when the earth will melt with fervent heat. I presume any schoolboy would be capable by taking the planets and dividing this time by their periods learn whether the planets would actually get together in that length of time. If they should it would be difficult to tell what might happen. Last year when Jupiter, Saturn, the earth and Venus were in line with the sun, the electric forces became so disturbed that the in- tense friction thus caused made the heat almost unbear- able. Think what would be the result if nine instead of four planets were to get in line. Fortunately, however, the sun at this time is supposed to enter Scorpio at the time of the vernal equinox, which being three months be- fore the summer solstice gives the earth time to move three signs out of the line before the sun's heat shall com- bine with the heat caused by the friction of the planets. But there is to come out of all this a new earth. It will then be purified of all that was evil and will commence a new era of sinlessness. Thus we learn the origin of many things which have now become sacred to us, and we also learn that the nun we call pagans were not so simple- minded as we thought they were. Then there were other cycles, also, in the Hebrew re- ligion, and I believe also in the Chaldean religion. Among the Chaldeans Astar, or Istar, the moon, was ex- alted as a deity, and through the authority of this deity by its example time was divided into sevens. In fact sev- en- and twelves are both sacred numbers, the one dividing tie- moons and regulating the summer months and the ether dividing the year. As we have seen in mythology each year is called a day. Qothing would he more natural than that an immense moon should he hypothecated to correspond to the moon controlling the days. Thus they found authority for their Babbatical years, and every sev- enth year was Bel apart a- a sabbatical year, iu which the land was to rest. Everything in their field- and on their vines were given over t<» the poor. These sabbatical wars were again multiplied by themselves, and the fiftieth year 84 CYCLES AND THEIE SIGNIFICANCE. was made a year of jubilee. On this year all debts were canceled and all bondmen or slaves were given their liberty and allowed to commence life anew. This was to them the end of the age often translated to us the end of the world, and it commenced on the tenth day of the sev- enth month, measuring the months from the first new moon after the vernal equinox. The first jubilee was cel- ebrated in B. C. 1451, and the last one in B. C. 600. I shall want to call attention to these facts shortly. THE PASSOVEE AND EASTER. The Passover and Easter always occurred at the same time of the year, but only occasionally on the same day of the week. The reason of this was that the Passover oc- curred on the evening of the 14th day of the first moon in the year, while Easter occurred the first Sunday there- after. Yees was a title of the sun, and our words yeast, yes, and east and also west come from them. The He- brew Passover was used, it is claimed, to express the pass- ing over by the angel of death at a time when the Egyp- tian infants were slain, but it really signifies the crossing over the equator of the earth by the sun, which in doing so not only slew the old year, but also the constellation Aries or the Lamb. The sun is always represented as killing every constellation he passes through. When Samson went down to Timnath you will remember he met a lion by the way and slew him. Samson, or Shem-shem, is the sun and his seven locks representing the seven sum- mer months of the year, and he passes through the con- stellation Leo or the lion, and thus kills it. Now we read that the next time Samson went that way he found that the bees were occupying the carcass of the lion and had made honey in it. We know that that cannot be literally true, for a bee is a very neat insect, and would not deposit honey in so loathsome a place, neither can we think of a man taking of the honey and eating it. In olden times the constellation Leo was represented by a lion with a honey-bee flying out of his mouth, simply to show that at that time of the year 'the honey-bee was most active in gathering his honey. So as the sun passes through cer- tain constellations it is represented as killing them. Here, then, we have our Passover lamb — a "lamb slain from the foundation of the world," or age, that is from the time the sun took up his abode in that constellation at the time of the vernal equinox. CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 85 In the Egyptian mythology we are told of the death of Osiris. A while ago, I said that Spiritualism forms a basic principle in nearly all religions. Osiris was an Egyptian king and priest, the two offices being confined in one person, as was often customary in early days. His tomb was found in some excavations only about four years ago. Spiritualism was blended with astrology, and for some reason, perhaps because Osiris was translated to the sun, he became a representative of the sun, and instead of killing the constellation, he himself was slain once every year by Typhon, the evil genius. His coffin floats down the Nile and becomes locked in a tree that grows around him. This occurred on the 21st of each December ac- cording to our time, but he is found by Isis his wife, and is again brought to life on Christmas day. Thus the old year is put to death, but a new year is born into existence. Mythros of the Persians was also slain by Ahriman the evil genius. Ormuzd was the supreme Deity of the Per- sians, and Mythros was a mediator who was required an- nually to give up his life. Mithraism spread all over Asia nearly two hundred years before the Christian era and was the prevailing religion down till the beginning of the fourth century. Constantine himself was a Mithraist be- fore his conversion to Christianity, and as his Christianity made no change in his ritualism or anything else observa- ble with him, the presumption is that he was a Mithraist even after his professed conversion to Christianity. By an edict, however, he required all Mithraists to become Christians. Any observer of human nature readily sees that in such cases men will profess to be one thing, to avoid persecution, while at heart they are another. In- stead of becoming Christians, Mithraists just changed names and gave the name of Christian to Mithraism, and made no other change than to accept some of the pagan gods that through the Greeks and Romans had crepl into the Mithraic Church and attach to them the names of cer- tain saints. What we now call Christianity is only adulterated Mithraism. Thus it came about that Christianity abandoned its Passover and substituted the Easter of Mithraism in ii- stead, including Dearly all the other institutions of that. cult. The word "PaSSOVer," as I said awhile ago, means crossover. The snn crossed the equator at that time, and thus we come to have the equinox — that is, equal nights. 86 CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. Hitherto the nights had been longer than the days, but now they are shortened and for a day or two are of equal length with the days, then the days become longest. This, then, is the day of redemption, and as the lamb is slain by the passage of the sun into the sign of Aries, we are "redeemed by the blood of the lamb/ 7 Let it be under- stood, then, that Christianity did not invent this pharse; it found it already made to hand and appropriated it. When Christianity appropriated it, it was accustomed to paint its crosses with a lamb hanging on it. Let me say that none of these facts disprove the exist- ence of such a man as Jesus. They only show that in taking up the reformer Jesus, and extolling his character- istics, that they mix Mithraic mythology, just as modern writers take up the biography of Washington and mix into his theology some of this same Mithraism now called Christianity. Spiritualism was born on the 31st day o^ jularch, 1848, and to-day we are celebrating its 54th anniversary to- gether with the tenth anniversary of this society. There is something remarkable about this. The moon had fulled just the evening before, and this was the first full moon of the year. It came then at the exact time of the Pass- over, and no doubt in an early day at the beginning of each year at the vernal equinox they regulated their first day of the week accordingly, so that the first day of the week was always the beginning of the year. Thus Easter Sunday commenced on the identical day of the Passover. This is a remarkable coincidence; but there is another co- incidence, and that is that the regular time for the Jubilee commenced on the 31st of October of this year. The jubilee had not been celebrated since B. C. 600, and then only in a small way, as it was claimed by Jeremiah that the captivity was a punishment for the offense of violating sabbatical years. The first jubilee occurred B. C. 1451, and the last one occurred B. C. 600, and just fifty jubilees from that time, that is, a jubilee of jubilees, takes us down to the 31st of October, 1848. It is a remarkable co- incidence that Spiritualism should have its birth at the right time of the month and year to hit the Passover, and it is still more remarkable that Joshua kept the Passover at the very same time of the year and month, that is what would be our 31st day of March that Spiritualism was in- augurated. I know this to be true, for I have taken the CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 87 pains to calculate the time of the month as now we count time, it occurred. There are 28 to one chances against having the Passover occur on the same day of the year and month. Had Spiritualism been born a few months earlier or later or even a few hours earlier or later it would have failed to fit in the cycle. It came at a time when several cycles meet in the same year. Easter is a prophecy of spring and summer; the flowers of Easter are the promise of ripened fruit. It is a time of rejoicing; for then we know that the long reign of Ahriman, or Typhon, or Satan has passed, and that the coming summer will bring us comfort and happiness. So Spiritualism was the promise of a new era. The dreary mutterings of the pulpit were to either change their tones or be relegated to the darkness of the dark ages where they belong. No more should people be con- fined to the cold, cheerless theologies which consigns nine- tenths of the world to regions of eternal despair, just be- cause of the freak of an erratic creature, by the blind re- ligion of the day called "God." It was announced that Benjamin Franklin had contrived the scheme by which the world of souls was brought in touch with the world, and the first message to the world was that this was the inauguration of a new era. The communication when rapped out read as follows: "You must proclaim these truths to the world. This is the dawning of a new era, and you must not try to conceal it any longer. When you do your duty, God will protect you and good spirits will watch over you." Afterward a letter addressed to Mrs. Fish by her grand- father stated: "My Dear Child: — The day will come when you will understand and appreciate this great dispensation. You must permit your friends to meet with you and hold com- munion with their friends in heaven. "I am your grandfather, JACOB SMITH." Now friends in Spiritualism, a great trust has been com- mitted to our keeping. Arc we worthy of it? It is here for the purpose of enlightening the world. It came in one of I lie greai cycles when it was due 1 1 is a great re- sponsibility that is placed on ns. It IS the ushering in of the millennium that is entrusted to ns. Oh, let us do our work well. The Relation Science Holds to Natural Philosophy; Its Conflict with Every Phase of Religion.— Written by Prof. W. M. Lockwood. The numerous discoveries made by scientific investi- gation during the last quarter of a century, have so far made its inductions popular, that now every divergent system of belief within the domain of sociology would fain employ it in verification of their respective claims. Nothing is more common than to hear an advocate of a dogma or creed cite an induction of science in confirma- tion of some creedal claim postulated in the domain of the unknowable, which postulate if accepted, will have a ten- dency to impress the popular mind with the data and pro- portions of a scientific proof in the conclusions reached. The avidity and eagerness with which all of these assump- tive speculators will grasp at a scientific thought when it seems to promote the truthfulness or strength of their claim, is only equaled by the unqualified zeal with which they will repudiate both science and its formulas, when- ever its inductions are antipodal to, and refute their claims The prevailing looseness with which this class of superficial thinkers employ the term, is manifest in the fact that it is constantly referred to as a schism, and in an individualized sense, when in reality the term science is a general term applicable to those formulas of research by which every branch and department of human knowl- edge is established. Hence it is the name of a method by which natural philosophy as a sequence to scientific in- vestigation is verified; and being the name of a method of SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 89 verification, it cannot be at the same time the name of the fact which it demonstrates. SCIENCE AS CLASSIFIED. One writer affirms that "science is classified knowl- edge." Another, that "science is reasoned truth;" and another that "science is the knowledge of nature, its laws and functions;" and still another affirms that "science and religion will, when man becomes spiritually unfolded, be seen to be one and the same." To all o:E this vague and inconsistent statement we shall enter a most hearty protest. "Science is a system of in- ductive and deductive reasoning. It is a formula of demonstration, as applied to the inductive method, and of syllogistic reasoning as applied to the deductive; hence it can never be employed as a synonym for knowledge, phil- osophy or truth, since it is only the method by which knowledge and truth are established. To illustrate: Mathematics in its application, is the science of quantity; but quantity, per se, is not science, but the result of math- ematical deduction as applied to processes of reckoning quantities. A lumberman's rule is a scientific mechanism, so figured as to enable the dealer to tell at a glance when he lays it upon a board or stick of timber, the number of square or solid feet contained in the lumber thus meas- ured. But the rule itself is not science; neither is the pile of lumber measured science; nor is our knowledge of the square feet in the pile of lumber science, per se, since our knowledge is the result of a system of scientific meas- urement. Electricity is measured in volts of energy and ohms of resistance; but neither volts, ohms, nor electricity is science, since volts and ohms are only units of measure- ment, and electricity the energy measured. Chemical combination depends upon the reciprocal polarity of combining molecules, reckoned in volumes; but neither the volumes of the elemental energies that enter into the combination, nor their molecules or the compound evoked, can be termed science, since chemical science is the system of analysis by which our knowledge of chemical data is made known by demonstration. These facta being in evidence, it will be seen thai knowledge is the synthesis to scientific analysis; the resull of inductive and deductive reasoning. By the term "scientific know 1- 90 SCIENCE AMD PHILOSOPHY. edge/' we mean that superior order of understanding and comprehension which scientific analysis only can educe. The invisible and primary motion belonging to, and individualizing each element of nature is at first only known through or by the phenomena of its actions and reactions in combination with other elements; yet these phenomena have been so accurately tested and classified, that to-day the progressive physicist points out seventy- two, possibly seventy-four elements that enter into and become factors in the visible and invisible processes of cosmic evolution. FLIPPANT LOOSENESS. It is the especial sphere of the student and experi- mentalist in scientific research, to deal directly with the invisible attributes of nature, through the phenomena of the visible. His thoughtful intellect first suggested the term, "modes of motion" as applicable to that invisible relation which one element or factor of nature holds to another; also to suggest that the ganglia of conscious sen- sation in man, are only avenues through which invisible methods of impressing his consciousness connect him to his environment. The flippant looseness with which the popular mind refers to science as the name of knowledge, instead of the method by which the data of knowledge and truth are established, and the reckless disregard they manifest for the real facts upon which the scientific intel- lect builds, is open evidence that their acquaintance with the formulas of science begins with a desire to conserve the name of scientific synthesis when it can be warped into the seeming support of some individual or popular schism, and ends with zealous disregard for anything sci- entific, when it is antipodal to their claim, or no longer conserves their speculative interests. Let us amplify this fact. After being taught in school that nature is a unit — that all of her forces and energies are eternally co-related; after listening to the declarations of learned pulpiteers that the entire universe is a vast system of harmony, a modern writer makes this counter statement. In speak- ing of Spiritualism he says: "Spiritualism is truly a sci- ence. Mathematics is not more surely fixed as a science than is the science of life here and hereafter, called Spir- itualism." "But," this writer goes on to say, "it is a SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 91 spiritual science differing from natural science as widely as spiritual things differ from material things." So, if the assertions of the writer are valuable, "nature is not a unit;" and the universe is not a vast system of harmony, since it includes two antipodal systems of science; the one for the material, and the other for the spiritual world. Now the opinion of this writer, however opposed it is to the inductions of natural philosophy, will find a warm response in the mentality of public opinion. That cosmic science has nothing to do with spirit or spiritual things, still lingers in the popular mind, a relic of past forms of thought, as instructed in the days of Calvin and Cotton Mather. THE MENTAL TANGLE. Here is another pen picture of the mental tangle that a modern writer gets into when affirming the incompe- tency of scientific method to deal with spiritual things. The writer lays down the two following postulates, both of which are incomplete and erroneous, and contain in their application grave inconsistencies. The writer affirms in postulate No. 1: "Science is the knowledge of nature, its laws or functions." Postulate No. 2: "Spirit is nature manifesting in these laws or functions." Affirmation. "To test the higher by the lesser is effort misapplied — the reverse of cause and effect." If spirit be considered the higher, and science the lesser, then applying postulate No. 1, we analyze that to test nature (which is spirit in manifestation) by science (which is our knowledge of nature), is effort misapplied. In other words, to test nature by knowledge, "is the re- verse of cause and effect." Most unfortunate are these postulates that both admit and deny the central proposi- tion; for it will be seen that if science is knowledge of nature, then science is knowledge of spirit and its mani- festations, and to the extent of this knowledge, science has compassed spirit and tested the higher. Here is another paragraph of the same kind of reasoning. "If there is that which is beyond science, and there is the great realm of super-consciousness in human exist- ence, that realm can take possession of science, can make science its handmaiden." - The realm thai is "above," "over," or "beyond" con- sciousness as applied to lack of knowledge of cosmic pro- 92 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. cesses, is ignorance. That the realm of ignorance can take possession of science is not true; that it has tried and still is trying to possess it, seems true, as it witnessed in the terms "Christian Science," "Occult — (obscure) — Science," and the like; but that it can make science its handmaiden is doubtful, since it seems more inclined to make it a mop. TALKING TJP A VACUUM. But however quaint and incongruous these postulates and paragraphs cited are, and in what beggarly states of incompetency the author attempts to leave science, we can agree that all such talkers and writers "about the scientific demonstration of Spiritualism, are simply talk- ing up a vacuum." Indeed, we might say with a great degree of truthfulness, that all such talk and criticism of science emanates in a vacuum. It will be a day of real emancipation of man from the fogs of ecclesiasticism — a real awakening from the hypnotic slumber of theological suggestion, when all of these expositors of ancestral be- liefs become sufficiently awake mentally to sense the in- tellectual poverty of their methods of reasoning, and the tattered and torn logic with its sequences, with which they seek to cover and bolster up individual opinion, or some remnant of oriental phantasy. Eyes have they, but evidently they have not read that fully twenty-four hundred years ago the philosophic intellect of that time declared the spirituality of all elements and substances of which matter is composed, which affirmation has never been disproved, but grows more luminous with the dis- coveries of modern time. Ears have they, but they seem dead to the fact that in nearly every college in the civil- ized world a chair is endowed to instruct that all nature and her processes are eternally co-related by invisible formula called "modes of motion." These facts being in evidence, we affirm that science does not deal with mate- rial things in the general sense in which that term is understood, but with those invisible energies and elements which the thinkers and philosophers of every age have called spiritual. Hence in exact language there can be no such thing as "a material science;" but we do have sci- ences of the formation of matter. Neither do we have "physical science;" but rather sciences of the evolution and development of physical organization. Besides these self-evident facts, science itself, in any and all of its ap- SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 03 plications is a formula of intellectual sequences; therefore cannot be material or physical in the sense claimed. VIEWS IN EEFEEENCE TO GOD. No one ever saw the life principle of oxygen or hydro- gen, or that of any element or compound or form of ex- istence, as they are invisible spiritual entities, and are known to the physicist as life energies. It is a ludicrous commentary on the consistency of thought of these critics of science, who affirming "God as the first great cause," "The Infinite Intelligence" "who created the world and all cosmic process out of his Holy Spirit," that he — God — should have made a visible world; that he gave to oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and all other elements of nature their respective life motions and established their combining proportions, that every form and ty pe of life was "a spirit- ual design;" and yet this God, this "First Great Cause," this "Infinite Intelligence," is accused in all of these loose criticisms, of being "A MATERIALIST," and the author of materialism. He is accused of creating the visible uni- verse of material things. Poor God! We feel sorry for him — thus to be libeled and lied about, if he is the author of the universe, by those who claim to worship him in spirit and in truth. Strange spirit of criticism that re- flects the authorship of materialism upon God who is claimed to have made all things from spirit by the omnipotence of design! What an uncertain and irregular ideal of "truth" and consistency of thought to affirm God as a spirit, and that cosmos and its processes were made and evoked by his "Holy Spirit," and then to denounce in dogmatic terms the materiality of its visibility and co- relations. Just to think, what a tremendous throb of spiritual volition is required on the part of the credulous penitent to make him believe that God, the Hebrew Jehovah, made infinitude in six days of the pagan calendar; lie also made self-existing principles called laws; lie made twice two four; he established the theorems (self-existing principles) of mathematics; and the equations (the polar balance of combining molecules) of chemical physics. More I has all of this, he established the combining proportions of the heterogeneous spiritual substances of which God is likej and in which he is, — all of this musl be believed. Whal a constant, prayerful, religions self-hypnotism is required 94 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. to keep the believers' faith in the possibility of these assumptions. And then to have pulpit and pew malign God for making a materialistic world out of his own spiritual substance, is, to say the least, unpardonable, and a libel upon "Infinite Intelligence." How inconsistently and questionably the human glorifies and honors his God, by claiming "a material sci- ence for the material world" which he affirms God made, and "a spiritual science for a spiritual world/'- out of which his God made the material universe. This almost universal method of imputing the crudeness of materiality and material things to God, comprises the fundamental idiosyncrasy of religious worship and belief. No wonder that Voltaire should say that, "One of the lovely proofs of religion is that it is unintelligible." When the critics and scoffers of science can get out of this rut of incon- sistency, when they are no longer in mental conflict within> themselves as to the relation of the invisible to the visible in cosmic process; when they are able to dis- entangle themselves from the mental dilemma they are in by assuming that God's spirit as a motion of omnipotent energy is in no way related to matter except by the domi- nation of miraculous power; when they cease to assume "material laws for material things," and "spiritual laws for spiritual things;" when they can free their intellect from all of this rubbish' of pagan concept and modern superstition, they will at least cease to traduce their God by reviling the material world which they affirm he made. PSEUDO SCIENTIST. The term, "pseudo scientist," whoever or whatever is meant by it, seems to be a common and convenient club in the hands of this constituency, to belabor and malign all those who favor the scientific method of -investigation, and who oppose the assumptive arrogance of an illiterate and dogmatic theism. The use of the term in this con-, nection however is a most unwise selection, but it fully indicates the lack of erudition and cogent common sense of those who employ it. The term "Pseudo" is from the Greek; and means, "lying" and "false." As these critics apply it to science or to a scientist, it is a paradox. In the correct use of words and their application there can be no such thing as a "false science" or a "lying scientist," so far as the term science applies to methods of demonstrating truth and SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 95 knowledge. A man is not a scientist until he demon- strates truth; and in the demonstration of truth, he is not a liar. But unfortunately for our critics the term does apply with a strong emphasis to false and lying teachers and instructors; and we will submit that any cleric or teacher who instructs that God or Infinite Intelligence was the creator of Infinitude, is in every sense a pseudo teacher. Any cleric or instructor who affirms that in the cosmic order of time a God or Infinite Intelligence can be or is Infinite, is a pseudo instructor, since God or Infinite In- telligence has not existed to-morrow. Therefore we affirm that any God known to the canvas of time and the human imagination that depends upon the never-ceasing ticks of the clock of time for his unperfected infinity is as finite in the processes of time and in the duration yet to be, as any existence of time and space. And we furthermore submit, that any teacher or class of people who affirm God as the spiritual cause of all cosmic process, who instruct that matter which they claim God made, is "dead," and "crude," and "inert," thereby assuming that to this extent God's spirit is dead' and crude and inert, and that his effort to make matter o,ut of his spirit died in the material, not only vilify and traduce the spiritual omnipo- tence of the God they profess to believe in and worship, but they are the greatest infidels of the age, since all chemical experiments demonstrate that there can be no such thing as crude and dead matter. The antipodes are no further away from their opposites, than is the realm of cogent reasoning from the sphere of this ignorance and mental perjury. THE HUMAN MIND. It is this class of pseudo teachers, who are continually berating what they call the "finiteness of the human mind." Mind- is the mental expression of the soul; and if it can be proven as our critics claim that the soul came from God, then it is as infinite as God. If it be held that the soul is an evolution, then it is as infinite in duration as the factors that evoke and sustain it, and its province as a progressive entity is to discover more am! more of infini- tude, hence in no sense is this clerical criticism true. Man's mind and intellect is limited in knowledge and in its capacity to acquire it, but as a progressive soul, man is 96 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. not finite. These pseudo teachers not only instruct the finiteness of the human mind, but they continually criti- cise in terms of moral obloquy what they call "man's physical senses/' seeming to be entirely oblivious to the fact that in the constitution of man as a spiritual ego, he can have no such thing as a physical sense; for the reason that all sensations emanate in the realm of consciousness; and consciousness is a sentient attribute of the soul. The avenues and tracts of the sensory system connecting the external world to human consciousness may seem to be physical in their visible aspect, but their functions are of psychical character, since these tracts convey only invisi- ble modes of molecular motion to man's consciousness, which upon being impressed has sensation in accord with the molecular structure of the avenue through which the sensation is evoked. TUTELAEY GODS. The states of mental hypnosis upon the public mind in consequence of adherence to ecclesiastical beliefs, in con- nection with the prevailing ignorance of the cerebral re- lation of man's conscious principle to methods of sensa- tion and the general formulas of knowledge, give oppor- tunity for all this class of pseudo instructors to belittle not only mankind, but even the very avenues through which only he can have knowledge of his environment. It seems almost incredible that anyone, claiming to accept the inductions of science and the higher life, can continue to stake their morals upon the Bible of an adulterous age, and the claimed miracles of its numerous Gods. While affirming the central postulates of evolution, they instruct as the basis of literary ethics, the Mosaic theory of crea- tion. Assuming in private and public the inductions of geology and archeology as proof of the great antiquity of man, they continually refer to the Bible Adam as a fact. With the history of the various systems of theogony (the gods) of the nations of the past in every public library, they claim Jehovah — the Hebrew Yahve — a national and tutelary god of the Jews, as the Creator and First Great Cause of cosmos. x\ll tutelary gods and deities were the spirits of deified men, and are so accounted in all history and mythology. Now when any thinker refuses to be- lieve that the spirit of a deified man made the heavens and the earth, he is met with the epithets of "atheist," "infidel," "materialist," etc.; as an expression of public SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 97 and personal contempt on the part of those in sympathy with this god of pagan idolatry. That science as the formula of inductive and deductive reasoning can gain the recognition of those under the cloud and in the foils of this hypocrisy and hypnosis will be rare phenomena. Whenever a man's zeal is so great that he can ask you to perjure your intellect in the acceptance of the principles of his faith, such zeal is greater than the man's moral con- victions of the value of truth. Science has always been of questionable value in the realm of religious faith. Indeed, we can say with the greatest truthfulness, that religious zeal and faith unfit a man to be a student of science, for the reason that with belief and faith estab- lished a mind is disqualified to investigate those facts which have a tendency to dethrone his faith. SCIENCE AND RELIGION. Religion postulates an unknown and unknowable God, either anthropomorphic, spiritual, or cosmic, yet possess- ing individualized intelligence and personal designs, in- finitely diffused through space and expressed in matter, as the "First Great Cause" of infinitude — of that which has always existed. Science postulates the eternal invisible elemental en- ergies of nature, infinitely co-related by principles of polar attraction and repulsion, with an inherent tendency to evoke higher forms of existence in the evolution and de- velopment of all cosmic phenomena. Religion affirms its God or First Great Cause as an in- telligence outside of matter, that molds it into form. Science affirms that the power and potency to evolve all forms of matter and types of life inheres in the elements of nature and in their combining processes. Religion claims matter to be "dead, crude and inert;" necessitating an omnipotent power with special designs to create forms of matter, and types of life. Science demonstrates that every molecule of the active principle of all known elements is an energizing life prin- ciple, which in its various spheres of combination evokes form and life of infinite variety of expression. Religion affirms God as the Firs! Great Cause as beyond nature and superior to it, therefore supernatural. Science affirms nature to be Belf-existenl and eternal; hence there can be do supernatural. 98 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. Eeligion pictures its God as possessing the character- istics and features of man with pro-creative function and capable of being pleased and displeased. Science sees no form or features of an anthropomorphic God, or of a First Great Cause in the analysis of Cosmic factors — it recognizes only co-related elemental energies, each of which is omnipotent in its sphere of action. Religion formulates the term "Law," as the edict, com- mand, or volition of its God, in the control and continua- tion of cosmic processes. Science affirms "eternal principle" as the order of nature, the factors of which were never made, nor can they be changed. All religions are based upon the concept of the duality of matter and spirit. Science postulates "spiritual infinitude," the elements of which are manifestations of an infinite variety of primordial spiritual substances, each of which so far as is known has its own individual polarity, which fact is ascertained by its action and reaction in combination with other elements. Hence the student in scientific physics affirms the eternal unity of spiritual elements and matter, matter being the product of the spiritual elements of nature, in combination. Eeligion affirms that God molds matter into form. Science demonstrates that the elements of nature com- bine upon a plane of "polar resistance," which means that elements resist combination until their individual polari- ties are mutually overcome by the action of other element or elements upon them. With reciprocal polarities mutually changed, a new system of polar combination is evoked, bringing with it and inducing the phenomenon of the compound. Science affirms that this combining process does not depend upon a God acting from without or within the combining molecules, but upon the mathe- matical and polar relation and amount of each of the combining elements by weight or volume. Upon the un- varying integrity of the data of chemical combinations are established the principles of the Chemical Balance and Chemical Equations, and the application of these cosmic principles demonstrates nature to be automatic and self- existent. The facts upon which the equational character of nature is established had their inception in the experi- ments of the immortal Lavoisier and Sir Humphrey Day; SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. 99 and with other facts subsequently discovered have been voiced in treatises on Chemistry and taught in schools, academies and colleges for nearly a hundred years, and are still being taught; while the infidels in the pulpits, the pseudo teachers en the rostrum and a large element of civilization "false 7 ' to the inductions and demonstrations of its own colleges and universities, continue to recite the errors and sophisms of ecclesiasticism and to accept its sorcery of the forgiveness of sin, its ordinations, conse- crations, dedications, and installations, platitudes and formula of pagan idolatry when its systems of theology and theogony, and its religion consisted in the worship of its idols Phallus and Yoni. That these low and sensu- ous ideals introduce Christianity and its ecclesiastical hierarchy, is witnessed in the recital by the evangels re- garding the birth of Jesus. COXSTAXTINE THE GREAT. The historical fact that "Constantine the Great," a born pagan who was titled "Pontifex Maximus," "Emperor and Supreme Dignitary of the Pagan Hierarchy," who lived and died a pagan, issued an edict in the year 321 changing the day of pagan worship from Saturn's-day to Suns-day, and another edict in 325 calling in convention the Nicene Council which fastened upon future generations the story of the phallic incest of one of the tutelary gods of the Jews as is testified in the tradition in the New Testament of the "immaculate conception" of Jesus, is historical and logical proof as strong as the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, of the pagan origin of ecclesiastical dogma. The same Nicene Council issued a canon uniting in holy communication the festival of the phallic divinity Eastre, worshiped by the ancient Celts, and the festival of Bele- tine (Baael worship) as practiced in the north of Ger- many, and our modern Easter, all and each of them of phallic origin. Let the thinker think. The fact that these monstrous dogmas have given birth to 328 distinct hybrid religious Bchisms, each with its salaried priests and sign-boards pointing oul "the only true way." and cadi proclaiming "the gospel of glad tidings," thai '"I am the only true way" — "all of the resl arc infidels, heretics and sinners," is further evidence of their pagan origin, and of their persistent adherence to pagan methods of demon- strating the superiority and divinity of their respective- religions. 100 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. That continuity of life can ever be established and proven by any of these ridiculous schisms, is an inconsist- ent sophism. That the time will ever come when science and religious platitude will be one and the same, is the idle dream of intoxicated religious zeal. THE SUPERNATURAL. All religions deal with the supernatural. Science in- vestigates only the natural. All religions include faith in the mythical, the wonderful and the miraculous. Science repudiates the miraculous and the metaphysical, and re- sorts to thorough and consecutive analysis before it pre- sents its truths. Religion asks only blind adherence to faith. Science demands demonstration. A religion that contains an unknowable postulate, is antagonistic to sci- entific investigation and analysis. As all religions known to the page of history and modern thought, do contain unknowable factors, there can never be a scientific re- ligion. Spiritualism in its synthetic analysis has none of the features of religion; for the reason that its premise established in the infinite spirituality of all of nature's forces, affords an orderly and logical analysis of the natural features by which we demonstrate in precise se- quences the philosophy of the evolution of the soul of man as a progressive entity of nature. Hence its philoso- phy is capable of the most careful analysis, while its syn- thesis will be found to be composed of logical sequences containing precise data. In a general sense Spiritualism is the philosophy of the possibility and capability of the spirit of the human after its disembodiment, to make its individuality manifest to those still in the form. Not only this, but it demonstrates how this mental association takes place, by an analysis of the natural co-relation of all cosmic elements and forces, which must include mental, cerebral and conscious modes of motion. While Spiritualism contains none of the fea- tures of religion, its system of synthetic ethics transcends in beauty and eloquence of thought the progressive pos- sibilities of the human soul in the realm of spirit life, far beyond that voiced in any religion, or outlined by mortal pen. It's representatives are too progressive in intellect to consent to worship forever at the throne of a pagan god who can be pleased with the adulations and praise of ignorant humanity. The gods of all religious cults are relics of a mythologi- SCIENCE AXD PHILOSOPHY. 101 cal and traditional past, and although voiced in Bibles and so-called Sacred cosmogonies they had their origin when it was customary to deify great men and claim their spirits lived in the Sun, Moon and Stars of Heaven, and to perpetuate their memories by voicing their caprices, passions and revengeful natures. Read the history of the fierce and revengeful character of the Jewish Jehovah as portrayed in the pentateuch, and his tutelary nature will be seen in every chapter. These gods of a sensuous past are fast disappearing be- fore the search-light of science and archaeology, and giv- ing place to the broader and wiser view that nature is in- finite in extension, automatic in its functional character, therefore will be unending in duration. The intelligent Spiritualist and thinker argues that in- finitude could not be infinite in capacity, unless its spirit- ual elements possessed all of the omnipotence and possi- bilities expressed on the canvas of time in cosmic evolu- tion. AS TO FIEST CAUSE. This omnipotent power and function of Infinitude in cosmic process, he offers in place of that which a pagan age ascribed to its numerous gods, and a modern theology so illogical ly represents in a "First Great Cause," or an Overruling Power. The consistent thinker affirms that there can be no First Cause to that which has eternally existed, or an Overruling Power in the infinitude of co- related forces — such thought end claim is assumptive, in- consistent, dogmatic and infidel to the inductions of uni- versities, colleges and a scientific age. The Saviors of Spiritualism are those who extend the boundaries of human knowledge and brush away from the intellect the fogs and nightmares of ancestral super- stitions. Its "all-seeing eye" is the demonstration that all factors of nature, all modes of motion have a polar and mathematical relation to its phenomena, hence mental modes of motion contain vibrations reciprocal and polar to other mentalities; and tin's principle is universal. The patriarchs of Spiritualism are the unnumbered dead, who in their time discovered truths before unknown and laid them upon the altar of human progression. Its apostles are all those in every clinic who are continuing to make new discoveries in the various avenues ,,f tin- sci- ences of cosmos, and who thus labor to make the to- 102 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. morrow of mankind wiser and better. Its code of morals is good health, reciprocal justice for the here and now, and a thorough knowledge of human environment. Its rewards, a growing realization of the possibility of human improvement during man's life on the earth plane, and continued existence and progression in a life beyond the grave — nature's own free gift to every son and daughter of mankind. As to the Existence of a God. Famous Mathematical Argument Critically Reviewed by Prof. J. 5. Loveland, Summerland, Cal. I am more than gratified at your enterprise in finding the author of the chapter in the Arabula about which there was so much discussion. I knew that A. J. Davis was not the author, but who was I could not tell. But the authorship being settled, with your permission, I wish to submit a brief review of the argument advanced by the writer. He claims that his essay is a mathematical demon- stration of the existence and universal activity of a per- sonal Deity. Everybody knows that mathematics is the exact science, therefore, if the argument is really a mathematical one,' nothing further can be said. No one will deny that 2 plus 2 equals 4, nor that the whole is equal to the sum of all its parts. But have we any such demonstration in this article? I answer most emphatically, No! The author makes a most defiant challenge to anyone who should dare to controvert the logic of his contention. And yet I do not recollect ever reading anything more lacking in genuine logic than this effusion. Instead of being logical, it is a mass of rhetorical verbiage; and when you occasionally find a syllogism in form, it is completely vitiated by the fact that one of the premises is an un- proved assumption. But, in this respect, he is at one with every person who has ever attempted to prove a Peine person. He rejects Paley's argument, and points AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. 103 out some of its defects, and then perpetrates the same de- feet. He says Paley does not prove the fact of creation. Neither does he. Both of them assume creation because proof is impossible, also because neither could commence their argument without such assumption. Paley's argu- ment is far the ablest. It really includes our author's, but his cannot include Paley's, which embodies a purpose and the adaptation of means to accomplish that purpose. The fatal defect of Palej^s argument is, in the assumption of the identity of mechanical and vital action. He assumed sameness in the construction of a watch and the evolution and action of a living being. EESTS UPON ASSUMPTION. Our author submits that his "argument assumes a bold tentative." That is emphatically true, for his argument, from beginning to end, rests upon assumptions which he does not prove, nor even attempt to prove. After sub- mitting four statements as to the "true nature of causa- tion," he lays down his basic assumption in the following terms: "Causation alone resides in mind; that matter never can be a cause; and therefore, that every phenome- non in the universe is, and ever must be, but the effect of intellectual force exerted by pure volition." In another place he states it thus: "All the motions of nature are strictly mathematical. Then must it follow as a con- clusion utterly unassailable, that every effect in the uni- verse is produced by the immediate agency of mind." Now, if these propositions are admitted, there is no need, no room, for argument. It would be a needless waste of time. If every motion in nature; every tremor of every leaf on every tree in countless forests; if every ripple, on all the seas and lakes of the world; if every breeze, that stirs the air, and the endless motions of the millions of worlds in space, are "but the effect of intellect- ual force exerted by pure volition," then we have nothing to replv. AVe could only bow our heads and Bay, with YV. J. Colville, "all is God at last." But we deny the assumption and demand the proof. Why is it not pro- duced? Because there is none to produce. Is the mighty energy — Gravitation — which binds worlds and Bystema <>l worlds together, "intellectual force exerted by pure volition?"' I* il pure volition which causes the Btone to fall 10 feet in one second and twice as many (he next? Is "intellectual force" in direct ratio to the amount and in- 104 AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. versely to the square of the distance of bodies moved? These suppositions, absurd as they are on their face, must be accepted as truth if all causation resides in mind. But this causative mind acts in a most unaccountable manner. To-day it causes a gentle ripple on the face of the ocean, and to-morrow a tidal wave sweeps homes and people to sudden destruction. One day, the sun shines from a cloudless sky, and the next a tempest sweeps over a doomed city engulfing millions of wealth and unknown hundreds of people. Beautiful harmony exists in the ele- ments to-day, but to-morrow the cyclone desolates and kills. In one year, the seasonable rains cause plenty to abound, in the next they come not, and gaunt famine, with all its ghastly horrors, sweeps millions of starving wretches to most horrible deaths. But these are "phenomena of nature/' and are "but* the effects of intellectual force exerted by pure volition," affirms our author. It is useless to swell the catalogue of analogous phenomena, or point to the fact that there is not one iota of evidence that they are the product of men- tal causation. On the contrary, the prima facie evidence, addressing both matter and intellect, proclaims material causation. The writer assumes the absolute inertia of matter. But every one knows this to be false. All matter is in per- petual motion, so far as the whole is concerned, and only relative inertia can be affirmed of any particular part. And that every atom of material substance is in constant motion is, beyond all question, a fact. CAUSATIVE FOBCES. But let us consider the phenomena of life, in the vege- table and animal kingdoms. Here is a vast field of phe- nomena. Here is motion, continuous, and perpetual in a relative sense. As illustrative, take the human organ- ism. There is blood and nerve circulation — digestion — absorption — assimilation, growth and the repair of waste, etc. Our minds have nothing whatever to do with these numerous functions or motions of organic life. Our mental power is entirely dependent upon them, instead of being their cause. It is the saliva, gastric juice, gall and the pancreating secretions*, and not mind, which are causative forces in digesting the food. And it is air and electricity which purify the blood in the lungs, and not AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. 105 mind, which has nothing to do directly with the action of these vital functions. But air is matter, not mind. If matter is, in the abso- lute sense, inert, that is dead, incapable of motion, in fact, possessing no properties of its own, then it must be mere unresisting stuff, which mind can use as it pleases (pro- Tided that one thing can act on another which possesses nothing in common therewith). Such is not the fact, for we find ourselves limited on every hand by the properties of matter. The rock has hardness and weight, which limit mind in many ways. Water is a necessity, but it will run down hill in spite of mind. It will quench thirst, fire and life itself if we are immersed therein. It will buoy our ships, or swallow them up, if greatly angered by the winds. Electricity blazes in the air, produces tremen- dous concussions, and tears trees and other objects in pieces. It produces varied and powerful effects. Is it inert? Is it mind? Has it no properties? If not a causating energy, what is it ? ACTION OF THE SUN. Our Sun is the center of stupendous energy. It exerts a force equal to a horse power upon every square rod of the earth's surface, and lifts from that surface fifteen tons of water every year to a height of from two to five miles.. It radiates a constant flow of light in every direction for hundreds of millions of miles. It is con- tinually throwing immense masses of molten matter from a few thousand to two hundred thousand miles from its surface. The magnetic conditions of our earth are con- tinually modified by the influence of the sun. It is the potent cause of these and many other effects. Is the sun mind, or matter? Does it exert intellectual volition? The common sense answer is this: The sun is a center of causative energy, and exerts that energy entirely indepen- dent of any mind in the universe. In fact, the vast field of causation is essentially that of physical substance, while that of pure mentality is very, very small. Let us now grapple with our author's mathematics, and, if I mistake not, we shall find his mathematical argument as shallow as his positions upon causation. I will state his positions in his own words. "Proposition 1. The perception of mathematical truth evinces mind of a lofty order. Corollary: To evolve mathematical motions, or in plainer terms to work math- 106 AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. ematicajly, evinces mind of a still loftier order. For to evolve mathematical motions unquestionably implies their perception. Nothing but mind can work mathemati- cally." In reply, I submit, that it is not true that "the percep- tion of mathematical truth evinces mind of a lofty order," for every mind not semi-idiotic perceives such truth. That 2 plus 2 equal 4 is perceived almost universally. By the ignorant as well as the learned. That the whole is equal to the sum of all its parts, and is greater than any one of them are mathematical formulaes comprehended by all people. "To work mathematically" does not "evince mind of a still loftier order." Zerah Colburn, when a mere boy, could work out mathematical problems in a most wonderful manner, but he never evinced any superi- ority of mind, and when his education was attempted he lost his boyhood capacity for solving problems. MUSIC. Music is mathematical, according to our author, but the great musicians have not evinced any loftiness of mind except in their own specialty. Blind Tom was a musical prodigy, but is said to have been almost an idiot in other directions. Sir Isaac Newton, notwithstanding his mathematical genius, was extremely credulous and super- stitious, as shown in his work on the prophecies. Zerah Colburn evidently did not comprehend the principles in- volved in his answers to the problems submitted to him for solution any more than do the children, who perform wonders on musical instruments with no instruction, com- prehend the science of music. Come with me to a beehive. Please observe the con- struction of the comb. No mathematician has ever been able to construct a series of cells of more perfect form for the utilization of space than does the honeybee. Here is mathematical motion and working; and here, according to our author, is mind of the "loftiest order." I can allow of no shuffling or dodging the issue. If there is any such thing as mathematical working, the honey-bee is the work- er, and hence "evinces mind of the loftiest order!" More- over, according to this Mathematical Demonstration, the bee is conscious of his capacity and comprehends the prin- ciples of mathematical working. Let us apply another phase of our author's argumenta- AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. 107 tion, or rather combine his causation and mathematical arguments together. We are still at the beehive. The beautiful, mathemati- cally formed comb is before us. Nothing more perfect for the purpose is possible. But it is an effect. A math- ematical one. It must have a cause. That cause must be mind — mathematical mind. Where is it? Step forth, honey-bee. There is your cause! Your "lofty type of mind." And it is neither male nor female. It is a neuter. But the comb is a perfect geometrical form, and it ac- complishes two purposes. One, as before stated, secures the most usable room with the least waste of space. Every cell has the same number of sides, and for thousands of generations the honey-bee has always evolved the. same perfect form. The other end secured, by this form, is the use of the least possible material in the construction of the comb-cells. This is an important item, for the cell mate- rial costs the bee much more labor than the honey stored therein. He thus makes his mathematics contribute to his economy. It saves labor. ESSENTIALLY PERFECT. Now, suppose we allow mind to the bee. Instead of being mind of the "loftiest order" it is the lowest. It is the instinctive instead of the reasoning mind. But, in its sphere it is essentially perfect. It never mistakes, and it never improves — never varies in its mode of working. Take the most profound mathematician, who had never seen the comb of the honey-bee, and require him to con- struct a series of cells with the greatest capacity and the smallest amount of material. How long would it take him to invent it? But the honey-bee does it as soon as born. To work mathematically does not evince the "loftiest order of mind.' For that type, we must look to Herbert Spencer, Huxley, Tyndall, Comte, Marx, Victor Hugo, Davy, Darwin and many others. In glancing over this production, one cannot fail to see that there is very great lack of argument even in form, but a great abundance of more illustration which is dig- nified with the appellation of 'Induction." This gives wide scope for the author's fertile rhetoric One example will suffice as answer to the whole series of inductions. We will select chemistry as that example. He grows en- thusiastic and eloquent over the definite proportions of 108 AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. chemistry. He analyzes a cup of water and finds the in- variable "two to one in quantity and one to eight in weight" of hydrogen and oxygen in its composition, and fiercely denounces as the "moral felons" of the universe those who reject his hypothesis. In the air and limestone he finds the same law of definite proportion. But these well known facts of chemistry prove nothing in favor of his assumption of a mathematical god revealed to him in a Texas flower. Until he proves the fact of creation his whole article is a mass of meaningless verbiage. The "moral felons" say to him, there never was a creation. All substance is eternal. In it exists atoms, molecules, tendencies, forces, which necessitate motion, which, with attraction and repulsion, cause endless sucession of forms. In chemical combinations there can be no different pro- portion, from the fact that the shape and gravity of the atoms is such that no other is possible. The very nature and properties of the atom and molecule necessitates the precise union which occurs. MEEE CHANCE. But, instead of answering the real position of the athe- ist, he disingenuously and falsely assumes that the atheist attributes all the wondrous phenomena of nature to mere chance. He knew, if he knew anything about the con- troversy, that every one, whom he terms "moral felons," was an advocate of eternal Order, and a denier of any- thing approximating chance. They affirm that the "Universe is a system of Perfect Order," which includes "Causes and Effects — Means and Ends — Instruments and Uses." Dr. Holmes or Emerson say chance? No! Both said "Order." That is, his labored document simply set forth the orderly method in which the phenomena of the Cos- mos occurred, as the result of the workings of eternal en- ergy. His attempt to get round this rational position by a long calculation of chances is an absurd effort to escape a real difficulty and bolster up his fallacies by a loud out- cry that Order doesn't do anything, and that law is not a force but a method. All intelligent persons know that strictly speaking law means method of doing, but they also know that the term is used far more frequently to ex- press energy, and especially in the phrase "laws of nature," where it almost invariably signifies the forces of nature, instead of the mere order or mode of action. This AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. 109 statement of fact scatters to the winds his long disserta- tion upon law, and leaves intact the reply of Holmes and Emerson — "Order" — as a complete answer to his labori- ous rhetorical lucubration. It would be germane to this review, to here introduce argument showing the impossibility of Creation. That, of itself, would be sufficient answer and refutation of the essay under consideration. But instead, I refer the reader to a recent article of mine in The Progressive Thinker demonstrating the absolute impossibility of Creation. Hence, without repeating the argument, I remark that it completely overthrows the main contention of our author, and leaves his article as a simple statement of the inher- ent, uncreated causation and mathematics of nature. OXE OF ITS WEAKEST FEATURES. But, as I purpose a thorough refutation of this much discussed essay, I call special attention to one of its weak- est and most offensive features. I do not refer to the vin- dictive abuse of unbelievers, though that alone ought to consign any document to the waste basket, but to the de- fence of the god he discovered in a Texas flower and Plato's affirmation, "God Geometrises," in connection with the origin of evil. The question of evil is a sore one for all theists,but the assumptions of our author make the character of his god the most repulsive and detestable of all the creations of the human imagination. Let us recall some of his positions. "Causation alone resides in mind. Matter can never be a cause." Speaking of cause and effect he says: "The former (cause) is first, both in logic and chronology/' Well, if God is the First Cause, he is the only real cause, for all secondary causes, if there be any such, are only the effect of the first or primal cause. They are only streams from the original fountain, hence the stream is only the fountain in another form, and in essence is the same. The character of the fountain can be perfectly known by that of the stream flowing there- from. Therefore, the only induction possible is, thai Cod Is the actual and responsible author of all evil. The fearful storm which wrecked Galveston was qoI the resull of any combination and action of natural forces, "hut the effeei of intellectual force exerted by pure volution." The famines in India, winch sweep off millions by the horrid process of starvation, are all "effects of the intellectual 110 AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. force" of God "exerted by pure volition." Our author's God, in fact, any Creative God, is a wholesale murderer of the creatures he has made. He is the author of all forms of crime, and all the degradation and savagery on the earth. Nothing exists but what originated in him. Devils, murderers, thieves, etc., bear his image as really as the tallest archangel in the Hierarchy of the Heavens. