"f fe^-V^- "^z^^ A^' ■^;a ^^" v\^' .X^>-. ^^ V ■•>? ^^^::./^ o>- \> ^^- *«^_ > '-:.^ C^^' '^^r^. X^ o O' ,\\ . . V . KC ^v ^/-^-m: ^./' f^ ,# '^^ ??^ 0^ "t^ 2_ -^ o>^ ^ ^ -^ .. . , -^ .. - <; ^ ^^ "o 0^ '^"' .^'^ -^^^ ^0' ; ^ ■ ,^<^, '^^>^ , ^. ^"^^^^C^, BOOK HUMAN NATURE ILLUSTRATING THE PHILOSOPHY (NEW THEOEY) INSTINCT, NUTEITION, LIFE; „WITH THEIR CORRELATIVE AND ABNORMAL PHENOMENA, PHY^SIOLOGICAL, MENTAL, SPIRITUAL. BY LAROY^SUNDERLAND, AUTHOR OF THE " BOOK OF rSYCHOLOGY," " BOOK OF HEALTH," " PATHETISM," ETC. ETC. n I NEW YORK : STEARNS & COMPANY, 26 ANN-STEEET. 1853. 6 Entered, according lo Act of Congress, in the year 1853, BY STEARNS & COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. .4 CONTENTS AND INDEX. PAGE. Biography 7 Preface 19 Announcement 23 PRELIMINARY. 1. Information Wanted 25 2. Nature's Prophecy 26 3. Good Time Coming 26 4. Theories. 28 5. Necessity of Investigation.... 29 6. Competency of the Human Judgment 30 7. Hindrances 30 THE DIVINE. Love, Will, Wisdom. 8. First Cause ♦ 32 9. Infinite Design 32 10. Ends, Causes, Effects 33 11. The Divine Inmost 34 12. Doctrine of Degrees 33 13. Importance of this Knowledge 35 14. Illustration 37 NATURE. Substance, Aggregation, Universe. 15. Matter 44 16. Heat 44 17. Motion 45 18. Light 45 19. Kingdoms 45 20. The Mineral Kingdom 46 21. The Vegetable Kingdom 46 22. The Animal Kingdom.. ,. 46 23. The Celestial 46 LAW. Association, Progression, Development. 24. Mineral, Organic, Moral 47 25. Responsibility...,. 48 38. PAOB. Pain 49 Chemical Laws 50 Polarity 51 Attraction and Repulsion 51 Positive, Negative 52 Angular Molions 53 Degrees of Motion 53 Heat, Motion, Light 54 Truth 55 Doctrine of Correspondences . . 55 Relation 57 Perfection, — Good, Imperfec- tion, — Evil 57 Forms, Uses 58 THE HUMAN SOUL. Motion, Life, Sensation. Life 59 TheHumanForm 59 Origin of the Race 60 Hypothetical 61 Instinct 61 Vegetable Instinct 62 Nutrition, Life 62 Vitality 63 THE HUMAN BODY. Mineral, Vegetable, Animal. Organic Life 65 Hypotheses 65 Nutritive Fluid 66 Animal Life 67 Growth 68 Sleep 69 Nature of Sleep 09 Wakefulness, Exercise, Eges- tion 71 Correspondential Phenomena. 72 Motive Life 73 Ingestion, Retention, Egestioa 73 Instinctive Phenomena 73 The Cerebellum 74 IV CONTENTS AND INDEX. PAGE. 60. Male and Female 77 61. Generation 78 6-2. Maternal 78 63. Nerves of External Sense 79 64. The Cerebrnm 79 65. Decussation 81 66. Physiognomy 82 67. Nervous Associ;itions 82 68. Respiration, Circulation 83 69. Sympathy... 83 70. Individuality... 84 71. Ahnornial Action of the Senses 85 72. Functions of the Nutritive Fluid 86 73. Degrees of Sensation 86 74. Suspension of the Senses 87 75. Excitement 87 76. Doable Senses 88 77. Double Brains 88 78. Soul— Mind— S|)irit 88 79. The Soul, the Love Principle. 89 80. Instinctive Love 89 81. Sensuous Love 89 THE HUMAN MIND. Consciousness, Intelligence, Reason. 82. Receptive Mentnl Eniotioqs.. 91 83. ileteniive Mental Volitions... 91 84. Relative Mental Actions, 91 85. Self-Control 92 86. Power— Will Principle 92 87. Mental Love— Life of Mind.. 93 88. Intellectuality 93 89. Intellectual Emotions 93 90. Volitions 93 91. Actions 94 THE HUMAN SPIRIT. Knowledge, Intuition, Prevision. 92. The Wisdom Principle 95 93 Emotions 95 94. VVhatisLove? 95 95 Volitions 97 96. Spiritual Actions 97 97. The Human Will 98 98. Illustrations 98 99. Volition 98 100. Reason 98 101. Mentfil Harmony 99 102. E.xternal Reason 99 103. Knowlenge 100 104. Intuition 100 105. Philosophy of Intuition 100 106. Intellectual Power 101 107. Universal Harmony 101 108. Health 102 109. Pleasure — Happiness 103 1 10. The Problem of Evil 104 111. Manhood 107 112. Death 109 INSTINCT. Physiological, Vital, Mental. 113. Memory 113 114. Three Degrees of Memory. . . 113 PAGE. 115. Conditions of Memory 114 116. Abnormal Memory 114 117. Can Memory he Improved?.. 116 118. O^ 'J'l'e Curative Princi- ple „,d! 117 119. Vitnl Phenomena 117 120. Functional Power 117 121. What is it? 118 122. Muscular Mocion 119 123. Motio;is of the Nutritive Fluid 122 124. Abnormal Motions 123 125. Perfection, Beautv 124 126. The Human Voice 124 127. The Mind, and Nutritive fluid 125 128. Extraordinary Results 125 129. Disease and Death 126 130. What is the Substance of Mind? 127 131. 23^ Perfect Nutrition „^0 128 132. 1' urther Reasons fur this con- clusion 128 1.33. Nature's Method 130 J34. Unnatural Drujifiing. , 1.30 135. Receprocity of Mind and Body 131 136. Illustrations 131 137. Cerebral Excitements 132 138. Abnormal Cerebral Action.. . 133 139. Chemismand the Mind 134 140. Congenital Phenomena.. .... 135 141. Temperaments 136 142. Degrees in tlie Temperament 136 143. Combination of Temperaments 137 PHENOMENA. Congenital, Correlative, Abnormal. 144. Constitutional Tendencies... 138 14'5. Dreams, Trance, Somnam- bulism 138 146. Fits 139 147. How Induced? 140 148. Disease 141 149. Insanity 143 150. Spheres 144 151. The"Od" 146 1.52. Philosophy of Spheres 149 153. Idiosyncrasy 151 154. Sympathetic Imitation 152 155. Instinctive Sympathy 152 1.56. Antipathies 152 1.57. Intuitive Knowledge 153 1.58. How IS it? 153 1.59. How is it developed? 153 160. Intuition 154 16 1 . 'J'o be considered 154 162. Cases of Intuition 155 163. Abnormal Cases Stated 157 164. What does not follow 159 165. Prevision ICO 166. Prophetic Dreams ; Itil 167. Singular Case of two Sisters. 163 168. Remarkable case of Thomas Walton 164 169. Clairvoyance 165 170. Degrees of Clairvoyance 165 171. Presentiments 107 CONTENTS AND INDEX. PAGE. PSYCHOLOGY. Influence, Sympathy, Effluence. 172. Human Influence 169 173. Pathetism 170 174. Conditions of Power 171 175. Mental Associations 172 176. Charms, Fascination 172 177. Halhicinations 172 178. Mysteries Explained 173 179. Laws of Habit 173 180. Mental Sympathy 174 181. Analysis of this-Slate 174 182. Spiritual Unitv 175 183. Philosophy of Menial Ef- fluence .^ 176 184. Government of Children 176 185. How to do Good 180 186. Corresponding Characteristics 180 187. The Germ 180 188. The Idea 183 189. Tradition 184 190. Mental Contagion 185 191. The Crusades 185 192. Heroism 185 193. Panics J86 191. Mental Infection 186 195. Fanaticism 190 196. Trails of Fanaticism 193 197. The Invisible 193 198. Tlie Unknown 198 199. The Invisibles 199 200. Sympathetic 202 201. Miracles 204 202. Witchcraft 210 203. Conditions of Witchcraft.... 213 204. Superstition 214 20.5. Sectarianism 216 206. Sectarianism Defined 220 207. Seclarianism Unfriendly to Science 221 208. Opposed to Freedom 223 PNEUMATOLOGY. Spirits, Possession, Inspiration. 209. The Spiritual World 225 210. What has Occurred V 228 211. Unaccountable Phenomena. . 230 212. Mysterious Intelligence 232 213. Method of Investigation 234 214. Personal 235 215. What has done if? 239 216. Suggestions 243 217. Not Ephemeral 243 218. Grade of Spirits, whence they Come 244 219. Correspondence in God's Works 244 220. Contradictions Admitted 245 321. Their Use 245 222. The Exienal not the Real.. 246 223. Characteristic Details 254 224. Tests of (^.ngeniality 254 225. Tests of Knowledge 256 226. Sympathetic 857 PAGE. 227. Very Limited 260 228. Conjectural. 263 229. Te.sts of Truthfulness.. 264 230. Political 265 231. Insincere 267 232. The False 268 233. Tests of Personal Identity. . . 271 234. 'I'ests of Intelligence 275 235. Spirit Writings 277 236. Letters written by Spirits.... 279 237. Literature of Spirits 280 238. Spiritualism of these books Conceded 28.5 239. What do the Spirits want. . . 285 240. Spiritual Instructions 286 241. Curiosities of (Spirit) Litera- ture 292 242. Tests of Grade 299 213. In what sense are Spirits ever reliable 309 244. Possession — Infestation 312 245. Instruction — Admonition 318 246. Guardian Angels 322 247. The Great Test of Use 325 248. Inspiration , 331 INTELLECTURAL CULTURE. Education, Discipline, Improvement. 249. Aspiration 339 250. The Model Man . . 340 251. His Goodness, Truthfulness, Harmony 348 252. Impediments 350 2.53. Hereditary 351 254. Educational 352 255. Innate Total Depravity 352 256. A Picture of Depravity 353 257. Vindictive Punishment 355 258. An Angry God 356 259. Injustice 357 260. Another Picture 358 261. Science 360 262. Philosophy 363 263. The Divine Philosophy 367 264. Correspondences 368 265. Progressive 370 266. The Human 371 207. Theology 371 268. Man-Science 372 269. Selfhood 374 270. Egotism 374 271. Self-knowledge 375 272. The Conjugal 377 273. Marriage 377 274. Polygamy 378 275. True Marriage 380 276. Divorce 381 277. Celibacy 382 278. Correct Views 383 279. The Parental 384 280. Important Conditions 385 281. 'J"he Filial 387 282. The Fraternal 390 283. The Universal 391 CONTENTS AND INDEX. VI PAGE. 284. Virtue 396 285. Goodness 397 286. Justice 400 287. Integrity 402 288. The Family Circle... 406 289. Circles for Mental Culture... 406 290. Declaration 408 DIVINITY. External, Internal, Inmost. 291. Sectarian Theology 409 292. Biblical Contradictions 410 293. Literal Contradictions.... „. 412 PAGE. 294. Spiritual Contradiction 412 295. Essential Contradictions 413 296. Fatal Contradictions 415 297. Discordant views of the Deiiy 415 298. The True God. 415 HUMAN DESTINY. Harmonious, Progressive, Eternal. 299. The Evils to be Remedied... 426 300. Problem of Society 428 301. Freedom 428 302. Labor 430 303. Fraternity 431 BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. In presenting this work to the public, it affords the pub- lishers pleasure in being able to gratify the reader with the following accurate account of the Author. Now admitted to be one of the most extraordinary men of this or any preceding age, it is not marvelous, that a general desire should be felt to know something of his private history. Having been before the public as a Clergyman^ an Editor, and Author ;* and, * The following are among the publications made by Mr. Sunder- land, and they are here named nearly in the order of their ap- pearance : — I. A Question (on Temperance) to Those whom it Concerns. Now London, Ct., 1828. 2. A Sermon. This Life a Time of Probation. Boston, 1830. 8. Biblical Institutes. New York, 1884. 4. Essay on Theological Education. New York, 1834. 5. Appeal on the Subject of Slavery. Boston, 1834. G. History of the United States. New York, 1834. 7. History of South America. New York, 1834. 8. Testimony of God against Slavery. Boston, 1834. 9. The Watchman (Periodical). New York, 1836—1842. 10. Anti-Slavery Manual. New York, 1837. II. Christian Love. New York, 1837. "^ 12. Mormonism Exposed. New York, 1842. 13. Anti-Mormon Almanack. New York, 1842. 14. The Magnet (Periodical). New York, 1842-48. 15. Pathetism, with Practical Instructions. New York, 1843. 16. " Confessions of a Magnetiser," Exposed. Boston, 1845. 17. New Phrenological Chart. Boston, 1847. 18. Book of Health. Boston, 1847. 19. Pathetism. Man, considered in Eespect to his Soul, Mind, Spirit. Boston, 1847. V]ll BIOGRAPHY. especially, as a Lecturer on Mental Philosophy for the space of tliirty years, it is a laudible curiosity which seeks grati- fication in the biography of the remarkable man, who has startled and astonished such multitudes by his mysterious intellectual powers, and who has, certainly, performed more real wonders in mental magic, than all the wizards,- or con- jurors of modern or ancient times : — " LaRoy Sunderland is well known as transcending all who have attempted' to explain to us the mysteries of the human mind. No lecturer has ever attracted such crowds, or held them by such a spell. No one has produced results so magical ; doing, with no visible means, far more than alJ others have done with them." — Boston Chronotype, Nov. 10, 1847. We, naturally enough, desire to know something of the germ whence such wonders have originated ,_and the slow and certain steps by which one has arisen from obscurity and poverty, without opulent friends, and without any assistance (out of his own mind), has acquired such an eminence in pop- ular fame. The following testimony, coming, as it does, from one who differs in sentiment from Mr. Sunderland, will give the reader an idea of the estimate put upon his powers by those best competent to judge : — " LaRoy Sunderland. — This strange and extraordinary man continues to work his vcay into popularity, and his lectures are attended by crowded and eager audiences. We had little doubt that such would be the case, although we have very strong objections to his manner of presenting this -subject. He certainly performs wonderful, almost incredible things, and his entertainments possess every element of unbounded pop- ularity. He is a sort of hiLman chloroform, under wlioso operations your most cherished and deep-rooted prejudices are extirpated unconsciously to yourself." — Daily Sun, Philadel- phia, Feb. 28, 1S48. 20. Pathetism. Statement of its . Philosophy, and its Discovery Defended. Boston, 1850. 21. The Spirit World (Periodical). Boston, 1850-51. 22. Book of Psychology. New York, 1852. 23. The Original (Periodical). Boston, 1852. 24. Book of Human Nature. New York, 1863. BIOGEAPHY. IX The increasing popularity of Mr. Sunderland's '* Books," which Ave are now publishing, set us to looking for some ac- count of the authors origin and life. For, although we have been familiar with his history for some years,* we prefer to take the accounts of him, which have already been laid before the public, as, perhaps, being better calculated to do him justice, than anything which we could utter.* We, therefore, begin with the TESTIMONY OF PHRENOLOGY. The following account was published, in 1842, before Mr. Sunderland had commenced his public labors, as a lecturer on Intellectual Philosophy. f If Phrenology be admitted as a science, as it now seems to be all over the world, then it bears, through one of its Apostles, the following testimony, as to the mental character of our Author : — • " Great energy, force, resistance ; prepared for almost any emer- gency; nnturally inclined to defend. hini?-elt', in spite of opposition; cannot submit to wliat he thinks is wrong ; great amount of courage^ both physical and moral, and menial courage to speak his mind itnder any .circumstances ; disposed to be severe to those whom he believes to be wrong; not cruel; naturally irritable; jias a strong love of children; a more than corauion faculty of governing and securing obedience.- " la strongly uttaclied to individuals, but not fond of society ; does not feel at home in promiscuous or gay circles ; will defend his friends courageously and generously ; sspeaks liis mind without fear, but is rather politic ; takes cognizance of foreign influences when he ex- presses his opinion ; has both boldness and caution in his language and conduct ; has a natural tendency to take care to be saving, not so much to make, or acquire property, as to save and value it'when made; more intense and pointed in his remarks than protracted, tixprcsses much in a few words; is remarkable for perseverance amid difficulties and obstacles, for the sake of overcoming. " It is morally impossible for him to refrain from doing or saying ■what he believes to be his duty. Very sensitive about his moral clia- riicter and reputation, as a man of morals. lias not so much self esteem and regard for himself as a pe>-so/i, as ibr his position ; is very * One of our tlrm having been connected with the office, in this city (Piercy and Eeed's), where ilr. S. had his paper, " The "Watch- man," printed, in 1836. t This description was given by one of the most popular Phren- ologists of the day (see the "Magnet," 2d vol., page 81), and written down at the time, by the well known Mrs. E. W. Farnham, since of California. X BIOGRAPHY. desirous to have his word valued. Estimating his rights and per- sonal freedom highly ; his self esteem is remarkably strong in this manifestation, but not as giving pride. Love of power Mrong; wants to be felt as a man of power. " Disy)osition to scrutinize motives strong; power to do it, good. Great ability in discerning right and wrong. Tids is tlie leading fea- ture of his moral character. Sense of immortality strong. Sense of devotion not strong. Sympathy and hevevolence both mry strongly in- dicated. Sense of the exquisite, fanciful, not strong; prefers the beauties of nature to those of art. Prefers the strong, pointed, in- tellectual and forcible, to the finished, beautiful, high wrought. Love of the fanciful, extra finishings, &c. weak. " Capacity to adapt himself to the ways, manners and customs of men, in action, feeling, and thought, weak ; is a man hy himself with a mode of doing all these peculiar to himself. Marvelousness, more active than strong; n&lnvaWy slceptical, yet hope, reason, and conscience, s4iould produce a good degree of faith. " Capacity to enjoy and make fun ; fondness of gayety, excitement, &c., only moderate. He is a better philosopher than man of science ; more judgment than love of facts, prone to reason, inquire, meditate. "Comparison, sagacity, discrimination, criticism, good- memory of present events not so good as that of events of an older date. Seuseof time good ; better faculty for acquiring knowledge, than of retaining it. Arithmetical powers, weak. Desire for food, strong. Has a strong wish to be temperate, yet loves indulgence. Physical love, active, but not inclined to indulge much unless excited. Powers of iiiventiouj better than of manual dexterity." TESTIMONY OF THE PRESS, The following account, was written by Mr. Osian E. Dodge, Editor and Proprietor of the Boston Literary Museum, in which paper, it was first published, July 21, 1849 : " LaRoy Sunderland was born in Exeter, R. I., April 22d, 1804. His ancestors were from Scotland. From an early age he manifested an intense love for books and study, and often exhibited some of those peculiar mental traits which have so much distinguished him in his profession as a lecturer upon Human Nature — perhaps beyond most that have ever pre- ceded him in this department of science. In 1819 we find him a student at Day's Academy, Wrentham, Mass. June 9th, 1823, he made his first attempt as a Methodist minister, before a small congregation in Walpole, Mass. Before the cloee of the address, some dozen or more of his audience were under the influence of Fascination, and had entirely lost their self- control and strength. In meetings held in other places imme- diately after, similar mysterious results followed, so that it was not uncommon for large numbers of his audiences to fall into a state of Trance while he was addressing them ; in which state they would remain for hours ; of which, however, after BIOGRAPHY. XI their recovery, they would have no recollection whatever. These results were by many, in those days, attributed to the " Spirit of God ;" but in what sense they might be so consi- dered, we need not now stop to inquire, especially as Mr. Sunderland has given a full account of these things in his " Book of Psychology." We refer to these phenomena here, because their production thus early in his career as a public speaker seems to have put Mr. Sunderland upon a course of investigation into the Laws of Mind, which resulted in the new Theory he has since published to the world under^ the name of Pathetism. This term has come into general use, within the last few years, to signify " the philosophy of that influence which one mind exerts over another." Whether this theory be true or not, one fact must be admitted, that his- tory gives us no account of the man who has equaled LaRoy Sunderland in the power of Fascination, exercised over a promiscuous audience. " The discovery of this extraordinary power, which the sub- ject of our remarks found in himself, was purely accidental, and for some ten years or more, while devoted to the Chris- tian ministry, it was exercised without any design for produ- cing the results above described, though we believe he was somewhat noted for the revivals which generally followed his preaching, and which were more or less characterized by these strange phenomena. His zeal in public so much ex- hausted his strength that he lost the use of his vocal powers, and was in 1833, on this account, compelled to give up the labors of a pastor. The three succeeding years were spent in literary labors a,t Andover, Mass., during which time he wrote a number of books, that were published by the Methodist Book Concern, at New Yorlc. Among the number were ' A His- tory of the United States,' 'History of South America,' ' Biblical Institutes,' and an Essay on ' Theological Education.' " To LaRoy Sunderland, the Methodist Episcopal Church is indebted for the first efforts made by her clergy, in behalf of Theological Seminaries, and an elevated standard of minis- terial learning. In the winter of 1836, Mr. Sunderland re- moved to the city of New York, where he commenced the publication of a paper called the ' Watchman,' devoted to the discussion of the slavery question, the agitation of which had been commenced in the M. E. Church, before by him, in this city, by writing and publishing an 'Appeal ' upon the subject. That discussion, as is well known, finally resulted in the dis- union of the Church. Mr. Sunderland, however, withdrew from the connection, in 1843, before this event took place. The ' Watchman' was ably edited, and conducted by him for nearly seven years, during which time he was subjected to a Xll BIOGRAPHY. series of trials, and a kind of opposition {persecution, it should be called), which mast have crushed any ordinary mind. During six successive years, he was prosecuted and tried be- fore the 'New England Conference,'— of which he was a member, — for matter published in his paper, but was eventually, in each case, honorably acquitted of the charges preferred against him. The manner in which he managed these cases, and defended himself before that body of ministers, gave him a character for forensic talents in such matters, which, per- haps, ?ew men, beside LaRoy Sunderland, have ever had the opportunity for displaying. In addition to these successive vexatious ecclesiastical law-suits, he was once, in 1837, in- dicted, in Livingston county, N. Y., for a libel, based on an account he had published of a mob in Mt. Morris. At the time of trial, he appeared before the Court of General Sessions, in Geneseo, and managed his own case entirely. The District Attorney, unwilling to risk himself alone against Mr. Sunder- land, engaged the Hon. John Young, since Governor of the State, to assist the prosecution, and Mr. Young declared, in his summing up, that though the defendant did not appear there as a lawyer, yet a more finished and able plea had never been heard before that bar, than the one offered by the defend- ant. It is needless to say he was honorably acquitted. In May, 1842, he commenced, and continued about a year and a half, the publication of ' The Magnet,' devoted to the science of Pathetism, Vvhich received from the press generally, throughout the country, the highest encomiums of praise for the very able manner in which it was conducted. " The ' spiritual power ' of which Mr. Sunderland found himself in the possession thirty years ago, he has since been in the constant habit of using in the relief of human suffering. A writer, in a recent number of the 'Practical Christian,' says : ' In New England, no person has effected so many cures in this way, perhaps, as LaRoy Sunderland. He has lectured all over the Northern and Middle States. He does not hide his deeds in a corner, and there are multitudes who can testify to his healing power. He heals the sick by means of sym- fathy and will. He is no miracle worker, in the theological sense of the term. He claims no supernatural power. His works testify to his ' going about doing good.' The marvelous phenomena performed in his lectures are designed to call attention to the Philosophy of Man, and the ' laivs by which good is developed in all." " BIOGKAPHY. XIU INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, To such as may never have had the opportunity of witness- ing Mr. Sunderland's wonderful perfornnances, or of attending his public lectures, the publishers submit the following testi- monies, as they explain his method of operating upon the human mind, and the practical benefits which have followed ; and they will show, moreover, the estimate which the public have placed upon his discoveries in mental science, as, also, his labors, both as a writer and lecturer, the originator of new IDEAS, which promise good to the human race. Indeed, it may be considered as no very equivocal compliment to La- Roy Sunderland, the author of Pathetisra, that so many at- tempts have been made, within three or four years past, to reap benefit from the use of some of his ideas, by presenting them to the public, without due credit to him, under certain cabalistic names.* An original idea is property, intellectual property, which is more valuable than physical wealth, inasmuch as the mind is more valuable than silver or gold. All inventions originate in the mind, by which physical wealth is acquired. The time was, when it endangered one's liberty to evince extraordinary degrees of knowledge ; because, ignorance and superstition implicated its possessor as "in league with the devil." But although that time has passed, in this country, it yet remains for those who perform arduous intellectual labors, to be secured in this right of property, as all will most assuredly be, v/hen society has progressed to that state of development when the reign of even and exact justice shall be complete. At pre- sent, however, it is humiliating to contemplate the lamentable want of that sense of right which should always attach to one's own intellectual vi'ealth. Indeed,' the " Patent Laws" are sufficient to show the truth of this remark. Why, else, do we have patent laws at all, securing to authors the right to their * "Electrical Psychology," "Electro-Biology," and "Mental Al- chemy." XIV BIOGRAPHY. own property, only for the term of " fourteen years ;" property which attaches to originators, for ever ! And, in this connection, it may be stated as a singular cir- cumstance, aifecting the subject of these remarks as it does, that, a recent application has actually been made to Congress for a patent, in the use of a Principle in respect to the Nutri- tive Fluid in the Treatment of Disease, a discovery, made and announced by LaRoy Sunderland, in 1847, as his published works will show ! One fact is certain, that if a knowledge of the '■'■ principle^'' here referred to, be of advantage to the reader, then the credit of its discovery and first announcement belongs to the subject of this memoir. But to his credit it may, indeed, be recorded, that he never contemplated a patent, for any of his Methods for doing good to the souls and bodies of men! That our author has hit upon what will yet be accepted as the true Theory of Nutrition, is the opinion of not a few in- telligent and scientific gentlemen ; and, whether true, or not, his views are certainly attracting the attention of Physiolo- gists, and Physicians all over the country. When sufficient time has been allowed for arrival at just conclusions upon this interesting and important subject, perhaps justice will be done to the author of the Book of Human Nature. ^Xovj , justice may be in all her operations, when contrasted with some other features in nature's developments, yet, we rest assured, that her decisions will be equal and certain in the final issue. The following are quoted as so many signatures which have been voluntarily placed upon record, as witnesses to the claims to which reference has just been made : From a personal acquaintance with Mr. Sunderland, who is a most talented and worthy man, we have no fear but he will do the subject justice. He has already published several valuable works on the results of his investigations. — People^s Advocate, March 31, 1842. LaRoy Sunderland is a gentleman of an inquiring philoso- phical mind, who has for some time past devoted himself to the investigation of a subject, the immense importance of which can as yet be but imperfectlv estimated. — The Pennsylvanian^ May 20, 1842. BIOGRAPHY. XV Mr. Sunderland has evidently studied his subject with great care and attention, and presents a work of no ordinary in- terest. He speaks with becoming modesty, is a man of truth, and therefore is entitled to be heard. The theory is very in- teresting, and has important practical bearings. — Liberty Standard. .Mr. Sunderland is evidently a vigorous reasoner, and whether his theory be correct or not, we think his views well worth examination. — Washington Banner^ May 21, 1842. We are glad Mr. Sunderland has undertaken the investiga- tion of this subject. His well established character for recti- tude, his powerful intellect, nice discrimination, and long ex- perience, eminently qualify him for the task. We have full and entire confidence in him, and believe he will impart a vast amount of genuine knowledge. — Broome {N. Y.) Republican. Mr. Sunderland is a man of science, and is every way quali- fied to make a popular work. — Boston Transcript^ June 24, 1842. The testimony of the doctors was, that the experiment had entirely satisfied them that Mr. Sunderland wielded an in- fluence over the nervous system beyond the most powerful opiate. — Nantucket Telegraph, April 5, 1845. Mr. Sunderland then took hold of Dr. Paine, (who was still under his spell,) and led him to the somnambulist seated in the chair. And now occurred a sight upon which, probably, mor- tal eyes never gazed before. It was to see the somnambulic doctor in the process of extracting that tooth, while both he and the patient rvere in a state of trance, and neither of them able to open their eyes, or move a muscle without the consent of the lecturer. In a few minutes after, the doctor himself was seated in the front chair, the spell still upon him, and another physician present, (Dr. Lyman) proceeded to perform a similar operation upon him ! This experiment was intensely interest- ing, and highly satisfactory to the audience, as we suppose it the first and only one of the kind ever performed since old Adam v/as put into the " deep sleep," for the purpose of having the rib taken from his side. — Troy Budget, Sept. 23, 1845. " What Mr. Sunderland has accomplished during his visit to this city, has abundantly confirmed the newspaper reports we have seen of his wonderful performances in other places, which, in the production of psychological phenomena, place him far before all other men of whom history has given any account." — Troy Budget, Sept. 23, 1845. " The experiments of LaRoy Sunderland are different from one and all who have preceded him. Who can witness the results he produces, and doubt the existence of the humau XVI BIOGRAPHY. soul, or say in his heart, There is no God ?" — Pittsburg Daily Dispatch, April 9, 1848. " We have heard many lecturers on this science, but never yet have seen any who had such complete control over mind, or who made experiments more interesting or instructive than LaRoy Sunderland." — Daily Times, Cincinnati, Jane 1, 1848. "Mr. Sunderland is a gentleman of a keen and philosopiiical mind, and of immense reading and research, especially upon those extraordinary phenomena of the soul, to which he has, for the last few years, devoted his attention." — Louisville {Ky.) Journal, June 26, 1848. And to these, we might also add numerous testimonies borne to Mr. Sunderland, as a philosopher, by large and intel- ligent audiences, composed of clergymen, physicians, and others, competent to judge 'of this matter. The following specimens will suffice : — " By a large audience, in attendance on Mr. Sunderland's lectures, in JVIechanics' Hall, New York, on Friday evening, Dec. 11, 1846, offered by the Rev. Zenas Covel ; John ¥. Driggs, Esq., in the chair : " ' Mr. LaRoy Sunderland has produced results in his EX- PERIMENTAL LECTURES on the HUMAN SOUL, which, in the opinion of this audience, fully establish Pathetisrn as the true science of mind, and that Mr, Sundeiland's know- ledge of his subject eminently qualifies him for imparting to others the philosophy upon which this science is founded. " ' James Ashley, M. D., Secretary.'' " N. Y. Mirror, Dec. 13, 1846. " On Monday evening, March 8th, 1847, in Odd Fellows' Hall, Philadelphia : '^ '• Resolved, That we, citizens of Philadelphia, have been highly delighted, amused, and, we hope, morally and intellec- tually improved, by attending Mr. Sunderland's lectures on the science of Pathetism, and we do hereby express our gratitude for the intellectual entertainments they have afforded us. " ''Resolved, That, in parting with Mr. Sunderland, we feel the loss of one who has endeared himself to us, not only as a miost courteous and gentlemanly lecturer, but as one having the most profound knowledge of the human mind of any or all that have ever appeared amongst us. " ' Resolved, That the common courtesy due to a stranger, who has given such satisfactory evidences of the truth of Pathetism at his numerous lectures to the dentists, doctors, editors, and other scientific gentlemen, specially invited upon BIOGRAPHY. xvii the platform for that purpose, demands from them something more than a mere silent acquiescence in the Wonders of his performances. ** ' Resolved, That Mr. Sunderland will always find attentive audiences, open hands, and warm hearts to welcome him, whenever he can make it convenient to visit us again. " ' John Evans, Chairman. " ' Geo. W. Duncan, Secretary.'* " Philadelphia Sun, March 10, 1817. " Friday evening, in Tremont Temple, Boston, Nov. 17th, 1847, the following resolutions, presented by Rev. Mr. Morris, and seconded by Rev. E. T. Taylor, were passed by a large and intelligent auditory : — " ' Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that we have not only been highly entertained in our attendance on the Lectures of Mr. Sunderland, by the new, amusing, and wonderful ex- periments he has performed on his audience, but, as we hope, morally and intellectually benefited by the information he has afforded us on the nature and laws of the human mind. " ^Resolved, That Mr. Sunderland's gentlemanly and cour- teous manners, his intelligence as a philosopher, his astonish- ing success as an experimental lecturer upon human nature, his generous attention to the sick in his gratuitous lectures to ladies, commend him to the confidence and patronage of our citizens."'* — Boston Ch. Freeman, Nov. 26, 1847. Fascinating from one to a hundred of his auditors, and com- pelling them, while otherwise perfectly conscious, to sing or dance at his will ; rendering them unconscious of pain while difficult surgical operations were being performed upon them ; fixing his spell upon eminent surgeons, and causing them — as in the case of Dr. Hoyt, at the Tremont Temple, Boston, March 12th, 1846 — to extract teeth from a patient, while doth were in a state of Unconscious Trance : these are, indeed, marvels, and such as have rendered LaRoy Sunderland one of the .wonders of the age, and it would be vain to suppose * " A Silver Cup, bearing the following inscription : — ' Presented, by the Ladies of Philadelphia, to Mr. Lalioy Suiiderlaiid, for his suc- cessful and satisfactory Experiments iu Pathetism, 1847." — JVutivc Euglc and American Advocate, Feb. 20, 1847. " Gold AVatcu Presentation. — The watch was double cased, with one diamond, and a complement of jewels, and cost $228. On the inner case, the following iiiscviption was beautifully engraved: — ' Fathetism. — Presented, by Ladies of Boston, to LaKoy Sunderland, 1847.' ^''—Boston Chronotype, Dec. 14, 1847. XVIU BIOGBAPHY. that any mere human being could perform these things with- out admitting that he must have almost unlimited knowledge of the greatest study in the world, viz : Human Nature. And this tribute was certainly paid to his talents, when his assistance was sought and obtained by the able counsel em- ployed in the defence of A. J. Tirrell, for the alleged murder of Maria Bickford. But for the difficulties arising in securing the stipulated fee, it would have never been known to others than the friends of the prisoner and his counsel, that Mr. Sun- derland furnished the " authorities " quoted on the question of Somnambulism in that remarkable case, or that he wrote that portion of the opening argument of the junior counsel, relative to the main point, which, as the issue proved, saved the life of the unhappy criminal. 'PREFACE. With books as with men, the ^information actually com- municated, must depend, not merely upon that which is ut- tered, but also upon the receptive principle in those who read. All have, more or less, of that capacity which loves both to receive and to give knowledge. This is intellectual life. But this element, variously developed, makes the difference in our abilities for giving and receiving aliment, that is purely mental. The sectarian books of the past, may, each, subserve some comparatively good design. I find no fault with them ; they have each had their appropriate place, in the great system. And yet I know, that what I now utter will most assuredly conflict with many long established prejudices. If our pre- vious notions, associations, hopes and fears, be such as that a given truth would be likely to excite combativeness, that faculty of our nature which prompts to self-consei-vation, will resist, from the same principle that would lead you to repel any force that gave you pain. The Book of Human Na- ture, differs from other works, not only in the compass of its design, but also, in the method adapted for its accomplishment. Do not a large majority of the books, previously published, gratify the love of tradition ? This may, in some sense, be right. But, is it enough? Is it all that is wanted? Does it satisfy all 1 Does it, fully, meet the wants of the race ? Are they not, many of them, directly calculated to favor the bitter antagonisms of society? Or, do they contemplate a progressitm in the Divine Love and Wisdom ? Do they brinj? PREFACE. men nearer to the Infinite, and thus nearer to one another? And, has not the time come, when efforts like this, are de- manded by the wants of the age, by the signs of the times ? Have we not sectarian books enough already? May there not be one, whose motto shall be— One God! one Origin! one Destiny] Goodness and truth in all, and for all — a better state for all. Not, mathematically, the same in degree, but the same in nature, the same in its elements. No absolute evil, no eternal injustice ; but an immortal nature, evolved, carried on, perfected, and developed by the laws of eternal pro- gression, which correspond with the goodness, power and in- telligence of the Eternal God. Upon the threshold of what may perhaps be considered the most mysterious, if not the most important, developments, that have ever attracted the attention of mortals, it would seem that a free, fearless, independent book was wanted, especially if it may assist in any degree, to the knowledge of those laws, by which these strange things have been brought about. For, certain it is, that what are called " spiritual manifestations," or cases of obsession, possession, infestations by "spirits," are now multiplied and are extending all over this country, at least. If infancy need the help of superior wisdom to guard it against the evils to which it would otherwise be exposed, so does this Dispensation, this new Philosophy, need the united guidance which results from a large and matured experience in the laws of the material and spiritual worlds. . It is for the want of this experience that so much is now taken for spiritual manifestations which results mainly, if not wholly, from an ex- cited nervous system. Witness the communications made by clairvoyants and the so-called " mediums" whose nervous systems are abnormally excited, and which are obsequiously received, either as infallible revelations of the Divine Will, or veritable manifestations from pure spirits, without any admix- ture of the human medium through whom they are made. Witness the credulity with which communications are re- ceived in different localities, all purporting to come from the spirits of " Apostles and Prophets," and from Swedenborg, PREFACE. XXI and even from Jesus Christ ! And these " Apostles" are mul- tiplied like the frogs of Egypt, all over the country, and telling as many different stories as there are mediums suffi- ciently low to receive their utterances. Nor does it seem to tend, in the least, to open the eyes of those who receive these '''^apostolic''* communications, that the "St. Pauls," "St. Lukes," and Swedenborgs, are multiplied to such an extent all over the land. That they are not the same spirits responding in different localities, is evident from the fact that .they them- selves say so ; and also from the many different doctrines which they teach. Indeed, when apocryphal invisibles, as- sume authority to teach at all, is it noi prima facie evidence against them ? Witness, also, the avidity with which books are published from apocryphal spirits, where the names of particular persons are used, when there is not the jfirst particle of reliable autho- rity for so using the names once borne by mortals on this earth. Surely there are states in human progression to which it may be proper to apply the terms, sectarianism and fanaticism, and something is yet to be done, before nature's laws are understood as the greatest good of the race would se6m to require. That some of the most characteristic features of the pre- sent age, important as they are, should not be distinctly per- ceived and scarcely appreciated at all, by the great mass of the race, is not marvelous, when we take into consideration how it has always been with Nature's efforts. To what ex- tent was Jesus appreciated by his cotemporaries ? How small the number who really knew who he was, and heartily 'co-operated with him in the great work it was his mission to perform ! And so it must be admitted that the great mass of mortals, at the present day, are not advanced sufficiently above infancy to appreciate the true Philosophy of Nature. They do not really believe in any spiritual world, nor do they begin to comprehend what is peculiar to a state of manhood. They are attracted mainly by the external. The almighty dollar has charms for them. Spiritual philosophy is far too high for the mass. Man's progression is slow, when compared with XXll PREFACE. developments which are below him. There are but few ad- vanced in years, but " here and there a traveller" who has a just idea of that other world to which all are bound. Well, it is a matter of gratitude that there are so many. Sure I am that the number will never be less ; and under the conviction that I have now done all in my power to make the number what it is, I feel a satisfaction which is sweet, indeed. ^ AM^OUNCEMEFr. The following is a summary of the author's discoveries and observations, which he believes to be partly or wholly original and peculiar to this and his preceding works upon the same subject.* The Theory, here referred to, and which is set forth in the pages of this book, so far as the Principles a're true, are, in- deed, as old as Nature itself; but, in no previous work, it is believed, will some of them be found so distinctly elaborated, according to the relative part which each sustains in the eco- nomy of human life : — I. In respect to Instinct and the functions of the Nutri- tive Fluid. Its elements are Triune, and must be under- stood in order to comprehend the resultant manifestations of Life, with the Ingestivc, Retentive and Exclusive Motions, which constitute the Vital Economy : especially, such as are peculiar to the Nervous Systems ; Muscular, and Functional Power; Sympathy ; the " marks" upon children, and the rationale of all Congenital Phenomena. It is the real, and only " Vis medicatrix natures,'''' and it explains the true philo- sophy of sleep, growth, pleasure, pain, and death. II. The CORRESPONDING, Correlative phenomena of mind — Idiopathic, Suggestive, and Volitional: — 1. The nature and causes of cerebral excitements, both natural and abnormal. * F-athetism, 1843, and 1847. Also, " Mooh of Psychology:' 1851. XXIV ANNOUNCEMENT. 2. The rationale of induced insensibility. 3. The rationale of mental and spiritual emotions, volitions and actions. 4. The philosophy of mental influence. 5. The true nature of disease and health. 6. The causes of mental hallucination, fits and insanity. 7. The nature of intuition. 8. The rationale of induced trance ox fascination. 9. The philosophy of the results attributed to swpernatural or miraculous power. 10. The rationale of the effects attributed to talismans, amulets, charms, &c. 11. The rationale of 57/m;?a^7iy. 12. The connection between instinct, i]\e nutritive fluid and the human mind. 13. The difference in the instinctive, ingestive, retentive 3.nd exclusive emotions, volitions and actions of the human mind. 14. Connection between memory and the nutritive fluid. The brevity which the author has studied throughout the work, may have left some parts of the subject in comparative obscurity ; but the most inferior capacity, it is believed, will be able to comprehend the most of what I have written, espe- cially as I have pointed out, so distinctly, the means which will enable all to judge whether, in its principal features, it be true or false. Oharlestown, Ms., July 4, 1846. as BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. Information IVanted. 1. The present is distinguished from all previous periods by the superior power which spirit, or mind, exerts over matter ; the inner principle over the outer, the more refined over the external and more coarse. What are all the inven- tions of the present and past, but so many triumphs of spirit over matter? So many developments of the wisdom element, which gives us knowledge, and directs to the use of the most appropriate means for securing the best ends 1 It is, there- fore, that period in the world's history, when Man is found approaching that state of maturity in which, more than during any previous period, he is able to comprehend himself; the time when he obtains more satisfactory answers than ever before to such questions as these : Whence am I ? What are the elements of my nature 1 What makes me differ from another man 1 Why is one male, another female 1 What is evil 1 Whence is pain ? What is disease ? Health ? How many elements are there in the Divine nature 1 What is their order ? How many elements in human nature ? What is law r What is the true doctrine of correspondences ? What is the greatest good of each 1 What is Individuality ? On what does man's immortality depend? What makes man differ from an animal? What is death? What is spirit? What is matter ? What is virtue ? What is crime ? What are the laws concerned in man's origin, progression and final destiny ? What are the causes and cure of evil, hereditary, educational, social? What are the best methods for intellec- tual culture? What are the highest uses to which each should aspire in the various relations of life, individual, con- jugal, parental, fraternal, filial, universal ? What is the best form and order of society ? WJiat is man as to his spirit ? What is man as to his body ? What is our relation to the spiritual 2 26 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. world ? And what may we expect of goodness and truth from the spheres above 1 Nature's Prophecy. Nature's prophecy, giving the answer, by anticipation, to these questions, has been uttered in various forms, in past ages of the world. Dark, uncertain, and angular, indeed, her first developments may have been, coming, as they did, through forms more or less imperfect. But whether among the He- brews, Hindoos, or Christians of ancient times, we shall find in the religious writings of all, the hope of future unity. And, so sanguine were many of the most learned Christian writers of the last century, that they even ventured to fix the precise year when the long expected good should be fully realized.* Crood Time coming. Yes, and that " good time " has indeed come to many. They have outgrown their exclusive notions of Nature, and of its Divine Spirit, as really as they have outgrown the gar- ments of their childhood. They now begin to see that there is more than one sense in which mortals may be said to be infants, and how true it is that " a child may die an hundred years old." And then, to the above, add the still greater multitudes who have, till now, been denounced by sectarians as " sinners," " skeptics," and " infidels," without the " covenanted mercies of God," a class of people who have always formed the vast majority of the human family, and whose numbers have in- creased with the increase of the race. All the labors of popes, bishops, priests, ministers, and deacons; and all the " revivals," * Benjelias and Wesley limited it to 1886 ; Hobershon and others fixed on 1814 ; Wolf and others, on 1847 ; Wood and Hales, on 1850 j Faber, Scott and others, on 1866. Hans Wood, Esq., of Koseweadia, Ireland, in 1787, suggested that the 70 weeks of Daniel IX, formed part of the 2800 days in the preceding chapter, which, as he judged by a natural influence, would bring their termination in 1843. This view, said Dr. Hales, is " the most ingenious of its class," and he considered it worthy of re- publication, in the " Suspector," in 1789, and again in 1796, and again, in the " Orthodox Churchman's Magazine," in 1803, and afterwards in his great work, the " New Analysis of Chronology," vol. II, page 664. And hence, the calculations of the people called " Second Adven- tists." They looked and confidently expected the dissolution of the universe, in 1848. And though they see that nature's laws do not fail, yet many of this class are still hoping that these laws may be interrupted, and the present material earth burned up ! GOOD TIME COMING. 27 and Bibles, and tracts ; and all the conferences, conventions, camp meetings, prayer meetings, and the like ; and all the prayer, and the faith of the whole sectarian world, for the last six thousand years, have never yet been able to put the least perceptible check upon the increase of this class of the human family. The presumption would, therefore, seem to be, that the race, as such, must sustain some peculiar relation to the Divine Father, which has not, as yet, been sufficiently re- cognized in the sectarian creeds. Think, here, for one mo- ment, and then say if a want so generally felt, more or less, by all, shall not be, in some way, provided for. If we make a distinction between Religion or the Divine IClement in man, and what has passed under the name of Christianity, then it is easy to see the truth of the confession made by a distinguished clergyman, a few years since, when he said that "Christianity had, thus far, proved a failure." But why should we dispute about mere words 1 The race is yet undeveloped, not pro- gressed very far. It is external, skeptical. The spiritual senses are not yet perfected. It is more theoretical than philosophical, more intellectual than spiritual, more sectarian than liberal. Is there not, in many respects, more slavery than freedom, more belief in evil than Infinite Goodness, and more respect shown for position and wealth than for reason or superior wisdom "? And now, because the race had to be born in order to he, and, being born, we had to be infants before we could become men, does it not follow that when one finds himself approaching MANHOOD, that he should " put away childish things V Shall we progress in time, and not in space 1 Shall we advance in science, and stand still in philosophy 1 Shall we improve in all things, except in those faculties that bring us nearer to the Divine ? And why, then, (except in so far as we are children,) should we be confined to the teachings of one man, or one book? And why, (except in so far as we have not yet ad- vanced from a state of infancy,) should it be necessary for us to argue such questions as these at all 1 It is said that the Jews, some two thousand years ago, expected the advent or development of goodness in some /brm, which, Christians of later ages tell us, those same Jews should have witnessed in the person and character of Jesus of Naza- reth. But is it not plain, that if those ancient Hebrews had had correct ideas of the good they anticipated, they would have found it in Jesus, as sure as he was the complete fulfil- ment of their hopes 1 Hence, we must admit, either that he was not what they anticipated, or, if he was, they did not know what their anticipations were. And is it any more marvelous, that the Christians of the present age should mis- 28 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. judge as to the real fulfilment of their hopes, than it was that the ancient Jews should do so 1 All, or at least, a vast major- ity of the most intelligent minds, whether Christian or Heathen, are agreed that about this period in the history of the Race, some new and wonderful developments are to be made. And, is the long expected good to consist in the destruction of this earth, or in the revification of decayed animal forms, or in the frustration of nature's laws? Is it not, rather, in the gradual, harmonious progression of the Race from infancy to manhood, from discord to unity ? Contemplating nature, therefore, as a whole, we find that she does not go back. All her changes, her so called catas- trophes, her storms and earthquakes, but indicate the great laws of Association, Progression and Development, which have brought about the spiritual era, which we now behold not afar off, but as very near. " Prophets and kings desired it long, but died without the sight." Nature has her alternations, her day and night, cold and heat, sleeping and waking, summer and winter, life and' death, infancy and manhood. But these alternations make its pro- gressions. The vibrations of the pendulum cause the revo- lutions in the wheels of the clock, by which its hands are carried round the dial, and mark the progress of time. As near, therefore, as we advance to that state, where we become conscious of manhood, we shall enlarge the sphere of our observations. We shall not merely be men in physical stature, but our spiritual nature will demand that range of activity corresponding with its powers, precisely the same as the external body must have air and exercise for its health and symmetrical development. Tlieories. 4. If, as we are taught by one of the first principles of Philo- sophy, our theories may be made the grounds of practical con- clusions, whenever we are able, by them, to account for things as they are, then it will be admitted, probably, that just so far as the author may have succeeded in this attempt, in the fol- lowing Theory of Human Nature, he may be justified in the conclusions which follow. If mind, like the phenomena which combine to make up the present state of things, have its laws, and we find out what those laws are, then the emotions, voli- tions, and actions peculiar to human nature, must each have their causes, also ; and they may be ascertained and described, whenever the mind is sufficiently developed for comprehending them. When uninformed, man has always been disposed to attribute phenomena^ that w^ere new or strange, to supernatural agency. NECESSITY OF INVESTIGATION. 29 But we shall see, that in strict philosophy, one mental result is just as supernatural or extraordinary as another ; the only difference between what we denominate common and ex- traordinary phenomena, is, with the former we are moie fami- liar ; and at the same time the latter class may be just as often in their occurrence ; but because it may not have come in our way to notice them, they seem to us more mysterious, and hence, to be attributed to supernatural power. Human nature is a system of laws ; and so of the mind. When we come to dissect it, as it were, and examine its phe- nomena, in the light of its own inherent faculty of wisdom, perfectly developed, we shall find what those laws are, and how beautifully they all harmonize with every other law in nature and the constitution of things. This degree of know- ledge is the perfection of the human mind ; and it is for the want of it, that men fear investigation. We fear, because we we do not know ; and we do not know, because our faculties of knowledge are not developed ; and these faculties are not developed, because the appropriate laws have not been in operation, within and upon us, necessary to bring about that result. For the want of knowledge, we believe and hope ; and hence it is, that we feel the most secure, the most satisfaction, in resting upon what we believe to be true. What each one be- lieves, he believes because he thinks it true, whether it be so or not. Thus, we cling to the views for which we can assign no reason at all ; and hence it is, that the mind defends error with as much tenacity as it dues truth, whenever error has been once received, instead of truth. Men contend for error, they suffer for it, fight and die for it ! ]¥ece§sify of IiiTestigatioii. 5. Nothing can be more easy of comprehension, than that the human mind shrinks from investigation, just in propor- tion to the imperfection of its developments. When, therefore, we dread the light, and resist all legitimate efforts to find the truth in relation to mind, or any thing else, we do, in this very way, confess our want of information; and thus is proved (as it would seem) the truth of what I have assumed as the true philosophy of mind, in the following theory. Is it not perfectly self-evident, to the smallest capacity, even, that two, or a dozen conflicting views about one and the same thing cannot each be right? And, as we each differ from the other, if we assume iiifallibility , or, what is the same thing in substance, that we cannot be wrong, error must be immortal, or exist, at any rate, as long as we do ourselves. For, if we err, and refuse investigation, by which alone we 30 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. may be enlightened and set right, we must remain in error as long as we have an existence ; and how long that may be we can determine only from investigation. Whether there be another state of existence for man or not, is not a matter of universal knowledge ; for, were it so, no human being could ever have doubted it ; or, at least, there could not be a class of minds who could justly be called heathen, or skeptics, because in that case all would have the necessary knowledge to induce belief in that fact. And hence the necessity of those reasoning faculties in the exercise of which we can determine what is true ! Competency of HtiiiiaEi Judganeiit* C. It is perfectly natural for every sane mind to determine what is true or false, in regard to every proposition which is brought before it for that purpose. Now, if the mind, when suitably developed, be not competent to judge of any given pro- position, whether it be true or false, of course there is- an end to the matter, and further argument would be useless. Where there is no competency there can be no responsibility ; cer- tainly, no moral obligation. But, if the mind, when perfectly developed, be competent to judge, that competency is exer- cised when, after due examination, it receives that which is believed to be true, either of mind or the nature and constitu- tion of things. The largest number of minds, therefore, of every class capable of reasoning upon the subject, will agree that it is con- sistent and best, all things considered, for each individual to use all available means for information, and then to receive or reject what the enlightened reason decides to be true or false, in relation to every subject which comes within the range of human investigation. " Prove all things, — hold fast that which is good." But, we can prove nothing without examination, and we examine nothing without the faculty of reason. True it is, that one may imagine himself led by an enlight- ened judgment when he is not; and hence the conditions which I have stated (100) for making up a correct judgment upon matters which come before the mind for adjudication. Hindrances. 7. Perhaps nothing has tended more to prevent the devel- opment of that wisdom by which the mind acquires correct views of itself, than the excessive action of those organs de- nominated Faith or Marvelousness ; for, just as far as the mind is led by these organs, instead of wisdom, it is carried into the regions o^ fancy, and from a knowledge of realities. hindrances: 81 But, when evenly balanced and well developed, as we shall see, the mind always is led by reason; and hence, in the nature of things, it is impossible for such a mind to err essen- tially, or to refuse the truth when it is once presented for its reception. In their original elements, all minds are exactly alike, as all are also, in the precise number of their faculties ; however, all the elements and faculties are not developed in the same degree ; but just so far as they are harmoniously developed in each- mind, truth is received in so far as the developments are adequate for its comprehension; and hence, if truth be not received, or, when perceived, is not understood, the fault is in the state of the mind. The faculty of intelligence or reason never receives what that same faculty is unable to comprehend. Faith and marvelousness may receive any thing ; and the mind is safe only in following these organs when they act in har- mony with wisdom. And hence it is manifestly unjust to charge those whom we believe to be enthusiastic, or deluded, with dishonesty in all cases. We should allow all to be honest until we are convinced of one of two things : — either that they assume what they know to be false, with a design to deceive ; or, that they knowingly act contrary to their princi- ples or profession, and for a similar purpose. Every human being capable of putting forth mental manifestations, may be said by another, to be fanatical, or deluded in some way or other. We are all in our own way, " believers," or " skep- tics ;" for what one believes the other disbelieves, so that it would, perhaps, be scarcely possible to describe, or conceive of any fact, real or imaginary, which has not been, or is not now believed and doubted by different minds the world over ; and hence a good maxim for all would be, — " In non-essen- tials, liberty ; in essentials, free inquiry ; and in all things, charity.''