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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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DISCOURSES 
 
 ON 
 
 RELIGION, MORALS, PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 METAPHYSICS. 
 
 BY ^ 
 
 Mks. COEA L. VykATCH. 
 
 " Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength." 
 
 Psalms viii. 2. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 - 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY B. F. HATCH. 
 
 1858. 
 
 
7*ff 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, 
 
 By BENJAMIN F. HATCH, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 
 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 SAVAGE & M°CREA, STEREOTYPERS, 
 13 Chambers Street, N. Y. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This work is presented to the public, in obedience to 
 the request of a large multitude who have listened to 
 Mrs. Hatch from time to time, and who were not satis- 
 fied with merely hearing her discourses once, but desired 
 their publication, that they might have the privilege of 
 taking them into the quiet of their own homes and pe- 
 rusing them at their leisure. It was also deemed ex- 
 pedient to put them in such form as would render them 
 accessible by the public, and preserve them for coming 
 generations. 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that no phonographic 
 report, however perfect, can do more than to record the 
 ideas advanced, clothed in the language of their author ; 
 while the impressions of the speaker, conveyed through 
 the attitude, the gesture, the intonation, and the pecu- 
 liar expression of the countenance, are all lost. But 
 let the reader imagine before him a young, fair, and 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 delicate form, whose every expression is beaming with 
 intelligence and animation, whose attitude is the most 
 graceful, whose voice is not loud but full and distinct, 
 whose enunciations are not hurried, but calm and de- 
 liberate, and whose every gesture is in perfect keeping 
 with the harmony and purity which characterize both 
 her soul and body, and then he may have some idea 
 of the eagerness with which the listener catches every 
 word as it falls from the lips of the speaker. 
 
 Each one of these discourses was delivered without a 
 moment's reflection on the part of Mrs. Hatch ; and the 
 subjects of most of them were given her by a committee 
 chosen by the audience subsequently to her having taken 
 the stand, thereby precluding all possibility of collusion 
 or of previous preparation ; and they are published with 
 only such alterations as have been made necessary by 
 the very imperfect manner in which they had been re- 
 ported. Much of that beauty of diction, and appropri- 
 ateness of each word to convey the idea intended, is 
 lost. 
 
 Thus, comparatively speaking, the reader has only 
 the doctrines and philosophy inculcated, while he has 
 but little of its embellishments. It is like the forest 
 stripped of its foliage. 
 
 No attempt has been made to arrange these discourses 
 into any particular classification ; but they are pub- 
 lished in nearly the order in which they were delivered. 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 An intimate acquaintance with the principles of Na- 
 ture in its every department greatly assists us in form- 
 ing a correct idea of the character and attributes of its 
 Author ; and it is for this reason that Natural Philoso- 
 phy is becoming daily more and more a part of common 
 education, for no true principles of religious ethics can 
 ever be divorced from the manifestations of God in the 
 material universe. In all of her discourses there is a 
 blending of Religion and Science, the one the material 
 form of which the other is the spirit. In this respect, 
 especially, it is believed that her teachings will have a 
 most salutary influence upon the public welfare; for 
 every enlightened Christian earnestly recommends the 
 study of Nature, and in it he beholds the inspiring 
 Revelations of God. But as long as Religion is con- 
 jectural, and founded upon the experiences of those 
 whose religious powers are in extreme action, while 
 their moral and intellectual are but feebly exercised, 
 rather than upon the inherent nature of man harmoni- 
 ously developed, we shall have on the one hand, bigotry 
 and self-righteousness wedded to ignorance, and on the 
 other, a repudiation of all religious forms. 
 
 As man becomes enlightened, he becomes more truly 
 religious, not in the sectarian sense of that term, but in 
 the philosophical and spiritual ; and it is for this reason 
 that he should be educated, and thus be enabled to 
 understandingly commune with God through every de- 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 partment of Nature. Then, not in the sanctuary alone 
 will his soul be drawn forth in prayer and aspiration, 
 but, wherever he may be, his heart wells up in thank- 
 fulness, and he is in constant communion with the Author 
 of the beauties and blessings by which he is surrounded. 
 It is believed that no work more perfectly blends the 
 religious, moral, and intellectual principles of man than 
 the one we now present to the public, and if it shall 
 assist in any way to elevate him from ignorance and 
 superstition to a higher condition of spiritual life, we 
 shall be made glad by the accomplishment of our long- 
 desired object. 
 
 New York, March, i«R« 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction page 9 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 Why is Man ashamed to acknowledge his Alliance to 
 the Angel-World ? 19 
 
 DISCOURSE n. 
 Is God the God op Sectarianism, or is He the God op 
 Humanity ? 31 
 
 DISCOURSE HI. 
 The Sources op Human Knowledge 45 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 The Beauty op Lipe, and the Life op Beauty 62 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 "'Come, now, and let us reason together/ saith the 
 Lord" 78 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 Modern Spiritualism 92 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 Are the Principles op Phrenology true? 105 
 
 discourse vm. 
 
 Light 123 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 Jesus of Nazareth :T 142 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 God alone is Good page 158 
 
 DISCOURSE XI. 
 The Sacrificial Rite 179 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 The Love of the Beautiful 202 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 The Gyroscope 223 
 
 DISCOURSE XIV. 
 The Moral and Religious Nature of Man 238 
 
 DISCOURSE XV. 
 Spiritual Communications 257 
 
 DISCOURSE XVI. 
 On Christmas 274 
 
 DISCOURSE XVII. 
 Creation 292 
 
 DISCOURSE XVIII. 
 Total Depravity 306 
 
 DISCOURSE XIX. 
 The Religion of Life 320 
 
 DISCOURSE XX. 
 The Life of Religion 335 
 
 Answers to Metaphysical Questions 349 
 
 The Spheres 368 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of the spirit of man, 
 it is evident that the physical elements by which he is sur- 
 rounded, and upon which he subsists while in mundane life, 
 should first be developed, not only that the spirit may more 
 perfectly act through them, but also that they may be made 
 more fully to administer to his wants. In obedience to this 
 requirement of man's nature, the soul has intuitively sought 
 to supply itself with whatever might be made to administer to 
 its growth into a higher condition ; and thus all the improve- 
 ments in the physical sciences and arts have been brought to 
 their present degree of perfection. 
 
 Spirit may be said to be the life of matter ; and, in propor- 
 tion as that matter becomes more progressed, is the spirit 
 capable of manifesting itself externally. The vegetable and 
 animal kingdoms seem to have been instituted by a beneficent 
 Providence for the purpose of preparing the material elements 
 for the condition of man ; for in the lower order of creation 
 we see no such improvement as that which characterizes the 
 human species. The inferior animals were formed by their 
 Creator such that, within one life or generation, they attain 
 to all the perfection of which their nature is susceptible. Not 
 only are their wants immediately provided for, but their at- 
 tainments reach their ultimate with each generation. Thus 
 each beast, bird, or fish, is as knowing as any which have pre- 
 
 1* 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ceded it or which will ever appear after it. But man, on his 
 introduction into the world, is the most helpless of all living 
 beings. Unaided, he can procure neither food, raiment, nor 
 shelter ; and when untaught by the experience of others, he 
 oftentimes, in some respects, falls below the nobler brute. 
 
 The progress of knowledge which has led us from barbarism 
 to present civilization, has gone on by certain remarkable 
 steps, which it would be easy to point out, but which our lim- 
 ited space will not permit. " It is interesting to consider that, 
 in many situations on earth, where formerly the rude savage 
 beheld the cataract falling among the rocks, and the wind 
 bending the trees of the forest, and sweeping the clouds along 
 the mountain's brow, or whitening the face of the ocean, and 
 regarding these phenomena with awe and terror, as marking 
 the agency of some great but hidden power, which might de- 
 stroy him ; in the same situations now, his informed son, who 
 works with the laws of Nature, can lead the waters of the 
 cataract, by sloping channels, to convenient spots, where they 
 are made to turn his mill-wheel, and to do his multifarious 
 work ; the rushing winds, also, he makes his servant, by rear- 
 ing in their course the broad-vaned windmill, which then per- 
 forms a thousand offices for its master, man ; and the breezes 
 which whiten the ocean are caught in his expanded sails, and 
 are made to waft their lord and his treasures across the deep, 
 for his pleasure or profit." 
 
 Man is an epitome of all that is below him ; and thus we 
 see manifested in him all the extremes of character which 
 belong to the different species of animals. The lion is cruel 
 and ferocious, but we never see him weep over the suffering 
 which he has caused ; the lamb is mild and gentle, but is uni- 
 formly so. But man at one moment partakes of the ferocity 
 of the lion ; at another, of the gentleness of the lamb. Man, 
 seen in his hatred, wars, and crimes, might be mistaken for 
 an incarnation of some evil genius ; but when beheld in his 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 deeds of sympathy, charity, and love, he appears to be a bright 
 intelligence from heaven. Thus he is allied to the brute, 
 while at the same time he holds kindred with God. 
 
 It is believed by many, whose judgment I respect, that man 
 was developed upward from the brute creation ; and that, in 
 virtue of having his parentage in the animal, he contains the 
 qualities of all below him. But to me it appears more reason- 
 able to suppose that the various grades of organic life were 
 instituted to progress the material elements so as to prepare 
 them for the subsistence of men; and, in order to do this, 
 there are species of animals to correspond with each human 
 faculty — the reasoning and spiritual excepted, which distin- 
 guish man from all other creatures, and which derive their 
 sustenance from that condition of life which is far above the 
 animal. 
 
 The law of progress is everywhere in operation, and the 
 succession of gradation appears to be the general order of 
 Nature ; and the struggle in matter for a higher condition is 
 scarcely less observable than that of mind. The debris of the 
 rock possesses all the chemical ingredients, so far as analysis 
 can detect, which are contained in organic life ; but it is not 
 in a condition to sustain animation, even in the lowest order 
 of animals. Its first productions are the mosses and lichens, 
 the lowest in the scale of vegetable existence ; and those, de- 
 caying, prepare the soil for the next in order ; and so on, until 
 it is capable of producing the sponge, and other analogous 
 substances which grow upon the land, which are the lowest 
 animal life. This, in its decay, prepares the earth for the 
 next in order ; and so on, until finally it becomes fit for the 
 abode of man in his most crude and undeveloped condition : 
 and, although he has existed upon earth for many thousands 
 if not millions of years, yet in many parts of the world his 
 ignorance and barbarism appear not to be removed from the 
 lowest possible grade, which civilized men may shudder to 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 contemplate. There are yet hordes of untutored savages who 
 can scarcely defend themselves against the inclemency of the 
 weather or the fury of the wild beasts which inhabit the forest 
 with them ; and their merciless and cannibal cruelty is more 
 to be dreaded by each other than the ferocity of the native 
 denizens of the unbroken wilderness. Such is man in his 
 lowest condition, or while he is untaught and lives in common 
 with the beast. 
 
 But how changed his condition when his higher powers 
 become unfolded, and his godlike qualities bear sway ! His 
 mind triumphs over matter, and the material elements are 
 made subservient to his will. Cities of palaces spring up for 
 his abode, and all parts of the world pour their luxuries into 
 his lap ; the subtile and more imponderable elements are made 
 his servants, and the oceans, lakes, and rivers, become his 
 highways. In this we see the improvement of man's knowl- 
 edge of the material elements by which he is surrounded and 
 upon which he subsists. 
 
 As the child must grow to maturity before he can manifest 
 the strength which belongs to manhood, however perfect may 
 be the organization of his spirit ; so man's material surround- 
 ings must be brought to a great degree of perfection before 
 his spiritual or religious nature can fully manifest itself in the 
 vigor of its maturity. This has been so far accomplished, that 
 his spirit now blossoms forth in greater beauty and perfectness 
 than in any former age of the world ; and is blending intellect 
 and morality with religion, which hitherto, like the Jews and 
 the Samaritans, have had but little or no intercourse. " To a 
 man with the knowledge of Nature which we now possess, the 
 fables and licentious abominations of the Greek and Roman 
 theologies are shocking indeed ; as are the religions of the god 
 of fire in Persia ; of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, in India ; of 
 Budha in China; of Mohammed's imposture and pretended 
 miracles, etc. But every enlightened Christian earnestly rec- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 ommends the study of Nature : first, because from contempla- 
 ting the beauty of Creation, with the wisdom and benevolent 
 design manifest in all its parts, there spring up in every unde- 
 praved mind those feelings of admiration and gratitude which 
 constitute the adoration of natural religion, and which form, 
 as shown by many estimable writers on Natural Theology, a 
 fit foundation for the sublime doctrine of immortality ; and, sec- 
 ondly, to enable men to distinguish between miracles and the 
 usual course of Nature, a perfect knowledge of that course, or 
 of Natural Philosophy, is essential : all the false religions of 
 antiquity were founded on and upheld by pretended miracles. 
 There have been, however, at various times, even among 
 Christians, sincere but weak-minded or ill-informed men, who 
 decried the study of the natural sciences, as inimical to true 
 religion ; as if God's ever-visible and magnificent revelation 
 of his attributes in the structure of the Universe could be at 
 variance with any other revelation ! But such prejudices are 
 rapidly passing away. Wherever considerable knowledge of 
 Nature exists, debasing and gloomy superstition must cease. 
 It is not the abject feeling of a slave which is inspired by 
 contemplating the majesty and power of our God, displayed 
 in his works, but a sentiment akin to the tender regard which 
 leads a favored child to approach with confidence a wise and 
 indulgent parent." 
 
 The intercourse which is now carried on, to such a great 
 extent, not only in this country, but in many other parts of 
 the world, with minds which have laid aside the external form 
 or earthly body, is believed to be the result of the growing 
 maturity or manhood of the race. It is not claimed that it is 
 new, but only far more general than at any former period. 
 There were individual minds with whom spiritual intelligence 
 could commune ; but it was only here and there one in the his- 
 tory of mankind. So, in other departments, there have been 
 individuals whose gifts have been so rare, that they have 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 caused them to stand out in bold relief in contrast with their 
 contemporaries : in intellect, Moses, Confucius, and Socrates ; 
 in poetry, Homer, Dante, and Milton ; in oratory, Demosthe- 
 nes, Cicero, and Chatham ; in art, Phidias, Raphael, Michael 
 Angelo, etc. But these were only prophets of what all men 
 will become ; and the change which is being brought about is 
 the diffusion of all these qualities among the masses. So the 
 inspiration which caused David, Isaiah, Jesus and his apos- 
 tles, to act a prominent part in religious history, is now be- 
 coming a general characteristic with all who have matured 
 to that plane of life. It can not be denied that, if it has ever 
 existed in one individual, it proves the principle ; and what is 
 a principle in Nature, must be universal. Therefore, if 
 Moses and Jesus ever communed with angels, it proves that 
 all can do so, when their mental and physical powers will 
 enable them to comply with the conditions. There are no 
 special dispensations of Divine Providence in behalf of indi- 
 viduals ; but all the laws instituted by our beneficent Creator 
 are universal and unchanging in their operation. 
 
 It is believed by a large class of the most intelligent and 
 observing persons, both in this country and in Europe, that 
 the present spiritual communion is the result of our having 
 reached a higher condition of life, mentally and religiously ; 
 and that a portion of the world are prepared to receive higher 
 and more ennobling ideas of God and our future home than 
 were mankind while in a closer proximity to the brute crea- 
 tion. We have only to look over the history of the past, to 
 learn that men's conceptions of the character of the Deity 
 have kept pace with their own progressive development. The 
 crude and uncultivated savage, whose intellect is but feebly 
 exercised, sees in all Nature a God of power and wrath, 
 whose vengeance is manifested in the destruction of human 
 life, and made visible in tornadoes, tempests, earthquakes, and 
 volcanic eruptions ; and, to appease his direful wrath, is to 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 him the great duty of life. But the enlightened Christian, 
 who has awakened to a realization of the beauty and harmony 
 of Nature in its every department, sees in all these manifestations 
 which the barbarian deplores, a wise plan, instituted by a be- 
 neficent Creator for the purification of the material elements ; 
 and that the like seeming incongruities in the moral and social 
 world will work out a higher and purer condition for mankind. 
 He is satisfied that God alone reigns throughout his Universe, 
 and has planned all things according to his will ; and, though 
 at times his ways may appear incomprehensible to us who 
 can see their effect only for a day, yet to that Omniscient 
 Mind all is beauty, harmony, and grandeur. 
 
 The difference in theology between the spiritualists and the 
 various denominations of professed Christians of this country 
 is only such as would naturally grow out of a more enlight- 
 ened and elevated condition of mankind. But this improve- 
 ment has called forth angry declamations from those who are 
 trying to disprove what they will not learn, and are wedded 
 to prejudices which they can not defend. Such has been the 
 relative position of the Church with the progress of knowledge 
 in all ages of the world ; and Christianity itself has offered no 
 exception to this rule. The Greeks and Romans charged 
 Christianity with impiety and novelty. In Cave's " Primitive 
 Christianity," we are informed that the Christians were every- 
 where accounted a pack of atheists, and their religion demor- 
 alizing. They were denominated "mountebank impostors," 
 and " men of desperate and unlawful faction." The same sys- 
 tem of misrepresentation and abuse has been carried on in all 
 ages of the world, and in this respect there is but little improve- 
 ment with the more crude and unenlightened portion of civilized 
 society. They anathematize doctrines of which they have no 
 conception, and are prodigal in their denunciations of what 
 they believe would be the result of their own depraved na- 
 tures, were their fears of endless tortures removed. It would 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be difficult to convince this class of persons that there are 
 those who are not actuated by fear, but who love goodness 
 for its own sake, and practise virtue because God has so ar- 
 ranged the social order that it yields them pleasure. 
 
 Christianity is founded upon a belief in the immortality of 
 the soul, a history of pretended miracles, and an intercourse 
 with intelligences beyond the grave. But when its advocates 
 are told by their contemporaries that man's immortality and 
 communion with higher intelligences can be demonstrated, they 
 obstinately close their eyes against the truth, and then anathe- 
 matize what they are too superstitious to comprehend. It is 
 true they can not justly claim that their opinions are of any 
 value, or entitled to the least respect, until they have investi- 
 gated the subject which they denounce ; nevertheless, they 
 ostentatiously give their hearers to understand that their own 
 uninformed judgment is superior to that of better minds who 
 know whereof they testify. Such is the deplorable mental 
 imbecility of this class of persons, whose minds are too mate- 
 rial to comprehend a spiritual truth, and whose consciences 
 are too low to give credence to the testimony of others. 
 
 It is evident that the spirits have realized this fact, and 
 therefore have adapted themselves, as far as possible, to the 
 material condition of men. Haps are heard, furniture is made 
 to move from place to place, persons are carried about in the 
 room, musical instruments are played upon and made to dis- 
 course most beautiful melody, etc. These are simply the 
 phenomenal phases of Spiritualism, designed only to appeal 
 to materialistic minds, and may be called the alphabet of the 
 science. But there are higher phases, adapted to the most 
 spiritual minds which now exist on earth, and these will im- 
 prove as men become capable of comprehending them ; for in 
 this as in everything else there must be a progressive unfold- 
 ment. The present demonstrations must be comprehended 
 before the world can reasonably ask for any higher truths. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 If the views expounded in this work be untrue, the proper 
 answer to them is a demonstration of their falsity ; for the 
 accusation that they are infidel to the popular theology of the 
 day will have but very little influence with the reflective part 
 of the community. The intelligent mind will recognise the 
 fact that they are not infidel to God, or Humanity, or the 
 principles of Nature. But they are not published so much 
 for their infallibility as to give an expression of the opinions 
 of a class of those who have passed into the realities of spir- 
 itual existence ; not that they are the most important truths 
 which may ever be uttered, but the highest which the world 
 is capable of receiving at the present time; and which the 
 majority, for the want of more light upon the subject, will 
 pronounce visionary and heretical. 
 
 Mrs. Cora L. V. Hatch, who was the means of conveying 
 to the world the thoughts contained in this volume, was born 
 in the town of Cuba, Allegany county, New York, the 21st 
 day of April, 1840. Thus a part of these discourses were 
 delivered before she was seventeen years of age. Her liter- 
 ary or scholastic attainments are such as she was able to pro- 
 cure in a rural district of the country antecedent to her tenth 
 year, at which time she became an intranced speaker. Up 
 to that period she had no knowledge of spiritual intercourse. 
 One day, with slate and pencil in hand, she retired to compose 
 a few lines to be read in school ; and while seated, lost her 
 external consciousness, and on awaking she found her slate 
 covered with writing. Believing that some one had taken an 
 advantage of what she supposed to have been a sleep, she 
 carried the slate to her mother, and it was found to contain a 
 communication from Cora's maternal aunt (who had departed 
 this life some fifteen years previous), and addressed to Mrs. 
 Scott, the mother of Cora. During her eleventh and twelfth 
 years she was controlled by a spirit calling himself a German 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 physician; and her success, during that time, as a medical 
 practitioner, was very remarkable. Although she has never 
 given the science of medicine a moment's reflection, the most 
 philosophical, general, and at the same time the most minute, 
 descriptions of disease, its cause, pathology, and diagnosis, 
 which I have ever listened to, have been given by her ; and 
 my experience in this department is not very limited. 
 
 At the age of fourteen she became a public speaker, and 
 even at that early period of life manifested powers of logic 
 and elocution which would have done honor to mature minds, 
 and to which but comparatively few ever attain. She married 
 in August, 1856, and removed to New York city, since which 
 she has spoken from three to four times a week, mostly in 
 New York, Boston, and Baltimore. She has been brought 
 in contact with the most powerful minds of this country, in 
 both private and public debate ; but I believe that no one has 
 even pretended to have successfully sustained an argument 
 against her. The variety of subjects treated will be sufficient 
 evidence that her inspirations are not confined to any particu- 
 lar class of ideas, but are as universal as Nature ; and as her 
 discourses are entirely impromptu, if she is not inspired, she 
 must be regarded as the most remarkable intellectual youth 
 who has ever inhabited the earth. "In private life she is 
 simple and childlike to a remarkable degree ; but while speak- 
 ing before an audience, her flights of elocution are bold, lofty, 
 
 and sublime, beyond description." 
 
 B. F. H. 
 
 New York, April, 1858. 
 
DISCOURSES, 
 
 MORAL, RELIGIOUS, METAPHYSICAL, AND 
 PHILOSOPHICAL. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, MARCH 15, 1857. 
 
 WHY IS MAN ASHAMED TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIS ALLIANCE 
 TO THE ANGEL- WORLD? 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father! the rich flood of light gushing forth 
 from the centre of thy creation illumines all Nature 
 with a great and mighty brilliancy. Translucent is 
 every atom, and every particle of thy Divine matter is 
 filled with the light and glory, which seems like a sweet 
 and glowing melody, invisible to mortal eyes, yet deep 
 and penetrating in its mighty power. Oh ! as that light 
 shines from the great centre of this Universe upon all 
 atoms, so the light of thy great Soul, in its mightiness 
 and power, beams upon our souls, and lights up every 
 atom of thought with a mighty and a perfect brilliancy, 
 thrilling all hearts with chords of faith and love ; ay, 
 thrilling the lyre-strings of immensity, until all vibrate 
 in response to thy voice. Father ! we see that light ; 
 
20 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 it beams in upon our souls in a great and glowing flood, 
 driving away all mists of darkness, penetrating into the 
 valleys of gloom and despair and raising them up, and 
 levelling down the mountains of bigotry and supersti- 
 tion, until all souls become a great and musical Uni- 
 verse, revolving around thee in beauty and with myste- 
 rious harmony. We feel, in the interior of our hearts, 
 the thrilling power of that glorious light. As the sa- 
 cred waves of melody ascend from the external atmo- 
 sphere, so from the interior, ten thousand angels tune 
 their harps in unison with thee, and discourse melody 
 upon every soul now present. may we listen to that 
 music that is ever and ever vibrating, until at last the 
 loud paean shall swell with everlasting joy in the great 
 and mighty voice that breathes in every human soul ! 
 may we feel and hear that melody on this occasion ! 
 May our outward senses become closed to the darkness, 
 the mists, and the fogs of external existence, until we 
 shall be able to see only that victory which, through 
 faith, enshrines the future, and know and feel that we 
 are allied to the angels whose rapturous songs vibrate 
 through all the aisles and amid all the corridors of 
 heaven ! Father ! we breathe a prayer of thankful- 
 ness, of gratitude, for the sunlight, the glory, which is 
 streaming in upon us. We pray, not because thou re- 
 quirest it of us, not because thou hast commanded us to 
 fall down and worship thee, but because there is a fount- 
 ain, a river of light within our souls, which must mur- 
 mur and sparkle in the sunlight of truth. In thankful- 
 ness and prayer our thoughts and feelings climb and 
 expand in thy love, as the mighty forest-trees, waving 
 in the breezes of thy breath, outreach their long branches, 
 
RELIGIOUS. 21 
 
 striving to lean their leaves against the dome of heaven. 
 that sweet and soothing voice which, like the music in 
 the pine-tree, murmurs for ever of thee, of thee ! Fa- 
 ther ! that light, that voice, that glory, reflected through 
 all the Eden-bowers of souls and spirits, of angels and of 
 archangels, of seraphim and of cherubim — that is thy 
 voice, thy breath, thine everlasting presence, which we 
 feel, and know, and acknowledge. Oh, on this occasion, 
 may the words which are uttered, the thoughts which 
 are breathed to thee, become redolent of the divine 
 fragrance of spirituality, of eternity, whose bright and 
 glowing shores are beaming across the river of Death, 
 inviting to enter through its golden gates man who 
 walks by faith across the river, and lands upon the 
 shore of his immortality ! Strengthen thy children to 
 search after the truth ; and to thee, Father, for all these 
 thoughts and feelings, we will for ever acknowledge thy 
 glory, for ever sing thy praise, and for ever to thee shall 
 spring up thrilling songs of gratitude. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 Why is man ashamed to acknowledge his alliance to 
 the angel-world? 
 
 We shall proceed to analyze this question ; and when 
 we have done, we will ask you why you are ashamed. 
 
 In the external development of Nature, as well as in 
 the great harmonic laws of unfoldment which present 
 themselves to the external vision, man perceives and 
 acknowledges the beautiful harmony which everywhere 
 prevails. All the planetary systems throughout the 
 
22 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 immensity of space for ever revolve in harmony — never 
 interfering with, but sustained by, each other. Their 
 beauty and grandeur can only be comprehended by that 
 Divine Mind which gave to them the laws by which 
 they are regulated. Worlds on worlds and systems on 
 systems, which extend out into space far beyond all hu- 
 man comprehension, bear the closest relation to each 
 other, and not one could be destroyed without the de- 
 rangement and consequent confusion of the whole. God 
 has constituted the Universe so, that from the smallest 
 atom to all those orbs which fill the boundless space, 
 there is a perfect unity and a dependence upon each 
 other. A pebble thrown into the vast ocean causes its 
 undulations to widen and still widen, until they reach 
 the farthest shore, and every drop of water which com- 
 poses that ocean feels its influence. 
 
 Such is the sympathy of the material elements. But 
 how much greater is that of spirit, which is the life of 
 all matter! Each human soul is an individualized 
 planet, which revolves upon its own axis and moves in 
 its own orbit ; but, like the planetary system, it is de- 
 pending upon every other soul in the Universe ; and, 
 like the pebble thrown into the ocean, every thought 
 and emotion undulates amid all the corridors and ave- 
 nues of spiritual existence. 
 
 Your life, your spirit, is all that makes you what you 
 are. It matters not whether you inhabit an external 
 form, or whether that form has accomplished its mission 
 and returned to its mother-earth, for the spirit belongs 
 to the great ocean of spiritual existence, and thus you 
 are allied to the angel-world ; and you are in constant 
 communion, either directly or indirectly, with the infini- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 23 
 
 tude of spiritual intelligences by which you are sur- 
 rounded ; and there is no way by which you can avoid 
 it, any more than the particles of atmosphere can avoid 
 influencing each other. 
 
 Are you ashamed to acknowledge your alliance to 
 each other and to God ? Do you not sustain an intimate 
 communion with your friends in the earth-form ? Wheth- 
 er in or out of the form, it is soul communing with soul ; 
 and it is only for you to realize that there is no actual 
 change in the moral and social conditions of the spirit ; 
 all their feelings of sympathy and love are the same — 
 only their presence is hid from your external sight. 
 
 But there is a mist, a pall, hanging over the sepul- 
 chre which his spirit vainly tries to pierce, and from 
 which angels are slowly but surely rolling away the 
 stone. The doleful voice of Conservatism and Bigotry 
 says : " Let the stone alone ; man is dead, and buried 
 in trespasses and sins !" But the angel cries, in the 
 progressive spirit of Jesus, " Come forth /" and the 
 spirit obeys. 
 
 You know that when the elements of a planet are 
 sent forth from a sun, it is for a while obscured, until, 
 by the outworking laws of its being, it resolves itself 
 into its proper form and position in space, and then 
 progress is made apparent. Yet there were, from its 
 very inception, the elements of progress within it. But 
 the external senses and intellect would be unable to 
 perceive it, and it would appear dark and chaotic. 
 But remember that as from nothing, nothing proceeds, so 
 from that apparent chaos there could develop no planet 
 unless there had been the elements and principles which 
 were eliminated from the sun, its primal source. 
 
24 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 So of man with respect to Deity. He is a corrusca- 
 tion of light from His sun-soul — a satellite, a planet, a 
 sun, revolving around His great and central heart ; he 
 is obscured in mists and chaos, floats in the atmosphere 
 of his own purification, and contends there is no interior 
 light, there is no beauty and glory above and beyond 
 the external ; our intuitions are fanaticisms, the machi- 
 nations of a diseased brain and physical body, and are 
 from the benighted ages of the past ; and the great and 
 glowing light which aspires to penetrate into, our hearts 
 is but the shadow of that darkness. Thus soliloquizes 
 the man of science, who has vainly analyzed physical 
 structures to find the light and beauty of the Universe ; 
 and he turns in sorrow, saying : " Alas ! there is no 
 God, there is no life there, for everything is changeable, 
 destructible, and God is not." 
 
 This is the gloom of an external night. All your 
 palaces of worship, your halls of education, your mate- 
 rial works in science, art, and religion, are the result 
 of that external darkness, that conservatism, which is 
 striving to prevent the sunlight of truth from entering 
 into the soul's aspirations. And yet, with all this ma- 
 terialism, this tendency to darkness, there have been 
 such bright glimmerings of light, of revelation, of intui- 
 tion, that man has been startled, thinking that some 
 erratic comet had come across his path, vainly endeav- 
 oring to lead him to the light. But that comet has fre- 
 quently proved to have a longer train than he imagined, 
 and has even become a fixed star, beaming upon him 
 when the clouds of prejudice roll away which intervene 
 between man and his unfoldment, giving to his soul a 
 bright and glowing law of light. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 25 
 
 This is the revelation of the past ; this is the religious 
 feeling that- persevered when church and state were 
 leagued against progress ; this is the bright spirit which 
 is now telling man, which has always told him, that he 
 was allied to the angel-world ; that there was a deep, 
 mysterious sympathy indwelling in his nature, which 
 science could not fathom or bigotry put down. On the 
 one hand, you have darkness and materialism ; on the 
 other hand, you have light and progress, both striving 
 for the battle — the one with noise and turmoil, the 
 other calmly, peacefully working its way through Egyp- 
 tian mythology, through Grecian and Roman darkness, 
 through all the darkness of church and state, coming 
 down to the nineteenth century, with the glowing page 
 of the Christian era, with the great and honored cata- 
 logue of Christians bearing the banner of a perfect life. 
 This is the initiative of spiritual life, which every man 
 and every woman feels. This is the prompting power 
 of nations, of church and state — this glorious reveal- 
 ment of light and beauty, which, with matchless power, 
 is penetrating into the very depths of earth's prison- 
 walls, of church and of state, and shedding there a light 
 which releases the imprisoned soul. But to every re- 
 vealing of this angelic minister, materialism or external 
 religion says : " We need no more revelation, no more 
 intuition ; God has given us all that is required : conse- 
 quently, he has sunk to rest. I have made my cross ; 
 I have my Lord — he is in the Bible ; Jesus of Nazareth 
 is my Savior, and you must benefit yourself as best you 
 can." 
 
 This is the language of the churches ; this was their 
 language when Jesus of Nazareth appeared with his 
 
 2 
 
26 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 bright and glowing light. They said : " This is not 
 our Christ ; this is not the one to enlarge our power, to 
 build up our temples. Oh, no ! This is a publican and 
 a sinner ; this is Beelzebub, who is prince of devils." 
 And so Materialism cries : " We are not allied to the 
 angel-world, for God is on our side, in our temples, our 
 churches, our synagogues, where we crucify the right 
 of thought and the right of speech." This is the lan- 
 guage, this is the thought of Conservatism, which is 
 ever questioning man, the soul, intuition, saying, " Why 
 do we need this ?" Does the flower, when it is planted 
 in the soil, call to the sun, saying : " Now, sun, retire ; 
 I need not thy light any more"? — "Now, raindrops, 
 fall no more upon me" ? Does the acorn within its shell 
 say : " I need no more of thy great and mighty power, 
 sunlight, for I can unfold the mighty trunk and the lofty 
 branches without thy aid" ? No, no ! 
 
 Planets, systems, and suns, require, yesterday, to-day, 
 and for ever, the light and power of their centres to 
 keep them in their places and positions — those centres 
 around which to revolve and outwork the principles of 
 harmony and beauty. There is no law which can say : 
 " Avaunt, thou sun ! be blotted out, for we need thee 
 not." There is no law in the animal, vegetable, or min- 
 eral kingdoms, by which they can live without the sun- 
 light and the shower. 
 
 So Humanity, in its great and mighty spiritual devel- 
 opment, in the harmonic revolutions of thought, of feel- 
 ing, of outwrought perfectness, is dependent hourly upon 
 the protecting arm of God. Without him, man would 
 sink into oblivion, darkness, chaos. 
 
 The mighty revolutions, the religious creeds and dog- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 27 
 
 mas, the great funeral-pyre upon which the church has 
 established itself, shall tumble into chaos, to give way to 
 the glorious temple which is being reared in the hearts 
 of Humanity, the basis of which is Deity, whose pillars 
 shall be Truth and Justice, and whose law throughout 
 the oriel windows of that temple shall be Love and 
 Wisdom. 
 
 In the nineteenth century, what is the voice crying to 
 man, " Thou art allied to the interior world" ? You 
 read it in the rhythmic line of the poet ; borne on the 
 wings of his muse, it is whispering, " The angels are 
 near." You see it in the manifestations of art. The 
 painter, in his glowing pictures, is endeavoring to pene- 
 trate the mists which separate him from the unseen 
 world. You see it in the angel-heart, breathing words 
 of consolation to the sorrowing one ; it whispers, " Man, 
 thy soul is allied to the angel-world." • You see it in 
 all the revealments of the sculptor, as he pictures the 
 power of his intellect ; and as he puts one more touch 
 upon the work of his hand, the form of beauty speaks, 
 saying, " The angels are near." You hear it from the 
 pulpit and the rostrum ; you hear it every week and 
 every day ; but if you ask the preacher if he believes in 
 Spiritualism — that which contains the highest devel- 
 oped form of this truth — and he says, " Oh, no ! it is 
 all of the devil" — yet still he tells you you are allied 
 to the angels, but he does not believe in Spiritualism. 
 You hear it in the mighty convulsions for Liberty which 
 are shaking the world to its foundation. When the 
 voice of a Kossuth is thundering for Liberty, you hear 
 him say : " I feel that my Father is with me ; I feel that 
 I am allied to the angel-world." It is whispering and 
 
28 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 shouting, " Onward for liberty and light !" You hear 
 it in your senatorial and Congressional halls, when the 
 excitement of external opposition is heard, like the 
 pent-up sound of the distant thunder, or the murmuring 
 of the ocean-waves ; then you hear this voice saying : 
 " March onward ! man is allied to the angel-world." 
 
 Mother! bending o'er thy child — the cold and life- 
 less form, the image of that sweet cherub which was but 
 yesterday seated by thy side — soon it must be laid in 
 the dark, cold tomb ; soon not even this memento will 
 remain of that sweet loved one, who was the joy and 
 sunshine of thy household. mother ! is there not a 
 voice within your soul which is saying : " Mother, look 
 up ! you are allied to the angel-world, for one more link 
 in the chain of immortality has just passed away, and its 
 chords are vibrating in the unseen region of the spirit- 
 land !" What man of science, what theologian, would 
 dare intrude upon the sanctuary of that sorrowing heart, 
 and say that child was not present ? Father ! as thou 
 hast laid in the tomb the joy and pride of thy heart, the 
 staff of thy declining years ; as thou hast shed the last 
 tear, and heaved the last sigh, and lost all hope of re- 
 covering the body of thy son or daughter, laid low by 
 the destroyer's hand — is there no voice which, within 
 thine own soul, is whispering in sweet and everlasting- 
 melody, which says : " Man, thy soul is allied to the 
 angel-world! Thy son, thy daughter, is near!" Oh, 
 there is a voice, and it comes home to every heart, and 
 the murmuring strain sinks not to rest, but swells again 
 with a deeper and more perfect melody. Husbands, 
 wives, children, mourning for loved and loving ones 
 gone — if, in this, the nineteenth century, you believe 
 
RELIGIOUS. 29 
 
 not in modern Spiritualism, there is still a voice, a deep 
 and mighty voice, saying : " Thy soul is allied to the 
 angel-world ; thy mother, thy father, thy husband, thy 
 wife is near." 
 
 If you are unfortunate, if the world has despised you, 
 and if the men of God have passed you by on the other 
 side, and the proud Pharisee has left you by the way- 
 side to perish ; if church and state have called you an 
 outcast from society ; if not one sympathizing voice is 
 heard to comfort you — is there not a mother in the 
 spirit-land ? and in the calm, still hours of midnight, 
 when you start from fearful dreams, scorned and de- 
 spised by the external world, does not that gentle moth- 
 er's voice return ? And even in your heart is there not 
 a power which tells you that you are allied to the angel- 
 world ? Oh ! there is ; you feel it, you know it, and 
 again you seem to be a child, whispering upon that 
 mother's knee the name of our Father ! And again her 
 voice is mingling with your evening prayer and your 
 evening song — you know that mother is near. Priest, 
 man of science, theologian, bigot, can not drive that 
 thought from your mind. You know, you feel, that she 
 is near. 
 
 When mighty convulsions shake the nations to their 
 centres ; when political strife and warfare are agitating 
 the minds of earth ; when the deep, pent-up voice of 
 Conservatism is heard attempting to drown the bright 
 and glowing voice of Liberty while crying for power — 
 is there not a thought, a feeling, a power, brooding over 
 your senatorial and Congressional halls, over the capi- 
 tol of your nation, over all the nations of the earth ? 
 is there not the spirit of a Washington, a great and 
 
30 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 mighty spirit, bending over you, whose voice and pres- 
 ence is for ever saying, in words deeper, more penetra- 
 ting, more powerful than man can conceive, " You are 
 allied to the an gel- world !" 
 
 God, Humanity, Justice, Peace, and Liberty, are the 
 great and mighty watchwords of that angelic throng, 
 who come from the senatorial halls of their bright and 
 immortal worlds, and say, " Man, you are allied to the 
 angel-world !" 
 
 Why should man, then, be ashamed to own it ? We 
 ask this question, we will ever ask it, when any man or 
 woman in the nineteenth century shall say that their 
 father, mother, sister, or brother, or their good and holy 
 men, their great politicians, their sages and poets, are 
 not near ; that they are ashamed to own their presence, 
 to acknowledge their alliance which is guiding them to 
 the immortal world. 
 
 man, woman, spiritualist, politician ! let this thought 
 burn deeply into your souls, for it is kindled there by 
 immortal hands — a Promethean fire, which, shall never 
 die, but which shall progress in beauty, and which the 
 bright breath of Liberty shall fan into an everlasting 
 flame. The hand of Peace and Glory shall rend in 
 twain the veil of mist and darkness, until every man 
 and every woman, gazing through their spiritualized 
 and glowing sight, shall know and feel that they are 
 allied to the angel-world. 
 
 There is a spell of beauty hovering o'er each soul, 
 
 There is a wave of harmony whose cadence e'er doth roll ; 
 
 There is a glowing love-light beaming in spirit-eyes ; 
 
 There is a world of glory bright, far, far beyond the skies, 
 
 Where naught of earthly strife is known or felt. 
 
 That thought within your soul ere now has a counterpart, 
 
 And that within } r our breast shall vibrate like a harp ! 
 
DISCOUESB II. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, MARCH 15, 1857. 
 
 IS GOD THE GOD OF SECTARIANISM, OR IS HE THE GOD 
 OF HUMANITY? 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! the sun, the god of day, with all his 
 great and glowing beauty, hath withdrawn his last ray 
 from the beautifully-variegated earth. The earth is 
 shrouded with the garments of the night. Ay ! " Night 
 hath flung her mantle o'er the earth, and pinned it with 
 a star." God ! so in thy great and mighty power have 
 the hearts of thy children, revolving around their axes, 
 been obscured by spiritual night : sometimes the orb of 
 light seems to be withdrawn ; sometimes the darkness 
 of spiritual night sheds its mantle o'er the minds of thy 
 children. They say, " Our God has ceased to love us." 
 Oh ! but with the deep eye of spiritual sight, with that 
 penetrating vision that comes from the revolution of 
 heart, of soul, of thought, and of feeling, we see that 
 still the sun shines for ever and for ever. It is only our 
 souls which have ceased to be in a condition wherein 
 thy love could shine upon them. 
 
 But in the great and mighty revolutions of Nature 
 and of nations, we sometimes see this darkness, this 
 night, this gloom, settled all over like a funeral-pall, 
 
32 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 like some majestic bird soaring above, dark as the night 
 of Egyptian blackness. But oh ! the soul of prophecy 
 knows that as truly as yonder sun will illumine the east- 
 ern horizon on the morrow, bursting forth in a flood of 
 radiance, and penetrating through all the labyrinths of 
 the external earth, so, when this night settles upon na- 
 tions, as truly will Thy love again beam ; as truly will 
 the morning dawn. Father ! there may be those of 
 thy children on this occasion over whose minds and 
 hearts this darkness has settled, whose thoughts are 
 shrouded in spiritual night, and who mourn in despair 
 and in anguish. Oh, it is sad to see them folded in the 
 robes of despair and misery ! 
 
 But, Parent of our souls, who art our Father and 
 Mother too, we know that, with the eye of faith, they 
 can chase the clouds away, and see the sunlight of love 
 beaming o'er every mist through the oriel windows of 
 the eastern sky like the bright sunlight of the morning. 
 Ay ! sometimes Death, with darksome hand, touches the 
 brow of a dearly-beloved form ; sometimes cold sorrow 
 thrills the hearts of families and communities with mourn- 
 ing. Then, then do they feel that the sunshine is gone, 
 that the last ray of Thy love has set in the western hori- 
 zon, and the twilight of despair is settling fast down 
 upon them, among the leaves and foliage of their souls, 
 and then does that light go out. But anon the bright 
 and glowing star of faith lights up the sky, and gleams 
 with beauty ; for they trace, beyond the veil of external 
 death, the bright and glowing beauty of an immortal 
 morning — a morning whose glorious effulgence shall so 
 far outshine the light of day, that the one shall seem as 
 the darkest night when compared with the other. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 33 
 
 Father ! if that darkness has settled here ; if even 
 now, it retards the revolution of thought and feeling upon 
 the earth, and confuses all its social, material, and religious 
 operations, may we all, with prophetic vision, knowing 
 that justice and love are thy eternal attributes, gaze for- 
 ward to the dawn of the morning when the bright and 
 glorious light of truth and of love shall mingle their 
 radiance with the sun of wisdom, until the whole earth, 
 penetrated and purified with this glowing brilliancy, 
 shall sing, like the morning birds, their song of praise ; 
 when thoughts of love and beauty shall bloom like new- 
 blown roses and sweetest lilies ! Father ! may these 
 thy children so live, think, and feel, on this occasion, 
 that all doubt, remorse, and despair, shall flee before 
 the coming light of truth and justice ! And to thee, as 
 the God of Humanity, as the God of systems, of suns 
 and stars, shall be our song of praise and glory, for thou 
 alone art unchanging and unchangeable for ever. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 Owing to the condition of the vocal organs of the me- 
 dium, our lecture will of necessity be very brief on this 
 occasion ; but we will endeavor to illustrate our ideas 
 in as clear a manner as possible, and we hope you will 
 make due allowance for whatever may be amiss. 
 
 The question we propose to discuss this evening is 
 this : Is God the God of Sectarianism, or is he the God 
 of Humanity ? 
 
 The soul, in all its aspirations after truth, is ever ac- 
 knowledging some superior power, for it is never satis- 
 
34 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tied, never quiet, ever restless, ever searching for some- 
 thing more elevated upon which to fix its affections and 
 challenge its admiration and power. All the revolu- 
 tions of church and state have illustrated this from time 
 immemorial. Since man first, in the garden of Eden, 
 tasted of the tree of knowledge, to the present moment, 
 he has given evidence that he is never satisfied with what 
 he is. Consequently, the Deity's fountain must be inex- 
 haustible, else man would overstep the bounds of his 
 finite reason. That very act illustrated in biblical his- 
 tory, of the tempter, of the fruit of the tree of knowl- 
 edge being partaken of by Adam and Eve, proves, in 
 its beauty and glory, the truth of this principle. Were 
 they satisfied with their innocent state of religious life, 
 with the beauties of that garden, the glories of Divine 
 light and love which beamed into their souls through 
 innocence and love ? No, they were not, else no tempter 
 could have destroyed their peace or caused them to fall. 
 They were not perfect in aspiration or development, 
 else there could have been no destroying power, nothing 
 which would dethrone them from that bright and living 
 estate. What, then, was it ? It was this law of aspi- 
 ration, this law of ambition, this law of development, 
 working within their hearts, in the Adam and the Eve 
 of your forefathers, tempting them, so to speak, to par- 
 take of the mighty fruits of the tree of knowledge, that 
 they might know upon what their purity and innocence 
 were based. For Deity, in his divine power, hath cre- 
 ated laws and principles, you must all understand, and 
 these laws and principles are the governing forces, out- 
 working themselves into external forms. 
 
 It is so with the external world ; it is so with all nat- 
 
EELIGIOUS. 35 
 
 ural universes and- systems of external creation. Why 
 not with man, man in divine essence being part of Dei- 
 ty, still that essence not being identified ? Every means 
 and working of man's physical nature is for the purpose 
 of individualization and individual perfection, not in es- 
 sence, for Deity is all perfection in the divine attributes 
 of his nature, and these are coeval with Deity. These 
 are what sever the principles or primates of an earth 
 from a sun, but their full development is not attained 
 until they are outwrought through convulsions and revo- 
 lutions, through great and mighty earthquakes, which 
 jar, and purify, and refine them. 
 
 So with the essence of man's soul. It is the essence 
 of Deity, of divine identity, coming in contact with ex- 
 ternal matter, must through convulsion, revolution, and 
 purification, outwork the individuality of man. What 
 follows ? That as much as every star in this system is 
 a part of the solar system, so every human soul on this 
 globe is a part of Humanity. There is no getting over 
 that; it is a plain and logical conclusion — as much so 
 as that one star forms part of the solar system. 
 
 Theologians, men of science, leaders of the people, 
 will say: " We only are God's children-; he vouchsafes 
 only to us the knowledge of his will." But Humanity, 
 with a mighty voice, speaks and says, " Wherever there 
 is a manifestation of thought, wherever there is a mani- 
 festation of affection, or of worship, or of beauty, there 
 is Humanity." What follows ? That, as much as the 
 sun is the sun of the solar system, of every star in the 
 solar system, and as much as every star has just as much 
 claim upon the sun as every other star, so each human 
 soul has as much claim upon Deity, maintains as close a 
 
36 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 relationship to him, boars as near an .alliance to him,, as 
 the most cultivated theologian or external man of sci- 
 ence in the world. It is God's essence, God's power, 
 and God's law, as it outworks itself in man and in Na- 
 ture, and it is the culmination of his power which gives 
 to man the answer whether God is a God of creed, a 
 God of sectarianism, a God of bondage, a God of con- 
 servatism, or whether he is a God of Love, of Humanity, 
 of Progress, of Eternity. 
 
 On the one hand, you curtail his omnipotence and 
 power ; and on the other, you give out the limits of his 
 Universe, of Systems of Universes, and Systems of Sys- 
 tems, throughout the unending ages of ten thousand eter- 
 nities ! And this is the God of Humanity ; this is the 
 Central Soul, this is the Sun, this is the Heart, this is 
 the Power, this is Deity ; and each human soul, being 
 fashioned from his divine fountain, being a drop in the 
 great ocean of immortality and immensity, being an at- 
 om in the system of systems of human souls, in the mighty 
 elements of human thought, claims an alliance to Deity, 
 claims that Deity is its Father, Mother, its Source, its 
 Fountain, its Centre, around which it must for ever re- 
 volve. What scope, then, does this give to the human 
 soul ! What great and mighty aspirations does it kin- 
 dle within the brain and heart ! What mighty pulsa- 
 tions, deep down in the stratifications of thought and 
 feeling, develop themselves in their appropriate exter- 
 nal forms ! Humanity ! there is a great and mighty 
 meaning in that word, which no mere man of science, 
 no theologian, no human vocabulary, can ever fathom — 
 which nothing can interpret except the intuitions of 
 man's immortal soul. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 37 
 
 Listen to all the developments of religion ; listen to all 
 the manifestations of creed and of theory — how they cir- 
 cumscribe and limit the powers of Deity ! They repre- 
 sent him as a God of wrath, of vengeance, of hate, of 
 malice, a God of everything except a God of love and 
 justice. Ay, that bondage, deep, spiritual bondage, 
 which is but darkness before the dawn of day, has set- 
 tled many times upon the hearts of humanity, upon the 
 great and mighty waves of thought and feeling, cover- 
 ing them over with the mists of doubt and superstition, 
 until man has been fain to acknowledge he is not a God 
 of justice after all, he is not a God of omnipotence after 
 all ; that there is some imperfection in his deity ; that 
 Deity has made a mistake in his creations. 
 
 soul of love, of light, and of beauty ! if there is 
 within your heart or brain one feeling of life, of love, 
 one thrill of glory, listen to this voice of Humanity, for 
 it claims a hearing ; it calls loudly from the mountain- 
 tops of creation, of thought, of feeling, from the deep 
 valleys of prejudice and misery, from the courts and al 
 leys of your crowded cities, from the broad expanse of 
 your mighty prairies, rolling in their vast magnificence ; 
 it calls upon you to listen, in the name of that Humanity 
 of which you, each one of you, are a star, a satellite, a 
 member. What follows ? Each individual soul, in its 
 divine creation, becoming beautified and glorified like a 
 star ; each manifestation of power and intellect becom- 
 ing in itself a coruscation of light, sent forth from Dei- 
 ty's soul ; each thought of the brain, each emotion of 
 the heart, each pulsation of the soul in its search after 
 truth and knowledge, becomes a power, a life, an ever- 
 lasting beauty, outworking itself toward Deity, not from 
 
38 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 him — within, and not without — manifesting itself in 
 every human being, not in any sect, dogma, creed, or 
 prejudice. 
 
 Consider this, children of Humanity. I speak to you 
 as though you were the whole world collected together, 
 each one forming a part of that great Humanity, of reli- 
 gion, thought, and feeling, and each one occupying as 
 high a place as each star in the heavens. Inasmuch as 
 one spark of light could not be thrown off from this Hu- 
 manity, one soul of the vast throng be lost, without de- 
 stroying the symmetry and perfection of the whole, so 
 no star could fall from its assigned position in the fir- 
 mament without destroying the harmony and beauty of 
 God's creation. 
 
 Within each dreaming heart hangs the destiny of this 
 Humanity ; upon every string of sympathy and feeling 
 this tone is echoed. You and you are individually re- 
 sponsible to this Deity for the outworking of your own 
 humanity, of your own destiny. Oh ! within your souls 
 this God sits enthroned. He holds in his hands the 
 scales of justice ; upon these are placed your thoughts, 
 deeds, and acts, there to be weighed and found wanting. 
 Shall Humanity, in its great and mighty power, be 
 weighed in the scales of justice, and be found dark, 
 dreary, lifeless ? Let every one answer. We speak 
 to you not as a nation, not as a society, not as a church, 
 not as a state, but as individual men and women, each 
 one a child of Deity, each one performing his revolutions 
 around Him ; and each one responsible, not for his broth- 
 ers' or sisters' acts, but for his own thoughts, feelings, 
 cultivation of powers and faculties. 
 
 Then, as men and women, we ask you, is God a God 
 
RELIGIOUS. 39 
 
 of creed, of dogmatism, or is he a God of Humanity ? 
 There is a voice of response within every soul. It comes 
 borne upon the tidal wave of thought and feeling, dan- 
 cing upon this great ocean of Humanity. Now we see 
 the mighty waves rushing on in a torrent, yet wreathed 
 with the snowy spray of feeling and of love, and the 
 mingled tide answers: "This God is our God — a God 
 of Love, a God of Justice, as near to each heart in affec- 
 tion and sympathy as the pulsations of its own being, as 
 the respirations of its own breath — as near as Love 
 itself." 
 
 Oh, what a God is this ! oh, what a love is this ! what 
 a majestic power is this, which outworks itself in every 
 human soul ! which gives unto every heart the love of 
 the great and mighty Father ! which speaks to every 
 aspiring soul, saying, "I am thy Father — there is no 
 God beside !" 
 
 But as even now Night, with sable plume, is brooding 
 o'er the earth, so methinks in the perfection of human 
 souls there comes sometimes a night, a shade of despair, 
 a gloom, a sorrow ;. and oh ! its blighting, decaying 
 breath is felt, seen, and heard. Listen, child of Hu- 
 manity ! listen, man and woman ! God has not with- 
 drawn his light when you are in darkness. It is only 
 the darkened side in the picture of light, which gives 
 birth to the glorious day. Were there no shade, there 
 would be no sunshine ; were there no despair, joy would 
 cease to be ; and pleasure and pain would not be known 
 as opposites. 
 
 Then, man of Humanity, woman of Humanity, you 
 are each a jewel-thought in the midst of this mighty crea- 
 tion ; you are each one a planet ; you are turning some- 
 
40 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 times to the darkness, and sometimes to the light ; some- 
 times you linger in the shade, sometimes bask in the 
 sunshine of happiness and love — the wheel of revolu- 
 tion, the axis upon which you revolve, being controlled 
 by this continually-active law of change. Will you 
 linger in the shade, and see the doubt, the sorrowing 
 doubt, of Humanity ? Will you bask alone in the sun- 
 shine, while ten thousand human beings are crying for 
 more light ? Will you not shed abroad your light and 
 effulgence, and let them see the sunny side of your soul, 
 that they may know that the morning will soon come ? 
 
 child of Humanity ! a voice is still calling from the 
 deep pulsations of sympathy within your heart, from the 
 great and mighty temples of science and art ; this voice 
 is still calling to man, saying, " Let your light so shine 
 as to show the good and the glory of the Humanity liv- 
 ing and breathing within your own souls." If you strive 
 to place a chain upon its development, to circumscribe 
 the sphere and orbit of your own god ; if you assert that 
 the god within you is not a god of justice — then you 
 may say it with pleasure. But if you say that the God 
 of Humanity is not a God of justice, that the Omnipo- 
 tent Father is not the Father of all living, then it is a 
 libel upon creation, upon every hope and aspiration of 
 Humanity, and the child may as well die. Would a 
 mother, gazing in the face of her babe, say or feel that 
 that child was not her child ? Could she, gazing into 
 its bright and trusting eyes, picture to it the darkness 
 of the coming morrow, or say that God was not its Fa- 
 ther ? Could she, gazing upon that infant, even after 
 its form had decayed, say that it was not still a child 
 of its father ? Oh, no ! there is a depth of feeling, of 
 
RELIGIOUS. 41 
 
 thought, of beauty, within every mother's soul, which 
 tells her that her child is allied to Deity ; that it is a 
 gift from the Source of all life, a glowing light, a star, 
 a satellite, which must perfect and harmonize until it 
 shall in itself have sufficient strength to revolve on its 
 own axis, develop its own powers, and perform those 
 acts of kindness the germs of which are implanted in 
 every soul. 
 
 Then, if an earthly father or mother would do this 
 for a child, what would Deity, the great Father and 
 Mother who pervades all space and fills immensity — 
 what would he not do for every soul fashioned by his 
 hand ? Though that child has fallen, does that mother 
 despise him? No! — still holding him by the hand, 
 still gazing in his eyes, she says, " My child ! my 
 child !" It is only the darkness of a revolution — it is 
 only the dark side of the picture which the child has 
 seen ; and she would fain cheer him with the hope in 
 the dawn of a glorious morrow. An angel stands in 
 the eastern horizon of man's soul, where will soon beam 
 and outbreak the radiance of living beauty, to cheer his 
 desolate heart by his presence, and his voice is saying, 
 "Thy God is the God of Humanity!" — is ever whis- 
 pering to you, saying : " Child, look to the east ! behold 
 there is a star of Bethlehem for thee, shining above all 
 other stars, shining in the glory of that perfectness which 
 it received from the Divine Soul ; it is rising for thee ; 
 it shall not go down in darkness, for it is a glorious, a 
 living star, which beams for ever and for ever in the 
 noonday, and the night-time shall never come." 
 
 Is your brother, that human soul, that divine child, 
 degraded ? is he in anguish, in misery ? is he despised, 
 
42 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 an outcast ? and do you help to tread him down, down, 
 down, still lower, until the very blackness stifles him, 
 until he can no longer breathe the atmosphere of dark- 
 ness, and his eyes are so heavy in endeavoring to get a 
 glimpse of the light ? Is there such a brother, or sister, 
 or child of humanity, in your midst ? Oh ! remember 
 that it is only the dark side in their revolution, only the 
 dark side of their picture. Then gaze with charity, in 
 benevolence, in kindness ; for every human soul has its 
 dark side, and that is no worse than the dark side of 
 your own souls. Remember this. Is there a man of 
 poverty, is there a child of wretchedness, of despair, 
 calling upon you in the wintry weather, whose external 
 form is shivering with cold, thrust out from the temple 
 erected for the worship of Deity, where the mighty and 
 the great go up to worship, who will not permit the hem 
 of their garments to be touched by him ? Will you say 
 that that is not a child of Humanity, of Deity ? Then 
 the dark side is surely in your own soul ; and that soul, 
 despised and forsaken, is more bright and glowing than 
 the child of wealth who walks by on the other side. 
 
 When the awful terrors of civil and religious war 
 cause desolation and famine, and hunger and thirst, and 
 cause streams of blood-red gore to flow o'er your earth, 
 men cry : " Our God hath forsaken us ! where is the 
 light and the glory of the coming morning of peace ? 
 ray of light ! wilt thou penetrate this darkened scene, 
 that we may know thy presence ?" Remember, chil- 
 dren of Humanity ! that the convulsions of this moral 
 and political warfare are but the night of party ; and 
 the glorious morning of peace will dawn as surely as 
 the sunshine will gild your world with his glowing 
 
RELIGIOUS. 43 
 
 beams on the coming morrow. These are all children 
 of Humanity, each one battling with the other, striving 
 to gain power, and outworking the inharmonious ele- 
 ments within themselves. Like the mighty eagle, soar- 
 ing to the mountain-tops of ambition, and gazing down 
 into the depths of the earth to catch its prey, so the 
 politicians, the men of society who seek to incite civil 
 war, that they may gratify that passion for strife which 
 has been engendered within them. Yet remember that 
 they are children of Humanity, of Deity ; that the night- 
 time will soon pass away, and the dawn of the morrow 
 will reveal an eternity of perfection, of beauty, where 
 darkness never comes, and where the morning rays ever 
 shine, translucent, glorious, in their divine effulgence. 
 
 Men and women of Humanity ! the night-time is on 
 your earth now, the night-time of religious and political 
 darkness, and is sweeping with resistless fury over the 
 hearts of suffering humanity. But remember, child ! 
 that your God is there also ; that he dwells as near your 
 own soul as do its pulsations ; that he is there, and as 
 truly as he is there, and every individual soul gazing for 
 the morrow, so surely will that morrow come, and bring 
 with it the perfume of ten thousand flowers, of joy, of 
 beauty, of religion, which shall shed their delectable 
 odor through all the avenues of your being, until your 
 very breath shall be redolent with their sweet perfume. 
 
 Oh ! it is glorious to the eye of Faith and Prophecy, 
 which, gazing through all the warfare of each individual 
 soul, to hear it saying, " My time will soon come, for 
 the morning light is here." It matters not whether you 
 worship in any church, whether you believe in any par- 
 ticular creed, or whether you worship at any external 
 
44 DISCOURSES BY MBS. HATCH. 
 
 shrine at all — if you contain one spark of goodness, you 
 are still a child of Deity. And if you worship at the 
 shrine of truth ; if you worship the bright effulgence of 
 that star which beams upon your soul ; if you acknowl- 
 edge the God of Humanity, then your souls are saved 
 from the darkness and the night : and the morning time 
 has come, giving you the fruition of patience and faith ; 
 and you shall gather into the granaries of your immor- 
 tal souls the bright and glowing fruits of a child of Hu- 
 manity. 
 
 And to thee, our Father, would we render all rap- 
 turous and glorious thanks which well up from hearts 
 o'erflowing with thankfulness and gratitude that thou 
 art a God of Humanity, who will one day fold all thy 
 children in thy beneficent arms and carry them on to 
 higher and still higher degrees of perfection, until a 
 halo of the brightest glory shall overshadow them all ! 
 And to thee shall be all praises, all songs of delight, 
 and all aspirations, for ever and for ever. 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, MARCH 17, 1857.* 
 
 THE SOURCES OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! we approach thee with thankfulness and 
 prayer, for from thee, from thy great, immutable laws, 
 proceed all power, all knowledge, all life. We ac- 
 knowledge thy glory and beauty as wo see them mir- 
 rored in the mighty wonders of thy creation. We ac- 
 knowledge thy love as we see the chain of sympathy and 
 attraction through all thy created things, and we ac- 
 knowledge thy power as thou hast spoken all these uni- 
 ted systems into being, and controllest them by thy 
 divine will. Father ! we praise thee for that feeling, 
 that emotion, which arises to thee in the form of worship 
 and of thankfulness. We praise thee for the thought 
 and feeling of the mind which enables us to penetrate 
 into those dim mysteries of thy creation, and fathom the 
 thoughts and feelings of the soul — the pulsations of the 
 Universe itself. Father ! we know that thou hast placed 
 no limits upon our souls ; that they are emanations 
 from thy great and divine mind, as the sun has thrown off 
 stars and coruscations of light, to revolve around it for 
 
 * The audience having appointed a committee to designate a subject 
 for elucidation, they presented the question as given in full at the head 
 of the following discourse. 
 
46 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ever ; so, in the deep, interior essences of our being, we 
 feel that thou art our Father, that thou art the source, 
 and that around thee we are for ever revolving, subser- 
 vient to that great law of divine power. Oh, may we 
 feel that law on this occasion ; and aside from the cares 
 and strifes of an external existence, may these thy chil- 
 dren perceive the golden cord which thou hast fastened 
 around their souls, and with which thou art drawing 
 them nearer and nearer as the wheels of Time roll on- 
 ward, and the mighty chariot is about to be lost on the 
 verge of eternity. Father ! that great and mighty 
 power thrills us with divine love. We feel, we know, 
 that thou art here, within the sanctuary of our hearts ; 
 that thy love and goodness are beaming upon us ; that 
 our every thought and feeling is perceived by thy divin- 
 ity, and that thy great and glorious omnipotence will 
 assist us to aspire to catch the gleams of sunlight as we 
 mount up the peaks of everlasting wisdom. Ay ! and 
 as the eagle soars aloft, striving to reach the highest 
 mountain-peaks whereon to build his eyry, that he may 
 gaze on the world and smile in triumph, so the everlasting 
 soul would wing its way to the summits of the highest 
 wisdom and smile at the beauties of thy creation ; for 
 we know that the soul is omnipotent as thine own om- 
 nipotence, as boundless as thine own life, as inexhausti- 
 ble as the fountain of light within thy great soul. And, 
 Father, whatever words we utter, may they be to thy 
 glory and praise ; and may thy children feel that, al- 
 though they are each distinct and separate, yet they all, 
 like the mighty planets which form universes and sys- 
 tems of universes, must revolve around one centre. And 
 to thee shall be all praise for ever and ever. 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 47 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 " Is the knowledge of the absolute being, of the moral law, and of the 
 nature and destination of the soul, acquired by the natural improvement 
 of the mind, or does it derive it from intuition and revelation from God V 
 
 The subject presented for our consideration on tins 
 occasion is substantially as follows : Does the knoivledge 
 of Man, which he possesses of the moral law, proceed 
 from external cultivation or education, or does it pro- 
 ceed from the intuition and revelation of God, or from 
 God? 
 
 "We will endeavor first to explain, as briefly as possi- 
 ble, man's relations to Deity, externally through the 
 laws of Nature, and internally through the laws of reve- 
 lation. In the physical world, all the various forms of 
 structures, the combinations and developments of mat- 
 ter, have never produced anything in the form of a liv- 
 ing existence superior to man. Never, since the first 
 dawning of intelligence in the human mind, encased in a 
 human body, has a form of existence higher than man 
 sprung up on the earth. Before that period, Science 
 will tell you that various formations were produced, 
 possessing higher and higher functions ; that at first 
 there were only minerals, but vegetable and animal life 
 were successively created ; and that mineral, vegetable, 
 and animal life, concentrated in the human form, pro- 
 duced in man the focus of physical creation, the divine 
 and glorious ultimate of matter. Whence does this ul- 
 timate proceed ? Whence comes this divine beauty and 
 glory ? Where are the causes of elimination ? Whence 
 do matter, and life, and being, emanate ? No one c°.ti 
 
48 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 answer. The man of science can investigate the physi- 
 cal laws of forces and of attraction — can study the ana- 
 tomical structure of the Universe — can analyze the 
 composition of matter ; but the first, greatest, mightiest 
 cause, that which forms and governs the living, moving 
 principle, is past finding out. It has been left for what ? 
 Not for external science ; it may analyze for ever, to no 
 purpose. Not for external education ; that may for ever 
 build theories upon facts, and never arrive at the first 
 principles of the facts themselves. Intelligence is con- 
 ferred upon man alone. Man, only, possesses opportuni- 
 ties and powers for acquiring knowledge. The lower 
 animals do not reason ; they do not analyze the life be- 
 neath them, nor aspire to the life above them ; they seek 
 only that which promotes their own existence. Beyond 
 that they manifest no aspirations for beauty or for glory. 
 Then, in the external creation, there is no manifestation 
 of life except the instinctive forces of animal life ; no 
 manifestation of aspiration except the instinctive forces 
 — the desire springing from natural laws for the pro- 
 motion of existence ; no manifestation of attraction ex- 
 cept the positive and negative forces of Nature, which, 
 ever acting and reacting, produce animal existence, but 
 not thought. 
 