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL. How does our author dispose of these sweeping deduc- tions from his own premises ? Why, he holds up his hands in holy horror at the "blasphemy" of the "unprincipled atheist," who dares to urge the legitimate deductions from his own premises. He then attempts to escape the crush- ing force of these inferences by the subterfuge that they rest only against the character, but not the existence of a Deity. "The problem of evil," he says, "is demonstrably insolvable without a direct revelation from heaven, and for the obvious reason that the existence of evil is a con- tingent, not a necessary truth." Aha! "A contingent?" that is an accidental truth! It simply happened that evil came into the world ! What an admission. And that too from the man posing as a logician, and as a mathematician calculating the impossibility of a chance combination of five petals in a great number of flowers, and then pro- claiming the existence of moral evil a chance — an acci- dent! Look in your Dictionary and study the meanings of the word "contingent," and apply them to this God, who is such a precise mathematician that he can't allow the slightest divergence from the exact number of five petals in the famous Texas flower, nor from the same number of atoms in each chemical combination, or fingers and toes on man; or eyes, ears, arms or legs, etc., etc. There is no contingency here — no chance happening. But when he came to the moral nature of man, where untold ages of agony, if not eternal torment in hell, was involved, by some sort of chance, or contingency, he allowed or de- creed — caused moral evil or sin in man. The tears of woe that evil has caused would float all the navies of the world. The groans and sighs of agony would, if concentrated, drown the cannonade of Gettysburg or the Wilderness. And this God caused it all "contingently." What a God! Another quibble is, that no one knows the reason why God caused moral evil. Not even a seraph can know or give the reason. It is sufficient answer to say that no AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. Ill seraphic insight is necessary, for plain common sense is equal to the emergency. The God who caused moral evil did so because it was part of his nature. Nothing can come from any being that is not in, and of, that being. Hence, the Christian God proclaims "I make good and create evil." Our author then indulges in suppositions. Perhaps God created evil, and the consequent suffering, to enhance our future happiness. If we need sin to make our future more glorius, so does God also. Perhaps it was to create an opportunity to display his great mercy. Yes, indeed! Such a mercy. He plunges us into the filth and hell of sin in order to get the credit of taking us out on certain conditions. It is a wonderful mercy to help a man out of the ditch into which you have pushed him. But all the suppositions are the turnings and twistings of a man com- pletely cornered by his own absurdities. CHARACTEE OF GOD. But now let us analyze more closely the assumption that our positions only touch the character of the assumed God, but not the fact of his existence. God and his char- acter are not two things. His character is the en semble of his nature. His attributes, or perfections, constitute his being. His character is himself. It is claimed that he is infinite in all the elements of his being; Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Immutable, Holy and Good. Infinite Goodness and Holiness could never cause evil arid suffering. Immutability would mean the same "yesterday, to-day and forever." The same principles would rule in all time and all worlds. He could neither do, nor permit the doing of wrong. But the whole trend of our author's argument reveals his God as allowing, causing and doing the wrong, he be- ing the causating energy and "intellectual force" produc- ing all things and motions in nature, and in perpetual conflict with himself. Evil existing in God must be eternal much more than with the atheist as he charges. But we advance one step farther with our argument, and submit that no being possessed of unity and perfec- tion of nature can possibly an I agonize itself. Light can- not become darkness. Cold eannol become heat, nor can truth become falsehood. Nothing can become its oppo- site. But the argument of .mm- author proves, if it proves anything, that the infinite God is in perpetual conflict 112 AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. with himself, as he is made the producing cause of all that is, and all that happens; that is, of all substance and all phenomena or motion. But, this is impossible, in the very nature of things. It contradicts, and therefore de- stroys itself. Hence, his labored essay falls to the ground, and proves nothing but the fact that the human intellect is subject to the wildest forms of self-delusion. THE CONCLUSION. In concluding this article, let us sum up the argument. In the first place, I showed that the assumption that all causation resided in mind, and that no causating energy inhered in matter, was not proved. Was not even at- tempted to be proved, but rested on another unproved assumption that matter was inert. This was shown to be incorrect, and that the prima facie evidence declared that causative energy pertained to matter, and that mind was limited and controlled by matter. But, even if we allowed exclusive causation to mind, it would not prove our author's position, because there were many minds, and their motions entirely independent of each other, and there was no evidence that the many minds as causating centers originated from one mind as the first cause. Hence, it must be proved that there had been a creation sometime. But this has not been done, hence there could be no such thing as a first cause. There can be no cause without an effect. Cause is not first any more than positive is first or be- fore negative. It showed also that in the great processes of evolution effects transcended their causes. We reckon the great- ness or importance of things by their functional capaci- ties. Hence, taking animal life, from the amoebae to man, and the vegetable from the primal moss to the grandest tree of the forest or orchard, and the most beau- tiful flowers of the garden, and we have constant ascen- sion from the less to the more perfect, or effects tran- scending their causes. Effects become causes. Every living organism develops a germ which is a cause of another similar organism. Thus there is a constant play back and forth of cause and effect. And, until posi- tive, historical creation is proved, we must allow the eternity of this process. I then showed ' that the positions assumed as to the AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD. 113 superiority of the mathematical mind were not true. That we find some of the most perfect forms of mathematical working by the instinctive powers of insects. And that some of the mathematical prodigies, like Zerah Colburn, were not distinguished by any mental superiority what- ever. Also that the definite proportions in chemistry were simply and only the manifestation of the inherent forms and forces of the atoms and molecules composing the formation. In fact, that the whole mathematical order of the Cosmos proved nothing whatever as to any supposed origin of the same, but merely demonstrates that the properties and energies of matter are such that its or- ganizations and motions must be just as they are. And the existence of mathematical order is a simple fact,. prov- ing nothing as to origin or end. And the fact that man can imitate some of nature's processes by using the sub- stance and energy now existent, is no proof that some other mind created that substance and force. Hence, un- less the absolute creation of substance and energy can be proved, all the phenomena of the Cosmos do not furnish one scintilla of evidence of the existence of a God. Hence, all the author's hysterical gushings over Plato's "God Geometrises," and the thousands of five-petaled Texas flowers are as destitute of logical demonstration as the in- sane claim of the hypnotized convert that he feels God in his soul. But the crowning failure of our author's pretentious effort is found in his attempted solution of moral evil. I have shown how that arrays the divine perfections against themselves, and as that is an impossibility in itself, and yet the existence of evil affirming such impossibility, the unescapable inference is that the Cosmos could not be the creation of a perfect God. Hence, it furnishes no evi- dence whatever of the existence of such a being. On the contrary, the existence of a world with moral evil rife, is demonstration that no such God has an actual existence; for, if he had, he would essentially change the order of nature's workings. As a last remark, I submit that the fact that this assumed demonstration is worthless, is evinced by the utter neglect of the same by all classes of thinkers. It fell dead from the press, while Paley's argument, though most defective, is still urged by nearly all theists. Summerland, Cal. J. S. LOVELAND. What Has Spiritualism Given to the World? An Address Delivered by Mrs Helen P. Russegue, at the Boston Spiritual Temple. I shall take for my theme this evening the question, "What in Science and Eeligion has Spiritualism Given to the World in Fifty-four Years?" It is well at times we turn our attention to the past to observe the milestones that have marked our progress; that we look more deeply into the truths that are being presented to us for our consideration, for our attention, for our uplifting; that we recognize the sources from which knowledge comes to us, the foundations upon which we have been building, as well as the dreams or prophecies, what is to come. Spiritualism has opened wide the doors whose en- trances have been closed to the human intellect. Dogmatic religion has locked the doors of the Temples of Thought, but the wall is broken, seeking light and truth to know just where to go and how to find it. It is a remarkable fact that until the intellect of man is appealed to, until thought is awakened, until intelligence is aroused, man stands with folded arms in a quiescent state, not asking whither am I going, or whence have I come. The world has been moving on; it has been growing more and more profound; it has become sweeter and more glorified, and now it is seeing more clearly than ever be- fore the handwriting upon the walls of time. The mys- teries of the world are opening now to the conscious intel- lect of man. WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. 115 Science told man long ago how rapidly rays of light might travel by regular vibrations in space; it has marked the progress of the emanations from one point to another; it has told yon that light travels from 286,000 miles to 300,000 miles per second; but when the spiritual life of man is awakened, the same science which has marked the march of time, has also brought to humanity instrumen- talities by which you are recognizing the powers of the spirit. You are to-day beholding how much more rapidly thought is passing from place to place, overcoming time and space; that the spiritual transmission is more rapid, more direct, more definite, more earnest than the light that has traveled from the distant planet to this earthly sphere. The spirit of man is recognizing its relationship to the world of matter which encompasses it. Spiritualism has been one of the great factors in the growth of the human mind. It has brought man to a conception of the possibilities of his intellect; it has marked out what man can do — not only what he can do, but what he must do or accomplish to attain the height, or the boundary of the powers contained within him. The spiritual progress of the last fifty-four years has unveiled greater mysteries than have ever been known in any era of time. It is true that spirit communion, the knowledge of another world, a life beyond the grave, can- not be limited to the knowledge that has come to the world in fifty-four years, for did not Socrates say when asked what should be done with his body, "You may do what you please with my body, if you do not imagine that it is me." Pray, "do what you please with my body," but he did not desire that they should believe that it was the living Socrates, the thoughtful philosopher, the scientific, earnest man. The world is taking up these truths now. The pendulum of time has swung out into the universe, and it has swung back into the human thought until the fires of truth are being kindled upon the altars of intelli- gence, and man is awakening to the possibilities within him. Spiritualism has diffused itself through the great liv- ing mass of humanity. It has scattered its seed broadcast over the world. Its influence is felt in high places and in the lowly walks of life. It is recognized as as omnipresent power that is permeating human society and human asso- ciations. It is a power in your midst. It is working 116 WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. through every condition of human thought. It is dif- fusing itself into every phase of life, of principle, of growth, of that progress which belongs to the human thought. Spiritualism is but fifty-four years old now in its mod- ern manifestation, yet it is as old as time. It has left its footprints upon the mountains of the past. It has en- graved its lessons upon the tablets of time. It has left its impress everywhere, and man Las grasped its truths, and is carrying them forward to higher unf oldings. To-day Spiritualism, speaking of it as a religion, is broader, truer, sweeter, more divine than that which has been vouchsafed to man. It is a religion that is em- bodied in right doing, that is abolishing fear, that is doing away with error, that is taking out of the lives of the hu- man family the undeveloped conditions, and is awakening man to a necessity of improving all that he possesses; of cultivating every faculty; of uplifting the souls of the world to a conception of a higher need than they have known heretofore. It is the religion of doing; the re- ligion of growing, the religion of advancing, the religion of progress, the religion of the spirit. Spiritualism has builded a higher spirituality than has been recognized before. The spiritual relationship that exists between man and man, between soul and soul, is more clearly recognized than it has ever been before. How ? By the different phases of communication that are existing everywhere in your midst, not only in mental telegraphy, but in mental healing; not only in the two, but by the emanation from every human mind that is recognized in your midst. It is a fact that you are measuring the intellectual vibrations of the human spirit just as you are measuring the vibrations of the air; you are marking their regular and irregular passage through space; you are marking their transmission from one lo- cality to another, and all this is transcending all that has passed before your mind at any earlier date. Spiritualism is awakening humanity to a true concep- tion of what men are. To-day you are communicating, not what you profess, but what you are to each other. You are speaking a language which has been uttered for centuries, and to-day there is not a chain, a fetter or a bond that confines man, but what is feeling its influence. It is going out and out until it reaches the farthest WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. 117 bounds of life. Its influence is being marked, not only upon your fellow man, but upon all nature. It is carry- ing its power into homes and hearts that have heretofore been fettered by dogmatic faith. Spiritualism has come as a destroyer. It has been cut- ting down error. It has razed the old temple to the earth. It has undermined the old institutions. It has taken away from man the fear that has been imbedded in his heart, and he is now becoming emancipated. What is the result ? Many times, mistakes, errors, sins, it may be, are apparent, but there has never been an over- turning of any condition in life but what the imperfec- tions are brought to the surface. There has never' been a volcano that has belched forth its fire and lava that has not brought the interior of that mountain to the surface, and so it is with truth. You are the volcano, and in and through you is growing and burning the fire of wisdom, truth, spiritual progress; and the errors that are in your lives are coming to the surface, and you are throwing them off, and you are attaining to higher perfection. Spiritualism is accomplishing this as a religion. It is teaching man the love of right for right's sake. It is teaching him to do right, not because he is afraid of pun- ishment. There is a love for right doing, and a love for wisdom; there is a love for spiritual growth; there is a love for that which is true and beautiful. It is taking away from you the desire to worship. You bow your heads and prostrate yourselves in the dust before you, and why? Because you are afraid, afraid of the unfolding re- sults of your lives; but Spiritualism tells you that you are to stand erect, live earnest, honest lives; meet the conse- quences of your own doing; accept the results of your own acts; burn the dross within your lives in the fires of expe- rience, and wash your souls clean, pure and white, in the blood of truth. Let your souls be washed clean and white, because you are throwing off errors. Spiritualism is marking the difference between right and wrong more definitely than it has ever been marked before. It is outlining the possibilities of the human in- telligence, only so far as the human intelligence has de- veloped these possibilities. The moment you have at- tained to one height, you have only broughi yourself to the observance of one beyond, and one truth transcending every other truth is leading you up the hills of time. 118 WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. Progress, eternal progress, for the souls of men. This has been one of the fundamental principles taught by Spiritualism in its modern aspect. It has developed a power that has brought this matter to the thought of ev- ery individual in every community, of every family in the land. It has percolated every sect; it has penetrated ev- ery circle of society. It has attained to the highest places in the land; it has gone down to the lowest depths of hu- manity. It embraces one and all. It brings God closer to the human consciousness and makes divine life more closely allied to the lives of men. In science, Spiritualism sees its inauguration as a fact. It has unearthed many principles that underlie human action. It has not only taught us that we are allied to each other through our sympathies, but that we are allied to each other through our infirmities as well. We are transmitting to our fellow creatures the wrongs that we are entertaining, just as much as we are letting out the good that we treasure. We are giving to the world that which may not be seen, but which is most potent in its effects. You do not see the progress of the flower. You do not behold the vibrations from that flower. You do not know their regularity, nor recognize the parts of it. It is created. You do not know why one is white and the other red until you have analyzed every part and portion of that flower to know what its relations are to its envi- ronments; so it is with the human life. You do not know why the wrongs exist in life until you have analyzed the conditions to their depths. Spiritualism is accomplishing much for the world. It has unearthed the cell of the criminal. It is growing slowly into the houses of justice. It is inoculating its influence in every home everywhere, until we are learning- how much it has accomplished for man's good. We are learning something of the foundations of human societ} r , and in this, our Spiritualism becomes an active principle, a reality, a fixed fact in this wise, that there is a divine law inherent in every condition of life whose mandate cannot be ignored, and must be obeyed. We recognize this fact in the world of nature, but we are prone to ignore it in the human world. We are prone to strive to escape the pen- alty of the law. We are striving to avoid the justice that confronts us; we are attempting to remove from our WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. 119 midst the conditions we do not enjoy, and why? Because the education, the association, the environment of more than two thousand years has given to us a way of escape from all these things, but to-day we are learning to ac- cept what we earn; thus Spiritualism is becoming a prac- tical religion. Fifty-four years has taught the world that there is a fact in this one assertion, that if life is eternal, justice must crown that life. It is true that if there is life beyond the grave, it must be for something. It is not true we are to fold our arms and sing songs of praise until, with wearied hearts, we close our eyes to eter- nal sleep. Xo, it means activity, earnest endeavor^ love for our fellow men, a close and earnest watchfulness of the needs of all upon whom we can bestow goodness, help- fulness, light, truth, love, sympathy and strength, and leads us to a higher unfolding of our own lives. Spiritualism has taught us that the same law that ap- plies in Nature outside us in the world of matter, in the world that surrounds men, applies within the spiritual life. There is no such thing in life as inactivity; there is no such thing as inanimate life; there is no force in life that is quiescent. There is only a power that is marching on and on forever and forever. That power we are giving out in centrifugal force as much as the power that is cen- trifugal in the world of matter outside of the human mind, and the centripetal is the power that is coming in like a flood from on high into our lives, inspiring us to nobler deeds, to greater responsibilities, to more earnest endeavors, and to a sweeter relationship. Fifty-four years have taught us that God is justice. His law is eternally just. His power is eternally divine. His presence is omnipotent. His knowledge is the knowledge of all things. His life and truth is the spirit- ual force that belongs to the universe. This being true, we cannot withdraw from his realm; we must abide within it; we must act according to its mandates; we must obey its demands, and we must march according to its com- mands. Spiritualism has not only taughl is that man lives be- yond the grave, but that he retains every faculty, that ev- ery possibility of the mind is carried through t he doorway 120 WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. we call death; that he is carrying every thought, the same love, the same tenderness, the same errors that have be- longed to him here; until he shall have discarded them, thus progress has left its stamp upon him only so far as he may have awakened to the need of a greater and higher truth. Spiritualism has taught us that we are not only to com- mune with the spirits of men who have passed beyond the grave, but we are to commune spiritually with each other; Ave are to see and hear as we are seen and heard; we are to know as we are known. It is not the human ear that receives the vibrations of sound, that knows the measure of that sound. It is not the eye that recognizes the vibrations that are surrounding us from the planets beyond, but it is some- thing within that is measuring that distance. There is a power within that is telling us what these things imply, what they are to us, how we shall use them, how we shall apply them, how we shall appropriate them to our daily lives, and the result is that we have entered into a closer communion, a more earnest and sincere helpfulness to each other, and the world is better for it. Spiritualism is building for each man a heaven, and he is building for himself a hell. The fires which he kindles in the one instance are the purifiers through which the dross and ignorance and im- perfections are burned away. The heaven he is building is simply the recognition of a higher condition. Every one who is impatient to move on, aspires to greater heights, is reaching out farther and farther into the realm of spirituality, and the world has attained to that condition to-day, that it confronts us ev- erywhere, in our homes, in our business, in our religion, in all the associations pertaining to daily life that is call- ing for a greater, a higher need of a spiritual recognition of life. Spiritualists, what does this mean? What does this imply? Fifty-four years may have emancipated you from one degree of slavery; look to it that you do not enter into an- other. That has been a great fault discovered in many who have accepted the belief or the knowledge of the ex- istence of life beyond the grave, who do not try to extend that knowledge, to strengthen it, to build it up, to send out its radiance to the world, by which the world may be WHAT SPIRITUALISM HAS GIVEN. 121 divinely illuminated, but it is doing its work. It is per- colating every church; it is speaking from every pulpit; it is going to the hearts of men; it is lifting man to loftier heights, and it is telling of a nobler future for the race. It belongs to the heart, it belongs to the experience; it be- longs to the world. Spiritualism has accomplished much in i^s half century of life. Its religion is universal; its science is practical; it is not only telling you that you are allied to each other, but it is telling you how you are allied to each other. It is telling you that you cannot sever the ties by which you are held in the great community of life. Spiritualism, where is it? It is here, it is everywhere; it is not only in the world of matter, in the grain of sand, in the blossom that is pure and beautiful, in the earth which has given to it its strength, in the warmth and sunshine that has gladdened its heart, but it has gone out into the world, and is telling its story everywhere. It is singing of the spirit of living. What does it mean? It means that you go down into the earth. You are measuring the spiritual nature of the planetary worlds; you are knowing the component parts of the universe, and the time is not far away when you will know that there is a tie so clear and so well traced that you may mark the relation that you hold to a heav- enly body. Spiritualism has accomplished so much in its half-cen- tury that to-day there is no religion known of man that does not know of its presence, that does not feel its warmth, that does not experience its power, that is not thrilled by its fires, that is not awakened by its progress, that is not uplifted by its influence, and is not purified and exalted by its divinity. All of this, Spiritualism has ac- complished in fifty-four years. Dogma's chains are broken; the cloud of the human soul is passing away; tem- ples are crumbling at the very foundations in which man's soul has been imprisoned, and the world is catching the gleam of an eternal emancipation from wrong, from sin and ignorance, and is catching the gleam of the heavenly truth. God Is a God of the Living, Not a God of the Dead. A Reply to Dr. Emil Hirsch, Jewish Rabbi, Chicago, by Cora L. V. Richmond. "God is not the God of the dead but of the living." "I will preach no more funeral sermons." This was the statement, or this remark, ascribed to Eabbi Hirsch, in a recent utterance, and he adds, "we can- not benefit the dead by funeral discourses. There is nothing in Judaism that teaches immortality." If this is true, i. e., if it is truly quoted, of course we cannot blame Rabbi Hirsch for not speaking at funerals. No man has any business to speak at funerals who does not believe in a future life. It is true also, a. fact which most of us deplore, that there is undue ostentation and external display at fu- nerals: the long retinue of mourners; the black drapings and trappings of woe. We believe there should be and will be a reform in this direction. In England the mourning is delegated to hired mourn- ers; the friends do not go to the funerals, the grave. That is rather better, but not quite so sincere. There are three reasons at the present time for ad- dresses, discourses, or remarks when people pass away from the earth: To the majority of human beings the event is one of great sorrow; a calamity to those left be- hind, and every one feels the loss. And it is the province of religion, of whatever name or nature, to minister at such an hour. Besides it is a suitable place to pay just tribute to the life and work of the one that has arisen. A REPLY TO DR. HIRSCH. 123 Oftentimes people wait until the funeral, or until the per- son has gone before they express their appreciation. We would advise a little more appreciation every day, a little more recognition of each other. Do not be afraid of praising one another, do not be afraid of recognizing each others' gifts, it will not invalidate your good qualities be- cause you recognize those in others. Especially, if you love your friends you cannot love them too much. The time on earth is very short to love them. Of course, the right kind of religion teaches people that they never cease to love their friends on earth and in heaven. But a little manifestation of it here and now in daily life, in your daily walks would make life more pleas- ant. But after all, when the casket is there, or when the spirit is released from the body, it is a suitable time to sum up the value of that human life, of what that human life stood for, of the loving deeds and words. Of those who have taken a conspicuous or noted part in the affairs of nations it is a good time to make a landmark, a mile- stone, and tell what they have done for humanity. This is not the most essential, the second and more essential point is to comfort those who mourn. Xo religion is of any value that does not offer comfort at such an hour; and the great surprise of the world must be that throughout Christendom the funeral and the fu- neral service has been made an occasion of almost incon- solable sorrow. With all the hope and faith that people have in creed and dogma, when death comes it seems an occasion of sorrow. Did people believe, as we believe, that the spirit of Jesus rose triumphantly from the tomb as an illustration of what people will do who believe on him, then would there be any occasion for this sorrow? It is the severing of the human tie, the breaking of the daily and hourly communion and conversation; it is the great veil that lies between you and that realm. So when in the New or Old Testament, the minister or the teacher cannot find the word and the teaching whereby he can comfort the mourner, it seems as though his religion must be empty and void; if he lias no words thai will assuage this grief, that will, in a measure, enkindle hope, that will uplift and strengthen those who fed I'm- the time being that all the foundations of life have gone from under their feet; the house is empty; everything is changed, hu- man things are not the same. At such an hour people are more receptive to spiritual and religious teaching. 124: A REPLY TO DR. HIRSCH. We have nothing to say, however, concerning the re- ligious teacher, so-called, who has no word of comfort at such a time. We are sorry for him. We do not know what business he has to preach, for in both the Old and New Testaments we find any number of passages and chapters that give the greatest hope and strength and en- couragement for such a time. We remember once the Rev. Minot J. Savage was called with your pastor to officiate at a funeral in Boston. He had not then pursued his psychic research investigations; he said to her: "I always feel at such a time as this my utter inability, my weakness to meet the occasion, because I have no knowledge of the future life, as you have." This was a great confession, a great admission. Rabbi Hirsch has made a similar one publicly. The Rev. Minot J. Savage did not stop with a portion of his creed, how- ever liberal in other directions, he simply said: If there is a way to know about these things, I intend to know them. He joined the Psychical Research Society and in- vestigated the claims of the manifestations of Modern Spiritualism. The Rev. Minot J. Savage is prepared now to speak at funerals, because he knows something about the other world. Does Rabbi Hirsch claim that all his knowledge of the ethical and philosophical relations of human life were derived from the Mosaic Scriptures? Does he claim that the Jewish religion has given him all the knowledge that he gives forth from his pulpit? If the Jewish religion does not teach about modern science, modern philosophy, modern art, does he never mention these from his pulpit? Many of his sermons are replete with the learning of mod- ern science; many of his sermons are full of modern art and modern philosophy. Did he get this from the Jewish religion? If he did not, has he not the same right to pur- sue an investigation concerning the future life beyond what Judaism taught? If it is possible for any minister of any denomination to know more about the future life, or any one outside of denominational lines, has not Rabbi Hirsch the right to know it? He has just as good right as Rabbi Weil, of Bradford, Pa., who came to Cassadaga to study the phenomena and the philosophy of Spiritualism. He listened to your pas- tor there several times. He went back to Bradford and told his congregation what he had seen and heard. Some A REPLY TO DR. HIRSCH. 125 of the elders were about to ask him to resign, but the con- gregation said, if he resigned they would go too. The result was, that he could preach his thoughts to a certain limit. Bat then he did not propose to be bound by any limits, at all. He then wrote a book (The Religion of the Future) in which he said: Spiritualism is the religion of the future. This kind of knowledge is precisely what is needed. We have found a more liberal spirit, usually, among the Rabbis of the Hebraic Church than among the ministers of the Christian denominations; an interest in the sub- ject, a desire to know about it. Of course, Rabbi Hirsch knows that this subject is in the world. Why cannot he find out about the future life? Another singular thing is, that the quotation ascribed to him, is from the New Testament, not from the Old. The Old Testament tells us that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But it was Jesus who made the application of: "God is not a God of the dead, but of the living;" and it was precisely upon the point that Rabbi Hirsch is professing ignorance upon: i. e., the fu- ture life. In the Gospel of Matthew it is called the "resurrection;" and Jesus was talking about the future life and saying that it is not that God is a God of the dead, but of the living; which meant that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive instead of being dead. But no Hebrew puts this interpretation upon it. The Hebrew people never thought that the resurrection was in a spiritual sense. They believed that it was physical, that it related to the earth, that Jerusalem is to be literally re- stored to them. Does Rabbi Hirsch claim to be an orthodox Jew? Does he not take an added and more liberal view of all these subjects? Would it not be the right thing for him if he cannot minister to those who mourn, cannot con- scientiously give them any knowledge or thought concern- ing the? future life, to Btudy about it from those who know? [f lie does not want to investigate Spiritualism, lei him take Plato or any of the ancient philosophers. If he does not want to investigate phenomena, lei him take the poetry, philosophy and romance of every age. Every genius has given to the world thoughts concerning im- mortality. No philosophy ie bo barren as to be without it. No poetry is bo meager thai it has not some sug- 126 A EEPLY TO DE. HIRSCH. gestions of the larger, immortal life. The highest themes that can engage human thought are those that relate to the nature of the soul and its immortal destiny. In modern times, in the world to-day, there is a method whereby he can know. Is he ashamed to try it. Did not the Eev. Minot J. Savage try it? Did not the Rev. Heber N ewton try it ? Have not a score of Christian min- isters tried it ? These now stand in their pulpits teaching the certainty of a future life, gained by such investiga-' lions. What men of science, like Dr. Alfred Russell Wal- lace and Sir William Crookes, of England, are not ashamed to investigate, what clergymen, like those we have named are not afraid to investigate, the Eev. Eabbi Hirsch should not be afraid to investigate if the great pall of mourning can be lifted from the world. The moment you make people know that their friends are not dead, but living; that they are not far away but near; that they are not waiting and sleeping until the day of the resurrec- tion of the body, but here and now is the resurrection and the new life. "For God is a God of the living/' Mean- ing: that whatever becomes of bodies, souls are alive, spirits are alive. When Moses and Elias appeared upon the Mount of Transfiguration it was a direct rebuke to the thought that all sleep until their bodies are resurrected. Let us consider that this life, of which Eabbi Hirsch says he is ignorant, is continually impinging upon human existence, and has given the best inspirations to the Eabbis of the Hebrew Church, has awakened the songs of prophets, the psalms of David, has visited Isaiah and filled the ancient books of record in the Old Testament. Let us consider that if we take away the ministrations of angels and spirits from the Bible we take away the only part of it that makes it valuable. That in the one hun- dred or more instances in which the "Angel of the Lord" appears to different prophets he appears in the guise of the arisen human spirit. These angels did not claim to be a separate order of beings. They spoke with the tongue and knowledge of the men whom they visited, and they walked on earth as men in those days. And that you may know that they are those that have lived on earth, the prophets declared that they could appear again. This question of immortality is the vital question of life, The agnostic, the materialist, the Second Adventist A REPLY TO DR. HIRSCH. 127 and Jews teach that whatever relates to this life is the most important. That if you obey the Hebraic or other laws of the church; that if you follow the Commandments and attend to the affairs of human life you may or may not be resurrected. But if it shall be borne in upon, or if it shall be awak- ened from, the consciousness of Rabbi Hirsch that this proposition of immortality is innate; that it relates to all souls; that all people have a right to know about it; that the time they most need it (the hour of sorrow) is the time they have a right to know about it, and if he cannot say from his own knowledge, he can read from the Jewish passages of the Scriptures, he can read from the standard poets, from the philosophies of Plato and Socrates and their modern successors, from the intuition and learning that the world has given, he can cross over to India and Arabia and seek this knowledge of immortality there, he can bring it from India and show that the life that Buddha taught is eternal, he can take it from the book of nature; that which shows that every form of life is from the source or spirit of life forever, or he can by visitations and investigations in the right direction receive the direct testimony, the knowledge that appeals to the human understanding, of the visitations of the spirits of the "departed," as they are called, unto human beings; he ca"n show that this veil has been removed, he can say, as sev- eral ministers have said to the mourners when called upon to officiate with us at funerals: "The spirit of your de- parted friend is with you now, is here in your midst and is as much a part of your life as before." Nothing prevents any human being from knowing this, excepting intellectual or spiritual bigotry. The agnostics and materialists and some classes of people are intellectual bigots; there are many religious bigots. Those who are too bigoted to seek knowledge of the immortal life, of course, are not in a condition to be comforted, strength- ened and encouraged by that knowledge. But see how changed the accompaniments of funeral- are: upon the door of the house of the departed one, in- stead of hangings of crape yon see garlands of flowers; the casket is no longer covered with somber drapery, but blossoms, testimony of loving friend-, (ill the room and cover the casketj as it' to rebuke ai thai hour any undue grief ami to point to tin- immortal life, words of comfort 128 A EEPLY TO DE. HIESCH. borne from the great influx of spirit life in the 19th and 20th centuries is poured out at such a time. Many a minister has been glad that Spiritualism is in the world! Not because he claims to believe in it, but be- cause he can take that which it teaches to comfort the mourners, to give them an assurance of a future life, to wipe the tears away from the eyes of the suffering, to make a different basis of life for those who remain. Friends, it is a startling thing when a man can say in the midst of any religious congregation, "I have nothing to offer concerning immortality." It is a startling thing even coming from outside the church among the material- ists and agnostics. Yet we do not believe that there is actually a materialist in the world, that is, one who totally rejects the thought of a future existence. We have often referred to the testimony of the great agnostic, Eobert Ingersoll, when he stood beside the casket that contained the body of his brother, and with the loving tribute and eloquent remarks, he said: "We hope to meet again." Does not Judaism contain as much hope as materialism and agnosticism? If it does not people would be better to leave it. That which has the most hope for the world is the best to cling to; that which contains the most knowledge is the best to attain. And we assure you, be- loved friends, that this great "cloud of witnesses" that encompass you around about, and this constant perception by intuition and impression of invisible presences are ac- companied also by the added testimony of distinct mes- sages, and that hundreds of people, sensitive and active in this realm are giving those messages. That it is as much a legitimate method of communion as sending a message across the Atlantic by cable, or to New York by telephone or telegraph. When this method of communion is once open to you the great void is filied, the great pang is for- gotten, the House of Life is open to you, it has larger and more open chambers, you have entered into the knowl- edge that this earth life is but the basement or first story of this human spiritual habitation. These other "mansions" or other rooms in the great dwelling place of life are never seen by human vision, because of the lack of perception. There are millions of living things on the earth that you cannot see, they are too small, and there are millions of things which are too large for you to sec in the realm of nature, but you know they are there. So A REPLY TO DR. HIRSCH. 129 this added knowledge of the other realm, this inter-com- munion that is possible, this great strengthening life is within. Rabbi Hirsch should take lessons from the great mas- ters of human thought, not one of whom has been a ma- terialist, not one of whom has doubted a future life, and all of whom in their philosophy and in their teachings hare given the fundamental principles upon which man's immortality is based, and have pointed to the intuitions, strengthened by inspiration and revelation, to show that the future life is a reality. Of what avail is this transient human existence? Of what avail the upbuilding of structures and the gathering together of earthly treasures? Of what avail the affec- tions if they are to be buried and blotted out in death? The star-eyed Prophetess of Inspiration, the calm- browed Goddess of Immortality over and within human souls make manifest unto human lives, according to their needs, that future existence. If Rabbi Hirsch studied at this shrine, or was a worshiper of the religion that includes immortality, he would find abundant evidence without, and absolute evi- dence from within. Why Is Christianity Declining? A Clear and Concise Explanation of the Crumbling of the Creeds and the Growing of Liberalism, by an Eminent Divine Who Signs 'A Nazarine,' In the Sunday Press of June 29, Eev. G. Campbell Mor- gan contributed an article under the caption "Is Religion Declining/' in which he rightfully concludes: "It seems to be incontrovertible that there has been for many years a religious declension in the United States. This declen- sion has covered both faith and practice." This retro- gression is attributed "very largely" to "indifferentism and the wandering of the heart from God, to the unexam- pled activity of the mind in other directions, such as in- ventions, financial, manufactures and commerce. The world has been for years science-crazy and money-crazy, and religion in any form has been temporarily crowded out of its mind." He further, and rather paradoxically, observes that "the very universality of this movement is not specially a rational rejection of Christianity." If this is meant to apply to the religious system founded by Jesus Christ and what little of it has been permitted to trickle down through the ages in spite of theology and religious bigotry, it is correct. But the Christianity of the schools, as it is known and applied, has declined and is being re- jected for the very rational reason that it has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. It is the pro- duct of human agencies and inventions — the Dead Hand of the Past trying to fasten the inane creeds created by the disintegrated brains of the Church Fathers, upon the present generation and hold it among the crude environ- ments of the dawn of history. The writer has no quarrel with genuine Christianity. We believe when rid of redundances, cleared of contempo- IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? 131 rary errors, properly understood and applied, it is the hope of the world. We also believe that there are to-day mil- lions of good men and women wearing the breast-plate of righteousness, whose lives are an inspiration in making the world better — in spite of theology. But to the vast majority of people the religious system known as Chris- tianity presents so many contradictions and inconsisten- cies that it is a hopeless enigma. Yet the Savior's plan was so plain that u a wayfaring man need not err therein." It does not seem to occur to most religious enthusiasts that there may be something radically wrong with the present religious system causing this "mere indifferent- ism" and rejection of Christianity, which to them is the same as repudiating the creeds, dogmas and theological vagaries of the church. There are persons who would reject Christianity or any other religion for reasons as- signed by Mr. Morgan, but it is not admitted that three- fourths of the people of the United States are actuated by such motives in their indifferentism and rejection of so- called Christianity. In the repudiation ranks are millions of the best, noblest and most intelligent men and women that ever lived. It will not do to say that all this vast army of dissenters is simply selfish, dishonest and indiffer- ent. There are causes for this declension of theological Christianity traceable to entirely different sources, we think, than those assigned by Mr. Morgan. To ascertain these is the object of this inquiry. TRUE CHRISTIANITY. Let us first, then, try to get a conception of the fun- damental principles of the system under consideration. The Christianity of the Christ favors no school of thought; it connects itself with no ecclesiasticism; it is joined to no, philosophy; it depends for its advancement upon the facility of no creed. It welcomes with out- stretched arm«, to the companionship of its endeavors, its hopes and its fruition, those who would live rightly. The whole scope and object of it is to show us how to become better men and women, nobler husbands, truer wives, hap- pier children, more loving parents, warmer friends. To reach this goal its heroic spirits have mel freely and fear- lessly, pain and death in the cause of human rights. On the other hand, theological I Ihristianity is the creation of man. It is nothing more than a vasl system of intellec- 132 IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? tualism masquerading in the garb of genuine Christianity on which it was grafted at the time of the latter's incep- tion giving rise to the Christianity of the schools. It is a huge attempt of the human mind, through eighteen cen- turies, to make man understand God and his relation to him. It negatives Christianity, hence, the churches have always been more theologic than religious. Its mission was not to bring "peace on earth and good will to men," but for selfish purposes, to conquer and hold in subjec- tion, by submissive ignorance, if it could, by fire and the sword if it must. Instead of being a personification of life, love, fraternity and service, it has been the consistent enemy of the human race. The answer to its mission is written by bleaching bones on countless battle-fields; the decimation of nations; autos-da-fe; rack and dungeon; and on the lurid sky reflecting the flames of a million fagot-piles where strong men and women writhed in agony. It has been a failure and will ever be. These are serious charges. Are they true ? "By their fruits ye shall know them/' Let us see, then, what the religion of man-made creeds and ecclesiastical dogmas have done in the evangelization of the world. During the middle ages all the philosophy and science of the civilized as well as its arts and music, were subservient to the church, and dared to think and work only within the limits of its dogmas. It owned the thrones of kings and emperors, the spade and plow of the squalid peasant- ry, and almost the fee simple of the soil. The people were not governed by intelligence but by threats and promises, rewards and punishments. The world was cov- ered with huts and hovels for the many, palaces and cathedrals for the few. To nearly all the children of men reading and writing were unknown arts. The poor were clad in rags and skins — they devoured crusts and gnawed bones. Their destiny was to toil and obey — to work and want, The poor peasant divided his earnings with the state, because he imagined it protected his body. He divided his crust with the church because he imagined it protected his soul. He was the prey of throne and altar. He was taught to hate the people of other nations and de- spise the believers in all other religions. The voices of progress were hushed in the silence of dungeons and sep- ulchers. The despotism of theology had done its work. But at last the day of science dawned and earth's be- IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? 133 nigJited millions awoke to front the dawn of a better day and take up the long and weary march out of fens and bog-lands of ignorance, bondage and superstition. The luxury of a century ago are the necessities of to-day. But above all, and over all, is the development of the mind. These gifts are not the gifts of speculative Christian the- ology. They are the children of freedom, the gifts of reason, observation and experience. Theology, as of old, still denounces the crazy world of science and free thought. But the spread of intelligence and education have so modified theology as to deprive it of its old time harm, but it has not ceased its struggle for supremacy. It si ill delights to persecute for heresy (?) so far as it can, those who openly oppose its dogmas. It's the same old feud — the past struggling with the future, departing night battling with the dawn. THE MARCH OF SCIENCE. While science and unfettered thought have moved us a long ways up from the quaking boglands of intellectual night, we are yet standing in the retreating shadows and blighting influences of the dark ages. But the trend is upward. The magic key of science has unlocked the por- tals of progress. What was once myth, miracle and prodigy, have faded before the light of science which re- veals fixed laws and a stated order of nature. The clouds which hung over the creation have scattered. The heav- ens, the earth, the plants and the human frame, now that they are explored by science, speak of God as they never did before. The mysteries of the physical world are cleared up. The invention of the printing press, gun- powder, telegraph and railway have made it possible to explore the whole world. To-day all lands are visited, all languages are studied, all Scriptures are read. The ruins and relics of antiquity have surrendered their secrets. And, beyond our little planet, the universe has been re- duced to older and many of its mighty laws comprehend- ed. Discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, archae- ology, etc., have completely demolished many of the old- time beliefs of our fathers, the traditions of ages, the oracles which From early infancy they Learned to revere and hold iiiii-i sacred, and regard as divine truth. Sci- entific historical and literary criticism have thrown over- board maiiv of the monstrous accumulations of human 134 IS CHKISTIAN KELIGION DECLINING? guesses and judgments, opinions and influences, interpre- tations and conclusions, which by the ignorant and learned alike have been heaped upon the life of Jesus of Nazareth. . The critical spirit of our age, the inquiring condition of human thought, is distinctly a mark of hu- man growth and stands in bold antithesis to the dark ages of mental stagnation when speculation and progress were outlawed in many fields of research and spiritually suf- fered an eclipse behind the form, pomp and show of theology. Let us bring the matter nearer home. Look at the moral condition of the world to-day — the civilized world, and recall that it is nearly 2,000 years since Jesus lived. He came to bring peace into the world, and the world is filled with war. Look at the so-called Christian nations. Their boundaries bristle with bayonets as well-trimmed hedges with thorns. He came to introduce the era of for- giveness. What nation or race has learned the lesson? He came to redeem society from selfishness. But when was society ever more selfish than now? Men, under the reign of his ideas, were to love God with all their hearts, and their neighbors as themselves. "Where will you find a community thus inspired? His followers were to be lowly-minded and humble. Look at their robes, their mitres, their crowns, their signet rings, their titles of honor and their thirst for these. The old earth is earthly still; the human race is human still. The perfection of heaven is still confined to heaven. The divinity of the skies still keeps its throne above the stars. The perfect- ness of God is not in man, nor his royalty enthroned at the head of nations. Two thousand years have passed and Christianity has not triumphed. Why? Dr. Eobin- son has said: "The God of the mere theologian is scarcely a living God. He did live; but for some 1800 years we are credibly informed that no trace of his life has been seen. The canon is closed. The proofs that he was are in the things that he has made, and the books of men to whom he spake, but he inspires and works wonders no more. According to the theologians he gives proof of de- sign instead of God, doctrines instead of the life indeed." Terser, truer words, were never uttered. Abbv M. Diaz, writing on "Hindrances to World Betterment," in July Mind, says: "If we could only Christianize the Christians and make respectability respectable we would soon be done building jails for our common offenders." Here we IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? 135 have two observations which contain in a nutshell much food for reflection for those who are solving the problems of indifferentism and turning away from theological churchianity. THE CHURCH AND REFORMS. Let us briefly inquire into the attitude of the church towards recent reforms. Take the anti-slavery cause. The Stars and Stripes were iking to the breeze from a staff fixed in the firm basis of equality, liberty and justice, yet we had within our borders in 18G0 four million chat- tel slaves! Just think of a system of government in a professedly Christian country that dehumanized man into personal chattels. A system that herded negroes together as swine-herd; changed marriage into prostitution, and made every plantation a brothel. A system that stripped a rational, moral human being, created in God's own image, of the fundamental right to inquire into, consult and seek his own happiness, and degraded him mentally, morally and physically beneath the brute. Of course the pulpit of the day denounced this monstrous system, did it not? No; with few honorable exceptions, the recreant clergy clinging to dogmas, afraid of investigation, preach- ing half truths, presenting a narrow Gospel, unwilling humbly to confess error, uttering cant, bowing the knee to Baal, and with creeds of iron, looked unmoved and ap- provingly on the physical, mental, moral and spiritual degradation of four million human beings because burned by a fiercer sun. To heighten the irony of the situation, the preacher read out of the church hymnal and with the congregation sang the national anthem, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty, etc/' And in the next breath defended, through thick and thin, the buying and selling of women and babes and filled the mouths of slave-traders with passages of Scripture defending and upholding traffic in human flesh. At the same time the church branded the Abolitionists as fanatics, meddling with what did not concern them, and anathematized them as infidels assaulting the order of providence. Yes, slavery was a divine institution. Under the direction of a theoretical providence, supported by the pulpit, and protected by infamous laws, Hie lash, blood-hound and shotgun, ii was secure — till wiped out by bloody war. It only remained for the clergy to remind the slave's more / 136 IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? fortunate brother of his "indifferentism and turning of the heart from God/' and to threaten him with hell fire, brimstone and everlasting punishment in the world to come, if he refused to accept his monstrous theology. For clinging to theological dogmas of the dark ages, the Christianity of the United States was 3,000 years behind the Judaism of Moses, which denounced man-stealing. It is shameful, but it is a fact, that only yesterday in the great republic the Declaration of Independence was treason and the Golden Rule was heresy. We have the same thing to-day. Take the effort to broaden the sphere of women. Only fifty years ago in the land of Jefferson woman was shut up in Eastern seclusion. If she belonged to the wealthy class, she was imprisoned in a gilded cage, like a pet canary. She was a piece of animated bric-a-brac. She had privileges but no rights. She was given compliments instead of justice. If she belonged to the poorer class, she was the drudge of the household. Whether rich or poor, she was guilty of her sex. As wife, she was merged in her husband. As mother, she had no claim upon her offspring. As daughter, she was dwarfed by her brother. As woman, she was ranked with "children and idiots." Her sex excluded her from every bread-winning avocation save the needle and teaching. As all female bread- winners were crowded into these two callings there was not work enough for all and the only alternative, too often, was to choose between starvation and a life of shame. All this has been changed, but not by the theo- logical churchianity. The era of women has dawned, bearing the unmistakable prophecy of a higher civiliza- tion than humanity has ever known. Woman's sphere has been broadened to include everything God made her able to do — is about co-extensive with man's. She is to- day foremost in the great philanthropic, humanitarian, social and ethical reforms, in which selfishness has no place. In her widening influence, growing liberality, and freedom, we see imperiled a prophecy of an altruistic era — a civilization triumphant — rising against to- morrow's purple dawn. Meanwhile the old-time theology lias been the opposer of every single forward step. It has flung Paul in the face of women precisely as it threw Onesimus in the face of the slave. IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? 137 LABOR AND THE CHURCH. Take the labor movement — the movement of the masses against the classes — the movement of the toilers to rescue from the clutches of work and wealth, shorter hours and a share in the profits. This movement the world over is the latest and greatest of miracles. From Russia to the United States labor is marshalling its forees to-day for the purpose of controlling to-morrow. Every- where we see the tyranny of capital driving the toilers nearer the great ocean of want. In every great city richly jewelled with magnificent temples dedicated to deity, we find thousands of homeless people crying for bread and work. We see under the very shadow of the temples a poverty as appalling, as hopeless, as degrading as exists in any civilized country on earth. It has come to pass that those who produce food are hungry; those who build pal- aces are homeless; those who make clothing are naked. In this ceaseless struggle for existence, capital is more sacred than human rights; life less sacred than property. In despair these wretched men are crossing the Rubicon. Already there are occasional riots and bloodshed — fever- ish invitations to bloody revolution. The church takes no interest in these matters. It stands alienated from the wage-earner. It is unacquainted with his struggles, trials and degradation. It takes no interest in these things: knows nothing of the injustice and bitterness of the toil- er's lot. But, says one, the church has no concern with social and industrial questions; its concern is spiritual! What, then, in the name of common sense, is the church for? What conceivable mission has it in the world, if it should not advocate the suppression of national wrongs which stand directly athwart its path to success in the work of evangelization? Christ's mission was "to seek and to save those who were lost, to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach liberty to the captives, and opening the prison to them that are bound, and to comfort all that mourn." The church of the present day is not popular in sympathies, tendencies and methods. It gravitates away from the masses toward wealth, c-nltnre and clothes. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, like the Declaration of Independence, is antiquated and obsolete. Divine love is ai a discount when ii comes to aid the friendless, the foroaken, the despondent, the lost. The preacher- arc too busy bombarding the Pharisees of 138 IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? old to train their guns on the Pharisees of the twentieth century. They ascribe all the woes of mankind to the machinations of the devil and the mysterious plans of an inscrutable Providence. They only say: "Bless us! what a noise those fellows in their shirt sleeves are making out there. Let us sing the Doxology !" If the minister is re- minded that his attitude is foreign to the mission of Jesus; that the Almighty himself instituted the first great labor movement on the banks of the Red Sea; that the burning bush should still be the church's inspiration to wage war against oppression and Egyptian bondage, he whispers: "Sh! Capital rents the pews, pays for the music and patronizes the parson. We will open a mission chapel on a side street and name it St. Lazarus." This done, he continues to magnify the importance of form, rite and ritual, while industry begs in vain for justice, em- ployment and living wages. Dr. Channing says: "It is time that our lips should be closed if we can do nothing towards breathing into men the peculiar benevolence of the Gospel — a benevolence which feels for, and seeks to elevate and save, the human soul. It is time, too, that as a class of Christians we should disappear, if we will not take our part in the great work of regenerating society. It is the order of Nature, that the dead should be buried and the sooner a dead, lifeless, soulless sect is buried and forgotten the better." To-day the unchurched millions charged with "indifferentism," etc., are the glad attend- ants at the funeral. Meanwhile, the church is as ignorant of the impending cataclysm, and its own fate, as Ver- sailles was of the French revolution a year before it red- dened the streets of Paris with blood. THE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE. Why add more? Will not this suffice to show the atti- tude of theological Christianity past and present? Viewed as a whole, is it any wonder there is drifting apart of the church and the people? The church has largely lost touch with the world. It is more institutional than personal. It builds cathedrals, not men. It has the sword of the spirit, but it is glued in the scabbard. It meets on Sunday for worship in splendid exclusion and seclusion and shuts the building through the week, while the congregation is occupied at the theatre, in the ball- room or on Wall street. The pulpit, warned off from IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? 139 living issues, drones through a parrot-like repetition of the creed — and the more sounding the ritual the less fer- vent the piety — and puts the emphasis on belief when it should be on conduct. Then, too, the church is pre- empted (and emptied) by wealth and fashion. Lawyers who are counsel for trusts and monopolies; capitalists whose names are associated with tricky monetary trans- astions; leaders of the ton whose real god is society; men and women prominent at church, in its officership, among its society leaders, who are at a discount as to honesty and reliability in the world, occupy the highest seat in the synagogue, and love to come because they feel sure that they will not be reminded of time in the contemplation of eternity. Meanwhile the industrial classes are conspic- uous by their absence. There is an almost complete alienation from institutional religion on their part, those who were foremost in planting Christianity — in the apostleship, among its most devoted adherents, its chief- est beneficiaries, its saintliest exponents, its most eager martyrs — are now embittered and critical. They do not, they cannot, recognize Christianity and theological churchianity. They need religion as much as ever. The gracious words and beautiful example of Christ would be as potent to them in the twentieth century as they were in the first, were they as faithfully and lovingly presented. But the church of show, the church of the holy cash, the congregation of cast, the congregation of St. Sinner, a-la-mode, are an abomination to their souls. There is still another class of broad-minded, liberal thinkers who believe it is in vain that dogmatic stupidity, moral indo- lence and official hypocrisy try to confine the human and universal religion of t lie kingdom of God within the terms of the religion of theology, pietism, ecclesiasticism, and the interests which monopoly have vested in religion. Yes, institutional religion is on the decline. The rev- erence for obsolete man-made creeds, ecclesiastical dog- mas, and theological vagaries, is on the decline. The older growths of earlier Biblical interpretation have dropped, withered and are perishing. Men will not read forever in the worn paths of their ancestors. They will not become the satellites of men who are in their tombs. Theological Christianity would leave us among the crude environments of ancient history — in our swaddling clothes. To-day there are millions of minds reposing in 140 IS CHRISTIAN RELIGION DECLINING? the stagnant peace of an inflexible dogma — a faith cut, dried and infallible. But most people are beginning to believe man was created to a higher destiny. Orthodoxy is slavish adherence to that which has been. It must now be defined as old, regular, dull, unprogressive. The reason is plain. The people are intelligent. They are losing confidence in the miracles and marvels of the dark ages. They know the value of education and free thought. They appreciate the benefits of science — the outspoken enemy of ignorance and superstition. They are not in- terested in a religion that has nothing to offer them but magnificent ceremonies, show and sham. They are tired of a religion that does not touch the conduct and duties of daily life; that does not stand for justice and universal liberty. And the church never will fill its pews by lazily opening its doors once a week, clanging the bell in a ding- dong fashion, and saying: "You people out there come in here and be saved." If sinners ran their business like saints run the church, they would go into bankruptcy in a year. Imagine Paul standing in a gorgeous pulpit, with a $10,000 salary, and a $5,000 choir, in a church where pew rent is as high as house rent, with two or three seats down by the door for the use of the poor, and attributing the absence of the people to total depravity, to "mere in- difference and wandering of the heart from God; to the unexampled activity of the mind in other directions," or a "science-crazy" world. A NAZARINE. Spiritualism and Christianity. The Phenomena and Philosophy of Spiritualism as Compared With Those of Jesus Christ. — Given Through Cora L. V. Richmond. In the first sentence we must premise by saying that Spiritualism is only the modern name for manifestations of the spirit that have occurred in every age, whether under the form of Christianity, or in the old Mosaic days in the manifestations of prophets, soothsayers, dreams and the interpreters of dreams of that time. Going back still further, the manifestations that have occurred in India, in Persia, in China, under the various ministrations of those who have had the gifts of the spirit. Paul distinctly enumerates the gifts of the spirit, or "spiritual gifts" in his epistle to the Corinthians, and it is perfectly easy for you to understand, by his definitions, those gifts, and that they did not exist alone in those days, for those that are possessed to-day resemble them in every way. even the names that are given to spiritual gifts. Jesus of Nazareth taught from the spirit. It was not his work, but the work of the Father. Nevertheless, angels came and ministered unto him. His teaching was that of the law of loving-kindness; the manifestations were the gifts of tin 1 spirit. There was the gift of proph- ecy, the gill of tongues and the gift of the interpretat ion of tongues, the gift of healing, the gift of the working of miracles (or wonders), such as are wrought by your me- diums for physical phenomena, and all the different gifts enumerated as Paul has classified them. These gifts were -.