^ 82 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. THE DIVmE. LOVE, WILL, WISDOM. First Can§e. 8. In the nature of things, there must be an adequate cause for every event. Effects must, in all cases, correspond with the cause, or causes, that have induced them. And if results manifest design, there must have been intelligence in their production. Hence, it is manifest, that the essential elements constituting- the essence of ihe first producing cause, are three- fold : — the evolution and manifestation of existence demon- strates Love, which is light and life ; their production demon- strate his Will, which is power in motion, procedure, or a state of activity ; and the order and forms of existences, adapt- ing appropriate means to definite ends, demonstrates his Wis- dom. And thus is demonstrated the existence of the Eternal Mind or essence ; love, will and wisdom. This mind is, tuas^ and always will be : for present motion demonstrates his present existence, past motions prove his prior existence, and their uniform pj-ogression makes it manifest that he always must be, as he always has been, the one all-merciful, all- powerful, all-knowing-, from whom has proceeded and who now conserves, and who will forever perpetuate the nature and constitution of things, in their essence, form and use. Iiifiitite ]>esigii. 9. Whatever tends to develop life, according to the design of the Infinite Love, is good, and as far as it corresponds with his wisdom, or method of carrying out his design, it is true. The greatest good, or the highest use, therefore, of all, is to have each element in nature developed in perfect harmony. Hence, those associations, that knowledge, and all those in- fluences brought to bear on human organisms, are good, which tend to develop the elements of our nature in perfect harmony. Those which tend to discord, to carry one element or faculty out of proportion, beyond another, are evil. PRIMARY PRINCIPLES. 83 A correct estimate, therefore, of goodness, cannot be made without taking into view the design of the Infinite in the development of man. If we suppose the Divine Love, Will and Wisdom must, necessarily, have harmonized in the design which resulted in the development of man, then it follows that the greatest happiness of each must finally result as a matter of course. For, if the Divine be that Love which desires the greatest happiness in giving life, and that Wisdom which uses the most appropriate means for securing what his love desires, and that Will which is the power to use those means by which his love is gratified, then, we infer, that all is good in the mineral, vegetable, animal apd spiritual worlds, which tend to carry out the Divine design in the physical and spiritual man. And all is true, only so far as they correspond with that design. Evil, therefore, is a term which applies to the imperfect degrees in which we find the physical and mental systems developed in each case. An infant may be a perfect child, but an imperfect man ; and when compared with man- hood, infancy is certainly an evil. In the infant, the life ele- ment is developed long before the wisdom faculty makes its appearance at all, except as we see its motions in instinct. But compared with an animal, or no existence at all, our in- fantile existence is not an evil, but a positive good. Hence the appliances of food, air, and clothing, by which its existence is conserved and developed into manhood. And manhood is evil, when compared with that spiritual state, where the per- fect man has been developed into an angel, and advanced to the spheres above the piere human. And infants all may be said to be, indeed, in more than one sense, if we have not yet advanced sufficiently to see that the race is progressive^ not as individuals merely from a state of infancy to manhood, but also from a state of ignorance to one of more goodness, more truth, as a race. £!iicls, €au§es, !Effect§. 10. Order and Form are wisdom, and wisdom is design, the adaptation of appropriate means to the accomplishment of certain effects. This law comprehends and makes the parts correspond to the whole ; it produces, pervades, and governs universal existence ; and, by it, all things are evolved and subsist, from the one First Cause. He exists in himself; all else IS from him. Hence, this law of design, comprising the Order and Forms of things, comprehending Ends, and the Causes by which they are envolved, is universal and eternal, determining whatever enters into the nature and compositions of matter, and the Order and Forms of its developments, with 84 BOOK OF HUMAN XATURE. infinite reason, and mathematical or corresponding degrees. Tlie self-existent essence is above and heyond human ideas of time and space ; but the wisdom of his love, or the motions of his will, by which existences are evolved, and derived from him, come within the comprehension of time and space ; and, consequently, all motions are mathematical, and must accord- ingly correspond with the Order and Form, in the wisdom of the first producing cause. fhe I>ivine Inmost. 11. If we contemplate Human Nature as a system, and trace its history backward, we shall find that it has always acknowledged its Author : — I. In the sense of dependence on superior goodness, power and knowledge, which has always been manifested in prayer, faith, and forms of religious worship. It is not unreasonable to infer that this has come from the Inmost recesses of man's nature, from the Divine Element, whose developments have suggested the term of " Religious Animal," which has been applied to him. The body, so to speak, is not the life, or soul. Nature is not God, only as it is his vs^ork. It is God's external Form ; the garment with which he has clothed himself, and of which he is, was, and always must be the one, all pervading inmost soul. He is all, and in ail ; the inmost of each universe ; the inmost of each world ; the inmost of each kingdom, and of each sphere, and of each individual, and of each element, and each particle, always and everywhere, throughout universal space. II. This will be further manifest, if we consider the suffer- ings which mortals have undergone themselves, or inflicted upon others, actually or theoretically, for no other purpose than to gratify their love of the Divine. The different forms of sacrifice among the Jews, the Hindoos and savage nations, all tend to prove this Religious Element as inherent in man's inmost nature. Nor among the ignorant savages alone, have these bloody sacrifices been found, even of human beings ; but the most enlightened nations of the earth, si\\\ feel the want of the death of a human being, in order to appease "an angry God," and atone for the sin of that very inmost soul in man's nature, which is itself Divine ! Look at the shaker, denying the instincts of the nature he has derived from God himself; or the Hindoo, whose heroism fastens and confines him to the top of a style, twenty feet from the ground, where he remains day and night, for as many years. All this is done from love to God. The love Element is strong ; but, the wisdom Prin- DEGREES. ^5 ciple being feebly developed, the religious devotee perverts his instincts, scourges his own body, and inflicts upon himself pains and penalties, which he vainly imagines render him more acceptable to the Divine.* !>octriiie of Degrees. 13. 1. Forms appertain to substance; for any supposable substance of which no form can be predicated, has no ex- istence. 2. Series are made up of forms. We find these for ex- ample, in the processes of vegetation by which bodies are con- stituted of various coatings, as the pith, the wood, and bark.f 3. Degrees. Three forms make one series, and three series make one degree ; and these are of two kinds. 1. Degrees of altitude, or such motions as ascend or descend from a given centre ; and 2d, degrees of latitude, or such mo- tions as extend in any given direction, without regard to height or depth ; and thus, all things included in matter and mind, extend or ascend, and descend in forms, series, de- grees, and spheres. For example : — 1st, The atmosphere. 2nd, Water. 3rd, The earth, life. 1st, Vegetable. 2nd, Animal. 3rd, Men. And the nisxt develops, 1st, The soul. 2nd, Mind. 3rd, Spirit. And thus it is, that we shall find this elementary, threefold, or triune, pervading all Nature in its essence, forms and uses — from the first cause to the last result which comes within the range of human investigation. Hence it is manifest, that a clear perception of the doctrine of design lies at the foundation of all correct reasoning in re- spect to Nature ; as, without this, the mind is not in a state to appreciate the true relation between causes and their eflfects. And, on this subject the truth has been so well expressed by others, that I readily avail myself of their assistance. Importaaice of tliis Knowledge. 13. The knowledge of degrees, is, as it were, the key to open the causes of things and enter into them ; without it scarcely any thing of cause can be known ; for, without it the objects and subjects of both worlds appear so general, as to * One of the best works, in our language, on Theology, is that entitled : "Discourse of Eeligion," by Theodore Parker. t See Macrocosm, or, the Universe without, by William Fishbough, in which this trinity is argued at length : — " Nature is a harp of seven times seven strings, On which, by God's own hand is gently played The ever varied music of the spheres." 86 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. seem to have nothing but what is seen with the eye; when, nevertheless, this respectively to the ihings which lie inte- riorly concealed is as one to thousands, yea to myriads. The interior things which lie hid^ can by no means be discovered, unless degrees be understood ; for exterior things advance to interior things, and these to inmost by degrees ; not by conti- nuous degrees, but by discrete degrees. Decrements or de- creasings from grosser to finer, or from denser to rarer ; or rather increments and increasings, from finer to grosser, or from rarer to denser, like that of light to shade, or of heat to cold, are called continuous degrees. But, discrete degrees are entirely different ; they are in the relation of prior, posterior, and postreme ; or of end, cause, and effect. They are called discrete degrees, the prior is by itself; the posterior by itself, and the postreme by itself; but, still, taken together they make one. The atmospheres, which are called aether, and air, from the highest to the lowest, or from the sun to the earth, are dis- criminated into such degrees ; and are as simples, the congre- gates of these simples, and again the congregates of these congregates, which, taken together, are called a composite. These last degrees are discrete, because they exist distinctly ; and they are understood by Aegxees o^ altitude ; but the former degrees are continuous, because they continually increase, and they are understood by degrees of latitude. All and singular the things which exist in the spiritual and natural worlds, co-exist at once from discrete and continuous degrees, or from degrees of altitude and degrees of latitude. That dimension which consists of discrete degrees is called altitude, and that which consists of continuous degrees is called latitude : their situation relatively to sight does not change their denomination. Without a knowledge of these degrees, nothing can be known of the difference between the three heavens, or, of the difference between the love and wisdom of the angels there, or of the difference between the heat and light in which they are, or of the difference between the at- mospheres which surround and contain them. Moreover, without a knowledge of these degrees, nothing can be known of the interior faculties of the mind in men ; or, therefore of their state as to reformation ; or of the difference of the ex- terior faculties which are of the body, as well of angels as of men ; and nothing at all of the difference between spiritual and natural, or therefore of correspondence ; yea, or of any difference of life between men and beasts, or of the difference between the more perfect and the imperfect beasts ; or of the differences between the former of the vegetable kingdom, and between the materials that compose the mineral kingdom. Whence jit may appear that those who are ignorant of these DEGREES. 87 degrees cannot from any judgment see causes ; they only see effects, and judge of causes from them, which is done for the most part by an induction continuous- with effects, when, nevertheless, causes do not produce effects by continuity, but discretely, for a cause is one thing', and an effect another ; there is a difference as between prior and posterior, or, as between the thing forming and the thing formed.* IllustratioBis. 14. It is of the first importance that we should be able, fully to comprehend what is meant, in the use of the terms Ends, Causes, Effects ; as also Forms, Series and Degrees : — The essential characteristic of continuous degrees, is their increase or decrease, from a low degree to a high degree, or from a less degree to a greater degree, of the same thing, and vice versa; B,s, for instance, from darkness to light, by in- appreciable increase, or from heat to cold by imperceptible decrease. Darkness thus becoming light by regular increment or continuity of the same thing, and heat thus becoming cold by continuity or regular decrease of the same thing. So, also of bitter, or a low degree of sweet, becoming, by increase, sweet, or a higher degree of the same thing. So, of short, by continuity, becoming long ; low becoming, by continuity, high; dull, sharp ; thick to thin ; gross to fine ; weak to strong, &c., &c. These are instances of continuous degrees in the physical and sensational world, and, like continuous degrees, obtain in the intelligent and emotional worlds ; as, for instances, ignorance, or a low degree of knowledge, becoming, by regular increase or continuity, intelligence, or a higher degree of knowledge ; or evil, which is only a low degree of good, becoming, by regular increment, a greater good. Thus, in the sensational world, light, by continuity, shades off into darkness ; heat, into cold, &c.; and you cannot put down your finger on the place where the one ceases and tho other commences. So, in the intelligent world, knowledge shades off into ignorance ; and, in the emotional world, good shades off into evil. In all which instances, the one differs from the other only by continuity of the same thing. The same low degree of heat, which will freeze a man to death, to speak antithetically, increased in de- gree, will burn him to death. It is a question of quantity^ and relates to, or involves space, and not of quality or time. — There is no essential or specific difference, further than in the amount of the same thing. Our physical organism is construct- ed for, and adapted to, certain continuous degrees of the ele- ments and objects around us, and it is the criterion which de- * Swedenhorg'8 D. L. and W., 184, 185. 88 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. termines what is hot and what is cold, what is darkness and what is light, what is large and what is small ; and if you alter this criterion, you alter our appreciation of those degrees. For instance, if you augment our vision, the light of darkness will blind us, and mole hills will be mountains. If you increase our sense of smell, we "die of a rose in aromatic pain." If you increase our sense of hearing, we are " deafened by the music of the spheres," &c., &c. So, also, our moral and spiritual organ- isms are standards of what is knowledge and what is ignorance, or of what is good and what is evil ; and, as the standard de- velops and perfects, our appreciation of those degrees alters. It is more difficult to perceive and understand the distinctive characteristic of discrete degrees. They are different, se- parate and distinct, and are connected only by relation, or conjoined only by correspondence, or the law of analogy. They occupy towards each other the relations of end, cause and effect, or prior, posterior and postreme. As continuous degrees relate to space and quantity, so discrete degrees relate to time and quality, and are also denominated first, middle and last, and inmost, interior and external. This trinal order prevails in each and all things that exist, inasmuch as each thing has an end or inmost, /rom which it is ; a cause .or interior, ly which it is ; and an external, ultimate or effect, in which it is. Hence, it is evident, that the one of those degrees is not, nor cannot become the other by con- tinuity — increase or decrease — but by the relations of prior, posterior and postreme, or inmost, interior and outmost. The end can never become the cause, nor the cause the effect, by increase or decrease, as darkness becomes light, or heat be- comes cold, by increase and decrease, any more than the in- most can, by increase, become the outmost, or the first, by increase, become the last, or the centre, by increase, become the circumference. These degrees are relations that cannot be altered by continuity. It is very true, that the cause is in the effect, and the end in the cause, as the middle ex- panse is in the circumference, and the centre in the middle expanse — all existing and subsisting together in the effect. Hence, it is, that those degrees are called simultaneous degrees, as contradistinguished to successive degrees, or degrees by continuity, which do not exist together simultaneously, but from each other successively. The great creation, and every part of it, is thus discreted into this trinal order of degrees. There is a sphere of ends — the inmost or celestial heavens ; a sphere of causes — the middle or spiritual heavens ; and a sphere of effects — the ma- terial universe. In God is this trinity. His Divine Love, the End of ends, His Inmost, fmm which are all things ; His DEGREES. 89 Divine Wisdom, the Cause of causes, hy which are all things ; and His operative or energizing sphere, or Holy Spirit, the effect, in wlTich are all things. Man being a representative of God. and the universe, has this trinal arrangement within him. His love or will is his inmost, or end, from which his intelligence, the cause, hy means of which, and his action, the effect in which he is. Let me illustrate. Take for instance, the mineral — say a diamond. It has motion, and it has discreted from that mo- tion, an order of arrangement of its parts, or mode hy which that motion proceeds and is determined into the angular form of the diamond. Thus in the diamond is motion, the end, and the order or manner hy which that motion proceeds. Again, to bring an example from the vegetable kingdom, take the leaf. It has life, or an inmost vitalizing essence, (which typifies the Divine Love) and a form or order by which that life proceeds, and is elaborated in the external, (symbolizing the Divine Wisdom) and the leaf formed, the ultimate or. effect, (corresponding to the material creation.) Here it is seen that the life or essence of the leaf is one thing ; the form, order, or mode by which it grows, another ; and the leaf itself, another. They are distinct and separate, and conjoined only by correspondence ; and yet in the complex, they form a unit, just as the love, intelligence and actions of a man are distinct and separate, yet conjoined by correspondence forming a per- son ; and just as the universe, celestial, spiritual, and natural, are separate and distinct, yet conjoined by correspondence, forming a unit. The motion in the diamond goes forth hy its order of arrangement into the angular form of the diamond ; life in the vegetable goes forth hy its mode or manner of pro- ceeding or elaborating into the leaf, apple, &c. ; the love or desire of man goes forth hy his intelligence into action. And the Divine Love, the inmost of all things, goes forth hy the Divine Wisdom or Providence (which is the same thing,) into external material nature, the great action of God ! But if this trine of discrete degrees is in all things from the least to the greatest — if in the leaf and in each fibre of the leaf — in each composite love, in each single thought, and in each particular or intermediate action — where is the sphere or plane of operation for the continuous degrees'? I will tell you. They are in each discrete degree ; and then again, a series of discrete degrees form the continuous degrees. And to illustrate this, 1 will give you some examples. My love or desire to relieve the sufferer, may, in its inception, have been most inappreciably faint — so weak as scarcely to make me conscious of the emotion. But it increases hy continuity — the same specific sentiment becoming by regular increment 40 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. stronger and greater, until reaching- a certain point, it changes or discretes itself into a new form, namely — my intelligence, which again in its dim and obscure beginning, may be inade- quate to the satisfying my love, and it brightens and clears by regular increase, to a point where it plainly discovers to me and furnishes the means of ultimating my love, when it changes or discretes itself into action. A man may feel a de- sire to act, and yet it may not be strong enough to move him until it is increased sufficiently in degree, when it discretes itself into thought on the subject ; and again his thought or intelligence may be confused and obscure — may not inform him of the way or means sufficiently clear and unequivocally to justify action until it is increased in degree so as to point clearly to the means, when it discretes itself into action. Again, the life in the seed or germ of the vegetable, may lie dormant for ages, until it is fomented and increased by conti- nuity, when it assumes an orderof arrangement of its particles, which order amplifies and enlarges until it discretes itself into the vegetable formed. Thus you will see that each discrete degree is formed of an indefinite number or series of conti- nuous degrees, from a less to a greater, by increase, until they change or discrete their order of existence into a new form. The one does not become the other by continuity, but by discreting — the continuous degrees proceeding until discre- tion takes place. How and why they thus discrete, I am unable to say. But again, what are continuous degrees formed of? I answer, of a series of discrete degrees of the same kind. For instance, light is formed of an indefinite num- ber of separate particles, each discreted from the other, yet all alikef which can be increased until darkness becomes light, &c. Thus ice is discreted from water, and yet by increasing the amount of heat in it continuously, it discretes itself into water. And again, by increasing the heat of the water, it dis- cretes itself into steam. In like maimer are the atmospheres discreted from each other. Hence, continuity is a series of discreted or distinct individualities increasing until they dis- crete into a new order — give birth to or develop a new species, which increases and runs again in continued series, until it again discretes or changes into still another order or species, &c. Now development, or the law of perpetual growth, proceeds according to this two-fold order. AH things thus develop by continuity, or series, to a certain degree, when they discrete or change into a new order or species distinct from the pre- ceding one, just as the end transfuses itself continuously into the cause, until it discretes itself from it, and just as the cause transfuses itself continuously into the effect forming it, until it DEGREES, 41 discretes itself from it. We will now illustrate this order by- some examples. The mineral kingdom which is composed of an indefinite series of discreted particles, or individuals, grows or develops by attenuation or continuity, until it develops or discretes itself into a low form or order of the vegetable king- dom, which is a new order of existence developed from it ; the one not being the other by continuity, but by discretion. So again the vegetable kingdom proceeded or grew continuously, by long series and groups of series, during many geological ages, until it produced or discreted into the lowest form of animal or sensational life, which again grew and perfected in continued series, until it discreted into intelligent existence. Hence, as Emerson says, " every ultimate fact Is but the beginning of a new series." For instance, in the vegetable kingdom, the potato goes round in a series of growth or deve- lopment, continuously until it passes into a new species. So the animal develops and perfects continuously through a long series of generations, until it gives birth to a new species, dis- crete from the former.* Now, universality is a quality of all the laws of celestial, spir- itual and material existence, and to them there are and can be no exceptions. There is no miracle, but phenomena or law, the universality of which we do not yet comprehend, and no mystery, but ignorance. Mystery is only a name given to the hazy and obscure unknown which yet lies beyond the dim and confused vision. The same law which governs and controls the planetary system, carrying forward the planets in their orbits, around the central sun, governs and controls the econo- my of a drop of water, or one of the little glands of our physi- cal system, for they have their centripetal and centrifugal powers, by which they excrete and secrete a magnetic centre and electric circumference. The same law which is the wis- dom of the spiritual heavens, is plenary in my intelligence ; and the same law, which is the love principle of the inmost or celestial angels, is universal in the heart of man. Moreover, when we come to consider things interiorly, or according to their spiritual and celestial uses, abstracted from space and * Those who wish to study this two-fold order of development more iu detail, will find it fully treated of in the " Vestiges of Crea- tion," although the author does not appear to have known that he was but applying and illustrating Swedenborg's " Doctrine of De- grees." The continuous degree of Swcdenborg is Fourier's law of the series, and his discrete degree Fourier's law of the group or spe- cies. We see this order of development in the whole liistory of the human race, and it would be highly interesting to trace it out and ex- hibit how one form,of social order continued in a series until it develops a new order of social life. How one dispensation passed in a series, until it gave birth to a new dispensation, &c. &c. 43 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. time, or, which is the same things quantity and succession, we find the uses or spiritual principle of the organs, fibres, viscera, &c., of the animalcule, by correspondence, the same as the uses of the viscera, functions, &c., of the Grand Universal Man. Great or small, first or last, are not condi- tions of their existence, and are no way. implicated in their in- terior being-. Spiritually, end, cause, and effect, are as perfect and omnipotent in the leaf as in the whole " complex of things,'' just as a legal principle is as much involved in a suit when but five dollars are in controversy, as in a suit when the amount in dispute is fifty thousand dollars. You can't predicate great or small, Jirst or last of it. In like manner, our love and in- telligence are states of our spiritual being, and have nothing to do with, and are above, and beyond, and without time and space. So God, the pure abstract Divine Love and Wisdom, is wholly independent of time and space, and the ideas of size, place, past, present and future, do not at all attach to His proper Being. Therefore, discrete degrees, spiritually con- sidered, are the same everywhere. And if God is the Inmost of all things, centralized or focalized divinity, a Man, personal, human, divine, appearing in ordinary spiritual stature and parts, then is He discreted from His celestial, spiritual, and material universes, and conjoined with them only by correspondence. For, if by continuity, then the conclusion is irresistible, that God and Nature are identical, which won't satisfy our de- votional instincts^ tendencies and wants. Let me illustrate this greatest spiritual truth by some examples. Were we to look at our solar system from myriad millions of miles, it would appear to us a conglobated or solid mass, a unit, radiat- ing its light and heat into the depths of space. But when we near it, it resolves into planets and satellites ; and when we still near it, it discretes itself into concentric atmosphere, then into concentric strata, until we reach an inmost centre, the brief focus of all its light and heat, which we can, as it were, grasp in our hand — which centre is discreted from the whole vast complex. So, the Man-God, the centre of the spiritual universe, abstracted from time and space, is thus discreted from His grand universe, and yet instantly and constantly up- holds it, and is immanent in every part of it, by His Holy Spirit or sphere. Again, I radiate a sphere to an indefinite extent around me, which, was it perceptible by your senses, would make me a giant. This sphere is discreted from my body, and is not properly me. Furthermore, my body, which is in space, is discreted from my spirit, which is not in space, and yet my body is not properly me ; and again, my love, or emotional nature — the central me, or inmost, of which you cannot predicate size or duration, is discreted from my spiritual DEGKEES. 43 form, in which it af pears ; and it is of this inmost or central me that manhood or personality is properly predicable. In like manner is God the Central Manhood of llie universe, the Inmost Personality, Humanity and Divinity, discreted from all thinfTS else. What a theology is this ! In a subsequent article, I vi^ill show how this Divinity is united with the human- ity of all earths and all times, constituting Him, in the largest sense, a worshipful Being.* * W. S. Courtney, Spirit World, Vol. 3, No. 10. 44 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. NATURE. SUBSTANCE, AGGREGATION, UNIVERSE. Matter. 15. Matter, is the substance evolved from the' Divine Ele- ments, from which all systems of worlds and their inhabitants have been constituted and made. This substance corresponds* with the first producing cause, and hence it contains the in- herent inmost qualities and powers, for the development of all forms of existence, which, in their elements, must also cor- respond with the elements constituting the essence of the Divine Original. Matter is developed in corresponding forms, series, degrees and spheres. We are accustomed to use the term matter, to signify only that which is cognizable to one or more of our external senses. But, as we progress in our knowing faculties, we find that, if we use this term as synonymous with entity, essence, being or substance, it is not inappropriately applied to objects which we cannot examine directly with any one of our external senses. We can form no consistent idea of any being without form, and form appertains to substance, or matter. Strictly speak- ing, therefore, the whole of Nature, and its Author, may be included in the terms substance and motion. These terms cannot be used synonymously, though, indeed, one may nevei exist without the other. Heat. 16. We next look for the elementary constituents oi matter. And, as Form appertains to the cause of its evolutions, so, we find, the order in which these elements are arranged. Hence we say, the^r^^ element in matter is heat, which corresponds to love, or light and life. It is inherent : constituting its mole- cules, it evolves their mechanical powers, it makes and deter- mines their chemical relations. MOTION— LIGHT, ETC, 46 Motion. 17. The next element in order, is power, which is motion or activity, and corresponds with will or procedure. In what- ever form matter is manifested, it is always in motion, for without motion, as we have said, matter could have no form, and consequently no existence. Eiiglit. 18. The next element in order in matter is light, corres- ponding to wisdom. It is a constitutional element, (threefold, red, yellow, blue,) developed by heat ; consequently heat, mo- tion, and light, constitute the mathematical and chemical laws which enter into and make the nature and constitution of all things.* And thus, we perceive, how it is, that Form and Order, correspond, in the arrangements of Nature. Kiiig^ctoins. 19. As the laws of chemical affinity or repulsion are inher- ent in matter, it follows that these motions must appertain to all Forms, Series, Degrees and Spheres as such ; so that one may be said to tend toward, or to be attracted by another. The lower tend to and develop the higher, and in this sense, the higher attract the lower ; and hence it is, that each one is attracted or repelled, according to the relation (above or be- iow,) which it sustains to another. Matter, Life, Mind and Spirit, are developed in threefold degrees ; so that, when its motions and forms reach the third or higher degree, which correspond with its original ele- ments, or with the elements constituting the Divine Essence, it then progresses to another ; and thus Forms, Series, De- grees, Spheres and Kingdoms, are each developed in extend- ing and ascending and descending Degrees, till the whole forms one universe of Matter and Mind. As motion is pro- gressive, so are all its Forms in each Degree and Sphere. Its first associations were threefold, and hence the angular in the formation of minerals or crystallization, and this contained the germ of all the succeeding. The third Degree is the perfec- tion of the two preceding. The angular in the third, or high- est degree, develops the circular or the lowest form of life, * A distinguished chemist of this country. Prof. Johnson, is report- ed in the papers to have stated, ' ' that there is, in the sunbeam, not only a ray of ligJit and heat, but also, a chemical property, or ray be- sides, and which varies at different seasons of the year, and different latitudes." 46 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. which begins tho vegetable kingdom. Ascending by the same scale in this Sphere to its highest or perfect Degree, the mo- tions become spiral, and thus animal life is developed ; first, in its lowest forms, and these ascend by the same mathematical laws through various series and Degrees, till they reach the vertical or spiritual. 1. The Mineral Kingdom. 20. 1. The Angular. 2. Multi-angular. 3. Perfected Multi- Angular. And thus is constituted a distinct Sphere or Kingdom of mineral formations ; th^ most perfect or highest of whose forms evolve, 2. The Vegetable Kingdom. 21. 1. The circular, and this produces porosity. 2. The ascending circular, and thus is evolved and circulated the nu- tritive fluid. 3,. The progressive, or perfected progressive circular. And this comprehends all forms of vegetable life, and thus is constituted one vegetable kingdom, from the high- est forms of which are evolved, 3. The Animal Kingdom. 22. 1. The spiral, from the highest forms below. 2. The ascending spiral. 3. The progressive, or perfected spiral ; and thus the animal kingdom becomes Individualized, so that although the forms change or alternate, the kingdom, as such, continues indestructible ; and its highest or perfected forms co7'- respond in their individualization with the individualized king- doms which are below ; and thus man becomes individualized, a sensuous, conscious, intelligent existence, whose elements can never be annihilated, because he is the perfection of mat- ter and motion, and hence, from the animal, he ascends to The Celestial. 23; 1. The vertical from the perfected spiral; and these motions and corresponding forms evolve feeling, sensation, consciousness. 2. The progressive vertical or mental ; the soul, mind, spirit. 3. The perfected progressive vertical or spiritual ; reason, knowledge, intuition. And thus it is, that geometrical progression is the inherent and constitutional law of matter and mind. LAW. 47 LAW. ASSOCIATION, PROGRESSION, DEVELOPMENT. Mineral, Organic, Moral* 24. The same mathematical motions which have evolved the planets, develop and govern this earth and all its produc- tions, in perfect correspondence vi^ith the goodness^ power and intelligence of the one great first cause, in extending and ascending degrees, and thus is developed the mineral, vege- table and animal kingdoms, each by its own appropriate mo- tions or laws. 1. — Physical or Mineral. These embrace the phenomena of the earth without life, such as gravitation and the magnetic forces. Man is a ma- terial being, developed from matter, which is controlled by these laws ; and hence it is that he is injured by fire, water, lightning, &c., precisely as if he had no mind or moral nature at all. But these motions develop, 2. — Organic Laws. Such as constitute life, both vegetable and animal. These develop organisms^ which alternate and go through regular- degrees of growth and decay. They are invariable^ and oper- ate only in developing and perpetuating organic life in general, and species, in forms, series, degrees and spheres. And from this kingdom is evolved, 3. — The Moral or Mental, or such laws as relate to intelligent beings. In addition to the intelligence common to animals, man possesses Mdsdom, or organs whose functions enable him to distinguish between right and wrong, and dispose him to acts of benevolence and wor- ship ; and hence the laws according to which the higher facul- ties of his mind must be exercised in order to answer the end of his existence. Each of these degrees of laws operate inde- 48 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. pendently of the others, and hence it is that all men, both good and bad, suffer in proportion as one or the other of these laws are disobeyed or fulfilled, and from which we deduce the great law of design^ so apparent in the development ■> conservation and constitution of things^ and by which man is made con- scious of pleasure and of pain. But for his susceptibility to pain, he could not become conscious of violating law ; when, therefore, these laws subject him to a state of suffering, they do in this very manner secure for him the greatest good which his nature is capable of enjoying. Responsibility. 25. Mental or moral power is co-existent with mental or moral obligation, and both are conditioned on the development of love and wisdom. Mental law is in perfect harmony with physical and organic law, and the greatest good is secured when each of these laws are obeyed. Duties to the Deity are conditioned on the relations we sustain to Him ; duties to country, family, and neighbors, are conditioned upon the rela- tions we sustain to each, and the relations themselves are traceable to the developments of love and wisdom, which dis- pose us and show us how to do the greatest amount of good to the greatest number of persons — it is then that man enjoys the greatest satisfaction of which his nature is susceptible, and best answers the great end of his existence. And hence it is, that this law of physical, organic, and moral, responsibility, pervades all bodies, all organisms, all individualities, all spheres, kingdoms and universes throughout the government of God. The pebble thrown into the air, holding a peculiar relation to this earth, comes back to it again. The earth holding a peculiar relation to the sun, con- tinues its obedience to that luminary ; as the sun himself does to the greater centre around which he revolves. And, cor- Tesponding with this universal law of gravitation, as it has been called, which is inherent in all physical bodies, is that moral law, still higher, which binds mind to mind, sphere to sphere, from the smallest (lowest) to the highest, and which it is as impossible to set aside or evade, as it is to change the nature and constitution of things. " For clearness' sake, the natural and personal obligation to keep the law of God as my conscience declares it, I will call duty ; the conventional and official obligation to comply with some custom, keep some statute, or serve some special interest, I will call business. Here then are two things — my natural and personal duty, my conventional and official business. Which of the two shall give way to the other,— personal duty, or official business ? Let it be remembered that I am a man RESPONSIBILITY. 49 first of all, and all else that I am is but a modification of my manhood, which makes me a clergyman, a fisherman, or a statesman ; but the clergy, the fish, and the state are not to strip me of my manhood. They are valuable in so far as they serve my manhood, not as it serves them. My oflScial business as clergyman, fisherman, or statesman, is always beneath my personal duty as man. In case of any conflict between the two, the natural duty ought to prevail and carry the day before the official business, for the natural duty repre- sents the permanet law of God, the absolute right. Justice, the balance point of all interests, while the official business repre- sents only the transient conventions of men, some partial in- terest ; and beside, the man who owes the personal duty is immortal, while the officer who performs the official business, is but for a time. *' At death, the man is tried by the Justice of God, for the deeds done, and character attained for his natural duty ; but he does pot enter the next life as a clergyman with his sur- plice and prayer-book, or a fisherman with his angles and net, nor yet as a statesman with his franking privileges and title of honorable and Member of Congress. The officer dies of a vote or a fever. The man lives forever. From the relation between a man and his occupation, it is plain, in general, that all conventional and official business is to be overruled by natural personal duty. This is the great circle drawn by God, and discovered by conscience, which girdles my sphere, in- cluding all the smaller circles, and itself included by none of them. The law of God has eminent domain everywhere, — over the private passions of Oliver and Charles, the special interests of Carthage and of Rome, over all customs, all offi- cial business, all precedents, all human statutes, all treaties between Judas and Pilate, or England and France, over all the conventional affairs of one man or mankind. My own con- science is to declare that law for me, yours for you, and is before all private passions, or public interests, the decisions of majorities, and a world full of precedents. You mayjresign your office, and escape its obligations, forsake your country and owe it no allegiance, but you cannot move out of the do- minions of God, nor escape where conscience has not eminent domain.*" Pain. 26. It is because the physical^ organic and moral laws are independent of each other, and because they are universal^ and invariable in their application, as we have seen, that man or * Theodore Parkfer. 8 50 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. animals suffer^ for, when there is any want of conformity to either of these laws, suffering is the unavoidable and neces- sary consequence, and thus the greatest good of the greatest number is infallibly secured, in the very nature of man, and the constitution of things. Pain, therefore, is an over excitement of the centrifugal mo- tions of the organism. (52, 53.) The eye is pained by too much light ; the sense of hearing is often destroyed by too much sound, and the sense of feeling becomes painful by the prick of a needle, which excites those motions more than by a severe pressure from an obtuse surface, which produces no mechanical irritation. (27, 53.) So, if you run, or make any mental or physical exertion which excites those exclusive mo- tions of the nutritive fluid beyond the motions of breathing and digesting, by which that fluid is supplied, the exhaustion be- comes disagreeable. But, if the excitement of any one sense be just enough to bring about its natural development, it is, in that case, pleasant ; and the pleasure is just in proportion to the approach of the organ excited, to the perfection of its de- gree or sphere. Clieiiiical I^aw^s. 27. 1. It is a law o^ chemistry, that the same results do not follow when the same elements are merely united in the same ratio ; the same properties result only when the elements are the same, and their particles are arranged with mathematical exactness in the same manner.* 2. Heat evolves motion. All motion is mathematical, and must be in a straight line, unless there be two forces, one of which interferes with the other, and that makes an angle. ^ Hence, all motion must be mathematical. And, as all the forms oi motion in space are resolvable into the triangle, XXYvq first motions were angular, and these contained all the higher or more complicated, which, like the lower, out of which they are evolved, are also mathematical and chemical, as motionis chemical change, direction, arrangement, always. Than the following testimony, no greater authority could be given, perhaps, on this subject : — " Physiology has sufiiciently decisive grounds for the opin- ion, that every hiotion, every manifestation of force is a result of the transformation of the structure of its substance; that every conception, every mental affection, is followed by changes in the chemical nature of the secreted fluids ; that * Turner's Chem. 5th Am. Ed. p. 271. t Arnot's Elements. % Legendre, b. 4. CfiEMICAL LAWS. 51 every thought, every sensation, is accompanied by a change in the composition of the substance of the brain." " The change of matter, the manifestation of mechanical force, and the absence of oxygen, are, in the animal body, so closely connected with each other, that we may consider the amount of motion, and the quantity of living tissue transformed as proportional to the quantity of oxygen inspired and consum- ed in a given time by an animal."* From which it follows, that the arrangement or the forms which the particles of any substance take, constitute the high- est law of chemistry and mathematics. IPolarity. 28. 1. It is a law of matter that forms, or the sphere with- in which bodies move, or within which their particles are ar- ranged, determines the direction of their motions. Hence, when in a given sphere, a motion has reached a certain point, it there evolves another form, or pole, from which another mo- tion or force is evolved in an opposite direction ; so that, a ne- cessary result of motion in one direction, within a given sphere, evolves motion in another direction ; and hence, motions of infinite variety, and spheres within spheres may thus be evolved ; and each particle of matter must be controlled by these motions into forms, series, degrees and spheres, and thus the chemical and geometrical relations of all particles of matter, and the different forms which they compose, are de- termined and mathematically fixed, which develope the nature and constitution of things. Attraction, Repuli&ioii. 29. 2. From the poles evolved by the motions within the spheres, are constituted what are called the attractive or re- pulsive tendency, or motions of particles and bodies, from or to one another ;. so that each is attracted in one direction just in proportion as it is repelled in another. And hence it is that one force evolves another, that is, proceeding in one direction within its sphere to a certain point, it there evolves another form or pole, and a motion is evolved in another direction ; and hence, we say that one is positive, and the other is negative ; which is true in this respect only ; one begins to proceed in an opposite direction to the other, at a certain point where the other forms ii& pole. ^ * Liebig Org. Chem. p. 226. i § And is it not in these laws that we are to find a solution of those inysterieSj in respect to heat and. oold, when both are said sometimes 62 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 3. And hence, it is correct to say of every particle of mat- ter, that in its relation to another particle, in one point it is positive, and attracts, or wants another; or in a different point, it repels, rejects, what it does not want or need ; and hence is originated the chemical affinities and tendencies of all matter throughout universal existence. Thus, in the develop- ment of the vegetable kingdom. The seed is deposited in the earth. Its first want is moisture, which it attracts, and is thus expanded into a state of germination. It also wants the light of the sun, to elaborate its parts, and excite from its pores the refuse particles, evolved by the process of nutrition. It wants the air, and the rain, and the other properties of the earth, which must enter into its composition, for the development of the flower, and the perfection of its forms in seed, thus want- ing, attracting; and repelling, or throwing off from its surface, till it arrives at maturity, evolves its seed or spirit, and then is dissolved and returns to the gases, which want or attract it back again to its original elements. Hence, we say, that what a particle of matter attracts it wants, and either draws from its place, or by its want is drawn from its point to the pole, or point in the sphere where its want is satisfied. And, arriving at that point, and thus satisfying its wants^^ it evolves a new motion, which wants to go back again, and in this manner, motion from different poles or points, in the spheres, degrees, and forms, proceed back and forth, wanting, receiving and re- pelling, and rejecting what it does not want, or attract, throughout universal existence. Such are the inherent and eternal laws of matter. Positive, Negative. 30. The foregoing remarks will assist us in comprehending what is meant by these terms. It is common to speak of that body which is active, and gives off an influence, as Positive ; and the body which is passive and receives, a§ Negative. But then it should be borne in mind, that these terms are used merely to designate the relation which one body sustains to another ; as a body may be both Positive and Negative at one and the same time ; that is, B may be Negative to A, while it is Positive to C. to produce the same results ; as in the eoypansion of water, both by heating and freezing ! And so, also, of motion. We speak of it both as a cause, and also as an effect, when we say Heat evolves it, and Mo- tion also, produces or develops lieat. Certain it is, that all Nature's motions do alternate in this way. 8ee (29.) MOTION. 53 Angular Motions. 31. The earth itself is a mineral production of the laws al- ready described. As this is the lowest form, the motions by which it was evolved must have been the most simple ; and hence, we find them developed in its primitive formations, which are angular, and these, as we have seen, contain all the higher, inasmuch as all the forms known throughout universal space, may be resolved into the triangle or angular, from which all other Forms are evolved in ascending and extending De- grees and Spheres, and which, as we shall see, correspond with the essential elements of the first producing cause. On this feature of our subject, perhaps, the following tes- timonies will be acceptable. They are from two personages who are, by many, considered as very high authority in matters of this kind. The identity in the ideas is certainly remark- able : — I>egrees of Motion. 32. The lowest form is the angular, which is also called the terrestrial and the merely corporeal form, inasmuch as it is peculiar to bodies having angles and rectilinear planes, the measurement of which is the primary object of the present geometry. The second and next higher form is the circular or spherical form, which may also be called the perpetual angular, since the circumference of the circle involves neither angle nor rectilinear plane ; because it is a perpetual angle and a perpetual plane, this form is at once the parent and the measure of angular forms, for it is the means of showing the properties of angles and figures, as trigonometry teaches. The form above this, is the spiral, which is the parent and the measure of circular forms, as the circular form is the parent and the measure of angular forms. Its very radii or diameters are rot rectilinear, nor do they converge to a fixed centre, like those of a circle, but they are variously circular, and have a spherical surface for a centre ; wherefore the spiral is also called the perpetual-circular. There are other still higher forms, as the perpetual-spiral, properly the vortical ; the perpetual-vortical, properly the celes- tial ; and a highest, the perpetual-celestial, which is spiritual, and has in it nothing but what is everlasting and infinite.* The original form was angular. This contained the prin- ciple and nature of all other forms ; so, that from the lowest and intermediate forms up to the highest, could be constantly produced other forms, accompanied with and controlled, and * Swedenborg^s Animal Kingdom, I, 126. M: BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. acted upon by the Great Positive Power. Progression of the angular evolv.ed the circular. This assumed not a spherical constitution, but was a combination of angular and rectilinear plane. Therefore, the continuance of the angular to the cir- cular, was only a perpetually progressive form, ascending toward the spiral. And this developed diameters, axes and poles, containing the perpetual angular, and progressed to a still higher and more perfect form, that of the vortical^ properly the celestial. Thus, from the lowest to this sphere of progression, there was a constant development of inherent principles and laws, the lower containing the higher, and the perfected comprehend- ing all below it. The perpetual vortical or celestial was the spiritual, in which there is nothing, but what is refined, pure, and everlastingly infinite, containing unspeakable and celestial glory, brightness and grandeur. It is the Vortex, the incon- ceivably perfect and spontaneous substance of the Great Positive Mind.* Heat^ Motion, LigMt. 33. Thus, all the conditions, motions and manifestations of nature, or matter, are mathematical and chemical. The first condition in order is Heat ; this evolves motion, form, arrange- ment ; this is mathematical ; and motion evolves Light, which is chemical change ; and hence it is, that the same primitive laws appertain to every particle of matter, throughout universal existence, and which produce the revolutions or alterjiations of nature, such as Heat and Cold, Light and Darkness, Male and Female, Life and Death. One condition, motion, pole or force evolves its opposite, or becomes the law, cause, or reason for another of an opposite kind. Hence it is, that too much of one motion, when unaccompanied by another, pro- duces its negative ; as too much excitement of one kind, exhausts that kind of excitability ; too much life, so to speak, produces death ; and too much of one kind of light produces darkness ! Thus, if two red rays, from two luminous points, be admitted in a dark chamber, and falling on white paper, or other suitable reflecting surface, differ in their length, by 0,0000258 part of an inch, their intensity is doubled. A like result is produced if such difference in length be any multiple of that nearly infinitesimal fraction, by a whole number. But, a multiple by 2i, 3i, 4i, &c., gives the result of total dark- ness ! While a multiple by 2i, Si, &c., gives an intensity equal to one ray only. In one of these cases, light actually produces darkness ! Corresponding effects are witnessed in * A. J. Davis' Nature's Divine Jievelations, p. 123. TEUTH. 55 violet rays, if the difference in their lengths be equal to 0,0000157 part of an inch. The like results are given by ex- periments on all other rays, the difference in length varying with a steady uniformity of increase, from the violet to the red.* With what mathematical certainty and perfection, these laws develop the mysteries, miseries and felicities of human nature, we shall attempt to show in the following pages. Trutli. 34. From the ground we have now passed over, it may per- haps be more easily perceived what is meant by truths which corresponds to the wisdom element, or, it is the development of the wisdom element in the Divine, the same as Goodness is the development of His love element. The laws, therefore, of Nature, as we have seen, independent, unvarying, and universal, and which bring about association, progression, and development, are truths. And, hence it is, that when our thoughts internal and external, perfectly correspond with these laws or facts, they are truths. Facts are real, hypothetical or imaginary; and hence, the 'false is in those representations which put the imaginary for the real, or the hypothetical for the certain or mathematical. And hence we perceive whence it is, that we speak of correspondences between light and truth, or falsehood and darkness ; because truth is the light of wisdom ; as is always manifest in the conduct of life. The manners, or the form and order of our lives, determines the degree of our wisdom, precisely how much we know, and how much we love of goodness and truth. Doctrine of Correspondences. 35. Correspondences. These are manifested by relations. Thus, one motion, form, series or degree, indicates or corres- ponds to another. Heat corresponds to love, because it evolves motion ; light corresponds to wisdom, because it makes mani- fest, directs ; and hence, it is the order and form of the motions, evolved by love, which is light and life. Thus, life corres- ponds with matter ; the vegetable kingdom corresponds to the mineral ; the animal to the vegetable ; the mental to the ani- mal, and the spiritual to the mental. The sense of feeling corresponds to the external world ; hearing to sound ; sight to light ; and thus correspondences exist between every form and * I have seen it stated that Prof. Henry has shown, from recent experiments, that two rays of heat may be so combined, or antagoni- zed, as to annihilate each other, and thus produce cold I 56 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. degree of development in the mineral, vegetable, animal and spiritual kingdoms. Associations produce results, and correspond with causes, as we have seen ; and results always correspond with the asso- ciations ; thus, love and will with wisdom, heat and motion with light, evolves life ; the most simple forms of associated motions corresponding with the three elements, makes the triangle ; and so of all other results, from the lowest to the highest, till we ascend into the spiritual and eternal. The human mind is never so conscious of real pleasure as when it comes into a full comprehension of the Doctrine of Correspondences. When sufficiently developed to be able to perceive how God, Nature, and Law, correspond, we begin to be satisfied, as the Psalmist anticipated he should be when he awoke into the likeness or form of the Divine.* None but God can be said to see things precisely as they are, in their inmost, because He is. Himself the inmost of all things. To Him therefore, nothing can be said to be either hypothetical, imaginary or false. But not so with man, he sees or perceives from appearances only, and these must always depend upon the degrees in which his love and wisdom elements are harmoniously developed. In those sciences, therefore, which depend upon observation and the analogies of reason, truths, can be to us, merely apparent, and which, the laws of eternal progression are constantly unfolding to our in- ternal and external senses ; so that there never can be a period when we may be said to be perfectly free from error ! Those sciences, therefore, which depend upon the relations of space and number, or the fundamental principles of nature, may be said to be systems of facts which never change. But, those we denominate purely moral, are developed by those very laws of nature, and must hence progress with the ever diversified progression ot the whole human race. 1. In the external world, all we know or believe is from mere appearances. Objects have, indeed, a real substantial existence ; but, we see their appearance merely ; and the per- fection in which our external senses are developed, 'determines precisely, how near we come to i\\e truth. * Swedenborg has advanced many truthful ideas on the theological aspects of this subject ; and A. J. Davis, has, also, written some beautiful strains on the Correspondences, of Nature, including more or less of the Divine. But, an extensive want is now felt for a Trea- tise on the Doctrine of Correspondences, as developed in the essence, form, and use of all things. A good idea of what we mean, may be suggested by examining Mr. A. J. Davis' Chart, exhibiting the Pro- gressive History of the Human Kace. See also " The Macrocosm and and Microcosm," by W. Fishbous;h. RELATION. 57 2. And, thus in the mental, even more than the external world. The principles, or objects, on which our spiritual senses are exercised, have an hypothetical, or real existence ; but our sight or perception of them, is onl)' of their appearance to us ; and how they will appear to us, must of course depend upon the degrees in which our mental or spiritual senses are developed. It is only those who are " of full age," those who, by practice, have their senses exercised or developed, that can " discern both good and evil."* delation. 36. As we shall see, the term sphere applies to all Forms in the universe, and the sphere of two different bodies determines the Relation or the position which Forms, Series and De- grees sustain to each other, and this Relation constitutes the influence which one may have upon another. Perfection, Good; Imperfection, Hvil* 37. Perfection in the Motions, Forms and Degrees, is the greatest good of each. This implies unity, harmony, and mathematical regularity in the development of every part, in each element of each degree, in the different Spheres or Kingdoms. Thus, if the first, second or third elements in the mineral form be irregularly developed, imperfection in the form is the result. So in the vegetable kingdom, the good- ness of the form corresponds with the perfection in the devel- opments of each element ; if they are developed in perfect harmony the individual form is perfect, and the best of the kind or degree. And, ascending to the Animal Kingdom, the goodness or use of each animal, corresponds with the perfec- tion in which each element of their nature is developed. When the first is developed without the second or third, they will be remarkable for nothing but their eating or living dispo- sitions ; the first and second develops appetite and muscular power ; the first, second and third perfectly developed, the animal evinces instinctive powers, corresponding with its de- gree. And the perfection in which each element is developed in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms, determines the fitness or goodness of the Vegetable or Animal for the use of man. The emotional susceptibilities, volitional and intellectual pow- ers, are developed and determined in precisely the same way ; and thus, also, the health, strength, and beauty of the human form. The human body is the most healthy, the most free from pain, when each element is developed in harmony, and * Heb. 5 : 14. 