 The next question to illustrate is, can matter, in its 
 primitive form — in that which is supposed to be the 
 primal source of planets and of worlds — can that mat- 
 ter produce thought ? Analyze as closely as you please 
 all the elements of Nature, resolve suns, systems, stars, 
 and universes, into their primal gases, and ask if these 
 gases are thought, or do they contain thought ? We 
 answer, no. We answer that thought is the divine ; 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 49 
 
 matter is the external. They are distinct and positive 
 principles, coeval perhaps with each other in forms of 
 existence, but not coeval nor coequal in powers of exist- 
 ence : the one being the creative power, the other the 
 thing created ; the one active, the other acted upon ; 
 the one the bright and living life, the other the exter- 
 nal, or the death. Therefore, matter, traced to its ulti- 
 mates, traced to its primates, still can not be thought, 
 still can not be life, in its distinct and positive charac- 
 teristics. Then what must be life and thought ? What 
 must be that power which creates and vivifies ? It must 
 be God. 
 
 Then God, in his operations — this Deity, this first 
 cause, this primal source, like a great and mighty sun, 
 revolving in himself, in throwing off great and mighty 
 sources of life and of beauty, which are suns, and sys- 
 tems, and universes of thought — but obeys, but exer- 
 cises his own law of creative existences. It is the great 
 law of primitive sources resolved into Deity — the be- 
 ginning of sources, not analyzed, not classified, but con- 
 ceived and aspired after. 
 
 Then, if in the physical world the ultimate is man, in 
 the spiritual or divine what must be the ultimate ? 
 Man. Why ? Because man possesses the only intelli- 
 gence, the only reasoning capacity, the only power of 
 judgment, which exist in the external universe. Then, 
 thought-power, concentrated in man, must be the ulti- 
 mate of the spiritual, as the physical principle in man is 
 the ultimate of the physical. 
 
 How, then, does man stand in relation to the Deity ? 
 Does he stand as an outward form of matter simply ? 
 A progressed mineral, vegetable, or animal, merely ? 
 
 3 
 
50 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 No. He stands in the relation of a divine being, an 
 outward function of the Creator, a bright coruscation 
 revolving around him, a glowing, divine satellite, which, 
 meeting and mingling with earthly matter, becomes re- 
 solved into a separate and distinct star. 
 
 In the proposition before us, it is conceived that 
 there are two sources of knowledge. At least the 
 question is, " Does man obtain his knowledge of the 
 moral law from education, or from intuitive sources — 
 from direct revelation from Deity?" There are two 
 sources of knowledge available to the human mind. 
 Why ? Because the human mind, in its distinct and 
 positive action, looks in two directions — one the nat- 
 ural, the other the spiritual. Why ? Because the 
 physical body proceeds from the natural ; and because 
 the spiritual emanates from Deity. Therefore, it has 
 two elements, constantly warring with each other, for 
 ever directing the spirit in one channel or the other, 
 as either element for the time prevails, and men are 
 constantly striving to penetrate either the spiritual or 
 the physical — either the structure of the universe and 
 external things, or the laws of the compositions and ac- 
 tion of the mind. But the universe itself being the ema- 
 nation or creation of the Deity, whatever knowledge 
 man obtains in that direction must be from Deity indi- 
 rectly ; and the soul being a direct emanation from De- 
 ity, whatever knowledge man obtains in that direction 
 must be direct knowledge, positive knowledge, absolute 
 knowledge. Therefore, in man's absolutism, as his 
 spiritual or divine is brought forth from Deity, he pos- 
 sesses the elements of all knowledge, the elements 
 of all power, the elements of all wisdom, in a finite 
 
METAPHYSICAL. -51 
 
 degree, as Deity, God, Jehovah, possesses it in an infi- 
 nite. 
 
 How, then, does man obtain knowledge ? How do 
 these divine principles of knowledge become purified 
 and developed in the external ? How do they become, 
 in fact, bright and glowing attributes of man's identified 
 existence ? We answer : Man, in his emanation from 
 Deity, or in his true divinity as being created by him, 
 was by that very act placed upon his individual respon- 
 sibility. Why ? A star sent forth from the sun, reach- 
 ing the limits of that sun's atmosphere and passing be- 
 yond it, suddenly becomes a self-existent body — sud- 
 denly resolves itself into a self-dependent mass. It cre- 
 ates for itself a new centre, around which it revolves, 
 and works out for itself and within itself new forms of 
 existence, like Saturn, Venus, or others of our solar sys- 
 tem. Why ? Because it is thrown off, being no longer 
 required by the sun. Yet although it is still dependent 
 upon the sun, it nevertheless has a light within itself, 
 which came from that sun, around which it still revolves. 
 
 We may compare the will, then, to one of these plan- 
 ets, as it has been thrown off from Deity — as in his 
 divine intelligence he has formed and finished the ex- 
 ternal and the spiritual. So man becomes a distinct 
 and positive identity, and must have a centre around 
 which to revolve ; and that centre is his own individu- 
 ality, his own divine, his own human godliness. Then 
 what is the result ? He commences directly to outwork 
 a separate form of existence. He commences to look 
 externally. The soul begins to perceive and analyze 
 from the physical senses, and thus man becomes human 
 — an identified intelligence, which creates other forms 
 
52 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 — an intelligence which is in essence within, but which, 
 coming in contact with external matter, creates forms, 
 as Deity, coming in contact with the great matter of 
 universes, creates forms, systems, suns, glorious planets, 
 which in turn outwork other forms of existence. 
 
 Man, in his educational processes, or thought, which 
 perceives only the external, becomes, not a divine being, 
 but an external being. Why ? Because, if man receives 
 his whole instruction, his whole manliness, his whole 
 knowledge, from the external first — if there is no divine 
 source within — if there is no will, no intelligence, no 
 revelation, no intuition within — then man knows noth- 
 ing except what he has seen, heard, or felt. He knows 
 nothing except what has been revealed to him through 
 his external senses. How many believe this ? The ma- 
 terialist answers : " I believe it ; I do not believe in 
 anything I do not feel, or see, or hear." 
 
 materialist ! every law of your being, every confor- 
 mation of your physical frame, everything which gives 
 you life, you do not see, and yet you believe you exist. 
 You do not see the substance within you ; you do not 
 sec the atmosphere you breathe ; you do not see the 
 great and glowing attributes of the earth, the air, and 
 the sky — and yet you believe they exist ! Why do you 
 believe ? Because there is a divine essence of light 
 within you. Because by that divine essence, in a finer 
 degree, Omnipotence has perceived, read, scanned, and 
 penetrated those very particles which form your physi- 
 cal system ; because it has drawn them to itself — has 
 moulded them after its own fashion. 
 
 Thus every man is distinct, positive, and identical, in 
 formation. Thus no man is like any other man. In 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 53 
 
 thought, feeling, and creative power, they differ. Why ? 
 Because God has made them different ? Because their 
 souls are different ? No, but because they are differently 
 combined, differently outworked, differently progressed 
 and purified ; because they exist in different forms. 
 
 In tracing the history of all ages, from the first com- 
 mencement of intelligence, as we have it in biblical his- 
 tory, to the greatest and mightiest revelations of science 
 and art, we perceive that man has always had two 
 sources of intelligence or knowledge — the external, or 
 educational, and the intuitive. He has always relied 
 most upon the intuitive, notwithstanding that he has 
 claimed to rely most upon the educational. We may 
 prove this by every revelation of theology — every reve- 
 lation which is called superstition, or fanaticism, or en- 
 thusiasm — every revelation which some pronounce a 
 vagary, but which penetrates into the soul of man. Men 
 and women rely intuitively upon the fortune-teller, in 
 spite of reason. They put their trust in the mysterious 
 juggles, scarcely heeding the man of science who can 
 demonstrate everything. Why is this ? Why does the 
 mysterious, in spite of the thoughts, the reason, control 
 the feelings, the emotions of the super stitionist, the vis- 
 ionist, or the enthusiast ? Why does it penetrate into 
 his soul without the concurrence of his will ? Simply 
 because this internal source of intelligence, this power, 
 this divinity, is more active than the external. It is a 
 power within itself to perceive, to prophesy, to essen- 
 tially reveal the great and mighty glories of God and 
 Nature. 
 
 The external intellect does not, then, penetrate be- 
 yond the surface of matter, though ever active and 
 
54 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 watchful, analyzing, conceiving of tilings which come 
 within its reach. Every great revolution, whether moral 
 or physical, which has occurred in human history, we 
 will trace primarily to this law of superstition, intuition, 
 revelation, or whatever you are pleased to call it. Ev- 
 ery war, every outbreak of a newer and more perfect 
 information, every advance of progress, every great and 
 glorious development of science, has first been an intui- 
 tive idea. It has never been demonstrated till it has 
 been conceived by intuition, by revelation, or prophecy. 
 
 You have an account in the biblical revelations of the 
 theological history of the earth ; you have in all times a 
 history of that which pertains to the church ; but you 
 have in a great measure overlooked the mighty powers 
 which have propelled nations in their revolutions, the 
 great external forces which have called men to arms. 
 Why have you overlooked the events which pertain to 
 the state, and perceived the revelations of the church ? 
 Simply because the religious element of man is highest 
 and strongest. It pervades all the quiet feelings of his 
 nature. Man, under the control of religious excitement 
 and enthusiasm, overlooks state, government, home, ev- 
 erything, to satisfy that element. This is demonstrated 
 by the followers of the Romish church, by every mani- 
 festation of fanaticism, in the dawning of every new era, 
 in the mighty light of Jesus of Nazareth, who appealed 
 to man's religious element first, and then to his reason. 
 And with that intuition which he calls faith, mingling 
 with his simplicity and purity of life and teachings, he 
 outwr ought the divine operations, glorious and beautiful, 
 which are recorded in the Bible. 
 
 Glance at the history of your own country, at the re- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 55 
 
 vealments of American government, of American church 
 and state. Glance at the first thought of Columbus, as 
 he intuitively, not by deductions of science, saw beyond 
 the great water a new continent. See how that intui- 
 tion grew stronger and stronger as it outwrought itself 
 into a bright flame, until he feels that he must carry it 
 out, by leading the way to that bright and glorious 
 hemisphere which you inhabit, and which was fully be- 
 fore his vision. He knew it was there. How did he 
 know it ? Science had not revealed it to him ; no one 
 had told him there was another hemisphere — a mighty 
 world superior to the eastern continent. He received 
 that information first from the inward perceptions of his 
 own nature — from that intuition, or revelation of the 
 soul, which exists in every human being. 
 
 We have mentioned this most remarkable instance of 
 intuition, that you may compare it with your every- day 
 experience, and with those of your parents and grand- 
 parents. In every case you will find that intuition has 
 preceded positive knowledge. Speculation ruled su- 
 preme until demonstration, accidental or otherwise, 
 proved that speculation to be an intuition, a revelation, 
 a divine thought. It had been conjectured that, as it 
 now revolves, this earth, instead of a flat, stale forma- 
 tion, was a living, breathing thing, having a light, a 
 power, within itself. It was all speculation until New- 
 ton, with his giant mind, penetrated the philosophy of 
 forces, and discovered, by the falling of an apple, the 
 law of attraction. Apples had fallen before the days 
 of Newton, thousands of them ; but he, by his intuition, 
 had perceived the law, and the apple proved that his 
 intuition was correct. 
 
56 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Again : if this intuition, this revelation, is a natural 
 element in the composition of man, the question is, is it 
 always active ? Does Deity, in other words, ever with- 
 draw his influence from man ? Has Deity made man with 
 this great, all-pervading element of the divine — made 
 him to exist — made him to outwork his conscience — 
 and then withdrawn, after a period, his inspiration, and 
 said to man, to Humanity, " Roll on without me" ? 
 Might the sun, after it had sent forth a system of stars, 
 after it had set them in their orbits, revolving around 
 it, say, " Now, ye stars, go on your course — I will with- 
 draw" ? Where would be the light, the centre of at- 
 traction, the laws that govern them in their orbits ? 
 All gone with the sun, leaving only desolation, ruin, and 
 death ! So, if Deity ceased his inspiration — ceased his 
 influence upon man's spiritual nature — we too should 
 die. No longer could human souls exist ; for, if your 
 light is taken away — if your sun is blotted out — if De- 
 ity has folded himself up to rest — then you can look no 
 further for the salvation of your souls. Why ? Because 
 every man is distinct from every other man. Because 
 every man requires for himself essentials, life-principles, 
 divine innovations ; not because another man has re- 
 quired them, but because he is himself a man, with dis- 
 tinct identity ; because he is a child of Deity. There- 
 fore it is that the inspirations of the past will not do, 
 except for illustrations, any more than Newton's apple 
 would have sufficed, unless he had had the living prin- 
 ciple within his mind. 
 
 How, then, does man receive all true and glorious 
 knowledge ? How, then, does he receive gradually ev- 
 ery manifestation of intelligence, every grain of knowl- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 57 
 
 edge of the moral law which he possesses ? We answer, 
 from intuition. For until a man's intuitions are culti- 
 vated and furnished, no Jesus of Nazareth can reach 
 him. If " by their faith they were made whole" by him ; 
 if by their knowledge, by their intuition, his divine 
 teachings reached them ; so if Humanity to day hath not 
 this divine inspiration within itself, the teachings and 
 life of Jesus of Nazareth fall like dead letters at the 
 feet of the Nineteenth Century, and Materialism tram- 
 ples them under foot. If there be no divine light shi- 
 ning upon the world now — if Deity hath indeed folded 
 himself up to rest, hath withdrawn his inspirations and 
 revelations from this age, and left man to the guidance 
 of his external or animal nature only — then you are 
 not to blame if you do not believe in Jesus, if you do 
 not believe in revelation. Then, if you are not reli- 
 gious, you are not to blame. Why ? If Deity hath not 
 given you the same element which he gave the apostles, 
 how can it be created ? External education can not 
 create it, for it is divine. You may have for your re- 
 membrance written histories, and the records of con- 
 science, but unless that divine inspiration is in your 
 being, you have no knowledge of Deity, no knowledge 
 of moral law. 
 
 What is moral law ? It is the revealment in form of 
 man's spiritual capacity. It is the action of thought, 
 of feeling, upon man's happiness, upon his welfare, here 
 and hereafter. It is man's perception of that feeling, 
 emotion, and thought of his nature, which is distinct 
 from the physical senses, which does not form a part of 
 his physical sensibilities, which is a distinct life-essence 
 within itself. That is moral law, and the regulations 
 
 3* 
 
58 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 by which that law is governed are just as perfect, just 
 as inviolable, as are the regulations which control the 
 external laws of gravity, of attraction, by which the 
 planetary systems are sustained. The one destroyed, 
 the planets would sink to ruin ; the other destroyed, 
 Humanity would become a chaos, and man's boasted 
 will a libel upon his Maker. 
 
 Then you are not moral by education, unless you are 
 intuitively so. In intuition you are not moral unless 
 that element wells up within your souls ; unless Deity 
 beams upon you, like the sun, yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever ; unless his love, his power, and his light, are as 
 constant as the light of the sun upon the planets which 
 revolve around it, as you revolve around the Deity. 
 
 True, there is sometimes a reaction which leads you 
 to suppose that God's light is withdrawn, but it is only 
 the revolution of your soul upon its axis, only the night 
 which precedes the day, only darkness which gives birth 
 to the light of the morning. So in the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation, there came a period of darkness, which spread a 
 gloomy shadow over the earth. What was it but the 
 precursor of the morning of Jesus; the precursor of 
 that glorious sunbeam which illuminated the hills, and 
 penetrated the valleys of the earth, gilding all with 
 the bright rays of noonday, till it became the full and 
 everlasting life of Humanity ! You may think an- 
 other night has fallen upon you. You may think an- 
 other darkness has spread its wings and is brooding 
 over you like a great and mighty bird or demon of evil. 
 Be it so. The light will as surely come as dawns the 
 morning after the night. Individual souls now abiding 
 in darkness may embrace materialism and unbelief; but 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 59 
 
 that intuitive element within, that glorious godliness of 
 their nature, that light which cometh from above, will 
 beam upon their souls, and the morning will surely 
 break. It will come — not by education, not by preach- 
 ing from all the pulpits and rostrums in the land, not 
 by church or state, or both united — but, over all these, 
 by revelations from Deity, by radiations of divine light 
 into every human soul ; for, unless Deity is the God, the 
 Father of each soul, he is not the Father of Humanity. 
 
 You are none of you above revelation ; may be you 
 are below it. None of you have advanced to the com- 
 prehension of the glory of our Father so far, that you 
 need no additional light. None of you need say that 
 God has withdrawn his light, because they do not need 
 it, or because he is angry with them. No, no ! The 
 sun does not get angry with the planets, and refuse to 
 send forth his rays ; neither can Deity cease to shine, or 
 cease to give his children the glory of his great and 
 mighty power. His glory, his omnipotence, his bright- 
 ness, are eternal, perfect, all-pervading. 
 
 Man is an intuitive being. He exists, breathes, moves, 
 by intuition, and education only reveals the modes, laws, 
 and functions of his existence ; only reveals the effects, 
 of which the great cause is intuition or revelation. This 
 gives to man a religious element, a religious property 
 within his soul. This gives to him a distinct life-prin- 
 ciple, which must buoy him up above all the storms 
 of external warfare and strife, which must give to him 
 the bright and glorious beacon-light which, if he will 
 use, will guide him safely into the harbor of an eternal 
 rest. 
 
 These are our views upon intuition and education, as 
 
60 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 relating to man's knowledge of moral law. If any of 
 the committee desire to propound further questions, or 
 wish us to elucidate further any particular point, we will 
 be happy to answer. 
 
 Dr. Dwinelle. — The committee are informed by Dr. Hatch that it 
 is not desirable that Mrs. Hatch should remain in the trance-state more 
 than ten minutes longer. Therefore, if any person present has any 
 question upon the subject discussed which is bearing upon his mind, we 
 will thank him to state it at once. 
 
 A Gentleman. — I would like to ask if the intuitive perceptions may 
 not be enlarged by a continued thought of the Deity 1 
 
 Mrs. Hatch. — We answer to this question that the 
 intuitive perceptions can be enlarged by a continued 
 thought toward the Deity. Of him who is omnipotent 
 you can not think ; you may think toward him. How 
 is that to be done ? Think within. The soul being an 
 essence thrown off from him, the soul being a child, of 
 which he is the Father, think within, and you can en- 
 large your intuitions, for the soul within will thereby 
 expand, beautify, and enlarge, until, as Deity is omnip- 
 otent, you will advance nearer and nearer to him. 
 
 Another Gentleman. — How is one to know when to trust his 
 intuition * 
 
 Mrs. Hatch. — Always trust your intuition, but do 
 not trust that which you may sometimes suppose to be 
 intuition, and which is in fact only vagary or fanaticism. 
 Do not trust the shadows of external existence which 
 sometimes make their impression upon the brain; but 
 always trust, in whatever condition, in whatever posi- 
 tion of life you may be — always trust that interior force, 
 that conscience, that highest conception of right, which 
 no man is void of, which is always within your souls, 
 which is ever drawing you toward that glorious Being 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 61 
 
 whence it emanated. If you will listen to that voice, 
 you will never, never stray. 
 
 To further illustrate this point, there is sometimes an 
 intuitive voice within the banker, the broker, or the man 
 of the world, telling him not to cheat his neighbor. He 
 thinks this is a fanaticism, perhaps. He regards it as 
 prejudicial to his physical interest. Therefore, he does 
 not trust that intuition. But does it lead him into er- 
 ror when he does trust it ? We answer, no. The golden 
 rule is written in burning letters upon every man's soul. 
 He tries to bury it, to hide it with the rubbish of exter- 
 nal existence. He flies to an external church, an ex- 
 ternal worship, that he may bury it still deeper, but the 
 impress is never lost upon his brain ; it burns and burns 
 through all, and he can never quench the flame, however 
 much he may strive. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, ArRIL 12, 1857. 
 
 AND THE LIFE OF BEAUTY. 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Spirit of perpetual Love and Beauty — our Father! 
 we bring to the shrine of our souls all thoughts and 
 feelings of love and thankfulness, all great and mighty 
 powers of intellect and of beauty, and lay them there as 
 offerings unto thee, as the out workings of that divine 
 truth which thou hast implanted within us, as the pow- 
 ers, functions, and properties of the divine germ of im- 
 mortality manifesting itself through all the avenues of 
 external existence, and through all the bright and glit- 
 tering labyrinths of internal life. Father ! with this 
 offering we would lay that which has been gathered from 
 the shores of the past, that which has been wafted to us 
 by the favorable breezes of fortune and of history ; upon 
 the waves of that mighty ocean are borne to us the glit- 
 tering sails of perpetual love ; and the vessel is laden 
 with the richest treasures of divine thought, which are 
 landed upon the harbor of the present. And each soul, 
 mind, and heart, is a part of the great treasures of that 
 mighty bark. On, on it is still going, for ever and for 
 ever ; each of us may take passage in its frescoed sa- 
 loons, and feast at its sumptuous tables. It will touch 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 63 
 
 along the harbors of Eternity, perhaps taking newer and 
 strange souls upon its deck, yet for ever laden with 
 divine treasures, for ever wafted by the breezes of thy 
 love, as it battles bravely with the turbulency of the 
 waves in its course for ever and for ever onward. Each 
 human soul is a bark — each one is launched into the 
 deep tide of life ; the rudder, the helmsman, the anchor, 
 are in thee, and thee only. We see not the far-off shore, 
 yet we trace with the eye of faith thy presence, contin- 
 ually bearing us onward, presenting to us that shore ; 
 that is there, even though it be not visible to our exter- 
 nal senses. Father ! if there be any souls here pres- 
 ent around whose barks the mists of prejudice have 
 gathered, until neither the eye of faith can see nor the 
 heart feel the brightness and beauty of that far-off shore, 
 may all those mists be driven away when the morning 
 light of thy love beams in ; and when the sun of truth 
 seems glowing with the hues of the rainbow, their hearts 
 shall feel secure. Even though the mighty billows dash 
 against them, they know thy voice will still every storm 
 of passion, of doubt, of sorrow, saying to them, " Peace, 
 be still !" 
 
 Father! accept our thankfulness for this faith, for 
 this knowledge, and for this love ; accept the united 
 prayer of thy children, which is even now ascending in 
 a spiral form of beauty toward thee for ever externally 
 and internally, until, united together, it forms a vast 
 spiral column, upon which we may spiritually ascend to 
 thee, and upon which angels spiritually may descend to 
 those who are still here. May all feel the base of that 
 column within their souls, and see its spire extending 
 still away unto thee, as for ever and for ever they ad- 
 
64 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 vance in the mighty scale of progress and of beauty, 
 until the divine love of beauty, the divine life of thank- 
 fulness and of prayer, shall pervade and fill each thought, 
 each mind, and each soul, and all hearts join together 
 in the simple yet pure and thankful utterance — " Our 
 Father which art in heaven I" 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 We propose to address you upon this occasion on a 
 subject which at first may seem too visionary, or to 
 have too little meaning to make anything comprehensi- 
 ble or beautiful out of it. It is this : The beauty of 
 Life, and the life of Beauty. 
 
 When we speak of principles, we mean those things 
 winch are immutable and eternal ; we mean those di- 
 vine attributes of Deity which are for ever the same, but 
 whose form of manifestation through laws and external 
 earths, planets, and suns, become effects, but which in 
 their own existence are for ever unchanging and un- 
 changeable. Consequently, we shall define Life as a 
 principle ; and, being a principle, it is all-pervading ; 
 being an attribute of Deity, it is an omnipotent princi- 
 ple ; being an omnipotent principle, it is a positive prin- 
 ciple ; and consequently, being a positive, omnipotent, 
 eternal principle, it can have no opposite, or no princi- 
 ple in opposition to it. Life, as defined by the exter- 
 nalists, is that which is, which has a being, which exists 
 — which is a very mystified definition. 
 
 But spiritually we define Life as that which has been, 
 
METAPHYSICAL. G5 
 
 that which is, that which is ever to be ; or, in other 
 words, Eteenity. We define Life as God, as the es- 
 sence, the combination, and the perfection of all exist- 
 ences, as the Source of all existences. Consequently, 
 every manifestation of Life which you perceive around 
 you is only the effect of principle. As you perceive, 
 the effects are constantly changing. If they were prin- 
 ciples, they would never change ; and Life being a prin- 
 ciple, and being an immutable, an omnipotent, an infinite 
 principle, pervades, dwells in, and is, everything which 
 exists. But in its form and manifestation it is as varied 
 as are the existences, as are the properties, as arc the 
 functions, the physical structures, and combinations of 
 worlds, systems, and suns. But these are not Life. 
 Then we shall trace Life, not from the external, which 
 is Nature, but from the internal, which is Deity, or the 
 Source of Life ; and commencing with the Source, there 
 being an inexhaustible fountain, we have no fear of its 
 running out. 
 
 Tracing Life, then, through all the avenues of either 
 external or spiritual being, we find Life, Life, Life, and 
 nothing else, wherever we may go. The external or 
 natural is that which man comprehends through his ex- 
 ternal senses, that which is rendered tangible through 
 his intellect, through his animal propensities, and all 
 the powers of the mind and of the body ; yet he can not 
 perceive all this externally, all there is in the animal, 
 vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. Yet it is an objec- 
 tive existence ; it stands out boldly as a manifestation 
 of Nature, as an image, a majestic structure, which is 
 there, whether man perceives it or not. This is the 
 external of the creations of Deity ; this is the manifesta- 
 
66 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tion of Life, for creation signifies manifestation or out- 
 working. 
 
 It is supposed that Deity contains within himself, or 
 contained within himself, the elements of all creations. 
 Now, what are these elements of Life in their manifes- 
 tations? Motion, sensation, intelligence, power; but 
 all, resolved into Deity, become Life, and nothing but 
 Life. It is stated by external philosophers that motion 
 produces Life, but there can be no motion without Life 
 first ; and Deity was alive before the external worlds 
 and universes ever manifested any motion : consequent- 
 ly, Life and Motion are coeval principles in the brain of 
 Deity. But Life, as the immediate element and prin- 
 ciple, or as the positiveness of his divine existence, is as 
 eternal, omnipotent, all-pervading, as he is, which can 
 never be -defined so long as infinitude or omnipotence 
 are classified as his attributes. 
 
 What follows, then, conceding that Deity is Life, and 
 that every manifestation of the external world is a re- 
 sult of that Life ? It follows that there is no death ; 
 in other words, that there is no place, no space, no 
 thing, where Life is not. If that existed, it would be a 
 lack of motion, a lack of Deity, and there is no such 
 place in the Universe. Consequently, wherever there 
 is anything, there is Life : and wherever there is Life, 
 there is no death. Therefore, death becomes obsolete, 
 and we will cast it out from the vocabulary of external 
 Nature, as unfit to be used by men and women of intel- 
 ligence. 
 
 What shall we substitute in the place of death ? Sim- 
 ply change. Life exists ; it can never depart ; but we 
 all know by observation, by experience, by every fac- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 67 
 
 ulty of the mind, that change is constant, that change 
 is an eternal principle, or, in other words, is the mani- 
 festation of which the soul is the Life — the soul being 
 immutable, all-pervading, and powerful ; change con- 
 stant, unceasing, progressive. 
 
 Then from Deity externally we have all Nature, and 
 argue from that that there is no death. How can we 
 prove this ? Take the essences which compose planets, 
 systems, and suns, resolve them as closely as you please 
 into their primeval elements ; you still have life, you 
 still have motion, you still have the manifestations of life, 
 which is motion ; and wherever that is, change from that 
 moment commences its work, and it commences its work 
 of revolution in the form of instinct inside of itself. For 
 there is not an atom which fills this atmosphere, which 
 has not within itself a self-existent particle of life, that 
 which was given it from the beginning ; else it could 
 not be there. Then the result of this life is motion. 
 Motion resolves itself into a spheral form, or into the form 
 of revolution. 
 
 Each particle of matter, however subtile, however re- 
 fined, however it is unobserved by the external senses, 
 still retains this form as it works itself out more and 
 more into the external; and though newer and more 
 perfect forms of existence are created to the external, 
 they are only outwrought from the internal. There- 
 fore, it is not a new creation when planets spring into 
 life, when atoms resolve themselves into substance which 
 may be perceived, and are enabled to revolve upon an 
 axis of their own. This is not a new creation, but sim- 
 ply the change of an old one — an identification and 
 the giving forth of another function or power of that 
 
68- DISCOURSES BY BTRS: HATCH. 
 
 creation, in a higher degree, as it works itself out 
 through combinations, forms, and essences, and becomes 
 a distinct, positive, and an objective existence. 
 
 But Life is always there. Trace it, if you please, 
 through the mineral kingdom, through those stratifica- 
 tions which are said to be outworked through those 
 gaseous substances which lie at the foundation of exter- 
 nal, perceptible creation. That granite contains within 
 itself the very elements of those gases ; you may not be 
 able to trace them, yet that Life is there, and perme- 
 ates the whole creation with its excellency and power. 
 The most subtile form of Life is changed as that mineral 
 substance gradually becomes softened and purified by 
 the atmospheric influences ; soil is produced, over which 
 perhaps faint glimmers of the vegetable creation exist. 
 See how beautifully the plant springs up from that soil 
 — at first crude and imperfect, but improves as decay 
 and reproduction take place. It is not a new creation ; 
 it is only the outworking of the old elements ; it is only 
 the natural tendency of the ultimates which compose that 
 plant to give forth newer and more perfect functions. 
 The plant in its turn becomes, as you term it, dead. 
 It does not die, for it exists ; you perceive it in the im- 
 proved condition of the soil, in the increased growth of 
 plants, where they lift their bright eyes to the heavens 
 in thankfulness for the newer life which has dawned 
 upon them in the form of a new flower. 
 
 This is not death ; it is but a change. The external 
 sees but one side of the picture, and calls it death ; but 
 the spiritual sees both sides, and calls it Life, and Life 
 for ever. 
 
 Thus tracing the external through all the develop- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 69 
 
 ments of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, 
 up to man, we perceive the same element in man, as the 
 apex, the acme of this physical creation. What fol- 
 lows ? That when those primeval elements which com- 
 pose planets have outwrought themselves as far as they 
 can, when they have reached their ultimatum, so to 
 speak, then there must be a higher, more powerful ele- 
 ment, to fill their place. "Whence is that element ? It 
 is the mind of man, the soul of man, the spirit of man, 
 which, unconsciously to itself, has been working through 
 forms of existence spiritually, and as a physical struc- 
 ture been outworking physically or naturally ; and the 
 three, combining perfectly, make the mind, and become 
 both spiritual and natural. Therefore, you can take the 
 life of Nature as the life of the Spirit. It becomes iden- 
 tified in a new form. There are no new souls created 
 around you ; although thousands of intelligent beings 
 are brought into existence every hour. They are only 
 the essence of Divinity, the soul of Life, clothed upon 
 with physical forms and attributes ; a change has simply 
 taken place. 
 
 The soul within the infant is as much a soul as that 
 of a man ; the manifestation of that soul, through thought, 
 feeling, intellect, may not be as powerful, for the exter- 
 nal is what calls forth the soul to the external ; yet in 
 the internal that soul is as much a part of that Divine 
 Essence as the soul of the most powerful and intellectual 
 man which exists. The idea which we desire most to 
 impress upon your minds is this : that no essences, in 
 their physical and spiritual combinations, change, but in 
 the manifestations or aggregations of those essences they 
 for ever change. Each presents to the spiritual vision 
 
70 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 an eternal, all-pervading, and unchangeable principle ; 
 each presents to the external vision an ever-varied and 
 ever-developing manifestation of principles. Therefore, 
 you can never justly say that, either physically or spir- 
 itually, there is death. 
 
 By Beauty we intend to signify a symmetry of form, 
 a perfectness of combination and harmony of government. 
 The beauty of Life was the first passage in our text. 
 Then, as there is no death, and as tracing through all the 
 developments of the natural world we find no discord, 
 no inharmony, no lack, we may say that the external is 
 beautiful. Why ? It is beautiful to the artist, because 
 he perceives there the divine principles and conceptions 
 of his own nature, and responds to them, and the com- 
 binations of color and of sound greet his ears with most 
 delicious harmony, and fill his eyes with the vision in 
 his own soul. He sees no imperfections in Nature, al- 
 though the thunderstorm and the hurricane sweep their 
 mighty blasts and convulsive utterances across the earth ; 
 still there is life there, and no death ; still there is sym- 
 metry, and no inharmony ; still perfection there, and 
 not discrepancy. The man of science, in delving deep 
 and studiously through all the long line of physical 
 structures, perceives not one link broken in the struc- 
 ture of universes. The mathematician, as he calculates 
 the distances of suns and of planets, through astronomi- 
 cal science, sees not one discrepancy through all the 
 vast universes which are revealed to his vision as traced 
 upon the eternal dome of heaven, the transcript of ten 
 thousand forms of life and beauty, moving in response 
 to harmony and melody — to life within their own souls. 
 
 Oh ! this is the beauty of the external life. The very 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 71 
 
 flowers of the spring-time, which even now waft to you 
 from ten thousand hills and vales their songs of perfume 
 and life — the very flowers are conscious of this harmony 
 within themselves, and they speak, in the silent voice 
 of love and harmony, " Our Father hath done this." 
 The majestic forest -trees, stretching out their long 
 branches, like so many thoughts and feelings, striving 
 to penetrate the heavens with their symmetry and beau- 
 ty, are conscious of this power of life as it works it- 
 self out through the roots, germ, branches, and leaves, 
 until, rustling through the evening breeze, they seem to 
 murmuiy " This is beauty, this is life." The dancing 
 streamlet, as it takes its course from ten thousand 
 mountains and hills, dances and glistens in the sun- 
 beams, and reflects the silvery light, of ten thousand 
 worlds, flows on quietly, meandering through the beau- 
 tiful vale or meadow — oh ! it is conscious of its gayety 
 and sparkling beauty ; yet, all unconscious of its destiny, 
 it rushes on and on, uniting with the tide of other wa- 
 ters, blending its voice in harmony with theirs, to plunge 
 at last into the great ocean, where its melody is not lost, 
 but perhaps concealed by the more powerful voice of the 
 combination of waters. 
 
 All Nature is speaking of this harmony. The birds 
 sing as sweetly as though no one heard them ; the 
 streamlet dances as gayly as though no eye of man were 
 looking upon it ; and the animal creations in all their 
 varied harmonies of life and beauty move on, with this 
 divine spirit within them ; they have no need of the aid 
 of civilization and culture, but the principle of life and 
 beauty works itself out, and behold ! they are beautiful. 
 
 How much more, then, man, the sublimest, purest, 
 
72 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 most perfect of God's creation, should feel and acknowl- 
 edge this consciousness of beauty. It becomes the very 
 life of man, and life becomes all beauty ; so there is no 
 attribute in Nature, as it is resolved- to its strictest 
 definition, but beauty, and no principle but life. Beauty 
 is the child of Life, of G-od. Then, why does man live ? 
 Why is that divine principle of life implanted within 
 the external form ? Because, like the flower, it must 
 outwork itself into a form of beauty : there is no other 
 destiny. Even in vast immortality which theologians, 
 creeds, religious men, have pictured out to you, there- 
 is no destiny but Beauty, Beauty for ever and for ever. 
 
 As symmetry of thought, perfectness of combination, 
 harmony of government, create the three essential prop- 
 erties of Beauty, so man, in the perfection and working 
 out of his immortal destiny, combining these three prop- 
 erties, is Beauty and nothing but Beauty. And oh, how 
 many powerful and mighty minds have been exhausted to 
 describe the destiny of man ! How many leaps have 
 Philosophy, Science, and Religion taken into the great 
 heart of Eternity, striving to catch one gleam of that 
 great destiny. Oh! this has been a vast subject of 
 speculation. Goodness, purity, philosophy, science, art, 
 and religion, are all made subservient to this great des- 
 tiny — are simply means whereby this destiny is to be 
 out wrought. 
 
 As one flower differs from another in its form and 
 combination — as one leaflet, one tree, one streamlet, 
 one atom, in the physical, differs and has a distinct, 
 positive life-principle in itself — so each human soul dif- 
 fers with regard to its conceptions of Beauty and of 
 Life. Yet, although the flowers differ, they are content 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 73 
 
 to bloom iii their own place ; although the streamlets 
 differ, they are content to warble in their own course, 
 thrilling the earth with their songs of melody, of har- 
 mony, of beauty ; although the animal creation differs, 
 it is content to live in its own appointed sphere, work- 
 ing out the perfectness of its own destiny, which is 
 Beauty. 
 
 So the souls of men must be content to for ever ana- 
 lyze this form of life and beauty. It is to them a con- 
 stant study, inasmuch as it is their destiny ; it is to them 
 a constant source of thought and feeling, of prejudice, 
 and of bigotry, because it is their destiny, because it is 
 the life, because it is the source and the end, because it 
 is the fountain whence they sprang. Therefore it is 
 that all men differ in their ideas of beauty and of life ; 
 therefore it is that each man must work out his own 
 idea of beauty, and each soul must know its own life, 
 and in knowing its own life will know the harmony of 
 all other lives, of all other beauties. 
 
 Inasmuch as the plant contains one attribute of the 
 primitive elements of the soil ; inasmuch as the animal, 
 vegetable, and mineral kingdoms contain these essences 
 combined ; inasmuch as man forms the ultimate of them, 
 so he forms the ultimate of the spiritual essences, as life 
 presents them to him in all their forms of beauty and 
 loveliness. 
 
 This is the beauty of life. But, in the working out of 
 a higher condition of life, there are crimes and sorrows 
 which are the result of ignorance. The convulsions in 
 the material elements of the Universe are the means by 
 which it accomplishes its own purification ; so the strug- 
 gles of the soul for a higher life are the means by which 
 
 4 
 
74 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 this great ultimate is to be outwrouglit. One man looks 
 upon his brother, and says, because his form of life is 
 different from his own : " You are sinful, you are crimi- 
 nal, you are bad, you are imperfect." All men are 
 looking upon their brothers and their sisters, upon those 
 who compose their circle of friends and acquaintances, 
 and say, as they scan the flowers of thought which spring 
 up in their own hearts, because they differ : " You are 
 not a man, but you are a demon ; you are a sinful crea- 
 ture ; you are not as just and holy as I." 
 
 Remember, men and women, that as each flower dif- 
 fers, so does each soul ; remember that as Deity hath 
 made all Nature to differ in this form of existence, as 
 one may be less perfect than another, yet they are drawn 
 all the same to him ; remember that as each soul is 
 working out its own destiny, the means of that working 
 out is not in your hands, but in the hands of the indi- 
 vidual. It is none of your concern ; it pertains not to 
 you, except as a link in the vast chain which binds you 
 together. Be content to bloom in your own soil ; be 
 content to give your fragrance to the atmosphere from 
 your own soul ; be content to outwork your own form of 
 Beauty — and God will attend to the rest. 
 
 The life of Beauty, in contradistinction to the beauty 
 of Life, we may analyze as this : Beauty as an external 
 element, the external conception of the attributes which 
 belong to man, manifests itself in so many forms, and is 
 conceived of in so many ways by men of intelligence, by 
 artists, by poets, by prophets, by seers, by men of obser- 
 vation, that we shall not attempt to analyze it in all its 
 various departments, but present it to you as it really 
 is. We have analyzed the beauty of Life. In so doing, 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 75 
 
 we have attempted to analyze the beauty of everything. 
 Now, the life of Beauty we may analyze differently, ta- 
 king Beauty as a distinctive principle, and analyzing 
 from the external to the interior instead of, as before, 
 from the interior to the external. Therefore, the life 
 of Beauty is fleeting, fading, evanescent, passing away, 
 for ever changing its form, for ever presenting to us a 
 bright vision, then becoming obscured by darkness and 
 by misery. Ay! how many are there here present 
 whose souls have been thrilled by some form of Beauty, 
 which has found a response within their minds, but has 
 passed away, leaving no trace behind, except its mem- 
 ory ! How many of you here have shed tears upon the 
 grave of some dearly-beloved friend, some parent, child, 
 brother, sister, father ! how many have seen their eyes 
 closed in death, have seen their beautiful faces grow 
 still as a statue, have seen no response to your looks of 
 love, have heard no sweet sounds of sympathy with 
 your sad heart ; but all has vanished ! 
 
 Beauty has faded ; and your own soul remains but a 
 sepulchre, from which the ghosts of departed joys and 
 felicities stalk forth to mock your wo. How many of 
 you are there who have cherished a bright-eyed flower, 
 have nurtured and endeavored to train it that its petals 
 might become beautiful ; how many of you have seen it 
 bud and blossom, and yield its fruition ; but when win- 
 ter came, its leaves fell, one by one, its green tints de- 
 parted, and there was no flower, no beauty left ! How 
 many of you who are artists have seen within your own 
 souls the bright gleams of a far-off landscape, upon 
 which you have gazed until altogether it seemed a living, 
 breathing thing ; but when the cold canvass received 
 
76 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 the impress of your thoughts, and you have endeavored 
 to realize your ideal, you have thrown down the brush, 
 because there was no life ! How many have stood be- 
 fore the block of marble, as the sculptor was industri- 
 ously working out his thoughts in forms resembling life, 
 and have said : " There is no beauty in that marble ; it 
 might as well be the corner-stone of some vast building, 
 as chiselled by that artist, because there is no life I" 
 How many of you have worshipped at the shrine of re- 
 ligion, how many of you have bowed before the altar, 
 partaken of the sacramental bread and wine, received 
 the baptism, and felt that you had acquired religion ; 
 but oh ! the forms and ceremonies fell upon your spirit, 
 not like living, breathing things of life, and of power, 
 and of beauty, but cold, and drear, and dead. Why ? 
 Because the beauty had tleparted with the life ; and nei- 
 ther remained, and all else was but the shadow, the 
 ghost, the sepulchre. How many of you, gazing around 
 upon the external world, seeing crime, and degradation, 
 and misery, seeing one by one the flowers of Humanity 
 trampled under foot by those heinous monsters, have 
 said : " Truly there is no beauty remaining ; all is pol- 
 luted, tainted with vice and degradation!" 
 
 Such is the appearance from the external ; such the 
 thoughts and feelings of Humanity, as, one by one, in 
 quick succession, their ever-varying forms of beauty give 
 place to each other. Therefore, the life of Beauty is as 
 fading and evanescent as are the changes of life. This 
 principle of Beauty, this divine essence, when perceived 
 through life, becomes a living principle of Life ; when 
 perceived through beauty, becomes a changeable, a de- 
 structible thing ; becomes as fleeting and evanescent as 
 

 METAPHYSICAL. 77 
 
 the flowers and the hopes which you have loved and 
 cherished so dearly ; becomes, not a living reality, but 
 simply a vision, which soon fades away before the stern 
 visage of the reality of external life. 
 
 Therefore, we present these two pictures. We have 
 drawn them both from Nature — the one from the spir- 
 itual and the real, the other from the natural and the 
 visionary. Accept which of them you choose ; but re- 
 member there can be no Beauty unless it is through Life ; 
 and a true Life for ever outworks, as its results, Beauty, 
 Harmony, and Love. Cherish, then, the divine princi- 
 ples within your souls, instead of the fleeting forms of 
 thought and feeling which surround you. Cherish as 
 the real the plants of Love and Beauty which spring up 
 in the Eden-bowers of your hearts. Trace them not 
 upon the external canvass, where dust and decay will 
 come, but trace them upon the bright canvass of the 
 Future, where every thought and feeling will add but 
 another tint to the already beautiful and gorgeous pan- 
 orama, and your life of Beauty will become the real 
 beauty of Life. 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, APRIL 12, 1857. 
 COME NOW AND LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD. 
 
 PEAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! the light and beauty of thy divine pres- 
 ence beams in through the darkness of an external 
 world,* and on this occasion the incense of our hearts, 
 like the early spring flowers in the vales and in the 
 woodlands, rises to catch the Eden spring-time of lib- 
 erty and of peace. When the thraldom of bondage, 
 when the icy chains of doubt and superstition are all 
 swept away by the morning rays of love, and our souls 
 are filled by the refreshing showers of divine truth ; 
 may we then feel those cool showers descending, wa- 
 tering the parched earth within our hearts, and calling 
 forth the life, beauty, and germs, of thought and feeling 
 which were planted there by thy divine hand. The 
 great agriculturist of truth is working in the gardens 
 of thy children's souls, tearing up the weeds of envy 
 and prejudice, and planting there the rich buds and 
 blossoms of divine love. Oh, may we feel that thy 
 truth and thy love are for ever working in all the 
 avenues of our hearts and our souls, until joined to- 
 
 * It rained very hard. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 79 
 
 gether in the bright garland of beauty, our lives shall 
 present to thee a garden of Eden more beautiful in 
 thought, more lovely in reality, than the fabled Eden of 
 our forefathers ; and there no serpent of doubt or dis- 
 trust shall enter — no serpent of envy shall coil itself 
 around the tender plants ; but for ever the bright-winged 
 birds of perpetual love shall warble to our hearts the 
 sweet songs of praise. Father ! we ask thee not to 
 bless us, for we know that thou hast given us all bles- 
 sings ; we only ask that the bright exhalations of our 
 souls, as they are thrown off from the upheaving thoughts 
 and feelings, may ascend to thee as their source or ori- 
 gin ; that our thoughts, as overflowing fountains, may 
 ascend to thee in the ever-glowing beams of thy love in 
 spray-crown waves. Father ! we ask not permission 
 to worship thee, for we can not help worshipping our 
 source of life ; we ask not permission to explore the 
 past, the present, or the future, for we know that we 
 can never reach the bounds of thy infinitude, and thou 
 art saying for ever to the progressing soul, " My child, 
 come up hither." Onward, onward, is the cry from 
 within the divine essence planted in our souls ; and 
 even thy divine hand would not repress the work of 
 thine own being. Accept the incense of our thoughts, 
 as they arise in the form of worship and prayerful 
 thankfulness ; accept each thought and feeling, as it 
 weaves itself into bright garlands which shall have a 
 place in the soul, as every thought, emotion, and power, 
 is outwr ought by thee. And for ever shall the hearts 
 of thy children respond to that voice within, saying: 
 " We know that thou art our Father." 
 
80 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 " Come now and let us reason together^ saith the 
 Lord" This sentence, which we propose to elucidate, 
 may be found in the first chapter and eighteenth verse 
 of Isaiah, the prophet. In his vision he saw and heard 
 wondrous things, and among his hearings was this sen- 
 tence : " Come now and let us reason together, saith 
 the Lord." 
 
 The usual definition, by theologians in the present 
 age, of the word Lord in this sentence, we believe to 
 be an incorrect one. They suppose this Lord to be 
 the great Divine Father, the Omnipotent Power, the 
 Controller and Ruler of Creation ; and wherever this 
 Lord, or God is used in the Bible, they accept it as 
 speaking of our Father. It is very well known by theo- 
 logians and historians, that the ancient Jews and their 
 prophets worshipped whatever they conceived to be 
 superior to themselves, either in intellect, beauty, or 
 power, and that that superior thing or being was called 
 Lord, God, etc., anything which might embody their 
 idea of wisdom or goodness. Consequently, in the 
 vision of Isaiah the prophet, he conceived that the souls 
 of the ancient prophets and seers were in communion 
 with the Divine Spirit. Well, this Lord, who was to 
 reason with his people himself, signified what ? Not a 
 divine, self-existent being, superior, outside of, isolated 
 from the human race ? We conceive it to mean this : 
 the reasoning Lord or soul of man ; that part of divin- 
 ity, that divine outworking essence which is implanted 
 in man's immortal soul, and which outworks itself 
 
RELIGIOUS. 81 
 
 through all the various functions of his brain and being. 
 Reason, in its strictest and most distinct meaning, sig- 
 nifies that capacity of judging between good and evil, 
 the thoughts and feelings, and applying them to external 
 uses ; or of conceiving and appreciating things which 
 are above and beyond the external ; of analyzing prin- 
 ciples which are continually outworking newer and more 
 beautiful functions. 
 
 Then, as this Lord, which was seen by Isaiah, as this 
 voice which was heard as the divine speaking in his own 
 interior soul, enlivened and quickened by the influence 
 of heavenly messengers, this Lord was Isaiah's own 
 soul, was the soul of Humanity, which was made bright 
 and beautiful in his vision, and it said unto him, as it 
 always is saying unto all men, " Come and let us reason 
 together." The embodiment of this thought, as ex- 
 pressed by the prophet, when well understood, becomes 
 one of the most reasonable, rational ideas expressed in 
 the Scriptures ; it becomes one of the most philosophical 
 and religious sentences, one of the most inspiring, yet 
 one of the most practical, one of the most visionary, 
 and yet one of the most real thoughts that ever was 
 handed down to Humanity. 
 
 Accepting the theological idea, that the Lord calls 
 upon his children to reason with him, it would prove 
 that God, in his distinctive and positive identity, desired 
 his children personally to appear before him, that, face 
 to face, he might be enabled to speak to them. But, as 
 the manifestation of the spirit of the divine, expressed 
 in the human soul, and through its own conceptions out- 
 working thoughts and feelings, that Lord is constantly 
 and for ever calling upon man to come and reason 
 
 4* 
 
82 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 with him. Look through all the ages of the past, 
 through the Jewish and Roman histories, at the revolu- 
 tions of the bloody Constantine, at the perversions and 
 interpolations of religious history, made to subserve 
 the caprice and the creeds of individuals in all ages ; 
 look at these, and then ask yourselves if this Lord, 
 this God, spoken of by Isaiah has not for ever had 
 occasion to call upon his children to come and reason 
 with him. 
 
 Oh ! that divine gift of reason which renders man 
 superior to the brute, which is the only immortal thing 
 in his mortal form, which is the only perfect and divine 
 gift, the only progressive one, for it embodies the whole 
 of his other faculties. Reason is the crowning star, 
 the central gem, the most perfect capacity, the com- 
 bination of all capacities, the divine essence of man- 
 hood and of womanhood ; and this is the power, this is 
 the principle foreseen by Isaiah, as he was picturing the 
 miseries of earth's children, as he was perceiving exter- 
 nally what he conceived to be transgression, yet on all 
 hands was pointed out as the work of our Father ; and 
 whenever sin or sorrow might come, still He was pres- 
 ent, and turned not away, but extended his hand to 
 them. This is the reasoning principle of Humanity, 
 this is the god, this is the interblending essence which 
 combined with the external brain, makes all nations, 
 governments, principalities, men, all heirs of immor- 
 tality. Reason is that immortal essence in man which 
 is ever outworking and perfecting itself, and which 
 makes him allied to God ; and, when properly exercised, 
 it becomes the crowning star of his existence, and the 
 compass which will safely guide him through all the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 83 
 
 storms of life into the haven of universal harmony. It 
 was given to be the guide of every other faculty in man. 
 
 What follows, then ? That Isaiah gazed not only 
 through the vista of the past, not only upon Moses, 
 Elijah, and Elias, and the long line of seers and 
 prophets who preceded him, but gazed also into the 
 future, foresaw the brightness and glory which was to 
 dawn upon the race ; that he perceived this reasoning 
 element outworking in every form of existence ; and it 
 comes down to you, not only through the religious his- 
 tory, but through the political also, that this mighty 
 element of power is constantly and for ever calling 
 upon man to come and reason together. For, what is 
 the result of reasoning with another person ? or with 
 your own thoughts ? The result is, that passion becomes 
 subdued, that malice gives place to justice, that the 
 divine integrity of man's nature becomes harmonious 
 and purified. Two men, in the greatest passion, if they 
 will speak and reason together, in response to the god- 
 liness within their souls, will see their error ; and their 
 sins, " though they be red as scarlet, will become white 
 like wool." 
 
 Now, let us apply this principle of reason to every 
 faculty and department of man's natures, to his reli- 
 gious and intellectual capacities, and we will find it the 
 crowning star, the most perfect blossom of all the fruits, 
 of all the flowers, of all the trees, in man's great intel- 
 lectual and spiritual garden, the combination of all 
 essences, that which manifests itself wherever progress, 
 purity, art, science, and religion, are harmoniously and 
 perfectly combined. Had Constantine listened to this 
 voice of reason, his Christianity, instead of becoming 
 
84 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 one of envy, selfishness, and caprice, and covered all over 
 with the blood of his victims, would have become one 
 of beautiful and divine glory. Had all the ancients, in 
 all their workings of science and religion, listened to 
 this voice which Isaiah heard, then their acts, their 
 lives, and their facts, would have been handed down to 
 you in their primitive form, and reason, in its divine and 
 pure light, would have beamed in brightly upon the cold, 
 sepulchral valleys of preceding ages, where Bigotry 
 has stalked too long in gilded corridors, and even ven- 
 tured into the pulpits, staring Humanity in the face. 
 But if reason were there, the ghosts would flee before 
 the light of the perfect morning — that morning of in- 
 dividual existence which is seen, felt, and heard, when 
 every man and woman hears the voice of their Lord 
 calling upon them to come and reason with him. 
 
 If you arc a theologian, and worship at the shrine of 
 a particular creed or dogma, if you worship behind a 
 gilded pulpit, beneath the dome of a gilded and exter- 
 nal church, where not one ray, either of God's external 
 or spiritual sunlight, ever penetrates through the stained 
 windows and marble halls ; if you are that kind of a 
 theologian, and worship God, or what you deem to be 
 God — which is nothing more than idolatry, worshipping 
 the images which you call him, instead of responding 
 to that divine essence of purity within yourselves, we 
 ask of you to read the vision of Isaiah, to trace the 
 brightness and beauty of that glorious light, and see if 
 there is not something more in you than the blind wor- 
 ship of a blind creed, which leads you nowhere. 
 
 Oh, this voice of reason ! It has become a dead 
 letter ; and men and women listen to the churches, the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 85 
 
 prophets, the seers, the religious philosophers, without 
 obtaining one divine spark of light or of beauty. Why ? 
 Because this light has been covered up in their own 
 souls, because they are listening to the preacher and not 
 to the prophet ; because it takes a prophet to under- 
 stand a prophet ; it takes an artist to comprehend the 
 works of art ; it takes a sculptor to perceive the beau- 
 ties of the chiselled marble. So it requires the seer, the 
 prophet, to realize the religious outworkings, the beau- 
 tiful combinations of Isaiah, of Moses, of Elias, of all 
 the great and mighty ones who have lived and died in 
 the spirit of their inspirations. But this has not been 
 found. Men and women read their Bible according to 
 rule, not according to inspiration ; they comment upon 
 it according to creeds, not reason ; and they listen to 
 the voice of the Lord not as coming to reason with 
 them, but with a great and terrible sword, with wrath, 
 with thunder, with fire to burn them, if they do not 
 worship what they do not understand. 
 
 If you are a statesman, and have felt your heart glow 
 with patriotism, with love of liberty and progress ; if 
 you have analyzed the governments of all nations, both 
 ► religious and political ; if you have perceived the out- 
 workings of thought and feeling as subservient to the 
 caprices of the human mind, then at some time you 
 have lamented that the voice of reason is not heard in 
 criminal and municipal halls, in all the courts of justice 
 and of righteousness. If you have seen, read, and felt 
 this, you have lamented that reason is not there ; for 
 you look in vain for justice, for charity, for love, for 
 divine order, which are the results of reason. All is 
 passion, caprice, darkness. Why ? Because inspira- 
 
5b DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tion has been withdrawn from church and state, because 
 they have killed it ; because they have builded their 
 governments, not upon the spirit of justice, but upon 
 the letter, which changes as change the ideas, feelings, 
 and thoughts of men. 
 
 If you are a man of science, and have penetrated 
 into the depths of the elements of this physical struc- 
 ture ; if you have analyzed the physical elements of the 
 earth ; if you have comprehended the laws which con- 
 trol the revolutions of planets, and if you imagine you 
 have explored the laws which control their course, there 
 is still a lack, a something which is wanting, and which 
 can never be found until this voice of reason and beauty, 
 this voice of the Lord calls upon you and you respond, 
 to come and reason with Nature, and with God. 
 
 If you are a spiritualist, and through the spiritual 
 phenomena of this century you perceive individual hap- 
 piness and individual pleasures, and comprehend not all 
 the beauty which is revealed in these manifestations ; 
 if you comprehend not the principles of that other life, 
 and have not its convincing power in your souls, it is not 
 the voice of reason ; and your sins and imperfections can 
 never be made white as snow until you respond to this 
 voice of reason, analyze the capacities and functions of 
 your own spirit, and perceive the analogy of Nature 
 and of art, of religion and of science ; until you per- 
 ceive that, by a principle, and not by a dispensation, 
 you are at present enabled to comprehend your own 
 immortality. Communing with the spirits who have 
 departed, perceiving their functions, and realizing their 
 ministrations, if the voice of reason is silent, you are 
 as dead as the churches, the governments, the men of 
 
RELIGIOUS. 87 
 
 science ; consequently you are not a spiritualist. For 
 this is the voice of the Lord which Isaiah heard, which 
 came unto the prophets and seers of old, which was 
 heard again more beautifully and purely in Jesus of 
 Nazareth, and which outworked itself not only into 
 forms of beauty and living, actual realities, which made 
 reason the bright and crowning star in his course, but 
 love, the perfection of that reason, combined with wis- 
 dom. 
 
 Oh, how beautifully that light beams in upon the soul, 
 as in the present age we perceive and acknowledge the 
 same Spirit of Christ, the same spirit of the Lord, which 
 murmured unto him on the mount of Olives, the glory 
 and beauty which were manifested at the transfigura- 
 tion, and which is handed down to you through all the 
 lines of saints and martyrs ; of the heathen and Romish 
 churches, which at the present day are covered with the 
 ' rubbish that has been accumulating for centuries ! This 
 light is breaking forth all around. It comes upon the 
 outskirts of society, as well as upon the great and mighty 
 masses who are swayed to and fro by the church in 
 their search for light, and beauty, and love. Oh ! listen 
 to this voice of the Lord ; it comes upon you in the calm, 
 still hour of midnight, when every sound of the external 
 world is hushed, when all Nature seems to have with- 
 drawn within itself and to be in communion with the 
 Spirit of its God. Then it is that the flower, shrub, and 
 tree, are reasoning with their G-od, that they may on 
 the coming morrow outwork the results of that reason- 
 ing, in the beautiful blossom, the fragrant flower, and 
 the tender leaf. Do you not see the brightness and the 
 beauty of that reason even in external Nature, and in 
 
88 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 the animal kingdom, whose instincts seem more like 
 reason than many of the acts of human beings ? 
 
 But in man's soul how much more beautiful is this ! 
 When every sound of passion and strife is subdued by 
 this Spirit of rest, of peace, which is hovering near, then 
 is the time for you to listen to this Spirit of the Lord. 
 He calls upon you to reason with him, that on the com- 
 ing morrow you may outwork more perfect images of 
 the Spirit that is breathing within. Ay, the Spirit of 
 the Lord is within, and it sings its songs of love, songs 
 and requiems in response to the voice of the great, eter- 
 nal Lord, that Spirit which is not only perpetuating the 
 beauties of an external world, but which perceives the 
 dens of crime and iniquity in your midst, and which calls 
 upon his children to come and reason with him for one 
 moment, that they may know their true destiny. This 
 voice is borne upon the wings of the morning, through 
 the chambers of the east — the voice of the god of day 
 illumines the world with its brightness. This is the 
 voice of Reason to the external world, and the earth re- 
 joices in its glowing beauty, as its soul has reasoned 
 with the Spirit of its Lord, and it welcomes the day 
 with its songs. 
 
 Are you all prepared to welcome the God of day, the 
 day of perpetual brightness ? Have your souls rea- 
 soned together and reasoned with the Spirit of your 
 Lord, that when the morning light comes, you too may 
 respond to that beautiful light ? Let every soul answer ; 
 and at your daily avocations, in the street, on the high- 
 way, in the meadow, at your counting-house, or while 
 communing with your friends by this mighty melody 
 which encircles the world, does the voice of reason 
 
RELIGIOUS. 89 
 
 guide you? Do you listen to the Spirit of the Lord 
 calling upon you to be kind, just, benevolent, and pure ? 
 Oh ! that reason is sometimes hidden by darkness ; 
 sometimes the Lord within you reasons not. 
 
 This is the Lord which all men should worship. This 
 is the Holy Ghost which descends through the great and 
 all-pervading element of spirituality into your souls, and 
 calls upon the germs of thoughts and feelings to expand 
 in external acts and examples, and through external 
 motives and powers, until, in response to this voice of 
 the Lord, your souls come and reason together. And 
 then there is no more strife ; for if you are angry with 
 your brother or your sister, this " still small voice" will 
 say unto you, " Reason for awhile." Your hand is pow- 
 erless which is raised to strike, your tongue is speech- 
 less, and your brain becomes cool by this potent shower 
 of reason, which descends upon the parched soil of the 
 mind. 
 
 If you are worshipping the blind god of prejudice, 
 and if you listen to what the people will say ; if you 
 are governed in your acts only by external opinions and 
 prejudices, this Spirit of the Lord is saying, " My son, 
 my daughter, come and reason for awhile." Oh, how 
 bigotry vanishes ! how the shadows of darkness and 
 mysticism fade away ! how the brightness of this morn- 
 ing illumines all the darkness of the past, the present, 
 and even sheds its rays upon the incertitude of the fu- 
 ture ! And you become in fact a child of your Father, 
 responsive to that individual divinity which is within 
 you, and not responsive to any external thoughts, or pre- 
 judices, or superstition. 
 
 Then, men and women, children of our Father, this 
 
00 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Lord is as well your Lord as the Lord of Isaiah ; as 
 much your Lord as the Lord of all the prophets and 
 seers ; as much your Lord, your God, your Father, as 
 the Father of Jesus of Nazareth or of the angels ; and 
 when it breathes into you to come and reason for awhile, 
 listen to its voice, for it will bear you away from all the 
 troubles and turmoils of the external world ; it will waft 
 you upon the wings of loving melody to the responsive, 
 living present, to the future — that love which is mani- 
 fested in thought and feeling as the divine perfection of 
 your own natures ; it will cause you to seek far into the 
 future, and will say, " Reason together in the present ;" 
 and the future will as surely come, bright and beautiful, 
 as one morning comes after another, or as morning comes 
 after the darkness of the night. 
 
 How many are there present who feel with us the 
 divine inspiration of Isaiah ? who perceive that before 
 the light of reason all sins become white as snow in the 
 perfection and purification of the divine Father's con- 
 trol ? Oh ! is there one present who will see, with us, 
 the crowning beauty of individual existence, and, in 
 communion with the Spirit of the Lord, will respond to 
 it ? for unto every soul, and heart, and mind, it comes 
 at all hours. It is ever present, knocking at the tem- 
 ples of your hearts, striving to gain entrance through 
 the thoughts and feelings, through the external senses 
 and organism. If there be any of you who doubt this, 
 who feel within yourselves that your sins are red as 
 scarlet, who perceive not the beauty and glory of this 
 divine reasoning principle, come and reason together, 
 but for a little while, and you will see light, purity, per- 
 fection, and glory, manifest themselves throughout the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 91 
 
 whole community. And until the church, the state, and 
 the scientific world, come and reason together, there 
 can be no harmony, no peace, no life ; until these three 
 principles of divine control and power, which now gov- 
 ern the whole earth, meet and read together the inspired 
 utterances of Truth and Wisdom. 
 
 Then, if you are a theologian, a religious worshipper, 
 if you are a political man, a man of science, meet and 
 reason together ; summon all the powers of thought and 
 feeling before the tribunal of this great and mighty 
 judge, of Eeason, and test assured that the light will 
 surely dawn, that the sins and darkness of ignorance 
 shall be swept away, and the brightness of an immortal 
 progress will beam in upon the church and the state, 
 upon individual hearts around the hearthstones and fam- 
 ily altars, until the Lord shall no longer call upon his 
 children to reason with him, for they shall respond to 
 him perpetually and unceasingly. 
 
DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN, APRIL 20, 1857. 
 MODERN SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! to thee for ever do we render thanks 
 and praise ; on all occasions our spirits would hold com- 
 munion with thine. Perceiving through the eye of 
 Faith, of Hope, and of Love, the combined elements of 
 thy perpetual harmony manifesting themselves in every 
 department of thy nature, performing each day, and 
 each hour, and each moment, vast and. mighty wonders 
 of thought and feeling, we perceive thee through the 
 eye of Interior Light, of Knowledge, and of Wisdom. 
 Oh ! we bless thee, our Father, that these thy children 
 are assembled here together ; that there is an accord of 
 sympathy, an attraction, which draws them all to listen 
 to something ; which draws them to each place of wor- 
 ship and assemblage, where they may each one find some 
 knowledge and some truth through which they can un- 
 derstand and worship thee more clearly and intelligibly. 
 Oh ! we bless thee for the vast harmony of thy creation ; 
 those laws, those mighty principles of life, of beauty, 
 which are ever manifesting themselves in every atom of 
 thy created universes, in every star, in every sun, until 
 all join in a perpetual song of everlasting praise, and 
 
RELIGIOUS. . 93 
 
 the anthem of perpetual love is ever ascending from thy 
 creations up to thee. So may we gaze into the souls 
 of men and see there the harmony and beauty which 
 thou hast endowed them with,, calling forth the bright 
 rays of thought which gleam and glisten with the unde- 
 fined splendors of endless glory, until all the Universe 
 shall seem in very harmony with thee ! 
 
 We ask thee not to shower blessings upon us, to give 
 us a particular divine dispensation of thy light and 
 glory ; not to be especially kind to us, our Father ; 
 for we feel that if we reply to the spontaneous gushings 
 of worship which thou hast implanted within us, thy 
 constant dispensations will ever be open to our vision, 
 until we see clearly that thou art the same holy parent 
 and unchangeable God, for ever and for ever. 
 
 Oh ! may the words of truth which may be uttered on 
 this occasion, and the thoughts of thee, all tend to har- 
 monize our being ; may we feel that we are thy chil- 
 dren; that we are for ever in thy presence ; that not 
 one who asks with the eye of conscience, with the eye 
 of the soul, which is ever beaming in upon him, and 
 which is the mirror by which thou dost reflect thine own 
 image, shall ask in vain ; and Father, to thee, for ever 
 and for ever, shall be all praise ! 
 
94 DISCOUESES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 "Are there any glorious truths in connection with modern Spiritual- 
 ism, and if so, what are some of them ?"* 
 
 The subject presented for our elucidation on this oc- 
 casion — Are there any great principles of truth in 
 modern Spiritualism? — is so abstruse, so abstract, that 
 we shall endeavor, if possible, to draw from it ideas, 
 principles, and facts, which will illustrate clearly to 
 every mind that there may be at least some principles 
 of truth in modern Spiritualism. It is a question, how- 
 ever, which every mind in this century has been endeav- 
 oring to solve : perhaps some persons have arrived at 
 conclusions, but very few have arrived at the right ones. 
 Many profess to believe and acknowledge that they have 
 discovered principles of truth in the manifestations of 
 Spiritualism, or in the various phenomena which are 
 being exhibited in the different parts of your country, 
 and which spring up spontaneously over the whole 
 world, but where, we venture to say, they have not 
 found as much of truth as they have imagined. 
 
 In the first place, this question involves a doubt, and 
 signifies infidelity and atheism. We do not desire 
 you to understand that we are personal in these re- 
 marks ; but as the question is presented, it implies that 
 the inquirer or inquirers have a doubt with regard to 
 the truth of modern Spiritualism. 
 
 Any manifestation, any dawning of a new era, any 
 development of a phenomenon, either scientific, religious, 
 or moral, is based upon principles of truth, else it never 
 
 * Subject selected by the audience. 
 