-id and encouraged by the teacher of Nazareth. These were shown to be a part of his work and a part of the work of his disciples: foT wherever they urn l they practiced such gifts as they possessed, their followers U2 SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. practiced spiritual gifts in the early Christian Church. Even the Romish Church has kept alive the gifts of the spirit. The saints referred to in the calendar of the Romish Church, referred to in the early church in Jerusalem, referred to in the apostles and disciples of Christianity, these were accompanied by gifts of the spirit. It is only in the latter days of the church that these gifts have been denied. For it must be known that George Whitfield, that John Wesley and all the Wesley family, that those who have departed from the Church of England in the various denominations had these spiritual gifts and exercised them without considering that it was evil. Even Watts, the poet, speaks of those "ministering spirits" and "angels" that not only attend the dying saints but that keep watch around you every day. In other words, if you will read the New Testament carefully you will find that ministering spirits and angels bore an active part in the familv of the truest Christians, and that with- out these spiritual gifts the introduction of Christianity could not have occurred, since teaching alone would not have satisfied those who were seeking for a "sign" and a "token." Therefore when Paul said, "are they not all ministering spirits," it meant those who have passed from earth, who minister to those who are "heirs to salvation." In our view the teachings of Christ and the early Chris- tians (and you must pardon us) differ essentially from the teachings of theology. Of course all denominations have a portion of the truth, but none of them can have all of the truth, or there would be no differences among them. We are perfectly willing that those who think the Romish Church or the Episcopal Church, or Baptist, or Presby- terian, or Methodist, or Universalist, or Unitarian con- tains all the truth shall worship there. But it is well known that Jesus did not establish any creed. The only commandment or creed that he gave was the one com- mandment, that "ye love one another," and his only doc- trinal sermon was the Sermon on the Mount. We are perfectly willing to place that Sermon on the Mount side by side with our own teaching and the teach- ing of Spiritualism. Christ's teaching was for the future world; it was the establishing of a spiritual instead ot a material kingdom on the earth: it was the overcoming of hatred with love, SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY 143 instead of overcoming hatred with hatred; it was the re- vealment that God is a spiritual instead of material king, that heaven is a spiritual instead of a material kingdom. He not only defined it, but, in answer to a question, dis- tinctly stated that "the kingdom of heaven is within." Moreover he freely and fully taught about the kingdom, which some of his disciples hoped to share with him; that he was "going to prepare a place for them," that where he was "they might be also." Your friends, those who pass from this side of life, often say this. Jesus distinctly conveys the lesson, that the deeds done in human life, that daily practices, which are the results of human thoughts and conditions, must constitute the foundation for the beginning of spirit existence. In our view, the teachings of Christianity are very simple. The church has made them very complex. What with canonical and ecumenical law in Rome and the establishing of the Papal See under the reign of Constan- tine, and the various ordinances of the church it becomes very complex. The Westminster Catechism is no more simple, and the laws that have governed the various de- nominations. You have departed from these, therefore they cannot be finalities. The whole Christian world has, in a measure, departed from the teachings of the primal church. Whether the Church of Rome or the Church of England be the primal church, as many maintain, you know that Christianity is not what it was two thousand years ago. John Calvin taught a more rigorous, but more vindictive teaching be- cause of the laxity and corruption that was found in the Roman Catholic and afterward in the Protestant Episco- pal Church. Martin Luther began the Reformation, when, inspired by his religious fervor in his lonely cell, he went forth to visit Koine to pay his tribute to the highest authority in the church. There he found a slate of immorality and corruption which lie could not understand as being com- patible with the purity of the church. Therefore Martin Luther began a mild reformation, which extended to political life wiien the dissolute King Henry VIII. ac- cepted it as the state religion. Just as Constantino had previously accepted the Romish faith. The spirit of Christianity, however, manifested itself among the dissenting bodies. The various dissenters, 144 SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. especially under the mild teaching of John Wesley, went forward with the renewal of the gifts of the spirit. While George Fox and the Quakers clearly established distinct communion with the spirits, Mother Ann Lee and the Shakers still further established the communion of ministering spirits. These are but portions of man's ac- ceptance, while the teachings of Jesus remain. We, as said before, are perfectly willing to take the first four gospels of the New Testament — such portions of them as claim to contain the teachings of Jesus of Naza- reth — and present them to you as our own. But we are not willing to take the interpretation of Constantine. We are not willing to take the interpretation of the Popes and the early fathers of the Romish Church. We are not willing to take the interpretation of John Calvin. We are not obliged to take the interpretation of John Knox, that fiery, northern agitator, who, though conscientious, plunged into everlasting torment all who did not agree with him. We are not willing to take the wars that have sprung up in the name of Christianity and call them ours. We are not willing to say, while every foot of British soil is stained with the blood of those who have fought in the name of Christianity, that we accept either one or the other of the contending churches as being wholly right. We are not willing to take the swords of the Crusaders and consider that they are ours. But all through this we are willing to take the gentle line of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. We are willing to take the law of love as conquering hatred. We are willing to take the law of the gifts of the spirits as proving and showing spirit power and the excellency of man. It is to the credit of this age of Christendom that the larger body of Christians are outgrowing denomina- tional and sectarian lines; that they are working for the good of humanity more than for the good of the creeds or dogmas of the church, and that in the great world of hu- man thought the real teachings of Jesus have a broader and wider sway than when they were narrowed down to any especial form of creed. Time was when Presbyterians and Baptists would not only quarrel with one another, but would be widely sep- arated in all their daily life because of the differences in creed. Time was when Covenanters and Dissenters could not meet without quarreling; time was when Dissenters SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 145 and members of the Church of England could not meet without warfare; time was when the Romish Church and the Established Church of England were in perpetual strife. All this was not "Christian;" it was simply hu- man, and most of it in the lowest plane of human existence. That theology which bears the name of Christianity for the purpose of waging war against the helpless women and children, or even against man is not Christian. But the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, the spirit of the Golden Rule, the spirit of the various gifts of the spirit are Spiritualism. To-day the manifestations come according to the needs of to-day. To-day this light is poured out into the w r orld by various means, according to the world's present needs. As this is a materialistic age the manifestations come in form of "signs," "tokens" and "wonders" to meet the man of science and the materialistic mind. To-day the gift of healing, the gift of tongues, the gift of the interpretation of tongues, the gift of the working of wonders, or "miracles" (so-called) are in the world be- cause men must have external signs and tokens as for- merly. That these gifts constitute a series of manifesta- tions adapted to human need is evident. Such men as Dr. Hodgson, Prof. Hyslop, and before them Alfred Russell Wallace, Mr. Crookes and a score of scientific men would not for one instant have turned their attention to merely an ethical proposition or merely to the thought of a fu- ture life. But since the manifestation challenges them to explain it in the realm of scientific research, and they can- not do it, they are constrained — as have been other pro- >rs of science — to admit the truth of the spiritual hypothesis, just as the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles were constrained to admit that the gifts of the spirit must be- long to Jesus and his disciples, or those tilings could not be wrought. Even in those days it was said they wrought those miracles in the name of the "Prince of Devils." So theologians have endeavored to explain the manifestations of Spiritualism, by saying they all are the works of Satan. Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn, the Rev. Mr. ilaweis of London, Rev. Mr. Savage of New York, and more than a hundred ministers of various denominations did not and do not find "Satan" in these manifestations. 116 SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. and therefore consider them worthy of attention and credence. Spiritualism in fifty-five years has done more to change the theology of the world than any other form of thought ever accomplished in the same length of time. Chris- tianity was many centuries undergoing persecution. It was not until after the tenth persecution that Constantine became converted and declared against further persecu- tions of the Christians. Kings and rulers at that time could put to death the advocates of any new theories of religion that they feared. It was not until after his con- version from the bloody handed measures that he had pre- viously adopted, that Constantine caused the persecutions to cease. Nevertheless, the church in its turn became the perse- cutor, even down to the time of the Salem witchcraft. You have nothing to be proud of in the persecutions of one Christian denomination by another, while science has continually encountered similar obstacles. It was only in the latter part of the last century that the statue of Bruno could be unveiled in the presence of the Vatican without offense, while to the Holy See it is a continual offense now, but it remains there now by the voice of the people. To-day you do not put people to death for this form of belief, you do not persecute them except in a mild social way; 'but that no longer is fashionable, since many sci- entific men and many ministers of different denomina- tions have wholly or partially accepted it. But Spiritualism teaches the immortality of the soul; it teaches a personal future life; it teaches the return of spirits to minister to and to communicate with mortals, and to watch over them; it teaches that the life on earth forms the basis of the coming life, and that every deed and thought in earthly life you reap the reward or pen- alty of in your own nature or spirit; it teaches all that can be taught to the present race concerning the nature of man's soul, its past and its future. Unlike the theology of the day, it does not limit the possibilities of the knowl- edge of man concerning the material or the spiritual universe. It was the mission of Jesus to point to the God of Love instead of one of hatred and revenge; it was his mission to point to the spirit as the source of life, instead of material nature as the source of life; it was his mission to show that SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 117 all that is good and great must come from the spirit in- stead of from the material conditions; it was his mission to show, that whatever is real is from within; that "as a man thinketh so is he," that you do not have to commit murder to be a murderer, you do not have to steal to be a thief, but when you have hatred for your fellow man, that is murder, when you think to do your brother wrong, you do him wrong, and that whatever good there is in your thought that is also real and true. Not only can the Christian Scientist, the Theosophist and the best in the different denominations find out the spirit of Christ's teachings, but it is the universal Word of God all over the world. In Persia the Golden Rule is in- terpreted: "Do unto others in thought or deed as you would have them do unto you." In every language there is the Golden Rule. In the Arabic it is: "Feel toward others as you would have them feel toward you." For it is well known that if you feel kindly or unkindly your ac- tion will correspond with the thought or feeling which must precede the action. The world is growing nearer to this height. Spiritualism in the last fifty years (we beg your pardon, but it is true) has Christianized Christianity. It has brought it from the narrow trammels of creeds to the broader range of universal brotherhood; it has established, or re-established, the gifts of the spirit that had well nigh died out within the church for lack of encouragement; it has re-affirmed these gifts as being the natural presenta- tion of spirit power to man; it has illustrated them through the various signs and manifestations that have been given in its name, and, in the gifts of the spirit, it has fulfilled the Scriptures. As Jesus said, he came "not to destroy, but to fulfill." It is only the adhering to the letter thai kills, and the giving of tix' spirit that gives life. So Spiritualism came, not to destroy, but to fulfill. Young men and maidens, old men and matrons have dreamed dreams and have had visions; those of youthful years have been made to speak words of wisdom far beyond their years; ihor gifts have descended upon them and have made an impression all over the world. No longer is there the depths mourning in time of deal h; no longer the crape, do longer the awful shadow of the tomb; but garlands of flowers are fre- quently hung upon doors to announce the hirthinto spirit 148 SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. life of a loved inmate of the household, and beautiful blossoms fill all the rooms with fragrance to show that the life that has gone out has entered a world of blossoming. Spiritualism has wrought this change. We have stood beside the caskets of the departed with clergymen of all denominations, ministering to those who remained in the hour of their affliction and their words were pervaded with our belief, with our knowledge. When an Episcopal minister would say: "I know that the friend whose body lies here is with us at the present moment; that he is seek- ing to comfort those who are mourning over his body; that his guardianship and love can remain with you, dear friends, in your mortal life;" that was Spiritualism, and he knew it. It was just what was said from us twenty minutes before, then it was called Spiritualism. But he was an Episcopal clergyman. When the Rev. Dr. Thomas, of Chicago, tells his friends that the spirits of the de- parted are near, that they can minister to their friends here, and take cognizance of the earth life, that they can uplift and strengthen their loved ones, not only by im- pressions, but by their actual presence, it is accepted as Christian theology. Precisely the same words if we utter them are called Spiritualism. What is Spiritualism but the knowledge of the spirit of God and the spirit of man wherever they may be, whatever they may do, and into whatever state they may enter? However, Spiritualism does not accept the thought of a creed; that you must limit your investigations. If there is an open door to the other world you have a right to know it. If there is a method of communication with loved ones who have departed this life, it is your heritage to possess it. When Dr. Franklin toyed with the lightning, the church condemned it; when the steam engine was har- nessed to be your truck-horse, the church condemned it; when the doorway opened a little over half a century ago, so that many had possessed the knowledge of communion with the spirit world, the church condemned it. But like the electrical knowledge, like the inventions of Edison, like the steam engine, which does much of your work, those other forces of nature will be harnessed as your horse power; the sunshine that is bursting forth with promise, the air that oftentimes does not fulfill what it might do; the great seas that lie between other lands and SPIRITUALISM AXD CHRISTIANITY. 149 yours, will be made amenable to the powers of the spirit, which are more and more unfolding to man. The spirit- ual nature is no longer a mystery to be feared or a bubble that is to be burst and sent into annihilation. The spirit of man is the ego, the weapon of material power, that which causes his body to move, his brain to think, and Spiritualism — not Christian Science, not the- osophy, not occultism — but Spiritualism pure and simple, has brought this knowledge to the world. We hail any door, or any sidetrack, or any ism that will bring more people into relation with the spirit of man. But Spiritualism is the fulfillment of the promise of the Christ of Christianity: "I will send you the comforter, even the spirit of truth who will tell you all things." That which brings hope to the hearts of the mourners, that which dries the tears of sorrow; that which reveals the life that is hidden by man's blindness and material- ism; that which shows the way unto all these paths of in- quiry and investigation; that which takes the torch of the spirit to light the way through the shoals and quicksands of material science; that which says to the agnostic and materialist, "If you do not know, if you always deny, we can tell you;" that which says to the Christian, to the par- tially doubting, to the one whose philosophy is trembling because of the lack of perfect knowledge, "this is knowl- edge;" that which says to the doubting one, "we can con- vince you;" that which says to the one that has but faith, "you can have full knowledge;" that which declares to the Christian Church that Jesus made a claim that has never been fulfilled until now, that this "comforter," this "spirit of truth" is abroad in the world and will overcome false- hood by its truthfulness, will overcome error by its truth, will overcome darkness by its light, that the great realm of the unseen may be revealed to the consciousness and to the usefulness of man for the purpose of bringing him to the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule. We declare that Spiritualism and the Christianity of Christ are one. We declare that the Christianity of Christ and the teaching of Spiritualism and its manifesta- tion fully accord, and we declare thai these arc as Ear re- moved from the theology of Christendom as war is from peace, as hatred is from love, as selfishness is from un- selfishness, as aggression is from brotherhood, and that 150 SPIRITUALISM AND CHRISTIANITY. Spiritualism teaches that fraternity which is intended as it was in the days of the Sermon on the Mount to over- come hatred with love, war with justice and peace, and to bring men unto knowledge of the soul and of the spirit as triumphing over the limitations of the body and over death. The Abolition of Death. The Ancient and Modern Ideas Graphically Compared In An Easter Sermon by Rev. M. J. Savage. My text you may rind in the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation, the fourth verse, — "And death shall be no more." Towards the last of his life the late Colonel Ingersoll said — I quote his thought, not his language — if we could only be certain of continued personal existence, then the funeral of a friend would become a triumphal procession, a harvest home, accompanied, not by tears and heartbreak, but by songs of triumph. But what has the attitude of men been towards the fact of death? It has been the one thing that has made the cup of every joy bitter. It has burdened the heart, it has blinded the eyes with tears, it has clouded the brightness of the fairest days, and made the hopes of life seem vanity and emptiness. Perhaps you have noticed, as you have read the "Atsl- bian Nights," how the stories, nearly all of them, close — And so they lived until he came who is "the destroyer of delights and the sunderer of companies." This was their way of looking at death. In the Old Testament the prevailing idea is that death is the end of all things — at any rate, the end of everything that appeals to human hope or human cheer. The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes says, "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor wisdom, nor knowledge in the grave whither thou goest." If they had any belief in an under- ground life, it was colorless and undesirable. THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 15J The old Greeks held a similar idea. They did, indeed, believe in Hades; but it was not the crown and triumph of life, something to be attained. It was something to be hated and shunned. For when Ulysses, in the story as Homer tells it, goes down into the underworld and meets the spirit of Achilles, he tries to comfort him by telling him of the great fame which he still enjoys up here under the stars. But Achilles says, Do not try to comfort me by any considerations like that. And he goes on to ex- plain that he would rather be a servant of a taskmaster, engaged in the most menial of occupations here on the green earth, than to be the king of all the dead. This was the thought of the ancient Greek. We know that during the Middle Ages death has. been set forth as the terror of mankind; and, because the church was believed to have some power over it, it was able for centuries to dictate terms to kings and rule the empires with a power not possessed by the emperors them- selves. Death has been the king of terrors, the one last dread, the end of everything fair and sweet and good. Longfellow, you know, tells us, "The air is full of farewells to the dying, And mournings for the dead; The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Will not be comforted." And in spite of the fact that people claim to believe, or think they believe, death is not robbed of his terrors, the fact of death is not abolished. Let me read you a snatch from a letter received within the last few days. I do it because it is so typical of the feelings of the human heart: "For months, ages, it seems, my whole being has been overwhelmed by lliis sorrow. No ether thought occupies my heart night or day. Time, change, nothing brings relief." I am aware that there are philosophical thinkers who, feeling compelled to give up any real belief in a future life, try to comfort themselves with the thought thai the destiny of man is not so very hard after all. And yet those who dare, face the fad speak of it in words like these. This is a saying of Mr. John Fiske: "If the world's long-cherished beliefs arc to fall, in God's name lei them fall, hut save us from the intellectual hypocrisy thai goes about pretending that we are none the poorer"' That is his attitude towards the fact of death. 152 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. I wish to give yon the word of one other famous writer. Years ago a book was published entitled "Theism;" the name of the author was not given, but rather the pen name, "Physicus." At the close of what he regards as a scientific demonstration that there is no God and no fu- ture, he records the feeling that he has in view of these facts in the following words: "And forasmuch as I am far from being able to agree with those who affirm that the twilight doctrine of the 'new faith' is a desirable substitute for the waning splen- dor of 'the old/ I am not ashamed to confess that with this virtual negation of God the universe to me has lost its soul of loveliness; and, although from henceforth the pre- cept to 'work while it is day' will doubtless but gain an intensified force from the terribly intensified meaning of the words that 'the night cometh when no man can work/ yet when at times I think, as think at times I must, of the appalling contrast between the hallowed glory of that creed which once was mine, and the lonely mystery of ex- istence as now I find it — at such times I shall ever feel it impossible to avoid the sharpest pang of which my nature is susceptible." And then he goes on to close with the quotation of the terrific oracle to Oedipus: "Mayest thou ne'er know the truth of what thou art." I have a friend, a lawyer of much more than usual ability. Two or three years ago he was talking to me on this subject, and he expressed himself substantially after this fashion: "Here I am, walking a narrow plank that reaches out into the mist. I cannot see its end. I can only go on, step by step, into the darkness, and almost any day, I do not know when, I must step over the end into — nobody knows what." And he added, "I do not like it." This is the attitude of thousands of people to- day towards this great fact of death. Is it not true still, what Saint Paul indicated when, nearly two thousand years ago, he spoke of the condition of the world as, through fear of death, being perpetually in bondage? Is there any way conceivable, then, by which death may be abolished, practically, for you and for me? There has been one period in human history when for a time death was practically abolished. I refer to the first few years of the history of Christianity. I do not know anything like it anywhere else in all the world. Paul, you remember, says from his point of view, "To die is gain," that "to de- THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 153 part and be with Christ is far better;" and he cries out: "0 Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy vic- tory?" He had, as he believed, a knowledge — not a faith merely — a knowledge that abolished death and put a meaning and a victory into human life such as it had not known from the beginning of the world until then. And this was a victory which was shared by thousands of early Christian believers. And I ask you to review that period in the history of the world, and see if I be not right when I say that it was this great belief if a Power that had conquered death which made the young church mas- ter of Eome and master of the world. For what was it they believed? They had expected the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Jesus came, unannounced, and at last propounded the belief that he was the one that the ages had been expecting. But by and by, coming in conflict with the authorities, on a Friday afternoon, he is thrust outside the walls of the city and hung upon a tree. And he died, and the hopes of the disciples died with him. Do you remember these two, on their way to Emmaus, how they said to the casual stranger who joined them in their walk, "We trusted that this had been he who was to have redeemed Israel?" But the trust was gone; they were crushed and scattered. But by and by, the daring whisper goes forth from lip to lip, and kindling hope from heart to heart, that the Master has been seen; and that means to those who could receive it that he had broken the bondage of death — not only for himself, but for all those who would trust in him. For, do you know, up to this time in Jewish history only two persons had ever gone to heaven, Enoch and Elijah; the rest were in Sheol, the underworld; and when Jesus broke loose from the bondage of death, he made an open way for others to follow him, became "the first fruits of them that slept," the promise of victory and deliverance for mankind. This was the hope that sprung up in the hearts of the early disciples. They believed that Jesus was alive, and that meant that for humanity death was to be no more. For Paul believed and the early church believed — you need to know it and have it freshly in mind — that the Blaster was to reappear in the clouds of heaven, almost anytime — at the farthest, as expressed in words put into the lips of Jesus himself, before this present generation shall have passed away, within t weniy-livc or thirty years. 154 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. He was to appear. Then those who had died before he came were to be brought forth from the grave; and those that remained alive were suddenly to be transformed, to put off the mortal and put on the immortal body, and meet the Lord triumphant in the air. This was the belief of Paul. It was this belief that fired his heart as he went forth on his missionary journeys. It was this belief that made maidens and young men, full of the hope and joy of life, meet the lions in the arena with a smile. It was this belief that made people eager to show their faith by martyrdom. They cared nothing for death; it was a fact put behind them, no longer having about it any touch of fear. Do you wonder they conquered Eome? Put into the hearts of several thousands of enthusiastic people a hope, a belief in the immortal life, a belief that the death of the body means only the triumph and glory of the spirit all the sooner, and you have an army of men without fear; and conquest for such is easy. That was the belief of the early church. Has it persisted? Is it the belief of the church to-day? You know it is not. Look upon those who claim to be Christians of the olden type, and to believe that this Easter morning celebrates the victory of the Master over death. Look at them, I say; and when a friend is taken away see them heartbroken, see them covered with crepe, see them cast down and without any cheering hope. The old belief is getting old; it is getting dim; it is far away. And, friends, if we propose to be quite honest and frank with ourselves, we must admit this one fact, that there never, since the dawn of Christianity, were so many peo- ple doubting concerning the future life as there are now; and they are not the ignorant people, they are not the bad people. They are the best people there are, or as good as there are. They are readers, thinkers, persons ac- quainted with philosophy and science, who have studied history, looked into ecclesiastical tradition. They are people who say, We must be honest with ourselves in- tellectually; and, being such, we see no adequate reason for belief in a life after death. This is the attitude of thousands of people in the modern world; and if I do not misread the facts, the number of these people is growing. It would have to be not merely a popular rumor but a fact THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 155 scientifically investigated and verified by overwhelming evidence. And let us admit freely one other fact. If a person asks me whether I think there is satisfactory evidence that the body of Jesus was raised from the dead, I must be frank and say I do not. Xo case in a modern court could be carried through successfully unless there were in its favor better evidence than we have for the resurrection of the body of Jesus. There is no first-hand testimony of any- body to that fact; and we know perfectly well that, if we had the testimony of a hundred or a thousand to a similar fact as taking place to-dav, it would weigh with us very little. Here, then, we are. Such I must say, in all candor and honesty; but let me balance that by saying something else. I cannot prove it to you scientifically as yet; but I believe with my whole soul that Jesus was seen alive after the crucifixion, and that out of that seeing sprang the great conviction which made the church triumphant over the empire of Rome. Out of that seeing might easily arise the belief that the body itself had risen. Why do I believe it? I cannot go into any prolonged exposition of this faith this morning. I can simply say to you that, if I can believe that anybody since that time, who has been called dead, has been seen again, then it is. perfectly easy for me to believe "that Jesus may have been seen; and if there be any reason for believing a fact like this, then death shall befno more, for the natural fact of the natural immortality of man would be thereby demon- strated. I propose for the time left me this morning to touch upon a few of those things which constitute the burden, the sting, the terror of death, and to outline a theory of things which, if we can accept, would abolish it, and give us victory over the grave. I shall not have time to enter upon proof, even attempted proof, of the positions I take. I >hall, however, make no statement on behalf of which I believe thai proof mighl noi he offered. I shall say nothing that i> noi entirely reasonable and consonant with all our scientific knowledge of the universe. The first terror of death is tin' fact that we must leave this fair and beautiful world, no more look at tin 1 bright- ness of the sun by day or the beauty of tin- Btars by night; that we must go out into — what? Nobody knows, we are told. 156 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. Suppose, in place of this, that we may believe, what I do believe, that this physical universe of ours is immersed in what we may call, for lack of a better name, a spiritual universe. By "spiritual" what do I mean? It is very difficult to tell or to make clear. Science, however, talks about the "ether," a form of matter intangible, invisible, inaudible, and yet more wonderful than anything that can be touched or heard or seen; and it is demonstrated that such form of matter exists. We have learned enough about this material universe to know that the invisible and intangible and inaudible forces are unspeakably mightier and grander than all with which our senses ordinarily bring us into contact. Suppose, then, that we are immersed in a universe like this, as real as this — if there be any distinction, unspeak- ably more real— thrilling, throbbing with a life of which we can only dimly conceive as yet — and suppose that, when we go away from the presence of the sun and the stars, we go into a world grander, fairer than this. If we can believe that, then the terror of going is taken away. Another thing that seems bitterer, perhaps, even than this is the separation from friends, the parting with those we love; and, I take it, it makes little matter whether it is by their going or our own; it is being separated from somebody dearer to us than all the world. This is what makes death bitter. But suppose we can believe that this separation is only temporary, only for a little while. We can bear to have friends go to Europe, to Australia, to the East, if we know they still live and remember and love us. We could put up with the fact of not seeing them again for ten or twenty or thirty years if we could feel assured that some time again we should see them, that we could look in their eyes once more, clasp their hands once more, hear the familiar voice once more, and know they were just the same old friends as ever. This I believe. There are thousands of people who believe that death is the end of all; and if there is anything that we shrink from, it is the ceasing of this conscious life of ours, the going out into blank nothingness. Suppose we may be- lieve that there is nothing in the fact of death that touches us in any material way of change; suppose we may believe that, when we pass into the shadow, it is only to come out into the light again, and to find that we are ourselves. THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 157 I do not believe, friends, that there is anything in the fact of death that changes us any more than going to sleep last night and waking up this morning. Why should there be? It is only tradition and an unfounded idea that it can have any such effect. I believe that death is only another kind of birth; that we graduate from this life, take the next step in an ever-advancing and ever-rising career of progress, and that we are just ourselves over there. There is another terror that has haunted the imagina- tions of the world concerning this fact of death; and, though we who think we are more enlightened and liberated from some of the old superstitions have out- grown it, and though we sometimes fancy, thinking the whole world is like that little part of it which we are' familiar with, that these things are left behind, yet there are millions, millions of people burdened and horrified by the fear that there is something in death which fixes the condition for good or evil, for joy or sorrow, forever. Millions of people in this country to-day still believe it, though every little while we are told in some newspaper paragraph that that is a thing of the past, and that, if any minister takes the trouble to preach against it, he is fight- ing a man of straw. Suppose in place of that we can believe that God is just as good on the other side of death as he is on this side. Suppose we can believe, what is absolutely demonstrated as true, that it is one God and one law on both sides of death, in this world and in all worlds; that there is no such thing as arbitrary reward or arbitrary punishment, but that throughout the universe there are only results, in- evitable results, beneficent results, wisely ordered results. For, friends, let us not delude ourselves with the idea that, even if we believe in continued existence, it makes no difference how we live here We make ourselves; and in making ourselves we make our hells and our heavens in thifl world and in all worlds, and not only now, but for evermore A broken law musl mean the result of a broken law; and God himself cannot help it without introducing disorder and breach into his perfed universe. If we may believe that, when we have passed through the fact of death, wo are jusi ourselves, what wo have made ourselves, freed from certain burdens and disabili- ties, with the opportunity -till to go up or down as we 158 THE ABOLITION" OF BEATH. please, but with better opportunities for knowing the truth, for seeing clearly our situation, and so with larger inducements for going up and on — if we may believe this, then the greatest horror that has ever been connected with death, that fear of "something after death" of which Hamlet speaks, is taken away and we are free, in a free universe, with a loving God and Father and Helper and Friend to watch over us and lead us in whatever world we may find ourselves. There is another fear connected with death. I find it in many a heart. Tennyson gives expression to it in more than one passage in his "In Memoriam." He wonders as to whether his friend Hallam will outgrow him, become so spiritualized, so wise, so noble in that other realm that the old ties and friendships of this life will become as nothing to him. And so I find in many another soul the fear that the loved in the other life may outgrow us, and that, when we get there, we shall have lagged so far be- hind that there can be no real re-establishment of the old sweet relations that made the past so dear. I believe, friends, and it seems to me inevitable in the nature of the soul, that precisely the opposite to this is true. Jesus, the grandest soul in history, was not, for his greatness or his nobility and his spirituality, separated from people. He was not separated from the poor, the lowly, even from the sinful. He was brought close to them in that infinite, divine pity and sympathy that would lift and lead and help. There are cases of supposed intellectual greatness coupled with unmanly personal conceit which have seemed to lift people above, at any rate out of sympathy with, their old-time friends. But the really great soul is greatest of all in tenderness and love, and stooping, brood- ing, lifting sympathy and care. And so I believe it true that those we have loved on the other side will not out- grow us, but, as they become mightier in spiritual statute, will only come closer and closer to us. So the theory which even the great soul of Lowell could put into verse seems to me unfounded. You will remember that he says concerning his own little girl who died: "Immortal? I feel it, I know it, Who doubts it of such as she? But that is the pang's very secret, — Immortal, away from me." THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 159 No, friends, let not that fear haunt us. Immortal, not away from us, but ever nearer, closer, in a bondage of love that never can be broken. Then there are people who fear that there will be no opportunity to reorganize conditions over there, that they must be forever tied in bondage to associations which have established themselves here. I believe that many things which bring us into personal relations in this life are of the present, of the body, springing out of passing con- ditions, and that the bonds which hold us together when we are released will be the real ones, the ones that are created in the very essential nature of our being. And the lives we have lived here are not wasted. This indicates another fear to which I have heard many a soul give expression. They say, We have studied, labored, learned here, but that life over there is so different from this that all that we have done here is> thrown away. I believe, friends, that that life is such a natural continuity, that it is so closely linked with the present, that all we have done and known and suffered and sinned here, if we can rise above our sins and put them under feet, only help to make us into fitness for the life on which there we shall enter. And so every duty well done, every kindly word spoken, every lesson learned, every sympathetic touch that binds us to somebody in sorrow and trouble, every action which indicates that we are men and women in the true and high sense of that word — all these things are only accumulat- ing experiences and developments and growths that shall be carried on and help us to enter, with advantage, on that next stage in our career. I have said, friends, that this is what I believe. I can- not enter upon the task of offering you evidence for it this morning. I believe that evidence, at any rate looking that way, evidence accumulating and increasing day by day, week by week, year by year, is coming more and more to underlie and buttress these beliefs; thai this is the the- ory of human life thai is by and by to lake possession of the intelligent beliefs of men. T cannot think thai thie greal universe, rising under the impulse of infinite lifting and guidance for million- of years, is hy nnd by to be Bnuffed out, is by and by to plunge ever ;m abyss into eternal darkness and night. I cannot believe that the end of ;«ll our knowledge is to be 160 THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. that "there is nothing in it." I cannot believe that, as John Fiske says, we are to be put to a "permanent intel- lectual confusion." I believe that this is the prologue to a great drama, a drama illustrating infinite wisdom and infinite power and infinite love; that this is the prologue; that we are seeing here the rising of the curtain; and that what we call death is only a lowering of the curtain for the time that precedes the first great act; and that this is to go on unfolding in beauty and wonder and glory forever- more. Now at the end may I read to you two or three words, familiar to you because they are so wonderful and beau- tiful and strong, which fitly crown that to which I have tried to give expression? "There shall never be one lost good! What was, shall live as before; The evil is null, is naught, is silence implying sound; What was good shall be good, with for evil so much good more; On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven, a perfect round." If we may cherish the great beliefs I have tried to sug- gest this morning, then we may walk through life, not as those impelled by an evil force from behind — walk through life not dreading to grow old, walk through life believing that old age is not decay, but only ripening. We may walk through life until we come to what was the great Terror, and look him in the face and find that he is a friend. "Fear death? — to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face, When the snows begin, and the blasts denote I am nearing the place, The power of the night, the press of the storm, The post of the foe; Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form, Yet the strong man must go; For the journey is done and the summit attained, And the barriers fall, Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained, The reward of it all. I was ever a fighter, so — one fight more. The best and the last ! THE ABOLITION OF DEATH. 161 I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forebore, And bade me creep past. No ! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers The heroes of old, Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears Of pain, darkness, and cold. For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave, The black minute's at end, And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave, Shall dwindle, shall blend, Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain, Then a life, then thy breast, thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again, And with God be the rest!" Father, in this great trust let us work, let us wait, let us be patient, let us be cheerful, and with the words ringing in our ears, "And death shall be no more," let us press on to that fullness of life that waits thy children forever. Amen. Burying Alive a Frequent Peril. Incidents Relating to the Occurrence as Recited by Prof. Alexander Wilder, M. D., of Newark, N. J, When engaged in discourse with a brother physician, some time ago, I remarked that I had given attention to the subject of trance and suspended animation, and that I had apprehended the danger in such conditions of being buried alive. "I believe that this often happens," my friend replied. This matter sometimes gains a notice in the public jour- nals. The New York World gave a page to it several weeks ago. Occasionally, likewise a case occurs where such a fate was barely avoided or actually took place. A telegraphic dispatch of May 9th described a commotion at Salt Lake City, because the physician refused to sign a certificate of death, declaring that the person was only in a trance and not yet dead. So resolute were the members of the family for interment as to procure such a certificate from the Health Commissioner of the city. Perhaps they were right, but it is a fearful subject to contemplate. We hear of other instances, comparatively recent, where terrible mistakes had been made. On the 23d of March last the undertaker at Mullica Hill, N. J., employed in the removal of some bodies from the vil- lage cemetery, which it was intended to place in the Mon- ument Cemetery at Philadelphia. One of these was the body of a boy of six years old that had been buried some twenty years ago. As the crumbling cofhn was opened the skeleton was found drawn up in a manner that told a mute story of a horrible struggle. The arms were bent BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. 163 over the skull, one leg was drawn up and the other crossed it in a way to afford unmistakable evidence that the little sufferer had been hurried to the grave while yet alive. Another case of similar horror occurred at Sandy Creek, near the city of Rochester, N. Y., early in January. Vett Case, a man thirty-five years old, was sick with scarlet fever and supposed to have died. He lay unconscious for several hours on the 4th, was pronounced dead by the physician, and buried two days later. On the 29th of March his father died, and when arrangements were made to dig the grave in the family plot it was found necessary to move the son's coffin several feet. Upon disinterring the casket the ^rave-diggers found the glass front of the coffin shattered to pieces, the bottom kicked out and the sides considerably sprung. The lid was then removed and the body of Vett Case was found resting on its face, with the arms bent at the sides, and in the clenched fists were handfuls of hair, showing that a terrible struggle had taken place. Better fortune fell to the lot of Joseph N. Manning, of Mount Vernon, X. Y. He was a commercial traveler, and. coming home from a trip some months ago, he was taken ill, and the case was supposed to be typhoid fever. The "usual medical treatment" was accordingly given. This was on Saturday, and on Sunday he lost consciousness. On Monday respiration ceased, and it appeared that the end had come He lay in this condition twenty hours. Then came a gasp from the body, and a few minutes later respiration was apparent, though weak and irregular. The action of the heart was also perceived, but it was faint and fitful. Half an hour later he opened his eyes, and soon after asked for water. Convalescence ensued, and he explained that he was perfectly conscious during the trance. He knew what was going on, saw and heard the weeping of his relatives, am! the physician discussing whether he was really dead. He could not move a muscle nor utter a Bound, hut his brain was active and he compiv bended everything that went on around hini. Bishop Fallows, of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Chicago, tells a remarkable story of the same category, more marvelous in particulars, bul more happy in it- se- quel. The Wife of a young man, living on the North Side, had heeii Beriously ill. and death was Bupposed to 164 BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. have taken place. Two or three days later she was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. Fortunately, no embalmers had been employed. The interment took place in the after- noon. In the middle of the night the husband heard his name called distinctly several times. He was what is called a "materialist," and he deemed the hearing of the voice an hallucination. Going to sleep, he was again awakened by hearing his name called in a more insistent tone. At daybreak the voice came again, calling him by name and adding imploringly: "Save me! save me!" He sprang from the bed and hurried to another room where a cousin was sleeping who had passed the evening with him. "We must hurry to the cemetery," he exclaimed, "she is calling." Procuring spades and a carriage, the two made their way to the place. In a fury of excitement they dug down to the coffin and wrenched off the lid. She was turning over, but fortunately was unconscious. They removed her from the coffin and conveyed her home. She never learned that she had been buried alive, and it is apparent that she was in a trance all the time that she was in the grave. She made a slow recovery. All these examples are too well authenticated for any candid disputing, and there are more that may be given. I know a lady, a physician of our school, who was resusci- tated from apparent death at her birth, and who, after growing up, was supposed several times to have died, but had the good fortune to be restored to consciousness be- fore the undertaker began his work. Others have told me similar stories about themselves. The late Washington Bishop, was subject to cataleptic conditions. He took the precaution to put his friends on the guard that they might protect him in such a case from being passed upon as dead. He was prostrated, however, in New York, when no friend was near. He fell into the hands of some over-zealous medical men and the sequel is well known. A writer in The Nineteenth Century, twenty years ago, informed us that at the public mortuary of Paris about one in every three hundred persons, supposed to be dead, actually came to life again. At that rate, some hundreds must be buried alive in the larger cities of America, for very few of the precautions are taken that are required in several European countries. BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. 165 In the second week in May of the present year a case occurred at Bellevue Hospital, in the city of New York, which is pertinent to the present subject. Ellen Meyer, a young woman of twenty-four, living at No. 573 Ninth Avenue, was taken from her home on Wednesday, the 16th, and carried to the hospital. She was insensible and continued so. Pins were thrust into her body, and other means taken to awaken her, without effect. Her mother told the physician that the daughter would go into these trances about every three months. She would lie in a deep sleep as if lifeless for three or four days, and, after coming to consciousness, would go about her duties as though nothing unusual had occurred. Her term of in- sensibility while at the hospital seems to have been pro- longed, and I have not learned the outcome. Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, for a time President of Congress during the American Revolution, had a daughter of remarkable talent and accomplishments. She was taken ill with smallpox, and was finally supposed to have died. Her body was duly shrouded and coffined, and the burial service was performed. Just at the critical point she recovered animation, was rescued, lived to wo- manhood and married. Afterwards, when Mr. Laurens himself had died, it was found to be the condition of every legacy in his will that his body should be burned. A pyre was built accordingly upon his plantation and his wishes carried out. There is a general distrust among intelligent individu- als in regard to the trustworthiness of the common medi- cal certificates of death. I entertain the same feeling my- self. I am unwilling to believe a person dead simply upon that authority, and I have a profound terror lest I shall yet be subjected to the same uncertain verdict. The late Judge Charles J. Daniels, of Buffalo, N. Y., left a charge to his family not to dispose of his body till death had been found absolutely certain, because, he de- clared, he had no confidence in medical certificates. Bishop Berkeley, the celebrated metaphysician, Daniel (yConnell, and Lord Bnlwer Lytton, the statesman and author, entertained similar apprehensions of being buried alive. Wilkie Collin- always Left a letter on his dressing- table in which he enjoined that if he should he found dead in the morning, his body should be carefully exam- 166 BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. ined by a physician. Hans Christian Andersen carried a letter in his pocket asking his friends in case of emergency to make sure of death before the burial. Harriet Mar- tineau bequeathed ten pounds to her physician to make sure that her head was amputated. Miss Ada Cavendish, the actress, left a clause in her will directing that the jug- ular vein in her body should be severed. Edmund Yates bequeathed ten guineas for the same purpose. Lady Bur- ton, the widow of Sir Richard Burton, was subjects to fits of trance, and feared that such an attack might be taken for death. She ordered that her heart be pierced with a needle, and her body be submitted to a post-mortem ex- amination. The fact is that medical certificates are often perfunc- tory, and given simply to meet the requirements of the law. As many are consigned to the mad house without judge or jury almost, so others are placed in the grave upon the word of a physician, who has not made a critical examination of the case. If the undertakers were to tell the facts that have come under their eye, the blood would run cold with horror. Death which is actually instantaneous or sudden, sel- dom occurs, except in cases of violence. Life withdraws from the body gradually; death comes to its place in one part after another, creeping through the tissues, and sometimes defying all tests to prove that it is there. "Un- der Nature's laws/' says Dr. A. B. Granville, "there is no such thing as sudden death." "There has been in every case a preparation, more or less antecedent to the occur- rence, which must inevitably have led to it." The fakirs of India have abundantly demonstrated by numerous examples that a condition of body can be pro- duced voluntarily which may continue for a period of in- definite length, and all the time resemble death itself, ex- cept that there will be no disorganization of the tissues. For a sufficient reward these mountebanks will consent to enter this state of apparent death and be buried; and after a period of weeks they are disinterred and resuscitated. It may be conjectured that Orientals having a constitu- tion and temperament of body very different from West- erns, are the only individuals capable of such a feat. But actual experiment has shown that Europeans are at least sometimes endowed with similar powers. In 1895 there BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. 167 was exhibited at the Westminster Royal Aquarium a man in the mesmeric trance, which lasted thirty days, during which he was absolutely unconscious. Another example was afforded some months later, when Alfred Wootton was placed in the mesmeric trance at the same establish- ment, his nose and ears stopped with wax, after the man- ner of the fakirs, and he secured in a stout casket, which was buried under seven or eight feet of earth. Arrange- ments were carefully made, however, for respiration, and to moisten his lips occasionally. At the end of six days lie was exhumed in the presence of a large crowd of spec- tators. Many tests were applied to show the audience that the man was perfectly insensible. A -large needle was thrust through the flesh on the back of his hand with- out any sign of there being any sensation. Electricity was also applied. As soon as he became conscious Wootton said that he could see nothing and asked for drink. Milk with a little brandy was given him and he was lifted out of his box. He soon became able to walk with help, but his limbs were stiff and he was very weak, as well as sensi- tive to the temperature. At first he felt chilly, but after- ward complained of the oppressive heat. He soon recov- ered from his experiences. These experiments were not severe as those with the In- dian fakirs, but sufficiently so to illustrate the matter. "There seems to be hardly any limitation/' Colonel Vol- lum remarks, " in regard to the time during which a body may be preserved and become reanimated again, provided it is well protected, although modern ignorance may smile at this statement." The forty days' fast of Dr. Henry S. Tanner, at Claren- don Hall, New York, which has been imitated by several others, shows that the human body, under certain circum stances, can sustain long abstention from food. The sus- pending of respiration is the more difficult problem, but examples show that in trance conditions this may occur to a great degree. Many animals and insects become uncon- scious, and are even apparently dead during the cold months, but return to life and activity with warm weather. Some reverse this and become torpid in summer. It would seem that human beings 'may once have had a simi- lar habit of hibernation, and that some traces of it are yet retained. 1 68 BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. Among the forms and perhaps the causes of apparent death are hysteria,, asphyxia, trance, electric shock, cata- lepsy. Whatever tends to produce abnormal conditions of the nervous system may bring about such a result, as well as that of unequivocal dissolution. A volume may be written upon this department of the subject without exhausting it. We have all witnessed hysteria producing convulsive manifestations, fictitious epilepsy, temporary palsy, and even insensibility. Persons have been hanged and afterward resuscitated. Lightning does not always kill. Even when the person seems to be dead he has re- covered from the shock of cold water falling upon him. Persons prostrated by gases in the bottom of a well have sometimes been restored under copious effusions of cold water. It may be a question whether the mode of execu- tion by electricity is what does the work of death, or whether it is the knife of the surgeons who supplement it by a post-mortem operation. The undertaker who embalms the bodies of the dead is liable to a similar imputation. He certainly, like the sur- geon, makes death sure. But who would willingly take such responsibility? Trance results from a variety of causes; some of them beyond scientific explanation. The term implies a person going beyond ordinary conditions, as though the real personality had left the body. We have mentioned Washington Bishop, who was subject to these peculiar experiences. His mother, also, had similar trances; in one of them she lay six days, seeing and hear- ing, but unable to speak or even move. She saw the ar- rangements for her funeral, and only the determined re- sistance of her brother kept away the embalmers. On the seventh day she came to herself, but she never recovered from the effects of the agony that she endured. Catalepsy differs from trance in important particulars. It is occasioned by some obstruction in the organic mech- anism of the body on account of its exhausted nervous power. It may be a form of hysteria, and it is commonly attended with loss of consciousness. The limbs remain in the same position as at the outset, and the muscles, in whole or in part, are rigid. In profound conditions sen- sibility is lost to touch, pain or electricity, and no reflex movement can be induced. Sometimes the fits are very short, lasting only a few moments, so that spectators do BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. 169 not notice them; at other times they last for days and days together. The rigor mortis is one feature of the attack. Some of the medicines that are in frequent use are re- sponsible for much of this liability to apparent death. The "witch herbs" of the middle ages — aconite, belladon- na, veratrum, cannabis and digitalis — have became favor- ite drugs with physicians. They were formerly used to produce abnormal conditions, which the common people supposed were effects of a communication with supernat- ural powers, and it is by no means improbable that they now sometimes cause individuals to have curious fantasies, and even to fall into conditions resembling death. This subject, I may remark, has engaged my attention for many years. I have been both astonished and even discouraged at the difficulty of arousing public attention to it. In 1870, when I was president of our State Medical Society, I took occasion, at the annual meeting in the Capitol of the state at Albany, to discuss this subject in my address. I was heard in silence. Some days after- ward I prepared the draft of a statute requiring greater certainty of death before permitting the interment of a body. My friend, Mr. A. X. Parker, of St. Lawrence county, then a senator, introduced it for me in the senate of the state, but told me that it stood no chance with the judiciary committee. His prediction proved true; it slept the sleep of legislative death. Those, however, who seem most ready to put public anxiety to sleep in this matter are medical men. Few months pass without some article in a newspaper to lull apprehension in regard to the danger of being buried alive. If alarm is raised some medical hypnotizer is ready to tell the public that there is no occasion for alarm; that medical science is so advanced, and knowledge of this matter so thorough, that such a thing is well-nigh impos- sible. Like the commander of His Majesty's ship, Pina- fore, such men are ready on the instant to affirm that burying alive never happens; and when the "never" 13 questioned they attempt to soothe us by saying, "Hardly ever." Physicians are often not philosophers, and it is by no means wonderful that Bometimes they are not skillful in relation to the phenomena incidenl to the waning of life. The medical art is not so much the accumulated wisdom 170 BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. and experience of ages and centuries as the exploiting of the most recent notions. We do well to obtain our con- clusions from a wider field and a higher inspiration. The matter now under discussion is of too much importance to everyone to be dismissed without absolute assurance. We do not wish our anxiety to be soothed, except we are sure that the causes of it are removed. Among the peoples that we esteem to be less civilized than ourselves there certainly exists gross carelessness in respect to this subject. The Hindus, who burn their dead, are said to hurry the bodies to theluneral pyre speed- ily after they have taken a death-like appearance, making- no investigation or attempt to resuscitate them. Some have regained consciousness, however, before it was too late. The Parsees often place a dog by the side of the in-* dividual, believing that the animal knows when the per- son is dead. Yet persons supposed to be dead have been placed on their "Towers of Silence," and come again to life. Vultures, it is said, will not attack the body of a liv- ing person. The Turks are remarkable for the precipi- tancy with which they hurry to dispose of their dead, and there can be little intelligent doubt of the frequent bury- ing of persons while yet alive. It is affirmed of the Jews in the Old World that it is their custom to bury their dead in a few hours after dissolution, and that there are no pains taken to bring to life those who may only be appar- ently dead. Christendom has likewise a history of horror. When an epidemic rages, its victims are often hurried to the grave as soon as death is supposed to have occurred. With such heedlessness is this done, such inexcusable careless- ness, that a crime is likely to be committed, only less black in shade than willful murder itself. In ordinary times, when the epidemic influence is of a milder character and those who die suffer only with sporadic complaints, there is too much reason to believe that some are buried while yet living. The general staff medical officer in one of the German states declared, a hundred years ago, "that in his opinion one-third of mankind are buried alive." This is obviously an exaggeration, but the number is sufficiently large to justify the most serious alarm. The Rev. I. G. Ouseley, in 1895, estimated "that 2,700 persons, at least, in England and Wales, are yearly consigned to a living BUKYING ALIVE A FKEQUENT PERIL. 171 death, the most horrible imaginable." M. Thieurey, Doc- tor Eegent of the Faculty of Paris, was of opinion that one-third or perhaps one-half of those who die in their beds are not actually dead when they are buried. M. Gaubert estimated the number of victims to apparent death in France at 8,000 a year. Dr. Josat, the Laureate of the "Institute/*' declared that a considerable number of people refused to visit France, because they feared that they might be overtaken by apparent death and precipi- tately buried alive. I have often been told that the modern practice of em- balming made death certain. I admit_it; but those who are too poor to pay for this funeral luxury must yet take the chances in the old-fashioned way. There is no doubt, however, that the number annually put to death by the embalmers is sufficiently large to demand attention. An investigator of this subject in ]STew York has openly de- clared his belief that a considerable number of human be- ings are annually killed in America by the embalming process. There are some conspicuous examples on record. Mdle. Rachel, the celebrated actress, fell into a trance at Paris, on the 4th of January, 1858. She was reported as dead, and the embalmers began their work. She awoke while they were thus engaged, but the injuries which they in- flicted were so severe that she died ten hours afterwards. Cardinal Spinosa, having been declared by his physi- cians to be dead, they proceeded to open his chest for the purpose of embalming his body. As the lungs were laid open the heart began to beat and he returned to conscious- ness. He grasped the knife of the surgeon, then fell back and died. Cardinal Somagalia, in 1837, was seized with a severe illness and fell into syncope, which lasted so long that all thought him dead. At once preparations were made to embalm his body before putrefaction began. As the op- erator penetrated his chest the heart wras seen to heat. The unfortunate cardinal was able to push away the knife, but the lung had been mortally wounded. We have all rend the account of Jesus and the daughter of Jaime, the ruler of the Synagogue. She had lain at the point of death, and that event was act uallv announced. The preparations for her interment were already com- 172 BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. menced. There were the minstrels chanting dirges and the hired mourners howling and making a noise. As Jesus entered and saw the maiden He made the declara- tion: "She is not dead, but sleeping." They all laughed him to scorn. He sent them out of the apartment and then addressed her in Aramaic: "Talitha Kumi," — daugh- ter, arise. At once she was aroused, and he delivered her in charge to her parents, with the direction to give her something to eat. Fortunate, indeed, would our catalep- tics and exhausted fever patients be if intelligent persons were at hand to set aside the blind judgment of attend- ants and call them back thus to normal life. The instruction given in medical institutions in rela- tion to this matter has been almost culpably insufficient. In our own country the ordinary practitioner, when he follows the tradition and practice of leading members of his profession, considers himself exonerated from blame in such matters. He has not the time, the opportunity or the inclination to study abnormal phenomena like trance and catalepsy; and so sepulture of living persons is likely to go on without check under his sanction. Yet the hab- its and manners of the people of our time are such as to require anxious precaution and carefulness. The number actually buried alive, in the judgment of observers, in- cluding those whose business it is to conduct interments, is great enough to justify alarm. Especially is this the case at extraordinary periods of epidemic visitation. But under more usual conditions, those of habitual overtask- ing the brain and nervous system, overworking generally, habitual use of tobacco and other sedatives, excessive stimulation and excitement, sexual aberration, anaes- thesia and other abnormalities, the occurring of sudden death, or rather of death which is~ only apparent, must consequently be frequent, and require every precaution against peril which can be devised. Before burial in such cases there should be detention in a mortuary till death was certain. Common humanity pleads for this. Human life may appear to come to a stop in many cases, and no one can say that if time is allowed for this it will not go on again. This, even the most learned in medicine, cannot explain away or deny. "One cannot be too careful in deciding as to life or death," says Hufoland, "and I always advise a BURYING ALIVE A FREQUENT PERIL. 