3* 58 BOOK OP HUMAN" NATURE. in the greatest degree of perfection ; and the human mind is the most holy and happy, when its elements perfectly corres- pond in their motions and forms. The first element, or the first and second, without the third, makes a mere animal ; but the third, which is the perfection of the whole, allies man most to the Divine Original ; and when individuals, families, soci- eties and nations, are governed by the higher developments of wisdom, the greatest amount of love and good will pre- vail among them all. Essence, Forms, Uses. 38. These, also, are threefold ; as all forms have respect to the use, or the end, or purposes which they serve. 1. The first Use respects the individuality of the Form, its distinction and conservation. 2. The next has respect to its receptive and injestive Motions, by which it attracts and re- ceives whatever tends to its sphere, and is necessary for its perpetuation. 3. The third Use is the perfection of the whole, and has respect to progressive development, and the tendency to extend, or to ascend, or descend into the higher or lower degrees ; so that all Forms are useful, good or evil, in propor- tion as they correspond and harmonize in the motions of their development. We speak of goodness as that which tends to develop the organism. Hence we say it is i\ie fruit of Divine Love, be- cause it is that which Love does by which Light and Life are given. And so we say Truth is the light of Divine Wisdom, because Wisdom is Form and Order. The Infinite must exist in form and order ; and this order makes love the first ele- ment ; hence it gives life ; and the highest wisdom, which is the element of intelligence, reason, knowledge, which is the law bv which the emotions of love are evolved. LIFE. 59 THE HUMAN SOUL. MOTION, LIFE, SENSATION. liife. 39. The life element is /ot>e, as we have seen, and is inherent from the Divine, in all forms of substance. As God is love or life in Himself, so all the forms which are evolved from Him, have in them, heat, or the life element, from the lowest to the highest. In Him, love and wisdom are co-existent, and eter- nal, and hence, the wisdom element in the existence of the lowest or mineral kingdom is high ; but in the angular forms of its materials it may be said to be low. In the vegetable kingdom, the wisdom element is manifest in a higher form, because it evolves the circular motions, produces porosity and the nutritive fluid. Ascending to the kingdom next in order, we perceive the wisdom element in what we denominate in- stinct, which constitutes animal life in its lowest forms. The Human Form. 40. Man finds himself in existence, possessed of a material body, conscious of certain sensations, and a combination of in- herent faculties, long before he begins to inquire as to the NATURE or CAUSES of his being, or by what laws his final des- tiny is to be determined. It is in the exercise of one of these faculties, that he desires to know from whence he came ; what laws have given him his nature ; what are the conditions which produce his happiness or misery, and which constitute the mysteries or excellencies which make him a human being. And more, the faculties by which he answers these queries, he finds to be the most ennobling in his nature ; and hence, their exercise in this investigation of himself, affords the greatest satisfaction which his nature is capable of enjoying. To ascertain what man is, we must go to man himself. We want to know, not merely what he is to-day, but what he was yesterday, the day before, and as far back as history furnishes 60 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. any Icnowledge of the race. What views did man formerly take of himself, as to his nature, his origin, and destiny ? If we wish to examine any book, any science, we go to the book, we consult the subject in its nearest form, in order to satisfy ourselves as to its essence, form and use. And thus, especially with man, the form in which human nature is deve- loped. All the views, therefore, which human beings have ever taken of themselves, or of the Divine, and all that they are capable of taking of any and all things, must come into this account, in order for each result to be traced to its appro- priate cause. Origin of tlie Race. 41. As to the direct origin of the race, as such, I do not per- ceive how it is any more possible for us to know at present any more about it, than one does of his own birth. That is an event, which would seem to be so far back of our present ca- pacity to know, that we may well be satisfied to leave it where it is. It may be manifest how others came into this sphere, and we infer, of course, if we are like them, we were born in the same way. The question has been mooted by geologists, whether the race have had a diversity of origin ? Now, we know, that the mineral kingdom, as a kingdom, is a unit^ an Individuality, so to speak. So of the vegetable kingdom and of the animal. But, can we suppose that either of these kingdoms had a diver- sity of origin ? In his individuality, man comprehends all the kingdoms below him ; and we infer, that in the nature and con- stitution of things, when man was developed, an individual, male and female, the germ of the race was thus formed. And, in harmony with the laws of eternal progression, this germ must have been developed at the appropriate time after nature's period of gestation. There was a time for the completion of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms ; and when com- pleted, nature's work in that respect was done. And so of the humain race. When the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms were Individualized into Man, nature's tendencies were perfected and finished in that respect. I do not say but that during a certain period of nature's history, she may not have brought forth a number of human children, and thus the different species of the race may have been deve- loped. However, I see no necessity for this supposition, but some difficulties against it. I rather suppose, that what we call species, are portions of the same origin which have suc- ceeded one another, the higher from the lower in correspond- ence with every other department of nature.* '^ Ab to the " MoEaiq Kecordi," it affords ns but little Msistanco HYPOTHETICAL — INSTINCT. 61 Hypotlietical. 42. We are told that the system of animated nature is so intermingled, that a chain of being, as it were, may be said to run through "the whole. Thus, bitumen and sulphur form the link between earth and metals ; vitriols unite metals with salts ; crystallizations connect salts with stones ; the armianthus and lythophites form a kind of tie between stones and plants ; the polypus unites plants to insects ; the tube worm seems to lead to shells and reptiles ; the water serpent and the eel form a passage from reptiles to fish ; the anas nigra is a medium between fishes and birds ; the bat and the flying squirrel link birds to quadrupeds, and the monkey equally gives the hand to the quadruped and to man. Although it may not be encumbent on us to say precisely where, in the whole thread of Nature's developments, any one of the Individual kingdoms began, or precisely where the Race, as such, commenced, yet we may resoit to the Laws which we find now in constant operation in and around us, and which are sufficient to account for the great Fact of Human Existence, as we have seen, and as will be made to appear more and more as we proceed. (38.) Instinct. 43. An Instinctive action is common to all Forms of Lit n. without sensation, reason or observation, by which the organ- ism adapts appropriate motions to the accomplishment of definite ends, according to the wants of the organism acting. This Instinctive power is a distinguishing characteristic of the nutritive fluid. (45.) It is a Form of moving Forces, the directions of which are determined and fixed by the Degrees or Sphere, in which the motions are developed. (20.) Whatever, therefore, be the Form of the organism, we call those actions Instinctive, which are without experience or knowledge, without observation or consciousness. It is the Wisdom Element, acting in the lower Forms of Animals, and it corresponds with Intuition, in the higher Forms of Intel- ligence. (92.) Thus, so to speak, we say, that when the motions of Love or Heat extend to Wisdom or Form, that is. indeed, in our attempts to settle any question connected with Anthro- pology. It is by no means evident, that Moses either understood it, or designed to teach the present inhabitants of the earth on this subject ut all. We should as soon undertake to dress and regulate our die- tetic babita as Moses did, as we should shape our views by his on th« origin of the human race. 62^ BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. so as to make a certain Form or Organism, those motions become vital or instinctive, because they make a circle or pores, for the circulation. Tegetat>le Iii§tiiict. 44. Instinct, therefore, is the first Form of motion, and commences, as we have seen, in the lowest kingdom (19.) and ascends up, and thus develops the higher Forms above. We are told that if a pan of water be placed within six inches, on either side of the stem of a young pumpkin or vegetable marrow, it will, in the course of the night, approach it, and will be found in the morning with one of its leaves floating on the water. (25). T-his experiment may be continued nightly, until the plant begins to fruit. If a prop be placed within six inches of a young convolvulus, or scarlet runner, it will find it, although the prop be shifted daily. If, after it had twined some distance up the prop, it be unwound and twined in the opposite direction, it will return to its original position, or die in the attempt ; yet, notwithstanding, if two of these plants grow near each other, and have no stake around which they can entwine, one of them will alter the direction of its spiral, and they will twine around each other. Duhamel placed some kidney beans in a cylinder of moist earth. After a short time, they began to germinate, of course, sending the plume upwards to the light, and the root down into the soil. After a few days, the cylinder was turned one-fourth round, and again and again this was repeated, until an entire revolution of the cylinder had been completed. The beans were then taken out of the earth, and it was found that both the plume and radicle had been bent to accommodate themselves to every revolution (40.) ; and the one in its efforts to ascend, and the other to descend, had formed a perfect spiral. But, although the natural tendency of the root is downwards, if the soil beneath be dry, and any damp substance be above, the roots will ascend to reach it.* And thus it is, that this intelligent principle, (intelligent for the organism) is always present, acting, and adopting appropriate motions for the gratification of its own peculiar wants. 45. Alt Motion is not Life ; but such associated harmonized Motions as produce Porosity and Nutrition. To understand, therefore, how Life is developed into Sensation, or the form of Animals, we must keep in mind the Laws of Matter, already * Spirit World, Vol. 2, p. 148. VITALITY. 63 described. (19 ) And from which we may now be prepared to conceive, the true nature and purposes of the Nutritive Fluid. The Motions which produce Animal Life being Spi- ral, we have Porosity and the movement of the Nutritive Fluid, for the elimination of the parts to be developed. The first Forms of Life, therefore, appear in the Instinctive or Nu- tritive Fluid.* Vitality. 4 46. And thus Life is developed in Forms, Degrees and Spheres ; and from which we may perceive what Life is, what the nutritive, or the Living Forces, are. And, in answering this question, we have shown what Instinct is, for Instinct is but another word for the Vital Forces, or nutritive action. An Instinctive Action is common to all Forms of matter, and it is one by which the organism adapts appropriate means for the accomplishment of definite ends, according to the wants or attractive force of the Organism acting. (28.) And thus we find the Laws of Matter, already* described, de- veloped in the Form of Life, and these forms extending and ascending, from one degree to the next higher, till they pro- ceed from one sphere or kingdom to the next above, by the mathematical motions and laws of chemical arrangement, * The reader will perceive as he proceeds, what an important part this Idea of the Nutritive Principle bears in the author's Theory. Notice is called to it, here, because it seems just now, 1852, begin- ning to attract the attention of tiie Medical Faculty : — "We see it stated in the papers, that an application has been made to Congress for the grant of Letters Patent, to " secure the right of Discovery of the Nutritive Principle in the Cure of Disease," to a ' Doctor A. G. H.' And a book has also been published, in which the claim of " discovery" is assei:'ted. "Well, so the world goes. Now it so happens that we have before us a copy of a bo(5k, published in this city in 1847, in which this very ' Discovery' is announced, and indeed this " theory" constitutes a characteristic trait in Mr. Sunderland's Book and Theory of ' Path- etism' from first to last I (See on pages 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 44, 69, 64 and 70.) "Now after the discovery has been some five years before the pub- lic, it is, to us, marvelous, that any one pretending to a knowledge of justice, or rnedical science, should make an application for' a Pat- ent, and for that which he ought to know, of right, belongs to ano- ther ! It would be a singular case, indeed, were Congress to grant the claim." — Boston Journal of Medicine, Dec. 1852. It is perhaps characteristic of this country, that "Discoveries" should be so often made five and ten years after precisely the same " principle" had been announced to the public. Vide the author's pamphlet, entitled " New Theory of the Mind. Statement of its Philosophy, and its Discovery Defended." Stearns & Co. New York. 64 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. which evolve and govern, from the lowest to the highest, throughout universal existence. If we except the writings of Swedenborg and A. J. Davis, it may be truthfully affirmed, that the speculations of Philoso- phers in preceding ages have not assisted us very much in de- fining what Life is. However, merely using this term as ex- pressive of a Fact, like the phenomena which appear from attraction and repulsion, we find little or no difficulty. To suppose, therefore, that Life is a mere result of organ- ism is an insane idea. What made the organism ? The truth is. Life controls and develops its own organism, and, in doing so, we have seen how the Digestive Process controls a certain class of lower organisms. (39, 40.) The fluids of which the embryo is formed, must be endowed with previous life, because from their union a living Form is developed, which partakes of the properties of both its parents. If it be said, that this fluid must be composed of organized particles, I an- swer, that a previous life gave them their peculiar organiza- tion. As we have seen, the higher Forms attract the lower. And hence it must ^e borne in mind, that when we say, that Life is never apparent except where certain well known che- mical affinities are in operation, it must not be forgotten that Life performs its functions only by annihilating certain chemi- cal tendencies, as it is only in this way that the organism is preserved from decay. The ever-present, all-powerful Law of Gravitation, is resisted, and entirely suspended by the Vital Force. The sap in vegetables and the fluids in animals, all ascend against this law. The higher mo^ton* of Animal Life may be seen, also, in the power of the living Body to generate caloric. Persons have been known to remain in a heated oven while dead flesh was cooked ; and in the account of Capt. Parry's Voyage to the Arctic Seas, we are told that his crew were frequently ex- posed to a temperature 150 deg. below their own bodies, with- out being frozen at all ! ORGANIC LIFE. 65 THE HUMAN BODY. MINERAL, VEGETABLE, ANIMAL. 47. The nerves of organic life constitute a distinct system ; they are those forms of matter in which animal life first makes its appearance, and from which all the parts of the human body are subsequently developed. First, we find the rudiments of a heart, with its blood-vessels, and successively the viscera connected with this organ, and .which are the most necessary to constitute the living body, such as the stomach, alimentary canal, lungs, &c. These nerves are peculiar in their structure and functions. They are composed, principally of bundles, called ganglia^ or little brains which give off various branches extending to the different parts constituting the apparatus of organic life, which they supply with all the powers necessary for their development and functions. These ganglia are insen- sible, except when the parts become diseased, and they inter- cept impressions made upon the nerves of sensation, and pre- vent them from reaching the functions of organic life. Mypotlieses. 48. If this view of the ganglionic system be correct, we may see why it is that there seem to be more ganglia in the dorsal and lumbar regions, than have been found in all the other parts of the system ; and it will explain a number of phenomena which have hitherto remained in the dark. As, for instance : 1. That the sensation of sympathy is generally felt in the region of the solar plexus, which corresponds to the coronal regions of the head. When this feeling is powerfully excited, the hand is instinctively placed upon the epigastrium. 2. That the senses are sometimes by disease, transposed and located in this region. In cases of catalepsy and trance, persons have been unable to hear or see, except from this region. 6^ BOOK OF HUMAN NATUBE. 3. A slight blow upon this region has frequently occasioned instant death ; while severe blows upon the head, or mutila- tions, or even the destruction of the brains, did not immediately destroy life. 4. These ganglia, and, indeed the ganglionic system, have been found fully developed in the foetuses born without brains or spinal marrow. Hence it is plain, that the animal or vital functions can be carried on without brains, but not without the ganglia and solar plexus. 5. It explains the reasons why the heart continues its func- tions after the head has been struck from the body. Dr. Bor- tels declares, that when he opened the chests of six men in 182G, immediately after decapitation, near Marbourg, he found the hearts beating regularly for half an hour afterwards ; and when languishing, they were excited by irritating the great sympathetic nerve, — and yet, irritation of the spinal chord had. no effect on the heart whatever, though it did affect the mus- cles of the trunk. And he further informs us, that on dividing the cardia plexus, the action of the heart ceased instantly.* And after the cerebrum and cerebellum of a man had been entirely blown off by an explosion of fire-arms, the circulation and respiration continued for more than half an hour. If we suppose that the different systems are evolved in suc- cession, and one by the other, we may thus account for the re- dundances or deficiencies with which foetuses often come into the world.! Mntritive Fluid. 49. This fluid is chemical in its nature, as it corresponds with the laws (15.) of its production, heat, evolution, motion, form, and light, excitement ; and hence we find that it is made by the transformations of substances. Those motions, there- fore, which constitute this fluid, are of the first importance, as upon their mathematical regularity or perfection, all the phe- nomena of life^ healthy and the Mental Manifestations en- tirely depend. Their grand characteristics are comprehended in centripetal and centrifugal movements, as we shall see ; that is, those motions which accumulate matter around, or towards the capillary centres, and those which excite, or throw out by excitement the refuse matter which has answered the purposes of the nutritive power. And in these motions we find the rationale of excitement and rest, nutrition, functional * Bichat says he had observed no effects on dividing the cardiac filaments. t We have accounts of parts of foetuses found in the bodies of males, one nine, and another some twenty-six years of age. ANIMAL LIFE. 67 power, and its expenditure in exercise, or the philosophy of sleeping and waking. As this fluid is directly concerned in evolving the nervous matter from which all parts of the human body are produced, of course, that matter must partake of its nature, and be more or less chemical in the laws by which it is governed. Indeed, it will be seen at once, that the farther back we look for the evolving, moving, producing power, the nearer we approach to the most important part of the subject under consideration. And hence, we find that upon no other fluid, or principle, are the functions of the nervous system so dependent as upon this. The air may be shut out for awhile from the lungs ; food may be withheld for a period from the stomach ; but, if the distri- bution of the arterial blood be stopped for an instant, the most disastrous consequences follow, from which we infer that this is the most important fluid in the living body. The nutritive fluid corresponds with the elementary motions and forms of matter in the body, the nerves, the mind ; for each form and degree are evolved and constituted by the mo- tions of life through this fluid as the means. Motion is the cause, the nutritive fluid, the means, and life the result. Hence, whatever motions are peculiar to the elements which constitute the human mind, love, will and wisdom, they are manifested through the nutritive fluid. Aiiianal iLife. 50. It is certain that the higher forms of animals live upon vegetation, while the higher forms of the vegetable kingdom and the lower forms of the animal, approach so nearly that it is not easy to tell them apart : 1. To which kingdom do those little calcareous forms belong, called eyestones ? In substance they are stone ; and yet they have the form of life, and show the first signs of it in their motions ; and thus we have a connection between mineral and vegetable life. And then, again, in the sponge, we have a connection between the vegetable and animal. And to which kingdom do the coral insects belong 1 or that class called the cryptoneura, including the sea-nettles^ &c. ? Are they vegetable or mineral ? And so of the sensitive mimosa, deonoea miscupola, &c. These plants show sensibility to mechanical shocks, and, like animal life, are affected by chemical agents, such as nitric or sulphuric acids ; and they are poisoned also by any of the narcotics, precisely as we see sensation affected in the ner- vous system. 2. Another series in the Form of vegetation develops mo- tion, similar to that of the human heart. Thus, in the mov- 68 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. merits of the Hedysarum Gyrans, its leaves are composed of three leaflets : two lateral, linear, oblongr, and another without a fellow, removed from the two former, much larger, and of an oval, oblong form. The two lateral leaflets are in constant motion, which is executed like that performed like the second hand of a watch, that is, a quick, sudden jerk ; one of them rising about fifty degrees above the level of the leaf-stalk, while the other descends in about the same proportion. In India, when the weather is hot and moist, these leaflets have been seen to execute sixty jerks in a minute.* 3. These motions bear a striking similarity to that de- nominated Ciliary, which has been noticed throughout the entire group of the intervertebrate animals, and in some higher Forms, performed by what are called cilia, exceedingly small and numerous, but so active as to give direction to the fluids in which they are immersed. This motion continues after the death of the animal in which it lives, and much longer in the lower than in the higher Forms. It must be independent of the nervous system of the animals, as it is not affected when the animals are killed by the most powerful narcotics, or by Galvanism, unless the shock be strong enough to disorganize the tissue. 4. Another approach of vegetation to animal life is develop- ed in the sexuality of trees and plants. Maize, the strawberry, and many other productions in the vegetable kingdom, as is well known, are propagated by this law (60). f Orowtli. 51. The term ingestion may be used, for the want of a better one, to signify all those centripetal motions which re- ceive and carry to the capillary centres, and thus augment the parts and their functions. To understand the whole Nutritive * DeCandolle's Pliys. reg.,Yo\. 11, p. 869. t Vegetable Serpent. — According to some Italian journal, a new organized being has been discovered in the interior of Africa, wliich seems to form an intermediate link between vegetable and animal life. This singular production of nature has the shape of a spotted serpent. It drags itself along on the ground ; instead of a head, has a flower, shaped like a bell, which cont,ains a vicious liquid. Flies and other insects, attracted by the smell of the juice, enter into the" flower, where they are caught by the adhesive matter. The flower, then, closes, and remains shut until the prisoners are bruised and transformed into chyle. The indigestible portions, such as the head and wings, are thrown out by two spiral openings. The vegetable serpent has a skin resembling leaves, a white and soft flesh, and instead of a bony skeleton, a cartilaginous frame tilled with yellow marrow. — if. Y, Spirit of the Times. SLEEP. 69 Economy, we should have to take into view all that is included in the motions of Breathing, Digestion, Circulation and As- similation. Centripetal motions, it is certain, are the ^rott'^^ of the system, and these are the motions which constitute that state denominated sleep, in which the parts and their functions are increased or renewed. Sleep. 52. Sleep is the centripetal motions of the nutritive forces by which the parts are increased in their constituent molecules, or their functional powers. It is a law of motion, as we have seen (12), for forces, to form poles at certain distances within their spheres. That is, the force stops at a certain point within its sphere, where another motion is evolved in an opposite direction. And thus we perceive the alternate mo- tions that constitute sleeping and waking. The time for each state is determined by the Sphere in which the systems are developed ; and their intensity and duration are alternated by each other, as a matter of course. Sleep, therefore, is nutritive action in the strict sense of the word ; it is that centripetal action, which is the opposite of excitement from light, and all external influences which tend to excite the centrifugal motions of wakefulness, by which the energies of the body and mind are drawn out, and exhausted. Hence, we sleep best in the dark, for sleep is but another term for growth, in both plants and animals.^ It is the time taken by the mo- tions in the capillaries, which appropriate the nutritive fluid to supply the wants for augmenting the parts, and for reproducing what they have exhausted from light and exercise. Nature of Sleep* 53. The evidences by which this solution of sleep is de- monstrated would, of themselves, fill a volume. A few only can be referred to here. 1. In sleep, respiration and circulation are more slow than in the waking condition, thus allowing time for the nutritive fluid to repair the want of excitement. 2. Venous blood is that part of the blood which has deposit- ed its nutritive properties ; therefore, whatever tends to pro- * This may be easily proved by a hop, or grape vine, that grows against a wall. On any morning, when it has the appearance of a hot day, put a mark upon the wall as high as the vine will reach. Examine that vine in the evening, and you will see no increase, but the next morning you will find it has grown the length of an inch, or bo. 70 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. duce this state of the blood, must necessarily induce those motions in the vital, spiritual, or instinctive principle (23), which constitute sleep. Hence, — " 1. Venous congestion of the brain, from any obstacle to the return of the blood, will produce drowsiness, stupor, coma, and finally apoplexy, if its intensity be sufficiently great. "2. In sleep, respiration and circulation are performed more slowly than in the waking condition : hence, a change in the blood of the brain does not occur so frequently. " 3. Animal heat, and its causes, respiration and circulation, are feeble in hybernating animals during their winter sleep. *' 4. The adult, in whom the respiratory and circulating systems are at the maximum of development, takes less sleep than the infant, in whom the nutritive .or glandular system is in full activity, but in whom the respiratory functions are at their minimum. " 5. Motion, with its tendency to increase circulation and respiration, prevents sleep. " G. Hence, an easy and quiet position of the body, and- all the means which tend to favor a tranquil circulation, are incentives to sleep. " 7. Hence, the whole class of sedative remedies eventually produce slowness of the heart's action, after a longer or shorter stage of stimulation. " 8. Hence, the desire of sleep after exercise, as the cir- culation becomes so much slower after it, in proportion to its acceleration during it. " 9* From the same cause, wine and all stimulants act primarily as excitants ; and when their stimulation has sub- sided, the circulation becomes slow, slightly oppressed, and drowsiness supervenes. " 10. The same may be said of the warm bath, the pulse at first rising, and subsequently becoming retarded. "11. Cold, applied to the head, rapidly lessens the circula- tion, and tranquil sleep is sometimes produced by this means, in fierce delirium, and in violent paroxysms of insanity. " 12. Motion is employed as a remedial means in obviating the effects of opium. We walk the patient about, and so keep the circulation excited, till the poison is got rid of, or its effects shall have passed off. " 13. Intense cold produces slow and retarded circulation, drow.siness, and coma. Hence, the necessity not to allow persons exposed to its influence to cease from exercise, which supplies the necessary stimulation to. the circulation. A celebrated surgeon, in describing the disastrous retreat from Moscow, says, ' Those who sat down went to sleep, and those who slept, awoke no more.' NATURE OF SLEEP. 71 " 14. Hence, the amount of fat animal food which is not only eaten with impunity by those who are exposed to great cold, but is found to be absolutely essential to maintain the proper amount of circulation. " 15. We have sneezing and yawning as important illustra- tions of the ejEFects of an accelerated circulation in preventing sleep. The sneeze is a forcible expiration, after which a deep breath is taken in ; this of course produces arterialization and subsequent circulation of the blood. Yawning is a prolonged and deep inspiration, and in the same manner has the effect, for a time of keeping up the attention, by furnishing to the brain a fresh amount of arterialized blood. " 16. Immersion in an atmosphere of carbonic acid, or in an atmosphere which contains a large proportion of it, will pro- duce drowsiness, coma, and the sleep of death. *' 17. Breathing oxygen gas, on the contrary, will produce acceleration of the pulse, and all the vital functions, and eventually delirium. " 18. In delirium, whether attended with symptoms of power or debility, whether of the sthenic or asthenic type, we have an accelerated pulse. In the former case, as we lessen the excitement by depleting measures, and in the latter, or true delirium tremens, as we obtain the same end by the use of narcotics, sleep gradually steals on the patient, and delirium ceases. In fact, our grand object is to lessen the rapidity of the circulation through the brain, and thus induce sleep."* 'Wakefulnes§, Exercise, £gestioii. 54. These terms imply so nearly the same motions, and of the same laws, that they might be used almost synonymously. They each signify the centrifugal motions of the nutritive forces, which constitute excitement^ wakefulness, consumption, or expenditure of functional power, and all those exhalations from the different parts of the system, produced and evolved by the nutritive process, principally, during the time not spent in sleep. T say principally, for we know that in sleeping there is what may be termed a compensating process of excreting carbonic acid, and the vapor of water, for at every instant of life parts of the body are thus removed, and emitted into the atmosphere. And so, also, in waking, or during the exhaustion or excitement of the system, there is a constant series of centripetal motions, which supply and appropriate the quantity of the vital fluids necessary to keep up the motions of life. In these two alternating motions, we have the process which *'W. Smith, Esq., London Lancet.; 72 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. makes the bloody and from that the nutritive matter from which we see the correspondence that should always exist between sleep and exercise, and food and air. Exercise increases breathing, and the air we breathe supplies the fire which consumes the food ; this food, digested, supplies the nutritive matter, and which must be appropriated in sleep. So, if the excitement be mental, and exhaustion brings on those MOTIONS which supply the waste. There is a perfect identity between the blood and the chemical composition of fibrine and albumen. The nutritive process is simplest in the case of the carnivora. This class of animals live on the blood and flesh of the graminivora, whose blood and flesh is identical with their own. In a chemical sense, therefore, a carnivorous animal, in taking food, feeds upon itself; for the nutriment is identical in composition with its own tissues. The nitrogenized compounds of vegetables, forming the food of graminivorous animals, are called vegetable fibrine, vegeta- ble albumen, and vegetable caseine. Now, analysis shows that they are exactly of the same composition in one hundred parts ; and, what is still more extraordinary, they are absolute- ly identical with the chief constituents of the blood — animal fibrine and animal albumen. By identity we do not imply similarity, but absolute identity/, even as far as their inorganic constituents are concerned. These considerations show the beautiful simplicity of nutrition. In point of fact, vegetables produce, in their inorganism, the blood of all animals. Animal and vegetable life are therefore most closely connected, as we have seen, for the vegetable kingdom develops the animal. (19.*) When exercise is denied to gramnivorous and omnivorous animals, this is tantamount to a deficient supply of oxygen. The carbon of the food, not meeting with sufiicient oxygen to consume it, passes into the compounds containing a large ex- cess of carbon, and deficiency of oxygen ; or, in other words, fat is produced, which may be said to be an abnormal produc- tion, arising from a disproportion of carbon in the food to that of the oxygen respired by the lungs, or absorbed by the skin. Correspondential Plienomeiia. 55. In all these combined and wonderful motions, we see how beautifully the whole correspond with the three progres- sive degrees already described, (19,) and in which are devel- oped the essence of the great originating cause. Instinct. In- gestive or Nutritive Action, corresponds to Love, which • Vtdr the author's Booh of ffialth. 2d Edition, p. 50. INSTINCTIVE PHENOMENA. 7S the substance injested, or received, which corresponds to Will, power or motion, which produces forms ; and excretion, ex- citement, exclusion, development, which corresponds to Light or Wisdom. Motive L.ife. 56. The next ascending degree in the Human Form, devel- ops those nerves composing the excito-motive system, includ- ing the spinal cord, medulla oblonga, and the various branches through which are evolved the motions of sensation and mo- tion. And here, again, we find another ascending series, cor- responding with all that have gone before. Ingestion, Retention, Egestion. 57. Each of these motions are instinctive, (43,) and are car- ried on independently of the brains of which this system is the germ, and by which all the higher forms are yet to be de- veloped. Ingestion. These motions produce deglutition, by which food is received into the stomach, and the air is inhaled into the lungs. Retention. The motions which contract the sphinters, &c., and keep the contents of the bowels in their proper places. Egestion. Motions which expel the inhaled air from the lungs, and induce the closure of the eyelids, or any other movement to keep the system from injury. In these functions are originated all those motions peculiar to sneezing, vomiting, parturition, spasms, breathing, &c. &c. And they may be originated and carried on without any brains, as we know some of them are, as in the case of decapitated animals, and acepha- lous infants, (64.) Instinctive Phenomena. 58. And here, again, to understand the phenomena of life, we must keep in view what has been said of Instinct, or the Nutritive Forces, (43, 44,) by which we may account for re- sults like the following, reflected from the spinal cord ; and ob- serve that they resolve themselves into three distinct catego- ries, Ingestive, Egestive, and Reflexive. Thus : — 1. Wmking, from a loud noise, or from a blow aimed at the eyes. 2. Tears, from laughter, or from exquisite pain. 3. Reaction, from the sudden application of cold. 4. Reflex motions of paralyzfed limbs. 4 74 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 5. Vomiting, coughing, spasms, from titulation, and a long list of motions traceable to tlie impressions made on the spinal system, such as stranguary, and incontinence of urine ; impo- tence, from the loss of power, in the visiculae seminales, and the ejaculatories, and the act of respiration from the first to last, is produced by this same law. The respiratory appetite commences the moment the foetus comes into the world of air, by which it is to be fed, and from which, (together from ali- ment) this fluid is elaborated, and appropriated to the wants of the human body. And similar facts might be referred to, showing that changes are produced in the tissues by the nutri- tive jiuid, when injuries are done to the nerves. Thus, lesion is produced in the lungs, if the pneumagastric nerves be divid- ed. Magendie divided the fifth pair within the brains, and in- flammation and loss of sight followed, and finally the total loss of the eyes. ,The next in the order is the cerebral, or mental system, which is evolved from the preceding Form. And this, also, ascends in three Degrees of Development. Cerebellufiii. 59. Though this portion of the cerebral system is composed of two distinct brains, like the cerebrum, it is usually consid- ered as a part of the former, or in connection with it. How- ever, the light which Vivesection and Phrenology have shed upon its functions, would seem to have proved, beyond all doubt, that they constitute the sexual passion, and unite the motor and cerebral systems, so that the latter may act through the former. To give any considerable proportion of what might be said, sliowing the real functions of this organ, would fill a volume. The following may be taken as the summary of what seems now to have been generally demonstrated, by Phrenology and pathological investigation. 1. The sexual passion has its seat in the cerebellum, and is energetic, or the reverse, in proportion to the size and tone of this organ. 2. Smallness of the cerebellum, much inequality of its lobes and deficiency of its tone, are the cause of impotence. 3. When the cerebellum is very small, impotence is perma- nent. 4. When the cerebellum is small, it soon suffers in torte, if made to perform its functions with ordinary frequency. 5. When one lobe of the cerebellum is small and the other large, in a man, it is sometimes the case that he, at intervals distant in proportion to the size of the large lobe, perfprmt the GENITAL. %^" generative act imperfectly, until the large lobe which had been exhausted, recovers its tone. 6. When the cerebellum is very large and is much exerted, as it usually is in such cases, it becomes impaired in tone, and impotence is sometimes the result ; but the generative act may well be performed by a large cerebellum, even when im- paired in tone. 7. Average endowment of the cerebellum is most favorable to permanent potency. 8. When the cerebellum becomes much deficient in tone, if it be not soon cured, the spinal 'marrow and its nerves, the or- ganic nervous system, the intellect and moral feelings, are successively debilitated. 9. Deficiency of tone of the cerebellum, in the male or fe- male, is often transmitted to the offspring. 10. Impaired tone of the cerebellum is the cause of sper- matorrhea. 11. The size of the genital organs exercises no influence on their activity or vigor ; they are often inert when large, and vigorous when small. 12. The father of a monstrosity, an account of the post- mortem examination of which I published some time ago, had the cerebellum small and debilitated, and had also spermator- rhea ; he was permanently weak in the genital organs, and was the means of making me acquainted with many similar* cases and their peculiar symptoms. His wife became jealous, and went mad in consequence of believing that he was unfaith- ful, and that what was the result of debility was caused by dis- like of her She died in a lunatic asylum. These facts, in connection with remark No. 8, render it probable, in my opin- ion, that the subjects of abnormal organization are the pro- ducts of parents whose generative apparatus was diseased, and general health consequently impaired. I think the con- dition of the cerebellum, in the parents of monstrosities, should be observed. 13. Permanent or frequent impotence, or even continued or partial debility of the genital organs, in men who have large self-esteem and destructiveness, and benevolence or consci- entiousness not very large, often produces strong selfish- ness or malignity, and also cunning and falsity ; for though secretiveness should not be large, it is so much exercised in these cases to conceal the symptoms of their disease, and preserve the reputation of virility, that it operates as if it predominated in size. This is in accordance with the re- mark of Dr. Cox, " that it seemed to be a law of the hu- man constitution, that when any of the faculties is pained or disagreeably active,*' destructiveness instantly comes into 76 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. play. Here amativeness is mortified, and self-esteem and love of approbation disagreeably active, and destructiveness becomes consequently excited, secretiveness being active also, malevolence, cunning and falsehood, result. 14. Over-exertion or exhaustion of the cerebellum, robs adhesiveness and combativeness of their power, and thus causes cowardice. 15. Whatever exhausts the power of the constitution, seems not only to diminish the power of combativeness, but also to stimulate cautiousness. 16. In some men, an activity of the cerebellum greater than ■what we would expect from their temperaments and devel- opments, may exist for a long time without producing impo- tence ; here it seems to appropriate more than its own share of the nervous energy of the system ; the other organs of the body suffering a diminution of power, apparently that the generative apparatus may obtain an increase. 17. The cerebellum is in general too much exercised in the married state. 18. When the cerebellum is too much exercised, no matter what the size of it may be, it becomes impaired in tone. 19. Men and women who have the cerebellum much below the average size, should not marry. 20. Impotence is curable in all cases but where the cere- oellum is very small and disorganized. 21. Fluor albus is caused by deficient tone of the cerebel- lum in many cases. 22. Deficient size and tone of the cerebellum, in males or females, is a cause of want of liveliness and sometimes of mel- ancholy and madness. 23. Disease of the cerebellum is often the real cause of ab- surd eccentricities. 24. The treatment of impotence should always be directed with a view of its origin from the cerebellum.* I doubt the correctness of the conclusions numbered 2 and 20, without some qualification, as I am convinced that impo- tence is often caused by the sameness in the temperaments ; and if so, it cannot be cured, even where there is no difii- cdlty in the cerebellum. In such case, of course, impotence must not be considered as the physical fault of either. The fault, if any there be, consists in the marriage of two persons, whose temperaments are so nearly alike. Facts are at hand to prove that the cerebellum and lower * Dr. Jamieson. THE SEXES. 77 ■^ftions of the cerebrum, are particularly related to the mus- cles and limbs. Indeed, it would not be unreasonable to infer this fact, from what is known of the functions appropriated to other portions ; for, as the upper and frontal organs answer for intellectual functions, we might suppose that the lower por- tions would hold relations with the animal and lower parts of the system. And hence, we find that a severe blow upon the lower and back part of the head, rendered a man paralytic in his arms and legs. And it may be noticed, that paralysis of the lower part of the body, even when arising from lesion in the corresponding portions of the brain, does not affect the mental functions at all. * Male and Female. 60. The sexes are determined by the predominance of the first or third elements inherent in all forms of matter. The love principle is female, because it attracts, receives and evolves ; hence it is light and life. The wisdom principle is male, because it gives ; hence wisdom is order and form, and the perfection of love. And hence it is, that all forms sustain the relation to one another of male and female, thus corres- ponding with all the phenomena of life, and the nature of things. The forms of organic, motive and cerebral life, are double and correspond : Heart — Artery. 1. The sohible and nutritious portion of the food passes from the digestive tube into the lacteals, and through the mesenteric glands and thoracic duct into the left sub- clavian vein. 2. It is a large artery which takes the blood to the lungs. 3. To this artery a heart is pre- fixed. 4. Into the heart large venous roots go — the cavae. 5. Out of the heart comes an artery, the pulmonary or cardiapul- monic. 6. The reverse or contrary of the artery is the vein. 7. The blood-vessel going to the lungs, consisting of a heart and an artery, produces a constant and rapid motion of the blood through the capillaries of the lungs. Spleen — Vein. 1. The soluble nutritious por- tion of the food, as well as the drink, passes from the tube into the intestinal capillaries, and through the mesenteric veins into the middle of the trunk of that great vein, whose roots are in the spleen and whose branches are in the liver. 2. It is a large vein which takes the blood to the liver. 3. To this vein a spleen is pre- fixed. 4. Into the spleen small arterial branches go — the branches of the splenic artery. 6. Out of the spleen comes a vein, the splenic or splenohepatic. 6. The reverse or contrary of the heart is the spleen. 7. The blood-vessel going to the liver, consisting of a spleen and a vein, produces an intermittent and slow motion of the blood through the capillaries of the liver.* * Mr. Jackson, liondou Lancet. f8 BOOK OF iiUMAK NATURE. In life, therefore, we have a series of alternating phenomena, tvhich perfectly correspond with the other phenomena of na- ture, such as motion and rest, cold and heat, waking and sleep- ing, day and night, male and female, positive and negative,! centripetal and centrifugal motions, which appertain to matter universally ; and then we have the antagonizing functions, in- clinations, tendencies, hopes, volitions, occupations, views and feelings, which we find in human nature, and according to the Constitution of things. (10.) Oeiieration. 61. As the nervous forms are generated, througljK which mind is manifested, it follows that the mind itself is affected and modified, as the case may be, by all those states and cir- cumstances which tend to affect the health, habits, and mental condition of parents, and especially of mothers during the period of gestation. Indeed, in the features, the dispositions, the habits and health of children, we may always see ample demonstrations of the truth of what is here assumed. There is now living in the State of Vermont, a man over thirty years of age, who, though he talks freely with every body else, has never been able to speak to his own father, while looking him in the face ! When he first began to talk, it was noticed that when his father attempted to talk with him, he invariably turned his head the other way, and has never once been able to speak to his father while looking him in the face, from that time to the present ! And, indeed, till he was thirty yeafs of age, he was never able to speak to his father at all ; though since that time, he has spoken to him when his back was turned towards him ! Two months before he was born, his father came into the house behind his mother, and addressed her in very severe and opprobrious language. It very much excited her resistance, and looking round, she attempted to reply, but was literally choked with indignation. The impres- sion which her mind made upon the nervous system of that foetus, has now lasted more than thirty years — sufficiently long, certainly, to demonstrate the truth of the doctrine I am here attempting to inculcate. Materiial. 62. Whatever occupies the mind of the mother with a cer- tain degree of intensity^ at particular tinies during the period of gestation, will be sure to make an impression upon the phy- sical and mental systems of the child. Hence, the danger of ugly or disagreeable objects. The Lacedemonians were ac- customed to place beautiful statues in the rooms with their CEREBRUM. 79 pregnant wives, and the same law governs animals, if we may credit the Bible account of Jacob. During this period conju- gal abuses should be avoided. Departures from the law of absolute continence, are attended, always with mischievous results, both to the mother and the child. (62.) I^erves of External Sense. 62. These, again, are threefold. 1. Feeling, which is the first excited, (after birth,) from the air, and the sense of hunger. 2. Hearing, which is next excited. 3. And then the sense of sight. Taste and smell are mere modifications of Feeling. As these are the avenues through which impressions are first made upon the mind, the mental manifestations are deficient, as one or more of these senses are wanting, in cases where the mind is not developed and matured before the sense is lost. Cerebrum. 64. The next degree develops the brains, proper, which are also double ; — one complete brain filling each (right and left) side of the skull.* And here, too, we find the same three- * Edwin Weston, of Belchertown, Mass., had his brains literally divided by a circular saw, March 21, 1834. He was theu eighteen years of age, and at work near the saw, and stooping down under it, he thoughtlessly raised his head, suddenly, against the saw, while it was in rapid motion. It entered directly upon the falciform process, commertcmg in the frontal, an inch from the lower parts of the hair, and extended back 'eight and one half inches towards the occipital bone ! About a table spoonful of cerebral matter exuded from the fissure. He was unconscious till the next day, though not without sensation, as he complained considerably during the dressing of the wound. He was under the medical treatment of Dr. Thomson till the next June, when he was pronounced well. He had fits, however, occasionally, afterwards, till he was trepanned by Dr. Mott. He is now living, and well, without any apparent injury to his mind. — Letter of JDr. Thoinson to the author, July 21, 1847. In the Spiritual Philospher, for Dec. 14, 1850, will be found a case quoted from the American Medical .Journal, of Mr. PhineasP. Gage, of Rutland, Vt., who, while blasting rocks, had an iron crowbar, three feet and a half long, weighing more than thirteen pounds in weight, blown through his head ! And yet, that same Phineas P. Gage is now (1852,) living and perfectly well. The whole of this immense -weight and length — this bar, or bludgeon of iron — was driven through Gage's face and brain, as he stooped over the hole in the act of tamping with sand. It struck him on tlie left cheek, iust behind and below the mouth, ascended into the brain behind the left eye, passing from the skull, which it shattered and raised up, " like an inverted funnel," for a distance of about two inches in every direction around the wound, flew through the air, and was picked up by the workmen, *' covered with blood and brains," several rods behmd where he stood. 80 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. fold degrees of development ; the lowest corresponding to the love principle, the next to the will power, and the last and highest to wisdom, intelligence. And in these forms we find, also, an advance in the qualities in the matter ; for it is only in the higher forms that the cortical or grey nervous matter is found, in which the motions are originated which constitute POWER, or Intellectuality. We have numerous accounts of foetuses that have been born, and lived for some time without any cerebrum, at all ! And of other cases where the whole of the cerebral mass has been let out of the cranium, for the purpose of facilitating delivery, and yet life has remained some hours afterwards. The fact that foetuses are sometimes born without any brains, or spinal chord, does not, certainly, seem to favor the assumption that the cerebrum is the point from which all the nerves originate in the sense some have supposed. That vitality does not depend so much upon the brains — and, indeed, that all the functions of the vital or animal econo- my may be carried on, for a time, without them, — is further proved from the fact that all the other parts of the body are formed, and considerably developed, even before the brains and spinal chord have assumed any degree of consistence, more than the white of an egg, and consequently are utterly incapa- ble of any functional power. Magendie mentions the case of a girl, who lived to the age of eleven years, with the use of her senses, and with feeble voluntary motion, but sufficient for her wants and progression. After death, no cerebellum nor mesocephalon could be found. Another case is mentioned by Blumenbach, of a twin female foetus, born without any head, arms, blood vessels, or thorax. It was born alive, for it repeatedly extended and bent its legs, before it died.* In 1673, M. Duverney removed the cerebrum and cerebel- lum from a pigeon, and found that the animal lived for some time, and searched for its food. Mr. Lawrence saw a child four days old, without any encephalon except a mere bulb, which was a continuation for about an inch above the foramen occipitale from the spinal chord. Its breathing and tempera- ture were natural. f Mr. Oliver saAV another case of the same deficiency, and the child not only cried and sucked, but squeezed with its hand ; and another is mentioned -^by Lolle- mand, which lived three days. Dr. Kaan, a century since, observed a frog move all its limbs half an hour after its head had been cut off, and even after * Dr. EUiotson, Hu. Phys. p. 793. -t Mod. Cbir. Trans, vol. v. p. 166. DECUSSATION. 81 its body had been divided in two. Fontana declares that after removing the brains of a turtle, and entirely emptying the cranium, it lived six months, and walked as before. Mr. Flurens took both hemispheres from a chicken, and yet it walked, flew, shook its wings, and cleaned them with its beak as before. A viper, after decapitation, moved towards a heap of stones, where it had been accustomed to hide itself. Rede extracted the brains of a land tortoise, and it lived and walked for six months afterwards. Magendie says, " It is droll to see animals skip and jump about of their own accord, after you have taken out all their brains, a little before the op- tic tubercles. New-born kittens tumble over in all directions, and walk so nimbly, if you cut out their hemispheres, that it is quite astonishing." And he speaks of a hedgehog which gratified him in this way two hours after the operation ! We are told, that in foetuses full grown, without any ence- phalon, or even spinal chord, the circulation, nutrition, secre- tions, &c., proceed equally as in others, which, besides a spi- nal chord and ganglia, possess also brains. These facts would seem conclusive against the supposition that the brains are a kind of galvanic battery, which supply vitality, or nervous power, to the other portions of the system. As the cere- brum is the last part formed, or matured, it is reasonable to suppose that its relation to the body is secondary when com- pared with the heart and other organs in that region. It is certainly a law of nature that those organs, in living bodies, should be first developed, whose functions are most essential in the vital economy ; and hence, we find the formations com- mence with the solar plexus, the ganglia of the dorsal region, together with the heart and blood vessels.* Decussation. 65. The muscles, limbs and organs, are controlled by the brain on the opposite side of the body ; that is, the right brain corresponds with the left side, and the left brain with the right side, and the muscles are moved through these associations or relations, which exist between different portions of the same muscles, and also, between these and the cerebral nerves, whose activity develops the mind. From which it follows, that there is a reciprocal influence between the different nerves * Dr. K, Nelson states, that on dissecting two moles, he found the optic nerve did not extend to the brains. If these animals do not iiso the eye, there is no necessity for connecting the eye with the brains. On the same principle of nature, we find the fish in the celebrated Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, have no eyes — simply because they have no use for them. 4* 82 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. and the other organs of the entire system ; and hence it is that the state of one organ or part is changed by the state of another, with which it is associated.. PUysiogiioiiiy. 66. These sympathetic relations or associations develop the nerves and muscles, hot of the face merely, but of the entire system, and thus it is that the Mind from within, evolves and shapes the contour of the whole body without, moulding and Constituting the form of the Head, Face, Eyes, Nose, Mouth, Ears, and each of the Features, and hence the science of Physiognomy is founded in the very nature and constitution of the human mind ; as both animals and men instinctively (102) judge of the mind within the body from the signs which that same mind has evolved in the features of the body without. It is curious to see with what mathematical ejfactness the angular and circular motions are developed in the physiogno- my of the human body. Thus, by drawing lines from various points in the face, you will make triangles which will be equi- lateral only when the forms are perfectly developed. One is made from the centre of the chin to the corners of the mouth ; another from the corners of the mouth to the centre of the nose. Standing erect and stretching the arms out at right angles, an equilateral triangle is made by drawing a lihfe from the ends of the fingers to the centre between the feet. I¥ervoti§ A§!Sociatio]is. 67. The Laws of association are always concerned in the evolution of nervous phenomena. (34, 35.) Thus, the cere- bral and spinal nerves, and the nerves of the special senses, are so associated, that an impression made upon one necessarily affects the other. And associations are established between different parts by disease, so that the mind becomes conscious of the state of parts between which and the cerebral system there is no direct nervous connection. (39.) As life itself is the result of associated motions, so the different organs of the animal and mental economy are excited by these same laws of association. Thus, when light is associated with the optic nerve expanded upon the retina, we have the sense of sight; when odors are associated with the olfactory ne,rves, we have the sense of smell ; when the vibrations of air reach the auditory nerves, we have the sense of hearing ; or, rather, when the mind is associated with these nerves, and they sympathize with the sound, we hear ; and when the mind is associated with the optic nerves, and thus sympathizes with the rays of light that impinge upon them, we have the sense of SYMPATHY. 83 sight and sound. And so of each of the senses ; it is only when the mind is associated with their appropriate nerves, that -those nerves have motion, or become active and receive im- pressions made upon them. Respiration, Circulation. 68. These laws prevail throughout the system. When the air is associated with the mucous membrane of the bronchia, it produces respiration ; and so of the circulation of the blood from breathing. The blood associated with the sentient nerves expanded on the lining membranes of the heart and arteries, causes the contraction of the muscular fibres ; and this, with the expansion produced by the heat generated in breathing, induces and keeps up the alternate motions of this fluid, and the organs concerned in its ebbing and flowing through thp system. And thus, also, with the sense oi feeling, taste, and the peristaltic motion of the bowels, so that all nervous, muscular, or physical changes which take place in the human body, are the resultant phenomena of the laws of association. Sympathy. 