EELIGI0U3. 95 
 
 could exist. God is not at once contradictory and har- 
 monious ; he is not at once hateful and beautiful ; he 
 is not a being full of antagonisms, of doubts, discrepan- 
 cies, and inharmonies ; but he is the same yesterday, to- 
 day, and for ever : and modern Spiritualism, whether it 
 be a manifestation of the laws of Nature hitherto undis- 
 covered, whether a manifestation of trickery, of art, or of 
 religious principles which are revived and which have 
 always existed, still presents to every mind some great 
 principle of truth ; for Truth is always the same — Truth 
 is the simple "element, the foundation, the everlasting 
 corner-stone in the temple of our Father. But Truth, 
 whether it be manifested in the silent workings of the 
 material earth, or in the incongruous ideas of intellect 
 and science, or in the great and glorious inspiration of 
 religion, is still Truth, still for ever the same. 
 • But throwing aside this idea of doubt, we will en- 
 deavor to illustrate to you, as a teacher to his pupil ; or 
 suppose that you are children, and that we are speaking 
 upon a subject which you have never thought of before, 
 and which involves a great practical lesson, and whose 
 meaning you, as children, do not understand. 
 
 Modern Spiritualism is so called simply because there 
 are manifestations, phenomena, and revealments, in this 
 age, which , correspond with those of the apostolic age. 
 Modern Spiritualism signifies the Spiritualism of the 
 present age, and so signifies, by antithesis, that there is 
 an ancient Spiritualism. Consequently, the manner in 
 which the question should have been put, is — " Are 
 there any principles of truth in modern and ancient 
 Spiritualism, and is there an analogy between the two ? 
 If so, what will be the intellectual and moral result of 
 
96 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 these manifestations and the outworkings of these won- 
 ders i" 
 
 Why, men and women, your whole lives, the lives of 
 your predecessors, the lives of all the great and noted 
 men of the past, the lives of the prophets, the seers, 
 poets, philosophers, theologians, and men of science, 
 have been devoted, more or less, to the solving of this 
 great problem : Are there any great principles of truth 
 in Spiritualism, either modern or ancient ? 
 
 The inspirations of former ages are handed down to 
 you through sacred and profane history, and they cul 
 minate in the present as a mass, a confusion of letters, 
 of words, of sentences, of chapters, of books, of which 
 you have no distinct idea except that they have come 
 to you from ages bygone, and been made sacred by time. 
 Yet you pore over those pages, and you seem infused 
 with a newer and more intense desire for knowledge, 
 and then you ask yourselves : " Are there any great prin- 
 ciples of truth in ancient Spiritualism ? Was Moses in- 
 spired ? Was Jesus of Nazareth divine ? was he pure 
 and holy? Were his disciples true worshippers?" — 
 until at last you seem to live in the very ages of the 
 past, and see and hear again the manifestations which 
 are recorded in history ; you compare them with your 
 own thoughts and feelings, and you say, " Indeed, there 
 is some truth in this, else there is no reliance to be 
 placed upon our interior experiences." 
 
 Then, what has been the result of these thoughts and 
 feelings ? these inquiries for divine inspiration ? Where 
 has been the land-mark which should guide the naviga- 
 tor in his perpetual progress? Where has been the 
 beacon-light which should point out to him the shoals 
 
RELIGIOUS. 97 
 
 and quicksands in this ocean of life, that he might avoid 
 them ? That beacon-light has been covered up for awhile, 
 has been in darkness, enveloped in clouds of material- 
 ism ; and when anon a strange light bursts forth, mani- 
 festing itself through simple tappings, calling in a loud 
 voice, saying, " Man, thy soul is immortal !" Materialism 
 starts back, Science is affrighted, Religion stands ap- 
 palled, and men cry, " Are there any principles of truth 
 in this voice ?" 
 
 It is like the voice of that lone star, gleaming in the 
 East eighteen hundred years ago, which seemed to pene- 
 trate into the wilderness, calling the kings and great 
 men to worship. They knew not why, and yet they 
 were affrighted, for they said, " The creeds of darkness 
 shall be broken away before this glowing light." This 
 voice, whatever it may be ; this principle of inspiration, 
 wherever it may exist; and this beauty of thought, 
 wherever it may receive its origin, is founded upon a 
 principle of truth, and that principle becomes the lead- 
 ing star in man's destiny, the guide of his intellect, stim- 
 ulates all the capacities of his mind, and presents to him 
 a boundless and an almost unexplored* field for opera- 
 tions, for thought, for feeling, for hope, for love, until 
 religion, combined with all the noble elements of his 
 nature, is called from the dead past to the living present, 
 and concentrated in this divine truth. 
 
 There are three degrees of truth manifested as well 
 in modern as in ancient Spiritualism. One is material 
 truth, another intellectual truth, another religious truth. 
 We shall define each of these in order, and then ask 
 of you if there may not be at least some principles of 
 truth in the revealments of modern Spiritualism. 
 
98 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH, 
 
 First, material truths. What are these ? They are 
 things, facts, ideas, thoughts, and feelings, which have 
 a bearing upon tangibility, upon the objective world, 
 upon the world of facts, upon the practical world, and 
 which reveal themselves in such a form, and through 
 such means, that a man's senses are astounded, that he. 
 is convinced. These are material truths, or we might 
 denominate them as facts which are the manifestation 
 of truths. What are these ? The concentration of forces 
 heretofore unknown, that convey intelligence to man 
 through tangible bodies, by means of imponderable ele- 
 ments, which were before supposed to have no power — 
 also the strange combinations of manifestation which are 
 seen in the simple tipping and rapping, conveying to the 
 soul intelligence, yet which can not be produced by 
 any concentration of electric forces, or by any power, 
 except by the power of intelligence. 
 
 Material truths, then, are those which come under 
 the head of facts, and which reveal themselves to man's 
 absolute senses, through the intellect, perception, and 
 sensation, until he is led to doubt his own conclusions, 
 simply because he has not seen the same things before ; 
 and multitudes have become convinced who at first were 
 wholly incredulous, and millions are rushing to see these 
 strange phenomena, and they grow dumb, at fancying 
 they see a table move, and hear the voice of the -angel 
 singing sweet songs, pointing them to a floral realm. 
 
 Never before in the world of science were men con- 
 sidered insane because they discovered a body or a prin- 
 ciple, or exhibited the properties of a law ; but while it 
 was an idea, a speculation, a principle not outwrought, 
 they were called insane. To illustrate : The new as- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 99 
 
 tronoinical science, until within a century, was not ac- 
 knowledged to be true ; the laws of gravitation were 
 not, until recently acknowledged to be correct — were 
 considered to be vague and visionary ; and all men were 
 crazy who believed in them. But facts, constant as the 
 droppings which wear out the stone, have made their 
 legitimate impress upon the world of thought, until men 
 and women unconsciously acknowledged the laws of 
 gravitation and astronomical science, and they became 
 fixed and actual realities upon the earth. The laws and 
 power of steam, and the concentration of electricity, 
 were considered vague, visionary, and fanatical ; but 
 what do facts prove ? That even now the mighty horse 
 of iron goes snorting across continents, transporting the 
 commerce of nations ; and electricity, that mere toy of 
 the schoolboy, is bearing on its wings the messages, the 
 intelligence, the interests, of the whole civilized world. 
 Spiritualism is but another steam-power, another elec- 
 tricity, which has been caught from the skies by the 
 kites of thought and feeling, which men have been toy- 
 ing with through the ages of the past, and which until 
 now have been mere playthings. These kites of thought 
 which have mounted upon the wings of the wind, are 
 Infidelity and Atheism ; and these have been the kites 
 of Humanity — until now they may be resolved into tele- 
 graphic wires, which proves that there is a principle, a 
 thought, a feeling, aside from what men have heretofore 
 discovered. So the whole world realizes unconsciously. 
 It is pervading their minds until they say : " Yes, we 
 believe in the tippings and the rappings, but we do not 
 believe in Spirits. We think it is all electricity." The 
 manifestations do occur : this is the material truth, which 
 
100 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 will not be attempted to be refuted by any intelligent 
 mind that is posted in the events of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Intellectual truths, as revealed by modern Spiritual- 
 ism, are the most marvellous, so to speak, of any of its 
 .developments. For this reason, that as religion had its 
 climax in the ages of the past, and materialism in the 
 present age, so intellect, the true reason, which has 
 stood a medium-ground between the two, must have its 
 workings in the future. Consequently, the intellectual 
 phase of Spiritualism is the most important, and its 
 manifestations of truths the most radiant and reliable. 
 " How is this ?" you say. " Are there any new ideas or 
 truths revealed in modern Spiritualism ? Have the spirits 
 spelled out through the raps or tips, or spoken anything 
 which some mind on earth had not known before ?" 
 No ; truths are immutable ; they never change, except 
 in their manifestation. But it is more in the form or 
 manner in which a truth is presented to your mind than 
 the truth itself ; and if you have the truth in you, you 
 have only to use the proper means, and it is brought 
 forth and vivified. 
 
 Then what are the intellectual truths revealed in mod- 
 ern Spiritualism? They are these: First, explaining 
 the sciences of mesmerism or psychology, which have 
 been mysteries, and which no man or woman has been 
 able to solve. But Spiritualism becomes the key by 
 which they unlock that which has heretofore been mys- 
 terious in mesmerism and clairvoyance ; and they see, 
 as they trace back the history of those developments, 
 that Spiritualism, in its development, has been the mov- 
 ing cause ; that the intercommunion of soul with soul, 
 
RELIGIOUS. 101 
 
 of mind with mind ; that the laws of mind, as revealed 
 through all the sciences, have their origin in Spiritual- 
 ism as a principle ; that in other words, the intellectual 
 phase of Spiritualism has been the source of all the re- 
 vealments of science and art that gleam forth in the 
 pages of the past, and present themselves in living forms 
 in the present. 
 
 Therefore, intellectually, man has a brighter star 
 than he has had hitherto ; and minds floating without any 
 anchor, helm, or rudder, have at last found a harbor in 
 which they can rest in peace, because these facts have 
 floated out, laden with the rich fruits which grow upon 
 the everlasting mountain-tops of Truth. Ask the men 
 of science in the present age who have candidly investi- 
 gated Spiritualism — not as Od-force,not as a back-brain 
 theory, but as Spiritualism — and they will say to you, 
 distinctly and candidly : " We have found the harbor 
 of Truth, whereas heretofore we have only found the 
 little islands of Facts, which are varied and transient, 
 and which have been swept by the blasts which have 
 blown from the northern and western hemispheres of 
 Truth." 
 
 Again, Spiritualism has revealed a truth which, al- 
 though it may be startling to you, is none the less true : 
 it reveals and demonstrates to you the all-important 
 fact, the principle, that all men are alike in essence, in 
 principle ; that the powers of their minds, although they 
 differ, have their origin in the same source and fount- 
 ain ; that, like all Nature, they are varied, yet harmoni- 
 ous ; and the manifestations in man's brain are simply 
 the outworkings of thoughts and feelings, as each flower 
 and tree outworks its own destiny in the material world ; 
 
102 • DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 and men and women become the spiritual flowers and 
 blossoms of oar Father, yielding the intellectual and 
 spiritual fruits of perpetual love and harmony. This is 
 a great and glorious truth ; and little children, scarcely 
 capable of enunciating " Papa" and " Mamma," astonish 
 us with their words of wisdom, in language far beyond 
 their years, and with a depth of thought which we did 
 not imagine they possessed. What is this ? It is in- 
 tellectual truth; it is, that mind outside of the human 
 form uses that little brain and organism to speak words 
 of wisdom, and fulfil the prophecy of the past. 
 
 Again: you say that is so wonderful and startling, 
 that you turn aside in fear and doubt, saying, " It can 
 not be true." But Intellect is calling, with the strict 
 criticism of logic, to investigate calmly and scientifically 
 these manifestations. But how many are there of you 
 present on this occasion who have done so, throwing 
 aside the spirituality of it, all idea of revelation, all idea 
 of immortality ? How many of you have investigated 
 it intellectually ? who have been benefited by it ? who 
 have had your intellects enlarged by the teachings and 
 revealments of the various forms of modern Spiritual- 
 ism ? We will venture to say not one half have inves- 
 tigated it without prejudice, candidly and religiously. 
 Spiritualism, as now presented, may not be as satisfac- 
 tory as many would desire ; yet it is at least the step- 
 ping-stone from Infidelity to Christianity — that true 
 Christianity which consists not simply in a form of be- 
 lief, but in a practice of a life in harmony with God ; 
 which is not dead, and given forth from the pulpit and 
 the rostrum, but that which lives in the daily life, and 
 has its foundation in long-established principles which 
 
RELIGIOUS. 103 
 
 have their birth in God; which was handed down 
 through the prophets and seers of old ; which was mani- 
 fested in Jesus of Nazareth, and which in the present 
 age is calling upon you to practise its teachings. 
 
 If you have investigated Spiritualism truly, on the 
 religious plane, you will find contained in it the highest 
 form of truth yet conveyed to man — that of his immor- 
 tality ; for no infidel or materialist who has seen the 
 light of modern Spiritualism with unprejudiced eye, has 
 failed to see the beauty and the demonstration of his 
 own immortality. Why ? Because it is a material, an 
 intellectual, and a spiritual fact ; and this becomes the 
 threefold test of modern Spiritualism, which most of our 
 reverend doctors have overlooked. They have given 
 the name rightly, but not the test. For, unless all sci- 
 ence, all philosophy, and all religion, are brought into 
 this investigation, it is not a true investigation. You 
 can not properly investigate through one faculty of your 
 nature alone, but through all ; and so, perhaps, if this 
 does not have a bearing upon you intellectually or ma- 
 terially, it may spiritually ; and you calmly await the 
 result, and behold the fruition : you bring from the de- 
 velopment of your own thought and investigation the 
 trophy of triumph ; you have conquered that infidelity, 
 that materialism, that atheism, that dogmatism ; and 
 behold that garland of perpetual beauty which is thrown 
 around your brow as the result of your triumph. It 
 becomes a living garland, a blossom of your soul, a 
 blooming religion, which reveals itself in truth as im- 
 mutable as God himself. 
 
 Therefore, as children of your Father, as children of 
 Humanity, as men and women of intelligence, investi- 
 
104 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 gate, not alone with the eye of criticism and material- 
 ism, not alone with the idea of religion, but with all the 
 powers and faculties of your souls ; and see if in Spirit- 
 ualism, as manifested, not alone in this century, but in 
 all centuries — not alone through rapping, tipping, wri- 
 ting, speaking, or enhancement- — but through every 
 thought and feeling of your nature, there are not great 
 and glorious truths, worthy your deepest consideration 
 and closest attention. 
 
DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN, MAY 27, 1857. 
 ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF PHRENOLOGY TRUE ?* 
 
 Owing to the physical condition of the medium, we 
 shall not be able to present our views with as much 
 force as usual ; therefore it will be necessary for the 
 audience to remain as silent as possible. 
 
 On a former occasion when we spoke in this place, a 
 committee was selected to propose a subject for elucida- 
 tion, and among that committee were persons who were 
 skeptics — one in particular. A subject was chosen by 
 him which the two other members of the committee 
 did not deem expedient to be discussed at that time ; 
 it was this : Are the 'principles of phrenology true ? 
 On this occasion, for the gratification of the various 
 friends present, we shall select that as our subject, 
 endeavoring to present the foundation principles of 
 phrenology, showing wherein they are correct, and 
 wherein they are erroneous ; and in presenting the 
 subject we desire you to distinctly understand, that we 
 shall not enter into details, but shall deal only with 
 the principles upon which phrenology, as a science, is 
 based. 
 
 During the ages of the past, particularly in the first 
 
 * Subject selected by the audience. 
 
 5* 
 
106 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 periods of human development, all the lower faculties 
 of man's nature were in extreme action ; first the af- 
 fections, combativeness, and destructiveness, then vener- 
 ation without the guiding influence of reason. These, 
 in combination with feeble intellect, created great ex- 
 tremes. The sword, rapine, and lust, took the place of 
 justice and of judgment, and gave rise to wars, and 
 spread desolation and ruin over the earth. If you will 
 trace back your historical accounts, or if you have any 
 models or pictures which represent to you the forms of 
 the brains and physical systems of the ancient world, 
 ^ T ou will find that they do not exactly correspond with 
 modern phrenological developments. Thus, in reverting 
 your attention back to former ages, we shall endeavor 
 to commence with the first periods of man's develop- 
 ment. It is supposed to have been ascertained by phre- 
 nology, as a science, that the human soul has grown up 
 through the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, 
 and at last has been humanized by the processes of 
 development which existed in the external world ; that 
 the combination of different vegetables, minerals, and 
 animals, produced higher and more perfect formations, 
 and that consequently the human soul, as such, was only 
 to be regarded as the outbirth of these substances in a 
 higher degree of refinement. This, we say, is supposed 
 to be the theory of phrenologists and men of science. 
 They have commenced revealing their science by arguing 
 from effect to cause, instead of from cause to effect, and, 
 therefore, say the human soul is an outbirth of the min- 
 eral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and if that soul 
 be symmetrical, it is in virtue of the progressed ele- 
 ments of which it is composed. But this is an erroneous 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 107 
 
 idea, as men of science, if they would think for a mo- 
 ment, would see. 
 
 Whatever is compound in its nature can be dissolved ; 
 as we find in the combination of soils, minerals, and 
 chemicals ; consequently we very naturally come to the 
 conclusion, that animals, vegetables, and minerals, have 
 not the immortal, thinking soul. Why? In the first 
 place, there is a lack of perfection in their constitution ; 
 they are not the highest production of nature ; there is 
 something beyond, outside of, superior to them; and 
 they are simply the means through which that superiority 
 is made manifest. Therefore, instead of commencing 
 with the effect of phrenological developments, we shall 
 commence with the cause, and apply phrenology, first to 
 man and then to the external universe. 
 
 Phrenology, as a science, signifies the knowledge of 
 man, as manifested through the characteristics of the 
 external brain. We shall commence directly opposite 
 to the usual mode of reasoning upon phrenological 
 science, and base our facts upon principles and laws as 
 immutable as God. Therefore, we proclaim the human 
 soul not to be a progressed animal, vegetable, or min- 
 eral, but a direct emanation from the Divine Fountain 
 af intelligence and beauty, and fashioned, like the star, 
 the satellite, from the central power; a perfection of 
 divine love, without the assistance of the external form ; 
 an eternal principle; consequently perfect in itself, 
 though not in its manifestations. 
 
 We have no sympathy with the idea that the human 
 soul either has grown up from the animal, vegetable, or 
 mineral kingdoms, or that it was made as a product of 
 an artificer's hand ; but we say it was perfect in its 
 
108 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 origin, and being perfect, contains not the elements of 
 imperfection or impurity. Consequently, every mani- 
 festation of the human soul, as such, is in accordance 
 with the divine idea, light, power, beauty, and perfect 
 ness. Therefore, whatever of beauty, of perfection, the 
 external world contains, whatever of grandeur, of in- 
 finity, is manifested in rolling worlds and systems, they 
 are not simply made for the gratification of God, to 
 emblem forth his power, not as a necessity of God ; but 
 they are made for the identification, for the perfection 
 of the identity, or individuality of each human soul. 
 
 This being the case, we shall commence with man as 
 being the highest, the most perfect, the purest in the 
 archway of existence, save God, and designed to be the 
 link which serves to connect the physical and spiritual 
 creations ; for man is really a divine and a human being, 
 a link between heaven and earth, a perfection of nature, 
 a mirror of eternity, the keystone in the archway of 
 God's universe, the perpetuation of his divinity in iden- 
 tified human form, retaining that identity, and giving 
 birth to higher, more perfect, and more beautiful con- 
 ceptions of Deity than ever can be acquired by the sim- 
 ple elements of the external world. The soul existed 
 before worlds or universes sprang into being ; the soul, 
 as an essence, as a part of our Father, existed as long 
 as he existed, and the elements of which man's identity 
 is composed were eternal in the past as they will be in 
 the future. 
 
 If they had a commencement, that existence will 
 some time end ; if they had no commencement, then it 
 is natural to conclude they will have no end. If God 
 exists in the past, the present, and the future, as a con- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 109 
 
 dition of his being, or an attribute of his nature, what- 
 ever emanates from him as a part of his divinity, or an 
 image of his divine power, must contain the germs of 
 the past, the present, and the future. 
 
 Leaving the human soul in the bosom of our Creator, 
 perhaps unfledged, unidentified in its natural, primitive 
 elements, we shall commence with the other extreme — 
 which is Nature. 
 
 It is supposed by men of science, that the materials 
 which compose the external world have always existed ; 
 and that they are sixty-four primates, and that these, in 
 combination, form all the elements of soil, plants, or 
 animals, which exist in all the universe. But we here 
 assert, that no detection of chemical analysis can define 
 its first and only source. For God is simple ; there is 
 no combination of elements in his nature ; and whatever 
 emanated from him, although changeable in manifesta- 
 tion, when solved to its primitive source, contains but 
 one element. The element out of which all things are 
 composed, the life-pervading elements of our Father, 
 the central power, the concentration of powers, the 
 only infinite power in the universe, is Love. Therefore 
 universes, as such, systems, as such, the laws and forces 
 which control them, when resolved into their primitive, 
 only, universal cause, are Love, and that is a material 
 element. 
 
 The principle remains the same in all its manifesta- 
 tions and powers. So we may trace every law in the 
 universe, every combination of soil, or of plant, every 
 reproduction of stars or of universes, to this great, 
 all-pervading principle, which is God, which is Love. 
 Therefore it requires no chemical analysis to detect it. 
 
110 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 no geological investigation to unfold it, no astronomical 
 or mathematical calculation to penetrate into the mys- 
 teries which compose Nature. They are as simple and 
 perfect as God is ; and the elements of which they are 
 composed may be traced to God, as God is Love. Na- 
 ture is the opposite extreme, of which God is the first ; 
 Nature is the external, of which God is the spirit; 
 Nature is the manifestation, of which God is the per- 
 vading, all-defining element ; and there must be some- 
 thing between the two to create an object for each to 
 act upon ; for if God had no object in view except to 
 create worlds, systems, and stars, then he might as well 
 not have created them, for the human soul could have 
 been created by one flash of his power, without going 
 through all these various processes previously to its being 
 brought into the sphere of causes. Nay ; we call Na- 
 ture the opposite pole, the manifestation of God, and as 
 such, a means through which the human soul, when iden- 
 tified, can appreciate, perfect, and unfold itself as an 
 identified intelligence. This becomes to us the only 
 reasonable idea connected with God's creations, the 
 only reasonable explanation of his object in creating 
 worlds and man. 
 
 The human soul, as an essence, as a manifestation of 
 Deity, must take to itself the highest, the most perfect 
 forms of the external in order to correspond to the 
 highest and most perfect of the spiritual : consequently 
 it was requisite, before man as an identity, could in- 
 habit the earth, that these various processes must have 
 been gone through, to perfect the conditions for man's 
 habitation. 
 
 This was not to produce man, but as a means whereby 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. Ill 
 
 man could manifest himself. Containing the elements 
 of power, of beauty, of love, and of godliness, these 
 worlds, systems, suns, and stars, perfecting themselves 
 in their organizations, are but a means whereby the soul 
 can aggregate to itself, like the plants, the flowers and 
 the trees, properties which it requires ; and as scientific 
 men have discovered that the human form contains 
 nearly all the primates in its composition, so it must be 
 concluded, that man is the highest as a physical and 
 spiritual structure that can be conceived of or created 
 — the spiritual of man being the highest, spiritually, 
 that God has created, the physical of man being the 
 highest, physically, which earth has created ; the com- 
 bination of the two constituting that divine keystone 
 in the archway of creation, which we have now en- 
 deavored to explain. 
 
 What, then, must be the science of phrenology rela- 
 ting to man ? Simply the manifestation in the finite of 
 what God is in the infinite — varied in form, but perfect 
 in principle ; varied in manifestation, bu"t a unity as the 
 whole ; varied as regards an identity, but as regards 
 the whole a miniature image of our Father, and of the 
 divine, perpetual, self-existent principle which actuates 
 the human soul ; Love as God and Love as man ; Love 
 as divine and Love as human — the one being the posi- 
 tive to which the other is the negative in nature, and 
 the two combined create the human identity. 
 
 The various faculties and developments of phrenology, 
 as comprehended by external science, make of man, not 
 a self-existent or a divine being, but a dependent being 
 — dependent upon that which is beneath him ; which we 
 most strenuously deny. Man is not physically or ma- 
 
112 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 terially dependent upon that which he can analyze and 
 classify, upon anything which he can comprehend or 
 criticise, but upon that which is superior to himself, 
 which is God. The various developments of Humanity, 
 from the earliest stages of human existence, prove that 
 man is not dependent upon the physical universe, but 
 that, so far as progress is concerned, is dependent upon 
 man, and the divinity which man embodies as an image 
 of our Father. 
 
 With the idea which is prevalent in the theological 
 world, that in the garden of Eden there was perfection, 
 and Adam and Eve, while remaining there, were the 
 most perfect types of humanity, we have no sympathy ; 
 for this reason: that the developments of that time 
 must correspond with those of the present ; that matter 
 underwent an aggregation according to its properties 
 and the principles which were around it. Consequently, 
 the fruits which grew in the garden of Eden might have 
 been the wild apples which you see in the wilderness, 
 and the flowers "and vines were not like those which you 
 see in your gardens at the present day ; were not like 
 the perfect fruits which you see growing and blooming 
 all around you ; nor were men, even the Adam and 
 Eve of that day, a representation of the perfection of 
 manhood and womanhood. As an identity man is pro- 
 gressive ; as an essence he is ever the same ; therefore 
 the Adam and Eve of the olden time were as perfect 
 and as pure in essence as yourselves, but viewed as 
 manifestations of nature they were not so perfectly 
 developed as are you. 
 
 The science of phrenology is simply the means of 
 reading the soul from the external form, and as such 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 113 
 
 the means employed of determining the nature of the 
 divine essence within. We will now present to you 
 man as a book, the first edition issued before printing 
 types were known, or this nineteenth century was pub- 
 lished, when all the arts and sciences, relatively, are in 
 their most perfect condition. 
 
 See man four or six thousand years ago, or in the 
 earlier stages of his existence ! Feebly could you trace 
 the identity of his soul through the glances of his eye, 
 the flashes of his intelligence, from the formation of the 
 brain. Feebly could he express his thoughts through 
 the medium of language, or battle with the elements of 
 the external world; feebly was all this done. Why? 
 Because the external materials through which he mani- 
 fested himself, had not progressed to that degree of per- 
 fection which they now have ; because he could not con- 
 trol those crude elements then as now. What, then, is 
 that book which you trace six thousand years ago ? 
 Let us see what the brain is — a type of the animal 
 kingdom, and where phrenologists locate the animal 
 organs, you find that they were predominant, while those 
 of the spiritual were greatly lacking. 
 
 The physical form is as much a part of phrenology 
 as the brain. It is argued that eighteen hundred or 
 two thousand years ago, the physical forms of men 
 were more perfect and more beautiful, or the physio- 
 logical man more perfectly developed, than now. If 
 this is true, it is also true that there were extremes in 
 that age ; there were extremely small men and ex- 
 tremely large men ; and those remains which have been 
 exhumed, of great size, have been set up as an exam- 
 ple of the condition of the human race, when it is evi- 
 
114 DISCOUESES BY MBS. HATCH. 
 
 dent that they were exceptions. Trace back a few 
 hundred years of your ancestry, and you will find that 
 these later generations are both stronger and larger 
 than their predecessors. There was not that perfect 
 symmetry of form, not that power, and we deny even 
 that they were larger. 
 
 It is said that as the human system perfects itself, its 
 proportions grow smaller, that it is not capable of so 
 much physical exertion. We deny this also ; for the 
 men of six thousand years ago were not capable of so 
 great an amount of physical labor and exercise as are 
 the men of the nineteenth century. The earlier ages pro- 
 duced men of an inferior size. This may be ascertained 
 by consulting the statistics of the tournament, when all 
 the young men turned out in the armor worn by their 
 grandfathers ; there all the garments had to be enlarged 
 before they could be used. There were exceptional 
 cases in the two or three hundred, but these instances 
 prove the general rule. In the animal kingdom it is 
 somewhat different. The mastodon, the elephant, the 
 megatherium, and the saurian, the largest animals, have 
 either become extinct or greatly diminished ; while those 
 animals which man requires for assistance in his duties 
 have become larger. Consequently, your horses and 
 your sheep have increased in size, while those masto- 
 dons are passing away, to give place to higher and more 
 useful manifestations of animal life. 
 
 There the science of Phrenology applies as well to 
 the human form as to the human brain, as every mani- 
 festation of the physical form is as much influenced by 
 the human soul as are the manifestations of the brain. 
 Phrenologists have made a mistake in this respect. 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 115 
 
 They examine simply the formation of the brain, with- 
 out regard to the physiological and anatomical struc- 
 ture, and say, " We have examined the tendencies and 
 powers of that mind by observing the convolutions of 
 the brain alone," which is not correct. The most in- 
 telligent physician will tell you it is not correct. For, 
 by the pulsations of the heart alone, the thorough physi- 
 ologist can ascertain the character of the individual 
 without even seeing him — simply by the pulsations of 
 the heart — proving that the heart itself is the motor of 
 the human system, through which the soul makes its 
 manifestation. 
 
 Thus the athletic Indian, who is more perfect in physi- 
 cal structure, has a corresponding development of brain ; 
 he has the power of concentration, worship, firmness, all 
 the physical energies which give him that powerful frame, 
 which in these respects make him superior to the white 
 man. He has honor, which renders him on all occasions 
 self-possessed, calm, dignified ; and his whole nature, in 
 war or in peace— his voice, his structure — all corre- 
 spond to the characteristic manifestations in their natu- 
 ral form. 
 
 The Grecians are said to have been a perfect type in 
 physical form. All the angels, all the models of human 
 perfectness, are copied after the Grecian gods and god- 
 desses ; and, although the ancient Grecians had not 
 wings, still they have added that appendage in modern 
 ideals. But we will state that although Greece, a few 
 centuries ago, at the time of its glory, was the most per- 
 fect nation of that age, now there are those which are 
 superior in intelligence, form, power, in beauty, and in 
 spiritualization. Greece, as the cradle of liberty, be- 
 
116 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 came also the cradle of human perfection. Why ? Be- 
 cause the combination of other nations was there, and 
 the amalgamation with them produced a higher and 
 more perfect form of development. 
 
 No one nation can remain within its own domains, 
 without intercommunication and intermarriage with oth- 
 ers, and not become extinct. Thus it is that the abori- 
 gines of your country have passed away, and so every 
 nation which separates itself from all others must die 
 out in a like manner ; because there must be in combi- 
 nation, elements which assist in the creation of more 
 perfect nations than can be found in any isolated peo- 
 ple. These unitedly contain the elements adapted to 
 the satisfaction of a greater number of wants and needs, 
 and, in satisfying those wants, the combination produces 
 a higher race, which absorbs the lower. The giants of 
 •former ages had in their development a lack of that 
 power, vigor, and intelligence, which you consider noble 
 and beautiful. True, they had some ideas of physical 
 beauty, but they differed much from those you entertain 
 in America. 
 
 The Germans as a nation may perhaps at present' be 
 considered as the most perfect type of the olden coun- 
 try. They contain the elements of various nations con- 
 centrated into one ; and thus concentrating and blending 
 those elements, they modify the intensity of the action 
 of the extreme powers, and thereby produce a more 
 harmonious constitution. The French are nearer per- 
 fect in some respects, but not as a whole. In social life 
 they have never been surpassed. They appear to be the 
 culmination of all social powers. In art and taste they 
 are far ahead of the Germans or any other nation. But 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 117 
 
 in all those qualities which make the human an embodi- 
 ment of the divine, the Anglo-Saxon comes next in the 
 scale ; and we may venture to say, without egotism or 
 flattery, that the Anglo-Saxon race is the most perfect, 
 phrenologically and anatomically, which exists upon the 
 globe ; not that Anglo-Saxon which exists under mon- 
 archical governments, which is ground down by the heel 
 of despotism, but that which is manifested in New Eng- 
 land, in free America — free, except as you bind your- 
 selves in party politics — which is manifested through- 
 out your whole country, springing up as the embodiment 
 of sciende, religion, and virtue, which you see all around 
 you, varied in manifestation, but perfect in its results. 
 The Grecian face is more symmetrical ; the French form 
 is more petite-; the German is more substantial ; but the 
 American, the Anglo-Saxon, is more spiritual, more in- 
 tellectual, more perfect as regards the whole. 
 
 Rome and Athens have embosomed the tear of regret 
 in their ruins ; the arts have been lamented as having 
 died when the cradle of liberty, embodied in those cities, 
 had fallen. But we say the arts have not fallen ; they 
 are more beautiful, more perfected, more spiritual, than 
 in any previous age. We say that America, much as 
 its greatness has been depreciated by missionaries in 
 the Old World, is ahead of every other country, because 
 it contains the combination of every country — because 
 the Anglo-Saxon, as a whole, is the perfection of every 
 race in the world. And this is because other nations 
 have been introduced ; because America has been the 
 cradle into which the individuals of all countries have 
 been laid and grown up together ; because America has 
 been a leading beacon-star, beckoning to the captive, to 
 
118 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 those in bondage, to the victim of oppression, to the 
 criminal, to all, to come and seek shelter under the 
 American banner : and they have come. The result has 
 been sometimes lamented ; but no one can gaze abroad 
 upon the religious and intellectual institutions of your 
 country, upon the growing intelligence and skill of the 
 rising generation, and say it is to be lamented. Be- 
 hold ! where are Rome and Athens, compared with the 
 concentration of intelligence to be found in this country ? 
 Every schoolboy becomes a miniature Raphael, or an 
 embryo Rembrandt, and pictures to himself the elo- 
 quence of a Demosthenes, and imitates and ever/ exceeds 
 it, as far as the imagination soars ; and what the imagi- 
 nation produces is a sure indication of what the reality 
 ivill be. Eloquence has become too common to be ap- 
 preciated. Demosthenes, Cicero, and all the orators of 
 the past, were great in contrast with the minds by which 
 they were surrounded. Science has become too much 
 of an every-day fact to be lauded ; our poetry has been 
 introduced into the schoolroom, into the peasant's hut, 
 as well as into the palace of the rich and cultivated, and 
 the humblest schoolgirl pictures to herself the panorama 
 of Eden clothed in the brightest colors of immortal 
 poesy. 
 
 Thus it is that men do not appreciate that which has 
 become so common, for we are accustomed to compare, 
 not ages, but contemporary individuals ; thus it is that 
 you have grown up from the old masters, and America, 
 as the embodiment of art and science, becomes the phre- 
 nological development of beauty, truth, and religion. 
 What, then, is the type of the American brain in the 
 regions of the animal propensities ? It becomes de- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 119 
 
 pressed ; that voluptuous beauty characterizing the more 
 ancient specimens of the race has changed into a more 
 spiritual cast, and the American women are more dis- 
 tinguished for their purity and virtue than those of any 
 previous age. What a difference in form ! The Eng- 1 
 lish as substantial and robust as their own native habits 
 will make them ; the German as perfect as their own 
 lack of refinement will make them ; the French as per- 
 fect as their own voluptuous life will make them ; the 
 American, intellectual and benevolent, is a true type of 
 that beauty which is mirrored forth in the men and wo- 
 men of your own country. Your phrenological devel- 
 opment — what is it ? The English have stout, robust 
 forms, more substantial than refined, more powerful than 
 sensitive, and their brains are in keeping with their gen- 
 eral constitutions — intuitions obtuse, judgment firm, re- 
 ligion of the past. The Germans have less animal, but 
 no more spiritual. The French have the animal and 
 intellectual so perfectly combined, that they sometimes 
 venture upon the spiritual without being able to main- 
 tain their position. The Irish have strong social and 
 religious powers, quick of wit, but enfeebled in judg- 
 ment ; they are to the world what the blacks are to the 
 southern states of America. But the American brain 
 is distinct and positive in its characteristics ; and an 
 American can never be mistaken for any other nation 
 ality on the face of the earth. 'Those who live in free 
 America — free as far as theory is concerned ; those 
 whose political and religious lives are free — except 
 bound by party spirit — become the true types of mate- 
 rial phrenological development : and a Washington, a 
 Franklin, and a Webster, may be held up against all the 
 
120 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 lords that ever spoke against the freedom of the Ameri- 
 cans, or all the learned divines of the Old World who 
 ever ventured to write a book against Spiritualism. 
 
 Phrenology as a science is true, but does not belong 
 to the brain alone, but to every part of the human sys- 
 tem (for the principles of correspondences, which we 
 believed to be universal, are active here as elsewhere), 
 but, like all other sciences, is in a crude and imperfect 
 state ; and we may venture to say that this science, as 
 such, will become the most ready means of understand- 
 ing man, of understanding the Universe, that has ever 
 been devised by human intelligence. Chemistry, geol- 
 ogy, astronomy, will all be thrown aside when Phrenol- 
 ogy becomes perfected ; for Phrenology is the type of 
 the Universe, embodied in man, and as man is under- 
 stood will the Universe be understood. The human 
 form is the representative of the Universe, of systems 
 of suns, of planets, of 'soils, of minerals and vegetables 
 — a representation of God; therefore, it is the only 
 point where man can expect to meet the reward of his 
 labor. Geologists strive in vain to become acquainted 
 with the indwelling principle of the Universe by their 
 investigations ; chemists strive in vain^ through their 
 most subtile processes, to detect the human soul ; and 
 yet it is all that there is of man. 
 
 If you are a phrenologist, in the highest sense of that 
 term, you can tell what a gesture, a look, means ; you 
 can tell what a movement of the arm, a wave of the 
 hand, a flash of the eye, will convey ; you can gaze upon 
 a man, and know him, read him as a book which you 
 perfectly understand and comprehend — read him as 
 you would read upon the leaf and blossom the properties 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. \*ll 
 
 out of which it is composed — read him as you would 
 read the mathematical proportions of systems, stars, and 
 suns — read him as you wish to read your God — to un- 
 derstand every power and faculty spiritually, and thus 
 the physical world really become a type of that which 
 you call the soul. 
 
 Therefore, men of science or of art, phrenologists, 
 theologians, geologists, mathematicians, astronomers — 
 whatever may be your occupation — commence with the 
 old proverb, " Know thyself." In knowing yourself 
 you have the key to the mysteries of creation. Con- 
 tinue, then, the investigation of the soul, as mirrored 
 forth through your brother and your sister ; investigate 
 their thoughts and their feelings ; analyze their every 
 faculty, mentally and spiritually ; and you will find you 
 are understanding more perfectly and truly who and 
 what your God is, than by a lifetime spent in reading 
 musty treatises taken from the Hebrew and other an- 
 cient nations. Cling not to the traditions of the past ; 
 consider them as a means, not as an end; no science 
 unfolded in the past is an end, but each is pointing to 
 an end. Understand your brother and your sister, and 
 you will understand how to be happy, not only physi- 
 cally, but mentally, spiritually, and eternally. 
 
 We have spoken as long as we consider it proper to 
 tax the physical organism of the medium. If we have 
 given you any light, we are happy ; but we have not 
 been able to enter into detail, perhaps, as much as was 
 desirable, but that could hardly be expected in the short 
 space of an hour's discourse. Hoping you will not stop 
 with this, but continue to investigate this subject, which 
 lays at the foundation of all happiness, and that you will 
 
 6 
 
122 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 allow your thoughts and feelings to expand and beautify 
 themselves in its study : — 
 
 And we will thank thee, our Father ! for as much of 
 light and beauty as we have been able to draw from thy 
 eternal sphere of truth, and may it assist and nerve thy 
 children to progress in the paths of knowledge, of wis- 
 dom, of purity and love for ever. 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, JUNE 4, 1857. 
 
 LIGHT.* 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Spirit of divinest love ! for ever would our souls wor- 
 ship thee, in every thought and feeling which thrills the 
 deepest lyre-strings of our being ; for we know, our Fa- 
 ther ! that in whatever place we may be, whatever may be 
 the circumstances and influences which surround us, thy 
 Spirit pervadeth all things. As universes, systems, suns, 
 and worlds, revolve with unceasing beauty and harmony, 
 defiant alike of criticism and dictation, so our spirits 
 and souls ever and ever revolve around thee, defiant of 
 every external circumstance, defiant of every principle 
 which is not connected with thy divine love and thy 
 divine beauty, which are thy life, pervading every ele- 
 ment. We admit no other element in the Universe ex- 
 cept thy love ; and wherever stars revolve, there thy 
 beauty, thy glory is made manifest, from the smallest 
 and most imperfect to the highest ultimates of thy divine 
 progression. 
 
 Our Father ! whatever and whoever thou mayst be — 
 Lord, God, Jehovah, person or principle, Spirit or form, 
 divine essence, or principle of embodied beauty — still 
 
 * Subject selected by tbe audience. 
 
124 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 we worship thee ; for wherever there is life, wherever 
 there is motion, wherever there is thought, we trace 
 some divine element upon which it is conveyed, which 
 is greater, purer, and more perfect ; some great First 
 Cause, back to which we must all go whenever we ana- 
 lyze any principle of mind or matter. And this we will 
 call thee ; this we will worship ; before this we will 
 bow, and yield our thoughts to thee, as the divine cause, 
 the divine means, and the divine nature ; and worship- 
 ping thee as such, we worship thee in every form of 
 Nature which thou hast created. The highest forms of 
 which we can conceive, our Father ! are those which 
 burst out from the soul, and wreathe themselves in 
 brightening garlands of thought, penetrating over vast 
 creations, encircling revolving spheres, seeking every- 
 where to find thee, endeavoring in the vast labyrinths 
 of thy divine Universe to call in some images of thy 
 divine beauty. 
 
 Our Father ! we may adore thee in the highest, the 
 purest, and the holiest avenues of our being ; and by 
 thus adoring thee, naught shall seem mean or low, but 
 all thou hast created and fashioned shall bear the im- 
 press of thy divine nature. Let the light of thy infinite 
 beauty, which outworks beyond the daybeams of our 
 world, pour its rich radiance within our souls ; shed 
 that light there, glowing with an effulgence so pure, 
 that ten thousand noonday suns seem as darkness when 
 compared with thee. And wherever we penetrate, may 
 we feel that science, philosophy, and religion, are but 
 means of outworking that diviner and purer essence 
 which constitutes the perfectness of our being, of the 
 immortal form, of the spirit, of the infinitude, which is 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 125 
 
 manifested in us in a finite degree. And to thee, our 
 Father ! will be every praise ; for thou alone dost dwell 
 in and constitute the soul of love and light, the un- 
 changing and unchangeable Spirit, the all-pervading 
 principle, which art enthroned in the Universe ! 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 The subject upon which we are to address you on 
 this occasion is one of three which were presented to us 
 a few evenings since by another audience, in the adjoin- 
 ing city of Brooklyn, and which at that time we had 
 not the liberty to discuss, as we were requested to speak 
 upon another theme. This being one of the three pre- 
 sented, we answered very briefly, probably leaving most 
 of our audience in the dark with reference to " What 
 is Light ?" But we will, on this occasion, endeavor to 
 present such principles as we believe to be embodied in 
 the subject ; and if we leave you in the dark, we will 
 at least give you some principles by which you may fur- 
 ther investigate it for yourselves. 
 
 All things in Nature, according to the legitimate rules 
 -of mind and matter, progress from primates, so called, 
 to ultimates. Those primates, however clearly defined 
 and divided, may be resolved into their primitive sources, 
 and all must necessarily resolve themselves into one 
 source, and that must be God. Chemists and philoso- 
 phers may detect in the elements of Nature certain prop- 
 erties which are not identical with other properties, and' 
 these are called primaries, because they are distinct ; 
 
126 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 and all combinations, when separated, are found to con- 
 tain some of these primaries. These primaries may be 
 numbered as sixty-four, or one hundred, or any other 
 number ; yet the primary which is the real, which is the 
 simple element, must exist in combination ; and conse- 
 quently any primary which is detectible by chemists 
 must be the ultimate of some other primary behind that. 
 Caloric, or heat, oxygen, hydrogen, various gases, which 
 chemists have detected, if classified at all, or if distinct 
 at all in their nature, are but the ultimates, so to speak, 
 of one primeval source ; and that primeval source we 
 call the only simple element in Nature. Whatever that 
 be — be it God, so called by religionists ; be it the prin- 
 ciples of Nature that inevitably and eternally are the 
 same, as held by scientific men — whatever it be, it must 
 be simple, it can never be compound in its nature, not 
 subject to division, or separation, or classification, else 
 it becomes a compound principle, and liable, like all 
 other principles in Nature, to decay. But there is one 
 source, one principle, one cause, one element, which in 
 itself is simple, and from which all the compounds of 
 Nature, in different degrees of perfection and purity, 
 must have sprung forth. Therefore, we must reason 
 from cause to effect, to arrive at the subject of our dis- 
 cussion ; it is useless to commence with effects, to trace 
 light, heat, electricity, in all their various functions and 
 operations, to arrive at what light is. We must com- 
 mence at the foundation of light ; and if we can trace 
 out primeval elements to their foundation, it is very 
 easy to arrive at the outworkings of those principles in 
 the production of light. 
 
 Simple principles, then, are the foundation of all posi- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. . 127 
 
 tive existences, and all these simple principles are object- 
 ive principles ; and whatever is connected with these 
 objective principles must be itself objective, must be ab- 
 solute ; it can never be more or less, but must be for 
 ever the same ; and every outworking of these principles 
 must contain some element, some property, some power, 
 eliminated from the simple element. If we call it chance, 
 or God, or Jehovah, whatever it may be, still we have 
 the combinations of chance, the combinations of God, the 
 combinations of Jehovah, in embodied, outwrought form 
 in the Universe. 
 
 What is the first manifestation which is distinct to 
 the physical senses of man under the operation of these 
 principles ? It is motion. Whoever or whatever our 
 God may be — infinite, unbounded in wisdom, perfect 
 in his nature — still every form of life which he hath 
 created, the most minute elements, which are not de- 
 tectible by the external senses or by scientific investiga- 
 tions, have their source of life, their representation of 
 life, and their life itself, from motion. Therefore, our 
 God, unchanging and unchangeable though he be, in ev- 
 ery manifestation must produce motion ; and wherever 
 there is motion, there is objective, absolute life — life 
 which is as indestructible as the simple element from 
 which it came, which is God. It is supposed that mat- 
 ter, in its present form, has at some period in the past 
 been resolved and outwrought from imponderable ele- 
 ments which you can neither taste, smell, see, nor feel ; 
 in other words, gaseous formations, fluids, airs, and at- 
 mospheres, which have no particular bearing upon the 
 present formation of the world, but which have out- 
 wrought and thus produced every effect. God, the most 
 
128 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 refined element of all elements, the simple element of 
 all compound elements — God, the most perfect because 
 the most simple — acts, moves, thinks, speaks, breathes, 
 outworks his forms of existence through motion, through 
 life. 
 
 What is the result of motion ? Heat ; because heat 
 is friction, or the result of the combined properties of 
 motion and of that absolutism which we may call God. 
 What are the combinations of gases or of matter from 
 motion and heat ? The combinations are not what you 
 call electricity, which is more refined, more outwrought, 
 more perfect ; but the general magnetism, or the gen- 
 eral positiveness, which pervades every atom and which 
 is inherent in every particle of matter which exists or 
 which has been created. Consequently, the smallest 
 atom detectible in the surrounding atmosphere of this 
 room, and the smallest particle which Chemistry can 
 detect, are alike endowed with life and power ; while 
 the largest substances, which seem to you immoveable 
 and unchangeable, are alike in their atomic construction 
 for ever moving. Life, motion, heat, are the attributes 
 of what we may call the God of the external world ; 
 and in speaking of the external, we mean that which is 
 distinct and positive from the qualities of mind as mani- 
 fested in the human form. Life, heat, and motion — 
 their law or mode of conveyance is a subtile agent, 
 which they themselves outwork, which fills every so- 
 called vacuum in Nature, which comes between the 
 grosser particles of matter, which causes every depart- 
 ment of Nature to be full. But you can not analyze 
 gases and atmospheres so closely as to ascertain that 
 there is still a more refined element which comes be- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 129 
 
 tween and fills up the spaces in electricity. This more 
 refined agency, element, or power, we may call Spirit, 
 and spirit is the cause of life, motion, and heat. 
 
 As life, motion, and heat, in each capacity, have 
 reached their ultimate, what must- be the result ? Af- 
 ter the ultimate is out wrought, the two elements must 
 combine, and thus forming a new element, a new ca- 
 pacity, must seek to outwork other elements ; and as 
 we have arrived at life, motion, and heat, they, being 
 essentially elements in their nature, must outwork and 
 j)roduce some other property. That property is called 
 electricity, and by men of science is divided into two 
 principles, positive and negative. This is a mistake. 
 There is but one kind of electricity, and that is distinct 
 and positive in itself. Whatever is opposed to it is not 
 electricity ; it may be the absence of it, but there are not 
 two kinds. One may be magnetism, or heat ; electricity 
 may be cold, or the absence of that heat, but in its com- 
 binations with those elements which have a less amount 
 of caloric, there is some heat, and that amount of heat 
 is sufficient to prove that there is life and motion there. 
 So, if electricity is used to convey the idea of a positive 
 element, it must be used only in one sense ; but if it be 
 used for a means to express a medium through which 
 various substances manifest themselves, then it must be 
 used as such, and not in two forms. 
 
 For as Nature always manifests herself in extremes, 
 so cold and heat, electricity and magnetism, positive 
 and negative forces, may be analyzed and classified rel- 
 atively, but not positively. Therefore, we may say 
 there is no such principle in Nature as coldness, as the 
 absence of caloric or heat, the absence of that out- 
 
 6* 
 
130 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 wrought function of life and motion ; for where that does 
 not exist there must be a vacuum, and this would fur- 
 nish an argument that God in his omnipotence could be 
 dethroned. But if it be that electricity may express a 
 relative distinction between a greater or less degree of 
 life and motion, then it is very appropriate, and we may 
 call it a means of expressing a greater or less degree 
 of motion, heat, and life,, but all the same motion, all 
 the same kind of motion, all the result of life. 
 
 Electricity, then, is the result of life, motion, and 
 heat ; and reaching its ultimate in this respect, and be- 
 coming positive in its nature, must resolve itself into 
 some other form of existence ; and that form, as the ne- 
 cessary result or manifestation of life, motion, and heat ; 
 at this point, electricity must become " Light." And 
 when God said, " Let there be light," he said it after 
 creating life, motion, heat, and electricity ; and when 
 " there was light," it was after those elements were out- 
 wrought as combinations from the simple element, or 
 from God, after they had attenuated themselves in these 
 various forms. Then we may accept biblical history, 
 which states that after the creation of the sun, moon, 
 and stars — were formed by the life which was inherent 
 in the elements of which they were composed — our God 
 said, " ' Let there be light,' and there was light." This 
 was as the necessary result of the things which he had 
 created, the necessary function, the attribute, the qual- 
 ity, which was outwr ought from those combinations. 
 
 Thus we have traced light from life, or God, motion, 
 heat, electricity, and also the various properties of light, 
 or the various combinations or means through which light 
 expresses itself. After we have distinctly impressed 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 131 
 
 upon your minds the origin of the principle itself — for 
 light is an element, yet it is an ultimate ; it is a prin- 
 ciple, yet it is a means expressing a principle ; it 
 is an effect, and yet it is a most glorious cause — you 
 will find, after we have advanced a little further, as 
 we have arranged light in its order, that in every 
 combination of soil, of vegetable and animal life, light 
 comes in this same order and degree of development ; 
 that no form of existence can outwork itself except 
 through the means before described previous to the 
 manifestation of light ; that every form of mineral, vege- 
 table, and animal existence, must have the previous com- 
 binations of life, motion, heat, and electricity, before 
 light can be established as a means. 
 
 We have expressed our ideas, or the principles from 
 which they are taken ; and, in carrying them into their 
 illustrations, you will please bear in mind the order in 
 which we have arranged them. By so doing, you will 
 not get them confused, and then accuse us of contra- 
 diction. 
 
 If light be the result of motion, heat, and electricity 
 — a threefold combination — then light is a positive ele- 
 ment, and must exist wherever these three principles 
 have come in contact, and outwrought their perfectness 
 of existence ; in other words, have reached their ulti- 
 mate. Consequently, the smallest atom which pervades 
 universes, the most gross elements in soils or combina- 
 tions of soils, contain within themselves the three ele- 
 ments, life, motion, and heat, and consequently the very 
 elements of Light itself. Therefore worlds, after those 
 periods of formation have occurred which produce the 
 requisites of light, must first exist as life, next as mo- 
 
132 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tion, next as heat, next as electricity, before the func- 
 tion of light can exist perfect, outwrought, and they be- 
 come separate and distinct luminous bodies. The vari- 
 ous degrees of atmosphere which surround you, and the 
 various soils which exist in your earth, every manifesta- 
 tion of external Nature, must be the effect of your earth 
 being a luminous body ; must be the effect of that lu- 
 minosity ; and the light you receive as coming from the 
 sun must be the effect of the lightness, the electricity, 
 heat, motion, and life, which exist in your earth. Elec- 
 tricity, which is positive and distinct in itself, may be 
 likened to the sun ; and the contact, the reflection, the 
 processes of combination of these two elements, produce 
 what you call day, and the absence of that combination 
 creates what you denominate night, when one portion 
 of your earth is turned from the sun during its revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 To illustrate further this idea with regard to light 
 being the result of these three combinations of which we 
 have spoken, we will state that every plant first undergoes 
 the processes of decomposition, which are the result of 
 a subtile motion — which is the same labor of which we 
 spoke as being performed by the God of the external 
 Universe. Motion and heat are produced, and attract- 
 ed from that ; then electricity, which is a means, a con- 
 veyance, of shooting toward the light ; then it is suscep- 
 tible of receiving the light. Until then, if you should 
 tear away the soil which covers the plant, in order to 
 obtain a view of the manner in which these functions 
 outwork their ultimates, you would destroy and not per- 
 fect it ; and whether you place a seed within the ground, 
 or whether, through artificial means, you accelerate the 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 133 
 
 operations of Nature, you always find it absorbs certain 
 essences before the plant is capable of attracting to it- 
 self the rays of light which are necessary for the sus- 
 taining and perfecting of its individual powers. There- 
 fore, if this be true with regard to plants, we can carry 
 you back through all the operations of Nature, into the 
 combinations of soils and minerals ; through the pro- 
 cesses of atmospheric combinations, united with their 
 own inherent life, motion, and heat; and these, coming 
 in contact with electricity, produce the first tendency 
 toward light. Being the first, it may outwork itself in 
 an indistinct manner, but still it is luminous ; and sim- 
 ply because electricity has ultimated itself as a means 
 through those three combinations which preceded it ; 
 and what must follow legitimately as the result, is light. 
 We are asked, also, in this question, to express our 
 ideas as to whether light travels. We answer that 
 light, as a principle, and as the result of heat, motion, 
 life, and electricity, does not travel ; for every atom 
 which is created contains within itself the elements of 
 light. It is not essential for light to travel, for when- 
 ever any particle of matter has gone through the primi- 
 tive processes of unfoldment and refinement, the ele- 
 ments of light in the contiguous atoms must be conveyed 
 to each other, and only in that sense can they be con- 
 sidered as a means of travelling. Therefore, when you 
 say the light of the sun travels to the various planets 
 which surround it, you speak incorrectly, from this fact : 
 that the light of the sun does not travel at all, but that 
 the luminous substance, or properties of light being 
 more powerful in the sun, in consequence of that centre, 
 reflect themselves upon atoms which contain like prop- 
 
134 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 erties, upon atmospheres which surround your earth, 
 and thus light is reflected and refracted. It is also 
 said, that light travels in angles, in rays, which we 
 consider not to be the case. The appearance manifests 
 itself in such a way owing to the fact, that you have no 
 means of obtaining correct ideas on the subject through 
 your present scientific processes ; but light is circular, 
 or spiral in its formation. All atoms resolve themselves 
 into globules, as the natural result of intrinsic motion 
 which exists in them. Consequently it may be true and 
 accurate to state here, in regard to self-creative bodies, 
 that from the very fact that the atoms or principles of 
 which they are composed are alike composed of heat, 
 motion, and life, and the combination of those qualities 
 producing suns, worlds, and stars, when those qualities 
 have reached their ultimate, no more can be added or 
 taken away as regards bulk, but the purification, the 
 sublimation, the outworking of those principles will 
 change the degrees of light and the degrees of perfect- 
 ness so far as the globe or body itself is concerned. 
 Why, then, are comets luminous, and why are earths, 
 worlds, and systems, luminous at so great a distance 
 from the central luminary ? In proportion to the den- 
 sity and magnitude of the star, so will be its powers of 
 reflection. Consequently, those which are nearer to 
 you and larger in dimension, reflect more light than 
 those more distant and less perfect in formation, from 
 the fact that they contain more elements or combinations 
 of which light is the legitimate function. 
 
 Your earth, in its present period, having one satellite, 
 the moon, you say if light is the result of motion, life, 
 and electricity, why does not the moon dispense heat as 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 135 
 
 well as light ? The moon comes in as an object of your 
 atmosphere, separate, it is true, so far as its form is 
 concerned ; but that combination of motion and heat 
 with electricity which was not required, or could not 
 be absorbed by your earth, is contained in the moon ; 
 yours being the greater body, absorbs the heat and pre- 
 vents it giving forth any heat. Other planets which 
 have more satellites, larger and more perfect in their 
 formation, must necessarily be older and more perfect 
 planets, and, consequently, create for themselves self- 
 existent systems, which revolve around them, subser- 
 vient to them, and become to them as your solar system 
 to the system around which you revolve, and must sus- 
 tain the same relation of dependence, so far as their 
 satellites are concerned, which exist between you and 
 the moon. In all probability you give no light to the 
 sun, but you are aware that you are indebted to the sun 
 for its being brought forth to the surface. Then, if you 
 are not giving any sustenance to the sun, in such degree 
 must the satellites which revolve around, instead of 
 giving, be dependent upon you for their sustenance. 
 And when the degree of perfection shall arrive, that 
 those satellites shall contain the elements of heat, then 
 you will be to them like a sun, combining those elements 
 of light and beauty which exist as regards the solar 
 system, and the great universe of systems which revolve 
 around you. 
 
 The fact that the various bodies in nature are self- 
 existent substances, proves that light is a self-created 
 thing. You have various forms of luminous bodies 
 which you perceive when the sun does not shine. This is 
 the result of outwrought electricity which was inherent 
 
136 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 in them, and which by friction and by motion has pro- 
 duced the same result as in the heavenly bodies. All 
 the artificial lights created by you, and upon which you 
 are dependent for light when the god of day is departed, 
 are self-existent lights. If light were not inherent in 
 your atmosphere and in the elements which compose it, 
 you could produce no artificial light, so called. But 
 the very fact of this element or gas, coming in contact 
 with the atmosphere, is luminous, proves that the atmo- 
 sphere contains the properties of luminous existence ; 
 and when that atmosphere is brought in contact with 
 those elements, it produces the effect which you perceive 
 now around you, and by which you light this room. 
 Light does not travel ; it is stationary. This light pre- 
 vails in the atmosphere of this room ; the effects are 
 visible all around you. Every atom within this room 
 is illuminated by it. If light travelled, every post, 
 every seat, every bench, would be as much illuminated 
 on one side as on the other ; this would be the case if 
 you were not dependent upon the atmosphere and its 
 combinations. The light does not travel behind those 
 pillars. Why ? Because the grosser substances of 
 which they are composed separate those atmospheric 
 qualities necessary to the production of light, and pro- 
 duces, as it were, a vacuum. There is a degree of 
 light, but not the same intensity. We would not say 
 there is darkness because there is a less degree of light. 
 The most dense darkness, that which grows like a mov- 
 ing, living object - before your vision, which you can 
 almost grasp, is not a total absence of light. There is 
 a luminous atmosphere, something which contains the 
 elements of life, heat, motion, and electricity, and a 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 137 
 
 proper combination will produce light which shall be 
 visible to your eyes. 
 
 We state that light does not travel, and we think we 
 have clearly illustrated our reasons for so believing. 
 But it is usual for astronomers and philosophers to say, 
 the light of such a planet must travel at such a rate to 
 reach us in a given time ; and if a star should, at this 
 moment, be blotted from existence, it would require a 
 certain time for the light to be excluded from our vision. 
 If you were dependent upon the light of that planet, 
 so instantaneous a vacancy would be perceived by you ; 
 but it is the reflection which carries you back, back, 
 back, to the period of time which it required for that 
 light to reach you. What is it ? Not the planet ; it is 
 not the light, but the heat, the motion, the atmosphere, 
 whatever exists between you and that planet. Inas- 
 much as it takes a certain amount of time, the fraction 
 of a second, for objects to impress themselves upon the 
 retina, so it takes a certain time, the twentieth or the 
 millionth part of a second for any object containing the 
 elements of light, to impart that light, and a certain 
 amount of time for that light to be extinguished. Con- 
 sequently, every body in creation is self-luminous to 
 that extent, that it is not dependent upon the light of 
 another body, save as a means of communication ; and 
 inasmuch as there is in fact no elements like each other, 
 no properties which contain the same combinations, so 
 those combinations existing perfect themselves in the 
 form of light. 
 
 What must be the result of this perfectness and 
 beauty ? Light has not reached its ultimate. You say 
 the rays of the sun were as beautiful ten thousand years 
 
138 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ago as they are now. We deny it ; the rays themselves, 
 or the emanations from the sun were as beautiful, no 
 doubt, but the combinations of your atmosphere grow 
 more and more beautiful, as the creations of soil, of 
 vegetable, and animal life, outwork and perfect them- 
 selves. Whatever may be the result of light, and 
 whatever may have existed previous to the evolution of 
 light, still we may go back to light as our primeval 
 cause. We have taken you beyond that, in order that 
 you might understand what light is ; but we now say it is 
 the all-pervading element of nature, which corresponds 
 to nature as God does to the soul, or to the world of 
 thought. Whatever are the component properties of 
 God, or of light, it is not left for us to define, but the 
 facts, the results of light are so beautiful, so all-per- 
 vading in their glory, that we say light is the element 
 from which all must have been formed. The grossest 
 elements brought in contact with light are at once ren- 
 dered beautiful ; brought in contact with too great a 
 light, they wither and decay. Brought in contact with 
 the mild light of the moonbeam, the glow-worm sheds 
 its radiance perfect and pure, because its greater light 
 is God ; but when the sunbeams are diffused in space, 
 its gentle light is overpowered. All the various atoms 
 surrounding your earth are luminous ; the spaces be- 
 tween these are the means by which the reflection of 
 that light is conveyed to you ; and those atoms are 
 ignited as they come in contact with the glory and 
 beauty of the morning sun, just as the properties which 
 compose that gas ignite when brought in contact with a 
 flame. This is the result of their containing the ele- 
 ments of light, just as combustion occurs whenever 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 139 
 
 motion and electricity come in contact ; and wherever 
 the atmosphere exists, the combination of influences 
 produce this result. 
 
 Then we may look forward to the time, when not only 
 stars and universes will gleam forth as bright luminaries 
 to decorate the heavens, but moons and satellites will 
 shine forth in beauty, an endless embodiment of light 
 and power ; so that the spaces between the earths and 
 the suns will glow with luminous beauty, and every 
 atom become refulgent with the glory and transparency 
 of its own perfection. This is not imaginary ; for as 
 the deep granite upheaved by the elements within it, 
 outworking newer forms of life and combinations of 
 beauty, so the elements which surround you will change 
 in process of time ; and where there is reflected now 
 one atom of light will be reflected ten thousand ; and 
 were the rays which now stream in beauty and glory, 
 compared with their future radiance it will be midnight 
 darkness. You can not gaze at the sun, because it 
 dazzles your eyes. The reflection, the beauty, the 
 quantity, the intensity of the electric forces absorbed 
 in that distance, taking in so many objects, all refulgent 
 with the light of the sun, is greater than the capacities 
 of your vision can bear, and that small portion of light 
 dazzles your vision. The intensity absorbs the electric 
 currents which are necessary to enable you to sustain 
 your physical equilibrium ; and that combination, or 
 that spirit of matter which always conveys from one 
 particle of matter to another, a telegraphic action is at 
 once at war. When the functions which are outwrought 
 through progressive mind and soul shall have become 
 purified, so that agriculture, science, the various worH 
 
140 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 of art and beauty, shall have been perfected, then will 
 your human forms be constituted to bear more light, as 
 also more labor, more activity. 
 
 What would your forefathers have said to be whirled 
 over the railway, to have listened to words from dis- 
 tant friends, which are sent on the wings of the light- 
 ning from point to point by a simple wire ? They 
 would have demurred and called it both dangerous and 
 sacrilegious. But how do you bear it ? As a matter 
 of course ; your physical forms are adapted to it ; it is 
 no more than you can bear to travel at railway speed ; 
 it is no more than you can bear to traverse in one in- 
 stant, on electric currents, the whole globe, whereas 
 your forefathers were content with the mail-boy. So 
 with light ; its reflection will be given to you as the 
 ultimate, the result, the function of your own existence ; 
 and as the light of the mind, and the light of the ex- 
 ternal world are analogous, so, as the external will 
 give you a more perfect degree of light, in the spiritual, 
 your minds, your souls, absorb from the great centre 
 which is within the living elements of power and of 
 beauty. 
 
 Does thought travel ? If so, then does light travel ; 
 but this can not be, for thought, as the result of God, 
 as the result of your own experience, perceives instan- 
 taneously the whole ; and wherever light can penetrate 
 or be outwrought, there exist the elements of life, mo- 
 tion, and heat. God does not travel, he is here, there, 
 everywhere ; so with Light, Thought, and Spirit. 
 
 There are more refined essences and elements beyond 
 light, which we have never yet discovered; but the 
 more perfect the light of the mind, so the external will 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 141 
 
 6e perceived as a more luminous body — as the seraph 
 may perceive in this room the very essence of your 
 thought while you are gazing at nothing. Inasmuch as 
 the soul perceives rainbow hues of thought, all of which 
 have the elements of light within themselves, so, when 
 all souls are seraphic, the light being unchanging and 
 unchangeable, you will see those elements of light sub- 
 limated, until the whole universe will seem a living, 
 breathing luminary, the centre of which is God, the 
 pervading essence of which is, not electricity, but 
 
 THOUGHT. 
 
 We have thus presented our ideas. We are aware 
 many of them are new and strange, and if any, upon 
 due consideration, shall be found to be in contradiction 
 to strict mental logic, or any law of science heretofore 
 discovered, we will acknowledge our error, if it be an 
 error. But we have given our highest ideas of truth. 
 
 And now we will say, our Father ! as the brightening 
 glories of the external beam forth in beauty ; ■ as these 
 thy children gaze upon the world of matter, may they 
 look also within, and there behold that they need not 
 go far off into the external universe to comprehend 
 light ; that they need not dive into the earth to bring 
 forth soils, minerals, and plants, but that within their 
 souls is reflected the ultimate of every beauty and glory 
 which exists in Nature. We bless Thee for this world 
 of thought, for as much of light as has been handed 
 down to us, and for ever and for ever to thee will we 
 outstretch our hands asking for " light, more light." 
 
DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, MAY 31, 1857. 
 JESUS OF NAZARETH. 
 