173 delay of the funeral as long as possible, so as to make all certain as to death. No wonder, when those who are buried alive and who undergo indescribable torture, con- demn those who have been dearest to them in life. They will have to undergo slow suffocation in furious despair while scratching their flesh to pieces, biting their tongues and smashing their heads against the narrow houses that confine them, and calling to their best friends and cursing them as murderers. The dead should not be buried be- fore the fourth day; we even have examples that prove that eight days or a fortnight is too soon, as there have been revivals as late as that. I say," he continues, "every one should respect those who only seem to be dead. They should be treated gently and kept in a warm bed for thir- ty-six hoars." Thus far Hufeland, and an array of the noblest men of the medical profession are equally as positive in asserting the same thing. It would seem that this was a legitimate field for legis- lative action. In the period, however, that must ensue before this will be had, those who are awake to the subject should take the matter in hand. Volunteer co-operative effort to arouse public interest and to prevent hasty inter- ments can bring the desired results about. A body should be critically examined by an expert before its interment is permitted. Those who have charge of funerals should be required to ascertain, before dealing with the remains, that death has occurred beyond a doubt. The thought of suffocation in a coffin is more terrible than that of torture on the rack or burning at the stake. The fearful despair, however short the period, is too full of horror to contem- plate with calmness. Carelessness in this matter cannot be innocent; even ignorance is a mockery, our tears little bettor than hypocrisy, when we neglect precautions against a fate so terrible — a fate to which every one of us is more or less liable. Spiritualism in Its Relation to Life. A Masterly Discourse Delivered in London, England, by Dr. J. M. Peebles. "Watchman, what of the night ? . . The morning cometh." Inspiration, from inspiro — in-breathing — is universal. It oversweeps the epochs of all past ages, and is just as fresh and forceful now as in time's earliest morning. God is not dead, nor were the doors of Inspiration's temple forever closed when Malachi ceased to prophesy, Socrates to converse with his divine daimon, and John to see vis- ions on rocky Patmos. Athanasian sectarists may have turned their backs upon the overflowing fountain of inspired truth — upon that light which "lighteth every man that cometh into the world" — but the light still shines, and like a mighty river, widens with the soul's unfolding. If Isaiah and Shakspeare, if Carlyle, Emerson, Long- fellow, and Lincoln, were not quantitatively, they were qualitatively, all equally inspired — inspired as weve the prophets of old, because God, the Divine Fountain, the Infinite Consciousness, Life and Intelligence, the Source, was and is One. Seraphs, angels and spirits of various grades of intelligence and purity have ever been the in- termediaries in sympathetic touch with us. Inspiration warms the nerve centers of the brain, and kindles into liveliest activity the fires of the higher moral nature. It feeds and nourishes the spiritual; and Spirit- ualism is an affirmation, the basic foundation of which is demonstration. Spiritualists, through careful, critical investigation and persistent research, have become the religious positivists of this period. They are the earnest SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 175 advocates and philosophers of demonstrated facts, which facts, physical, mental, and psychical, verified by con- sciousness, intuition and reason, combine to give the very' highest degree of certitude. The great souls of song and psalm and philosophy that made radiant the past, were spirit-inspired men. Spiritualism, as the distinguished Alfred R. Wallace writes, is a "scientifically established fact." PHENOMENA AS SCAFFOLDINGS. Jesus of Nazareth, standing upon the summit of moral science and real Hebrew Spiritualism, and holding with some of his disciples a spiritual seance upon the Mount of Transfiguration, talked with the returning spirits of Moses and Elias. There is no record of any dead angels or spirits. Heaven's doors of mercy and tenderest sym- pathy were never shut. John, on the mountainous Isle of Patmos, saw and conversed with one of the old proph- ets, "a fellow-servant." God is unchangeable. Deific laws are unvarying, and lute-like voices of love have vi- brated out of the silence through all the agone ages. The Hydesville concussions half a century ago or more, were not deceptions in a Methodist family; were not curious occult inventions, but the discovery — the re-discovery — of the bridge consciously connecting the world visible with the world invisible. These, or similar phenomena, were known to the ancients, as the old cuneiform writings and the remotest Akkadian inscriptions now being de- ciphered by Orientalists abundantly demonstrate. These spirit manifestations were needed in our time as a check to materialism. They were means to an end. They were scaffoldings in constructing thai magnificent temple of truth whose inspired builders, with their divine teachings, were ultimately to enlighten and transfigure the world. CHANGING ATTITUDES OF SCIENCE. Social science, mental science, metaphysical science, and especially psychic science, are jusi as much sciences as is that university-taughl science called physics, the text-books of which, though authoritative to-day, are re- pudiated by the next generation. There have been new discoveries, widening knowledge and deeper research, ne- cessitating frequenl alterations and amendments in the classically arranged and tabulated "natural sciences," 176 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. The chemistry of my academic years is no longer chem- istry. This should induce modesty, a virtue with which Haeckel and his materialistic satellites are not too famil- iar. Truths, as fixed principles interrelated to cause and effect, do not change. It is our conceptions of them that change, which changes demand frequent revision. SPIRITUAL SCIENCE SUPERIOR TO PHYSICS. The original atoms and constituents constituting the physical sciences as booked by Humboldt, Tyndall, Hux- ley, Lord Kelvin, Virchow, Haeckel, and other observing experimentalists, cannot be cognized by the sense percep- tions. Scientists cannot get even a glimpse of them with the thousand diameter microscope; they cannot measure them by any lineal measurement, melt them in crucibles of intensest heat, nor weigh them in the most delicately- balanced scales. And further, of the origin of these hid- den moulding forces they know absolutely nothing. De- nying inspiration, and rejecting the spiritual as scientific helps, these intellectual giants are of necessity agnostic materialists. But why should the results of their inves- tigation — why should the physical sciences of which the aforenamed distinguished investigators are students — be labelled "sciences" in preference to the discovered and carefully classified facts of spiritual phenomena? Is matter to take precedence over mind? Is physics supe- rior to metaphysics? Is the hypothetical atom to be more honored than consciousness, intuition, or moral reason? Certainly, gravity does not think; electricity does not solve mathematical problems; the telegraphic wires do not originate the messages they transmit; polar- ization does not philosophize, nor does the mad avalanche, rushing, thundering down the mountain side, crushing alike the infant and the aged, manifest a particle of be- nevolence or reason. Metaphysics must necessarily pre- cede physics and research; mind and morality should, must constitute the corner-stone of all true science and spiritual unfoldment. JUSTICE TO SPIRITUALISM. Telepathy, psychometry, mental therapeutics, and these "New Thought" tbeories, worthy of consideration, are allied to, and factors of, psychic science, the sub- stratum of which is Spiritualism in some of its various SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 177 manifestations and demonstrations. What lack of man- liness and moral justice, then, is all this vociferous voic- ing of '''mental science/' 7 and the "new-thought" flirting, without the bare mention of their maternity. Acorns may be pardoned for expressing no gratitude to the life- imparting oak. Incapable of reasoning, they know no better; but liberal thinkers know, or ought to know, that Spiritualism, centered in spirit — essential spirit — is the Father-Mother fountain of all these higher sciences. It is the vitalizing, fruit-laden vine, of which telepathy, psy- chometry, "Xew Thought," Mental Science, and theo- sophical speculative assertiveness, are the branches — some of which, I confess, are sadly distorted, requiring trim- ming, training, and very careful watching. " Watchman, what of the night ?" In this colonizing age of commercialism, this maddened rush for pelf, power and luxury, there is a reversion of thought and tendencies towards the gross materialism of ancient Greece and Eome. Epicurus, in the time of Leucippus, a Greek philosopher, denied the immortality of the soul, and taught the self-origination of life on earth through matter, or rather, the interacting affinities and forces in matter. Democritus held similar notions. The Roman poet Lucretius (born B. C. 95, and ending his life by suicide), predicated life, not upon essential, conscious spirit, buc upon the vibratory motions, attractions, repulsions, and atomic laws inhering in matter. His life is reputed to have been very unhappy. Much of the wordy theorizing to-day concerning the origin of life is as fruitless as to talk of the origin of space. Life being allied to God, the Infinite Spirit Presence, had no origin. It is eternal. Related to time and mortality, all manifest life on this planet must be the resultant of antecedent life. Noth- ing can never produce, nor become something. DEAD MATTER VERSUS SPIRIT. Vital action does not belong to ordinary matter. Force cannot spring from non-force, nor life from absolute death. As there is organic and inorganic, structureless and non-structureless matter, there is also "dead matter,' 1 as scientists and such distinguished living microscopists as Professor Lionel S. Beale, 1'. B. S., F. R. C. P., F. R. 178 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. Mchi.S. (vice-president of the Victoria Institute), and other illustrious authorities, prove beyond cavil. Profes- sor Dewar, in his late address before the British Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, when treating of liquid and solid hydrogen; of helium, crypton, xenon, and neon, as recently discovered, invisible atmospheric ele- ments — remarked that "helium when liquified, would be as hard to see as a ghost in the sunshine." He was fur- ther reported as sajdng that "certain seeds frozen for a hundred hours in liquid air" caused "their protoplasm to become inert, but," said he, "on non-living matter the ef- fects were much more marked." To contend that there is life in matter, or that life permeates matter, is a very different thing from saying that matter is alive, con- sciously alive. The former is true; the latter is unproven. Standing several times in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid, Egypt, I saw before me a solid block of granite weighing several hundred tons. It has stood there, according to learned Egyptologists, several thou- sand years, stationary and cold. Is it dead or alive? The proof that it is dead and unreasoning lies in the fact that it did not cut itself out of the Syene quarries, did not transport itself across the country, did not lift itself up on the fiftieth tier of that great pyramidal pile of stones, nor did it architecturally adjust, chisel, and beautifully polish itself. It is dead and speechless, dead as atheistic spiritism. Spirit is life — life in activity; and action implies some- thing to act upon. This something may be denominated unseen substance, which, impulsed and duly manipulated by immutable laws, becomes matter, somewhat as invis- ible steam becomes ice, or sunbeams becomes coal strata, tangible to the senses. UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. Conscious, regal-souled man is not an Eden-fallen dis- play of total depravity, not a materialistic mist floating in the immensities, not a wailing waif cast up from the non- purposeless past by fortuitous combinations of interacting atoms and conflicting forces; nor is he a "religious ani- mal," as extreme Darwinians have taught; but he is a thinking, rational, moral being, whose first conscious thought-act is existence; the second is the perception of SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 1?9 the existence of others, and the third relates to the acting social relations between ourselves and others, which, deepening, implies the family, the race, the nation, the in- ternational relations, a world-wide brotherhood — and still widening and rising in conception, includes in one universal brotherhood all those circling, glittering plan- ets that dot the unfathomable spaces. RELATION OF THE INFINITE TO THE FINITE. Exalted and towering as are man's aspirations, he is finite, and the finite necessitates the idea of the Infinite. No machine can shape itself. Tesla manufactured a nicely-shaped talking man, but the thing did not — could not reason. No unthinking machine can evolve, or construct an- other machine; nor can any individualized finite, unaided, produce another finite. Not even a blade of grass can grow on an iceberg. No egg on a rock can, without warmth, hatch a living bird, nor can the new-born babe live, clothe itself, and grow without antecedent life, love, and intelligence; and the source of that life is the Infinite, our Father-Mother — God! If it be said by the antagonizing carpist that the "In- finite may have had a cause behind it," the say-so sugges- tion is of little account. The logical reply is, if any be required, that that would render the Infinite finite, in- volving as pitiful a contradiction as to state that a circle was triangular-shaped, or that a sphere was tetrahedron in form. There must necessarily exist between the Infinite and the finite some such relation as obtains between cause and effect — that is, there must invariably be something in the cause to which the effecl corresponds. The process of creation, or rather manifestation, implies consciousness, purpose, adaptation, wisdom, and power, resulting in the glory of divine man — a spiritual being. The activities seen in structural forms neither create nor constitute life. They are the effects of life acting upon and through the structures. Conscious life is the inducing, compelling power, from which functional activ- ities emanate. The life of man. then, is Do! merely men- tal or muscular activity, bul rather spiritual vitality, pro- ceeding primarily from the higher Divine Source. 180 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. ORIGIN" OF LIFE ON EARTH. From whence is it? It is from the inflowing Infinite Life, and is much more than mere existence. The rock and the oyster exist, but they do not really, consciously live and aspire to higher states of being. Sensations are not reasoning faculties. Tendencies do not create, they only excite; neither do functions create organs, but organs adapted to use, manifest functional activities and aims. There are doubtless units of force, vehicles for con- sciousness, in numbers infinitely beyond all mathematical calculations, generated in the bosom of the Divine Life, and flowing therefrom something as crystal drops emerge from an ever-flowing fountain. These units, atoms, monads, may be considered as infin- itesimal segments of the circle of Being — as semi-de- tached entities, sympathetically and spiritually connected by the rarest films of vibratory ether to the Infinite Life — the energizing, infilling, over-brooding Father-Mother Spirit. In consonance with the above, Professor Fleming, in a recent science monthly, writes of monads and invisible corpuscles as fragments chipped from a neutral atom, calling them "electrons," or "ions"; and he considers that one atom of hydrogen may contain from seven hundred to one thousand of these inconceivable, infinitesimal elec- trons. If this be science, it is surely getting very nearly to spirit. These ethereal entities and ions, evidently unlike in possibilities, unlike in germinal potentialities, are natu- rally adapted to different planes and spheres of etheric ex- istence — endless diversity in unity. Nature quite as much abhors monotony as a vacuum. These units of consciousness are evidently climbing up to better conditions, and to more complex structures, to- wards the befitting keystone in the arch — perfected man- hood! The distance they reach, and the altitude they at- tain, depends much, if not altogether, upon the original germinal life, or infilling potency. Aspiration is the measure of destination. The platform vaporings of pseudo-scientists extolling the properties of matter with- out any indwelling consciousness or intelligent purpose (though they are ever compelled to admit some self-form- ing adaptation of means to ends), have become tiresome. SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 181 It is not strange that Haeckel's and Buchner's books are not read as they once were. Mental icicles are not invit- ing to the sensitive touch. It is not pleasant to read, or think that one's body, life, and conscious spirit are at death to be packed into a coffin, and all to become alike grave-yard dirt! EFFECTS TRANSCENDING THEIR CAUSES. Conversing once with Thomas Carlyle, at Chelsea, he characteristically pronounced America "the great maw. that was ever hatching out desperate and pestilential things." There was something of truth in this. The last American-hatched fad to be put as a tag upon Spirit- ualism is that "effects transcend their causes We see evolution everywhere." Yes, but evolution implies, some- thing — some substratum to be evolved from; otherwise, we have the silly position of something from nothing. Evolution is but half of the circle. Involution in time must precede evolution. The sensible old farmer said he "could not get water out of his well till there was first some in it." If effects transcend their causes, all fathers' sons should be Isaac Newtons, or Emersons. A wheel- barrow of wood and iron, as a purposed effect, should "run" the man that made it. Turtles' eggs, sand- warmed and hatched, should produce strong-winged eagles. Au- tomobiles, being effects, should build and guide them- selves. "Oxygen and hydrogen," says this new-born phi- losopher (?) "combine to form water The effect, transcending the cause, is unlike the cause." But the very word "combine" here used, indicates motion; motion necessitates a moving force, and a moving force implies life, all of which agencies combined, we are gravely told, are not equal to the effect, water. Here is logic run mad I This theory squarely dispenses with God, and is therefore rankest atheism under the guise of Spiritualism. One may be a Spiritist and at the same time an atheist; but cannot well be an atheist and a real heartfelt Spiritualist because the latter is necessarily reverential, encouraging prayer and holiness of life. In Anglo-Saxon the word "God" is used in the sense of "good/' and who, morallv capable of a religious emotion, does not find both peace and profound philosophy in contemplating the Infinite Good? 182 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. Though consciously and intuitively knowing something of God (in wholeness), He is incomprehensible. The Neo-Platonian Proclus defined God as Causation, and Jesus as Spirit — pure, essential, immortal Spirit. And this sacred word constitutes the corner-stone of Spiritual- ism. The derivatives therefrom are spiritual, spiritual- ity, spiritual-mindedness, spirit-communion; and the fruits of the "spirit" as expressed by the Apostle, are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. faith, meekness, temperance If we live in the spirit. let us also walk in the spirit." The mere conversing with spirit intelligences behind the veil does not constitute a Spiritualist. If it did, then African Voudous and American Mormons are Spiritual- ists; but emphatically they are not. The ancient Assyri- ans, as the cuneiform tablets testify, held intercourse with the dead. Promiscuous converse in Moses' time with spir- its that "peeped and muttered," was called necromancy, and forbidden. It may have been demonism from the dark chambers of the underworld; if so, the forbidding was justifiable. Israel's seers stood on the higher plane of inspiration, prophecy, and angelic ministrations. Seers and sitters alike should be examples of purity and moral excellence. Conscientiousness, fidelity to the principles of right, righteousness, cleanliness, and a candid search for the truth, should be the actuating motives. In this religious attitude largely lies the secret of Mrs. Everitt's seances, so wonderful, convincing and spiritually up- lifting. The same may be said of Mr. George Spriggs' seances, both in Australia and Cardiff. His influencing spirits, as spirits always should, arranged the conditions. The pho- tographer necessarily arranges the conditions for the pic- ture. The farmer, with plow and spade, controls and fixes the conditions for the ripened harvest; and so spirits, dwelling on that more spiritual plane of existence, are the most competent, and should be permitted to fix the conditions for the manifestations. In Mr. Spriggs' se- ances the sitters were selected. They were to attend punctually. Each was to take a bath before entering the consecrated room; all were to abstain from meat-eating, intoxicating drinks, and tobacco, and were to fast from SPIKITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 183 breakfast time till after the ening sitting. Here was purpose, system, and moral integrity. And with these conditions, spirits proved the passage of matter through matter in both a subdued light and in broad daylight. Fruits, flowers, nuts, branches of trees, and bits of rock were brought through solid walls in profusion. The spir- its, clothing themselves in substances, materialized, and in the quietness of twilight walked about in the green- house and garden. Lately I witnessed very similar mani- festations in the elegant residence of Mr. Thomas W. Stanford (Melbourne), brother of the originator and founder of the Stanford University in California, and the reputed richest one in the world. The medium was Mr. C. Bailey, and his controlling intelligences always opened the sittings with prayer. All such orderly, religious se- ances tend to lead the researchers from the physical up to the psychical; to impress the mind with the sublime thought of immortality; to arouse the inner conscience, to quicken the spiritual faculties, to reform vicious habits, and attune the soul to the harmonies of infinite love and perfection. THE SPIRITUAL AND THE CHRIST-LIFE. As aforesaid, Spiritualism is of God, and therefore di- vine. It was in Jordan's waters that Jesus clairvoyantly saw the "spirit," descending like a dove, a beautiful sym- bol of his mission. Previous to this heavenly baptism, he was Jesus, the Galilean carpenter, traveling, according to Hafed and Talmudian writers, in Egypt and other Ori- ental lands; but now he was Jesus Christ — the anointed, the divinely illumined. There was no miracle in this. It was natural to spiritual law. Every Spiritualist should be baptized from the Christ-heavens, becoming a Christ now. "As many," said the Apostle, "as have been bap- tized into Christ, have put on Christ." Let "Christ be formed in you." And again, the Apostle said, "Christ liveth in me." Christ should live in every one. Afire with the Christ-spirit, Jesus declared that "be- liever.- in Him" should do the work- thai Ee did, and "even greater works." Be chose the apostles, qoI because of their scholarship, but because of their susceptibility to spirit influences. Paul never saw Jesus Christ in the flesh, and yet he was more the founder of this now-a-day 184 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. Christianity than Christ. A Jew by birth, a Pharisee by education, he was to the end more of a spiritist than a Christ-illumined Spiritualist. Though stricken down by spirit power on his way to Damascus, and though caught in vision up to the "third heaven," he confessed in his writings that he was the "chief of sinners," and had not yet "attained." His real name, as traced in the Talmud by the late learned Dr. Wise, president of the Hebrew College of Cincinnati, Ohio, was Acher. Afterwards he was called Saul, and still later Paul. Changing the name when traveling was common in that period. Plato's real name was Aristokles. Paul preached Christ as the loftiest spiritual altitude to be in his time attained. Paul, being confessedly given to "diplomacy" — another word for du- plicity — wrote of "salvation by faith," and said that "without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sins." Evolution was doing its work, however, in the apostolic period; and when more highly inspired, he ex- horted the Jewish believers to leave their "first prin- ciples," their Pharisaic religious notions, and "go on unto perfection." And again he wrote: "Being reconciled, we are saved by His (Christ's) life." Mark this; it was and is the life — the life of justice and mercy, the life of purity and love — love inspired by faith, and guided by wisdom, that saves. The parabolic style o A writing was common in the early days of Christianity. When Paul wrote that "this rock was Christ," he had no reference to a granite boulder. And when Jesus said, "Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood there is no life in you," he did not intend to en- courage cannibalism. This was the symbolism of Ori- ental imagery. The real meaning was, "Except ye par- take of my spiritual doctrines, and drink or assimilate these spiritual teachings, there is no life in you, because it is 'the spirit that giveth life.' " The spiritual Christian- ity of Jesus Chrst, and the spiritual illumination of Gau- tama Buddha, and true Spiritualism, are all in perfect ac- cord; the essential thought being that it is not belief, not creed, but character that saves. It is a stock phrase among many spiritists that "Knowl- edge is the world's savior." Knowledge is not the world's savior, neither is ignorance. Knowledge, unless guided by a high moral motive, is dangerous. The most know- SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 185 ing men are the most crafty in crime. Forgers are excel- lent penmen. Counterfeiters are often fine mechanics. Bank defaulters may be expert accountants. Dr. Webster, professor of Chemistry and the Natural Sciences in Harvard University, America, owing Dr. Parkman a debt that he could not cancel, murdered him in the University building, and then employed his knowl- edge — his chemical skill in acids and heat — to conceal the terrible crime. He was tried, convicted, and executed, and Andrew Jackson Davis clairvoyantly watched the pro- cess of his dying, and his entrance into the world of spir- its — not the spiritual world, or summerland world of love and harmony, but the Tartarean world of spirits. Death, the act of separating the material from the spir- itual, settles no final destiny. Jesus preached to Hades- imprisoned spirits, which preaching implied repentance and reformation. "When in Palestine a number of years ago, I plucked and ate delicious grapes in hell, the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, that "hell-fire" (St. Mark ix:47) where the "worm was never to die, nor the fire to be quenched." Progression spans all worlds, visible and in- visible. Returning spirits confirm and exemplify this gospel — a gospel, not so much of hope, as of knowledge. But the future out of mind, it is infinitely better to re- form to-day — better to do right and live right now. Duty was the keystone to the moral philosophy of the great German philosopher, Fichte. To his students he said: "Duty is the foundation of a successful life." In all men- tal equipments, moral qualities should be put forward as guiding principles. There are not two worlds, only two aspects of the one world, visible and invisible. It is but a filmy mist that separates them. The clairvoyant eye can pierce it, and the clairaudient ear, like John's on Pai- mos, can hear the vibratory voices of the other-world in- telligences. We may and should live the spiritual — the heavenly — lit'.' now, as a foretaste of those evergreen shores and temples of truth, that over there, await tin- truly good. Pure and undefiled religion is a divine soul emotion, in- spiring reverence for God and love to man. And relig- ions Spiritualism, in contrast to materialism, or atheistic side-show spiritism, is a life, emphatically a life of love. guided by wisdom, a life of eoiiMciated self-sacriliee for 186 SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION" TO LIFE. that truth which makes the soul free indeed, and was never making such rapid strides as now. Its progress is co-extensive with the progress of English-speaking na- tions. It is not noisy and boasting. Comparatively quiet and incisive, it is leavening the great lump of priest- ly ecclesiasticism. And in a few centuries, as the English language will be the cultured international language of the world, so will Spiritualism be the religion of the world, chanting the triumphant anthem: Death, where is thy sting, grave, where is thy victory?" SPIRITUALISM AND THE AFTER LIFE. Death, to the pure in heart, is but going one step higher to clasp the shining hands of the loved ones gone before; or it may be compared to the rose, that climbs up the garden wall to bloom on the other side. It is not so much the mission of Spiritualism to teach men how to die, as how to now live the strenuous, manly life of the just. As we come this way to tarry in mortality but once, it becomes us to make every day one of moral im- provement and self-mastery. Our angel-teachers plead with us not to miserly Hve for self, for gain; nor to grovel underground like moles; but to move up out of the cere- bellum along the pathway of intellect to the coronal brain region — the soul's parlors, where come angel guests to talk in tenderest tones of love. Mr. Astor, one of New York's great multi-millionaires, influencing a sensitive, wrote thus: "I am not happy; bet- ter for me that I had been an orphan and begged for bread in the streets than to have been the hoarding, grasping man I was, treasuring up that which I could not take with me to this new state of being. Could I live my earthly life over again, I should pursue a very different course. Pray for me." Emerson wisely said in his "Con- duct of Life," that "he who gathers too much of the earthly, in the very act loses an equal amount of the spiritual." The overbrooding spiritual spheres are doubtless the spheres of inspiration and impressional causes; and Spir- itualism, which so marvelously materialized to the sense- perceptions in 1848, at Hydesville, was begotten in the heavens. So considered, small matters are, in results, SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 187 often the mightiest. A babe, in. a Bethlehem manger, three centuries later shook imperial Rome to its founda- tions. A tiny apple-stem broke and showed to Newton the law that binds in the one the starry universe; a trem- ulous tendon in a frog's foot gave birth to galvanism; a kite revealed the lightning's powerful armament; in a bit of amber lay hidden the mighty force of electricity; tiny coral insects lifted up islands from the ocean; scattering, floating weeds told Columbus of a world afar in the West; and a few gentle tappings some fifty years ago in a mid- night hour at a Hydesville farm-house, told of a peopled world unseen, and bridged the distance, hope merging into knowledge, and faith into fruition. Soon the world felt the quickening force. Reforms were conceived in the heavens and mapped out to be ma- terialized on earth. William Lloyd Garrison, the anti- slavery agitator, and an avowed Spiritualist, rose from pacing the floors of a Baltimore prison to see ere long- slavery die and himself crowned with a nation's honor. A few years ago Hudson Tuttle, writer and author, took me in his carriage to see the old brick Edison homestead, where young Edison, the world-famous inventor, attended his first spiritual seances. He is still impressionable and inspirational. In 1863 the martyred Abraham Lincoln attended sev- eral spiritual seances at the house of Mr. Laurie, Wash- ington, D. D. This gentleman, whom I well knew, was a government employe in the post office department, and Mrs. Miller, his daughter, was a superior medium, whose seances, S. P. Kase, called the "railroad king," the Rev. John Pierpont, a Unitarian preacher and poet, the Hon. D. E. Somes, ex-Congressman, General N. P. Banks, Ma- jor Chorpening, and Abraham Lincoln, with other distin- guished personages, quietly attended. Hudson Tuttle, writing in the Banner of Light, March 7, 1891, says: "Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard was con- stantly consulted by President Lincoln, and the commu- nications he received through her were of the most aston- ishing character. The result of battles was foretold be- fore the telegraphic dispatches, and on several occasions advice was given and accepted, which, acted on, proved of momentous consequence." It was well known in CJoverninent circles that Lincoln 188 SPIKITUALISM'S KELATIOH TO LIFE. frequently consulted the spirits through Colchester, Fos- ter, and other sensitives, and it was quite generally under- stood that it was through messages from the ascended fathers of the Kepublic that Lincoln was induced to sign the proclamation that struck the shackles from four mill- ions of human beings. The Stanford University of California, reported to be the richest (including its lands and estates) in the world, owes its origin to Spiritualism. The son of Senator Stan- ford, an ex-Governor of California, while touring in Europe, gathering relics and costly curios, passed away by a fever attack, while in Italy, to a higher life. He was an only child, sixteen, and full of promise. "The Stanford family was a Spiritualistic family," as Thomas W. Stanford remarked to me while attending one of his seances, just before I left Australia. This gen- tleman was for many years the American Vice-Consul in Melbourne, and his name, because of munificent contribu- tions, is chiseled on the front of the Stanford University Library in California. These cultuied, free-thought Stanfords, in this trying affliction, finding no consolation in church dogmas, consulted trance and clairvoyant sen- sitives. And, while considering the subject of construct- ing a mausoleum to the memory of their son, he, from spirit life, suggested that the most satisfactory monument to him would be the erection of an unsectarian educa- tional institution. This desire of their spirit-risen son ulti mated in that magnificent university which has some two thousand students in attendance. It is the purpose, so I am credibly informed, that when these landed estates are sold and the income put into this institution, there shall be no tuitional charges to students. Here, then, is that Spiritualism, which is of God, made practicable, in educating the young of both sexes on an equal footing; and non-sectarian education in the line of evolution must be the great crowning work of this twentieth century. "Lo ! I see long blissful ages, When these Mammon days are done, Stretching forward in the distance, Towards a never-setting sun." Spiritualism not only demonstrates a future existence not only teaches the certainty of suffering in all worlds SPIRITUALISM'S RELATION TO LIFE. 189 for wrong-doing, not only encourages invention, art, sci- ence, exploration, and all sanitary enterprises, not only shows memory to be the "recording angel/' and self-de- nial, nobleness of purpose, purity of life and sweet spirit- uality to be the ascending steps to heaven, but it strikes the chains from millions of slaves and builds unsectarian uni- versities. These angel ministries ever appeal to the silent, persuasive, and most powerful incentives to a better life. And though no subtile chemistry can impart a more deli- cate odor to the rose, though no lapidary can burnish the stars, nor rhetorician's art add to the moral beauty and dignity of a true altruistic life, yet everyone can cultivate that loving-kindness which disarms resentment, that pa- tience which endures suffering, that gentleness which neutralizes acidity of temper, that forgiveness which ob- literates personal animosities, that sweetness of disposi- tion which adds lustre to all the heavenly graces, that consciousness of right which inspires justice, and that tender charity which, combined with the other virtues that angel messages inspire, make the harmonial man — Heaven on earth. The golden age lies onward, not behind. The pathway through the past has led us up; The pathway through the future will lead on And higher. We are rising from the beast Unto Christ and human brotherhood.*' Man and His Bodies. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience, by C. W. Leadbeater, the Great Psychic, of London, Eng. You will see from the list that we have in this course of lectures a considerable variety of subjects before us — reincarnation, clairvoyance, telepathy and mind-cure among others. What I wish to offer you is our theo- sophical explanation of these subjects, for we have in Theosophy a great philosophy which attempts to account for all that we see about us. We are perfectly well aware that there are many subjects, and many points in connec- tion with almost any of the deeper subjects, which lie far beyond man's comprehension at the stage to which his in- tellect is at present evolved; but still we have in Theos- ophy an immense body of knowledge, a system which seems to us by far the most rational system to account for the world as we find it, to show how it came to be what it is, and how man came to be what he is, and also to give us a clear prevision of what he will be in the future, to show what this great scheme intends for him and for the sys- tem to which he belongs. If all this be so, Theosophy must have some reasonable answer to offer to the various questions which arise in every thinking mind, and have some solution to suggest for the great problems of life. It is not to be expected that it shall be able to explain everything in detail, but it ought to have a rational hy- pothesis to put forward with regard to all carefully ob- served facts. We ought to have a coherent scheme; we believe that we have, and therefore we wish to put be- fore you the point of view which it gives us with regard to the various subjects in our programme. MAX AND HIS BODIES. 191 Our subject for to-night, that of Man and His Bodies, is one the comprehension of which is necessary before any of our later theosophical explanations can be understood. I shall try to make it as simple as possible, and to divest it of technical terms as far as I can. Broadly speaking, our theory of this world, and of the solar system of which it forms a part, is that there is much more in them than there is usually supposed to be — that they extend much farther than is commonly thought, not outward, but inward. Let me explain this. The earth is considered as a physical body, and we know that it contains matter in certain conditions, solid, liquid and gaseous; and, in addition to these, science recognizes something which it calls ether, which interpenetrates other matter and extends far beyond it. We go a great deal farther than this, and hold that many far finer sub- divisions of matter exist, which may be observed and ex- amined by the occult student. When I speak to you of clairvoyance I hope to explain what the powers are by means of which such observations can be made; but for the moment I must simply postulate these powers with- out explaining them. I must simply say that man has within him undeveloped senses by means of which he is able to appreciate matter much more finely subdivided than that which our ordinary senses enable us to grasp; but I cannot make clear to you the nature of those finer senses until I have described the higher bodies of man. It is one of the difficulties of the theosophical lecturer that the whole of this system is so closely interrelated, and it all dovetails together so beautifully, that it is fre- quently impossible to explain fully any one part of it without touching upon nearly all the rest, and no one can ever tell how strong is the evidence for any one part of it until he thoroughly knows the whole of it. EXISTENCE OF FIXER ETHERS. We find, then, that besides the matter which we can see about us, and besides the matter which we do not see, but of who.-c presence science assures as (the various gases and the ether, I'm- example) there exisl many other still liner kinds of matter, which can only he Bees by means of these finer senses. We put this before yon as a hy- pothesis, for your consideration and examination, hut it is only fair to tell you that to us it is much more than a 192 MAN AND HIS BODIES. hypothesis — that to many of us it is a certainty based upon our own individual observations. We have worked for many years at these studies; I myself have been a member of the Theosophical Society for about twenty years, and when a man has devoted practically his whole time for twenty years to a single subject, he begins to know something about it, and to have its broad principles very clearly and definitely in his mind. It is therefore quite true that with regard to many of these subjects which will seem to you new and strange, I am in a some- what different position, for to me all these things are mat- ters of course — in many cases matters of daily experience. Many of us know from our own experiments that the broad outlines of this theosophical system are true, but we do not ask you to believe this because we do, but only to accept our testimony as you would any other evidence, and take it into account. We are not seeking for con- verts, we are not trying to induce people to believe what we say; we are simply putting before them a system of study, in the hope that they may be sufficiently interested to take it up and follow it further for themselves. There is an immense literature upon these subjects, so that any one who will may readily study further, and in that way can make up his mind as to the truth of the teaching. If after reading, he decides that he prefers other hypoth- eses, there is no harm done; he has simply learnt some- thing of the tenets of a body of men with whom as yet he does not find himself able to agree. We have sufficient faith in our facts to believe that he will agree with us one day, that as he learns more in future lives, he will in time come round to our point of view. ULTIMATE PHYSICAL ATOMS. So, I say that as far as we are concerned, we know that these finer kinds of matter exist, and that there are whole worlds composed of them, which we call the higher planes of Nature. Remember that I am still speaking of the same matter which you all know; we recognize only one matter, though it may be in different conditions. We find that this ether of which science speaks is not a sub- stance differing from all other substances, but rather a condition of matter; just as you may have hydrogen in its normal gaseous condition, or under sufficient pressure and with the proper temperature you may have it lique- MAN AND HIS BODIES. 193 fled, or even solidified, so we find that its condition may be changed in the opposite direction, and we may have it in a finer state, which we call the etheric. So that for us ether is not a separate substance, but a condition of any kind of substance, so that in that etheric condition we might have gold or silver, lithium or platinum, or any of the so-called elements. We do not apply the name of ele- ments to these seventy substances, because we find that they are all capable of further subdivision. That is an idea which meets with some support in the scientific world; as long ago as 1887 Sir William Crookes pro- pounded this theory before the Royal Institution of Lon- don, suggesting that all known elements might very well be variations of one, that they might all be reduced to an original substance, to which he gave the name of protyle. The truth, as seen by occult students, goes a little further even than that, for instead of finding at the back of ev- erything a homogeneous substance, we find that there is such a thing as a physical atom. A chemist speaks of atoms of any of his elements, but really these may all be further subdivided, broken up into the true atoms, of which they are simply different arrangements. For ex- ample, in what the chemist calls an atom of hydrogen there are really eighteen of the ultimate physical atoms, and in the other chemical atoms there are differing num- bers, agreeing very nearly (but not exactly) in their pro- portions with the respective specific gravities of the ele- ments. These ultimate physical atoms are found to be all alike, and to pervade all space of which we know anything. They are inconceivably minute. You may acquire some idea of what they must be if you try to imagine the pic- ture suggested by an eminent scientist of London, who said: "Suppose we were able to magnify a drop of water to the size of the earth, that is to say, to magnify it till it was eight thousand miles in diameter, the atoms of which ii is composed, when magnified in that proportion, would certainly be smaller than a cricket-ball, and certainly larger than a Bmal] shot/' Ee could ool tell us more closely than that; bul jusl think of what that implies- of the countless millions upon million.- which must go to make up thai drop of water! Those atoms are Ear beyond the reach of the most powerful microscope cut made, or 194 MAN AND HIS BODIES. ever likely to be made; but they can nevertheless be ob- served by means of the developed senses of man. Occult science approaches its problems from a different point of view; instead of developing and improving its instru- ments, as modern science has been so wonderfully suc- cessful in doing, it goes to work to develop the observer. It develops within the man other and finer faculties by means of which he is able to perceive these exceedingly minute objects, and thus it penetrates further into the heart of Nature than any instrument can ever do. Do not imagine that there is anything supernatural or un- canny about these higher faculties; they are simply straightforward developments of powers which man al- ready possesses, and will come to every one in due course, though some people have taken special trouble to develop them now in advance of the rest. SUBDIVISION OF ULTIMATE ATOMS. There are, then, ultimate pnysical atoms which can be observed and examined. When we reach that stage, is there any further possibility, can our observation take us any further still? We find that it can. The word atom is derived from the Greek atomes, meaning that which cannot be cut, or further subdivided. But that term is not strictly applicable, for these physical atoms can be divided; but when they are, the result is no longer phys- ical matter in the ordinary sense of the word. Physical matter always expands by heat and contracts by cold; but when we break up the atom we have a type of matter which is totally unaffected by any heat or cold that we can produce. It seems probable that solar temperatures would affect even this finely subdivided matter, but cer- tainly none of ours do. But this higher matter is exceed- ingly interesting, and we find that there is a whole world composed of it existing all round us, interpenetrating all matter that we know — lying all about us, in the atmos- phere, within our own bodies, within all solid objects. Just as science tells us that ether interpenetrates all ob- jects, ourselves included, so does this still finer matter in- terpenetrate the ether in turn. There are several stages of this subdivision of matter, and we speak of these stages as the planes of Nature, by which we mean simply divisions of matter according to its MAX AND HIS BODIES. 195 degree of density. All the matter which you know we should describe as that of the physical plane, including even the ether. Beyond that we come to another class — the same matter still, remember, only more finely subdi- vided, and we call this astral matter. This is a name which was given to it by the medieval alchemists, who were well aware of its existence. Modern science has no name for it yet, but it probably soon will have, for its re- searches are drawing nearer and nearer to this finer mat- ter every day. We may carry on this process of subdivid- ing and refining to another stage, and find another condi- tion of matter higher still; and to that we have given the name of mental matter, because it is found that what is called the mind of man is composed of this type of mat- ter. That sounds a startling statement, no doubt, but neverthless it is a true one, based on definite experiment on scientific lines. Still more of these subdivisions rise one above another, but for the moment I need not trouble you with more than these three — the physical, the astral and the mental. Do not be deceived by the use of that word "above." Do not think for a moment of our investigation as passing away from earth. To rise higher in this investigation means simply to withdraw more and more into the self, so as to be able to sense finer and finer stages of matter, but all these stages are existing about us here and now and all the time, simply interpenetrating one another, just as the air or gas in aerated water interpenetrates the liquid. Just so, in and amongst all physical particles ex- ist astral particles, and among the astral particles exist the mental in turn. THE CONSTITUTION OF MAX. Now, with that idea in view, let us turn to the consti- tution of man. The ordinary man thinks of himself as consisting of a body certainly, and possibly a soul, though he usually speaks of himself a- possessing this latter, and being responsible for saving it, as though it were some kind of pel animal which he kept, or something attached to him ami floating above him. like a captive balloon. Now we should gay thai he Is entirely wrong in supposing thai he has a soul, bul he would be quite righl if he said that he was a soul. Tim ordinary statement is a comical 196 MAN AND HIS BODIES. inversion of the fact; for the truth is that man is a soul, and has a body, which is simply one of the vestments that he puts on. You all know that this is so, if you think of it. I am quite aware of the theory that nothing exists but matter, and that all the thoughts and aspirations of man are nothing but chemical reactions among the constit- uent particles of the grey matter of his brain, but as there are thousands of facts for which this theory does not ac- count, I think we may dismiss it in favor of a more ra- tional one. There are hundreds of cases on record in which a man has gone away from his physical body in trance or under the influence of anesthetics, or even in ordinary sleep; and it is found that under such circumstances, when he is far away from his physical brain, with its grey matter and its chemical action, he can still think and observe and re- member just as when he has his physical vehicle in use. It is therefore very evident that man is not the body, since he can exist apart from it; the body is only an in- strument which he uses for his own purposes. What those purposes are we will consider next week when I have to speak of reincarnation. Some may ask whether we have any definite proof outside our own observations as to this crucial fact that man can live without his body. Certainly there is a great deal of proof for any one who cares to take the trouble to look for it. Read the pro- ceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and you will see what it has done in this line — how a committee of scientific men has again and again been satisfied with re- gard to the appearance of the double at a distance from where his physical body was at the time. It is quite defi- nitely known to all investigators that a man may under certain circumstances travel away from his body, see what is taking place at a distance, and then return and reani- mate his body, and tell where he has been and what he has seen and done. In some of my own books you will find a number of instances collected; but you will find plenty outside of regular theosophical literature also. Lookat Mr. Stead's "Real Ghost Stories," or Mr. Robert Dale Owen's "Footfalls on the Boundary of the Unseen World," or his "Debatable Land"; you will find many ex- amples, with the fullest possible authentication. The or- dinary materialistic theory does not explain these occur- MAN AND HIS BODIES. 197 rences at all, and because it cannot explain them, it usu- ally denies them, and declares that they do not happen — which is disingenuous, for very little examination proves conclusively that they happen constantly. PNEUMA AND PSYCHE. Since these things happen, how do they happen? Their explanation is intimately connected with our sub- ject, for the first step towards a comprehension of them is to realize that man is a soul, and has not one body only, but several. This is not a new idea — at least, it cannot be new to any religious man, for St. Paul speaks of two of them in I. Cor. xv. — a natural body and a spiritual body. Now what does he mean by that? I am afraid many good people read these things and attach no particular meaning to them. They read, for example, of a soul and a spirit in St. Paul's writings, and because we in these days are so ignorant of psychology as to confuse these terms, they imagine that St. Paul was equally ignorant, and was employing them as synonyms. He uses two entirely distinct Greek words, pneuma, spirit, and psyche, soul, and he attaches precisely the same meaning to each of them as any other educated gentleman of his period did. If you want to grasp the exact shades of that mean- ing, you must not trust to the blank ignorance of the modern religious enthusiast, but study the contempora- neous philosophy. So when St. Paul speaks of a nati./al body and a spiritual body he does not mean the same thing, but two entirely different things, just as with the soul and the spirit. Most people would probably admit that, but they think vaguely that this spiritual body is something of which we know nothing — some vehicle as- sumed by man after his death. That is not so; there is no necessity to assume that, and it is wholly unnatural. Truly the man has another body besides the physical, but he has it now and all the time. Every one of us possesses a spiritual body as well as a natural body; or, to put it more accural civ, each man is a spirit encased in a soul, and, being thus individualized, he possesses various ve- hicles, the natural or physical body, and two others, which St. Paul puts together under the name of a spirit- ual body, though in our study we usually separate them. and call them respectively the astral body and the mental body. 198 MAN AND HIS BODIES. Our theory of man and of his origin is that he is essen- tially a spirit, a spark of the Divine Fire. That spark is individualized, marked off as it were, from the great ocean of the Godhead by something which we may call a soul — or rather, when it is so individualized, we call it a soul. That which separates him we usually call the causal body, but we may leave that aside for the present, and deal only with his lower vehicles, for that causal body is unchanging, except that it gradually evolves, whereas the mental, astral and physical are taken afresh for each incarnation. THEOEY OF VIBEATIONS. Why should he take upon himself these various bodies? it may be asked. Because this is the method of evolution appointed for him — that he shall gain experience through learning to respond to impacts from without. He takes on these lower bodies in order that he may be able to re- ceive and respond to vibrations of stronger, coarser type than any which could be found on his own higher plane. For some students, this whole subject is most easily com- prehended by considering it along this line of vibrations. Think of it thus: Every impression which reaches us from without, no matter what it is, comes to us as a vi- bration. We see by means of the waves in the ether, we hear by means of waves in the air. What then is con- veyed to us by the vibrations of that finer type of matter of which I have been speaking, and how are we able to re- ceive them? The answer is simple, but far-reaching. By their means we are able to perceive the higher part of our world, which is usually hidden from us and we may learn to appreciate them by means of the finer matter which exists in us — through the senses of these finer bodies, in fact. Here I am entering a domain untouched as yet by ordi- nary science, but I am saying nothing which is in any way contradictory to that science. You may put this aside as unproven, but you cannot say that it is unreason- able or unscientific. Science recognizes vast numbers of possible vibrations, and knows that out of all these our physical senses can respond to only a very few. Yet through those few we have learnt all that we know so far, and it is obvious that if we can learn to use more of these MAN AND HIS BODIES. 199 waves from without, we shall receive more information. Now that is precisely what a clairvoyant does — he receives information about a world which we ordinarily do not see; and he receives it by means of vibrations which im- pinge upon his higher vehicles. So a clairvoyant is a man who has learnt to focus his consciousness in his higher bodies at will. That at least is what a thoroughly trained clairvoyant could do, but there are many bearing that name whose knowledge and power are very limited. There is very much more than this to be said about clair- voyance, but I hope to deal with that subject later in my series of lectures. Science also quite recognizes how partial our vision is, and how a slight alteration in our power to respond to these waves from without would change for us the whole appearance of the world. Once Sir William Crookes gave a very good example of that. He explained how if, instead of seeing by rays of light, we saw by electrical rays, the whole of our surroundings would seem totally differ- ent. One point was that in that case the air about us would seem perfectly opaque, because air is not a con- ductor of electrical vibrations, while a wire or an iron bar would be a hole through which we could see, because these substances are good conductors for our rays! No wonder, therefore, that when we learn to see by an en- tirely new set of waves in astral matter, we should find quite a different world opening to our gaze. One change would be that we should find ourselves then able to see astral matter in other men — to look at their astral bodies instead of their physical vehicles only. I have just written a book upon this very subject of the higher bodies of man, which will be illustrated with colored pic- tures, drawn for me by one who himself was able to see these bodies, and as soon as that is published you will be able to form some idea as to how these things appear to the sight of the clairvoyant; and I think you will find it a very interesting study. ASTRAL AND MENTAL BODIES. The astral body is especially the vehicle of passion, emotion and desire in man. bo thai when a Budden wave of sonic greal emotion sweeps over a man. it Bhows itself by exceedingly violent vibrations of the astral matter. Suppose thai with astral sight you were watching a man. 200 MAN AND HIS BODIES. and that man should unfortunately lose his temper. In- stead of seeing the physical expression of annoyance, you would see a very remarkable change in his astral body. The whole vehicle would be pulsating with a violent vi- bration, and since color is only a certain rate of vibration, this sudden change would involve also a change in the color of the astral body as well. When we speak of the surging of passion, we are nearer the truth than we think, for that is exactly the appearance produced. As the man cools down, his astral body will resume its usual color and appearance, yet a slight permanent trace is percept- ible to the trained eye. The same thing is true of all other emotions, good or bad. If a man feels a great rush of devotional emotion, or of intense affection, each of these will at once manifest itself byits appropriate change in the astral body, and each would leave its slight perma- nent trace upon the dead man's character. When we come to deal with that other vehicle of still finer matter which we call the mental body, we find that that also vibrates, but in response to quite a different set of impressions. No emotion under any circumstances ought to affect it in the least, for this is not the home of the passions or emotions, but of thought. It is not a new idea to speak of vibration in connection with thought. All experiments in telepathy and thought transference depend upon this fact that every thought creates a vibra- tion, and that this can be conveyed along a line of mental particles, and will excite a similar vibration in the men- tal body of another man. There may still be those who do not believe in telepathy, for it is hard to find the lim- its of human obstinacy; but this is a matter upon which any one may so easily convince himself that unbelief sim- ply means indifference to the question. A man may re- main ignorant if he will, but when he has wilfully chosen that position he has no right to deny the knowledge of those who have taken more trouble than he has. Here, then, are two of the bodies of man — the astral body, which is the vehicle of his sensations, passions and emotions, and the mental body, which is the medium of his thought. But each of these has its possibilities of de- velopment, for at each level there are various types of matter. A man may have a comparatively gross astral body, which answers very readily to low, undesirable vi- MAN -AND HIS BODIES. 201 brations, and by carefully working at it and learning to control it, he may gradually change its composition very considerably, until it becomes capable of responding to waves of emotion of a much better type. In the mental body he may have a very fine type of mental matter, or a somewhat grosser mental matter; and upon that it will depend whether good and high thoughts come naturally and easily to him or the reverse. But this also is in his own power, for he can alter it if he will. And it is not only during his earth life that this will make a great dif- ference to him and to his evolution, but also in the life after death. I shall not speak of that subject now, be- cause we shall have to devote one or two lectures to the subject later on, but at least I may say this much. When the man puts off his physical body he still retains these others, the astral and the mental, and upon their condi- tion depends much of his happiness in the new world (which yet is part of the old one) in which he finds him- self. Remember that these are matters, not of mere be- lief, but of experiment for many of us. Here, then, is our theory, the result of our experiments, and in explaining it to you I am giving you the benefit of my twenty years' work and study — slow, toilsome, diffi- cult work of many kinds, involving no little self-control and self-training. I think that all my fellow-students who have borne the burden and heat of that very long- day of twenty years will agree that it has been hard and slow work, but still a steady progress and development in many ways, and out of it all has emerged for all of us a certainty that nothing can shake, that makes us know where we stand. Out of it has come a firm and definite adhesion to this glorious Theosophy, which has done so much for us, which we find to account for so many things which would otherwise be insoluble mysteries, which stands by us in times of trouble and difficulty, and ex- plains so clearly and reasonably why the trouble and the difficulty come, and what they are going to do for us. It i> the most intensely practical theory all the way through, and we wish for nothing in Theosophy that is nol practi- cal and reasonable. Humbly following in the footsteps of the mighty Indian teacher of 2500 years ago, we would say to you what he said to the people of the village of Kalama when they came and asked him what, amid all 202 MAN AND HIS BODIES. the varied doctrines of the world, they ought to believe": "Do not believe in a thing said merely because it is said; nor in traditions because they have been handed down from antiquity; nor in rumors, as such; nor in writ- ings by sages, merely because sages wrote them; nor in fancies that you may suspect to have been inspired in you by a deva (that is, in presumed spiritual inspiration); nor in inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption you may have made; nor because of what seems an analogical necessity; nor on the mere authority of your own teach- ers or masters. For this I have taught you, not to be- lieve merely because you have heard; but when you be- lieved of your own consciousness, then to act accordingly and abundantly." (Kalama Sutta of the Anguttara Mkaya.) That is a very fine attitude for the teacher of any relig- ion to take, and that is precisely the attitude we wish to take in Theosophy. We are not seeking for converts in the ordinary sense of that word. We are in no way under the deltTsion from which so many estimable orthodox peo- ple suffer, that unless you all believe as we do, you will have a very unpleasant and sulphurous time hereafter. We know perfectly well that every one of you will attain the final goal of humanity, whether you now believe what we tell you, or whether you do not. The progress of every man is absolutely certain; but he may make his road easy or he may make it difficult. If he goes on in ignorance, and seeks selfish ends in that ignorance, he is likely to find it very hard and painful; if he learns the truth about life and death, about God and man, and the relation be- tween them, he will understand how to travel so as to make the path easy for himself, and also (which is much more important) so as to be able to lend a helping hand to his fellow-travelers who know less than he. This is what you may do, and what we hope you will do. We have found this philosophy useful to us; we have found that it helps us in difficulties, that it makes life easier to bear, and death easier to face, and so we wish to share our gos- pel with you. We ask no blind faith from you; we simply put this philosophy before you and ask you to study it, and we believe that if you do so you will find what we have found, rest and peace and help, and the power to be of use in the world. Our Finer Forces. Proofs, Material Measurements, Demonstrations of Plain, Sensible Facts. — An Essay by Ella Dare, Austin, 111. To the altar of life we come as earnest seekers. Rever- ently we pause before the sacred shrine. With prayer for light to see and understand, we turn the pages of God's living book. We search for truth. Our faith in this divine impulse is based upon Christ's immortal promise: "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." Our own age claims to be highly practical. Proofs, ma- terial measurements, demonstrations of plain, solid, sen- sible facts, are demanded, but just here we stop because in the face of all these imperative protestations we are confronted with the undeniable truth that the most com- mon, even-day, universal things in the world, are the most secret and hidden. Gravitation, heat, electricity, sound, light, ether — all these rulers of the material realm are unseen. Because we dwell amongst these verities, because we ac- cept without thought these ministrations, because these wonders, are our constant companions we cease to regard them with question or surprise. Infinite in its complexity of construction and func- tional activity is man's physical body. Unceasing re- search for ages by the most learned minds, has failed to fully explore or conquer its powers and resources. Still the work goes on, as day by day and year by year 204 OUR FINER FORCES. new relations of its composite character are discovered and classified. Therefore, because of these unseen forces which are the component parts of our every-day life, we will put aside prejudice, and enter carefully, but fearlessly, into any path that may lead to truth. Our bodies have been likened to cities of individual atoms, obeying like good citizens the laws of molecular motion, coming to and emigrating from, according to con- ditions and circumstances formulated by higher forces. Science aims to establish a law of unity between all forms of motion as expressed in light, heat, electricity, sound and color. That all of these agencies rule in the human body, and that upon their harmonious or inhar- monious action depends our health, or disease, is a fact fully verified. Let us examine some of the wonders contained in this living temple which we inhabit! First of all we must recognize the close relation be- tween the body and its environment. Absolutely depend- ent it is upon the air, light and food supplied from with- out. It has been proven that the body is in fact the brain extended, and that by intervening fibres the brain cells are brought in contact with the other cells of the body. Again it is declared that the body itself is com- posed of minute living, atomic organisms, which pene- trate its vital fluid, and that they assume our own indi- vidual characteristics; that also, by our thoughts and deeds we modify these atomic existences, and east them out upon the air about us, thus materially influencing our surroundings. Dr. H. Baraduc of Paris holds the theory that every hu- man being is a "miniature sun," or a "man-sun," sur- rounded by a luminous atmosphere, called a photosphere, even as is the physical sun; and also that the human pho- tosphere accurately reflects our own spiritual conditions. With his assistants, he succeeded in taking several photo- graphs of vibrations from human bodies, which con- formed to the peaceful, or perturbed conditions of men- tal action. In the middle of the last century, Baron Reich enbach discovered that every magnet is surrounded by living rays of light that trace distinct lines of force, and that these OUR FINER FORCES. 