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 J^&xffiAfiS^ 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS 
 
 OR 
 
 A HYPNOTIST'S IDEA OF 
 
 HEAVEN and HELL 
 
 AND 
 
 ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE, 
 
 BY 
 
 GEO. C. PRICE, L. L. B. 
 
 COPYRIGHTED NOV. IS, 1897. 
 
 LEACH BROS,, ART PRINTERS, CARTHAGE, MO. 
 
 
topical Outline* 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 The Journey of Life . 12-14 
 
 Observations on Talking 14-17 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Facts and Fancies 18-20 
 
 Mental Evolution 20-23 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Pathetic Visions 23-25 
 
 A Laige Majority 25-28 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 The Big Three 28-30 
 
 Civil Service Reform 30-34 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 The God of Goodness 35-38- 
 
 A Scrapping Match 38-41 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Soo-ci-etta vs. the Church 4*"45 
 
 The Fool Killer a Necessity 45*47 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Spiritual Longing vs. False Knowledge 48-56 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 The Big Three Again 5°-59 
 
 The Christian Graces 59"^ 2 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 The Spiritual Flower Garden 63-65 
 
 Questions and Answers 65-69 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Social and Moral Observations 69-72 
 
 Fools, Cranks, and Philosophers 7 2 "75 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Coffee-Coolers and Block- Voters 75"77 
 
 Social Monstrosities 77-81 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 Shooting Folly at Long Range 81-83 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 The Middle Way 84-86 
 
 Conditions of Happiness 87-91 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 Good and Perfect Gifts 9 I_ 93 
 
 The Demands of the Age 94~97 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 Searching for Truth 97-100 
 
 Continuing the Search 100-102 
 
 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 Conflict of the Silent Forces 103-105 
 
 The Last Round-Up 105-108 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 Through the Golden Gates 109-110 
 
 A Three Cornered Fight 1 10-1 13 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 Searching for God 113-117 
 
 The Old and the New 1 17-120 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 Reaching a Climax 120-124 
 
 Conceptions of Divinity 124-126 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 Driving Out the Money-Changers 127-130 
 
 Evolution the Divine Law 130-131 
 
 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 A Mountain and a Volapuk 131 -133 
 
 Developing a Spiritual World I 33 _I 37 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 Converting the Soul , . 137-141 
 
 Reading the Book of Life 141-144 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 Blowing the Ram's Horn 144-147 
 
 From the Shadows 147-150 
 
 One Way to Hypnotize 151-161 
 
"There's nothing in this wide, wide world 
 Which makes a man so glad, 
 
 As to know he's taking sorrow 
 
 From the hearts of them that's sad." 
 
 Ipre&icattcm* 
 
 "Cultured society is but whitewashed 
 crime. It is the school of egotism, which 
 seeks in vain to show its virtue by gaudy 
 words, while native modesty alone can prac- 
 tice those virtues which she so silently and 
 eloquently teaches." — Tolstoi. 
 
 "Wist ye not that I must be about my 
 Father's business?" — Christ. 
 
 "For every man doth indeed have desire 
 and business at some time during his life." — 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 "In the explanation of natural phenomena, 
 seek to obtain all the knowledge you can; and 
 when this fails, refer all the rest to God." — 
 Ben Hur. 
 
 God is the personification of goodness, 
 and goodness is personified by grouping His 
 seven principal attributes, as conceived by 
 the author of From the Shadows. 
 
preface* 
 
 The thoughts presented in this book are 
 chiefly the products of a careful observation 
 from the social, and moral lookout, when con- 
 sidered in relation to human happiness. 
 
 The title is merely suggestive, as, indeed, 
 is the subject-matter itself. But being strictly 
 a creature of thought and imagination, it 
 becomes, to some extent, a child of miracu- 
 lous conception, and, although an imperfect 
 one, it hopes to find a home in the minds and 
 hearts of all liberal thinking people. 
 
 Long ere the flowers had bloomed in the 
 Spring (of '97) we had conceived the bold 
 and reckless design of rushing into print, 
 the example has become contagious in the 
 best of families, the temptation with us is 
 no longer to be resisted, and, standing boldly 
 up in front of the audience, we have made a 
 feeble attempt to shie our would-be literary 
 caster way over into the magic circle of pub- 
 lic favor. At this suggestion, if any of our 
 friends should manifest a disposition to think 
 lightly, and, loudly laughing, say, "Shoot the 
 hat!" then we beg leave to inform them that 
 we haven't time to do so; that we are gunning 
 for larger game, and that we will never, no, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 never, be satisfied unless we shall succeed, to 
 some extent, at least, in capturing the human 
 mind. 
 
 These pages are written partly to gratify 
 the author's irrepressible desire to join the 
 procession, but principally to fill the tradi- 
 tional long-felt want, not because within the 
 last twelve months the country at large has 
 suffered any dearth of literary performances. 
 Upon the contrary, it is well known that we 
 have been talked to learnedly and eloquently 
 of chaos and cosmos, delighted with the good 
 old songs, and made to smile sweetly at the 
 sunny side of a preacher's life, while the silver- 
 tongued orators have spoken to us pathetically 
 of the life and character of Dickens, who is 
 our modern spiritual Shakespeare. 
 
 But the end is not yet, for the Spirit of 
 Inspiration is being revived among us. The 
 beautiful Good of Reason is enthroned, lend- 
 ing his beneficent aid in the fuller interpreta- 
 tion of that Divine Revelation so long since 
 graciously given, giving birth to the higher 
 criticism, which in turn becomes the Spiritual 
 Father of Christian Science, who is indeed 
 the only spiritually begotten son of the true 
 Spiritual Father. 
 
 Here, then, is the real opportunity of the 
 true King's Jester, and he may once more 
 assume his shining hood and bells, causing 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 them to jingle once again, in answer to 
 Tennyson's spiritual invocation. 
 
 "Dear sinners all," man's life is not a jest, 
 nor dream, shadow, bubble, air, nor vapor, at 
 the best. Life is real, and well worth living 
 to those who live it according to Good's own 
 divine appointment. 
 
 That men may laugh, women scream, and 
 every staghound bay does not prove anything 
 in particular, except that men, women and 
 dogs are generally built that way. 
 
 "Thou great first cause, least understood, 
 
 Who all my sense confines to know but this — 
 
 That Thou alone art good, 
 And I myself am blind." 
 
 But the true Christian is not so blind as in 
 Pope's day; he is learning very fast, and the 
 more he knows the more he grows into the 
 perfect image. 
 
 This conversation is intended to be a free- 
 for-all. Yes, my friend, you are in it. This 
 paper is everybody's paper, but it is chiefly 
 intended for the benefit of the all-round, hust- 
 ling amateur intellectual athlete, whether he 
 be high-church, low-church, or no church. 
 
 In assuming the responsibility of conduct- 
 ing the conversation we find at the very outset 
 that we are handicapped, being compelled to 
 defend ourselves against the mean imputations 
 of ancient tradition, who positively asserts 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 that we are a wild man, that the wind whistles 
 through our whiskers, and that we are neither 
 the original talker nor thinker, from way-back. 
 However this may be, disregarding the acts 
 of our ancient enemy, and taking counsel only 
 of Love, who is the genuine "Holy Ghost" 
 and the only true friend of humanity, we have 
 resolved ourselves into a kind of Spiritual 
 Pioneer Corps, whose duty it shall be, to ever 
 march in front of the grand army of reform, 
 removing carefully all obstructions from the 
 old path, and, if possible to lead you out 
 From the Shadows, over a route still higher, 
 and more practical than the old one. Will 
 you come with us, then, and help to survey 
 the route? If you will, stand not upon the 
 order of your coming, but come at once, "Get 
 a move on you!" 
 
 If any of the vital questions touched upon 
 have not been sufficiently elaborated to estab- 
 lish the views contended for, and the necessity 
 of changes herein indicated, it is partly 
 because the limits of this volume are insuffi- 
 cient, but principally because human caution 
 and human conservatism are always more 
 fully developed than human judgment, while 
 the spirit of negation, which is the common 
 enemy of mankind, is content to be constantly 
 scrapping with his betters. 
 
io FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 If accused of having too freely appropriated 
 the thoughts and language of another, in seek- 
 ing a suitable wardrobe for ''our John Henry," 
 it is upon the assumption that no man 
 has a corner on Truth; that everybody, 
 knows more than anybody; that we all desire 
 the best; that the best is the cheapest, and 
 that it is none too good for those who like it. 
 
 Earnestly hoping that something herein 
 suggested shall spring up, not many days 
 hence, and bear fruit an hundred fold in the 
 great paradise of God's eternal goodness, we 
 beg leave to remain, 
 
 Yours indefinitely, 
 
 The Author. 
 
flntroJmctton, 
 
 The following lectures are supposed to 
 have been delivered in the presence of the 
 members of the "West End Hypnotic 
 Society/' of the City of Chicago, 111., during 
 the evenings of the winter months of 1896, by 
 Prof. Marques K. Dorine, a native of Drogio, 
 a traveling hypnotist. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 THE JOURNEY OF LIFE. 
 
 Let us now for a time swing gently around 
 the magic circles of thought and imagination, 
 and when you grow tired and must have a 
 little rest, if you desire it, we will gladly leave 
 you still at the foot of the old path. But if, 
 upon the other hand, you prefer to journey 
 with us, then we promise that you shall have 
 clearer conceptions of the true God, and 
 brighter visions of the Spirit Land than the 
 stall-fed doctors of divinity in the past have 
 ever been able to give you. 
 
 They talk about the noontide of Christian- 
 ity — the full blaze of the Gospel Sun — but 
 where is the light? It has been daybreak 
 a long while; the celestial band has been 
 playing, but Christianity has not kept 
 step to the music; the whole world has been 
 under marching orders, but we have not been 
 moving forward. Shall not God soon send 
 another Moses, to lead His children out of the 
 wilderness of human ignorance, and to bid the 
 tyrant Ignorance let His children go to a 
 happier and better state of existence? When 
 shall the prison-house be opened, and the 
 captives all go free? 
 
 Some day we must pilot the world to 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 13 
 
 happiness. Do you call it Heaven? It is all 
 the same. 
 
 Ten hundred millions of people in the 
 world, and half of them happy. What a 
 beautiful Heaven in the aggregate! More 
 than half of them miserable! What a terri- 
 ble Hell this must be! Do you make a jest of 
 this? Be not deceived; God is not mocked. 
 
 You say, "I am not going to either place; 
 I do not desire to go anywhere at present. 
 This place is good enough for me." 
 
 But you are journeying all the same. Old 
 age will soon overtake you, and he will bear 
 you company all the way. Shall it be a 
 happy journey, or will your life be miserable? 
 There are three important stages in the jour- 
 ney of human life. These are youth, man- 
 hood and old age. In youth we stand at the 
 foot of the journey, and are only too anxious, to 
 pass hastily over and see what is on the other 
 side. In manhood we have reached the half- 
 way place, and now ocuppy the only vantage 
 ground, for we can look both forward and 
 backward. In the last stage we are nearing 
 the end of the journey, and if faith does not 
 light up our pathway beyond the grave, we 
 can only look back with many sad regrets: 
 "I have been young, now I am old," etc. 
 
 Happiness is not so far away as we gener- 
 ally suppose. Heaven is ever ready to em- 
 
14 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 brace us. The gulf of unhappiness is yawn- 
 ing to receive us, and there is no escape, ex- 
 cept we flee to the mountain of the Lord's 
 house. If Happiness come not, we should go 
 after him, seize hold of him, and wrestle with 
 him as Jacob did with the angle, saying: "I 
 will not let thee go except thou bless me." 
 
 If the conditions which now surround you 
 are happy ones, then you are in Heaven al- 
 ready, and the question is, will you help con- 
 tinue those conditions, that your happiness 
 may be perpetual? 
 
 "Life is the rugged road 
 Leading to the bright abode 
 Or dark perdition. 
 
 Then choose the narrow way 
 Which leads no traveler's foot astray 
 From realms of love." 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON TALKING. 
 
 We never give advice, Oh no! We do not 
 even like those who do. Advice is too cheap 
 you know; but sometimes it is worth a hundred 
 cents to the dollar, and has been known to 
 pay a handsome dividend to the stockholders. 
 
 Not being competent to give advice our- 
 selves, we commend that given by the Irish 
 gentleman to his son, who was about to em- 
 bark for America: "Young man," said he, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 15 
 
 "you are about to embark for the new world 
 to seek your fortune. I have no money and 
 but little advice to give you. When you get 
 to New York open your eyes and look about 
 you. Seek, think, and say nothing, and if ye 
 get a chance ye may eat, drink and pay 
 nothing. Use your mind nimbly, work your 
 tongue glibly, and if, within a twelve-month, 
 ye don't find ye are a full-fledged statesman, 
 with the American eagle screaming at your 
 back, and ye well on your way to the White 
 House, then just keep an itemized account of 
 your expense, send the whole shootin' match 
 to the old man, and he'll fut the bill. '' 
 
 The application of this story is, that if you 
 try faithfully to comprehend the meaning of 
 these lectures, and don't succeed, you are to 
 hold me strictly responsible, for the fault is all 
 my own. 
 
 We once heard a story of two men, who en- 
 gaged in a talking match. The conditions of 
 the contest were, that each was to begin talk- 
 ing at a given signal, and the conversation 
 was to continue until one or the other of the 
 parties should acknowledge himself satisfied. 
 An umpire was chosen and the signal was 
 given, when one of the men immediately be- 
 gan to repeat, in a loud and boisterous tone of 
 voice, "I've got the start, I'll keep the start.'' 
 This he continued to repeat so rapidly that 
 
16 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 the other poor fellow, becoming disgusted, 
 gave up the contest in despair. 
 
 Now, you tell me that nothing succeeds like 
 success; but in this case success was a dismal 
 failure. It is all well enough in talking to get 
 a good start, and to keep it, but it is much better 
 to have something important to say. It is cer- 
 tain that a man should never utter vain knowl- 
 edge, fill himself with east wind, nor argue 
 with speeches, wherewith he can do no good. 
 And it is also certain that not even a fool has 
 the right to fill himself too full, with either 
 sour-mash whisky or stale beer. 
 
 It is no chestnut to say that everything runs 
 into politics, or that man is a moral, social, 
 and political being. Mr. Righter, of Ken- 
 tucky, once said that he was introduced to a 
 Biuegrass society belle, who had a great rep- 
 utation as a conversationalist, and that, fear- 
 ing he should not be able to acquit himself hon- 
 orably, he conceived the idea of doing a little 
 social bluffing, which he successfully accom- 
 plished by immediately asking the young lady 
 whether they should discuss religion, politics, 
 or matrimony. This bold coup de tat of the 
 gentleman knocked the fashionable young lady 
 out, in the first round, for she at once com- 
 prehended that the young man had a com- 
 prehensive view of men and things, and that 
 he was prepared to talk on any subject, for all 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 17 
 
 there was in it. For the remainder of the 
 conversation Mr. R. had things his own way 
 for his beautiful intellectual scrapping com- 
 panion became as clay in the hands of the 
 potter, and immediately subsided into that 
 most lovely of all female characters, a splen- 
 did listener. 
 
 What to say, when and how to say it, con- 
 stitutes apples of gold, in pictures of silver; 
 but what to do, when and how to do it, con- 
 stitutes the back-ground to that more beauti- 
 ful picture, which we call human happiness. 
 Action is one of the most important words in 
 the vocabulary, and it will alway bear repeti- 
 tion and emphasis. 
 
 What do we know, and what do we do, are 
 questions which come to us all, and which' de- 
 mand an imperative answer. To the first 
 question, knowing our own ignorance, we>give 
 it up, and desire something easier; but to the 
 second we can make no answer, for, knowing 
 our own unworthiness, conscience doth, in- 
 deed, make cowards of us all. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 FACTS AND FANCIES. 
 
 Every man in this life, who is not a human 
 sucker, is expected to give something back to 
 the world, in return for what he already re- 
 ceived; otherwise, he lies under the double 
 imputation of being either a dead fly in the 
 ointment, or, what is still worse, a consumer 
 and no producer. Every man some time in 
 his life, is expected to come to his burning 
 bush. The burning bush is the tree of life, 
 and the tree of life is the tree of wisdom. 
 These two old trees of knowledge and life, as 
 spoken of in the Old Testament scriptures, 
 have always been a mystery, but they need 
 remain a mystery no longer. 
 
 A natural tree, like the tree of knowledge, 
 is a beautiful thing to contemplate, with its 
 stalwart trunk, its broad and spreading 
 branches, its bright green leaves, its beautiful 
 buds, and its sweet and delicious fruits; but a 
 spiritual tree, like that of divine" wisdom, is a 
 sublime and beautiful conception, whose roots 
 are deeply imbedded in the Rock of Ages, 
 whose leaves are for the healing of nations, 
 and whose fruits are life eternal. 
 
 Every man, at some time in his life, is ex- 
 pected to become a moral, social and political 
 Moses. If he accept the divine commission 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 willingly, he shall never want for grace to 
 help in every time of need, mouth and wisdom 
 shall be given him, to accomplish his mission, 
 and every time he achieves a victory, either 
 over himself or in behalf of a fallen brother, 
 there shall not be wanting a noble-hearted, 
 sweet- voiced Sister Miriam, to sing a song of 
 praise, to celebrate the deliverance. 
 
 Such a man shall realize that he is in the 
 position of the Kansas emigrant, who found 
 that he was sole owner of a four horse team, 
 and the happy possessor of a little buff-colored 
 canine, who trotted along complacently under 
 the wagon. But if, upon the other hand, he 
 should refuse to march with the Spiritual Pio- 
 neer Corps; if he pefers to remain a fool; if, 
 indeed, he shall presist in becoming a chronic 
 kicker, then he shall certainly live to realize 
 that the way of the transgressor is hard. 
 
 When called upon to entertain our friends, 
 we always realize that the best which the 
 earth affords is never too good for them — that 
 it is the cheapest, and that variety is, indeed, 
 the spice of life. However, it is only by vir- 
 tue of the grand doctrine of the universal 
 fatherhood of Good, and the universal brother- 
 hood of man, supplemented by that of the 
 greatest good to the greatest number and the 
 survival of the fittest, that we are permitted to 
 assemble together, from time to time, in the 
 
2o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 capacity of family reunions. It is also by 
 virtue of this grand doctrine that we are, some 
 times, at least, permitted to assemble in the 
 more congenial capacity, of an admiration 
 society, upon the mutual plan. 
 
 If such a society is now represented by these 
 lectures, then but two things are necessary to 
 make this meeting a blooming success: First, 
 that you should continue to lend me your ears 
 and bear as you can the transient twinge of 
 pain; and. secondly, that we should certainly 
 try to fill them up with something good, and 
 to give them back to you again, within a 
 reasonable time, and in reasonably good 
 order. 
 
 But upon occasions of this kind it is cus- 
 tomary to have some refreshments; and now 
 what shall it be? Shall we have an exclusive 
 literary diet, composed wholly of the tradi- 
 tional Boston baked beans? Or shall we draw 
 upon Inspiration just a little bit — have some 
 angel food, and then, by the way of variety, 
 just a little nonsense which is said to be rel- 
 ished by the best of men? 
 
 MENTAL EVOLUTION, 
 
 Many years ago, when we first came to this 
 country, a poor, little, simple-minded, penni- 
 less, bare-foot boy, without money enough to 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 21 
 
 pay a week's board, and with no clothing to 
 speak of, we gladly took up the burden of 
 life, and have cheerfully borne it ever since. 
 But way back, when we used to run foot-races 
 with Bill and Tom, in the dusty road in front 
 of the old chinquepin tree, and when our 
 spirits were feather-light, we had often been 
 made sad with the thought that we should 
 soon be compelled to lie down and sleep the 
 last sleep, in the very dust upon which we then 
 trod so lightly. The universe, to our simple 
 mind, at that time, extended no farther than 
 the blue which skirted the surrounding tree- 
 tops, But as we grew we expanded into a 
 philosopher; we began to inquire into the 
 whichness of things which we did not compre- 
 hend. Having an eye to business, we looked 
 carefully about us, taking in the whole situation 
 at a glance, and we now rejoice to tell you that 
 we have been able to discover a new-cut road 
 From The Shadows to the Promised Land, run- 
 ning on a line exactly parallel with the old 
 one, but instead of running through the old 
 Slough of Despond, it is built upon higher 
 ground. It is an elevated road, and runs 
 directly up to the top of the mountain of the 
 Lord's house, by the King's highway of holi- 
 ness. Electric light towers are stationed all 
 along the way, and, where it is needed, little 
 drop-lights are graciously interspersed, so that 
 
22 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 the weary traveler may at all times see his 
 way, realizing that at every step he is getting 
 out of the low ground of the wilderness of 
 Ignorance, and passing up to Fairer Lands on 
 High, passing through the Spirit Land, 
 catching at every step beautiful glimpses of 
 the Better World, to which he is fast hasten- 
 
 in §- 
 
 What is the spirit world? 
 
 It is the world of vital principles, with which 
 we are daily surrounded. But we anticipate, 
 and lest you should follow our example too 
 largely, we shall be compelled to ask you to 
 exercise patience. 
 
 Patience is a great virtue, and always assists 
 us in flying the spiritual kite, the vivid imagi- 
 nation, without the exercise of which, we may 
 never hope to attain an altitude sufficiently 
 high to see anything worth seeing. 
 
 Every age is peculiar, in that the present 
 one is always a little wiser, in its own conceit, 
 than the one which immediately preceded it. 
 Solomon thought he knew it all, in his day, 
 else he never would have had the presump- 
 tion to tell us, there is nothing new under the 
 sun. But we know that Solomon made a 
 mistake, for we have lived to see even his 
 religion a back number, and almost buried in 
 the tomb of human forgetfulness. 
 
 The Jews were as tenacious of their religion 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 23 
 
 as either the Mormons or Presbyterians now 
 are of theirs. The war is now on between 
 creeds and hetrodoxy. Between the two it is 
 a right for life, and the survival of the fittest, 
 and both of these sacred heathens will eventu- 
 ally be compelled to go. Hetrodoxy (so 
 called) now feebly voices the cry of Arnold 
 Winkielried, saying, "Make way for Religious 
 Liberty!" Not the wretched liberty of law- 
 less license, but the liberty wherewith Christ 
 has made us free. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 PATHETIC VISIONS. 
 
 It is a matter of great regret, that this is 
 largely an age of shams and shallow pretenses, 
 both in the church and out of it. Men do not 
 always say exactly what they mean, nor do 
 they always mean exactly what they say. 
 Yet, we reckon not that former days were 
 better than these, because human nature has, 
 no doubt, ever been essentially the same in all 
 ages; but, as compared with former ages, it 
 would seem that we are peculiarly fast, fussy, 
 and furious, facetious, fashionable, and 
 foolish. 
 