 Previous to the delivery of the lecture, Dr. Hatch 
 made some remarks explanatory of the relative posi- 
 tions sustained by different classes professing spirit- 
 ualism. The main difference between the Christian 
 spiritualists and the harmonialists, so called, consisted 
 in the former attaching more importance to the devo- 
 tional and reverential departments of man's nature, at 
 the neglect of other faculties, while the latter believe 
 man to be an harmonious whole, and each power or 
 faculty of equal importance, when exercised in refer- 
 ence to all others, having all been implanted by the 
 Author of his being. One class put more stress upon 
 praying to God than in living in obedience to his re- 
 quirements, the other — the harmonialists — like Solo- 
 mon, believed that there was a time for all things, that 
 there is no superabundance of powers or faculties, 
 therefore none need to be crucified, but all act in har- 
 mony with each other ; that though it was well to pray, 
 it was also well to secure the fulfilment of that prayer 
 by a due effort on their part — did not believe that God 
 spoke his first word in Genesis, nor his last in Revela- 
 tions, they did not believe the Bible to be a finality ; 
 
RELIGIOUS. 143 
 
 but that its teachings were, to a great extent, of di- 
 vine origin, given by inspiration for the benefit of man- 
 kind. But that both mind and matter are progressive 
 in their nature, therefore, the teachings which we are 
 receiving in the nineteenth century, are honestly be- 
 lieved to be as important as those received in the first. 
 In regard to Jesus of Nazareth, he was looked upon as 
 the highest type of mankind ; up to the present time he 
 has never had a superior, and he was the culmination 
 of the religious and social elements of all ages which 
 preceded him. 
 
 The real difference, then, between the Christian 
 spiritualists and the harmonialists was this : that the 
 former concentrated all their powers and forces upon 
 reverence ; while the latter believe that reverence is 
 only a manifestation or an expression of what should 
 be a universal religion, diffusing itself throughout the 
 whole system, and they claim to worship God in every 
 department of their nature ; consequently they do not 
 seem so pious, in the sectarian sense of that term, 
 as Christian spiritualists. But as practical religionists, 
 whose reverence worked itself out in every-day life, it 
 was believed that they were unsurpassed by any class 
 of persons on earth. After some further remarks of a 
 similar tenor, the Doctor concluded by saying, that he 
 thought we should not cultivate the one faculty of ven- 
 eration to the exclusion of the others, nor place too 
 much stress upon the sabbath, as being a day which was 
 any better, in itself, than any other, as God had made 
 all days. God was so far above our reach that we 
 could not do anything which could subtract from or add 
 to him, and the best way to worship him was to make 
 
144 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ourselves and each other happy, and to reach forward 
 toward his perfection, that we might be like him, and 
 in doing so he believed God was well pleased with our 
 efforts. 
 
 At the conclusion of Dr. Hatch's remarks, Mrs. 
 Hatch rose and uttered the following 
 
 PEAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! we would approach thee on this occa- 
 sion, this holy sabbath — as an emblem of that bright 
 sabbath which the free and enfranchised spirit shall 
 own and dwell in, in the realities of virtue and peace — 
 we would approach thee with thankfulness, and lay upon 
 thy shrine all thoughts of worship and adoration, all 
 thoughts of beauty and glory. We would feel that we 
 are gathered together in the serene temple of thy great 
 universe, and that, on this occasion, it is good for us to 
 be here ; that our thoughts, blending together, may 
 form themselves in spiral waves of holiness and purity, 
 and ascend toward thee on the wings of worship and 
 of glory. Our Father ! as the brightening radiance of 
 ten thousand worlds decks the horizon with beauty and 
 grandeur ; as the refulgence springing forth from the 
 dome of heaven, and, as we gaze upon them, so our 
 souls, like stars in the mental firmament of thy created 
 existence, would glow with power and radiance, and 
 beam with a brighter glory. 
 
 Father ! may our thoughts ascend to thee ; may we 
 worship, not fear thee ; adore thee, admire thee ; and 
 most of all, may we love thee ; for as thou art a God 
 of love, so that divine element outworks itself in forms 
 
RELIGIOUS. 145 
 
 of beauty in every spirit. May we feel, as we throw 
 aside the cares of our existence, that thy presence is 
 manifest, and amid the contending elements of external 
 life that thou hast said upon this, the sabbath-day, 
 " Peace, be still !" and may the perpetual sabbath of 
 undying love, and the glory and beauty of un dying- 
 truth, pervade every department of external life ; and 
 may they feel that thou art all in all, and wherever they 
 may be, thy presence is manifest — in business, in social 
 converse, in the house of mourning, thou art truly there ; 
 and oh ! that thou art there when the calm, still evening 
 drops her long veil, and when the morning trails all 
 around us her garments of diamond hue, and say, in- 
 deed, that " God is here ! God is here !" 
 
 May we feel that Thou art bending over us, ever 
 saying " I am here, I am here." Then may these, thy 
 children, feel that, although the darkening storms of 
 sorrow and anguish will toss their barks upon the ocean 
 of life, still they may gaze up through the storm sur- 
 rounding them, and to thee shall be praises for ever 
 and for ever, for we realize that thou, in thy great and 
 glorious beauty, still gazest down upon us, as the stars 
 which surround us. Accept these offerings of praise 
 and thankfulness ; accept the united prayer which must 
 ascend from the hearts of these, thy children, and may 
 we ever realize that thou art our Father. 
 
 7 
 
146 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 During the introductory remarks on this occasion, we 
 have observed that, perhaps, the opinion of our friend, 
 the husband of the lady whose organism we are now 
 controlling, may differ somewhat from opinions which 
 we advance. We consider the sabbath-day, as such, a 
 type of an eternal sabbath. We consider it holy — not 
 more holy in itself than other days, but simply more 
 holy because devoted to a higher element of the human 
 mind, which is spiritual, moral, and intellectual develop- 
 ment. All the necessary departments of human life, 
 everything which occupies the mind and engages the 
 attention is holy and sacred ; but that which is material, 
 which is fleeting and passing away, can not be as sacred 
 as that which is immortal. Therefore, whatever is 
 calculated to instruct the spirit and enlarge the capaci- 
 ties of the soul is the most sacred. 
 
 If the sabbath-day is devoted to this purpose, that 
 day is consequently the most sacred, not as a day, but 
 as a means of internal cultivation, and with the hope 
 that our minds will strengthen in the great eternity 
 toward which all are tending. The boundaries of 
 thought may enlarge and extend until time shall cease 
 to be, and every day, and every hour, and every mo- 
 ment, be a constant and unceasing sabbath, until the 
 soul shall live in communion with its G-od. 
 
 We shall call your attention on this occasion, to a 
 paragraph in the New Testament, taken from the words 
 of Jesus of Nazareth, under peculiar, most heart-thril- 
 
RELIGIOUS. ' 147 
 
 ling, agonizing circumstances, and which we hope will 
 call your attention more fully to his character and mode 
 of life. When Judas, one of his followers, had be- 
 trayed him to his enemies, the Jews, when they took 
 him with the intention of crucifying him, when he fore- 
 eaw this with the vision of prophecy which was given 
 to him, as a man he bemoaned his condition, lamented 
 the treachery of his disciple and follower, and he lifted 
 up his voice to his Father and said : " If it be possible, 
 may this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not my will 
 but thine be done." Strictly speaking, this conveys 
 to us a deeper and higher meaning with regard to Jesus 
 of Nazareth than any particular words which he ever 
 uttered. The words on the cross also convey a deep 
 meaning, but this passage carries us to the man ; and 
 we look at Jesus as a man, the son of God — not God 
 himself — for God would never ask for a cup to pass 
 from him which he had himself originated. 
 
 Who was Jesus ? After the dynasty of the Mosaic 
 dispensation had ground all feelings of material and 
 spiritual elevation into the dust ; after the long night 
 of superstition, warfare, and contention ; after the de- 
 pression of every feeling of elevation ; after the night 
 of Egyption darkness which cast its gloom over the 
 world ; after all these, Jesus of Nazareth came as the 
 Savior of the Jews. Born in a stable, cradled in a 
 manger, he was heralded as king of the Jews, come to 
 liberate them from the hands of their enemies ; as the 
 brightening star, the glorious God, the perfection of 
 beauty, the redeemer from bondage, the Savior from 
 sin. We will not enter into the details of the life of 
 Jesus, but we will simply state, that when a child, born 
 
148 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 in the most humble condition, he seemed glorious and 
 bright to those who came to offer their treasures, and 
 their incense, and they knelt down and worshipped. 
 
 Again we lose sight of him until we see him contend- 
 ing with the doctors in the temple, at the age of twelve 
 years. And again history is silent with regard to him 
 until he is seen in the land of Canaan, selecting his dis- 
 ciples. His relations to them were such as would for- 
 bid our intruding upon the sacred sanctuary of their 
 converse ; but we see that sacredness of brotherly affec- 
 tion, that condescension, unity, and harmony, that good 
 feeling, that perfectness of sympathy, which pervaded 
 their whole intercourse, which would lead us to conclude 
 that Jesus, if of a divine origin, had something in com- 
 mon with those with whom he associated ; and also that 
 they, although of a human origin, had something in 
 common with the infinite spirit which Jesus was supposed 
 to possess. 
 
 When we follow him through his short career ; when 
 we see the various miracles related of him — although 
 some contradict their occurrence, we have no doubt as 
 to their genuineness ; and when we trace more deeply 
 the feelings of those who wrote the history, we have no 
 doubt of their inspiration and purity. But why com- 
 ment upon one who lived so well and mourned so deeply ? 
 It must be borne in mind, however, that though, like the 
 history of the Mosaic dispensation, there are descrip- 
 tions which have been considered apocryphal, still there 
 are great teachings, which # bear the evidence of being 
 utterly incapable of deception or of fraud. When the 
 bloody and murderous Constantine ordered the conven- 
 tion at Nice, and selected such portions of the Bible as 
 
RELIGIOUS. 149 
 
 he considered inspired, and commanded the others to be 
 suppressed, we might be led to conclude that he would, 
 from reasons of policy, reject certain chapters and trans- 
 pose sentences to suit his own particular convenience. 
 It is not at all probable that the ancient languages would 
 compare well with, and always convey the idea of, the 
 modern Bible. The most important occurrence, as far as 
 you are concerned, of course relates to the moral teach- 
 ings. The deep religious element which pervaded the 
 original is sometimes entirely blotted out. There is less 
 chance of deception in the accounts of the life of Jesus ; 
 he gleams out like the brightness of the morning, like 
 the radiance of perpetual beauty which has streamed 
 down through eighteen centuries, and his superiority 
 shines forth with the brightening effulgence of godliness 
 and perfectness. But during all his career, among the 
 brief words and few conversations which we have re- 
 corded, and which are said to be positively spoken by 
 Jesus, in no one of them do we find a sentence that 
 would lead us to infer that he was the real God, save 
 these: "I and my Father are one" — "I am the way, 
 the resurrection, and the life" — and " He that seeth me 
 hath seen the Father also." These are sentences which 
 might be interpreted in so various meanings, that we 
 will not dwell upon them, but will content ourselves 
 with saying that persons holy and pure themselves, 
 whose sympathies are so united, whose feelings are so 
 interwoven, might well say, " We and our friends are 
 one." They speak for each, other, they act for each 
 other, they think for each other ; and Jesus of Nazareth, 
 having that image of our Father perfectly embodied in 
 his nature, being made in the image of God — as all men 
 
150 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 are said to be — more perfectly in harmony, in commu- 
 nion, in constant sympathy with our Father, could well 
 say, " I and my Father are one ;" could well say, " If 
 ye have seen me, ye have seen my Father also ;" or, 
 " If ye believe in me, ye believe in my Father ;" or, 
 " I am the way, the resurrection, and the life." Al- 
 though inhabiting a human form, he was perfect and 
 pure in every action, avoiding every mean, every low, 
 every vulgar, every unspiritual and unrefined act — ev- 
 erything which would cause them to suppose that he and 
 his Father were not one. These are the only sentences 
 whic'h would lead us to infer from what Jesus said him- 
 self that he was the real, infinite, true God ; and every 
 other sentence goes to prove, directly, that he was the 
 Son of God ; that he was in the human form, and, as an 
 identified spirit, he dwelleth with his Father in heaven. 
 This sentence, to which we have called your attention 
 on this occasion, as our text, adduces another and most 
 weighty proof that Jesus was not God. At the time 
 when the religious world were about to sacrifice him, 
 when Judas had betrayed him, if divinity, if omnipo- 
 tence had pervaded him entirely, he would have risen 
 above all things, and never have supplicated, like a child 
 to a parent : " Father, if possible, let this cup pass from 
 me; nevertheless, thy will and not mine be done" — 
 proving a distinct selfhood and identity from that of his 
 Father, or God. And when upon the cross, raising his 
 eyes toward heaven, in reference to those who were cru- 
 cifying him, when they -reviled him, saying, " If thou 
 art really the Son of God, descend now from the cross," 
 he uttered the memorable prayer which rang and echoed 
 through all the corridors and aisles of heaven : " Father, 
 
RELIGIOUS. 151 
 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do." To 
 his Father these words were uttered ; and to the last 
 moment of his life he retained his position of Son to the 
 God of heaven. On the third day after his crucifixion, 
 he appears to his disciples, and says, " I have not yet 
 ascended to my Father." Even after he had been in 
 the sepulchre, and been resurrected by the influence of 
 his divine nature, he still retains his identity as the Son 
 of God, and addresses God as " Father." ] 
 
 If Jesus of Nazareth — looked upon and idolized as 
 the most perfect type of humanity — when in the bitter- 
 ness of the strife around him, in the midst of doubt and 
 warfare, in the radiance and glory of his beauty, knelt 
 and asked his Father that the bitter cup of which he 
 was about to drink might pass from him, why, chil- 
 dren of earth ! can not you, when the depths of anguish 
 sweep across your souls, when the sorrows of external 
 existence bow you to the earth — why can not you enter 
 the same supplication from day to day, as well as did 
 Jesus of Nazareth ? If he, the most perfectly in com- 
 munion with our Father, with the Divine One of heaven 
 — the most pure, the most perfect, the most spiritual 
 soul — could kneel and ask God, in reverence, awe, and 
 supplication, to let the cup of bitterness and anguish 
 pass from him, why can not ye, who are less perfect, 
 less spiritual, less in degree refined, ask the same favor 
 daily ? And why can not ye, with him, containing the 
 elements of divinity which are to lead you on to immor- 
 tality, which are to perpetuate your earthly and spirit- 
 ual existence — why can not you, I say, in continuation, 
 exclaim, " Thy will, not mine, be done, God !" 
 
 The God of Nature and of the Universe is an omnipo- 
 
152 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tent, an infinite, an all-wise God. He is the same yes- 
 terday, to-day, and for ever, and the rules of this Uni- 
 verse are as immutable as he is unchangeable and un- 
 changing. He hath seen the end from the beginning ; 
 and if Jesus of Nazareth could not swerve his purpose, 
 could not prevent himself from being a martyr to truth 
 — the most perfect of martyrs, the most perfect of sav- 
 iors ; if he could not change that dispensation which 
 ordered him to be sacrificed upon the altar of truth and 
 of love, how can ye, children of mortality ! who are less 
 perfect, less inspired, change the will of our Father by 
 asking any cup of bitterness to pass from you ? On the 
 contrary, had Judas not betrayed Jesus, had there been 
 no contention with that disciple, the crucifixion and res- 
 urrection would have been lost. Therefore, compara- 
 tively speaking, although we can not justify Judas, still 
 we may say that Judas was quite as necessary to the 
 crucifixion and resurrection as Jesus. Was he not the 
 means in the hands of our Father ? Was it not designed 
 that Judas should betray him ? It is a metaphysical 
 question. If Judas, the lowest, the most depraved be- 
 cause treacherous, could be used as a means to an im- 
 portant and perfect end, why may not every circum- 
 stance of external existence — every warfare and every 
 contention, every crime and every evil to the eye of 
 man — be a means whereby a glory and a beauty is to 
 be unfolded and perpetuated ? 
 
 We present this to you as a proposition. We will 
 take the affirmative "side, and endeavor to prove it. 
 
 If God hath seen the end from the beginning ; if he 
 watcheth the sparrow which doth fall ; if he numbereth 
 the hairs of your heads as well as the stars in the heav- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 153 
 
 3ns ; if he knoweth the thoughts in the human soul — 
 then he knows and consequently controls the most mi- 
 nute of human forces — directly, or indirectly, as you 
 please. The source and beginning of Nature in its ev- 
 ery department is God. He has created all things, is 
 the life of all things, and controls all things. What- 
 ever exists is in obedience to his will. Were it not so, 
 he could not be omnipotent. If man can actually thwart 
 his plans and purposes, it follows that man is more pow- 
 erful than God. 
 
 How can we, gazing through the elements of the finite 
 and the mortal, tell which are the outworkings of the 
 operations of God's nature, providing we limit them to 
 any particular class of acts ? Seeing the beauty and 
 glory of those eternal laws which control our destiny, 
 how can we, as children of the dust, ever say that our 
 Father hath made a mistake in his creation ? You 
 might as well say that he made a mistake when he cre- 
 ated Jesus, for Judas betrayed him ! If God designed 
 the end, he also planned the means by which that end 
 was to be accomplished. Had there been no Judas, 
 there would have been no crucifixion. But, viewing 
 from a finite stand-point, and looking only at the imme- 
 diate results, his disciples might have said that his mis- 
 sion was a failure ; for his death had cut him off from 
 any further intercourse with the world, and the igno- 
 minious character of that death would destroy the influ- 
 ence of the doctrines he had promulgated. The Jews, 
 on the other hand, might have rejoiced in their perfect 
 triumph. But, in a more extended view, you see that 
 they were only the instruments in the hands of the Infi- 
 nite Ruler to accomplish great results. 
 
154 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Joseph was betrayed and sold into Egypt ; and the 
 means his brethren used to defeat the fulfilment of his 
 dreams were those which God used to bring it to pass. 
 It appears that Joseph was more of a philosopher than 
 most men of the present day, and plainly saw the hand 
 of God in the whole transaction ; for he says, in speak- 
 ing to his brethren : " Ye intended it unto me for evil, 
 but God intended it for good ; so it was not you, but it 
 was God." 
 
 King David caused Uriah to be slain, and that too 
 through the basest of motives ; but through the lineage 
 of David and the wife of his murdered victim, Jesus 
 was born. 
 
 These transactions stand out conspicuously in biblical 
 history, and are given as an illustration of a principle 
 which we believe to be as universal as man. True, your 
 earth-life is too short to see all the influence which your 
 acts may have upon you and humanity. So was King 
 David's ; but with the Divine Mind it is different. He 
 sees the end from the beginning ; eternity is an ever- 
 living present, and he has created an endless chain of 
 cause and effect, each link having a bearing upon the 
 other, and so connecting the whole, that each has its 
 use. 
 
 We repeat, then, as God had designed Jesus to fill a 
 great and important mission, he also planned the means 
 by which it would be accomplished. His disciples had 
 an intuitive perception of this fact, and all who knew 
 him and loved him knew the wisdom and the glory of 
 his nature, knew his divine connection with the Father ; 
 and though they mourned his body dead, they realized 
 that his soul, his spirit, was eternal, and would rise and 
 
RELIGIOUS. 155 
 
 ascend to the Father, living, bright, and glorious, an 
 emblem of that immortality toward which all humanity 
 are tending. 
 
 If you are a mourner ; if Death has snatched one 
 dearly beloved ; if you see Death approach with cold 
 and iron grasp, threatening to take away one who is 
 bound to you by the strongest ties of affection, you go 
 away into your own closet, and kneel there in supplica- 
 tion. You ask of your Father — " If it be possible, let 
 this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not my will, but 
 thine, be done." Oh, how bright and glorious the influ- 
 ence which descends from the Father into your confiding 
 heart ! how thrilling, how pure the fountain of hope 
 which wells up in the soul ! For although the form is 
 dead, the living consciousness of the presence of your 
 Father and your beloved Friend thrills your being with 
 renewed hope, and you feel that you are not forsaken ; 
 that he is a God of love and mercy ; that he chasteneth 
 because he loveth ; that he taketh away, not to injure, 
 but to beautify ; that he hath transplanted the flower to 
 a bright and more glorious realm. 
 
 If you have friends who, Judas-like, for a considera- 
 tion would betray you, then you may retire into the 
 depths of your souls and say : " Let this cup pass from 
 me ; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." And 
 so true as, after the crucifixion on Mount Calvary, Jesus 
 of Nazareth was resurrected, just so true, after the cru- 
 cifixion in social life, you will become resurrected to the 
 knowledge, and beauty, and glory, of those who have 
 learned to adore. Ay ! if you are an atheist, or if you 
 are an infidel, scouting inspiration, disbelieving the ex- 
 istence of a God — if you, too, are sacrificed on the 
 
156 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Mount Calvary of public opinion, the sincere utterance 
 of this prayer — " Let this cup pass from me" — will 
 produce resignation and peace, and you will realize at 
 once that although you disbelieve, you are still cherish- 
 ing in your very consciousness the hope of immortality. 
 And if you are a believer in religion, and you practise 
 that belief, and if daily and hourly you meet with those 
 who would betray and crucify you ; if upon the very 
 hearthstone of your home there is erected a Calvary, 
 rest assured that the supplication of earnest prayerful- 
 ness will draw upon you the consciousness of the pres- 
 ence of your Father, and you can say with Jesus, " Not 
 my will, but thine, be done." If you see beauty, glory, 
 and power, daily being sacrificed upon the altar of Big- 
 otry and of Mammon ; if you see those who are bemoan- 
 ing the earth's condition, and asking that from the earth 
 this cup of bitterness may pass away, verily it will pass, 
 and a brightness and glory cheer your souls, and cause 
 you to say, " Not mine, but thy will be done." And so 
 true as Jesus arose and conversed again with his disci- 
 ples before ascending to his Father, so true as he did at 
 last ascend and is now in the perfection of beauty, so true 
 this world which is crucified will arise, after its reign 
 in darkness and ignorance, to beam forth in a perfect 
 immortality ; for God is just, and as Jesus was a type 
 of all men, so every action of glory and beauty is a type 
 of that which is to come to every heart ; and if in every 
 heart there is a sepulchre of error, there will be a glo- 
 rious resurrection of truth; and you can all exclaim 
 with your Master and your Lord, " Thy will, not mine, 
 be done." If you are Spiritualists, claiming alliance to 
 the angel- world, and if your friends, those who are near 
 
RELIGIOUS. 157 
 
 and dear to you, scoff and scorn at your credulity ; if 
 they declare that you receive naught from your loved 
 and lost ones, not perceiving the beauty which it adds 
 to your existence, betray and crucify you upon the Cal- 
 vary of your household, you may even say : " May this 
 cup pass from me ; nevertheless, thy will, not mine, be 
 done." And around your brow the influence of heav- 
 enly love will encircle, and in your heart that calm 
 peace and quiet inspiration which ally you with the 
 angel-world ; and your God will descend, and from the 
 sepulchre of seeming desolation you will arise, and on 
 the morning of the third day you will perceive the glory 
 and beauty which, if you had not been crucified, no res- 
 urrection could have occurred. 
 
 Nations, governments, kingdoms, religions, are cruci- 
 fied, and as they are crucified, so, in their stead, is res- 
 urrected a higher, a holier life. The immoral, the er- 
 roneous, the ignorant, is constantly being crucified, and 
 from the sepulchre of the Past, daily and hourly are 
 being resurrected truths, brightening truths, which give 
 to the Present a brightness and a voice which recalls to 
 your minds the life and glory of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 Desolation, warfare, political contention, will sweep 
 across your lovely earth, and it may be hurled into the 
 very depths of strife and bitterness, and upon the politi- 
 cal prejudices may be sacrificed your dearest hopes. 
 But so true as it is crucified, along with it will be cru- 
 cified the two thieves, Ignorance and Bigotry ; and in 
 the resurrection they will be transformed into angels of 
 Liberty and Love. 
 
DISCOUKSE X. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEWBURYPORT, MASS., NOVEMBER 22, 1857. 
 
 GOD ALONE IS GOOD. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah, who fillest and pervadest all ! as 
 the morning sunlight is seen through the open windows 
 of the eastern sky, reflecting the beauty, the perfectness, 
 and the harmony of our world, as the sounds of the sab- 
 bath-day are breathing a murmur of praise, and as every 
 living thing is redolent of thy divine beauty and thy 
 divine mind, so through the open windows of our souls 
 may we see the sunshine of thy love beam in upon the 
 sabbath-day of our own spirit. And may there be re- 
 flected, through the perfectness of that spirit, the beauty 
 of thy thought, the cadence of thy melody, and all the 
 divine perfections of thy being, till we shall all feel and 
 know that thou art truly the Father, the Euler, the 
 Guider, of the universe, of worlds, and of nations. We 
 would not bless thee, this morning, especially for the 
 sunshine ; we would not bless thee for this harvest-time, 
 when the husbandman reaps in the rich reward of his 
 labor ; we would not bless thee that in so many sanctu- 
 aries there are praises given to thy name ; but that in 
 in all nations and through all worlds there are finite 
 conceptions of thee, which, when blended together like 
 
RELIGIOUS. 159 
 
 the blended perfumes of flowers, ascend in the form of 
 universal adoration. We bless thee not for any espe- 
 cial favor, we ask thee not for any especial dispensation, 
 but that all favors and dispensations may be continuous 
 and everlasting, and that our souls may see the sun, the 
 shower, the winds, the streams, as ministering messen- 
 gers of thy divine goodness, and as alike for the benefit 
 of thy world and of thy people. 
 
 Father of the Universe ! we would adore thy face in 
 the silent adoration of this spirit, not in the words we 
 hear, not in the prayers of expression from external 
 lips, not in the language of men, but in the deep, intui- 
 tive adoration of the soul, which goes beyond all words, 
 all language, and all dogmas, and makes us one with 
 thee, the infinite, eternal God. And all through the 
 deep aisles and corridors of our soul's temple, thy voice, 
 with its ever-deepening melody, may be heard, like the 
 cadence of some deep-toned organ, far above the din of 
 external strife, making us one with thee, the Father of 
 the Universe. We would bless thee that in every word 
 and in every thought there is some thing allied to thee. 
 We would kindle the divine spark of thy being in each 
 soul, that all men may feel their own goodness, and 
 feel that in the finite they are thy representative, are as 
 thou art in the infinite, that whatever goodness thou 
 dost possess is reflected to them, that they may feel and 
 know thy power. 
 
 We address thee by no name, we personify thee by 
 no person, we give thee no dwelling-place ; but wherever 
 thou art, and whoever thou mayst be, we would adore, 
 and praise, and love thee, as the Infinite Jehovah. And 
 unto thee, Spirit of divinest love, shall be every thril- 
 
160 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ling chant of thankfulness, every rapturous song of 
 praise, every tear of sorrow, and every smile of joy, for 
 ever and for ever. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, 
 and kneeled to him, and asked him, ' Good Master, what shall I do that 
 I may inherit eternal life V 
 
 " And Jesus said unto him, ' Why callest thou me good 1 there is none 
 good, but one, that is God.'" — Mark x. 17, 18. 
 
 It is not our object, on this occasion, to establish or 
 to attempt to prove any of the phenomena or the phi- 
 losophy of modern Spiritualism. We would simply call 
 your attention to such moral and religious subjects as 
 we deem adapted to each and every human mind, in 
 whatever position it may be. And if you consider that 
 the source from which they emanate is not acceptable, 
 if you even imagine that they are from a source whence 
 you might not accept truth, please consider what we 
 say, not whence these teachings claim to come. 
 
 We would call your attention to the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth verses in the tenth chapter of St. Mark. The 
 eighteenth verse, more especially, shall be the subject 
 of our consideration. 
 
 When Jesus of Nazareth was addressed by the young 
 man who had followed all the rules laid down in the 
 law of Moses — the ten commandments — during his 
 whole life, and addressed him as " Good Master, what 
 shall I do ?" Jesus says : " Call me not good Master ; 
 there is but one good, and that is God." After this, 
 
RELIGIOUS. 161 
 
 he proceeds to tell the young man that, although he may 
 have followed strictly the rules of the ten command- 
 ments, there is one thing lacking. 
 
 But we shall especially call your attention to the 
 verse which most particularly refers to the use of the 
 words " Good Master." Before elucidating this sub- 
 ject, however, it will be essential for us to penetrate 
 into religious, and moral, and social ideas, as they will 
 have a great bearing alike upon all human destiny and 
 all human authorities. It is not our object to present 
 any creed or any especial doctrine on this occasion, or 
 to uphold any theory, either of Spiritualism or of any 
 other sect or any other class of believers in Christen- 
 dom, but only to give our religious ideas upon this sub- 
 ject. As individuals, we claim the right to express 
 them ; as teachers, if we stand before you in that capa- 
 city, we claim your candid consideration. Therefore, 
 we would express, with the highest and holiest deference 
 to all your religious opinions, whatever we consider to 
 be true. 
 
 Religion, as applied to man in his most interior soul, 
 is that capacity of his being which requires an object of 
 worship. Consequently, in the lowest stages of human 
 development, among the most heathen and savage na- 
 tions, we find religious principles pervading their whole 
 lives, and controlling all their actions. This instinctive 
 homage to the Infinite Spirit of the Universe renders all 
 other things — the church, the state, or science — sub- 
 servient to the one idea of religious adoration. Cer- 
 tainly, among all the various sects in Christendom, 
 among all the various believers in any age or nation, 
 this one distinct, fundamental truth lies at the basis of 
 
162 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 %» 
 
 all religions. And whether you disagree in the form 
 and ceremony of worship, whether you disagree in your 
 ideas of the manifestation of the Divine Mind, or not, you 
 must all agree in this one principle, that there is a' God, 
 and that that God must be worshipped and adored. 
 
 With this fundamental truth as the basis of all reli- 
 gions, we see no reason why men and women, in every 
 nation, are not bound together by the closest ties of 
 sympathy ; we see no reason why men should be so at 
 war with each other — why streams of human gore 
 should have flowed down the hillsides of Humanity from 
 the earliest ages of existence, merely from religious dis- 
 crepancies. We see no reason why the human mind 
 should forbid its brother or sister from worshipping in 
 their own way. The only object to be attained in all 
 worship is infinite and eternal happiness ; and if some 
 pursue one way and some another, if they at last arrive 
 at the goal, that object being attained, why should we 
 judge of their means of arriving at it ? 
 
 It is only that we may approach nearer and nearer 
 the Great Infinite, that we may be more and more per- 
 fected ; and if in any church there are any special forms 
 prescribed, so as to forbid its members from following 
 their own highest conceptions of truth, at least we may 
 all stand upon this common belief, that there is a God ; 
 he is the Infinite : we must worship, adore, love him, in 
 the best manner possible. We have, in this truth, such 
 a manifestation of his divine purpose, it matters not to 
 us how his children reach him, if they only reach him 
 in this spirit. 
 
 With these views of religion, we will refer most espe- 
 cially to the Christian religion, to that' which is said to 
 
RELIGIOUS. 1G3 
 
 be based upon the teachings, character, life, and death, 
 of Jesus of Nazareth. This religion, thus supposed to 
 be based upon his life and history, is, at present, the 
 prevalent religion in all civilized countries, or those 
 which are said to be civilized. All modern Europe, and 
 the United States of America, are under the control of 
 this protestant religion. Now, we must refer you most 
 freely, not religiously or dogmatically, to the history of 
 the Christian church. 
 
 Not in any history, either biblical or profane, have 
 we found any evidence that the teachings and sayings 
 which are written in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, 
 Luke, and John, are really the ones which Jesus uttered. 
 It is known by every reader of history that these books 
 were written many years after Jesus and his apostles 
 died ; neither Jesus nor his apostles ever wrote those 
 gospels ; but such may not be said of the epistles in the 
 New Testament. This is proved, not by the assertions 
 of the Scripture, but by history, which is as worthy of 
 reliance as any history with interpolations, and illusions, 
 and traditions, can be. With this fact before our minds, 
 what remains to be proven is — Are these teachings, in 
 substance, those given by Jesus of Nazareth, and are they 
 still beautiful, notwithstanding all the interpretations and 
 interpolations used, notwithstanding the erasure of many 
 of them at the council of Nice, when Constantine reigned ? 
 There we lose all trace of the real gospels, and are left 
 to consider which are inspired and which are not. Half 
 of that council were in favor of the gospels which we 
 have, half were not: Constantine put in his casting 
 vote, and the majority ruled. 
 
 Now, with this view of the history of Christianity, it 
 
164 DISCOURSKS BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 is not wonderful to our minds that, with so many tra- 
 ditions and perversions, men and women should have 
 builded up an altar upon which there are so many faults 
 and errors ; that along with the bright rays of truth 
 there is so much of darkness ; that in this current of 
 deep and pure water which has flowed from the Fount- 
 ain of all truth in all ages, there should seem to be min- 
 gled the blood and bones of martyrs who have died for 
 a particular creed or teacher ; that the mud and filth 
 of the shores should be swept into the stream. It may 
 seem so to y6ur minds. You are taught to rely impli- 
 citly on the words of the Bible, as translated to you 
 from the Greek and Hebrew languages. Now, you have 
 no evidence, unless you should rely implicitly upon the 
 letter of that translation, that that book given to you in 
 the English, Italian, or German languages, is really a 
 perfect version from the languages of Greek and Hebrew 
 in which it was originally written — that St. Paul wrote 
 the epistles to the Romans and Corinthians, as St. Paul. 
 But it is evident that there must have been some founda- 
 tion for all this tradition ; there must have been some basis 
 for all this error, mingled with so much of truth ; there 
 must have been some man, some being, some Jesus, to 
 whom these things may be assigned. And when we 
 view the history of Jesus of Nazareth, we find that Py- 
 thagoras, Aristotle, Confucius, all uttered many sayings 
 recorded as being original with Jesus ; that Confucius 
 taught you to be good and kind to your neighbor, ex- 
 pressing the golden rule in a little different language, 
 but with no different meaning from that rule as given 
 by Christ. What, therefore, must be our conclusion 
 from this ? Not that Jesus of Nazareth was the origi- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 165 
 
 nator of these truths, but that he was the personified 
 representative of them, in a perfect life and perfect ex- 
 ample ; that all the truths which had lived and grown 
 old, previous to the life of the gentle Nazarene, were 
 combined in that form, were centred in one living prin- 
 ciple of good — Jesus the Christ, or Jesus the Truth- 
 teller. 
 
 Now, according to the text which we have chosen 
 from St. Mark, to illustrate, this morning, and accord- 
 ing to every other passage recorded as the saying of 
 Jesus, he does not, in one instance, claim to be more 
 than man, or more than the Son of man. He calls him- 
 self the Son of God ; he calls his disciples the children 
 of God. He. calls himself and his Father one ; but he 
 still says, " My God and your God, my Father and your 
 Father." And in this passage, most directly, does he 
 affirm and determine that he is not perfectly good — for 
 God alone is good. 
 
 Now, with our views of Christ and his teachings, we 
 certainly would not tear away any of the brightening 
 drapery which enfolds him and his crucifixion or his 
 life ; we certainly would not wish to tear down any of 
 the idols erected by any history of Christ ; we certainly 
 would not wish to divest any of them of any principle 
 of goodness, in life or action, which they may ascribe to 
 the teachings, the life, the death, or the resurrection, of 
 Jesus ; but only to present these things in their real 
 form, and leave you to act upon your reason and judg- 
 ment. We do not place before you any creed, and ask 
 you to subscribe to it, without the use of these faculties. 
 No, we would not tear down the beautiful image of 
 Jesus, as the only-begotten Son of our Father ; but only 
 
166 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 say that how much more than man Christ was, wc are 
 not able to determine. Certain it is that he always 
 called himself the Son of man. 
 
 In the prophecies and histories which predict his com- 
 ing, in the Olden Testament, we find none that, to our 
 minds, apply explicitly and refer exactly to him per- 
 sonally. They refer to the Lamb which was to come, 
 to the New Jerusalem, but not to any form or any par- 
 ticular illustration of that principle. And the history 
 of the Old and New Testaments is, to us, but the his- 
 tory of a nation, and of that nation's struggles for the 
 supremacy, for its own rights and religious opinions. 
 
 The Scripture only prophesied of a king to rule, a king 
 of the Jews. The Jews believed that he was to be one 
 who would come with a chariot and with horses, and 
 would relieve them by force from the hands of their 
 enemies. He came not in any such way ; nor was he 
 recognised, when he came, as being the expected King. 
 Nor was he recognised during his lifetime as being that 
 King, save by his disciples, and a few who received the 
 benefits of his kindness, love, and mercy. Nor was he 
 recognised even when Paul, after his death, entered Je- 
 rusalem. Paul became known as his most powerful ad- 
 vocate in that mighty city. He was known as the her- 
 alder of that gospel which Jesus taught, and for this he 
 was arrested and his life placed in great danger. There- 
 fore, not in the recognition of public opinion, not in 
 regal pomp, and power, and splendor, was he recog- 
 nised to be the King of the Jews ; nor was he believed 
 to be so when, upon Mount Calvary, he was crucified, 
 when his disciples fled him, and he was no longer recog- 
 nised as Jesus the Christ. With these words before 
 
RELIGIOUS. 167 
 
 us— with this passage, in which he calls himself not 
 good, perfect good, but declares that the only good 
 being is God — we have distinctly placed before us his 
 own idea of himself and of his mission. 
 
 We perceive that he considered himself to be the Son 
 of God and the Son of man ; and, as a teacher, as a 
 king, as a prophet, as seer, as a divine man, not as a God, 
 he still held his character to the last, even upon the 
 cross, even after he was lain in the sepulchre. When 
 he arose again, he did not say, "lama God, and I 
 come to reproach them for crucifying me." He did not 
 say, "I am the great God, and I will destroy these 
 people, who have rejected me ;" but he still says, 
 " Touch me not, I have not yet ascended to my Father. 
 Go, tell them I ascend to my God and your God, my 
 Father and your Father," still retaining his reference 
 to the Father as being himself one of his children, still 
 associating himself with his disciples to the last, still 
 speaking of himself as a brother and a counsellor. It is 
 claimed by Trinitarians, that Christ, while in the body, 
 frequently spoke of his Father, alluding to his own 
 divine nature, in contradistinction to his human, while 
 in the body. But it will be seen that he alludes to his 
 Father in the same manner after he has laid aside his 
 earthly form or nature. He is still the Son of man. 
 
 With this view of Jesus of Nazareth, we have only 
 to refer to his life and example, to those teachings per 
 sonified in his private existence, to what we have ol 
 truth of his remarks, translated from the ancient Greet 
 and Hebrew, as noted down by members of the earlj 
 church, and then translated from them. It is an histor- 
 ical fact, that these four gospels, and, in fact, all of tin* 
 
168 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 New Testament, were written many years after Jesus 
 and his disciples had departed, and that these names, 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were signed to them, 
 not because they were written by these men, but be- 
 cause those who wrote them distinctly saw, that with- 
 out other evidence than their own tradition, they would 
 not be believed as being authentic. What followed ? 
 They placed at the head of each history, of each tra- 
 dition, the account of the birth, the life, the death, and 
 the resurrection of Christ, and as much of the teach- 
 ings, translated from those languages, as are applicable 
 to modern morals and modern Christianity, as they be- 
 lieved to be perfect and true. 
 
 It has gone forth that we have said, in a public 
 meeting, that the teachings of Pythagoras were superior 
 to those of the Bible. We certainly have never made 
 such a statement. We said this, that the teachings 
 of Pythagoras contained many things which are con- 
 tained in the Bible. So they did. So did the teach- 
 ings of Confucius, of Aristotle, of Plato, of many not 
 recognised as being Christian followers. But we be- 
 lieve the teachings contained in the Bible to be the 
 concentration of all the truths which preceded them, 
 and, consequently, superior to any of them. 
 
 We give all credit to those who believe the Bible to 
 be the word of God. We consider the positive testi- 
 mony that we have, and we are forced to believe that 
 the Scriptures have been interpolated and misrepre- 
 sented, that they contain but the history of a nation, 
 struggling, warring, battling with the grosser elements 
 of its being, that it is but a history, clothed in a high 
 and holy dress, that overflows with great religious 
 
RELIGIOUS. 169 
 
 fervor, with finite conceptions of Deity. W.c must, 
 with all deference to believers, still believe that its 
 inspiration is the inspiration which men may receive 
 ' from the Divine Spirit, even though they were in an 
 ignorant and uncultivated state. No one — no clergy- 
 man of any intelligence, in the present age, translates 
 literally every portion of the Bible, and asks you to 
 believe it as applying to the present age. Every one 
 recognises that the Olden Testament is but the record 
 of a race struggling for the perfection of their own 
 social and governmental state. But the deep under- 
 current of truth which pervades the whole, causes us to 
 recognise a divine perfection in it. 
 
 Such is the case in the history of the Mohammedan re- 
 ligion, and that which characterizes it in the present age. 
 In its warfare and bloodshed, in its deep errors and devia- 
 tions from the faith as originally taught by Mohammed, 
 in the Koran, and in traditions recorded of him, we 
 see the action of these struggles and these warfares, 
 of these conflicts between truth and error, between 
 ignorance and depravity and this element in the soul 
 allied to Deity. We see as definite statements with re- 
 gard to the history of Mohammed, as in the Christian 
 Bible with regard to Jesus of Nazareth. Shall we be 
 the judgers between the two religions ? Shall the fol- 
 lower of the Christian religion assert that ours is 
 preferable to Mohammedanism ? Never. The only 
 judge is Deity. If the Christ-spirit could come to the 
 ancient Jews, then that same spirit could come again to 
 the Mohammedans. 
 
 " There is none good but God." This last clause of 
 our text refers, most especially, to the Infinite Good- 
 
170 DISCOUKSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ness. If our God is infinite, and if goodness is per- 
 fection, he is infinite in goodness. We have but a 
 spark of that goodness of which he is the whole. If 
 he has made us in his image, it is only that the image is 
 finite, while he is the infinite, only that we have one 
 spark of that goodness of which he is the living, 
 burning flame, it is only that on the altar of our minds 
 are kindled the immortal fires of love and beauty ; it is 
 only that, as Jesus said, He alone is good. 
 
 Now were he, as is ascribed to him, the real God ; 
 were he the Father, a portion of the Godhead, he would 
 never have rebuked this young man for addressing him 
 as " good master." Good, as it is translated in the 
 Old Testament, and as it is translated from the 
 Grecian and the Hebrew, means perfect or Godlike. 
 Now Jesus never claimed to be perfect, never claimed 
 to be entirely Godlike. He appealed to God, he was 
 assailed, as mortals are, with temptations. Under the 
 figure of the Devil taking him up into a high mountain, 
 and showing him all the treasures of the world, we 
 have a beautiful exhibition of the temptations to which 
 every man is subjected, in the commencement of life. 
 He is taken up into the mountain of temptation, and 
 shown the kingdoms of the world, and he is told, " Fall 
 down and worship me, and thou shalt have all these 
 possessions." Few there are who can say, " Get thee 
 behind me, Satan !" There is none good but God. 
 With this idea, you have only to feel that, in the history 
 of all nations and of all ages, none can claim to be 
 perfect in goodness. If they take the life and teachings 
 of Jesus for an example, he, not claiming to be perfect 
 in goodness, could not be an infallible rule for their 
 
RELIGIOUS. 171 
 
 actions, excepting so far as tlie teachings and example 
 of Jesus would be good to every one, under whatever 
 circumstances ; to love those who are in distress and 
 misery, and to follow him in all those actions and prin- 
 ciples that allied him more nearly to the Infinite Good- 
 ness than any other being who has ever walked the 
 earth. But still he was not God, not infinite, not 
 perfect, for only God is good. 
 
 Then shall men who follow the Bible of light, who 
 thus stand upon the hill-tops of truth and of eternity, 
 who see distinctly the example given to them, and the 
 beauty of his life, who follow but slowly and reluc- 
 tantly in the footsteps of this self-sacrificing, meek, and 
 lowly Nazarene, shall we say : " We are true and per- 
 fect, and you must do as we do ?" Shall modern Chris- 
 tians deify themselves, and claim to be the only perfect 
 and divine sons of God ? Shall we say, that he has 
 chosen us to be his people, while the rays of truth beam 
 for ever ? that to one nation is given this truth, while its 
 brother is plunged into darkness ? that. one religion is 
 alone acceptable to God, while in the other, religious 
 worship is offered as conscientiously and sincerely, by 
 those who bow before their altars ? Shall we say that 
 we are right, and they wrong? Shall we not rather 
 consider that there is but one God, and he is good, that 
 all may follow in his footsteps, none having the same 
 character, none the same ideas, none the same feelings, 
 no two' nations with the same religious history ? Shall 
 we say that we are finite, and not imperfect as repre- 
 sentatives of that which is infinite and perfect ? No ! 
 Let us rather take all the good together, let us imagine 
 that others are, at least, partly true in their ideas. 
 
172 • DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Everything that tends to elevate man, that draws him 
 farther and farther away from the low, debasing things 
 of life, and leads him to higher conceptions of his 
 brother and of God, that develops the welfare of men 
 and of nations, is true and good. But that which causes 
 one Christian nation to go to war with another less 
 Christian, or less civilized than itself, is not of God. 
 Let us not live in that spirit of Christianity which calls 
 old things new, which seeks for ancient inventions in new 
 forms, and claims them for its own, not that which can 
 see truth only in the lessons of one teacher, but that 
 which recognises the whole, that which calls the whole 
 world the children of God, and which sees his spirit in 
 the great temple of the Universe, pervading its every 
 department, that which recognises every thought, every 
 feeling, as being in some way allied to the angels. 
 
 If you are more perfect, or if the spark of goodness 
 within your soul is more perfectly kindled than that of 
 your brother, do not scorn him, and tell him that he has 
 not one atom, one trace of God ; but say to him that 
 goodness is not perfect, yet the spark is there, and the 
 >reath of the Infinite can fan it to a living flame. God 
 ias never made a world he can not control, has never 
 made a soul he can not save. 
 
 If all the ideas which characterize the action of 
 Christian countries are to be taken as the standard of 
 the Christian religion, we might say that it was less 
 perfect than that of the Sandwich-Islanders, who were 
 never known to steal, never known to lie, never known 
 to have locks and bars, prisons and penitentiaries, till 
 Christian missionaries went there. But if we are to 
 take the teachings and history of Christian nations as 
 
RELIGIOUS. 173 
 
 proof of their religion, then we refer to the Mohamme- 
 dans and the heathen, for examples of morality and 
 justice. If we are to take as much of truth in every 
 nation as exists there, we say this is our theory, and it 
 is true. When all truth shall be blended, and all 
 nations linked by the ties of common sympathy and 
 common manhood, then we may bow before the throne 
 and adore one common parent, then may we take the 
 Roman, the Indian, the Mohammedan, and the Jew, all 
 by the hand, and say : " Thou art my brother." Then 
 may we blend every nation with the other, every reli- 
 gion with the other; the universe shall cry out, from 
 hearts and homes, from a prosperous country, from the 
 divine thoughts of his servants, " Our God, our Father, 
 none are good save Thee !" And this Jesus, who is the 
 Christ, and the Truth-Teller — who lived more then eigh- 
 teen hundred years ago — was crucified upon Mount Cal- 
 vary — shall his ascension to his Father prevent that 
 same spirit from speaking to every nation? Can not 
 G-od establish his oracles in each nation and age of the 
 world ? Can not the principles which Christ taught be 
 taught in other countries ? There is a mighty tide, a 
 crystal stream, which branches out to bless each age 
 and every world ; each nation and each people. It is 
 not for you alone, who judge yourselves his chosen ones, 
 for all, to him, are like the moving worlds, scarce a 
 space between them, blended closer and still closer into 
 one, making his entire family, his divine children. As 
 Jesus of Nazareth may be considered his divine Son, so 
 may we recognise mankind as all being his children. 
 And however minute the holy principle, the spark of 
 life, it may be seen in every human soul, however it 
 
174 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 may be obscured. It may be seen in the gentle face of 
 the Madonna, as the Catholic worships before her, and 
 calls her the Virgin . This may apply, also, to private 
 histories, as well as to the political and religious his- 
 tories of nations. " There is but one good, and that is 
 God." How few realize this ! How few there are 
 treading the path of their daily life, speaking to their 
 neighbor some harsh word, some creed or doctrine, who 
 realize that there is but one perfect, and that is God. 
 They turn away from those who differ from their theories, 
 and say : " You will be taken to darkness : God will 
 judge you ;" never thinking that God is infinite in judg- 
 ment, infinite in goodness ; never thinking that they are 
 but as one atom in the solar system ; never thinking 
 that God sees the soul and the life, the spark of the 
 divine in the being of every man. 
 
 Men and women, Christians, infidels, spiritualists, 
 whatever you may be, remember that there is but one 
 perfect good, and that is God. Jesus of Nazareth 
 claims it not ; Mohammed claims it not, the writers of 
 the Zendavesta and the Shasta claim it not ; those who, 
 in heathen nations, have their views, their traditions, 
 their Bibles, claim it not ; but the one God, the Jeho- 
 vah, he is the eternal, the perfect good. You, in the 
 finite, can not be judges of the infinite ; you, in the 
 material, can not comprehend immortality, till it shall 
 be past. You, who live upon the stage of action, can 
 not comprehend eternity, till eternity shall cease to be. 
 No ; he that seeth the end from the beginning seeth, 
 alone, the thoughts of our souls, and he alone can judge. 
 And when kings and potentates, with mawkish acts, 
 and mawkish pride, contend about matters of religious 
 
RELIGIOUS. 175 
 
 worship, his it is to smile upon their folly, as we would 
 smile upon the quarrels of children. He knows that 
 all shall at last come into perfect harmony, that all 
 shall come into perfect good, and all men be bound 
 together by the living ties of perfectness and peace. 
 
 When, day by day, and year by year, the beamings 
 of his light shall be poured upon your souls ; when all 
 established religions, and temples dedicated to their 
 worship, shall fade away as already have ancient Jeru- 
 salem and Rome — even your own city, and your own 
 churches ; when all these things are faded for ever from 
 the earth, Eternity shall proclaim that there is but one 
 good, and that is God : while the soul, ever striving to 
 attain to the comprehension and development of that 
 good, shall still grasp after the infinite, shall still count 
 the rolling worlds, measure the distances of suns, and 
 ever with this thought and this feeling — " Our God is 
 the only perfect good" How little are we! — but as 
 an atom in the floating world of thought — but as a mite 
 in the great living swarm of souls that exist in the eter- 
 nal spheres ; and yet none so small, none so dim, as not 
 to be recognised by the Great Father as one of his chil- 
 dren, as not to be received and purified by him ; and 
 his praise and his adoration shall be the eternal reward 
 of your love and obedience to him. 
 
 Therefore, in your daily life, in all your avocations, 
 whether secular or religious, remember what this Christ, 
 this Jesus of Nazareth, has said. You can not be per- 
 fectly good, for there is but one good, and he is the 
 Infinite ; you are only finite, and for ever, through the 
 unending ages of eternity, will still be grasping after 
 that which is not your own, will still be proclaiming 
 
176 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 that you are not good, while this one truth startles you 
 and stares you in the face : God is the only 'perfect good. 
 Go upon Mount Calvary ; see Christ crucified as a 
 common malefactor, between those two thieves referred 
 to in the Bible. When he, in the calmness of his own 
 life, in the perfectness of his own simplicity, in the ado- 
 ration of that God who gave him birth, says, " Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do" — he 
 expressed, himself, most fully, the idea that there is but 
 one good, and that is God, for he did not claim the 
 power of forgiving them entirely. He only could 
 forgive them for the wrongs they inflicted on him ; he 
 could not forgive them for the offence to their own con- 
 science, to their own souls. He asked his Father to do 
 it, still retaining to the last his divine conceptions of 
 God, still believing himself but the Son of that Infi- 
 nite Father. When we see the mockery of the Son of 
 God, the deep adulteration of that which has been true 
 and perfect ; when we see Christ, and then look at the 
 religion of men who profess to adore the Infinite, and 
 follow the example of Jesus the Christ — see them mock- 
 ing their Creator with worship, while at the same time 
 they are contemplating injury to their brother ; when 
 we see them professing to follow the teachings of the 
 gentle Nazarene, while in their actions they deny every 
 principle of justice and of religion; when we see profes- 
 sors of religion, and, worst of all, those who claim to be 
 teachers of the people, standing in the pulpit, and at 
 one time heralding doctrines of good, which their life 
 does not personify — at another, doctrines which out- 
 rage every principle of humanity — then comes the deep 
 tide of emotion at the view of these wrongs, and we are 
 
RELIGIOUS. 177 
 
 wont to exclaim, " Has God forsaken his children, and 
 left them in moral and religious darkness ?" But never, 
 so long as one heart pulsates with the divine life, so long 
 as one soul pursues its seekings after truth, so long as 
 one society, one family, or one man, has in his heart 
 the workings of this divine spirit, should we despair or 
 complain — ever saying, " There is but one good, and 
 that is God." 
 
 We have concluded our discourse upon this subject, 
 and will now only say, in conclusion, that there is a 
 spirit here who will close the service by chanting a 
 hymn. 
 
 CHANT. 
 
 Spirit who reignest above ! God, our Father, Spirit 
 of Love ! Oh, we bless thee, we adore thee ! Oh, we 
 praise thee, infinite God ! Infinite Jehovah, thou who 
 art ever near and around us, thou who dost bless us 
 with thy sweet smile ! oh, may thy children ever adore 
 thee, praise thee, God of Love ! Thou art our God — 
 thou art our God, while Eternity lives. Spirit of Love, 
 smile on us for ever. Oh, our God is Love ! Infinite 
 Goodness, rule for ever, touching thy Universe with 
 chords of melody sweeter than harpstrings of yonder 
 seraphs — sweeter than music from mighty organs, peal- 
 ing through corridors in vast temples. Oh, thou art the 
 God of thy children ; thou art the Spirit of Infinite 
 Good ! Hallelujah ! hallelujah ! hallejujah ! Amen ! 
 [Repeat.] Angels tune their harps ! Angels strike 
 the chords. Angels echo back these pure mortal 
 words — hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! 
 Amen ! 
 
178 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 We bless thee, Infinite Spirit, for as much of light 
 and as much of peace as dawns upon our heart this sab- 
 bath morning. May it be the type of that eternal, that 
 perpetual sabbath of the soul, where all care, and all 
 sin, and all wretchedness, shall have passed away, while 
 these thy children shall for ever proclaim, " Thou art 
 the only good !" 
 
DISCOURSE XI. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW BEDFORD, MASS., NOVEMBER 29, 1857. 
 
 THE SACRIFICIAL RITE.* 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! our Father which art in heaven ! 
 The sabbath-day of thine infinitude overspreads the 
 earth ; and from ten thousand altars ascends the per- 
 fume to thy throne. But not because this is the sabbath- 
 day instituted by man to proclaim thine infinitude, do 
 we adore thee ; not because from every church men pro- 
 nounce thee good, and great, and infinite ; not because, 
 through the nation and the world, all are proclaiming 
 thy greatness and power ; but because we would bless 
 thee every day and every moment ; because on this oc- 
 casion our hearts are o'erswelling with thankfulness ; 
 because we would express that thankfulness as the flower 
 gives forth its perfume. Nay, we would not bless thee 
 even because all men say thou shouldst be blessed, but 
 because deep within our beings there is an everlasting 
 voice, which answers to the voice of thine own being, 
 saying, " Our Father is good, and great, and lovely." 
 
 We bless thee to-night, because, in all the blessings 
 thou hast bestowed upon us, there is beauty and perfect- 
 ness. We bless thee because the firmament above us 
 
 * Subject selected by the audience. 
 
180 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 proclaims the majesty of thy nature ; because the sun 
 god of Day, reposing in the lap of Night, has yielded 
 forth his last coruscation of light, proclaiming with the 
 breath of dying Day, " Our God is good and lovely ;" 
 because all Nature, joining in the living chorus that 
 sings thy beauty and power, praises thee in every flut- 
 tering leaf, in every pebble, in every grain of sand, in 
 the deep ocean-wave, in everything which lives and 
 moves, even in the autumn-time, when the leaves fall, 
 and the ungathered grain on the mountain-side stands 
 against the sky ; when men wonder where the life of 
 earth is gone, we see thy hand and adore thy goodness, 
 as the husbandman reaps the rich reward of his labors. 
 For there we see the type of that eternity where the 
 soul, for ever summing up the labors of the summer-time 
 of this life, shall reap, in its golden harvest, the rich 
 fruits of these labors and toils. Our Father ! we would 
 bless thee like the dancing streamlet, which sings down 
 the mountain-side ; like the murmuring breezes, like 
 all the everlasting echoes of Nature, which give forth 
 divine harmony and beauty. But mostly would we wor- 
 ship thee because deep in the soul of man there is an 
 element allied to thine own being ; because thy divine 
 presence is manifested in the human soul ; because thou 
 art indeed our Father ; because all science, and all 
 knowledge, and all art, proclaim that thou art good and 
 wise. We would worship thee because all the deep 
 struggles of our being are silent cadences of untold mel- 
 ody, so sweet, so clear, so divine, that we know no other 
 hand than thine own can have touched the chords ; be- 
 cause the still, small voice of thine own being whispers 
 to every soul ; because, as the waves were commanded 
 
RELIGIOUS. 181 
 
 to bo still, thy presence can command the troubled 
 waves of sorrow and of anguish within the soul, " Peace, 
 be still !" 
 
 Our Father ! we bless thee — not for any especial fa- 
 vors which thou hast conferred upon us, not for any 
 especial act of thine infinite providence — but for every 
 favor and blessing which thou hast bestowed. We bless 
 thee for all thy providences, and adore thee for all thine 
 actions, knowing that thou art the Infinite and Eternal. 
 We ask thee not to shower down any especial dispensa- 
 tions around us, not in any especial act of thy provi- 
 dence to waken the souls of thy children, but only that 
 the slumbering fires within every bosom may be fanned 
 to deeper and holier flame ; that thy divine spark may 
 be kindled into a more living and perfect glow ; that 
 the favors already received from thee may be used as 
 thou wouldst have us use them, and as will best develop 
 the divine life in our own natures ; we pray that the power 
 thou hast conferred upon us may be duly cultivated. 
 And thus, our Father, we would bless and adore thee, 
 not through especial dispensations, but through thine 
 infinite goodness and mercy. 
 
 Spirit of the Universe ! very many altars are echoing 
 praises not prompted by the spirit of religion embodied 
 in man's soul, not from the pure Christianity recognised 
 in Jesus of Nazareth, but by party spirit and the desire 
 of self-aggrandizement. Not such would be our prayer. 
 For all the world we ask blessings ; we would im- 
 plore that all may become allied to thee. And unto 
 thee, Father of the Universe, shall be every song of 
 angel and archangel, every outgoing of love from the 
 hearts of thy children ; to thee shall be every word of 
 
182 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 truth which we may utter on this occasion ; to thee 
 shall be the affection and homage of thy children's souls, 
 for ever. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 " And without shedding of blood is no remission." — Heb. ix. 22. 
 
 The text of scripture presented by the committee for 
 our elucidation this evening is a part of Paul's argument 
 to his Hebrew brethren, wherein he undertakes to prove 
 that the blood of Christ is above or more important than 
 all other sacrifice. As Paul had been educated in the 
 Jewish religion, the sacrificial rites had been engrafted 
 most thoroughly into his theology ; and being himself a 
 cruel man, as is evident from his giving his voice against 
 Stephen, and holding the garments of his persecutors 
 while they were stoning him. His conversion while on 
 his way to Damascus did not remove all the errors of 
 his previous convictions, but most fully convinced him 
 that Jesus of Nazareth was not an impostor. With 
 this educational bias of mind, believing that God re- 
 quired the shedding of blood in order to atone for the 
 sins of his children, he very naturally arrived at the 
 conclusion that Jesus became the sacrificial offering to 
 God for the sins of the world. 
 
 The Jewish religion was founded upon, or rather grew 
 up out of, heathenism ; and the Christian from Judaism 
 — Paul, more than any other of the apostles, being the 
 one to blend the two : thus you have a religion contain- 
 ing some of the most beautiful and elevating thoughts 
 and principles which the human mind can comprehend, 
 
EELIGIOUS. 183 
 
 but mingled with the most depraved conceptions of De- 
 ity which ever disgraced humanity. God is represented 
 as inculcating the doctrine of overcoming evil with 
 good, and at the same time devising the most appalling 
 means of avenging himself upon his defenceless children ; 
 he is represented as a God of love, and at the same time 
 as possessing a heart the blackness of which would cast 
 a shade upon a demon ; he is represented as a God of 
 power, and yet perpetually defeated in his plans ; and 
 so on through every attribute of his being. 
 
 It can not be denied that you have the doctrines of 
 all nations, from the earliest records of mankind until 
 the present, engrafted into the religions of this country, 
 and each orthodox sect stands as a representative of 
 some period of the past. The doctrines of John Calvin 
 and Jonathan Edwards were the most barbarous of any 
 upon record, and they will stand upon the pages of his- 
 tory as an index pointing to the folly, cruelty, and de- 
 pravity of ages bygone. 
 
 Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission 
 of sin; or, without that which is considered an atone- 
 ment, between God and his children, no one can ever 
 enter the kingdom of heaven. In our elucidation of 
 this subject, our hearers will remember that we confine 
 ourselves to no creed and no special interpretation of 
 the Scriptures. Our ideas are strictly our own. Spir- 
 itualism nor spiritualists are responsible for them. We 
 ourselves are alone responsible for whatever opinions 
 we may present. We shall endeavor to base them upon 
 reason and judgment, and upon as much of divine reve- 
 lation as seems to us divine. It is proclaimed by the 
 skeptical, in regard to Spiritualism, that it denounces the 
 
184 DISCOURSES EY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Bible, that it does not believe in divine inspiration. 
 This is absolutely false. There are no theories or creeds 
 which recognise it so perfectly and truly as does Spir- 
 itualism. But in what manner this inspiration acts, or 
 how we are to know what is divine, has been a mat- 
 ter of doubt in all ages, and will ever be so, till each 
 man shall become his own oracle, and the soul of each 
 shall be his own temple, wherein God may speak to him 
 in person. 
 
 With this brief introduction, we will proceed to state 
 the ideas upon which this passage of scripture is based, 
 nor shall we assume that the literal sense of the passage 
 is true. We must first consider its source, the inter- 
 polations which have come down to the Christian church, 
 and which are embodied in the Christian Scriptures. 
 No theologian of the present age pretends to interpret 
 every word of the Bible as being literally true, or pre- 
 tends that, literally speaking, the earth was made in 
 six days, since geology has proven the contrary. There 
 may, then, be other than a literal interpretation of this 
 part of the Bible. Few clergymen pretend to consider 
 all the miracles as being literally true. Some represent 
 them as being literal, others as but figurative descrip- 
 tions of natural events. Our opinion, in regard to the 
 Olden Testament, is this : that it is the history of a na- 
 tion's battles for supremacy in religious and political 
 points, and that consequently it is not the history of the 
 whole world, but merely of a little tribe who threw off 
 the yoke of bondage, and at last became a mighty na- 
 tion, possessing more knowledge than their contempora- 
 ries, but not more goodness. They embodied the an- 
 cient Egyptian mythology, which has been handed down 
 to the present day. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 185 
 
 We thus view the Mosaic dispensation. That dispen- 
 sation was fitted to the age in which Moses lived. It 
 demanded an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 
 But when Jesus the Christ came, he said, " Return not 
 evil for evil, but overcome evil with good" — proving 
 that the moral, social, and political laws were not the 
 same in Jesus' time as in that of Moses. Moses may 
 have been equally inspired, and from the same source, 
 with Jesus of Nazareth ; but his inspiration was adapted 
 to his age, that of Jesus to his age and the ages which 
 have succeeded him. Thus you will perceive that, al- 
 though we believe in divine inspiration, we do not be- 
 lieve it in that view which rejects any inspiration except 
 in particular ages and nations. We believe in inspira- 
 tion ; we believe that each inspired man is inspired from 
 his highest conceptions of the eternal God. Thus, the 
 ancient Jews, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the various 
 heathen nations, have had their own conceptions of 
 God. And shall we say that they are not true, that 
 they have not as high claims on the Infinite and Eternal 
 Father as ourselves ? 
 
 God hath made his children ; he pronounced them 
 good. It is stated that they who were pronounced 
 good by him have fallen, but we do not believe it. We 
 do not believe that man has ever fallen from what he 
 originally was. We believe that he is perverted, not be- 
 cause any one committed a sin, but because through ig- 
 norance the soul does not perceive the light of its own 
 being. We believe that the soul is in its infancy as 
 jet ; that the golden age has yet to come. Therefore, 
 with this idea, we shall be pronounced at once, by those 
 of you recognised as orthodox, to be infidels and here- 
 
186 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tics. Wait until we are through. We believe in reli- 
 gion ; we are not infidels or heretics in that respect. 
 Therefore, do not pronounce upon us until you have 
 heard us through. 
 
 The ancient heathen practised the sacrificing, to par- 
 ticular gods, of certain animals, which were believed to 
 be like those gods. The ancient Egyptians recognised 
 in the stars certain mysterious properties, because they 
 calculated from the stars the allotted periods of the 
 earth, when vegetation sprang forth, when certain ani- 
 mals produced their young. Consequently, the constel- 
 lations were named after those animals. Taurus, signi- 
 fying the bull, was named from the time when the 
 ploughman went forth with his oxen to plough ; and 
 Aries from the time when the sheep produced their 
 young. The language being so imperfect, they recog- 
 nised the constellations only by the name which they 
 gave them from the sun passing near them at these par- 
 ticular periods of the year, and the different points in 
 the heavens were thus personified in these animals. In 
 course of time, the connection of these stars with the 
 appearance of the seasons induced a belief that they 
 had an influence upon the spring or summer, that they 
 brought the seasons with them. Consequently, they 
 said : " When Aries comes, he influences vegetation ; 
 when Taurus comes, it is time for the ploughman." In 
 their ignorance of the true principles of astronomy and 
 the laws of the physical world, they attributed to these 
 stars powers which belong to Nature, or to the God of 
 Nature. They deified them, and called them gods. 
 Thus it came to pass that the animals after which these 
 stars had been named were supposed to be gods upon 
 
RELIGIOUS. 187 
 
 earth ; and the bull, and the sheep, and those various 
 animals personified in these constellations, were called 
 deities. And when the people desired any especial 
 favor to be granted, they sacrificed an animal corre- 
 sponding to the name of that star, and with which they 
 supposed that the god who resided there would be 
 pleased. You perceive that the idea of animal sacri- 
 fices, of the shedding of blood, to gain an especial favor 
 with the Deity, originated, not in Christian but in hea- 
 then nations. 
 
 This idea has pervaded all nations in history. Many 
 nations have sacrificed human beings. The Hindoo 
 mother who sacrifices her child, is conscientious and 
 religious in that sacrifice. She tears from her heart all 
 the feelings of a mother's bosom, and casts her child 
 into the waters of the Ganges, saying that God so re- 
 quires. The wife is laid npon the funeral-pile of her 
 husband, that the two may ascend together to the realms 
 of the gods. They think it would be a sin to do other- 
 wise. The living wife throws herself upon the body of 
 her husband ; the fire is kindled around the two, and 
 both souls ascend together. 
 
 Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, when the 
 voice of the Lord spoke unto him, the voice of that in- 
 spiration which is recognised in the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion. Pardon us if we shock your religious opinions, 
 but certain it is that if we trace this idea back, we find 
 that it was in the earlier nations that the custom origi- 
 nated of shedding the blood of animals ; and it was done 
 that the stars might be propitious, and yield a bountiful 
 harvest to the cultivators of the lands, for the sustenance 
 of their families. When thev found that the animals 
 
188 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 which they had deified did not yield back a return, they 
 commenced by making idols, representing the various 
 passions of man's being — one god of hatred, another 
 of revenge, another of love, and so through the whole 
 category of human passions and feelings. To these 
 they sacrificed, not only animals, but human beings ; not 
 only those animals which were supposed to have no im- 
 mortal souls, but those human victims who had been 
 taken in battle ; and they brought them there, and sac- 
 rificed them at the feet of those motionless idols, whom 
 they no doubt imagined to possess divine power. 
 
 All the elements of earth, air, and water, they invest- 
 ed with divine attributes. Why ? Because, in their 
 primitive condition, they could not overcome the ele- 
 ments. They perceived that the cold penetrated them, 
 that the waves would not be subservient to their will, 
 that the sunshine would not come at their call, that the 
 stars would twinkle in the heavens, notwithstanding 
 that they looked upon them with wonder ; and this 
 thought came to them — that all these things of Nature 
 had some spirit, or god, or fairy, or sylph, who dwelt 
 within them. With this conception, every material 
 thing was deified. While their own being was rough 
 and uncultivated, they sacrificed blood to their gods ; 
 they went to war with other nations because they im- 
 agined that their gods required those sacrifices ; they 
 brought home slaughtered forms, and burned them at 
 the altars of these idols. 
 
 Thus was heathen mythology, step by step, introduced 
 into the Mosaic dispensation, and has been handed down 
 to the present time. Thus were the ancient Philistines 
 and Israelites in the wilderness, at war with each other. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 189 
 
 Thus did they battle, blood with blood, form with form, 
 religion with religion. And they devoured all whose 
 strength was not equal to their own. Why ? Not be- 
 cause Jehovah commanded the sun and the moon to stand 
 still, that they might fight with each other, as it is inter- 
 preted by, many, but because their undeveloped nature 
 caused them to live in the active exercise of their destruc- 
 tive and combative powers. The ancient banner carried 
 by them, had painted upon its surface the figures of the 
 sun and moon, which they deified, and because he who 
 held it gave the signal, by standing still, that they 
 were to fight, Christendom has substituted the sun and 
 moon, in place of the banner, in their belief. The sun 
 and moon did not actually stand still ■; God did not sus- 
 pend the natural laws of his creation. He did not stop 
 the earth in its diurnal motion. But these figures being 
 deified by them, as remnants of their old mythology, 
 did stand still whenever the banner was held as a signal 
 for them to fight ; and when they were victorious, they 
 thought the gods had indeed helped to fight their 
 battles. 
 
 Throughout the Old Testament we constantly find 
 traces of this ancient mythology, and in it the origin 
 of the idea of sacrifice. The God who required Abra- 
 ham to sacrifice his son was the god of mythology ; the 
 God who stayed his hand was the God of Abraham's 
 bosom, the Father of the universe. 
 
 For if it be wrong for man to kill, as Moses has 
 declared, is it not wrong for God to murder his chil- 
 dren ? If it be wrong for men to go to war with each 
 other, that they may sacrifice their brothers taken in 
 battle, is it right for God to demand the sacrifice of one 
 
190 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 of his creatures, that the sins of his children may be 
 expiated ? 
 
 My friends, you must pardon us if we say, that in 
 this nineteenth century, although you profess to be 
 Christians, you are living the Mosaic dispensation ; and 
 worse than that, living the dispensation of heathen 
 nations. You are still acting upon that class of ideas 
 which permitted men to suppose that God could be 
 pleased with the sacrifice of human victims in war. 
 For men do fight with each other, do kill each other, 
 every day, every hour, even now, among all Christian 
 nations ; and even in this enlightened America, in times 
 of war, you employ a chaplain to invoke the aid of God 
 to assist you in human butchery. 
 
 We have seen that this idea of the necessity of sacri- 
 fice for the remission of sin, comes to us through the 
 Mosaic dispensation ; but originated far back of it, and 
 that it has been introduced even into Christian nations. 
 Before we commence upon this text, we would first give 
 you a brief synopsis of the history of the New Testa- 
 ment. Those of you who are educated, who have read 
 the histories of religion, not that which has been writ- 
 ten by parties or sects, or sectarian ministers, but who 
 have read the original, or what is termed profane his- 
 tory, know, very well, that no gospels which record the 
 sayings of Jesus of Nazareth were written by him, or of 
 his twelve apostles, that they were written many years 
 after Jesus of Nazareth and his apostles had passed 
 away. And if you have read very closely profane his- 
 tory, you know that they were written by priests, who 
 had received, through tradition and otherwise, these 
 accounts, and presented them in this form — that in the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 191 
 
 times of Constantine a convention was assembled at 
 Nice, to decide whether the Bible should be the stand- 
 ard of religious worship — that half of that convention 
 were for the adoption of your present Bible, and half 
 against it. The bloody-minded Constantine, he whose 
 hand had dealt so foully with his brother, whose whole 
 life was characterized by deep degradation, cast his vote 
 in favor of Christianity. 
 
 These are not speculations, but historical facts. Nor 
 is this all. It is certain that many parts of the Bible 
 have been lost, and others misinterpreted. Have you 
 any reason to suppose that that which you now have 
 laid before you every sabbath is the whole of the Bible ? 
 Do you know how much of it is literally or truly trans- 
 lated ? You have no reason to believe this, none what- 
 ever. My friends, if we accept the literal translation 
 of the passages of Scripture which are heralded forth 
 by your ministers, from your pulpits every Sunday, we 
 accept a foundation which is very slender, you stand 
 upon a platform which is decaying under you, the pillars 
 of which give way at the slightest breath of truth. 
 
 But we do accept the principles embodied in the life 
 and character of Jesus. We do believe him to have 
 been meek and lowly. We do believe him to have 
 sustained that life throughout his whole lovely career, 
 to have been the Son of God, and, as he said, the Son 
 of man. We do believe him to have been allied to the 
 Infinite Father. We do believe him to have been sacri- 
 ficed upon Calvary, not that our Father might cause 
 himself to be at peace with his children, but because 
 the Jews would not permit him to live. We accept 
 whatever salvation may be attributed to his life ar - 1 
 
192 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 character. We accept the living beauty of his burning 
 eloquence, which, although it can not be rendered liter- 
 ally, as spoken on the mount, is still fraught with 
 divine conceptions of Deity. We accept that meek and 
 lowly spirit which speaks to us saying : " Go, and sin no 
 more," raising up the down-trodden, wiping away the 
 tears of the widow and orphan, expressing the most per- 
 fect type of character and action. We accept Christ's 
 spirit of humility, which, although men consider him to 
 be the perfect God, caused him to say : " our Father and 
 our God ;" and in saying that, he declared that he him- 
 self was not God. Even to the last, when he had risen 
 from the sepulchre, when his divine spirit infused that 
 form which had been lying three days and three nights 
 in the tomb, he did not say : "I am the Infinite God, 
 and these shall be destroyed because they have crucified 
 me," but he says : " Touch me not, I have not yet as- 
 cended to my Father. Go and tell them that I ascend 
 to my God and your God, my Father and your Father," 
 retaining to the last his sonship, his childship, to the 
 divine, eternal Father. We see not the slightest evi- 
 dence, if you take the literal translation of the New 
 Testament, that Christ claimed to be God. There is 
 one passage only which says : " I and my Father are 
 one." But still he says : " My God and your God," 
 " My Father is greater than I," " My Father and your 
 Father," and only means by the former passage, that in 
 soul, in spirit, and in life, he is one with the Father. 
 
 When Paul, in his epistle to his Hebrew brethren, 
 wrote this passage, he was trying to prove, that 
 Christ had been offered up once for all, and that there 
 was no further need of the sacrifice of rams, kids, bul- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 193 
 
 locks, &c, for Jesus had fulfilled the law by the sacri- 
 fice of himself. Paul acknowledges the requirements 
 of the religion in which he was educated, and its cruelty 
 and barbarity, for he says : " almost all things are by 
 the law purged with blood; and without shedding of 
 blood is no remission." He was the only apostle who 
 was educated in all the principles of the Jewish religion, 
 and his sudden conversion did not remove his old preju- 
 dice ; and being made to believe in Jesus, he blended 
 both the Jewish and Christian religion in his doctrines, 
 and by so doing he became the direct channel of en- 
 grafting the idea into the Christian religion, of God 
 requiring blood to appease his own wrath ; and eighteen 
 centuries have not been sufficient to remove it from the 
 doctrines of the church. 
 
 It is evident that Paul, even after his conversion to 
 Christianity, retained his belief in the necessity of the 
 shedding of blood for the remission of sins, and in 
 speaking of Christ, he says : " Neither by the blood of 
 goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in 
 once into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
 demption for us." Hebrews ix. 12. He believed that 
 as the scapegoat was to the Jews, so was Christ to 
 humanity. But you will find that your only scapegoat 
 will be to " cease to do evil and learn to do well." 
 
 We do not believe that any salvation is to be obtained 
 by the shedding of blood, that our Father is so revenge- 
 ful, so malicious, that he requires blood to be shed, that 
 he may make peace between himself and his children. 
 Those who attribute to Jesus of Nazareth the vicarious 
 sacrifice for the redemption of man, do it simply as an 
 excuse for their own ignorance, for that deep element 
 
194 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 of crime which they must wash out in the blood of 
 Jesus, and not in a life of purity and perfectness, after 
 the example set by him. No, my friends, though.it 
 may be shocking to you to hear the authority of the 
 Bible questioned, we can not believe that Jesus of 
 Nazareth _was ever sacrificed to appease the wrath of 
 the Infinite God, for God was never angry or revenge- 
 ful ; if he is infinite in love he can not be infinite in 
 hatred ; if he be a God of mercy he could not send into 
 the world his only begotten Son, and then murder him, 
 in effect, upon the cross. What! Our Father, the 
 Jehovah of the Universe, the Infinite God, sacrifice his 
 Son to appease his own wrath and vengeance — it is a 
 reproach on the character of Deity, and a libel on com- 
 mon sense. 
 
 If he literally did this, if the orthodox views are cor- 
 rect, that Jesus of Nazareth is the means through the 
 shedding of his blood ; that unless that blood had been 
 shed humanity could not be saved ; that God, the Infinite 
 Father of love, caused his Son to come into the world 
 for a sacrifice, then their God is worse than the being 
 who, they say, dwells in the bottomless pit. We do 
 not believe that he would do it. Therefore, with our 
 conceptions of the character of Jesus, we would deny 
 his sanctioning the doctrine of God requiring the 
 shedding of blood for the remission of sins. If so, 
 when one man murders another in the streets, your laws 
 of justice are not perfect, for without the shedding of 
 blood no man can be saved. What God sanctions are 
 principles which are inherent in the nature of things ; 
 therefore, if killing be right, it is a universal principle, 
 and would involve the idea that all men must go to 
 
RELIGIOUS. 195 
 
 destroying each other. If so, the heathen, whom you 
 professs to despise, "when he sacrifices a man upon the 
 altars of his gods, is more righteous than you ; and when 
 nation goes to war with nation, they are carrying out 
 the principles of Christianity in a wholesale manner. 
 You do not believe it, though you profess to believe 
 that a religious slaughter was committed by God, upon 
 Mount Calvary, when Jesus was crucified. Shame should 
 crimson the cheek of all those who profess to believe in 
 a God of love and mercy, and then attribute such an 
 action to him ! Shame upon America, which tries to 
 establish anything better than a monarchical government, 
 for u without the shedding of blood is no remission !" 
 We do not believe it, we can not believe it. 
 
 Paul was mistaken in regard to the requirements of 
 the Christian religion, for, like you, he was unable to 
 remove his old errors, though newer light had burst 
 upon him. The Egyptian mythology was engrafted into 
 his soul so strongly that it required more than the 
 period of his earth-life to remove its influence. We 
 say, that to our mind, he was mistaken. 
 
 It may seem too much, before an orthodox commu- 
 nity, to state this. But we have a right to our own 
 opinions, and the freedom of expression ; if we inter- 
 fere with any of yours, or if we cause one shudder 
 of horror to pass through your frames, we do not do 
 it intentionally. Ours is the privilege to speak our 
 own highest ideas of truth ; and if they do not accord 
 with yours, lay them aside until you can receive 
 them. 
 
 Before entering further into detail on this subject, 
 we will give you our opinion of the meaning of the 
 
196 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 word Jehovah in contradistinction to that of Lord and 
 God. 
 
 In the Old and New Testaments, the words " Lord," 
 and " God," embodied no idea of an infinite being. 
 For instance, when it is said that the spirit of the Lord 
 descended upon them, or the spirit of the Lord spoke 
 unto them, or said so and so unto Moses, or Elijah, the 
 word " Lord," when translated from the original lan- 
 guage, does not mean an Infinite God, but simply one 
 who has power, who is supposed to be a ruler. Thus, 
 many times, in the Bible, the words, " My Lord and my 
 God," are used as applied to kings and governmental 
 officers ; but as they are translated in your Bible, they 
 are represented to mean the Infinite God. 
 
 The word " God," also, which, in the original, means 
 simply a perfect and divine principle, or some superior 
 agency, not the Infinite, or Eternal One, is taken 
 from the heathen mythology, and means simply some- 
 thing that controls. Thus, in the whole of the Old 
 Testament, there are but one or two passages where the 
 word Jehovah is used. We recognise the idea that 
 many who were supposed to be inspired from Jehovah, 
 were but inspired from these lords and these gods, who, 
 we are told, are many, but Jehovah is the greatest of 
 all. 
 
 It may be that you are not acquainted with the literal 
 translation of the word Jehovah. It is taken from 
 three Hebrew words, meaning simply the Past, Present, 
 and Future — Je, the Future ; ho, the Present ; vah, the 
 Past. This is our idea of an infinite God — this Jeho- 
 vah, who fills all time and space, the greatest of all, as 
 recorded in your Scriptures. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 197 
 
 We believe that modern Christians, -who stand in 
 their gilded altars or sit in their cushioned pews, and 
 pray within their frescoed walls, do not know that, in 
 reality, their prayers are offered to these lords many, 
 and gods many, and not to the Infinite Jehovah, who is 
 greatest of all ; that when they pray for the souls of 
 their people, they pray only for the souls of those 
 who sit within the same sanctuary. We believe that 
 they pray to the god of mammon, more than to the 
 God of the Universe. This may seem sacrilegious to 
 you. But look into many of your Christian churches, 
 where the name of Jesus is uttered by those whose 
 hearts are given wholly up to pride, and luxury, and 
 selfishness, and see if there is there any conception of 
 the Infinite Jehovah, or of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 They picture upon the broad canvass before them, 
 Christ upon Mount Calvary, as something which, to 
 their mind, is a perfect ideal ; but they have no concep- 
 tions of him who was the friend of the poor, the raiser- 
 up of the down-trodden ; of him who entered Jerusalem 
 surrounded by the lowly and humble ; and went away 
 from it bearing the cross upon his shoulders ; of him who 
 was spit upon and reviled, and who, upon Mount Calvary, 
 could look down from the cross, and say : " Father, 
 forgive them, for they know not what they do." They 
 have no conceptions of the life of that Christ whom 
 they profess to adore. They only know that the cruci- 
 fixion, the vicarious atonement, is something to which 
 they have signed their names in the creed of the church, 
 and if it only saves them from a hell it is enough, not 
 that they have so much love for good, as a dread of the 
 consequences of evil. 
 
198 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Is not this true ? If you are Christian worshippers, 
 and have knelt before the altar of a Christian church 
 this day, and there partaken of the bread and wine, 
 as the type of the flesh and blood of him who died 
 on Mount Calvary, have you ever thought of his life, 
 have you ever sat down, and reading your testa- 
 ment, reflected that he was the meek and the lowly, 
 despised and down-trodden ; that if he should come to- 
 day, in the streets of your city, and proclaim himself to 
 be Jesus of Nazareth, you would close the doors of 
 your Christian churches against him ; that ministers who 
 praise his name, and pray to him for salvation, would 
 treat him with contempt, and send him to the lunatic 
 asylum ? Have you ever thought of this ? If you 
 have not, ask yourselves if it is not true. You would, 
 with the ancient Jews, had you the power, say : " Cru- 
 cify him ! crucify him !" They treated him as a com- 
 mon thief — you would treat him as a common nuisance, 
 and send him to the penitentiary, or the insane asylum. 
 
 We ask you if there has ever been one religion, or 
 one theory, or one profession of a theory, which has 
 caused so much crime and bloodshed as what you call 
 Christianity in the present age, and which is founded 
 on the belief of the necessity of shedding blood. We 
 do not mean that which was taught by Jesus of Naza- 
 reth, but that which is preached by your modern theo- 
 logians. Look at your missionaries, those who go forth 
 to heathen lands, to preach Christianity to those who 
 never had an idea of wrong or of revenge. Look at 
 those who go to the Sandwich Islands, where a theft, a 
 murder, a penitentiary, or an almshouse, never existed, 
 before your missionaries went there, to tell them about 
 
KELIGIOUS. 199 
 
 God, about Jesus of Nazareth, and about salvation. 
 The Sandwich-Islanders did not know what it was to 
 steal or murder. We know, of course, that the wars 
 between different tribes were in existence, but not the 
 common murders of your Christian, civilized countries. 
 They never before knew that they must lock their doors, 
 and bar their houses, when they went to sleep. Chris- 
 tianity, or those who profess to teach it, taught them 
 this. It is the same idea, the same ignorance, the same 
 depravity, that persecuted Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 But we believe in that divine perfection and harmony 
 that characterized the career of Jesus. We believe 
 him to have existed. We believe the traditions now in 
 vogue, with regard to him, not to be unfounded. They 
 have their foundation in deep and lasting truth. And 
 though Christian theories may fade^ away, though they 
 may now misrepresent his character and life, still his 
 moral sayings, in our view, will stand for ever, as the 
 expressions of divine and everlasting truths. 
 
 In proportion as you educate your children, in pro- 
 portion as you cultivate the physical department of your 
 being, as you teach your children to cultivate their 
 physical forms, in that proportion disease and wretch- 
 edness will fade away. It was once thought a crime to 
 endeavor to discover any remedies for physical disease, 
 as it was considered a dispensation of God upon the 
 diseased person, for some crime which he had committed. 
 It was once thought a sin to teach your children to 
 physically perfect themselves, to study medicine, or 
 astronomy ; it was once sacrilegious to study geology, 
 or chemistry. It is now considered a sin to study 
 the laws of the spirit, and our true relations to Deity. 
 
200 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 It must be so no longer. Our God is not afraid that man 
 will ever reach him. It is not a sin to study the deepest 
 elements of your nature, to study the character of the 
 Divine Being, in whatever form. You may study these 
 things, and investigate critically everything which will 
 afford you information on these points. It is not a sin to 
 ask if God is not just. Is he less the All-good and All- 
 just God to-day, than when he first conceived the idea of 
 creating man in his image ? — less that God than when 
 the morning stars sang together ? No ! He is the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. If men change, 
 it is not that God has changed, but only that they be- 
 come more like him in thought and feeling. Eigh- 
 teen hundred years from now, it will be considered a 
 sin to attribute to God the shedding of blood for the 
 expiation of men's sins. It will be considered a sin for 
 man not to investigate the deepest and holiest elements 
 of his being. All men and all women may, and one 
 day will be enlightened and made pure and holy, by 
 the power of that divine truth which comes from the 
 Infinite Father. For he sends his oracles to each and 
 every nation, and they speak the inmost perfectness of 
 his heart, and he proclaims divinely : " I have never 
 made a soul I can not save — never made a world I will 
 not own — never made a living, thinking being, that I 
 will not fold in my arms and call my child." 
 
 In proportion as men and women become educated, 
 morally, intellectually, and physically, in that propor- 
 tion jailhouses, penitentiaries, prisons, locks and bars, 
 battles, and atonements with blood, will cease ; in 
 that proportion your God of to-day, the God of war, 
 will be changed to a God of love and mercy. He 
 
RELIGIOUS. 201 
 
 whom you call the God of heaven, but who is, judging 
 by your actions, a God of warfare and strife, will be 
 changed to a God whom man can love and worship as a 
 being of Infinite Goodness. In that proportion, crime, 
 ignorance, and depravity, shall pass away. In that pro- 
 portion will the blood of Jesus of Nazareth cease to be 
 regarded as essential to the salvation of man. In that 
 proportion, men will cease to look to his vicarious 
 atonement, and seek salvation in following his life and 
 example, and in practising his divine precepts. 
 
 With these words we must close our lecture, hoping 
 that you will consider what we have said in the true 
 light of its meaning, not in that of any misrepresenta- 
 tion. Remember that we do believe in divine inspira- 
 tion ; and in the Bible, as adapted to the nations whence 
 it came. We do believe that Jesus of Nazareth, is 
 adapted to every age and nation, to every clime and 
 every race. The Christ-spirit which is to come into the 
 world shall be the embodiment of divine thoughts, which 
 shall hover around every hearthstone, and breathe its 
 holy influence over all mankind. 
 
 And to Thee, Infinite Jehovah, shall be rendered all 
 thanks, all praises, for these high conceptions of thee, 
 and may every soul here to-night feel that thou art as 
 near to them as the pulsations of their own being. And 
 thus may we for ever address thee as our God and our 
 Father. 
 
 9* 
 
DISCOUKSE XII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN MUSIC HALL, BOSTON, DECEMBER 6, 1857. 
 
 THE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! thou who art for ever the God 
 and the Father ! we bless thee to-day, not because in 
 many temples dedicated to thy worship we have been 
 told that thou art great and infinite ; not because in all 
 religion, in all sciences, in all arts, thou art proclaimed 
 the Infinite Jehovah ; but because our souls overflow 
 with gratitude — because there is welling up from within 
 our being something that proclaims we are allied to thee 
 — because our souls worship and adore thee as our 
 Father and our God. 
 
 Spirit of the Universe ! thy hand hath created 
 chords of melody trembling along the lyre-strings of our 
 being, which can never be hushed. And as thy right 
 hand has touched all space and called into being the 
 worlds and universes vibrating in harmony with thy 
 voice, so in the spaces of our souls thou hast wakened 
 cadences of beauty which arise like the undying fra- 
 grance of flowers. 
 
 Our Father, we bless thee to-day for the gifts which 
 thou hast visited upon thy children. We would bless 
 thee for the living Universe in which they breathe and 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 203 
 
 move. We would bless thee that in all worlds there 
 are beings dedicated to thy highest praise — the human 
 soul. And we would bless thee that the soul of man, 
 mounting above all material things, can stand upon 
 the pinnacles of Eternity, and proclaim that he is thy 
 child ; that every day and every hour the human soul 
 sees more of thy beauty, and, mounting aloft, can scan 
 the Universe, and see that thou art God. Our Father, 
 may we feel that thou art with us to-day ! We would not 
 worship thee afar off, and in the Universe seek thee, not 
 in any lofty temple, but in the silent avenues of the 
 soul, where thy voice, and thy power, and thy mind, 
 proclaim that thou art Infinite. 
 
 Our Father, may the tears of those who mourn, and 
 the sighs of those who are in affliction, and the smiles 
 of those who rejoice, be acceptable to thee as our God ! 
 And may we bless thee through all blessings, and adore 
 thee through all adorations, that have been dedicated 
 to thy name. And to thee, our Father, shall be all the 
 praise, all songs of joy ; to thee shall arise every an- 
 them of thanksgiving from hearts overflowing with love ; 
 to thee shall be dedicated every tear-drop that rolls 
 down the cheek, every sigh that vibrates through the 
 harp-strings of the human soul; nay, all that is, and 
 shall be, and ever was, is thine, for ever and for ever ! 
 
204 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 Our theme is a perfect one — The Love of the Beau- 
 tiful. How we may illustrate it, how perfectly our 
 thoughts and feelings may harmonize with the beauty 
 of the theme, remains for you to judge. "We can not 
 hope to please every mind present, with everything that 
 we may utter ; but if one thought contains aught that is 
 beautiful, aught that flows to the mind or heart of those 
 present, we are satisfied. Ours is to give the highest 
 inspiration of the subject which we may, and ours is to 
 present, in the truest form, thoughts which well up from 
 our inmost being. If they find a^ response in yours, like 
 the perfume of these flowers,* they shall arise together 
 to the infinite and eternal God. 
 
 We shall divide our subject into three parts, knowing 
 that man's mind has, distinctly and positively, three 
 separate departments, which act and react upon each 
 other. One is the physical or natural plane, another 
 the intellectual or conceptional plane, the third the 
 spiritual or divine plane, which comprehends all the 
 perfection of manhood. 
 
 The natural plane, the love of the beautiful, is em- 
 bodied in the primitive history of every people. Even 
 in the child, the natural love of the beautiful is predomi- 
 nant. Nations illustrate it, in their infancy, by their 
 love of gaudy colors, and by endeavoring to imitate 
 that Nature which they have but feebly learned to 
 adore. The Indian savage of your own country, when 
 he colors his cheeks with the red and black hues of 
 
 * A vase of flowers was standing before her. 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 205 
 
 the war-paint, shows that he has the idea of the beauti- 
 ful. He strives to represent that which he is, in an 
 external form. Not seeing truly his relation to God 
 and Nature, he desires to represent his own character 
 and wishes, by the colors which most accord with his 
 ideas of war and bloodshed. So in the Egyptian, Gre- 
 cian, and Roman nations, the gods and goddesses were 
 perfect representatives of their ideas of the beautiful. 
 Everything which appeals most strongly to the senses is 
 the first for the man, alike with the child, to consider. 
 Consequently, in your system of education, you desire 
 to illustrate to your children that which you would have 
 them learn, with figures most fitted to their age and de- 
 velopment. Thus it is that startling figures, imaginary 
 forms, brilliant colors, all convey to the mind of the 
 child an idea which the simple statement of the fact 
 could never give. 
 
 The natural love of the beautiful, then, is that which 
 represents forms and colors, upon a strictly external 
 plane — that which pleases the physical organization. 
 This is why the ancients had a religion absolutely ma- 
 terial, simply because their thoughts and feelings were 
 not sufficiently above the material world to avoid their 
 demonstration in a material form. They consecrated 
 to the material that which belonged to the soul, and 
 thus made religion not a spiritual but a material thing. 
 This has been handed down to our own days. The 
 gods and goddesses that lived upon Mount Olympus 
 were no other than the conceptions of those thoughts 
 and feelings which render beauty, art, and perfectness, 
 creations of the mind. The classic remains of Greece 
 and of Home, the beautiful poetry of Italia, all rep- 
 
206 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 resent the divine conceptions of beauty in the human 
 soul. 
 
 When we can trace nations back to their primitive 
 organization, we find that the idea of beauty is but to 
 represent man as he is. Hence we may illustrate our 
 subject by taking a child from your midst. There, in 
 the earliest stage of development, however much every 
 physical system may vary from the other, the concep- 
 tions of beauty are substantially the same in every case. 
 The mother is always beautiful to the child. It looks 
 to the mother for protection, for sustenance. Why 
 should she not be beautiful ? Everything which assists 
 in the unfoldment of the physical form is at once seen 
 by the child as beautiful and desirable. If you desire 
 to educate it upon a particular plan, you have only to 
 present that education in a form pleasing to the sight, 
 the eye, and the ear of the child, and it will seize with 
 avidity upon the sight or sound which harmonizes with 
 its tastes. Thus the physical love of the beautiful, that 
 which corresponds to man's physical nature, is the first 
 to be developed. 
 
 But as the child expands, the mother's form fades 
 away. He admires the flower — the flower is gone! 
 Thus men are taught, in the earliest stages of develop- 
 ment, that beauty is fleeting ; that though the physical 
 form may be redolent with vigor and symmetry, it fades 
 away ; that though its hues vie with those of the rain- 
 bow, the flower dies. The child mourns that the flower 
 is departed, not thinking it is essential that it should 
 depart, that another may come in the spring-time. The 
 sight, the hearing, the taste, the physical senses, pass 
 away. The criterion by which the child judges of the 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 207 
 
 beautiful, the true, the pure, and the good, all those 
 childish instincts and intuitions, leads it into a more 
 full conception of natural beauty than does the standard 
 held by many nations. 
 
 When nations first develop their ideas of the beauti- 
 ful, these ideas are exclusively governed by the physical 
 senses. Everything which pleases man's physical and 
 external senses seems to be filled with divinity and 
 power. Why ? Because man's divinity does not yet 
 overcome materiality ; because the powers of mind do 
 not yet overcome the powers of matter. Consequently, 
 materialism was at first embodied in religion, because 
 the soul could not stand alone, and proclaim that it felt, 
 and saw, and realized a God outside of this Universe. 
 It takes a strong mind and a strong soul to comprehend 
 religion aside from its external symbols. It takes a 
 man of strong and deep understanding to comprehend 
 that there is a God aside from the beautiful and perfect 
 things which he has made and by which he is surround- 
 ed. It takes a deep love, a heart overflowing with 
 mighty conceptions, to worship at the shrine of Deity, 
 without picturing there any great, divine, perfect act, 
 for which they must return their gratitude. Thus, in 
 the earlier ages of man's development, beauty being the 
 first thing that attracted his mind, and the attention 
 being fixed upon external objects, it is difficult to loosen 
 it from this world's anchorings, where it has fastened 
 its bark, and where it must linger, until thought and 
 feeling, like the mountain-waves of the ocean, shall tear 
 it away, and bear it to a brighter shore. 
 
 The child, after it sees the flower fade away, and its 
 mother's form laid in the tomb ; after its toys, once 
 
208 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 beautiful, have been thrown aside, craves something 
 more substantial. After the picture-alphabet, which 
 has been its study for years, has ceased to be interest- 
 ing ; when it desires to know more of the language, and 
 more of the thoughts embodied in its expressions ; after 
 this, the child enters at once upon the intellectual 
 plane of its being. How trivial and trifling seem all 
 the enjoyments of its youth ! How stale those waxen 
 toys which once it was so happy to play with ! How 
 worthless appear those gaudy colors which attracted the 
 eye, those sounds which struck the ear ! The child has 
 grown up to manhood, and it is entering upon a stage 
 where intellectual beauty is supreme. 
 
 Here we must pause, and refer again to the earlier 
 history of nations. Men have not yet outgrown their 
 swaddling-clothes. Nations are still clinging to the 
 toys which attracted them in youth — to those bau- 
 bles which, when children, they played with — and pro- 
 nounce them good, because they used them in their 
 childhood. In religion, in science, in art, men still 
 cling to the alphabet-picture, to the book of their ear- 
 lier days — still cling to the flower, as though it could 
 never fade. 
 
 We shall, therefore, speak to you as in your infancy. 
 For you, as a nation, you as the individuals, are still 
 worshipping physical forms of beauty, without any con- 
 ception of their object and use. We would ask you 
 here, as intelligent beings, as divine beings, where is 
 your manhood, where is your middle age, that you 
 should thus linger around the cradle of your infancy, 
 and play like children with the toys that once pleased 
 you ? Men and women, it is the physical form of beauty 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 209 
 
 which you so much admire, the form of your brother, 
 your sister, or your friend — why are they beautiful to 
 you? Have you ever asked yourselves the question 
 why your mother was beautiful ? Is it because she was 
 a perfect type of beauty ? No. It was because your 
 affections clung around her ; it was the good she did 
 you ; because she protected and supported you. Your 
 mother, your father, your wife, your friend, is always 
 beautiful. Why ? Because the thought which they give 
 you is beautiful ; the expression of that thought is beau- 
 tiful ; its cultivation is beautiful ; and one beauty thus 
 piled upon another creates in your mind a perfect sym- 
 metry of form. And you say, " This, my mother ;" this 
 beautiful thought, this beautiful music, these forms of 
 love, these expressions of divine ideas — these you call 
 your mother. While the physical form is fading away, 
 still we think it beautiful, because it is the channel 
 through which the beauty of the soul is conveyed to us. 
 You are an infant, and you cling to her lap, and take 
 hold of her hand, and ask her to lead you. 
 
 This is your idea of beauty : and yet, when the physi- 
 cal form fades away ; when the cold, damp clod is laid 
 upon her coffin ; when the new-made grave blossoms and 
 yields its fruits, and you say your mother is departed — 
 was it her form which was so beautiful ? Has she not 
 left behind her all that was beautiful ? Was it not the 
 love she bestowed, the thought, the feeling she imparted, 
 the manhood she gave you, that made her beautiful ? 
 So the child, playing amid the flowers of the spring- 
 time, sees them fade, and says the flowers are gone, for- 
 getting that their fragrance and beauty will return 
 when the spring-time comes again. 
 
210 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 We pass to another division of our subject. That 
 which is material fades before the senses. You gratify 
 your senses with physical beauty — decay and death 
 come. You place your affection on a flower or a tree, 
 and it fades away. You pet a lamb or a bird — they 
 die. All things material thus perish before you. Beau- 
 ty is fleeting. Therefore, you have been taught not to 
 fix your affection upon external forms of beauty, for 
 they will fade and die away, leaving nothing but dark- 
 ness and cold, sepulchral vaults, where there is no 
 sound — naught but the silence of death! 
 
 The only beauty recognised in the second department 
 of man's being is the conception of beauty as personified 
 in forms. Under this head we shall include poetry, 
 music, all the sciences which man has yet comprehended. 
 Thus, what is poetry ? It is but an expression of the 
 thoughts of the poet, and the feelings which are embod- 
 ied in the man's mind. It is but a personification of 
 that form of beauty which you have worshipped, and 
 which may have died, but the love of which still rules 
 in your own being. What is music ? It is the soul of 
 poesy. It is the harmony whence you take your lines 
 and measures. It is the wealth of deep mines, whence 
 you coin your words of perfectness and peace, and 
 proclaim them beautiful. There is a conception of De- 
 ity, a perfect imagery, which you call Power. It is the 
 Eternal Father, and Nature is but his visible manifesta- 
 tion. The painter who represents beauty represents 
 but the alphabet of the language. He gives you but a 
 part, of which Nature is the whole. Nay, he gives you 
 but the first letter of the alphabet ; he leaves you to 
 work it out. He then goes on, still deeper, into the 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 211 
 
 language of Nature, and pictures all that he can inter- 
 pret. He desires not to equal or exceed Nature ; he 
 can only commune with Nature. He can only receive 
 her blessings, and give them to you. For what is paint- 
 ing ? When upon the canvass there is a form, an ex- 
 pression, which stares you in the face, and goes down 
 deep into the soul, you call it perfect. It is not like 
 Nature ; there is no life there. But the painter gives 
 it to you, and it is his conception of Nature, and from 
 it you must study Nature's alphabet. 
 
 What does the sculptor achieve ? He does not ex- 
 ceed Nature. All the gods and goddesses were not in- 
 tended to exceed in beauty, human forms of perfectness 
 and symmetry ; they are only stepping-stones, whereby 
 man's mind may go up to Nature and Nature's God. 
 The poet is not above Nature when he traces on the 
 burning page the thoughts which seem to blend with 
 eternity. The sculptor is not above Nature when he 
 carves a form that lacks nothing but life. Nay, when 
 the painter pictures upon canvass the scenes of Nature, 
 he never imagines that he has exceeded the reality ; he 
 only thinks that some one may gaze upon it as he has, 
 and see life and beauty in it. 
 
 Men never think to admire, to adore, to cultivate 
 their tastes and capacities, unless some one thus stimu- 
 late them to it. There is a natural inclination to rely 
 upon your mother, upon some one to induct you into 
 the alphabet of an art or science. But art embodies 
 the alphabet of Nature only, while you are to study your 
 own deep thought. How have nations slighted and per- 
 verted intellectual beauty ! How have they worshipped 
 forms of beauty entirely unlike Nature ! Yet this they 
 
212 DISCOURSES BY MRS; HATCH. 
 
 call intellectual beauty ; and sciences, and arts, and re- 
 ligions, have dedicated each to their peculiar shrines, 
 forms, and images, so different from Nature, that were 
 the painter to study them as models of perfection, he 
 could produce naught but deformity. Man's intellect 
 has run away with his heart, and, many times, his heart 
 with his intellect, until natural and intellectual beauty 
 have been separated by deep gulfs of inharmony and 
 strife, which must be spanned by the mind's really con- 
 ceiving true beauty. 
 
 Men have placed the standard of intellectual far 
 above that of natural beauty, from the belief that man's 
 mind is above Nature. We place intellectual beauty 
 far below natural beauty, because we conceive that man's 
 mind must traverse through Nature up to Nature's God. 
 These are but stepping-stones, where the soul can go 
 out from its deep vista, and proclaim that these are the 
 forms which represent the beauty of a thought that must 
 burn and live for ever. What does the poet? He 
 leaves a poem which is no more in his life than the 
 track of the eagle upon the air through which he has 
 soared. The poet writes the beauty which he thinks, 
 because he must ; he leaves the poem behind, because 
 he can take no more than his thoughts with him. What 
 does the sculptor ? He does not study for a lifetime 
 that he may leave behind him only a marble image, the 
 effigy of his own mind ; but he leaves thought behind, 
 as the man who goes upon the seashore leaves a mark 
 to show that he has been there, but which the next 
 wave will sweep away. He cares not. It is only for 
 the thought, the power, the feeling, which the act of 
 chiselling the form gives to him. If you view the image 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 213 
 
 he has made, and see through the beauty and life which 
 characterized him in that labor, you too are a sculptor. 
 If you can gaze upon a painted canvass, and as you 
 gaze it seems to speak to you from the eyes, and the 
 pearly tear-drops start, you too are a painter, and have 
 a painter's soul. 
 
 Men who tread the dull round of business-life — who 
 day after day and year after year run, for ever and for 
 ever, in the search after gain, know naught of intellect- 
 ual beauty, naught of natural or of spiritual beauty. It 
 is the counting-room and the coffeehouse, the coffeehouse 
 and the counting-room, day by day, and year by year. 
 You pass by the picture beaming in the shop-window ; 
 you pass by the marble halls, and all that contains beauty 
 
 — the upturned face and tearful eye which would be a 
 study for any artist — saying, " My business demands 
 my attention." If America would from this time devote 
 one day in every month or every week to the enjoyment 
 of beauty, intellectual and artistic, it would be a better 
 and truer nation. If men, who make up nations, would 
 devote one day in the week to the examination of physi- 
 cal and intellectual beauty, they would be better and 
 truer. If every thought and feeling of your minds were 
 not dedicated to one purpose, the acquirement of wealth 
 
 — if there was any other, any higher motive in one of 
 your political characters than party spirit and his own 
 aggrandizement — if there was one particle of divine 
 liberty beaming forth — then into the lap of America 
 would be poured the wealth of other nations, not trod- 
 den down or wronged by your own country, but contrib- 
 uting in the very course of Nature to her prosperity. 
 
 The types of intellectual beauty represented in the 
 
214 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 heathen mythologies are a keystone in the archway of 
 man's development. Those mythological teachings have 
 more sway at the present age than even that Christiani- 
 ty which embodies one God, the divine Jehovah. Men 
 require something which appeals to themselves, to the 
 natural mind and the feelings, which calls forth the 
 deep emotions of the soul, that they may worship and 
 adore. Thus, the gods and goddesses of heathen lands 
 have held sway ; in their cold and icy hands the sceptre 
 of eternal day seemed placed, because men embodied in 
 them the thoughts and passions of their own souls. 
 
 This mythology to-day composes the greater part of 
 Christian worship. From Homer, from Milton, and from 
 Pope, you personify the gods and goddesses of old, and 
 introduce them into your religion, and along with them 
 the elements of strife, of degradation, of eternal evil. In 
 following your own conception of the beautiful, you would 
 never have thought of admiring the devil had not Mil- 
 ton so personified him, in " Paradise Lost," that he 
 assumes to you a grandeur and a beauty which cause 
 you instinctively to admire him. Men would never have 
 thought of forming grand conceptions of a place of eter- 
 nal damnation had not Milton, with his deep imagina- 
 tion, pictured it in the poem which he left upon earth 
 as the image of his own soul — how long it will remain, 
 eternity must determine. It is the deep, the tearful, the 
 emotional, which control nations, and bear sway in all 
 great political and religious organizations. Men have 
 had images of thought and beauty presented to them, in 
 every nation, which have consecrated their own evil 
 actions, and made murder itself seem inviting and holy. 
 But there is an intellectual standard of beauty which 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 215 
 
 goes far beyond the deepest attainments of men in sci- 
 ence and art, beyond that which the painter and sculp- 
 tor can imagine. It is this element of beauty which 
 throbs and pulsates in the hearts of men, a music like 
 the cadences of some far-off realm. It decrees that man 
 must admire what he is ; that each exhibition of beauty 
 must be an illustration of the thought and feeling of the 
 mind. Thus, you consider beautiful that which your 
 brother would despise, because your mind is differently 
 constituted ; because in you there is a feeling different 
 from his — and the thoughts and feelings of men are 
 unlike as any two objects in Xature. There is a deep 
 and grand significance in this. You call one object in 
 Xature beautiful, and your brother gives his admiration 
 to another, because one mind can not perceive all the 
 beauty in the works of God, at all times. All thoughts 
 united make up the grand harmony of which Xature is 
 the type. Your thoughts and feelings are but the emo- 
 tions of that soul which throbs in your own being : and 
 that life which God hath given you, and that soul, is 
 but a part of that of which Xature is the whole. You 
 admire beauty in the external, but the beauty must be 
 in your own soul, in your own thought and feeling. 
 
 Is there any beauty in the flower, or is the beauty in 
 the thought that flower conveys to you ? There are in 
 it only colors produced by the rays of the sun; the 
 chemist can tell you the exact process — it is nothing 
 very poetic. \Yhat does the flower embody ? A thought, 
 a feeling, an image of the soul. That, too, buds and 
 blossoms in the spring-time, in its youth ; it puts forth 
 its flowers, gaudy as those of Xature. In manhood, its 
 fullest development, you would admire it, and si.iv, 
 
216 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 " How beautiful !" But as the flower fades, you mourn, 
 as does the child, forgetting that the mind, like the 
 flower, must lose its external form, that it may blossom 
 again in the spring-time. The child knows not that the 
 flower will bloom once more : the man knows not that 
 his soul will bloom again. Both are in their infancy ; 
 neither have attained to the manhood of their natures. 
 But how beautiful are flowers to those who, when they 
 lose a friend, go to plant a rose on the grave, a type of 
 immortality, or a white lily, shedding their tears as the 
 evening sheds its dew, saying — "Alas! my friend is 
 gone ; but, like this flower, he will bloom again in that 
 eternity which lasteth for evermore !" 
 
 Is there not a deep delight, when you gaze down into 
 the heart of a rose, and see there the life and beauty 
 of the flower, and inhale its fragrance ? You say, " It 
 is beautiful." What, the rose ? No ; the thought is 
 beautiful, and that is what makes the rose beautiful. 
 Have you ever thought, as you looked upon a picture 
 of mountain-peaks, or ocean-waves, or the pearly cav- 
 erns there, that they are all composed of simple ele- 
 ments, combined together, as a chemist would say, and 
 piled up by earthquakes and convulsions — that they 
 are but aggregates of rocks, and soil, and trees ? Have 
 you ever thought that the beauty of the mountain arose 
 only from the aspirings of your own soul, which seems 
 to compare itself with the mountain, and to say, " I am 
 the greater !" God, the Father, answers from the deep 
 of your soul unto the deep of that mountain, and it says, 
 "I am the greater — I am the greater!" Have you 
 ever thought that the ocean-wave is not beautiful in 
 itself? The merchant will tell you that he sees no 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 217 
 
 beauty, save as it subserves the purposes of commerce. 
 The man of business sees no purpose in it save as it sub- 
 serves the end of conveying messages from nation to 
 nation. The politician sees no beauty in it except as it 
 conveys to him notice of his success in his own country. 
 And yet, as you stand upon the seashore, and hear the 
 murmur of the waves, you seem to compare them to the 
 billows of Humanity which wash for ever against the 
 shores of Eternity with their deep and solemn cadence. 
 Oh, the soul is much like the ocean ! the ocean is much 
 like the soul ! Is it not the thought that makes it beau- 
 tiful ? 
 
 Men of science who are strictly material in all their 
 examinations, are never poetic, from the fact that they 
 separate Nature from the poet, science from poetry — 
 separate all things from the beautiful — and say nothing 
 is beautiful which is not useful. Consequently, in a 
 mathematical problem, as in a question in relation to 
 the distance from the sun, they worship the forms, but 
 forget the God who makes these forms. They worship 
 the chemical properties which they discover in the form, 
 but forget the deep principle of life and beauty which 
 lives there. They worship the Universe, but forget 
 that God made it. 
 
 But there is another form of intellectual worship, em- 
 bodied in the physical types of religion. Men worship 
 what they assume to be God, in the images of the church. 
 All their various religions forget that God whom they 
 profess to adore. They worship the idea, and forget 
 the reality ; worship the form, and forget the principles 
 which it embodies. This is as deeply material as that 
 type of materialism embodied in atheism. It is as much 
 
 10 
 
218 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 atheism as that of the materialist who denies the exist- 
 ence of God. On the one hand, it professes to believe 
 the being of a spiritual God ; on the other, it makes him 
 purely material. 
 
 Man's conceptions of intellectual beauty must pre- 
 dominate before he can properly connect together the 
 ideas of the material and spiritual. The only standard 
 of beauty is the chain which binds Nature to God. 
 Man's mind is that chain : God has no other religion 
 than that which is embodied in the human mind, by 
 means of which he works upon the Universe. There is 
 life, and beauty, and perfectness there. You body forth 
 the thoughts of the Infinite, when you worship and adore 
 the Nature he has made. 
 
 It is well for every person to see a beautiful painting, 
 to examine a perfect piece of sculpture, to read a lovely 
 poem, every day of their life. It seems to carry you 
 away from that which is gross and material. It seems 
 to make you one with the being who wrote, with him 
 who painted, with the one who chiselled the sculptured 
 form. It gives you his thoughts and feelings, and makes 
 stronger the chain which binds you to him. And it is 
 still better for every man and woman, when they can 
 see some feature of beauty in the human mind and form. 
 Men pass each other coldly by, in the street, with a 
 bow, forgetting that they each have a human soul ; that 
 they are allied together by the closest chains of sym- 
 pathy ; that there are deep, deep thoughts in the soul 
 of each one, unfathomable. Oh, how beautiful the 
 exchange of a pure sympathy, one of a truly intel- 
 lectual thought, every day ! Do you do this ? You 
 meet your brother on the street, and say: "It is 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 219 
 
 pleasant" — " It is cold weather" — " Business is dull," 
 while; perhaps, deep within the soul there is an aching 
 void, which longs for sympathy. It may be his heart is 
 wrung with throbbings deeper and madder than the 
 ocean billows. It may be if you had spoken to him 
 kindly, with one spark of sympathy beaming from what 
 you said, his soul would have mounted again into hope 
 and joy ; otherwise, he passes into the cold vortex of 
 human life, and year by year, and day by day, the spark 
 of life goes out, and he is no longer a man. Women 
 who meet and discuss the fashions of the day, and 
 gossip about the bad qualities of their neighbors, sad- 
 den many hearts, whereas, if they would exchange a 
 single kind word, if one really intellectual thought were 
 uttered in all that they said, it would be far better. 
 
 "We pass on to spieitual beauty. And, as we have 
 already given you a clue to our ideas, we will only say 
 that, the real or spiritual beauty, is the true, and per- 
 fect, and divine degree of all other beauties in the 
 universe. Without this there would be no beauty in 
 science or art; mathematics would cease to be inter- 
 esting to him who calculates the distances of the suns, 
 and measures the mutual influence of worlds ; nay, 
 geology — all science, music, poetry, would lose their 
 charm. If the simply intellectual standard had de- 
 parted, still the spiritual would be left behind, which is 
 the true, the right, the divine. It comprehends all 
 things, and it makes of God and of the universe a 
 whole, a perfect image, in the human soul. Oh, men 
 and women who admire flowers which fade away, who 
 worship the butterfly, and fall down before types and 
 images of the beautiful, you who adore beauty in any and 
 
220 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 every form ! it may be that, through this adoration you 
 will be led up to the spiritual. The adoration of beauty 
 is only the type of G-od's mind embodied in your own. 
 Cultivate that taste, and worship. It may lead you to 
 God, it can not go outside of him. The true, w the beau- 
 tiful, the lovely, all belong to him, throughout his in- 
 finite universe. Who shall say that, in eternity, these 
 forms of beauty that you have thrown away, as the 
 child has thrown away his toys, shall not come up to 
 you again, with deeper and fairer life, shall blossom 
 forth again the flowers of eternity ? Who shall say 
 that, the child who mourns the departure of the flower, 
 shall not see, in the spring-time of eternity, the floral 
 images of thought and beauty which have blossomed in 
 this lifetime ? Eternity is but composed of all the 
 thoughts and feelings which yqu throw away, as child- 
 hood throws away the shells upon the pebbly shore. 
 You shall pick them up again, in eternity, and wonder 
 that you never before saw their beauty. In eternity 
 your soul will be expanded and enlarged by all those 
 types of beauty which you have seen, and which, al- 
 though the form is passed away, shall live for ever 
 there. Oh, worship beauty! worship it in the rock, 
 the tree, the flower, but still more in the soul ; for God, 
 the source of life and power, hath made you full of these 
 feelings, which must soar far upward toward heaven, 
 and find the great embodiment of power and beauty. 
 Worship the beautiful, and it shall beam in through the 
 eternal windows of God's everlasting shrines, of music, 
 of poetry, of religion, of art, consecrated to him, the 
 perfect goodness. 
 
 Why, what is the harmony or worth of all these., 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 221 
 
 unless they impress you with some deep melody, some 
 sweet cadence of the soul, never called forth before ? 
 You may listen for hours to one of the popular operas 
 of the day, and never a sigh, never a tear or a smile. 
 You are only bewildered by all the variety of discord 
 that you hear. But one " Home, sweet home," the 
 same " sweet home," which once you have heard in 
 your infancy, with its soft cadence, and its rise and fall, 
 becomes, to you, the most perfect melody in the world. 
 It may be there is no more harmony there, but there is 
 a harmony of the soul awakened by its tones, which 
 draws all men to love and purity. 
 
 When this spiritual shall be blended with natural 
 beauty, when the divine shall be joined to the human, 
 when man shall not behold his God afar off, when the 
 beauty within his soul shall represent the presence of 
 the Divine Being, when all thoughts which move and 
 actuate him shall be high and holy, then the perfect 
 standard of intellect shall alone be employed. There 
 is no true standard of intellect in this age, no true 
 standard of religion. Practically speaking, beauty in 
 adoration is that which can mount above all physical 
 forms, which throws aside all teaching, sees God and 
 loves him for his own sake, adores him for his own 
 mind, worships him for his own beauty. The religion 
 and the organization of your Christian church is founded 
 on that of the Romish church, whence it was drawn. 
 The mind can not tear itself away from the toys and 
 playthings of youth. It still goes back to those toys 
 which it knows will soon pass away. But there are, 
 sometimes, souls which grow so strong that men look 
 up to them, and wonder if they are not God. Each 
 
222 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 nation and each age have had these men, and to these 
 you point, as milestones, to guide you along the weary 
 road which you must travel. Every painter, every 
 sculptor, every poet, every inspired writer, has assisted 
 in doing this, and shall continue to fulfil this high office 
 while the world shall live. 
 
 We thank thee, our Father, spirit of infinite beauty, 
 for the life, and the power, and the goodness which we 
 have seen to-day. And we bless thee that, wherever 
 man may be, there is thy voice and thy power, which 
 proclaim that thou art infinite in goodness, wisdom, and 
 power. 
 
DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, NEW YORK, APRIL, 1857. 
 
 THE GYROSCOPE. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Our Father ! on all occasions we offer the sponta- 
 neous outpouring of worship which ever wells up from 
 the depths of thought and feeling within our souls, as 
 natural and as pure as does the fountain of water burst 
 forth from its deep-bedded rock, seeking to aspire 
 toward the sunlight, catching with its spray-diamonds, 
 bright gleams and flashes as they are given off from the 
 great centre of the solar system. So our thoughts and 
 feelings, having their origin, their source, and their life, 
 in thee, are seeking for ever to gush forth, expanding 
 to thee, seeking for ever to reach the sunshine of thy 
 love, that thou mayst crown them with the perpetual 
 rainbow-tints of everlasting beauty. 
 
 On this occasion we would approach thee with thank- 
 fulness and love. As the- external earth is free from 
 the icy chains of a long, protracted winter; as thy 
 children have again and again breathed forth their 
 hymns of thankfulness to thee that the dreary winter is 
 past ; that the poor, and lowly, and desolate shall no 
 more cry for bread in vain ; but that the earth, respond- 
 
224 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 ing to thy voice, is again yielding the rich germs and 
 shoots which, in the autumn time, shall bring forth the 
 harvests for those who labor ; so, Father, perhaps we 
 may feel that the winter of a long state of materialism 
 may pass away, and the spring-time of love and hope 
 may call forth the shoots and blossoms of thought and 
 feeling, until, in the autumn of thy unending eternity, 
 there may be gathered into the granaries of eternal 
 thought and feeling, into the storehouses of that man- 
 sion not made with hands, the fruits and the grains of 
 our souls. 
 
 Oh, may we feel that thou art sowing seeds in our 
 hearts ; that though many fall on stony places, among 
 thorns and briers, ours is the duty to tear the thorns 
 away, and cherish the germs ; to remove the rocks, that 
 the shoot may not be dwarfed, or that its unfoldment 
 may not be imperfect; and that for ever are the ex- 
 panding capacities of the soul giving to us the germs 
 of knowledge and truth, which we may cultivate and 
 unfold, believing that in the end they will yield the 
 harvest in tenfold proportion. Father ! we bless thee 
 for this thought, and for every blessing ; we praise thee 
 for every capacity of life ; that even as thou lovest thy 
 creation, we would acknowledge that love by loving 
 thee in return. 
 
 May we breathe words of truth — truth that never 
 grows dim, but constantly brightens as it grows in the 
 minds of thy children, and which, like the diamond, 
 grows bright and more bright as the rays of thy love 
 are thrown upon it, as they reflect the beauty of thy 
 divine life. Father ! we bless thee for ever and for 
 ever. 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 225 
 
 At the time appointed for the lecture, a large audi- 
 ence had assembled in the old Broadway Tabernacle, 
 and the proposition being put to the meeting, it was 
 decided that the controlling intelligence should select 
 the subject for the evening. 
 
 DISCOUESE. 
 
 We might have preferred, for the sake of the skepti- 
 cal, that the subject on this occasion would have been 
 selected by the audience ; but, as it is left to us to de- 
 cide, we will recall a question which was proposed on a 
 former occasion, and which, owing to the decision of 
 the audience at that time, we did not explain. If it is 
 desired, we will, this evening, explain the principles of 
 the Gyroscope. 
 
 [Dr. Hatch called for an expression from the audience. 
 The audience signified its acquiescence.] 
 
 The name is a scientific one, and there are, perhaps, 
 few in the audience who understand what the thing 
 referred to signifies. When we consider it strictly with 
 reference to the name, it simply signifies a view of 
 motion, consequently, whatever is in motion may be 
 called a gyroscope ; if that motion is presented to you 
 in an harmonious manner, or in a circular direction. 
 But it is particularly applied to a certain philosophical 
 instrument, which, by men of science, is considered a 
 toy, a plaything, but which had its origin in the mind 
 of a man whose soul penetrated into the mysteries of 
 
 10* 
 
226 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Nature's laws ; and in considering the laws of motion, 
 this problem was, in his brain, resolved into a demon- 
 stration, and the result is this instrument known as the 
 Gyroscope. 
 
 We think the question was in this form : " What are 
 the laws or principles controlling' the movement of the 
 Gyroscope ?" All bodies, all substances, all atoms of 
 matter possess, intrinsically, a life and a motion. Rest 
 is said to be a capacity or a quality of matter. Rest is 
 directly opposed to motion. It is said that rest is as 
 constant as motion. We do not think that rest is a 
 state of matter, but that it has only an existence rela- 
 tively. Trace the geological upheavings of granite life 
 in the formation of planets and worlds ; trace the prin- 
 ciples of life as they outwork themselves in every form 
 of existence, and it will become apparent to you that, 
 although compared with the earth the particles of mat- 
 ter composing it may be said to be at rest, yet with 
 themselves compared, they are in motion, eternally 
 breathing, aspiring, giving forth, inhaling, and exhaling, 
 whereby the forms of life are outwrought and perfected. 
 This is mechanical motion. 
 
 Another motion is the upheaving of the earth by 
 earthquakes, which is geological motion. The motion 
 of gravity is inherent as well in small particles of mat- 
 ter, in mechanical action as in planets, systems, suns, or 
 stars ; for if the principle be perceived in larger bodies, 
 then it must be perceived with regard to the amount of 
 every atom of matter that exists, however imperceptible 
 that atom may be to the external senses. Consequently, 
 gravity, strictly and intrinsically defined, is the ten- 
 dency of all substances toward a centre, and of the 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 227 
 
 same substances in kind to a common centre. This has 
 been denned as attraction. 
 
 The attraction of gravitation is that which draws 
 things toward a centre, as we have explained. The 
 attraction of cohesion is that which draws together 
 substances having like qualities and density. The at- 
 traction of repulsion, so termed by men of science, is 
 simply a name, not a principle ; is the law of all forma- 
 tions of matter, of planets, and of worlds. Attraction 
 signifies a coming together, a blending, with regard to 
 circumference, intensity, momentum, and force. Repul- 
 sion signifies a separation with regard to some or all of 
 these laws ; consequently the attraction of repulsion in 
 the formation of planets and worlds, of suns and par- 
 ticles of matter, is that which prevents worlds and suns 
 from coalescing or commingling to a central point. 
 
 If the attraction of gravitation, in contradistinction 
 to the attraction of repulsion, were always to have the 
 sway, then worlds would never be defined, or rendered 
 distinct ; each particle of matter would be assimilated 
 with its neighboring particle, and the sun would be still 
 as small as the minutest particle in creation. But this 
 attraction of repulsion may also be defined, not simply 
 as attraction, but as a principle, because really, posi- 
 tively, and technically, two things never come in con- 
 tact by the law of gravitation, because this law of 
 repulsion is always active. Two things may approach 
 so closely that the eye can detect no intervening space, 
 but there is never an actual contact of any two parti- 
 cles. And this "film of resistance" so termed by ono 
 of your scientific men, is none other than the attraction 
 of repulsion, or that which prevents all bodies, or dis- 
 
228 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tinct particles which compose bodies, from blending or 
 coalescing, from the laws of gravitation and from the 
 force of revolution, beyond a certain point. 
 
 The gyroscope is intended to illustrate this principle 
 that motion is as constant as rest, and that momentum, 
 as distinct and positive in its nature from absolute force, 
 exerts more influence upon the revolution of bodies than 
 all the attraction or repulsion that the scientific world 
 has discovered. What is momentum ? It is the power 
 of motion, or in other words it is a constant motion, 
 multiplied by the force or weight of the object ; and 
 although the object may be but one tenth, the momentum 
 may raise it to one hundred or one thousand times its 
 weight. Apply this to the gyroscope. It is set in mo- 
 tion, and one end of the framework surrounding the ring 
 being placed upon a pivot, the ring and frame in which 
 it is placed will revolve around a common centre, and 
 the other end will not fall. Why ? Simply from the 
 reason that the momentum given to the wheel or globe 
 more than equals the weight of the instrument, or the 
 attraction of gravitation ; or in other words, because, 
 that although the weight of the wheel may be but one 
 tenth, the momentum compared to the force applied is 
 one thousand. Consequently, the natural law of gravi- 
 tation is for the time suspended. And were there no 
 atmospherical resistance or friction from its own axis, 
 and this motion was inherent, instead of being exter- 
 nally applied, it would revolve for ever. 
 
 Now apply this proposition to the formation of 
 planets, not as the law of attraction nor the law of 
 repulsion, but as the law of momentum, which is the 
 life-principle of motion. This is the constant outwork- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 229 
 
 ing principle which pervades all bodies. Momentum is 
 the real law of all spherical, all solar, and all system- 
 atic formations in the vast universe of Deity. No man 
 of science has clearly defined why this wheel, or this 
 globe refuses to acknowledge the general laws of gravi- 
 tation ; but it is because this instrument has within 
 itself a centre, which, for the time being, is superior to 
 the attraction of the earth ; and this is obtained simply 
 by the laws of momentum. Continued force would not 
 do it. 
 
 A continued force is defined in this manner : a ball 
 of ten thousand times larger dimensions than this simple 
 wheel of the gyroscope, if placed at a certain elevation 
 from the earth, would fall, though its attraction might 
 be half equal to that of the earth. But this law of 
 momentum is a positive motion, and produces in each 
 atom a self-existent principle, which must outwork 
 itself in some form or other ; and when that form is no 
 longer required in the centre of the solar system, it 
 must seek its centre elsewhere. 
 
 It is not by centrifugal or centripetal force that 
 planets are kept in their orbits, but by the law of cen- 
 tral life, simply because they are outworking the life- 
 principle within them, and that life-principle is motion. 
 They can no longer remain upon the sun, or upon the cen- 
 tre of the universe, and fulfil the laws of their motion, 
 because they are at rest in reference to the great body, 
 in reference to the sun. For instance : the atom which 
 assists to form the flower, seemingly to us, is at rest. 
 Why ? Simply because the larger body, the earth, has 
 a motion which is ten thousand times more rapid than 
 you can conceive. 
 
230 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 The slower motion of the plant is not perceived, but 
 yet it is outworking its destiny within the arteries and 
 veins of its constitution, and is outworking a little 
 system of its own. So stars are but the blossoms of 
 the suns, which bud and bloom because they can not 
 rest. They find their birth within their central mo- 
 tions ; they seek to bloom where thoughts and feelings 
 can best prove their intelligence and power — the power 
 of our Father. 
 
 The only difference between the gyroscope and the 
 solar system is, that the gyroscope, relatively speaking, 
 possesses no inherent power of motion distinct from 
 the earth ; the motion is an outside or an external one, 
 which is simply given to illustrate a principle in the 
 planetary world. 
 
 In the revolution of the moon around your earth, the 
 motion is inherent, and it is outworking itself by estab- 
 lishing that motion. When the gyroscope is put in 
 motion, it overcomes the resistance of the brief space 
 of atmosphere in which it moves, and while the momen- 
 tum lasts, it becomes a satellite around the centre of 
 its motion or the pivot. 
 
 This resolves the science of astronomy into a simple, 
 a positive rule, and the veriest child, or the man who 
 has never read a book, and does not know how to read 
 or spell, can trace in the skies, in the earth, in every 
 existing body, the principles of astronomy. For the 
 sun and its system are but a type of that which is moving 
 around you daily. A consideration of the motions of 
 the vegetable and animal kingdoms, an analysis of the 
 chemical properties of the mineral kingdom, will present 
 to you a force, a life, as self-existent and positive as 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 231 
 
 that which controls suns, stars, and universes, in their 
 revolutions around their centres. We would like that 
 we had this instrument, the gyroscope, by which to 
 illustrate, but those who have never seen one will feel 
 interested to examine for themselves. The principles, 
 we have said, which control the gyroscope in its revolu- 
 tion are simple, and being simple are natural, and being 
 natural, they represent the true type of Nature as mani- 
 fested in all of her revolutions. 
 
 How does the gyroscope apply to the mind ? We 
 will make the mind a thing, a principle, a law, a force, 
 governed by principles and laws analogous to external 
 astronomy, and we will prove to you that the mind, in 
 its revolutions, is acting more or less within the solar 
 system, that there is a sun around which our thoughts, 
 like planets and satellites, revolve — that sun being the 
 life-giving jorinciple which God has given to the human 
 soul. Therefore, astronomy, geology, mineralogy, all 
 the various sciences which seek to penetrate into ex- 
 ternal nature, must combine ; they must be resolved into 
 a single principle, a universal science, a knowledge of 
 which can be obtained by the most unscientific person, 
 else they will not be science. 
 
 Astronomers, taking upon them the dignity which they 
 ever attach to that single investigation, have produced 
 books which have no particular bearing upon the sub- 
 ject, and which can not be comprehended by men, 
 without much research. The first principles of the 
 science must be reached before the facts can be under- 
 stood ; the first laws of their being, the great and dis- 
 tinct elements of life must be brought to the mind of 
 the pupil, else it can not understand why a planet 
 
232 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 moves, what is the use of one, or whether it moves at 
 all. Thus, the science of astronomy has been too 
 visionary, although conceived to be so perfect mathe- 
 matically. It may be perfect mathematically, but not 
 demonstrably or illustratively ; for no child, although 
 he may measure the distances of the planets and suns, 
 knows what gives planets and suns their origin. What 
 is it? We do not know, say the men of astronomy. 
 If you do not know, then you do not know what you 
 are investigating, and your mathematical investigations 
 are comparatively useless, and your pupil will look upon 
 the stars as simple multiplications of the bodies in 
 nature, not serving any particular object in creation, 
 except to demonstrate to how great an extent Deity 
 might tax the mathematical powers of humanity. 
 
 The geologist claims to penetrate into the origin of 
 the earth, to ascertain the laws by which earths are 
 outwrought and perfected, and they must have originated 
 from something, but what that something is, like the as- 
 tronomer, he is in doubt. Consequently, children are 
 led back thousands of years, where stratifications of soils 
 are heaped upon each other, where waters are gathered 
 together in the depths of the ocean ; and the conclusion 
 is arrived at, according to the laws of geology, that once 
 this earth was a mass of burning fluid, impalpable, self- 
 existent. But " what caused it to be so ?" asks the child. 
 The geologist must answer, " We do not know." 
 
 Again, the chemist — in ages gone by called alchemist 
 — is endeavoring to analyze the properties of things, or 
 the principles which enter into their more immediate 
 assimilation. Consequently, the chemist becomes the 
 most scientific man of the whole. The astronomer has 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 233 
 
 only the form of the Universe, not the spirit. But the 
 chemist confines himself too much, like the others, to 
 creeds, and theories, and speculations, which have not 
 their basis upon principles. Interrogate the chemist, 
 and he will tell you that certain combinations will pro- 
 duce certain results. Why ? Because they are alike 
 in their properties. 
 
 But what is that chemical attraction, what is that 
 law, which causes certain particles imperceptibly to 
 blend and form a newer and more powerful combina- 
 tion ? What causes the simple elements composing 
 water to be different in combination with other elements 
 than when in their original state ? Because they have 
 produced a new capacity — because they give forth a 
 more perfect formation ; and the oxygen and hydrogen, 
 resolved into their primaries, enter into new forms, and 
 water becomes an element of life and beauty, as traced 
 through the animal and vegetable creations. 
 
 Well, then, we have the real laws and principles 
 which illustrate perfectly and emphatically the forces 
 of Nature, which govern as well the chemical, geologi- 
 cal, and astronomical world, as they govern mind and 
 spirit.* 
 
 We were applying the laws of the gyroscope to the 
 mind ; but it seems that some kind friend has brought 
 one, which we will use— not technically, perhaps, but 
 we will present it to you, and afterward you can exam- 
 ine one for yourselves. 
 
 Our audience will remember, when examining this 
 instrument, this one mathematical proposition which we 
 
 * At this point a gentleman came forward to the platform and pro- 
 duced a gyi-oscopo, which was set in motion. 
 