69. In these laws of association, also, we have the philoso- phy of mental and physical sympathy, and hence we apply this term to all those results that we can trace directly or indirectly to mental or physical associations. These laws of association or sympathy between the vital organs and the substances which nourish the system, such as air and food, keep up the phenomena of life. Their disturbance produces disease, and their destruction, death. That nature's laws have originated this term, or that it has been used to signify those relations in the constitution of things,' which cause nature's phenomena, is manifest, how- ever unwilling many may be to admit the appropriateness in the use of this term. It is one which we apply, both to signify causes and effects, to things below and above, thus : — 1. To the physical world. We are accustomed to say, there is sympathy between the iron and loadstone, between the magnetic needle and the north pole. 2. The organic world. It is said to be sympathy where there is a similar state, or "consent of parts," when one organ is affected by the condition of another. 3. In the mental world. Here it is used to signify a fellow feeling, an agreement in the affections. Love, friendship, feeling for another in distress. Hence it would seem justifiable, always, to use this terra when speaking of results which we can tra-ce to a relatioij, direct or indirect, between two persons, minds, or bodies.^ 84 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. Individuality. 70. It is exceedingly interesting to trace the degrees of development in nervous forms, and notice how regularly one succeeds, and is evolved by the other ; so that the brains of the foetus may be traced from one degree to another, through that of the fish, bird, and all the mammalia, till it reaches that form in which we find it developed, in an evenly-balanced, well-governed, intelligent mind. 1. Thus, having traced, as it were, nature's method by which the human organism is perfected out of the individual king- doms (19) which are below, it may be well to pause here, and reflect upon that vast elevation upon which man finds himself placed in the constitution of his being. It is worthy of notice, that, in the most ancient theological writings of which we have any knowledge, it is affirmed, that " God made man in his own image.^'' In what sense this is emphatically true, men do not comprehend till they come to understand the sove- reignty of their individuality. If the Divine, himself, be su- preme in that sense, that He is distinct in his Personality, there being " none other besides Him ;" then it must follow, that if man be created in His image, he must, not only cor- respond to Him in the number of his elements, but, also, in their oneness, or the perfection of their organism. So that man is so distinct in his form, internal and external, that his oneness can neither be diffused and thus lost in the general mass, nor can it be dissolved by any laws in the universe of being, because the perfection or laws of his organization are far above any and all other laws that could have any such tendency. If, therefore, God, himself, be an Individual, so must Man be, whom He has developed in His own image. 2. This doctrine of individuality is, also, as we have seen, the order of nature throughout the universe. (19.) Each kingdom is individualized and distinct by itself at the same time ; one and all hold corresponding relations to each other. While, therefore nature comprehends an infinite variety of forms, degrees, and spheres, she proclaims the doctrine of individualism, as inherent, fundamental, and eternal through- out the vast dominions of her realm. There are, there can be, no two kingdoms precisely the same, no two perfect or- ganisms exactly alike. 3. As this doctrine of individual sovereignty is the natural and legitimate development of nature's laws of eternal pro- gression, so it is that part of nature's work, over which man has no control. He did not originate himself. Hence, the laws by which he is brought into his individuality, ar« Fate to THE SENSES. 85 him, and this is the good of which he becomes conscious in the maturity of his manhood. 4. This doctrine is the true basis oi freedom, social, univer- sal freedom. As an individual, Man (that is when matured from adolescence,) is free and independent of all other men, having the inherent and inalienable right to think and act for himself; conditioned that he have respect to other indivi- dualities like himself; and, that he shall alvi'ays bear the cost of his own conduct. 5. As this doctrine of manhood is the only true foundation of all personal freedom, so it is the fundamental law^ in the order of society. For a want of this knowledge, and the full development of this principle, have arisen all the antagonism of society ; all wars, all those bitter sectarian persecutions, religious and political murders that have marked the infancy of the race. (95. ) It lies at the foundation of all their social reforms, and must be believed, appreciated, and acted out, and will be, indeed, in humanities, millennium, when the race, as such, is developed into one family, united, happy and free.* Abnormal Action of tlie Senses. 71. That Sensation is constituted by the chemical arrange- ment of the nervous matter, produced by the motions of the nutritive forces, is susceptible of the clearest demonstration. We have seen, that the direction given to the motions of the nutritive power, produces excitement, or the reverse. (48, 50.) Also that the lower forms evolve the higher. (19.) Hence it fol- lows that the higher must supersede and control the lower, from which they have been developed. The motions which constitute mental life (59) must control, excite, or suspend the motions of sensation. And hence, we find each of the senses of sight, hearing and feeling, effectually suspended by the mo- tions of the mind, in cases of what is called reverie ; or when the attention becomes fixed, in a certain degree. Fix the mind through one sense, and it suspends each of the others. That is, if the mind be intent on the sense of sight, the sense of hearing is suspended ; if the attention be fixed on hearing, the sight is suspended. Hence you cease to notice what does not interest the mind, like the ticking of a clock, and the noise of machinery to which you are much accustom- ed. Soldiers, in time of battle, lose all sense of fear, and even of feeling, for, often when wounded, they know nothing of it till some time after. Fixing the attention, suspends this * Kead two books written by Henry C. Wrightj entitled " Anthro- pology, or the Science of Man ;" and " Human Life." 86 BOOK OF HUMANT IfATURE. sense, in cases of fascination and trance. Any person, whose temperament is such as to enable him to fix his attention suffi- ciently, may thereby control his own nervous system, so as to prevent the sense of pain during surgical operations performed on his own body. In this way, sleep or trance may be self- induced, and in this very way it is often induced, more often than in any other. Hence the notions about a " fluid," " mag- netic" or nervous, supposed to be eliminated out of, or into, a somnambulist, (in the manner supposed under the name of " mesmerism,") who is put ^nto this state by " manipulation," are unfounded. Fuiictioit§ of tlie Nutritive Fluid. 72. There is, however, one kind of fluid, which is trans- ferred, not out. of the patient, (who controls his own sensa- tions as 1 have stated) but from the nerves of sensation, to the Mental Organs, concerned in bringing about that state, such as firmness, and resistance. This is the nutritive fluid, which supplies all parts of the system with their functional powers. That this fluid is accumulated in parts upon which the mind is concentrated, and in organs which are excited, is evident from what takes place, from mental emotions, in cases of inflammation, blushing, erection, &c. And this assump- tion is sufficient to account for what occurs in cases of exhaus- tion, from long continued exertions of the mind or body. The nutritive fluid is exhausted faster than generated, and hence the weakness that follows. ]>egrees of Sensation. 73. Sensation is suspended by cold and by chemical agents, while consciousness and the mind remain the same. It is of- ten so, where sulphuric ether is given to render persons insen- sible during surgical operations. The insensibility may be local, general, or total. By applying ice to any part of the system, the sensation is thereby suspended. And inhaling sulphuric ether enough to change the chemical condition of the blood,*' upon which sensation depends, a state of general or total insensibility is thereby produced ; at the same time, the mind may remain perfectly conscious of what is going on. Hence we see that sensation is developed in three degrees. 1. jPeeZzn^, merely, or touch. This may be destroyed while the next sense remains. 2. «Sen5e, as of cold, heat, pain, &c. 3. Consciousness, of what is passing in the mind. * London Lancet, July, 1847, p. 86. . CONSCIOUSNESS. 87 The perfection of sensation evolves consciousness, which, like the lower degrees of sensation, may be excited or entirely suspended by mechanical, chemical, and mental motions. Suspension of tlae ISenses. 74. 1. Mechanically; as by a blow upon the head, or the epigastrium, and gun-shot wounds. It is said, by those fami- liar with battles, that, when the body is struck by a ball, after it has spent its force from the cannon's mouth, the flesh is often mangled, and the patient lives some time ; but, when the ball strikes the body immediately, though the system may be scarcely injured at all, yet consciousness and life together are knocked out of it in an instant of time. 2. Chemically. Precisely the same effects are produced by miasma, antimony, sulphuric ether, &c. 3. Mental effects. Consciousness is suspended through the mind by horror, terror, anger, fear, joy, &c. Now how is this 1 Here are exactly the same changes brought about in the nervous system, by the mind, that are produced by motion, or mechanical blows, and by chemical poisons ! Thus demon- strating, beyond all doubt, the nature of consciousness, which is the degree of form and motion from which the human mind is developed. That 1 am correct in these assumptions, I think will appear if we Consider that motion, alone, exercises chemical proper- ties, always. (27.) The sublimation of the nervous matter, into those forms which constitute consciousness, arranges its particles into that condition which makes them susceptible to sound, and sound may then change their direction, and thus alter their chemical properties. Hxciteinent. 75. Motion evolves heat, as does the change of bodies. (15-, 19.) Heat is excitement, inflammation ; or it is an increase of the nutritive fluid, beyond the wants of the parts to which it is attracted. (54.) Now we know that all extra excitement in the brains, increase consciousness. (52, 53.) Cold, there- fore, disposes to sleep and insensibility, except when suddenly applied, when the system is not chilled ; if applied when the temperature is up, it produces reaction, and thus excites con- sciousness. Less heat is evolved in sleep ; and hybernating animals are much lower in their temperature than others. Sound, or the thoughts which excite the mind, thus produce motion, heat, excitement, activity, wakefulness. Blumen* bach* saw a man, a large part of whose skull had been remo- * Phys. Am. Ed. p. 220. 88 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. ved ; and, when aroused from sleep, he could see his brains extended by the blood rushing into them ; and, when he fell asleep, the blood subsided and his brains shrunk in their di- mensions. In irritations of the brains, there is no sleep. These facts not only show the nature of the change under- gone, when consciousness is suspended, as in cases of som- nambulism, but they show also how this change may be pro- duced. Double Senses. 76 We have, in the above, the rationale of what has been called " double consciousness," and somnambulism. External consciousness is suspended, while the activity of the mind remains ; and when the normal state returns, there is (it may be) no recollection of what has taken place, because it was not associated, in the memory, with the normal waking state. See what is said on sleep, (52) and dreaming. ( 45. ) Double Brains. 77. There may be often, also, a division in the memory of consciousness, produced by the alternate activities of the two brains, in each side of the cranium. One may be in its natural state, while the other is in an abnormal condition, and hence the memories of both must differ ; and thus we may see the foundation for the reports which have been made of cases of " double consciousness," so called, as many such have been published from time to time. (114, 46. ) Soul, Mind, Spirit. 78. The threefold, elementary constitution of man's internal nature, seems to give some authority for designating it by these three different terms, as there is a sense in which each of them may be appropriately used to signify a degree above, or below the other. I arrange them in the order which nature appears herself to have indicated ; though we know, indeed, that these terms are often used synonymously. The soul is the life of the human body, and corresponds to love. The mind is the life of the soul, and corresponds to will. The spirit is the life or the inmost of the mind and cor- responds to wisdom. In each, there are, also, three degrees of development, corresponding to the three elements of matter and the great first cause of all. The fundametal essential elements, therefore, of the human form are love, will, and wisdom, and which are developed and manifested, in cor- responding nervous organisms, constituting the human brains, as we have seen. Let us consider them, each in their order (64.) THE LOVE PKINCIPLE. 89 The Soul,— liove Principle. 79. The first element, constituting the hmnan soul, is the love principle, which is light and /e/e. This principle, as we have seen, develops ascending and extending forms and de- grees, which evolve all the emotions, volitions, and actions which constitute the sensibilities, mental powers and intelligence of the human mind, or which develop the body, and make the nature of man. 1. Instinctive liOve. 80. Instinctive love develops corresponding degrees. 1. Ingestive. Including all those instinctive motions of the animal economy, by which air and food are received, and digested, for the supply of the wants of the organism, the per- formance of its various functions, and the development of its parts. 2. Retentive. Including all those motions and volitions, voluntary or involuntary, which retain what instinct has acquired ; which contract the sphincter muscles ; and keep the organism in a suitable position against the laws of gravitation ; and maintain the tissues against the destructive force of oxygen which tends to interrupt the processes of nutrition. 3. Egestive. Including all those emotions, volitions, and actions which exclude, or expel, from the lungs, bowels, pores, the refuse matter from which the nutritive fluid has been separated by the ingestive motions ; and, also, by which light, or any offending substance, is excluded from either of the external senses. And thus are developed all the organs, functions, and mo- tions, which are combined in the life and form of the human body. The next degree develops the external senses. 2. Sensuous I^ove. 81. Or all those emotions, volitions, and actions, compre- hended in, and which have respect to, the senses. And these, also, ascend in corresponding degrees, from what is merely animal, up to the mental, and spiritual. 1. Instinctive. Including all those emotions which gratify the animal sensations ; such as the love of life, food, smell, agreeable temperature ; playfulness, friendship, &c. 2. Retentive. Those emotions and volitions, which are de- signed to conserve the sensuous life, such as fear, resistance ; defence, protection ; sense of pain ; cunning, deception, deceit ; disguise, firmness, self-esteem. 3. Relative. Those emotions, volitions, arid action?, which BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. constitute and manifest, sagacity, aversion, anger, hatred, cruelty, tyranny, retribution, destructiveness. Tiiese manifestations are common to the higher forms in the animal kingdom, and to such human beings, more or less, whose minds are imperfectly developed, and who, consequently, are not governed by the dictates of »uperior wisdom. RECEPTiVE MENTAL EMOTIONS. 91 THE HUMAN MIND. CONSCIOUSNESS, INTELLIGENCE, REASON Receptive Meiital Emotions. 82. This class includes all those mental motions which appertain to the inner man, and which feed and gratify the mind, in itself considered. Every mind has its idiosyncrasy, its peculiar appetite, which is fed, and from which the mind is gratified and developed into other degrees of good or evil, as the case may be. 2. Retentive Mental Volitions. 83. Including all those emotions and volitions of the mind that relate to itself, its self-government : those volitions which retain and keep within the mind its own interior actions, so that they may not become known to others. 3. Relative Mental Actions. 84. Including all those emotions, volitions, and actions which the mind manifests to other minds for its own gratifica- tion. And thus may be seen the origin of all emotions, voli- tions and actions which are conceived and developed from the human mind. Without an exception, they each and all origi- nate in the element of love, from which they are evolved, and become the element of will ; and will evolves and develops the element of wisdom, which directs to the ways and means by which the will may gratify the elements of love. External agencies operate upon love through the external senses, so that in all cases where an emotion arises, as we say, spon- taneously in the mind, it is the motion of love ; or, if the im- pression is received from external associations, it is received and responded to by love through will alone ; or by will under the direction of wisdom. And in this manner the mind is self- moved, and may change its own conditions and manifestations. Thus :— 92 BOOK OP HUMAN NATURE. 1. "What love most desires, the will-power executes. It is so in all animals, infants, children and adults, who act without wisdom. 2. When the love is feeble, the will-power corresponds ; hence, what the mind does not much desire, the will-power is not much exerted to obtain. And hence it is, that love and will, are spoken of as often signifying one and the same ele- ment of mind. 3. When wisdom is developed, it is for the purpose of showing in what way love should be gratified. Wisdom corresponds to light, and truth, justice. And here we see in what the greatest happiness of every human mind consists — it is in the harmonious action of love and wisdom. All those intelligences are necessarily and perfectly holy and happy, whose will exe- cutes exactly what their love demands under the direction of their wisdom. Self-Coiitrol. 85. The greater controls the less — the higher element is evolved from and controls the one below, when it becomes a perfect form, and is perfectly developed. Hence, if love de- sire to suspend the motions of sensation, the will-power does this when wisdom guides the way. Or, if love desire a state of utter unconsciousness of all the external senses, the will- power may suspend them by withdrawing the nutritive forces from the external senses, and concentrating them in the ele- ment of will for the time being. And this is precisely what the will-power does in cases of spontaneous somnambulism, and trance ; so that the mind in this way brings on upon itself, sleep, insensibility, grief, or joy, according as the will-power controls and directs the nutritive fluid, to the different locali- ties, and functions of the nervous system. (74, 75.). Poiver— Will Principle. 86. With the true idea of mind is associated, the will, force, or power principle. 1. The will principle is power and motion, and when devel- oped in the cerebral system, it performs all those volitions and actions which gratify the love through the mental senses, such as forms, orders, comparisons, or degrees, method, mathematics, system, language, individuality, music, imitation, poetry, symmetry, wit, mirth, history. INTELLECTUALITY. 93 Tbe Life of tine Mind. 87. The love element is the first ; hence in this degree, or the sphere of this element, we find men more distinguished from the higher forms in the animal kingdom. 1. Receptive. Including what is considered, constitutional ; those emotions which develop the love of praise ; precious things; keepsakes; relics; adhesiveness; desire for infor- mation. 2. Retentive. Those emotions and volitions, which consti- tute covetousness ; secretiveness ; caution ; circumspection. 3. Relative. Including those emotions, volitions, and ac- tions which gratify the mind through the senses, as the love of music, traveling, antiquities, painting, poetry, gardening, architecture, waterfalls, statuary, volcanoes, caverns, the heavens, the earth, animals, birds, insects, storms, battles, the ocean, fruits, flowers, meteors, landscapes, pyramids, &c., &c. And each of these degrees enter more or less into the will, and wisdom, and thus develop corresponding results as we shall see. Intellectuality. 88. As the mind advances, its motions are characteristic of intellectuality : — Including all those forms, degrees, and spheres of which the intelligence takes cognizance ; for the mind, or the intellect, not only loves in degrees, but its love or desires in their intel- lectuality, are gratified in extending and ascending forms, de- grees, and spheres, according to the developments of the in- tellectual capacities ; so that the mind is gratified in ascending and extending forms and degrees from things up to life and mind ; thus 1. From sensuous minds to 2. Intelligent minds, and 3. The spiritually minded ; hence we see how it is, that minds in the same degree of development, will necessarily assimilate or feel an attraction for each other. The purely intellectual emotions, volitions and actions, therefore, all ar- range themselves in corresponding degrees, as we shall see. 1* Intellectual Bmotions. 89. Receptive, or such as gratify self-love, ambition, self- confidence, imagination, ideality, faith, marvelousness, the beautiful, joy, industry. 2. Intellectual Tolitions. 90. Retentive, or all such as gratify the memory of names, persons, ideas, and the capacity for synthesis, generalization, coiiservativencBS, modesty, contentment, patience. f4 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 3. Intellectual Manifestations. . 91. Relative, including all those emotions and volitions which result in the corresponding actions, constituting yespect, veneration, worship, friendship, conjugal aifection, forgiveness, truth, justice, melody, harmony, invention, causality, judgment, analysis, constructiveness, hope, suavity, gratitude, cheerful- ness, compassion, perfection. And thus is developed ^k& third or higher faculties of the human mind. INTELLECTUAL. 9^ THE HUMAN SPIRIT. KNOWLEDGE, INTUITION, PREVISION. Wisdom Principle. 92. The human spirit is order and form, and corresponds with the developments below. It is the perfection of love, or light and life ; it is the manifestation of the order and form, peculiar to the individual mind, and it extends and ascends, in forms, and degrees, corresponding with the elements from which it has been evolved. That which one does, or the form in which it is done, determines the degree or sphere in which his wisdom principle, or spirit, is developed. Emotioiis. 93. Including all those instinctive constitutional emotions which feed, and gratify the spirit, the peculiar disposition of the individual, c<>rresponding with the ingestive or receptive motions of the animal and mental forms, already described. The spirit is satisfied, only, with a spiritual atmosphere, aoid spiritual food. 'What is liove ? 94. And as this element is- developed in the human organism in harmony, it becomes more and more conscious of its own essence, and comprehends what love is. " Love is the first or rudimental element of the human soul. It is that liquid, mingling, delicate, inexplicable element which is felt in the depths of every human spirit, because it is its germinal essence."* " Love is the weapon which Omnipotence reserved to con- t 4,. J. Pftiris. 96 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. quer rebel men when all else had failed. Reason he parries ; Fear he answers blow to blow ; Future Interest he meets with Pleasure ; but Love, that sun against whose melting beams Winter cannot stand, that soft, subduing slumber which wrestles down the giant, there is not one human creature in a million, not a thousand men in earth's large quintillion, whose clay heart is hardened against Love."* There are, so to speak, as many varieties of this emotion, as there are faculties in the human mind. But we speak now only of that which is developed in the domestic relations of life — conjugal, parental, fraternal, a,nd filial. If music be the language of Love, always, then poetry may be its form. The Love element is in the sound, and the wisdom element in the words. Here is conjugal Love ; " O never, dearest, never till the beating Of this poor heart, which throbs for thee, is o'er ; Never, till iny soul, from life retreating, Takes up its death-march for the spirit-shore. " Then, as thy lips shall kiss me to my slumber. As, on Life's verge, I say the long ' Good Night,' How will thy love my struggling spirit cumber. While the world reels and changes on my sight. " Yet, in the distant bourne, where, broken-hearted. Thou shalt deem, happily, that my soul hath rest, Can I but meet thee when life hath departed, My sin-sick spirit shall be doubly blessed." The grave-yard is a good place for finding records of affec- tion. In such places, we may often see traced upon the marble, the external expression of that principle which makes heaven, wherever it dwells. Here is an instance, from Mount Auburn : " Thy memory, thou loved one, How sacred, how dear; Thy virtues shall live. Though thy dust slumbers here. Till the last setting sun. O'er my lone heart shall roll, Shall I cherish thy worth. Thou friend of my soul." We venture the opinion, that but few persons ever read the above, who did not become conscious of an emotion which they always feel the more happy for indulging. * Tupper's " Crock of Gold. THE HUMAN SPIRIT. 97 Here is another, from the same place : " She lived unknown, and few could know "When Mary ceased to be ; But she is m her grave, and O The difference to me." Cowper's lines written on the receipt of his mother's picture, and the " May Queen," are beautiful expressions of the filial. To have been the author of either of those pieces, I should consider more honor than attaches to any, or all that ever fell from my pen. To read the " May Queen," is enough to break up the deep fountains of parental love ; but to hear it sung by Dempster ! If you ever, indeed, enjoyed that pleasure, you need nothing from another to make you sensible as to what is meant by parental filial love. Volitions. 05. Those spiritual emotions and volitions which retain, or remember, whatever gratifies the spirit. 1. In its senses. 2. Its motive powers ; and, 3. In the developments of spiritual wisdom, or the love of form and order, which is gratified in adopting the most appropriate means of securing the test ends ; or, for the progressive development of the human spirit. In this degree are evolved the most truthful, faithful, refined, and elevating friendships, sympathies, and affections, all of which are most symmetrical, as they attract us, even in their contemplation ! Spiritual Actions. 06. I. Including the highest spiritually, instinctive, emo- tions, volitions, and manifestations of love and wisdom, in the form and order which appertain to the identity, conser- vation, perpetuity, and development of the human spirit. 2. Including, 1. All those sensations, volitions, and actions which distinguish the forms and order of spiritual manifesta- tions, and which receive and appropriate whatever is necessa- ry for spiritual development. 2. All emotions, volitions, and actions which appertain to the control and government of the spirit, and 3. AH those developments and manifestations of spiritual love, will and wisdom, which adopt the most appro- priate forms and order, for the truthful, spiritual, universal and eternal progression and development, or the highest, most en- larged and refined philanthropy, toward the whole universe of spiritual forms, degrees^ and spheres. 98 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. TUe Human IVill. 97. The human will is the element of power energy ; and its motions constitute volitions, which correspond to mind. This faculty executes the desires of love, for or against the dictates of wisdom, according as the degrees of development are balanced between the lowest and highest faculties. Will is love acting, and is jointly concerned with love in the exer- cise of some of the other faculties, such as hearing, feeling, seeing, smelling, &c. The will corresponds to mind, as the soul corresponds to love. liUistFatiois^*. 98. As we have seen, Man is constituted of three distinct and essential elements, corresponding to heat, motion, and light, in the nature and constitution of matter. 1. Love originates desires, wants, hopes, and wishes. Through the nerves of external sense, impressions are first made upon this element of the mind ; till it has developed the senses, its emotional susceptibilities are not acted on, which excite volition ; but after they have been once excited, through the external senses, they acquire a new development of susceptibility, or the power of centric, or spontaneous ac- tivity ; and by the associations which exist between the men- tal faculties themselves, they may originate emotions without the use of the external senses. Volition. 99. 2. Will is the procedure or the power which deter- mines, and acts ; and hence volition is not possible, except as it is preceded by love or desire, and must therefore be asso- ciated with some faculty constituting the congeries of mental functions, in which this element acts, and in which the other lesser desires, for the time, acquiesce. 3. Wisdom points out and shows what will should do to gratify love. And hence the thinking, reasoning faculty. Reason. 100. Wisdom is Order and Form, and the perfection of love. It corresponds with the spirit, and is developed in dif- ferent degrees, in different persons, and in different degrees in the same person, at different times, according to the develop- ments of love and will, or the states of these organs at the time. It must therefore exist in the highest degree, in those forms or brain&, where love and will are the nearest to perfec- REASON. 99 tion, and, consequently, where the faculty of wisdom is per- fectly developed. A mind thus constituted must be perfectly competent to judge of any given proposition within its sphere, whether it be true or false ; and all other minds below such a perfection of development, will be more or less attracted and governed by it whenever they come within its sphere, or in any way become associated with it. And thus, we may see what those conditions are, which give one mind power over another. Mind governs and controls mind, by forms, degrees and spheres. The higher attract and control the lower. The perfection, therefore, after which each one should aspire, is an evenly balanced, fully developed, well governed, intelligent mind ; or, in other words, a life in which love is governed, according to the dictates of superior wisdom. Mental Marmosiy. 101. 1. Love and Wisdom should be perfectly balanced in their degrees of development, and each should be developed in the highest possible forms within their sphere. 2. The different cerebral organs should be in a perfectly healthy, normal state. That is, the state in which the rea- soning faculties are exercised, and the judgment formed, of any given proposition, should be normal, natural, for the faculties exercised. It is a normal state, when love, will, and wisdom act in PERFECT harmony ; and so it is when wisdom is exer- cised with love or will, for as wisdom is the perfection, the seed, the essence, developed from love, so it may shed its light, when sufficiently developed upon all the degrees that have preceded, and from which it has been developed. 3. Reason, knowledge, and intuition, are normal results, which always correspond naturally with the developments of wisdom. That is, knowledge of whatever comes within the degree or sphere in which this faculty is developed. 1. External Reason. 102. Conceptive. Including all those faculties which are concerned in the conception of the relations between the cause and effects of objects that can be subjected to the examination, of the external senses. 2. All such, as judge of the motions of mind which manifest sensible results. 3. Such as appertain to the character and qualities of forms, order, degrees, and spheres. This degree develops sagacity, and the faculty of judging of character from the physiognomy. It includes also the faculty of comparison, ingenuity, and the powers of ideal invention. 100 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 2, Kuonrledge. 103. 1. Perceptive. Including all those mental emotions, vo- litions and reflections, which perceive the causes of things, forms, motions, and their effects. 2. All those causes which operate upon mind, and constitute motions and ability to per- ceive motions ; honesty, justice, love of truth, and wisdom ; ability to perceive and anticipate the results of mental ac- tions, 3. Rejiective. All that give a knowledge of the hidden causes of mental manifestations, penetration, calculation, knowledge of the relations of space and numbers. Ability to adopt means to ends, method, judgment. 3. Intuition. 104. Intuition is the result of perfection in the form, or- der, and degree of development of either of the faculties of wisdom. When they are developed in that degree, which evolves the grey nervous matter, which is the perfection of love, and wisdom, the knowledge or action of those organs is intuitive. This is a conscious, thinking, knowing power, which knows and perfectly comprehends, without experience, whatever comes within the sphere of its developments. Pliysiolog^y of Intuition* 105. That intellectual power is, in all cases, conditioned up- on the amount of the cortical, or grey nervous matter, I infer from the following facts. 1. This grey matter is never found in the brains of animals. 2. When found in animals or men, at all, it is always in connection with those organs which originate power. Thus, we find it only in the brains, spinal chord, ganglia, and slight traces of it in the torpedo, gymnotus, &c. In animals, the highest development of the love principle constitutes instinct ; but in men, its highest developments constitute wisdom, reason and intuition. 3. It is found in very slight traces in the brains of the foetus and infant. 4. Scarcely, and often not at all, in the brains of idiots. 5. The developments of intellectuality, in youth, corres- pond with the. appearances of this grey matter. Hence, we have prodigies, like Zera Colburn, Ole Bull, Safford, and oth- ers. These were prodigies in childhood, long before their ce- rebral organs had acquired that size common to maturity or manhood. HARMONY. 101 6. Post-mortem examinations have proved that this matter exists in the greatest quantities in those brains where there have been the greatest manifestations of intellectual power, 7. The breadth of the phrenological organs is an indication, (other things being equal) of quality. Now the broader the^ surface of the convolutions, the greater the quantity of the grey matter, in one direction ; which determines the extend- ing degree of development, or the qualities or character of the mind, as to goodness and truth. 8. The height of the convolutions from the centre of the sphere, determines, (other things being equal,) the degree of intellectual power. 9. In the brains of very old persons, and in some cases of chronic insanity, and habitual drunkenness, this grey matter is atrophied.* Intellectual Power. 106. 10. This assumption with regard to the form and order of intellectuality, agrees with what we know to be peculiar to the temperaments of different persons. That is, persons of an apathetic temperament (143) are sometimes found, who mani- fest extraordinary power in one faculty only, and, in such cases, that faculty is developed most in the ascending form. But, when most, or all of the faculties are thus developed, or when the vital, motive and cerebral temperaments are com- bined in the greatest degrees of perfection, it makes such tem- peraments as have been found in the persons of Homer, Aris- totle, Demosthenes, Galen, Bacon, Melancthon, Swedenborg, Newton, Wesley, Washington, Gall and Franklin, in each of whom was manifested an original, intelligent and powerful mind. Universal Harmony, 107. If the question be now asked, what must be, in the nature of things, the greatest good of each human being or of the Race, the answer is at hand : — Harmony. The Infinite himself, is Eternal Harmony. Infinite Love, Will, and Wisdom, must be Eternal Form and Order, devel- oped in unending Harmony. It is evident, however, that the Infinite is not so considered by man in his rudimentary state. Hence, mankind more formerly than now, were accustomed to speak of God as more or less imperfect, either in his nature, plans or works. For to suppose Him Infinite in Goodness, Power, and Intelligence, would preclude the possibility of ab- solute evil. For how can there be two absolute antagonisms % * London Loncet, Aug. 1845. 102 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. In the nature and constitution of things, two absolute contra- rieties cannot be ; in other words, there cannot be two infinite contradictions. And with a mind not sufficiently developed to see this, it would scarcely be advisable to argue. If, then, the Divine be Infinite Harmony in Himself, Infi- nite Harmony in His Designs, Ends and means, we can see what must be the greatest good of the Human Race — Harmo- nious Progression. x'^.ll other forms besides the Divine, must begin to be. The beginning is infancy. Infancy is not an evil in itself consid- ered, but when compared with manhood, it may be called an evil, because it is below tha^ harmonious development which makes manhood. The distance from infancy to manhood gives an idea of what is meant by progression. And progression is the real object of all man's aspirations. Harmony in the vital system is health — in the motive system, is power — in the cerebral system, it is sanity ; and harmony in all the elements combined, makes an evenly bal- anced, well governed, healthy, intelligent Man. That which Harmony is to the individual, it must be, of course, to the family. Parents who are diseased cannot pro- create healthy children. Too great a difference in the age, health or disposition, either prevents issue or produces corres- ponding discords. The intellectual, no less than the physical qualities of parents, are transmitted more or less, always. Qualities are perceived from contrasts. So when we speak of evil, disease, discord, misery, hell, we can not only under- stand what is meant by these terms, but we can see how ex- actly they correspond with the stages signified, and how aptly they designate the negatives of what is meant by goodness, health, harmony, heaven. Health. 108. Health is that state of the spiritual and physical sys- tems in which the motions of each of the elements are harmo- nious and regular. In such cases, each part of the body is evenly developed, and the ingestive, retentive and egestive motions are each performed without interruption. It is then that the due amount of the nutritive fluid is elaborated, and communicated to the different parts at the proper time ; the heart dilates and contracts regularly ; the voluntary and other muscles obey without obstruction the several wants of the Various organisms which call them into action. The various secretions are made at the proper period, the vital forces pre- dominate in their tendencies to preserve all parts of the sys- tem against the destructive power of oxygen, which tends to break them down ; and thus the balance of power is duly HARMONY. 103 maintained between the breathing-, circulating, assimilating, absorbing and excreting functions. This we call a state of perfect health. Pleasure ; IIappis&e§s. 109. Happiness is but another term for development, or the perfection of the human mind in all its form, motions and developments. Every mind, and every one of its organs are happy, jiist as far as they are developed in harmony. The great law of design, (2) makes all those sensations, emotions and volitions painful that are excited by agencies which pre- vent the harmonious development of the organism upon which they act, or which the love principle believes to be so, and the same law of design makes all those agencies agreeable, which tend to develop, to draw out the motions of the organism, or which have such a tendency in the hopes or wishes of the mind. All the vital, mental and spiritual wants grow out of love ; and the exercise of any one faculty affords satisfaction ; but the greatest good, the greatest happiness is enjoyed when love and wisdom, are gratified or exercised in perfect harmony, in a state of perfect development. The highest organ is wisdom, and hence it is that man is holy and happy when the whole of his organs are gratified or exercised in harmony with this devel- opment, whatever its degree may be ; and the most so, when wisdom is perfectly developed, and all the other functions are governed accordingly. A healthy mind in a healthy body, or, in other words, a har- moniously developed mind gives contentment always for the past ; gratitude for the present, and hope for the future I " Auspicious Hope ! In thy sweet garden grow Wreaths for each toil, a bah^i for every woe ! Won by their charms, in nature's languid hour The way-worn spirit seeks thy summer bower. Here, as the wild bee murmurs on the wing, What peaceful dreams thy handmaid Fairies bring! What viewless forms the J^^olian organs play, And sweep the furrowed lines of anxious thought away." Perhaps no organ in the human constitution contributes so much to the sum total of man's happiness, if, indeed there be one which contributes so much to the health of the external body, as that of hope. And, as to the immortal mind, what is religion or happiness, without contentment, gratitude, and hope ? What is life, even where this trinity is incomplete ? Is a dissatisfied mind a happy one 1 And what beauties, what mental perfections could supply the want of gratitude 1 Is it not a most lovely trait of character, whether in brute or human? And yet, how often we may 104 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. find persons who do not seem even to ask themselves whether there be such a state of mind as is indicated by the term ingra- titude ! They receive, but do not give. They monopolize all into their own individuality, as the decayed plant yields no rich perfume as the return for the toil bestowed upon it. Con- stantly receiving, why should we not give 1 " It is more blessed to give than to receive." Assured by a knowledge of nature's laws that the future must be, on the whole, better even than the past, hope carries us forward, even where philosophy may not penetrate ; and still reaching on into the future, it inspires strength with which to endure burdens that would otherwise prove utterly intoler- able. Hence, to one and to all there is " a better day coming." We may not, indeed, all give the same definitions of the future good ; but we do all, if in harmony, nevertheless, look forward to its development with ardent longings which no language can describe. Problem of Cvil. 110. As God is infinite goodness, so there cannot be an in- finite evil. When, therefore, we speak of " evil," the term must be understood in this comparative sense, as indicating less goodness, less harmony. It is said the very " heavens are not clean," (are evil,) in the sight of the Infinite, and that " He charged his angels with folly," ignorance or evil. Strictly speaking, nothing can be called evil, to one who is not himself, in some sense, evil,, ignorant, imperfect, or dis- cordant. Suppose one falsifies to you, in announcing himself as Dr. Franklin or St. Paul. This falsehood could do you no injury, provided you were sufficiently developed into the light of wisdom, for then you would know better, and being familiar with the cause, you could not be deceived. The " raw-head- and-bloody-bones" stories of the nursery, injure no one but the ignorant children to whom they are told. The terms evil, falsehood, discord, imperfection, ignorance, misery, may be used synonymously, and all have respect to time, the want of progression, development, harmony. It is a matter of necessity that we should be children, in order to be men ; and childhood is evil when compared to the joys of man- hood. A certain story would be evil to a child, that would not injure a man. Hence, when mortals are low, or infantile in their knowledge of the spritual, they are much more liable to be deceived or " led into evil." To every positive there must be a negative; and this may be true without involving the notion of absolute antagonisms in the sense taught in the old theology. Darkness may be said to be the negation of light. And although the sun does really PKOBLEM OF EVIL. 105 always shine, and "shines for all," yet the laws of the solar system put certain portions of the planets in such positions to the great central luminary, that they are sometimes in darkness. It is an evil in mortals, that they should be liable to mis- takes. That is, when mortals are so ignorant as to be liable to be deceived, their condition is one which may be called evil, when compared with those who are so high above it that they could not be thus deceived. And yet that position is a positive good, when compared with no existence at all, or an existence which is far below it. All things, when considered as one connected whole, are a positive good, and have an important use, because they help on the progression of the race. So we say of the animal king- dom, it is a positive good, and has an important use as it administers to the wants of the kingdom of human beings, who are above it. And yet that same animal kingdom has many animals in it which, in themselves considered, are evil, and who do evil to man. Indeed, there are animals whose exist- ence, when considered by itself, is nothing but evil. And so of the vegetable kingdom. This kingdom is good, when con- sidered as a whole ; and has an important use, because, withput it, animals could not generally exist. And yet how many vegetables are poisonous, and therefore evil, in their effects on animal life.* The mind is often misled in respect to " the origin of evil,'' as it is called, by speaking of " evil," as if it were an entity, a positive principle, in the same sense that goodness is positive and absolute. Whereas, although evil be the want of pro- gression, the want of development, yet, it is just as necessary, as that the being should exist, to progress. The following remarks are from one who has written much upon this and kindred subjects, and are so appropriately uttered, that I give them a place here : — I. That there are three sources of evil. First, progenitive * Swedenborg, alluding to these evils of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, goes so far as to say that — "roisonous serpents, scorpions, crocodiles, dragons, tigers, wolves, foxes, swine, owls, rats, mice, locusts, frogs, bats, spiders, flies, drones, moths, lice, nutes, and all malignant, virulent, and poisonous herbs, did not derive their origin from the Lord, neither were they created from the beginning, neither did they originate from nature, by her sun, but they are from Jiell. — I). L. W. 23, 28. He extends the enumeration of things in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, which were not originated by the Great First Cause, but which arc " from the devil or hell ;" and these "are not from the Lord" — consequently they are evil, and he speaks as if he sup- posed they were evil in an absolute sense ; but this cannot be ; they can be said to be evil only in a comparative sense. 106 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. or hereditary misdirection ; secondly, educational or sympathetio misdirection ; thirdly, circumstantial or social misdirection. 2. That " the disunity prevalent in the earth is rather the result" of those conditions and circumstances which make affections evils, than " of evil affections," as Swedenborg teaches. 3. That all things and spirits are receptacles of the grand element of the Love of God, which, diffused through nature, as the Soul is through the body, unfolds itself into Wisdom. 4. That man is an incarnated divinity, and therefore that he is not intrinsically evil himself, and cannot love anything " intrinsically evil," though he may be bent or misdirected while in the twig-state, and grow up crooked, and despised by sensuous observers, through this sphere of his existence or development. 5. That as God lives in all things and everywhere, there are no local or especial Incarnations of this essence. This is the true •' ground of our grand doctrine of the Incarnation," the highest demonstrations of which are visible in the life and teachings of Christ, and in the profound revealments of SwediJn- borg. 6. That every human being has an important mission to ful- fil, or three uses to subserve. The individual is designed to re-produce its type, to properly direct the heavenly germ in it deposited, and to live here in reference to the principles of na- ture and another life. 7. That a knowledge of Nature and her laws is indispensa- ble to a just performance of the three uses just specified, con- stituting man's mission ; and that, to cure the evil and " disu- nity prevalent" in society, we must ascertain our inner and outer relations to each other, as members of one body, and our relations to the Material and Spiritual Worlds. In this way, " man's moral nature may be elevated from its sensual plane," and a " conjunction" be established between the human and divine. The teachings of all good spirits, (especially the great reformers, Christ and Swedenborg) tend to a full discovery and just application of those truths which will constitute " a spiritual sphere of attraction," and which will attract and ele- vate the race to a closer relation among its parts, with the principles of Divine order and harmony, and the chastening influences of higher spheres. Such is the origin of evil, as manifested in the actions of the . individual ; and its cure can only be accomplished by remov- ing the three causes of human misdirection. When I examine Swedenborg's philosophical disclosures, I find nothing in them inconsistent with the above illustration of the origin of evil, but when he takes the Bible for his master, MANHOOD. 107 be seems to make his stupendous Science, Philosophy, and Theology of Nature and the Universe, bow submissively to its imperative authority. Do not the receivers of Sweden- borg, in like manner, take him for their master 1 When you say *' no revelation from higher spheres can in the least de- gree" disturb the convictions of Swedenborgians, I fear it is rather Sv^^edenborg and his truths, than the truths of Nature and Heaven, they are determined to advocate and defend— and such seem to defend him, too, with instruments by him prepared, rather than with Reason freed from prejudice and educational inclination. I am not defending the Book I gave to the world in my su- perior condition, (let it do its work,) but I am desirous of freeing the general mind of all isms, and their errors concern- ing the origin of Sin, the Incarnation, and the restitution of man to a state of purity and blessedness. I am not only anx- ious to be free from all isms, but to have a standard composed only of reason and truth — based on Man, Nature, and the Uni- verse — a basis immovable, but an edifice of truth and goodness capable of inconceivable additions — a germ of truth, capable of endless expansion — a Master inspiring all earths and spheres with heat and light, or Love and Wisdom, and making the weakest beings recipients and examples of his love and grace. I know I shall, like all others, progress eternally ; therefore I do not promise to believe to-morrow exactly what I believe to-day, for I may know more. The internal man rests on the foundation of intuition ; the wise man upon reflection, the external man upon perception, and the superficial man upon testimony. Beware of testimo- ny — of believing what others say, but who will ascend to higher spheres, there to learn and enjoy more of the perpetual blessings flowing from the inexhaustible depths of intuition and truth.* Maniliood. 111. Thus we have seen that the maturity, or the harmonious development of the Human Organism, constitutes Manhood, or one whose Individualism is sovereign. Nature's laws, by which he has been developed, are, indeed, Fate to him, but they have made him a Man, male and female, who has thus become conscious of Selfhood. And, one of the highest questions which first engages his attention for solution, is in respect to his Selfhood, his Self-reliance. To this query a brief answer may here be given. 1. Your sense of dependence should lead you, first, to the * A. J. Davis. 108 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. highest source of all good, all justice, and all truth. That source, as we have seen, (8, 11) is the Infinite Man, who is the Father of us all. He has certainly revealed himself in various degrees, in all kingdoms, all worlds, in all forms of life, and in the human form, as God-Man. In that form he is " First and Last," "All and in All." If you are a finite man. He is an Infinite Man ; and in that form in which he has made himself most known to the human race, you may see him, know him, love him, approach him, and from him re- ceive all that you need. " The great importance of having a just idea of God, ap- pears from this consideration, that the idea of God constitutes the inmost thought of all those who have any religion ; for all things of religion and divine worship have respect to God. And as God is universally and particularly in all things of religion and of worship, therefore, unless there be a just idea of God, no communication is possible with the heavens. Hence it is, in the spiritual world, every nation has its place, according to its idea of God, as a Man ; for in this, and in no other, is the idea of the Lord. That the state of every man's life, after death, is according to the idea of God which he has confirmed in himself, appears manifestly from the re- verse of the proposition, namely, that the negation of God constitutes hell."^ 2. Be yourself at heart, good and truthful. Love good, for goodness' sake ; love justice, for the sake of justice ; and love truth, for its own sake. In proportion as you love goodness and truth, you become receptive of these qualities, and must necessarily repel what is false and evil. 3. In searching for information on any subject, take nothing for sufficient authority but Superior Wisdom, Goodness, Justice. Use your own judgment in all things. Obtain all the information you can, from all available sources, and then decide for yourself; and never act merely upon advice given you, except when your own judgment approves, and you are willing, in case you should fail or be involved in trouble, to bear the responsibility of it yourself. An honest state of mind will assist you always, not only in detecting what would be false and evil to you, but also to repel whatever might otherwise tend to lead you astray. As you are individualized, you must suffer for yourself, rejoice in your- self. If you err, it is yourself that is injured. You must " work out your own salvation." Think, judge for yourself. Pray, love, and believe for yourself. Su-cden^org'a Z>ivinc Love and Wisdom^ 13. DEATH. 109 I>eatli. 112. That transition termed death, is the natural result of those chemical forces which are in constant operation, and by which matter is transformed from one sphere to another. As we have seen, when it reaches those degrees which develop sensation and consciousness, or the personal identity of the human soul, (72) then the form is individualized, and never recedes though the materials in which it has been developed are constantly dying, or changing by the laws of chemical action from one state to another. Strictly speaking, death commences just as soon as we com- mence our existence, because life, or the human soul, is con- stantly changing the clothing with which it invests itself in the form of the living body. There is no sense, therefore, in which death can be dreaded, in itself considered, but, on tlie contrary, it should be viewed as it really is, the change in our form of existence by which the spirit relieves itself of the grosser particles of matter, now no longer needed, and ascends to another sphere, according" to the laws of progression by which its existence was at first commenced. (19) Death, therefore, is the separation of the mental or spiritual from the outer or physical organism ; (37. 67.) and is as necessary for the more perfect development of manhood, as the lesser and preceding changes were, by which the organism was brought out of a foetal state, or the imperfections of infancy. The seed of the plant is never fully perfected until its outer form is decayed. And so with the human. We scarcely enter upon the plane of our real, our true manhood, until we have outgrown these coarse external forms which are peculiar to our rudimentary state. Hence it is to be inferred : — 1. That there is nothing in that transition, per se, we call death, which should make it an event, either to be unduly desired or much dreaded. Fear arises always from ignor- ance — the want of knowledge. When, therefore, the mmd is sufficiently developed to be able to comprehend its origin, laws and destiny, it will be seen, that there is, there can be, nothing in that change, provided it come on in the regular course of nature's laws, to be either really feared or dreaded. We should fear sleep as much as death, if we really knew as little about it. Having seen what is meant by irregularity, evil, (110) and discord, it is plain why death should not be unduly desired, and, especially, why nothing should be done to hasten it. It is the most agreeable with nature's design, that the rose should be fully blown — that the fruit should be fully ripe. Her re- liO BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. gular, harmonious work should not be intercepted as it is? when the flower is plucked before the time, or when life is cut short before its outer form is fully matured. It is worthy of remark, that animals never voluntarily shorten their own lives. Their instincts for conserving their own existence are never perverted. But, man's organism being more complicated, is more liable to discord, or friction in its machinery. Hence originate his errors, his false views of himself, and his des- tiny. And these erroneous views that he takes of himself, may lead him into such habits of living, and to such volitions as necessarily result in hastening his own death. But, it is manifest from the analogy of reason, and from the most accu- rate views we can take of the past, the present and the future, that the best course for one, and for all, is, never to interfere with the harmonious operation of nature's laws. Touch not the inmost of life. You may, indeed, anticipate with pleasure the regular, harmonious unfoldings of your future existence, which will divest you of the outer form ; but, to attempt to hasten that event is discord, bitter and repulsive in the end. As life is the greatest good of which man can be conscious ; as it is the germ of all the parental, filial, fraternal, conjugal, and Divine love, which come within man's sphere of enjoy- ment, and is, therefore, the highest gift of God, so, for man to sin against that life, and voluntarily intercept its regular development, is the most hideous crime, which it is possible for him to commit. And this, added to the fact, that man cannot know beforehand, what hindrances homicide or suicide may place in the way of his progression, makes this crime more to be feared — more ugly and hateful^ as it so evidently leads into regions of darkness, doubt, uncertainty, and despair. Hence we infer, that the ignorance, the discord, in the mind of one which would allow him to contemplate a crime against nature so hateful and hideous, would, of course, prevent him from taking accurate views of the terrible consequences which might follow. 2. That when death is anticipated, in the harmonious and regular operation of nature's laws, it may, indeed, be con- templated with exceeding joy ; precisely the same as we contemplate all of those regular changes and transition states, which evince the great fact of eternal progression. As death has respect, principally to the outer form, and the relation, existing with the external world, so, it dissolves no ties, severs no affinities which are purely spiritual. Hence it must be, that after death, our loves are the same as before ; our tiioughts, our designs, the same. In a word, we are ourselves, the Individualism is not annihilated, the man is the same, having only passed out of a coarse body, and arisen in the same form, DEATH. Ill a spirit, and thus, the real man continues his life, his love, his existence, by those alternations in the outer form of Nature, which are common from the lowest even to the highest, as we have seen. 3. That when the outer form is once dispensed with, by the process of death, the real spiritual man has no further use for it ; and hence its materials go back to their original condition. The notion that nature's coarser forms, as such, either in the vegetable, animal, or mental kingdoms, will ever be re- suscitated, is an error, peculiar to infancy. In all of nature's processes, as we have seen (19, 32.) when the higher, or inmost form, throws off the lower or outermost, it is never re- called, or taken up again by the same form. Nor is it to be conceived, that the Human Spirit, after death, will ever have any more use for the old carcase out of which it has been developed, than the corn has need of the resurrection of the old stalk from which it has been developed. As death is the transition of the real man, into a spiritual world, we there find ourselves spiritual organisms, spiritual men and women. In the nature of things as we have seen (12, 13,) it is impossible for minds in the lower sphere, fully to comprehend all which appertains to existence in the spheres above. The laws of each kingdom in nature, comprehend those below. It follows, that only just in proportion as the human spirit is developed, will it be capable of anticipating and appreciating its future existence. Iininortality. 