24 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 This is pre-eminently an age of activity; we 
 cannot remain at rest ourselves, without, at 
 least, desiring to see activity in others, and, 
 though it were no higher an exhibition of moral- 
 ity than a street scrap, a dog fight, a chicken 
 dispute, a church raffle, a ball game, a female 
 bicycle tournament, a charity ball, or an agricul- 
 tural horse trot, yet we seem to be pleased, and 
 often highly delighted, with the performance. 
 Everybody is not only trying to get there, 
 but all desire to do so right away. The diffi- 
 culty is, that we mistake our destination. 
 We are seeking exclusively for riches, whereas 
 we should seek only for happiness. 
 
 Five hundred years ago the thought that a 
 great Columbian Exposition would be held in 
 Chicago in '93, must have been a very remote 
 idea, for two very essential reasons: First, 
 because at that time Columbus had not yet 
 discovered America; and secondly, so far as is 
 now generally known, nobody; at that remote 
 period, had been quite able to discover 
 Columbus. 
 
 It is true, perhaps, that, when the earth 
 was created, the lake front was made large 
 enough to accommodate the Exposition; but 
 it is also true, that since that time the site has 
 been utterly ruined, by the avarice of the 
 Central railroad company, and the endless 
 cupidity of the Chicago real-estate dealers, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 25 
 
 who have persistently sold off the lots, and 
 built on the ground east of State street. 
 
 "The Zenith City of the unsalted seas hath exalted herself." 
 
 But the modern Babylon of the wicked 
 West vaunteth herself of her mighty achieve- 
 ments. Shall she stand in history as a per- 
 petual monument of the mightiest republic? 
 Or shall she go down to death, lashed away 
 by the waves of an angry inland sea, in 
 accordance with the Divine decree of the sur- 
 vival of the fittest? 
 
 A LARGE MAJORITY 
 
 The president of the Limekiln club has 
 already notified its membership that, if they 
 would, at all times, get a good view of the 
 cornfield, they must all stand up on top of the 
 fence; and, catching the spirit of the inspira- 
 tion, we say: "You are right, Brother Gard- 
 ner, and we second the motion." Let us get 
 up into higher and healthier spiritual altitudes; 
 let us climb up to where we can realize that 
 we are standing on the border-land, which 
 separates the good, the beautiful, and the 
 true from that which is low, mean, base, vile, 
 and disreputable in our human natures, and 
 our human dispositions; let us climb up to the 
 
26 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 top of the mountain of the Lord's house, for 
 this, indeed, is our only suitable dwelling- 
 place. 
 
 Before these lectures are concluded, we 
 expect to show you how to get there; but, for 
 the present, you must be content to exercise 
 your own imagination, while we continue our 
 delightful occupation. If it is charged that 
 there is too great a disposition to levity, and 
 that these lectures are rather attenuated, we 
 may remind you that the chaff and the wheat 
 must necessarily grow together. In this world 
 the good and bad are strangely commingled. 
 The bitter and the sweet are nature's counter- 
 parts. The law of opposites holds good 
 throughout eternity. Variety is, indeed, the 
 spice of life. There is no castle without the 
 cotter's lowly habitation; no landed estate 
 without a starving tenantry; no rich congre- 
 gationed, high-salaried church organization 
 without its complement of little, ragged, 
 hungry, orphan children, making mud pies, 
 and playing in the gutter. 
 
 It does, indeed, take all kinds of people to 
 make a world; but, in the language of Uncle 
 Jake Haines, of Jersey county, "from some 
 unaccountable reason, upon a full vote, and a 
 fair count, the fools always seemed to have a 
 'unanimous majority.'" When asked if "life 
 was too short to hear a long story," the old 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 27 
 
 gentlemen hesitated, smiled sweetly, and then 
 said: "Well, I should snicker; but then," 
 added he reflectively, "I suppose it depends a 
 great deal on what kind of a story it is. and 
 how much interest we have in the telling/' 
 
 In this progressive age, story-telling has 
 grown to be a fine art, so that now those men 
 and women, too, for that matter, who always 
 have an irrepressible desire to say something, 
 and who never have anything important to 
 say, had better take good advice, and never 
 say it. But those who have dug down deeply, 
 and discovered beautiful gems of thought, 
 may now hasten to bring them up to the sur- 
 face, polish them, place them in beautiful 
 settings, and distribute them as souvenirs 
 among their friends. 
 
 The man who invented the remark, that 
 "life is too short to hear a long story," was, 
 no doubt, a poor story-teller himself, and as a 
 professional, perhaps, a disgrace to his call- 
 ing. It is certain, however, that the grand 
 old story of the Cross has lost much of its 
 original force and beauty, by being poorly 
 told, and falling into the hands of a class of 
 poor story-tellers generally. There are some 
 ministers of the Gospel, who go out upon the 
 spiritual war-path, like painted wooden 
 Indians, armed, not with the Sword of the 
 Lord, and of Gideon, but rather with paper 
 
28 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 tomahawks, and wooden scalping-knives; and 
 to the world it is no wonder that they so 
 often return from the chase with no sinners' 
 scalps to grace their spiritual wampums. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE BIG THREE, 
 
 There are three classes of professionals, who 
 are mainly intrusted with the good health and 
 morals of the community. These are the doc- 
 tors, lawyers and preachers. That the doc- 
 tors perform their duties reasonably well, is 
 attested by the favorable sanitary condition. 
 That the preachers perform their work less 
 acceptably, is due either to a want of conse- 
 cration upon their part, or to the natural dis- 
 position of humanity to general cussedness; 
 but we more than suspect that both of these 
 circumstances are prime factors in producing 
 the present unhappy conditions. With the 
 lawyers the case is not so favorable. To get 
 back at them, in their own language, we may 
 say, there are no mitigating circumstances. 
 The voice of the People is sometimes the 
 voice of God, and the verdict is like that of 
 the jury which sat in the case of the old lady's 
 husband, who was drowned in the mill-pond: 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 29 
 
 "Wade and found wanting.'' The wanting 
 consists, principally, in that higher sense of 
 honor, which is absolutely necessary for the 
 perfect development of that triple combina- 
 tion, known as the family, the church, and 
 the state. 
 
 Tradition has been unkind to these gentle- 
 men, as well as to ourselves, intimating that 
 immediately after the Dutch had captured 
 Holland, they formed a combination with the 
 Drink god, the Money god, the Millionaires, 
 and the Magdalenes, to get up a corner on 
 both society and politics, control the legisla- 
 tion of the country, fill the judicial offices, rob 
 the People of their liberties, and send all the 
 inhabitants of the land, weeping and wailing, 
 to the infernal demination bow-wows, or words 
 to that effect. 
 
 However, we scarcely think the case so ser- 
 ious against the lawyers as Tradition would 
 have us believe. It has lately been intimated 
 that Tradition is given to exaggeration, and 
 we shall never forget how he sought to traduce 
 us at the beginning of these lectures. There 
 is a great deal said about moral, social, and 
 political sore spots, which lawyers delight to 
 probe as bleeding wounds afresh, and that 
 they never offer a poor sufferer but one 
 alternative — that of either yielding up his 
 money or his life. 
 
3 o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 But these people forget that there are cank- 
 ers and excresences, constantly growing from 
 the body politic, exuding their deadly poison, 
 and which need to be incised by the sharp 
 lancet of the law. Who so honorable as he 
 who wields the political scalpel for the good of 
 the nation? 
 
 There is a great deal being said about the 
 upper and nether mill-stones, 'twixt which the 
 people are being continually ground to pow- 
 der; but the discordant elements of human 
 nature, left to rankle with the lawless license 
 of its own unbridled passion, would grind 
 society to powder much faster than the de- 
 partments of a well established government. 
 The legislative and judicial powers of the 
 state are the mill-stones, assisted by the exec- 
 utive, which must do the grinding, and, like 
 the mills of the gods, they must grind sure, if 
 slow. All we demand is, that the millers 
 must be honest men, and that they shall not 
 take too much toll for the grinding. 
 
 CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM, 
 
 The first created man was a fool, and here 
 is where all the trouble began. If it be true 
 that like begets like, with a few exceptions, 
 then, as a rule, the race of fools has been in- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 31 
 
 creasing and multiplying in the world for 
 many centuries, so that now, in the language 
 of the politician, the woods are actually full of 
 'em. There never was but one wise man in 
 the world, and it is a matter of record that the 
 fools killed him, more than eighteen hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 The first government had scarcely been in- 
 augurated, and Adam invited to a seat in the 
 Divine cabinet, when, by his foolishness, he 
 played such fantastic tricks before high 
 Heaven as made the angels weep. No won- 
 der he was invited to tender his resignation, 
 step down and out, and make room for the 
 Better Man, who was soon to follow him. 
 This old story, of the First and Second Adam, 
 is believed to be the first full-paged illustra- 
 tion of the grand doctrine of the survival of 
 the fittest. Thus we see, that Civil Service 
 rules were recommended, and adopted, very 
 early in the history of the Divine government, 
 and now the only wonder is, that modern 
 Civil governments haven't been able to catch 
 on, just a little bit. 
 
 Some time after the Second Adam had 
 been appointed to fill the vacancy, caused by 
 the resignation of the First, like all faithful 
 officers, he was promoted, becoming both 
 Secretary of State and General Manager of 
 the Divine government. In this double 
 
32 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 capacity, it is but proper to state, that He has 
 proven himself an efficient officer, that He has 
 given perfect satisfaction to His constituents, 
 and that he bids fair to become His own -per- 
 petual successor. He shall reign until He has 
 put all enemies under His feet, at which time 
 he shall deliver up the Kingdom of Good, and 
 Good shall be all in all. 
 
 Every child born into the world comes in 
 directly through the golden gate of Love, and 
 like the clown in the circus, he comes bound- 
 ing in with a whoop and a hurrah, and always 
 manages to tickle the audience, which is 
 assembled to wait his coming. But we are 
 more like the clown than the philosopher. 
 The man with the cone-shaped hat, tattooed 
 face, and striped pantaloons is always in great 
 demand. We are more pleased with the 
 foolish antics and funny faces of the clown, 
 than edified by the real merits of the true 
 performance. There seems to be a funny 
 spot, located very near the exact geographical 
 center of every human disposition, and to 
 reach this spot, is one of the principal objects 
 of human endeavor. We are always more 
 disposed to laugh than to learn. It seems to 
 come easier, and be more natural. It has 
 well been said, that any dumb, long-eared 
 animal can open his mouth and bray, but that 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 33 
 
 it always takes a philosopher to understand 
 and appreciate an argument. 
 
 But there comes a time, in the life of every 
 man, when he should cease to be a clown, and 
 learn to be a philosopher. There must be a 
 turning point, else man is no better than the 
 beast that perishes. The spirit of the beast 
 goes down; the spirit of the true man goes up 
 to Good, who gave it. For us all, the gilded 
 circus-tent of Folly must, some day, be torn 
 down, and we be left standing upon the very 
 spot where once the center-pole stood before. 
 Looking out upon the vast universe, we catch 
 our first ideas of Infinity, Divinity, and Eter- 
 nity. On all sides is the distant horizon; 
 above us are the clouds. Lifting our eyes 
 above the clouds to the zenith, which seems 
 so near, yet is so far, we would climb up to 
 Heaven and to happiness. But we cannot, 
 and we give up in despair. A spirit of loneli- 
 ness comes over us, and, feeling the need 
 of something which we do not possess, the 
 yearning heart gives utterance to the first 
 prayer which the soul has ever uttered. It is, 
 ' 'Father! Father! I am lost, lost!" And there 
 is never any mistake about this conclusion. 
 We are lost, lost in a terrible and degrading 
 ignorance. 
 
 The earth is our common mother, and we 
 
34 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 all recognize her as such; but this is under- 
 stood in a material sense. 
 
 "I love, and have some cause to love, the earth: 
 She is my mother, she gave me birth; 
 She is my kind purveyor, she gives me food; 
 She is my father's creature, therefore good 
 But what's a creature, Lord, compared with Thee? 
 Or what's my mother, or my nurse, to me?" 
 
 The Spiritual Father is what we are looking 
 for, and we have found Him; but if we should 
 introduce Him to you in His own proper 
 name, and in His own proper person, we fear 
 you would scarcely recognize Him. There- 
 fore, lest you should be unprepared to receive 
 Him, we will give you ample time to put on 
 the wedding garment, hoping that you may 
 be glad to receive Him, when He shall be 
 properly introduced later on. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 THE GOD OF GOODNESS. 
 
 In the economy of nature, the fool seems to 
 be but one step removed from the philosopher, 
 and the crank appears to be the connecting 
 link between them. This much-abused indi- 
 vidual seems to be growing, and multiplying, 
 by the very abuse which he receives. His un- 
 pardonable sin consists in having the courage 
 of his convictions. He is the only rare, and 
 literal, human curiosity, who, unlike the other 
 fellows, always squares his practice by his 
 preaching. Jesus and Paul were both reck- 
 oned cranks, in their day, and heartily de- 
 spised by the multitude. The true crank is 
 the salt of the earth, and the perpetual bob- 
 bing up of new cranks, from time to time, as 
 occasion requires it, seems to exercise a salut- 
 ary influence upon the moral world. He is a 
 kind of healthy microbe, that penetrates the 
 blood, and revitalizes humanity. The crank 
 is the agitator, who keeps the wheels of prog- 
 ress in motion. His advanced ideas lubricate 
 the heavy bearings of the universal machin- 
 ery, and make the world run smoothly. 
 Without the crank, things would come to a 
 dead standstill, and there would be a sudden 
 
36 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 collapse. The deacon's one-horse shay would 
 be nowhere. 
 
 The people complain, that they are sorely 
 afflicted, by this class of individuals, and, in 
 doing so, they simply repeat the old language 
 of the demons, ''Thou sons of God, why dost 
 thou come to torment us before the time?'' 
 Sometimes cranks are necessary evils, and 
 sometimes — 
 
 "Our sore afflictions, which seemingly from the ground arise, 
 Are but celestial benedictions, or blessings in disguise." 
 
 There are many living issues, which agitate 
 the public mind; but they all have their origin 
 in the difficulty which the people experience, 
 in comprehending the nature of the true God. 
 There are two gods, which the people daily 
 worship. One is the God proper, so far, and 
 only so far, as human nature is able to com- 
 prehend Him, or to conceive of a higher spir- 
 itual being. But so long as human knowledge 
 is defective, we shall be compelled to draw 
 largely upon the imagination, else we shall 
 have no god fit to demand our homage. The 
 god which we worship must not be the god of 
 a diseased imagination. He must be the 
 product of a healthy, vivid, and sanctified 
 imagination, which is permeated with a holy 
 desire to see only the true Good. The major- 
 ity of men prefer to worship the Money god, 
 or the god of Self; and so long as the golden 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 37 
 
 calf has more virtue in their eyes than the 
 true good of humanity, just so long will the 
 Divine Father hide His features, for very 
 shame, behind the dark and dreadful cloud, 
 which has no silver lining. 
 
 We have been looking through a glass 
 darkly. It is now high time that we should 
 see His Majesty face to face. If there had 
 been too much superstition, in reference to 
 the Jewish God, there has been altogether 
 too much mystery attached to the God of 
 Christianity. What sane man will say, that 
 he who wrote the history of creation did not 
 draw largely, if not exclusively, upon his 
 imagination, for the statements therein con- 
 tained? And who can truthfully say, that 
 the imagination of John did not create the 
 principal part of his Revelation ? He under- 
 took to tell the world something which it did 
 not know; things which he had seen, things 
 which did then appear, and the things which 
 should appear, in the "sweet by and by." He 
 gave to the world a Revelation, as Moses gave 
 us a creation, drawing largely upon his imagi- 
 nation. But mankind did not, nor does not, 
 understand it. Is it necessary to blindfold a 
 man, that he may see? John's Revelation is 
 a revelation concealed. What we now want is, 
 a revelation revealed. When the heathen 
 cried out, "Great is Diana, god of the Ephes- 
 
38 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 ians," Paul immediately put his hand to his 
 mouth, and whispered to Timothy, "Tell the 
 people, great is the mystery of godliness!" 
 But as these old religious battlecries shall die 
 away, we may tell you, in truthful confidence, 
 that they shall be superseded by the more 
 intelligent assertion, "Great is the God of 
 Goodness!" 
 
 A SCRAPPING MATCH. 
 
 The most burning question is, that which 
 grows out of the conflict between radical 
 orthodoxy, on the one hand, and modern 
 infidelity, upon the other. But there is an 
 intelligent criticism — a new-born child of 
 Reason — -which is not infidelity, and when, 
 against this criticism, orthodoxy sways the 
 headsman's ax, he makes a great mistake. 
 If it be admitted, that human reason may 
 move a little too fast, in her eager search for 
 Truth, is it not possible that orthodoxy may 
 make a fatal mistake, by refusing to move at 
 all? The world "do move," and we must 
 either join the procession, and march gladly 
 with it to the Promised Land, or trail our 
 banners in the dust, and be branded as 
 kickers, and obstructionists. The same God 
 who said to Moses, "Stand still this day, and 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 39 
 
 see the salvation of the Lord," very soon 
 spoke to him again, countermanding the 
 order, and said, "Why stand ye here? Speak 
 to the children of Israel, that they go forward" 
 
 The creeds of Christianity — why "the 
 creeds?" What a burlesque upon the Christi- 
 anity of Christ! What a total disregard of 
 His prayer, that the world should be united in 
 His doctrine! 
 
 We daily behold the spectacle of would- 
 be Christian athletes, pitted against each other, 
 in deadly conflict, over petty points of doctrine. 
 These creed-scrapping fraternities are driving 
 the world to infidelity. One says there is a 
 red-hot, burning Hell: another says there is 
 no Hell of that kind, and still another face- 
 tiously remarks, ''The Hell there is noil" 
 Sam and Bob are great scrappers. The first 
 is a man of muscle; the second a man of 
 brains. The first advocates his doctrines, 
 with all the intensity of his southern fire- 
 eating nature. He hits out straight from the 
 shoulder, and because he occasionally draws 
 a little Christian blood the people throw up 
 their hats, and applaud vigorously; the contri- 
 bution-box is passed around, and Sam gener- 
 ally succeeds in getting the plum, if he 
 does not quite succeed in taking the 
 cake. The other representative advocate 
 is a quiet gentleman; in fact, he is as mild 
 
4 o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 a mannered man as ever scuttled ship, or 
 cut a throat. But he is never more de- 
 lighted than when, in his eloquent way, he is 
 called upon to show up the aesthetic beauties 
 of modern infidelity, or infidelity -pure and 
 simple. It is very hard to distinguish be- 
 tween them. Each of these champions has 
 had his second, and his army of sponge and 
 bottle holders. Like Macduff, each has laid 
 on unmercifully, and, like Orpheus C. Kerr's 
 description of the dog-fight, the beligerants 
 have "fit and fit and fit," until they have 
 chawed each other all up. The end is not 
 yet. But a long-suffering people are still 
 hopeful. For the present, however, we will 
 be compelled to let the creed-scrappers fight, 
 only hoping they will ultimately succeed in 
 destroying each other. The apostle Paul was, 
 no doubt, looking for these fellows, when he 
 said, ' 'Beware of dogs;" and John G. Saxe 
 says, "The paragraph invites some little 
 thought, as to its intent, among the best ex- 
 positors. But then we find they all agree, 
 that dogs meant men" This is, no doubt, 
 the origin of the adage, that every dog has his 
 day. This is certainly dog-day, for that class 
 of creed-mongers, and doctrine-scrappers, who 
 are ready to chaw each other all to pieces, in 
 the absence of brotherly love. Let us hope 
 that, when this unseemly warfare is over, and 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 41 
 
 when the smoke of battle shall have cleared 
 away, there shall not appear a single cloud in 
 the spiritual horizon, and that the world will 
 then be ready to receive the true Christ. 
 
 "Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 
 
 The frosty air, the flying light: 
 
 The year is dying in the night. 
 Ring out, wild bells, and let him die ; 
 
 Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
 
 Ring out the false, ring in the true : 
 Ring in the Christ, that is to be." 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 SOO-CI-ETTA VS. THE CHURCH. 
 
 The Agnostics say, "We do not know, we 
 cannot believe, we have nothing upon which 
 to ground an intelligent faith.'' Yet these 
 same men pride themselves upon their intel- 
 lectuality, What are their imaginations for? 
 Whence comes the spirit of prophecy in man ? 
 Is there no higher knowledge than we possess? 
 And is it impossible to invoke it? How shall 
 we advance in knowledge, except by flying the 
 kite of the imagination, with its tail safely 
 anchored to the throne of human reason? It 
 is only by the exercise of those two faculties 
 conjointly, that we are ever enabled to dis- 
 cover any new truth at all. He who exercises 
 
42 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 either of these faculties, to the exclusion of 
 the other, will never have but an imperfect 
 understanding, either of himself, or the world 
 about him. If the mind has no power of 
 originating ideas — if it has no creative faculty 
 — then the Bible and mental philosophy are 
 both a delusion and a snare. 
 
 Christ taught us a useful lesson, at the 
 grave of the dead Lazarus. As he said, 
 4 'Come forth," to the dead body, so we speak 
 to the living intellect. But, addressing our 
 language more especially to the imagination, 
 we say, "Come forth, thou sluggish servant; 
 create for me a new and ideal -world — the 
 world of beauty, and the world of light." 
 
 " Then we can dip into the future, 
 
 Far as human eye can see , 
 
 See the beauties of this world, 
 
 And all the wonders that shall be." 
 
 Then we shall be getting up into the top of 
 the mountain of the Lord's house, and "don't 
 you forget it." 
 
 "No imagination, no man," will, some day, 
 become a truism; and this is uttered in the 
 spirit of prophecy. What we desire is always 
 good enough for us. When we deserve better 
 things, we will get them. But so long as we 
 desire to patronize forensic exhibitions, given 
 by religious charlatans, at the rate of two hun- 
 dred dollars a night, just so long these exhibi- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 43 
 
 tions will continue. Of course, they come 
 high; but the aristocracy of wealth and soo-ci- 
 etta will have them — "What France admires 
 is good enough for France.'' Soo-ci-etta is a 
 great goddess. She can give Diana points on 
 etiquette, flounces, furbelows, and poisoned 
 arrows. 
 