234 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 have stated — that the momentum of a body in its revo- 
 lutions, or in its motion, is equal to the weight multi- 
 plied by the force of its revolution. You all perceive 
 that the revolution gradually lessens as the momentum 
 diminishes. Were that motion inherent, self-existent, 
 that wheel would continue to revolve, as now, for ever. 
 The pivot upon which it revolves may be the axis of a 
 planet, the motion may be the momentum, the inherent 
 life-principle within it ; and this motion, multiplied by 
 the weight of the instrument, you will perceive is suffi- 
 cient to keep it revolving. You would naturally sup- 
 pose that when one end is placed upon this stand, the 
 other would fall. Why does it not ? Simply because 
 the motion given in that direction, and in that particu- 
 lar orbit, more than equals the weight of the instrument 
 or the law of gravitation, which would draw it toward 
 the earth. But as that motion ceases, the attraction of 
 the earth or the weight of the instrument produce a dif- 
 ferent result. The effect for the time being is to dis- 
 perse the atmosphere, and overcome the laws of gravita- 
 tion, and thus revolve in an orbit of its own. Now, if 
 that motion was inherent, it could not be drawn to 
 any planet, but would fly off into space. Attach a sin- 
 gle thread to this centre, and it may be suspended in 
 the air, and by this means you see that it would turn in 
 a certain direction as now, and would have a particular 
 centre around which it would revolve ; and this at- 
 traction being more than its motion could overcome, it 
 could not fly off into the room, to become a satellite 
 around this centre. Why ? Simply because the at- 
 traction to this point is greater than the momentum, 
 or its inherent life-principle. But while the motion 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 235 
 
 is kept up, it can not fall, it can not rise, because the 
 motion is in itself. So the moon revolves around your 
 earth, and the earth around the sun ; and the atmo- 
 spheric influences which these may represent are not in 
 motion except as regards the sun. The earth revolving 
 in its orbit produces its own atmosphere ; and the atmo- 
 sphere is at rest with regard to the earth, but it is in 
 motion when viewed from the sun. 
 
 Motion is as constant as rest. The stars which are 
 known as fixed stars in the heavens are so called simply 
 because their distance and magnitude are so great that 
 their motion can not be perceived ; they are at rest with 
 regard to this earth, but with regard to the laws of their 
 own revolution their motion is as constant as their seem- 
 ing rest. Your sun is at rest to you because it is larger 
 — because in its magnitude it presents so great an area 
 of attraction, that you perceive no other motion than 
 your own around it. But could you be placed at a dis- 
 tance from the sun, so that the attraction of another 
 sun could be perceived, you might see the revolution of 
 that ball around the other, its natural centre, which 
 would be equal to the revolution of this wheel around 
 this pivot. 
 
 Well, we have simply endeavored to give ihe princi- 
 ples, not the technicalities, as applied to the gyroscope, 
 or the principle of motion as applied to this instrument. 
 It has a concentrated, spherical form. Suppose, now, 
 that this wheel was a combined mass of fluid, having no 
 particular form except in essence, and the atomic par- 
 ticles, by some strange law of attraction — not chemical, 
 not cohesive, but of life and motion — were drawn to- 
 gether to produce this wheel, and gradually their mo- 
 
236 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 tion becoming greater and greater, and more powerful, 
 and the momentum was equal in itself to the attraction 
 of the sun : then they must, from the necessity of their 
 own self-existent life, become a planet — not by any law 
 of centrifugal force or power of repulsion, which drove 
 it from the sun, but from the necessity of its inherent 
 life-principle ; it must become a planet, and it must re- 
 volve in a spherical form, because it is a sphere itself; 
 and as it revolves, that sphere, corresponding to the 
 sphere of some other planet, must outwork itself in that 
 form, as this must revolve around that. 
 
 We hope that astronomy will be resolved into a prac- 
 tical science ; that men, and women, and children, may 
 gaze into the sky and see not only stars, like bright and 
 beauteous points, begemming the night, but like beacons 
 set to light them in their eternal journey, and as living, 
 breathing things, freighted with divine beauty, inhabited 
 with divine beings, until, by that chain of light, not elec- 
 tricity, a telegraph may be extended around the Uni- 
 verse, and a girdle be placed thereon, that men through 
 the eye of science may see the worlds, and know that 
 this is astronomy, the science of the heavens. And this 
 must be the principle upon which men of science shall 
 base all their investigations, else astronomy will be, as 
 now, a mathematical science — never resolved into a 
 practical one. 
 
 But, as we said before, chemistry, geology, and as- 
 tronomy, must be united ; for, unless you understand 
 what causes the particles of this metal to adhere to each 
 other, you can not understand the laws which cause 
 them to move harmoniously. Then motion is as con- 
 stant as rest. The crystals, the iron and steel, the rocks 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 237 
 
 which have been buried for ages beneath the soil, oper- 
 ated upon by imperceptible gases which, when analyzed 
 by chemistry, become solid as the diamond, must have 
 undergone a revolution, a change — not chemical, per- 
 haps, but geological and astronomical. 
 
 We have presented this subject on this occasion for 
 the reason that many who were present on a former 
 occasion concluded that we did not discuss the question, 
 because we did not know what the word " gyroscope" 
 meant. But we were aware that a majority of the audi- 
 ence did not know its meaning, and we concluded to defer 
 its consideration to a future occasion ; and we have en- 
 deavored to give our ideas as clearly as possible. If 
 we have failed to make the subject plain, we hope you 
 will attribute it to the fatigue of the brain of the me- 
 dium, owing to her labors during the week. 
 
 Hoping that the gyroscope of your minds will lead 
 you to an investigation of the laws which control the 
 elements of the soul, of thought, as well as the external 
 world ; hoping you will commence your investigations 
 with the great centre and work outward, as do stars, 
 suns, systems, planets, vegetables, minerals, animals, 
 men, until at last you have found, by facts and princi- 
 ples, the great laws of control and of beauty, we leave 
 you to your meditations. 
 
DISCOURSE XIV. 
 
 DELIVERED IN TREMONT TEMPLE, BOSTON, DECEMBER 22, 1857. 
 
 THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS NATURE OP MAN. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Spirit of divinest Goodness, Infinite Jehovah ! As the 
 Universe is for ever redolent with thy praise, and as 
 worlds and systems sing their unceasing songs of delight 
 to thee ; as all things which thou hast fashioned and 
 made proclaim thy goodness for ever and for ever ; as 
 the rolling seasons, in their onward course, illustrate the 
 harmony and beauty of thy creation — so would our 
 souls to-night pour forth their thankfulness and their 
 praise for the great, the divine blessings which thou 
 hast poured in upon us. We are for ever conscious of 
 thy all-pervading presence ; and as our beings throb 
 and pulsate with thy life and thy love, we feel that we 
 can but praise thee in every thought and feeling of our 
 lives. 
 
 Our Father, we bless thee not to-night for this occa- 
 sion alone, but for every day and every hour which 
 sends forth its glad song of rejoicing and adoration to 
 thee. And, Father! as Night trails her garments 
 o'er the earth, and seems to brood in solitude— as all 
 Nature is resting, and the souls of all thy children are 
 seeking to soar beyond the strife, turmoil, and conten- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 239 
 
 tion, of the external life — let them feel that thy good- 
 ness and power shall lend aid to their flight ; and their 
 wings shall be the wings of love and glory which thou 
 hast given the aspiring soul. 
 
 Our Father, when we view nations throbbing with 
 life and power, with activity, and hope, and aspiration, 
 we can but see how tiny they are compared with the 
 worlds and universes which thou hast made ; yet we 
 know that in thy sight one thought or aspiration of 
 man's soul is worth more than all worlds and all uni- 
 verses. If but one divine conception of thee thrills 
 with greater life and power the universe of mind — if, 
 when but one thought is added to that great ocean, it 
 gives one undulation to that vast sea of life ; we will 
 •join to-night in praising thee ; and if, through the morn- 
 ing-dawn, one further gleam bursts above the eastern 
 hilltops of our souls, then we will praise, and adore, and 
 worship thee still the more, until every soul and every 
 heart shall join in its surgings against the shores of thy 
 Infinitude. 
 
 Our Father, the widow's cry, and the orphan's tear, 
 and sounds of suffering and sorrow, are heard upon the 
 earth — strife, contention, warfare, bloodshed — man 
 struggling for supremacy over his brother-man ; and yet 
 over all this we know that thy goodness and power are 
 supreme ; that right and justice shall triumph over ig- 
 norance and darkness ; that man, in his divine being, 
 is bound to thee by the closest ties of sympathy which 
 connect him with thy Universe, and that all moves on 
 in majestic harmony, responding to the melody of thy 
 divine soul and voice ; and every tone and echoing 
 cadence is fraught with the living elements of thy loyoi. 
 
240 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 And to thee, our Father, shall be the earnest aspirations 
 for truth, the praise of overflowing hearts, and the songs 
 of angels, which shall echo and reverberate through all 
 the corridors and aisles of heaven for ever and for ever ! 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 Due allowance may be made for the feeble condition 
 of our medium's physical organism,* which will not ena- 
 ble us to give as deeply philosophical a discourse as we 
 had hoped on this subject. But our ideas will be our 
 highest conceptions of truth, clothed in such language 
 as we are able to give through the organism which we 
 are now controlling. 
 
 It may seem absurd, to a religious philosopher, to 
 make any distinction between man's moral and religious 
 nature ; but we most assuredly do, though they are 
 words nearly allied, as the perfume to the flower, or the 
 sunshine to the day, or man's heart to his life. Still, 
 they are different. That perfume is not the flower; 
 that sunshine is not all of the day ; man's heart is not 
 all of his life. Consequently, man's religious and moral 
 nature occupy the same relative position, but still closely 
 and intimately blended. 
 
 Religion, in its truest and divinest sense, is that por- 
 tion of man's being which aspires to worship and ado- 
 ration, which depends upon something above itself for 
 
 * This was Mrs. Hatch's first discourse after a short but severe 
 illness. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 241 
 
 life, for power, for goodness, for perfection. Man's 
 moral nature is merely a cultivated nature, an educa- 
 tional nature, something which the laws and modes of 
 education of a country give to the people who inhabit 
 it. Consequently, the moral and religious tone of ev- 
 ery nation is different. You can never educate a man 
 to be religious. You can educate him as to the method 
 of manifesting that religion. You can educate men to 
 be moral — to exercise that morality in higher and ho- 
 lier departments. But religion is not dependent upon 
 education, or upon any human institutions. It is some- 
 thing more — the fruit of a sentiment which grows up 
 in a man's soul, and constitutes a part of his being. 
 
 We see, in the history of nations, that men have never 
 been taught to worship. The savages of America adored 
 and worshipped a Divine Being. The heathen world, 
 from the instinctive desire to worship, carves idols 
 from wood and stone, and worships them — not because 
 these possess any inherent worth, but because they must 
 worship something. Those are their highest conception 
 of religion ; and in the worship of the sun, moon, or stars, 
 they but follow their natural impulse, and fancy that 
 these things are superior to themselves ; and because by a 
 word, a look, a desire, they can not control the physical 
 elements, they endow these idols with the attributes of 
 gods, and adore them as such. 
 
 Thus, men's religious nature is that instinctive desire 
 to adore a Divine Being. Materialists may affirm that 
 religion is simply an educational thing ; we affirm that 
 it is a natural thing, for what is not inherent can not 
 be educated. This fact alone proves the existence of a 
 God. All the elements of earth, and air, and sky ; all 
 
 11 
 
242 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 the harmony and perfectness of the Universe ; all the 
 blooming flowers and vegetation ; all the perfection of 
 the animal creation ; the rolling orbs that revolve in 
 direct mathematical proportions — all this could not 
 prove the existence of a God, if the intuition of the hu- 
 man soul did not grasp for something higher than itself. 
 
 Man is by nature a religious being, not by nature a 
 moral being. For instance : the religion of the earlier 
 ages taught the most absurd, inhuman, and ridiculous 
 processes of worship. Men and animals were put to 
 death, to appease the wrath of the Divine Being. Mor- 
 ally and religiously, at the present age, this would be 
 considered sacrilege. Why ? Not because religion has 
 progressed any, but because morality has. Humanity 
 has taken the place of this primitive idea of worship, 
 and this humanity is educational. In the earlier ages 
 of the world, when religion without reason was the 
 instinctive impulse of the human mind, beasts were 
 sacrificed, and even men, women, and children : and all 
 this to appease a Deity whom they supposed to exist, 
 and to require of them these rites. To fulfil this re- 
 quirement, they no doubt believed it to be their duty. 
 But as humanity improved, as intellect was awakened 
 and reason enlarged, they began to conceive of higher 
 stages of development. Religion became subservient to 
 humanity, and morals took the place of this primitive 
 worship. 
 
 It is morality and humanity that have given tone to 
 religion, and to every institution in this age. Religion 
 has never made one discovery, has never given forth a 
 new idea ; it has been the deepest in warfare, in struggle 
 — the highest and holiest when governed by morality 
 
RELIGIOUS. 243 
 
 and reason. Ask the Christian of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury what makes Christendom superior to the religions 
 of savage and heathen nations. Not its religion. The 
 heathen is just as sincere, just as devout in his religion, 
 as the Christian. Christianity has greater morality in 
 theory — not always in practice. Ask the Hindoo, or 
 the Sandwich-islander, to whom you are constantly send- 
 ing missionaries, if there is less or more of real morality 
 in his country than before those missionaries visited 
 them. He will tell you that " before they came, there 
 were no murders, no thefts, no drunkards, no liars here. 
 Now that the Christians have come here, we know that 
 there is a revengeful God. We can drink, we can steal, 
 we can lie, we can swear." The moral condition of 
 .these nations is lower by far than before Christianity 
 was introduced among them. Their religious feelings 
 may have a different tone ; but for one true convert to 
 Christianity, in action there are one thousand drunk- 
 ards and thieves. Why ? Because they have not rea- 
 soning powers sufficient to discriminate between the 
 errors and truths they learn from Christians. They 
 take them all in, and, of course, follow the worst of 
 them. They take them all in as belonging to their reli- 
 gious nature, and, from real religious motives following 
 the example of Christians, they too drink and lie ! Ev- 
 ery traveller will tell you that this is true. 
 
 Now, we ask if religion can elevate humanity, if it 
 can make one man or woman better than they are to- 
 day ? There is no human being without religious im- 
 pulse ; for it is natural, and, being natural, it is univer- 
 sal. There are minds whose moral development is low. 
 What are they ? Probably devout worshippers at the 
 
244 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 sliriue of Christianity ; for they, more than others, feel 
 the necessity of some saving influence aside from their 
 own goodness. Perhaps a deacon in some of your or- 
 thodox churches, praying every sabbath-day and at the 
 family altar, and cheating his neighbor all the rest of 
 the week. He may be very pious, very religious, but 
 not very moral. You all know such people — perhaps 
 you meet them every day — who in their religious ser- 
 vices are sincerely devotional, but who in their moral 
 development have scarcely the slightest conception of 
 humanity or justice. 
 
 It was said, by one who walked the earth nearly two 
 thousand years ago, that " if a man say, ' T love God,' 
 and hateth his brother, he is a liar." This is true. 
 The religious man believes sincerely that he loves God. 
 He loves that selfhood which he has builded up in his 
 nature, but his god is the exact personification of his 
 own characteristics ; and before that god of vengeance, 
 of power, of malice, of wisdom, he bows and worships, 
 while you may ask him for a penny, to give the poor 
 orphan a mouthful of bread, and he walks away, saying, 
 " I can not do it." He loves the god of selfishness very 
 much, but not the God of Humanity. The phrenologist 
 will tell you he has no benevolence, no conscientious- 
 ness, no sense of justice ; therefore, he can adore some- 
 thing which selfishness has created, for reverence alone 
 can do that; but without benevolence — which is the 
 foundation of that charity of which Paul spoke — there 
 is no true religion, no true sense of God or of man. It 
 is very well to state what Christianity and religion have 
 done for the well-being of mankind ; but if you are an 
 historian or a philosopher, you know very well that re- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 245 
 
 ligion has never done anything toward the elevation of 
 humanity. 
 
 The Christian religion, that which Christ taught, is 
 not essentially a new religion. It had been embodied 
 in religions long before that, but he practically demon- 
 strated what men had previously taught. He was a 
 Christian, because he lived what he believed. Men are 
 called Christians now because they teach what they do 
 not practise. There is a wonderful difference between 
 practising and preaching ; between the religion of Jesus 
 of Nazareth and that of the tall-spired churches of your 
 nineteenth century ; between that which was exhibited 
 on Mount Calvary and that which rolls by in fine coaches 
 and preaches in gilded altars. The one was moral Chris- 
 tianity, the other religious Christianity. 
 
 Man's religion is in every way governed in its mani- 
 festations by the circumstances with which he is sur- 
 rounded. Consequently, your manifestation of religious 
 feeling differs very materially from that of the Roman- 
 ist, or Hindoo, or Persian. Yet you can not prove that 
 the religious feeling of yourselves is more deep or sin- 
 cere than theirs. Theirs is what their own history has 
 given them. They are sincere ; and if God ever hears 
 any prayers offered to him, if he ever sees any thoughts 
 of his children ; it matters not whether they are Chris- 
 tian, Romanist, Hindoo, or Mohammedan, in their sin- 
 cerity, he. sees and hears them alike. 
 
 What, then, constitutes a religious life ? Is it that 
 which merely receives false theories and creeds, in ac- 
 cordance with fixed custom, or that which establishes the 
 highest standard of true moral and religious develop- 
 ment, and carries it out — not in theory, not in Sunday- 
 
246 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 worship, but in every thought which springs spontane- 
 ously from the soul, in every action that gives life and 
 vigor to humanity. 
 
 Is America better than other nations ? If so, it is not 
 because Christianity has made it so. England is a Chris- 
 tian country ; England worships at the shrine of that 
 Christian religion, and prays to God for successful bat- 
 tling over another country. America is not made free 
 by her religious principles ; for every one knows that 
 religious intolerance is equal here to that in any other 
 place, but the moral humanity of your government will 
 not permit its manifestation. Everybody knows that 
 your Christian churches are as intolerant against each 
 other as in any other nation; that every other force 
 except physical is used when they are battling against 
 each other. The influence of every evil passion which 
 the human mind is capable of conceiving is exercised 
 among your religious people. 
 
 Perhaps you have a friend who is an infidel ; that is, 
 he does not believe in any of the churches, nor does he 
 follow the fixed example of any so-called sect ; he has 
 not subscribed his name to any creed ; he does not at- 
 tend church on Sundays ; he has not even family wor- 
 ship — he is an infidel. Follow that infidel, alongside 
 of that presbyterian deacon, in their daily life. When 
 an appeal is made to him for charity, he is the first to 
 give. He never passes one by the wayside without giv- 
 ing a smile, if nothing more. He never turns aside 
 when some one wants assistance. He never cheats his 
 neighbor, although he does not pray on Sundays. No ; 
 his children are perfect examples of propriety and deco- 
 rum. They are kind, benevolent, generous ; they read 
 
RELIGIOUS. 247 
 
 instructive books. On Sunday, he gives attention to 
 their intellectual and moral improvement, which is 
 most truly their religious improvement. Which will 
 you have, the religious deacon or the moral infidel? 
 This is no fancy sketch, but a picture of daily life, 
 which each of you may have known. 
 
 Yet men say that aside from the church there is no 
 beauty, no perfectness, no divinity, in the human soul. 
 We say that, but for the church, humanity would glide 
 on over the grand ocean of human development ; but 
 for the church, the car of human progress would have 
 been farther up the steep of Eternity than it now is. 
 Men would have run more into fanaticism : may be it is 
 the clog on the wheel of that chariot, to prevent it from 
 moving too fast. 
 
 Religion, in its highest development, becomes the 
 brightest star in the firmament of man's being. But 
 when rough, uncultivated, it becomes the deepest de- 
 pravity, the lowest crime, of which the human mind is 
 capable, and originates all the ills with which Christian 
 and religious countries are rife. Nay, but for this mor- 
 bid religious feeling, prevalent in societies and coun- 
 tries, there would be less murder and other crime, fewer 
 jailhouses and penitentiaries, than now exist in Chris- 
 tian lands. But if men cultivated their moral natures ; 
 if that Christianity which should be a true type of Him 
 who set the example — if that Christianity were not 
 made to subserve the low purposes of church, and state, 
 and individual prejudice, and self-aggrandizement — we 
 might hope for a brighter and purer day. If men would 
 worship God by loving one another — if, instead of 
 bowing before Deity, to worship him from fear, men 
 
248 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 would bow to humanity and worship him through a true 
 life — we might hope for a holier and purer religion. 
 
 Never fear your religious nature. There is no man 
 or woman so depraved, that when you cultivate their 
 moral nature, they will not be sufficiently religious. 
 Education, knowledge, the brightening knowledge of 
 history, of mankind, of the human soul, add grace and 
 beauty to a man's devotional feelings. Without them, 
 religion is worthless, dead — something which may be 
 heard like a deep, sepulchral tone — like the rattling of 
 dead men's bones. There is no living beauty there ; 
 and those large temples dedicated to religious service, 
 whose finger points to heaven, but where naught is 
 heard save anathemas against Humanity and libels on 
 Deity, these are sepulchres in which men bury their 
 moral natures, and bow down before a creed, and ask 
 God to bless them. Perhaps you think we are speaking 
 blasphemy. If we do not give you the truth, reject 
 what we say ; if we speak truth, receive it. . If any 
 mind can illustrate that, aside from man's moral nature, 
 religion has made men better, wiser, purer, than when 
 " the morning stars sang together," we will give up our 
 argument. It is stated by modern theologians that men 
 fell from the highest state, that the golden age has 
 passed. We believe it not. We believe that man, in 
 his primitive condition, was an ignorant religionist; 
 that in the present century he is more of a moral reli- 
 gionist. That morality is the keystone in the archway 
 of human destiny. 
 
 " But what is morality ?" says the philosopher. " We 
 can have no standard of virtue. Virtue is simply an 
 educational thing." Here is a point to which we call 
 
RELIGIOUS. 249 
 
 your attention. If your brother differ from you, you 
 call him dark and depraved, without imagining that you 
 may be depraved yourselves. The only moral law which 
 exists in the Universe is every man's highest conception 
 of justice, equity, and truthfulness. Men can establish 
 no other laws or creeds. The laws of nations are noth- 
 ing more than this. The law which sends a thief to the 
 penitentiary may not reach you, because you are above 
 the law ; but it prevents you from being robbed by some 
 one who is below it. His standard of morality is not 
 as high as yours. He reasons thus : " If I have not 
 what I want, and my neighbor has, can not I take it ?" 
 You say that it is wrong. Why ? Because your edu- 
 cation proves to you that it is wrong to take the prop- 
 erty of another without compensation. Men find fault 
 with institutions : institutions, if they could speak, might 
 find fault with men. Men are not made for institutions, 
 as many imagine, but institutions for men. 
 
 America, in fixing her standards of justice and equity, 
 has a standard so high, that there is very little fear of 
 anything going beyond it in the present age. In this 
 respect, America is more advanced than other nations ; 
 their standards of equity, moral and political, do not 
 allow people to go beyond it. America has a standard 
 higher than the eagle that soars to the mountain-peaks, 
 higher than the stars. Men can never be above it, for 
 it rests only in the Infinite Jehovah. Probably, the 
 mean average of morality in America may not equal 
 that of some other nations, from the fact that all other 
 nations have poured their tide of immorality in upon the 
 pure, virgin soil of the American continent. And in 
 the United States of America there may be a lower 
 
 11* 
 
250 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 grade of moral development than in some other coun- 
 tries, because America is not under any special control. 
 And until religion is elevated to the standard of the 
 moral requirements of the people, America can not be 
 made better. 
 
 There is a great strife between your moral and reli- 
 gious condition. You make too wide a valley between 
 the mountain-peaks of morality and those of religious 
 worship ; and, without bridging this valley, you can not 
 attain to the perfectness of a true moral and religious 
 government. Men try to embody religion in their poli- 
 tics, without taking morality into consideration. We 
 can never do it. Creeds and dogmas may do well for 
 those who seek for office ; bat all true morality searches 
 churches to the centre, and rules them by the strictest 
 control. Until your politicians carry with them into 
 your legislative halls a moral as well as religious equity, 
 you can never attain to the standard fixed by your fa- 
 thers. Till they shall cease to utter their mawkish 
 prayers, and turn from them to injure their brother, 
 your moral, religious, and political standards, will be far 
 from what your fathers intended. 
 
 Men of business ! until you take with you into your 
 business-life this religion, which should be the guide of your 
 action ; until, as well as offering your morning prayers, 
 you take along with you into your office all the feelings 
 of a true Christian heart — of that Christianity which 
 consists in a moral life — you can never attain to the 
 perfectness of a Christian man. You may join the 
 church, perhaps, for the sake of a name ; but you can 
 not join that bright band which worships the good for 
 goodness' sake, and loves truth for truth's own sake. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 251 
 
 If you are a politician, and hope to see America free 
 from all the taints that mar her beauty — hope to see 
 the American banner free from the darkening spot of 
 slavery — you must commence with the petty slavery of 
 ignorance, the slavery of your immorality ; and, step by 
 step, ascend the ladder of freedom. You can not strike 
 out that moral evil until you commence at the source. 
 That is but the effect of causes lying deeper in the 
 heart of your nation, in the heart of those men who ad- 
 minister your government ; and while these stand, there 
 is the worm, the serpent, gnawing daily and hourly ; 
 and you point to African slavery, saying, " It is a shame 
 and blasphemy upon American government !" Ask those 
 who thus complain if the moral education of the people 
 is not neglected. Ask if the mother, with the education 
 which she gives her child, does not administer the very 
 elements of aristocracy, of pride, of ignorance, and of 
 depravity. It is only those great men like Washing- 
 ton, who have had noble, moral mothers, and who have 
 been instructed in their moral as well as religious na- 
 ture, that shine brightly forth in the firmament of your 
 political constellations. 
 
 America may boast of her religious freedom and tol- 
 eration, of her Christian churches and colleges, of her 
 church-members and missionary societies ; but until 
 America can also establish a perfectness of moral truth 
 in politics as well as religion — till then, America is not 
 a free country. But religion alone will not subserve the 
 purposes of morality with men and women in the daily 
 walks of life. It is not sufficient for you to acknowledge 
 that you have immortal souls, to be conscious of the fact 
 by absolute proof that there is a God whom you should 
 
252 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 adore and worship ; for unless you bring forth fruits 
 meet for repentance, you can not be said to fulfil the 
 laws of religion and of morality. Unless your lives are 
 religiously moral as well as theoretically so, you can 
 not expect a freedom, and perfectness, and beauty, in 
 society. Until the walls built around your aristocratic 
 religion are torn down, and morality is allowed to enter 
 there, with free sunshine, and a free, bright, glowing 
 atmosphere, your religion will be what it now is, a dead, 
 cold formality ; and men and women will continue to 
 become infidels, from the fact that religion and morality 
 are not taught in the same schools. Your children, the 
 generation to succeed you, are becoming a set of infi- 
 dels. It is absolutely the case that your young men 
 refuse to enter theological institutions ; for they seek 
 some other profession — that of a lawyer, a physician, 
 even a business and mercantile life — in preference to a 
 theological one. Why ? They have watched the work- 
 ings of your theological institutions ; they see the differ- 
 ence between the doctrines of theologians and their 
 lives ; they choose rather a moral infidel life than an 
 immoral theological one. 
 
 Was your mother a religious woman — not simply in 
 word, in theory, not simply one who taught her child 
 that God was a God of malice, but with gentle words 
 of love drew your young mind forth as the sunshine 
 draws forth the petals of the flower, and then taught 
 you to speak the name of our Father, and not with mere 
 words, but with a burst of thankfulness ? Your mother 
 was a moral as well as a religious character. Oh, it is 
 great to have a moral as well as a religious parentage ! 
 
 It is said to be a well-known fact, perhaps fancy, that 
 
RELIGIOUS. 253 
 
 the children of ministers are always the most unman- 
 ageable. And why ? Simply because the theories and 
 the practice of the parent have been so widely at vari- 
 ance. They have been religious, but sometimes not 
 moral. The children have caught the immorality, but 
 not the religion, and thus they represent the defects of 
 the parent, without that virtue which belongs to the 
 ministry. And if you teach morality to your children, 
 in connection with dark and gloomy views of God and 
 religion, they will thrust it aside, and take the opposite 
 extreme, disclaiming all ideas of that morality which 
 has been clothed in such direful forms that they could 
 not accept it. Your children are not, by nature, im- 
 moral or irreligious ; they are driven to it, from the 
 fact that you are not what you profess to be. 
 
 Oh, parents, if you desire your children, in filling the 
 places which you shall soon vacate, to be loved, hon- 
 ored, and respected, you must not only administer the 
 rules and forms of religious worship, but most earnestly 
 enforce upon their young minds the love of truth for its 
 own sake, the love of truth because truth is good, and 
 not because God will punish them if they are not good. 
 With such instructions, and with such enforcement, 
 your children may learn to illustrate the beauty of that 
 practical Christianity which two thousand years have 
 failed to illustrate upon the earth. 
 
 If religion alone would have made men wiser, better, 
 and purer, surely two thousand years of the administra- 
 tions of Christian teaching might have made a greater 
 change in humanity. It has failed to do it ; and men 
 ask why. The fault is not in the religion, but in the 
 administration of it. It is not in the principle, but in 
 
254 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 those who present it. Oh, beautful, indeed, is that reli- 
 gion, which, crowned with the virtues of a moral life, 
 shall lend its blessings of immortal glory ! But worse 
 than useless is that religion which teaches an immortal 
 life, but does not teach you how to prepare for it. 
 Worse than useless that religion which tells you how to 
 die, but never tells you how to live. Worse than use- 
 less that religion which foretells a life beyond the grave, 
 but never tells you of the now which is the all to human 
 existence. Even that eternity; the to-morrow toward 
 which you are tending, will for ever be now. " How 
 shall I live now ?" will be the question for every child, 
 not — " How can I meet death ?" and, " How shall I live 
 in years to come, on the other side of Jordan ?" Now 
 is the hour, the only living hour, for ever. 
 
 The past is only valuable as you improve by its ex- 
 perience ; the future is only a point toward which you 
 are tending and aspiring, but which you are never 
 attaining ; the present is that in which you live, and 
 move, and act. If you are not religious now, it will not 
 subserve the purpose of your immortality. You must 
 be moral always. There is no time for death-bed re- 
 pentance. It must be now, this moment. Your lives, 
 the concerns of your immortal souls, your aspirations, 
 depend upon it ; the life and beauty of a great and per- 
 fect faith, the faith of the Christian religion, depend 
 upon it. 
 
 We have elucidated what we believe to be the differ- 
 ence between simple religion and that religion which 
 embodies also a high and perfect morality. The stand- 
 ard of faith, the standard of morality, which you have 
 to-day, may be exchanged for a higher one to-morrow. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 255 
 
 Do not allow it to become lower. Let each day add a 
 star to the crown which enthrones your brow ; let the 
 soul be conscious that it has a Father, and learn how 
 to love that Father, by loving his children. 
 
 A Gentleman in the Audience. — I would like to inquire if I un- 
 derstood correctly one assertion. It was this, that Christ taught nothing 
 new? 
 
 Mrs. Hatch. — Religiously, Christ taught nothing 
 more than was embodied in the philosophy or teachings 
 of many heathen and Jewish authors who had preceded 
 him. Practically, he taught many things new. The 
 law of Moses was, " an eye for an eye, and a tooth for 
 a tooth." Confucius and Aristotle wrote the law of 
 kindness to our neighbor. Jesus demonstrated it fully, 
 as well in practice as in theory. 
 
 Question. — Taking your definition, with which I agree, I would in- 
 quire whether that idea of religion is not fully embodied in the com- 
 mandment, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," etc., does that cover 
 the idea of religion 1 
 
 Answer. — We suppose it does ; and the other com- 
 mandments, which refer to man's duty to his neighbor, 
 cover the idea of religious morality. But the loving 
 the Lord our God is not, in all men's minds, a question 
 of religion. They love the worship because they fear 
 God, not love him. That love may be cultivated. But 
 the love can not really be increased. This is why we 
 believe the Mosaic dispensation was divine, from the 
 fact that it enforces things which came by intuition. 
 
 Question. — If that commandment covers the idea of religion that 
 was taught long before the time of Christ, was there anything in the 
 teaching of Jesus to give us the idea of morality which you have devel- 
 oped. 
 
 Answer. — There was much in his teaching, but still 
 more in his example. 
 
256 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 We will bless thee, our Father, for as much of truth 
 and wisdom as we have been enabled to utter this 
 evening. For the glories of thy divine presence, and 
 for all the blessings of love and peace which thou hast 
 bestowed upon thy children ; and as they return to their 
 earthly homes and gather around the family altar, may 
 they feel that thy divine spirit is there. That wherever 
 they may be thy spirit is prompting them to goodness 
 and morality, not alone in the religious sanctuaries 
 where men worship, but at every time, in every place, 
 thou callest upon them to praise thee in good actions 
 and loving words. And to thee, God of morality and of 
 religion, shall be all praises for ever and ever. . Amen. 
 
DISCOUKSE XV. 
 
 DELIVERED IN STUYVESANT INSTITUTE, NEW YORK, JANUARY 20, 1858. 
 
 SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATIONS.* 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Father ! Spirit of all spirits, and soul of 
 all souls ! We would worship and praise thee ; and all 
 our thoughts afid feelings would be closely connected 
 with thine. We would aspire to understand the great 
 mysteries of thy creation, all knowledge, and all truth, 
 and all love, that we may more perfectly comprehend 
 our own existence and thee. Men have called thee great, 
 and good, and wise, and perfect, but thou knowest this ; 
 we do not approach thee to tell thee of thy goodness 
 and knowledge, or the many blessings we receive. We 
 only ask of thee those favors which thy infinite wisdom 
 seeth we need. We only aspire to know those things 
 which thou mayst permit us to know. And we do not 
 tell thee that thou art wise, and good, and great, for 
 thou knowest and feelest this. Our spirits can only 
 respond to thine ; our souls can only throb in sympathy 
 with thine ; our voices can be raised in expressions of 
 the harmony and truth that we receive from thee. 
 Thine is the great creative and controlling power, thine 
 
 * Subject selected by the audience. 
 
258 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 the life, thine the existence and being. We inhale thy 
 atmosphere ; we breathe the perfumes of thine own 
 breath ; we feel the pulsations of thine own being. 
 Thou art in us ; we are in thee. Thou art infinite, and 
 we are finite. We praise thee, not because thou re- 
 quirest it, but because our souls would chant their songs 
 as do the wild- wood birds ; our spirits would yield forth 
 the emanations of praise, as does the perfume emanate 
 from the flower. And as the flowing streamlet joyously 
 dances down the mountain-side, to finally mingle its 
 waters with the mighty ocean, so would our soul, in 
 mirth and delight, glide on toward thee, knowing that 
 thy munificence is limited only by our capability of 
 receiving. 
 
 And, God ! we would not ask of tl^ee to bless any 
 institution, to bless or sanctify anything which does not, 
 in its highest and truest bearing, assist thy children 
 to perfect themselves. We know that earthquakes 
 convulse our globe, nations tremble, and thrones tum- 
 ble down, and palaces decay, and all that atoms, and 
 worlds, and men may perfect the beauty of their exist- 
 ence. Men come into existence, and fade away ; not 
 because death is a monster, not because they have com- 
 mitted sin, but because decay and revivified life is the 
 order of thy universe. Oh, we ask thee not to cast 
 death from us ; but rather let it be named the angel of 
 light, and let change be substituted, that the soul may 
 feel the standard of life, feel that being can never pass 
 away, that existence, and thought, and beauty, must for 
 ever tremble along all the harp-strings of immensity, 
 as do the undulations go from shore to shore, and the' 
 echo from mountain to mountain. 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 259 
 
 - Our Father, we seek to know, and adore, and bless 
 thee in thy perfection. We ask for thy knowledge, for 
 thy goodness, for thy purity and power. We ask that 
 thy children may breathe the same atmosphere, that 
 they may inhale the same breath of life, that they may 
 feel the same tremblings of aspiration and hope, that 
 the same life and buoyancy may prompt them ever 
 onward, to higher and holier aims, that worlds, and 
 suns, and systems, may be linked together by the one 
 great spirit of mind, and power, and thought, which 
 belongs to thee ; until there shall be no time, and no 
 space, but all shall be thine own infinite existence. 
 
 And though the tear-drop may fall, and the removing 
 of our friends to a higher clime cause the heart to 
 bleed, though, many may murmur in despair, and though 
 the orphan and widow still send up the cry of anguish, 
 though men oppress each other, we know that thou art 
 still our Father, our great and ever-living heart, who 
 will convert every tear into a pearl, and place it in the 
 coronet to be worn upon the brow of the sufferer, and 
 who has in store the beatific beauties of thy eternal 
 home. And to thee, Father, shall be all thoughts of 
 truth, and light, and glory, for ever and for ever. 
 
260 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 " Why are the communications of the spirits so vague, and conveyed 
 in so mysterious a manner as to leave doubts on the mind of their being 
 genuine V 
 
 The subject presented to-night is so vague in its 
 nature, so indistinct, that, most probably, our answer 
 will be vague. When Galileo was called before the 
 courts, to demonstrate the principles upon which he 
 based the foundation of his theory, that the earth was 
 round, and revolved upon an axis, he failed to give that 
 tangible evidence which was necessary to produce con- 
 viction in the minds of those who possessed no knowl- 
 edge upon the subject, and who were governed only by 
 their prejudice and ignorance ; but still the world 
 moved on. No court could change it, no legal or ec- 
 clesiastical tribunal could stop it in its diurnal motion. 
 He knew that the earth revolved. 
 
 The science, for such we call it, of Spiritualism, is 
 something in the same stage of infancy as was the 
 theory of the world's moving, at the time when Galileo 
 conceived his thought; is in the same condition as 
 was the theory of steam, when Fulton first constructed 
 what he believed to be a perfect engine ; something in 
 the same condition as electricity, when Franklin made 
 his first experiments ; something in the same condition 
 that magnetism, psychology, geology, and chemistry, 
 were, in their first and earliest development. And in 
 reading the history of your country, it must be per- 
 ceived that no new science has been, or can be, demon- 
 strated and perfected in an hour. No theory of reli- 
 gion, no form of worship, not even the monuments of 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 261 
 
 art, have sprung up in a day, or in a century. Gradual 
 has been the perfect attainment of their hope. Thus 
 things work slowly but surely. 
 
 No intelligent mind present will pretend to doubt the 
 manifestations termed " modern Spiritualism ;" and yet 
 there are no spiritualists, however well-versed in this 
 science or religion which demands their attention, 
 who can explain to you, or who could, in any court of 
 justice, answer satisfactorily the questions put to them. 
 Probably, if any spiritualist should be examined before 
 any of your legal tribunals, they would fail to demon- 
 strate the principles upon which their faith is founded. 
 Why ? Because they do not understand the science of 
 Spiritualism, and the court is not in a receptive condi- 
 tion for these truths, and the proofs upon which they 
 base the foundation of their belief. They take the 
 testimony of their senses. " But," says the legal pro- 
 fessor, " your senses may be at fault." They swear they 
 saw a table move, but the legal professor says : " You 
 may have been psychologized." They can not swear 
 they were not, and therefore, it may be, that they were 
 deceived. Thus it might be demonstrated, by analogi- 
 cal reasoning, that absolutely there are no such mani- 
 festations. Modern Spiritualism is based on a belief 
 of communication with departed spirits. 
 
 Nothing that you can explain satisfactorily will show 
 the manner in which the communications are made. 
 Consequently, they say that Spiritualism does not exist. 
 There has been a recent attempt made, by some wag who 
 supposed he could impose upon the public credulity, or 
 by some person who really believed what he said was 
 true, to prove that Napoleon was not Napoleon. Now 
 
262 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 no person living can swear that the present emperor of 
 the French empire is the legal heir to the throne of 
 France. Yet everybody believes that he is. There is 
 no person living, who has not seen Napoleon the Great, 
 who could swear that he lived and did what it is said of 
 him. Under the laws of psychology, and according to 
 the rules of strict legal examination, we could not prove 
 there was ever any such person, but everybody believes 
 it, because time has sanctified it, and we rely on human 
 testimony. 
 
 If we turn to the history of Rome and Athens, the 
 Grecian and Roman philosophers beam up before us, in 
 majesty and power, in contrast with their contemporaries. 
 Yet you can not prove that they existed only in the 
 imagination ; but ages have sanctified them, and tem- 
 ples have' been dedicated to their fame. The world is 
 builded upon a fabrication, if they did not exist. But, at 
 the present time, men even doubt their own senses, and 
 yet they do not doubt the authority of Biblical writers, 
 although they can not know whether they are truthful 
 or otherwise. But the statements of ancient writers 
 are the very platform, religiously, upon which society 
 exists. Men will take the testimony of religious wri- 
 tings without question ; but if any of their friends tell 
 them they have seen a table move, have heard sounds 
 produced by no visible cause, have heard sweet music 
 produced upon an instrument without human hands, or 
 have even seen a medium in a trance-state, they say: 
 " You must have been psychologized ; it can not be 
 possible ; your senses have deceived you." And yet 
 you have builded the very foundation of your society 
 upon human testimony. 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 263 
 
 Spiritualism, in its present, modern phase, is, most 
 certainly, a new science. The principles are no more 
 new than were the principles of steam, or of astronomy, 
 or of electricity, or of geology, but simply a newer 
 manifestation of them. As poesy, as melody, have 
 always existed, so have the principles of spiritual com- 
 munication. If you doubt the testimony of your senses, 
 you have only to recur to something still more tangible, 
 belonging more really to your thoughts and intuitions. 
 
 Aside from these, man has no positive knowledge. 
 Human testimony may be at fault ; historians may dis- 
 agree. You may have no dates or names which will 
 enable you to establish any fact, but living principles 
 dwell within the souls of all men alike, and will alike 
 beam forth in every age, when histories and monuments 
 have all passed away. Indeed, unless there is*some prin- 
 ciple, some intuitive thought in the mind, that tells 
 men of spiritual life, communications by rapping or 
 tipping, or by speaking in the most eloquent man- 
 ner through trance-speakers, will not convince them. 
 Why ? Because to them the soul would be dead. As 
 the idiot can not comprehend philosophy, so the purely 
 and wholly material man can not understand spiritual 
 intercourse. He may witness the facts, and be con- 
 vinced of the phenomena but to him it is a folly, a 
 waste of time, for he has so little spiritual life as to 
 have no appreciation of its worth. If intellect were to 
 judge alone, intellect would at once say : " My friends, 
 you are psychologized ;" although they do not pretend 
 to affirm what psychology is. Psychology is a word 
 they always put in to prove, that something which they 
 do not exactly understand, is true or false. 
 
264 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 If men must take the testimony of their senses, which 
 are denominated sight, hearing, taste, smell, and feeling, 
 then modern Spiritualism is true. Why? Men have 
 seen physical objects moved without any human agency, 
 without any application of electric currents, without 
 even the application of human fingers. Men have heard 
 sounds without any mechanical agency to produce them. 
 These, sounds convey intelligence, and express thoughts 
 and feelings, and form words into sentences and sentences 
 into paragraphs, until they swell into volumes. 
 
 Men of pretension to science will tell you that these 
 manifestations are caused by " od-force," or electricity, 
 or some unconscious action of the back brain, or some 
 involuntary exertion of mesmeric power. But if you 
 are seated at the table, even though this cold, scientific 
 man is looking at you, if you run a pencil along the 
 alphabet, and those sounds spell out the name of your 
 departed child, the tears come in your eyes, the manly 
 bosom heaves ; there is something there which tells you, 
 " Father, mother, I am here." No philosopher, no ex- 
 ternal reasoner, can prove to you that that child is not 
 present. It is a feeling of the soul; it is not the sense 
 of hearing, or of sight, but a trembling, intuitive, posi- 
 tive testimony, which comes home to every heart, and 
 which, aside from the manifestations of modern Spir- 
 itualism, might not be produced. 
 
 The question is asked : " Why are the communications 
 of the spirits so vague, and conveyed in so mysterious a 
 manner as to leave doubts, on the mind, of their being 
 genuine ?" First, if modern spiritualism be true, and 
 if there is a principle by which those in the spirit-world 
 can communicate with persons on the earth, it is con- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 265 
 
 trolled by a fixed and positive law ; that law as certain 
 when applied correctly, and as uncertain when applied 
 incorrectly, as is telegraphic communication between 
 New York and Washington. If a man along any por- 
 tion of the route cut the wire, your telegraphic message 
 will stop at that point ; or, if there is any fault in the 
 operator, your message will be sent incorrectly. It is 
 the same in communications between this and the spirit 
 world. There are lines of thought and feeling ; minds, 
 and tables, and chairs, are but the wires which they use 
 to convey their thoughts. You are at one end of that 
 telegraphic chain, your spirit-friend at the other. If 
 there is no intervening influence, the message will be 
 conveyed ; if, in any way, the line of communication is 
 disturbed, the message will be incorrectly given. You 
 call it a lie, and give up Spiritualism. But there are 
 sufficient communications that do come correct, to prove, 
 to any candid mind, that this spiritual communication 
 is an absolute science ; and no man of reason or judg- 
 ment, if there were, in a hundred cases, one that was 
 correct, or one out of every ten, would pretend to say 
 that the other nine proved that it was not a science. 
 It is the natural order of a new science to make mis- 
 takes ; this is true of the infancy of all sciences. But 
 if, in the tenth time of trying, you succeed, it demon- 
 strates the principle, and ten thousand failures can not 
 disprove it. And if nine out of every ten mediums give 
 you false communications, and the tenth one gives you 
 a correct one, that proves the principle. If nine out of 
 every ten spirits lie to you, that only proves that those 
 passing from the earth retain something of their earthly 
 character. 
 
 12 
 
266 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 There are two conditions essential for correct com- 
 munications, either between mind and mind within the 
 form or mind and mind out of the form. One is, that 
 the thought of the individual who communicates should 
 be distinctly fixed upon what he desires to communi- 
 cate. The other is, that he should have a proper means 
 of conveying that communication. For instance, you 
 may be sitting here together, and unless you fix your 
 mind upon what you desire to convey to your friends — 
 unless your mind conveys thought to your brain, and the 
 brain acts upon the nerves, and the nerves influence the 
 organs of speech — you can not give your friend a com- 
 munication, though you are sitting close to him. And 
 if you are at a distance, you may think of your friend ; 
 but the law of mind is not sufficiently unfolded to ena- 
 ble him to realize it, or to know what is the nature of 
 your thoughts. You have to take pen, ink, and paper, 
 or you have to go to the telegraph-office, or send him a 
 newspaper, to tell him that you are still alive. That is 
 the means of communication. 
 
 The third and most essential of all the points is, that 
 your friend receives your communication. If, by any 
 possibility, the mail is broken into by a mail-robber, or 
 the steamer burns up, or the telegraph-wire is cut, your 
 communication does not reach him. Consequently, he 
 may say that you are dead, or your friendship is dead, 
 or you have neglected him — not because your commu- 
 nications were not given, but because the means of com- 
 munication are fallible. 
 
 Just so with spirits. They may be sitting near you 
 now — your father, mother, husband, or wife, or child, 
 may be close beside you, their souls almost throbbing 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 267 
 
 with your own. Yet there is no chain, no medium, no 
 telegraph there. The doors of your external senses 
 shut them out. They may knock at the doors of your 
 mind ; you do not receive them. You cry, " Humbug ! 
 psychology ! mesmerism !" Your friend remains in si- 
 lence. Again, your spirit-friend may even endeavor to 
 communicate with your mind, without using any such 
 outward means, in a beautiful thought or feeling. But 
 the physical form may be an obstruction to the correct 
 transmission of the communication, in the present imper- 
 fect state of the science. 
 
 Out of all the spirits that are accused of lying, proba- 
 bly not one in a hundred does so intentionally. Every- 
 thing is called a lie which does not precisely, in all its 
 points, bear the criticism of those who investigate it. 
 What we call a lie is that which is given with the in- 
 tention of deceiving. Something given in ignorance is 
 not really a lie. For instance, a man may state, in all 
 sincerity, that the moon is green. Now, probably there 
 is something which causes that man to see the moon in 
 that color. You all say that he is mistaken, you call it 
 a lie, a falsity, a deception ; it is real to him. Now, 
 spirits, employing mediums whose brain is not wholly 
 under their control, are liable to tell you that white 
 things are green, that something occurred which you 
 know did not : but that does not prove that it is not a 
 spirit ; it does not even prove that it is not your spirit- 
 friend who professes to communicate ; it only proves 
 that they have not perfect control of the medium. 
 
 Again, your own mind may not be prepared to receive 
 the communication. It requires just as much skill at 
 the other end of the telegraphic chain as at this, to take 
 
268 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 down correctly the message sent there ; and it requires 
 just as much intellect as in the one who sends it. And 
 probably those of you who investigate Spiritualism in 
 any of these forms, and do so with the intention of de- 
 tecting some imposition, of proving that they are hum- 
 bugs, will get humbugged yourselves. The human mind 
 has, in its own construction, such a way of giving back 
 what it reads in the minds of others. For instance, 
 persons who are not strictly honest in business are very 
 liable to talk much of the dishonesty and deception of 
 others. Men of business consider it but a common thing 
 when a man lies to them, and lies again to conceal his 
 falsity. Probably they will falsify back again. And 
 these falsities are so common in the business-world, that 
 no man is considered a smart man unless he can tell his 
 own round of falsities — not great lies, but little misrep- 
 resentations, which, when summed up, amount to a gen- 
 eral perversion of the truth — bending that which should 
 be straight and upright, at last, into a circle, so gradu- 
 ally, that you do not perceive it. But when you come 
 to traverse it, you find that, instead of a straight line of 
 business, you have followed a curved one. 
 
 Again, as we say, Spiritualism, as a science, is new. 
 Its means of communication are imperfect. There is no 
 medium, no power, no principle, existing upon the earth, 
 that can give, correctly and positively, communications 
 from all spirits. Each medium who is influenced has a 
 special class and character of spiritual influences. When 
 they undertake to go oft their own ground, they fail to 
 give satisfaction. Consequently, Spiritualism is declared 
 to be an imposition. 
 
 But if you would view it as a religious science — not 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 269 
 
 as revealed in these forms of manifestation through oth- 
 ers, but to your own spirits — you would find that the 
 holiest and purest communion is that which your own 
 souls can hold with these invisible presences. There is 
 no mind however depraved, no soul however unenlight- 
 ened, that has not, during some period of its earthly 
 existence, felt the presence of these beings ; whose moth- 
 er's voice, whose sister's tear, or father's warning, has 
 not occurred to them in a dream, in a premonition, or 
 a forewarning. Who of you has not thus had sufficient 
 evidence to convince you of a separate influence from 
 your own conscious existence. 
 
 The time is not far distant, when raps, tippings, 
 writings, and even trance-speaking, or any extraordi- 
 nary manifestations, will all pass away, and man in the 
 external image of his own divinity will see, and hear, 
 and feel the presence of the angel-world all around him, 
 and your own souls shall not require your external vis- 
 ion, or external feeling, or any of the external senses, 
 to prove to you that spirits and angels are really here. 
 They shall come to you in the stilly night, with soft and 
 pleasant voices. They shall sing to you the songs of 
 perfect love and peace ;■ and no man will have a doubt. 
 This is our prophecy. How is it to be done ? By a 
 gradual and almost imperceptible growth into a more 
 spiritual condition ; and, as it is reaching its culminating 
 point, the time may not be as far distant as most people 
 may imagine. Spirituality is far more rapidly growing 
 upon the inhabitants of earth than in any former period 
 of man's history. The slow steps of a world, for ever 
 slow in acknowledging the truth, shall accomplish more 
 in the next fifty years than it has done in the last thou- 
 
270 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 sand. Yet it will be slow, for it must come step by 
 step, like the wheels of some majestic chariot ; the more 
 majestic and grand, the more slow and solemn shall be 
 its approach. It shall not come to you at once, with an 
 overwhelming power, like the day of pentecost, or like 
 the mighty avalanche which at once buries all opposing, 
 obstacles ; but softly, gently, gradually, like the approach 
 of a genial summer after a dreary winter, when day by 
 day the buds and blossoms put forth, and ere long you 
 reap the fruition of the golden harvest ; or, like the 
 quiet repose of slumber, when you sleep you shall not 
 know how you came to sleep. 
 
 We do not suppose that there is any material or exter- 
 nal science which can demonstrate modern Spiritualism. 
 Chemistry and geology fail. Mesmerism, psychology, and 
 clairvoyance, are in themselves so mysterious, that we 
 can not use them for the explanation of another mys- 
 tery. Ask any man who pretends to believe in mesmer- 
 ism, who is a professor of that science, if he can demon- 
 strate to you what it is. He can not do it ; nor can 
 psychology or clairvoyance be explained. They all 
 pertain to mind ; they are of those mysterious things 
 which belong to the science of mind ; and no system of 
 mental philosophy can explain it to you. Mental phi- 
 losophers treat of the facts when they should explain 
 the principles. Those who treat of a man's life, treat 
 simply of what he did, how much he ate and drank, and 
 what he said, and never of what he thought. No biog- 
 rapher can tell you what the man thought — the thought 
 of Washington, or Napoleon, or Webster, or any great 
 statesman or warrior that has lived. No one knows 
 what they thought ; you only record their actions, their 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 271 
 
 deeds, their external, physical manifestations, which many- 
 times are as much at variance with the real thoughts of 
 the person as is night with the light of morning. 
 
 Spirits can not communicate to you positively, and 
 beyond the power of contradiction. There is no such 
 thing as having anything beyond the power of contra- 
 diction, and especially if that thing be a new one, and 
 unsanctified by church and state ; if the whole world is 
 warring against it ; especially if it interferes with reli- 
 gious creeds and prejudices, something which shall de- 
 stroy old institutions. You know that mankind have great 
 affection for old institutions ; it is natural to us all. We 
 all revere aged men, not so much for what they are — 
 though they may be great even in their second child- 
 hood — but we remember what they were : they are still 
 kind, still gentle, and will presently pass away. It is a 
 reverence for past greatness and for feebleness. Now, 
 this is so with institutions. Men nourish and cherish 
 them as long as they can, until at last they are obliged 
 to give them up. There may be no positive standard 
 of thought or demonstration, by which any and every 
 person may ascertain if Spiritualism is true. The wri- 
 tings of Andrew Jackson Davis, Professor Hare, and 
 Judge Edmonds, being among the most prominent spir- 
 itual works, are said to be standard works among spiritu- 
 alists. They are not so. Spiritualism has no standard 
 works. Davis, Edmonds, and Hare, relate their own expe- 
 rience. But no two spiritualists can possibly have pre- 
 cisely the same experience ; it is as varied as is their exist- 
 ence. Your spiritual communications are not like Pro- 
 fessor Hare's ; your friend, through whom you have re- 
 ceived the demonstration, may not be like his. Conse- 
 
272 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 quently, you may not possibly demonstrate it as he has 
 done. You can only investigate Spiritualism in your 
 own way, and arrive at such conclusions as your own 
 reason and judgment shall dictate, and solve that which 
 is mysterious, only by a gradual and successive chain of 
 thought, just as any scientific principles are reasoned 
 out, just as any propositions in mathematics, in chemis- 
 try, in geology, are demonstrated ; it must be done by 
 a slow process of education, of investigation, of intui- 
 tion, embodied in an expression of external forms. 
 
 Ten years have not passed since the first manifesta- 
 tions from the spiritual world, in the tiny raps, in a 
 " haunted house" near Rochester. Yet that time has 
 given to those raps a greater reverberation than the 
 thunderings of a world's artillery. They vibrate more 
 or less along the lyre-strings of every heart. Men, 
 women, and children, hear it, even on the mountain- 
 peaks and in the valleys, in their own quiet homes, 
 where no deception could be practised upon them. Not 
 only in Rochester, not only in the United States, but in 
 Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa, are these 
 sounds heard. It comes not like a destructive tornado ; 
 not like the earthquake, that requires no demonstration 
 to prove its existence ; but like the faint breath of twi- 
 light, like the parting hour of day. No one can tell 
 when night passes away and day begins, yet the day 
 dawns. No one can tell when Spiritualism first com- 
 menced, or when it will reach the perfection of its power 
 and beauty ; but it is creeping upon you like the day- 
 dawn of morning, gradually and slowly, but surely. 
 You see but one ray, a feeble ray of light ; but soon an- 
 other and another is seen : and you wonder why does 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 273 
 
 not the fullness, of its splendor beam in upon you at 
 once ; why the open window does not at once reveal the 
 breathings of that spiritual life ; why the curtain is not 
 at once thrown down, that you may stand face to face 
 with those you have loved and lost. If in the midnight 
 hour the. sun should suddenly appear, beaming with its 
 full radiance, its brightness would dazzle your vision. 
 It waits until the dawn has prepared us for the splendor 
 of the daylight, else the senses could not bear it. 
 
 The morning of spiritual light is dawning, and its 
 perfect splendor shall soon beam in upon you in all its 
 meridian glory and beauty. It is bursting upon you 
 quite as fast as you can receive and comprehend it, and 
 but comparatively few are yet prepared to receive its 
 present truths ; their mental vision becomes dazzled and 
 bewildered by the brilliancy of its manifestations, and 
 they stumble upon every absurd hypothesis, believing 
 they have found the explanation for what they do not 
 comprehend. But ere long they will see the folly of 
 their wisdom, the absurdity of their prejudice, and will 
 then wonder that they could bear so little light. But 
 the order of Nature is first babyhood, then youth, and 
 after that mature years. 
 
 12* 
 
DISCOURSE XVI 
 
 DELIVERED IN TEE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE, DECEMBER 27, 1857. 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! as the bright beams of the ever- 
 lasting sunlight pour through the open windows of yon- 
 der heavens, and the earth, sparkling with the diamond 
 hues of its wintry garment, seems like the Madonna, 
 slumbering quietly in repose, so would our souls reflect 
 back the sunlight of perfect truth; and the Madonna 
 of perfect peace within our beings, slumbering there 
 quietly, would whisper of thy eternal love. 
 
 thou eternal One, we bless thee for the morning, for 
 its glory and brightness, and for the redolence of all 
 things which thou hast fashioned and made. And al- 
 though the flowers are covered with an icy garment, 
 and all the trees give back no perfume ; although there 
 is no echo playing among the leaves, still we know that 
 the spring-time will bring forth the perfectness and 
 beauty of earth's verdure. So the souls of thy children 
 are covered with an icy garment of despair ; but when 
 the spring-time comes to the spirit, it puts forth its 
 petals, and the light beams in, and causes it to blossom 
 and give forth the full fragrance of its life and beauty. 
 
 We bless thee, not ajone for the sabbath, nor yet for 
 
RELIGIOUS. 275 
 
 any blessings which thou hast bestowed upon thy chil- 
 dren, nor yet for the favors conferred on any country, 
 nor yet for the glories of all nations combined in 
 splendor, but for the beautiful and true which consti- 
 tute a part of thy nature, and which are thyself and 
 thyself alone. We bless thee that the soul of man, 
 fraught with the divine eloquence of thy being, and in 
 its original effulgence beaming forth brightly, soars 
 above all external strife and contention. We bless thee 
 not so much for the glory and prosperity of nations, or 
 for earthly riches and aggrandizement, as for those deep- 
 er and more important .treasures of the soul which shall 
 bloom in eternal beauty, and shall be the enduring riches 
 of thy children. 
 
 Our Father, we bless thee for that day which has just 
 gone by, when all Christian nations join in celebrating 
 the birth of One who lived a life of purity and became 
 our example ; who demonstrated to us the power of 
 truth over error, love over hatred, and good over evil. 
 We feel that these days should be celebrated with songs 
 and rejoicing, and anthems of delight should well up 
 from every heart, and echo and re-echo through all the 
 aisles and corridors of our souls ; and each returning 
 anniversary of the birth of the meek and holy One be 
 the dawning of a newer Christ and a more perfect prin- 
 ciple of peace, where all thy children shall worship at the 
 shrine of divine beauty, pure love, and holy adoration. 
 
 our Father ! we ask thee not to inspire us espe- 
 cially on this occasion ; we only ask that prayer, in its 
 fullest and truest sense, may arise from the altars of 
 thy children's hearts, like the perfumes from the flow- 
 ers, or like sunshine when no clouds intervene; and 
 
276 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 that the throbbings and beatings of thy children's be- 
 ings may be fraught with the divine elements and power, 
 silent yet potent with the influence of thy love. And 
 thus we would ask thee to bless us and all thy children, 
 not with special providences, but with true conceptions 
 of thy goodness and power. 
 
 We would bless thee beyond all blessing, and praise 
 thee beyond all praises, as thou art the Infinite Jeho- 
 vah. We bless thee for what we deem to be that good- 
 ness and power which is thine own, and because, in the 
 blessings of our spirits, we realize that there is a depth 
 which answers to the depth of thine own being, and 
 calls itself thine. Thus to thee shall be all praise, for 
 ever and for ever. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 We propose to address you, this morning, upon the 
 day that has just gone by— Christmas, its origin, its 
 suggestions, its objects, its beauty, and thus discuss, 
 probably in the fullest extent of meaning, the Christ- 
 principle of all nations and all worlds. 
 
 The whole Christian world heralded in the 25th of 
 December as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus. 
 Whether tradition is correct in calling it that day, it 
 matters not to us. It is only that men suppose it to be 
 so, and it inspires them with praise, with divine pur- 
 poses, objects, ambitions, and aims ; lofty purposes that 
 carry them far above the dull routine of daily life. 
 Holydays like that should come oftener than once in a 
 year. 
 
RELIGIOUS. 277 
 
 Caristmas was named after Jesus the Christ, or Jesus 
 the Truth-teller, who walked the earth nearly nineteen 
 centuries since — Christ signifying truthfulness, and mass 
 was taken from the catholic church, as they distributed 
 mass on that day : thus we have " Christmas." Its origin 
 was in the Romish church, and that day was not cele- 
 brated until about or after the time of Constantine, from 
 the fact that the Christian church was not fully organ- 
 ized, as a system of religion. There was no organiza- 
 tion, no church, no episcopacy — there were no popes, 
 cardinals, nor priests, previous to that time, in the new 
 dispensation or order of things. True, these nations 
 had their rites and ceremonies : and they believed in 
 inspired writings and speaking ; but there was no her- 
 alder of the life of Jesus the Christ. 
 
 Who was he ? He was but a meek and lowly Naza- 
 rene ; and, until several hundred years after his death 
 and that of his twelve disciples, he was not generally 
 recognised as the founder of any new system of religion. 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, did not write the four 
 books which contain the history of his life and death. 
 True, the first three books contain much more of truthful- 
 ness and may be more relied upon than the last, which is 
 positively known to have been written fifteen years after 
 the death of the apostle said to have been its author. 
 Consequently, the history we have of Jesus is theolo- 
 gically very imperfect. The history we have of him 
 personally is much more so, from the fact that, owing 
 to the simplicity and purity of his life and habits, they 
 made very little stir till after his death. It is supposed 
 by many students who have studied long and earnestly 
 the history of theology in all nations, that Jesus was 
 
278 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 the only true and perfect embodiment of divinity in 
 man ; and thus they concentrate all their researches and 
 investigations to that one point, without considering 
 that, as researches differ, so must all expression and 
 feeling vary. Consequently, there must be great dis- 
 crepancy. And as they who wrote the account of the 
 life of Jesus were obliged to depend upon tradition, we 
 can have nothing more reliable than tradition, and that 
 contains the same degree of fallibility as the legends of 
 your parents, which they supposed to be founded upon 
 supernatural events. Therefore, it was very difficult for 
 them to ascertain his precise language, or the exact 
 meaning of his teachings. How could they ? 
 
 " Oh," says the theological student, " they were in- 
 spired." So they were, with the beauty, with the 
 thought of the truthfulness of his expression ; but cer- 
 tainly not inspired with the precise language or method 
 of expression. Consequently, when there are attributed 
 to Jesus sayings which do not correspond with the gen- 
 eral tenor of his life, we can not accept them as being 
 from him. Where there are attributed to him the mani- 
 festations of passions, of malice and vengeance, when he 
 drives men from their temples with blows, is it the meek 
 and lowly Jesus, the humble Nazarene ? Oh, no ! 
 
 Inspiration must partake of the medium through which 
 it comes ; and, however pure may be the fountain, the 
 stream is always polluted with the filth along its shores. 
 Thus, as the beauty and perfection of Jesus' life floated 
 down the stream of Time, much of the mire and filth of 
 tradition has been included with it from the minds of 
 his impure advocates. 
 
 Prophets and seers had spoken of the Christ who was 
 
RELIGIOUS. 279 
 
 to come, and who was to be called " Jesus," because he 
 was to save the people from their sins. Translators 
 have rendered it " Jesus Christ," as though the last 
 was a part of his name, whereas it was only a title given 
 to his office ; and, as we would speak of Webster the 
 statesman, Everett the orator, or Herschel the astrono- 
 mer, so we would say Jesus the Christ. It is not a 
 name, but simply an appellation given him from the fact 
 that it was discovered that he was a Christ, or Truth- 
 teller. The ancient prophets had heralded his com- 
 ing, although but few if any had any true conceptions of 
 the manner in which he was to appear, or the office he 
 was to fill in a moral or religious point of view. There- 
 fore, the Old Testament we consider to be simply a his- 
 tory of a nation which has a bearing upon the life, not 
 alone of Jesus, but upon the dawning of that Christ-era 
 which was embodied in him, not as a person, but as a 
 principle, as a Christ. 
 
 When men hand down to you traditions of the per- 
 sonal life and character of Jesus, you forget the truth 
 in worshipping the man, forget his life while you fall 
 before his cross, forget his divine inspiration while you 
 worship the form of expression. This is too often the 
 case, and in doing this you place him above the princi- 
 ples, the man above the doctrines which he inculcates. 
 
 Such is the case with the Romish church, which has em- 
 bodied all the vagaries and ceremonies in its ritual, until 
 these have gained the ascendency, and now that church 
 is a brilliant assemblage of all the forms of beauty ; but, 
 alas ! where is the true spirit of Christ ? The popes and 
 bishops, those who bow before the images of the Virgin 
 and the saints, have wandered far away from M^-^ 
 
280 DISCOUESES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Calvary, where that spirit breathed forth in its deepest 
 feeling, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do ;" but not far away from the sepulchre where 
 the lifeless form reposed. Why ? Because the pictured 
 forms of Mary and Jesus, and of all the long line of 
 saints, are arranged around in the aisles and corridors of 
 those vast temples, and are worshipped ; but the life, and 
 beauty, and spirit of Christ, can not dwell where there 
 is a coldness, and a death, and a deep, sepulchral gloom 
 — the spirit has left the external form. You might as 
 well hug to your bosom the lifeless form of your friend, 
 and forget that though the earthly body may be cold 
 and give back no response to your look of love, the 
 spirit may be living joyously and purely in heaven. 
 
 Constantine, in giving his voice in favor of Chris- 
 tianity, embodied in it all the errors of his bloody 
 reign. It partakes largely of his spirit, and thus Chris- 
 tianity has not only lost the characteristics and spirit 
 of its founder, but has become the mere instrument for the 
 worldly aggrandizement of base and unprincipled per- 
 sons. The livery of heaven becomes the mantle, not to 
 remedy but to hide their own deformity. The murderer 
 takes the place of the murdered ; the form is substituted 
 for the spirit ; and thus you have not the soul or spirit 
 of Christianity, but simply the form of its murdered 
 victim. 
 