113. Considerations from which it is reasonable to infer the future, everlasting, progressive existence of the human spirit, after the death of the body. As — 1 . Our consciousness of personal identity. The matter com- posing the body, is changed ; indeed it is in a constant state of change, living and dying, from the first moment of our exist- ence. But consciousness of personal identity, when the mind is in a normal, healthy state, remains always the same. (46.) 2. There must be something beyond the mere qualities of the nerves through which we are said to see, hear and feel. Why do we not always hear, when the sound breaks upon the earl (67.) We hear only when the mind hears, we see only when the mind sees. How often things are before our eyes, and reflect their light directly upon the optic nerves, but we do not see, for the reason that the mind is not there. The nerves are there, the particles are all there just the same, but the mind which sees, is not there. 3. The laws of eternal progression. (24.) It is impossible to reconcile the idea of annihilation with the laws of matter. 112 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. or the constitution of things. The higher the form, the purei the Essence, and from this law we have developed the spirit, the Essence — of that form which constitutes the animal body, substance, or matter, itself is never annihilated, it cannot be. Its forms change, are constantly changing ; and the lower the form the more liable to dissolution. But, as the form is per- fected into the spiritual, it thus becomes indissoluble from the very nature or method of its own constitution. (304-) MEMORY. 113 msTmcT. PHYSIOLOGICAL, VITAL, MENTAL Memory. 113. Memory is an inherent, instinctive, ingestive, reten- tive and reflective function. It appertains to each, primary element of the animal organism, and hence we find it in ani- mals as well as men. We are told that the dog of Ulysses remembered him after a ten years' absence, when Penelope had even forgotten his form and features. A dog taken three hundred miles from Pondicherry found his way back through a roadless country ; and an Alpine mastiff, brought from Lans- lebourg, on the borders of Switzerland, to Calais, actually re- turned from the sea-coast. Things done by animals are frequently attributed to Instinct, which should rather be accounted for by Memory and the laws of association. Hence the operations of this faculty seem to be so mysterious, and bear so important a part in the economy of Human Nature, that a distinct consideration of its functions seems necessary here. Three ]>eg:ree§ of Memory. 114. 1. Instinctive Memory includes all those impulses, motions and manifestations which appertain to the animal economy, and by which the various functions of the organism are carried on and developed. 2. Internal Memory includes all those emotions, volitions, and actions, which have been deposited in the primary mate- rials of the mind, and which have contributed to its constitu- tion and development. These may, or may not, be a matter of consciousness, according to the state of the mind when the impressions were made. We call this degree Instinctive, to distinguish it from that which, went before, and that degree which follows, or is above it. 114 BOOK OP HUMAN NATURE. 3. Reflective, or External Memory, which includes all tliose emotions, volitions, and mental manifestations, received or manifested throu^ the external senses. Memory therefore is a faculty which appertains not only to the threefold elements of the human mind, but also to each one of the mental organs, as it must indeed in some sense to one and all of the parts of the human organism. How else does each one perform its appropriate function at the proper time? With what punctuality, with what nice precision, do we find them each m the timely performance of their necessary work ! And when one of them forgets its duty, or by accident or some unavoidable impediment, is prevented in its wonted function, see what pain, what mischief is the penalty. Nay, the alternations which constitute death itself, may be said to be the resultant labors of this omnipresent faculty which at- taches always and everywhere to every motion, and every particle of substance in the universe of God. Conditions of Memory. 115. Memory depends upon, and is developed by the nutri- tive forces, and the laws of association. (43, 44,67.) Hence 1. We remember impressions the best, which were made upon the mind in youth, when the nutritive fluid was active ; and accordingly memory becomes feeble in old age, and the decline of life. (49.) We remember those impressions best, that were made upon organs that were very much excited by the nutritive forces at the time they were made. (49.) This account of memory shows how^ it is that we remember and yet cannot remember, at one and the same time. We may, for instance, remember a man, but not his name ; or we may remember that we know a certain tune, but not be able to remember the first note. The reason is. Love and Wisdom are each concerned ; and that element that was the most ac- tive at the time the impression was made, remembers the part of it which was appropriate to its own function. Individuality remembers the man, but Language remembers his name. Al>nornial Memory, 116. 4. Thus, we see how it may be, that somnambulists and the insane sometimes do not remember, in one state, what they said or did in another. If an impression is made upon Love, but not strong enough to bring Will, or Wisdom, into action, of course neither Will nor Wisdom can assist in calling up the recollection of the impression. It suggesUL also, the manner in which we are to account MEMORY. 115 for many things which persons of a peculiar temperament do, from memory^ (it may be,) but of which they have no con- sciousness at the time they are done. Thus 1 have known a person to repeat a piece of poetry in a state of Trance, which she declared to be original, believing and asserting honestly, that she had no memory of ever having heard it read be- fore. But from further inquiry I found, that the ecstatic had read that same poetry in a newspaper some three months before. And here, in this knowledge of the mysterious machinery of Memory, we may find also a solution of many things said and done by that class of persons denominated " spiritual in- struments," or "mediums." They write books and utter words, of which they have no conscious memory, and for this reason they imagine that the faculties of their own mind bore little or no part in what is done. Hence it is attributed to " spirits" out of the human body, in many if not all cases, without sufficient cause. As long as wc know that almost any amount of facts may be laid up in the internal memory, and locked up there so closely that the Will power cannot bring them forth into the external, we need not be at a loss to account for phenomena that often occur, but which are attributed to remote and extra- ordinary causes. A servant girl hears her master repeating his Greek and Hebrew. It is not noticed at the time. A se- ries of years elapse, when a fall injures her brains, and in a fit of delirium she continues the repetition of the Greek and Hebrew she had unconsciously heard her master utter years before. The truth is, we lay up many things, unconsciously to ourselves, in our inmost memory, and which a dream, or a fit of sickness, or some other cause, will call out from their hidden recesses, when they seem as new to us as if we had never received any thing of the kind. To perceive how it is that the memory often receives occurrences into its keeping, without any consciousness at the time, consider how often persons remember words they heard spoken, but which they '' did not notice at the time." And how common it is for per- sons to sit in a room where they hear the tick of a clock du- ring the day, and hear it strike the hours, even, but have no consciousness of the facts till afterwards, when some other facts call them out of their internal chambers. And thus it is that persons of a peculiar temperament sometimes read books, but retain no consciousness of the facts in the external mem- ory, till after the lapse of years some correlative event, or some undefinable excitement of one of the cerebral organs, brings out the knowledge of what was read, into conscious- ness, and we cannot tell where it came from. In- such 116 BOOK OF. HUMAN NATURE. it is liable to be attributed to any cause or source but the right one. And precisely in the same manner do we find books may be, and doubtless have been written, and the authorship afterwards ascribed to spirits. Persons of a peculiar temperament are known to be liable to those nervous changes, called Trance, and in one state they cannot remember what was said or done in the other. From immemorial time persons of this class have been known to write, and even to preach sermons in one state, but of which they had no conscious memory in the other state. And within a few years past, large numbers of books have been written, containing details of matters and things that the authors, in their normal state disclaim all knowledge of. And so, because they cannot call up the facts in the external memory, they imagine that they, in their own proper persons could not have originated those compositions. And hence, they suppose it must have been done by departed spirits. But this does not follow. Spirits ma)^, indeed, for aught we know, influence mortals to do, or say many things, or any thing, even. And a knowledge of psychology, or the laws of memory, will show us how to account for all that mortals do without the necessity of attributing the whole to spirits, as some have done. And then again, is it not mani- fest, that if spirits have the power to control " mediums" to the extent assumed by those who write books in this manner, it must be an easy "thing for the same spirits to cause the medium to act in a manner, of which the medium himself is conscious at the time, but-'which he does not remember when relieved from the " spell V Of course the influence, the idea, or combination of circumstances and ideas which have united to change the condition of the medium's nervous system, to such an extraordinary degree, as to cause the composition of " lectures," " sermons," " poetry," &c., may hallucinate the mind and memory so as to prevent all recollection as to the real manner in which it was done. Can Memory l>e Improved ? 117. If the faculty of memory attaches to, or is a func- tion or a part of a function of each mental organ, then it may be perceived how, and to what extent it may be improved. It must be done by the laws of association, always. (65, 67, 69.) That is, as the memory of a feeble organ must necessarily be- weak, we must associate the smaller faculty with one that is larger, and if we can establish a congenial association between the smaller faculty and another that is the strongest, in the whole organism, then we thus cause the larger organs to do the work of those that are small and weak. THE CURATIVE PRINCIPLE. 117 Before the brains are fully matured, the smaller organs, or memory, may be some increased by their exercise ; though I think, not to so great an extent as has been imagined. Where the organs of language, for instance, are large, it is com- paratively easy to remember words, and so of number, and music. Knowledge is easily acquired by a large organ, because the receptacle is capacious. And hence, we always find it so very difficult for persons to learn in all those depart- ments of science, in respect to which the memory is deficient, and easy in all otliers, in respect to which the mental organs and the memory are large and strong. BI^° Tlie Curative Principle. ..^ 118. The primary motions of the Menial Elements^ Love, Life ; and Wisdom, Form and Order, constitute instinct and the Nutritive Fluid ; and Perfect Nutrition is the Cura- tive Principle in all cases. Its interruption is Disease and Death. Let this be borne in mind while reading that which follows. Tital Plieiionieiia. 119. We have seen, that what has been called the Nervous Force, is the Nutritive Fluid. And from which it follows, that all impressions, all emotions, volitions and actions, in the nervous system, are more or less chemical, and connected with this fluid ; and hence it is, that the nervous energy is health, or disease ; is modified, increased, or diminished in the system, or its various parts, by air, food, cold, heat, light, darkness, sound, color, odor, bodily and mental exercise, associations, and in a word, by every thing in nature, real or imaginary, which may be brought in contact with the body, or occupy the mind, so that there is, there can be, no mental or physical changes in the human mind or body, without corres- ponding chemical changes, in the fluids and matter, composing the parts of the nervous system. Fiiiictioiial PoAver. 120. The functions of the living body, or the tendency of certain organs to specific offices, are determined by the Forms in which the particles composing the parts are elaborated and arranged. When the Relation, or the relative position of the nervous molecules and tissues are altered, chemical change is the result ; and that change is the excitement, suspension, or modification, of the functional power, and the impression, or impulse, is transmitted by the motions^ or pressure, of the nervous molecules upon one another. 118 BOOK OF HUMAK NATUEE. I have shown,, from what I suppose to be the highest authorities on the subject of human physiology, which can be quoted, that every motion in the human body, is in some sense a chemical change ; and that this opinion is correct, I think, cannot be doubted, if we consider the effects of chemical agents, like the sulphuric ether, upon both the body and the mind. (64.) Chemical substances produce Chemical changes. (72.) \^laat is It ? 121. Thus we perceive how it is that impressions are con- veyed by the nervous system from one part of the organism to another ; it is done by the pressure of the nervous molecules, always. Pr. John Harrison,* has not only shown, that the change undergone in the nervous system, in all cases of nervous ac- tion, is purely chemical^ and also that the impressions are transmitted by molecular motion, but he has shown that tiie prevalent notions of identity between- electricity, galvanism, magnetism, and the nervous action, are utterly unfounded. It is common, as Prof. H. remarks, for persons to attribute phe- nomena, which they cannot account for in any other way, to magnetism or electricity ; and hence it is that so many silly notions have prevailed on this subject ; some under the name of " animal magnetism," and others under the terms of " the nervo-vital fluid," but all of them, alike puerile, and unsupport- ed. That " innervation " is not by an electrical fluid, elim- inated out of the body, in the sense supposed by believers in what has been called " animal magnetism," I infer from the following considerations ; 1. The nerves are had conductors of electricity. They are filled with an oily substance, and are not so good conductors as the muscles, or fluids.f 2. Galvanism, or electricity, like all other stimulants when applied continually, so far from producing the phenomena of life, produce death. If you take two muscles from an animal recently killed, with their respective nerves attached, and gal- vanize one of them with a feeble power, while you lay the other aside, you will find that the one galvanized loses its con- tractility long before the other, nor can it be restored again after being once destroyed ! And the same results may follow when galvanism is applied to the living tissue. W. Philip di- . vided the pneumogastie nerves of two dogs ; the animals were as near alike as possible. To one he applied galvanism, and it * Essay towards a correct theory of the Nervous System, t Dr. Stark, London Athenoeum, March 4, 1843. MUSCULAR MOTION. 119 died in two hours and a quarter, while the other, which was not galvanized, lived four hours, and might perhaps, have lived longer, but it was killed by a blow on the head. And from results such as these, we may see how egregious- ly those persons err, who recommend magnetism or electricity, as a " cure-all " for every disease ; in many cases we know it may be highly useful, but in others it may prove decidedly in- jurious. 3. The neurilema, or covering of the nerves, is not a non- conductor, as it should be, were the nerves themselves the channels for the conveyance of the magnetic forces. Hence, as the muscles and other organs into which the nerves run, are good conductors, there is no way for confining the galvanic fluid in the nerves. Hence, the power of the nervous system is not, and cannot be, either Magnetism, Electricity or Gal- vanism ; for each of these is purely physical, and confined to the mineral kingdom. (20) Thus the motions which evolve vital or mental phenomena, are as much above these lower laws, as Life and Reason are above the mineral kingdom. 4. The nerves conduct as well after death, when neither electricity or any other stimulus will excite contraction in the muscles to which they lead. Were the nervous energy mag- netic, this agency should produce the same results on the muscles after death, when conveyed through the nerves, that it does during life. 5. The results produced by experiments with magnetism, or electricity, upon the nervous system, prove just nothing at all ; because we know that precisely the same results have been produced without galvanism, by mere mechanical or chemical stimuli. (49.) Muscular Motion. 122. But we are referred to certain phenomena of life, which it is supposed cannot be accounted for without the electrical forces ; such, for instance, as the contractility and expansion of the muscles. Muscles are said to contract. This is not philosophically correct. There is no condensation of their substance. What the fibres lose in one direction they make up in another. What we call contraction, is, therefore, no- thing more nor less than a new arrangement of the particles. The serous surfaces are said to be positive ; mucous ne- 'gative ; and the will acts on the voluntary muscles, through these antagonizing forces. To this I reply : 1. This is mere assumption, and begging the very thing to be proved. Chemical action involves the electrical or galvanic forces, but it has never been proved that the serous and mucous 120 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. surfaces are so charged with these different " magnetic forces,' that they may be controlled by the human will, merely. 2. If we should admit that these surfaces were galvanic, or magnetic, it would not be sufficient to account for the contrac- tility of the muscles. The phenomena of muscular motion have never been induced by galvanism, merely, and it is yet to be proved that they ever can be. I mean exactly such mo- tions as are put forth by the human mind. 3. The fact, that muscles, after being removed from the body, lose their contractility sooner by being galvanized, can never be reconciled to this notion about " magnetic " action in the nervous system ; and the muscles should never lose their excitability (as long as decomposition has not taken place) if this theory were true. Nay, more, decomposition ought never to take place, if you keep the magnetic forces in constant action upon the human body according to this theory. 4. This notion assumes, that the blood is circulated by the magnetic forces. But how can this be when we know that the middle coat of the arteries does not contract from galvan- ism at all ! * ■ 5. If this theory were true, then we should be able to control the magnetic forces, out of the body, by the will; so, for in- stance, as to move the magnetic needle ! Why not ? Nay, more — ^ 6. We should be able to communicate magnetism from our own brains to inanimate substances, by a mere effort of the will. But this was never done. I am well aware, indeed, that such things have been assumed, or asserted to have been done ; but the proof has never been given. As for instance, a table has been seen to move, without any visible means ; and it has been assumed, (by those who did not know how else to account for the phenomena,) that it was done, by certain mag- netic, or "odyle" forces, thrown unconsciously out of the human brains, independently of the mind, or volition of any per- son present! But, such assumptions are not argument. In such cases there is no " Relation " shown to have existed be- tween the effects and the alleged brains as the cause. Nor is this all, it never has been shown, that the brains act inde- pendently of the mind. 7. Admitting the serous and mucous surfaces to be positive and negative magnetism, it would follow that these forces would be deranged or annihilated by coming in contact with any considerable quantity of iron ; or by the application of galvanism to the human system. Friction of an electric pro- duces electricity ; but no such results follow the friction of the ■ . I I ■ ' ■ J -. » • Harrison. SEROUS AND MUCOUS SURFACES. 121 living body. The application of an ordinary magnet produces no effects, though it be ever so powerful, except in a few isolated cases where there is a peculiar temperanaent developed by disease, or the process of pathetizing. And even when persons are susceptible to any peculiar influences from the im- ponderable fluids, it is found that their effects scarcely agree in any two cases, nor scarcely in any two experiments at dif- ferent times upon the same person. And on this hypothesis, how can it be shown that in certain cases at least, we should not be able to restore life by a galvanic battery ? It is not known that death, or the mere cessation of life, produces any change of structure in any part of the system ; and in cases of death by fright, or excessive joy, why should not life be re- stored by an application of the ordinary electrical forces ? The electrical forces may be evolved by the chemical pro- cesses constantly carried on in the system ; (27, 43.) but Dr. Stark and Bischoff have proved, that the nerves are among the worst possible conductors of electricity or galvanism ; from which it follows, that these fluids can neither be life, nor the sole agents by which its functions are carried on. And, thus we see, how egregiously those persons are de- ceived who are induced to wear "galvanic bands," "mag- netic belts ;" and to use various " electrical" remedies so called, for the cure of disease. That diseases may, some- times, have been relieved or even cured where such processes have been adopted, we can readily admit, but there is another, and a far more rational way of accounting for such cures, familiar to those who have studied the laws of the human mind.* Serous and Mucous Surfaces. 122. It is said that the positive force is located in the serous surfaces, and this gives the sense of feeling. Also, that the brains are positive, and hence attract all impressions made upon the senses. But there are two difficulties in the way of this assumption : 1. Positive repeZ^ positive ! Hence, if the serous surfaces be positive^ and the brains be positive, also, the brains and serous surfaces must repel one another. 2. The positive force, we are told, " gives the sense of feeling," the same as we have it in the surfaces of the body. If so, then, how is it that the brains are so insensible to touch? How is it that the optic nerve is so insensible to every thing but light ? How is it that the cerebrum, the grand organ of * Vm " Bdok of P6ych<)l!bgy,'* i)* 6 122 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. thought, and the centre of all feeling and sensation, itself has no feeling at all 1 Especially, if the brains be a real galvanic battery, which eliminate the vital energy which feels, how- shall we account for it, that that important organism may be cut, and in fact taken out of the cranium, without giving so much sense of pain even as the mere prick of a pin on the surface of the hand ? Is it not too plain to be doubted, that if magnetism were the sense of feeling, every part of the sys- tem should be alike sensitive to pain from contact with any disturbing body 1 Indeed, we should suppose, that in those portions where we could find the greatest amount of nervous matter, we should find the most magnetism, and consequently the highest sense of feeling from touch. Finally, there is no necessity for such a mineral fluid, as the phenomena of voluntary and involuntary muscular action can be produced and accounted for without it. The facts I have already detailed tending to show the chemical nature of the nutritive fluid, (45.) and the nervous matter, are abundantly sufficient for demonstrating what I have here stated. At the same time we must not lose sight of the fact, that the mucous and serous surfaces are negative and positive, and that they may and do act upon each other in such a manner as is in strict analogy with the lower laws of electricity and mag- netism. But, analogy, is not identity. Motioiss of tlie Mittticitive Fiidid. 123. 1. Some of the tissues are elastic, and when the cause of their distention is removed, they contract of course. Elas- ticity arises from the peculiar molecular arrangement of the parts. We know that heat expands ; now, apply cold to the arteries, and they contract, the same indeed, as the veins, lymphatics and lacteals do when touched by an acid, or ex- posed to cold. 2. What is muscular contraction? Why, an alteration in the relative position of the particles. Now, I have shown, that change evolves heat ; motion is chemical action. But, what causes one part of a muscle to expand and the other to contract at the same instant of time ? (30.) I answer, pre- cisely the same nutritive fluid of which the muscle is made, and the same fluid that carries an impression from an antici- pated blow from the brain to the spinal system, and thence back to the muscles of the eye, which it closes up to prevent the anticipated injury. (57.) The same nutritive fluid that is transmitted by the mind into a paralyzed limb, by which the paralytic is enabled to use his hand ; and only to use it while he keeps his eye upon it. The same nutritive fluid which is intercepted by a ligature, while a ligature has no effect upon ABNORMAL MOTIONS. 123 the transmission of the " magnetic" fluid, as every person acquainted with the suhject knows. And it is well known, also, that primitive nervous fibres and muscles maintain their motive power when insulated within themselves — a fact for which we cannot account upon the electrical theory. How very much this power (excitability, muscular motion) is con- trolled by the laws of association, (67,) will appear if we con- sider the habits in writing, trades, performing on musical in- struments, handicraft, and the tones and manner of speaking common to each person. (69.) We know, also, that the nutritive power decays with the vital energies of the system. Hence it would seem to be in the blood, and, consequently, always present, to be acted upon, or to act, so as to subserve the specific and general purposes of the animal economy. AI>noriial Motions. 124. This view enables us to account for those strange phenomena that occur in decapitated animals and acephalous infants ; as, also, all those phenomena denominated " the re- flexion of sensory impressions into matter," such as often occur without any brains. Thus, if liquor be poured into the mouth, it is unconsciously swallowed ; the position is changed in sleep ; and limbs of animals may be made to move after decapitation, by simply irritating their nerves, or portions of the spinal marrow ; and not only so, but magnetism may, sometimes, be generated and evolved from the nerves by mechanical irritation ; and from such facts, (and volumes might be filled with them) we infer, that the muscular power is not generated by the brains, as many have assumed ; and, to suppose this power is electricity, magnetism, or galvanism, is to suppose the highest forms of life to be controlled, merely, by the lower laws of the mineral kingdom. Even the vege- table kingdom, as we have seen, is evolved from the lower mineral kingdom ; and, as animal life, sensation, and mind, are above the vegetable and mineral kingdom, so the nervous motions are above the mere mineral forces which constitute magnetism or electricity. However much these forces may indeed be concerned in the evolution of the lower forms of life, (121.) we do not apply the term earthly to a living plant, because it grows out of the earth. Nor should ^'e call nervous phenomena electrical, merely because the living organism has germinated in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, upon which it sub-, sists. 124 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. Beauty. 125. The perfection in the development of Forms, consti- tutes their degrees of physical or mental symmetry and beau- ty. In the Human Organism there are unnumbered circles combined into forms, and when they are harmoniously devel- oped, vi'e have beauty and perfection, which are perceived and appreciated just in proportion as the mind is sufficiently devel- oped in corresponding degrees of harmony and perfection. And hence it is that one mind perceives beauty, where another perceives none at all, as in the different degrees in which dif- ferent minds are developed, it is impossible for them all to feel exactly alike in all respects towards one another. One person or mind appears beautiful or lovely to such a mind or minds only, as have corresponding degrees of perfection and harmony in their developments. And thus we perceive how it is, that the term beautiful ap- plies to what is above the physical. All the higher forms or circles from the lower kingdoms having progressed till they formed and entered into the highest organism in this rudimen- tary state. Man thence becomes the most symmetrical and beautiful. Hence we say man is the perfection of all below him, and the head of all animated nature. His superiority is shown in his capacity to comprehend not only that which is below him, but he has spiritual senses also, by which he is ena- bled to behold and contemplate the beautiful in the ascending spheres that are above. From all that has preceded, we now assume, or perhaps it may be considered as proved, that all the emotions, volitions, actions and manifestations of mind, are the proximate phenom- ena of the nutritive fluid. Let us proceed to notice them. Tftie Humau Voice. 126. The tones of voice always correspond to the emotions of love. The language uttered corresponds to form, and the sense conveyed corresponds to wisdom. Hence the power of music and eloquence. Music is the language of excited love, and wisdom. Crying, or sounds which express grief, are its negative or reversed motions. In speaking of the range of the human voice, it is said* there are about 9 perfect tones, but 17,592,186,044,415 differ- ent sounds ; thus, 14 direct*muscles, alone or together, pro- duce 16,363 ; 30 indirect muscles, do., 178,471,828 ; and all * Medical TimcB. EXTRAOEDINARY RESULTS. 125 in co-operation produce the number we have named ; and these independently of different degrees of intensity. The MiMd and Wutritive Fluid. 127. The effects of joy are well known ; under this emo-^ tion, the respiration becomes easy, the face is flushed with color, and the entire system seems animated with new life. Anger is no sooner excited in the mind than its influence is shown in the face, and throughout the muscular system. The eye is seen to change quickly, the teeth grate, and the hand is clenched in correspondence with this state of mind. The vascular system, also, partakes of the general excitement. The blood is quickened in its circulation, and hence the heat of the body is increased. The secretions become more co- pious, and in some cases their quality is perceptibly changed, and mental emotions increase urination and defecation, and it augments all the secretions and excretions, at times ; thus pro- ducing tears, and often bleeding from the nose. Indeed, most of the emotions and passions of the human mind, are usually shown in the countenance, and excite more or less influence over the nutritive fluid. See how it affects the larynx, so as to cause the tones of voice to correspond exactly with the emotions within. The voice has been truly called a living sound. In joy, it is clear and full ; in anger, loud and rough ; in fear, it is tremulous and low, as it is also under deep and tender emotions. And it is worthy of remark, that those ges- tures which are true to nature, are at first perfectly involunta- ry or instinctive. (43, 45.) In fear, the face grows pale ; in fright, the hands are raised and drawn back; in devotion, or joy, the hands are raised and clasped. So in the look of the eye, the turn of the lip, wrinkling of the forehead, emotion is frequently expressed, with more emphasis than could be done in words alone. One hand open, and stretched out, salutes ; both open and extended, invite ; and with one finger we direct, point out, or command. The head affirms or assents by nod- ding, and denies by shaking. Bending forward, it indicates devotion, or modesty, and thus the whole body is made by this power to talk and express the emotions of the mind. £xtrao]*diiiary Re§ult§. 128. Well authenticated cases are upon record which go to show that the mind in some temperaments may so far volun- tarily control this fluid, as to move the involuntary muscles, and, indeed, suspend the entire functions of the animal sys- tem. It is said of Betterton, an actor, that he could, ?.t will, render his face bloodless ; and a case is mentioned by Blu- 126 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. menbach, of a man who could in the same way eontrol the action of his own stomach, A German, now living, by the name of Kerner, it is said, possesses the power of suspend- ing the action of his own heart.* A most extraordinary instance, illustrating this power, is given by Dr, Cheyne.f It was in the case of Col. Town- shend, who after having been some time indisposed, sent for Drs. Bayard and Cheyne, whom he wished to show how he could expire and come to life again ! The Colonel then sus- pended his breath and pulse entirely for half an hour, and a clear looking-glass being held over his face, it was not af- fected any more than if he had been actually dead ! Cases are reported of this kind in India, where the Hindoos suffer them- selves to be buried even, for three or four weeks under ground, without food ; — and though very much reduced, they revive after being excavated. J l>isease aitd I>e3i.tl]L. 139. The interruption of the Nutritive Fluid is disease and death. In this way we must account for cases of disease^ insanity, and death, which have occurred from impressions made upon the mind. It is recorded of a Roman mother, that she instantly died of joy, on meeting her son, as he returned from the battle of Can- nae, where she supposed he had been slain by the veterans of Hannibal. A lady in Kentucky, the wife of David Prentiss, Esq., fell dead in an instant, while reading a letter which brought her the newti of her husband's death. It was this interruption of the Nutritive Fluid which killed the prisoner, wlio was made to believe he was bleeding to death, when not a drop of his blood had been drawn. The New Zealanders die under the same power, when cursed by the Areekee.^ The mind, once fully impressed with a conviction of the unerring CERTAINTY of death, the nutritive forces are stopped, and death is the result. Thus children have been frightened to death, or into a state of confirmed idiocy ; thus ignorant pet- sons have believed themselves bewitched, and have suffered and acted accordingly. (169.) Burton speaks of a Jew in France, who walked by chance in the dark over a dangerous passage or plank that lay over a brook, without harm ; the next day, perceiving what danger he had been in, he dropped * London Lancet, Feb. 1843. t Treatise on Nervous Diseases, p. 307. X London Lancet. § Miss. Herald, vol. 23, p. 314. SUBSTANCE OF MIND, 127 down dead. He further records that at Basil, a child died through fright by seeing a malefactor hung in gibbets ; and that in the same town, beyond the Rhine, another child died on seeing a carcase taken from the grave. Cases of insanity, disease and death, are common, from impressions made upon the nutritive fluid through the mind. The wife of Mr. Jacob Dietrick, (near Mt. Crawford, Va.) was frightened to death, recently. Her little daughter for sport threw a tree-frog upon her lap, which began jumping up towards her face, and so frightened her that she died in two or three days. Lord George Bentinck is said to have died from the excite- ment occasioned by winning jC400,000 on a horse race. A most singular instance of terror in the Miman species is recorded in the Journal de Medicine, pour Vu 1847. It occur- red in the hospital of the Saltpetriere. A female of advanced age was so affected with horror on hearing that her daughter, with two children in her arms, had precipitated herself out of a window, and were killed on the spot, that her skin, in a single night, from head to foot, became as black as that of a negro. "What is tlae Substance of Mind ? 130. The human mind is thus constituted from substance » in correspondence with the development of the constitutional elements of matter, love and wisdom in motion from the great First Cause. And now, observe how beautifully this idea is manifested in Instinct (43) which is so obviously carried out and perfected in the nutritive power. For here we have love, life, and light, developed by will, in form and order, which is wisdom ; and the mental elements thus ORGANIZED, uscs the lowcr forms of matter for its own con- servation, development, and growth. And thus we can see in what sense the mind may be said to be material^ and depend- ent upon matter, and how the mind and the nutritive fluid reciprocally affect each other. We shall perceive, also, more clearly perhaps, in the sequel, the important use that is to be made of these facts. A lady in Boston a few years since, cured a cancer tumor on her own face, nearly as big as a two quart bottle, by merely passing the hand of a dead man over it three mornings in suc- cession.* I have myself dissipated tumors by merely passing my hands over them. The touch of the king's hand was formerly supposed to possess peculiar virtue ; and from him to * Dr. J. M. Warren. 128 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. be transferred to the " seventh son," in the cure of scrofula, which has been called the " King's Evil," from being treated so often by the former kings of France and Great Britain. A youth is mentioned in Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, who took an enormous quantity of laudanum by mistake, and was completely relieved from the ordinary effects of it, by the mental concern which it caused him. Dr. J. Gregory had a patient (a young man) who was purged by an anodyne, be- cause his mind told him it was an aperient. A female patient of Sir W. Ellis was actually salivated by bread pills which he told her were mercurial. Numerous cases are upon record where this Jluid has been so affected by the mind, as to turn the hair from black to grey, in a few hours. ^^ Perfect Niitritiou. .^ 131. Perfect Nutrition is the Curative Principle in all cases, the true, and only Vis Me cicatrix Naturae. Further Reasons for this Conclusion. 133. In the author's Book of Psychology, the reader will find a statement of a large number of cases demonstrating the truth, as it is believed, of this important principle, and to which the reader is desired to refer. If the principle here announced be the true one, if this indeed be the hidden unseen something, which medication must reach and assist in all cases of the successful treatment of disease, then it cannot be too distinctly stated, nor too forcibly impressed upon the human mind. And whether this suggestion be not sufficient to solve, many if not all the conflicting theories and mysteries that beset the subject of medication, the intelligent and candid reader must judge. For instance : — 1. That so many different and conflicting methods of drug- ging should so often succeed in the cure of disease. How is this fact to be accounted for ? To affirm that one or another method is mere " quackery," is not satisfactory. Taking the reports which the different medical schools have given of each other's theories, they are all "quackery," for precisely, in this manner have they to some extent spoken of one another. And yet, they have all succeeded more or less in the treat- ment of disease, and by means- directly diverse and contradic- tory. Now, how is this ? We ask these rival methods of drugging, to explain, how it is, that disease is cured by " quackery ?" but they cannot tell. They either deny that it is cured at all, or if it be cured, they tell us that the " curative principle" did it in despite of the medication ! Ah, indeed ! And, what is that curative principle which does such wonders ? PEKFECT NUTRITION. 129 A " principle" which can cure disease in despite of bad medi- cine or poisons, may be well worth the knowing. And, if it perform such miracles against the impediments of deleterious drugs, what would it not do if properly assisted 1 2. Nor is this all. It is an admitted fact, that both acute and chronic diseases have been cured without any medication at all. I do not refer to cases of " spontaneous cure," but to diseases that have yielded to a system of treatment without medication. How many such have been recorded under the name of Hydropathy 1 How many under the name of Pa- thetism 1 There was an intelligent, definable method of cure, which was perfectly successful. No drugs were used at all ; and yet, the cures have been numerous, perfect, and perma- nent. How have these cures been performed 1 What secret springs in the vital economy have been touched ? What mysterious power has been invoked ? What potent charm has been used ? The only consistent answer, I conceive to be found in the above statement. The instinctive or nutritive principle, is the agent to be consulted in all attempts for the cure of disease. 3. And how is it in Homeopathy ? This is a system so really unlike the old methods of Allopathy, which applies large quantities of drugs, on the assumption that " opposite cures opposite ;" that it not only treats diseases on the sup- position that " like cures like,"' but uses medication in such inconceivably small doses, that according to the former sys- tem they amount to nothing at all. And yet, Homeopathy cures diseases. But can Allopathy tell how this is done "? How else can it be, than by admitting the truth of Hahne- mann's idea in respect to the spirituality of man's nature 1 Hence he conceived the true method of drugging must be the selection of congenial or similar substances, by whose " im- material virtues" (not a good term) the spiritual or vital dis- ease could be cured. Now my argument here is not based on the merits of this system, but its cures are referred to for the purpose of showing that cures are performed by it for which Allopathy can give no consistent solution. And what should be borne in mind here, is, that neither of these methods (sys- tems perhaps they need not be called) nor, indeed, any other of the numerous theories of drugging, do or can account for the cures that follow a contrary course of medication. And yet, cures are made by them all, including also any amount perhaps of disease, sufferings, and death. And, whilff we look on and see these different methods of drugging, so op- posed and contradictory to one another ; while we notice ihat cures are made, we are compelled to go back of all theories, beyond all methods of drugging, and interrogate nature her- IM BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. self, as to the rationale of all these different cures. The answer has already been stated. (118.) Watuire's MetSiod. 133. Method differs from system in this respect, that while the latter term signifies a complete number of Laws, Fate, or a course of procedure that is invariable, the former term implies more latitude, more capacity for adapting itself to ex isting circumstances, so that, if the organism, or the instinc tive principle find it impossible to succeed in one direction, it will take another. Nature, therefore, may be said to have her method or methods (44) of working ; her methods of repairing the mischiefs that are done her. As her living intelligent or- ganisms, are more complicated, they are more liable to be interrupted in their processes. Against this very liability — she has provided in this wonderful plastic principle, ever present, ever vigilant, ever energizing to conserve and build up the in- dividuality, against all those external and internal uncongenial forces or substances that tend to break it down. So, that in all cases it may be said, she will succeed, she will generate a healthy organism; or if the organism be injured, she will re- pair the mischief if let alone, and permitted to do so. The Nutritive Principle does the best that can be done in all cases of medication. Hence, if assistance is to be rendered it is to be offered to this principle ; and the only method of drugging which can be attempted with safety, must recognize not merely the fact of nutrition, but its Method also. Its method of commencing the human body, its method of devel- opment, of ingestion, retention, and egestion. All these pro- cesses have respect to the substances taken|.into the stomach and the lungs ; the dress worn upon the external surfaces ; light, sounds, odors, habits, exercise, not excepting all that we enjoy or suffer from social life, or whatever objects, real or imaginary, which impress, excite and control the different faculties of the human mind. IJuiiatural !>ruggi]ig. 134. And from the foregoing considerations it becomes manifest, how useless, how worse than useless, nay, how dire- ful and fatal even, must be the common and prevalent practice of drugging. Scarcely one in a cart load of the drugs swal- lowed in such immense quantities, but that would make a well man sick if he were to take it. Nor is this all. Those nau- seous drugs, those patent pills and powders, these poisons by •wholesale, are admitted without any reliable knowledge of na- ture's method of cure ; they are eaten and gulped down at a RECIPROCITY. 181 venture, as if that were the way to supply the " whole stay and staff of life." The plainest rules of physiology are violated from generation to generation in the dietetic habits, so that hu man beings come into this world diseased ; and, if they do not bring a pill or powder in their mouths, it is certain the defence- less, helpless little ones are not here long before they have the hateful stuff thrust into them. And, so the pill-box, and the syrup-bottle become the common appendages of the cradle and nursery. True, the poor creatures cry out against these out- rages upon their instincts; as does j\ature and reason, and sound philosophy. And may we not hope, that the time can- not be far distant when a knowledge of physiology and nature's method of cure will put an everlasting veto upon these vile and hurtful practices ; — when the errors, and evils of patent nostrums and drugging generally shall be everywhere dispensed with, superseded by the lights of science and the progressive ten- dencies of the age.* '~ Reciprocity of Mind and SSody. 135. We can now, perhaps, have a more distinct percep- tion as to the sense in which it may be said, the mind and the body reciprocally act upon each other. Thus, the Soul is the Life, and develops the outer form, which is the Body. The Body develops the Mind, or intellectual powers, — and from the Mind and Body together, is developed the Human Spirit, which lives for ever. The life principle, as we have seen, (20) develops the plant in the vegetable kingdom ; and, between the internal life principle of the plant, and its exter- nal form, the seed^ or spirit of the plant is developed, which la an indication or prophecy of the Human Individuality or Spi- rit, which continues, and can never be dissolved. Illustrations. 136. 1. The sensation or feeling of exhaustion, from men- tal or physical excitement. 2. Animals run to death, putrify much sooner than others. The nutritive fluid supplies the wants of the body, and thus keeps up the motions of life against the destructive force of oxygen. 3. And hence, in those cases where there is an abundant supply of the nutritive power immediately preceding death, * The Author has given his views elsewhere (Book of Health) on the subject of Disease and Health, hence it is not necessary to repeat them here. 132 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. certain parts, as the hair and nails, may grow, after the death of the hody. 4. Deli-rium, which often occurs before death, in cases of starvation. 5. The change produced in the mother's milk, from violent passions. Infants have been thrown into convulsions, and in some cases killed, by immediately nursing after a fit of anger in the mother. 6. The difficulties which the presence of certain persons often produce in the motions of the spinal system, peculiar to parturition. It is a fact, of which almost every mother is conscious, who has been surrounded by one or more men- midwives, during their labors in child-birth, that the pains and the process of parturition have often been arrested by the pre- sence of a man at those times, and I have known cases where nature has utterly refused to proceed with its work, till the man-doctor had left the room ! In such cases the motor sys- tem sympathises with the mother's mind, and thus its work is obstructed. And thus we have the voice of Nature against the presence of men with mothers, at such times, except it be the husband and father. Modesty, delicacy, propriety, the safety of mo- ther and child, all cry out against the presence of men-mid- wives. For more than five thousand years, human beings were born without such an outrage being once thought of. In cases of difficulty surgeons might be called, but I am satisfied that most cases of difficulty that have occurred were brought on through the mother's mind, occasioned by her outraged modesty, in being compelled, against nature, to submit her person to the examination of a man-midwife ! Midwifery belongs to females, and they should be informed and educa- ted £0 as to rescue their own business back again into their own hands, as it remained from the beginning of the world till the year 1663, when a mistress of Louis XIV. of France, without any anticipation of needing surgical aid, called in a man to attend her, during her labor ! So, we see, that this practice had an infamous origin, and, from that time to the present, it has never been wholly free from the disgrace in which it was first commenced. Cerebral Kxciteiaient. 137. From what has been said illustrating the nature of the nutritive fluid, (49, 72) we may now see how it is that the cerebral organs become excited, and how they may be increas- ed or diminished in their activity. I. The power of each function is increased by exercise ; it II MIND AND BODY. 133 is so with the muscles, and thus with the cereoral organs (54.) Motion directs, and draws to each organ, the nutritive fluid, and thus its power is increased for the moment, or when the number of the molecules are increased, then the power is permanently augmented. (53.) 2. The mind may be concentrated on one subject, through one function ; the nutritive fluid is increased in that organ for the time being, and its power is thus augmented. (53, 54.) 3. We see what should be done, when we find out that one or more of our faculties are too strong or active. We should exercise our wisdom in governing ourselves, in view of that fact, and thus avoid all those associations (177, 178) which would have a tendency to concentrate the nutritive fluid in those organs. We give this fluid another direction by exer- cising other organs. (72.) Abnormal Cerebral Actioii. 138. In the same manner we are to account for those ab- normal or artificial cerebral excitements, produced in certain temperaments ; or, when a patient is in a state of trance, by touching the head, or pointing, merely, at different parts of the body.* It is certain, that placing the hand on different parts of the human body, directs the mind, and thus calls the nutritive fluid to that, or its corresponding part. 1. Touching the head may increase the temperature, and thus augment the nutritive fluid in the organs touched. 2. The patient, in most cases, associates in his own mind, the faculty, with the place touched. His own mind directs the nutritive fluid to the organ, and it becomes excited in that way. (49.) 3. There is still another way in which these excitements may be produced, in cases where the patient does not, in his normal state, know anything about phrenology. He may have intuitive knowledge of the locations of the cerebral organs, and when touched, his own mind directs the nutritive fluid to the appropriate organs. (104.) 4. And there is another method, still. When such cerebral excitements are said to be caused by the mere will of the ope- rator, they may be produced by suggestions ; by associations, (69) by intuition, (104, 105) or spiritual sympathy. The last named is the most rare, and as there are so many other ways for those results to occur, it is not surprising that operators * I first excited the separate cerebral organs in Aug. 1841. But I very soon found that those excitements could not be depended upon, as I at first supposed. 134 BOOK OF HUMAN KATUEE. should have been so frequently deceived in this matter as they evidently have been. But in neither of these ways is there any necessity for any such " magnetic or odyle fluid," as ma- ny have supposed. And, even if we were to admit the exist- ence, or transmission of such a fluid, out of one system into another^ it would by no means be sufficient to account for the phenomena that occur. As for instance : 1. When the fluid is said to proceed out of one head into another, or from one nervous system into another, what law directs the fluid to light upon the right place ? 2. If a fluid should be thus eliminated out of one body, by one mind, into another body, what pre- vents the fluid from being diffused throughout the system ? 3. Or, why should that fluid, after it has left one mind, and en- tered the body of the patient, produce one result rather than another ? Who can tell ? These questions were never an- swered ; and consistently with the notions that have prevailed in favor of" animal magnetism," or the odyle force, they nev- er can be answered. Ctiemism on tlie Mind. 139. Chemical agents, as we have seen, not only act upon sensation so as to excite, or suspend it, entirely, but they extend their influence in suspending, or exciting each of the mental faculties, also. The stimulants increase to a greater or less degree the quantity of blood which flows into the brains, in a given time ; as a consequence of this, the whole cerebral system is excited, provided the stimulation does not exceed a certain limit ; but the local excitement differs according to the different stimulant employed. Thus, ammonia, musk, castor, wine, and ether, increase the powers of imagination and per- ception ; the empyreumatic oil^ cause peevishness, melancholy and visions. Phosphorus acts upon the generative functions ; so also, does iodine, and at the same time induces sadness. Cantharides excite, and camphor diminishes, the sexual propen- sity. Arsenic causes melancholy ; gold, hope ; mercury, in- creased sensitiveness (mental) ; and carbonic acid gas, placidity. Among the narcotics, opium stimulates the sexual desires, the intellectual powers, and the imagination. Belladonna dulls the mental faculties ; hyoscyamus causes moroseness, jealousy, and violence ; cicuta weakens the understanding ; digitalis diminishes, and saffron increases the sexual desires ; cahabis causes calmness ; and amanita muscaria, courage ; tobacco operates in the same way as opium.* * Dr. Otto, Northern Jour., of Med., March, 1846. CEEEBKAL ACTION. 185 Congenital Plienomena. 140. If we keep in view what has been said" illustrating the peculiar nature of the nutritive forces, (35-45,) we may now be somewhat prepared to understand the true causes which evolve all the phenomena common to the human mind ; and from which it will be seen, that all the emotions, volitions and mental manifestations, which ever did, or ever can take place, may be traced to their appropriate causes, so that not one of them can truly be said to be supernatural, above or below nature. 1. I have shown (36, 37, 38, 61, 62) that the mind of the foetus is developed from the nutritive forces of the parents — thus forms and colors are transmitted by the mother's mind to the child, and hence the " marks," and constitutional tendencies with which human beings always come into the world. Now, on the assumption that this fluid is elaborated, distributed and controlled, by those motions which constitute the elements of the mind, (118) the following results are easily accounted for : Dr. Howship relates the case of a woman who was crossing a frozen river, in a state of pregnancy. The ice cracked and burst, and she was terribly frightened. When the child was born its skin was gaped considerably in several places. The sight of an epileptic has been known to transfer this disease to the foetus ; and a case is reported in which a child was born with small-pox, in consequence of the exposure of its mother, only thirty days previous to the birth of the child, and this too when the mother had been perfectly secured from varioloid, by vaccination, some thirty years before. There wer£ upon the body of the child, about one hundred and seventy regularly formed small-pox pustules, of the usual size, and filled with a yellowish purulent matter.* The sight of an ugly or disagreeable person has been known to produce an effect upon the features of the embryo. I knew a child, born in Athol, Mass., whose face, hands, and other parts of its body, partook of the shape and color of a * New YorTc Lancet, May 21, 1842.— Two similar cases are given in the same work, for March 26 and April 26, 1842 ; and another in the London Lancet for Feb, 4, 1842. And from such facts as the follow- ing, it would seem that the same law predominates over the suscepti- biUties of the feathered tribe, also. "A hen belonging to b'enj. Gallaway, Esq., of Weakley County, Tenn., was bitten by a rattle- snake, but by proper attention the wound was cured. However, strange to tell, every Qgg laid after that time by this hen, had a picture of a rattlesnake represented upon the shell I" — New Yoi'k Sun, April 14, 1843. ^ . ^ 186 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. toad, a calf's head, and double cucumbers, double squashes, and the like. The mother's mind was intensely occupied by- each of those articles, some five or six months before it was born. The fluid from which that fcetus was generated, re- ceived its life and /orm, from the mother's mind. (49, 62, 72.) In phenomena like these, we have ocular demonstration of the material nature of the mind, inasmuch as we know that the mind receives, and transfers colors, as in cases where we see these '' marks" upon children, exhibiting precisely the color of the/rwzY, animal or thing, which made the impression on the mother's mind. Temperasaients. 141. In the composition of the human body we have the osseous, muscular, vascular, and nervous systems, each more or less distinct, and yet so united that one could not exist without the other. As we have seen, each is developed in succession, from the preceding, so that ane is the germ or life of the other ; life, sensation, the soul, mind, spirit, which develops the whole, through the nutritive fluid, so that the nervous matter is not only the life, the soul of each of the others, but it com- bines a number of distinct elements, or systems, with numerous and appropriate functions and susceptibilities ; and the degrees in which we find the different qualities of the nervous matter apportioned in each system, together with the qualities and quantities of the fluids, muscles, bones, and the strength of the digesting, circulating, absorbing, and breathing organs, deter- mine the idiosyncrasy of each person. • From this, it will be seen that there may not be any two of precisely the same temperament, and the reasons, also, why one person is more easily affected from any given cause than another. Dergees iu tl&e Temperaments. 142. The first thing to be considered in acquiring a know- ledge of character, is to be able to distinguish the proportions in which the three systems are united in one body. For con- venience in describing, a number of terms have been used, indicating the animal and mental economy, but I believe the following classification will be found as accurate as any other, and perhaps more in agreement with the human constitution : 1. Vital. Persons of this temperament have black hair, dark skin, moderate fullness, and much firmness of flesh, with harshly-expressed outline of person. . The functions partake of great energy of action, which extends to the brains ; and the countenance, in consequence, shows strong, marked, and iecided features. Like each of the following, it has three TEMPEEAMENTS. 