 The society devil is the meanest devil in the 
 church. The society goddess, and the god of 
 culture, have slipped down the belfry tower 
 together, and taken peaceable possession of 
 the house of God, while Piety hangs his head, 
 for very shame, and sneaks humbly out at the 
 back door. Somebody is evidently to blame 
 for this state of affairs; but so long as these 
 educated, college-bred, made-to-order, creed- 
 begotten, would-be religious, social jumping- 
 jacks, are alone considered eligible to teach 
 the people, this disgraceful state of affairs will 
 continue. So long as these high-toned, high- 
 salaried pulpit pounders can laugh and grow 
 fat, at the folly of others; so long as they can 
 smile sweetly, to see the money come 
 jingling in, just so long can they afford 
 to give pulpit gymnastics, talk eloquently 
 twice a week, and for the rest of the time have 
 nothing to do but grunt, and be happy, just 
 like little pet pigs in high clover; hence they 
 are very much inclined to adopt the motto of 
 the mountebank street-fakir, saying, "Let all 
 
44 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 enjoy themselves. Who wouldn't when they 
 could? I would." Eat, drink, and be merry; 
 pass the good cheer along, up one side and 
 down the other, is one continuous round of 
 pleasure. 
 
 Every man, who desires to become a moral, 
 social, and political philosopher, must first 
 drink freely at the fountain of human knowl- 
 edge; and more than this, he must then 
 humble himself in the very dust, and there be 
 willing to take copious and heavy draughts at 
 the fountain of Divine Inspiration, which 
 simply means, that he should fill his mind 
 with good thoughts, his mouth with good 
 words, his life with good actions, and his 
 heart with humility. 
 
 Inspiration is one of those words, which the 
 modern clergy enshroud with mystery; but it 
 is not such a mysterious word, after all. It is 
 neither mountain nor mole-hill, but it is preg- 
 nant with meaning, and its import may be 
 either good or bad. If you tell me, that a 
 ■personal man-god speaks to me from Heaven, 
 or from any other place, in a miraculous way, 
 with an audible voice, telling me something 
 which I did not know before, then I say, No I 
 this is not Inspiration, nor no man has ever 
 received such a communication, neither in our 
 day, nor the days which have preceded us. 
 But if you tell me, that there is a god-man 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 45 
 
 within us, which speaks with a language to be 
 understood, pointing us to higher and better 
 things, then we say, Amen! Then, my 
 friends, we are to understand, that we may 
 receive inspirations- every day. If we lift our 
 thoughts, and open our hearts, we will receive 
 them, and in proportion as we exercise our 
 minds, and strengthen and encourage our 
 imaginations, just in that ratio we shall 
 become inspired men and women. 
 
 THE FOOL-KILLER A NECESSITY. 
 
 Whether the Washington hatchet-story be 
 true or untrue, we know that its good effects 
 have not been lost to the world, for it has 
 helped to emphasize the fact, that Truth is 
 the grandest thing on earth, and in this case 
 the principle contended for, is the chief thing, 
 with which we are interested. Suppose we 
 should say, Washington never gave his boy 
 the hatchet, what difference would this make, 
 as regards the vital question at issue? What 
 difference does it make, to the true Christian, 
 whether the whale swallowed Jonah or not? 
 The lesson is a good one, and teaches, as it 
 was intended to do, that there is no safety, 
 except where duty calls. What difference 
 does it make, to the true Christian, whether 
 the seven stars, held in the hand of Him who 
 
46 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 gave the Revelation to John, were actual stars 
 or not? And who can believe they were? Is 
 there not more harmony in believing, that this 
 was a beautiful figure, which John used to 
 represent a fact? Yet we are told, by Christ- 
 ian brethren, that we are not othodox. If 
 orthodoxy requires that men should be fools, 
 then why the necessity for a fool-killer, when 
 fools seem to be in such great demand? 
 Surely, his occupation, if orthodoxy have her 
 way, will soon be gone. If the church would 
 listen more to the language of Christ, and 
 less to His apostles, (and especially to Paul, 
 who was the greatest talker, and loudest 
 enthusiast, and consequently more liable to 
 err); if the church would do this, then more 
 than half the wedges, used in splitting her 
 asunder, could be consigned as waste material. 
 The difficulty consists in the fact, that honest 
 believers cannot divest themselves of the 
 thought, that all religious teachers, mentioned 
 in the Bible, were infallible; that being in- 
 spired, in the sense in which they understand 
 it, it became impossible for them to make a 
 false statement. They were not gods, they 
 were not ftofies, they were men. We are not 
 of Paul, nor of Apollus, nor of Cephas, nor of 
 John — we are of Christ. 
 
 "We are trusting, Lord, in Thee, 
 Blessed Lamb of Calvary. 
 Humbly at Thy Cross we bow; 
 Jesus saves us — saves us now." 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 47 
 
 But how does He save us? And in what 
 sense are we to understand salvation? We 
 are saved, not by his death, as some people 
 do vainly suppose, but by his life and example 
 — though we pray until doomsday, and have 
 faith that would remove mountains, yet we 
 must act. Our lives and examples must 
 exhibit overt acts, as an earnest of our pro- 
 fessed faith, and after having come to the 
 Savior, the order is reversed, and we must^. 
 Here we receive the order of the campaign, 
 and here the real battle of life commences. 
 After receiving our equipments, we are to 
 fight the battle of life alone, only looking to 
 headquarters for further orders. After being 
 able to sing — 
 
 "Ain't I glad I am out of the wilderness," 
 
 we must have courage to stay out. Seeing 
 the cyclone approaching, we should seek the 
 storm-cave. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 SPIRITUAL LONGING VS. FALSE KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 Many years ago, when Job asked the all- 
 important question, "What is man?" he set 
 the whole world to thinking; and that is pre- 
 cisely the object of these lectures, to stir up 
 your minds, by way of remembrance, appeal- 
 ing both to your hindsight and to your fore- 
 sight, enabling you to draw upon your 
 memory, for all the good which you have 
 received in the past, to be thankful in your 
 hearts for the present, and hopeful for the 
 future, in order that your lives may be happy 
 ones, and that, at the end of life's journey, 
 you may enter into that inheritance, which is 
 incorruptible, undefiled. and which fadeth 
 not away. 
 
 Do you say, this Promised Land business is 
 all a fake? I beseech you, hear me 
 patiently, for the end is not yet, and, sooner 
 or later, we shall all be out of The Shadows. 
 
 A few years ago, when a fool by the name 
 of Flanigan got up in the national congress 
 and said, "What are we here for?" he threw a 
 terrible bomb-shell into the camp of his polit- 
 ical friends. We may safely assume, that we 
 are neither Jobs, fools; nor Flanigans. Yet 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 49 
 
 we are demanding, (though in a more spirit- 
 ual sense), with all the earnestness of our 
 spiritual natures, the answer to Flanigan's 
 once foolish question, "What are we here 
 for?" What is the origin, nature, and destiny 
 of man ? 
 
 At this juncture, some facetious individual 
 may rise up and say, "We are here because 
 we can't get away." But this would scarcely 
 be a proper answer to the question. It would 
 never satisfy that nameless longing, and vague 
 unrest, which takes possession of the human 
 breast, for something better, and more defi- 
 nite, than we have known. For, disguise it 
 as we may, ' 'there is a divinity, which shapes 
 our end." 
 
 "Not long can nature satisfy the mind, 
 Nor outward fancies feed its inner flame. 
 We feel a growing want we cannot name, 
 
 And long for something sweet, but undefined." 
 
 But what is this sweet, undefinable, inde- 
 finite something, for which we are constantly 
 longing? The mystery of godliness would tell 
 us, it is Heaven; but we shake off the mystery, 
 as Paul shook off the deadly viper at Melitea, 
 and tell you plainly, it is nothing but happiness. 
 When we acquire perfect knowledge of our- 
 selves, and of the true God, then this mystery 
 will all vanish — the mists will be cleared away, 
 and we shall see Him, and know Him, even 
 as we are known. 
 
50 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 The human mind is a wonderfully formed 
 stringed instrument. It is the original, and 
 the only, harp of a thousand strings. It is 
 self-adjusting, and has the capacity of always 
 keeping itself properly atuned. If it does this, 
 if we keep ourselves in harmony with nature, 
 and the external things about us, we may, at 
 all times hear the sweetest music. Otherwise, 
 there is nothing but hideous inharmony, and 
 hateful discord. But the soul is susceptible 
 of a sweeter music than that which is the di- 
 rect result of these external performers. That 
 sweetest music, however, can only be heard 
 when, of our free will, we invite the god-man 
 within us to mount the music-stool, and with 
 one grand, majestic sweep of His magic hand 
 touch every chord of the human soul. Then 
 it is we may hear the sweetest music; then it is 
 we may have that peace and satisfaction of 
 mind, which the world can never give nor 
 take away; then it is our hearts are transported 
 to ecstatic scenes of more than earthly joy. 
 
 The mind is conscious of its own existence, 
 but it is also painfully couscious of it own 
 ignorance. Half the world is earnestly desir- 
 ing to know something, but the other half is 
 never quite able to tell them exactly what they 
 want to know. So true is this, that we never 
 meet our friends and ask them, ''What do 
 you know?" but that they invariably say, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 51 
 
 "We give it up; ask us something easy." It 
 is true, there are some things which we do 
 know, but it is also true, that there is an in- 
 finite number of things which we do not know; 
 so that, upon the whole, it may be truly said, 
 that the sum of things which we do not know 
 is infinitely greater than the sum of the things 
 which we do know. It is true that, to some 
 extent, the world is filled with knowledge. It 
 has covered the earth, like a beautiful gar- 
 ment; it has piled up mountain high. Exper- 
 ience and observation have given us a great 
 reservoir, so that, if we would desire to acquire 
 it at second hands, we need only to insert an 
 intellectual faucet, and draw off at will. But 
 the difficulty experienced in such cases would 
 be, that, it would not be all wool, nor a yard 
 wide. 
 
 There is a great deal oi false knowledge in 
 the world. False knowledge bears a close 
 resemblance to the genuine article; but it is 
 like the contents of a tramp' *s baggage, which 
 is put up for a night's lodging — though sup- 
 posed to contain gold bricks, when it is opened 
 up next morning, after the tramp is gone, it 
 proves to contain nothing but ordinary burnt 
 clay, done up in a cotton handkerchief. 
 
 That a bird in the hand is worth two in the 
 bush, is a species of false knowledge. It is 
 prompted by a sinister motive. The man 
 
52 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 who invented it was avaricious. He wanted 
 to kill the poor little bird to get the wings to 
 sell for money. Those wings will be sold to 
 adorn a Sunday hat, or a Sunday bonnet. 
 Somebody will wear that hat or bonnet to church 
 next Sunday; somebody will sing in the church 
 choir; and somebody will be a great sinner. 
 Under such circumstances, it might be proper 
 to suggest that good old song— 
 
 "Show pity, Lord, O Lord forgive; 
 Let a rebellious sinner live." 
 
 We once saw a young lady singing in the 
 church choir, with two bird wings, arranged one 
 on either side of her turban hat, and we re- 
 flected, what a beautiful chei-ubim to the 
 young lady's ark of the covenant! 
 
 That honesty is good policy, is knonv- 
 ledge\ but that it keeps a man poor, is false 
 knowledge. No honest man is poor; he is the 
 richest man on earth, and his heritage is sure. 
 Besides this an honest man can never become 
 a spiritual bankrupt. To trust, in the ordi- 
 nary business sense, is to bust; to "bust" is un- 
 happiness and unhappiness is H — 1. But 
 when a man is busted morally, he is a blank 
 nonentity, in a state of innocuous desuetude, 
 and there is more hope of a fool than of him. 
 
 If any person now desires to offer any crit i- 
 cism, an opportunity will be given him to do 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 53 
 
 so; but it is earnestly hoped, that the matter 
 will be postponed, until after the close of 
 these lectures. But if gentlemen persist in 
 manifesting a disposition to ring mischievous 
 little chestnut-bells, throughout the remain- 
 der of the performance, we may as well tell 
 them, that we have anticipated their move- 
 ments, and that we have instructed noble- 
 minded young lady hearers to climb way up 
 into the belfry towers of their intellectual 
 faculties, seize firmly hold of the bell-cords, 
 and declare, in the original dramatic style — 
 
 "Curfews shall not ring to-night." 
 
 It has long been known, that the proper 
 study of mankind is man; but not until quite 
 recently has it been discovered, that the most 
 perplexing one is that of woman. However, 
 be this as it may, we know that woman must 
 have her say. For when she will, she will, 
 and we can depend upon it; but when she 
 wont, she'll "see you later," (and the curfew 
 rings). A boy's will is the '-'wind's will:" 
 It may come easy, and as easily go, but it 
 usually prompts the boy to come more than to 
 go. A man' s will is as stern, inflexible, and 
 invincible as the traditional military man on 
 horseback. It rides boldly up to the castle- 
 wall, and demands admittance. If this be 
 refused, it hesitates not to make war on the 
 
54 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 fortifications, levels down the castle-wall, and 
 rides boldly in, taking peaceable possession of 
 the whole shooting-match. But a woman's 
 will is ever capricious and varied, being some- 
 times as gracious and condescending as a 
 bright May morning, but at other times as 
 positive and destructive as a Kansas or Dakota 
 cyclone. 
 
 In a great and good book, which we all re- 
 vere, are found two injunctions — one that we 
 should eat that alone which is good, and let 
 our souls delight in fatness, and another which 
 tells us, we should not be righteous over-muck, 
 lest we should die before our time. It would 
 seem that these injunctions are given one 
 against the other, that some where between 
 them we might find a kind of happy medium, 
 and our own experience teaches us, that the 
 happiest conditions of life are those in which 
 we find existing a streak of lean and a streak 
 oifat. 
 
 The world and the church are now both de- 
 manding new ideas. The world wants them, 
 because she can readily convert them into 
 cash, or the pleasure of sin for a season. The 
 church wants them for a very different pur- 
 pose — she is demanding new ideas, solely for 
 the power which they confer upon her to 
 comprehend the truth. But what the church 
 most needs at this time is, sense enough to ap- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 55 
 
 preciate the truth, when she finds it, and 
 honesty enough to practice what she preaches. 
 There are many big ideas latel) advanced for 
 our consideration; but the one which seems to 
 be taking 'the lead is, the "Big Four" idea. 
 Like all great things, it had its orgin in a very 
 humble beginning. It began as low down as 
 the negro minstrelsy. We can all remember 
 when the Barlow, Wilson, Primrose & West 
 combination was the acme of minstrel per- 
 fection. The idea became ambitious, and 
 made itself a name among the railroad sys- 
 tems of the country. The great Three C.'s & 
 St. L. R. R, is now one of most important 
 carrying factors. Not satisfied with this pro- 
 gress, however, the idea marched down to 
 the wicked city of New York, and there 
 intrenched itself in the hearts, and homes, of 
 her great big four hundred society people, 
 who are lording it over the rest of the fashion- 
 able world, limited only by the exercise of 
 their own sweet will, and the plethoric condi- 
 tion of their very fat pocketbooks, their motto 
 being, "No poor man need apply." 
 
 But this brings us to a point which we very 
 much desire to make, and this is that there 
 is but one legitimate Big Four in the universe 
 that it is composed of the infinite God, the 
 finite Man, the beautiful Woman, and the 
 infernal Devil. This reference to the big 
 
56 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 combination is made now that you may not 
 forget it. Its distinctive features will be more 
 fully set forth later on. 
 
 LECTURE VIII 
 
 THE BIG THREE. 
 
 There are three important personages, who 
 have lived and died, and who have left upon 
 record their testimony, in reference to one 
 very essential particular, and that is, in 
 reference to the weakness of human nature. 
 These personages are, St. Paul, Mrs. Part- 
 ington and Aunt Ophelia. St. Paul has 
 told us, that when we would do good, evil 
 is ever present with us; Mrs. Partington has 
 told us in a kind of sniffling tone, "We are 
 all poor, weak creeters;" but dear old Aunt 
 Ophelia rather caps the climax, when she 
 throws up her hands deprecatingly, and says, 
 "Oh, how shiftless! Oh, -how-shiftless!" 
 
 While we are investigating the subject of 
 human weakness, we desire to call your atten- 
 tion to a very large world, and a very small 
 man, who occupies the center of it. The 
 large world was made for the small man. It 
 is his. He is in possession of it now. But 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 57 
 
 the poor, little, simple-minded fellow hasn't 
 sense enough to realize the fact — consequently 
 he is still wanting the earth. If it were pos- 
 sible for a man to realize, that he owned the 
 earth vcifee simple, do you suppose he would 
 be satisfied? Tradition, as well as our own 
 experience, says, No I For in that case he 
 would certainly become selfish, and desire his 
 neighbors to either put up a wire fence, or 
 build a Chinese wali about it, to keep the 
 other fellows out. However, it is a nice 
 arrangement, by which the little man is placed 
 on the inside of the big world. It is a nice 
 thing to be on the inside of any combination. 
 It always gives the fellow on the inside a 
 chance to turn the crank, and make the other 
 fellows on the outside dance to his music. 
 
 Selfishness is one of the meanest devils on 
 earth. He is said to be a full brother of 
 Ignorance, and, upon careful examination of 
 the record, we find they are twins. Ignorance 
 was born first, but Selfishness played him a very 
 close second, for when Ignorance was born, 
 Selfishness was not only there, but, like Jacob 
 the younger, laid hold upon his brother's heel, 
 and has clung to him ever, since, like grim 
 death to a sick American citizen of African 
 descent, (or words to that effect). Ignorance 
 is the original curse of the world. He is 
 believed to be the spiritual inhale, who once 
 
58 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 swallowed Jonah, where, for three consecutive 
 days and nights, he was literally between the 
 devil and the deep blue sea. The old whale's 
 mouth is as capacious now as in days of yore, 
 and we all know the world is full of Jonahs. 
 
 The Big Three, so far as history and the 
 happiness of mankind are concerned, are, 
 Ignorance, Knowledge, and Wisdom. Ignor- 
 ance is weakness, weakness is sin, sin is death 
 and death shall ultimately be the end of 
 Ignorance, for death shall finally swallow 
 Ignorance, worse than Ignorance swallowed 
 Jonah. Knowledge is power; but it can only 
 be worth anything to anybody when rightly 
 applied. There is but one thing which can 
 teach the proper application of Knowledge, 
 and that is Wisdom, Ignorance is a beast, 
 Knowledge is a man, but Widom is a beauty, 
 the fairest among ten thousand, and the one 
 altogether lovely. Knowledge is the great, 
 ponderous locomotive engine, standing upon 
 the human railway track, with all its compli- 
 cated machinery ready for action, thrilling in 
 every nerve, panting and eager to be off on 
 the journey, and to reach her destination. 
 Wisdom is the little, intelligent, expert en- 
 gineer, who climbs nimbly up into the cranial 
 cab-house, seizing hold of the lever of the 
 human will, causing the human machine to 
 move either forward or backward, but always 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 59 
 
 deciding to send it in the proper direction, 
 and to bring it to a happy destiny. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN GRACES. 
 
 As we have already intimated, Truth is the 
 grandest old race-horse in the universe. He 
 is believed to be the original and the only true 
 thoroughbred. He is constantly surprising 
 the boys, breaking the record, and winning 
 first money in every race. There is but one 
 thing on earth which can run as fast as Truth, 
 for a short distance, and that is the old dark 
 horse, which people usually denominate a 
 "Lie." As a race horse, however, he is not a 
 success. He is not built that way. He is 
 knock-kneed, spavined, and blind in both 
 eyes. Besides this, he is thick-winded, and 
 has no bottom. In the race of life he starts 
 out briskly, and runs at a rattling pace to the 
 first quarter-pole, but by that time he is 
 usually blowed, and out of the race. But 
 Truth has great staying qualities, and, pass- 
 ing on swiftly around the course, we see him 
 coming in grandly on the home-stretch, 
 winning the race in front of the judge's stand. 
 He gets there every time. But looking back 
 over the course, we see the old dark horse 
 come plodding slowly up the back-stretch, and 
 
Go FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 ± 
 
 we can see, with half an eye, that he is in the 
 position of the man who went to see the queen 
 married — he is going to get there just in time 
 to be too late; for as he approaches the dis- 
 tance-flag it is flaunted gaily in his face. 
 Does it make him sick? Well, we should 
 remark, that the old horse feels somewhat dis- 
 couraged, and his backers usually feel worse 
 than he does; but as misery loves company, 
 they all go off to their own place, and when 
 they get there the backers do the next best 
 thing, that is, they kick themselves over the 
 back-yard fence, and then immediately retire 
 to the dark and dismal shades of the late 
 lamented McGinty. 
 
 Truth is not only a great race-horse, but he 
 is also a grand old weaver, not like the origi- 
 nal William, who was said to have been a gay 
 deceiver, but a genuine weaver of whole cloth. 
 The name of the cloth which Truth weaves is 
 Faith, and it is made up into many beautiful 
 wedding garments. Each of these garments 
 has seven distinct and beautiful colors, like 
 those which appear upon Joseph's coat. The 
 names of these colors are the names of the 
 Christian graces, and Christain graces are 
 like sweet-smelling perfumes — the more they 
 are utilized the sweeter they smell, and the 
 more perfect becomes our outward adornment. 
 
 There are four classes of persons who are 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 61 
 
 clothed with these wedding garments. They 
 are, the Prince, the Poet, the Puritan, and 
 the Pioneer. When the Prince is clothed in 
 his wedding garment, he says, "The just 
 shall live by Faith." The Poet says, "Truth, 
 crushed to earth, shall rise again." The 
 Puritan says, ' 'Trust in God, my boys, and 
 keep your powder dry,'' while the sturdy old 
 Pioneer simply says, "Be sure you're right, 
 boys, and then go ahead. " 
 
 We are all little Adams and Eves, and to 
 every child born into the world it is as fresh 
 and sweet and fair as it was in the original 
 Eden. No wonder men have never been able 
 to find the exact locality of "that garden." 
 The language is figurative, and is a descrip- 
 tion of a condition, rather than a locality. 
 We have always cursed the original parents 
 for eating forbidden fruit, and thereby bring- 
 ing sin into the world — as if there were no 
 forbidden fruit in our day. We never curse 
 ourselves, yet we have our forbidden fruit, 
 and we eat it, smack our lips, and gulp it down 
 as complacently as they did. Consistency is 
 a jewel, but the present generation ought to 
 confess to not having enough of this needful 
 commodity to adorn a lady's finger-ring. In 
 eating forbidden fruit it makes us sick, and 
 when the Great Physician comes, graciously 
 prescribing a remedy, we utterly refuse to take 
 
62 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 our medicine; and this simply shows what 
 foolish and disobedient children we are. 
 