205 lines are physical. He also claimed that man is a kind of magnet in a magnetic field. Mr. J. J. G. Wilkinson in 1857 maintained that the skin, or the nervous system through it, pours forth a sub- tle radiation of tremendous efficacy on other organic crea- tures, and through this battery of surfaces, the animal creation, and man, most of all, is constantly impressing a character upon external nature, literally magnetizing it. From phenomena, well known to physiologists he demon- strates a "manifold nervous fluid" which passes through space and from body to body. In accordance with this truth it was, that Prof. Denton, the eminent geologist and scientist, succeeded so admirably in his psychometric ex- periments related in the book entitled, "The Soul of Things." As we consider the law of vibration and all that it means to the body, we are met by tremendous truths of limitless significance. Physiological functions bow to this unerring force. In all life, within and without, uni- versal pulsation is present. Vibration is the law of the universe. Visit, if you will, some power-house in the city where the whirr of machinery fills the air, and com- municates to you, its high tension — then, with your own fingers, lightly stop your ears, and you will be conscious of a power-house within your body, where the activity of the Infinite is working in full force. Mrs. Watt Hughes has discovered the fact that the hu- man voice is capable of printing form upon matter. A singer sends the voice against the surface of a membrane covered with a semi-fluid paste, which is placed over the mouth of a hollow receiver — the note strikes the paste in accurately outlined forms — those of flower-forms appear- ing most frequently. That each body lias a key-note which arises from and is modified by the prevailing emotions, is also proven in a similar way. Mr. Orookes, the scientist, gives a list of vibrations in the ether, of millions, billions, and trillions, correspond- ing to electricity, light, heat, color, and those vibrations known as the X-ray. Science also declares (hat there is only one force, and only one matter, subjed each to infinite variations. Herbert Spencer defines life as '"the continuous adjust- 20G Otttt FINER FORCES. ment of internal relations, to external relations." Swe- denborg said that "Love is the life of man. Thought it- self proceeds from love. Truth proceeds from love as light from flame." Mrs. Browning declared that "He lives most life, who- ever breathes most air." Our first act in entering this world is to breathe, and we leave it with our last breath. Breath is, therefore, a Jiving power, the arbiter, the dictator, the boundary of our physical being. Every minute portion of our organ- ism, brain, nerve, muscle and fibre responds to this mighty and invisible force. Words are sign-boards along the broad highway of truth, and carry with them an inner meaning. In all languages, the air is used as the representative of spirit. The word soul is derived from a term meaning air, wind, breath. The Latin animus and anima come from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind. The old Saxon word for spirit, ghost, and the German geist are similarly de- rived. The word aspire is from the Latin ad, toward, and spiro, to breathe. The French esprit, the Italian spirito. the Spanish espiritus, and the Latin spiritus, all express the same meaning. All-powerful is breath, and its divine agencies! God "breathed into us the breath of life!" Through this sa- cred utterance beats the heart of transcendent truth. Breath is the vital elixir, the unseen guide that leads us into the measureless fields of ever-widening potencies, where we may learn to know ourselves as manifestations of infinite love and wisdom! In his "First Principles of Philosophy," Herbert Spen- cer says that "All motion in the universe is rhythmical — the movement of the pendulum, the ebb and flow of tides, day and night, the systolic and diastolic action of the heart, and the inspiration and expiration of the lungs. Our breathing is a double motion of the universal ether, an active and re-active movement. When we breathe in harmony with this movement we are well; when we breathe inharmoniously we are ill." But, back of these manifestations moves the one divine energy, the one infinite love, the one all-encompassing ]ife_God! Our thoughts mold and shape our bodies, and direct our OUR FIXER FORCES. 207 lives. Creative of good or ill, they hold sovereign sway. Love and hate, charity and ill-will, not only speak through our own organisms, but send out their individual vibrations into limitless thought realms, and generate therein the qualities of their own nature. By the control of this tremendous force our souls can be liberated from ills that oppress. Fear, anger, hatred, impatience, hurry of spirit, jealousy, revenge, are all de- structive, not only in tearing down the bodily tissues, but they imprison the mind and charge it with poisonous ac- tivities. Love, good cheer, gentleness, charity, sympa- thy and tenderness build .p the physical powers, pro- mote health, and bless with the radiance of the spirit's sunshine. These thought forces enter into the smallest details of our lives — into our family matters, our social relations, our religious aspirations, and our business interests. The command of thought, the power to hold it and di- rect it, may be gained by cultivation and concentration. "But how is this to be done?" is asked. "It is utterly im- possible for me to concentrate my thought on one object to the exclusion of all other things," is the common ob- jection. Perhaps this drifting of the mind may be best illus- trated by the Oriental story, which is no doubt familiar to many. There was a monkey, and like all other monkeys, he was restless, moving continually from one thing to an- other. Some one gave him wine to drink, and he grew more restless. A scorpion stung him, and that served to accentuate his activity, and then a demon entered into him, and he became an embodiment of perpetual motion. This illustrates the human mind as it jumps from one thing to another with a speed that words cannot measure. The remedy suggested for this turbulent state, is to sit quietly and let the mind run on. As if you yourself were an outsider, watching its antics and its capers. It is claimed that with each day's practice these high-rolling thought waves will gradually subside until at last they can he perfectly com rolled. Time alone can accomplish it, but the result justifies t he expenditure. Another mode in controlling the thought, may he prac- ticed with profit in connection with our daily duties. Bring your thought directly to bear upon the specific 208 OUE FINER FOECES. act of the moment, though it may be of the most trifling nature. When you dress in the morning hold your thought to the matter in detail. Don't let it go down town, or out into the kitchen in advance of your body. That is tiresome; that is a waste of force. Just dress your- self. Don't use up your strength in analyzing and work- ing out all that lies before you for the day. Meet each demand as it presents itself. If you conserve your force, your work will be well done, and corresponding results will be satisfactory. You will feel no fatigue. Things will come easy, and work without tension will be pleasure. Hurry of spirit is one of the worst types of mental in- temperance, and production of a vast number of nervous diseases. Avoid hurry. Check yourself, even if it be a hundred times a day, and for one moment be deliberate. In time the habit will come to stay, and you will feel bet- ter and live longer. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." That is the promise. Every thought we think is a reality in unseen sub- stance. If we hold, it steadily it will find shape in the outer world, whether it be the thought of hatred, of love, or the thought of success in any special undertaking — to us will come its fruitage of good or ill in accordance with that other divine promise, that "as ye sow, so shall ye also reap." It is the law. Seed sown in the unseen soil of thought germinates and grows for us in the visible world around us. If you desire to accomplish some certain aim, your suc- cess will be more assured if you speak of that desire to no one, unless to those who are in perfect accord with you and your desire. By intrusting your project to people uninterested, you weaken your own thought-power. Avoid entering into active sympathy with the thought of despondent or unhappy people, lest thereby you impair your own power to aid them. Rather hold steadily your faith in the Supreme Good, and minister to them from its abundance. Be wise in the exercise of the emotions, for they are the key-board of our being, and must be kept in perfect tune if we would live in health and harmony. These are only hints of almost innumerable ways by which we may attain to thought-control. If these are OUR FIXER FORCES. 209 practiced, self-suggested means will appear with the needs that call for them. "Within yourself," says R. W. Trine, "lies the cause, of whatever enters into your life. To come into the full realization of your own awakened, in- terior powers, is to be able to condition your life in exact accord with what ycu would have it." An occult writer has beautifully said that "Motion is the ever-weaving shuttle of Omnipotence, bringing to light the thought of Infinite Mind." In the inner temple of each one's being, love and un- derstanding, emotion and intellect, with their infinite ra- diations flow from one exhaustless source, the divine cre- ative intelligence, that speaks in harmonious vibrations. Recognizing our relations to both planes of being, the physical and the spiritual, progress and soul-growth must depend on the cultivation of our own powers. In Romans 8:6 we read: "To be spiritually-minded is life and peace." Prof. Drummond says: "The natural life owes all to en- vironment — so must the spiritual. Xow the environ- ment of the spiritual life is God, as nature, therefore, forms the complement of the natural life. God is the complement of the spiritual life. It is not a strange thing, then, for the soul to find its life in God. This is its native air." If you would cultivate the spiritual perception, seek the silence. Sit apart and alone. That the nerves may be- come tranquil, invoke the aid of regular, and rhythmic breathing. Breath is the bridge between the physical and spiritual kingdoms. Relax the body. Let each breath be a messenger, of the soul's aspiration. Dismiss from the mind the cares and anxieties, the prejudices and animosities of the outer life. Though difficult at first, it can be done. Send out the thought to God — the Su- preme Good — and in a short time the realization of har- monic vibrations will be achieved. You will be conscious of thrills or pulsations about, around, and permeating the whole being. Call then upon the law that lifts the soul to upper heights— the law of universal Love. Deeper and slower and more quiet will the breathing become, for, as the functions of the outer being are less active, the soul'.- inner respiration is made manifest. Be faithful and steadfast. Through this unfoldment 210 OUR FINER FORCES. you will learn of higher truths, which will lift the daily duties out of the dull and prosaic into a light that trans- forms drudgery into a luminous significance, linking it to larger uses. Individual life will extend its narrow earthly outlines into the unutterable grandeur and majesty of the soul's eternal growth. As day follows darkness, so surely rises the sun of knowledge within the soul. "Seek and ye shall find." strip off the bandages of doubt. Look for the light, and its baptism shall bless you. Attune your thought to life's inner harmonies. Let the beneficence of truth illumine your soul with its glowing radiance. Pursue with unswerving ardor the unseen pathways of the spiritual nature, and your whole life will set itself to the higher virtues, in octaves of uplifting melody. The great map of the soul will be unrolled, and as little by little you acquaint yourself with its geography, you will conquer sense-limitations, and pass out into unex- plored regions. An exaltation of spirit will lead you into larger fields of truth. If you ask for guidance in the cares of every day in the complex ways about, listen to that voice that speaks with- in the templed dome of your own soul. Out of God's soundless silence it will give you counsel. Prove all things by your own highest measure of truth and justice. It will never fail you. Around us and about us, as close to us as breath itself, are answers to our questions. Let us be ready to receive them. Let us apply them to universal good, and count- less more will wait to do us service. Jesus a Myth. Some Pertinent Questions and Historical Illustrations by P. J. Cooley, in the Chicago Record= Herald. I ask in all candor of the inquirer after truth to lay aside all superstitious notions and previous religious in- struction and consider a few facts concerning this all-im- portant subject- There are only two sides to a question — did such a be- ing exist or not? I am aware that since the day of Constantine millions of honest and good people have built their hopes and risked their future salvation on their crucified and risen Savior, without a fear or doubt, and lived and died believ- ing He was still interceding at the throne of mercy in their behalf. For anyone to even express a doubt con- cerning Hia personality has been met by the slurs from the priesthood and many pious believers, and a demand for a recantation with threats of the faggots and the stake. When we come to consider the oldest religions of an- tiquity that were reverently believed by millions of peo- ple we learn that the inanimate as well as the animate were deified and reverently worshiped as divinities or gods, and no doubt the ancient astrologies antedate all other systems <>f worship. They built the pyramids and deified the sun. n ami stars. They also divided the year into day-, wick- and months. They named the day- id' the week ami the months after these deified star-. They gave as the twelve 212 JESUS A MYTH. signs of the zodiac, now in use in all of our almanacs, which were the twelve apostles of this sun god whom they named "Great Jehovah!" THE GOD OF MOSES. The Jews later on discarded all lesser gods or stars that were ruled over by the sun, and accepted Jehovah as the one God. Moses became acquainted with his Jehovah in Egypt. This Jewish Jehovah was adopted by the Christians, who became the father of the patron saint of the Chris- tian world. The sun worshipers also deified gods, saviors and re- deemers on earth and claimed for each of them a virgin birth. In the world's history as many as forty-five can be named. Also more than twenty saviors have been repre- sented as crucified to redeem to world from sin. And all the different names selected by the different races of mankind in all ages are only different names for the sun, such as Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, Pan, Castor Apollo, Brahma, Allah, Ormadz, Elohim, Bacchus, Horns, Ba, Sol, Odin, Vishnu, Siva, Jehovah, Apollo- nius, Zeus, Eomulus, etc. — all pure myths, only personifi- cations of the elements, showing clearly deified gods ex- isting only in name. But at the same time untold mill- ions of human beings have offered sacrifices and prayer devoutly to all these mythical divinities. They have all been lauded by pious priests, and their praises sung and their merits written up in all the Bibles and sacred litera- ture of heathen antiquity. But, say you, we have the Holy Bible, the revealed will of God as a witness to Christ's personality, and also the miracles he performed. Who wrote the four gospels? Nobody knows. And His biographers never saw Christ nor any of His apostles. Most scholars agree the four gospels were written in the second century, all from tra- dition, and the mythology of other oriental gods were dic- tated by editors and theologians. CHEIST NOT MENTIONED. Outside of the four gospels we have no authentic his- tory of Christ. Josephus makes no mention of Him. But the English edition makes mention of a man, "if he JESUS A MYTH. 213 may be called a man/' a doer of wonderful works, then relates wonderful events in Jewish" history. This account is classed an an interpolation by all scholars, but is pronounced as genuine by ''Eusebius," who is universally accused of scriptural forgeries. He says in his writings he was justifiable in lying so long as the interests of the church were advanced. "Cyclopedia Britanica" also states that the writings of Josephus are considered as spurious. No doubt Eusebius was the author. Eusebius occupied a seat at the right hand of Constantine at the council of Nice. Bacchus, the god of wine, like the Roman Hercules, had a virgin for a mother and a god for a father. After his death and resurrection, like Christ, he descended into hell and preached to the saints in confinement. He also turned water into wine "that cheereth both God and man." He cast out devils and raised the dead. Chrishna, the incarnate god of the Hindus, did the same. Rev. George Wadington, of England, fellow of Trinity College, seventy years ago wrote the history of the Christian Church, in which he says: "It is a wonderful coincident that just at the time of the crucifixion of Christ the mountain should be rent, the dead arise and walk with the living in the streets of Jerusalem; that such an eruption of so stupendous a character should happen at that moment; that the sun should be darkened for the space of three hours in the middle of the day." SAGA OF HEATHENS. But similar events are related regarding the deaths of all oriental gods; for instance, in the cases of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. But m all the writings through all the ages no mention is made of the convul- sions of nature at the death of the hero of Christianity. The conception and birth of Christ also correspond with the virgin birth of Plato, who was worshiped as a god for 400 years, and whose statue was placed in the Pantheon with other oriental gods. Philo, a contemporary of Christ, an Alexandrian Jew and a Learned historian, wrote the lives and doings of all important personages of his time and never mentioned such a person B8 JeSUS ( Ihrist. Seneca, Pliny, Plutarch, Celsus, Origen, Manichaeus 214 JESUS A MYTH. and Cotelerius, all authentic historians of the first and second centuries, fail to mention Christ or any of His apostles. "Kenan" asks how it is that the Christian fathers have never been able to fix the date of the birth of their hero. or to fix the time any nearer than 130 years? Is it fair or reasonable to assert that all oriental gods of antiquity were all pure myths and Christ the only per- sonality? I leave the reader to judge. All oriental gods appointed twelve apostles to teach their doctrine. The Jews had their twelve tribes of Israel. There are twelve labors of Hercules. There are twelve celestial gods on Mount Olympus. The twelve foundations for the walls of the new Jerusalem were gar- nished with twelve precious stones. I show in my book, "Evolution," that the church bor- rowed every iota of their doctrines, rites and ceremonies from the Jews and pagans, as also the death, burial and resurrection of their hero, including the three days in the tomb. STORY OF THE SUN. The pagan astronomers at an early day learned the cause of the sun in his journey to the south in the winter and his return in the spring. They saw on March 21 the sun had reached his greatest distance to the south of the equinoctial line, where, so far as time can be counted, that body remained at a standstill for three days. Then it started on its return journey. This was recognized by pagan nations as the death, burial and resurrection of their sun god, rising from his grave to give life, light and heat to a lost world, to restore and animate all animal and vegetable life alike, to give food, comfort and happiness to man. So to both pagan and Christian it was a great day of rejoicing. The god has arisen ! The new-born god has atoned for the sins of the world, has conquered the cold and dreary winter and brought the beautiful spring. The harvest, the fig and the spring lamb (the emblem of Christianity) — all joined in the festival of the sun god. Here is where we get the conception of all oriental gods, dying on March 21 and rising on March 25. All oriental gods, including the Christians' hero, were all born JESUS A MYTH. 215 on Dec. 25. See Chambers' "Book of Days," Vol. II; also the Encyclopedia Britanica. The day was arbitrarily fixed since pagans had cele- brated this day for centuries as the anniversary of all pagan sun gods. It is purely a pagan festival. This Christian festival was instituted by Constantine, the father of state Christianity, who murdered his whole family, killed his wife by boiling her in a vat of hot water and established Christianity by suppressing paganism by arbitrary law. For further reference see "Gibbon's History of Chris- tianity/' "Draper's Conflict Between Science and Relig- ion," Parish Ladd's "Hebrew and Christian Mythology," Kersey Graves' "Crucified Saviors," Graves' "Bible ' cf Bibles," and all works on the mythology of the ancients. Religions are opinions; prove but one. And all men mingle in a common faith. — P. J. Cooley, Author of Evolution. Reincarnation. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience by C. W. Lead beater, the Great Psychic, of London, England. Theosophy has many new ideas to put before those who study it — ideas which are new to many of us in the world of Western thought, at any rate, though they have in real- ity been before the world for thousands of years. Theos- ophy comes before us as the truth which lies behind all the religions, and thus it has no statements to make which contradict any one of them though it may contain and does contain very many statements which arc at va- riance with bigotry and intolerance and narrowness of doctrine. There is perhaps no theosophical teaching to which greater exception is taken than to this doctrine of rein- carnation. People object to it very strongly, bul we who 216 REINCARNATION. lecture upon such subjects notice that whenever an ad- dress upon reincarnation is advertised, we are always sure of a good audience. Many of them object to the doe- trine, but still they come to hear about it; why? Because it is a most fascinating doctrine, and they are drawn to discuss it in spite of themselves. The commonest objec- tion that they make is that they have had so much sorrow and suffering in this life that they cannot possibly enter- tain the idea that they may have to go through it all again — which is obviously no argument at all. Others are ap- palled at the prospect of more lives, and regard it as a gloomy outlook; whereas in reality it is the most consol- ing idea possible. Others say that this is a strange and new doctrine. Certainly it is not new; on the contrary it is one of the very oldest. You will find it taught by the Hindu sages thousands of years before Christianity, and it. is an essen- tial part of the religion of Buddhism, which has at the present moment a greater number of adherents than any other religion in the world. There is but little said of it in the later form of the Egyptian religion, though we find references which indicate that it had been known there also. If we come down to the time of Greece and Rome, we shall find reincarnation playing a very definite part in the philosophy of the period and having a great hold upon the people. If you look back to your school days you may remember a passage in the sixth book of the Aeneid, in which Virgil tells us how Aeneas visits his father Anchises in the after world, and how Anchises shows him the enormous crowd of souls of all nations and tribes who are crowding to the banks of the river Lethe on their way back into earthly bodies. If you come down to even later days you will find that this idea of reincarnation has not been forgotten. In the system of Schopenhauer you will find it brought promi- nently forward. Also you will find that Fichte and Les- sing look upon it with great respect, as the best hypothe- sis of life. To take the very latest instance, the great orientalist, Max Muller, who himself did not hold this doctrine of reincarnation in earlier life, admits his belief in it in a book published after his death. He says: "I can not help thinking that the souls towards whom we feel drawn in this life are the very souls whom we knew and loved in a former life, and that the souls who repel us REINCARNATION. 217 here, we ao not know why, are the souls that earned our disapproval, the souls from whom we kept aloof in a for- mer life." Even now this doctrine is held by a majority of man- kind, by the teeming millions of India, China and Japan — in fact almost everywhere except in the Western world. Since such great men have spoken of it so respectfully, it is impossible for any one who thinks to cast it aside as un- worthy of consideration. Many people seem to think that what is new to them cannot possibly be true; yet it would surely be rash to make such a statement. Think how our ancestors laughed at first at the idea of electricity, telephones and steam engines. You may remember how it was declared impossible for any vehicle to travel safely at a rate ex- ceeding twenty miles an hour. Yet all these ideas which our fathers discredited are the commonplaces of our life to-day, so we should beware lest in regard to other new ideas we repeat our father's mistakes. For it is evident that this doctrine of reincarnation removes many difficul- ties and solves many problems which upon any other the- ory remain insoluble. There is sometimes a misconception in the minds of some people in regard to reincarnation. It must not for a moment be confused with the old idea of the transmi- gration of souls — the theory that if a man exhibits during one earthly life a nature resembling that of some animal, when he next returns to physical existence he is likely to be reborn in the form of that animal. As a matter of fact that is not so. Our Theosophical theory of evolution fully recognized that man has arisen through the animal kingdom, but he has long passed the stage at which it could have been possible for him to fall back into it. His future lives, then, will be human, and they will probably be much like this one, but always just a little better, because he is steadily evolving. He is here on the earth in order that he may learn certain lessons. Does it seem probable that he can learn all those lessons in one short life of seventy or eighty years? No, it is certainly impossible. So if the man is to survive death at all, surely he is to go on learning. It may bee d that he may progress in BOme Other world, but why should this In 80? If this world is good enough for him to Live in once, why 218 REINCARNATION. is it not good enough for him to live in a hundred times? Why should he not come back and learn all the lessons that this wonderful and beautiful old world has to teach him? It would seem a wise and natural economy in*the Divine scheme that man should continue to evolve on this earth until he has exhausted its possibilities, and no man can claim to have achieved that as yet. Consider, too, the problems which this theory solves. Think of the terrible inequality in the world. Look round you in any great city and you will see some living in luxury and others starving, some who have all kinds of advantages in the way of higher teaching, of art and mu- sic and philosophy to develop the moral side of their na- tures, and others who are living in the midst of criminal- ity, who have practically no chance whatever of moral progress in this incarnation. Take the case of a child who is born in one of the slums of a great city, born in an atmosphere of crime, from a father who is a drunkard and a mother who is a thief. That child from the very day of its birth has never seen anything but crime and sin; he has never seen the bright side of life in the least, and he knows nothing at all of any religion. What chance of progress has he that is in any way equal to the chance that we ourselves have had? What is the advantage to that child of all our music, our art, our literature or philoso- phy? If you could suddenly snatch him out of those surroundings, and put him among us, he would not in the least understand our life, because he has not been brought up to it. His opportunity is assuredly not in any sense equal to ours. If you go outside the pale of civilization you will still find savage races existing in various parts of the world; what of their opportunities? It is not con- ceivable that those men can develop as fully as we. How is this to be accounted for? There are three possible hypotheses — three possible theories of life. First of all there is the materialistic hy- pothesis that there is no scheme of life at all, that we are simply ruled by blind chance. We are born by chance and we die by chance, and when we die that is the end of us. That is not a particularly satisfactory theory, not one which we should desire to accept unless we found ourselves forced to it. But are we so forced? I think not; in fact, all the evidence tells distinctly in the oppo- site direction. What is the use of all the progress that BEIXCAKXATIOX. 219 we see taking place around us if it is not working to- wards a definite end? The second hypothesis is that of Divine caprice, the theory that God puts one man here and another there be- cause He chooses to do so, and that, although their oppor- tunities of progress are utterly unequal, their eternal des- tiny hereafter depends upon their success in achieving a very high level of morality. This theory makes no at- tempt to account for the inequalities in earth-life, and offers precisely the same heavenly reward to all of the small number who are supposed to attain it at all, quite ir- respective of the amount of suffering endured here. Some modification of this theory is at present suggested by most of the Occidental forms of religion, though I hope to show later that it is by no means the true and original teaching of Christianity. Certainly it would seem to a thinking man that a God who has put us in a position amid respectable surround- ings in which we could not easily go very far wrong, and at the same time has put another man in a position such as we have described where it is almost impossible for him to do right, can hardly be a just deity. Indeed some of the most deeply religious of men have felt themselves sorrowfully forced to admit that either God is not all- powerful, and cannot help all the misery and sin which we see in the world about us, or else that he is not all- good, and does not care about the sufferings of His crea- tures. In Theosophy we hold most firmly that He is both all-loving and all-powerful, and we reconcile this belief with the facts of life around us by means of this doctrine of reincarnation. I know of no other theory through which such reconciliation is possible; and surely the only hypothesis which allows us rationally to hold the belief that God is an all-powerful and all-loving Father is at least worthy of careful examination, before we cast it con- temptuously aside in order to blazon forth our conviction that He does not possess those qualities. Observe that there is absolutely no other alternative; either reincarna- tion is true, or the idea of Divine justice is nothing but a dream. How does orthodoxy deal with so weighty a considera- tion as this? Usually it scarcely attempts to deal with it at all. but contents itself with vaguely suggesting that 220 KEINCAKNATION. God's justice is not as man's justice. That is probably perfectly true; but at least Divine justice must be greater than ours, and not less; it must be an extension of ours, including considerations which are beyond our reach — not something falling so far short of ours as to involve atrocities which even we who are only men would never think of committing. But what is our third hypothesis? What does the the- ory of reincarnation suggest to us? That the life of man is a far longer life than we have supposed; that man is a soul and has a body, and that what we have called his life is but one day in the true and greater life of that soul. This idea may seem strange to many of us in the Occi- dent, for we appear to consider the soul as merely an ap- panage of the body, a sort of balloon floating above him, instead of, as it really is, the man himself. Far away in India they know more about it than that; you will con- stantly hear the Hindu say, "My body is hungry, my body is tired," instead of, as we should, "I am hungry, I am tired." Of course that sounds strange to us, and it would be stilted and pedantic for us to use such a form of words, and yet it shows that that man whom we impudently des- ignate a heathen understands the human constitution, and that we ourselves do not. The parable which sym- bolized a single incarnation as a day in the true life is an attractive one. Man rises in the morning, and learns the lesson of his day, and when he is tired he lies down to sleep; and the next day he comes back again like a child at school, and learns another lesson. Again and again he revisits this earth to learn more and more of these les- sons, to acquire new and higher qualities, and so evolution proceeds. Thus we realize that less evolved souls are simply chil- dren in a lower class, and that they are not to be regarded as wicked or backsliding, but only as younger brothers. Think of the child at the kindergarten; he practically plays most of the time. They do not set him at once to the higher school-work; because at that stage he could not understand it, and such teaching would be useless and injurious to him. Just the same thing is true with re- gard to a soul; it could not receive the higher teaching at first. It must begin with the stronger, coarser impacts from without, which reach it in savage life; it must be REINCARNATION. 221 stirred by those vigorous and insistent shakings before it can learn to respond to the far finer vibrations at higher levels which in advanced civilization will afford it such varied opportunities of rapid development. So by slow degrees and through many lives that soul will reach our own level; but it does not stop there. There have been men in the world who have stood head and shoulders above their fellows; they show us what we shall be, and they are in themselves a proof of reincarnation, for there is no conceivable single life that could evolve the savage into an Emerson, a Plato or a Shakspeare. If we accept reincarnation we can account rationally for the existence side by side in the world of the criminal and the philoso- pher — but on no other hypothesis can this be done. To understand it fully we must take along with it the other great theosophical doctrine of Karma, the law of Cause and Effect, and realize that if a man disturbs the equilibrium of Nature it will press back upon him with exactly the same force that he himself employed. It is under this law that he is being reborn; if he finds himself in a certain place or in certain surroundings, it is because he has so acted in a former life as to bring himself under these conditions. This great intrinsic part of the theo- sophical doctrine must never be forgotten. Though the man does not bring over with him in his memory the de- tails of his previous life, his soul does bear within it the qualities developed in that life, so that he is precisely what he has made himself, and no effort is ever lost. Thus the whole of the world is one mighty graded course of evolution. "When the savage has had as many lives and as much experience as we have had, he will probably stand where we do; for thousands of years ago we stood exactly where he now is. It is simply that he is younger, and we should no more blame him for that than we blame a child of five because he is not yet ten. Observe also how blessed is the consolation of realizing that we have all eternity before us in which to develop. Christ's command to Hia disciples was: "Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect," bill if we face the facts we must admit that we cannot possibly become perfect in one life. Only in this doctrine of many lives i^ there any possibility thai this command can ever be obeyed. But with the infinite opportunity which reincarnation gives 222 REINCARNATION. us, surely we also shall grow onward and upward, till we reach the level of the saints and the sages, the philoso- phers and the saviors of mankind. But it is only in the knowledge of the wide life that we see this to be possible — nay, not possible only, but certain. It may perhaps be asked: "How is it that these doc- trines of reincarnation and perfect justice are not taught in the churches to-day?" It is because Christianity has forgotten much of its original teaching, because it is now satisfied with only part (and a very small part) of what it originally knew. "They have still the same scriptures," you will say. Yes, but those very scriptures themselves tell you often of something more, which is now lost. What is meant by Christ's constant references to the mys- teries of the kingdom of God, by His frequent statements* to His disciples that the full and true interpretation could be given only to them, and that to the others He must speak in parables? Why does He perpetually use the technical terms connected with the well-known mystery- teaching of antiquity? What does St. Paul mean when he says, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect" — a well-known technical term for the men at a certain stage of initiation? Again and again he uses terms of the same sort; he speaks of "the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world began, and which none even of the princes of this world know" — a statement which could not by any possibility have been truthfully made if he had been referring merely to ordinary Christian teaching, which is openly preached before all men. His immediate followers, the Fathers of the Church, knew perfectly well what he meant, for they all use pre- cisely the same phraseology. Clement of Alexandria, one of the earliest and greatest of them all, tells us that "it is not lawful to reveal to profane persons the mysteries of the Word." In another place he writes that "the Greater Mysteries include the Gnosis, the scientific knowledge of God" — a very remarkable expression, which could cer- tainly not be employed with reference to any modern ec- clesiastical teaching. His pupil Origen writes of "the popular, irrational faith" which leads to what he calls somatic or physical Christianity, based upon the gospel narrative, and he contrasts this with the spiritual Chris- REINCARNATION. 223 tianity conferred by the Gnosis or Wisdom. There are very many similar passages, which make it absolutely cer- tain that in the beginning Christianity, like all other re- ligions, had its outer ethical system for the unlearned, and its inner philosophical teaching which was given only to those who had proved themselves worthy of it. This is not a question of opinion or sentiment; it is a question of fact, and the facts cannot be disputed. This inner teaching was lost to the church when an ignorant major- ity voted out the great Gnostic Doctors, but it has not been lost to the world, for it still survives in Theosophy, and reincarnation is part of it. Very few references to this doctrine now remain in the gospels, but there are one or two which are unmistakable. There is one clear, definite statement by Christ himself which of course must settle the question once for all for any one who believes in the gospel history. When he has been speaking of John the Baptist, and inquiring what opinions were generally held about him, He termi- nates the conversation by the emphatic pronouncement, "If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." I am quite aware that the orthodox theologian thinks that Christ did not mean what He said in this case, and wishes us to believe that He was endeavoring to explain that Elijah had been a type of John the Baptist; but in reply to such a disingenuous plea, it will be sufficient to ask what would be thought of any one who, in ordinary life, tried to explain away a plain statement in so clumsy a fashion. Either Christ said this or He did not say it; if He did not say it there is a mistake in the gospel; if He did say it, reincarnation is a fact. The passage will be found in Matthew xi:li. Another reference occurs in the story of the man who was born blind, and was brought to the Christ to be cured. The disciples inquired "Lord, who did sin, this man or his fathers, that he was born blind?" Beyond all question this shows that they believed it to be possible for a man to sin before he was born — that is, in a previous birth. Evidently the idea of reincarnation was not at all strange or unfamiliar to their minds, and it i> noteworthy that Christ in J I is answer in no way rebukes them or de- nounces their suggestion as foolish, hut accepts ii quite as a matter of course. Yet on other occasions Be. wras by no 224 REINCARNATION. means backward in commenting vigorously upon inaccu- rate doctrine or practice. Years ago an English clergyman wrote a remarkable book called "From Death to the Judgment Day," in which he showed that reincarnation was the great secret teaching of the Christian religion, which cleared up all its difficulties and made it into a coherent and rational sys- tem. Quite lately an American Methodist minister has published a book called "Birth a New Chance," in which he argues the same question, though along very different lines. His theory of rebirth only very partially agrees with ours, since he denies that the soul has at present any intelligent existence apart from its successive physical bodies; but it is at least interesting to find that, along such different lines of thought, men of various shades of opinion are beginning to see the necessity of this funda- mental doctrine. There are other of life's problems, beside that great one of inequality, which seem explicable only on the hy- pothesis of reincarnation. Take, for example, the ques- tion of genius. It sometimes happens that a man is born like Mozart, who at the age of four was able not only to play difficult pieces of music, but to compose the most elaborate and beautiful pieces, violating none of the com- plicated laws of harmony, to learn which costs the ordi- nary musician so much time and pains. How does this happen? We all know the ordinary scientific answer, that his genius is hereditary, that he is reverting to some musical ancestor. Yet we have no trace of this musical ancestor. The family was musical, I believe, but surely not at all musical enough to account for the development of such transcendent genius in their son. Take the case of Shakspeare, another transcendent genius. Look back at his forefathers, give him if you will the whole Anglo- Saxon nation for ancestry and let him have the combined intelligence of the entire race; even then whence comes such an eminent tragedian? We know something of the Anglo-Saxon race, and we know that its strength did not lie in that direction; they were brave men, mighty drink- ers, Gargantuan feasters, but hardly likely to produce a poet of delicate fancy and of far-reaching knowledge of human nature. The whole nation presents no ancestor of Shakspeare's calibre, no one to whom he could have re- < REIXCARXATION. 225 verted. So there seems a certain incompleteness about the explanation by heredity alone. But if we regard Shakspeare and Mozart as souls, and understand that they have had many lives before in which to develop their ge- nius, the matter at once becomes more comprehensible. If we may look back into other races for their intellectual ancestry, we do see other men comparable with them — men who may well have been themselves in other forms. We can imagine that Shakspeare might have been Virgil or Homer or Aeschylus, that Mozart might have been a reincarnation of Orpheus; and we feel at once that we are in the presence of a more satisfactory theory. People often seem to think that the doctrine of rein- carnation contradicts that of heredity, but it is not so. It is quite true that a man inherits physical and mental characteristics from his parents; he is born into their family because he is a soul that has deserved just such a body as they can give him, or because the limitations which they impose upon him are needed in his develop- ment. If the average man were put in a family from which he would receive a perfect body it would not be a fit expression of him, and would be in no way suited to the requirements of his evolution. Theosophy in no way condemns the doctrine of heredity; in fact that doctrine is a necessary part of its scheme. With relation to this, and indeed to all this most prolific subject, Mrs. Besant'a manual upon Reincarnation should be consulted. Ic deals with the question at much greater length than is possible in an evening's lecture, and treats it with an abil- ity and thoroughness which would in any case be beyond my power. The chapters on the subject in her Ancient Wisdom, and in Mr. Sinnett's Esoteric Buddhism and Growth of the Soul should also be studied by those who wish to gain a comprehensive grasp of this fundamental truth. It may be well for me before closing to refer brief! v to one or two of the objections which have sometimes been brought against this doctrine of reincarnation. One is that the population of the earth is stated to be increasing, and people say, ""If the number of souls is constant, and the same people are returning over and over again how- can the population increase?" First of all, there is no certainty ihat the population of the world is increasing 226 REINCARNATION. It is certainly doing so here, in the countries in which we take statistics, but think of the vast populations of the in- terior of China, of the Malay archipelago, and of Central Africa. The population in all these places may be, and probably is, decreasing, for souls are gradually rising out of the lower races into the higher. But whether that is so or not, it makes no difference to the theory of reincar- nation. We hold that the number of souls connected with this cycle of evolution is definite, but that only a very small proportion of this total is in physical incarna- tion. The interval between incarnations is so much longer than the incarnation itself that a very slight short- ening of it would very largely increase the physical popu- lation without in the least affecting the total number. But the grand objection which occurs to most people when they first encounter this theory is, "Why do we not remember our past births? if we have had so many won- derful and interesting experiences; if we formed part of that great Aryan immigration across the Himalayas, if we chanted Sanskrit Vedas in that prehistoric world; if we were among the, multitudes who sat entranced in Indian palm-groves, listening amid all the glory of the tropical moonlight to the golden words which flowed from the mouth of the grandest of earth's teachers, Siddartha Gau- tama, whom men call the Buddha; if we bowed before the orb of day or venerated the sacred fire in ancient Persia, or read the star-lore of Chaldea; if we helped to build the pyramid, or to raise the stupendous temples whose ruins tower tremendous above the land of Khem; if we had ouu part in the free, splendid open-air life of Greece, with all its keen delight in beauty and in liberty; if we marched in the serried ranks of Roman armies, with that magnifi- cent reserve-force of order and discipline which made us easily the masters of the world; if, later still, we fought in armor in the Crusades, or sang vespers in medieval monas- teries; if all this, or any of this, be true — if we have all this priceless wealth of experience behind us, where is the memory of it all, and why do we know nothing of it now?" Now the answer to this question is twofold. First, many men do remember. Among our own theosophical students many have succeeded in bringing through such recollection. It may be asked, how do such students REIXCARXATIOK 227 know that they are not simply dreaming, or under a de- lusion? To them the proof is perfect, and has been many times multiplied, for again and again One has verified the discoveries of another, and they have described accurately landscapes and even statues which they have afterwards visited in physical consciousness. They themselves know very well that it is no delusion, though they would never attempt to prove this to others. For the outsider this is of course a mere assertion, but at least it is a piece of evi- dence to be taken into account along with other testi- mony. You will find this teaching of reincarnation also given by the French school of Spiritists of Alan Kardec, and one of its members, Monsieur Gabriel Delanne, recently published an article giving many new examples of persons who remembered past births, and had proved it to his sat- isfaction. There is plenty of evidence if you only seek for it. In Burmah, for example, it is quite a common thing for a child to remember his past life, and I have read a similar story not long ago in the newspaper with regard to a boy in America. Many people therefore do re- member, but it still remains true that the majority do not. Why is that? Because in each incarnation the man takes upon himself not only a new physical body, but also new astral and mental bodies. At the present stage of our ev- olution our memories are centered in the mental body, we remember with the mind; and our mind cannot remember a past incarnation because it has not had one, since it is part of the new furniture which we have acquired for this present birth. But the soul, the true man, has had many births, and remembers them perfectly; and as soon as we can learn to focus our consciousness at thai level, to raise it from the mind into the soul, and to remember by means of that, we shall find the whole long story of these pre- vious lives spread before us like an unrolled scroll. To us who hold it thie belief has been valuable. It has given US hope and comfort, il has explained life to u-. it has enabled as to live it better than before. We believe that it will do the same for yoii if yon are able to accept it. 1 have done do more than outline it. for it need- full examination and deep <\\\<]y. There is far more to be said for it than I have said; then- are many weighty argu- ments which 1 have not adduced. Bui if I have succeeded 228 REINCARNATION. in awakening your interest, in stimulating you to read some of the literature of the subject, then my address to- night has not failed in its object. Wonderful Spiritual Phenomena. Materializing of Food — Spirits From Heaven — Pray* ing in the Clouds — The Most Extraordinary Phenomena of Modern Times, (Copyright, New York Herald, Published by Special Permission,) A "holy man" from India has come to New York to make converts to his faith, which is "Love for all men." Baba Bharati is his name. He is a typical high caste Hin- doo — a Lama, who mastered English and became editor of a leading journal in Lahore. That was years ago, when Kipling, on a rival newspaper, was coming into notice with poems and short sketches. This city of Lahore is where "Kim," the hero of Kipling's greatest story, joined the Lama of Thibet and wandered over Hindostan in search of a certain holy river. Kipling and Baba Bharati, the Hindoo editor, were newspaper acquaintances, and some say Baba is the orig- nal of Kipling's holy man in "Kim" for this reason: Baba was a man of influence and a successful editor when he suddenly resigned his editorship and joined the ec- static followers of Krishna, a Hindoo deity, became an ascetic and retired to the wilderness, where he remained in holy meditation and study for twelve years. He was then directed to begin missionary work in the Western world, and he sailed for America. As Baba speaks and writes English with skill and flu- ency, he has great advantages over many Hindoos visiting this country. His personality is pleasing, fascinating and picturesque. He is a handsome man, tall, statuesque, dignified, with dark, large, sparkling eyes. When they kindle the man seems on fire with holy enthusiasm. His religion, he says, is summed up in the one word "Love." He has anger for no man, no matter how great the provo- cation. Every act is preceded by asking a blessing. Ev- WOXDEEFUL PHENOMENA. 229 err letter or manuscript begins with a little prayer writ- ten at the top of the page. By special arrangement this extraordinary man writes the story of his life and faith, for the Sunday Herald. BY BABA BHARATI. From journalism to ascetism is almost an impossible leap. It is like jumping from pole to pole. Journalism means putting the whole world into your mind; ascetism means thrusting the whole world out of it. Journalism involves a minute study of men and manners; ascetism teaches how best to wipe out all their impressions. It is to dive beneath the surface of things to know their real causes and meanings, and the only way to dive is to for- get the surface. But a Vaishrava ascetic need not blot the world from his mind and necessarily repair to the jungles to perform his devotions. He finds Krishna, his Deity, present ev- erywhere, and lives in the light of his love. To him, without Krishna, the most densely peopled city is a wil- derness, and a bleak, wild stretch of waste a peopled New York. How I became an ascetic from being a journalist may be worth telling. I was born in January, 1858 — the pe- riod when the ever-memorable Indian mutiny was in its full, furious swing— of a "Koolen" Brahmin family, that is, "Brahmins of the firsl order.''' The family was intellectual and wealthy and for many generation- had produced some great men — men of con- spicuous individuality, ministers and leaders of society in the past. My lather was a magistrate, and my uncle, my father's younger brother, the late Honorable Onoocool Chunder Mookerjee, was a brilliant judge of the Calcutta High Court, the highest civil appointment below the Viceroy. KIPLING'S GBEAT WORK FOR INDIA. Y«-t Mr. Kipling has done greal work for India. What he has written do other European is able to preseni to the Western public with Buch clearness oi expression and viv- idness of detail. Such wide menial grasp is only possible lo a genius — which Kipling undoubtedly is. Both the West and the East ought to be grateful to him — the Wesi 230 WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. especially, for no similar work lias awakened such interest in men and things Hindoo, in the Western mind, as "Kim." That interest has produced a thirst for more knowledge of India, which, I hope will sooner or later be satisfied. When that time comes the West will be perhaps rudely awakened from its pleasant dream that its civilization, born only yesterday, is all-powerful and is Westernizing the unprogressive Hindoo. These European dreamers will awaken to find that all their so-called civilization of the Hindoo is but as a layer of moss upon rock. In the final test the moss will van- ish, leaving the granite unchanged, eternal. The Hindoo and his spirituality are the same to-day as thousands of years ago. They have outlived Egyptians, Greeks and Romans — their systems, governments and religions. The Hindoos alone remain imperishable. The only«hope for these so-called modern civilizations is in adopting the spirituality of the Hindoo. His vast, all pervading spir- itual power is realized by all — by English and Americana alike. The magnitude of this intense belief and the vitalizing life of the Hindoo religion is a concrete reality felt by every European when he first sets foot on Indian soil. The very atmosphere is impregnated with vitalizing cur- rents of spirituality, for it is the only real lasting thing in the world. Your civilization, tall buildings, machinery and systems of government are but for a day — to-morrow they vanish! The spiritual remains forever. It is this unseen power that sways mankind and the universe. HOW HE WAS CONVERTED. With these explanations, I will relate how I began my search for this religion of love and life everlasting. I went from the Tribune, in Lahore, to edit the Punjab Times, and Mr. Kipling, I believe, left the Lahore Ga- zette for the Pioneer. Soon after I went down to Cal- cutta, having finished my practical training, and started my own paper, the Gup and Gossip, the first society paper in India. I was now very happy with my material prospects and surroundings, and my paper having become popular among Anglo-Indians and Indians, I had some fame and name for myself, too. WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. 231 But just at this time my religious instinct began to as- sert itself, and very soon it overcame my passion for jour- nalism. I was witnessing a performance of "Chaitanya Lila" at the Star Theatre. Chaitanya was an incarnation of Krishna, the Form Manifestation of the Hindoo's ab- solute deity. He was born a little more than four hundred years ago, in Bengal, at Nuddia on the Ganges, about one hundred miles above Calcutta. He preached Krishna, the seed and the soul of the purest love, and of the universe, and while preaching he would burst forth into song in praise of Krishna, his Master, Friend, Father and Lover. THE DANCE OF ECSTASY. Thus singing, he would be filled with ecstasy and in the fulness of joy within him perform the most graceful dance the world has ever seen, his arms and whole body waving and quivering with the heaving billows, as it were, within his heart. He was like an ocean of divine love, and streams of water from many fountains would flow from his eyes in the shape of tears. And in those tears, streaming straight from his eyes to the ground, all those who sang and danced around him in ecstatic motion would be literally bathed. This indescribable, wondrous scene made a profound impression upon me. It had at last found my religion of love so hazily understood in boyhood, and I resolved to give my life to it. With this awakening all attraction for things material left me, and in the depth of my heart flowed a stream of nectar which every moment thrilled through my being. "Krishna, my beloved!" I exclaimed within myself, "I am thine forever. Thou art the mystery of love, the uni- verse is its expression, and Chaitanya their most merciful explanation. Merciful, Lord, because Thou art Thy Chaitanya Thyself, Thou earnest again as Thy own devo- tee to teach us the way to Thee." It is impossible to describe the fretting and worry of my soul during the few years which I had to remain in the world before preparing myself for the new life. At last the promise*! day came and I renounced (he world and it.-- vanities at the age of thirty-two. I then went to my Gooroo, Srimad Hrahmananda Bha- rati, and fell prostrate at his feet, lie -aid: "Rise, my 232 WONDEBFUL PHENOMENA. child, and be happy for aye, for thou are liberated from all pain and henceforth art wedded to eternal love. Thou art of Krishna, and Krishna is Love." HIS SOJOURN IN THE WILDERNESS. He took me to his Gooroo, the great Jogee of Baradi, the perfect jogee, whom I saw for the first time. He was about seven feet in height, of golden color, with long mat- ted locks and the most handsome intellectual face. His two eyes shone with a piercing yet tranquil light, in which he read you like an open book. He told me my inmost thoughts and gave me his blessing. He was then 160 years of age. A few days after I left him he gave up his body, sitting on his haunches and telling people the exact hour he would go. He expired exactly at that time, with- out suffering from any disease or pain. I then proceeded to the holy land of Brindaban, about a thousand miles from there, on foot. It took me about two months to reach my destination, but it did not mat- ter, for I was blessed — blessed at every step of my way. I saw Krishna in dreams, while awake and footing my way along, singing and dancing in his praise. He beck- oned me, his most perfectly beautiful form dissolving, as it were, with his entrancing smile, his newest rain cloud complexion illuminating the blue sky of Hindoostan with the effulgence of his halo. On the journey I had to pass through jungles in which I met many saints, hermits and j ogees of the high- est order, who possessed miraculous powers, some of which I had the good fortune to witness. Oh, the days and delights of that march to the Land of the Lord! What would I not give to enjoy them again? I was in ecstasy! ecstasy! I lay on bare, hard ground in those forests, with my head pillowed upon the roots of trees, and slept as never emperor or millionaire slept— slept like a baby, rising with the rosy morn, my spirit fresh and soaring as a lark, singing hymns to my Lord. It is now twelve years since that day of renunciation, and in those twelve years I was a thousand times happier than on the happiest days I ever knew while I was in the world with the world. After preaching and singing the praises of Krishna and Chaitanya for ten years I retired to live for good in a cot WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. 233 with the meek hermits, on the edge of the Lake of Radha. the lake blessed by Radha with the virtue of imparting divine love to those bathing in it. LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS. It would seem that in India , as elsewhere in the distant corners of the world, man is most powerfully swayed by the things unseen and unknown. Hence the vast follow- ing of Krishna and Buddha. It would also seem that in religion, as in music, once in centuries a master appears touching chords that sweep from the soul to infinitude. Holy men living in the Indian wilderness take no thought of the future. It is like going to the Adiron- dacks leaving all your baggage behind. The holy men have stations at various points and routes of travel by which they journey from jungle to jungle. As in "Kim/' the holy man has neither money nor arms — only his beg- ging bowl and rosary; and his only food is that given him as alms. He joins other pilgrims and they pass their days and nights in huts or the open air. On the slopes of the greater Himalayas, in caves and stone huts, are to be met saints and adepts of Hindoo mystic teachings — as also in Brindaban, a region about the area of the state of Maryland, which for centuries has been the abode of holy men. I spent my twelve years now in the wilderness of the Himalayas, now on the plains and again in the forest of Brindaban, in Muttra, near Agra, the city of Taj Mahal, and I was in the jungles off and On for seven years. In Bangal I saw a jogee sitting before a fire. I told him I was hungry and had no food. He shut his eyes for a mo- ment and lo! an immense roast of root-fruits a foot long appeared. They were baked and the jogee told me to eat. The repast was delicious beyond expression, a kind of life sustaining sweet potato and confectionery com- bined. You should bear in mind that the holy men have no money and they never worry over future possibilities. Their minds are lost in the deep rapture of spiritual things. Even in the wildest forest I had no fear. But one day, to test niv fail h. I penetrated a thick jungle until far from any human abode, when 1 became faint with hunger and fell into a dose. I had not slept more than five minutes when a voice called me. 234 WONDEKFUL PHENOMENA. Opening my eyes I beheld a man and his wife standing before me with a large brass dish heaped with food, cakes, brown sugar, vegetable currie and a pot of water. As I was eating in thanksgiving to the Lord, the man said: "Holy one, I saw you from a distance, and was sure you were hungry. I went two miles to my house, and my wife prepared the meal, which we have brought, but I must ask pardon for the delay, as the distance is consid- erable and it took time to cook the food." Again giving thanks I resumed my journey, but had not gone far when the thought came to me like a thunder- clap that human beings did not live in that jungle, and that the man and his wife must have been spirits from heaven. Besides, he spoke of going two miles to prepare the meal, and I knew that I had slept but five minutes. In great agitation I retraced my steps to where I had eaten, and could nowhere find man or woman. He said his house was in the neighborhood. I traversed the jun- gle for miles in all directions and found no sign of habita- tion or even human footprints. Then I knew that the Lord had been with me and fed me. From that hour I was reassured that I would be provided for at all times. When night came I slept under trees or in a hut, if I chanced to find one. Every hour filled my soul with the joy of spiritual thoughts. My G-ooroo had given me mys- tic words and I repeated them continually. They opened my mind to the wonders of the spiritual world, and truth was revealed to me. In happy dreams I saw Krishna smiling and comforting me. Sometimes, while walking the jungle roads, I saw Krishna in mid-air, playing on his entrancing flute to cheer me on my way. PKAYING IN THE CLOUDS. Up in the Himalayas among the highest mountains in the vastness of that awful solitude I saw holy men among the very clouds sitting in attitudes of devotion. They welcomed me and gave me food and shelter. One day while walking alone I heard the roar of a tiger. Although I did not at that time care for my life, I soon grew afraid, for the tiger was almost within springing distance and coming toward me like a whirlwind. I ran. but soon stopped, realizing how ridiculous it was to fear even wild beasts when my Lord was with me. The instant I stopped I saw a very holy man appear. WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. 