 The Christ-principle, flowing through such a channel, 
 would as naturally become polluted with the religious 
 views of those who became its advocates, but whose mor- 
 al sense was not sufficiently unfolded to have any just ap- 
 preciation of its doctrines, as would the stream partake 
 of the nature of the soil and minerals through which it 
 
RELIGIOUS. 281 
 
 passes. The doctrines of Jesus were a fountain of pure 
 water, which was said to spring up into everlasting life, 
 and of which if we drank we should never thirst. But 
 it has become polluted ; the serpent which has long 
 dwelt within the bosom of the church has saturated this 
 once pure fountain with its venomous slime, until it pre- 
 sents to the impartial beholder a disgusting pool which 
 is inhabited only by those reptiles which prey upon each 
 other. 
 
 The twenty-fifth of December has been fixed upon as 
 the day when Mary the mother of Jesus first cradled her 
 infant son in the manger. The day or season of the 
 year of his birth, although it has long been a matter of 
 dispute in the religious world, we regard as being of 
 but little importance. We thank all who have had any 
 hand in establishing a day as the anniversary of the 
 birth of so divine a personage. It not only brings to 
 our memory the past and its sorrows, but by its estab- 
 lishment it adds one more to those holydays which 
 should be much more frequent, and which produce a re- 
 laxation from care and toil ; and, though it may be 
 spent in joyfulness and glee, it is not incompatible with 
 the religious element in man. If Jesus has suffered for 
 righteousness' sake, it should become an example to you 
 to meekly bear whatever wrongs may be heaped upon 
 you, and that you should forbear severity to others. 
 
 Eemember that he suffered, not that he had done ill, 
 but because the purity of his life and doctrines was such 
 as but few could comprehend ; the harmony of his life 
 was in advance of the powers of appreciation of those 
 in the age in which he lived, and what they should have 
 loved they hated ; and it is not less so in the eighteen 
 
282 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 hundred and fifty-eighth anniversary of his birthday. 
 Pride of the acknowledgment of his name has taken the 
 place of disgrace ; popularity has obliterated the igno- 
 miny once attached to his name, and now the cross is 
 ostentatiously worn by you as a sacred symbol of his 
 sufferings. But yet you love the applause attached to 
 the beauty of his life and his heroic death far more than 
 the person. Were he again to communicate through 
 the organism of one of the earthly mediums, how few 
 there are who would either love or appreciate his doc- 
 trines ! 
 
 The catholic church have kept this day with more 
 religious reverence than any other religious denomina- 
 tion. And no one can justly find fault with the true 
 devotional feelings which they have ever manifested in 
 their reverence for its sacredness. We are glad that it 
 is becoming more general, and hope that all of you will 
 imitate the Romish church in this respect, while you 
 avoid or lay aside their imperfections. 
 
 The celebration of Christmas day is one which all 
 men look back to with feelings of divine emotion. 
 Those who never experienced any thought of religion 
 before, when Christmas day comes, it sheds its holyday 
 spirit of religion upon them. Jesus, with his spirit of 
 divine perfectness and purity, is with them. They know 
 not his presence, but they feel that spirit of quietude, 
 and they are hushed into prayerfulness. 
 
 Have you ever thought, as you walk the crowded 
 streets of your cities, that Christmas might come more 
 than once a year ; that the souls of all men might be 
 shut from the turmoil and strife of every-day life ; that 
 the Christ-principle might beam in upon you every day 
 
RELIGIOUS. 283 
 
 in the year, and thus each day become a Christmas- 
 time, that not alone in the birth of Jesus was a harbin- 
 ger of the Christ-principle, but in every day of the 
 year ? When a new-born child opens its eyes to the 
 light of heaven, is there not a Christ there — something 
 of that Christ-principle? — perhaps not as much as in 
 Jesus, but surely to every child that opens its eyes to 
 the morning light, and reposes in its mother's arms, be- 
 longs something of this Christ-principle. Then to ev- 
 ery mother's heart come the throbbings of Mary's own 
 bosom, and perhaps she may feel that Christ is with her 
 there. And when you celebrate the birth of your dar- 
 ling child, it may be a Christmas-time as much as when 
 you celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ. Who knows 
 that even to-day are not born those who shall yield the 
 fullness of the Christ-principle as pure and perfect as 
 that of Jesus, not embodied in one form, but diffused 
 throughout the world — that it may not thus become 
 the Christmas-time of all ages ? 
 
 When the Romish followers decorate their churches 
 with evergreens, when all the candles are burning upon 
 the incense-altars, when gifts are brought there at the 
 shrine, and those devout worshippers come to bow be- 
 fore that shrine, is there not a feeling which, however 
 much you may dislike the forms of religion, is still pure 
 and holy ? Enter yonder cathedral, where the mass of 
 Christmas-time has just passed. Is there not a devout- 
 ness, a feeling of simple prayer, that makes Protestant- 
 ism feel ashamed of its own coldness, of its neglect of 
 the principles it professes to follow, of its own careless- 
 ness, of its own sepulchral gloom, beside the warmth, 
 the faith, the incense, and prayerfulness, of the Romish 
 
284 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 church ? Nay, you who are protestants, whose servants 
 are Eomanists, can you not take lessons of religious 
 duty from them every day, of self-sacrifice and devotion 
 to their prayers, which, if you will have religious forms, 
 theirs are the most sublime because the most true of any 
 external religion ? You may soar above all forms, so 
 as to leave behind those of the protestant as well as the 
 Romish church, if you are truly religious. It requires a 
 great mind to throw off the shackles of form and cere- 
 mony, and worship holiness for its own sake. But a 
 few can do that, and they therefore retain the forms as 
 a substitute for what they lack in inherent goodness. 
 Jesus did not need the forms, neither does any inhe- 
 rently pure and good man or woman. 
 
 Those who can stand upon the principles of their own 
 integrity and devotion to truth — who feel their alliance 
 to the angels and to God — have no need of forms 'of 
 religion; for it is an ever-living fountain springing up 
 within their being, and the church formalities become 
 to them only a solemn mockery. How strong a mind it 
 requires, in this age of materialism, to soar so far above 
 these external expressions of faith as to feel, in the con- 
 sciousness of its own devotion, that it is a Christmas- 
 time every day in the year. 
 
 You teach your children to celebrate Christmas as a 
 holy day. When you go home to-day, if you have noth- 
 ing more important to occupy your attention, call your 
 children around you, one by one, and ask them if they 
 know why the Christmas-tree was hung with glittering 
 toys ; why Santa Claus appears ; why they joyfully dance 
 around the Christmas-tree. " No, mother ; tell me." 
 Eighteen hundred and fifty-eight years ago, that day 
 
RELIGIOUS. 285 
 
 heralded in the birth of the child Jesus. That child 
 and his mother were reposing in a manger, meek and 
 lowly. No Christmas-tree greeted the laughing eyes 
 of that babe ; no Christmas -gifts were brought to the 
 mother, save that one star which beamed as a guide to 
 the wise men who came with incense and gifts, for they 
 supposed him to be their new-born king. Tell them 
 that it was not the birth of the child they were celebra- 
 ting, but only that as a heralder of a purer, and holier, 
 and more divine life. And ask them if the dawning of 
 that day shall not make them purer, holier, and better. 
 Mothers, could you not instruct your children in lessons 
 of charity ? Could you not lead them, one by one, along 
 the bright ways of Jesus' life ? Tell them that he was 
 a man, and still embodied that divinity in his mind. 
 Could you not learn them to lisp the name of our Fa- 
 ther ? Could you not instruct them to go to the cor- 
 ners of the streets and seek for the children who would 
 ask for something to hang upon their Christmas-tree ? 
 
 A divine and pure mission rests with you protestantsi 
 The Romanists worship in their own way. It is a good, 
 and simple, and holy way, for them. Protestantism 
 should embody in its life and devotedness something of 
 the spirit and earnestness which exist in the Romish 
 religion. You may throw aside their superfluous forms, 
 but oh, do not cast aside that deep devotion, that full- 
 ness of expression, that prayerfulness, the divine ca- 
 dences of that melody, which arise in the form of their 
 worship when they address the great Jehovah ! Yf hen 
 the Romanist is sitting and watching for the day to 
 dawn in which Jesus was born upon the earth, there is 
 some perfectness, if he is waiting for a newer star of 
 
286 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 hope, the star of Bethlehem, to beam over the eastern 
 hilltops of his darkened mind ; and he thinks that with 
 that star shall come the spirit of Jesus, and perchance a 
 tear, a prayer, shall be given for him. Ah ! the Ro- 
 manist has a soul which soars above his forms, even 
 while he is worshipping Christmas-day, embodied in the 
 deep devoutness of spiritual life. He feels what he 
 utters. How many protestants do this ? 
 
 There is, indeed, a truthfulness and a beauty in the 
 strict simplicity of your puritan fathers, when they cast 
 aside everything which might have any alliance with 
 the Romish church ; but there was somewhat of fanati- 
 cism in this entire renunciation, for they lopped off 
 many truths with the errors. 
 
 When they landed upon the barren rocks of Plym- 
 outh, they had nothing but their God and the wilder- 
 ness. The wilderness was their cathedral, and God 
 was the deep, eternal Spirit who dwelt therein. We 
 should naturally have supposed that, with the bitterness 
 of the trials which had driven them from their mother- 
 country, and surrounded as they were by the inspiring 
 notes of the wildwood songster on whose wings their 
 prayers were wafted to heaven, and the stillness of the 
 forest echoed back their songs and rejoicings, the feel- 
 ings of forbearance and love would have taken posses- 
 sion of their hearts, and that they would not so soon 
 have been guilty of manifesting the same intolerant 
 spirit which drove them from their native land. But 
 such are the frailties of human nature. 
 
 As soon as they became the dominant party, they 
 manifested more of a tyrannical spirit than that which 
 drove them from their mother-country ; and thus the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 287 
 
 peaceful and inoffensive quakers became, in their turn, 
 the victims of religious bigotry and oppression. 
 
 The landing of our pilgrim-fathers is another Christ- 
 mas-day which every American heart should remember 
 to cherish ; and when the deep tide of that fanaticism 
 has rolled back, and the equilibrium of religious feeling 
 is restored, the protestant and Romish churches will be 
 separated only by their forms. There is no difference 
 between their principles, only the one is protestant and 
 the other is catholic. The forms and ceremonies are 
 nearly the same, only not so beautiful in the former as 
 in the latter. All of the other various sects and parties 
 differ but little in spirit from the Romish church, though 
 more in forms and manifestations. Why, then, this 
 strife and contention ? Because, as man's intellectual 
 powers unfold, he more clearly sees the unreliability of 
 authority, whether in religion, morals, or in any other 
 department of our nature ; or, in other words, the sov- 
 ereignty of the individual keeps pace with the harmo- 
 nious development of mankind. Instead of relying upon 
 popes and cardinals, or upon priests and bishops, the 
 tendency of every man is to become his own priest, and 
 interpret his own bible, whatever it may be, whether it is 
 the Jewish, the Mohammedan, or the far more beautiful 
 and reliable inscriptions which God with his own finger 
 has written upon every department of Nature. When 
 intellect shall perfectly blend with the moral and reli- 
 gious powers, then every one will be exempt from all 
 authority, save their own interior promptings. 
 
 Infants require to be governed and directed, so does 
 the human race in the early stages of its unfoldment ; 
 and out of this necessity has grown all the long list of 
 
288 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 religious and penal officers : the stronger dictates to tho 
 weaker. It is well that it is so, until the weaker ar- 
 rives at manhood and becomes capable of self-manage- 
 ment. As fast as they do this, they will throw off the 
 restraints of their rulers, and take their place in the 
 ranks of true men. But in the transition from youth to 
 manhood, there is strife for the mastery — too wise to 
 be dictated to, and too ignorant not to dictate to others. 
 Thus the true relations of men to each other and to their 
 God have been understood only by here and there one 
 who has stood out like a beacon-light to guide Humanity 
 into the haven of Truth ; and such have been looked 
 upon not only as infidels, but as the most direful ene- 
 mies of mankind. But however men may fall into error, 
 the truth beams still the same ; and not even the degra- 
 dation of the churches (in the sacrifice of millions of 
 human victims in the past to sustain their power over 
 men, or in their efforts in the present to cramp the free- 
 born soul within the narrow limits of their creeds) or 
 the wickedness of the world can wholly hide. 
 
 You who are, at each Christmas-time, fearing that 
 there are many infidels who do not realize the beauty 
 of that day, remember there is no truth, however small, 
 none however obscure, that shall not be revealed in the 
 fullness of its power, in its perfectness and peace, and 
 shall triumph over all error and ignorance. 
 
 Have you commenced another year with the fullness 
 of Christian feeling and Christian hearts ? Have you 
 thought that it may be a heralder to the appearance of 
 a more Christian spirit in your own natures ; that there 
 were those to whom you might administer blessings, of 
 whom you never thought before ? Have you thought 
 

 RELIGIOUS. 289 
 
 that there were little kindnesses to your own friends 
 and mates, and deeper sympathy to those who suffer 
 physically, and to those who in their deep moral de- 
 spair, want more bright holyday gifts to hang on the 
 Christmas-tree of their moral natures, some gem of 
 principle, some sweet flower of love, whose perfume 
 should breathe into their souls the spirit of a purer and 
 happier life ? Have you ever thought that you might 
 administer these ? And when the next Christmas-tree 
 shall appear, have you ever thought that you might give 
 some present to those whose spirits are in deep degra- 
 dation ? Have you ever thought that you might make 
 them some Christmas-gifts, to teach them of a better 
 . existence ? Have you ever thought that you might 
 hang upon the Christmas-tree of their souls the glitter- 
 ing dew of Christian confidence and faith, and, as each 
 Christmas comes, lead them step by step to the perfect- 
 ness of a true Christian life ? 
 
 There is not a day in all your year that you might 
 not celebrate as the dawn of some bright Christ-princi- 
 ple upon your lives. Nay, each day might be a Christ- 
 mas-time with every soul. When Jesus walked upon 
 the earth, each clay was like the others ; yet all were 
 sabbath-days to him, and all were Christmas-times — no 
 day so good that he might not do good upon that day ; 
 
 lo day too holy, no day belonging to God so exclusive- 
 ly, that his children might not love and help each other. 
 Bemember this, you who are Sunday-worshippers, you 
 who have called Sunday holier than other days. All 
 days are holy ; it is only the action that makes one day 
 holier than another. 
 
 • We have not entered into historical details ; we have 
 13 
 
290 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 only drawn from the deep elements of truth and princi- 
 ples. While you have your merry Christmas-times, a 
 tear for those in sorrow or darkness would be the bright- 
 est gem that could hang upon the Christmas-tree of your 
 being, the brightest gem that could decorate your im- 
 mortal crown, the brightest gem that could hang upon 
 the Christmas-tree of that future to which you are tend- 
 ing. And all the jingling sleigh-bells, and the laughter 
 of those who whirl in the giddy dance, could not give so 
 sweet a music as the thanks which spontaneously burst 
 forth from the grateful hearts of your fellow-creatures. 
 We do not mean that you should have a long face on 
 Christmas-day, but that the strong, spontaneous feelings 
 of your soul might beam forth with a smile through a 
 tear — a tear of sympathy, a smile of encouragement — 
 to lead some one to enjoy a merry Christmas. Do this. 
 It would not hurt you to shed a tear of sympathy, or to 
 give a smile of love ; and in this way it would ever be 
 a Christmas-time indeed ; for you would each day cele- 
 brate not only the life but the action of him who walked 
 the earth more than eighteen hundred years ago. Each 
 day was a holy day with him — a holy day, filled with 
 thoughts, and feelings, and divinest actions. Let every 
 one imitate him each day of his life, and strive to 
 celebrate all days as being holy, and belonging to the 
 God who ruleth over Christmas-time for ever and for 
 ever ! And if the priest and the bigot oppose you, ask 
 them, as did Jesus, if it be lawful to do good on the 
 sabbath-day. 
 
 Eternity is one great Christmas-tree, where, on the 
 branches of everlasting Truth, are hung glittering gems 
 of Joy and Peace. And you can gather them, if you 
 

 EELIGIOUS. 291 
 
 have hung them there by your living thought ; for each 
 thought is a Christmas-gift of that eternity which you 
 shall wonder at when you get there, and ask yourself, 
 " Did / make that ?" You did. You all shall be there, 
 not in some far-off temple, but in the temple of your own 
 being, where the Christmas-tree shall be Morality. How 
 you have decorated it, you must judge for yourselves. 
 The gifts shall be gems of beauty, if your life has been 
 well spent. If not, we fear it will be hung all over with 
 a dark cloud, where you can not see the brightening 
 glory of any gem or any flower. 
 
 Our Father ! bless the bright New Year; 
 Thy children, those who are gathered here, 
 And those who everywhere do dwell upon the earth ; 
 And may they feel, with every year, a birth 
 Of purity and peace has dawned upon their souls ; 
 And while the cadence of harmony rolls 
 Vastly through the grand extent of heaven, 
 Let every day and every year to thee be given, 
 Fraught with thy love ! 
 
DISCOURSE XVII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN, JANUARY 3, 1858. 
 CREATION. 
 
 CHANT. 
 
 Infinite Father ! we would adore thee ; 
 All thy blest children bow down before thee : 
 Thou art our Father for ever and for ever ; 
 And thou dost guide us, leaving us never ! 
 Our hearts are filled with love divine — 
 Father in heaven, upon us shine ! 
 All thy blest children ever adore thee ; 
 Thou art our Father — we bow before thee ! 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! our Father and our God ! The 
 light of the sabbath-day beams full upon thy children ; 
 all Nature is attuned to the richest cadences of sab- 
 bath melody. The sunbeams that are eliminated from 
 yonder centre of light appear like the light of heaven, 
 as they reflect the radiance of thy Universe, and give 
 forth the cadences of sweet and harmonious melody. 
 The earth is filled with sounds of rejoicing ; and bird, 
 and beast, and man, proclaim that thou art Jehovah, for 
 ever and'for ever ! Our hearts thrill with the light of 
 an eternal sabbath ; and the undying melodies of that 
 eternity enter the windows of the soul, freighted with 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 293 
 
 the odors of ten thousand flowers that bloom in the 
 Eden-land of Paradise. 
 
 And, God of the Universe ! thy children worship 
 thee to-day as from the perfumed altar of our hearts 
 there arise praise and thankfulness with the opening of 
 the new year. May they feel that thou hast poured 
 upon their souls the incense of richest love, and that 
 upon the lap of this new year there is seated the child, 
 the new-born Christ — a Christ that shall enter each 
 heart, and with each soul proclaim that it is that 
 " Truth-teller." 
 
 our Parent ! we would adore, and worship, and 
 praise thee, for the beauty of this opening year. We praise 
 •thee for the joy, and happiness, and peace, of nations 
 and people. And we would also thank thee that all is 
 not cloudless ; for were there no clouds, no tears of sor- 
 row, no moans of anguish, no deep cries of misery, the 
 human soul could never be blest with the sweet sounds 
 of pity ; Benevolence could never, with gentlest hand, 
 draw forth from her richest storehouse and give to the 
 suffering. Therefore, our Father, we bless thee for 
 the storm as well as the sunshine, for the clouds as well 
 as the brightening, radiant sunbeam, for the night as 
 well as the rich refulgence of the day ; for we know 
 that the one would be naught without the other. And, 
 our Father, those who are joyous to-day ; those whose 
 
 I souls are yet sparkling with the dewdrops of earth that 
 came from the deep sky of the last year ; those whose 
 hearts are fragrant with the perfume of flowers given 
 by some gentle hand ; those whose minds are rich with 
 the treasures of thought that have been exchanged by 
 kindly deeds and affectionate words— -may they feel 
 
294 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 that there are some whose hearts are cold and icy, who 
 are in the deep despondency of death, darkness, and de- 
 spair — those to whom no bright new year opens its rich 
 stores of beauty ! And may they feel, wherever they 
 are, that they should cherish feelings of charity, and 
 benevolence, and love ! 
 
 And, Father of the Universe, with the commencement 
 of this new year, may every day and hour commence a 
 new era in the hearts of thy children, and open up a 
 world of thought — not with dates, or times, or seasons, 
 or periods, but with the dates of thought, that shall, in 
 each day, give forth an entire year, and in one moment 
 yield the fruits of an eternity ! The mind, our Father, 
 can not be circumscribed by time or space. When we 
 search for thee, we search not in dates or historical de- 
 tails, in the history of nations or of worlds, but in the 
 thoughts and feelings which thou hast placed within our 
 bosoms. There we find the new year of thy love, and 
 peace, and power, which beams in upon us for ever and 
 for ever. 
 
 We would bless thee, to-day, not because other men 
 bless thee, not because all in Christian countries wor- 
 ship and adore thee, but because we ever feel the full- 
 ness of thy love. That blessing we would express' in 
 external words for ever and for ever. 
 
 Peace be to the heart that is suffering ; peace to the 
 nations that are trembling in the deep agitation of war ; 
 peace to the world that is trembling with hopes and 
 fears of immortality ; peace to the world, down-trodden 
 with error and ignorance ! Oar Father, we know that 
 thy hand can raise them up ; that thy mind can say to 
 each storm, " Peace, be still !" 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 295 
 
 And to thee, Spirit of the Universe ! shall be all 
 praise ; to thee shall be all expressions of prayer from 
 those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus the Christ ; 
 to thee shall be the songs of our rejoicing hearts for 
 ever and for ever. And to thee the united choristers 
 of the angelic world shall attune their sweetest and 
 divinest songs, and cause thy Universe to echo and re- 
 echo with the harmonies of their melodies ! Amen. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 We call your attention, this afternoon, to the subject 
 of Ceeation — not as expressed in any form of philoso- 
 phy, or in any doctrine or religious creed, but in the 
 true signification of that term, and that only. It will 
 involve religion, science, and morals. Creation, in its 
 distinct and true meaning, signifies not something which 
 is fashioned, which is evolved forth, but something which 
 is made from nothing ; or, in other words, it implies a 
 power to give existence to what has none. 
 
 That there is a Divine Spirit, ruling and controlling 
 the Universe, whom we call God, who is a Divine and 
 Omnipotent Being, we trust all of you are satisfied. 
 
 Eternity implies all time — that which was, that 
 which is, that which shall be. You say you are com- 
 mencing a new year. We say you are commencing a 
 year which has been in all eternity, which will be for 
 ever. Eternity knows no new commencement. It can 
 conceive of no new year, of no eras. It is all time, all 
 space, all life, all existence, all power : it is God ! 
 
296 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Jehovah, a Hebrew word, the definition of which we 
 have given several times in public, implies this Eternal 
 Spirit — Je, the future ; Ho, the present; Yah, the past. 
 Thus we have embodied, in this word " Jehovah," the 
 very eternity of which we are about to speak. For this 
 God, personified in whatever form you please, is an 
 eternal God ; and he is all things which have existed 
 in the past, which exist in the present, or which shall 
 exist in the future. 
 
 We can not conceive of any creation. Do not mis- 
 understand us. Before we have concluded our dis- 
 course, we will prove to you that we do not circum- 
 scribe the powers of God : we only make them larger, 
 more extended, and more divine. The Christian has 
 his Bible, the first book of which is called " Genesis," 
 in which is embodied the revelations given to Moses, 
 supposed to be written by him, through the inspiration 
 of the Holy Spirit, or of God. In the first chapters of 
 this book is a history of creation, or, in other words, an 
 account of the creation of the world, embodied in a few 
 verses, yet giving you a distinct idea that when God 
 fashioned this earth he also fashioned all universes and 
 all stars to subserve its requirements ; that man is the 
 highest production of God's creation, was made from the 
 dust, and the breath of life breathed into him by the 
 Divine and Omnipotent Father. 
 
 Our object is not to disprove this, but we are not in- 
 formed out of what materials the earth and all the 
 starry heavens were formed; and therefore the theolo- 
 gical world have been led to believe they were created, 
 by which they wish to be understood that all the rolling 
 worlds were eliminated or made from nothing. But how 
 

 PHILOSOPHICAL. 297 
 
 much of nothing it would take to make something, they 
 leave us to conjecture. And for the accomplishment of 
 all this, the period of time has been concentrated within 
 seven days. 
 
 Days may imply eras, centuries, hundreds of centu- 
 ries. They only represent indefinite periods of time. 
 We do not believe that all the planets were made to 
 subserve this globe ; that the sun was placed in the 
 heavens to light this earth alone ; that man was made 
 exclusively for this planet ; or that the ten thousand 
 stars, which pave the walks of Deity, were set there ex- 
 clusively to beam on the denizens of this earth. Never ! 
 
 Whatever may be the interpretations of theologians, 
 we can not accept the original statement and its trans- 
 lation. But we would enlarge upon it. We would 
 consider these accounts to be the writer's highest con- 
 ception of truth ; and they are important, as landmarks 
 to guide the student of creation in his inquiries. We 
 view them as having been given merely that man might 
 not lose his way in such a maze. Scientifically, they are 
 false ; religiously and theologically, they are made to ap- 
 pear true. Moses could not have received an inspiration 
 of the perfection of the laws of geology or of chemistry, 
 for he could not have comprehended them. He was a 
 man of the olden time, doubtless very wise, but not capa- 
 ble of grasping Infinitude ; and even infinite power and in- 
 finite goodness could not give it to him, for he was finite. 
 
 Creation, that startling word, which has caused theo- 
 logians to tremble, which has made many lips burn with 
 eloquence, and started tears in the eyes of those who 
 contemplate the vastness of the Universe — that word 
 must be blotted out from language, it£ meaning erased, 
 
 13* 
 
298 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 before we can comprehend God, Eternity, Infinitude. 
 If God is the living principle of power, the Infinite 
 Spirit — if he has dwelt in all eternity — could there 
 have been a period in that existence when he hath made 
 anything new? Millions upon millions of ages ago, 
 God pervaded all space and all universes as he now 
 does. The substances which make up worlds ; the mind 
 now personified in your forms ; stars, suns, and universes, 
 which revolve in harmony, have always existed. How, 
 then, could God have made creation ? It is useless for 
 theologians to state that Deity dwelt alone in eternity, 
 and at last aroused himself from his inactivity, saying 
 that he would make a Universe. There was never more 
 of a creation than to-day, at the rising or setting of the 
 sun ; no more of a creation than when atoms arrange 
 themselves together. It is all a creation ; it is all an 
 elimination from Deity ; it is all an expression of his 
 Divine Mind. Each day and each hour heralds in the 
 birth of a new and divine light to the finite mind. 
 Angels have for ever chanted ; worlds, and suns, and 
 systems, have for ever revolved ; and atoms have for 
 ever been aggregated. There are no new atoms in the 
 Universe. All its elements are as old as Deity. The 
 flower, and its every perfume, is as old as the mind of 
 God. The atoms composing all existence or life are 
 coeval with God. 
 
 We are told that when God made the Universe, and 
 pronounced it good, there was great joy in heaven, and 
 a thrill of delight vibrated all the hearts of the angels. 
 Oh, my friends, angels have for ever looked on with 
 awe and wonder ; they have for ever chanted thrilling 
 hymns of praise ; /or ever gazed upon a new Adam and 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 299 
 
 a new Eve, as they enter the earth, as an embodiment 
 of the Divine Mind that has existed for ever and for 
 ever ! 
 
 Can you conceive of anything new ? Is the sunshine 
 new ? Are rain-drops new ? Are they not the same 
 elements, the same atoms, which have always existed ? 
 Xot one has been added or taken away. If God has 
 existed everywhere, and he is eternal, there could never 
 have been chaos, never death, never darkness, never an 
 absence of life, or of power, or of beauty, or of loveli- 
 ness, or of mind. All have been eternally in existence. 
 
 Must we not, then, believe that all worlds have inhab- 
 itants ? Can it be that we are the only human beings ? 
 Creation never commenced. If God is eternal, who 
 shall say that he was ever created ? And if everything 
 has been fashioned by him, it must partake of his mind, 
 and consequently is a portion of his being. " What !" 
 says the materialist, " do you intend to affirm that this 
 world, on which we tread, is God ; that the atoms which 
 constitute and compose it are God; that I, that my 
 physical form, is God ?" We pretend to say that the 
 life-element of all things which exist is God ; that that 
 which causes it to exist is God. Your form would 
 shrink into nothingness were not God there. The flower 
 would not shed one breath of perfume on the air, if God, 
 the life and beauty of the Universe, were not within it. 
 
 If anything new has ever been made, it proves con- 
 clusively to our minds, according to the rules of strictest 
 philosophy, that there will be a time when it may cease 
 to exist. If the human soul, the epitome of creation so 
 called by external philosophers, has been literally cre- 
 ated out of nothing, then there must be a time when 
 
800 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 that soul will become nothing. This is why material 
 philosophers have held that the soul had no immortality 
 — why they have believed in the annihilation of the hu- 
 man spirit. But, inasmuch as it was not created, but 
 eliminated from the mind of Deity, it will for ever ex- 
 ist. Inasmuch as the dust from which the human form 
 was fashioned was never created — only perfected, only 
 developed — upon the same principle we may say that 
 matter may go back again to its primitive elements, but 
 can never cease to exist. 
 
 This may seem, to those minds accustomed to reason- 
 ing upon other principles and from other premises, to be 
 transcendentalism. We acknowledge it. But if we are 
 not to be bound to that which we have been taught to 
 believe, then we must recognise the fact that this the- 
 ory is the only one which truly makes Deity perfect, 
 absolute, omnipotent, and divine. 
 
 Reading the history of nations, you are very well 
 aware that they all form a conception of Deity which 
 corresponds to their own nature. Each man gives to 
 Deity his own peculiar characteristics, as the schoolboy 
 pictures to himself the great city which he has never 
 seen as only a larger village than his native place. So 
 every human being says, " My God is like myself." 
 Thus, when men really worship, they can only worship 
 this Infinite Majesty, or this which they picture as divine 
 before their vision, as an image of themselves. When 
 we personify Deity, we always conceive of him as in the 
 human form. The human mind can not conceive of any- 
 thing higher than this perfect majesty of man. Deity 
 is conceived of by some as a great, gigantic man, ruling 
 over creation. Your children, when you speak to them 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 301 
 
 of the greatness and majesty of God, conceive of him as 
 a Being revealed in the thunder, the lightning, the tor- 
 nado, in all the majestic physical exhibitions of Nature. 
 Oh, what is he, and where is he, and who is he ? No 
 mind can tell. It can only know as much of God as 
 dwells within its own existence ; only know as much of 
 that life and power as comes within the scope of its own 
 capacities. How, then, can we fathom the depths of 
 infinite life and infinite power ? How can we fix any 
 standard of perfectness or of beauty ? It can never be 
 done by beings who are constantly progressing to a 
 higher conception of Deity. 
 
 It has been frequently said in histories that certain 
 individuals have originated new thoughts ; have created 
 new images and expressions ; or, indeed, have fashioned 
 new truths, and given them forth to the world ; that 
 Galileo, Newton, and Franklin, gave new sciences to the 
 world. This is not true. No one who has ever dwelt 
 in the finite world hath made a new truth or a new sci- 
 ence. Galileo did not conceive of a new truth, but 
 simply of a new manifestation of an old one. Nor was 
 it a new manifestation, excepting to him. To God it 
 was old as himself that the earth was round. Newton 
 discovered the law of gravitation — he did not discover 
 a new truth or a new fact — when the apple fell. It 
 was only that his mind had expanded to understand its 
 philosophy. He taught you the astronomical revolu- 
 tions ; but the science was not new. You have geology 
 and chemistry taught in your schools ; but it is the illus- 
 tration of the science which you conceive to be new, 
 because your finite mind can not grasp the workings of 
 the Infinite Universe. 
 
302 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 So it is in your spiritual natures. There is no new 
 truth in theology, in morals, or in practical life ; for 
 truths are principles, and are eternal. There is no new 
 science, nor never can be, for all sciences are as old as 
 him from whom they originated. Mesmerism and psy- 
 chology, or your mental and physical power over each 
 other, existed at the dawn of creation. But there are 
 constantly- occurring facts, which are only the manifes- 
 tations of truths ; for truths are unalterable and immu- 
 table principles, being attributes of God. For instance, 
 it is a truth that the construction of the solar system is 
 spheral, and that planets revolve around the sun in exact 
 proportion, distance, density, etc. But it has been a 
 fact only a few years ; therefore we define truth as an 
 ultimate principle, unchanging, eternal, all-pervading, 
 and only comprehended by the mind of God. 
 
 Creation never was, for* matter eternally existed, be- 
 ing coeval with mind. It has been fashioned by Deity, 
 and has become an external expression of his being, 
 which is permeated by his life, and thus God is every- 
 where — as much in the tiny flower as on the throne in 
 heaven. Life exists in all things, and where there is 
 life there is God. Matter is but the form of which God 
 is the Spirit, and it was eliminated from his being. 
 
 The principles of Christianity existed before Christ, 
 or they never could have been taught by him. He was 
 their embodiment in human form, he the type of their 
 living, divine personification : but they were not new ; 
 they came from Deity. 
 
 The mother, when her child first learns to lisp her 
 name, thinks that it is something new. But children 
 have always learned to say " Mamma ;" have always 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 303 
 
 learned to walk ; always lisped the name of our Father 
 when it was taught to them ; and have tried in vain to 
 express in language the thoughts which well up in their 
 bosoms. 
 
 How long have flowers bloomed so beautifully ? how 
 long have buds and leaves burst forth, and tiny stalks 
 one by one shot upward and blossomed? You think 
 there were never such flowers as those of yours, because 
 you have yourself watched and tended them in your 
 own garden, and marked all their beauty of develop- 
 ment, have observed their growth, seen the buds unfold, 
 and inhaled their perfume. Yet the same sunlight has 
 shone, the same rain-drops fallen, the same morning 
 dews sparkled upon flowers, ever since flowers began to 
 bloom. Your flowers are not new ; the germ was old, 
 and the germ of that germ was old ; and, tracing it back 
 through eternity, you find the flower to be as old as Deity. 
 
 Astronomy teaches you that there are other worlds, 
 so far as revolution, and movement, and receiving the 
 light of the sun, are concerned ; but you conceive that 
 there are really no human beings upon them. It is 
 something new to you that there is a deep, everlasting 
 Universe, peopled with beings like yourselves. You 
 suppose that it was a new thing when God made this 
 tiny earth. But it was not new. It was old as time, 
 old as eternity ! Expect not, then, to solve the mystery 
 of Creation. 
 
 Nor was the world made out of nothing. There is 
 no place in all this vast Universe where nothing' could 
 exist. God never made worlds, and universes, and 
 souls, out of nothing. He hath made them from the 
 living majesty of his own mind, from the deep compre- 
 
304 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 hension of Lis own power, from tLe perfectness of Lis 
 own eternity, and tLe godliness of Lis own Infinitude ! 
 Surely, there is nothing new. 
 
 We have commenced a new year. Let us strive to 
 see if we can be better, truer, purer, holier, as regards 
 the manifestations of our lives, than in the past year. 
 But do you know that every day commences a new 
 year ? Do you know that friendly words and kindly 
 greetings should not be reserved for what we term New- 
 Year's day, but that every day should be filled with 
 friendship, with kind words, and kind actions ? Do you 
 know that each day of our lives should be a day for new 
 resolutions of a purer and higher life ? We like holy- 
 days, and celebrations of Christmas and New- Year's 
 day. But your Christmas and New-Year gifts and 
 greetings, and all the emotions of goodness which spring 
 up in your minds upon these yearly holydays, should be- 
 long to every day in the year. There is no day in 
 which you may not bestow the gift of a kind look or 
 word, no day in which you may not make a new year in 
 some human heart by raising up the down-trodden and 
 degraded, no day in which you may not begin a new 
 year of loftier and holier life in your own being. If you 
 call every day a New- Year's day, how many more years 
 you will have than you now do ! And how many more 
 gems will be added to the crown of your immortality, if 
 you thus add to the beauty and usefulness of your earth- 
 life ! 
 
 Yet, no day is really new ; for in all eternity it is the 
 same day. It is the same day which you see in the east 
 every morning, in the west every evening. It is the 
 same day which beams in upon you to-day, to-morrow, 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 305 
 
 throughout all eternity. It is not that you conceive of 
 new thoughts, of new aspirations, but that you catch 
 for the first time the same thoughts, the same aspira- 
 tions, the same emotions, that have throbbed in the 
 bosoms of human beings through all the long ages of 
 the past that have existed, as have all things that now 
 exist, as long as Deity himself. 
 
 Thus we have presented to you our ideas upon the 
 subject of Creation. If they conflict with your previous 
 belief, if they seem shocking to you, reject them. But 
 receive them at least as our convictions of truth, and 
 consider them with all possible candor, and with a de- 
 sire to know truth for its own sake. We have not said 
 all we would desire upon this subject ; and we will now 
 announce that we will speak, next Sunday, upon a con- 
 tinuation of this same theme — upon Creation, and its 
 application to Religion and the theories of the Christian 
 church. 
 
DISCOURSE XVIII. 
 
 DELIVERED IN NEW YORK, DECEMBER 30, 1857. 
 
 TOTAL DEPRAVITY.* 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah! we would address thee to-night 
 by the endearing appellation of Father, knowing that 
 thy parental care is ever sustaining us, and that thy 
 bountiful hand ever supplies all our wants. We would 
 not worship thee through fear of thy frowns, or because 
 thou art ever angry with thy children, but because we 
 love thee, and our hearts would burst forth in sponta- 
 neous utterance for all the beauties and pleasures which 
 thou hast given us. We would praise thee only as our 
 souls overflow with gratitude and delight. We would 
 praise thee as do the trees, when with their long branches 
 they reach toward thee, catching more and still more of 
 thy beauty and life. We would praise thee as does the 
 streamlet, when it dances in joyful glee down the mount- 
 ain-side, gliding on toward the ocean of waters : so our 
 souls would joyfully glide toward thee and our spirit- 
 home. We would praise thee in the natural simplicity 
 of the wildwood songster, which ever gives utterance to 
 its soul's delight as it dances from twig to twig, or wings 
 its way from mountain-peak to mountain-peak, knowing 
 no fear, but for ever chanting songs of praise to thee, 
 
 * Subject selected by the audience. 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 307 
 
 which are the outgushings of delight springing forth 
 from its own freedom and innocence. We would praise 
 thee as the sun, moon, and stars praise thee, when 
 in all their splendor they reflect back thy glory and 
 beauty, and as in their majestic harmony they revolve 
 in space, for ever singing of thee — of thee ! 
 
 Father ! we know that thou requirest of us no sac- 
 rificial rites, no forms of worship ; but, like all Nature, 
 to give forth the up-welling gratitude of our souls, whether 
 it be in the joyful dance, the lyric song of music or 
 prayer to thee, or in the yet more beautiful song of an 
 harmonious life, or heavenly prayer of doing good to 
 thy children. We do not approach thee to ask for 
 blessings or especial dispensations of thy providence, nor 
 to tell thee of thy greatness or omnipotence, nor yet to 
 bow down before thee, asking thee to pardon us for our 
 sins ; but our souls would on all occasions overflow with 
 thankfulness for all great and glorious truths, for all 
 blessings of physical and spiritual life, for all great pur- 
 poses, for all divine ideas, that have piled themselves 
 up in vast ranges like mountain-peaks, striving to sur- 
 pass each other in their height and beauty. 
 
 Spirit of the Universe, whoever and whatever thou 
 art, our spirits worship and love thee. We do not 
 praise thee alone for the morning light with its rich 
 refulgence, when the sun pours its beams in through the 
 windows of the east, nor for the noontide with all its 
 glory, nor for the twilight hour when the sun has sunken 
 to repose, nor yet for the night-time, when all the stars 
 seem gems, glittering in the robe of night ; not for physi- 
 cal favors, nor for the splendors of kings and thrones, 
 of church and state ; but for every great principle of 
 
308 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 truth which has been perfected for the upward and on- 
 ward course of human progress and development ; for 
 everything which thou hast fashioned ; for all the truths 
 which we have been enabled to comprehend. We bless 
 thee for that religion which blends with science and art, 
 and thus enables us to see beauty and harmony in all 
 thy works. Nor do we bless thee alone for the princi- 
 ples which beam in ujoon the nineteenth century, in all 
 their splendor and beauty ; not alone for the history of 
 nations, nor for their warfare and bloodshed ; not alone 
 for Christianity, and its mild and beautiful light ; but 
 that truth has, in all the course of human events, ever 
 triumphed over ignorance and evil, and for the living 
 elements of light, and all those aspirations and emotions 
 which arise from the conception of thy power and good- 
 ness. We can conceive of nothing which is not thee, 
 of no place where thou art not. Thou art the Spirit 
 who permeateth, controlleth, and guideth all things ! 
 
 And our Father, as the external world is clouded, 
 and men gaze in vain for the stars to beam forth, and 
 the moon to glisten in beauty, may they know that it is 
 but the exhalations from the earth which have hid them 
 from their sight, and that it shall return in sparkling 
 globules of perfect beauty, to invigorate the soil, that it 
 may yield a rich harvest to the husbandman. So, some- 
 times, over the mental horizon of thy children's souls, 
 there arise clouds of darkness and sorrow, and they ask 
 if the stars of truth have failed to beam. But we know, 
 our Father, that it is but the exhalations from their own 
 being, and that, like the rain-drops, these clouds shall 
 disappear, and shall return in that beautiful form, laden 
 with blessings. 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 309 
 
 Thou Eternal One ! we bless thee for this thought, 
 that all things which thou hast made may appear bright 
 and beautiful ; that the darkness and the light may be 
 blended in perfect beauty and harmony. And thus, from 
 the lowest atom to the brightest universe, thou dost 
 reign triumphantly, for ever and for ever. 
 
 And to thee, on this occasion and on all occasions, 
 shall be all divine expressions of prayerfulness from the 
 souls of thy children, which shall arise like the cadences 
 of sweetest melody, or, like the blending but unseen 
 perfume of flowers, make one grand harmony, one glori- 
 ous offering, which shall upon the altar of thy Universe 
 for ever and for ever exist. 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 Is man by nature totally depraved ? 
 
 The question given for our consideration this evening 
 is a theological one, and of such a nature as no intelli- 
 gent person would find any difficulty in answering. 
 The idea of the total depravity of any of God's children 
 could have originated only in the most perverted and 
 depraved mind. The conception which men form of 
 each other and of God is an outbirth of their own men- 
 tal and moral condition. 
 
 The more degraded and cruel is any nation, the more 
 tyrannical and revengeful is their imaginary deity ; and 
 their ideas of God become modified just in proportion as 
 the harmony of their own nature improves. John Cal- 
 vin, who could rejoice at seeing Sir Michael Servetus 
 
310 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 burnt to death by a slow fire made of green withes, 
 could easily conceive of total depravity, and a most un- 
 principled and revengeful God. He could not have had 
 any true conception of any other. It may be said, with 
 much propriety, that a man's religious opinions are a 
 measurement of his own soul. Jonathan Edwards, when 
 he pictured a God of such awful wrath and vengeance, 
 only daguerreotyped his own soul upon the minds of his 
 hearers. It was not the God of the Universe, but that 
 which had birth in the depraved condition of the man, 
 and he was held up as a powerful monster to frighten 
 better people. 
 
 In looking over the history of nations as well as of 
 societies, you will find that the more those powers or 
 faculties which lie in the basilar portion of the brain are 
 exercised, the lower are their conceptions of Deity. 
 The Buddhist's god is one of limited power, while he 
 possesses but few if any of the higher qualities of mind ; 
 and they worship, or rather fear him, as such. Many 
 of the " orthodox" churches of the present day have the 
 same god as the Buddhist, with intellect added, and 
 thus arc continually preaching of the wrath and ven- 
 geance of God, and of the burning hell which he has 
 builded as a prison-house for his children ; but the be- 
 nevolent and affectional qualities of Deity are seldom 
 alluded to. The text which says that " God is love" is 
 rarely preached from by the followers of Calvin or the 
 admirers of Edwards ; but those passages which speak 
 of wrath, vengeance, and damnation, are worn thread- 
 bare almost every sabbath. 
 
 It is only among the lowest of this class of persons 
 that the doctrine of " total depravity" finds any coun- 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 311 
 
 tcnance, and they judge from their own stand-point or 
 mental condition. Do not understand us as casting 
 censure upon them, for it is the best they know. And 
 when they grow into a higher condition of life, they 
 will then see the absurdity of such an idea, and laugh 
 at the imbecility of the doctrine, which belongs to the 
 infancy of the race. 
 
 Is man by nature totally depraved ? We answer, no. 
 We should presume that this reply would be sufficient 
 to all minds which have the power of reasoning. But 
 as the question is asked, we also presume that those 
 who asked it desired an expression of our opinion upon 
 this subject. It being a theological question, we are 
 aware that, like all other theological subjects, it is in- 
 volved in doubt, from the fact that its source is so ex- 
 tremely uncertain that but few dare discuss it only 
 within the limits of creeds ; for they are aware that 
 were they to do so on rational and philosophical grounds, 
 it would vanish into nothingness. 
 
 Good and evil are simply relative terms, for there can 
 never exist two positive principles which are diametri- 
 cally opposed to each other. In a strictly philosophical 
 sense, creation is a universal harmony. Were it not so, 
 God would be in an unending war with himself. Sum- 
 mer and winter, day and night, cold and heat, light and 
 darkness, and good and evil, are only terms used to 
 convey to the mind the idea of different conditions 
 which are relative to each other. The alternations of 
 day and night and summer and winter are essential to 
 the welfare of the physical condition of the earth. Pe- 
 riodicity may be said to be a universal law of Nature. 
 We see it in the universe of mind as well as that of 
 
312 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 matter, for spirit or mind is the only controlling prin- 
 ciple of matter. 
 
 Yon have volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and thun- 
 der and lightning, all of which are essential to the puri- 
 fication of the material elements. So there are convul- 
 sive throes of mind in working out a higher condition 
 of life. These, while you are too ignorant to under- 
 stand their full meaning, you call evil. We call them 
 the means by which man works out his destiny ; and as 
 man can not go outside of God's Universe, he must live 
 and act in obedience to the laws which he has made. 
 God is the one and the only governing and positive 
 principle throughout all the Universe of mind and 
 matter. If he is good, all things are good ; if he is evil, 
 all things are evil, and no other power can ever change 
 them. 
 
 You do not say that the child, because it is yet a 
 baby, does not possess the elements of a man ; neither 
 can you say that all men do not possess the elements of 
 a God because they are yet in the infancy of their being. 
 The perfection of the laws of eternal progress is the 
 only perfection aside from God himself. The archan- 
 gels may be said to be evil when compared with Deity ; 
 but they are not " totally depraved ;" neither is that 
 brother who is the lowest in the scale of humanity. 
 There is an unbroken chain of sympathy which binds 
 the two together, and both are still wending their way 
 up to God, and will continue so to do while eternity 
 shall endure. 
 
 We are talking as to rational men and women, who 
 see in all Nature one grand harmony, and whose lyric 
 song vibrates amid all the planets of immensity, and not 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 313 
 
 to the theological bigot whose soul sees nothing but the 
 direful panorama of his own dark and undeveloped con- 
 dition. How desolate must be that mind which sees in 
 a child of God naught but " total depravity" ! Oh, how 
 long is the road which yet lies between him and true 
 intellectual and moral harmony ! Yet, in all his spirit- 
 ual darkness, he will set himself up as a teacher of 
 mankind. In the unfolding of his spiritual powers, he 
 is an infant ; and, although the beautiful fields teeming 
 with delight and animation lay spread out before him, 
 he sees none of their beauty : but the low valleys, where 
 the meandering streams of his own nature slowly wind 
 their muddy course along, are the resting-place and de- 
 light of his vision. 
 
 Assuming that it may possibly be correct that man is 
 by nature totally depraved, it will be remembered that 
 his origin is said to be God ; also that God is said to be 
 infinite in goodness. Therefore, if goodness in man is 
 depraved, and is the result of infinite goodness, then it 
 must be a good depravity ! 
 
 That which is totally depraved can never become en- 
 lightened. We have historical evidence that man has 
 been gradually ascending in the scale of enlightenment, 
 of philosophy, of education, of moral and religious worth, 
 since time began. Had he been totally depraved, there 
 would have been nothing to improve upon ; and all men 
 would be alike depraved, as there could not, by any 
 possibility, be any chance for improvement. 
 
 Again : if man is by nature totally depraved, his ori- 
 gin must have been one of total depravity, and his des- 
 tiny will be total depravity. There can be but one 
 Infinite Source of life. If that be goodness, then man 
 
 14 
 
314 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 is good ; if that be depravity, or evil, then man is to- 
 tally depraved, totally evil, and will always continue to 
 be so. One of these two things is true : which, we leava 
 for your reason and judgment to decide. 
 
 It is believed by some that evil exists as a means for 
 the development of good. But we believe that evil, as 
 a principle ', does not exist at all. If good is to be de- 
 veloped, it can only be accomplished through good. It 
 may be a lesser degree of goodness to the human com- 
 prehension, or than that to which you have attained. 
 The adage is, that " an evil tree can not bring forth 
 good fruit." The idea of evil originates in your finite 
 comprehension of a good. To you it would be evil for 
 you to throw your children into the Ganges, or to crush 
 your bodies beneath the car of Juggernaut ; but to the 
 Hindoo it is a holy act. What is the difference between 
 you and the Hindoo ? Simply that you have become 
 enlightened to that degree which causes you to realize 
 that God does not require any such barbarity. 
 
 But you need not go out of your own country to see 
 the difference in opinion of good and evil. You are sur- 
 rounded by a multitude of persons who honestly believe 
 it to be evil to dance ; and there are many others who 
 believe that one of the joys of heaven will consist in 
 dancing. To the quaker, it may be evil to sing ; but, 
 with other denominations, melody is a part of their reli- 
 gious worship. 
 
 Theology tells you that man was made holy and pure, 
 but by the wily arts of Satan in the form of a serpent he 
 was tempted and fell from his primeval state ; but we 
 say that that which is good can never become less so. 
 Man has never fallen, but has been slowly and gradu- 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 315 
 
 ally progressing to a higher condition. Goodness must 
 ever triumph, for it is a principle, and is infinite ; while 
 evil does not exist even as a negative principle, as many 
 suppose, for it has no actual existence. It is simply a 
 lesser degree of good. 
 
 Evil is a word which should be cast out of every vo- 
 cabulary ; for it does not follow that because the finite 
 can not equal the infinite, it is evil — that because an 
 atom can not be a world, it is evil, or that it is not an 
 atom. If men were to say that a human, finite being is 
 evil because he is finite, it would be just as proper to 
 say that an atom was not material because it was not a 
 world. In our opinion, the finite comprehension of good 
 is all the evil that exists ; and in proportion as men's 
 understanding enlarges, so will their idea of goodness 
 increase. 
 
 Therefore, we would call evil not a negative princi- 
 ple, but simply that which is a good in its conditions. 
 The man who lies wallowing in the gutters of your city 
 could not comprehend you were you to declaim to him 
 upon the moral principles of human nature. You have 
 to descend, step by step, in your application of morality 
 to his condition. You would not call that perfect good- 
 ness, yet it may be so to him. What he comprehends 
 or understands, as the means to draw him from his dark- 
 ness and degradation to an angel or an archangel, would 
 be evil. You give him one ray, while the angel sees the 
 whole sunshine. Therefore, positive and negative good- 
 ness differ only in the quantity, and not in the quality. 
 Goodness is a principle, and evil has no existence as such 
 only as a lesser degree of goodness. Light is a princi- 
 ple in Nature, and the relative degrees of darkness are 
 
816 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 only the result of its absence. But light exists in all 
 places, in a greater or lesser degree ; so does goodness 
 in every being whom God has made. All have their 
 bright and amiable side, which can be illuminated by 
 perfecting the light within. 
 
 You will please understand us, when we say that we 
 do not countenance crime. We are only teaching les- 
 sons of charity. If you, to-night, with your conscientious- 
 ness and your knowledge of the laws of your country 
 and of your moral nature, were in a passion, and in that 
 passion were to kill a man, men would say it was an 
 evil. We would say that it was not. Your motive was 
 not blood. You did not plan to meet that man upon 
 the street and murder him deliberately. It was the 
 result of a sudden action, an impulse or passion, of your 
 mind. For the time being, your reason was suspend- 
 ed. Now, we would say that it was a momentary in- 
 sanity, and that you were no more guilty, when you had 
 again recovered your mental equilibrium, than if you 
 had been permanently insane. But you can not fail to 
 suffer the consequences of that loss of equilibrium, for 
 the conditions were in your mind. We say that every 
 murder, every crime, is but the result of this outgrowth 
 of the spirit, as are volcanoes, earthquakes, thunder and 
 lightning, and tornadoes, that of the material elements ; 
 and hold the same relations to the moral world that 
 those do to the physical. We do not justify the crime ; 
 we only ask you to consider its causes. When men de- 
 liberately plot a murder, we say that it is as good as 
 their minds conceive, being the result of their organiza- 
 tion and the conditions by which, they are surrounded. 
 
 If it is wrong for a man to kill his brother, he certainly, 
 
THEOLOGICAL. 317 
 
 if theology is true, has the example of Deity in so do- 
 ing. Being God, without any temptation save that his 
 children commit sins which he suffers them to do, he 
 arms them and sends them to fight and slay each other ; 
 and this idea has become so general in the Christian 
 church, that in times of war they employ a chaplain, 
 whose duty it is to invoke God to assist them in the 
 work of human slaughter. He kills whole nations ; that 
 is, he destroys their physical forms. 
 
 You may kill a man, and have a motive in doing it, 
 and it may be your highest conception of goodness, and 
 in your judgment the best means to attain happiness. 
 Now, that act is evil, or a lesser degree of good, to us 
 who would not do it ; but were we to descend to that 
 plane, and for a moment suspend the action of our higher 
 reason and moral nature, we • might commit the same 
 act. All men are in pursuit of happiness, and each pur- 
 sues that course which he believes will the most conduce 
 to that result. The judgment may be convinced that 
 he is wrong, but other powers or faculties of his mind 
 gain the ascendency, and he, like ourselves, yields to the 
 strongest influence. This is a law of our being, which 
 no one can transcend. 
 
 We say that there is never a crime committed that is 
 not done through really conscientious motives. Not 
 that moral or religious conscience, according to your or 
 our standard, but from the conscientiousness of his own un- 
 developed condition. He reasons thus : " This man has 
 gold ; I have none : if it will make me happy, it will be 
 right for me to take it, by whatever means." No man 
 ever commits a crime wilfully, knowing it to be really 
 a crime. Men do not thrust their feet into the fire and 
 
818 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 burn them off : no more would they blast their moral 
 nature, did they equally understand the consequences. 
 The erring man knows that, if detected, he will be 
 placed in the penitentiary, or suspended by the neck 
 until he is dead. That is in obedience to the law of 
 your country, which, because a man kills another, sev- 
 eral men may kill him and not 'commit murder, but do 
 it in imitation of the Grod of theology. He who first 
 commits murder is no worse than that judge who con- 
 demns him ; for we fall back upon first principles, and 
 say that if it is wrong for the ignorant to murder, it is 
 not less so for those who are more enlightened. 
 
 It is frequently the case that crime is perpetrated by 
 those who occupy high positions in intellectual society. 
 But it will be found that they have just enough educa- 
 tion in some respects to teach them how to best commit 
 the crime. For instance, men who have for years sus- 
 tained good character may be detected in some grand 
 fraud upon the nation, or upon an incorporated company. 
 They have gained sufficient intelligence of the laws of 
 your country and of human nature to teach them how 
 best to commit the fraud. They have not received a 
 moral education, and in this department of their nature 
 may not be superior or equal to those whom you look 
 upon as the lowest in society. When morality as well 
 as theology shall be taught in your schools and colleges, 
 you will find it will be very different. 
 
 There are times when punishment is necessary, but it 
 should always blend reform with its severity. In other 
 words, it should not be vindictive but disciplinary in 
 character, having in view the good of the culprit as 
 well as the protection of the community. All God's 
 
THEOLOGICAL, 319 
 
 laws are founded upon this principle. The community 
 has a right to protect itself from the depredations of its 
 delinquent members, and also to use its influence in 
 their reform, but no right to take what it can not re- 
 store. That belongs alone to that Judge who can not 
 be deceived by the falsity of human testimony, and who 
 knows when is the best time. 
 
 Your legal jurisprudence is founded upon the law of 
 Moses, which was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
 tooth, or the law of retaliation. Jesus gave one com- 
 mandment which embodied more than the ten ; for if 
 you " love one another," you can not fail to fulfil all 
 the requirements of the laws given by Moses. Until 
 men can be morally and socially educated up to that 
 condition, you will require legal tribunals. But they 
 can not be other than extremely imperfect, for no one 
 can properly judge of the motives and temptations of 
 another, or with what passions he has long contended. 
 
 When men judge each other from a finite stand-point, 
 or from any knowledge of finite principles, it is like one 
 atom judging of another because it is not a star, or a 
 world, or a sun. It takes many atoms to make a world 
 — it takes a whole human race to make up Humanity. 
 The Infinite alone can judge how perfectly it is made. 
 
DISCOURSE XIX. 
 
 DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN, MARCH 14, 1858. 
 
 THE RELIGION OP LIFE AND THE LIFE OF RELIGION. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! our Father, we address thee in 
 the fullness of thankfulness and prayer. Our spirits 
 would express their gratitude and love, praise and ado- 
 ration. We do not bow down before thee with the pas- 
 sion of fear, trembling lest, in thy majesty and greatness, 
 thou shouldst condemn us to everlasting tortures ; but 
 we praise thee through love, and adore thee because we 
 love thee ; and love thee because we are thy children. 
 In all simplicity and meekness we would express that 
 love, as thou art infinite and we are finite. Father, we 
 bless thee for this day and age ; for the tremblings of 
 thy Spirit, which are vibrating through the harpstrings 
 of Humanity, thrilling the great heart with a diviner 
 cadence of melody and power. We bless thee for the 
 freedom of the spirit, for the inspirations of love and 
 beauty, for the aspirations of the soul, and constant 
 searchings after knowledge and truth. 
 
 Oh, we praise thee ! Spirit of all life and truth, we 
 see that, beneath the divine influence of thy love, dark- 
 ness, superstition, and sectarianism, are giving place to 
 light, to freedom, true religion, and that Christianity 
 
RELIGIOUS. 321 
 
 which is the crown of the present age. May thy chil- 
 dren feel that the elements of all religion consist in the 
 true perfection of the whole being. Thou hast fashioned 
 the soul in thine own image as an emblem of thy power 
 and perfectness ; and as its aspirations are constant and 
 unceasing, it corresponds to thee in the fullness of its 
 perfection. May these thy children feel the spirit of 
 thy presence ; and may they know that all the life, and 
 beauty, and religion, to which souls aspire, which mind 
 is grasping for, and which the spirit yearns to know, 
 can be fulfilled as the soul advances, step by step, in the 
 scale of mental and religious progress. The soul is ab- 
 solute like thine own absolute existence ; and may we 
 feel 'the tremblings like thine own being, and may the 
 thoughts of Omnipotence dwell in our spirits like the 
 germs of choicest flowers, which, when the elements of 
 air and sky shall be brought in contact with them, shall 
 cause them to put forth their petals in brightest bloom. 
 So may we as flowers burst the bands of earthly con- 
 finement, and bloom up from the soil of materialism, su- 
 perstition, and bigotry ; and may the soul catch glimpses 
 of heavenly sunshine, and the dews of thy love shall 
 water and perfect its growth. 
 
 Father, we bless thy name for religious fervor ; for 
 the eloquence of a divine life ; for the perfectness of an 
 harmonious love ; for the divinity of a Christian faith 
 which is embodied in all the aspirations of the soul, and 
 which is always present where the spirit searches for 
 light. And to thee, our Father, shall be the thankful 
 songs of thy children's spirits, the constant utterance 
 of their souls' devotion, and their unceasing praise, for 
 ever and for ever ! 
 
 14* 
 
322 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 We find that the nature of the subject which we an- 
 nounced last sabbath to be elucidated this afternoon, is 
 so vast in the scope of its meaning, that it will require 
 more than the brief space of one hour to give our ideas ; 
 and therefore we shall confine our remarks to-day to 
 the first half — that is, " The Religion of Life" — and 
 next Sunday we will discourse upon the other part, 
 " The Life of Religion." In treating of this subject, 
 we shall do so as perfectly and consecutively as possi- 
 ble ; keeping constantly in view the distinction between 
 the Religion of Life and the Life of Religion, that they 
 may not be blended with each other by the transposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Religion we have defined to you on previous occa- 
 sions, as being that attribute in man's nature, or that 
 principle in his soul, which seeks some object of wor- 
 ship, and which must worship and adore, whatever may 
 be its condition and education. If it can not fix itself 
 on things above the earth, it must deify some special 
 form upon the earth to worship. Thus the heathen idol- 
 atry and the ancient systems of mythology and religion 
 are founded upon true religious feeling, blended with a 
 true morality, but unguided by an intellectual cultiva- 
 tion. Life is defined as existence, being, or a union 
 and co-operation of soul with body ; and life in man is 
 defined as that superior order of existence and being 
 which makes of man an immortal soul, and of his soul a 
 child of Deity. Thus the Religion of Life is that de- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 323 
 
 partment in man's nature which makes every action, 
 thought, and feeling, subject to the control of the higher 
 aspirations of the soul. 
 
 Religion does not consist alone in reverence or ado- 
 ration for a special object ; but it makes that reverence 
 the controlling and prompting influence of all other fac- 
 ulties of the mind. Thus there can be a religion of 
 intellect, of love, of every department of the human 
 mind ; and a religion of life combines the whole of hu- 
 man existence, and makes up the sum of every depart- 
 ment of earthly life. Religion has heretofore been con- 
 fined to a certain class of organs in the human mind, 
 and not allowed to go beyond them. Thus a man's intel- 
 lect has been kept separate from his religion, and man's 
 business has not been confined within the limits of reli- 
 gious feeling or duty. Conscience, the highest attribute 
 in man's being, and which renders him allied to th§ 
 angels, has been subjected to policy ; and true material- 
 istic minds have conceived that religion should only be 
 used on certain occasions. That is a religion of bigotry 
 and sectarianism. 
 
 But a religion of life, in its fullest, truest, and most 
 divine sense, is that religion which makes every depart- 
 ment of the human being harmonious and perfect. 
 There is a true, religious devotion in the mind and feel- 
 ings of that man whose soul springs forth in beauty and 
 power, whose physical form is upright and symmetrical, 
 and who, in fulfilling the laws of health, fulfils the laws 
 of Deity. There is a true religion in. the intellectual 
 man, who, penetrating deeply into the earth, and air, 
 and sky, for scientific investigation, culls all the treas- 
 ures of thought and beauty, and stores them up in his 
 
824 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 memory as sacred and divine. There is true religious 
 fervor in those who bow down before the shrine of Jesus, 
 and follow as closely as possible in his footsteps, although 
 they may worship Jesus more than God. 
 
 But in each of these departments, it becomes, not a 
 religion of life, but a religion of one special department ; 
 and thus a man may be religious on one plane and en- 
 tirely irreligious on another. Therefore, in treating of 
 this subject, we shall view first the general plane of 
 Humanity, so far as regards its physical religion ; for 
 there is certainly a religion which belongs to the physi- 
 cal form, and which should be regarded in degree as 
 much as that which belongs to the soul. It is as much 
 a duty for every man and woman to perfect fully their 
 physical form as for them to continually search for im- 
 mortality. 
 
 Your theology has taught you to believe that any re- 
 ligion, to be perfected, must be so at the sacrifice of the 
 physical form or powers. Hence, the ancient religion- 
 ists confined themselves within the cloistered cells of 
 monasteries, and there with true devoutness of feeling 
 they sought to perfect the immortality of the soul by cru- 
 cifying the body. Health, life, intellect — all were sacri- 
 ficed to this fanaticism for a happy immortality. In more 
 modern ages, however, religion has been extended, and 
 the physical system is not so much sacrificed : intellect 
 is more fully cultivated, and partakes more of a gen- 
 eral plane of human development. Notwithstanding this, 
 you ask any religionist what constitutes true and perfect 
 religion, and he will tell you it is that which crucifies 
 the human part and cultivates the divine. What is the 
 human part ? It is the physical form. They will tell 
 
RELIGIOUS. 325 
 
 you that religion is that which crucifies the physical 
 passions, which entirely overthrows the physical reason, 
 which controls the intellectual judgment ; in other words, 
 it is that which absorbs every department of man's be- 
 ing, and makes reverence for Deity the only object in 
 life. This is simply their theory, not their practice. 
 
 Now, unless Deity had intended that the physical form 
 should be perfected, and through thai form the soul 
 should be cultivated, you never would have existed in 
 the present form of life ; you never would have possessed 
 all the forms of thought and feeling you now have ; you 
 never would have had love for friend, home, wife, and 
 children, or desire for knowledge, or thirst for intel- 
 lectual -achievements, had not he designed them to pu- 
 rify the soul for an immortal -existence. Hence, when 
 you crucify the natural tendencies of the physical form,, 
 you are not truly- religious, and greatly lack confidence 
 in God ; for you should remember that man is his work- 
 manship, and when you say that he has created powers 
 or faculties which should be sacrificed, you are impeach- 
 ing his wisdom, and setting up your puny judgment in 
 opposition to his. When you endeavor to perfect every 
 department of that form — physically, mentally, spiritu- 
 ally — then you are fulfilling the laws of true religion. 
 Can a soul perfect itself in every department, when the 
 physical form is groaning under disease, and continually 
 decaying in consequence of the endeavor to crucify it ? 
 Never. The soul must spring forth spontaneously, and 
 the form must be subservient to the slightest thought 
 and feeling of the soul. 
 
 There is true religion in that life which is, in all its 
 departments, harmonious and true. There is true reli- 
 
326 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 gion in that man who, instead of endeavoring to perfect 
 but one department of his nature, makes his physical, 
 mental, social, and moral life, equal. Cultivate your 
 physical nature, perfect your life, and in that proportion 
 your soul will be perfect. Cultivate strength, vigor, 
 power, manliness, and symmetry, and in that proportion 
 the soul can think greater thoughts, can aspire to greater 
 general revealments, and gain in the department of 
 morals as well as of intellect. 
 
 Theologians have, until within a very short period of 
 time, taught you to believe that Reason should be sacri- 
 ficed to revealed religion or supernatural power. How- 
 ever much we may believe in the intuition as the con- 
 trolling agency of the mind, we by no means believe in 
 that superstitious idea which leads men to sacrifice their 
 reason and judgment to any revealed religion, however 
 divine or perfect it may seem. Reason, as an attribute 
 of the human intellect and mind, is the controlling and 
 guiding star of man's destiny — is the fixed point and 
 beacon-light which guides you safely and surely into the 
 harbor of eternal rest. Unless reason is active, fanati- 
 cism will surely take its place. Unless judgment sits 
 firmly enthroned in the human mind, bigotry and super- 
 stition will give place to all the viler passions of the 
 heart, and the soul become a wreck so far as its perfect- 
 ness and harmonious development are concerned. In- 
 tellect, in all its various departments, is as much an 
 element of religion as is reverence or worship ; and it 
 is as much a religious duty that each and every man 
 should desire knowledge upon any and all subjects as it 
 is that he should desire, and pray, and hope, for immor- 
 tal life. For, unless there is mind, and thought as the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 327 
 
 result of that mind, there can be no conception of im- 
 mortality ; and unless a soul cultivates that thought and 
 intellect, there can be no conception of happiness, even 
 though obtained through supernatural sources. 
 