 Now, as a rule, we do not believe in being 
 harsh with children; but in cases of this kind, 
 where discipline must be enforced, and where 
 the maternal slipper is not available, it would 
 seem that something must be done, and that 
 the most efficacious means would be either 
 the vigorous application of the paternal boot 
 — that of a Bogardus kicker, or a two thous- 
 and pound dynamo. 
 
 The earth was no doubt, originally intended 
 for a magnificent spiritual flower garden; but 
 it has been sadly misappropriated. It was 
 intended that the human race should live in 
 perpetual happiness, enjoying sweet inter- 
 course with each other, and with the Infinite 
 Good. They were to cultivate the earth, to 
 be sure; but this was to be a labor of love, 
 and in return for that kind attention; so lov- 
 ingly bestowed, nature was to yield up her 
 fruits and flowers, gladly contributing to the 
 necessities and happiness of man. But in 
 addition to this material department, as a 
 physical food-supplier, there was of necessity 
 joined that more subtle attachment of the 
 Divine mechanism, which would tend to a 
 higher and better development. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL FLOWER GARDEN. 
 
 Upon receiving possession of the heritage, 
 the human family, instead of getting down to 
 business, and attending strictly to their legiti- 
 mate vocation, became dissatisfied. Instead 
 of cultivating their minds, which was, indeed, 
 the true flower garden, upon which they were 
 to bestow most painstaking labor, they gave 
 way to sensuality. We do not make that 
 radical distinction between Earth and Heaven 
 which very pious people are wont to do, for 
 the very reason that we cannot, consistently 
 with our understanding of the Divine nature, 
 and without doing violence to our sense of 
 truth, and the eternal fitness of things. If it 
 is conceded, as it must be, that man has both 
 a physical and a spiritual nature, and that 
 both must develop, grow, and prosper, must 
 it not also be conceded, that the habitation of 
 this dual nature requires both a little Earth 
 and a little Heaven for its greatest prosperity? 
 We scout the idea, that this present habita- 
 tion is all Earth and no Heaven. If we really 
 believed this, as Paul says, "We of all men 
 would be most miserable," and we should cer- 
 tainly seek a passage to the Setter Country, 
 by the morphine route, as soon as we should 
 be able to interview a prescription clerk. 
 
64 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Posterity has persistently followed the 
 example of their ancestors, in obeying the 
 injunction to multiply and increase, until it is 
 high time that ancient order should be coun- 
 termanded. This commandment, in reference 
 to reproduction, is the only one which has 
 ever been literally fulfilled, thus showing that 
 it is much easier to obey a -physical law than 
 a spiritual one. It goes without saying, that 
 in proportion as we cease to be carnal, and 
 learn to become spiritual, we shall become 
 happier and better. If we become good 
 children, we delight to go out and commune 
 with nature, face to face, where she takes us 
 gently by the hand, leading us through her 
 labyrinths of grandeur and beauty, until at 
 last, if we grow tired, we may fall sweetly to 
 sleep in our mother's arms. Waking again in 
 the morning, we feel refreshed and strength- 
 ened, then we can either pursue our journey 
 forever rejoicing, or calmly sit down under the 
 shadow of the Sun of Good with great delight, 
 and His fruits shall become sweet to our taste. 
 
 Diligence, in the cultivation of our spiritual 
 flower garden, will at all times give us grand 
 and beautiful bouquets, which, upon great 
 national festival occasions, we may lay down 
 gratefully upon the altar of our country, or, 
 what is still better, we may present them as 
 waive, peace, or thank offerings before the 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Lord, when — if they be offered in Faith — 
 Love, which is the fire from Heaven, shall 
 come down to consume them, and thus sweet 
 incense shall ever ascend to bless the Giver of 
 all good. 
 
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 
 
 When Life, who is the great father of us 
 all, had determined to create a world of 
 animated existence, he called into his council 
 the undying principles of Wisdom and Love, 
 and together these three absolutely essential 
 elements in nature not only proceeded to 
 create man, reflecting the image of their own 
 glory, but also, in pursuance of that Divine 
 plan, continued to develop the beautiful form 
 of lovely woman. 
 
 "For when the evening sun was low, 
 To sleep old Adam he did go. 
 But when next morning he arose, 
 Not stopping to put on his clothes, 
 And opening up his dreamy eyes, 
 He saw an angel in disguise. 
 For sweet on Adam, Eva smiled, 
 And poor old Adam's heart beguiled. 
 She took him to the garden-gate, 
 Gave him apples, and he ate-" 
 
 But ever since that time the question has 
 been seriously agitated, "Is marriage a fail- 
 ure?" This question is closely related to 
 
66 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 that other foolish one, "Is life worth liv- 
 ing?" And as a fool is always supposed to be 
 answered according to folly, we may say, in 
 answer to the last question, that it depends 
 very much upon the conditions and disposition 
 of the liver. But as to the original question, 
 "Is marriage a failure?'' the answer is 'not so 
 easy. The question of marriage largely in- 
 volves a matter of faith, and faith is always a 
 dim road, where we are often compelled to 
 take a leap in the dark. To our mind the 
 question of marriage has always presented a 
 kind of social jumping-jack — the more we have 
 held it up to view, and manipulated it in all 
 its mental phases, the more we have become 
 confused in reference to the matter, so that we 
 can scarcely tell exactly what kind of an animal 
 it is. If based upon Love, is is a Divine insti- 
 tution; if upon Money, it is a hoo-doo. 
 
 "Cursed be the laws which sin against the strength of youth ; 
 Cursed be the lies which warp us from a living truth. 
 Cursed be the man who errs from honest nature's rule, 
 And cursed be the gold which guilds the straightened for- 
 head of the fool. 
 
 Tradition and common sense both tell us, 
 that there are three classes of persons who 
 never should marry at all. These are, strong- 
 minded women, who wear their hair cut short, 
 weak-minded men, who wear long hair, and 
 foolish, fashionable, and giddy young maid- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 67 
 
 ens, who invariably faint at the sight of a 
 cow. But to men and women of sense, who 
 have the necessary moral and physical qual- 
 ifications, it is believed that marriage offers 
 the only conditions in which, under all the 
 circumstances of life — 
 
 " "Love takes up the glass of time, 
 And turns it in his glowing hands, 
 When every moment, lighty shaken, 
 Runs itself in golden sands. 
 
 As to when people should marry, is also a 
 mooted question, but it is generally conceded, 
 that when Barkis is willin', and when Mary 
 And (for that is usually the girl's name) has 
 given her consent, is the happy possessor of 
 a pug dog, a piano, and a cow, and when the 
 father and mother have been properly inter- 
 viewed, and are ready to say, in the conven- 
 tional style, "Bless ye now, my children," 
 then the moment seems to be auspicious. It 
 is always a good time to make hay while the 
 sun shines, and under these circumstances we 
 should remark, that the sun is shining very 
 brightly. But it sometimes happens, in the 
 course of human events, that true love does 
 not run smoothly. In cases of this kind it 
 becomes necessary for Barkis to exercise a 
 little strategy. This he usually does in very 
 good style, by instructing Jehu to stop the 
 carriage just outside the garden-wall, in the 
 
68 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 early twilight, where Dulcina, who has been 
 placed on the inside of the combination, 
 makes her appearance, is lifted gently into 
 the waiting vehicle, and hied to the nearest 
 parsonage. But what is their surprise, upon 
 reaching the destination, to find that the an- 
 xious parent has anticipated their movements, 
 and is anxiously waiting to give Barkis a warm 
 reception with the family shotgun. Now, in 
 cases of this kind, we are sure our friends will 
 agree with us, that marriage is a failure. 
 
 i( As the husband is, the wife is; 
 
 If she is mated to a clown, 
 The grossness of his nature 
 
 Will have weight to draw her down." 
 
 "Love in a cottage cosily may dwell, 
 But much prefers to have it furnished well. 
 Love, though reckoned water-proof, 
 Is sometimes drowned by a leaky roof. 
 
 But when, in the course of human events, 
 it becomes necessary, that the married wo- 
 man should prove herself the best man of the 
 tivo, then, indeed, a decent regard for the 
 opinions of mankind would seem to dictate, 
 that she should immediately declare the 
 causes which impelled her to assume the 
 wearing of the pantaloons, (or words to that 
 effect. ) Tradition has kindly left a motto, 
 and a word of consolation to our antiquated 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 69 
 
 maiden aunts. The motto is, "Hope on, 
 hope ever, hope even against hope;" and the 
 consolation is — 
 
 "There was never a goose so gray, 
 But that some foolish gander came that way, 
 And took her for his mate." 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 SOCIAL AND MORAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 We are social as well as political and moral 
 beings, and even now, in our minds, we can 
 see come trooping in, our fathers and our 
 sisters, our mothers and our brothers, our 
 uncles, and our cousins, and our aunts. 
 
 "But what to us were life, 
 Without the busy wife, 
 Who hustles us around » 
 
 So lively, with her broom?" 
 
 Once upon a time, a learned judge who 
 graced the bench, in speaking of society, gave 
 these three classes: women, men and French. 
 
 And yet another, who was both a poet and 
 a lawyer — we mean the learned and witty 
 John G. Saxe — whilst hewing out a -poem 
 entitled, "The Money King," with his poetic 
 ax — 
 
70 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 He classified the lot, 
 
 Into those who have money, 
 
 And those who have not. 
 
 Society is composed of classes, 
 
 And they are numerous as mountain passes. 
 
 By society, we understand 
 
 The various relations of mankind 
 
 To his fellow man. 
 
 The first class we call Aristocracy, 
 Differing somewhat from true Democracy, 
 In that 'tis^composed of fools we can't endure. 
 To this class, therefore, we demur. 
 
 The next is Democracy, or society where 
 
 All of equal weight and importance are, 
 
 What though a man be poor, and his face be like the tan, 
 
 If he have true principles, what's the matter with the man. 
 
 Man's a fool at twenty-one; 
 
 His stormy life is just begun. 
 
 He lives too fast: the years pass swiftly on, 
 
 And the first episode of life is done. 
 
 At twenty-eight, the mind and body are full grown : 
 He resolves to marry — 'tis not good to be alone. 
 
 He applies at once, without offense, to Miss — Jones, 
 And she consents, and soon becomes 
 Flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones. 
 
 But is it so? 
 
 Do they through life in unison go? 
 
 For a time, indeed, they live happily together withal : 
 But so soon as the "Children beginneth to squall," 
 Love jumps out of the house, through a hole in the wall- 
 Not bound together henceforth by love, but by force, 
 Loudly they call on the law, for divorce. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 71 
 
 Then come courts, lawyers, lawyer's fees, 
 acrimony and alimony, together with an 
 unseemly scramble for worldly goods. In this 
 race for social freedom the devil usually 
 catches the hindmost, and his name is Dennis, 
 (and the children,) for in the end, some other 
 fellow is sure to get the divorced wife and the 
 alimony. 
 
 Every man, in his nature and disposition, 
 is either a sky-lark or a night-owl. If a sky- 
 lark, he soars and sings, and the higher he 
 soars the sweeter he sings, and the more he 
 praises his Maker. But if nature has destined 
 him to be a night-owl, he must be content to 
 go forever groping his way blindly through the 
 dark, or, escaping this terrible degradation, 
 he at best can but seek a refuge in some 
 lonely, deserted, and ruined tower, and there 
 he must remain, until the edifice shall crumble 
 into dust, when he, too, shall be covered 
 with the dust of the falling debris, and buried 
 forever out of sight in the fallen ruins. 
 
 We are but human hogs, gathering fruit 
 under the Divine plum-tree, never looking up 
 to see from whom these blessing come; and 
 Alice Carey has aptly descriped the situation, 
 when she says — 
 
72 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 "They are most unworthy 
 
 The bountiful provisions of God's care, 
 Who never look up with all the heart, 
 
 And say, "How good, my Father, 
 Oh, how good Thou art.' " 
 
 FOOLS, CRANKS, AND PHILOSOPHERS. 
 
 But we are political, as well social and 
 moral beings. The old trees of Liberty and 
 Protection were either born or engrafted upon 
 our shores; but of late years those trees are 
 beginning to show signs of premature decay 
 and the fruit itself is getting a little bit 
 tvormy. Who is it, that is now standing at 
 the lookout, in the grand pilot-house of the 
 old Ship of State? Is it the true spirit of 
 personal liberty, or is it the wretched and 
 degrading spirit of lawless license? What is 
 the true policy of free America? Is it that of 
 the greatest good to the greatest number? 
 Or is it the petty policy of the professional 
 politician, which says, "The people be d-d?" 
 
 Disease affects nations, as well as individ- 
 uals. There are now many indications which 
 point to the fact, that Uncle Sam's health is 
 slightly impaired. It would now seem nec- 
 essary for the well-being of his numerous 
 family that the old gentleman should brace up 
 a little. It may become necessary that he 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 73 
 
 should either take a tonic, or turn his face to 
 the wall and pray fervently, as Hezekiah did, 
 that he may have another fifteen years added 
 to his political life. I am aware, that we 
 should all be sorry to hear of the old man's 
 death; but oh my! wouldn't it make a splen- 
 did funeral procession! 
 
 There are three classes of citizens who 
 demand more than a passing notice. These 
 are, the fools, the cranks, and the philoso- 
 phers. The fool is a kind of an oyster-man 
 — that is to say, he is all mouth, and no 
 brains. He is a human sucker, a consumer 
 and no producer, content to absorb what good 
 he can from the world about him, without 
 ever giving anything in return. The crank is 
 a man of somewhat higher character. He is 
 a man of, at least, one idea, but that idea is 
 usually the bane of his life, and of every life 
 with which he comes in contact. He will 
 argue with his neighbor, from early morn till 
 dewy eve, to prove the necessity of carrying 
 coal to Newcastle, (or words to that effect. ) 
 But when at last the evening shades appear, 
 and the little stars come out and begin to 
 blink at him, he will take the hint, thinking, 
 perhaps, they are trying to make fun of him, 
 so that, like the Arab, he folds his tent and 
 silently steals away, leaving the world to 
 darkness, and the sensible man to his own 
 
74 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 reflections. But Tradition, who always sleeps 
 with one eye open, says, that the crank 
 universally bobs up serenely next morning, 
 before breakfast, ready and willing to renew 
 the conflict. 
 
 The philosopher needs no description at 
 our hands. We are all, to some extent, 
 philosophers ourselves — at least, in our minds. 
 The true philosopher is the legitimate spiritual 
 prophet, filled with inspiration, and gifted 
 with second-sight. Fie can look away down 
 the stream of time, behold either the old ship 
 of church, or state, grandly sailing; tell 
 exactly in what latitude she is, what the 
 probabilities are that she will come safely into 
 port, how much ballast she carries, how the 
 ship is manned, and when and where she is 
 going to land; or, if there be breakers ahead, 
 he can order out the signal lights, and woe 
 be to the unhappy mariner, be he man, 
 church, or state, who refuses to heed them. 
 
 Philosophers are generally bald-headed, 
 and the world now owes a debt of gratitude 
 to bald-headed men. Most of them have lost 
 their sclap-locks in honorable brain-work 
 skirmishes, dedicated, almost exclusively, to 
 the benefit of their fellows and of their 
 country. In all my experience, I have never 
 seen but one bald-headed fool, and he was in 
 great demand as a natural curiosity. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 COFFEE-COOLERS AND BLOCK-VOTERS. 
 
 The world has given us two specimens of 
 the gentleman. One is simply a gentle man, 
 who loves to do right, and who does it. The 
 other is usually a sporting man, and justly 
 reckoned a very good judge of very bad 
 whisky; what he thinks he knows, would make 
 a library. But the coffee-cooler — what's the 
 matter with him? He's all right. He stands 
 as an honorable landmark between the old 
 and the new — between the false and the true. 
 He is the product of a more perfect moral, 
 social, and political development, and a living 
 monument of the promotion and perpetuation 
 of a higher and more perfect Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 It has been intimated, that many men 
 were induced to join the army under the 
 immediate pressure of a military draft, and 
 the remote possibility of some day obtain- 
 ing an eight-dollar pension, in case they should 
 have their heads shot off. It is but just to 
 say, that the confidence which Uncle Sam 
 reposed in them was never betrayed. Never 
 at any time, during their country's darkest 
 hours, did the great black camp-kettle, filled 
 with steaming-hot coffee, make an impetuous 
 charge upon them, that they were not ready 
 
76 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 and more than willing to repel that charge 
 with their bright shining little tin cups, and 
 when, under such circumstances, they met 
 the enemy, truth not only compels us to say, 
 that he was theirs, but that they were also, 
 as ever, Uncle Sam's truly. 
 
 But it is chiefly as a real-estate dealer, that 
 the coffee-cooler looms up conspicuously in 
 the history of the country. So great was the 
 confidence reposed in him at the close of the 
 war, that Uncle Sam made him a very advan- 
 tageous proposition, to embark with him in 
 the real-estate business, in Western Kansas 
 and Nebraska. He proposed to bet them one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land, against four- 
 teen dollars in money, that none of them 
 could live for five years consecutively on the 
 land, without starving to death. We do 
 not say, that Uncle Sam ivon the bet, but we 
 do think, that the record will show that, in 
 most cases, he now has both the land and the 
 money. Bret Harte talks about the native 
 cuteness of the heathen Chinee; but we think 
 that in a matched game, Uncle Sam would 
 give him a very close tussle. If they were 
 engaged in a game of baseball, and each were 
 trying to make a home run, the old man 
 would be away out of sight. U. S. would get 
 there, before the heathen could get his 
 wooden shoes off. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 77 
 
 This extended notice of real-estate trans- 
 action is given for the benefit of tenderfoot 
 coolers, who have never, like ourselves, bitten 
 off more than they could chew. We some- 
 times think it would have been better for us 
 had we been born black. In that case we 
 might, some day, live to realize possession of 
 that traditional forty acres of land, and a 
 mule. 
 
 This is a great country, 
 
 That's beyond a doubt; 
 
 And Decoration Day, and July Fourth, 
 
 We always let the secret out. 
 
 This is a great country, especially on 
 election day, when votes are selling as high as 
 two hundred cents apiece. The most profit- 
 able way to manipulate votes is in blocks. A 
 block consists of five votes. The man who 
 arranges the blocks is a political hustler, but 
 the fellows who do the voting, under such 
 circumstances, are political block-heads. 
 
 SOCIAL MONSTROSITIES, 
 
 Uncle Sam is not only a hustler, but is also 
 a rustler, and combines the happy faculty of 
 uniting business with pleasure. A great many 
 years ago, when he established the military 
 academy at West Point, he conceived the 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 double purpose of creating officers for the 
 army, and also at the same time furnishing 
 eligible husbands for ambitious young ladies. 
 
 It is a grand sight, on graduation day, to 
 see a group of young ladies surround a poor, 
 helpless, defenseless cadet, while one of their 
 number carries him off into captivity. But, 
 after all, the young man is not so much to 
 blame. What educated gentleman would not 
 prefer being the husband of a beautiful young 
 lady, to going away out into the wild and 
 woolly west, fighting Digger Indians and 
 eating grasshoppers. 
 
 No man desires to be thought a fool. Call 
 a man a fool, and you lose his friendship 
 forever. Dare to intimate that a lady is not 
 intelligent, and the offense would be but little 
 less than were you to say she is not beautiful, 
 and this, indeed, would be an unpardonable 
 sin. Flattery, like music, has power to soothe 
 the savage mind; but egotism is, perhaps, the 
 most prominent bump on the cranium-map of 
 human nature. It is the Pike's Peak of the 
 surrounding faculties, standing out alone, 
 rather grand and gloomy, but always peculiar. 
 It casts a dark and dismal shadow over the 
 social landscape, where the altitude is alto- 
 gether too high and the temperature too low 
 to vegetate anything delightful and pleasing. 
 
 Some of us at times, when in a condescend- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 79 
 
 ing mood, might be willing to admit, that 
 there is possibly a fool somewhere in the 
 family, but of course, it would never be our- 
 selves; it would always happen to be the 
 other fellow. 
 
 A few years ago, when Peck discovered the 
 original Bad Boy up at Milwaukee, he thought 
 he had struck a bonanza. Fond fathers freely 
 bought copies of the book for their hopefuls 
 to read, and the story of Bad Boy, for awhile, 
 became quite a fashionable pastime in some 
 of the best regulated families. But the 
 misguided old duffers soon found they had 
 made the mistake of a life time. They had 
 reckoned without the host, and had bitten off 
 more than they could comfortably masticate; 
 for the Bad Boy increased so fast that there 
 soon became a glut in the market. Instead of 
 becoming a kind of pet natural curiosity, he 
 soon began to be reckoned an infernal, inhu- 
 man monstrosity. Now the burning question 
 with the fond parent is, "How shall I dispose 
 of my surplus stock on hand, and prevent its 
 further increase?" 
 
 The stock is freely offered in the open 
 market, but there are no takers, and this 
 accounts for the fact, that the Bad Boy and 
 the Billy Goat have been forced to form an 
 exclusive social combination, by means of 
 which, in the absence of anything better, one 
 
8o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 is permitted to march with stately tread to the 
 sausage-mill, and the other forever daily 
 doomed to pass, slowly and sadly, upon the 
 road which leads over the hill to the poor- 
 house. 
 
 Much as we deprecate the existence of the 
 Bad Boy, there are many mitigating circum- 
 stances. Bad boys are only the legitimate 
 results of the bad example of bad men; one is 
 the antecedent, the other the consequent. 
 Abolish the bad man, and the bad boy will 
 either evaporate into social air, or develop into 
 a perfect manhood. 
 
 But the latest fad is, the amateur young 
 lady whistler. We once had the extreme dis- 
 pleasure of witnessing a performance of this 
 kind, and truth compels us to say that when 
 the young lady was preparing to pucker her 
 beautiful mouth, preparatory to giving the 
 opening overture, we were deeply and 
 solemnly impressed with the idea, that there 
 was about to be altogether too much sweet- 
 ness wasted on the desert air. We are 
 opposed to such exhibitions, on the ground of 
 economy. It is too great a waste of raw 
 material. In the main, we are partial to 
 women's rights. We believe in giving them 
 the greatest personal liberty. Let them enter 
 into intellectual scrapping matches with us as 
 much as they like, but let them not think, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 because reciprocity has given us free sugar, 
 that it is not still incumbent upon them to 
 teach economy. Young ladies, for heaven's 
 sake, let us admonish you, as you prize your 
 own happiness, and the happiness of those you 
 love, never be tempted to pucker your beauti- 
 ful mouths, unless it should be under a strong 
 provocation to kiss somebody, and even then, 
 perhaps, this temptation itself should be an 
 economical one, and the kiss well admin- 
 istered. 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 SHOOTING FOLLY AT LONG RANGE. 
 