235 He seemed to come out of the ground. He had long, matted locks and wore a strip of cloth around his waist. He smiled and beckoned me toward him and said no beast would harm me in the sacred mountains — the land of the holy ones. Even tigers, he said, were subject to their rule and would harm no good man. Continuing, he asked me whither I was going. I told him. Then he said, "Turn back and proceed to the for- est of Brindaban — that is your place/' I returned as ha directed, for it was Krishna who had come in the guise of a holy man. In Radhakund, in the forest of Brindaban, I lived in a hut with many other hermits. They were the holiest men I have ever seen. They live a gentle, austere, simple life; rise at four o'clock in the morning and perform their ablutions in a sacred lake there; then they sit at their de- votions, repeating mystic words, symbolical of the Lord's love; chanting sacred hymns and reading the Scriptures, followed by songs of joy and worship. THE DANCE OF ECSTASY. Then they dance. In the ecstasy of their movements, so full of grace and beauty, they see visions of Krishna performing and reper- forming his sacred acts of five thousand years ago. Meanwhile the holy men keep on dancing and counting their beads. They fast by day. At night they go to the houses and camps of the neighborhood and beg a little bread, which, with water, is all the food they have during the twenty-four hours. After eating a morsel of food they again sing and dance and listen to Scriptural readings until two o'clock in the morning. Then they sleep — but only for two hours. And this is all the sleep they get during an entire day and night, which, with the little bread and water, supports life, be- cause the holy men are strengthened by spiritual thoughts. They really perform much physical labor. The danc- ing alone would soon exhaust an ordinary man, despite his full meals and long hours of sleep. With holy men it is diifercnt. They feed on spiritual thoughts, and axe in Btich a state of pure happiness and exaltation that there is perfect digestion. Hence, the process of nutrition is car- 236 WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. ried on to absolute perfection. There is no waste or shrinkage of tissue, as with men thinking of wealth and earthly possessions, feeding their stomachs with gross food followed by imperfect assimilation and torpidity of mind. These hermits are the meekest people in the world. They are the real Christians of the type known in the days of the Savior. If you abuse or wound them, no matter how painfully, to the last they bless you, not in a spirit of religious fanaticism, but out of the depths of their hearts. And while you persecute them they pray God to put love into your heart. They have no property, except the scanty garments on their back, a drinking bowl which costs but a farthing, and their rosary. With these simple belongings they make vast journe3^s over India, winning the respect and love of all fair-mind- ed men. It was with these holy ones that I spent my days in meditation and study of the spiritual life during twelve years of apprenticeship to a study of the faith. I am yet only one of their most unworthy servants. W r ORSHIP OF KRISHNA EXPLAINED. There recently appeared a short notice of my arrival in this country, with brief particulars of my mission in the United States. It was said that my mission is to make converts in the United States to the worship of Krishna, a "sect which is a branch of Buddhism/' an incorrect statement which ought to be corrected. It is Buddhism which is a branch of Hindooism, and my sect, Vaishnav- ism which is real Hindooism, has nothing to do with Buddhism. Vaishnavism, however, is a religion which any person can accept if that person is spiritually bent. It is a religion of love and its creed is simplicity itself. Put in a nutshell, that creed asks us all — of all races — to love that incarnation of divine love itself — Sri Krishna • — with a whole heart, as either a son or a servant or a friend or a wife. The human heart being habituated to this feeling of love, the practice is easy, and when that practice attains fruition by being developed into a natural feeling the highest blessedness is attained. My humble mission is to offer it to the Western people to examine it. Whether they will accept it, if worthy of acceptance, is a matter which I leave to my Lord, Sri Krishna. WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. 237 America is tlie land of freedom — freedom of body, mind, and speech — and America is the land, too, of spir- itual and religious freedom, both politically and socially speaking. The time, happily, has long gone by when re- ligious bigotry ruled the minds the the American people, both high and low — when they looked at nen-Christian peoples through the eyes of prejudiced priests. DEFENCE OF THE HINDOO. The time has gone when all men and women here be- lieved in the Christian missionary's story of the shocking practices of the heathen Hindoo in the name of religion — of the human sacrifices and mothers throwing babies into the jaws of crocodiles, of the immoral gods whom the Hindoo worships. Knowledge of Hindoo religious prin- ciples has grown more and more in Western minds, thanks to the labors of European savans in the domain of Ori- ental theology and metaphysics. It is certainly due to the researches of scholars like Professors Max Muller and Goldstucker that the cultured Westerners have learned to-day to respect the spiritual and philosophical thoughts of the once hated Hindoo. The contents of the "Vedas," the "Upanishads" and the "Bhagavad Gita" have been translated into English, and the cultivated Western mind, ever anxious to soar into higher nights of absolute thought, has not only de- voured the contents, but found in many cases great satis- faction in the truths and principles they embody. The preacher of the "Bhagavad Gita/' or the "Song Celestial," as Sir Edwin Arnold calls it which contains all the cream of the philosophical portion of Vedic thought, is Sri Krishna, the Hindoo's perfect incarnation of the Supreme Deity, the hero of the great Hindoo epic, the "Mahahharatta," the guide, philosopher and friend of the great warrior Arjuna in the greatest of battle fields within historical or mythical memory — the Kurukshetra. In hcriosm or wisdom, in love or in charity, in justice or in mercy, in spirituality or morality, or in miraculous powers, no human inoarnal ion, ancient or modern, can ever equal Sri Krishna, [f Christian bigotry or atheistic Bkepticism dare to call Krishna a myth, the Hindoo can answer by calling Christ a myth, too. How can the data, he would naturally argue, of Euro- pean history— or Bebrew, or Egyptian, or Etonian, for £3S WONDEEFTJL PHENOMENA. that matter — be proved more reliable than those of the Hindoos, who have for thousands of years kept their sa* cred scriptures and histories in perfect preservation all over the land? This Krishna is the deity of the Vaishnava, and an im- age of this deity he worships every day before he begins any temporal duty or even breaks his fast. He offers ev- ery morning and evening fragrant flowers and the sacred leaves of the tulsi plant, smeared with sandalwood paste, to the "lotus feet" of the image, accompanied by certain formulas of words and ceremonies, as enjoined in his holy scriptures. This form of worship of Sri Krishna is universally the same in Hindoo India — the image is symbolical, and its worship is essentially mental, the outward forms being only adopted in order to impress the ignorant masses who cannot grasp the abstract idea of the Supreme Deity. The Western mind ought to appreciate the necessity of such outward formulas and ceremonies, if it only looks at the forms and ceremonies of its own church in order to impress upon the average Christian mind the sacredness of functions inside the house of God. As to the objec- tion to image worship, the Catholics have it, and it will not hold much water with Protestants either, so long as they raise statues of heroes and offer homage to them some way or other. That is image worship, whether you bare or nod your head to a statue or worship it with flowers. VIETUE IS IMMOETAL, HE SAYS. Appreciation of worth is homage or worship in the least pronounced sense, and you cannot prevent the. growth of this virtue in a cultivated mind, Oriental or Occidental. The Krishna worshiping Hindoo does noth- ing but this — only his glowing imagination and keenly appreciative and grateful heart does it in a form which strikes as somewhat elaborate and unnecessary one whose cold imagination has no chance of improvement so long as it is fed by an education whose sheet anchor is sheer self-concenit. By this worship he only appreciates the worth of Krishna, who was born in human form and flourished fivo thousand years ago — Krishna, who from his birth to hia "ascension to heaven" was the ideal of ideal heroes of all WONDERFUL PHENOMENA. 239 mankind, was absolutely perfect in every virtue which he possessed or humanity can ever hope to possess. The annals of Krishna's life and exploits have been handed down through the corridars of time by the ancient sages, who saw him and his deeds with their own eyes, in hundreds of different books agreeing with one another in every essential detail of the "Lila," manuscript copies of which will be found preserved in every Hindoo family throughout India. SIMILAR TO CHRIST'S TEACHINGS. What I think will strike the Western students of these scriptures of the Vaishnavas — as the worshipers of Krish- na are called — are the startling similarities of the ethical and moral teachings of both Krishna and Christ on main points. My chief object in writing this article is to ask the edu- cated men of this country to study these "heathen" books not only for their own benefit, but also for the benefit of the ignorant masses from whose minds should be driven out once for all the notion instilled therein by some big- oted Christian missionaries that the Hindoos are hopeless idolaters, who revel in thick ignorance of matters spir- itual. They need also to be told that they should not judge a foreigner prejudicially because he belongs to a different form of religion than that prevalent in this country; that if it be that he who lives and acts like a Christian is a truer follower of Christ than one who only belongs to the Christian church, 1 > n t docs not care to act up to Christian principles, the average Hindoo is more a Christian than a heathen; that, therefore, to send missionaries to India t»; spread the light of Christianity among the Hindoos is like. carrying coals to Newcastle; and, finally, that to bap- tize with Jordan water and kneel down and pray before a. wooden image is equivalent to worshiping the image of Krishna with incantations, flowers and Ganges water, as the Vaishnava does every day. The Law of Cause and Effect. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience, by C. W. Leadbeater, the Great Psychic, of London, England. Our subject for this evening is in reality a necessary part of that of which I was speaking to you last Sunday. I explained that what we usually call man's life is simply one day in the real and larger life, and that when what we call death comes to him he simply lays himself down to sleep at the conclusion of his life-day. You will see very readily that the benefit to be derived from this scheme of development in successive lives is contingent upon the continued existence of the same great general laws. It is only because the great Law of Divine Justice is always the same, that the experience gained in one incarnation is use- ful in the next. So that belief in this law of cause and effect is in fact an integral part of the doctrine of reincar- nation. Its influence in reality is even more far-reaching than the next physical life; it extends also into the after- death conditions, and a full comprehension of its work- ing is of the greatest importance to us. As to this law of divine justice, there have been various opinions at various times. Some people when they looked out into the world, and saw what was happening, have wondered whether there was a law of justice at ail. I do not deny that from a purely physical point of view we are sometimes unable fully to see the action of this great law. Yet I know that it exists, and that when we do not see its working the fault lies in our own blindness, and not in the action of the law. We may be quite cer- tain that the law exists, and yet fully prepared to admit THE LAW OF CAUSE AXD EFFECT. 241 that it is not always possible for us down here to see the whole of its working. Although I put this law before you as a hypothesis for your consideration, it is much more than a hypothesis for those who are studying from the theosophical standpoint. Very many of them know by the use of faculties beyond the physical that reincarna- tion is a definite fact. In the same way there are very many students who know certainly that this law of cause and effect is in action. But we must realize that this law is working itself out upon other planes besides the physical, and so is not to be gauged only from one point of view. Suppose we were looking at the underside of some very beautiful tapestry; you will comprehend that, being only able to see the underside, we should have a very imperfect idea of the pattern. Suppose further that the tapestry had not been finished, then still less should we be able to form a clear conception of the design. That is precisely how we stand with regard to the mighty law of karma. We only see the underside of it from the physical plane because so much of its action belongs to higher lev- els. Indeed we might expect scarcely ever to be able to trace it fully from this side. Once more, as in the case of reincarnation, if you will provisionally accept this idea of divine justice, you will find that it is a more satisfac- tory theory of life than any other, and you may gradually come to hold it as firmly as we do. You will observe that there are only certain hypoth- eses. Either everything is only blind chance, or we are ruled by caprice, or we are under a regular divine law, and our surroundings are the result of our actions, good or evil, in previous lives. You will admit that you would like to believe in a law of divine justice. There must be a reason for that feeling that man has of always de- siring justice. If God is infinitely greater than we, He must surely have this quality. We believe in Theosophy that it is a rational necessity that this law should ex- ist and we sec in every direction instances of its workings. I can explain it only to a limited extent, because il needs long and careful study. But the broad outline we OUghl to be able to give, and then the details can be gathered from the literature. Never think that when you have heard a lecture on a theosophical subject you know all about it. You have only to take up BOme of OUT hooks to see how very much more there is to be known, for in one 242 THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. lecture it is not possible to give all available information even on one point. The first great characteristic that I should like you to grasp about this law is that it is automatic in its action, and that therefore there is no possibility of escape from it. Put aside all theories that man will be judged for his ac- tions, and punished or rewarded for them. That inevit- ably suggests to us the thought of an earthly judge, who may be prejudiced or partially informed, or may be more lenient in one case and more severe in another. We pre- fer rather to speak of the law of cause and effect, because we hold that this is a law which brings us the result of our actions with an automatic precision. In mechanics we know that action and reaction are equal, and that no force can ever be lost, and we find that precisely the same rule obtains on these higher levels. If you put so much ener- gy into a machine you will receive back from it so much work as a result. If you put a certain amount of energy into a word, deed or thought you will obtain from that also a certain result, for the law of the conservation of en- ergy holds good upon higher planes just as it does upon this. If you put a certain amount of force into a steam en- gine, you expect to get a definite proportion back in the shape of work — not all of it, naturally, because some goes in friction and some is thrown off in the form of heat, but still a fair proportion. If you do not receive back from your engine what you know you may reasonably expect, you at once look for a defect in your machine; it would never occur to you to say that the law of the conservation of energy is false. But when exactly the same law is working on higher planes, people who find an individual instance in which they cannot see that evil flows from evil and that good follows good, seem often to affirm wildly that no law of justice exists, instead of blaming them- selves for their own short-sightedness, or tranquilly realr izing that we cannot expect always to see how this law works out its results, because they are not always immedi- ate, and the time occupied may often extend far beyond our physical purview. Often forces set in motion in one life have not time to work themselves out in that incarna- tion or even in the next, but they will inevitably be worked out oome time. We are to-day to a large extent THE LAW OF CAUSE AXD EFFECT. 243 the products of the thoughts, surroundings and the teach- ings of our childhood, even though the details of that life may be forgotten. Just as to-day we are bearing the re- sults of yesterday and the day before, so precisely is it with the larger day, the incarnation. We have made our- selves what we are, and we have made our circumstances what they are. As we have sown in the past, so are we reaping now; and as we are sowing now, so infallibly shall we reap in the future. It is especially important to emphasize the truth that this Divine Law is inexorable, because a good deal of the religious teaching of the present day distinctly includes a theory that we may escape from the consequences of our actions. In Theosophy we consider that a very danger- ous doctrine, not only because it is fundamentally, inaccu- rate, but because of the many unsound conclusions which are deduced from it. The idea suggested is that by doing wrong the man has simply incurred a debt, and that this debt may just as well be paid by someone else as by the sinner himself — or rather that the sinner cannot himself pay, and so must shuffle off his responsibility. This sim- ile of the debt is one that we have sometimes employed in theosophical writing, but it seems to me liable to very se- rious misunderstanding. A much truer analogy would be that of a man who wishes to be an athlete and is train- ing himself for a race. In order to acquire sufficient strength and agility he must develop certain muscles, and for that purpose he needs a certain training. It would not at all serve that purpose if someone else did it for him. If we wish to become perfect men physically we must take much trouble to develop those parts of the body which we have hitherto neglected, and we must rest others which we have overworked. The physical condition of the av- erage man is no inapt symbol of his moral condition. Many muscles are almost atrophied for want of use, while other part- of the body — the nervous system, for instance — have been seriously injured by improper use. From the standpoint of the physical we have committed many sins against our own bodies, and we musi atone for them; if we want to become perfect men physically we musi go through many wearisome exercises and Dial-, which would not have been necessary if we had kepi our bodies properly and evenly developed. Others can help us, by 244 THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. telling us what to do and how best to do it, but others cannot take the exercise for us. It is not like the liquida- tion of a debt, because in addition to bearing the result of wrong done in the past, the man must in bearing it de- velop strength for the future. He must develop perfect moral qualities in the same way as he would develop per- fect muscles — by exercising them. He must make the necessary effort to put things right again. No one else can do it for him, but happily many may help him by ad- vice and sympathy and affectionate encouragement. This law of cause and effect works just as do other laws of Na- ture, and if we can recognize that it will save us much trouble. If you put your hand into the fire, and it is burnt, you do not say "God punished me for putting my hand into the fire." You consider it a natural conse- quence of your action, and you know that anyone who un- derstands physics could explain to you along scientific lines exactly what had happened to you, and why you suf- fered. He would tell you that incandescent matter is vi- brating at an exceedingly rapid rate, that such a rate of vibration impinging upon the tissues of your hand had torn them apart, and so had produced the wound that we call a burn. But there is no special Divine interposition in that, though it takes place under the operation of those laws of Nature which are the expression of the Divine Will on the physical plane. We hold that sorrow and suffering flow from sin just precisely in that way, under the direct working of natural law. It may be said, perhaps, that obviously the good man does not always reap his reward of good result, nor does the wicked man always suffer. Not always immedi- ately; not always within our ken; but assuredly eventually and inexorably. If we could see the future, if we could even see the whole of the present, we should understand this fully. We shall see more clearly that this must be so if we define exactly what we mean by good and evil. Our religious brothers would tell us that that was good which was in accordance with God's will, and that that was evil which was in opposition to it. The scientific man would say that that was good which helped evolution, and what- ever hindered it was evil. Those two men are in reality saying exactly the same thing; for God's will for man u evolution, and when that is clearly realized all conflict be- THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 245 tween religion and science is at once ended. Anything therefore which is against the evolution of humanity as a whole is against the Divine will. We see at once that when a man struggles to gain anything for himself at the expense of others he is distinctly doing evil, and it is evil because it is against the interest of the whole. Therefore the only true gain is that which is a gain for the race as a whole, and the man who gains something without cost or wrong to any one is raising the whole race somewhat in the process. He is moving in the direction of evolution, while the other man is moving against it. Take a simple illustration. Suppose that I have here a great weight suspended from the ceiling by a rope. If I exert a certain force in pushing against this weight, we know by the laws of mechanics that it pushes back against my hand with exactly the same amount of force. We find that that same law of mechanics holds good on the higher planes just as it does here. If a man exerts his strength against the Divine order, he disturbs the equi- librium of nature, and that equilibrium infallibly read- justs itself at the expense of the man who disturbs it. The power of the current of the Divine will is so much greater than that of any human will which may attempt to deflect it that it sweeps him inevitably on, and it is only he who suffers, not the Divine scheme. He cannot delay the current, but he may cause a little temporary disturbance and foam upon its surface. He is swept along with it in any case, but he can go on in two ways. He can intelligently observe its direction and swim with it, and by doing so he will not only progress with ease and comfort himself, but will also (which is much more im- portant) be able to extend a helping hand to others. On the other hand lie may set himself against it, through a foolish misunderstanding of his own interests. He will still be carried on in spite of his struggles, but with a great deal of trouble and pain to himself, and perhaps of hindrance to others also. Thai is precisely what the wicked man is doing. He will be Bwepl along more slowly and with a great deal of sorrow and Buffering for himself and others, hm he musi evolve. If we can grasp the grand idea that there i^ no possi- bility of final destruction, hm the eertainty of final sue- cess for all, because that is Gtod'fl will for them, we shall 246 THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. at once recognize the utter futility, and madness of selfish- ness. There is no feeble hope that a few may be saved, but the magnificent certainty that none can by any possi- bility be lost. I have sometimes wondered how modern orthodoxy can speak of Christ as the Savior of the world, and yet in the same brea.th assert that He does nor. save it, that He does not succeed in saving one in ten thousand of its inhabit- ants, and has to yield all the rest to the Devil! Would that be considered a successful effort if we were speaking of any kind of human attempt? Such a doctrine is a blasphemy; cast it out from your stock of religious ideas. We bring a grander gospel and we preach a nobler creed than that; for we know that this evolution will succeed and not fail — that it will be a grand and glorious success. and that every soul in it shall eventually attain its goal. It is only the ignorant who struggles, and even he must yield in the end. He will struggle against the evolution- ary current in one life — perhaps even in more than one, but his soul will learn its lesson, will observe the inevit- able connection between cause and effect, and will strive to control its vehicles more efficiently. Let us see a little how this works. In the first lecture I mentioned the planes of nature and explained that man had bodies cor- responding to them. We have to remember that this law of cause and effect is acting with regard to those planes as well as to this. If the man has strong emotions, those represent forces which are producing their effect in the astral body. If he has good mental development, that represents a force belonging to his mental body, which is inevitably producing results also. Suppose a man finds himself what we call an emotional person, easily swayed either by feelings of affection or by annoyance. That man has an emotional nature, a readily impressible astral body which he brought over from a pre- vious life. He need not, however, carry it on with him to another. A man who finds himself inclined to irritabil- ity, for example, may treat himself and train himself defi- nitely with a view to the future. If he lets himself go and allows his passion to dominate him, he encourages his astral body to indulge in those violent vibrations, he sets up a habit in it which becomes every time more difficult to conquer. If on the other hand he sets himself to try THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 247 to curb his anger, he gradually gets these vibrations under his control, and each time it is a little easier than before. It often happens that a man who is irritated says some- thing which he afterwards regrets. He resolves not to do this again, but when the next provocation comes, he does not remember in time; perhaps for several more times he will pull himself up just after he has spoken the angry word. But there comes a time when he remembers in the very act of speaking, and checks himself abruptly, and then his victory is half won. Presently he stops himself just before he speaks the word, and then he has won the victory as far as the physical plane is concerned, though he has still to go on and control the feeling itself — to prevent even the vibration in the astral body. That is the way in which a man learns to break through a bad habit. Fortunately we may set up good habits as readily as bad ones, if we will only take the trouble. We may try definitely to set up within ourselves good habits of help- fulness, unselfishness, perseverance, punctuality and so on; and then we shall be born with these as inherent qual- ities upon our next return to earth. That is a little bit of character building which anyone may undertake, and the trouble it costs him will be the best investment he ever made. When we understand that the mental body and astral body are only expressions of the man, we shall realize that in learning to control them he is acquiring definite qualities and building them into the causal body, so that next time he will have those qualities as part of his stock-in-trade, as it were, with which he recommences his business of evolution. The man sows certain thoughts and. actions, and later on he reaps the results. Between the spring sowing and the autumn reaping he may have worn out one suit of clothes and put on another in the shape of a new body, but he remains the same man and he reaps his harvest just the same. We find by investigation that, broadly speaking, the man's thoughts in one life build his character for the next, and that his actions in the one life produce his sur- roundings in the next. A strong desire along certain lines which remains entirely unfulfilled during one lif< will often produce a capacity along those lines in the next. For example, I have known people who are very 248 THE LAW OF CAUSE AKD EFFECT. musical in the sense that they enjoy music intensely, but yet have no faculty for producing it, no facility in per- formance and no opportunity for acquiring it, although they earnestly wish for it. Npw that strong desire will certainly produce its results in the next incarnation. As- suredly those people will next time bring back with them the capacity for musical training, and will have the oppor- tunity for it. They will not be born with the training already acquired, as Mozart was; he must have had that training in his previous life; but at least it will bring them back with a vehicle which will readily respond to the training. Thus aspirations or desires of one life are transmuted into capacities in the next. Just so if the man is constantly thinking some thought over and. over again, he sets up a habit or tendency of thought. Whenever a man thinks strongly he creates a thought-form— that is to say he sets up a certain rate of vibration, and the energy thus generated draws round it- self a vehicle of finer matter which it ensouls, and thus creates a sort of storage-battery of force. Now that thought-form hovers about the man and constantly reacts upon him. We know from telepathic experiments what is the tendency of a thought when it acts upon another person. It will work upon the corresponding matter of his mental body, and tend to set up in that its own rate of vibration, so that it provokes in the mind of the recip- ient a reproduction of the thought which was in the mind of the sender. That would be the action on another per- son; but we often forget that a man is constantly produc- ing a very similar action on himself. Clairvoyants see every man surrounded by a cloud of his habitual thoughts, and of course these thoughts are all the while reacting upon him. To every man there come times when he is not thinking strongly when for the moment his mental activities are in abeyance; and at all such times ever pres- ent thought-forms would react upon him, so that any strong thought which the man has once sent forth will always tend to reproduce itself and make him think a similar thought whenever his mind is for the moment vacant. You can see how this might work in the case of a sen- sualist, and how very likely the man would be to yield to such a returning thought because he has been in the habit of giving way to similar impressions before. The THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 249 man himself sent out the idea in the first place, and per- haps has never thought of it since, but when the oppor- tunity occurs it reacts upon him. So it may become a sort of tempting demon like those invented by the dis- eased imagination of medieval monks. Most unf ortunate- ly it may act upon others as well as upon himself, and that is the awful responsibility of yielding to evil thought. He may become the centre of moral contagion and do grievous harm to thousands of whose very existence he is ignorant. Again if a man dwells often upon a certain thought it will presently translate itself into action. By thinking it so often he sets up a decided tendency, and if circum- stances prevent him from carrying it out in action in this life he will probably do so in his next incarnation. Thus it is that we find some children born with criminal ten- dencies with an apparently instinctive desire to steal or to be cruel — because they indulged in covetous or re- vengeful thoughts in the dim distance of the past. Hap- pily the same law holds with regard to good thoughts. How often we long to do some good deed, but from lack of means or time or strength we are utterly unable to ac- complish it. Yet the earnest desire is not without its ef- fect and the opportunity which is denied to us in this life, because our past was not such as to deserve it, will assur- edly be ours in the future, won for us by the very energy poured out in the yearning of to-day. Along the very same lines is conscience built up in the man. He does a wrong or- foolish act, and through the inevitable action of the law he suffers for it sooner or later, and through that very suffering the soul acquires tin- knowledge that that action is wrong, and musl not be repeated. Thus out of painful experiences the conscience in man is formed, the soul learning perhaps a different lesson in each of ils lives, and so gradually developing a comprehensive and educated conscience. Usually ho cannot impress upon hi.- physical brain the detailed his- tory of hi- previous mistake nor the reason for hi.- conclu- sion; hut he is able to send through very definitely that conclusion itself, in the shape of a linn COnvictiOD that a certain action is to he avoided. It i- accessary to realize that we have all of ue had many lives, Dot onlj one or t'.\'>: and that since we have 250 THE LAW OF CAUSE AHD EFFECT gradually raised ourselves to this level, those previous in- carnations were all probably less advanced in many ways than our present one. We must all have been savages in the past — and probably not once, but many times. So we must have done a great many evil and undesirable things, and we must each one of us have a tolerably heavy bill to pay. So there arises the question how we are to clear off such an accumulation of evil result. In such lives as the more thoughtful among us are living now, we may reasonably hope that there is a preponderance of good over evil; but undoubtedly the reverse must have been the case in very many of our earlier existences, and if we had to bear in any one life the whole of the suffering, due to us on the entire account, we might well find it suffi- cient to crush us to the earth, and prevent us from evolv- ing at all. Since the object of the whole scheme is man's evolution, that obviously cannot be permitted; and conse- quently we find that there comes into operation hore a certain law of distribution or adaptation assigning to each successive life such proportion of the debt as can best be paid in it. This modification does not in the least change or reduce the results of our past deeds, but it does so apportion them as to prevent them from over- whelming us. The Hindus give to this law of cause and effect the name of Karma, and they also apply the same term to the results which under it follow from action of any kind. They say that of this karma there are three kinds: 1. There is the Samchita or "piled-up" karma. — the whole mass that still remains behind the man not yet worked out — the entire unpaid balance of the debit and credit account. 2. There is the Prarabdha or "beginning" karma — the amount apportioned to the man at the commencement of each life — his destiny for that life, as it were. 3. There is the Kriomana karma, that which we are now, by our actions in this present life, making for the future. That second type, the Prarabdha karma, is the only des- tiny which can be said to exist for man. That is what an astrologer might foretell for us — that we have appor- tioned to us so much good and evil fortune — so much of the result of the good and evil actions of our past lives THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 251 which will react on us in this. But we should remember always that this result of previous action can never com- pel us to action in the present. It may put us under con- ditions in which it will be difficult to avoid an act, but it can never compel us to commit it. The man of ordinary development would probably yield to the circumstances and commit the act; but he may assert his free will, rise superior to his circumstances, and gain a victory and a step in evolution. So with a good action; no man is forced into that either, but an opportunity is given to him. If he takes it certain results will follow — not necessarily a happy or a wealthy life next time, but certainly a life of wider opportunity. That seems to be one of the things that are quite certain — that the man who has done well in this life has always the opportunity of doing still better in the next. That is nature's reward for good work — the opportunity to do more work. Of course wealth is a great opportunity, so the reward often comes in that form, but the essence of the reward is the opportunity, and not the pleasure which may be supposed to accom- pany the wealth. Sometimes when men first realize the inexorability of the Divine law of cause and effect, they feel themselvs helpless in the grasp of a destiny against which it is useless to struggle. Yet this should not be at all the result of in- creased knowledge. The more we know of the laws of nature, the more intelligently we can use them; and re- member, it is only because they are invariable and inexor- able that we are able to depend upon them and utilize them. Where would be the use of the magnificent power- works at Niagara if the law of gravitation were only occa- sional in its action, if water sometimes ran downhill and sometimes did not? So it is just the invariability of this law of karma which enables us to employ it in character- building. If a man finds an impure thought arising un- bidden within his mind now, he knows that it is because he allowed such thoughts to play through his mind long ago; and in that very knowledge lies his hope for the fu- ture. If he keeps his thought high and pure in this life, in the next he will assuredly reap the result of his effort, and will have a mind-hodv incapable of responding to the vibrations of the low and impure. Along the same line of action we can modify not only 252 THE LAW OP CAUSE AND EFFECT. character but circumstances, and can arrange for our- selves the certainty of plenty of opportunities to do good. If we devote ourselves earnestly now to doing all the good work within reach, we shall certainly have all the more opportunity next time. Eemember that although we can never recall the force which we have thrown into any thought or action, we can often modify its effect by sending out a new force of different type. If you strike a ball, for example, as a.t croquet, you set it rolling in a certain direction with a certain amount of energy. No human power can take that force out of the ball but of course you may stop it, by op- posing to it a new force of equal power in the opposite di- rection. Supposing that, while the ball is rolling, we strike it from one side, it will then adopt a new path, which is neither that of the original force nor that of the newly-applied one, but a diagonal between the two, the exact direction of which can be determined by means of what is called the parallelogram of forces. It is exactly the same with karma. We cannot take away one iota, one least ounce of the force which we have already sent forth; but we can always endeavor to improve matters by setting in motion a new force of opposite character. If you have sent forth an angry thought, it is true that you cannot recall that, but you may swiftly send after it an- other which will to a large extent neutralize its effect upon the person towards whom it was directed — a thought of affection and brotherliness, a strong, loving wish for his good and his progress. It is important not to forget that the law is acting upon all planes simultaneously, upon the astral and mental as well as upon the physical. It is only in this way that perfect justice is assured. For example, it is only when we remember this that we can at all understand how a man's intentions can be taken into account. A man may set out in some matter with the best of intentions, think- ing out his plan carefully, and putting a great deal of en- ergy and good-will into it, yet on the physical plane he may make some foolish mistake, or his plans may mis- carry, and he may do much harm instead of good. The world sees only the failure and laughs at him, and he feels himself unjustly treated. But the law meets him at all points and its adjustment is perfect. On the mental THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. 253 plane he has poured forth much energy for good, and upon that plane good flows back upon him in unstinted measure; upon the physical plane he has done harm, and consequently on that plane he receives the result of his mistaken action. But the action of force upon the men- tal plane is so much more rapid and far-reaching than on the physical that there is no comparison between the value of the results. So it is true that the intention is by far the most important thing, though absolute justice will be done on each plane. We may see that this is so in every-day life. Law on the physical plane takes no account of intention. If you seize a red-hot bar it will burn you, whether you seized it in order to kill somebody, or in order to save a child from injury. On the physical plane the result will be pre- cisely the same, but on the plane of intention it is very different. In the one case there could be nothing but shame and remorse, and the evil result of an outpouring of hatred and malice; in the other there would be the happy consciousness of a brave deed done, and the good which flows from a strong thought of heroic self-sacrifice. Let us then remember that just because of its inexora- bility we can use this Divine Law, and that with regard to it we must never permit ourselves to feel any sense of helplessness but only absolute serenity and perfect fear- lessness; for we know that the good must triumph, and that our individual future is entirely in our own hands. Life After Death-Purgatory. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience by C. W. Leadbeater, the Great Psychic, of London, England. This subject of life after death is one of great interest to all of us, not only because we ourselves must certainly one day die, but far more because there can scarcely be any one among us, except perhaps the very young, who has not lost (as we call it) by death some one or more of those who are near and dear to us. So if there be any information avail- able with regard to the life after death, we are naturally very anxious to have it. But the first thought which arises in the mind of the man who hears of such a lecture as this is usually "Can anything be certainly known as to life after death?" We have all had various theories put before us on the subject by the various religious bodies, and yet even the most devoted followers of these sects seem hardly to believe their teachings about this matter, for they still speak of death as "the king of terrors," and seem to regard the whole question as surrounded by mystery and horror. They may use the term "falling asleep in Jesus," but they still employ the black dresses and plumes, the horrible crape and the odious black-edged note-paper, they still surround death with all the trappings of woe, and with everything calculated to make it seem darker and more terrible. We have an evil heredity behind us in this matter; we have inherited these funereal horrors from our fore- fathers, and so we are used to them, and do not see the ab- surdity and monstrosity of it all. The ancients were in this respect wiser than we, for they did not associate all these nightmares of gloom with the death of the body — partly LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 255 perhaps because they had a so much more rational method of disposing of the body — a method which was not only infi- nitely better for the dead man and more healthy for the liv- ing, but was also free from the gruesome suggestions con- nected with slow decay. They knew much more about death in those days, and because they knew more they mourned less. The first thing that we must realize about death is that it is a perfectly natural incident in the course of our life. That ought to be obvious to us from the first, because if we believe at all in a God who is a loving Father we should know that a fate which, like death, comes to all alike cannot have in it aught of evil to any, and that whether we are in this world or the next we must be equally safe in his hands. This consideration alone should have shown us that death is not something to be dreaded, but simply a necessary step in our evolution. It ought not to be necessary for Theosophy to come among Christian nations and teach that death is a friend and not an enemy, and it would not be necessary if Christianity had not so largely forgotten its own best tradi- tions. It has come to regard the grave as "the bourne from which no traveler returns," and the passage into it as a leap in the dark, into some awful unknown void. On this point, as on many others, Theosophy has a gospel for the western world; it has to announce that there is no gloomy impene- trable abyss beyond the grave, but instead a world of light and life, which may be known to us as clearly and fully and accurately as the streets of our own city. We have created the gloom and the horror for ourselves, like children who frighten themselves with ghastly stories, and we have only to study the facts of the case, and all these artificial clouds will roll away at once. Death is no darksome king of ter- rors, no skeleton with a scythe to cut short the thread of life, but rather an angel bearing a golden key, with which he un- locks for us the door into a fuller and higher life than this. But men will naturally say "This is very beautiful and poetical, but how can we certainly know that it is really so?" You may know it in many ways, as I have often said before. There is plenty of evidence ready to the hand of any onQ who will take the trouble to gather it together. Shakspeare's statement is really a remarkable one when we consider that ever since the dawn of history, ami in every country of which we know anything, travelers have always been returning 256 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. from that bourne, and showing themselves to their fellow- men. There is any amount of evidence for such apparitions, as they have been called. At one time it was fashionable to ridicule all such stories; now it is no longer so, since scien« tific men like Sir William Crookes, the discoverer of the metal thallium and the inventor of Crookes' radiometer, and Sir Oliver Lodge, the great electrician, and eminent public men like Mr. Balfour, the present Premier of England, have joined and actively worked with a society instituted for the investigation of such phenomena. Read, if you will, the re* ports of the work of that Society for Psychical Research, and you will see something of the testimony which exists as to the return of the dead. Read books like Mr. Stead's "Real Ghost Stories," or Camille Flammarion's "L'Inconnu," and you will find there plenty of accounts of apparitions, showing themselves not centuries ago in some far-away land, but here and now among ourselves, to persons still living, who can be questioned and can testify to the reality of their experiences. Still, as Mr. Stead himself remarks very forcibly in his pref- ace: "Of all the vulgar superstitions of the half -educated, none dies harder than the absurd delusion that there are no such things as ghosts. All the experts, whether spiritual, poetical or scientific, and all the others, non-experts, who have bestowed any serious attention upon the subject, know that they do exist. There is endless variety of opinion as to what a ghost may be. But as to the fact of its existence, whatever it may be, there is no longer any serious dispute among honest investigators. If any one questions this, let him investigate for himself. In six months, possibly in six weeks, or even six days, he will find it impossible to deny the reality of the existence of the phenomena popularly entitled ghostly. He may have a hundred ingenious explanations of the origin and nature of the ghost, b t as to the existence of the entity itself there will no longer be any doubt." The ev- idence is there in abundance, and if you do not care to look for it that is your fault, and no one loses but yourself; only if you have not examined it, you have no right to ridicule it and deny its existence. Another line of testimony to the life after death is tne study of Modern Spiritualism. I know that many people think that there is nothing to be found along that line but fraud and deception; but I can myself bear personal witness that that is not so. Fraud and deception there may have LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 257 been — nay, there has been — in certain cases; but neverthe- less I fearlessly assert that there are great truths behind, which may be discovered by any man who is willing to de. vote the necessary time and patience to their unfolding. Here again there is a vast literature to be studied, or the man who prefers it may make his investigations for himself at first-hand, as I did. Many men may not be willing to take that trouble or to devote so much time; very well, that is their affair, but unless they will examine, they have no right to scoff at those who have seen, and therefore know that these things are true. A third line of evidence, which is the one most commend- ing itself to Theosophical students, is that of direct investi- gation. Every man has within himself latent faculties, un- developed senses, by means of which the unseen world can be directly cognized, as I explained in the lecture on "Man and His Bodies," and to any one who will take the trouble to evolve these powers the whole world beyond the grave will lie open as the day. A good many Theosophical students have already unfolded these inner senses, and it is the evi- dence thus obtained that I wish to lay before you. I know very well that this is a considerable claim to make — a claim which would not be made by any minister of any church when he gave you his version of the states after death. He will say, "The church teaches this," or "The Bible tells us so," but he will never say, "I who speak to you, I myself have seen this, and know it to be true." But in Theosophy we are able to say to you quite definitely that many of us know personally that of which we speak, for we are dealing with a definite series of facts which we have investigated, and which you yourselves may investigate in turn. We offer you what we know, yet we say to you "Unless this com- mends itself to you as utterly reasonable, do not rest con- tented with our assertion; look into these things for your- selves as fully as you can, and then you will be in a position to speak to others as authoritatively as we do." But what are the facts which are disclosed to us by these investiga- tions ? The state of affairs found as actually existing is much more rational than most of the current theories. It is not found that any sudden change takes place in man at death, or that he is spirited away to some heaven boyond the stars. On the contrary man remains after death exactly what he was before it — the same in intellect, the same in his qualities 258 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. and powers; and the conditions in which he finds himself are those which his own thoughts and desires have already created for him. As we said last week there is no reward or punishment from outside, but only the actual result of what the man himself has done and said and thought while here on earth. In fact, the man makes his bed during earth-life, and afterwards he has to lie on it. This is the first and most prominent fact — that we have not here a strange new life, but a continuation of the present one. We are not separated from the dead, for they are here about us all the time. The only separation is the limitation of our consciousness, so that we have lost, not our loved ones, but the power to see them. It is quite possible for us so to raise our consciousness that we can see them and talk with them as before, and all of us constantly do that, though we only rarely remember it fully. A man may learn to focus his consciousness in his astral body while his physical body is still awake, but that needs special development, and in the case of the average man would take much time. But during the sleep of his physical body every man uses his astral ve- hicle to a greater or less extent, and in that way we are daily with our departed friends. Sometimes we have a partial re- membrance of meeting them, and then we say we have dreamt of them; more frequently we have no recollection of such encounters and remain ignorant that they have taken place. Yet it is a definite fact that the ties of affection are still as strong as ever, and so the moment the man is freed from the chains of his physical encasement he naturally seeks the company of those whom he loves. So that in truth the only change is that he spends the night with them in« stead of the day, and he is conscious of them astrally instead of physically. The bringing through of the memory from the astral plane to the physical is another and quite separate consideration, which in no way affects our consciousness on that other plane, nor our ability to function upon it with perfect ease and freedom. Whether you recollect them or not, they are still living their life close to you, and the only difference is that they have taken off this robe of flesh which we call the body. That makes no change in them, any more than it makes a change in your personality when you remove your overcoat. You are somewhat freer, indeed, because you have less weight to carry, and precisely the same is the case with them. The man's passions, affections, emotions, and intel- LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 259 lect are not in the least affected when he dies, for none of these belong to the physical body which he has laid aside. He has dropped this vesture and is living in another, but he is still able to think and to feel just as before. I know how difficult it is for the average mind to grasp the reality of that which we cannot see with our physical eyes. It is very hard for us to realize how very partial our sight is — to understand that we are living in a vast world of which we see only a tiny part. Yet science tells us with no uncertain voice that this is so, for it describes to us whole worlds of minute life of whose very existence we should be entirely ignorant as far as our senses are concerned. Nor are the creatures of those worlds unimportant because mi- nute, for upon a knowledge of the condition and habits of some of those microbes depends our ability to preserve health, and in many cases life itself. But our senses are limited in another direction. We cannot see the very air that surrounds us; our senses would give us no indication of its existence, except that when it is in motion we are aware of it by the sense of touch. Yet in it there is a force that can wreck our mightiest vessels and throw down our strong- est buildings. You see how all about us there are mighty forces which yet elude our poor and partial senses; so ob- viously we must beware of falling into the fatally common error of supposing that what we see is all there is to see. We are, as it were, shut up in a tower, and our senses are tiny windows opening out in certain directions. In many other directions we are entirely shut in, but clairvoyance or astral sight opens for us one or two additional windows, and so enlarges our prospect, and spreads before us a new and wider world, which is yet part of the old one, though before we did not know of it. Looking out into this new world, what should we first see? Supposing that one of us transferred his consciousness to the astral plane, what changes would be the first to strike him? To the first glance there would probably be very little difference, and he would suppose himself to be looking upon the same world as before. Let me explain to you why this is so — partially at least, for to explain fully would need a whole lecture upon astral physics. Just as we have different conditions ot* matter here, the solid, the liquid, the gaseous, so are there different conditions or degrees of density of astral matter, and each degree is attracted by and corre- sponds to that which is similar to it on the physical plane. 260 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. So that your friend would still see the walls and the furni- ture to which he was accustomed, for though the physical matter of which they are composed would no longer be vis- ible to him, the densest type of astral matter would still out- line them for him as clearly as ever. True, if he examined the object closely he would perceive that all the particles were visibly in rapid motion, instead of only invisibly, as is the case on this plane; but very few men do observe closely, and so a man who dies often does not know at first that any change has come over him He looks about him, and sees the same rooms with which he is familiar, peopled still by those whom he has known and loved — for they also have astral bodies, which are within the range of his new vision. Only by degrees does he realize that in some ways there is a difference. For exam- ple, he soon finds that for him all pain and fatigue have passed away. If you can at all realize what that means, you will begin to have some idea of what the higher life truly is. Think of it, you who have scarcely ever a comfortable mo- ment, you who in the stress of your busy life can hardly re- member when you last felt free from fatigue; what would it be to you never again to know the meaning of the words weariness and pain? We have so mismanaged our teaching in these western countries on the subject of immortality that usually a dead man finds it difficult to believe that he is dead, simply because he still sees and hears, thinks and feels. "I am not dead," he will often say, "I am alive as much as ever, and better than I ever was before." Of course he is; but that is exactly what he ought to have expected, if he had been properly taught. Realization may perhaps come to him in this way. He sees his friends about him, but he soon discovers that he cannot always communicate with them. Sometimes he speaks to them, and they do not seem to hear; he tries to touch them, and finds that he can make no impression upon them. Even then, for some time he persuades himself that he is dreaming, and will presently awake, for at other times (when they are what we call asleep) his friends are perfectly conscious of him, and talk with him as of old. But gradually he discovers the fact that he is after all dead, and then he usually begins to become uneasy. Why? Again because of the defective teaching which he has received. He does not understand where he is, or what has happened, since his sit- LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 261 uation is not what he expected from the orthodox standpoint. As an English general once said on this occasion, "But if I am dead, where am I? If this is heaven, I don't think much of it; and if it is hell, it is better than I expected!" A great deal of totally unnecessary uneasiness and even acute suffering has been caused in this way, and the fault is with those who still continue to teach the world silly fables about non-existent bugbears instead of using reason and common sense. The baseless and blasphemous hell-fire theory has done more harm than even its promoters know, for it has worked evil beyond the grave as well as on this side. But presently the man will meet with some other dead person who has been more sensibly instructed, and will learn from him that there is no cause for fear, and that there is a rational life to be lived in this new world, just as there was in the old one. He will find by degrees that there is very much that is new as well as much that is a counterpart of that which he already knows ; for in this astral world thoughts and desires express themselves in visible forms, though these are com- posed mostly of the finer matter of the plane. As his astral life proceeds, these become more and more prominent, for we must remember that he is all the while steadily withdrawing further and further into himself. The entire period of an in- carnation is in reality occupied by the ego in first putting himself forth into matter and then in drawing back again with the results of his effort. If the ordinary man were asked to draw a Mne symbolical of life, he would probably make it a straight one, beginning at birth and ending at death; but the Theosophical student should rather represent the life as a great ellipse, starting from the ego on the higher mental level and returning to him. The line would descend into the lower part of the mental plane, and then into the astral. A very small portion, comparatively, at the bottom of the ellipse would be upon the physical plane, and the line would very soon reascend into the astral and mental planes. The physical life would therefore be represented only by that small portion of the curve which lay below the line which indicated the boundary between the astral and physical planes, and birth and death would simply be the points at which the curve crossed that line — obviously by no means the most important points of the wholo. The real central point would clearly be that furthest re 262 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. moved from the ego — the turning-point, as it were — what in astronomy we should call the aphelion. That is neither birth nor death, but should be a middle point in the physical life, when the force from the ego has expended its outward rush, and turns to begin the long process of withdrawal. Gradually his thoughts should turn upward, he cares less and less for merely physical matters, and presently he drops the dense body altogether. His life on the astral plane com- mences, but during the whole of it the process of withdrawal continues. The result of this is that as time passes he pays less and less attention to the lower matter, of which counter- parts of physical objects are composed, and is more and more occupied with that higher matter of which thought- forms are built — so far, that is, as thought-forms appear on the astral plane at all. So his life becomes more and more a life in a world of thought, and the counterpart of the world which he has left fades from his view — not that he has changed his location in space, but that his interest is shift- ing its center. His desires still persist, and the forms sur- rounding him will be very largely the expression of these de- sires, and whether his life is one of happiness or discomfort will depend chiefly upon the nature of these. A study of this astral life shows us very clearly the reason for many ethical precepts. Most men recognize that sins which injure others are definitely and obviously wrong; but they sometimes wonder why it should be said to be wrong for them to feel jealousy, or hatred or ambition, so long as they do not allow themselves to manifest these feelings out- wardly in deed or in speech. A glimpse at this after-world shows us exactly how such feelings injure the man who har- bors them, and how they would cause him suffering of the most acute character after his death. We shall understand this better if we examine a few typical cases of astral life, and see what their principal characteristics will be. Let us think first of the ordinary colorless man, who is neither specially good nor specially bad, nor indeed specially anything in particular. The man is in no way changed, so colorlessness will remain his principal characteristic (if we can call it one) after his death. He will have no special suf- fering and no special joy, and may very probably find astral life rather dull, because he has not during his time on earth developed any rational interests. If he has had no ideas be- yond gossip or what is called sport, or nothing beyond his LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 263 business or his dress, he is likely to find time hang heavy on his hands when all such things are no longer possible. But the case of a man who has had strong desires of a low mate- rial type, such as could be satisfied only on the physical plane, is an even worse one. Think of the case of the drunk ard or the sensualist. He has been the slave of overmaster- ing craving during earth-life, and it still remains undimin- ished after death — rather, it is stronger than ever, since its vibrations have no longer the heavy physical particles to set in motion. But the possibility of gratifying this terrible thirst is forever removed, because the body, through which alone it could be satisfied, is gone. We see that the fires of purgatory are no inapt symbols for the vibrations of such a torturing desire as this. It may endure for quite a long time, since it passes only by gradually wearing itself out, and the man's fate is undoubtedly a terrible one. Yet there are two points that we should bear in mind in considering it. First, the man has made it absolutely for himself, and deter- mined the exact degree of its power and its duration. If he had controlled that desire during life, there would have been jusi so much the less of it to trouble him after death. Sec- ondly, it is the only way in which he can get rid of the vice. If he could pass from a life of sensuality or drunkenness di- rectly into his next incarnation, he would be born a slave to his vice, it would dominate him from the beginning, and there would be for him no possibility of escape. But now that the desire has worn itself out, he will begin his new ca- reer without that burden, and the soul, having had so severe a lesson, will make every possible effort to restrain its lower vehicles from repeating such a mistake. All this was known to the world even as lately as classical times. We see it clearly imaged for us in the myth of Tan- talus, who suffered always with raging thirst, yet was doomed forever to see the water recede just as it was about to touch his lips. Many another sin produces its result in a manner just as gruesome, though each is peculiar to itself. See how the miser will suffer when he can no longer hoard his gold, when he perhaps knows that it is being spent by alien hands. Think how the jealous man will continue to suffer from his jealousy, knowing that he has now no power to interfere upon the physical plane, yet feeling more strongly than ever. Remember the fate of Sisyphus in Greek myth — how be was condemned forever to roll a heavy 264 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. rock up to the summit of a mountain, only to see it roll down again the moment that success seemed within his reach. See how exactly this typifies the after-life of the man of worldly ambition. He has all his life been in the habit of forming selfish plans, and therefore he continues to do so in the astral world; he carefully builds up his plot until it is perfect in his mind, and only then realizes that he has lost the physical body which is necessary for its achievement. Down fall his hopes; yet so ingrained is the habit that he continues again and again to roll this same stone up the same mountain of ambition, until the vice is worn out. Then at last he realizes that he need not roll his rock, and lets it rest in peace at the bottom of the hill. We have considered the case of the ordinary man, and of the man who differs from the ordinary because of his gross and selfish desires. Now let us examine the case of the man who differs from the ordinary on the other direction — who has some interest of a rational nature. In order to under- stand how the after-life appears to him, we must bear in mind that the majority of men spend the greater part of their waking life and most of their strength in work that they do not really like, that they would not do at all if it were not necessary in order to earn their living, or support those who are dependent upon them. Realize the condition of the man when all necessity for this grinding toil is over, when it is no longer needful to earn a living, since the astral body requires no food nor clothing nor lodging. Then for the first time since earliest childhood that man is free to do precisely what he likes, and can devote his whole time to whatever may be his chosen occupation — so long, that is, as it is of such a nature as to be capable of realization without physical matter. Suppose that a man's greatest delight is in music; upon the astral plane he has the opportunity of lis- tening to all the grandest music that earth can produce, and is even able under these new conditions to hear far more in it than before, since here other and fuller harmonies than our dull ears can grasp are now within his reach. The man whose delight is in art, who loves beauty in form and color, has all the loveliness of this higher world before him from which to choose. If his delight is in beauty in Nature, he has unequalled possibilities for indulging it; for he can readily and rapidly move from place to place, and enjoy in quick succession wonders of Nature which the physical man LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 265 would need years to visit. If his fancy turns towards science or history, the libraries and the laboratories of the world are at his disposal, and his comprehension of processes in chemistry and biology would be far fuller than ever before, for now he could see the inner as well as the outer workings, and many of the causes as well as the effects. And in all these cases there is the wonderful additional delight that no fatigue is possible. Here we know how constantly, when we are making some progress in our studies or our experiments, we are unable to carry them on because our brain will not bear more than a certain amount of strain; outside of the physical no fatigue seems to exist, for it is in reality the brain and not the mind that tires. All this time I have been speaking of mere selfish gratifi* cation, even though it be of the rational and intellectual kind. But there are those among us who would not be sat- isfied without something higher than this — whose greatest joy in any life would consist in serving their fellow-men. What has the astral life in store for them? They will pur, sue their philanthropy more vigorously than ever, and under better conditions than on this lower plane. There are thou- sands whom they can help, and with far greater certainty of really being able to do good than we usually attain in this life. Some devote themselves thus to the general good; some are especially occupied with cases among their own family or friends, either living or dead. It is a strange in- version of the facts, this employment of those words living and dead; for surely we are the dead, we who are buried in these gross, cramping physical bodies, and they are truly the living, who are so much freer and more capable, because less hampered. Often the mother who has passed into that higher life will still watch over her child, and be to him a veritable guardian angel; often the "dead" husband still re- mains within reach and in touch for his sorrowing wife, thankful if even now and then he is able to make her feel that he lives in strength and love beside her as of yore. If all this be so, you may think, then surely the sooner we die the better; such knowledge seems almost to place a premium on suicide! If you are thinking solely of yourself and of your pleasure, then emphatically that would be so. But if you think of your duty towards the Logos and towards your fellows, then you will at once see that this considera- tion is negatived. You are here for a purpose — a purpose 266 LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. Which can only be attained upon this physical plane. The soul has to take much trouble, to go through much limitation, in order to gain this earthly incarnation, and therefore its efforts must not be thrown away unnecessarily. The in- stinct of self-preservation is divinely implanted in our breasts, and it is our duty to make the most of this earthly life which is ours, and to retain it as long as circumstances permit. There are lessons to be learnt on this plane which cannot be learnt anywhere else, and the sooner we learn them the sooner we shall be free forever from the need of return to this lower and more limited life. So none must dare to die until his time comes, though when it does come he may well rejoice, for indeed he is about to pass from labor to refreshment. Yet all this which I have told you now is insignificant beside the glory of the life which follows it — the life of the heaven-world. This is the purgatory — that is the endliss bliss of which monks have dreamed and poets sung — not a dream after all, but a living and glorious real- ity. The astral life is happy for some, unhappy for others, according to the preparation they have made for it; but what follows it is perfect happiness for all, and exactly suited to the needs of each. But this is our subject for next week. Before closing let us consider one or two questions which are perpetually recurring to the minds of those who seek information about the next life. Shall we be able to make progress there, some will ask? Undoubtedly, for progress is the rule of the Divine Scheme. It is possible to us just in proportion to our development. The man who is a slave ,to desire can only progress by wearing out his desire; still, that is the best that is possible at his stage. But the man who is kindly and helpful learns much in many ways through the work which he is able to do in that astral life ; he will return to earth with many additional powers and qualities be- cause of the practice he has had in unselfish effort. So we need have no fear as to this question of progress. Another point often raised is, shall we recognize our loved ones who have passed on before us? Assuredly we shall, for neither they nor we shall be changed ; why, then, should we not recognize them? The attraction is still there, and will act as a magnet to draw together those who feel it, more readily and more surely there than here. True, that if the loved one has left this earth very long ago, he may have already passed beyond the astral plane, and entered the LIFE AFTER DEATH— PURGATORY. 