187 degrees of development, which correspond with the three systems constituting the human body. 2. The Motive is indicated by well-defined forms, moderate plumpness of person, firmness of flesh, with ruddiness of countenance. It is marked by great activity of the blood- vessels, fondness for exercise, and an animated countenance. The brains partake of the general state, and are active. 3. The Cerebral, or Mental. Persons with this tempera- ment have fine, thin hair, thin skin, small, thin muscles, quick- ness in muscular motion, paleness of countenance, and often delicate health. The whole nervous system, including the brains, is predominantly active. Instead of attempting a description of each subdivision of these three temperaments, in detail, it may be sufficient here, to notice simply three of their most general combinations, cor- responding with the above, and with the inherent elements of the human mind. CoBiibiuation of Teiiipcraiineiif§. 143. 1. The Apathetic, distinguishable by a round form of the body, softness of the muscular system, repletion of the cellular tissue, fair hair, and a pale, clear skin. It is accom- panied by languid vital action, with weakness and slowness in the circulation. The brains, as a part of the system, are also slow, languid, and feeble in their action, and the mental mani- festations are proportionally weak. 2. Antipathetic. Large firmness and resistance, aversion and destructiveness. 3. Sympathetic. This is a combination of the motive and cerebral temperaments, with large developments of benevo- lence, suavity, love, and imitation. Persons of this combina- tion have either light hair, or very soft black hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion. 138 book: of human nature. PHENOMENA. CONGENITAL, CORRELATTVE, ABNORMAL. Constitutional Tendencies. 144. The vital, mental, and spiritual phenomena, strictly abnormal, are such as are developed by the want of harmony in the original elements of mind, or rather, by the want of unity in their appropriate functions or motion's. 1. One class of diseases and corresponding phenomena, are evolved by the love principle, without wisdom. What we call constitutional tendencies are formed in this way ; and thus we are to account for cases of adepsity, like that of Dan- iel Lambert, and others, where one part of the body, or one or more of the fingers, are congenitally large, and which continue so through life, unless they are amputated. l>rean&!§, Trance^ §oinnainI>iiii§in. 145. And by the same laws we account for many dreams, visions, delusions, and causes of insanity and idiotcy. 2. Another class of abnormal phenomena are the results of irregular motions in the elements of love or will principles combined. This includes all those results which come to pass incidentally by impressions made upon the nutritive fluid, and they disturb the regular functions, both of the mind and the body. Dreams occur in this way, for dreaming is a state of partial activity in the mental organs, between sound sleep and wakefulness. Whatever, therefore, tends to increase the cir- culation, and to destroy the balance between the periods of activity and rest peculiar to the circulating system, increases the mental states, analagous and peculiar to a state of dream- ing. Cases of trance, like that of William Tennant, the Tyrol virgins, the Seeress of Provoorst, and many others, have oc- curred in this way. Natural somnambulism is that state in which the motive power is active ; and while the external ABNORMAL PHENOMENA. 13^ senses and memory are asleep, the wisdom becomes excited, and hence they do see and hear things of which they have no recollection when in the natural state. At other times there is little or no motion in the muscles, and the person sleeps for weeks, and even months. A lady is mentioned by Dr. MacNish, who spent three- fourths of her life in sleep. A woman in Renault slept from seventeen to eighteen hours a day, for fifteen years. De Moi- vre slept twenty hours out of the twenty-four ; and Thomas Parr slept away the greater part of his life. Other cases are well known, where persons have slept a week, a month, and six weeks at a time, and one* who slept at one time four weeks, and at another, four months. Of course, these per- sons took nourishment during this time, but they were, never- theless, in a state of abnormal sleep. And so other persons are constitutionally disposed to egre- gorises, or abnormal wakefulness. The case of Robert F. Gourly is well known. f He went without sleep in 1833, when forty years old, about six weeks, and after that he took no sleep at all, few the space of three years ! An acquaintance of his informed me at the time, that he had no doubt of the fact, but he perceived that Mr. G. was evidently insane, as we should know any one must be, whose normal sleep was thus disturbed. Many persons disposed to fall into what is called trance, or such a state of sleep, have been by their friends supposed to be dead, and hence they were buried while alive ! One case of this kind I knew, and accounts of others have often been published.:}: Fits. 146. 3. Another class includes both mental and physical abnormal phenomena, evolved by the want of harmony be- tween love, or will, and wisdom, either asleep or awake, such * Samuel Chilton, Tinsbury, Eng., 1694. •j- Published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 1842. X In order to guard against premature interments, tliere is attached to most of the cemeteries in Germany, a hall wliere the dead remain some time before being committed to the ground. In this hall, the body, neatly attired, is laid upon a couch — before the lips is placed a mirror which the slightest breath would cloud, and between the fin- gers a string, which, on the slightest movement, causes a bell in the department of the keeper to ring. This hall is visited night and day, hourly, by vigilant inspectors, and it is stated that not a year passes that the bell is not rung by one of the supposed corpses ! Similar precautions should be adopted in every burial place in America. In- disputable facta conclusively indicate their necessity. 140 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE.- as too much or too little sleep, fits, convulsions, spasms, and insanity. The case of Miss Sarah Burbeck is well known.* I saw her three years since, and witnessed a sight which it would be useless for me, or any one else, to attempt to describe. For some fifteen years she has not been conscious of having en- joyed one moment of sound sleep. During this time she has been*confined to her bed, the pillows and bolsters of which have of late years, been made of India rubber, so as to break the force of the terrible convulsions to which every limb and joint in her entire frame is ever and anon subjected, with such in- conceivable power, that many of her bones have been long since dislocated. Sometimes she is elevated from her bed, in an instant, per- pendicularly ; and at other times pinned to the wall, or made to spin like a top without the least effort. Then she may be tossed up to the plastering overhead, or thrown with violence from her bed upon the floor. At other times her hands will be drawn up with so much force as to bruise her face, and thus she has knocked out one of her own eyes. I noticed, when in her presence, that speaking of her suf- ferings tended to bring on the convulsions. And in the same neighborhood I found another young lady, who, for about two years, had been similarly afilicted, induced, undoubtedly, by what she had seen and heard of Sarah JBurbeck. Moiv iBiduced? 147. An English paper, (the Manchester Guardian,) men- tions the case of a young man named Pixton, who dreamed three several nights that he had been drowned in the River Rollin. In joke, he directed his family as to the disposal of his effects in case his dreams should be fulfilled. He went to bathe in that river a few days afterwards, swam about some time, dived into a deep part, and did not re-appear. An hour and a half elapsed before his body was recovered. The dream of this young man may have been the occasion of his death; that is, he may have become fascinated, so to speak, with the idea, so as to lose his self-control, and thus he perished. So the young lady, at Niagara Falls, was fascinated on looking over the precipice ; and, losing her self-control, she fell, and was dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Always, when persons become fascinated with a sense of danger, in this way, they should be Pathetised, and thus the spell may be broken, their minds directed another way, or imbued with the thoughts of other subjects, till they are re- lieved from the mischievous hallucination. * Salem, Mass* ABNORMAL PHENOMENA. 141 « Had this method been taken with Mr. Reese, who died under similar circumstances in Maryland a year or two since, he might have undoubtedly been saved. The following ac- count of his case was given in the papers at the time : — Death of Mr. Jacob Reese. On the day of his death, Mr. Reese was engaged in seeding oats, and towards evening he was startled by a voice, apparently at his elbow, saying, " You may sow, but yoa shall not reap!" He looked around, and seeing no one, continued his work of seeding, attributing it, as he afterwards stated, to his imagination. At every step, how- ever, the warning was repeated, and at last unable to bear it, he proceeded home to his wife. He was persuaded by her that it was only his imagination ; and finding that he had no fever and did not complain of unusual indisposition, she in- duced him to return to the field. There, however, the same solemn warning voice attended him at every step — " You may sow, but you shall not reap !" — and in a state of extreme agi- tation, he again ceased work and went home. He there took an early supper, was shortly after attacked with swelling in the throat, and before sunrise next morning was a corpse.* In such cases can there be any doubt but that death is caused by an '• idea 1" And yet, some persons aflfect to make light of the statement that a mortal may be entranced by his own idea or views, when he thinks of spirits. And, we are asked if "any thing can act upon itself?" I answer, cer- tainly. Any complicated organism may act upon itself; that is, supposing there are fifty subordinate organs, one of them may become so much excited, as to control all the others. And the cause of that excitement, that is, the remote cause, we may not be able to find out of the organism itself altogether. So the organ of fear may be so much excited by the mere ruffling of a leaf, (external) that the excitement of the sys- tem may extend, till disease and death have ensued. In such cases it is not unphilosophical certainly to affirm that the organism acts upon itself. Indeed, how else, can man be said to be a perfect organism, or a sovereign individual, if he have not self-control, conscious or unconscious ? I>i§ease. 148. The want of harmony and perfection in the ingestive, retentive and egestive motions, peculiar to each system com- posing the human body, is disease. The inherent or instinc- tive motions of each elementary principle, by which the nutri- tive fluid is elabored and governed, tend toward the greatest * Centreville, Queen Anne's CouDtjr— (Md.) Tim'^, 142 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. perfection and harmony in the development of the whole or- g-anism which is possible both in sickness and in health. Thus, Nature always does the best that can be done with the ma- terials it has to work with for the time being, and hence, the greatest amount of health, so to speak, is always enjoyed when nature is the least obstructed, either by drugs, the state of the mind, food, air, &c. (90.) But when, from any cause, these motions are interrupted or increased, in any one part, so as to destroy the harmony of the whole, that interruption, or increase, is disease. Diseases, therefore, may, and should be classed in correspondence with the motions which originate that state or change to which this term is applied. For whichever system, whether the vital, motive or cerebral, be diseased, in every case there is disturbance in the nutritive fluid. (105.) In such cases, more or less is communicated than is necessary to sup- ply the natural wants of the system ; the circulating, assimi- lating, absorbing, and excreting processes are interrupted, and inflammation or congestion ensues : one part is wasted for the want of a due supply, and another is enlarged with unhealthy deposits. The temperature is now increased or diminished ; and hence, as health consists in a regular series of alternating conditions or motions, each embracing a special period of time, so disease must be nothing more nor less than an increase or diminution of the amount of the same motions or conditions, and is universally alternative with a period of comparative health. When the disturbance is merely functional we call the disease acute ; and chronic when it has continued a suffi- cient length of time to alter the structure of the parts. As the proximate cause of disease is in the nutritive fluid, it is manifest how pernicious — and I might add — how m^jrderous are the prevalent and contradictory methods of drugging for its cure. Were this the proper place, I believe I could satisfy some of my readers at least, that probably in no one thing was the world ever more deceived ; in no one thing was the multi- tude ever more " humbugged" than in the use of medicinal drugs, " powders," " pills," " syrups," and " panaceas." No " profession," no " trade," ever combined more mischief, in its ultimate results, than the " art" of drugging, which has made more misery, and destroyed more lives than alcohol or the sword. From the beginning it has been subjected to constant change, ever and anon putting on a new phase, and luring the invalid on with fresh promises of life and health, while " ma- ladies, ghastly spasms, racking tortures, qualms," have been swallowed in the forms of powders and patent nostrums. Strictly speaking, no medicine ever did or ever can cure dis- ease, any more than it can produce life. ABNORMAL PHENOMENA. 143 £ii§si,iiil:y. 149. If we suppose disease to be another word fOr discord in the vital system, or in those spiritual motions which generate the nutritive jiuid^ then it must follow that what we denominate insanity, though its remote cause may be traced to the vital system, yet is discord in the mental system, or in those higher motions peculiar to the cerebral matter which constitutes in- telligence. When one or more of the mental organs become so impaired or excited in their exercises that it is carried beyond a healthy action, such action as ceases to be in harmony with the healthy action of the other organs, and so far as to be shown in the conduct or mental exercises for any time, we pronounce it a case of insanity, or monomania. Hence we see the effects often produced by a violent blow upon the head ; or the effects produced on the mind when the brains become charged from the stomach, or other parts of the body too highly stimulated. Monomania is the result of the morbid action of one organ. We call it insanity when the entire brains are permanently diseased, or a number of the organs together. In a word, all morhid action of one or more organs, produces derangement in the mental exercises. This is so plain, that no one will at^ tempt to deny it ; certainly no one who admits the claims of Phrenology. But it becomes a serious question as to how we shall be able to decide between sanity and insanity ? How or where shall the line be drawn between monomania, and the healthy action of all the cerebral organs ? This may be as difficult as it is to decide on the line which divides light from darkness ; for there can be no doubt but that the mental organs are often excited to unhealthy action, without giving the least suspicion to any one, that the person is laboring under monomania. A pamphlet has recently been published containing the an- nual report of the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum, in which it is attempted to be shown that persons with hair and eyes of a peculiar color, are more liable to insanity than others. The tables given in the report referred to, certainly exhibit soma very remarkable facts. From one of these tables it appears that of the 119 inmates of the Asylum, 4 have sandy hair ; 1 red ; 12 light brown ; 30 brown ■, 37 dark brown ; 14 very dark brown; and 21 black. This would seem to indicate that those having dark hair are far more liable to insanity than others. The pamphlet in question also shows the same remarkable fact in reference to the color of the eye. Of the 119 confined, 33 have blue eyes; 41 grey; 16 hazel; 27 chesnut; and 2 black. Of the females among thi« number, grey is the most frequent) but of the males, blue. 144 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. Spheres. 150. As there are various senses in which this term is often used, it may be necessary for us here to define what we mean by it : 1. It is used to signify a perfect orb, or globe, which is in every part equally distant from a point called its centre. 2. The extent, circuit, or form of motion peculiar to any given body, physical or mental. 3. The extent, or circuit of that which proceeds, or is given off, from any substance, organism, or mind. Now, if it be true, that each mineral, in the mineral king- dom, and each vegetable, in the vegetable kingdom, and all ani- mals in the animal kingdom, and all minds in the world of mind, as all worlds in the universe, and all things in each, are surrounded by spheres peculiar to each, it will be seen, at once,, how important it is, that this doctrine should be fully compre- hended, in order to have a correct understanding of human na- ture. The following testimonies are among the first that were ever uttered on this feature of our subject, and they give, per- haps, as correct an idea of it as could be put in the form of language : — Sympathies and antipathies are nothing else than exhala- tions of affections, from minds which affect one another, according to similitudes, and excite aversion according to dis- similitudes. These, although they are innumerable, and are not sensibly perceived by any sense of the body, are yet perceived by the sense of the soul, as one ; and according to them, all conjunctions and consociations in the spiritual world are made.— T. C. R. 365. Spiritual spheres encompass all spirits and societies of spirits, jioiving forth from the life of the affections and of the thoughts thence derived : wherefore if the affections be con- trary, collision takes place, whence comes anxiety. — A. C. 10, 312. There is diffused around every one in heaven, and every one in hell, a sphere consisting of substances resolved and separated from their bodies. It was also perceived that a sphere diffuses itself, not only from angels and spirits, but also from all and each of the things which appear in that world, as froni the trees and from their fruits there, from shrubs and from their flowers, from herbs and from grasses, yea, from earths and from everything of them; from which it was evident that this is universal as well in things living as dead, that everything is surrounded by Bbmething similar to that which is uithin it, and that this is SPHERES. 145 continually exhaled from it. That it is similar in the natural world, is known from the experience of many of the learned ; as that a continual stream of effluvia flows forth from a man, also from every animal, and likewise from trees, fruits, shrubs, flowers, yea, from metals and stones. Thus the natural world derives from the spiritual world, and the spiritual world from the divine.— D. L. & D. W. 291-293. There flows forth, yea, overflows, from every man a spiritual sphere, derived from the affections of his love, which encompasses him, and infuses itself into the natural sphere derived from the body, so that the two spheres are conjoined. That a natural sphere is continually flowing forth, not only from man, but also from beasts, yea, from trees, fruits, flowers, and also from metals, is a thing generally known. The case' is the same in the. spiritual world ; but the spheres flowing forth from subjects in that world are spiritual, and those which emanate from spirits and angels are altogether spiritual, be- cause there appertain thereto affections of love, and thence perceptions and interior thoughts ; all of sympathy and an- tipathy hath hence its rise, and likewise all conjunction and disjunction, and according thereto presence and absence in the spiritual world, for what is homogeneous or concordant causes conjunction and presence, and what is heterogeneous and dis- cordant causes disjunction and absence, wherefore those spheres cause distances in that world. That those spiritual spheres operate in the natural world is also known to some. The inclination of conjugal partners one towards the other, is from no other origin than this ; such partners are united by unanimous and concordant spheres, and disunited by adverse and discordant spheres ; for concordant spheres are delightful and grateful, whereas discordant spheres are undelightful and ungrateful. There is not any part within in man, nor any without, which doth not renew itself, and that this renewal is effected by solutions and reparations, and that hence is the sphere which continually issues forth. — C. L. 171. The spiritual sphere appertaining to a man or to a spirit, is the exhalation flowing forth from the life of his loves, from which it is known at a distance what is his quality ; according to spheres, all are conjoined in the other life, even societies among themselves ; and are also dissociated, for opposite spheres are in collision, and mutually repel each other ; hence the spheres of the loves of evil are all in hell, and the spheres of the loves of good are all in heaven, that is, they who are in those spheres. — A. C. 6206. That the truth or the false which are derived from man^s loves, encompass him and also flow forth from him, may appear from this cdnsideration, that all things which are in the 7 146 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. *" world, as well animate as inanimate, pour forth from tKemselves a sphere, which is sometimes perceivable to the senses at a considerable distance, as from animals in the woods, which dogs exquisitely smell out, and pursue by the scent from step to step ; likewise from vegetables in gardens and forests, which emit an odoriferous sphere in every direction ; in like manner from the ground and its various minerals ; but the^e exhalations are natural exhalations. Similar is the case in the spiritual world, where from every spirit and angel flows forth a sphere of his love, and of its derivative truth or false, and this in every direction ; hence it is that all spirits may be known as to their quality, from the spiritual sphere alone which exudes from them, and that according to those spheres they have con- junction with societies which are in similar love, and thence in a similar truth or false. They who are in the love of good and thence of truth, are conjoined with the societies of heaven, and they who are in the love of evil and thence ' of the false, are conjoined with the societies of hell. I can assert that there is not even a single thought appertaining to a spirit, and also to a man, which does not communicate by that sphere with some society ; that this is the case, has not hitherto been known to man, but it has been made evident to me from a thousand instances in the spiritual world, wherefore also when spirits are explored as to their quality, it is traced out whither their ■ thoughts extend themselves, whence it is known with what societies they are conjoined, and thus their quality is ascertained. — A. E. 889.* Tlie "Od." 151. This doctrine of the spheres is as necessary, for fully comprehending many of nature's causes, as we have seen the doctrine of degrees to be. And how readily it harmonizes with the physical experiments of Reichenbach, which have given rise to so many mere speculations jn respect to what has been called od, it is easy to see.f The truth is, Reichenbach's Researches do nothing more nor less than to confirm the doctrine of the spheres long since set forth by Swedenborg. But, as a use has been attempted to be made of the details in Reicbenbach's book, which the facts, themselves, do not by any means warrant, it becomes necessary to examine what he has demonstrated, with a minuteness which the importance of the subject would seem to demand. While the doctrine of * Vide, also, A. C. 925, 7454, 10,180. t Physico-Physiological Researches on the Dynamics of Magnetism, Electrieity, Heat, Light, Chrystallization, and Chemism, &c., by Chai'les Von Keichenbaoh. J. S. Eedfield, New York, 1851, OD. 147 spheres is true, and while I adniit the experiments of the German chemist as putting this doctrine of the spheres of physical bodies beyond all doubt, I must demur, altogether, to the inferences which are attempted to be drawn from them. These inferences may be briefly stated thus : — That this. 0(^, (or whatever it may be called,*) is eliminated out of the human system, (without the action of the mind,) and is the cause of the following phenomena : — 1. It addresses itself, as is alleged, to the sense of hear- ing, by making loud sounds and beautiful music. 2. It addresses the sense of feeling; it is said, by taking hold of you, striking you, pulling your clothes, and. causing you to feel vibrations in physical bodies near by. 3. It exerts force, we are told, over amorphous bodies, without any physical contact, sufficient to suspend a common dining table entirely from the floor, and to remove it a distance in space of fifty feet. 4. This " oo'," or "odyle," it is assumed, "independently of the human mind,'' and without any conscious volition of any human being, darts out of the nervous system, and manifests all the attributes of Individuality or Personality. It evinces Intelligence, asks and answers questions, — it shows all the characteristics of an intelligent human being, of Hope, Love, Hatred, Joy, &c. Well, now, without stopping to inquire what one might not believe who can believe this, [and all this one may believe who is more or less ignorant of the doctrine of Degrees,] we proceed to exhibit those deductions of the great apostle of oddity, which bear upon the question now under notice. His *' conclusions" are stated from page 220 to 227, and are as follows : — 1. The od is a mere exhalation, as something eliminated from light, heat, chemism, and all physical bodies in the uni- verse, and is different from all other substances. 2. This od addresses itself principally to the senses of feeling and sight, in a peculiar class of people whom he calls cataleptics or "sensitives." It never addresses the sense of hearing at all ! 3. In respect to causing " sounds," or the movement of physical and amorphous bodies, od is wholly inoperative. These are his words : — "All odic flame may be made to flicker by currents of air; be diverted, caused to move, blown about, and S^^ broken up * Dr. B. W. Eicliinond calls it " some indefinite somehow !" and yet he personifies it, and allows to it " intelligence, power and spite," In order to account for what are termed " spiritual manifestations I*' 148 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. hy blowing on it ! Meeting- with solid bodies, it bends around them, follows their surfaces, and streams forward on them like flames of common fire." Here, mark, he does not affirm, that this od moves heavy- bodies in space — nothing of the kind ! 4. Reichenbach gives an enumeration of the different uses he had made of the odic laws, but in none of them does he ap- proach the phenomena above stated. As, for instance, he ac- counts for many results known under the name of Pathetism, — the light seen in cases of rapid crystallization, the luminous appearances sometimes seen in graveyards, certain effects of digestion and respiration, and of many strange antipathies of mankind — all of which confirm Swedenborg's doctrine of spheres, while no one of his facts or experiments can be quo- ted in support of the notions referred to above. And they will be further manifest, if we consider the negative charac- teristics, as detailed by Reichenbach himself, of this myste- rious od : — 1. It is a mere exhalation, a physical substance, that is given out of, or which surrounds all other substances, and is in no sense intelligent, instinctive, or living, even ! p. 221. 2. It is very slow in its motions — so slow that you may " almost follow it on a long wire, if you make haste." p. 223. 3. Od does not attract iron nor magnets, nor does it attract any other physical body. It is so weak, even, that it may be "diverted" by a mere puff" of air! p. 226. 4. Od can only be transferred from one body to another by physical contact ; " a mere approximation suffices for it, though with a weaker effect." lb. 5. Its transference is slow, and " requires several minutes for its completion." lb. 6. The duration of the induced odic condition in bodies after complete charging, is generally very brief. lb. 7. Although this odyle substance possesses polarity liko Magnetism, yet, unlike Magnetism, "the odic flames issuing from opposite poles, exhibit no tendency to unite with one another." lb. 8. About all the positive action on other bodies produced by this od, is in the case of a few " nervous" or "sensitive" people! But, then, this influence is not reciprocal, like what takes place between two opposite poles of the magnet ; the sensitive does not act upon the od at all. Such are the negative characteristics of that " undefinable something," a mere exhalation which has been almost deified within a recent period. And, although, those who, just now ire disposed to make so much of it, confess that they do not PHILOSOPHY OF SPHERES. 149 know what it is, nor the laws by which it is governed, yet, they speak of it, as if it were a matter easily cognizable by each of our external senses, and as fully demonstrated as are the laws of gravitation. However I do not perceive that any thing is likely to be gained for science by this process of rea-, soning. Nor should it be forgotten, that after all that has up to the present, been said, or proved in respect to this one, it has not yet been demonstrated to be any thing eliminated from physical bodies as would at first seem to appear. It may be, as far as we yet know, the change or the altered appearance of the atmosphere which comes in immediate contact with the bodies which are said to give it off; and if so, it cannot be a force in the sense many have imagined. Hence in reason- ing upon it with the haste some seem to have done, they have taken numerous assumptions for granted which have never been proved, and which perhaps never can be. Nor is this all ; we have been gravely told by those who wish to disprove a certain spiritual theory, that if it be not " od," it is " some- thing'' else ! What, they cannot say. They evidently are hard pushed, and do not know. So, if we none of us know what it is, it may be spirits out of the human body after all. Pliilo§opliy of Spheres. 152. We may now proceed to consider the philosophy of these facts, and the doctrine of spheres. 1. The spheres of all physical bodies have respect to time and space. Now, contemplate our sun as the centre, and we can conceive in what sense all the other planets come within his sphere. 1. — All the planetary orbits are regular ellipses, in the lower focus of which the sun is placed, and around which they each revolve with mathematical exactness. Indeed, we are told that hurricanes are governed by mathematical motions ; for they have a regular axis of motion, which axis is itself pro- gressive, like a planet in its orbit, tracing an elliptical or para- bolic curve. They are whirlwinds, it has been truly said, on a large scale. 2. — The time occupied by any planet, in describing any given arcs of its orbit, are always as the areas of sectors, formed by straight lines drawn from the beginning and end of the arcs, to the sun as a centre. 3. — The squares of the period of the planets' revolution vary, as the cubes of their distance from the sun.* This doctrine, then, shows how it is, and to what extent, Kepler. 150 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. or, in what instances one physical body exerts an influence over another. The sun is 1,300,000 times larger than our globe, and dis- tant from the earth 94,500,000 miles. And Dr. Wallaston seemed to think, that if the sun could be removed one hundred and fifty thousand times its present distance, it would appear like a star of the first magnitude ; but it has since been proved, by Bessal and other astronomers, that the nearest stars must be more than six hundred thousand times farther off than the sun. To appear, therefore, as they do, they must be suns, whose superficial magnitude is at least thirty-six times that of ours, rolled into one equal to it. What an insignificant speck is the little group of worlds that nestle under the wing of our diminutive sun ! 2. The human form : As we have seen, od acts directly on od, and nothing else. Physical bodies act on physical bodies, and mind acts on mind. We see the external with our exter- nal eyes ; we hear the external with our external ears. But, we see the internal only with our mental eyes, and become conscious of the internal or mental world, only in the exercise of our internal or mental senses. Hence, we see why it is that the mind cannot act on, or control physical bodies, independently of all physical contact ; and how utterly unsatisfactory it is to be told, that the mind, or the nervous system may and does, " act unconsciously upon physical bodies, at a distance and without any contact." This is mere assumption, and adopted, for the sake of avoiding what is supposed to be a greater one, involved in the idea of " spiri- tual manifestation," so called. Thus, it happens, when mortals imagine they have solved an inexplicable mystery, when they have merely adopted a palpable absurdit}'^ in its stead. 3. Spiritual. Thus it becomes manifest, how it is, that the mental sphere is extended far beyond the odyle sphere of the external body ; and, hence how it is that the spiritual sphere, may comprehend what could not be affirmed of a mere physical body. I'he mind, or spirit must have knowledge, to the extent of its sphere, as really as that a physical body must occupy a certain extent of space, and tends to the centre of the sphere in which it revolves with a mathematical amount of force. And thus we see, that in a given sphere one physical body cannot act upon another, without superior force, to move them ; one mind cannot act on another, without a previously established relation between them, and, least of all, can the od. act out of, or beyond its sphere, 4. If, as Swedenborg tells us, the sphere of a body is an exhalation thrown oif from it, which makes manifest the quality and character of the body from which it is eliminated, SPHERES. 151 then it must follow that there is an internal, innermost prin- ciple which acts in sending it off. Hence, in living- bodies, and in the hunlati mind, this innermost principle is to be searched for, as the remote cause in producing the outward sphere, and the results which follow from certain relations when established between two different minds. 5. When contemplating, therefore, this od or the exhala- tions which all external bodies are' known to throw out, and with which they are surrounded, not excepting heat and light, we should be careful how we speak of it as an active principle. It would seem to be rather the medium through which another principle, the human spirit, which is active, exercises its pecu- liar senses of seeing, feeling and hearing. The od is far more passive than active, nor is it by any means plain, that we should ever speak of it as a positive, active principle at all. It may. sometimes, as in the case of Reichenbach's " sensi- tives," occasion certain nervous changes, and so iiideed would a mere spontaneous thought or an idea which might arise in the mind of one of those " sensitives." But, should we, on this account, accustom ourselves to speak of a mere thought as an active principle or agent, with force enough to move a heavy physical body without contact ? Icliasyaicrasy. 153. If we now consider this od as the external atmosphere which is exhaled from the physical body, we may imagine it as that which the mind tastes, when persons find them- selves subjected to various singular states of feeling which do not depend upon their judgment at all. There is an atmosphere surrounding every individual, and which you perceive at once when you approach him. On the first sight you feel instinctively repelled, and you do not find it possible to feel pleased with being near to him, or delight in his company. But with another person you are delighted at once. You feel an attachment to him, for which you can ren- der no reason at all, no more than you could for the antipathy you felt for the other. All our feehngs of love, friendship, and dislike, are perceived through this peculiarity of our na- ture. It is a law of nature to work by opposite forces. Two poles of the same denomination repel and expand ; two oppo- site poles contract and attract. Two contiguous keys on the piano harmonize less than two divided by a third. The at- traction grows out of the associations between the two, when one possesses positively what is possessed by the other nega- tively. So nature has provided the two sexes, for the propa- gation of the different species of living bodies ; and it will be 152 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. found that parents of nearly the same temperament have the least issue, and their offspring, if they have any, are general] j) short-lived. - ■ * Syanpatlietic Imitation. 154. It is in these Degrees in which the different elements composing the human body are balanced, that those laws orig- inate by which we are to account for the natural spheres, the instinctive sympathies and antipathies of human nature. We often find persons whose nervous systems will be instantly af- fected, and made to laugh or weep, by a mere suggestion or thought of any given result. A person who has often taken nauseating medicine, will be nauseated by the thought of re- ceiving it again ; and a thought has often proved a powerful emetic ; and not only has a thought proved an emetic, but the sight of a distasteful cathartic has for some time operated the same as when that medicine is actually received into the sto- mach, as is testified by many experienced physicians. Men, if they see but another man tremble, giddy, or sick of some fearful disease, their apprehension and fear are so strong in this kind, that they will have such a disease. Or if by some soothsayer, wise man, fortune-teller, or physician, they be told they shall have such a disease, they will so seriously ap- prehend it, that they will instantly labor of it — a thing familiar in China, (saith Riccius, the Jesuit.) If it be told them that they shall be sick on such a day, when that day comes they will surely be sick, and will be so terribly afflicted that some- times they will die upon it.* Instinctive Sympathy. 155. The celebrated Dr. Good refers to this idiosyncrasy, but he did not know how to account for it. He remarks : "We occasionally meet among mankind, with a sort of sensation altogether wonderful and inexplicable. There are some persons so peculiarly affected by the presence of a par- ticular object that is neither seen, tasted, heard, smelt, or touched, as not only to be conscious of its presence, but to be in agony till it is removed. The vicinity of a cat not unfre- quently produces such an effect, and I have been a witness to the most decisive proofs of this in several instances." AntipatBiic§. 156. I knew a person who was so much affected with the smell of onions, as to be unable to remain in the house v.'here they were ; and it is said, Henry the Third, of France, could * Burton Anat. Mel. vol. 1, p. 221. PEOPHETIC DKEAMS. 153 not endure the presence of a cat. Lord Chancellor Bacon fell down in a fit whenever there was an eclipse of the moon ; the philosopher Boyle could not endure the sound of water drawn from a cock. Erasmus trembled at. the smell or sight offish ; Marshal d'Albert fainted at the sight of a sucking- pig ; La Mollie la Voyer could not endure the sound of music ; and Shakespeare speaks of some person in his day who could not endure the sound of the bagpipe. The celebrated astronomer, Brahe, was totally paralyzed in his limbs at the sight of a live hare ; and we have known intelligent persons who could not endure the sight of a rat. Some persons are peculiarly affect- ed on touching certain kinds of metals, and others are affected in the same way if they touch them only in their imagination. An intelligent lady of my acquaintance had such an anti- pathy to spiders, that for eight years she retained the sense of disgust and horror vi^hich it gave her, on finding one upon her person. IntuitlTe Kno^vledge. 157. The different degrees in which each of the primitive faculties are developed, constitute and determine the exten- sion, the height and depth ; or, the strength of those faculties denominated sagacity, penetration, firmness, patience, self- esteem, ambition, industry, invention, poetry, music, painting, judgment, comprehension, intuition, &c. &c. How Is It ? 158. But it is asked, how the mind can acquire knowledge, in an abnormal condition, at all ? How a somnambulist can perceive, or know, in a state of trance 1 The answer is at hand : — they know, in the use of the same thinking, knowing faculties, that they use, through the external senses when in the normal state. How does the mind know any thing 1 How does the eye know what to do with the light ? How does the ear know what to do with sound? Or, when sound breaks upon the auditory nerves, how does the mind know what it means? How does the infant know how to take its food, — how to inhale the air which excites its lungs to action ? (39, 40.) How did Zerah Colburn know how to solve those ab- struse mathematical problems 1 Is there no such thing as in- tuition ? And, what is it? 'When is if Hevcloped? 159. If there be such a power as A'not^5, without observation and without experience, it is easy to see why it should be more active, when the external senses are suspended. When all the 154 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. external senses are inactive, the nutritive forces are concen- trated, in tlie excitement of the faculty of wisdom, and at such times the faculty thus excited may, and does feel, see and hear without the external organs, (64.) Wisdom is light, know^- ledge, and for this faculty to be in that state or degree of de- velopment, is for it to know and comprehend all within the degree or sphere of its manifestations. (92.) Intuition. 160. That certain persons have an intuition of Mathematics and Music, without the labor of study, is certain. This is Clairvoyance. However, it is not so understood by persons who are not familiar with the degrees in which the inherent faculties of the human mind have been or may be developed. There are three things to be considered, connected with this subject. To be considered. 161. 1. That persons whose minds were imperfectly developed have assumed a great deal more than was either true, or that could be proved in specific cases of alleged intuitive know- ledge. Ar.d hence, when the proof has been demanded, it could not be given, and doubt and skepticism have been the naturul results. 2. Reports have been made of extraordinary cases, which could not be demonstrated. I have known a number of per- sons, who at times manifested intuition of things past, present and future ; but it would be difficult for me to convince others, perhaps, that I may not have been more or less deceived in some way, because I could not present the same amount of evidence to their minds ; and besides, what would satisfy one person, under some circumstances, would not be sufficient to satisfy another under different circumstances. 3. It is admitted that in such cases as those of Zerah Col- burn, Young, Safford, Ole Bull, and others, that an intuitive independent faculty of knowing does obviously exist. And, now, no perfectly candid person will or can deny, but that if the human mind is ever developed in this life, so as to have intuition of mathematics, or music, or language, it may be so far developed in other respects as to have a perfect compre- hension of other things. Why not all that comes within the range of the degree of development ? (92.) Indeed we find it is precisely so in relation to every individual mind, for each mind actually does know, and comprehend, just in proportion to its sphere and the degree of its development. This no one can deny. Intuition, therefore, ought not to be denied as PROPHETIC DREAMS. 155 impossible, by any mind, because if the degree of the develop- ment be perfect, the knowledge must be perfect in that de- gree. Case§ of iBitiiition. 162. There are many cases upon record of persons who have possessed intuitive sagacity and penetration, and which have never been doubted or denied. Swedenborg evinced these powers in numerous instances, and many other remark- able cases of its development have long been before the world. As an instance, take the case of the celebrated Zschokke. In his autobiography he gives the following account of what he calls his " inward sight," though it seems he himself did not know what to make of it, any more than Zerah Colburn did of his remarkable mathematical powers. " I am," he remarks, " almost afraid to speak of this, not because I am afraid to be thought superstitious, but that I may thereby strengthen such feelings in others. And yet it may be an addition to our stock of soul-experiences, and therefore I will confess ! It has happened to me sometimes, on my first meeting with strangers, as I listened silently to their discourse, that their former life, with many trifling circumstances there- with connected, or frequently some particular scene in that life, has passed quite involuntarily, and as it were dream-like, yet perfectly distinct before me. During this time I usually feel so entirely absorbed in the contemplation of the stranger life, that atlast I no longer see clearly the face of the unknown, wherein I undesignedly read, nor distinctly hear the voices of the speakers, which before served in some measure as a com- mentary to the text of their features. For a long time I held such visions as delusions of the fancy, and more so as they showed me even the dress and motions of the actors, rooms, furniture, and other accessories. By way of jest, I once, in a familiar family circle at Kirchberg, related the secret history of a seamstress who had just left the room and the house. I had never seen her before in my life ; people were astonished, and laughed, but were not to be persuaded that I did not pre- viously know the relations of which I spoke ; for what 1 had uttered was the literal truth. I, on my part, was no less astonished that my dream-pictures were confirmed by the reality. I became more attentive to the subject, and, when propriety admitted it, I would relate to those whose life thus passed before me the subject of my vision, that I might thereby obtain confirmation or refutation of it. It was invariably ratified, not without consternation on their part.* I myself * " What demon inspires you ? Miist I again believe in posses- »ionl" exclaimed the Spiritual Johan von Eigan, when, in the first 156 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. had less confidence than any one in this mental jugglery. So often as I revealed my visionary gifts to any new person, I regu- larly expected to hear the answer — ' It was not so.' Tielt a secret shudder when my auditors replied that it was true, or when their astonishment betrayed my accuracy before they spoke. Instead of many, I will mention one example, which pre-eminently astounded me : One fair day, in the city of Waldshut, I entered an inn (the Vine) in company with two young student-foresters ; we were tired with rambling through the woods. We supped with a numerous society at the table d'hote where the guests were making very merry with the peculiarities and eccentricities of the Swiss, with Mesmer's magnetism, Lavater's physiognomy, &c. One of my com- panions, vi/hose national pride was wounded by their mockery, begged me to make some reply, particularly to a handsome young man who sat opposite us, and v/ho had allowed himself ex- traordinary license. This man's former life was at that moment presented to my mind. I turned to him, and asked whether he would answer me candidly, if I related to him some of the most secret passages of his life, I knowing as little of him personally as he did of me"? That would be going a little further, I thought, than Lavater did with his physiognomy. He pro- mised, if I were correct in my information, to admit it franldy, I then related what my vision had shown me, and the whole company were made acquainted with the private history of the young merchant : his school years, his youthful errors, with a fault committed in reference to the strong box of his principal. I described to him the uninhabited room, with whitened walls, where to the right of the brovvn door, on a table stood a black money box, &c. &c. A dead silence prevailed during the whole narration, which I alone occasionally interrupted, by in- quiring whether I spoke the truth. The startled young man confirmed every particular, and even, what I had scarcely ex- pected, the last mentioned. Touched by his candor, I shook hands with him over the table, and said no more. He asked my name, which I gave him, and we remained together talking till past midnight. He is probably still living !" Any explanation of this phenomenon, by means of the known laws of the human mind, would, in the present confined state of our knowledge,' assuredly fail. We therefore simply give the extraordinary fact as we find it, in the words of the nar- rator, leaving the puzzle to be speculated on by our readers. hour of our acquaintance, I related his past life to him, with the avowed object of learning whether or no I deceived myself. We speculated long on the enigma, but even liia penetration could not solve it. iNTUiTiojr. 157 Zschokke adds, that he had met with others who possessed a similar power.'^ AII>fiaormal Cases Stated. 163. I have known a few persons in whom this power was developed during mental derangement. Indeed, it is an in- teresting fact, which seems to have escaped the 'notice of pre- vious writers upon this suhject, that insanity does, sometimes, develop this faculty, or in such cases it is one of the consti- tuent conditions or incidental effects of that abnormal excite- ment of portions of the nervous system, characteristic of in- sanity. The following is one of numerous cases of this kind : — In the year 1841-2, my dear, respected father, was fre- quently attacked with mental derangement, originating, prin- cipally, I believe, from the knowledge of my troubles occasioned by the death of my husband. The various scenes of mental delusion I was called to witness are not uncommon to gentle- men of your profession. I therefore pass them over, simply to relate his strange knowledge of events. When first attacked he did not recognize me. My atten- tion was first excited by the following incident. So soon as the meat for dinner had been brought from the butcher's, of which he could have no possible knowledge, being confined to his bed and out of the reach of either seeing or hearing, (point- ing to the floor, underneath which was the room it was in) he exclaimed — "What a nice rump-steak — I will have some!"' Struck with his manner, and knowing it was not our intended dinner, I replied, '" No, father, there is no rump-steak, we are to have mutton chops." He went into a great passion, de- clared that there was rump-steak, that he could see it, and de- scribed the dish. I went down stairs, and to my utter aston- ishment beheld it as he related ! In the morning without making known my intention, I took a basket and went into the garden to cut some cabbages and gather strawberries. The garden being at the side of the house where there was no window to look into it, it was im- possible for him to see me by ordinary vision. However, he turned to my sister, saying — " That basket into which Betsey is putting the cabbages and strawberries had better be moved out of the sun, or the fruit wjU be spoiled. Tell her she is not gathering strawberries from the best bed, she had better go to the other !" When I was told of it I was completely puzzled. Durmg the time of my visit, wherever I V4^ent, whatever I * Chamber^' Journal, 158 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. did or thought of, was open to his view. My sister after- wards informed me that his medical attendant had lent her some books, and one morning my father said to her — " The Dr. sends his compliments and will be obliged for the books." Supposing some message had been sent, my sister replied, "very well." In the course of a short time after, the Dr.'s boy arrived, with his " master's respects," and request for the books ! On inquiry, she found that no previous message had been sent nor inquiry made for them. The distance from us to the Dr.'s was three quarters of a mile. At another time he said to my sister — " There is a hand- some young man and an old woman coming by the coach this afternoon to see me." And, sure enough, to our surprise, when the coach arrived, it brought my brother, and a nurse for my father ! No one had any previous knowledge of my brother's coming or of his bringing a nurse with him. .The distance from which they came was eleven miles. I wish to call your attention to the circumstance, that he did not recog- nize the parties when they arrived, though both had been well known to him ! When in his senses, he knew nothing of what had transpired, and had not even a recollection of my coming' to see him! He wasted away to a skeleton, and died mid-summer, 1842, in the 64th year of his age. He never, till the time stated, had any mental derangement, though he certainly was for years very nervous. He was a talented and very active man ; a kind and affectionate father." And this same writer goes on to describe the cases of her two sisters, both of whom had intuition of distant things with- out the use of the external senses, at a time when they were both sick, and one of them in a state of mental derangement ! One of them told the exact time by a watch, and the other, who was deranged, found articles that had been hid in the cellar, without the knowledge of any one. Now, from such cases, we learn that the intuitive faculty does not always depend upon the healthy state of the entire system. Indeed, a state of delusion in one organ may tend to excite this power in another ; or, as we often find in cases of inflammation of the eyes, they become abnormally sensitive to light, and in diseases of the auditory nerves they become painfully sensitive to sound. A person, therefore, may have intuitive knowledge of one thing, and, at the same time, be ignorant of all else besides ; and not only so, one may have intuitive knowledge of one or more subjects while in a state of temporary or chronic insanity ! INTUITION. 159 IVhat does not Follow. 164. Hence it does not follow, that because a person has intuitive knowledge of one particular thing, or one class of subjects, that he will, necessarily, know every thing of every other subject. It more frequently happens, that where one faculty is developed in 'a very extraordinary degree, another of the faculties will be found deficient in a corresponding ratio.* Of late, it has become quite common for uninformed persons to put forth the most extravagant assumptions with regard to this power, and hence they attempt to carry on a business of examining and prescribing for diseases by it, when neither of the parties know enough to tell whether a person have intuitive knowledge or not. And where persons, con- nected with the profession of medicine, pretend to such things in the manner some have done, it is no marvel that the minds of intelligent people are set against the subject, as if the science itself were really nothing but imposture, and fit only to be pressed into the service of empiricism, to supply the place of knowledge in the medical profession. The fact that cures sometimes follow such prescriptions, proves nothing in favor of these assumptions, as these cures are to be accounted for by the laws of the vis medicatrix natures, already referred to. In many cases almost any prescription would produce a favorable result.f I do not object to the good which any one, learned or ignorant, rich or poor, may do by appropriate means. My object in these remarks is to give correct views of human nature, so that all those conditions, causes, and effects, which combine to make the phenomena of the body or mind, disease or health, ignorance or wisdom, * I once heard the celebrated George Combe, one of the greatest mental philosophers of the age, declare that he himself was almost idotic in his organs of number. It takes a philosopTier to find out what his own deficiencies are. t A German physician gave me the following facts : His patient came to him one day in great distress. The Dr. wrote a reciepc and handed it to him, saying, " Here, take that." A few days after, the patient returned to inform the Dr. that " the piece of paper which he gave him had a very good effect, though he found it somewhat hard to swallow it." Were the " pieces of paper" swallowed by the sick, instead of the nauseous drugs prescribed for them, it is quite pro- bable that the results would be fur better, in some cases, at least. JSTor will the intelligent practitioner object to what is here suggested, who makes the siguificent " K" with his prescriptions, as he knows that prefix is a synibol of the god or planet under whose reign the ingre- dients were supposed to be collected ; so that if he do "not accede to what I have here said of Pathetism, he may, nevertheless, be a wor- shipper of Jupiter, and a firm patron of Astrology ! 160 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. misery or felicity, may each be viewed in their proper light, and made to hold that relation to one another in our judgment of them, which they do in fact, and in the world of which each forms a part. This is pure, unmixed truth, which it should be the highest ambition of each one duly to appreciate, and in the use of all suitable means to pursue, under the conviction that no sacrifices are too great, no labor-s too severe, which may finally be crowned with a knowledge of the Truth. Prevision. 165. As we have seen, one of the faculties developed by the element of wisdom is prevision, or that organ by which the mind comprehends existing laws, or associations, by which future results will be evolved. Prevision, therefore, is a necessary result, from the perfect development of penetration, reason, and sagacity. It was in the exercise of these faculties, that Tacitus foresaw the calamities which desolated Europe, on the fall of the Roman Empire, and predicted them in a work written some five hundred years before they came to pass. Cicero appeals to Atticus, in confirmation of his having posses- sed the faculty which had always enabled him to judge of the affairs of the republic as a good diviner ; and affirming, that its overthrow had taken place, precisely as he had foreseen, fourteen years before.* Thucidydes attributes this faculty to Themistocles, for he says : " By a species of sagacity peculiar- ly his own, for which he was in no degree indebted to early education or after study, he was supereminently happy in forming a prompt judgment in matters that admitted but little time for deliberation ; at the same time that he far surpassed all his deductions' of the future from the past.''''\ Aristotle wrote upon divination, and he reveals the process by which one of the professors of this art was enabled to arrive at his conclusions. The future being always very obscure, he said nothing about it, except what he could "infer from the present, and the past, which were open to the view of all.| Solon, at Athens, contemplating on the port and citadel of Munychia, exclaimed, " How blind is man to futurity ! Could the Athenians foresee what mischief they will do, they would even eat it with th^ir own teeth to get rid of it." More than two hundred years afterwards, that prediction was verified. Sir Walter Raleigh foresaw the consequences of the division which occurred in the established church of England about 1530, and described them distinctly long before they occurred. Bishop Williams, in the time of Charles the First, foresaw and * Ep. ad. Att. lib. 10. ch. 4. f Demonologia, p. 128. X Arist. Khet. lib. 7, c. 5. I PREVISION, 161 predicted the final success of the Puritanic party, and when that success was scarcely believed by any one besides himself, he abandoned the government and sided with the obscure party.* It was this faculty that led Dudgoll to travel over England, taking draughts of its ancient monuments, as if, by intuition, he anticipated their destruction in 1641. Lord Falkland foresaw and predicted the character and course of Cromwell ; " this coarse, unpromising man," said his lordship, pointing to Crom- well, " will be the first person in the kingdom if the nation comes to blows." The fall of Bonaparte was foreseen and pre- dicted, when that remarkable personage was in the zenith of his glory. "• His eagerness," said the Marquis of Wellesley, " is so inordinate, his jealousy of independence so fierce, his keen- ness of appetite so feverish in all that touches his ambition, even in the most trifling things, that he must plunge into dreadful difficulties." Dr. Hartly predicted the fall of the existing gov • ernment and hierarchies.! Knox, the celebrated reformer, pos- sessed this faculty in a remarkable degree. It is said, that when condemned to a galley in Rochelle, he predicted his preaching at St. Giles in Edinburgh, which actually occurred three years afterwards. He also predicted the death of Thomas Maitland, and Kirkaldy of Grange, and warned Regent Murray not to proceed to Linlithgow, where he was assassinated. It was doubtless in the exercise of the same faculties, that president Madison wrote and preserved those papers, giving information about the constitution of our government, which he foresaw would be so valuable to succeeding generations ; and the same process of reasoning led a contemporary artist to transfer upon canvas the features of Washington and his lady, besides others whose names are immortalized with the times in which they lived. Volumes might be filled with details showing the development of this faculty, in every age of the world, but the foregoing are sufficient for our pre- sent purpose. Prophetic I>i*eain§. 