 Wisdom is the great fool-killer, and if he 
 should come down to earth in bodily form; 
 marching boldly among us, with his sword of 
 the spirit, many of us would, no doubt, 
 become frightened, though it is doubtful if we 
 could all be made to believe, that we are 
 exactly the kind of people he is looking for. 
 If he should call upon us at our homes, politely 
 sending up his card, and requesting an inter- 
 view, many of us would, no doubt, send down 
 our excuses as not being at home. If he 
 should be importunate, we would put him off 
 to a more convenient season. VVe do not 
 realize that it is necessary for our own good, 
 
8z FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 that we should fall into his hands; that we 
 should become as clay in the hands of the 
 potter; that we should be all broken up, 
 before we can be fashioned anew, and made 
 into perfect beings. In human nature, hind- 
 sight is always better than foresight. This 
 accounts for the reason that Bellamy could 
 write his book, ''Looking Backward." It is 
 also a wise provision in nature. Were it 
 otherwise, we would all be enabled to take 
 our little amateur spiritual shotguns, and 
 shoot folly as it flies, at long range; and since 
 folly is the principal thing we feed upon; and 
 is not protected by the game laws it would 
 soon become an extinct species, and many of 
 us would, no doubt, be left in a starving con- 
 dition. 
 
 The beautiful custom of painting towns red 
 originated west of the Mississippi river. In 
 the eastern States, and the Mississippi valley, 
 an ordinary hustler is supposed to be good 
 enough for all practical purposes; but it might 
 as well now be understood, once for all, that 
 west of the Missouri river no ordinary hustl- 
 ing tenderfoot ever goes. So soon as he 
 reaches the sacred precincts of the wolly west, 
 he is immediately transformed into the fully- 
 grown, rugged Rocky Mountain rustler. It is 
 a grand sight to see a lot of these irresponsible 
 bummers, cowboys, and hoodlums, painting a 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS, 83 
 
 town red, especially of a dark night. It is a 
 good advertisement for the town; it advises 
 you, if you are nothing but a tenderfoot, that 
 you had better hustle out of the way, and it 
 emphasizes the fact, that the local authorities 
 have entered into a conspiracy with the afore- 
 said combination, to ruin the morals of the 
 place, in order to boom the country and the 
 town. 
 
 There is a natural and there is a spiritual 
 cowboy. The natural cowboy is a character, 
 whose acquaintance is no longer to be desired. 
 He has been sufficiently described already as 
 a bragging Falstaff, mounted upon a bucking 
 mustang pony. But the spiritual cowboys 
 are gentlemen, whose acquaintance we should 
 very much desire to cultivate. There are 
 seven of these, and they constitute the body- 
 guard of His Divine Majesty. You will be 
 more fully introduced to them later on. 
 
 As civilization advances farther west, and 
 every available nook and corner of our 
 territory is being occupied, the natural cow- 
 boy finds that like Othello, his occupation is 
 gradually slipping away from him; that he 
 soon shall have, made his last round-up, and 
 that he must now step down and out, to make 
 room for the better company, the spiritual 
 cowboys that are to be, and who shall soon 
 supersede him. 
 
LECTURE XIII. 
 
 THE MIDDLE WAY. 
 
 It is said that — 
 
 "When of our lives a nice review we take, 
 The hours for which we have least cause to weep, 
 Are those we spend in childhood, or in sleep." 
 
 Blessed combinations! Childhood and 
 sleep; youth and manhood; old age and death! 
 How intimately are they associated, in our 
 minds, with all our present and future aspira- 
 tions! As in childhood and manhood we 
 sleep a natural sleep, finding therein sweet 
 surcease from every earthly care and sorrow, 
 so, too, in old age and death we may look 
 confidently forward to that last sleep, which 
 shall usher in that glorious rest, which remain- 
 eth to the people of Good. 
 
 "Then let us sleep, and give the Maker praise, 
 For Jove is wise, and equal in his ways. 
 God bless the man who first invented sleep. 
 So said Sancho Panza, and so say T, 
 And bless him, too, that he didn't Iceep the invention, 
 As well he might, a close monopoly, by patent right." 
 
 For sleep brings rest; rest brings strength; 
 strength gives capacity to think; thought is 
 labor; labor is love, and love is the fulfillment 
 of the Divine law, 
 
 The magic spells of childhood must ever 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 85 
 
 linger about us in our waking hours, and visit 
 us in dreams. Who is there among us, that 
 does not remember his own — 
 
 "Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain, 
 Where health and beauty cheered the laboring swain ; 
 Those dear bowers of innocence and ease, 
 Scenes of his youth, where every sport could please." 
 
 These were the charms of youth; but all 
 their joys have fled. 
 
 Fate, as well as fortune, has the reputation 
 of being a fickle jade, but, in the main, the}' are 
 very kind to us. Neither of them would ever 
 conspire to rob us of the delightful experience 
 of childhood, nor to obliterate the memory of 
 the time when we caught bluebirds in the 
 hollow stumps, or dug sweet-roots in the old 
 sugar-camp. We sometimes think fate is 
 cruel, when she drags us away from the scenes 
 of earthly happiness; but we are consoled by 
 the reflection, that "all who tread the globe 
 are but a handful, to the tribes which slumber 
 in its bosom, and that we shall at last 
 approach the grave, as those who wrap the 
 draperies of their couch about them, and lie 
 down to pleasant dreams." 
 
 The motto of Lord Chesterfield was, that 
 in going through life, we should take a 
 carriage and sleep on the journey; but the 
 difficulty in this case would be, that we should 
 not atl have carriages to ride in, and even if 
 
86 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 we had, Bellamy has justly shown us, that 
 none of us could ride except his neighbor 
 should draw him. This service we certainly 
 have no right to expect of anyone. Besides, 
 the Chesterfieldian theory would controvert 
 the truth, that life is real, life is earnest. 
 Life is not all a picnic, by any means; there 
 is work enough to do. 
 
 "There are sins that need confessing, 
 There are wrongs that need redressing. 
 There is work enough to do, 
 Ere the sun goes down." 
 
 With the standing dispute between the 
 optimist and the pessimist, we have little or 
 nothing to do. Life is too short, and eternity 
 too vast, to engage in unseemly disputes. 
 We shall have enough to do to avoid extremes, 
 and keep in the straight and narrow path, in 
 the middle way; for we believe there is a 
 middle way, a Happy Medium; that it is 
 interspersed with spiritual fruits and flowers; 
 that we may pluck them by the wayside, eat- 
 ing alone that which is good, and like the 
 spies of old, returning again to our friends, 
 with grand specimens of fruitful vintage, and 
 bringing goodly reports of the Promised Land. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 87 
 
 CONDITIONS OF HAPPINESS. 
 
 In every warfare there must be both spies 
 and soldiers; but in the moral conflict every 
 man must be both spy and soldier — a spy 
 first, and a soldier afterward. But no man is 
 fit to spy out the land, who has not sought a 
 great moral elevation. He must hie himself 
 to a position where there is plenty of oxygen, 
 ozone, and inspiration in the air; then, taking 
 his little mental field-glass, and striking a 
 lucifer upon his imagination, he must illumi- 
 nate the grand moral panorama, which Wis- 
 dom shall condescend to pass in review before 
 him. 
 
 The way to happiness, which Wisdom 
 points out, lies strictly over what is known as 
 the duty line. On this line are found seven 
 distinct and beautiful stations, at each of 
 which the passenger is required to pay fare, 
 as he passes along. There are no free passes, 
 nor through tickets without change of cars, 
 but the happy passenger may, upon booking 
 his name at headquarters, check his baggage 
 safely through to his final destination. Be- 
 fore starting upon his journey, he must invest 
 largely in Health, purchase a big ticket at 
 Knowledge; stop and invest largely at Moral- 
 ity; become acquainted and dine with his 
 friend Sociability; work his passage at Indus- 
 try, and at last realize that he is rolling in 
 
88 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Spiritual Wealth at the end of his journey. 
 These are all material stations, which the 
 passenger is supposed to have properly inter- 
 viewed, before he . can present his check and 
 receive his baggage, at the end of the road. 
 But upon receiving his baggage, he is agree- 
 ably surprised to find contained therein the 
 pattern of a wedding garment, and his mind 
 is delighted with anticipations of a wedding 
 feast, to which he is soon to be invited. 
 
 Man is a creature of circumstances. There 
 are certain conditions surrounding him, with 
 which he has to do, and wmich largely deter- 
 mine his destiny. Having life^ we have 
 everything else to get. The first effort of a 
 new-born babe is a struggle for physical 
 existence. We must live, and, in order to 
 live, we must observe the conditions upon 
 which life depends. Eternal vigilance is the 
 price of everything worth having. If men 
 would strictly observe the conditions of health, 
 and throw physic to the dogs, the dogs might 
 die, but the men would certainly be well. 
 
 No man desires to be thought a fool, but 
 very few are willing to observe the conditions 
 upon which knowledge depends. He who 
 would see beautiful visions, must climb to the 
 mountain-tcp. There is no excellence with- 
 out great labor. In the language of the 
 English cockney, "You simply pays your 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 89 
 
 money, and you takes your choice." If we 
 refuse to exercise the will-power, which gives 
 quality to the actions, we must remain in a 
 state of barren nudeness. 
 
 There is no more pitiable object in God's 
 universe than a moral bankrupt, a man devoid 
 of will-power. Cardinal Woolsey is a case in 
 point, and no wonder Shakespeare made him 
 to remorsefully say, ''Had I but served my 
 God with half the zeal I served my king, He 
 would not thus have left me naked to mine 
 enemies." It is all nonsense, or sheer hypo- 
 crisy, for a man to say he cannot leave off his 
 ■petty vices, as well as break wholly away from 
 his larger sins. The truth is, he will not, 
 because his sense of morality is less than the 
 strength of his passion. "No man liveth to 
 himself; 5 ' he is not built that way. By virtue 
 of our own existence, we must have our earthly 
 parents; hence sociability is one of the condi- 
 tions of our being, and it is a moral question 
 for us to decide, how well we discharge our 
 obligations to others, 
 
 We must die, but we must also live; and, 
 having our physical wants to administer to, 
 the necessity is begotten for action. God 
 does not immediately kill us with goodness. 
 He does not feed us willing or unwilling, but 
 He does a better thing, by giving us the 
 opportunity to feed ourselves. If we exercise 
 
9 o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 this opportunity, we become industrious, and 
 thus fulfill another law of our being. If all 
 these former conditions are complied with, the 
 result is, we shall not lack any good thing, 
 which is necessary for our comfort. 
 
 But when we become wealthy in a material 
 sense, there is an aching void which the world 
 cannot fill. We are compelled to remember 
 the Divine injunction, "With all thy getting, 
 get wisdom" But where shall wisdom be 
 found? Every fool can tell where it is not, 
 but where is he? We have been looking for 
 him, and hope to show him to you later on. 
 
 The world is filled with natural and spirit- 
 ual tramps, men who will neither work for 
 bread, nor exercise the moral courage to build 
 up a Christian-character. The one we know 
 already; the other is the meaner man of the 
 two, because his opportunities are greater, 
 and with him nature has been more lavish 
 with her gifts. The spiritual tramp is the 
 true Ishmaelite of the earth, whose hand is 
 against every man, and in turn every man's 
 hand shall be against him. His progeny is a 
 numerous one, and his sons are often found 
 occupying high places in the land, sometimes 
 sitting at the receipt of customs, at other 
 times assuming the responsibility of executing 
 the laws. But wherever found, he is known 
 and read by honest men, as wearing about 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 91 
 
 him evermore the curse of Cain. If he does 
 not aspire to high places, he may be daily 
 seen in the saloon or upon the street corner, 
 as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 
 devour, or perhaps as a loud-braying political 
 jackass, either sulking, or trying to frighten 
 someone with his loud-sounding voice. He 
 never succeeds in accomplishing his object, 
 however, for his true character is always sus- 
 pected by a discriminating public. 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 GOOD AND PERFECT GIFTS. 
 
 There are three grand and beautiful truths 
 in our political declaration, that the inalien- 
 able rights of men are, those of life, liberty, 
 and the pursuit of happiness. But there is, 
 perhaps, a grander and more primitive truth, 
 couched in the language, that every good gift 
 and every perfect gift cometh down from 
 above, from the Father of Light, in whom 
 there is no variableness, neither shadow of 
 turning. As our political fabric rests on the 
 basis of natural life, liberty, and happiness, 
 so our spiritual structure is based on the 
 cardinal truth, that good gifts and perfect 
 gifts come down from the Father of Natural 
 and Spiritual Light. 
 
92 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Without being convicted of an attempt to 
 sermonize, we may call your attention to the 
 fact, that even a blind man ought to be able 
 to distinguish between good and -perfect gifts. 
 Health and knowledge belong to the first class, 
 but wisdom and love are of a very different 
 character. The natural light is a good gift, 
 which we receive daily, without observation 
 or comment; but the spiritual light we hail as 
 a superior being. It is because these fine dis- 
 tinctions are not always perceptible, that the 
 world of mankind is, to some extent, groveling 
 in moral darkness; not because they cannot 
 see them, but because their mental eyelids 
 are not lifted up, to Him from whom their 
 help cometh. 
 
 The natural man is stronger than the 
 spiritual; hence he reaches out very early in 
 life, grasps his brother by the throat, and, if 
 he does not immediately choke the life out of 
 him, he can, at least, so far cripple his sensi- 
 bility, that he will never become, to any great 
 extent, a formidable rival. 
 
 He who does the best he can, does well act 
 nobly; angels could do no more. But what 
 per cent, of the human family are making 
 an honest, earnest effort to do the best they 
 can, under all the circumstances of life? We 
 delight to deceive ourselves. 
 
 Here the parable of the buried talent 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 93 
 
 applies, with equal force, against every 
 mother's son, who seeks to evade his duty by 
 vain excuses. Know ye not, that our hearts 
 are open to the eyes of Him with whom we 
 have to do? We hustle and rustle, to get 
 possession of material wealth; and just so sure 
 as this is necessary in one case, it is necessary 
 in the others. We must become spiritual 
 rustlers, forgetting the things which are behind, 
 reaching out to the things which are before, 
 remembering that, in theory, man never is, 
 but always to be blessed, and that -perfection 
 of happiness lies always in the future. 
 
 In every manifestation of life, there are 
 two things to be considered. These are^ the 
 blood and the conscience. As there can be no 
 healthy physical organization without good 
 blood, so there can be no perfectly-formed 
 spiritual body without a good conscience. 
 We know it is argued, that conscience is not 
 always a safe guide; but we have always 
 found a good, healthy, well-developed, full- 
 grown conscience the best friend in the world, 
 and the safest and most reliable guide to 
 follow. Of course, it must be quickened by 
 love, else it would not be healthy. Eternal 
 vigilance is not only the price of liberty, it is 
 more than that, it is the price of bread, both 
 natural and spiritual. 
 
94 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 THE DEMANDS OF THE AGE. 
 
 Since the ancient philosopher went about at 
 noonday, with a lighted candle, searching for 
 men of character, the demand has never been 
 satisfied. The demand is increasing for men 
 of strong mental and moral endowments; for 
 men who know the right, and dare maintain 
 it; men whose hearts are overflowing with the 
 milk of human kindness, and who are willing 
 to sacrifice themselves for the good of others. 
 There has never been too many Josephs and 
 Joshuas, Davids, nor Pauls, neither has there 
 been too many Gladstones, Washingtons, nor 
 Lincolns, and oh, how we have learned to 
 love our Bryants, Whittiers, and Longfellows. 
 
 The night of spiritual darkness is far spent, 
 the day is at hand. The people are begin- 
 ning to learn very fast, and they can now 
 distinguish between Beauty and the Beast. 
 The line of morality is being more strictly 
 drawn every day. The great army of im- 
 moral, swinish kickers have been kicking until 
 they are growing tired, and now that public 
 opinion is beginning to squeeze them, they 
 are manifesting their discomfiture by grunting 
 and squealing. We have no doubt that eter- 
 nal vigilance, backed by public sentiment, will 
 ultimately have a tendency to cheapen the 
 price of human pork. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 95 
 
 The public conscience is being quickened; 
 public sentiment is being educated and en- 
 lightened; the force of public opinion is 
 becoming a great iveight, influencing and 
 shaping our legislation for the better, both 
 State and National. Public opinion shall 
 ultimately become the spiritual millstone, 
 which, hung about the neck of the monster of 
 iniquity, shall drag him down, like McGinty, 
 to the bottom of the sea. 
 
 The poorer classes, the honest toilers of the 
 land, now desire a breathing spell; they want 
 time to think a little. They begin to realize 
 that they, too, have some rights, which law- 
 makers and millionaires are bound to respect; 
 that a paternal government should not tempt 
 them, above that which they are able to bear. 
 Many of them, like true prodigals, now desire 
 to return to their Father's house, and are will- 
 ing to break off their sins, by returning to the 
 Lord. But necessity knows no moral law, 
 and so long as Capital will be unjust, there 
 must of necessity be Ishmaelites in society, in 
 the church, and in the state. The People, as 
 well as the Supreme Court, are now supposed 
 to know a thing or two, and they are demand- 
 ing that the Money God shall be at least just, 
 if he is not generous. 
 
 Progression and development are, indeed, 
 the laws of nature. Evolution is all right. 
 
96 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Not that we are descended from a race of 
 lower animals, but that it is the Divine law of 
 change, whereby injustice shall cease and 
 equity be meted out to all, and all of our 
 natural bodies, which are fitted for the trans- 
 formation, shall ultimately become spiritual 
 ones. 
 
 The world and the church are both demand- 
 ing new ideas, and they will get them just in 
 proportion as the demand increases; for in 
 our Father's house there is bread enough and 
 to spare. In mercy God gives us knowledge 
 in return for Ignorance, and if we still look 
 up imploringly, we shall receive the Pearl of 
 Great Price. The fatherhood of Good, and 
 the brotherhood of Man, is a doctrine which 
 we can all receive. Here is a basis of church 
 union, and when I say it is good enough for 
 me, why can there not be a general exclama- 
 tion all along the moral line, "Me too! Me 
 too!'' 
 
 In our eager chase for worldly wealth and 
 bodily amusement, we have but little time 
 for reflection, and give ourselves little or none 
 to bestow upon the building of the great 
 spiritual temple; for, disguise it as we may, 
 we are builders — 
 
 '•'And are building, every day, a temple the world may not 
 
 see; 
 Building every day, building for eternity. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 97 
 
 If a man should make a great feast and 
 invite his friends to the banquet, he must 
 needs exercise great care in the selection of 
 the good things which he would set before 
 them. Let us remember, then, that we have 
 already been brought to the banqueting house; 
 that the banner over, us is love, and that our 
 object should henceforth be the discovery and 
 dissemination of truth, the end in view the 
 promotion and perpetuation of human hap- 
 piness, and our earnest desire the greatest 
 possible good to the greatest number. 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 SEARCHING FOR TRUTH. 
 
 We trust we are neither political knaves, 
 fools, nor Flanigans. We do not propose to 
 misrepresent nor outrage the feelings of a 
 trusting and confiding constituency, but we do 
 assume to be the true representatives of a 
 higher and better civilization. We are advocat- 
 ing, with all the earnestness of our spiritual 
 natures, a more perfect bond of universal 
 brotherhood. We come in the name of Right- 
 eousness, Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Light, 
 and, recognizing the value of life, and the 
 
98 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 necessity of right living, we demand, in a 
 spiritual sense, the answer to Flanigan's once 
 foolish question, "What are we here for?" 
 Who am I? What am I? From whence do 
 I come, and whither do I go?" 
 
 In considering the three principal factors 
 involved, in the solution of the great problems 
 of life and human happiness, we are not to be 
 restrained or kept back by any foolish, super- 
 stitious dread of the supernatural; neither are 
 we to rush in rashly and foolishly unbidden 
 upon holy ground. In some respects, at 
 least, every man is supposed to be his brother's 
 keeper; but no man may assume to be the 
 authoritative spiritual guide of his brother, or 
 seek to establish a property interest in his 
 conscience, and this for the reason, that the 
 same data from which truth may be evolved 
 is equally accessible to all. Each human 
 mind is an empire of itself; hence the most 
 that we can possibly and properly do is, to 
 excite each others minds to proper action, and 
 then each empire may extend its spiritual 
 domain at pleasure; at least as far as it is 
 possible to do so. 
 
 No man living has a monopoly on truth; 
 hence there is no authority for human creeds. 
 There once lived a man who had a monopoly 
 of this kind; but he was more than man, he 
 was God manifest in the flesh. As man he is 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 99 
 
 dead, but as God he still lives. He is the 
 God of Truth, and he has given to the world 
 a perfect Revelation; but the world has never 
 perfectly understood Him, partly because of 
 the imperfection of human knowledge, but 
 principally because knowledge has never been 
 vigorously and exclusively applied in that 
 direction. But when shall human knowledge 
 become perfect, and how shall it become so? 
 These questions are suggestive, and are 
 intended for you to answer personally. What 
 shall the answer be? 
 
 Each of us should eagerly engage in the 
 acquisition of knowledge solely for the purpose 
 of being able to comprehend the truth, and 
 when we find a particle of this precious 
 treasure, we should appropriate it, and store it 
 carefully away in our earthen vessels, until 
 the capacity is filled. But if we do not dis- 
 cover enough for practial purposes, we should 
 gladly receive and appropriate that tendered 
 us by others. After receiving enough of the 
 needful commodity, we may distribute gratuit- 
 ously among our neighbors, realizing that as 
 we have freely received, we may also freely 
 give, and that of the two the giving is the 
 more blessed. 
 
 Longfellow, the great heart-poet, under- 
 stood this sentiment perfectly well, when he 
 said — 
 
:oo FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 "If any thought of mine, e'er said or sung, 
 
 Hath given delight or consolation, 
 Ye will pay me back a thousand fold, 
 By every friendly sign, or salutation." 
 
 CONTINUING THE SEARCH. 
 
 The prehistoric condition of affairs was, a 
 world of choatic darkness. The present 
 beautiful existing condition of laiv and order 
 had its origin only in light, and every pro- 
 gressive revelation to man, since the world 
 began, has been but another revealed edition 
 of the same Divine character. Every new 
 and added light, each successive revelation, 
 has been manifested only through the intelli- 
 gence of man, The intelligent and educated 
 mind of Moses, was the medium through 
 which Good was pleased to reveal, to us, the 
 grandest spiritual light which, at that time, 
 the world had yet seen; a light which still 
 shines for us, and which shall continue to shed 
 its lustre upon all future generations. But 
 even this spiritual brightness was afterward 
 totally eclipsed, by the effulgence which ema- 
 nated from the subtle mind of the humble 
 Nazarene philosopher. One was simply light 
 in a dark place; the other was an universal 
 and a perfect illumination. 
 