267 heaven-life; in that case we must wait until we also reach that level before we can rejoin him, but when that is gained we shall possess our friend more perfectly than in this pris- on-house we can ever realize. But of this be sure, that those whom you have loved are not lost; if they have died recently, then you will find them on the astral plane; if they have died long ago, you will find them in the heaven-life, but in aDy case the reunion is sure where the affection exists. For love is one of the mightiest powers of the universe, whether it be in life or in death. There is an infinity of interesting information to be given about this higher life, far more than could possibly be in- cluded in an evening's lecture. You should read the litera- ture; read Mrs. Besant's "Death and After," and my own little book on "The Astral Plane." It is very well worth your while to study this subject, for the knowledge of the truth takes away all fear of death, and makes life easier to live, because we understand its object and its end. Death brings no suffering, but only joy, for those who live the true, the unselfish life. The old Latin saying is literally true — Mors janua vitae — death is the gate of life. That is exactly what it is — a gate into a fuller and higher life. On the other side of the grave, as well as on this, prevails that same great law of Divine Justice of which I spoke last week, and we can trust as implicitly there as here to the action of that law, with regard both to ourselves and to those we love. Life After Death-The Heaven-World A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience by C. W. Leadbeater, the Great Psychic, of London, England. All religions agree in declaring the existence of heaven, and in stating that the enjoyment of its bliss follows upon a well-spent earthly life. Christianity and Mohammedanism speak of it as a reward assigned by God to those who have pleased him, but most other faiths describe it rather as the necessary result of the good life, exactly as we should from the Theosophical point of view. Yet though all religions agree in painting this happy life in glowing terms, none of them have succeeded in producing an impression of reality in their descriptions. All that is written about heaven is so absolutely unlike anything that we have known, that many of the descriptions seem almost grotesque to us. We should hesitate to admit this with regard to the legends familiar to us from our infancy, but if the stories of one of the other great religions were read to us, we should see it readily enough. In Buddhist or Hindu books you will find magnilo- quent accounts of interminable gardens, in which the trees are all of gold and silver, and their fruits of various kinds of jewels, and you might be tempted to smile, unless the thought occurred to you that after all, to the Buddhist or Hindu our tale of streets of gold and gates of pearl might in truth seem quite as improbable. The fact is that the ridicu- lous element is imported into these accounts only when we take them literally, and fail to realize that each scribe is trying the same task from his point of view, and that all alike are failing because the great truth behind it all is ut- terly indescribable. The Hindu writer had no doubt seen LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 269 some of the gorgeous gardens of the Indian kings, where just such decorations as he describes are commonly em- ployed. The Jewish scribe had no familiarity with such things, but he dwelt in a great and magnificent city — prob- ably Alexandria; and so his concept of splendor was a city, but made unlike anything on earth by the costliness of its material and its decorations. So each is trying to paint a truth which is too grand for words by employing such sim- iles as are familiar to his mind. There have been those since that day who have seen the glory of heaven, and have tried in their feeble way to de- scribe it. Some of our own students have been among these, and in the Theosophical Manual No. 6 you may find an effort of my own in that direction. We do not speak now of gold and silver, of rubies and diamonds, when we wish to convey the idea of the greatest possible refinement and beauty of color and form; we draw our similes rather from the colors of the sunset, and from all the glories of sea and sky, be- cause to us these are the more heavenly. Yet those of us who have seen the truth know well that in all our attempts at description we have failed as utterly as the Oriental scribes to convey any idea of a reality which no words can ever picture, though every man one day shall see it and know it for himself. For this heaven is not a dream; it is a radiant reality; but to comprehend anything of it we must first change one of our initial ideas on the subject. Heaven is not a place, but a state of consciousness. If you ask me, "Where is heaven?" I must answer you that it is here — round you at this very mo- ment, near to you as the air you breathe. The light is all about you, as the Buddha said so long ago; you have only to cast the bandage from your eyes and look. But what is this casting away of a bandage? Of what is it symbolical? It is simply a question of raising the consciousness to a higher level, of learning to focus it in the vehicle of finer matter. I spoke last week of the possibility of doing this with regard to the astral body, and thereby seeing the astral world ; this needs simply a further stage of the same process, the raising of the consciousness to the mental plane, for man has a body for that level also, through which he may receive its vibra- tions, and so live in the glowing splendor of heaven while still possessing a physical body — though Indeed alter such 270 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. an experience lie will have little relish for the return to the latter. The ordinary man reaches this state of bliss only after death, and not immediately after it except in very rare cases. I explained last week how after death the Ego was steadily withdrawing into himself. The whole astral life is in fact a constant process of withdrawal, and when in course of time the soul reaches the limit of that plane, he dies to it in just the same way as he did to the physical plane. That is to say, he casts off the body of that plane, and leaves it behind him while he passes on to higher and still fuller life. No pain or suffering of any kind precedes this second death, but just as with the first, there is usually a period of uncon- sciousness, from which the man awakes gradually. Some years ago I wrote a book called "The Devachanic Plane," in which I endeavored to some extent to describe what he would see, and to tabulate as far as I could the various sub- divisions of this glorious Land of Light, giving instances which had been observed in the course of our investigations in connection with this heaven-life. To-night I shall try to put the matter before you from another point of view, and those who wish may supplement the information by reading the book as well. Perhaps the most comprehensive opening statement is that this is the plane of the Divine Mind, that here we are in the very realm of thought itself, and that everything that man possibly could think is here in vivid, living reality. We labor under a great disadvantage from our habit of regarding material things as real, and those which are not material as dream-like and therefore unreal; whereas the fact is that everything which is material is buried and hidden in its mat- ter, and so whatever of reality it may possess is far less ob- vious and recognizable than it would be when regarded from a higher standpoint. So that when we hear of a world of thought, we immediately think of an unreal world, built out of "such stuff as dreams are made of," as the poet says. Try to realize that when a man leaves his physical body and opens his consciousness to astral life, his first sensation is of the intense vividness and reality of that life, so that he thinks "Now for the first time I know what it is to live." But when in turn he leaves that life for the higher one, he exactly repeats the same experience, for this life is in turn LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 271 so much fuller and wider and more intense than the astral that once more no comparison is possible. And yet there is another life yet, beyond all this, unto which even this is but as moonlight unto sunlight; but it is useless at present to think of that. There may be many to whom it sounds absurd that a realm of thought should be more real than the physical world; well, it must remain so for them until they have some experience of a life higher than this, and then in one moment they will know far more than any words can ever tell them. On this plane, then, we find existing the infinite fullness of the Divine Mind, open in all its limitless affluence to every soul, just in proportion as that soul has qualified himself to receive. If man had already completed his destined evolu- tion, if he had fully realized and unfolded the divinity whose germ is within him, the whole of this glory would be within his reach; but since none of us has yet done that, since we are only gradually rising towards that splendid consumma- tion, it comes that none as yet can grasp that entirely, but each draws from it and cognizes only so much as he has by previous effort prepared himself to take. Different individ- uals bring very different capacities; as the Eastern simile has it, each man brings his own cup, and some of the cups are large and some are small, but, small or large, every cup is filled to its utmost capacity; the sea of bliss holds far more than enough for all. All religions have spoken of this bliss of heaven, yet few of them have put before us with sufficient clearness and pre- cision this leading idea which alone explains rationally how for all alike such bliss is possible — which is, indeed, the key- note of the conception — the fact that each man makes his own heaven by selection from the ineffable splendors of the Thought of God Himself. A man decides for himself both the length and character of his heaven-life by the causes which he himself generates during his earth-life; therefore he cannot but have exactly the amount which he has de- served, and exactly the quality of joy which is best suited to his idiosyncrasies, for this is a world in which every being must, from the very fact of his consciousness there, be en- joying the highest spiritual bliss of which he is capable — a world whose power of response to his aspirations is limited only by his capacity to aspire, 272 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. He had made himself an astral body by his desires and passions during earth-life, and, as I explained last week, he had to live in it during his astral existence, and that time was happy or miserable for him according to its character. Now this time of purgatory is over, for that lower part of his nature has burnt itself away; now there remain only the higher and more refined thoughts, the noble and unselfish aspirations that he poured out during earth-life. These cluster round him, and make a sort of shell about him, through the medium of which he is able to respond to cer- tain types of vibration in this refined matter. These thoughts which surround him are the powers by which he draws upon the wealth of the heaven-world, and he finds it to be a storehouse of infinite extent upon which he is able to draw just according to the power of those thoughts and aspirations which he generated in the physical and astral life. All the highest of his affection and his devotion is now producing its result, for there is nothing else left; all that was selfish or grasping has been left behind in the plane of desire. For there are two kinds of affection. There is one, hardly worthy of so sublime a name, which thinks always of how much love it is receiving in return for its investment of at- tachment, which is ever worrying as to the exact amount of affection which the other person is showing for it, and so is constantly entangled in the evil meshes of jealousy and sus- picion. Such feeling, grasping and full of greed, will work out its results of doubt and misery upon the plane of desire, to which it so clearly belongs. But there is another kind of love, which never stays to think how much it is loved, but has only the one object of pouring itself out unreservedly at the feet of the object of its affection, and considers only how best it can express in action the feeling which fills its heart so utterly. Here there is no limitation, because there is no grasping, no drawing towards the self, no thought of return, and just because of that, there is a tremendous out- pouring of force, which no astral matter could express, nor could the dimensions of the astral plane contain it. It needs the finer matter and the wider space of the higher level, and so the energy generated belongs to the mental world. Just so there is a religious devotion which thinks mainly of what it will get for its prayers, and lowers its worship into a spe- cies of bargaining; while there is also the genuine devotion, LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 273 which forgets itself absolutely in the contemplation of its deity. We all know well that in our highest devotion there is something which has never yet been satisfied, that our grandest aspirations have never yet been realized, that when we really love unselfishly, our feeling is far beyond all power of expression on this physical plane, that the profound emo- tion stirred within our hearts by the noblest music or the most perfect art reaches to heights and depths unknown to this dull earth. Yet all of this is a wondrous force of power beyond our calculation, and it must produce its result some- where, somehow,, for the law of the conservation of energy holds good upon the higher planes of thought and aspiration just as surely as in ordinary mechanics. But since it must react upon him who set it in motion, and yet it cannot work upon the physical plane because of its narrowness and com- parative grossness of matter, how and when can it produce its inevitable result? It simply waits for the man until he reaches its level; it remains as so much stored-up energy until its opportunity arrives. While his consciousness is fo- cused upon the physical and astral planes it cannot react upon him, but as soon as he transfers himself entirely to the mental it is ready for him, its flood-gates are opened, and its action commences. So perfect justice is done, and nothing is ever lost, even though to us in this lower world it seems to have missed its aim and come to nothing. Far more beauti* fully than I could ever put it, this has been expressed by the poet Browning, in Abt Vogler: There shall never be one lost good! what was shall live as before; The evil is null, is nought, is silence implying sound; What was good shall be good, with, for evil, so much good more; On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven a perfect round. All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good shall exist; Not its semblance, but itself; no beauty, nor good, nor power Whose voice has gone forth, but each survives for the mel- odist When eternity affirms the conception of an hour. The high that proved too high, the heroic for earth too hard, The passion that P.eft the ground to lose itself in the sky, 274 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. Are music sent up to God by the lover and the bard ; Enough that He heard it once; we shall hear it by and by. That is precisely the Theosophical theory of the heaven- world, though it is written by one who is in no way con- nected with the society, and before the date of its foundation. The key-note of the conception is the comprehension of how man makes his own heaven. Here upon this plane of the Divine Mind exists, as we have said, all beauty and glory conceivable; but the man can look out upon it all only through the windows he himself has made. Every one of his thought-forms is such a window, through which response may come to him from the forces without. If he has chiefly regarded physical things during his earth-life, then he has made for himself but few windows through which this higher glory can shine in upon him. Yet every man will have had some touch of pure, unselfish feeling, even if it were but once in all his life, and that will be a window for him now. Every man, except the utter savage at a very early stage, will surely have something of this wondrous life of bliss. Instead of saying, as orthodoxy does, that some men will go to heaven^ and some to hell, it would be far more correct to say that all men will have their share of both states, (if we are to call even the lowest astral life by so horrible a name as hell), and it is only their relative proportions which differ. It must be borne in mind that the soul of the ordinary man is as yet but an early stage of his development. He has learnt to use his physical vehicle with comparative ease, and he can also function tolerably freely in his astral body, though he is rarely able to carry through the memory of its activities to his physical brain; but his mental body is not yet in any true sense a vehicle at all, since he cannot utilize it as he does those lower bodies, cannot travel about in it, nor employ its senses for the reception of information in the normal way. We must not think of him, therefore, as in a condition of any great activity, or as able to move about freely, as he did upon the astral levels. His condition here is chiefly re- ceptive, and his communication with the world outside him is only through his own windows, and therefore exceedingly limited. The man who can put forth full activity there is already almost more than man, for he must be a glorified spirit, a great and highly-evolved entity. He would have full consciousness there, and would use his mental vehicle as LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 275 freely as the ordinary man employs his physical body, and through it vast fields of higher knowledge would lie open to him. But we are thinking of one as yet less developed than this — one who has his windows, and sees only through them. In order to understand his heaven we must consider two points: His relation to the plane itself, and his relation to his friends. The question of his relation to his surroundings upon the plane divides itself into two parts, for we have to think first of the matter of the plane as molded by his thought, and secondly of the forces of the plane as evoked in answer to his aspirations. I mentioned last week how man surrounds himself with thought-forms; here on this plane we are in the very home of thought, so naturally those forms are all-important in connection with both these considerations. There are liv- ing forces about him here, mighty angelic inhabitants of the plane, and many of their orders are very sensitive to certain aspirations of man, and readily respond to them. But natu- rally both his thoughts and his aspirations are only along the lines which he has already prepared during earth-life. It might seem that when he was transferred to a plane of such transcendent force and vitality, he might well be stirred up to entirely new activities along hitherto unwonted lines ; but this is not possible. His mind-body is not yet in by any means the same order as his lower vehicles, and is by no means so fully under his control. All through a past of many lives, it has been accustomed to receive its impres- sions and incitements to action from below, through the lower vehicles, chiefly from the physical body, and some- times from the astral; it has done very little in the way of receiving direct mental vibrations at its own level, and it cannot suddenly begin to accept and respond to them. Prac- tically, then, the man does not initiate any new thoughts, but those which he has already form the windows through which he looks out on his new world. With regard to these windows there are two possibilities of variation — the direction in which they look, and the kind of glass of which they are composed. There are very many directions which the higher thought may take. Some of these, such as affection and devotion, are so generally of a personal character that it is perhaps better to consider them in connection with the man's relation to other people; 276 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. let us rather take first an example where that element does not come in — where we have to deal only with the influence of his surroundings. Suppose that one of his windows into heaven is that of music. Here we have a very mighty force; you know perhaps how wonderfully music can uplift a man, can make him for the time a new being in a new world ; if you have ever experienced its effect you will realize that here we are in the presence of a stupendous power. The man who has no music in his soul has no window open in that direction; but the man who has a musical window will receive through it three entirely distinct sets of impres- sions, all of which, however, will be modified by the kind of glass which he has in his window. It is obvious that his glass may be a great limitation to his view; it may be col- ored, and so admit only certain rays of light, or it may be of poor material, and so distort and darken all the rays as they enter. For example, our man may have been able while on earth to appreciate only one class of music, and so on. But suppose his musical window to be a good one, what will he receive through it? First, he will sense that music which is the expression of the ordered movement of the forces of the plane. There was a definite fact behind the poetic idea of the music of the spheres, for on these higher planes all movement and action of any kind produces glorious harmonies both of sound and color. All thought expresses itself in this way — his own as well as that of others — in a lovely yet indescribable series of everchanging chords, as of a thousand Aeolian harps. This musical manifestation of the vivid and glowing life of heaven would be for him a kind of ever-present and ever- delightful background to all his other experiences. Secondly, there is among the inhabitants of the plane one class of entities — one great order of angels, as our Christian friends would call them, who are specially devoted to music, and habitually express themselves by its means to a far fuller extent than the rest. They are spoken of in old Hindu books under the name of Gandharvas. The man whose soul is in tune with music will certainly attract their attention, and will draw himself into connection with some of them, and so will learn with ever-increasing enjoyment all the marvelous new combinations which they employ. Thirdly, he will be a keenly appreciative listener to the music made by his fellow men in the heaven world. Think how many LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN- WORLD. 277 great composers have preceded him; Bach, Beethoven, Men- delssohn, Handel, Mozart, Rossini — all are there, not dead but full of vigorous life, and ever pouring forth far grander strains, far more glorious harmonies, than any which they knew on earth. Each of these is indeed a fountain of won- drous melody, and many an inspiration of our earthly musi- cians is in reality but a faint and far-off echo of the sweet- ness of their song. Very far more than we realize of the genius of this lower world is naught but a reflection of the untrammeled powers of those who have gone before us; oftener than we think the man who is receptive here can catch some thought from them, and reproduce it, so far as may be possible, in this lower sphere. Great masters of music have told us how they sometimes hear the whole of some grand oratorio, some stately march, some noble chorus in one resounding chord; how it is in this way that the in- spiration comes to them, though when they try to write it down in notes, many pages of music may be necessary to ex- press it. That exactly expresses the manner in which tho heavenly music differs from that which we know here; one mighty chord there will convey what here would take hours to render far less effectively. Very similar would be the experiences of the man whose window was art. He also would have the same three possi- bilities of delight, for the order of the plane expresses itself in color as well as in sound, and all Theosophical students are familiar with the fact that there is a color language of the Devas — an order of spirits whose very communication one with another is by flashings of splendid color. Again, all the great artists of medieval times are working still — not with brush and canvas, but with the far easier, yet infinitely more satisfactory molding of mental matter by the power of thought. Every artist knows how far below the conception in his mind is the most successful expression of it upon paper or canvas; but here to think is to realize, and disap- pointment is impossible. The same thing is true of all di- rections of thought, so that there is in truth an infinity to enjoy and to learn, far beyond all that our limited minds can grasp down here. But let us turn to the second part of our subject, the ques- tion of the man's relations with persons whom he loves, or with those for whom he feels devotion or adoration. Again and again people ask us whether they will meet and know 278 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. their loved ones in this grander life, whether amid all this unimaginable splendor they will look in vain for the familiar faces without which all would for them seem vanity. Hap- pily to this question the answer is clear and unqualified; the friends will be there without the least shadow of doubt, and far more fully, far more really, than ever they have been with us yet. Yet again, men often ask "what of our friends already in the enjoyment of the heaven-life; can they see us here be- low? Are they watching us and waiting for us?" Hardly; for there would be difficulties in the way of either of those the- ories. How could the dead be happy if he looked back and saw those whom he loved in sorrow or suffering, or, far worse still, in the commission of sin? And if we adopt the other alternative, that he does not see, but is waiting, the case is scarcely bettered. For then the man will have a long and wearisome period of waiting, a painful time of sus- pense, often extending over many years, while the friend would in many cases arrive so much changed as to be no longer sympathetic. On the system so wisely provided for us by nature all these difficulties are avoided; those whom the man loves most he has ever with him, and always at their noblest and best, while no shadow of discord or change can ever come between them, since he receives from them all the time exactly what he wishes. The arrangement is infinitely superior to anything which the imagination of man has been able to offer us in its place; as indeed we might have expected for all those speculations were man's idea of what is best, but the truth is God's idea. Let me try to ex- plain it. Whenever we love a person very deeply we form a strong mental image of him, and he is often present in our mind. Inevitably we take this mental image into the heaven-world with us, because it is to that level of matter that it naturally belongs. But the love which forms and retains such an im- age is a very powerful force — a force which is strong enough to reach and act upon the soul of that friend, the real man whom we love. That soul at once and eagerly responds, and pours himself into the thought-form which we have made for him, and in that way we find our friend truly pres- ent with us, more vividly than ever before. Remember, it is the soul we love, not the body; and it is the soul that we have with us here. It may be said, "Yes, that would be so LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 270 if the friend were also dead; but suppose he is still alive; he cannoi be in two places at once." The fact is that, as far as this is concerned, he can be in two places at once, and often many more than two; and whether he is what we com- monly call living, or what we commonly call dead, makes not the slightest difference. Let us try to understand what a soul really is, and we shall see better how this may be. The soul belongs to a higher plane, and is a much greater and grander thing than any manifestation of it can be. Its relation to its manifestations is that of one dimension to an- other — that of a line to a square, or a square to a cube. No number of squares could ever make a cube, because the square has only two dimensions, while the cube has three. So no number of expressions on any lower plane can ever exhaust the fullness of the soul, since he stands upon an altogether higher level. He puts down a small portion of himself into a physical body in order to acquire experience which can only be had on this plane; he can take only one such body at a time, for that is the law; but if he could take a thousand, they would not be sufficient to express what he really is. He may have only one physical body, but if he has evoked such love from a friend, that that friend has a strong mental image of him always present in his thought, then he is able to respond to that love by pouring into that thought- form his own life, and so vivifying it into a real expression of him on this level which is two whole planes higher than the physical, and therefore so much the better able to ex- press his qualities. If it still seems difficult to realize how his consciousness can be active in that manifestation as well as in this, com- pare with this an ordinary physical experience. Each of us, as he sits in his chair, is conscious at the same instant of several physical contacts. He touches the seat of the chair, his feet rest on the ground, his hands feel the arms of the chair, or perhaps hold a book; and yet his brain has no diffi- culty in realizing all these contacts at once; why, then, should it be harder for the soul, which is so much greater than the mere physical consciousness, to be conscious si- multaneously in more than one of these manifestations on planes so entirely below him? It is really the one man who feels all those different contacts; it is really the one man who fills all those different thought-images, and is real, liv- ing and loving in all of them. You have him there always at 280 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. his best, for this is a far fuller expression than the physical plane could ever give, even under the best of circumstances. Will this affect the evolution of the friend in any way, it may be asked? Certainly it will, for it allows him an addi- tional opportunity of manifestation. If he has a physical body he is already learning physical lessons through it, but this enables him at the very same time to develop the qual- ity of affection much more rapidly through the form on the mental plane which you have given him. So your love for him is doing great things for him. As we have said, the soul may manifest in many images, if he is fortunate enough to have them made for him. One who is much loved by many people may have part in many heavens simultaneously, and so may evolve with far greater rapidity; but this vast additional opportunity is the direct result and reward of those lovable qualities which drew towards him the affec- tionate regard of so many of his fellow-men. So not only does he receive love from all these, but through that him- self grows in love, whether these friends be living or dead. We should observe, however, that there are two possible limitations to the perfection of this intercourse. First, your image of your friend may be partial and imperfect, so that many of his higher qualities may not be represented, and may therefore be unable to show themselves forth through it. Then secondly, there may be some difficulty from your friend's side. You may have formed a conception somewhat inaccurately; if your friend be as yet not a highly evolved soul, it is possible that you may even have overrated him in some direction, and in that case there might be some aspect of your thought-image which he could not completely fill. This, however, is unlikely, and could only take place when a quite unworthy object had been unwisely idolized. Even then the man who made the image would not find any change or lack in his friend, for the latter is at least better able to fulfill his ideal than he has ever been during physical life. Being undeveloped, he may not be perfect, but at least he is better than ever before, so nothing is wanting to. the joy of the dweller in heaven. Your friend can fill hun- dreds of images with those qualities which he possesses, but when a quality is as yet undeveloped in him, he does nol suddenly evolve it because you have supposed him already tc have attained it. Here is the enormous advantage which those have who form images only of those who cannot dis LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. 282 appoint them — or, since there could be no disappointment, we should rather say. of those capable of rising above even the highest conception that the lower mind can form of them. The Theosophist who forms in his mind the image of the Master knows that all the inadequacy will be on his own side, for he is drawing there upon a depth of love and power which his mental plummet can never sound. But, it may be asked, since the soul spends so large a pro- portion of his time in the enjoyment of the bliss of this heaven-world, what are his opportunities of development during his stay there? They may be divided into three classes, though of each there may be many varieties. First, through certain qualities in himself he has opened certain windows into this heaven world; by the continued exercise of those qualities through so long a time he will greatly strengthen them, and will return to earth for his next incar- nation very richly dowered in that respect. All thoughts are intensified by reiteration, and the man who spends a thousand years principally in pouring forth unselfish affec- tion will assuredly at the end of that period know how to love strongly and well. Secondly, if through his window he pours forth an aspira- tion which brings him into contact with one of the great or- ders of spirits, he will certainly acquire much from his inter- course with them. In music they will use all kinds of over- tones and variants which were previously unknown to him; in art they are familiar with a thousand types of which he has had no conception. But all of these will gradually im- press themselves upon him also, and in this way also he will come out of that glorious heaven-life richer far than he en- tered it. Thirdly, he will gain additional information through the mental images which he has made, if those people them- selves are sufficiently developed to be able to teach him. Once more, the Theosophist who has made the image of a Master will obtain very definite teaching and help through it and in a lesser degree this is possible with lesser people. Above and beyond all this comes the life of the soul or ego in his own causal body — the vehicle which he carries on with him from life to life, unchanging except for its gradual evolution. There comes an end even to that glorious heav- en-life, and then the mental body in its turn drops away as the others have done, and the life in the causal begins, 282 LIFE AFTER DEATH— THE HEAVEN-WORLD. Here the soul needs no windows, for this is his true home, and here all his walls have fallen away. The majority of men have as yet but very little consciousness at such a height as this; they rest, dreamily unobservant and scarcely awake, but such vision as they have is true, however limited by their lack of development. Still, every time they return these limitations will be smaller, and they themselves will be greater, so that this truest life will be wider and fuller for them. As the improvement continues, this causal life grows longer and longer, assuming an ever larger proportion as compared to the existence at lower levels. And as he grows the man becomes capable not only of receiving, but of giving. Then, indeed, is his triumph approaching, for he is learning the lesson of the Christ, learning the crowning glory of sacrifice, the supreme delight of pouring out all his life for the helping of his fellow-men, the devotion of the self to the all, of celestial strength to human service, of all these splendid heavenly forces to the aid of struggling sons of earth. That is part of the life that lies before us; these are some of the steps which even we, who are as yet at the very bottom of the golden ladder, may see rising above us, so that we may report them to you who have not seen them yet, in order that you, too, may open your eyes to the unim- aginable splendor which surrounds you here and now in this dull daily life. This is part of the gospel which Theosophy brings to you — the certainty of this sublime future for all. It is certain because it is here already, because to inherit it we have only to fit ourselves for it. Whence Our Christmas? Lecture Delivered Before the Tacoma, Wash., Spirit- ualist Church, by Rev. Daniel W. Hull. Text: — "I am debtor, both the Greek and to the barba- rians, to the wise and to the unwise." — Rom. i: 14. The spirit of this text from Paul could scarcely be consid- ered even at this day very orthodox. Indeed very few ser- mons are likely to be founded on it. But Paul, though at times somewhat narrow, seems to be very broad in his relig- ious views. By the barbarians, he refers to those nations who wore full beards, and who were esteemed less polite than those who "marred the corners of their beards" with razors. He believed that certain peoples whose religions ethnically differed from the Pharisaic religion which he im- bibed with his early training might have their uses. Hence we hear him say, in the same chapter, that "God hath shewed it unto them." But he accuses them of being unfaithful to the revelations which have been made known to them. In Acts 17:23, he accepts the Athenian "unknown God" and their worship of him as orthodox in the genuine meaning of that word. It would be easy to show if it was relevant to this discussion, that Paul's departure from the customary re- ligious views of those of his day was his belief in Spiritual- ism or the apparition of Jesus after his death and in his ideas of a socialistic system of living. Max Muller said in his Science of Religion that he who knows one religion knows none. While this is true, it may also be said that its paradox is true: "He that knows one re- ligion in its entirety, knows all." But alas! how few of us know one religion. We assume to understand the Christian religion thoroughly, yet the thing we call Christian is very little like that which was handed out to the world by that 284 WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? title in the time it was christened. It would be natural that Christianity should be in some respects similar to the other religions, because of the association of the early believers in the cult with the various religious peoples about them. We all know that we are each of us more or less hypnotized with the suggestions coming to us by the environments of our childhood. What was said and believed in our early lives comes to us as a part of ourselves, and none of us are so in- dependent as to be able to rise above the teachings of those early times. Next Wednesday night in the various churches of this city the little ones will be told that Christmas is the birthday of one Jesus, or Christ, as they will call him. Why they should do so in the absence of any testimony bearing in that direc- tion, is hard to explain. It is not true, and they ought to know it is not true. In every country in the world Christmas is celebrated on precisely the same day. And this has been done from time immemorial; and it is always celebrated as the birthday of some God. It is the birthday of Horus, Mith- ras, Hercules, Adonis or Bacchus, Apolon, Odin and several other gods or demigods of less notoriety, and these deities had been worshiped and the festival of their natal day ob- served, for they all had the same day, the 25th of December, long before the time of Jesus, but of this more later on. Only two of the gospels, Matthew and Luke, contain the accounts of the birth of Jesus, and neither of them can be relied upon as evidence. It will be noticed that in both Mat- thew and Luke there is a sudden break in the narrative and we read no more of Jesus till in one of them he was twelve years old, and then nothing after that again till he is thirty years old; in the other till he was thirty years old. This proves that these gospels had been edited by some one long after they had been written. The divinity of Jesus had not been thought of till some time after his death; and about three hundred years after his death a very bitter discussion arose on the subject which made it necessary that something should appear in his biographies to substantiate the dogma. Several other books had been written on his life, relating his immaculate conception, none of which got into the canon. Among these books, too absurd for human credulity, were the Gospel of the Infancy and the Protovangelon, and these contain the identical accounts we find in the begin- nings of Matthew and Luke. One of them has the Magi of Persia come at least nine hundred miles after the birth of WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? 285 Jesus, following a star that went before them, and getting to his cradle before daylight, and the other has the native shep- herds following his star to his cradle. Then again Matthew has him get up and move into Egypt it would appear the same night, while Luke has him remain at least forty days. (Matt. 2:12, 13, and Luke 2: 21, 22.) It is very evident that these four chapters of Matthew and Luke were copied from the Gospel of the Infancy and the Protovangelon for the pur- pose of bolstering up the Trinity doctrine which was so stoutly denied by the Arians. Yet neither of these pseudo biographies give us any ac- count of the time that Jesus was born. It is not probable that the shepherds would be out of doors with their flocks at midwinter. Then why it is assumed that Christmas was the natal day of Christianity, and that by people who profess to be learned, is difficult to explain. There is one thing given in these accounts of Jesus' birth that may give us a little light upon the subject. That is that it was tax-paying time, whenever that may have been. I heard one lecturer say a few evenings ago, that that time was about the first of October, because that was the time the Jews squared all their accounts. It is very true the Jews settled their accounts on the day of atonement, or the tenth day of the seventh month, and as that occurred in the sign Libra it is quite probable that many other nations did the same. But the Jews did not have the assessment of the taxes. Palestine was under Roman rule at this time, and taxes would come due whenever the Emperor decreed. Luke 2:1 tells us that this decree "went out from Caesar Augustus." It may be that Caesar also took the sign of Libra for the squaring of accounts. This being the case, Jesus was born either the last of September or the first of October. Of co.urse it should be recognized that this account in Luke is unreliable, since the chapter we quote from with the pre- ceding chapter is an interpolation. But we have other evi- dence showing that he must have been born about that time. In Luke 3:23, we are told that Jesus at the time of John's preaching "began to be about thirty years old." Now it is agreed on all bands thai Jesus' ministry lasted tbree and a half years, and we know that be was crucified at the time of the Passover, whieh occurred OB tbe fourteenth day of the first month, or Immediately after the fulling of the first moon after the vernal equinox He would then bo thirty-three 286 WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? and a half years old at the time of his death. Jesus was then baptized three and a half years before his death, which would make him thirty years old about the last of September or first of October. This thus fixes his birth at least three months before Christmas. How comes it, then, that we are celebrating Christmas as the birthday of Jesus? The answer is easy. All other na- tions were celebrating the birthdays of their gods upon that day, and this custom stole upon them possibly unobserved, but most probably was forced upon them by the wholesale conversion of the Roman government in the time of Constan- tine. We all know how natural it is for us to adhere to old forms even after we have learned better, and Christianity was environed from the time of its inception with adherents to the various pagan systems of religion. Abraham himself came out of Ur of the Chaldees, and we know that he made very little change from the religion of the Chaldees. He brought with him their Sabbath which was celebrated at each quarter of the moon; they had a festival every spring corresponding to the Chaldean festival; he circumcised his children, etc. W. St. Chad Boscowen in speaking of the religion of Baby- lonia, says: "The Babylonian festivals corresponded to the Hebrew fes- tivals almost day for day. In Nisan the fest of the spring or opening, which varied from the first to the eighth or fifteenth of Nisan, according to the period of the equinox, correspond- ed to the Passover. In Tisri there came the harvest feast, the feast of Tabernacles; while the strange festival of dark- ness and weeping on the fifteenth of Adar, which preceded "the great day when the destinies of all men were forecast," bears a strange resemblance to the Jewish feast of Purim. The temple of the Babylonians was essentially the same in name and construction as that of the Jews. The Hekal, the "holy place," literally the "palace," was separated as in the Jewish temple from the holy of holies by a veil. This latter was called by the name of parakku, the "shut-off portion," a word cognate with the Hebrew word paraketh, "the veil." Within it were the most precious records of the people or city, similar to the Jewish ark, placed in stone cists as in the temple at Ballawat and Sippara. Immediately above them was the throne of the god covered by a species of baldichino, corresponding to the mercy seat, and supported by cherubim or composite figures. Most of their institutions which dis- WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? 287 tinguished them from the Gentile [goim] nations are to be found in Babylonia. The sabbath, called by the Babylonians the white day, or "the day of the rest of the heart," was kept on the seventh, the fourteenth, the twenty-first and twenty- eighth days with a strictness as great as that of the most Pharisaic Jews. No food was to be cooked, no fire to be lit, the clothes of the body might not be changed. It was even unlawful to wash. . . .In addition to this, even that distinctive ceremony which the Jews regarded as characteristic of their people, the rite of circumcision, we now know was a Chal- dean custom long before Abram left his Chaldean home." — Religious Systems of the World, p. 24. Although the decalogue forbids the making of any graven images, the cherubim was copied after the Babylonian god, being a bull with a man's face. Afterward the Jews were in captivity to the Babylonians, and no doubt they assimilated much of their theology, if there was anything they had the Jews had not received of them. Long before the appearance of Jesus, the land of Judea, and in fact all Asia and much of Europe, had been overspread with Buddhism, Mithraism, to say nothing of the various Greek and Roman cults which had been planted in the country by their captors, and all but the Buddhists celebrated Christmas as the natal day of one or more of their deities. Christianity absorbed then, not only their Christmas, but many of the other days sacred to their gods or demigods, with the gods themselves who became the saints in the Christian church. To illustrate, this is the 21st of September, the shortest day of the year, and is known in our calendar as St. Thomas' day. But St. Thomas is the Christian name given to Tamuz, who was Adonis in other days of the year. When the sun got down on this day to the lowest part of his journey, it seemed doubtful whether he should ever rise again. He was then in a hell, and unlike hell in this respect his fires were nearly extinct. This was called the death of Adonis, who had been slain by the wild boar of the woods who had inflicted five wounds corresponding to the five winter months. Because of this hopeless condition, Tamuz presided over that day. After the conversion of the Mithraists to Christianity, or more properly, alter the conversion of Christianity to Mithraism. this Phoenician deity was metamorphosed to St. Thomas, and the 21st of December was made his day, because he doubted whether his Lord would ever rise agaiu. So of the other days of the Saints calendar. 283 WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? Take another illustration: Our Easter is no more a Chris- tian institution than is Christmas, or St. Thomas' day. It comes at about the same time of year that the Jews used to celebrate the Passover, and a transition was made from one to the other, because the nations and cults all about were celebrating that day as the resurrection day of the sun, it having risen above the equator before the commencement of the moon in which Easter was celebrated. The word Easter signifies rising, as the spirit rises from liquor or as yeast swells up. A discussion of this word would be very profit- able if it were in place here. The Germans called this Easter, Oster and it celebrated the rising of a god who had gone down into death at the winter solstice. Then there comes the "Christian Sabbath," another day derived from our pagan predecessors. There is not a scin- tilla of authority for the sanctity of this day. It was not even recognized by the early Christians when their pagan neighbors all about them were observing it. To illustrate, the Gentiles came to Paul and Barnabas after the Jews had gone out of the synagogue and desired them to preach to them the same words the next Sabbath. They should have said, "No, to-morrow is Lord's day, it is the day you respect and we have accepted that day as the Christian Sabbath, and we will preach to you to-morrow." No; this day did not come to be a Christian Sabbath until after Constantine's so- called conversion to Christianity. It was then enforced by a decree. When Constantine went over from Paganism to Christianity, he took with him nearly all the rites and cere- monies with the doctrines of the cult he had previously rev- erenced. In all mythology, a god is born on the 24th of December precisely at midnight, because at that time the sun has made progress sufficient toward the north, that assurance is given that he will not forever desert us. If you had put a stake in the ground to-day, it being the shortest day of the year, and marked the length of its shadow, and then on the 25th again measured its shadow, you would discover that the shadow had shortened a little, indicating that the sun had moved northward. The sun then became Horus in Egypt, because he had been a great and good king way back in very early times and had avenged his father Osiris' death, who had been slain by his brother Set, who afterward became our Satan, borrowed as you can see from the Egyptians. WHENCE OUR CHRISTMAS? 289 All these kings went up in the sky where they had houses, and when the sun passed through their houses he took upon himself their name. Thus we have Horus born upon the 24th of December, just as the constellation Virgo is rising, and the time of his birth is known by the appearance above the horizon of the star Vindimatrix which in these times was precisely at midnight. As she rises a little higher another star appears known as Spika Virginus. It is in the right hand of the virgin, and she is always represented as holding a spike of corn in it, a prophecy of the coming of another season's harvest. Now you will notice in those apocryphal chapters in Matthew and Luke that Jesus was born in Beth- lehem — that is, in the "House of Corn." You see those edit- ors of Matthew and Luke were quite anxious to make Jesus fit the birthplace of the Gods. But I was going to say that the kings and priests of early times became gods at their death and presided over the destinies of their nations as they had done in earth-life. You understand now how it was that Jehovah who elected himself god of Israel was jealous of the other gods and prohibited necromancy. The apocryphal accounts of Matthew and Luke have Jesus born in a stable. Mithra was born in a cave which was used as a stable, so that it was necessary that Jesus who was to supplant him should be born in a stable. Nearly all gods and demogods (take notice not demigods, but demogods, half man and half god) were born in stables or caves, or some lowly place. The sun is represented as entering Cap- ricornus the house of the goat on the 21st of December, hav- ing left the house of Sagittarius or the half horse, half man sign on the 21st of November. Now the houses of horses and cattle you all know are called stables, just such a place as it represented Jesus was born in. But right here, I want to put in a bit of explanation, and then you will understand how it comes that some of the ani- mals represented in the zodiac are considered sacred. In its apparent motion around the zodiac, the sun falls behind about 50 seconds. That is, a solar year is about 50 seconds longer than a siderial year. So you see that losing that much time each year after awhile would amount to several hours, and in a few hundred years it would be several months, and finally years. This is called the precession of the equinox. You can thus see that if the sun ontrred Cap- rfcornue at the birth of Jesus it would he 95,100 seconds later entering the same sign this y dependently, while the menace of hell fire forever has fright- ened the people from new ideas as from poisoned food. Moreover, the forcing of impossible and absurd propositions upon the intelligence as holy mysteries and as absolutely es- sential both to morality and salvation has perverted their rationality and left them mere puppets in the hands of their exploiters. Flying from one saint to another; seeking now the intervention of this Virgin, and now of that; invoking to-day one martyr and to-morrow another; on a pilgrimage now to one holy relic or grave, and then to another, but al- ways with the dead, the poor people have neither the leisure nor the taste left for science, the honest study of the laws of nature, without a knowledge of which all the supernatu- ral powers can be no more than were noise and rattle to us. Instead of learning and trying to help himself, the Moham- medan or the Catholic is praying to be helped. Petronius remarks in one of his letters that there were so many gods in Rome that there was no room left for men. In the Catho- lic and Moslem countries the gods and departed saints do everything, leaving for man only to believe. But there is no evidence that the gods have ever hurt a man or ever helped him; it is superstition which cramps man's energies, and science which expands his mind and trains his hands. A people who fear remain children, and without science people must ever dwell in fear. The northern or protestant nations are not hurt to the same extent by their religious beliefs, because their loyalty to these beliefs is only nominal. It is a shocking admission to make, but it is nevertheless true, that the secret of the comparative freedom of protestant peoples from the bad ef- fects of their creeds is that they are insincere. The prot- estants only profess, while the Mohammedans and Catholics believe and tremble. When Bishop Colenso had finished fit- ting up a house for a British eighteen-pounder, the Zulus who had often heard him preach that they must put their ultimate trust in the good God, asked him why he reserved a part of his for the English cannon. But that is English; to profess faith in God, but to keep close to the cannon. James Nasmyth, the founder of the steam hammer, speaks of an announcement posted on the walls of Edinburgh streets before the day of railroads which illustrates perfectly the radical difference between the northern and the southern Asiatic mind. The notice read: "The coach would set out THE ABYSMAL MONSTER. 327 from the Grass Market ilka Tuesday at Twa o'clock in the day, God Wullin, but whether or no on Wednesday." The Protestants intend to let God have his own way until Tues- day, but after that they will take the reins in their own hands. Their deference to the supernatural is partial and insincere and, terrible as it may sound, it is to this fact — a fact which makes hypocrites and Pharisees of them, that they owe whatever progress they have made in knowl- edge and civilization It would never have entered the mind of a Moslem that he would start on a journey on Tuesday, God willing, but whether or no, on Wednesday — he is too much of a slave and a coward for that; he is too consistent, and that is why he remains a fool. A stupid people are worse than an insin- cere, hypocritical people, for while the latter may be con- verted to honesty, the former are past redemption. A stupid world would be infinitely less interesting even than a wicked world, for the one manifests an energy that might some day be put to better uses, while the other has the smell of the grave about it. It is the inconsistency or insincerity of the Protestant, his make-believe loyalty to re- ligious dogmas he has imported from Asia, and which are alien to his native genius, that enables him to replace in all practical affairs, superstition by science and "faith" by a scientific force of intelligence which he applies to the prob- lems of life. But even the orthodox Catholic and the Mos- lem are not free from religious insincerity altogether. So long as religious practices and dogmas refuse to respect the rights of reason, hypocrisy, insincerity and inconstancy will continue to taint the thought and conduct of a people how- ever submissive. It is a pity that I am compelled to say that I would rather have my neighbor insincere than orthodox. Heavens! if he really believed in all his dogmas and made an effort to live up to them, and succeeded, the world would not last very long. There is to-day such athing as tolerance in the world, and human love and sympathy, because the people who be- lieve they have the infallible word of God, which alone con- tains the truth and without which no one can be saved, do not really mean what they say. If people actually believed that unbelief was a crime to be punished by eternal torture which of us could walk the streets safely? Science, art, philosophy and material progress have become possible only 328 THE ABYSMAL MONSTER. through the aging of religion which is no longer young or vig- orous or sincere enough to fight or persecute. In conclusion, the Turks, seven-eighths of whose life is re- ligious, who eat and sleep and trade and fight only "in the name of God," and the Catholic nations of Southern Europe who have no end of churches and crucifixes, Cararra marble Virgins and painted saints, bronze popes, alabaster Christs and Madonnas with diamonds for eyes, and who are more in- terested in purgatory than in life, are the most backward peoples in Christendom. To be saved — that is to say, to have the means for a de- cent and useful life, ennobled by the untiring pursuit of lib* erty and the service of justice and truth — which alone spell national progress and happiness — the priest must become a teacher, the church a school, and the locust cloud of saints and saviors make room for men. If my story has given anyone pain to hear, it has given me more pain to tell it. "Rough work, iconoclasm," says Oliver Wendell Holmes, "but it is the only way to get at the truth." To make sport of what my neighbor considers sacred, is far from my intention ; but neither can I agree to give my silent consent to what I consider degrading superstitions. I must respect my neighbor's feelings and not call his gods idols, but is he respecting my feelings when he calls his crude and unrefined beliefs the only infallible religion in the world to reject which is to be a criminal before God and man! I say is he respecting my feelings when he denounces me as an in- fidel because I cannot conscientiously subscribe to his creed! I have spoken in love, in sadness and heaviness of heart against ignorant beliefs and practices because they poison the air and stifle the breath of humanity and because without them the world would be so much clearer and sweeter. "Pray not; the darkness will not brighten! Ask naught from the silence, for it cannot speak! Vex not your mournful minds with pious pains; Ah, brothers, sisters! Seek Naught from the helpless gods by gift and hymn, Nor bribe with blood, nor feed with fruit and cakes; Within yourselves deliverance must be sought." Invisible Helpers. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience, by C. W. Lead beater, the Great Psychic, of London, England, GUARDIAN ANGELS— SPECIAL INTERVENTIONS— NA- TURE-SPIRITS OR FAIRIES— ADEPTS, OR MASTERS OF WISDOM— LIVING AND "DEAD" HELPERS— WHAT THE HELPERS CAN DO— HELPING THE "DEAD"— HELPING DURING SLEEP. To my mind it is one of the most beautiful points about our Theosophical teaching that it gives back to a man all the most useful and helpful beliefs of the religions which he has outgrown. There are many who, though they feel that they cannot bring themselves to accept much that they used to take as a matter of course, nevertheless look back with a certain amount of regret to some of the prettier ideas of their mental childhood. They have come up out of the twi- light into»fuller light, and they are thankful for the fact, and they could not return into their former attitude if they would; yet some of ihe dreams of the twilight were lovely, and the fuller light seems sometimes a little hard in com- parison with its softer tints. Theosophy comes to their rescue here, and shows them that all the glory and the beauty and the poetry, glimpses of which they used dimly to catch in their twilight, exists as a living reality, and that in- stead of disappearing before the noonday glow, its splendor will be only the more vividly displayed thereby. But our teaching gives them back their poetry on quite a new basis — a basis of scientific fact instead of uncertain tradition. A very good example of such a belief is to be found under our title of "Invisible Helpers." There are many graceful tra- 330 INVISIBLE HELPERS. ditions of spiritual guardianship and angelic intervention which we should all very much like to believe if we could only see our way to accept them rationally, and I hope to- night to explain to you that to a very large extent we may do this. The belief in such interventions is a very old one. Among the earliest Indian legends we find accounts of the occa- sional appearance of minor deities at critical points in hu- man affairs; the Greek epics are full of similar stories, and in the history of Rome itself we read how the heavenly twins, Castor and Pollux, led the armies of the infant repub- lic at the battle of Lake Regillus. In mediaeval days St. James is recorded to have led the Spanish troops to victory, and there are many tales of angels who watched over the pious wayfarer, or interfered at the right moment to protect him from harm. "Merely a popular superstition," the supe- rior person will say; perhaps, but wherever we encounter a popular superstition which is widely-spread and persistent, we almost invariably find some kernel of truth behind it — distorted and exaggerated often, yet a truth still. And this is a case in point. GUARDIAN ANGELS. Most religions speak to men of guardian angels, who stand by them in times of sorrow and trouble; and Christianity was no exception to this rule. But for its sins there came upon Christendom the blight which by an extraordinary inver- sion of truth was called the Reformation, and in that ghastly upheaval very much was lost that for the majority of us has not even yet been regained. That terrible abuses existed, and that a reform was needed in the church I should be the last to deny; yet surely the reformation was a very heavy judgment for the sins which had preceded it. What is called Protestantism has emptied and darkened the world for its votaries, for among many strange and gloomy false- hoods it has endeavored to propagate the theory that noth. ing exists to occupy the infinity of stages between the divine and the human. It offers us the amazing conception of a constant capricious interference by the ruler of the universe with the working of his own laws and the result of his own decrees, and this usually at the request of his creatures, who are apparently supposed to know better than he what is good for them. It would be impossible, if one could ever come to believe this, to divest one's mind of the idea that INVISIBLE HELPERS. 331 such interference might be, and indeed must be, partial and unjust. In Theosophy we have no such thought, for, as I said in a previous lecture, we hold the belief in perfect Di- vine justice, and therefore we recognize that there can be no intervention unless the person involved has deserved such help. Even then, it would come to him through agents, and never by direct divine interposition. We know from our study, and many of us from our experience also that many intermediate stages exist between the human and the di- vine. The old belief in angels and archangels is justified by the facts, for just as there are various kingdoms below hu- manity, so there are also kingdoms above it in evolution. We find next above us, holding much the same position with regard to us that we in turn hold to the animal kingdom, the great kingdom of the devas or angels, and above them again an evolution which has been called that of the Dhyan Cho- hans (though the names given to these orders matter little) and so onward and upward to the very feet of Divinity. All is one graduated life, from the Logos Himself to the very dust beneath our feet — one long ladder, of which humanity occupies only one of the steps. There are many steps below us and above us, and every one of them is occupied. It would indeed be absurd for us to suppose that we constitute the highest possible form of development — the ultimate achieve- ment of evolution. The occasional appearance among hu- manity of men much further advanced shows us our next stage, and furnishes us with an example to follow. Men such as the Buddha and the Christ, and many other lesser teachers, exhibit before our eyes a grand ideal towards which we may work, however far from its attainment we may find ourselves at the present moment. SPECIAL INTERVENTIONS. If special interventions in human affairs occasionally take place, is it then to the angelic hosts that we may look as the probable agents employed in them? Perhaps sometimes, but very rarely, for these higher beings have their own work to do, connected with their place in the mighty scheme of things, and they are little likely either to notice or to inter- fere with us. Man is unconsciously so extraordinarily con* ceited that he is prone to think that all the greater powers in the universe ought to be watching over him, and ready to help him whenever he suffers through his own folly or ignor- ance. He forgets that he is not engaged in acting as a 332 INVISIBLE HELPERS. beneficent providence to the kingdoms below him, or going out of his way to look after and help the wild animals. Sometimes he plays to them the part of the orthodox devil, and breaks into their innocent and harmless lives with tor- ture and wanton destruction, merely to gratify his own de- graded lust of cruelty, which he chooses to denominate "sport"; sometimes he holds animals in bondage, and takes a certain amount of care of them, but it is only that they may work for him — not that he may forward their evolution in the abstract. How can he expect from those above him a type of supervision which he is so very far from giving to those below him? It may well be that the angelic kingdom goes about its own business, taking little more notice of us than we take of the sparrows in the trees. It may now and then happen that a deva becomes aware of some human sorrow or difficulty which moves his pity, and he may try to help us, just as we might try to assist an animal in distress; but cer- tainly his wider vision would recognize the fact that at the present stage of evolution such interpositions would in the vast majority of cases be productive of infinitely more harm than good. In the far-distant past, man was frequently as- sisted by these non-human agencies, because then there were none as yet among our infant humanity capable of taking the lead as teachers; but now that we are attaining our adoles- cence, we are supposed to have arrived at a stage when we can provide leaders and helpers from among our own ranks. NATURE-SPIRITS OR FAIRIES. There is another kingdom of nature of which little is known — that of nature-spirits or fairies. Here again popu- lar tradition has preserved a trace of the existence of an order of beings unknown to science. They have been spoken of under many names — pixies, gnomes, kobolds, brownies, sylphs, undines, good people, etc., and there are few lands in whose folk-lore they do not play a part. They are beings possessing either astral or etheric bodies, and consequently it is only rarely and under peculiar circumstances that they become visible to man. They usually avoid his neighbor- hood, for they dislike his wild outbursts of passion and de- sire, so that when they are seen it is generally in some lone- ly spot, and by some mountaineer or shepherd whose work takes him far from the busy haunts of the crowd. It has sometimes happened that one of these creatures has become attached to some human being, and devoted himself to his INVISIBLE HELPERS. 333 service, as will be found in stories of the Scottish Highlands ; but as a rule intelligent assistance is hardly to be expected from entities of this class. ADEPTS, OR MASTERS OF WISDOM. Then there are the great adepts, the Masters of Wisdom — men like ourselves, yet so much more highly evolved that to us they seem as gods in power, in wisdom and in compas- sion. Their whole life is devoted to the work of helping evo- lution; would they therefore be likely to intervene some, times in human affairs? Possibly occasionally, but only very rarely, because they have other and far greater work to do. The ignorant sometimes have suggested that the Adepts ought to come down into our great towns and suc- cor the poor — the ignorant, I say, because only one who is exceedingly ignorant and incredibly presumptuous would ever venture to criticise thus the action of those so infinitely wiser and greater than himself. The sensible and modest ■man would realize that what they did they must have good reason for doing, and that for him to blame them would be the height of stupidity and ingratitude. They have their own work, on planes far higher than we can reach; they deal directly with the souls of men, and - shine upon them as sunlight upon a flower, drawing them upwards and onwards, and filling them with power and life; and that is a grander work by far than healing or caring for or feeding their bod- ies, good though this also may be in its place. To employ them in working on the physical plane would be a waste of force infinitely greater than it would be to set our most learned men of science to the labor of breaking stones upon the road, upon the plea that that was a physical work for the good of all, while scientific work was not immediately profit- able to the poor! It is not from the Adept that physical in- tervention is likely to come, for he is far more usefully em- ployed. LIVING AND "DEAD" HELPERS. There are two classes from whom it does come, and in both cases they are men like ourselves, and not far removed from our own level. The first class consists of those whom we call dead. We think of them as far away, but that is a delusion; they are very near us, and though in their new life they cannot usually see our physical bodies, they can and do see our astral vehicles, and therefore they know all our 334 INVISIBLE HELPERS. feelings and emotions. So they know when we are in trouble, and when we need help, and it sometimes happens that they are able to give it. Here, then, we have an enor- mous number of possible helpers, who may occasionally in. tervene in human affairs. Occasionally, but not very often; for the dead man is all the while steadily withdrawing into himself, and therefore passing rapidly out of touch with earthly things ; and the most highly developed, and therefore the most helpful of men are precisely those who must pass away from earth most quickly. Still there are undoubted cases in which the dead have intervened in human affairs; indeed, perhaps such cases are more numerous than we im- agine, for in very many of them the work done would be only the putting of a suggestion into the mind of some person still living on the physical plane, and he might well remain uncon- scious of the source of his happy inspiration. Sometimes, but comparatively rarely, it is necessary for the dead man's purpose that he should show himself, and it is only then that we who are so blind are aware of his loving thought for us. Besides, he cannot always show himself at will; there may be many times when he tries to help, but is unable to do so, and we all the time know nothing of his offer. Still there are such cases, and some of them will be found recounted in my book on "The Other Side of Death." The second class among which helpers may be found con- sists of those who are able to function consciously upon the astral plane while still living — or perhaps we had better say, while still in the physical body, for the words "living" and "dead" are in reality ludicrously misapplied in ordinary par- lance. It is we, immeshed as we are in this physical matter, buried in the dark and noisome mist of earth-life, blinded by the heavy veil that shuts out from us so much of the light and the glory that are shining around us — it is surely we who are the dead; not those who, having cast off for the time the burden of the flesh, stand amongst us radiant, rejoicing, strong, so much freer, so much more capable than we. These who, while still in the physical world, have learnt to use their astral bodies, and in some cases their mental bodies also, are usually the pupils of the great Adepts be- fore-mentioned. They cannot do the work which the Master does, for their powers are not developed; they cannot yet function freely on those lofty planes where he can produce INVISIBLE HELPERS. 335 such magnificent results ; but they can do something at lower levels, and they are thankful to serve in whatever way he thinks best for them, and to undertake such work as is with- in their power. So sometimes it happens that they see some human trouble or suffering which they are able to alleviate, and they gladly try to do what they can. They are often able to help both the living and the dead, but it must always be remembered that they work under conditions. When such power and such training are given to a man, they are given to him under restrictions. He must never use them selfishly, never display them to gratify curiosity, never em- ploy them to pry into the business of others, never give what at Spiritualistic seances are called tests — that is to say, he must never do anything which can be proved as a phe- nomenon on the physical plane. He might if he chose take a message to a dead man, but it would be beyond his prov- ince to bring back a reply from the dead to the living, unless it were under direct instructions from his Master. Thus the band of invisible helpers does not constitute itself into a detective office, nor into an astral information bureau, but it simply and quietly does such work as is given to it to do, or as comes in its way. Sometimes people have thought that to give help in this way might be wrong, lest one should interfere with the work- ing of the great law of Divine Justice. That is indeed a strange idea — to suppose that man could interfere with the Law. We all know how it often happens that we try with all our strength to help some fellow-man, yet we are unable to do any real good to him. There is clearly a case in which it was not in the man's destiny that he should be helped, and so it was not possible to do anything for him. Even then our effort has not been lost, though it has not produced precisely the effect that we intended. The attempt has still done great good to us, and we may be sure that it has also done something for him whom we tried to help, though what we wished could not be achieved just as we wished it. It is quite true that none can suffer except by his own fault, and that in every sorrow he is working out the result of some crime of long ago. But that is no reason for any relaxation of our effort to help him. For anything that we know, he may just have come to the end of the necessary suffering, he may just have paid his debt, and may be just at the point where a helping hand can lift him out of the mire of de- 336 INVISIBLE HELPERS. pression. Why should not ours be the hand to do the good deed? We need never have the slightest fear that our puny attempts will interfere with Nature's laws or cause the least embarrassment to those who administer them. Let us see how a man is able to do such work and give such help as we have described, so that we may understand what are the limits of this power, and see how we ourselves may to some extent attain it. We must first think how a man leaves his body in sleep. He abandons the physical body, in order that it may have complete rest; but he him- self, the soul, needs no rest, for he feels no fatigue. It is only the physical body that ever becomes tired. When we speak of mental fatigue, it is in reality a misnomer, for it is the brain and not the mind that is tired. In sleep, then, the man is simply using his astral body instead of his physical, and it is only that body that is asleep, not the man himself. If we were to examine a sleeping savage with clairvoyant sight, indeed, we might probably find that he was nearly as much asleep as his body — that he had very little definite consciousness in the astral vehicle which he would be inhab- iting. He would be unable to move away from the immedi- ate neighborhood of the sleeping physical body, and if an at- tempt were made to draw him away he would wake in terror. If we examine a more civilized man, as for example one of ourselves, we shall find a very great difference. In this case the man in his astral body will be by no means uncon- scious, but quite actively thinking. Nevertheless, he may be taking very little more notice of his surroundings than the savage, though not at all for the same reason. The savage was incapable of seeing; the civilized man is so wrapped up in his own thought that he does not see, though he could. He has behind him the immemorial custom of a long series of lives in which the astral faculties have not been used, for these faculties have been gradually and slowly growing iDside a shell, something as a chicken grows inside the egg. The shell is composed of the great mass of self -centered thought in which the ordinary man is so hopelessly en- tombed*. Whatever may have been the thoughts chiefly en- gaging his mind during the past day, he usually continues them when falling asleep, and he is thus surrounded by so dense a wall of his own making that he practically knows nothing of what is going on outside. Occasionally, nut very rarely, some violent impact from without, or some strong desire of his own from within, may tear aside this curtain of INVISIBLE HELPERS. 337 mist for the moment and permit him to receive some definite impression; but even then the fog closes in again almost im- mediately, and he dreams on unobservantly as before. Can he be awakened, you will say? Yes, that may happen to him in four different ways. First, in the far-distant future the slow but sure evolution of the man will undoubt- edly gradually dissipate the curtain of mist. Secondly, the man himself, having learnt the facts of the case, may by steady and persistent effort clear away the mist from within, and by degrees overcome the inertia resulting from ages of inactivity. He may resolve before going to sleep to try when he leaves his body to awaken himself and see something. This is merely a hastening of the natural process and there will be no harm in it if the man has previously developed common sense and the moral qualities. If these are defect- ive, he may come very sadly to grief, for he runs the double danger of misusing such powers as he may acquire, and of being overwhelmed by fear in the presence of forces which he can neither understand nor control. Thirdly, it has some- times happened that some accident, or some unlawful use of magical ceremonies, has so rent the veil that it can never wholly be closed again. In such a case the man may be left in the terrible condition so well described by Madame Bla- vatsky in her story of "A Bewitched Life," or by Lord Lytton in his powerful novel "Zanoni." Fourthly, some friend who knows the man thoroughly, and believes him capable of facing the dangers of the astral plane and doing good un- selfish work there, may act upon this cloud-shell from with- out and gradually arouse the man to his higher possibilities. But he will never do this unless he feels absolutely sure of him, of his courage and devotion and of his possession of the necessary qualifications for good work. If he should in all these ways be judged satisfactory, he may thus be in- vited and enabled to join the band of helpers. WHAT HELPERS CAN DO. Now as to the work that such helpers can do. I have given many illustrations of this in the little book whlcn I have written, bearing the same title as this lecture, so I will not repeat those stories now, but rather give you a few leading ideas as to the different types of work which are most usu- ally done. Naturally it is of varied kinds, and most of it is not in any way physical; perhaps it may best be divided into work with the living, and work with the dead. 338 INVISIBLE HELPERS. The giving of comfort and consolation in sorrow or sick- ness at once suggests itself as a comparatively easy task, and one that could constantly be performed without anyone knowing who did it. Then it often happens that persons are in some perplexity, that they go to sleep at night with some unsolved problem in their minds; and in such a case a solu- tion may sometimes be suggested, or they may be helped to a right decision. Not that anything may ever be done to bias or influence the mind of any person; we must not think of the helper as a mesmerist. It would be easier than you could possibly imagine for him to influence almost any mind in any direction he wished, yet to do so would be a violation of one of the strictest rules of his work. He may present his case to the mind of the man who is in doubt; he may state his opinion and argue in favor of it; but he must never ex- ercise his will-power to force the man to yield, even though he may be well aware that disaster will follow if his counsel is not accepted. But there are many earnest seekers who are really anxious for light, and to give them as much as they are able to bear is one of the greatest pleasures of the helper. Suggestions may be made, and constantly are made to writers, preachers, poets, artists, as to the subjects they should take, or the way in which they should treat them— of course without any knowledge on the part of the recipi- ent of the source of his inspiration. Indeed, he usually thinks himself a very clever fellow to have such new and original ideas; but that does not matter in the least, for no helper wishes to take credit for anything that he does. If he had such a feeling of self-glorification, he would be quite unfit for the position of a helper. Many and many a time has such a helper stood beside a preacher or a writer, and put before his mind a somewhat wider or more liberal view of his subject than he had had previously; and though some- times it is impossible to get this accepted, yet in most cases at any rate something of it comes through to the physical plane. Often efforts are made to patch up quarrels — to effect a reconciliation between those who long have been separated by some difference of opinions or of interests. Sometimes it has been possible to warn men of some great danger which impended over their heads, and thus to avert an accident. There have been cases in which this has been done even with regard to a purely physical matter, though more gener- INVISIBLE HELPERS. 339 ally it is against the moral danger that such warnings are given. Occasionally, though rarely, it has been permissible to offer a solemn warning to one who was leading an im- moral life, and so to help him back into the path of rectitude. If they happen to know of a time of special trouble for a friend, they will endeavor to stand by him through it, and to give him strength and comfort. In great catastrophes, too, there is often much that can be done by those whose work is unrecognized by the outer world. Sometimes it may be permitted that some one or two persons may be saved ; and so it comes that in accounts of terrible wholesale destruction we hear now and then of escapes which are esteemed miraculous. But this is only when among those who are in danger there is one who is not to die in that way — one who owes to the divine law no debt that can be paid in that fashion. In the great majority of cases all that can be done is to make some effort to impart strength and courage to face what must happen, and then afterwards to meet the souls as they arrive upon the astral plane, and welcome and assist them there. HELPING THE "DEAD." This brings us to the consideration of what is by far the greatest and most important part of the work — the helping of the dead. Before we can understand this we must throw aside altogether the ordinary clumsy and erroneous ideas about death and the condition of the dead. They are not far away from us, they are not suddenly entirely changed, they have not become angels or demons. They are just hu- man beings, exactly such as they were before, neither betteF nor worse, and they stand close by us still, sensitive to our feelings and our thoughts even more than of yore. We must get rid of that strange old delusion that the dead man's fate is somehow sealed, and that nothing more can now be done for him. There are absolutely, strange as it may seem, hundreds of people who really believe that while thev may think of and pray for their friends while they are in physical life, the moment those friends are dead it becomes not only useless but even wicked to pray for them or think lovingly of them. It may well seem incredible that any hu- man being can hold such an insane doctrine, yet it is as- suredly a fact that there are still in this twentieth century those who are hide-bound by this strange superstition. The truth is exactly the opposite, for it is precisely when he is 340 INVISIBLE HELPERS. dead that the man can most easily feel and profit by the good and loving thoughts and prayers of his friends. He has not then the heavy physical body to shut him away from sympathy with them ; he is living in the astral body, which is the very vehicle of emotion, and so he feels every touch of it and instantly responds to it. That is why uncontrolled grief for the dead is so wrong as well as so selfish. The dead man feels every emotion which passes through the heart of his loved ones and if they uncomprehendingly give way to sorrow, that throws a corresponding cloud of depres- sion over him, and makes his way harder than it need be if his friends had been better taught. So there is much help that may be given to the dead in very many ways. First of all, many of them — indeed, most of dthem — need much explanation with regard to the new world in which they find themselves. Their religion ought to have taught them what to expect, and how to live amid these new conditions ; but in most cases it has not done any- thing of the kind. The hideous falsehoods circulated so in- dustriously with regard to hell-fire and other theological hor- rors do far more injury on the other side of the grave even than they do on this — and that is saying a great deal, for even on this plane they are the curse of many lives. Once more, though to a reasoning being it may seem incredible, there really are people who do believe this grotesque and cruel absurdity. They have been taught that unless they were superhumanly good (and they generally realize that they have not been that) they were in danger of a sulphure- ous future; and often there were also impossible conditions of faith attached to "salvation" which they can never be sure that they have perfectly fulfilled. So it comes that very many of them are in a condition of considerable uneasiness, and others of positive terror. They need to be soothed and comforted, for when they encounter the dreadful thought- forms which they and their kind have been making for cen. turies — thoughts of a personal devil and an angry and cruel deity — they are often reduced to a pitiable state of fear, which is not only exceedingly unpleasant, but very bad for their evolution; and it often costs the helper much time and trouble to bring them into a more reasonable frame of mind. There are men to whom this entry into a new life seems to give for the first time an opportunity to see themselves as they really are, and some of them are therefore filled with remorse. Here again the helper's services are needed to ex- INVISIBLE HELPERS. 341 plain that what is past is past, and that the only effective re- pentance is the resolve to do this thing no more — that what- ever he may have done, he is not a lost soul, but that he must simply begin from where he finds himself, and try to live the true life for the future. Some of them cling pas- sionately to earth, where all their thought and interest have been fixed, and they suffer much when they find themselves losing hold and sight of it. Others are earth-bound by the thought of crimes that they have committed, or duties that they have left undone, while others in turn are worried about the condition of those whom they have left behind. All these are cases which need explanation, and sometimes it is also necessary for the helper to take steps on the physical plane in order to carry out the wishes of the dead man, and so leave him free and untroubled to pass on to higher matters. People are inclined to look at the dark side of Spiritualism; but we must never forget that it has done an enormous amount of good in this sort of work — in giving to the dead an opportunity to arrange their affairs after a sudden and un- expected departure. A man may sometimes be rescued from evil companions after death, just as he may be during life. Men are of all types, and there are those who, instead of feeling remorse about their evil deeds, endeavor as far as they can to resume or to continue them. The man who has haunted dens of vice during life not infrequently continues to do so after his loss of the physical body. Definite teaching of all sorts may be given to the dead, which will be of the greatest use to him, not only with regard to the life which he is then living, but with regard to his whole future in lives yet to come. I know how hard it is for many of you to grasp the reality of the thing, to understand how near to us the dead are, and how completely the helper can speak to them and deal with them as though they were still physical. Many people feel it to be impossible, and they ask us for proof that it is so. I do not know how you can obtain proof except by studying these mat- ters for yourselves, by examining patiently the evidence, and, ultimately, by developing in yourselves the power to see and hear all this for yourselves. Those of us to whom all this is a matter of daily experience hardly care to argue about it. If a blind man came up to you and earnestly tried to per- suade you that there was no such thing as sight, and that if you believed that you saw, you were suffering under an un- 342 INVISIBLE HELPERS. fortunate hallucination, you would be polite to him, but you would not feel anxious to waste much time in arguing with him. You would say, "I do see, and daily experience shows me that I do ; another man's belief or unbelief does not affect the fact." I think the skeptic sometimes forgets that we are not proselytizing, and that if he cannot believe, no one but himself is the loser. It is a fact, then, that much direct teaching can be given the dead. He will not carry over details into his next earth- life, but he will nevertheless have the knowledge stored up in his soul, so that when it is next presented to him on the physical plane, he will at once grasp it, and intuitively recog- nize that it is true. Another point is that of the rearrange- ment of the astral body by the desire-elemental; I have no time to go into the detail of that process now, but it is one which retards the man's progress in the after-death states, and the helper can show him how to avoid its difficulties. HELPING DURING SLEEP. It is surely a happy thought that the time of much-needed repose for the body is not necessarily a period of inactivity for the true man within. I used at one time to feel that the time given to sleep was sadly wasted time; now I understand that Nature does not so mismanage her affairs as to lose one- third of the man's life. Of course there are qualifications required for this work; but I have given them so carefully and at length in my little book on the subject that I need only just mention them here. First, he must be one-pointed, and the work of helping others must be ever the first and highest duty for him. Secondly, he must have perfect self- control — control over his temper and his nerves. He must never allow his emotions to interfere with his work in the slighest degree; he must be above anger, and above fear. Thirdly, he must have perfect calmness, serenity and joy- ousness. Men subject to depression and worry are useless, for one great part of their work would be to soothe and to calm others, and how could they do that if they were all the time in a whirl of excitement or worry themselves? Fourthly, the man must have knowledge; he must have al- ready learnt down here on this plane all that he can about the other, for he cannot expect that men there will waste valuable time in teaching him what he might have acquired for himself. Fifthly, he must be perfectly unselfish. He must be above the foolishness of wounded feelings, and must INVISIBLE HELPERS. 343 think not of himself but of the work that he has to do, so that he will be glad to take the humblest duty without con- ceit or envy. Sixthly, he must have a heart filled with love- not sentimentalism but the intense desire to serve, to be- come a channel for that love of God which, like the peace oil God, passeth man's understanding. You may think that this is an impossible standard; on the contrary, it is attainable by every man. It will take time to reach it, but assuredly it will be time well spent. Do not turn away disheartened, but set to work here and now, and strive to become fit for this glorious task, and while we are striving, do not let us wait idly, but try to undertake some little piece of work along the same lines. Every one knows some case of sorrow or distress, whether among the living or the dead does not matter; if you know such a case, take it into your mind when you lie down to sleep, and resolve as soon as you are free from this body to go to that person and endeavor to comfort him. You may not be conscious of the result, you may not remember anything of it in the morning ; but be well assured that your resolve will not be fruitless, and that whether you remember what you have done or not, you will be quite sure to have done something. Some day sooner or later you will find evidence that you have been successful. Remember that as we help, we can be helped; remember that from the lowest to the highest we are bound together by one long chain of mutual service, and that although we stand on the lower steps of the ladder, it reaches up above these earthly mists to where the light of God is always shining. Clairvoyance- -What It Is. A Lecture Delivered Before a Chicago Audience, by C. W. Leadbeater, the Great Psychic, of London, England, NOTHING UNCANNY ABOUT CLAIRVOYANCE— UN- SEEN WORLD ALL AROUND US— VIBRATIONS— ETHERIC PHYSICAL MATTER— THE ASTRAL LIGHT —VISIONS PRESENTED TO DIFFERENT PERSONS- CONDITIONS OF PHYSICAL MATTER— FOUR-DI MEN- SIONAL SIGHT— SUPERIOR REALITY OF THE HIGHER WORLD. Clairvoyance is in its origin a French word, signifying sim- ply "clear seeing," and is properly applied to a certain power or faculty possessed by some men which enables them to see more in various ways than others see, as I shall pres- ently explain. The word has been terribly misused and de- graded, so that it probably presents to your mind a number of ideas of a most unpleasant kind, from which you must free yourselves if you wish to understand what it really is. The term has been employed to designate the tricks of a mountebank at a fair, or the arts whereby an advertising for- tune-teller swindles his dupes; yet in spite of all these un- savory associations it does nevertheless represent a great fact in Nature, and it is of that fact that I wish to speak. It has sometimes been denned as "spiritual vision," but in The- osophy we restrict the use of the word spirit to the very highest that exists in man, and nothing which is commonly called clairvoyance reaches anywhere near that altitude. For our present purposes, then, let us define it as the power to see realms of nature as yet unseen by the majority. CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. 345 I am not seeking to convince skeptics that there is such a thing as clairvoyance. Any one who is still in that condi- tion of ignorance should study the literature of the subject, which contains an immense mass of evidence on the matter ; or, if he prefers it, he may make direct investigations into mesmeric phenomena and the occurrences at Spiritualistic seances on his own account. I am speaking for the better- instructed class of people who have studied the subject sufficiently to know that clairvoyance is a fact, and wish to understand something of how it works. The first great point to comprehend clearly is that there is nothing weird or uncanny about it — that it is a perfectly natural power, really quite normal to humanity when it has evolved a little further, though abnormal to us at present because the ma- jority of men have not yet developed it within themselves. It is only the few who have it as yet, but undoubtedly all the various faculties which are grouped under this head are the common property of the human race, and will be evolved in every one as time goes on. The easiest way to understand it is to look back in thought to the earliest of our series of lectures, in which I spoke of the various planes of Nature, and the fact that man pos- sesses a body corresponding to each of them, by means of which he can observe it and receive vibrations and impres- sions from it. I explained then that these planes are com- posed of matter at different stages of density, and that our physical senses can perceive only the lowest of these stages, and by no means the whole even of that. Since most of us have always lived under the limitations of our physical senses, and have not yet caught a glimpse of the higher pos- sibilities, it is very hard for us to understand how great those limitations are, and to realize what a vast world there is which lies beyond our present capacities. The majority of men are still in the position of being un- able to see the wider world, and so they are very apt to say that it does not exist. That is not sensible, but it seems to be human nature. If there existed a community of blind men — men who had no idea of what was meant by sight, and had never even heard of such a faculty, how would they be likely to feel with regard to a man who came among them and claimed that he could see? They would certainly deny that there could be any such faculty, and if he tried to prove it to them, though they might not be able to account upon their theories for all that he said to them, the one thing cer- 346 CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. tain to their minds would be that there was some trickery somewhere, even though they could not quite see where it lay! That there might really be a power unknown to them would be the very last thing they would be likely to accept. It is exactly the same with the world at large with regard to clairvoyance. There is a mighty unseen world all round us — many worlds in one, indeed, astral, mental and spiritual, each with its own inhabitants, though all are still part of this wonderful evolution in which we live. There are many men now who are able to see this wider life, yet when they speak of it to others, when they try to show them how reasonable and natural it is, they are constantly met by the same silly accusation of imposition and trickery, even though it is quite obvious that they have nothing in the world to gain by mak- ing their assertions. I wish therefore to make it clear from the commence- ment that there is no mystery with regard to clairvoyance— that, wonderful as its results may appear to the uninitiated, it is simply an extension of faculties which we already pos- sess, and think that we understand. All impressions of any kind that we receive from without come to us by means of vibrations of one kind or another. Some are very rapid, as are those by which we see; others are comparatively slow, like those of sound. Out of all the enormous range of pos- sible vibrations very few can affect our physical senses. Those which range between 436 billions and 720 billions per second impress themselves upon our sense of sight; another small group which move much more slowly impress our sense of hearing; others, intermediate between the two ex- tremes, may be appreciated by our sense of touch as heat- rays or rays of electrical action. Some of the slowest of those are used by Marconi in his wonderful wireless teleg- raphy. But among and between all these, and far away above those by which we can see, are myriads of others which produce no effect whatever upon any physical sense. Two whole octaves, as it were, of such vibrations exist just beyond those by which we see, and will impress the sensi-, tive plate of a camera; but there are undoubtedly many other octaves far beyond these in turn which will not im- press the camera. You will observe that man cannot possibly see anything which does not either emit or reflect that sort of light which he can grasp — which comes within the very small set of waves that happen to affect him. There may be very many CLAIRVOYANCE—WHAT IT IS. 347 objects in Nature which are capable of reflecting kinds of light which we cannot see; and from investigation of a differ- ent character we know that there are such objects, and that it is these which the clairvoyant sees. It is simply a ques- tion, therefore, of training oneself to become sensitive to a greater number of vibrations. Now another fact that needs to be considered in this connection is that human beings vary considerably, though within relatively narrow limits, in their capacity of response even to the very few vibrations which are within reach of our physical senses. I am not re- ferring to the keenness of sight or of hearing that enables one man to see a fainter object or hear a slighter sound than another; it is not in the least a question of strength of vis- ion, but of extent of susceptibility. This is a crucial point which any one may test by taking a spectroscope and throw- ing by its means, or by any succession of prisms, a long spec- trum upon a sheet of white paper, and then asking a number of people to mark upon the paper the extreme limits of the spectrum as it appears to them. He is fairly certain to find that their powers of vision differ appreciably. Some will see the violet extending much farther than others; others will perhaps see less violet and more at the red end. A few may be found who can see farther than ordinary at both ends, and these will almost certainly be what we call sensitive people — susceptible, in fact, to a greater range of vibrations than are most men of the present day. There is just the same va- riety with regard to the sense of hearing; and the men who can see and hear more than the rest are just so far on the way towards clairvoyance or clairaudience. You will readily understand that to a man possessing wider sight the world would look very different. Even the slight extension which the Roentgen rays give causes many objects which are opaque to our normal sight to become to a considerable extent transparent; imagine how different everything would look to a man who had by nature even that tiny fragment of clairvoyant power, and then imagine that multiplied a hundred fold, and you will begin to have a slight conception of what it is to be really clairvoyant. Yet that is not a new power, but simply a development of the sight we know. Man has within himself etheric physical matter as well as the denser kind, and he may learn how to focus his consciousness in that, and so receive impressions through it as well as through his ordinary senses. A further extension of the same idea would bring the astral matter into action, 348 CLAIRVOYANCE—WHAT IT IS. and then further on he would be able to receive his im- pressions through even the mental matter. You will see that this idea of the possibility of extension is simple enough, though it is not so easy to imagine the full extent of the re- sults which follow from it. It is true that astral sight is not quite the same thing as the physical faculty, for it needs no special sense-organ. In describing it we have to use the term sight, because that gives the nearest thought to the impression which we wish to convey; but in reality it is more a sort of cognition, which tells us much more than mere sight would tell. The man using astral sight does not need to turn his head when he wishes to see something which is behind him, for the vi- bration can be received by any part of the astral body. One point will naturally occur to the novice in these matters — if the development of these faculties lies in the future for man, their possession by anyone ought to mean that he is highly advanced; yet as a matter of fact we find that such powers are possessed at least to some extent by many backward races, and even by savages, and by the most ignorant people among ourselves, whom it is impossible to suspect of any sort of advancement. The truth is that, though the faculty is there in a way, it is not at all the same thing. There is a downward arc in human evolution as well as an upward arc. As early as the last root-race psychic faculties were visible in man, but in a very vague sort of way, and not fully under his control. Then he commenced the development of intel- lect, and that for the time overpowered the sensitiveness and obscured his other possibilities; but as he evolves he will re- cover all, and much more than all, of that earlier faculty, and this time he will have it with all the advantage of the intel- lectual force behind it, will have it perfectly under control and always at his disposal, and will be able to understand and to see clearly, instead of vaguely feeling and constantly making mistakes One who is properly trained avoids those mistakes, because he has been definitely taught to see and to accustom himself to judge of what he sees. A baby has to acquire by, degrees the power of measuring distance, for at first he obviously does not know how far from him are the objects which he sees; just in the same way the far more complicated process of astral sight needs preparation and training, and without that the man is unreliable. Any per- son, therefore, who finds such faculties opening within him- self should study the subject carefully, and learn CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. 349 ■what has happened to other people along the same line, so that he may profit by their experience. This caution is es- pecially necessary in America, for this is the latest of the races, and in it the psychic faculties are already far more common than in older countries, so that there most emphat- ically these matters should be carefully studied. If a man understands all this, he will not be in anyway alarmed or dis- turbed by the development of this additional sense, but will watch it with interest and calm, critical judgment. The man who knows nothing about it is very liable to be frightened, to mislead himself, and sadly often to mislead others also. How, you will say, does this new sense begin to show it- self? Cases differ very much, so that it is hardly possible to lay down a general rule. Some people begin by a plunge, and under some unusual stimulus become able just for once to see some striking vision; and very often in such a case, because the experience does not repeat itself, the seer comes in time to believe that on that occasion he must have been the victim of hallucination. Others begin by becoming inter- mittently conscious of the brilliant colors and vibrations of the human aura, similar to the illustrations which I give in my book on that subject, "Man Visible and Invisible." Yet others find themselves with increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf; others again see faces, landscapes or colored clouds floating before their eyes in the dark before they sink to rest; while perhaps the commonest experience of all is that of those who begin to recollect with greater and greater clearness what they have seen and heard on the other planes during sleep. In trying to describe what is really to be seen by means of the developed senses, the best plan will perhaps be to con- sider first the case of the trained man who has the faculty fully at his command, because that will naturally include all the partial manifestations of the power which are so much more common; and when we have understood the whole, we shall easily see where the different parts fall into place. Clairvoyant phenomena are numerous and diverse, so that we shall need some kind of arrangement or classification in order that they may be the more readily intelligible; and I believe that our best plan will be to make three broad divis- ions — first to consider what would be seen here and now, as it were, by any one who had opened the higher sight, without taking into account any power that it might give him to see 350 CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. what is going on at a distance, or to look into the past or the future. That will make one class, and then secondly we can take up clairvoyance in space, or the faculty of seeing at a distance, and then thirdly, clairvoyance in time, or the power of looking backwards or forwards. Our first question then is, supposing that a man suddenly opens the inner sight, what more would he see than he sees now? Even this we may subdivide into sections. Let us commence with the etheric sight only, for that is absolutely physical, though the majority have not yet reached it. We have very little idea how partial our sight is in connection with this present physical plane, without taking any account of anything higher for the moment. There are seven condi- tions of physical matter, and our sight is able to distinguish only two of them, the solid and the liquids — for we can very rarely see a true gas, unless like chlorine, it happens to have a strong color of its own. All round us is an im- mense amount of gaseous and etheric matter of the presence of which we are entirely unconscious, so that not only is there so very much that we do not see at all, but even that which we do see we see so imperfectly. Every collocation of physical dense matter contains also much etheric matter, but it is only of the former part of it that we know any- thing, so defective is our vision. To aid us to grasp the practical effect of the extremely partial nature of our sight, let us take an illustration which, though impossible in itself, may yet be useful to us as sug- gesting rather startling possibilities. Suppose that instead of the sight which we now possess, we had a visual appar- atus arranged somewhat differently. In the human eye we have both solid and liquid matter; suppose that both these orders of matter were capable of receiving separate impres- sions, but each only from that type of matter in the outside world to which it corresponded. Suppose also that among men some possessed one of these types of sight and some the other. Consider how very curiously imperfect would be the conception of the world obtained by each of these two types of men. Imagine them as standing on the sea shore; one, being able to see solid matter, would be utterly unconscious of the ocean stretched before him, but would see instead the vast cavity of the ocean bed, with all its various inequalities, and the fishes and other inhabitants of the deep would ap- pear to him as floating in the air above this enormous valley. If there were clouds in the sky they would be entirely invis- CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. 351 ible to him, since they are composed of matter in the liquid state; for him the sun would always be shining in the day- time, and he would be unable to comprehend why, on what is to us a cloudy day, its heat should be so much diminished ; if a glass of water were offered to him, it would appear to him to be empty. Contrast with this the appearance which would be pre- sented before the eyes of the man who saw only matter in the liquid condition. He would indeed be conscious of the ocean, but for him the shore and the cliffs would not exist; he would perceive the clouds very clearly, but would see al- most nothing of the landscape over which they were mov* ing. In the case of the glass of water he would be entirely unable to see the vessel, and therefore could not understand why the water should so mysteriously preserve the special shape given to it by the invisible glass. Imagine these two persons standing side by side, each describing the landscape as he saw it, and each feeling perfectly certain that there could be no other kind of sight but his in the universe, and that any one claiming to see anything more or anything dif- ferent must necessarily be either a dreamer or a deceiver! We can smile over the incredulity of these imaginary ob- servers; but it is exceedingly difficult for the average man to realize that, in proportion to the whole that is to be seen, his power of vision is very much more imperfect than either of theirs would be in relation to the world as he sees it. And he also is strongly disposed to hint that those who see a lit- tle more than he does must really be drawing upon their im- agination for their alleged facts. It is one of the common- est of our mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all that there is to perceive. Yet the scientific evidence is indisputable, and the infinitesi- mal proportion (as compared with the whole) of the groups of vibrations by which alone we can see or hear is a fact about which there can be do doubt. The clairvoyant is sim- ply a man who develops within himself the power to respond to another octave out of the stupendous gamut of possible vi- brations, and so enables himself to see more of the world around him than those of more limited perceptions. If then a man has developed within himself the etheric sight, what difference will it make in the appearance of his surroundings? Perhaps what would first strike him would be the comparative transparency of everything. Most matter is opaque to our ordinary sight, but to him it would be 352 CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. merely like a faint mist, through which he could see to a con- siderable distance. One can see that this would make a good deal of difference to the appearance of the world. Then in looking at his friends he would see their etheric bodies as well as the denser portion of their physical vehicles ; and in this latter part he would be able to observe the structure of the internal organs, and so could diagnose some of their dis- eases — obviously a valuable faculty for the physician who is fortunate enough to acquire it. The etheric double would not be especially prominent to his sight, because it so nearly coincides with the denser matter; but if he attended a Spir- itualistic seance, he would be able to see the etheric matter pouring out from the side of the medium when any physical phenomena took place. There is a book published by one of the best of mediums, Mr. William Eglinton, called " 'Twixt Two Worlds," in which you will find three very interesting pictures illustrating three stages of this process to which I am referring. Other creatures also he would see — other inhabitants of our world which are not visible to ordinary sight, and so are not believed to exist by people of materialistic temperament. The folk-lore of all countries bears witness to the fact that there are spirits of the mountain and the stream, beings in the air and in the mines, called by many different names, such as fairies, elves, pixies, brownies, undines, sylphs, gnomes, good people and other titles, but known to exist and occasionally seen by those whose work takes them far away from the haunts of men into lonely places, as does that of the shepherd or the mountaineer. This is not, as has been thought, a mere popular superstition, but has a foundation of fact behind it, as most popular superstitions have, when properly understood. A whole evening's lecture might easily be given "upon these creatures, but I have only time now just to mention their existence. Another point that could hardly fail to strike the newly-developed clairvoyant is the presence of new colors about him — colors to which we can put no name, because they are entirely unlike any that we know. This is quite natural, for after all color is only a rate of vibration, and when one becomes sensitive to new rates of vibration new colors must follow. Now suppose that our man developed himself so far as to have at his command astral senses as well as etheric, what would be the principal additions to his world? He would find it very different in several ways, not only in that he CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. 353 would see more, but in that the faculty itself is different. We have now passed beyond the mere development of the or- dinary organ of sight, and are dealing with a faculty which needs no organ — a sight which sees all sides of an object at once, and can see it as well behind as before. The only way in which you can thoroughly understand this sight is by re- garding it is four-dimensional, and considering that it gives its possessor the same powers with respect to us as we have with respect to a two-dimensional being. This study of the Fourth Dimension is a most fascinating one, and the best way that I know, short of astral sight itself, to enable a per- son to grasp fully the capabilities of that higher plane. Those who wish to study it more fully will find a chapter upon it in the new book which I have just written, called "On the Other Side of Death," and that chapter will perhaps serve them as an introduction to the more elaborate works of Mr. Hinton on the subject. The possession of this extra- ordinary and scarcely expressible power must always be borne in mind in any attempt to realize the astral plane. It lays every point in the interior of every solid body absolutely open to the gaze of the seer, just as every point in the inte- rior of a circle lies open to the gaze of a man looking down upon it. Another important point to bear in mind is the superior reality of this higher world which is thus opened to the sight of the student. It is difficult for us to understand this, be- cause we have been so long accustomed to associating the idea of reality with what we can see and touch. We feel that when we can hold anything in our hands, then we know all about it, and cannot be deceived as to its reality. But this is just one of our many mistakes, for this very sense of touch is one of the most easily deceived of all. If you wish to test this for yourselves, let me give you a little example from every-day life. Take three bowls of water, one as hot as you can bear to touch, another tepid, and the third icy cold. Place them before you, and put your right hand into the hot water and your left hand into the cold water and after allowing them to remain for a few minutes, put them both into the tepid water. You will find that at the very same moment your right hand will assure you that that water is uncomfortably cold, while your left hand will report it to the brain as almost too hot to bear! This is a trivial instance, but it does show you how little dependence can be placed upon the accuracy of the reports of the senses; it 354 CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. does teach us that merely to see or to feel anything is not sufficient for perfect knowledge of it. We know that we have constantly to correct one sense by another in order to obtain anything approaching accurate information. If we look at a glass cube, we shall see the further sid% of it in perspective — that is, it will appear smaller than the nearer side. We know that it is not really so, but that this is only an illusion due to our physical limitations. With as- tral sight we should see all the sides equal, as we know that they really are. Our physical sight does not in reality give us any measure of distance; it is only the brain that supplies that from its experience. You may see this at once in the case of the stars ; none of us can tell by sight whether a star is large or small, for what appears a very large and brilliant star may seem so only because it is near us, and it may really be much smaller than others which to us seem insignificant because they are at a much greater distance. It is only by scientific methods entirely unconnected with apparent brightness that we are able to determine the relative size of some of the stars. The astral sight does give us much more real information, and as far as it goes it is reliable, so that we are in every way justified in speaking of this plane and its senses as more real than this. This sight will give him who possesses it much informa- tion about his fellow-men which would not otherwise be within his reach, and that means that he will understand them better, and be. able to help them more readily. As he looks at his friend, he will see him surrounded by the lumin- ous mist of the astral aura, flashing with all sorts of brilliant colors, and constantly changing in hue and brilliancy with every variation of that friend's thoughts and feelings. A great deal would be shown to him by those colors which is hidden from him now. Strictly speaking, all thought should belong to the mental plane; but whenever any thought is tinged with personality, whenever it is mingled with feeling, or connected with the self, it creates vibrations in astral matter as well as in mental, and so shows itself in the astral body, and would therefore come within the purview of our man with astral sight. Not only would he thus learn much more about the men whom he already knows, but many new forms would come into view, for the astral world has its inhabitants just as much as the physical. The most important of these from our point of view are those whom we ignorantly call the dead CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. 355 — ignorantly, because they are not less alive than we, but more. They are as near to us as they ever were, and they are using normally and constantly this sight which is as yet abnormal to the men still in the physical body. The question of life after death ceases to be a question for a clairvoyant; it is useless to argue about it, for there are these "dead" men, and obviously in full and vivid life. Thus there comes to every clairvoyant who has been properly trained the stu- pendous advantage of certainty about many of the problems which vex the minds of less favored men. The definite knowledge that there is a perfect Divine Law of evolution and of justice under which every human being is developing makes an incalculable difference in a man's life, for even the profoundest intellectual conviction falls very far short of the precise knowledge gained by direct personal experience. If a man is interested enough in this subject to begin to study clairvoyance as it is occasionally manifested among our fellow-men, he will very rarely find it fully developed. The experiences of the untrained clairvoyant — and it must be remembered that that class includes practically all the clair- voyants of Europe and America, with very few exceptions — will usually fall very far short of what I have attempted to describe. They will fall short in many different ways — in degree, in variety, in permanence, and above all in precision. Sometimes a person has temporary flashes of a higher sight — sufficient, for example, to see some friend at the moment of his death. That particular variety of clairvoyance is gen- erally produced by the strong wish on the part of the dead man to show himself ohce more as a kind of farewell. That strong wish may act in one of two ways; it may enable the dead man to materialize, so as to be visible to physical sight, or much more usually it acts upon the living person and tem- porarily raises his vibrations, so that he is for the moment slightly clairvoyant, and thus able to see the astral body of his friend. If you will read the books which give instances of such cases, you will see how very many there are of them, and how indisputable is the evidence for them. I have col- lected several good examples in the new book to which I pre- viously referred. The same sort of temporary clairvoyance comes to some people in sickness, because after long illness the insistent physical faculties are usually somewhat weak- ened and subdued, and so it is possible for the astral facul- ties to enjoy unaccustomed freedom. An extreme example of this class is the man who drinks himself into delirium 356 CLAIRVOYANCE— WHAT IT IS. tremens, and in the condition of absolute physical ruin and impure psychic excitation brought about by the ravages of that fell disease, is able to see for the time some of the loathsome elemental and other entities which he has drawn round himself by his long course of degraded and bestial in- dulgence. Some men need mesmerism to subdue their physical senses before the other and higher faculties can be opened in them. That would mean that their astral faculties are capable of action, but not yet strong enough to assert them- selves unless the physical can somehow be got out of the way. Other men, especially Orientals, use drugs for this same purpose; but obviously all these are partial and unsat- isfactory methods. I shall deal with this question of how the power may be developed in the fourth of these lectures on clairvoyance, but even already it must be clear to you that the man may gain far wider and fuller control by the exer- cise and training of his own will than by adopting unneces* sary external substitutes. The subject is well worth our study, and it needs much fuller treatment than can be given to it in an evening's lecture; those of you who will read the book which I wrote about it some four years ago will be able from that to fill in many details for which to-night there is no time, and I would very urgently beg any who think of ex- perimenting or investigating in connection with the matter, first to acquaint themselves thoroughly with what their pred- ecessors have done, as by doing that they will escape many dangers and much disappointment. This is equally neces- sary whether a man is trying to develop the faculties within himself, or experimenting with others who already possess them; he must understand what it is that is being seen, he must have in his mind a broad outline of the possibilities, so that he may not be deceived or alarmed. By full and careful study, he will come to realize how perfectly natural clairvoy- ance is; he will comprehend its laws, and learn the necessity of submission to them; he will see in vivid colors the dan- gers of impurity, and the absolute need of the highest thought and noblest intention in the man who touches this higher and holier side of human life. 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