166. Sometimes the organs of Prevision become very active in sleep, and then we have such results as the following : — The murder of Mr. Adams, in New York, some years since, by J. C. Colt, was anticipated by the wife of the former, before it took place. Two days before her husband's dis- appearance, she dreamed, twice, that he was murdered, and ♦ Eushworth, Vol. 1. p. 420. t Obs. on Man, 1749. 162 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. that she saw his body cut into pieces and packed in a box. The dreams gave her great concern, from their vividness ; and she went once to relate them to her mother, but did not, from the apprehension of being laughed at.* In the night of the 11th of May, 1812, Mr. Williams, of Scorrier House, near Redruth, in Cornwall, awoke his wife, and exceedingly agitated, told her, that he had dreamed that he was in the lobby of the House of Commons, and saw a man shoot with a pistol, a gentleman who had just entered the lobby, who was said to be the chancellor ; to which Mrs. Williams naturally replied that it was only a dream, and recommended him to be composed, and go to sleep as soon as he could. He did so, and shortly after again awoke her, and said that he had the second time had the same dream ; whereupon she observ- ed, he had been so much agitated with his former dream, that she supposed it had dwelt on his mind, and begged of him to try to compose himself, and go to sleep, which he did. A third time the vision was repeated ; on which, notwithstanding her entreaties that he would be quiet, and endeavor to forget it, he arose, being then between one and two o'clock, and dressed himself. At breakfast, the dreams were the sole subject of conversation ; and in the forenoon Mr. Williams went to Fal- mouth, where he related the particulars of them to all of his acquaintance that he met. On the following day, Mr. Tucker of Trematon Castle, accompanied by his wife, a daughter of Mr. Williams, went to Scorrier House about dusk. Immediately after the first salutations, on their entering the parlor, where were Mr., Mrs., and Miss Williams, Mr. Wil- liams began to relate to Mr. Tucker the circumstances of his dream ; and Mrs. Williams observed to her daughter, Mrs. Tucker, laughingly, that her father could not even suffer Mr. Tucker to be seated, before he told him of his nocturnal visitation ; on the statement of which, Mr. Tucker observed, that it would do very well for a dream to have the chancellor in the lobby of the House of Commons, but that he would not be found there in reality ; and Mr, Tucker then asked what sort of a man he appeared to be, when Mr. Williams minutely described him ; to which Mr. Tucker replied : Your descrip- tion is not at all that of the chancellor, but it is certainly very exactly that of Mr. Perceval, the chancellor of the ex- chequer ; and although he has been to me the greatest enemy I ever met with through life, for a supposed cause, which had no foundation in truth, (or words to that effect,) I should be exceedingly sorry indeed to hear of his being assassinated, or * N. Y. Commercial Advertiser of Oct. 11, 1841. PREVISION. 163 of an injury of the kind happening to him. Mr. Tucker then inquired of Mr. Williams if he had never seen Mr. Perceval, and was told that he had never seen him, nor had ever even written to him, either on public or private business ; in short, that he never had any thing to do with him, nor had he ever been in the lobby of the House of Commons in his life. Wliilst Mr. Williams and Mr. Tucker were still standing they heard a horse gallop to the door of the house, and immediately after Mr. Michael Williams, of Treviner, (son of Mr. Wil- liams of Scorrier) entered the room, and said that he had gal- loped out from Truro — from which Scorrier is distant seven miles — having seen a gentleman there who had come by that evening's mail from London, who said that he had seen in the lobby of the House of Commons on the evening of the 11th, when a man called Bellingham had shot Mr. Perceval ; and that as it might occasion some great ministerial changes, and might affect Mr. Tucker's political friends, he had come out as fast as he could to make him acquainted with it, having heard at Truro that he had passed through that place on his way to Scorrier. After the astonishment which this intelli- gence had created had a little subsided, Mr. Williams described more particularly the appearance and dress of the man that he saw in his dream fire the pistol, as he had before done of Mr. Perceval. About six weeks after, Mr. Williams having busi- ness in town, went, accompanied by a friend, to the House of Commons, w-here, as has been already observed, he had nev- er before been. Immediately that he came to the steps at the entrance of the lobby, he said, "This place is as distinctly within my recollection, in my dream, as any room in my house ;" and he made the same observation when he entered the lobby. He then pointed out the exact spot where Bel- lingham stood when he fired, and which Mr. Perceval had reached when he was struck with the ball, and where and how he fell. The dress, both of Mr. Perceval and Bellingham, agreed with the descriptions given by Mr. Williams, even to the most minute particular. The Times states, that Mr. Williams was then alive, and the witnesses, to whom he made known the particulars of his dream, were also living ; and that the editor had received the statement from a correspondent of unquestionable vera- city. Singular Case off Tivo Sisters. 167. The following case is quoted by the same author, from Dr. Abercrombie, who states " that its accuracy may be re- lied on in all its particulars." Two sisters had been for some days attending their brother, 164 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE." who was suffering from a common sore-throat, severe and pro- tracted, but not considered dangerous. At this time one of the sisters had obtained the loan of a watch from a friend, her own being out of repair. As this watch was a kind of heirloom in the family of the lady from whom it had been borrowed, particular caution was given Jest it should meet with some injury. Both of the sisters slept in a room adjoining that of the brother's — and one night the elder awoke the younger in extreme alarm, and told her that she had dreamed that " Mary's watch had stopped," and that when she had told her of it, she had re- plied — " Much worse than that had happened, for Charles's breath had stopped also." To quiet her agitation, the young- er immediately arose, proceeded to her brother's room, found him asleep, and the watch which had been carefully put away itt a drawer, going correctly. The following night the same dream occurred, accompanied by the same agitation, and quiet- ed in the same manner — the brother being sound asleep, and the watch going. In the morning, after breakfast, one of these ladies having occasion to write a note, proceeded to her desk, while the other sat with her brother in the adjoining room. Having written and folded the note, she was proceed- ing to take out the watch which was now in the desk,, to use one of the seals appended to it, when she was astonished to find it had stopped, and at the same instant a scream from her sister hurried her to the bed-side of her brother, who, to her grief, had just breathed his last. The disease was considered to be progressing favorably, when he was seized with a sud- den spasm, and died of suffocation. The coincidence between the stoppage of the watch and the death of the brother, is the most perplexing circumstance of the case, since the mere stoppage of the watch, or the death of the brother, might have been explained on very rational principles ; or had the watch stopped before or after the death of the brother, it might have been easily supposed to have been forgotten to be vvound up ; or it may have suffered some injury from the hurry and trepi- dation incidental to anguish and bereavement, -but as the case is related, it is certainly a most extraordinary, surprising, and mysterious incident. Remarkable Case of TIioBiia§ \^otteii. 168. In the Life of Sir Henry Wotten, by Isaac Walton, there is a dream related of Sir Henry's father, Thomas Wot- ten. A little before his death, he dreamed that the University of Oxford was robbed by his townsmen and poor scholars, five in number ; and being that day to write to his son Henry, at Oxford, he thought it worth so much pains as by a postscript to his letter to make a slight inquiry of it. The letter waa CLAIRVOYANCE. 165 written from Kent, and came into his son's hands the very morning after the night on which the robbery was committed ; for the dream was true, and the circumstances, though not in the exact time — and b}'' it such light was given to this work of darkness, that the five guilty persons were presently dis- covered and apprehended. Walton also says, "that Thomas Wotten, and his uncle Nicholas Wotten, who was Dean of Canterbury, both foresaw and foretold the day of their deaths." Swedenborg, it is said, foretold the time of his own death, and expired at the very time he himself had predicted. Prophetic Dreams have occasionally occurred from the ear- liest ages of the world ; and some of the most remarkable in- stances of which may be found recorded in the Bible.* Clairvoyance. 169. In the above account of intuition may be seen, also, what I think will eventaally be admitted as the most satisfac- tory solution of what has been denominated clairvoyance. That such a power exists, and is sometimes, (though very rarely) manifested in cataleptic or somnambulic persons, is certain ; but in saying this much, I must add, that it is not so common as many have supposed, who make a business of attempting to call it into action, from one to a dozen times a day, for diagnostic or therapeutical purposes. The power, in this way, is abused and exhausted. The state of the nervous system, in which it is exhibited in such cases, is altogether unlike what I have above described ; it is highly abnormal, and hence it is plain that its repetition for the purpose of tax- ing and working this faculty, must, in the nature of things, be attended with injury, because when one faculty is worked with- out regard to its degree of development, in comparison with the other corresponding faculties, its power is in this way soon destroyed. Degrees of Clairvoyance. 170. The results which have been developed by this power may be divided into four or five classes : — The first class may comprehend what is peculiar to certain persons in their nor- mal state. By intuition, they describe accurately what is not present to the external senses. Swedenborg and Zschokke were of this class. (162, 163.) 2. The second may include those cases where it has been developed in a state of spontaneous somnambulism. Franklin was an instance of this kind. * Gen. 87: 5—86. 166 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 3. This power is in some cases developed in a state of in- sanity.* 4. In cases of the induced Trance, by Pathetism. And, under this head, Clairvoyance may be sub-divided thus — (1.) Such cases as result from sympathy with one or more minds ; describing things known, to minds with whom the patient is at the time associated by Pathetism. (2.) Such descriptions as persons entranced by Pathetism, give of things wholly un- known to the mind of the operator at the time. This is some- times called " independent clairvoyance." (3.) When the trance is self-induced ; as many persons, especially after hav- ing been once pathetised, acquire the power of changing their states from the normal to a state of trance, so as to become clairvoyant. And (4) in cases of Dreaming. Many of the best cases of clairvoyance of which I ever had personal knowledge have been developed in a state of dreaming. I have witnessed the development of clairvoyant powers in each of the states above described, enough to fill a volume. A note was written in a very fine hand on scarlet paper, seven inches long and five wide. The paper was folded and doubled up in Miss Ann E. Hall's right hand, with a pen-knife which I gave her to hold. And, while holding it thus tightly in her hand, she read all of it except the name, which is included in parenthesis, and this she noticed, and stated that she did not perceive what was included in parenthesis distinctly,! It is, indeed, difficult to imagine how she could discover the contents of a paper, which was crumpled tightly in her hand, at the time she read it. In April, 1846, I received from my brother James W. Sunderland, then Prof, of Math, and Nat. Phil, in the O'Fallon University, St. Louis, a letter dated March 18, 1846. It covered a letter-sheet entire, and the date had been altered from 17th to the 18th of March. After reading the letter myself, without showing it, or making it known to any other person, I re-sealed it, then hermetically enclosed it in glazed * Pathetism, New York edition of 1843, pp. 219—230. t This occurred on the 12th of June, 1845, at the house of Dr. Mur- phy, in Newport, K. I., who was present, with his wife and family.— Also Dr. Gallop, Mrs. Callahan, A. A. Whittemore, of Wilmot, N. H. and numerous other persons. The note read as follows : " Boston, May 15, '45. "Dr. Sunderland— Sir, one of Dr. Hewitt's patients (Isaac Bry- ant) having seen your name in yesterday's paper, is very anxious to be put to sleep. If you will pay him a visit and attempt to do it, he is ready to pay you your usual price. "In ilia behalf^ Jv Bounsvilijs. ** 14 Summer street." CLAIRVOYANCE. 167 paper, and sealed it with gum. It could not be opened, with- out tearing, or changing the glazing on the paper. There was no writing upon the outside, nor any indication given to the clairvoyant, as to what was contained in the envelop. 1 gave it to Mary Jane Mason, simply requesting her to dream what was in it. She did so, and in the presence of my family, be- fore the package was broken open, she read the letter, — noticed the peculiarity in, the date, and gave me its contents, from beginning to near the close, omitting a paragraph which had been written on one of the folds. Had there been any means by which she could have taken off the envelop, there were none by which she could have re-sealed it. My seal was unbroken, and hence I knew that she could not have obtained any knowledge of the contents of that letter except by clair- voyance. Miss Hall has written numerouspiecesof poetry, letters, and articles on pathetism, while entranced, and without the use of her external eyes. Some of them she wrote with her eyes bandaged, and in the presence of numerous witnesses.* Pre§entiii(ieitts. 171. Dr. Binns, after relating the case of Dr. Walter, of Dublin, who was buried alive, observes : — " Here is a man who, as it were, possessed an instinctive knowledge that he should be buried alive, and who was so con- vinced of it, that he wrote a treatise, with a view if possible to avert so horrid a calamity ; and still farther to assure himself entered into a compact with a second party, for the fulfillment of certain precautions before he should be consigned to earth, yet, disappointed in the end, and compelled to bow to the inscrutable fiat of that law of natural contingencies which the imaginative Greeks erected into superstheism, and consecrated by the tremendous name of destiny." * Some of the most satisfactory instances of sympathetic clair- voyance, that 1 ever witnessed, were developed in New York, from a lady totally blind. She was 23 years of age, and had been perfectly blind from the time she was six weeks old, her eye-sight having been destroyed by accident. Feeling a deep and lively interest in the sub- ject, at my suggestion Mr. K. Peale, then proprietor of the New York Museum, called a meeting of physicians, clergyTnen, and other scienti- fic gentlemen, to test this power, numbering about forty in all. The first seance was held at the Museum, then located in Broadway, op- posite the Park, September 8, 1841. The experiments wore con- ducted under the inspection and direction of u committee, and the results were written down at the time by one of the committee, and published in the New York Watchman of November 6, 1841. They ■will be found, also, in the author's first work on Pathetism, (New York, 1843,) page 211, 230. See, also. Spiritual Philosopher, No. 2^ in Which many interesting facts are publianed. 168 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. A circumstance is related by Stilling, of Professor Bohm, teacher of mathematics at Marburg ; who, being one evening in company, was suddenly seized with a conviction that he ought to go home. As, however, he was very comfortably takmg tea, and had nothing to do at home, he resisted the admonition ; but it returned with such force that at length he was obliged to yield. On reaching his house, he found everything as he had left it ; but he now felt himself urged to remove his bed from the corner in which it stood to another ; but, as it had always stood there, he resisted this impulsion also. However, the resistance was vain ; absurd as it seemed, he felt he must do it ; so he summoned the maid, and with her aid, drew the bed to the other side of the room ; after which he felt quite at ease, and returned to spend the rest of the evening with his friends. At ten o'clock the party broke up, and he retired home, and went to bed and to sleep. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a loud crash, and on looking out he saw that a large beam had fallen, bringing part of the ceiling with it, and was lying exactly on the spot his bed had occupied. One of the most remarkable cases of presentiment I know, is that which occurred not very long since on board one of her Majesty's ships, when lying off Portsmouth. The officers being one day at the mess table, a young Lieutenant P. sud- denly laid down his knife and fork, pushed away his plate and turned extremely pale. He then rose from the table, covering his face with his hands, and retired from the room. The president of the mess supposing him to be ill, sent one of the young men to enquire what was the matter. At first Mr. P. was unwilling to speak ; but, on being pressed, he confessed that he had been seized by a sudden and irresistible impression that a brother he had then in India was dead. " He died," said he, " on the 12th of August, at six o'clock ; I am perfectly certain of it," No arguments could overthrow this conyic- tion, which, in due course of post, was verified to the letter. The young man had died at Cawnpore, at the precise period mentioned.* * Mrs. Crowe. PATHETISM. 169 PSYCHOLOGY. INFLUENCE, SYMPATHY, EFFLUENCE. Human Influence. 172. That is, some force exerted directly or indirectly by a human being, which flows in, or is received and yielded to by another. It is manifest, that all who have ever attempted to speak or teach on the philosophy of human influence, have felt the want of appropriate terms. When man controls reptiles, or beasts in a certain way, it is called charming, from carmen a verse, because the ancients exerted this power in the use of poetry. And hence " incantation" and " enchantment," from canto, to sing, " Fascination," from baskaino, to bewitch with the eye ; and influence, exerted or excited through the sense of sight, and hence, it was anciently called " the eye bite." When Mesmer commenced his career as an operator, it does not seem to have occurred to him, or his immediate friends, that the influence he exerted, was precisely the same as that which had been known from time immemorial under the name of charm or fascination. And, surprised and flattered by the extraordinary results which he found himself able to indijce, he at once set about the formation of a theory of magnetism ; and as he operated upon the living body, he called ii '* animal magnetism." But this term, as it is well known, was never well received, even by believers in the thing which it was used to signify. And, so not knowing what else to call it, it was natural that his own name should have come into use, to signify an in- fluence which he had been so conspicuous in bringing to the notice of the world. To the present time, in England, the term " mesmerism," is generally used, when speaking on this fifubjecJt* though in Francb, Germany, and Prussia, w6 l*Uth?» 170 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. no new terms have ever been suggested to take the place of the old one. In this country, various other terms have been substituted. In 1841, Professor George Bush suggested to me a term which I thought still more appropriate. I adopted it, and have never heard of one which so nearly signified the thing meant, as the one to which I now refer. If the leading idea in the subject now under notice, be suggested by the word sympathy, then why should we not use a term, which to say the least, may be easily accommodated to signify a sympathetic influence, ex- erted or received 1 All object to the use of the terra animal when speaking of what belongs more to the human mind ; and precisely the same objection holds against the terms " magnetism" and " electricity ;" for, strictly speaking, magnetism is far below the living body, and, applies to unconscious matter, not to the thinking, feeling substance. Hence, it were as correct to speak of an earthly mind, and earthly soul, as it is to speak of " electrical Psychology," or the *' electrical science of the soul." It is curious to read some of the terms which various lec- turers have brought, or attempted to bring into use, when speaking of the science or fact of spiritual, or human influence. One calls it " absorption," another " psycodunamy," another " etherology," another " neurology," and yet, another dubs it with the euphonious and classical term of " thusology," or, worse than all, "mental alchemy !" If, as we are taught, we are all tending to a harmonious state of perfect unity, we doubt not all the truly spiritual will, by-and-by " see eye to eye," and agree in the use of terms. They will not shun each other, nor lack eyes to see the beautiful and true, but forgetting our peculiar individualisms which repel and drive us asunder, we shall expand in the broad circle of universal brotherhood. Patlietisni. 173. Under this term, T include all those nervous and men- tal phenomena, that are artificially induced or, that come to pass from the laws of sympathy, or associations, or the in- fluence of one mind, which is received and developed in another. The influence exerted is reflective, proceeding from the acting- agent, but receptive and retentive in the subject in which the influence is received, and from whence it may be evolved in another form and degree. Minds control, and are controlled through their corresponding degrees and spheres, according to which associations are formed between them. The methods for bringing about these associations, may be PATHETISM. 171 learned from the Author's Book of Psychology — the object of which is to explain them.* Conditions of Power. 174. As the higher degrees comprehend all below, so the highest developments of mind must necessarily control all below with whom they become associated. (69.) It would be difficult to associate any two minds of precisely the same degree. There is such an endless variety in the different de- gree of their different susceptibilities. Each has the same number of mental organs, but in their qualities, maturity, size of the organs, education, and many other things which go to make up the idiosyncrasy of each person, there will be a variety of differences, which tend to make them unlike, and give one an influence over the other. It is from these con- trarieties and antagonisms, that, as a general thing, the sexes have more power over each other, than either can now have over another sex. From this may be seen upon how many different considerations does the influence which one mind has over another, depend. The comparative size of the brains, the size of the different organs, the views of the person, the skill, tact, intelligence, firmness, time, place, circumstances, motives, and many other things are to be taken into the ac- count before it can be determined how much power one mind would be able to exert over another, or, before we can deter- mine the nature of the influence whether good or bad. It has quite recently been assumed that the human mind, can, without external contact, will, or cause a ponderous phy- sical body to move from place to place ! But, no one imagines this, who is at all familiar with the laws of mind. (12, 13.) And a still more preposterous idea has been put forth, for the purpose of avoiding the necessity of admitting the fact of " spiritual manifestations," that the " nervous system elimi- nates a force, independently of conscious volition, which con- trols inanimate bodies, and causes sounds," &c. All this is mere assumption from first to last. * For a full and explicit account of the Author's new method of inducing artificial nervous phenomena, see bis Book of Psychology (Fathetism) ; Historical, Pliilosophical, Practical ; giving the rationale ^ of every possible form of Nervous or Mental Phenomena, known under the technics of Amulets, Charms, Fascination, Magic, Mes- merism, Eelics, Witchcraft, Hallucination, Spectres, Clairvoyance, Somnambulism, Miracles, Sympathy, &c. : showing how these results may be induced, the Theory of Mind which they demonstrate, and the benevolent Uses to which this knowledge should be applied. Price 25 cents. Sent postage free to any part of the United States. Address, pt^t paid, Stearns & Co.j 25 Ann Street, New York* 172 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. Mental Associations. 175. Whatever may be the degrees in which love, and wisdom are developed in any two minds, one cannot affect the other till the requisite associations are formed between them. And as all minds are always affected by associations, so the effects always correspond with the nature of these asso- ciations, whether sensuous, mental, or spiritual. And in each degree they may be partial or mutual. Cliarin. 176. Hence it is, that the dog shrinks from the frown of his master, the bird is paralyzed or charmed by the eye of the snake, the infant is gratified or terrified by the smile or frown of its nurse. And, in this same law, we find the philosophy of ecstasy, fascinatioi;, the power of charms and amulets, the results produced by faith, hope, fear and joy. All these re- sults come to pass, often, without any reflection, and without reason, simply by impressions suggested to the mind, or made upon the nervous system, by the laws of association. And hence come Hallucinations. 177. Partial or defective associations are such as the mind forms between itself and real or imaginary beings, so that the nervous system is affected in one way or another, correspond- ing to the emotions and volitions of love towards those ob- jects, whether they be real, or merely imaginary. Disease, or disturbances in the nutritive processes, induce these asso- ciations, and this is what constitutes monomania, and mental hallucinations ; when the nervous molecules become perma- nently disorganized, it constitutes insanity and madness. In this manner, where the wisdom is not developed, people have imagined themselves bewitched, or possessed by evil spirits, from which their will had not the power to free them. And we see, also, how it comes to pass, as it often does, that peo- ple are affected sympathetically, and made to laugh, or gape, thrown into convulsive imitations of persons, whom thev see affected in any peculiar manner, or of whom they hear. Their love, or the constitutional susceptibilities of their minds, be- come excited, so that the nutritive forces leave the controlling organs, and they either do not know what they do, or if they know, the will-power is not strong enough to obey the dic- tates of wisdom, and hence they testify that they resisted with all their might, and the more they strove against it, the more they were affected, hecausie the nutritive forties being PATHETISM. 173 concentrated in love or imitation, the will necessarily assisted in guiding, while the wisdom forbid it, and did all it could to prevent what came to pass. In this way many persons are often compelled to laugh or weep, not only against their wishes, but against all their efforts to resist these states of feeling. \ Mysteries Elxplaiiiecl. 178. These laws enable us to comprehend how it is, that persons of a peculiar temperament become " impressed," as they say, with a certain idea, or a certain view of themselves or others ; and also, how it is that they become hallucinated, and even deluded with the false and hypothetical. Thus, if the leading thought combine the peculiar characteristics of Witchcraft, then the person becomes bewitched ; and there are two methods by which this idea works. The first is, where the victim indulges a suspicion of another person. The history of this delusion gives an account of accusations, ar- rests, legal trials, convictions, and capital executions of thou- sands of poor, defenceless, and innocent people, upon the merest suspicion of some self-hallucinated, deluded mortal, who happened to conceive the idea of witchcraft against one of his neighbors. The other phase of this delusion is when the victim really imagines himself in league with the devil, and riding through the air upon a broomstick. With a slight knowledge of hu- man neture, one might well doubt, indeed, whether such con- fusion in the human intellect were even possible. But, we have seen, that it is the complexity of man's organism, the ex- quisiteness in the finish of his faculties, that renders him more liable than the animal below him, to get out of repair while in this rudimentary state. And hence it is, when discord is once induced in his superior nature, that such melancholy and distressing results are known to follow. liaiirs of Habit. 179. When the mind has been once impressed with an in- fluence from any cause, it takes cognizance of this law of as- sociation, and in cases of high susceptibility, it does some- times either create, or transfer it from one substance or agent to another — and hence, the system is affected precisely ac- cording to the anticipations of the mind, and not according to the ^al qualities of those things to which the association has been transferred. In this manner persons often fancy them- selves associated with spiritual beings, good or bad, but which have no existence except in the imaginations of the minds thus exercised. By changing the associations we may, by de- 174 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. sign or incidentally, change the mental or physical powers, — and thus by exciting one sense we may suspend each of the others, as neither two of the senses can be excited to a cer- tain degree at one and the same time. Hence it is, that the thought or idea of a state or condition of the mind or body, when fixed in the mind for a sufficient length of time, sus- pends the senses, and brings on that very change or state. Mutual §yiiipatky. 180. Mutual associations. The degree of influence which one mind will be able to exert designedly over another, will depend upon the reciprocity of the association formed be- tween them. As we have seen, one mind may be Pathetised by a partial association with another, whom it has seen mere- ly, or of whom it has read or heard. In this manner, the reader may be Pathetised by these pages ; that is, he may thus be induced to believe what is here written, or something that is false, about himself or another — but for him or any one else to be Pathetised, by design, into a state of trance, or in- to any other emotion, volition, or mental change, there must be an agreeable, mutual association between the two minds for that purpose. And here, again, we must observe that as- sociations ascend in forms, degrees and spheres, from the in- stinctive to the sensuous, mental and spiritual, and the influ- ence and results correspond with each of the degrees in which the associations are formed. The sensuous produces sensual phenomena ; the mental produces emotions and volition^, and the spiritual evolve intelligence, wisdom, intellectuality. But observe, mutuality in the association does not imply" equality in all the degrees of mental development. The two minds as- sociated may both excel; that is, one may excel in one organ, and the other may excel in another ; neither their love nor ■wisdom may exactly correspond, but they may and must cor- respond in quality, or the object of their love. They may both love the same result, and they must desire it, or no mutual association is or can be formed, for love is the ele- ment, the origin, and the foundation of all real unity. Differ- ences in the love makes apathy, antipathy, aversion, hatred. But where two minds love alike, there is sympathy, and the results must and always do correspond, when associa- tions are formed between sensuous, mental or spiritual love. Analysis of tliis State. ^ 181. As this seems to be, perhaps, the highest sphere in which one mind controls another, let us analyze it : — 1. At first sensuous love is affected, and our emotions are excited through the external senses merely. PATHETISM. 175 2. The association next extends to, and excites the mind to volition, and the attention is more or less interested in the result. 3. The next degree extends to wisdom, the innermost prin- ciple, or the spirit ; the sagacity, reason and penetration are satisfied ; spiritual love is satisfied, excited, and the results follow as a matter of course. This is a spiritual association which is the perfection of unity, and thus the will of one has control over the nutritive fluid of the other, and this fluid obeys the will of the other, and thus it is made to leave sensa- tion, the external senses, and consciousness, till the mind is perfectly controlled by the will of the other! Whatever change (within the sphere of life) be willed by one, is yielded to and evolved in the state of the other. Such are the successive steps for reaching the higher de- grees of mental sympathy. Spiritual Unity. 182. As this is the highest that can be formed, between human beings, it, of course, must control all below it. It is manifest therefore, that, in all cases, the change made in the emotions, volitions, and actions, of one mind, by the will of an- other, must necessarily correspond with the degrees and associations formed between them ; and from which we may perceive how beautifully all the phenomena of mind correspond with the forms, order, motions, degrees, and spheres, which enter into the mind, and constitute the laws of the mental or spii"itual world. (20, 21.) The sensuous will, or the will ex- pressed, through and to the senses, produces sensuous results merely ; but from this degree another and higher one may be evolved. Having produced a suspension of the patient's exter- nal senses, you next induce a mental result, which is a change in his mind. His own mind controls his own nutritive forces. Having associated your mind with his, his mind, directed by yours, controls all his external senses, or the degree below ; so that he ceases to see, hear, or feel, except through your ex- ternal senses, because your mind is accessible through your external senses ; and hence, what reaches your mind, will reach his, provided it pass through your will by which he is controlled. In this state your patient becomes unconscious of -pain, or whatever changes are produced in his sensitive system, because his nutritive fluid has left that, and gone to his mental system^, by which his sensation has been subdued. This is the second degree, in which, by volition, you change the mind of yoiir patient, and cause him to sympathize with your mental wishes, to any extent within his sphere. From this you may carry him ijp to the third or spiritual state, which is the 176 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURJE. highest. In this state his wisdom, or intuition, is perfectly developed, and he knows your spirit, and whatever comes within the degree of his development. For here, also, the spirit ascends by degrees, and the knowledge of all who are raised into this state will correspond, exactly, with the degrees in which their wisdom has been developed. PMlosoptiy of Mental Effluence. 183. Thus it may be seen how one mind is influenced by another ; and how it is that these degrees of mental develop- ment, and ASSOCIATIONS, explain the philosophy of all the influences, given or received, by all classes of minds, young and old, good and bad, the feeble and the strong, the world over. To make this matter still more plain : We may consider the soul as passive, which receives; and the mind as active, or the power that communicates ; and the spirit as the substance, or essence, given. The spitnt is coni' municated, by writing, speaking, in the tones of the voice, by the touch of the hand, by signs, gestures, the loill, or, in what- ever way it may be possible for one mind to make known its wishes to another, when those wishes are received. (67.) The impression made, always corresponds with the spirit of the mind by whom the influence or power is exerted ; that is, when the impression is received, and understood, or the in- fluence is yielded to ; in that case, the soul sympathizes with the spirit with which it becomes impregnated by the active mind, and in this way is pathetised into the likeness and dis- position of another. But, when the soul does not yield, does not sympathize with the wishes, or power attempted to be exerted over it, in that case the spirit is not imparted, and a state of apathy or antipathy, in the mind of the patient, or sub- ject, is the result. Government of Cliildren. 184. Pathetise your child with your own spirit, and you will control him — otherwise you do nothing. Excite in your own mvid the feelings and disposition with which you wish to imbue your children ; thus you may render them like yourself, and if you control your own mind, you may govern them. Bear in mind, therefore, that all whom you control by ef- fluence, or influence, will imitate you ; your children especially, will think, appear, and act like you. See here, the error so often fallen into by parents ; they expect their children to be different from themselves. The parent is angry, but chides his offspring for the want of love ; the parent is rough and angular in his conduct, but is dissatisfied with his child who is wanting in gentleness. PATHETISM. 177 If you desire your child always to obey you, cause him to love you. Now, if you really love another you know what you do to excite a corresponding state of mind. Love has a language of its ovi^n ; its own peculiar methods for accom- plishing its ends. It need not be told what to say, nor what to do. It speaks for itself, and its language is not very likely ever to be misunderstood. Love begets love, and love of its own kind and degree. Hence, if you cause your child really and truly to love you, (or rather, I might say, he will really love you, if you do not prevent it,) then he will obey you, as a matter of course, in proportion as he loves you. Another rule is, that you should always, as far as possible, make your child pleased with himself. That is, be cautious and sparing in censure. If your own conscientiousness, your own executiveness be strong, you will be likely to blame, not merely with undue severity, but you may censure from a love of it. Be cautious. If the child love you, a mutual knowledge of his fault will give him pain. If his love for you be feeble, the less you blame him the better. And by all means avoid the manifestation of pleasure when you point out his faults. The errors of the child will give you sorrow, if you love him, and if you can let that sorrow be perceived without directly blaming the child, so much the better it may be. At times, it may be necessary to censure. It should always be done with tenderness, gentleness, and unless the nature of the offence forbid, the blame should be administered in private. Parental discipline is lost when the child's love of approbation is mortified, to an undue extent, by the needless exposure of his crime. Promptitude and decision, are sometimes wanting on the part of teachers and parents. No two children may be pre- cisely alike, in some respects. But in one point of view, they are indeed, all alike, they are children, they need to be in- formed ; they do not know till they are instructed ; and they are not capable of self-government. The parents, guardians, and teachers, therefore, should govern them, direct them, and " train them up in the way they should go," discipline them, habituate them to courses of study, and industry, by which their natures become developed into perfect manhood. But it may be asked, what shall be done when a child is refractory, and continually so 1 I answer, many things are often done in such cases, which ought not to be : things which show the parent to be in need of instruction as really and more, even than the child. Let it be borne in mind by those whose duty it is to govern, that the child did not make himself, he was not consulted, and had no choice as to his physical or 178 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. mental organization. The moral disposition, therefore, of the " wayward" child is not a matter for which he is to be blamed any more than that he should be punished for his complexion or size of his body. Hence, the first thing that concerns the parent or teacher is to ascertain as near as possible, the cast of the child's organism. Which way does it tend, on the whole 1 Which way, under given circumstances? What does he most love 1 How is he the most easily diverted ? Is he fond of physical exercise 1 Fond of study 1 Combative ? Secretive 1 Acquisitive 1 Destructive 1 Constructive 1 Gentle ? Rough 1 That is, what is the bent of his character, con- sidered as a whole, for all have these and other faculties com- bined in greater or less degrees. IMow, when we consider that the sympathetic, imitative nature in children, is the plastic ground upon which all impressions are made by effluence, or by what they witness from others, and especially their parents and teachers, is it any marvel that by example, the child should sometimes be taught to fal^' sify, to deceive, and even to indulge in anger? Again, I re- peat, you do pathetise your child with your own spirit, in a most important sense. For, the child has a part of his nature and his disposition from you; you had it before him. The composition of his faculties is somewhat different, not precisely the same, though often we find that in some one faculty the child will, indeed, be the very same, and perhaps, even excel the parents in that one trait. Here, then, you have an ad- vantage which should assist you. You know what your own nature is, and how you would be assisted now, as, also, how you were assisted when you, yourself, were a child and under tutorage. And then, you, also, pathetise your child by your example, by your own manners. Whether you design all you do for his eye and ear or not, he is necessarily impressed by all your conduct of which he has any knowledge or belief. Think of this. Not your manners towards the- child merely, but towards all your family, all human beings, and the animal creation even. Cruelty to a brute should never be indulged, especially in the presence of children. The philosophy we have been contemplating makes it plain, that when a weak point is noticed in a child, the object of the parent should be to guard that point, not to assail it. Avoid temptation. Do not bring about such circumstances as will operate with undue power upon the child's weaker faculties. If his eyes were tender and unable to bear the light, would you cause him to gaze at the meridian sun "? If one limb were lame, would you compel him to use that one, more on this account ? Thus, if he is angry, do not imitate him, and thus become PATHETISM. 179 so yourself. As a general rule, the best thing which can be done when a child is in a fit of passion (if any thing should be done at such a time) is to divert him by calling into action some other organs. This direction applies more particularly to young children, but it may be of use, also, in saving others wiio are more advanced, from violent fits of anger. It is diffi- cult to conceive how much and how serious the injury is that is often done to children by punishing them when they are mad, or by combating their combativeness. These organs, we should remember, resist always, and to attempt to subdue them by their like, is the same as if we were to attempt to ex- tinguish the burning flames by adding more fire. A partial acquaintance with the laws we have been contem- plating, will be sufficient to show, that, many children are re- ported as ungovernable, principally because we do not know how to do it. We take hold of the wrong faculties. We ex- cite them in the wrong direction. All children are more or less fond of physical exercise. They cannot live without it. Shut them up, confine them from morning till night in one corner of the room, or compelled to sit upon an ordinary school bench six hours in a day, and see how restless, impa- tient, and refractory the best of children will very soon become. In this manner, they are often impelled (by their want of mo- tion) to deeds of mischief. The nutritive fluid, the nervous force, or whatever else it be in their systems, seeks for egress. They must indulge in those motions which are egestive, (54,) and which are the promptings of their inmost nature. Their organs of mirth and playfulness, are the channels through which this steam is let off. What nature demands for them and in them, they cannot be denied without injury. It is, therefore, as really the parent's duty to afford recreation, ex- ercise, and playful amusement for his children, as it is to pro- vide them wholesome food. And never does a parent appear to more advantage than when thus watching for the grati- fication of his loved little ones. His judgment and superior strength, his presence and directions give to the amusement an appropriateness, a fitness, and use. It is safe, and manly, because it tends to the harmonious development of the nature which God has given us.* * la the Book of Health, the reader will find some further obser- vations, addressed to parents and children, and in which are soma practical remarks in respect to Eecreation, Study, the Occupation, &c. 180 BOOK OF HirMAN NATURE. Mow to do Oood. 185. Reformatory/ Measures. Here we have the laws by which the vicious are to be reformed, and the wayward re- strained from vice. Here is the secret of success in the Tem- perance cause, and the cause of humanity and benevolence in all their diversified ramifications. We succeed just in propor- tion as we adapt our measures to the nature of mind, and pro- ceed according to the laws which constitute human nature, and make the world what it is. Religious^ Political, and other excitements. In the laws here developed, we have the rationale of all the influences ever exerted or felt, whether good or evil. The history of the world does not afford an instance of any excitement, any kind of mania, by whatever name it may have been known, which may not, and ought not to be accounted for, according to the philosophy of the human mind, and which was not originated, induced, carried on, and controlled, from first to last, by the sympathetic, imitative laws of association which I have here explained, ©orrespondifiig Cliaracterisfics. 186. To perceive the true philosophy of all religious, sec- tarian, political and philanthropic movements, we have only to consider what has already been said in relation to the doctrine of SPHERES, (150) the laws of Sympathetic Imitation, (154) together with what is said of the Temperaments, (142, 144,) and the entire rationale of all rnental effluence and influence. To make this still more manifest, then, we observe ; — The Germ. 187. 1. That all of them, always and everywhere, partake more or less of the peculiar sphere of the mind by whom they were originated. In the beginning, there is one man, one sphere, which serves as the germ of the whole succeeding movement. And, as truly as the plant is known to take its shape, color, essence, form and use, from the germ whence it sprang, so with corresponding exactness does the " revival" take its character from the mind, which stands highest, and fills the largest sphere in the germinal movement. That mind is also " impressed" by the surrounding influences of the age, and the place where he lives. If he had to breathe an im- pure atmosphere, his spiritual lungs were accordingly affect- id with disease. He could not.expand into an enlarged and perfect sphere, if his feet were put into iron shoes, and his mental system subjected to the unnatural pressure of swaddling PATHETISM. 181 bands. Perfect manhood is developed, not born. So the per- fection, the harmonious manhood of the Race, is the slow work of ages ; it is not brought out in a day. The sphere of Moses may be taken as a type, in the early ages. Tlie prohibitions (to be found in the writings attributed 10 him) which he enjoined on his followers in respect to the use of swine's flesh, are among the beauties of his teachings ; while his directing his countrymen to sell dead carcases, that were not fit for food, to the heathen, m.ay be set down as characteristic of the times in which he lived. So, also, in re- spect to the views he gives of the Divine Father. How evi- dently they partake of the age in which they were written. The world was then supposed to be divided and possessed be- tween a number of deities, each of whom v/ere controlled by vindictive and combative feelings, precisely as were the political chieftains and warriors of those times. The Jews, if they professed to worship "one God," did nevertheless as firmly believe in a devil-god, a devil separate from Jehovah, but who was well nigh as powerful as the true God. And, then, what a terrible, angry, fighting, combative, vindictive God, was he of the " stifi*-necked and rebellious" Jews ! His distinguishing attributes were Power, if not jealousy and anger. Such was the atmosphere which JMoses had to breathe ; such was the moral food with which his mind was fed ; and hence he shows himself in all he utters of the Infi- nite God. We see the mind of the man Moses in the ten commandments ;* in the bloody sacrifices he enjoined upon his countrymen ; in the severe and vindictive peiiaities with which he enforced his laws. Death, for gathering a i'ew sticks on one particular day in the week ; death, for happen- ing to own an unruly ox! This may have been right for Moses, and it may have been the best that could, under all the circumstances of the case, have been enacted for that people, * A distinguished English Geologist recently stated in a conversa- tion witli a friend of ours, that among the results to which Layard and Kawlinson have been led by their researches at Nineveh, is the following: That ihe p?-ophecies of Daniel were undoubtedly written after the events to wnicli they refer had taken place, and that the whole of this book is probably nothing but a political satire ! This, though suppressed by Layard in his work, has been cotninuiiicated to the London Asiatic Society, by Major Euwlinson, and will proba- bly soon appear in its published traus:ictions. In one of the works upon Egyptian Hieroglyphics recently published in Germany, which has come under our notice, is a table of Com- mandments copied from an inscription of the date of one of the elder Pharaohs. These are more in number than the Jewish Decalogue, but some six or eight of them are the same. — JS^ew Torlc Tribune^ Jan, 17, 1858. 182 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. and at that age of the world. But, in these things, we see the infancy of the race ; the sphere that Moses filled, how far short he fell of true Manhood, while he possessed virtues and excellencies that made him truly a Religious Chieftain, per- haps the best that Nature could provide for the age in which he lived. But, mark in what sense Moses still lives, even in the ex- ternal world. Observe with what force his teachings are " impressed" upon the minds of his followers. So large was his sphere, that it extends down the stream of time from age to age, moulding and shaping the minds of men, even against the antagonizing laws of eternal progression. Mohammed may be taken as another type. The ignorance and errors of the age and the country where he lived, made him what he was. Necessitated to receive more or less of the errors of that age, they thus became a constituent part of his moral nature. And the larger his sphere, the more pow- erful his mind, the more diffused his errors became. He is the germ whence sprung the Coran. Hence if he was a mix- ture of truth and error, the efflux from him must correspond ; and thus he impresses his " image and superscription" upon all true Mussulmen as really as if they had been born of his loins. His mind is in them, his sphere reaches and sur- rounds them ; and it becomes thus manifest, from the Moham- medan of to-day, whom we do see, what the first Mohammed was, centuries ago — because he thus, flowing into his follow- ers, becomes an object of our knowledge as really as if he were here, living and moving amongst us. And so of John Calvin, John Wesley, and Swedenborg. Thus of Joanna Southcote, Ann Lee, and Joe Smith. Con- template the sphere filled by each or either of these person- ages. Observe how it is extended and lived over again in the " circles" which they have each attracted around them. Is it difficult to see the features of the Geneva reformer in the " horrible decree" contained in the creeds of his followers, to this day, and which consigns unborn myriads to the pains of an endless hell 1 The sphere of Wesley comprehended less of the repulsive, vindictive ; but we see him in the peculiarities of his sect. They believe as he believed, pray as he prayed, preach as he preached, dress as he dressed, do as he did, and consider it an evidence of peculiar merit, that they do not differ from him at all ! In their devotions they use certain terms because he used them, and often boast of their being like him ; they are * Wesleyans," and imagine they are receivers of the Truth, because they are Wesleyans, not that they are like him be- cause they are truthful. Their revivals, (when they had 1 PATHETISM. 183 them — they are not now very common) were characteristic of Wesley. Wesley's mind was in them, they were comprehend- ed in tils sphere, partook of his peculiar views and errors. Hence all who become Wesleyan must comply with certain psychological conditions, must go through a certain routine of mental exercises, have certain "feelings," "hopes," and "fears," as Wesley himself did. They must believe in the devil as he did, believe in Jesus as he did ; and these states of " feeling " are enforced under the threat of eternal dam- nation ! In the garb of the Quaker we see George Fox. In the po- lygamy and fanaticism of Mormonism we see Joe Smith. And, in any and every sectarian excitement ever " got up," we may see the spirit, the ignorance, or intelligence of the germ whence it started. The Idea. 188. 2. That in the large political and sectarian circles, which certain chieftains have attracted around them, the mind has been impressed and overpowered by some leading and promi- nent idea, which, whether true or false, this leading idea has carried with it, any number of lesser ideas that were not truth- ful but false. Thus with Moses, and Mohammed, it was the unity of God. With Calvin, it was the Horrible Decree. With the Papists, it is the supremacy of the Pope, and the in- fallible authority of the Church. With Protestants, it is the plenary inspiration, uncorrupted preservation, and Divine authority of the Bible as an all sufficient rule of faith and prac- tice ; in other words, putting a book in the place of the Divine Father of all. In this manner, all religious chieftains, and all political leaders have commenced, who have succeeded in drawing large circles around them. The wrong of which loud com- plaints are made, and the great idea which is held out for the purpose of attracting disciples and partisans, so completely dazzles and overwhelms the mind in the excitement of the moment, that multitudes of smaller errors flow in at the wide door that has thus been opened. Absorbed in the contempla- tion of one great truth, or an idea that is thought to be true, the mind is unprepared for criticism, is off its guard in re- spect to lesser matters. The presumption is, that, if Wesley, or Fox, or Swedenborg, were the chosen instruments of one great truth so immensely important, they must have been the favorites of heaven in such a sense as to prevent their having erred in any thing. That is, this view is entertained of each chieftain by the partisans of their sect respectively, and not by ' votaries of the chieftains of conflicting and rival leaders. For 184 BOOK OP HUMAN" NATUKE. it must be borne in mind, that, precisely in proportion as the partisans of one leader put faith in their own chieftain, they repel and repudiate all others. Tradition. 189. 3. Another characteristic trait in these pathematic move- ments is this : — their exclusiveness, sectarianism, and fanati- cism, are in the direct ratio of the authority which they attach to tradition, or what is the same, to testimony, which you are not permitted to examine. And, with the undeveloped mind, the further back you trace the links of tradition the better ; not to the days of your oldest ancestors, not back to the third or fourth generation merely, nor extending beyond hundreds of years ; but, somewhere away back, beyond the fourth, fifth, or sixth thousandth century even ; or, as the Chinese have it, somewhere beyond the hundred thousandth century, extending so far even that the years could not be counted. Then, the story becomes quite venerable with age, and no one ever thinks of asking, is it true ? But, the whole is taken for granted, nor do the 'multitude once dream of questioning authority so sacred, sanctioned by the lapse of so many ages away back, where " thought cannot follow, and bold fancy dies." Thus, the creeds of sectarians have been handed down to us, and the more obscurity there is about their origin, or some of their tenets, the more direct their appeals to credulity and the organs of marvelousness. Hence tlie fables of purgatory, the fumes of fire and brimstone in hell, and above all, the old cloven footed devil, constitute the means with which assaults have been so successfully made upon the organs of caution and credulity in getting up a " revival of religion." And we shall find, the farther back we go in the history of all this class of excitements, the more and more the " devil" had to do with them. The preacher believed more in the devil, the people believed more in him, and this same devil was as necessary in " getting up" a revival as any other personage, not excepting Jesus Christ. Who ever heard of a real " revival," where the parties in it did not believe in the devil 1 Did any thing of this kind ever take place? If so, when, and where? And it is a remarkable fact, that to this day, the faith of multitudes is still so strong in tradition, that their feelings are as much hurt to hear any thing said against the common notions of the devil, as they are when any thing is said disparagingly of the common views of God. Indeed, the modern sectarian can tolerate the idea of an atheist ; but a believer in the Deity, and in an immortal happy existence, who repudiates the tradi- lional notions of the devil, is exceedingly repulsive, and can- not be endured. MENTAL CONTAGION. 185 Mental Contagion. 190. The illustrations already given of the spheres of mental and physical bodies, (19, 24,) will enable us to comprehend how it is, that those local and general excitements have pre- vailed, denominated wars, religious, " revivals," and the like. There is a kind of contagion, purely mental, so to speak ; a peculiar aptitude in minds, and society, to assume a peculiar train of thought, or feeling, grave or gay, as the circumstances may dictate, and this tendency, arises from the laws of sympa- thy (67. 69) and association already described, and for which the science of psychology must be considered abundantly able to account. Resistance excites war. Worship excites devotional emo- tions. One mind is excited by its associations with others, and the nature or character of the results of all excitements depend upon the faculties of the mind concerned in carrying them on. Tlie Cmsades. 191. One of the greatest excitements ever " got up" in Eu- rope, was that produced by the Crusades, and that excitement was begun by one mind. Peter the Hermet, during the pontifi- cate of Pope Urban II. travelled all over Europe, describing the indignities practised by the Turks, in Palestine, on be- lievers, and calling on Christians everywhere to rally around the standard he raised for the rescue of the Holy Land from the infidels. So humble was his demeanor, so saintly his ap- pearance, and so vehement his eloquence, that he gathered an army of 60,000 men with whom he marched to Jerusalem : and he kindled throughout Europe that ardent spirit, which, for ages found busy employment in the crusades against the infidels. Heroism. 192. History furnishes innumerable instances of this philoso- phy. L. Sylla, in the midst of battle, finding his troops giving way before the forces of Mithridates, dismounted, seized a standard, and reared it in the midst of the enemy, crying out to his retreating soldiers, " Here, Romans ! it is that I shall stand, and here I'll die ! Report yCur General left in front of the enemy !" This appeal was enough : his army rallied, drove back the enemy, and remained masters of the field. It is also asserted, that Zeno Eleates, pitying the sufferings of the Agrigentines, from the tyranny of Phalaris, their king, attempted to reason the tyrant into mercy ; but he failed. He 186 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. then sought to rouse the nobles t9a sense of their degradation ; bat in vain. Being then summoned to the presence of the tyrant, who was surrounded by his trembling nobles, Zeno dis-, dained to answer the questions of Phalaris, but turning to these nobles, he reproached them with their pusillanimity in terms so keen, that, stung to the quick, they roused themselves to sudden action, and stoned on the spot, the very tyrant before whose power they but a moment before, were "trembling. I»aitic§. 