 The brightness which attended the Son of 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 101 
 
 Good was so intense in its brilliancy that it 
 paralyzed, for a time, the spiritual vision of 
 the whole world. Men did not understand it, 
 and many of our spiritual visions are paralyzed 
 even unto this day; but the eye of intelligence 
 has gradually accustomed itself to the light, 
 for eighteen hundred years, until now our 
 spiritual optics are growing stronger, and 
 many of us can begin to see not only the 
 beauties of this natural world, but are also 
 beginning to catch glimpses of that more 
 spiritual and beautiful world, which both 
 now is, and which is to come. 
 
 "Jerusalem, the Golden, I languish for one gleam 
 Of all thy glory folden, in distance and in dream. 
 My thoughts, like palms in exile, climb up to watch and pray, 
 For a glimpse of that dear country, which lies so far away." 
 
 Once upon a time, when a great naturalist 
 was about to impart instruction to a class in 
 in geology, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he 
 said instinctively, ''Young gentlemen, before 
 commencing to study the nature of these 
 rocks, let us pray to God, who made the 
 rocks, for wisdom to guide us in our inves- 
 tigations.'' It seems to be the nature of man, 
 when left to himself, to take an improper, 
 imperfect, and superficial view of things, and, 
 being conscious of his own ignorance, he 
 instinctively looks up, for a higher and better 
 
102 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 knowledge, both of his own nature and of the 
 things about him. 
 
 We are, as certain of the poets have said, 
 intellectually and morally speaking, children 
 crying in the night, and with no language but 
 to cry. It is true, that the mind has the 
 power of originating ideas; but it is also true, 
 that it lacks power of endurance and concen- 
 tration. None of us can look for two hours, 
 steadfastly and earnestly, at the point of a 
 cambric needle, and for this reason there are 
 many beautiful truths, both in human and 
 Divine philosophy, which we will never be 
 enabled to fully grasp and realize. 
 
 There are some men endowed with broader 
 intellect, keener powers of perception, greater 
 powers of concentration, and more will-purpose 
 than ourselves. These men are already 
 claiming the discovery of new truth concern- 
 ing the problems of life, and human happiness. 
 Shall we not hear them patiently? Or shall 
 we disbelieve them, simply because their 
 theories come in contact with our own, or, 
 perhaps, because their philosophy is too pro- 
 found for our immediate comprehension? 
 
LECTURE XVI, 
 
 CONFLICT OF THE SILENT FORCES. 
 
 It is always a good time to join the proces- 
 sion while the band is playing and there are 
 always some intellectual fellows ready to give 
 us free concerts in the intellectual atmosphere. 
 It is well enough to hold fast to that which is 
 good, but it is first necessary to -prove all 
 things. But how can this be done without 
 discussion and agitation? The world has 
 been under marching orders for over six thou- 
 sand years, and these orders apply to the 
 human intellect, as well as to the planetary 
 system. Men, as well as the planets, are not 
 only continually moving about a common 
 center, but are also moving onward and 
 upward, into illimitable space. The flight of 
 the eagle, sailing ships at sea, and the fleecy 
 clouds, which float forever beyond the range 
 of human vision, all point us to a spiritual 
 world, and teach us that there is a great 
 Beyond, a refuge from the storms of life, a 
 haven of rest, a house of Good not made with 
 hands, eternal in Happiness, somewhere in 
 the sweet by and by. 
 
 Spiritual blindness is the curse of the -world, 
 and Ignorance is the father of it. Yet in all 
 this gloomy darkness we hear the still, small 
 
104 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 voice, "Knowing and doing is the sum of 
 human happiness." 
 
 Many of you have been soldiers in a material 
 warfare, and know, by experience, that the 
 only way to get reliable information is, by 
 going to headquarters. You could hear camp 
 rumors every day, but they were either down- 
 right lies, or creatures of vain imagination. 
 But when at last, one dark and gloomy night, 
 the express messenger came dashing direct 
 from headquarters, with the news that Lee had 
 surrendered, then you knew that the vjar was 
 over, that the last battle had been fought, 
 that the last enemy had surrendered, and 
 that you could now burn your old clothes, pack 
 your knapsacks, strike your tents, burn the 
 bridge behind you, bid goodby to the foe, and 
 march triumphantly home to your own coun- 
 try. 
 
 The analogy holds good in the spirit world. 
 When the heart is cast down and sore dis- 
 tressed, we look up for the light, and immedi- 
 ately there comes the still, small voice, saying — 
 
 "Child of the dust, from torpid ruin rise, 
 Be earth's delusions from thy bosom hurled, 
 
 And try to measure, with enlightened eyes, 
 The dread importance of the eternal world." 
 
 There is no sound of revelry, no clash of 
 resounding arms. The soul, or the life, mind 
 and affection, which is all the same, fights her 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 105 
 
 battles in silence. Yet it is a fearful struggle, 
 a fight for life, and the survival of the fittest. 
 There is no visible scarred battlefield, but the 
 engagement is general all along the line. The 
 conflict is here, there, and everywhere, where- 
 ever the human heart beats, or the human 
 brain pulsates, there is the bloodless battle- 
 field, there is the red-handed war, and either 
 death is holding high carnival over some de- 
 parting soul, or life is rejoicing with joy 
 unspeakable and full of glory. 
 
 With some the old hydra-headed monster, 
 Vice, has grown to be a chestnut. But we 
 love to roast him, all the same, and whenever 
 we see him show his colors, like the troopers 
 at Waterloo, there is mounting in hot haste, 
 and speeding to the battlefield. 
 
 THE LAST ROUND-UP. 
 
 But lest you should grow tired of this kind 
 of moralizing, and imperatively demand that 
 we should give you a rest, if the band will now 
 favor us with a tune, we will trot out the 
 promised spiritual cow boys. They are no 
 longer simply conditions of our well-being, but 
 real personalities, and each is a personage as 
 real as if he were actually mounted on a 
 broncho. But no bronchos for them! They 
 
106 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 are mounted upon spiritual steeds, 'and are 
 directed by the true Father of the spiritual 
 world, who in turn is mounted upon the beau- 
 tiful white steed, Divine Wisdom. Their 
 names are Life, Wisdom, Love, Truth, Jus- 
 tice, Mercy, and Light. See them as they 
 come trooping in. They are dandies, and all 
 are safely clad in shining coats of mail, so that 
 nothing on earth shall dare to hurt, molest, or 
 make them afraid. They are about to make 
 a grand round-up on all the vast ranges of 
 humanity. Human nature shall be gathered 
 into one vast corral, and there it shall all be 
 branded; there shall be no spiritual mavericks. 
 Some shall bear in their faces the stamp of 
 the Divine image, but others shall be branded 
 evermore with the curse of Cain. 
 
 Good shall be there to claim those who are 
 his. He shall march them out by battalions, 
 regiments, brigades, divisions, and army corps, 
 placing over them the Captain of their Salva- 
 tion; and He shall lead them up to the top of 
 an exceeding high mountain, even to the top 
 of the mountain of the Lord's house, where 
 they shall lie down 'mid green pastures, and 
 sleep forever sweetly beside the still waters. 
 
 Evil shall also be there to claim those who 
 are his. He shall take them out and lead 
 them down, into a dark and dismal valley. 
 There they shall die, and there they shall be 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 107 
 
 buried, and over them shall be erected one 
 grand, gloomy, and peculiar monument. It 
 shall be the perpetual monument of God's 
 eternal wrath, and on that monument shall 
 be written, in bold, bright letters, which the 
 whole world may read, "Here lies buried a 
 race of human fools!" 
 
 There shall be a few special epitaphs. Over 
 the grave of one shall be written, "Here lies 
 a miser, who died of avarice; gorging him- 
 self so thoroughly upon his ill-gotten gains, 
 and refusing to take an emetic, he died before 
 the doctor could possibly get there. There 
 was found no balm in Gilead which could heal 
 him.'' 
 
 Here we pause at the grave of a pompous 
 egotist. Poor fellow, how we pity him! He 
 became so purled up with self-conceit, that he 
 suddenly died of spontaneous combustion. 
 The hypocrite is not considered worthy of an 
 epitaph, for no man desires to remember him, 
 and none so vile as to do him reverence. 
 
 But here lies the vile carcass of a worthless 
 libertine, who died of lust, which took posses- 
 sion of his soul, like a consuming fire, destroy- 
 ing alike his hope of Heaven and Happiness. 
 He died as the fool dieth, and his works do 
 follow him. 
 
 Here in this humble grave we find the se- 
 quel to the foregoing story; for we now come 
 
108 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 to the grave of a poor, despised Magdalene, 
 
 who, when the tempter came, had no strength 
 
 of purpose to resist his will, and when she 
 
 fell she fell like Lucifer, never to hope again. 
 
 "One more unfortunate, 
 
 Rashly importunate, gone to her death. 
 
 Lift her up tenderly, 
 
 Fashioned so slenderly, young and so fair." 
 
 "Tread softly, bow the head, in reverence silence bow; 
 
 No passing bell doth toll, yet an immortal soul is passing 
 
 now, 
 
 ******** 
 
 There's a grim, one-horse hearse — with a jolly round trot; 
 
 To the church-yard a pauper is going. 
 
 The road is rough and the hearse has no springs; 
 
 Hark to the dirge, which the sad driver sings. 
 
 Rattle her bones over the stones; 
 
 She's only a pauper, who nobody owns." 
 
LECTURE XVII. 
 
 THROUGH THE GOLDEN GATES. 
 
 We now give you, in short form, the new 
 version of the old story of Eloi: 
 
 A great many years ago, a Child was born 
 in the old dilapidated town of Ignorance. 
 Being a very good boy, he very much desired 
 to go to a Better Country. .Away out on the 
 Journey of Life, at a place called Knowledge, 
 Wisdom had established a toll-gate, and when 
 our Brother had gotten that far on his journey, 
 being tired, and stopping to pay his toll, he 
 sat down by the wayside to rest and refresh 
 himself a little. Looking up over the toll- 
 gate door, he saw a sign, which read, "Keep 
 to the Right, and still pursue thy journey, for 
 the Beautiful City lies just beyond." We are 
 glad to know that our Elder Brother — for it 
 was he — kept these injunctions to the very 
 letter, and that now he is safely housed at 
 home in Heaven and in Happiness. And re- 
 joicing as we do, that our Brother has reached 
 his destination at last, we break forth into 
 singing that grand old song — 
 
 "Hold the Fort, for we are coming." 
 
 Our Brother, whose name is now Divine 
 Wisdom, and who has been so long lying 
 daily at the gates waiting to be gracious, 
 
no FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 catches the glad refrain, and stands boldly up 
 before us. We see him as he is. He is the 
 Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning 
 Star, the fairest among ten thousand, and the 
 one altogether lovely. We approach him 
 gladly, singing. He smiles sweetly upon us, 
 and beckons us to come nearer. He now halts 
 us, and gently demands the countersign. We 
 approach and gladly give it. It is, "Holiness 
 to Ike Lord '." The spell is now broken; for 
 the Beautiful Gates, which have so long stood 
 ajar, are now thrown wide open, and we 
 march triumphantly through, and take peace- 
 able possession of the Everlasting City. 
 
 "Now our hearts are filled with tenderness and tears, 
 And tears are in our eyes, we know not whj. 
 With all our happiness, content to live for years, 
 Or even this hour to die. 
 
 We hold the keys of Heaven within our hands, 
 
 The gift and heirloom of a former state; 
 
 And up and down the skies, with winged sandals shod, 
 
 The angels come and go, the messengers of God." 
 
 A THREE-CORNERED FIGHT. 
 
 In all ages, philosophers have bobbed up 
 serenely, and given us their theories of life 
 and happiness. But no theory ever advanced 
 seems so well adapted to meet the necessities 
 of the case, as that advanced by the Nazarine. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. in 
 
 It not only seems to have great staying quali- 
 ties, but is like a tree planted by the river of 
 waters. It is spreading out, until its branches 
 are beginning to cover the whole earth, so that 
 ultimately all nations may sit down under its 
 shadow with great delight, and its fruit shall 
 become sweet to their taste. 
 
 The age of Ignorance is dead, or fast dying 
 out. She lies, or shall soon lie, a lifeless 
 corpse at the feet of Knowledge. Knowledge 
 shall wear the sceptre for a time, and her 
 reign shall be glorious; but she, too, shall lie 
 down and die, at the feet of Wisdom. Between 
 Ignorance, Knowledge, and Wisdom, it is a 
 three-cornered fight for life, and the survival 
 of the fittest. Christ and his doctrine are our 
 wisdom, and both he and it shall live forever. 
 
 "King of glory, reign forever; 
 
 Thine an everlasting crown. 
 Nothing from thy love shall sever 
 
 Those whom Thou hast made Thine own." 
 
 All that is necessary, as a permanent basis 
 of church union is a perfect interpretation of 
 Christ. Who shall give us this interpretation 
 but the Holy Ghost? And who or what is 
 the Holy Ghost but Love? The interpreta- 
 tion must be reasonable, and it must conform 
 to the simple words of Good. Such an inter- 
 pretation as this, such a system of religion as 
 this begets, must commend itself to every man 
 
ii2 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 and woman, who has sense enough to 
 appreciate that life is worth living. 
 
 If we were called upon to diagram the situ- 
 ation, we would outline a hemisphere with a 
 horizontal line through the center of it, then 
 write "Fool" below the line, and "Wise Man" 
 above it. We would then have presented the 
 Divine problem. How shall we eliminate 
 foolishness from the foolish man below the 
 line, convert him into a wise man, and 
 elevate him into a position above the line? 
 We would have to give it up, and that is 
 exactly what human nature has already done. 
 But the difficult question was solved by 
 Divine Wisdom, before the earth had yet 
 been made a suitable place for the habitation 
 of man, and now we are justly called upon to 
 consider the proper solution of the problem. 
 
 The old story of the long, wide, and deep 
 river, separating a dumb long-eared animal 
 from a juicy hay-stack, is very pertinent; for 
 when some philanthropic person had been 
 good enough to erect a strong bridge, over 
 which the starving animal might pass to green 
 pastures, and the obstinate animal preferred 
 to remain away rather than eat and live, 
 tradition says it served him right, and that 
 his unhappy fate was a just one. 
 
 Knowledge is good, but wisdom is better. 
 With men, as well as mules, knowledge is 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 113 
 
 often deficient, while obstinacy is a superfluity, 
 and wisdom a minus quantity. The mule is 
 all backbone and no brains, and some men 
 are built the same way. The spinal cord is 
 all right, but the major part of the medulla 
 is at the wrong end. Hence we have a race 
 of chronic kickers. 
 
 Knowledge is a grand old tree, but Wisdom 
 is a sublime conception. Wisdom is the true 
 champion. He is a better man than Knowl- 
 edge, and can knock him out every time. 
 In the fight for life, Ignorance is a fool. 
 
 "Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts, 
 Given to redeem the human mind, from error, 
 Then there were no need of arsenals and forts. 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 SEARCHING FOR GOD. 
 
 As the organization and equipment of an 
 army must always precede the combat or 
 opposing forces, so there are always conditions 
 precedent, upon which every fact or theory 
 depends. Our religion is both a theory and a 
 fact — a fact that such a thing as human hap- 
 piness actually exists, and a theory which 
 establishes, promotes, and perpetuates its 
 existence, beyond a possibility of a reasonable 
 doubt. 
 
1 1 4 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 The existence of intelligent man begets the 
 necessity of a Christian religion. Were there 
 no intelligent man, no Christian religion would 
 be necessary. But you would go farther, and 
 have us seek for the cause or causes, upon 
 which the existence of man himself depends. 
 In doing this you seek to establish a God of 
 mystery, which is, to some extent, a God of 
 foolishness. Whether God creates man, or 
 man creates his own God is a vexed question. 
 We suspect that the truth lies just half-way 
 between. 
 
 The preliminary skirmish always preceds 
 the true battle, which awards the victory to 
 one, and only one, of the contesting and 
 opposing forces. Truth and Error have inces- 
 santly chased each other over bloody battle- 
 fields for centuries, and victory is now about 
 to come home to roost. 
 
 "On life's unyeilding battlefield, 
 
 Two marshaled hosts are seen. 
 The j shout and whoop on either side, 
 
 While death flows black between. 
 
 One marches to the drum-beat's roll, 
 
 The wide-mouth clarion's bray, 
 And bears upon a crimson scroll — 
 
 'Out glory is to slay!' 
 
 One moves in silence by the stream, 
 
 With sad, yet watchful eyes, 
 Calm as the patient planet's gleam, 
 
 That walks the cloudless skies. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 115 
 
 Along its front no sabres shine, 
 
 No blood-red pennants wave; 
 Its banner bears the single line — 
 
 'Out duty is to save!' 
 
 While valor's haughty champions wait. 
 
 Till all their scars are shown, 
 Love walks, unchallenged, through the gate, 
 
 To sit beside the throne." 
 
 Error grows and multiplies by the very 
 fungus which it feeds upon. It is not denied 
 that the present age has the foundation stone 
 of the spiritual edifice. But it is confidently 
 claimed that it has neither intelligently nor 
 successfully builded thereon. With the two 
 extremes of orthodoxy and infidelity, we have 
 little or nothing to do, except in so far as 
 truth shall justly censure the one or sharply 
 reprimand the other. They are both chil- 
 dren of a benighted and antiquated father, and 
 so far from gathering with the Master, are 
 actually scattering abroad. 
 
 There must, indeed, be a God, for to this, 
 orthodoxy, Ingersollism, and the higher criti- 
 cism have all agreed. One says, a God of 
 mystery, which is but a God of foolishness. 
 Another says, solely a God of imagination, a 
 creature of man. But the higher criticism, 
 the more perfect knowledge, says there is a 
 God both of Reason and Revelation, and 
 that He alone is King of kings and Lord of 
 lords. Whether God creates man or man 
 
n6 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 creates his own God, the important point is 
 conceded that God does actually exist. 
 
 Since the existence of God is conceded, it 
 becomes necessary to inquire as to what kind 
 of a being He is. Here is where all the 
 trouble begins. The Lord still looks down 
 from Heaven, to see if there are any who seek 
 to know and understand His Divine character. 
 But they, like sheep, have all gone astray, 
 and are not looking in the -profer direction. 
 Ignorance is the curse of the world. Know- 
 ledge is the Divine hey, which unlocks the 
 storehouse, and sets the heavenly gates ajar, 
 while Wisdom is the lamp which guides the 
 heavely way. 
 
 In the race for happiness there is a great 
 deal of horse-play. We spend too much 
 time in scoring, and have to be reminded by 
 the judge, that we must quit fooling and bring 
 up that horse. We once heard a great 
 preacher give a lecture on the "Good Old 
 Songs.'' He scored for three-quarters of an 
 hour before getting off, and finally came to 
 the scratch, a winner by a neck; actual time 
 consumed in the lecture, only twelve minutes 
 by the watch. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing for a man, who 
 does not understand his subject, to try to 
 cover it up with a multitude of words. Many 
 big preachers scratch their empty head all the 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 117 
 
 week in despair, searching for a few thoughts 
 to ventilate before their fashionable congre- 
 gations on Sunday, and in their helpless 
 inability to catch the spiritual meaning of the 
 text, go painfully foundering around in the 
 Gospel tub, to the disgust of sensible lay- 
 men. 
 
 THE OLD AND THE NEW. 
 
 No man hath seen God at any time, and 
 why? Not because there is no god, neither 
 because He is not a personal being, but 
 becausejHis personality is a spiritual person- 
 ality. But you ask, What is a spiritual 
 personality? And in the answer to this, we 
 find the real nature of the true Divinity. 
 
 Let us first inquire, What is a spirit? 
 Have our pastors told us before? If not, 
 then why not ? A spirit is a vital or living 
 -princi-ple, with which we have to do — nothing 
 less, nothing more. With respect to their 
 quality, they are either good or evil, and they 
 conduce either to our happiness or misery. 
 Let Christain Science protest if she will. We 
 are after the truth, and she is young yet, and 
 can afford to wait. Aside from vitality, there 
 is no mystery. Life is the only mystery of 
 
nS FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 godliness. All other so called mysterious 
 spirits are a fraud, a delusion, and a snare. 
 
 The so-called mystery of godliness has been 
 a perpetual stumbling-block to the world ever 
 since its promulgation. It is to be regretted 
 that Paul ever used such language. If men 
 would ponder upon the exclusive words of 
 Christ mo7'e, and -predicate less upon the 
 language of the apostles, Christianity would 
 soon take on a new impetus, and be suscepti- 
 ble of a more spiritual interpretation. The 
 religion of Moses was largely a religion of 
 superstition. This was due to the prevalence 
 of ignorance in his day. Because of his own 
 personal superiority in intelligence and edu- 
 cation, however, he sought out the why and 
 wherefore of things, and being a philanthropist, 
 he desired to promote and perpetuate the 
 happiness of his fellows, sending them, by a 
 gradual process, to a comparative realization 
 of perfect happiness. Moses was not only a 
 type of Christ, but to some extent, both a 
 material and a spiritual Christ, to his breth- 
 ren. 
 
 You ask, Would you have a new Christ 
 today? We say, No, not necessarily. But we 
 must have a better understanding of the old. 
 Otherwise our present religious creeds are 
 doomed to fall to pieces, of their very incon- 
 sistency. Every good man is a Christ, but 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 119 
 
 not the Christ. You ask, Would you tear 
 down the ancient and venerable structure of 
 our fathers, and obliterate the landmarks 
 which in the past have guided us to such 
 exalted heights of national happiness and 
 prosperity? This is a question which sounds 
 well, but where is the boasted happiness and 
 prosperity of the masses, compared with what 
 it should be, under the beneficent order of 
 things, as contemplated by the true Christ? 
 We would tear down nothing which may not 
 be reconstructed with better material. Not 
 that the old is worthless, but that the new is 
 infinitely better. 
 
 Granted it is easier to tear the old fabric 
 down than to rebuild; but this is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The 
 Lord hath, indeed builded his house. But, 
 like the temple of old, it must needs be torn 
 down and reconstructed, giving place to a 
 more spiritual edifice; and in this is the truth 
 manifest, that He maketh even the wrath of 
 man to praise Him. 
 
 In this world, we recognize that principles 
 only are essential and vital; that, as compared 
 with men, they are everything, and men are 
 nothing. If we contend, it is for principle; if 
 we fight, we fight for principle. The natural 
 man is of the earth and devoid of principle. 
 The moral man, the spiritual man, is the 
 
i2o FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Lord from Heaven, and those who are like- 
 minded partake of His Divine character, be- 
 coming both kings of men and priests unto 
 God in the Spirit world. 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 REACHING A CLIMAX. 
 