 Reason is a religious duty and quality of the mind ; 
 and exercise of the judgment upon all occasions and 
 subjects is true and most divine worship. A critical in- 
 vestigation into the laws which God has made is an 
 imperative religious duty, as we can not love what we 
 do not understand, and we can only know of God through 
 his works ; and the more we know of Nature, the more 
 beauty and harmony we discover in the Creator : there- 
 fore, it is due to ourselves as well as to our Father to 
 investigate his laws, that our happiness may be increased 
 as the result of a better knowledge of him. Our Father 
 is a reasonable God ; he exists from the absolute, posi- 
 tive elements of his own mind, and he has endowed 
 human existence with the various forms of life and feel- 
 ing, with intellect, judgment, and reason. He has never 
 made or fashioned a law which will not bear human 
 criticism. He has never made a Universe which you 
 can go beyond ; he is not a Deity who is fearful of being 
 overstepped by human invention or ingenuity. Conse- 
 quently, reason can be exercised to its fullest capacity, 
 but still intuition will for ever exert its sway. Reason 
 upon all subjects : first, upon your physical systems and 
 the physical laws which control you; secondly, upon 
 your social, intellectual, and moral nature ; thirdly and 
 lastly, though not least, upon that part which is called, 
 in true and common parlance, the religious nature. 
 
 The reason why man's religious nature is called his 
 spiritual is because it is supposed to be more nearly 
 
328 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 allied to Deity than any other department of his being ; 
 it is supposed the soul of man is made more truly in the 
 image of God, and that in the departments of religious 
 feeling the human mind most closely resembles the mind 
 of Deity. 
 
 Religion can not be denned as belonging to any special 
 faculty ; and even reverence and worship are but local 
 manifestations of the religious element, and can not be 
 said to be true religion unless they extend through ev- 
 ery department of the mind. Religion, properly consid- 
 ered, is that subtile agent of the soul which aspires to 
 perfection in whatever way it is to be attained ; and 
 seeks to worship God because he is infinite, and is what 
 man is for ever aspiring to become. You should make 
 the religion of life that religion which will not allow 
 you to neglect any duty, however inferior it may seem 
 to others from educational influence. The duties of 
 home, of attention to friends, and wife, and family ; the 
 duties of business, such as providing properly for the 
 necessary and suitable means of preserving that life ; 
 the duties of intellectual cultivation — are as much reli- 
 gious duties as those which belong to worship. And 
 when you each day gather around the fireside, when you 
 each morning part with your wife and children, to meet 
 them again when the toils of the day are over, or when 
 you attend to your business — all should be done with as 
 much religious feeling as when you enter the sanctified 
 altar of the church and kneel down to offer up your 
 weekly prayers. 
 
 Take your religion with you always ; leave it not at 
 home locked in the closet, or closed between the lids 
 of any bible. Take it with you into the sanctified altars 
 
RELIGIOUS. 329 
 
 of your hearts, and keep it there. Let it spring forth 
 spontaneously, and make a true religious devotion of 
 every feeling which exists in your soul. Be thankful* 
 for your physical bodies as well as your immortal part ; 
 for that humanity which causes you to be divine in de- 
 gree ; for that divinity which is manifested in your hu- 
 manity. Be thankful for all things connected with your 
 earthly existence. Oh, the beauty of a religion of a 
 perfect life ! It may not stand forth in a vaulted sep- 
 ulchre ; it may not beam from any gilded temple, from 
 the halls of science and learning ; but it may shine forth 
 as a crown in the cottage of the lowly and the poor. 
 
 There is a religion of life carried in the heart of the 
 poor which is more valuable than the religion of the rich 
 man which is locked up from one sabbath to another at 
 home. The religion of life — why, my friends, you 
 should love religiously, breathe religiously, think reli- 
 giously ; not simply pray religiously, not simply kneel 
 down on Sunday religiously, or in family worship ; but 
 every action should be a deed of worship, and every 
 thought a prayer : and every tear of sympathy is as 
 much a true feeling of devotion as that worship which 
 comes from the lips — and more, when it is prompted 
 by a true impulse within the heart. 
 
 At the present time, throughout your city and the ad- 
 joining towns, there is a great spirit of religious fervor 
 and excitement. Men and women who never before 
 felt the presence of a divine power within their souls, 
 seem to burst forth spontaneously in worship and ado- 
 ration. This is well : it shows the manifestation of a 
 deeper element of thought ; and when congregations 
 belonging to various sects and different departments of 
 
330 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 religion meet together for communion and prayer, it 
 thows that there is less of sectarianism and more of 
 "true religion than has existed at any previous time. It 
 shows that the spirit of divine power, which can over- 
 come all institutions, creeds, and churches, is entering 
 the hearts of Earth's children. It shows that the spon- 
 taneous spirit of prayer will spring forth, and through 
 sympathy become extended wide? and still wider, until 
 all shall feel its power and influence. 
 
 We need not tell you the cause of this religious excite- 
 ment or devotion which is extending among the mass 
 of the people. We need not tell you why one part 
 affects another with its sympathy when true religious 
 devotedness is excited. It belongs to the human mind ; 
 it is an attribute of the human soul ; and each heart 
 throbs in sympathy with true religious devotion. Wher- 
 ever you find it, within or without the pale of the church, 
 if there is spontaneous utterance of what is believed to 
 be true ; if there is a general aspiration after what is 
 known to be a truer life ; if there is a hope for immor- 
 tality — that is religion. It matters not what be the 
 sect or creed, or whether baptism be administered by 
 immersion or sprinkling ; whether they partake of bread 
 and wine, as sacred symbols of their Savior's sufferings, 
 or not : if there is a union of soul there, which bears 
 their spirits above the material plane of existence ; if it 
 makes them feel in each department of their life that 
 there is some higher, holier perfection to be outwrought 
 — then let it come. But God forbid that any religious 
 revival should be gotten up under the influence of that 
 most depraved of all human passions, fear ! A revival 
 of religion gotten up under fear, and the mawkish wor- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 331 
 
 ship of God through, fear, is most truly degrading ; and 
 men who call themselves Christians while they fear the 
 wrath of a revengeful God, wholly mistake the true nature 
 of Christianity. But that religion which is the result of 
 love to God and man, is what will elevate and benefit 
 all its votaries ; and we say, let it come ! There is need 
 of it in the church and out of it ; there is need of it ev- 
 erywhere. But the religious fervor which is becoming 
 so generally manifested is the result of the infusion of 
 the spiritual influences, and the external manifestation 
 of this depends upon the education and peculiar organi- 
 zation of the individual ; and thus the variety of creeds 
 and forms. 
 
 The theologian who can excite the feelings of his hear- 
 ers or congregation by warning them against the terrors 
 of a revengeful God, x>r the torments of an everlasting 
 hell, can not be said to sustain truly nor perfectly the posi- 
 tion which he occupies ; Christianity revolts against it ; 
 humanity cries out against it ; the voice of God within ev- 
 ery human soul says, " Forbear, forbear !" The man whose 
 intellectual culture has taught him how to apply these reli- 
 gious tenets ; whose social position gives him power over 
 the sympathies of his audience ; whose moral nature 
 should be far above it — is condemned through his own 
 words when he appeals to you to worship God through 
 fear. Shame on any country, on any religion, on any 
 church, on any society, on any mem, that will tolerate it ! 
 But he whose education has made his nature still more 
 harmonious ; whose mental culture has rendered the 
 sympathies of his mind refined and perfect ; whose soul 
 beams out in every action, thought, and feeling ; who 
 reads the Word through the feelings of an inspired 
 
382 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 prophet and writer; who speaks of Jesus with love; 
 who reveres the prophets because of their goodness; 
 and who loves God because of his greatness — he can 
 stand forth and ask you to become religious worshippers, 
 not through fear of being damned, but through love of 
 goodness for its own sake. 
 
 The teacher who tells his pupil to learn his lesson for 
 fear that he will punish him, is like the theologian who 
 tells his congregation to worship God for fear of being 
 damned. The pupil learns neither from love of his mas- 
 ter nor from love of his lesson, but for fear of being 
 punished. The men and women who worship at such a 
 shrine, pray to God, not because they feel his love within 
 their souls, nor because there is an inspiration of divine 
 light drawing them nearer and nearer to the Divine 
 Mind ; but they cower down before him, and pray, lest 
 with wrath he shall condemn them. 
 
 We hope that the religion of life will be more per- 
 fectly understood after the present revival, or present 
 new life of religion, shall again have subsided into the 
 calmness of social existence. We hope there will be a 
 more general feeling of toleration, a more perfect desire 
 for charity, a more general extension of love through 
 all departments of Christianity, toward all sects and all 
 creeds. We hope there will be a diviner feeling of life, 
 a new impetus given to every department of existence. 
 We hope that in business men will be religious as well as 
 in the church. We hope it will be extended even to the 
 adamant walls, the iron-bound heart of the broker ; we 
 hope his heart will be touched — that there will be one 
 divine ray of light fanned to a flame, and which shall 
 go out above the brick and mortar, above the paving- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 338 
 
 stones, and dark alloys, of your crowded city. We 
 hope that in social life its influence will be felt ; that 
 there will be less of scandal, of low, depraved habits ; 
 less of all things which make the soul dark and impure ; 
 less of condemnation and anathematizing. We hope- it 
 will be extended to the church, to all people ; that there 
 will be less vituperation, less severity — more charity, 
 kindness, and love. 
 
 Cultivate, then, a religion of life. Let your highest 
 aspiration be to live truly. When men live truly, there 
 can be no death or fear. When they live perfectly, 
 there will be no need of religious creeds to save them. 
 When men seek to live truly, religion will be the prompt- 
 ing impulse of their souls. Life is being harmoniously, 
 truly , wholly alive. Your physical systems are not all 
 alive. There is some part of every one of your frames 
 which is diseased : that is death. Your mental and 
 spiritual being is not wholly alive. There is some duty 
 unperformed, some power which can be cultivated more 
 fully. There is benevolence, there is conscientiousness, 
 there is kindness, justice — all of which can be more 
 perfectly cultivated. You are dead in almost every 
 department of your being. There is some form of 
 death, of decay — some form of dormancy, of sleep — 
 which makes of life not life, but death, darkness, sin, 
 decay. Live truly, and the physical form shall unfold 
 as does the flower, harmoniously ; and perfectness shall 
 spring up from the germ, extending to the bud and 
 blossom, yield its fruition, and then pass away. The 
 mind shall continue to unfold, expand, and enlarge ; and 
 the spirit shall only feel that it has burst the dull co- 
 coon of life, and gone on to a higher state. Oh, the 
 
334 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 fullness of a true religion ; the perfectncss of a pure de- 
 votion ; the living, burning, all-pervading element of the 
 divine life ; the spontaneous, heartfelt ease, when the 
 spirit is conscious that it is fully alive — alive to all the 
 impulses of religious fervor and aspiration! Oh, the 
 glory of a spirit crowned with the consciousness of im- 
 mortality — who feels no death, because it has life ; and 
 knows.no darkness, because it has constant light. Seek, 
 then, a religion of life. Let your worship, your thoughts, 
 your feeling, your action,, be religion. Let every word 
 be a prayer ; and every impulse of the spirit an invoca- 
 tion ; and every expression of the mind an utterance 
 of spontaneous devotion ; and every investigation of the 
 intellect something which leads you nearer to Deity ; 
 and every impulse of the physical form something which 
 shall perfect and enlarge your soul. Thus, religion 
 shall not be confined within the walls of any church, 
 shall not be nailed down to any tablets, shall not be 
 written upon any scrolls, shall not be marked out in 
 any creeds, shall not be chained by any forms of reli- 
 gious worship ; but religion shall be life, and life shall 
 be religion. 
 
 May the spirit of true religion crown all your hearts 
 with joy and peace ; and may the religion of a perfect 
 life fill your souls with charity and love, and make all 
 men brothers, and all humanity children of God ! 
 
DISCOURSE XX. 
 
 DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN, MARCH 21, 1858. 
 
 THE LIFE OF KELIGION. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Infinite Jehovah ! Father of all goodness ! our souls 
 would praise and bless thy name to-day. Springing forth 
 in gushings of spontaneous thankfulness, our thoughts 
 rise up to thee, and we would be absorbed in the great- 
 ness of thy being. With reverential awe we behold the 
 splendor of thy power. Each day, every moment, adds 
 to the beauty of the spirit ; and the light of religion, 
 and beauty, and thought, and divinity, render the soul 
 great and powerful in its aspirations for thee. Bless us 
 with thy presence ; and may we feel the thrillings of 
 thy love and the aspirations of thy knowledge, until our 
 souls shall be blended with thine in all perfection and 
 beauty. We bless thee for those trials which render 
 the soul stronger, and bring the heart nearer to thee ; 
 for that endurance which strengthens the mind and pre- 
 pares it for higher and holier aspirations. We bless 
 thee for what men call crime-, for in its knowledge there 
 comes an aspiration for higher and holier enjoyment ; 
 and though it may cause thy children to droop for a 
 while beneath its chastening influence, the clouds of ig- 
 norance will soon pass away, and the sunshine of thy 
 
336 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 goodness will make the day all the more bright and 
 beautiful for the discipline which has purified our souls. 
 
 Father of light ! we know that thou hast fashioned 
 all things ; and out from the elements of thy Divine 
 Mind all things have sprung into existence, and are 
 constituted according to thy will. We bless thee for 
 this consciousness that every soul may throb in unison 
 with thme, and still work out its own salvation. We 
 bless thee for the religious fervor which characterizes 
 all countries ; but we thank thee more especially for 
 that fervor which belongs to the chastened spirit when, 
 purified and enlightened, it stands before thee in the 
 radiance of its own purity, adoring and praising thee 
 through a life of harmonious action. May thy children 
 feel that not in gilded temples made with hands, not in 
 cloistered cells, nor yet in the grand arcana of religious 
 worship, nor yet in pulpits, nor from the rostrum, can 
 the soul alone worship thee ; but in its deep adoration 
 of love, in the fulfilment of its perfect existence, in the 
 grand comprehension of thy law and thy power, there 
 is true religion, true worship. 
 
 Father, we feel thy religion like a halo of divine light 
 surrounding our souls, raising us up, and permeating our 
 existence with divine beauty. It comes in the form of 
 gentle intuition or inspiration from thee, crowning ev- 
 ery heart with rejoicing, and blending each soul with 
 thine own. May thy children feel its presence and ac- 
 knowledge its power in every department of physical 
 existence. Father, thou hast made religion the crown- 
 ing gem in the diadem of human aspiration, and with 
 its brightness all their glory is absorbed, and with its 
 radiance all their light becomes darkness. Make it the 
 
EELIGIOUS. 337 
 
 controlling, all-pervading element of thy children's souls, 
 until intellect, science, art, philosophy, and government, 
 shall be blended with religion ; then all shall be peace 
 for ever. We praise thee for this conception of thy 
 goodness and thy presence ; and make us feel that thou 
 art for ever our Father ! 
 
 DISCOURSE. 
 
 A week ago, we addressed you upon the subject of 
 the Religion of Life. It was then proposed also that 
 we should elucidate another point expressed in substan- 
 tially the same words, but of very different meaning — 
 namely, the Life of Religion. Owing to indisposition 
 on the part of our medium, we illustrated but one por- 
 tion of that subject, which was the first. To-day our 
 theme is the Life of Religion. 
 
 Last Sunday, we endeavored to show that the reli- 
 gion of life is not confined to any outward profession 
 or acknowledgment of divine worship, but is that ele- 
 ment which pervades and controls the true and harmo- 
 nious man or woman in the outworking of religious pur- 
 pose. In other words, the religion of life, we claimed, 
 was the highest and holiest cultivation of every faculty 
 which belongs to man ; that there is just as much reli- 
 gion in subserving the laws of the physical relation as 
 there is in subserving those which control the moral 
 relation ; and that each act of life should be performed 
 with reference to worship. 
 
 15 
 
338 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Life, as defined by us, signifies a power of existence ; 
 that which gives to existence its being, its invigorating 
 power, its absolutism. Religion, as we have defiDed it 
 on various occasions, is the all-absorbing element of the 
 soul, which tends to worship and to adoration, or to the 
 conceiving of a Divine Being. The life of religion, 
 then, is the power of existence, or the principles of be- 
 ing which exist in religion. Religion is an element — 
 not one capacity of the mind, not one faculty of the soul 
 alone. It is an all-pervading element, like life, and 
 diffuses itself through every department of the mind, as 
 does the sunshine through the Universe, and the planets 
 absorb it in proportion to their relative distance from 
 the sun. So religion is the central light of the soul ; 
 and other capacities take up the action of that light ac- 
 cording to their requirement, and growth, and prosperity. 
 The life of religion is the controlling and all-pervading 
 element of power which is visible in religion ; not as an 
 external manifestation, nor yet is it discoverable by 
 science in the atmosphere ; nor yet does it travel upon 
 the wings of thought alone ; but it is an all-pervading, 
 subtile influence, which exists wherever souls exist, and 
 extends its influence in proportion as it is recognised by 
 those who are present. Hence a great mass of people 
 feel more religious fervor than a few ; because it is 
 called upon more where there is greater power of sym- 
 pathy, and a greater mass to call it forth. This life of 
 religion more fully manifests its existence wherever 
 there is the greatest call for its manifestation ; and thus 
 in modern religious excitements, which are the result 
 of this principle in the mind, religion is called upon 
 to fill its natural place through sympathy. Thus sym- 
 
RELIGIOUS. 389 
 
 pathy or love still becomes the controlling element of 
 religion. 
 
 Life in religion is love, and signifies that property 
 which attracts from every soul a certain amount of reli- 
 gious fervor, being the power and the controlling prop- 
 erty of the mind, and is as permanent as the life of the 
 Universe. It belongs to Deity, and has been handed 
 down through generations, but grows no stronger. It 
 is like the steady radiance of a sun, which shines always 
 the same, but which is perceived more in the daytime 
 than it is in the night. Religion burns steadily ; its 
 life is constant ; there is no fluctuation, no flickering in 
 its radiance ; but it burns for ever upon the altar of 
 God's Universe, kindled there by his own hand, and 
 is a living and everlasting flame. 
 
 The ancient religionists had just as much of life in 
 their religions as do the modern ones. They had just 
 as much fervor and religious devotion, just as much 
 divine zeal in their conceptions of religion, as have you ; 
 only then it was confined to a few, while now it is dif- 
 fused through the many. Yet there is always a supply 
 to equal the demand ; and when men call for religious light 
 — for that fervor which constitutes true devotedness, aspi- 
 ration and goodness, for a hope of immortality — religion 
 always comes in to fulfil its part ; and it becomes a burn- 
 ing, living flame, lying upon the altar of the heart, and its 
 life is the life of every soul. Thus we may call the life 
 of religion love ; that is all the life there is in it. Take 
 that away, and it becomes idolatry, bigotry, supersti- 
 tion, heathenism ; for, unless there is love, there is no 
 life in religion. What is that which caused the ancients 
 to bow down before idols of wood and stone, and idols 
 
340 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 whose names were hatred and revenge, and all the lower 
 passions of the mind, while the gods of love, and sym- 
 pathy, and beauty, were rarely known ? The god of 
 power and the god of revenge were called upon more 
 frequently simply because the life of religion did not 
 tend to love, excepting a love of war, a love of combat, 
 a love of power ; and thus religion was subservient to 
 idolatry. Thus is created idolatry when religion is un- 
 der the control of human passion ; but religion is love 
 when in true Christian spirit men love one another. A 
 Christian has no more life in his religion than has hea- 
 thenism, other than Christianity has more love. With- 
 out this, the soul of the Christian is no more devoted 
 than the soul of the idolater. 
 
 Men, if they would be Christians, and possess the 
 true life of religion, must follow the precept and exam- 
 ple of Him who was the founder of Christianity. His 
 whole life was a life of love ; all his actions were those 
 of love ; and his words were the constant warblings of 
 the soul's love in acknowledgment of the Father's good- 
 ness ; and every deed was a spontaneous one. There 
 was no fixed form of religious worship, no idolatry, no 
 temples, no places dedicated to certain and especial 
 forms ; but every hour and every moment was a sponta- 
 neous existence of the life of religion. Thus Christians, 
 unless they possess in reality this spontaneity of reli- 
 gious fervor, have not the life of religion within their 
 souls, but have idolatry ; and modern worshippers for- 
 get greatly that true religious life can never be confined 
 within the narrow limits of any creed, dogma, or any 
 form of government, of church or state. 
 
 The life of religion belongs to the soul, and is as free 
 
RELIGIOUS. 341 
 
 as the winged bird that skips from bough to bough, or 
 soars from tree-top to mountain-top ; as free as the at- 
 mosphere which wafts on the zephyrs the perfumes of a 
 thousand flowers ; as free as the living, breathing light 
 of God's own heaven. What ! bind life or love within 
 the limits of any fixed form, and make of the soul an 
 automaton — of the spirit a simple machine ? Never ! 
 Its life is gushing, free, sparkling, like the mountain- 
 streamlet. God is the source whence it came : it must 
 run on for ever, until it is blended with the great ocean 
 of Immensity ; and, even there, each atom is separate 
 from the other. Each life retains its own existence, 
 and each soul its own consciousness. 
 
 Is it the true life of religion, when, through fear or 
 through any external excitement, men are taught to be- 
 lieve that they have experienced religion ? Can reli- 
 gion be taught ? Can religion be demonstrated through 
 fear ? or can its life be truly known under any form 
 of excitement ? Never. The soul must feel its own 
 religious life in its own way ; it must come as silently 
 and yet as imperceptibly as the dawn of morning light. 
 You can make no distinction between night and day, 
 save that night is dark and day is light. The dividing 
 line is never known, yet it comes on, silently and softly. 
 So the consciousness and perception of religious life 
 comes to the soul in its own time, and with its own 
 power and fervor. If a man is excited or stimulated 
 to acknowledge himself a religionist before that life is 
 awakened in his soul, he soon returns to the paths of 
 sin and the world. There is no true conversion, so 
 called, there ; there is no renewal of life within the 
 spirit : it is simply an excitement of the mind, which 
 
842 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 soon passes away, and leaves the soul as dead as before. 
 A true religious life comes to the spirit when in the 
 quietude of its own existence it feels the presence of 
 the Almighty Father. Religious life, or that power of 
 religion which is really its existence, is not confined to 
 nations, ages, governments, sects, parties, or creeds, but 
 it breaks out with its own characteristics in its own 
 time, and constitutes the deep revolutions of religious 
 thought. 
 
 Calvin, Luther, Whitefield, the Wesleys, Murray, and 
 all the great leaders in religious excitements and creeds, 
 had religious fervor within their souls ; but when you 
 attempt to follow them, you become idolators, and not 
 religious worshippers. No man can follow in the foot- 
 steps of another, for each individual is distinct from all 
 other beings on earth. You must be what you are 
 through your education and circumstances, through your 
 own nature and life ; and your religion must take its 
 own time for its own manifestations. None else can do 
 it for you ; and when you acknowledge yourselves wor- 
 shippers at any shrine of religion, that religion becomes 
 materialism, not religion. 
 
 Again, the life of religion is quiet, unobtrusive, gen- 
 tle, and loving. It comes not with a grand sweep of 
 power ; it comes not with a burst of passion ; not with 
 a swell of trumpets or the sound of arms ; not with the 
 thunders of the Vatican, or the loud roar of the ocean- 
 wave : but it is quiet and gentle as the morning zephyr 
 sweeping among the pine-trees ; it is sweet, melodious, 
 kind. It is life ; and life is always constant, quiet, har- 
 monious, and pure. There are volcanic eruptions ; there 
 are earthquakes and tornadoes ; but these are only the 
 
RELIGIOUS. 843 
 
 exceptions ; the rule is constant harmony and peace in 
 God's creation. So, when there is a tornado of religious 
 fervor sweeping across your country, rest assured that 
 the calm will bring the life of religion. That which is 
 excitement now is not religion ; it is only the foreshad- 
 owing of religion, as the storm foreshadows the bright- 
 ened morning. Religion comes when the soul is calm. 
 That which is excitement now, and which is the blend- 
 ing of various elements, is only the bursting forth of the 
 volcanic fires which have been slumbering, deeply em- 
 bedded in society. But the beauty and calmness comes 
 when the volcano has spent its fury, and the rumbling 
 earth has quieted. Then the soul feels its religion, 
 its life, its beauty. There is a new birth — not with 
 pain ; but when the pain shall have passed away, the 
 infant Religion is born, and the soul realizes its true 
 and heavenly parentage. 
 
 Remember, then, you who believe in excitements of 
 religion, or who do not, that the life of religion is not 
 the excitement but the calm. The manifestation of it 
 is not in the form of words or prayer, but in the quiet 
 actions of the soul. Remember, all ye who bow down 
 before shrines and worship at altars where the sacra- 
 mental rites and religious forms are administered, that 
 not there does the life of religion come, but where there 
 is the blending of spirits with the Divine Father's, and 
 where souls in all their constant silence perceive the 
 presence of the Almighty. 
 
 The religion of Christ has been so complicated in its 
 nature, and has varied so widely from its original founder, 
 that when we speak of Christianity, understand us, we 
 do not mean the modern forms of religious worship : we 
 
344 discourses: by mrs. hatch. 
 
 mean the true Christ-spirit, which comes as calmly, as 
 gently, as the sweeping melody of the iEolian harp. Its 
 gentle tones vibrate through all the soul, and it feels 
 the presence of Christ. But all the grandeur and dis- 
 play of modern worshippers, all the temples which Kfce 
 the heathen are dedicated to certain religious cerem • 
 nies, belong not to Christianity ; they are the result of 
 another element in the human mind — the result of the life 
 of ambition, of the life of intellect, of the life of material- 
 ism, but do not belong to the life of religion, which lies 
 deeply imbedded in the soul, and constitutes its element 
 of existence. What is it that draws your people to- 
 gether sabbath after sabbath, day after day, in the pres- 
 ent religious excitement ? Is it the true life of religion ? 
 No. That requires no stimulus, no excitement, no draw- 
 ing together of crowds, no grand display of words ; that 
 is sufficient in itself. But this is only the preparatory 
 lesson, after which may come the consciousness of pos- 
 session of religion. Many are drawn there from curi- 
 osity, and through the sympathy of psychological control 
 are drawn into the current of religious excitement. Oth- 
 ers go there because it is fashionable ; others, to be pop- 
 ular ; others, to subserve the purposes of life ; others, 
 because they are afraid ; and more, because business or 
 financial difficulties in the past season have been so 
 great, that if they never believed in God before, perhaps 
 they do now. But the life of religion has drawn very 
 few there indeed. There are more, that stay at home, 
 who have the consciousness of religious life, who can 
 assist others by perfecting and beautifying that life in 
 the manifestation of existence ; and oh, how constant is 
 their way ! Look at the sunshine ! it has burst forth 
 
RELIGIOUS. 345 
 
 just now, after the storms of the day, as if to illuminate 
 the sabbath with its radiance and beauty.* So religion 
 comes after the storms of prejudice and superstition 
 have all passed away ; and then the soul is conscious of 
 that burning, living radiance, and the storms of sorrow 
 *» id the tempests of crime and sin which sweep across 
 the earth are but harbingers of sunshine and love. 
 
 We blessed God to-day for sin. You may wonder 
 at it, as one did in a previous lecture last week. But 
 we bless him for sin, because we know that what men 
 call sin is but the result of a perfecting agency in the 
 human soul ; and, but for that agency, the soul would 
 never aspire to a knowledge of goodness. We have 
 blessed God for sorrow: not because we love to see 
 men weep ; not because we love to see them despairing 
 and sorrowful ; but because we know that after every 
 cloud of sorrow there comes a brighter sunshine of joy. 
 We know that the chastisement of sorrow and wo is 
 greater and purer than constant joy. We know that 
 endurance is better than continuous happiness. We 
 know that patience, as a crown over the soul, renders 
 the spirit capable of greater happiness. We know that 
 the life of religion becomes purer and holier in its radi- 
 ance when sorrow has purified the soul. The life of a 
 true religion manifests itself most perfectly when the 
 soul is chastened by sorrow, purified by crime, relieved 
 of all the tempests, and when the storms that were 
 rocking beneath its surface have spent their fury. Then 
 life, beautiful, calm, and holy, beams in upon the soul. 
 
 Nations are never great in a day. There is always 
 
 * There had been a heavy shower, and at this moment the sun sud- 
 denly burst forth in great brilliancy and clearness. 
 
 15* 
 
346 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 some revolution, some storm of war, some tempest of 
 passion, some tottering of thrones, or decay of crowns, 
 before a nation can rise to its fullness of prosperity. 
 Then comes its true life. After all the seas of human 
 gore have been swept away, and the mangled corpses 
 of the groaning thousands have been buried ; after the 
 soldier has laid down his sword, then peace, love, and 
 liberty, dawn upon the spirit. When men are fighting 
 for religion, it is not religion. When zeal or religious 
 party-spirit prompts them to anathematize another who 
 believes not as they do, it is not the life of religion. 
 When one country wars against another for its religion, 
 then it becomes idolatry and materialism. When reli- 
 gion is dragged, as it were, into all the dark crimes of 
 human existence ; when politics, pecuniary matters, com- 
 mercial embarrassments, all the crimes and all the diffi- 
 culties which afflict humanity, are brought into religion, 
 then it proves that it is not religion, but mere specula- 
 tion. And when religion quietly, like the pervading 
 influence of an electric fire, burns steadily and constantly 
 through the soul, business, politics, and all the depart- 
 ments of life, are infused with its fervor. But we have 
 prayed often, if God could permit especial providences, 
 that this one might be given : that men, instead of in- 
 troducing into their religion all the affairs of earthly 
 life, would introduce their religion into those affairs, 
 and make all the actions and elements of existence life, 
 religion, holiness, and power. 
 
 There is a true life of religion in simplicity and inno- 
 cence, which is pure, and calm, and holy, in its inno- 
 cence ; but manhood is greater, diviner, and holier, which, 
 through knowledge, has attained to perfectness. The 
 
RELIGIOUS. 347 
 
 life of religion grows stronger as the man attains to 
 manhood ; and when he reaches the fullness of his prime, 
 the religious fire burns more divinely and grandly if he 
 has obtained virtue, happiness, and peace. There is 
 great religion in true knowledge ; there is great life in 
 that religion which demonstrates itself in each and ev- 
 ery department of the soul. How intimately blended 
 are the religion of life and the life of religion ! and yet 
 they are as different as is the perfume from the flower, 
 the song from the bird, or the light from the sun. One 
 is the effect of which the other is the cause. The life 
 of religion is the cause of the religion of life, and may 
 be called its own creator, for it belongs to Deity. The 
 religion of life is cultivated from this life of religion, 
 and grows up as the flower from the germ or root, and 
 sheds its perfume on the air : still, it would never live 
 without the life. Remember, then, that the life of reli- 
 gion is the love which men have for each other and for 
 Deity, whether it springs up in the form of religious 
 worship or whether it manifests itself in any department 
 of the mind : wherever kindness, affection, benevolence, 
 charity, and justice, are manifested, there is a life of 
 religion ; there is some fervor of religious purity, some 
 flame of religious fire, some devotedness of religious 
 feeling ; there is something of the love of God. 
 
 But man, when he says he loves God, and hates his 
 brother, is a liar ; for no man can love God, religiously 
 or otherwise, unless he loves his brother. The life of 
 religion commences within the soul, and goes out to all 
 humanity, binding you all together, and binding your 
 soul to Deity. Unless you love what God has made, or 
 what is the outworking of his image, you love not Deity, 
 
348 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 and therefore you are not righteous. Blend the two ; 
 make all religion a life, and make all life a religion, 
 until the twain shall be like the blended radiance of two 
 suns, or like the crowning radiance of the rainbow, the 
 one of which is the reflection of the other. Let your 
 loves be blended in the closest sympathy of religion 
 and purity ; and whether you have belonged to any 
 church, or united with any sect or creed, or called your- 
 self a Christian, remember that there is no religious life 
 there unless there is love — there is no love there unless 
 there is life. 
 
 May the crowning influence of that life which is the 
 result of love be ever with you ! May your family altar 
 and the fireside be the sanctuary for religious devotion! 
 May your hearts be the altar of your soul, and Consci- 
 entiousness the priest and the oracle between them and 
 your Father ! 
 
ANSWERS TO METAPHYSICAL QUESTIONS. 
 
 " The following," says the New York Evening Post, 
 " is an accurate report of a conversation which took 
 place at a private residence in this city, between Mrs. 
 Hatch and a company of ten or a dozen invited guests. 
 None of the questions had been previously submitted to 
 Mrs. Hatch, and to each her reply was prompt and un- 
 hesitating. The answers are as remarkable as anything 
 in the way of theological speculation that has recently 
 come under our notice. The sitting occupied an hour 
 and ten minutes." 
 
 Question. — Is there any necessary relation between disease and 
 sin 1 and if not, what is signified by our Savior's reply to certain of the 
 Scribes when they murmured that he blasphemed — "Wherefore think 
 ye evil in your hearts 1 for whether it is easier to say, ' Thy sins be for- 
 given thee,' or to say, 'Arise and walk.' " And again, in reply to the 
 messengers of John, who came to inquire if he was the one that should 
 come, or do we look for another, viz. : " Go, and show John again those 
 things which ye do see and hear : the blind receive their sight, and the 
 lame do walk ; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear ; the dead are 
 raised, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." And if 
 there is any such relation, does it exist after death 1 and do the spirits 
 know disease and recovery 1 
 
 Mrs. Hatch. — Sin, in the usual signification of the 
 term, implies the violation of a law. It has been ap- 
 plied, however, entirely to moral or intellectual laws ; 
 
350 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 to the violation of those laws which apply to the soul. 
 As the soul has been said to be a distinct and positive 
 formation, distinct from the physical formation, as its 
 existence has not been considered as being a part of the 
 body, or of the life of the body, sin has been thought to 
 have no influence upon the external man. But any law 
 which produces an effect upon man's physical system 
 must, in its primitive source, be from the soul. Why ? 
 Because man's soul, in its identity, in its essence, and 
 in its formation, outworks, aggregates, assimilates exter- 
 nal substances, until you behold the form of man. The 
 external form is the growth of the spirit. The nature 
 of the spirit unfolds the form of the body. The body 
 simply gives place, expands, unfolds, that the processes 
 of identity may become more effectually developed and 
 made manifest. 
 
 Sin, therefore, as such — not being a positive ele- 
 ment, but an ignorance of the laws of Nature — may be 
 defined as either physical or mental, and in either case 
 it applies to the soul ; for all physical diseases, when 
 traced to their ultimate source, proceed from a lack of 
 unfoldment in the spirit. Disease is a want of proper 
 action in some portion of the system, and this must tend 
 to produce an increased or superabundant action in other 
 parts, which is inflammation. This must proceed from a 
 want of knowledge of the laws of health and of Nature ; 
 for, were they well understood, they would never be 
 violated : consequently, it proceeds from a want of un- 
 folding of the intellect or soul — a want of action of the 
 soul. Therefore, in the text of scripture quoted — " For 
 whether it is easier to say, ' Thy sins be forgiven thee,' 
 or to say, 6 Arise and walk' " — whether the soul or the 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 351 
 
 body is made whole, it matters *not, for the disease of 
 both arises from the mind. 
 
 You ask, then, if the relations of sin and 'disease ap- 
 ply to the spirit in its future existence, and if the spirit 
 knows disease and recovery. We answer, it does. Dis- 
 ease is the want of action in some portions of the system, 
 and an excess of action in other portions, as we have 
 defined it. As that is true of the external form, so it 
 is true of the spiritual. There is a want or an excess 
 in the capacity of the spirit in the brain, and it operates 
 upon the spirit as disease and recovery. When the 
 spirit acquires a knowledge of the laws which govern 
 its nature — when an equilibrium is produced in its fac- 
 ulties, in the spiritual world, through the manifestations 
 of the unfolding of the soul, in the intelligent and iden- 
 tified spirit — then there is no more disease. 
 
 Consequently, spirits do know diseases — not of the 
 body, for that is left behind — but disease in the faculties 
 of their own nature, as it is for ever improving, not 
 growing, but always unfolding to higher and more per- 
 fect forms of existence. 
 
 Q. — Is the soul, or, in other words, that which animates the form, and 
 is the man — is it an absolute, independent entity, or is it the result of 
 organization 1 
 
 A. — It is an absolute, independent entity. 
 
 Q. — How is it, then, that qualities of the soul are inherited, so that a 
 race of men have. a certain resemblance'? 
 
 A. — - Qualities of the soul are not inherited, except 
 from Deity. Qualities of the manifestation or combi- 
 nation of the soul — of that which has an external form 
 — are always inherited, inasmuch as the soul becomes 
 identified and outwrought through generations and na- 
 tions, in its external essences. But the soul, as such, 
 
352 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 in its distinct and positive essence, inherits nothing ex 
 cept from Deity. The manifestations of identity in ex- 
 ternal forms, and in developments of combinations and 
 modes of thought as witnessed in nations and genera- 
 tions of the families of men, are the result of the condi- 
 tions of external life, and of the unfol dings of the spirit ; 
 and as no two men in the world are alike in external 
 form, so no two souls are unfolded in the same manner, 
 but are differently combined and outwrought. For in- 
 stance, to illustrate by a familiar theory in Nature : in 
 chemistry, the primaries of all substances are alike, but 
 not their combinations in any form of existence. You 
 perceive a different unfoldment, a different aggregation, 
 a constant variety in the external ; and the same differ- 
 ences, the same variety, exist in the internal essences, 
 the combinations of spirit and soul. Therefore, it is not 
 the soul in essence that is changed, but the capacities 
 of the soul as wrought forth from the external. The 
 difference is in the intellect. 
 
 Q. — Then is there any radical or inherent difference between the soul 
 of one of the most degraded of the human race — as, for instance, that 
 of the Bushman — and that of one of the white or Caucasian race? 
 
 A. — None in the inherent elements of the soul, else 
 education or unfoldment could not produce their effect 
 — could not draw out the higher manifestations of the 
 soul. Were there a difference of species, an essential 
 difference in the elements within, they could not become 
 assimilated through educational means, through the pro- 
 cesses of unfoldment by which external knowledge is 
 acquired, and the soul become unfolded to the highest 
 capacity which man conceives. Consequently, the soul 
 of the Bushman is radically identical with that of the 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 353 
 
 Caucasian or any human soul. All souls proceed from 
 one Primal Source. 
 
 Q. — In regard to the Bushman, I do not know as there is any evi- 
 dence of their having been cultivated at all. The Bushman is about 
 the lowest race of men known. 
 
 A. — But wherever there is a spark of intelligence 
 manifesting itself in the form of reason and judgment, 
 there is a soul. If the Bushman has not that reason 
 and judgment, he is not a man ; he has not a human 
 soul. Many of the animals manifest the capacity of hu- 
 manity to a certain degree, each animal in its own 
 sphere, but none of them have the combined faculties of 
 reason and judgment. 
 
 Q. — May we infer that the spiritual endowment in the lowest order 
 of the human race, as the Bushman, is the same as in other races ? 
 
 A. — You may infer this from what we say, that the 
 essences which make man an individuality, a soul — the 
 essences which make man the child of his Father — 
 these essences are alike wherever you find them. Wheth- 
 er in the Hindoo, the Hottentot, or the Bushman, in the 
 lowest form of intelligence, if that crowning stone of the 
 arch — reason — is there, you will find a human and an 
 immortal soul. But as we expressed the idea of differ- 
 ences of formation and development, of course the un- 
 foldment of the soul of the Bushman requires a longer 
 period of time, perhaps extending through generations. 
 Greater changes, greater aggregations and segregations 
 of thought and feeling, so to speak, manifested through 
 the external, are required for the assimilation of their 
 forms of existence to that of the more favorably dis- 
 posed and developed races. But with the nature of the 
 
354 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 spiritual essences this lias nothing to do. The spirit 
 being from God, must be perfect. 
 
 Q. — Where does soul, that crowning arch, begin in the creation 1 
 
 A. — It begins with man. The "connecting link," 
 as it is termed by scientific men, between the animal 
 and human creations, or between reason and instinct, 
 we have not clearly defined, neither do we suppose it to 
 be susceptible of definition. But this we assert, that in 
 the Bushman, or the lower order of the human species, 
 wherever found, the essentials of individual identity 
 become perfect ; that wherever you find a susceptibility 
 of unfoldment, there the individuality of spirit com- 
 mences ; and if there is no such susceptibility in the 
 Bushman — if he is not capable of attaining to the higher 
 forms of intelligence — then he is not immortal. 
 
 Q. — Does the development of the soul depend upon human instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 A. — The development of the soul, in its interior and 
 positive essence, does not depend upon human instruc- 
 tion ; but the circumstances of its identity in the exter- 
 nal life do, in a great measure, depend upon human 
 instruction. For instance, the soul, unless it perceives 
 intuitively its essence and objects, is not susceptible of 
 being educated into them. Unless there is an intuitive 
 fountain of knowledge, human instruction can not sup- 
 ply it. If, through education, those higher powers of 
 the spirit of the Bushman are not called forth, it is 
 evident they do not exist ; but when, by education, they 
 are called forth, it is also evident that they existed in 
 the soul, and only external cultivation was required to 
 develop them. External education is simply an out- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 355 
 
 ward manifestation of the laws and principles inherent 
 in the soul, which is perfect in itself, though undevel- 
 oped, being an offshoot or coruscation of the Deity. 
 Therefore it is that the divine intuition is the primal 
 source of man's knowledge, while external education is 
 only a means of calling it forth. 
 
 Q. — Then, where man begins is where the power of development or 
 intellectual improvement begins ? 
 
 A. — Yes. For instance, you may cultivate an ani- 
 mal ; you may teach it many things which look like in- 
 telligence. He will manifest a degree of intelligence, 
 but there is no source of thought. He manifests no 
 originality, except in his sphere ; he manifests no higher 
 aspirations than belong to his animal instincts, his ani- 
 mal nature. But when an immortal is instructed, you 
 behold originality, aspirations, longings. The fountain 
 will pour. You open the gateway, and the flood will 
 burst forth. That is the true test of soul, and the only 
 test that we have been able to discover. 
 
 Q. — Is the existence of the human soul, as it appears in man, the 
 commencement of its existence, or did it, as an entity, exist before it 
 made its appearance in a human form ? 
 
 A. — We conceive this: that the human soul, as an 
 element, must have existed through all the past eter- 
 nity, within the boundaries of the Universe ; that the 
 individual soul, as an entity, as a positive individuality, 
 never existed until it was manifested in the human form. 
 This manifestation becomes the stepping-stone to con- 
 sciousness, to individuality, to a conscious immortality. 
 Your soul was as immortal before it entered into the 
 human form as it was after that event ; was as perfect 
 in its combination ; its destiny was as fully marked out, 
 
356 DISCOURSES BY SIRS. HATCH. 
 
 but not to external consciousness ; you had not that 
 identity which attends you as an individual person. 
 
 For instance, the spirit perceives not time nor space, 
 but conceives of principles; consequently, the spirit, 
 when identified in the human form, measures, analyzes, 
 unfolds, and perceives things, according to their relative 
 powers. It sees external objects in essence only. The 
 soul knows neither time nor space, as such, only rela- 
 tively. The ideas are outworked as the soul manifests 
 itself in an external form. But the soul can never go 
 backward ; it can never return to its first condition. 
 There is no such thing as retrogression in the Universe ; 
 what may seem such to you is only the reaction of Na- 
 ture, in accordance with the divine laws. If your soul 
 had been an entity before its present existence, that 
 entity would be realized by you. In essence, your spirit 
 conceives of a former existence, because it conceives of 
 Deity ; because it conceives of a universal concord and 
 harmony ; because it soars toward the Light whence it 
 sprung, but not because it conceives of a previous iden- 
 tity. 
 
 Q. — What idea, then, ought we to have of the state of a spirit's ex- 
 istence prior to its assuming the human form 1 
 
 A. — You ought to have this idea: that the essences 
 of the formation of the human soul have ever existed 
 distinct and positive, but that the time for the ultima- 
 tion and unfoldment did not occur until the formation 
 of a human life occurred upon the earth; that every 
 conscious thought of the soul is here being outwrought 
 in the forms of earth ; that the essences of spirit are 
 continually outwrought, as are the essences and powers 
 of the external Universe ; that there was no great crea- 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 357 
 
 tioir of humanity at the commencement, and humanity 
 then allowed to go on in its own development, but that 
 the Fountain of Life is still open and freely flowing ; 
 that Deity is still creating from himself souls which are 
 a part of his being ; and being created, they are thrown 
 off as are suns, planets, and systems, from a central sun ; 
 that being once created and thus thrown off, they can 
 and will no more go back again to God than can the 
 star created from the essence of the sun go back to that 
 sun again ; but that they must for ever revolve in the 
 orbit prescribed for them, and in the light of the grand 
 centre from which they sprang. 
 
 Q. — Is it possible to specify the time of the creation or formation of 
 things ? 
 
 A. — It is impossible to form an accurate idea of the 
 time. You may judge somewhat from the teachings of 
 geology, but that is very indefinite. You may analyze, 
 and form conclusions as relates to principle, but not in 
 relation to fact. 
 
 Q. — What construction is to be put on the Mosaic record as to the 
 time of the origin of the human race ? 
 
 A. — That not merely six thousand, but more than 
 six hundred millions of years have elapsed since the for- 
 mation of the earth, and that the record is the highest 
 inspiration of Moses, or of the person who wrote it. 
 The six days of creation must refer to long periods, 
 eras, or epochs, and are not to be taken in a literal 
 sense. The morning and the evening signifies the be- 
 ginning and closing of a period, as you speak of the 
 morning and evening of life, without referring to the 
 rising and setting of the sun. 
 
358 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 Q. — Arc we at liberty to suppose that the human race all sprang from 
 a single pair ? 
 
 A. — You are at liberty to suppose what you will; 
 we are not at liberty to express any decision in regard 
 to positive facts. We suppose that each nation, each 
 country throughout the whole world, had its Adam and 
 Eve, and that is wherein nations differ in externals and 
 in combinations of soul, but not in essences. 
 
 Q. — What, then, becomes of the theory of the fall of man through 
 Adam? 
 
 A. — Probably the partaking of the fruit of the tree 
 of knowledge, and the consequent " fall," as you express 
 it, is a part of the experience of all nations. 
 
 Q. — Are all mankind to be condemned for the offence of one'? 
 
 A. — All mankind are made from the same essences, 
 and it is supposed would follow the same laws. All 
 nations would, therefore, partake of the tree of knowl- 
 edge in the earlier ages of their development ; and it is 
 reasonable to suppose that the consequences would be 
 similar, if not the same ; and that the " fall" would ensue 
 from the principle of materialism growing out of the 
 desire for knowledge. But, strictly and philosophically 
 speaking, there is no such thing as man's ever falling, 
 for that which is truly wise and good can never become 
 less so. There may be temporary angularities or digres- 
 sions, which to the finite comprehension may appear evil, 
 but to the Infinite are only means of working out a higher 
 good. Had man been contented in his primeval state, 
 or in the garden of Eden, he could not have been tempt- 
 ed ; but his longings for a higher condition led to experi- 
 ments, and thus he partook of the tree of knowledge, 
 which is not death, but life. You find that knowledge 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 359 
 
 proves fatal to ignorance, and in this sense our first 
 parents may have died, but not to moral and intellectual 
 worth. It was a death to a lower condition, but a birth 
 to a higher ; as the throwing off the external form is a 
 death to the body, but a life to the spirit. 
 
 Q. — How comes it that every nation, having any traditional history, 
 has a tradition of the deluge, generally agreeing with that related in the 
 Old Testament ? Was the deluge universal ? 
 
 A. — Our ideas are simply these : According to sci- 
 entific revealments, it would be impossible for the whole 
 surface of the earth to be covered with water to the 
 depth related of the deluge. It must refer to a princi- 
 ple or power, as did the fall of man — a deluge which 
 swept away all principles of evil, leaving only a princi- 
 ple called " Noah." Or it may refer to the people of a 
 country — a local deluge. These are our suppositions, 
 and we base them in both cases upon the law of Nature. 
 We do not suppose that a literal Adam and Eve stood 
 in a literal garden of Eden, and were tempted by a lit- 
 eral serpent, or devil, to eat a literal apple. We sup- 
 pose that mankind were simple and innocent in their 
 unfoldment ; that they worshipped Deity according to 
 that innocence and simplicity ; that when the "tree of 
 knowledge," or man's desire of knowledge, sprang up 
 within them, they partook of the fruit — they sought for 
 knowledge. Consequently, there must then be a " fall" 
 (or more properly a reaction, for a fall implies a retro- 
 gression, which is impossible) from that highest state 
 of purity then prevailing, and from that to a deluge 
 of materialism sweeping over them. The deluge, com- 
 ing as a destruction of evil elements, must refer as much 
 to principle as the apple and the fall of man. The 
 
360 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 highest mountains may refer to pride and ambition ; the 
 lowest vales to ignorance and mental darkness; the 
 idea of Noah building the ark, to the safeguard of prin- 
 ciple, to men's trust, confidence, security, in those primi- 
 tive elements of Divine Truth and wisdom. It is stated 
 that the highest mountains were covered. If these 
 mountains were as high as they now are, it would be 
 impossible for a deluge to cover them. Perhaps, as in- 
 dicated by deposites of shells, the whole earth has at 
 some time been under water ; but we would imagine the 
 mountains to have been carried under the water, rather 
 than the water over them. Earthquakes and great con- 
 vulsions of Nature may have thrown them up. 
 
 In the earlier development of language, figures were 
 used to represent ideas ; but the meaning was not always 
 positively expressed. Consequently, it is not to be sup- 
 posed that translations of their ancient records should 
 be literally made, and that mountains, rivers, valleys, 
 trees, apples, and gardens, of Eden, should be taken as 
 absolute existences and particular localities. It is quite 
 reasonable to suppose that these things refer to prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Q. — Then what are we to infer from the universality of the tradition 
 of a deluge ? 
 
 A. — The undeveloped condition of man was then 
 similar throughout the world, as now the civilization 
 and intelligence of the nineteenth century pervades all 
 countries. The same ideas are now springing up in 
 Europe and America, and are travelling to the most 
 distant lands. This proves that the development of 
 thought, of feeling, of revealment, is everywhere the 
 same. And if Deity has made a spiritual principle, 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 361 
 
 which you may denominate the deluge, which washed 
 away the evil principles of all nations, may not the 
 manner of representing that principle have spread to all 
 the nations, or sprung up and been adopted in each na- 
 tion, as there was an Adam and Eve for each nation, 
 and the revealments of science and art harmonize in all 
 countries at the present day ? 
 
 Q. — What is the signification of "the serpent" in the story of Adam 
 and Eve 1 
 
 A. — The serpent signifies simply the form of the 
 tempter. The serpent has always been looked upon as 
 wily, insinuating, artful, tempting, as the serpent charms, 
 tempts, allures the bird ; and it is reasonable to suppose 
 the figure to have been used to express the idea of the 
 tempter, or that which tempts every person, and no 
 more Adam and Eve than every man and woman of the 
 present age. It may represent that which tempts and 
 allures man from childhood to age, leading to the un- 
 folding of his powers. Each of you, in your experience, 
 find a time when this tempter approaches you ; and you 
 partake, or strive to partake, of the fruit of the tree of 
 knowledge, and are never satisfied. Without that 
 tempter, where would be the revelations of art and sci- 
 ence ? Where would be even the divine revelations of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, who came after the deluge to purify 
 and enlighten the nations of the earth ? 
 
 Q. — Taking into consideration the subsequent developments of man- 
 kind, their progress in the arts and sciences and in all knowledge, should 
 we not interpret what is called the " fall" rather as an elevation ? 
 
 A. — Most certainly. As a reaction from the primi- 
 tive unfoldment, it was progress. Everything opposite 
 is called a fall, but in the great and general principles 
 
 16 
 
362 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 of Nature it is an imfoldment. There is no such thing 
 as falling, or as retrogression; for, if there were, then 
 Deity would not reign alone. A fall is only a reaction, 
 such as is visible in all external creations. 
 
 Q. — How are we to interpret the accounts of the raising of the dead 
 in the New Testament, that of Lazarus, Jairus's daughter, &c. ? 
 
 A. — Lazarus, like Mary and Martha, was an intimate 
 friend and associate of Jesus. It was very natural that 
 when Jesus approached the grave of his friend, he should 
 exclaim, ." Lazarus is dead ;" but the principles of Na- 
 ture forbid the idea that, after the spirit has actually 
 departed, the lifeless form can ever be reanimated. 
 Death signifies a want of action, and if there is really 
 death, there can be no resuscitation ; but in the records 
 of medical science you have many well-authenticated 
 instances of the spirit withdrawing its functions, so that 
 there is an appearance of death, which may be removed 
 by the application of proper medical means to restore 
 animation. What follows ? That Jesus, in the unfold- 
 ings of his nature, possessed that power over the ele- 
 ments which medical men obtain by the aid of science, 
 and by means of his psychology or magnetism, as it is 
 called at the present day, which was his power over 
 mind, he recalled the spirit of his friend which had tern 
 porarily withdrawn its functions by reason of spiritual 
 inharmony, or what you please. The body is said to 
 have been dead three days ; and it is given as the opin- 
 ion of the writer, or rather of those who went with Jesus 
 to the grave, that decay had already commenced, though 
 it is not asserted positively that such was the case. 
 
 None are prepared to say that life might not be re- 
 called, where perfect power exists, except in cases 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 863 
 
 Where absolute decay had occurred. Elijah, in the 
 perfection of his unfoldments, might have had the same 
 powers, but not to the same degree. So in this century 
 there have been many instances of persons supposed to 
 be really dead, who have been resuscitated by this same 
 power, this same unfoldment of the power of will in 
 harmony with Nature. In the case of Jairus's daughter, 
 Jesus himself said that she was not dead, but asleep. 
 Possessing this perfect power, he at once perceived the 
 condition of the woman. 
 
 Q. — Then is that power attainable by all men, though in a lesser 
 
 degree ? 
 
 A.— Inasmuch as Jesus was the Son of God, he pos- 
 sessed all the elements of manhood, as manifested in the 
 external form ; and as in the unfoldment of his natural 
 form, all was in harmony with his spiritual, he was the 
 greatest and most perfect manifestation of the divine 
 manhood that ever existed. But, inasmuch as he was 
 the Son of the same God, manhood in its distinct and 
 positive essence, whether in the form of a man of the 
 nineteenth century or of one of the past ages, may pos- 
 sess the same elements of external combination, and in 
 its unfoldings may manifest and exercise the same or a 
 similar power. 
 
 Q. — "Why is rnediumship, or the interference of a second individual, 
 now required ? 
 
 A. — This is required, that the spiritual or the divine 
 should be in as immediate connection with Deity, or the 
 source of the spirit, as is the physical in immediate con- 
 nection with the external world. How many of you are 
 so ? Encased in external forms of materialism, inharmo- 
 ny, and imperfection, you do not perceive that divine 
 
364 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 presence which is everywhere indicated, and which, if 
 you believed and comprehended, you too would possess 
 those powers which were supposed to be miraculous. 
 
 Q. — How is it we are told that, on the death of Jesus, power was 
 revealed in a more miraculous manner — that the dead arose from their 
 graves and walked the streets of Jerusalem, where they were seen by- 
 living men ? 
 
 A. — We suppose this may refer to those whom the peo- 
 ple believed to be dead, and whom they had seen laid in 
 the tomb. They had no idea of a spirit's power of mani- 
 festing itself; and when they buried a friend, they mourned 
 him as lost, and said, " My friend is in the grave." The 
 spirits of the dead may have been made visible, and they 
 said those they supposed to be dead came out of their 
 graves, as it is a favorite expression of spiritualists, that 
 their departed friends " come from the grave" to hold 
 converse with them ; in other words, that the particular 
 individuality appears and manifests itself. 
 
 But in answer to your inquiry, we say it was a greater 
 exercise of a divine power. As Jesus was greater, so in 
 the illumination of his presence and the glory of his im- 
 mortality all within his influence perceived that divine 
 essence, and were enabled to penetrate the veil that 
 separated them from the other world, and see their de- 
 parted friends thronging around them. 
 
 Q. — What is meant by perfection as referring to Christ ? 
 
 A. — We use the term in this sense : inasmuch as in 
 no manifestation or development of his life was he sub- 
 jected to any of the inharmonies, diseases, evils, or sins 
 of other men, we call him perfect ; because in his divine 
 element he was perfect, as are all men ; and because, in 
 the manifestations of that divine element, there was no 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 865 
 
 imperfection, so far as men, in the lapse of eighteen 
 hundred years, have been able to discover. Therefore, 
 in speaking of him relatively, we use the word " per- 
 fection." Nevertheless, the different forms of manifes- 
 tation are different means of outworking perfection ; 
 and you term it progress, but it is only a changing of 
 form. 
 
 Q. — What is meant by the sin against the Holy Ghost ? 
 
 A. — It is said : " If ye sin against the Son of man, 
 it shall be forgiven ; but if ye sin against the Holy 
 Ghost, it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world nor 
 in the world to come." We will first explain what is 
 meant by forgiveness. If you injure your brother or 
 your friend, he can forgive you, and you are not to be 
 contented till he has forgiven you, and relieved you of 
 the consequences of having inflicted an injury. The 
 Son of man is supposed to refer to Jesus. You sin 
 against him, perhaps, by refusing to believe in him, 
 though your knowledge, your unfoldment, prompts you 
 to believe he is the Christ. This may be forgiven. But 
 the Holy Ghost is the Divine Spirit of inspiration which 
 comes into every soul, which manifests itself in every 
 individual. It is the intuition which constitutes our 
 direct relation to the Deity, through which it was un- 
 folded. What follows? That if ye sin against that 
 Holy Ghost, that inspiration which comes to you as an 
 individual, that sin has no effect upon any one but your- 
 self; therefore no one can forgive you, and you must 
 abide the consequences of your sin. If you resist the 
 inspiration of your own light and knowledge, you must 
 abide the consequences, for it can not be forgiven, nei- 
 ther in this world nor in the world to come. If you are 
 
366 DISCOURSES BY MRS. HATCH. 
 
 thereby retarded in your progress, the effect must re- 
 main for ever. 
 
 Q. — is there any particular process, or can any instruction be given 
 of a course to pursue, whereby a man may fit himself for coming in con- 
 tact with spiritual essences 1 In other words, how can one become a 
 medium ? 
 
 A. — We will endeavor to explain the subject briefly : 
 after which we will ask, in consequence of her physical 
 condition, that the medium be excused. Spirits, in their 
 distinct essences, as we have informed you, perceive, 
 comprehend, not by time or external space, but intui- 
 tively, the elements of existence ; and they outwork, 
 through the means of external form and identity, into 
 the human brain. Probably each one of you, in your 
 experience, has become so interested in your external 
 identity as sometimes to forget the spiritual essence 
 within, and to imagine that the external brain — -the in- 
 tellect—is the "you," the "myself," the "I," and 
 have acted and used yourselves upon that principle. 
 But those who are deeply learned in science, and 
 who are constantly studying, not the external mind, but 
 the immortal, have a different conception of their iden- 
 tity. The materialist proves that spirit, in its develop- 
 ment, is a power which governs matter, but he compre- 
 hends it only in its external manifestations. So differ- 
 ent studies and means of education produce different 
 results upon the minds of men, and the majority of the 
 human race become so much externalized, that they 
 know nothing except by positive, external proof. What 
 follows ? That the spirit of man, in thus becoming ex- 
 teriorized, requires training to produce anything internal. 
 The mind has been manifested onlv in the direction of 
 
METAPHYSICAL. 367 
 
 external form, and therefore education is needed to 
 enable it to manifest itself internally. This is the gen- 
 eral rule, which we do not intend to apply individually. 
 You should endeavor to harmonize every faculty, 
 every power, every function of the soul, in exact pro- 
 portion and relation to each other ; endeavor to ren- 
 der them all perfect, as far as you can see any unfold- 
 ment and beauty. If you see a tendency in any direc- 
 tion which is injurious to your spiritual welfare, then 
 you should, as reasonable men, withdraw your spirit 
 from that, and direct it into another channel. As reason- 
 ing, conscientious men, you should perceive and appre- 
 ciate your own defects and deformities, and should en- 
 deavor to repair them. If you have a tendency to 
 physical debility, you endeavor to check it by suitable 
 remedies ; so if your spirit is defective, you should direct 
 your higher faculties to remove that defect. Do this, 
 and you will find that, as by fasting and prayer in an- 
 cient days the seers and prophets entered into the spir- 
 itual world, so by fasting and prayer you too may be- 
 come seers and prophets ; you too will find yourselves 
 spiritualized as they were. None of you are excluded ; 
 you all have the capacity in the divine essence within ; 
 and you can unfold it, if you will, by proper culture and 
 direction of your faculties and powers. 
 
THE SPHERES. 
 
 Much-esteemed Spirit-Friend : — 
 
 Please inform us what you wish us to understand by 
 the word "sphere" Is it a locality, or a condition? 
 Or are there successive local gradations which divide 
 the spirit-world into separate compartments, and which 
 are distinct from each other ? As there are various 
 opinions upon this subject, you will confer a favor by 
 giving us such information as may be in your possession. 
 Please write out your ideas, that they may not be mis- 
 understood. 
 
 Yours truly, B. F. Hatch. 
 
 My Earthly Friend : — 
 
 You desire an elucidation of the philosophy of the 
 " spheres," or an explanation of the successive unfold- 
 ing of the spirit through different gradations, either 
 embodied or disembodied. The word " sphere," when 
 applied to any object, simply signifies the orbicular con- 
 dition or position of thai object, and does not illustrate 
 or imply any particular location with regard to other 
 objects. But when applied to mind, it represents the 
 compass or power of the mental capacity. The sphere 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 369 
 
 of your material earth comprises all that space in which 
 it moves, and, atmospherically, all those elements that 
 surround it and are influenced by its revolutionary 
 changes. So the sphere of an individualized soul is the 
 orbit of its revolutions, and the influence of its move- 
 ments upon its own centre of attraction. 
 
 When we speak of the seven spheres or circles of the 
 spirit-world, we do not intend to convey the idea that 
 our world is divided and subdivided into regular com- 
 partments, each separate and distinct in its formation. 
 But that we may bring your capacities into harmonious 
 communion with our own, we are obliged to render an 
 outward or objective distinction, thereby enabling you 
 to realize that we occupy a world as real, tangible, and 
 positive, as your own. Seven is an harmonic number. 
 There are seven great principles in the spiritual identi- 
 fication of mind, and there must be correspondingly 
 seven material principles. There are seven hues in the 
 rainbow, or prismatic reflections of those hues. You 
 have divided your weekly revolutions of time into seven 
 days. There are seven grand principles of melody in 
 the great harmonic world of music, and each distinctive 
 principle is a trinity. Seven and three are the combi- 
 nations of harmonious numbers ; three and seven are 
 the union of harmonious sounds ; and sounds and num- 
 bers are the united representation of the spiritual or 
 real existence. 
 
 But before I can proceed to a direct analysis of sphe- 
 ral harmony, I must distinctly impress upon your mind 
 that ours is the world of causes, or the spiritual, and 
 yours is the world of effects, or the material. And as 
 no effect can exceed or become superior to the cause, 
 
3 TO THE SPHERES. 
 
 no embodied form can represent fully the spirit of the 
 embodiment. "We see reflected in the drop of water a 
 miniature image of the whole starry heavens ; but, re- 
 move the water, and we see no stars : yet, does that 
 destroy the vast myriads of rolling worlds ? No ! We 
 Have only to look upward to see the reality. So in the 
 external world we see embodied in the flower the beauty, 
 loveliness, and odor, of its spiritual existence. But 
 soon the external flower is destroyed by the blast, and 
 its petals fall withering to the ground. But where are 
 the odor, the color, and the beauty ? Not dead, but 
 blooming in the atmosphere, more lovely because more 
 refined and purified. 
 
 Thus, my dear friend, it is with the soul you see re- 
 flected in the human or outward form, the image of the 
 spirit ; and, gazing upon its beauty and perfectness, you 
 bow before the shrine of the exterior, forgetting that, 
 like the drop of water, it must soon pass away. And 
 when it is removed at last, mortals gaze in sorrow and 
 sadness, striving to restore the faded image instead of 
 lifting up their eyes to see the beautiful reality. 
 
 The spheres of human souls are like the orbits of 
 planets, each perfect in itself, yet distinct and harmoni- 
 ous ; and, whether that soul exists in the external form, 
 or in the interior and spiritual, it matters not if it only 
 attain its own orbit, and not, like the erratic comet, flash 
 a moment in the mental horizon, and disappear. But 
 even the comet occupies its own sphere, and never comes 
 in contact with any other planet, however near it may 
 approach. 
 
 Man's sphere is ascertained on earth by the external 
 application of his interior powers. Men rear grand ar- 
 
PHILOSOPHICAL. 371 
 
 chitectural palaces, whose marble halls and lofty turrets 
 are emblazoned with the choicest gems of earth ; and 
 surround themselves with every treasure of art, science, 
 or beauty. The poet weaves for himself the silken robe 
 of song, and sees in all Nature a grand lyric of perpet- 
 ual beauty. The sculptor chisels for himself an embodi- 
 ment of his ideal of Nature's perfect images. All these 
 are the outbirth of the interior man, and illustrate the 
 spheral or harmonic development of the soul. The phi- 
 lanthropist creates for himself a pedestal of earnest and 
 perfect love, and with clear and piercing eye traces out 
 the windings of his pathway, gazes on the whole race 
 of souls, and with one loving clasp draws the whole 
 world to his noble heart, and bears them on to joy. 
 
 Thus it is in our life. The architect creates for him- 
 self the ideal yet real images of his interior thought, 
 and sees in the whole Universe a grand and perfect 
 temple. These thoughts are handed down through suc- 
 cessive spheres, until at last they reach the earth. 
 
 Here the poet sings his lyric rhymes in harmony with 
 eternity's everlasting beauty ; and this, like the other, 
 permeates all spheres correspondingly with its own, un- 
 til some soul on earth, catching the inspiration, speaks, 
 and lo ! the poem becomes an outward form. 
 
 Here Mozart thrills for ever the strings of Nature's 
 lyre, and improvizes grandest melodies in harmony with 
 Eternity's glorious voice. And Rembrandt, through his 
 own ideal and imaginative power, pictures for himself a 
 panoramic scene of Creation's lovely landscapes, pre- 
 senting to the eye of God the artist-power of Nature. 
 
 Thus in the interior and exterior worlds the spheral 
 harmonies of each are combined ; while the soul, immor- 
 
372 THE SPHERES. 
 
 tal iii its powers, passes from gradation to gradation, 
 from world to world, from universe to universe, retaining 
 still its own sphere, and performing still its evolutions 
 around its centre, namely, its own interior self. 
 
 Shenandoah. 
 
 Note. — "Shenandoah" is the name of an Indian maiden, who fre- 
 quently controls Mrs. Hatch ; and the reply was written while Mrs. H. 
 was entranced, and it is published without a change of a word. 
 
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