 God is not a terrible being, seeking an op- 
 portunity to destroy His adversaries; they are 
 simply seeking to destroy themselves, and He 
 has no physical nor moral power to prevent it, 
 without his adversaries should will it other- 
 wise. He is not a long-horned hoo-doo mon- 
 ster, lurking about the sanctuary, waiting to 
 seize upon the sinner, neither does He permit 
 the Devil to assume any such disguise for the 
 purpose of destruction. The religion which 
 appeals to men's fears is a false religion. 
 Such were the religions of Moses and Sol- 
 omon. While it is true that sin is hideous, 
 death is odious, Heaven is happiness, and 
 Hell is misery, it is also true that Good is the 
 God of Love. While it is true that God is a 
 personal being, it is also true that He is a 
 spiritual personality. Hence it is foolish for 
 men to conceive of a personal Man-God as it 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 121 
 
 was for the venerable Dan Tucker to climb a 
 tree, expecting to get a view of Him. 
 
 God is not only a great spirit of living prin- 
 ciple, but he is the great spirit of living prin- 
 ciples. A living principle is a law. A law is 
 a rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme 
 power, commanding what is right, and pro- 
 hibiting what is wrong. But God's laws are 
 laws of equity, and are for the correction of that 
 wherein human laws by means of their uni- 
 versal ignorance of the laws of human happi- 
 ness are deficient. Human laws are the laws of 
 sense, and are at enmity with the laws of God. 
 The laws of sense are death, ignorance, hate, 
 falsehood, injustice, cruelty, and darkness, 
 and, under the dominion of these laws, we are 
 all our lives subject to bondage, except we~be 
 made free from the laws of sin and death, by 
 the wonderful laws of life, which are found 
 only in Christ our Lord. The laws of life 
 are health, wisdom, love, truth, justice, 
 mercy, and light. If we are subjects of these 
 laws, we are neither barren nor unfruitful, 
 but evergreens in the great garden of Uni- 
 versal Good, things of beauty, and a joy for- 
 ever. 
 
 As the greater always includes the less, so 
 God — who is the personification of goodness — 
 is a concrete being, composed of all the essen- 
 tial elements of goodness. Good is an abstract 
 
122 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 quality, while God is a positive quantity. 
 The doctrine of the Trinity is well founded. 
 There is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But 
 they have never been sufficiently defined. 
 This brings us to a climax. What is the 
 Father? What is the Son? And what is 
 the Holy Spirit? 
 
 Life is the Father, Wisdom is the Son, and 
 Love is the Holy Spirit. These three prin- 
 ciples were the constituent elements of the 
 Jewish God, but as yet Wisdom had not been 
 made fully manifest. Hence the Jews were 
 compelled to walk by faith, believing in a 
 future and fuller manifestation of Wisdom and 
 Love. 
 
 No person of observation will controvert 
 the fact that God has given to the world a 
 series of progressive revelations. The first 
 was the revelation of Life, and this was mani- 
 fested by creation. But in the first revelation 
 Wisdom and Love were only dimly foreshad- 
 owed. In the second revelation, which cul- 
 minated in the Mosaic law, Wisdom was more 
 fully demonstrated. But under the law of 
 sacrifice, Love was not so fully apparent. 
 Under the fuller and more complete revelation 
 of Christ, Love not only became manifest, but 
 those other attributes of Divinity — Truth, 
 Justice, and Mercy — were brought into full 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 123 
 
 view, whereby mankind were made to rejoice, 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
 
 But it remains for this generation to catch 
 more perfect visions of the Divine nature, by 
 means of the spiritual light which is being 
 manifested through a higher education, a 
 higher civilization, and a more critical knowl- 
 edge of things in general. The end of faith 
 is obedience to law, and the end of obedience 
 is the favor of God. The antediluvian God 
 was simply the God of Life. The Jewish 
 God was the God of Life, with Wisdom and 
 Love dimly foreshadowed. The Christian 
 God is a fuller fruition of Life, Wisdom, and 
 Love, with Truth, Justice, and Mercy fore- 
 shadowed. But the true Light, which is a 
 perfect spiritual comprehension of the Scrip- 
 tures, we have largely yet to obtain. Truly, 
 the light shineth in the dark -places of the 
 human intellect; but as yet the darkness does 
 not fully comprehe?id, 
 
 Are we about to receive a new revelation, a 
 fuller dispensation? Yes. Why not? Truth, 
 Justice, and Mercy, which is the true Christ, 
 and which we have so long beheld at a dis- 
 tance, is graciously drawing nearer, and with 
 the aid of the Divine Light which Wisdom is 
 shedding upon us, we may soon see the Son 
 of God again appearing to the world in all His 
 glory. What the world needs is, sense 
 
i2 4 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 enough to know the Lord, and hospitality 
 enough to receive Him. Our code of ethics 
 must be simplified. This, for the love of 
 Good, and the common blessing of humanity, 
 we propose to do. 
 
 CONCEPTIONS OF DIVINITY. 
 
 You who have never seen the Almighty 
 God, and who have been taught to believe 
 that He is a terrible being, draw near with 
 thankful hearts, and gaze with delight upon 
 His Divine Majesty. "I've a message from 
 the Lord, hallelujah! It is only that you look 
 and live.'' 
 
 But we approach with reverence and hu- 
 mility, and though we may not take off our 
 shoes, as Moses did, we should tread softly, 
 for we are treading upon holy ground. We 
 are now coming to the burning bush. It is 
 the tree of Wisdom, and, like the ancient 
 Jewish candlestick, it is perpetually burning 
 before the Lord, with a flame of celestial light 
 and glory. We who have become kings and 
 priests to Good, may now enter into the most 
 holy place, and offer up sweet incense. 
 
 The seven flames on the candlestick in the 
 earthly tabernacle, were typical of the seven 
 spirits of God. For there are seven spirits of 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS 125 
 
 Good and seven spirits of Evil. Life, Wis- 
 dom, Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Light 
 are the spirits of God. Death, Ignorance, 
 Hate, Falsehood, Injustice, Cruelty, and 
 Darkness are the spirits of the Devil. God is 
 wholly good, and the Devil is wholly evil, but 
 man is the connecting link. He is both good 
 and evil; he is both God and Devil. The 
 office of Christianity is to eliminate the evil 
 from man's disposition, and leave only the 
 good. But how shall this be done, and whose 
 work is it? This is a truthful saying, and 
 worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came 
 to save sinners. But how does He save them? 
 Not by His death, but by His life and ex- 
 ample. Every man is the architect of his own 
 fortune in spiritual, as well as material matters. 
 That God helps him who helps himself, is a 
 truism. 
 
 Christianity gives us a reasonable theory 
 of the origin, nature, and destiny of man, and 
 prompts us to ask ourselves, What are we 
 here for, and is life worth living? When men 
 begin to realize that happiness is the normal- 
 condition of their being; that to promote it 
 and perpetuate it is their principal business; 
 that unhappiness is abnormal '; that happiness 
 is Heaven; that unhappiness is Hell; that 
 they make their own Heaven or Hell; that 
 eternity is the duration of the life they live; 
 
i26 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 that happiness is eternal and shall live for- 
 ever; that unhappiness is ephemeral, shall die 
 the death, and lose its identity — then men 
 will begin to realize something of their own 
 importance; begin to open their eyes; be 
 willing to catch glimpses of Beauty and the 
 Beast, and have but little difficulty in admir- 
 ing the one and hating the other. 
 
 Our God is held too much in mystery. The 
 personification of goodness as represented by 
 Life, Wisdom, Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, 
 and Light, is the greatest God which we have 
 ever known, or shall ever know. If you have 
 a greater or better God, a God that is more 
 exalted, I pray you show Him to me, that I 
 may fall down and worship Him, as I now 
 worship Good. If, upon the other hand, you 
 have a meaner Devil than the personification 
 of Death, Ignorance, Hate, Falsehood, Injus- 
 tice, Cruelty, and Darkness, let me get but a 
 view of him, and I shall abhor him, as I now 
 abhor evil. 
 
LECTURE XX. 
 
 DRIVING OUT THE MONEY-CHANGERS. 
 
 Under false notion of a mysterious Divinity, 
 or an unknown God, the world has been 
 driven into infidelity, and the family, society, 
 church, and state are all resting upon a false 
 basis. Authority in the household has been 
 set at defiance; the family head has too often 
 become a hydra-headed monster; wives are 
 either eloping with other husbands, violating 
 marriage vows, or seeking a separation in the 
 divorce courts; husbands are often without 
 natural affection, ignoring their wives, abus- 
 ing their children, spending their money in 
 riotous living, or seeking false consolation in 
 drunkenness and debauchery. 
 
 A spirit of unrest has taken possession of 
 the multitude. Society is fast, fussy, fastidi- 
 ous, facetious, fashionable, and foolish, while 
 everything is going either to the demnition 
 bow-wows, to the Devil generally, or to a state 
 of incestuous innocuous desuetude. The 
 church, instead of being a house of prayer, 
 has largely become a den of thieves, the 
 wealthy nabobs of aristocracy only seeking its 
 suppositional sacred precincts to hide their 
 moral nakedness. The denominational rink 
 houses are only vieing with each other, to see 
 
128 FROM THE orfADOWS, 
 
 which can get up the grandest social exposi- 
 tions, attract the largest crowds, collect the 
 most money, and make the most lavish ex- 
 penditures. 
 
 The so-called church organizations are great 
 financial institutions, or moneyed corpora- 
 tions, where fine houses are built, fine clothing 
 worn, and vast sums of money collected and 
 expended ostensibly for the glory of God, but 
 really to gratify the personal and social ambi- 
 tion of their own membership. On all moral 
 questions the high-salaried preachers are in 
 the hands of their constituents, and instead of 
 being free men, whom the truth has made 
 free, and dictating as they should the conduct 
 and policy of their congregations, they are 
 bound hand and foot, by the very salaries 
 which they permit themselves to receive. Did 
 Judas betray his Master for thirty pieces of 
 silver? How many "popular pastors'' to-day 
 betray the cause of Christ on the temperance 
 and other moral questions, merely to please 
 their employers? Professing themselves to 
 be wise, they become fools who change the 
 truth of God into a lie, and worship the crea- 
 ture more than the Creator. 
 
 Instead of bringing all the tithes into the 
 storehouse, and consecrating them to the Lord 
 only part of the tithing is brought in, and then 
 it is too often consecrated either to the god- 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 129 
 
 dess of society, the god of selfishness, or the 
 more formidable god of party politics. What 
 are our weekly ministers' meetings in the 
 large cities, but the convocation of self-styled 
 spiritual doctors, whose chief business it is to 
 feel the political party pulse, and prescribe 
 for its weakness as the political bosses may 
 dictate? "A man's a man for a' that," but a 
 man's man as a minister of the Gospel is the 
 most insignificant creature on the face of 
 God's footstool. Every moral issue is speed- 
 ily sidetracked in these quasi-religio political 
 star-chamber proceedings, known as ministers' 
 meetings, and the cue is always furnished 
 either by the rich citizen taxpayer, or the 
 hustling political bosses. 
 
 The haughty spirit of denominationalism, 
 robbing God of his revenue by insufficient or 
 misafrporfriation of His legitimate tithing, 
 is not doing the works of charity demanded. 
 Hence good men, both in and out of the 
 churches, have sought to alleviate human dis- 
 tress, and human suffering, by the organization 
 of fraternal societies. 
 
 Thus it is seen that the church, by her 
 unfaithfulness, is being daily shorn of her 
 strength, just in proportion as she has lost the 
 knowledge of the true God. When will she 
 bring all the tithes into the storehouse and 
 prove him, that she may resume her legitimate 
 
130 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 work, receiving to herself all the praise, and 
 giving to God all the glory? 
 
 EVOLUTION THE DIVINE LAW. 
 
 The mountain of Lord's house is not only 
 to be, but is already established in the top of 
 the mountains, and even now some people of 
 all nations are beginning to flow unto it. The 
 night of ignorant, immoral darkness is far spent ; 
 the day is at hand! Human knowledge has 
 increased, until it is no longer satisfied with an 
 imperfect, chaotic condition of affairs. Society 
 must now be reformed on the true basis of a 
 perfect Christian religion, or the spiritual light 
 which has been so graciously given will soon 
 be taken away. God's continued providences 
 to us are but new revelations from day to day, 
 and these revelations shall never cease so long 
 as the earth remains. But we as a nation, by 
 remissness of duty, may soon cease to be the 
 medium of His Divine communication. The 
 God-Man, after weeping over us, as He did 
 over Jerusalem, may give us over to hardness 
 of heart and reprobacy of mind, looking else- 
 where to the founding of a nation which shall 
 exalt itself and glorify Sim, by a faithful 
 obedience to all his commands. 
 
 The Divine law of evolution is written on 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 131 
 
 every page of sacred and profane history. 
 Both God and nature are constantly tearing 
 down the old, and building up the new, and 
 this fateful history shall continue to repeat 
 itself, until a grand spiritual government shall 
 be found, wherein dwelleth Righteousness. 
 This government is in the transitory state. 
 Shall she become a living butterfly among the 
 nations of the earth, mounting up on wings as 
 eagles, or shall she be found a dead moth, 
 buried in the dust of her own forgetfulness? 
 Shall we inaugurate the reign of the New 
 Jerusalem, Heaven on earth, or shall we be 
 swallowed up with the blackened darkness of 
 an ancient Pompeii? 
 
 LECTURE XXL 
 
 A MOUNTAIN AND A VOLAPUK. 
 
 The same trumpet which spoke to John on 
 the Isle of Patmos; the still, small voice which 
 spoke to Elijah; the sure voice of prophecy 
 which spoke to Isaiah, is still speaking to us, 
 saying, The mountain of the Lord's house shall 
 be established in the top of the mountains. It 
 speaks to us by Knowledge, giving us a more 
 perfect revelation, and a more spiritual inter- 
 
1 32 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 pretation. By a superior knowledge we have 
 a revelation revealed, which tells us the 
 mountain of the Lord's house is already being 
 established in the high places of the human 
 understanding. 
 
 To the educated, intelligent mind, the 
 mountain of the Lord's house is no longer a 
 foolish fiction, but has indeed become a beau- 
 tiful and sublime reality. Its base reaches out 
 unto the ends of the earth, and its grand a-peoc 
 is as lofty as the blue-vaulted dome of Heaven. 
 It is a beautiful pyramid, supported on one 
 side by God, whose attributes are Life, Wis- 
 dom, and Love, and upon the other side it is 
 supported by the Son of God, whose attributes 
 are Truth, Justice, and Mercy, while from its 
 lofty summit is constantly emitted a holy 
 flame of celestial fire, giving Life, and Light, 
 and Liberty to the whole world. 
 
 God's Divine government is, indeed, a burn- 
 ing mountain, and whosoever shall draw near 
 by faith, and but touch its holy fire, shall be 
 cleansed from all unrighteousness. He shall 
 become a child of the King, and dwell for- 
 ever in the King* s holy -palace. 
 
 We believe that Ignorance is the tower of 
 confusion-, that its language is the confusion of 
 tongues', that Knowledge sanctified by Wisdom 
 is the language of Love, and this language 
 shall become universal. 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 133 
 
 There shall, indeed be a volapuk; but it 
 shall be the language of Love. It shall be a 
 spiritual being, and like unto the fairest Son 
 of God. In the survival of the fittest, all 
 human imperfections shall be taken away. 
 We shall eventually receive free power of 
 thought and volition, free power of knowl- 
 edge, free power of action, free power of 
 locomotion, and free power of love. We shall 
 then become perfect spiritual beings. Old 
 things shall pass away, and all things become 
 new; for Christ, who is our wisdom, shall 
 reign, until He has put all enemies under 
 His feet. The last enemy which shall be 
 destroyed is Death, and this shall put an end 
 to the dynasty of the Devil; for Death is the 
 last legitimate heir-apparent to the diabolical 
 throne of Human Ignorance. 
 
 DEVELOPING A SPIRITUAL WORLD. 
 
 According to Gospel history and Bible 
 chronology, it took four thousand and four 
 years to develop one perfect Son of God. 
 This was a slow process, but it empha- 
 sizes the fact that the mills of Good grind 
 slowly, but exceedingly sure. The whole 
 scope of Bible teaching has for its object the 
 ultimate development of a perfect spiritual 
 
i 3 4 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 world, from which evil shall be wholly elimi- 
 nated, and all its subjects become perfect 
 spiritual beings. Man is not to become per- 
 fect at one bound, but by a series of revela- 
 tions, and a gradual process of evolutions and 
 developments. 
 
 From the creation of the world, mankind 
 has steadfastly looked forward to the coming 
 of a higher knowledge than that which he 
 originally possessed, and which higher knowl- 
 edge should be to him a true Christ. He 
 came, He saw, He conquered. His human 
 appetites and passions were subdued. But 
 the price of this conquest was the suspension 
 of life in His physical body. The power of 
 sin being wholly eliminated from the body of 
 Christ by virtue of the law of life which gov- 
 erned His being and actions, it was impossi- 
 ble that the law of death should claim domin- 
 ion over Him longer than He actually willed 
 it to do so, for the common good of a fallen 
 humanity. Three days he chose to remain 
 under death's dominion, thereby appeasing 
 the law of sin and death, which had hitherto 
 demanded a daily sacrifice. One day of death 
 was to be sacred to the memory of Life, the 
 Divine Father, one in memory of Himself 
 who was Wisdom, and one in memory of 
 Love, the Holy Spirit. And thus in His death 
 and resurrection was the law of sin condemned, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 135 
 
 the law of life justified, and the glory of God 
 vindicated. 
 
 But you ask, Why the necessity of physical 
 death for Christ, or for "any other man?" 
 Why do we not live on, and on, and never 
 grow old, nor change, nor pass away? We 
 answer, it is for our good, both that Christ 
 should suffer and that the change should also 
 come to us. Do you doubt it? Then you 
 are condemned already; for in this doubt your 
 mind is in rebellion against the law of life, 
 which is the law of Good, and which always 
 seeks the happiness of its creatures. 
 
 No man is ever in a position to be really 
 happy, who has not schooled his mind to 
 gracefully submit to death, the inevitable; 
 for he who does this, shall become as inoffen- 
 sive and innocent as the little child, who sinks 
 peacefully to sleep in its mother's arms. 
 
 The whole Christain world is now looking, 
 or pretends to be anxiously looking, for the 
 second coming of Christ. Is He not already 
 here? Did He not say, "Lo, I am with you 
 alway, even unto the end of the world?" Some 
 professed Christians, as well as most sinners, 
 are like the conventional tramp, they are always 
 looking for something, but neither very much 
 expecting nor desiring to find it. "The law 
 of the spirit of life" is the true Christ, and He 
 is ever before our eyes. Let us not only 
 
136 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 touch the hem of His garment, but shall we 
 not rather constrain Him to come in and dine 
 and sup with us? 
 
 On the supposition that history generally 
 repeats itself, some material-minded persons 
 are assuming that Christ will soon make His 
 appearance in bodily form, and they are 
 already fixing the date or dates and are look- 
 ing anxiously forward to His second coming. 
 For the benefit of those material Christians 
 who expect and can reasonably afford to wait 
 so long, we may say, that as the chronology 
 shows it to have been four thousand and four 
 years after creation until the coming of Christ, 
 we may reasonably except Him to return 
 again in the year 4004, or exactly twenty-one 
 hundred and seven years from this date. But 
 we do not advise our friends to bank too 
 heavily on this statement. It is only based 
 on the assumption that history always repeats 
 itself. 
 
 It is granted that the development of a 
 perfect spiritual world, inhabited by a race of 
 perfect spiritual beings, is a gigantic under- 
 taking, and that it necessarily requires much 
 time for its accomplishment. But those 
 material Christains who cannot afford to labor, 
 as well as to wait, may now imitate the action 
 of Peter, get their nets and go fishing; for 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 137 
 
 they may certainly expect but little or no part 
 in the heritage when the Lord shall come. 
 
 But the developing process is now going on 
 much faster than before the Christain era. 
 The leaven has been at work, and the Gospel 
 dough is being kneaded and moulded into 
 many beautiful shapes, while Love, the Holy 
 Fire sent down from Heaven, is gradually 
 baking the true Bread of Life in many joyful 
 and waiting human hearts. 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 CONVERTING THE SOUL. 
 
 Christianity is a theory, and it is a reason- 
 able one, the alpha and omega of which is 
 Life. From life to life, is the spiritual watch- 
 word. Vitality is the first great operating 
 cause, the primal force which assisted by 
 Wisdom and Love, created the first heaven, 
 the first earth, and the first man, and assisted 
 by Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Light, will 
 continue to create new forms of intelligence, 
 until mankind shall become a perfect spiritual 
 being. Nor is it unreasonable to suppose, that 
 these same operating causes may eliminate 
 materiality, and substitute spirituality, leav- 
 ing nothing of the original or primal man 
 
138 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 but his spiritual nature. As Good, or God, 
 who is the absolute personification of good- 
 ness, constitutes the Great Spirit, so man, 
 partaking of the nature of his Divine parent, 
 is also a spiritual being, and destined to be 
 possessed of all the spiritual attributes of his 
 Maker. The natural man, being imperfect, 
 must give place to the spiritual. Materiality 
 must be cast out and spirituality enthroned. 
 We shall be in His likeness and His image, 
 when we shall know Him and see Him as He 
 is, and, like Enoch of old, we shall be trans- 
 lated from the kingdom of darkness to the 
 kingdom of God's dear Son, where we shall 
 walk and talk with Good. We shall be no 
 more strangers and pilgrims in the land of 
 disobedience, but fellow-citizens with the 
 saints, and members of His own dear house- 
 hold. 
 
 This is for you. Do you say you cannot 
 break off the chains which bind you? Are 
 you tied to the relentless wheels of a political 
 Juggernaut? Are the gods of mammon or of 
 personal ambition seeking to destroy you? 
 Does the bewitching sorcery of the society 
 goddess wink and blink at you with both eyes? 
 B-ware! B a man! B anything but a hypocrite 
 and a sinner. 
 
 How much real happiness do you enjoy in 
 your present condition ? Would you have new 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 139 
 
 desires, new hopes, and new aspirations 
 kindled within your better nature? Turn 
 from the worship of false gods, break 
 down " every idol, then casting your eyes 
 upward behold the light of the stars, and 
 imagine, if you can, what secrets their con- 
 stellations withhold. Stand at the foothills 
 of the mountains in the vicinity of Pike's Peak 
 on a clear and cloudless Sabbath morning; 
 look up and beyond the clouds to Cameron's 
 Cone, and then still up and beyond the timber 
 line to the white-capped summit of the awful 
 mount; watch the mist as it gathers from its 
 summit, and floats grandly off in the direction 
 of New Mexico, and then with the spirits of 
 admiration and inspiriation utter instincitively 
 and reverently, as we have done. ''Thou 
 touchest the hills and they smoke. Great 
 and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God 
 Almighty. In Wisdom and goodness hast 
 Thou made them all!" With calm and 
 thoughtful meditation, and a heart filled with 
 sublime emotion at the grand spectacle before 
 you, turn your steps to the nearest house of 
 devotion; for the church bells are already 
 ringing, calling you to worship, and as the 
 lifeless organ peals forth its melodious sounds, 
 and the trained voices of the singers unite in 
 praising God, you may feel that you are an 
 object of His love, and that henceforth you 
 
140 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of 
 the Lord, than to dwell in the tents of wick- 
 edness. If, under all these happy influences, 
 your heart should be touched, and breathe 
 forth a silent prayer for deliverance, I am sure 
 the Lord would hear you, that He would 
 speak peace to your soul, and that He would 
 gently bid you go your way and sin no more. 
 Do you ask, What is the soul? It is the 
 spiritual man, the man of principle. It is the 
 type of goodness. It is no delusion, no myth, 
 no fiction. It is a positive quantity, an abso- 
 lute entity, a certain identity. The soul is 
 the inner man, and corresponds to the physi- 
 cal body. One is bone, flesh, and blood; the 
 other is life, wisdom, and love, or, if you 
 prefer it, vitality, intelligence, and force. 
 But to the quickened soul is added truth, jus- 
 tice, mercy, and light. It is the Spirit of 
 Truth which quickens. The Word of God is 
 truth, and it is quick and powerful, discrimi- 
 nating between itself and error. Ungodly 
 men can no longer hide their immoral naked- 
 ness behind a fig-leaf in the great garden of 
 Universal Good. In this age of Reason, Ig- 
 norance shall no longer form for them a rea- 
 sonable excuse for living a life of wickedness. 
 No man shall sit in judgment upon them. 
 Neither doth God now judge them, but in that 
 day, when Death shall call them to account, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 141 
 
 they shall sit in judgment upon themselves, 
 and Truth shall be the only arbiter. 
 
 READING THE BOOK OF LIFE. 
 
 To the doubtful and unbelieving in the 
 power of Good to triumph over Evil, there is 
 no hope of happiness. But to those who be- 
 lieve in and worship only the Good, the 
 highest happiness is attainable. Good only is 
 positive, and God is the only positive quan- 
 tity. Evil is negative; it is simply a negation, 
 and a negation is nothing. 
 
 Without that implicit faith which believes 
 in the positive and ultimate triumph of Good 
 over Evil, men can please neither God nor 
 intelligent humanity. It is better, therefore, 
 that a man should believe something, than 
 that he should be skeptical in all things. If 
 his faith be not safely anchored to the -power 
 of Good, it is a negative, a rope of sand, and in 
 the trying hour it will part asunder, and let 
 him down to the bottom of the deep sea of 
 illimitable wretchedness and despair. 
 
 Faith in one's self is necessary to faith in 
 God, and faith in God is necessary to happi- 
 ness; for without faith there can be no hope, 
 and hope is the brightest winged of all God's 
 divine messengers. We believe in Good. 
 
142 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 Shall we not also believe in God, who is the 
 personification of goodness, and who has so 
 graciously manifested Himself to us by Life, 
 Wisdom, Love, Truth, Justice, Mercy, and 
 Light? Shall we longer worship at the shrine 
 of Evil, whose daily manifestations are those 
 of Death, Ignorance, Hate, Falsehood, Injus- 
 tice, Cruelty, and Darkness? Here is the 
 grand opportunity of a life, an opportunity to 
 exercise a reasonable choice. May Wisdom 
 alone guide us in our deliberations, and may 
 we choose that good part, which shall not be 
 taken away. 
 
 In thus making a feeble attempt to lead you 
 From the Shadows to perfect happiness, we 
 are only conscious of having performed a 
 simple duty, in a very simple way. From the 
 Shadows may not, as yet, to many of our 
 hearers, be so very apparent. But we may 
 safely rely upon their acute powers of percep- 
 tion, and their quickened powers of imagina- 
 tion, to paint for themselves a weary traveler 
 in the wilderness of sin, who has lost his 
 reckoning, and who has been supplied with a 
 hatchet to cut his way out. 
 
 Every man who would go up to the top of 
 the mountain of the Lord's house, must either 
 readily find the way, or make it for himself. 
 If, in the Divine province of Eternal Good, it 
 is decreed that we shall have become an 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 143 
 
 humble instrument in furnishing some forlorn 
 and shipwrecked brother with the hatchet of 
 Divine Truth, then more than half the labor 
 is already accomplished. Blessed is the man 
 who readily finds the way; but twice blessed 
 is he who, having been long lost in the wilder- 
 ness, shall have the moral courage to take up 
 the little amateur hatchet of Divine Truth, so 
 kindly given, and boldly slash out for himself 
 a new-cut road to the Promised Land. 
 
 "Who is the champion? Who the strong? 
 Pontiff, or priest, or sceptered throng? 
 
 On these shall fall 
 As heavily the hand of Death, 
 As when it stays the shepherd's breath 
 
 Beside his stall." 
 
 "Who is the happy warrior? 
 It is the generous spirit, who, when brought 
 Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought 
 Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought; 
 Finds comfort in himself and in his cause, 
 And while the mists are gathering, draws 
 His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause- 
 This is the happy warrior. This is he 
 Who every man in arms should wish to be." 
 
 The Star of Empire has wended its way to 
 the West. The Star of the East has grown 
 dim in Bethlehem. Another great cycle is 
 about completed in the history of man. God's 
 object lessons are daily spreading out before 
 
144 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 us like the pages of an open book. Let us as 
 good children, hasten to read them, and read- 
 ing may we read carefully between the lines, 
 gladly catching all the Divine Inspiration 
 which the sacred volume so grandly and 
 nobly teaches. 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 BLOWING THE RAM's HORN. 
 
 What future revelations Good has in store 
 for us, can only be reasonably conjectured. 
 But it is but natural, as one has said, that he 
 who is about to depart for another country 
 should speculate in his mind as to what kind 
 of a country it is. It is not our province, 
 within the narrow compass of these lectures, 
 to enter largely upon the vast ocean of voyages 
 and discoveries with reference to the spirit 
 world. But we may not conceal the fact that 
 we have a strong desire to do so. The Spirit 
 of Inspiration is ever restless and active, 
 sweeping up the mountain side, singing with 
 the stars, or returning with the avalanche. 
 At some future time we hope to take up the 
 silken thread of the beautiful story of human 
 life and human happiness, unraveling it, if 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 145 
 
 possible, to the very end. But for the present 
 we must content ourselves with a few closing 
 observations, which are ever heaving up in the 
 mind, moaning like the ocean, which will not 
 be at rest. 
 
 Of the irrepressible conflict, it is ominous, 
 that the children of darkness have ever 
 deplored the existence of the moralist, and 
 that the princes of wickedness, in both high 
 and low places, hate him to-day worse than 
 the Devil hates holy water. If none were 
 found to teach the existence of God, the 
 power of Good, the beauty of holiness, and 
 the delights of happiness, then more than half 
 the world of mankind would be pleased. But 
 when the moralist speaks of the necessity of 
 law, which shall define the boundary line 
 between Liberty and License, between Good 
 and Evil, then the world is instantly up 
 in arms. 
 
 To illustrate, we give herewith the follow- 
 ing, as a sample of the sentiment which per- 
 vades immorality: 
 
 "A moralist, perchance, appears, 
 
 Led, Heaven knows how, to this poor sod ; 
 
 And he has neither eyes, nor sense, nor ears — 
 Himself his world and his own god." 
 
 The following shows the contempt in which 
 the moralist is held, and also the general indis- 
 position to listen to the voice of Reason: 
 
146 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 "Shut close the door, press down the latch; 
 
 Sleep soundly in thy intellectual crust; 
 Nor lose ten tickings of thy watch, 
 
 Near his unprofitable dust." 
 
 In other words, the sentiment is, away with 
 the moralist! 
 
 It requires no stretch of imagination to see 
 that the above language and quotation is 
 spoken with the same pompous dictation 
 which centuries ago prompted the spirit of 
 Error to exclaim, ''Away with Him! Crucify 
 Him! Crucify Him! 
 
 Truth having constrained us to make many 
 bold observations, with reference to the import- 
 ance and dignity of man, and not desiring to 
 offend anyone, we naturally seek to hedge a 
 little here on the homestretch, by saying, per- 
 haps there has been a mistake somewhere; 
 perhaps, after all, man is only an immoral, 
 unsocial, unpolitical, and unreasonable being; 
 perhaps man was not made upright; perhaps 
 Darwinism is true; perhaps agnosticism does 
 make numskulls of us all; perhaps we do not 
 know anything; and perhaps, according to the 
 grand doctrine of the transmigration of souls, 
 we may all possibly some day bob up again 
 somewhere serenely in a future world, not as 
 average citizens, not as preachers, politicians, 
 policemen, saloonkeepers, and aldermen, but 
 as beautiful specimens of extinct species of 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 147 
 
 prehistoric animals in long-forgotten ages, and 
 that we shall then all be in great demand, 
 either in the celestial dime museums, or the 
 grand zoological gardens of Folly's perpetual, 
 infinite, and infernal foolishness. 
 
 Error is the blind Ulysses, and Cyclops has 
 gouged out both his eyes. He does not know, 
 does not desire to know, nor does not care. 
 He has no proper desires, no inspiration, no 
 aspiration, no hope, no future, no happiness. 
 He is the lost mariner, whose festering bones 
 shall serve only to feed the dull protozoans at 
 the bottom of the dead sea in the vast ocean 
 
 of eternity. 
 
 FROM THE SHADOWS, 
 
 There is a Locksly Hall for all our earthly 
 loves, and sooner or later we shall be called 
 upon to leave the manor house. Though we 
 may boast of the liberty of man, woman, and 
 child, there comes a vapor from the margin of 
 the River of Death, which shall blast all our 
 earthly hopes. If any life has thus far been a 
 failure , cry not for spilled milk. Let the 
 dead past bury its dead. Lost opportunities 
 may come back to you, and he shall be 
 
148 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 accounted doubly wise who shall seize upon 
 them at their second coming. 
 
 "Rest, sword; cool, blushes. 
 
 Being fooled, by foolery thrive; 
 For yet there's time and place 
 
 For every man alive," 
 
 Bid the old sword of a carnal warfare rest 
 in its unseemly scabbard, and the carnal 
 blushes of a past and silent shame hide their 
 vile tints to appear on earth no more. 
 
 Are we ready for the great change? Have 
 we been lifted up, and are we standing on our 
 spiritual feet, gladly approaching the foothills 
 in the mountain country of that wonderful 
 land of the spiritual Judea? 
 
 "We hold it true, what e're befall, 
 We feel it when we sorrow most; 
 
 'Tis better to have loved and lost,, 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 "We love that ancient Saxon phrase, 
 
 Which calls the burial ground God's acre. 
 
 'Tis just, it consecrates the sacred spot, 
 
 And breathes a benison o're the sleeping dust." 
 
 The gentle zephyrs daily rise from the 
 source of Eternal Good, and as they pass us 
 by they softly breathe a sacred benison o'er 
 the heads and hearts of God's divinest crea- 
 tures. As they move silently on, takiag on a 
 new impetus, they blow a hurricane and roar, 
 
FROM THE SHADOWS. 149 
 
 going forever onward. They teach us of 
 Life and Death, of Happiness and Misery, of 
 Heaven, of Hell, of Immortality. 
 
 "Oh, Life! Oh, Love! 
 No more, no more delay. 
 My spirit longs to flee away 
 
 And be at rest. 
 The will of Heaven my will shall be; 
 I bow to the Divine^decree, 
 
 To God's behest." 
 
 "Now comes the vapor from the margin, 
 
 Blackening overheath and holt. 
 Crowding all the blast before it, 
 
 In its breast a thunderbolt. 
 
 It shall fall — on mortals all. 
 
 As rain, or hail, or fire, or snow; 
 For the mighty winds are sweeping onward, 
 
 And we go, we too must go." 
 
 But shall the good return again, and shall 
 they once again with consecrated feet stand 
 upon the top of God's holy mountain, where 
 with one glance of the single eye of Divine 
 Wisdom they shall be able to comprehend all 
 the hitherto hidden mysteries of God's spirit- 
 ual universe? 
 
 The question is doubly answered: 
 
 "The redeemed of the Lord shall return and 
 
150 FROM THE SHADOWS. 
 
 come with singing unto Zion.'' 
 
 "Oh, Life! So few the years we live, 
 Would that the life which Thou dost give 
 
 Were life indeed. 
 For here our sorrows fall so fast, 
 The happiest hour is when at last 
 
 The soul is freed." 
 
ONE WAY 
 TO 
 
 HYPNOTIZE 
 
©ne Was to Hypnotise* 
 
 Do not attempt hypnotization unless you 
 feel confident you can induce hypnosis . Never 
 try to hypnotize any one unless they express 
 themselves as perfectly willing to have you 
 try. Always have some one else present 
 beside the one to be hypnotized. The fol- 
 lowing mode of procedure is the one which I 
 have used with more or less success, during 
 the past four years, (prior to that time I used 
 mostly the mesmeri passes down over the face, 
 arms and legs.) I shall go into details, and 
 show you every thing to be done, without 
 leaving you to guess at any thing, as is gen- 
 erally the way most writers do, thinking of 
 course, that the reader is acquainted with 
 facts, which, as a matter of fact, he is not. 
 
 ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 
 
 After procuring a subject, see that the room 
 is comfortable, not too hot, nor too cold, 
 that the subject is resting in a comfortable 
 position in the chair, (be sure and see that the 
 
i54 ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 
 
 subject's head is not resting on some sharp point 
 on the chair-back, ) that the hands rest on either 
 knee with the palms downward, the feet must 
 rest flatly on the floor. Now request anyone 
 who may be present that, ' 'They must remain 
 perfectly quiet, there must not be any shuffl- 
 ing of feet, whispering or passing about the 
 room or crushing of any paper," in fact they 
 must remain perfectly quiet for the simple 
 reason that anything which would attract the 
 attention of the subject will make it utterly 
 impossible for you to induce hypnosis. 
 
 Now then say to the subject, in a quiet, 
 decisive tone, (not loud or harsh) ' 'Close 
 your eyes, roll the eye-balls up and keep them 
 up. Think that you cannot open them. Keep 
 the eye-lids closed. " Be careful that the 
 subject does not get his head thrown too far 
 back, as this will foil you in the attempt. 
 Place yourself at the right side of the subject, 
 stepping, if necessary, at times in front of 
 him. 
 
 Close your right hand and carry it to the 
 left side of the subjects head, and then open 
 the hand and draw it across the forehead, 
 letting the ringer tips come in contact with 
 
ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 155 
 
 the skin, not pressing too much, just such a 
 pressure as will sooth and not irritate. Close 
 the hand, as before, and make three passes, 
 * on the forehead, before making passes 
 down over the eye-brows and nose with the 
 thumb and two or three front fingers. While 
 making the passes over the forehead repeat 
 softly to the subject: "Fast, Fast, Now 
 your eyes are fast, and when I count three 
 you can't open them." Now make three 
 passes down over the eye-brows and the nose 
 in this way; place the thumb on the right 
 temporal, the fingers on the left temporal, 
 then draw them together, letting them meet 
 at the bridge of the nose, then pass down to 
 the tip of the nose. While making these 
 passes keep repeating: ''Fast, Fast, Fast, 
 now your eyes are fast, you can try hard but 
 you can't open them.'' On making the first 
 pass down the nose count one, the second 
 pass count two, and on the third pass count 
 three and say: ''Now try hard, you cannot 
 open them." If successful and you want the 
 subject to open his eyes, just say, "Allright, 
 now, you may open them." At the same 
 
 * Nothing particularly magic about three, doing this only for system. 
 
156 ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 
 
 time snapping your thumb and fore-finger at 
 the left ear, and then say, "Open them, Open 
 them." If you wish to place the subject in a 
 sleep, repeat all the above passes, saying all 
 the time, "Sleep, Sleep, you are going fast 
 asleep." Keep making passes and repeat the 
 word, "Sleep," until the subject's head begins 
 to nod, then grasp the head, at the back, with 
 your left hand and place your right hand on 
 the forehead and make quite a pressure, blow- 
 ing your breath on the top of the head, and 
 say, "Sound asleep, Sound asleep!" You will 
 then find, if the subject is really asleep, that 
 the system is entirely relaxed, that you can 
 pick up an arm, letting it go, and it will fall 
 back to its place, thus showing that the sub- 
 ject does not control the muscles. This is 
 the Lethargic stage. To change the subject 
 to the Somnambulistic stage, say to the sub- 
 ject, with a gentle upward wave of the hand, 
 (not touching him), "Now open your eyes 
 and look right into mine." Gaze intenly at 
 the subject without flinching or wavering 
 (notice the listless, unknowing look of the 
 subject's eye) then say, "Now your name is 
 George Washington, and you are only four 
 
ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 157 
 
 years old. v Ask him how old he is and he 
 will say, "Four years old." What is your 
 name? "George Washington." Then give 
 the suggestion that he does not remember his 
 name and he will accept it just as readily. (I 
 will here ask the pardon of the reader for 
 springing these old chestnuts, but as they are 
 simply examples I hope he will overlook them.) 
 In fact the subject is now in the Somnambu- 
 listic (or walking) stage, and will carry out 
 any suggestions that you may give him; to 
 sing, dance, skate, swim, fly, laugh, cry, ride 
 stick horses, pick flowers, go up in balloons, 
 ride bicycle races on chairs, etc., etc., etc., 
 ad infinitum. 
 
 In the Somnambulistic and Lethargic stage 
 the subject is (by suggestion) made totally un- 
 conscious of any pain. Say to him, slapping 
 him on the arm, "You cannot feel any pain in 
 this arm," and you will find that he will not 
 flinch or even change expression when you 
 have completely pierced his arm through and 
 through with any sharp instrument. 
 
 The different phenomena to be produced 
 by hypnotic suggestion, are legion, but if you 
 are new in the business I would suggest that 
 
1 58 ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 
 
 you prepare yourself, for scientific investiga- 
 tion, by reading some books, such a library 
 for instance, as is recommeded by "The 
 Hypnotic Magazine." This library includes 
 among other books, "Hudson's Law of Psy- 
 chic Phenomena" and by the way, do not 
 forget to read the "Hypnotic Magazine,'' 
 which is a fair outspoken organ. This mag- 
 azine is published by the "Psychic Publishing 
 Company, 56 Fifth Ave., Chicago. It is not 
 out of place, it seems to me, to mention the 
 "Hypnotic Magazine" here, taking into con- 
 sideration the value of the same as a magazine 
 and the fact that it is the only magazine now 
 published devoted to hypnotism entirely, as 
 used by the medical profession and devotees 
 generally. 
 
 Now, to continue our subject, I will say, 
 should you ever have trouble in awakening or 
 dehypnotizing, do not be alarmed, just give the 
 subject the suggestion that you do not wish 
 him to awake and that he must go deeper to 
 sleep, that he will wake in an hour or so, and 
 that he cannot help it, make the subject com- 
 fortable, go entirely away, and he will pass 
 from a hypnotic sleep to a natural one and 
 
ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 159 
 
 generally awake in the given time. To de- 
 hypnotize, snap your thumb and finger close 
 to the ear of the subject and say, "All right, 
 awake, you are all right." Be sure that he is 
 thoroughly awakened before you leave him. 
 
 In speaking of the modus operandi, I in- 
 structed you to blow on the head, etc. Do 
 not think there is any such thing as magic in 
 all this; as was said in Rider Haggard's great 
 play ''She," "There is no such thing as 
 magic," but this blowing, etc., is simply a 
 great suggestive agency which places the sub- 
 ject in a passive condition and helps concen- 
 tration. 
 
 It seems queer to me that so many people 
 should look with such disfavor on hypnotism. 
 The only explanation that I can give, is that 
 they are perfectly ignorant of the science, and 
 are not willing to learn. Hypnotism is the 
 outward manifestation of concentration, 
 brought about by entirely natural means, and 
 not a conglomerated mass of nothingism. So 
 many people, when they witness any of the 
 different phenomena, do not stop to consider, 
 and, say at once, "Charlatanism." 
 
 If a subject is in the Catleptic stage, for 
 
i6o ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 
 
 example, being suspended on the back of two 
 chairs and while in that position, supports a 
 large stone, which is, later, broken to pieces, 
 the skeptics will universally say, "Oh, they 
 have some hidden device to support the stone.'' 
 "Any one could do that (hold up a 500 pound 
 rock) if he would only try/' or, "The man 
 has been trained for the special occasion." 
 They do not consider it possible that the 
 subject is in a peculiar condition, produced by 
 suggestion, and that it is possible to produce 
 this rigid state of the body simply by action 
 of the mind. How does the trained athlete 
 do such wonderful feats; simply by education. 
 He weighs the same when he commences to 
 train, and weighs the same when he accomp- 
 lishes the feat. Then the power was always 
 there, it is the education. Why then, cannot 
 the hypnotized subject do the same, when 
 there is a suspension of his objective mind, 
 while he is hypnotized. He can and does. 
 
 The following is from Chamber's Encyclo- 
 paedia: "Hypnotism is not any longer to be 
 regarded as a mystery, or as a superhuman 
 gift, for its action can for the most part be 
 
ONE WAY TO HYPNOTIZE. 161 
 
 explained by our present knowledge of phy- 
 siology and psychology." 
 
 Do not think this method, or, "One Way 
 to Hypnotize," is the only one. There are 
 many ways. You may take from and 
 add to, as the case requires. Words and 
 passes that will sooth this particular subject, 
 may only irritate the next one you try. Have 
 patience, study each case, then experiment and 
 take notes. This "One Way to Hypnotize" 
 is only to give you a start, you can then work 
 out for yourself many different modes of pro- 
 cedure. 
 
 I shall not lay down a code of Ethics for 
 Hypnotism, or Hypnotists; let every honest 
 man be his own guide. Every human being 
 is a hypnotist. Every human is a subject, 
 or susceptible to hypnotism. Hypnotism is 
 the greatest science the world has ever known, 
 that is, the classifications are the most exten- 
 sive; in fact there is no end. Let us help one 
 another to unravel the skein. Christ was the 
 king of Hypnotists, not a juggler nor charla- 
 tan, but a man with the best wishes of all at 
 heart, who was bent upon the consummation 
 of all that was good. 
 
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