193. The same sympathetic panic often seizes upon large assemblies of people. A word or a hint from one individual communicates a shock through the whole. In this way mobs are frequently stimulated to ungovernable fury, and soldiers, in the day of battle, rush on in the face o^ death ; or, panic struck, the fear spreads from one to thousands, and those who but a moment before, were ready to brave the cannon's mouth, are now trembling with fear, and find it impossible to summon either courage or self-possession. At other times, a word, or look from some master spirit, electrifies the mass around him, and from one to another the impulse communicates a feeling of heroism and intrepidity, which increases as it spreads, till the entire mass are impatient to throw their lives away in the whirlwind of their ambition.* Mental Infection. 194. If one person is said to see a ghost, it not unfrequently happens that a sensibility is awakened in the minds of many others, till the infection has spread, and ghosts are multiplied in proportion to the susceptibility of the people who happen to hear the strange details of the departed spirits. So, if one in a family, or neighborhood, happens to have a singular dream, it is followed with others of the same kind. In a word, whatever is related to the strange or marvellous, whatever is calculated to excite credulity or fear, operates by sympathy, and in this way we may easily account for the prevalence of many crimes, and the various forms of delusion, which have from time to time, so much disturbed and cursed the world. In these laws of the human mind we may find a satisfactory solution of an excitement which has swept over the length and breadth of this country, within a few years past, on the subject what has been called " Spiritual Manifestations." One person * The above, I perceive, is quoted irom my work on Pathetisin, (1847,) in the 3d Vol. of The Great Harmonia, p. 102, without the marks of credit. And a similar remark might be made of other quota- tions on page 92, 93, 96, 101, 136. MENTAL CONTAGION. 187 of a peculiar temperament (140, 141, 142,) sees another affect- ed, (as is allecred,) by " spirits." The idea is startling and impressive. Indeed, reading upon the subject, or hearing about it, will often impress the nervous system so powerfully, as to bring <5n all the phenomena of jerking; jumping, twitching, swooning, dancing, singing, speaking, writing, or whatever else may come within the range of an excited nervous organ- ism. In this manner, all mania, all excitements, mental or spiritual, devotional, combative, grave or gay, are to be account- ed for. In all these movements, there will be noticed often one central Idea, which is the germ of the whole, and from which all the lesser phenomena take their character. Mr. Powers* details the particulars of a family in Chelms- ford, Mass., where one of the children was affected with chorea, and five others exercised themselves in imitating his odd gestures, until every one of them was irresistibly affected in the same way. And the spell was not broken until the father, one day, brought in a block and axe, and sternly threatened to take off the head of the first child who shouXl exhibit any more of those singular gestures. Dr. Haygarth gives a similar account of the effects of sym- pathy, which took place in 1796, among some peasants in the Island of Anglesey. It commenced with one female, and in a short time extended to some twenty others. And a similar account is given by Rev. Mr. Archibald, of Unst.f He says, at first the affection commenced with a female ; but on her manifesting the affection at church, it was immediately com- municated to others. And in another parish, some sixty per- sons were seized in the same way ; and being carried out and laid in the yard, they would struggle and roar with all their might for five or ten minutes, and then rise up without re- membering anything that had happened to them. Affections of the same kind prevailed among the Anabap- tists in Germany, and the French Prophets in Dauphiny, and in England ; and after them the Quakers, and also among the Puritans of New England, in 1745, and more recently among the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and especially among the Mormons. Nor are these affections confined to Prot- estant sects ; they have been equally prevalent among the Papists, and, indeed, among those who are not religiously dis- posed. I have been informed of similar affections among the Mahometans. A gentleman who has been among them during seasons of prayer, states, that for some time he had seen some of them convulsed, and they would emit a kind of froth at the * Influence of the Imagination on the Nervous System. t Edinburgh Medical aiid Surgical Journal, vol.^3, p. 438. 188 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. mouth. Those less favored, would take this from the mouths of their companions, and by rubbing it upon their own bodies, •would thus excite a similar state of feeling and action in themselves. That the affections above described, were communicated by the laws of sympathetic imitation, there can be no doubt. And it would be equally easy to show, that many diseases deemed contagious, had been communicated in the same way. The history of the Asiatic Cholera would as plainly demon- strate the truth of this position, as it would prove, that any such disease ever existed. And the same might be said of other diseases and affections, both mental and physical, which are frequently known to gain upon individuals, families, neigh- borhoods, and generally whole districts of country. Some- times an enormous crime will be committed; and its flagrancy excites a kind of susceptibility in the mind of another, and another, until it has been followed by a dozen or more of the same kind. A few years since a suicide was committed in Troy, N. Y., by hanging. One of the men who assisted in taking the corpse down, was noticed to place the rope, taken from the neck of the dead man, in his pocket; — nothing was thought of the cir- cumstance at the time. But, one year afterwards, that very man was found hung in the same place, and with that identical cord about his neck ! Religious and political excitements are always modified, directed and characterized by the mental faculties which they call into action. And, though they generally produce too much commotion to allow sufficient reflection to enable a dis- interested person to see how beautifully they illustrate the nature of the human mind, yet they do, nevertheless, furnish the data from which it would be an easy matter to show the truth of my assumptions with regard to it. (154.) 1. That mental contagions are often originated, controlled, and characterized by the sphere of individuals, whether living or dead. How was it with John Calvin, John Wesley, George Fox, Ann Lee, and other " religious chieftains."" In each ex- citement we trace the lineaments of the features of the indivi- dual by whom it was started and carried on. The sphere of . each one may be distinctly seen, even centuries after the outer forms of those men or women have passed from our earth. And, is it not curious and wonderful indeed to see, how really many do live among us, even after they are said to be actually dead. 2. That in those sympathetic, contagious movements of large masses of people, denominated religious, we always find in operation the laws of human nature, described in the pages MENTAL CONTAGION. 189 of this book. True, it is, these movements are attributed directly to God, and He is often called upon to do certain things, as if their development did not depend at all upon the operation of the laws of the human mind. But, this tendency to attribute certain phenomena to remote and extraordinary causes, only shows the state of those minds in which it is manifested. I admit, that God does all that is done, always. But how is it brought about 1 Let the history of all mental contagions, i'rom immennorial time, answer this question. 3. That all contagions, though purely mental at first, they enter into the sinuosities of human nature, and, seizing upon the nervous system, produce discord, disease, delusion, fantasy, and death. They are always the most rife and powerl'ul when ignorance of the nervous organism is the most prevalent. Indeed, ignorance of nature's laws, is the darkness in which these hideous forms have been known most to thrive. Hence, the duty of diffusing information among the masses. Study the laws of nature, and especially of human nature, and as you, yourself, become informed, you may enlighten others, and, in this way assist in the great work of progression. These sympathetic susceptibilities of our nature, which are liable to be thus perverted by ignorance, are the very excellencies, the laws, without which we could not progress at all, and could not be intelligent, benevolent beings. 4. It is characteristic of those mental contagions which have most hindered the progression of the race, that they were originated by a false idea ; a misconception of God, or " spirit," the state of the spirits after deaih. Now, we have seen, (34, 35,) that God, and the condition of spirits out of the body, must be precisely what oilr thoughts or faith made them to us. And thus, it is, that men are and must be " impressed" by their own conceptions or ideas of things real or imaginary. If they believe themselves possessed or inspired, or controlled by an invisible spirit, real or fictitious, their nervous systems will yield, and they act accordingly. If the idea which has taken possession of the popular mind, appeal directly to mar- veloiTsness, it thereby acquires so much the more power. And if it completely conquers and controls one mind, the power of the idea is thus increased, and so it is augmented by the addition of one mind, one family, one neighborhood, one country after another, till it has with a force far exceeding that of the tornado, swept over the fairest portions of the gar- den of God ; carrying devastation, confusion, and evil in its relentless course. 190 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. Faiiaticism. 195. All mental excitements carried to a certain ex- treme, or too long continued, end in fanaticism or insanity, or both. The importance of the subject seems to demand that we should notice more minutely, not merely those sub- jects which are more commonly pressed into these ex- tremes, but also all the constituent elements of which they seem to be composed. The fact, that from the earliest ages of the world, cer- tain persons have assumed to have actual, personal know- ledge of the spiritual sphere, is something towards good evi- dence to prove that the human mind is naturally ascending to- wards such a state of existence. But another fact connected with this subject is proof thdit many or most of these different persons have been deceived, because they have not agreed in their reports of one and the same thing. Some of the parties, we know, must have been dishonest in assuming what they knew to be false — and others, from the causes already described, (178) must have been hallucinated, — and hence they may have been sincere in their various accounts. The question to be decided here should be distinctly under- stood : — 1. It is not whether there be a spiritual sphere or not, which is not accessible to the external senses. 2. Not whether any principle or part of the human form be in a state of conscious existence after the body is dead. 3. Not whether the human spirit may not at times, while connected with the body, become so far developed as to have intuitive knowledge of existing laws, by which it may foretell events which those laws will bring about. 4. Nor whether the spirit, when thus developed, may not have intuitive knowledge of every law and every thing else, within the degree of its development. The question is this — When different accounts from differ- ent persons of one and the same thing do not agree, how are we to decide which to receive? The only satisfactory an«wer to this question I have already given. (100.) 1. If the accounts when taken together do not agree, we cannot receive the whole. They mai/ all be false. 2. If we find tiiat the reports of one person, or one class, do not agree with themselves, we cannot receive the reports of that person or class. 3. If the reports of any one person or class do agree with themselves, we cannot receive them if they do not agree with what we know to be the laws of mind, (101) and the constitu- tibri of things. MENTAL CONTAGION. 191 4. We cannot receive reports of another sphere of existence, as truthfully made, if the manner in which the knowledge is said to be obtained do not agree with what we know to be the facts in the case. Hence we cannot depend upon the reports which various minds have given of visions and communica- tions with the " spirit world." As we have seen, they may all be false ; or, if partly true, they may not be true in the manner in which they are said to have been developed. Minds may sometimes acquire knowledge without knowing how they acquire it, as all are more or less liable to be deceived who are not familiar with human nature. And hence it has been that so many have been deceived by the assumed visions of the Anabaptists, Shaking Quakers, Mormons, Spiritual Mediums, and others. Indeed, such visions have been common among certain classes of people from the earliest ages, and those have been the most deceived by them, especially among reli- gious sects, including the Papists and the Protestants, Jews, Greeks, and Mahommedans, where there has been the least knowledge of the nature and constitution of the human mind. Volumes have been filled with the history of these various forms of fanaticism, and which all should read who would be fully impressed with a sense of the lamentable extremes of de- lusion into which large masses of human beings may be often carried, even by very slight and remote causes. The Cru- sades, Alchemy, the French Prophets, and Mormonism, may be referred to as illustrative, on a large scale, of this suscep- tibility of the human mind to which reference is here made. Witchcraft was another. These were monstrous fanaticisms, so large and gigantic in their proportions, so powerful in the accumulation of means which they drew within their spheres, that we are apt to become bewildered and lost even in their contemplation. Combining materials so adverse and discord- ant, invoking so much of the false, devastating so much of so- cial harmony and domestic happiness, we scarcely know in what category of human misery to put these things, or how to estimate them consistently. However, the student of Human Nature cannot be very long at a loss how to account for these mysteries. He is accustomed to trace all the phenomena that occur to appro- priate and adequate cause, in the physical and mental worlds. He knows that where the human mind is wanting in harmony, where it is not fully developed, where there is the want of in- formation in respect to sympathy, marvelousness, and fear ; where there are exciting causes, and nothing to check hu- man credulity, such things may and must occur. And when they do come, when one of these whirlwinds of mental delu- sion sweep over any portions of the earthy they do not merely 192 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. move and carry away the stubble that is dry ; they do nofe merely bend now and then a sapling that is young and ten- der ; but they sweep away the strong enclosures of the fields and gardens ; they unroof the dwellings of human beings ; they spread destruction, dismay and death, often, in their re- sistless course. So it is, men living in the midst of such fanaticism, of re- puted intelligence and strong minds, often resist them. They are disgusted and repelled at first. They do not believe the ** idea " which has started and given the shape and color to the excitement. They hold out against it, oppose it, confute it, even, perhaps, many times, in private and in public. But this superior mind, this determined opposition, this " perse- cuting Saul of Tarsus," after repeated prayers on the part of tiie believers, is forced to yield. Indeed, if he were a vio- lent opposer, his conversion is so much the more likely, — as one extreme always leads to another. This is a law of the physical as it is of the moral world. It is your most violent opposer, your most '* hardened sinners," that are the most suddenly converted, and whose conversions afford occasions of the greatest joy. A superficial observer would judge differently ; he would suppose a mind so strong, so intelligent, a man so old, would know better, and could never be carried away by such an ex- citement. And, precisely so, all superficial persons always reason about other things. A profound philosopher never makes light of any form of real fanaticism. He never looks with indifference on those mysterious combinations of hidden causes that work in the mass, and by which these lamentable results are brought about. Or, perhaps, it were better to say, it is the ignorance that is lamentable, not the results — nor the laws of mind by \ which they come to pass. On the whole, it is best that we should have all these fanaticisms — best that we should have the human mind governed by its own laws. Certainly it is better to have mind, than to be without any mind. And if we have mind, it is best it should progress. So, to progress, it must begin low, or at a point from which progression is possible. It is, and must be best, then, that mind should act out its own nature, should show by its phe- nomena what it is, and what it may be. It maxj be a benefit to one mind, to see another mind deranged. By witnessing that condition, the causes that brought it on may be thus avoided. Let us understand, then, in what sense we say, things are for the best. If you put your hand in the fire, it is best you should be burned. It is best you-should be burned, because it is best you should suffer pain. It is best you should e'uflfef pkin» In 6rdet tb consierve ytnir organism arid life ; for, m:e:n^tal contagion. 193 if you did not suffer, you might put your whole system into the fire, and be thus consumed. While, therefore, I should regret that you did not know better than to put your hand in the fire, I must not (as a philosopher regret that God's laws were obeyed in your being burned. As a philanthropist I re- gret these wide-spread delusions ; and as a philanthropist and a philosopher, I must most regret the ignorance which is the occasion of them all. True philosophy, therefore, especially mental philosophy, contemplates both the past and the future. It does not regret the past — it finds no fault with what has been, except the want of information, the want of progres- sion. How else should we know what Human Nature is I Its susceptibilities, its sympathies, its hopes and its fears 1 Trait§ of Fauaiticisiii* 198. If ignorance be, indeed, the evil, or the devil to ba overcome, then it were well, perhaps, to dwell upon this sub- ject sufficiently long, to enable us to have distinct perceptions of these considerations, which will most assist us in the great work of human progression. THE INVISIBLE. 197. Reader ! Will you dare to follow me 1 Can you ven- ture here 1 It is not a nook, or corner of a dark house, or room, where you can be guided by the sense of feeling. Where we now proceed, neither sight nor feeling will serve you at all. Nay, here, the external sense of both feeling and sight are either anniliilated, or so completely reversed, that they serve only to mislead and confuse. It is no dark cellar, no gloomy cavern we enter, no haunted house, even. It is no distant part of our earth, no populous city, alive with com- merce, and the din of mechanism. Nor is it any wilderness, nor dismal swamp, where human beings have scarcely ever ventured before. Nor is it any one of the distant planets, pos- sible, though it might be, where we could ascend by a mere volition, or the motion of some magic wand. It is no by- place, no frightful thick wood, where most horrible murders have been perpetrated. Nor far off enchanted isle, where fairies dance and hymn the strains so enrapturing to human ears. Reader ! Is your heart strong ! Bold ! Courageous ! Then go with me. You need not leave your house ; nor your room, nor the seat where you are sitting ; you need not, no, you must not move from the very spot where you now find yourself spell bound by the words I am uttering. Once there, and " fairly into it," and you will have very little, or perhaps, iio Qs^ fbr your sense of sight, ritit for your hatiils, nor ychit 9 194 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. feet, nor your sense of smell or taste, nor for your higher faculties of reason, penetration, and judgment. Indeed, the larger these faculties the worse it may be for the possessor, as you shall find in the sequel. Once "into it," and you will have no use for the most en- larged sphere of observation. No matter what you have learned, what you have seen, what you have felt and ex- perienced. No matter how old, the older the better, as the trial has sometimes proved. The stoutest hearis the strongest intellects, are often overpowered here, overwhelmed, wrecked, even, and shocked to their very inmost. Mere children are drawn in by the fitness of their organisms. Large fear, marvelousness, and love of the mysterious, the giddy youth, is not unfrequentiy drawn with such forces as he has neither in- clination or any power for resisting. When once in, ho turns pale, and trembles from head to feet. His eyes are blank, the mouth is open, the limbs hang down by his side. He stands, no, he does not stand, it is between standing and sitting, and there he remains while something is at work powerfully, with- in him, which sends out upon his face, and the contortion of his features and limbs, the signs of discord within. And now comes a youth of riper years, a young lady, well matured. Her cheeks bear the crimson blush of health ; her external appearance speaks of competency, and indicates a heart combining all that is graceful, beautiful, and kind. Her approaches were slow at first, but finally, the attraction be- comes too strong for her, and she found herself in the Invisible ! She is frightened, and agitated in her nervous system. Shall she retrace her steps 1 How, which way % All is dark and invisible. Her external senses, her judgment even, scarcely now serve her at all. Her caution and credulity are large. She is impelled forwards by an irresistible love of the hidden and obscure. So, finding she is not alone, but that multitudes^ are in the same place, she makes little or no efforts to return whence she came. The cases already contemplated entered the invisible solitary, It may have been, and alone. We now see them approaching in pairs. The wife follows, out of mere love to her husband ; and less common, the husband from conjugal love to his spouse. The number increases, and the parents and all the children are seen entering together. They do not all feel the same desire for the invisible, but they all love one another, and so neither will leave the others to go alone. And thus the sympathy extends from families to neighbor- hoods, to churches, and larger circles of community. One neighbor, influences another, and when he stands high and is looked up to for efilueoce, counsel, and direction, as all clergy^- • MENTAL CONTAGION. 195 men are, the influence is so much the more extended. Hence, we see that Christian teacher, entering with most of his flock around him. Some of his followers do not feel much love for the invisible, but they do feel strong love and respect for tlieic pastor. Perhaps he has been persecuted and they love him on this account, or perhaps he has been the means of their " conversion," and this gives him a strong claim for confidence and affection. Or, it may be, he has attended at the sick bed of those who now follow him for " the good he has done." See, also, the political chieftain entering, surrounded by his circle. All have their satellites. All must attract more or less, by the inherent, ever present laws of mental and social sympathy. Hence, when the venerable patriarch enters, a very large number of others are sure to follow. And so many associated or attracted more or less with one common object, they aflford society and gratification for each other. In this manner, they beguile and deceive themselves ; for, though they may never fully realize the object of their pursuit, yet they may aflford each other consolation, and by their " pray- ers," their " hymns of praise," and other methods of religious recreation, they divert their own minds from the grief of dis- appointment, of which they might otherwise become most painfully conscious. In this manner we know the regions of invisibility have been peopled from the earliest ages of the world. To describe fully any of the myriad forms which have been found in this region, of all others so fruitful of forms, would scarcely comport with the object I now have in view. Nor is it necessary, perhaps, if we examine the portrait which has been drawn by " infallible inspiration," of one who we are assured reigns there supreme. Some six thousand years ago, he appeared in the form of a serpent, or as others say, in a baboon or monkey. But all are agreed, that he was (formerly, at least,) a most ugly and hate- ful looking devil. He even had a forked tail, that he whisked about as he walked ; one of his feet (supposing he had two,) was cloven ; and his head was ornamented with a pair of ap- propriate horns. His eyes, ugh ! were as large as common saucers, and such a mouth ! Ancient copies of the bible con- tain pictures of him, in which his protruding tongue and teeth look frightful enough. Corresponding with his external and horrible appearance, is the account that has been given us of his internals, or disposition. He possessed great power, and is said to have been the prince and power of the air ; so that he could raise hurricanes, and even cause earthquakes. He afflicted the patriarch Job with severe boils, and well nigh provoked him to curse God anii die* He was a m^ost malig- 196 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. nant, mischievous, destructive, lying devil. Set on by the Hebrew Jehovah, scarcely more povi^erful than the devil him- self, he provoked David, a man after God's own heart, to number the people of Israel, for which, thousands of innocent, unoffending men, women and children were put to a most cruel and untimely death. He was called not merely a liar, but the father of lies, and represented as combining in his character the quintessence of all that was false, evil, dark, despotic, cruel, mischievous, destructive, discordant, itifernal, and devil- ish. This character he seems to have sustained for some two or three thousand years, maintaining this while a most suc- cessful competition in the exercise of his art and prowess, with the God of the Jews. And out of the Jewish nation, among the heathen, it is admitted that he was as much a God as any other ; indeed, he received more worship, and was believed to be equal, if not supreme among some thirty thousand deities that struggled for the mastery over the idolatrous nations of the East. As we come up towards the nineteenth century, however, we find the laws of eternal progression, or some other laws, have had a most decided effect, even on this " ugly old devil." For, whereas it was formerly customary for him to " ap- pear" to mortals, with his iron poker, and enveloped in sul- phureous flames, this of late years has been dispensed with, altogether. And when he now-a-days appears, as he does quite often, on Sunday in the pulpit, (in the sermon, of course) he is not that horrible monster he was formerly taken for. Now he comes more in the garb of a gentleman, a decent- looking sort of a personage, walking to church, perhaps, with the psalm-book in his hand, arm-in-arm with the pious deacon. Nay, he is now known to carry his skill so far as to appear in black, in the pulpit on Sunday, and is said to have been heard to preach even like an angel. But, dressed up ever so finely, and disguised as he may be, still he is the devil, the arch foe of God and man, the tempter of our first parents, the torment- or of God's elect, whom he in vain seeks to seduce and de- vour. Nay, he never excels so much in his black art as when he deceives, as he has the power to do, in respect to his own personal existence. Hence it becomes necessary for us to enter the invisible in order to see him. For here, we may see not one, but ten, or ten thousand. Here is all, and more than prophets ever wrote, or poets ever sung ; more than the most prolific pen ever yet had the inspiration to describe. Here, ascend the flames of sulphureous fire, in which the souls of God-made men, women and children, are to be cooked eternally. Yes, children not a span long, whose little skulls have been said tb pave the bottom of this bottomless pit. MENTAL CONTAGION. 197 ***** These, then, are the regions of hell, and the damned. From this place the smoke of their torment ascends upward for ever and ever. Here is pain, here is sorrow, here is vi^eeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Here is despair and an- guish, for describing which the language has not yet been in- vented. Here they curse God, and wickedly blaspheme. In this invisible gloom and murky darkness, evil, or the de- vil, that '■' old upy devil," reigns without a rival. Here is EVIL, absolute and eternal ; evil unmixed with good ; grief without any particle of joy ; where. Hope never comes, though it were once thought to come to all, and to spring eternal in the human breast. God and good are not here. The lost and damned are here ; here to suffer the mistakes of a life-time ; here to endure, without the most distant pros- pect of relief or mitigation, the consequences of unrepented sin. ft is of no spiritual or real use now, whether God were born of a woman or not. whether he did or did not make an atonement. Nay, 'tis worse than useless, worse than if God had not been so born, and *' made a full, perfect, and all-suffi- cient satisfaction to himself for the sins of the whole world." That he did so, now only adds to the fierceness of these sul- phureous flames. The Sundays, and the Sunday preaching, the instructions of the Sunday school, the admonitions and all the privileges of the sanctuary, now turn upon these hope- less victims of eternal despair, and augment the cup of their sorrow. The good example of parents, all the kind words of brothers and sisters, are now turned into bitterness worse than gall, and add inconceivable weight to the guilt which now becomes the worm that never dies. All the opportunities, once enjoyed for mental culture, all those genial influences which were once believed to be favorable for the development of the God-given nature, are now so many mill-stones hung around the sinner's neck, to sink him deeper in the depths of perdition. He is weighed in the balances of his Maker, and found wanting — wanting in love to God, wanting in saving faith in one, perhaps, of whom he never had any correct in- formation even, till now. All those books which were read and studied for useful information, all those Lectures on Sci- ence, and other means used for human improvement, not be- ing "• mixed with saving faith," now become so many aggra- vating causes of more poignant anguish. That I was born, says one, in a Christian land I educated among Christian peo- ple, had good neighbors, a kind father, tender and loving mo- ther — these are the sources now, to me, of insufferable pain. That I had the Bible, and commentaries upon it, to read, be- sides any quantity of religious books. Had I been born a hea- 198 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. then — had I lived where the sound of the church-going bell was never heard, where no religious privileges are enjoyed, where the name of God and of Christ are never heard — in that case my misery might have been comparatively light. But now, I find the more that is done for the sinner's eleva- tion, the more prayer that is made for him, the more the Spi- rit of God strives with him, the hotter his hell becomes. And then, add to all this, that there is no escape. No ray of hope, no salvation, no progression, no relief, no mitigation, here. No, nothing to which we apply the terms of meek- ness, gentleness, or love ; nothing we call pleasant, agreea- ble, cheerful, happy. O, nothing, nothing of this. All is bitter regret, all evil, all malignity and hate ; all is vindictive here, and this forever, and forever, and forever. " Great God ! when I have wept a thousand lives away, When torment has grown weary of its prey, When I have raved a thousand years in fire, Ten thousand thousand, let me then expire!" And here I pause. Reader, what do you say ? Do you love the invisible 1 The invisible, I mean, of ignorance? — that phantom of undeveloped minds, that region where fes- ters delusive fanaticism, and jargon without end ? Remem- ber, mortal, you enter that region at your peril. It is not every one that has the power to retrace their hasty steps and return again. The bones of many mighty men are strewed by the way-side, monuments of their folly, and adding solemn admonition to all who follow. You will find these monuments in the history of all wars, all revivals of religion, so called ; all popular excitements; all stories about witchcraft and "spi- rits," and sacred writings " communicated by angels," written on plates and hidden in the ground, and the like ; all of which come from the "invisible," where the devil lives, and where delusions and fanaticisms without number are manufactured, to suit the taste and wishes of all who enter those doleful shades. THE UNKNOWN. 198. Under this head I must describe the cognate idea of the invisible. Fanaticism, like the human mind in which it finds a lodgment, is dependent upon the sexuality, or at least the duality of error, for its existence. If we enter the regions of invisibility, it is in search after the unknown. The love element is excited, it wants something. What that something is, or may be, will depend upon the degrees in which the wisdom or knowing element has been harmoniously developed. The difli'erence, in men, is not in the act of loving, or the fact of wishing for information, but ia the degree of altitude by MENTAL CONTAGION. -" 1^ which their desires are to be measured. The lower down we go in this scale, the less we shall find that is known, or the more that is not known. Hence it becomes a characteristic trait of fanaticism, that its victims are not only wanting in in- formation in respect to the principal object of pursuit, but this is confessed in their actions and forms of devotion. Listen, and you will hear this frankly confessed in forms of vocal prayer. Observe what is usually said to the Omniscient : " O God, as I perceive and feel in my soul that thou hast no knowledge of my wants, therefore I presume to come into thy presence in order to make them known to thee. I have faith, or would have, if I have it not, that I can persuade God to suspend his laws, to alter the course of nature, and to do many things he never would do, perhaps he never would think of doing, if I did not put him in mind of them. I am suspicious and fearful that, upon the whole, matters and things will not come out right, in the end. I am a guilty sinner, having acted out a nature that God never gave me, and where I got it from I do not know. But, for acting out that nature, I know I deserve thy curse and everlasting displeasure. And God, hadst thou been just, to punish iniquity as it deserves, and ought always to be punished, I should have been lifting up my eyes in torment long ago, without a drop of water to cool my parched tongue. And, so I thank thee, in that thou hast not executed the penalty of thy just and righteous laws on me, and so I have escaped what 1 ought to have endured at the hands of the just and holy God. " And, Lord, I beseech thee, do for all other men what thou hast so mercifully done for me. Suspend the just and. appropriate influences of thy eternal laws over them. Do not, 1 entreat thee, suffer all thy lavi's to have their natural, uni- versal, invariable effects, on those who transgress them. Re • verse the order of nature in thy moral government over men Let thy mercy triumph over thy justice, because if justice prevail, and God execute the legitimate consequences of all actions upon those who perforni them, it will make me very unhappy." Reader, this is no caricature, no misrepresentation or fanci- ful picture. The prayers like the above are sober realities, uttered by vast multitudes of people, as all must and will pray, who are more or less in the invisible, and in search of the un- known. The Invisibles. 199. Not the invisible world, but invisible personalities with whom mortals tell us they have intercourse. We ask 200 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. who they are ? but the answer, when candidly and truthfully given, comes back, unknown I We do not know. I do not now, speak of faith or credulity. Mortals may be made as we have shown, to believe any thing or nothing. A " me- dium" tells me he is magnetised (why not call it spiritualised 1) by an invisible spirit. I admit what he says, and ask who is that invisible? The answer is, unknown! Or, suppose he tell me it is Dr. Franklin. I ask again, how does this ap- pear ? And the answer be sure is, that the personality is not known. How much we often hear preached and sung about " the Holy Spirit," who is said to take up his abode in the hearts of Christian believers. This holy spirit does marvelous things. It convinces of sin, that is, makes manifest some im- perfection or discord in the moral government of God ; it changes the sinner's heart, though the sinner is told, and even said to do this himself. It is an invisible personality, and undefinable somebody, or something of whose real presence the believer becomes as conscious and as well satisfied as he could be of any thing which he cannot see. In all forms of religion, and in ail cases of real fanaticism, this invisible holds a distinguished place. He carries on the work of sanctifica- tion, he is the comforter, the omnipresent indweller of all the faithful. A deed is attributed to it in the days of Joseph and Mary, that far exceeds any and all the " spiritual knockings" we hear of in these times. And were any of the invisibles of the present day to pretend to any thing of the kind now ; or, indeed, were " the holy spirit" to repeat that act in any part of the universe, it is more than doubtful, whether even those who believe so much in its power in past ages, would consent to it. They would not admit that it has quite so much power now, or that mortals would be worthy of much attention who even pretended to believe in it. A number of Christian sects of the present age, as some have for years past, make much of alleged communications and "revelations," which they say, they have from "angels." We ask what angels 1 but they cannot tell, only they are sure they came from the angels ! Their personalities are not, and cannot be known. One, it may be, I am told, is " the angel of mercy," or the " angel of destruction," or the " angel of wis- dom," " angel of power," " angel of justice," and the like ; or, that it is " Adam," " Eve," " Isaiah," " Jeremiah," or " one of the prophets." All " invisibles" truly, and equally un- known. So a medium by some suggestion, or the laws of sympathetic imitation, it may be, falls into a state of trance more or less profound, and he tells me it was done by a spirit out of the human body. That may be, perhaps. But, MENTAL CONTAGION. 201 was it brought about in this manner ? The answer is, we do not know, and in the nature of the case, it cannot be known. Another medium writes a piece of poetry or a book, and publishes it to the world, as the unmixed, veritable production of an invisible departed spirit. But, suppose we do believe it spirits. Can you prove that your own mind, your own ner- vous organism had nothing to do with that production 1 Nothing? And if you cannot prove that your own brains (perhaps, unconsciously to yourself) had nothing to do in pro- ducing that literary composition, how can you. how dare you say that it was wholly the work of a departed spirit? Is it not manifest that we open the door for unnumbered fanaticisms, when we base our statements on the unknown in this man- ner 1 If it be really unknown, then we may not undertake to say how it is, except that we do not know ; it is unknown. Something strange, perhaps, and unaccountable has happened, or coming out of or through the nervous system of a certain person. Now, as long as we do not know the remote cause, is it not fanaticism or very near it to put the names of Dr. Franklin, Dr. Channing, or Swedenborg to such productions 1 This searching for the unknown, and depending upon the invisibles for what mortals say and do, opens a wide door for phantasy and the rankest delusion. We see persons in public and private, shut up their eyes, and make certain unmeaning gesticulations. We ask them for the cause, and they tell us they do not know. We ask for the motive, and it is equally unknown. Certain " mysterious sounds" are made. The family where they occurred, were alarmed, they did not know the cause. At intervals for some days these " sounds" were repeated. No mortal knew how they were made, nor why. In the process of time they are heard in other locali- ties, till they finally spread all over the land, and a medium has even carried them to the metropolis, we are told, of aris- tocracy on the other side of the broad Atlantic. They have been repeated there ; and some persons of literary and scientific distinction have been attracted by them, and there, as here, books are published " about and about" it. What is it — unknown! Who makes those " sounds ?" Unknown! Many mysterious and marvelous phenomena take place in connection with these "sounds. ' Heavy physical bodies are made to move without any known cause. The cause and the motive are not known. And, see what phantasies, what de- lusions, what forms of fanaticism have followed, and are likely to follow in the wake of these things. These fanaticisms, mdeed, flow out from the union of the two distinguished per- sonages already described, the Invisible and the Unknown. They are a fruitful pair, and have done much in making thq 9* 202 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. ground over which the laws of association, progression and development are yet to carry forward the human race. Symptomatic. 200. If the source of all fanaticisms be the invisible and the unknown, then we should expect to find all the phenomena, all the views and feelings of certain circles infected with the same disease, characterized by precisely the same traits. So it is in Pathology. An allowance is always made for the age, diete- tic habits, and idiosyncrasy of the patient. But yet, in all diseases of the same type, there are well known symptoms, by which they may be known ; traits, not merely for detecting the disease in any given case, but which enable us to identify, and classify it with others of the same kind. Now if we examine any age of fanaticism, the world over, we shall find among others, tbe following symptoms, manifesting themselves, more or less, always : — I. Certain nervous phenomena. I have witnessed, perhaps, all that I find recorded in any of the books, such as laughing, crying, barking like a dog ; jumping like frogs ; swimming like fish ; singing, praying, shouting, groaning ; winking, squinting ; sighing, swooning, falling down, kicking, sawing the air with the arms. Falling into a state of coma, with the eyes open or shut ; shaking, quaking, dancing, leaping, jerking, and twitch- ing the hands and muscles of the body. Lying down, rolling, and tumbling upon the ground or floor : leaping, running, em- bracing one another, striking one another, and smiting the table, the bible, or the benches ; grating and gnashing the teeth, vomiting, grinning, wheezing, coughing. All these and more, I have witnessed. Sometimes the phenoniena became some- what complicated and mixed. One person rises in a circle, or public meeting, and speaks in a peculiar unnatural manner and tone. Another walks around the room putting his or her hand on the heads of different individuals. And by putting the hands upon the head of a person, closing up the eyes, and uttering a few appropriate words, he is said to be '" ordained by the spirits," and set apart for a peculiar mission or work. Who the " spirits" are, out of the mortals concerned in these things, is unknown. At another time, a dozen or more engage in vocal prayer, and all at the same time, pour forth their desires to God. When certain persons are seen to shake or whirl their hands over a piece of paper, continued at times for half an hour or more, it is said to be the work of spirits. At another time certain mediums are noticed to act strangely, and yoij scarcely know what can be the matter. But you are finally told, that they are possessed by some distinguished spirit, " Oceola," Napoleon Bonaparte, or some other invisible, ' MENTAL CONTAGION-. 203 who is speaking through them. And then follows any amount of" gibberish vviiich no one can understand ; or perhaps, the niedium speaks in a strain of impassioned eloquence, to be ac- counted for only by supposing his brains to be abnormally excited. 2. Certain peculiar notions. Multitudes of people can be of '* like faith," they can tliink alike on any or all subjects with- out fanaticism. Bat it is peculiar to the lower forms of delusion to lay great stress upon certain characteristic views of the invisible and the unknown. Views in respect to those things which no mortal can prove, perhaps, and for a difference of opinion on these matters, what cruel persecutions have been waged in ages past. These notions are, and can be of no very great importance, at least they are not worth fighting about, nor need mortals make fools of themselves on their account^ whether they be true or false. What bickerings, what bitter controversies have distracted nations, in respect to a few grains of dough made into a wafer, and called the body of a person, who died eighteen hundred years ago ! And what relentless wars have torn and lacerated the peace of nations growing out of the dogma in respect to the trinity or something equally absurd. How sadly have the great laws of God and Nature, those eternal pillars of his uni- verse, which conserve and develop the race, been overlooked in all these strifes of mere fanaticism. What great truth have they ever developed, except indeed, it be their want of pro- gression. But what important transcendent law or principle of nature, has ever engrossed the attention of those ages carried away by the fanaticisms to which reference has been made. When, indeed, we consider the great work to be done, tlie adaptedness, and fulness of the means by which it is to be accomplished in hasting forward the progression of the race, it becomes marvellous how persons, so near to manhood, should be so much carried away with the invisible and unknown, taken up and busied with notions of comparative insignificance, whether they be true or false. 3. Certain cant phrases. " A bird is known by its note, and a man by his talk." These phrases may be divided into two classes ; first, those common to a circle, church, or sect, growing out of its creed, or which may have come into use incidentally. Such there are, which are continued down from preceding ages, and becoming stereotyped in the usages of the party, they cannot be altered or dispensed with. Tlie other class are peculiar to individuals, the usus loquendt of individual mediums, who tell us they are inspired, and write or speak, not of themselves, but " the spirits write and speak through them." I have examined some fifty pamphlets and 204 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. books written by this class, all alleged to be the veritable productions, not indeed, of the mediums who uttered or wrote them, but of some four or five hundred spirits out of the human body. On looking into these productions, we soon perceive what must be manifest to the most superficial observer, that all that comes through any one medium, whether purporting to be from two or two hundred diiferent spirits, they one and all, fall into the use of certain cant phrases ; such as " I feel it a privilege,^'' " bless God for this privilege^^'' " I am thankful for this privilege.'''' Such language may pass among sectarian mortals, as we often hear such terms used, but to put this lingo into the mouths of the spirits of George Washington, Voltaire, Bonaparte, and Andrew Jackson, is scarcely allowable, per- haps if we bear in mind that these worthies never used such language when on this earth, and they are not here to be ex- amined as to whether they have indeed, deteriorated so much as to use it now. And the same remark will apply to all the writings I have read, purporting to come from different spirits through the same medium. They all bear unmistakable marks of the same origin, all commit the same errors in grammar ; all use the same style ; and all come down to the same level, in the use of certain peculiar terms, many of them v/ithout much sense, if indeed, it be possible to tell whether they contain any sense at all. These marks, though not sufficient to prove that spirits had nothing to do with these productions, they do prove, be- yond all doubt, that not more than one spirit could well be concerned in uttering productions so very much alike. Miracles. 201. A miracle has been defined as being a suspension of the laws of nature, something done in opposition to the estab- lished laws of the universe. The sacred writings of all nations, contain accounts of what are called miracles, and those detailed in the Jewish scriptures, are believed by many to be really miracles in the above defined sense. With a few exceptions, (perhaps already sufficiently accounted for, under the head of fanaticism) we can readily admit that most of the alleged miracles in the Bible, as indeed most that are detailed in the legends of popery, did really take place ; because phe- nomena equally miraculous are taking place at the present time, and they have often occurred under my own observation. The lame have been made to walk ; the deaf have been made to hear ; and the blind have been caused to see, without any super-human power. All this I know, because I, myself, have done these things, many times. Hence I can perceive how results like these may have been brought about vvhea the MENTAL CONTAGIOK. 205 hands of a priest have been laid on the patient, or whe-n the invalid has been engaged in prayer, in the exercise of strong faith and hope. (101.) That the so called " miracles," among the Papists, Mormons and others, (whenever any real cures have been brought about,) were produced by impressions made upon the nutritive fluid, through the mind of the patient, or through one of the external senses, at least, is beyond all doubt. (118, 131.) Indeed, why should I believe that cures are performed by miraculous power or medicinal drugs, even, when they occur under religious associations, and by some other power, when they are brought about by Pathetism 1 In tliis way I have cured cases of Ticdouloureux, Amaurosis, Spasms, Neuralgia, Chorea, Rheumatism, Sick Headache, Paralysis, Insanity, Cholera Morbus, Stammering, Epilepsy, Monomania, Deaf- ness, Fits, Hysteria, Loss of Voice, Hypochondria, Toothache, Want of Sleep, St. Vitus' Dance, and Blindness, besides numerous Congenital Difficulties, and bad habits, such as the use of Tea, Coffee, Tobacco, and Intoxicating drinks.* Say you, these results were produced by supernatural power 1 How does this appear 1 True, they were miraculous, just as really as if they had come to pass by touching the bones, or visiting the grave of a dead saint. But, then, as I have shown, we have no occasion for referring such results to supernatural power, as long as we know what the laws of the nervous system are, by which these, and all similar phenomena have been produced. To be able to account satisfactorily for many of the " strange noises," and " sights," so called, such as have usually been considered ** supernatural," we have only to study the laws of marvelousness, faith, and sympathy, and all is plain. (153, 154.) The "miraculous case of Mary Jobson," of England, as it is called, " The Entranced Female," and the " Virgins of the Tyrol," have nothing really miraculous in them. The account published of Mary Jobson, by Dr. Clanny, shows that her brains were diseased, for it declares that she " often com- plained of pain in her head," when it was so tender that she could not " bear to have it touched." And such cases of cerebral derangement are published to the world by gentlemen of the Medical Faculty and ministers of the Christian religion, as " miraculous !" attestations of the truth of popery ! How much of the real " spiritual" may enter into certain cures said to be done by spirits out of the body, it will be in * The reader will find ample details of this kind of miracles in the author's *.' Book of Psychology," already referred to, , 206 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. time for us to believe when the alleged spirits in those cases have proved their identity or separate existence from the human. It is a settled maxim of sound philosophy that we should never attribute phenomena that occur to remote and extraordinary causes, when they may with equal propriety be referred to causes which obviously exist, and the results of which we daily observe. And, hence, as long as we know that the nervous system is powerfully impressed by an idea, even so as to induce fits, insanity, disease, and even death, (131,) we need not be referred to "spirits" as the sole cause of any changes that may occur in that organism. Let the cure be effected without the knowledge or any previous hope, or thought of it in the mind of the mortal on whom it is performed. If, for instance, an invalid were to wake up in the morning perfectly well and cured of amaurosis,* without his ever having heard or thought of such an instantaneous cure ; and then, " spirits" should demonstrate themselves as the performers of it, that would look something like a miracle in the popular sense of this term. But, then, all this might come to pass according to the well defined laws of the ner- vous system ; and that which is brought about by the estab- lished laws of the universe is not a miracle. The presump- , tion is, therefore, if we can now produce the like of a large majority of what are called miracles in all the sacred books of the different nations of the earth, it is not unreasonable to infer that those writings may contain a few details of things either that never did occur, or, if some strange phenomena did take place which gave rise to the account, they did not occur in the precise manner stated. Thus of the alleged translation of Elijah; the causing of the sun and moon to stand still, or cease their, functions ; and the conception of Jesus without any mortal father. Did such events ever come to pass in the manner alleged % , 1. It must be observed, then, that if the Deity suspended his own laws for bringing about these events, his system was imperfect, not only because it did not provide for these results, supposing them to be necessary ; but also, because it would alh)w of such an interference with its laws. Now, to suppose that God's system was not perfect, that it did not contain all the laws necessary for carrying out the design of its Author, (9) is to suppose that the Deity was himself imperfect. Like causes produce like results. How could the Author of the universe, who was infinite, absolute in his goodness, power, and intelligence, how could such a Being develop an imperfect * Vide " Book of rsycliology," p. 104. ■ MIRACLES. 207 system 1 If he was perfect, so must all His laws be perfect ; all His kingdoms, all His Universe, all, and singular, no law wanting. And, which do we imagine must be the most con- sistent with the Infinite Author, to work by and in agreement with his own laws, or against, and in despite of them ? Does not the harmonious, truthful mind revolt at this idea of God's violating his own laws J Shall we be told that he had a right to do as he pleased 1 The question here, is not, as to what he had a right to do ; but what did he do 1 We say he did not suspend or contravene his own laws ? How could he do this, and then punish his creatures for violating his laws 1 Nor is this all. If the system of nature were really imper- fect, as this assumption implies, then it must finally and total- ly fail. We cannot anticipate eternal durability for that which contains within itself one imperfection so fatal as that of defi- ciency in principles or law. And, in this fatal sense, the universe and Human Nature was defective, as it came from the hands of its Author, if it did not contain all the laws, or all the elements of laws for working miracles, such as are now under notice. . 2. This view of miracles, and the suspension or violation of laws by their Author, unfit the Deity as an object of Trust, Hope, and Worship. How can I trust in a God who did not know how to make a perfect universe 1 How can I risk my all in the hands of one, who sometimes finds himself under the necessity of suspending his own laws ? He may, per- haps, suspend them, and annihilate me. The Religious ele- ment in me, wants an object of worship that is absolutely per- fect, infinitely intelligent, and good. One who neither lacks the Love to will all good, nor the Power to use the most ap- propriate means pointed out by Supreme Wisdom, for accom- plishing the greatest amount of good in all and for all. He violates no law, nor indeed does he suffer a pebble or a human being to do this, without inflicting an appropriate and just punishment as the penalty. 3. The universe, or the system of nature, nowhere presents any evidence of any such defection or imperfection as the tra- ditional dogma of miracles supposes, nor does it call for any such interference with its established laws. In this perfect and beautiful system the Divine Father has provided, the great sun in the centre, around which xevolve this earth, the moon, and other planets, with such mathematical exactness, that if one of the million of shining worlds above us were to vary in its revolutions a second of time, or to shorten or ex- tend their motions even the length of a barleycorn, the shock would be felt throughout the universe, and the entire system 208 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. of nature be thrown into interminable confusion as the result. No marvel, therefore, that the different commentators on the Jewish Scriptures should have labored so incessantly for many- centuries to give some explanation to Joshua's command to the sun and moon, which should harmonize with the well- known and indisputable laws of astronomy. And were they to accept the explanation of this miracle said to have been re- cently given by a "departed spirit," (through one of the Spi- ritual Mediums, of whom I shall have more to say, in the se- quel,) it would be a better one, it seems to me, than that of the common notion. The explanation was to this eflfect : that the armies of Israel carried two banners, on which there were pictures of the sun and the moon, and in the impassioned language of the occasion, the Jewish Chieftain addressed the standards of his nation, instead of the soldiers who were fight- ing under them. A solution far more reasonable, certainly, than many others I have read. We have seen that the progression of the Race is provided for in the alternations of nature, by which we have summer and winter, life and death. The design, in the growth of a plant, is not perfected till the outer form of the plant is dead. Hence it is evident that nature's laws can never be so inter- rupted as to prevent or supersede that transition we call death. To do this would be discord in the course of nature. It would be the death or dissolution of the entire systenn of nature itself. This God could not, would not do Why, then, should we be told that a certain man, " long, long ago," (189) passed into the spiritual world, with his outer form upon him ? Why, but that tradition in matters of religious belief, is supreme authority with those who affirm this strange and absurd dogma. There was, there could be, but one way for the vegetable kingdom to be born ; but one way for the animal kingdom to be born ; but one way for the Human Race to come into be- ing ; and once in being, all the individuals of that race must be born in the same way. To imagine a man born without any mortal for his natural father, we must go into the " invis- ible," and bow down to the "unknown." Nature repudiates this doctrine ; God does not own it. All analogy is opposed to it. But it may be said here, that perhaps Jesus was born with- out any natural father, and it was " on this wise." As the vegetable kingdom was born from the mineral, by the Divine Influx, superadded to the mineral, or superinduced in it, with- out which impregnation of the mineral kingdom by the Divine, no higher forms, or vegetable kingdom, could or would have been born. And thus, it is assumed, was the animal king- MIRACLES. 209 dom begotten by the Divine, who impregnated the vegetable kingdom ; thus the Human came up from tlie Animal, by the Divine impregnation of the latter. And, then it is inferred, that an individual of the Human, was, in like manner, impreg- nated by the Divine, for the Form, in which the Impregnator would himself be born and appear! But I hope it may not be considered blasphemy to call this an insane, absurd idea. And is it not plain, that the whole of this circumlocution goes on the assumption already refuted, that God's system of na- ture was imperfect. It assumes that the Deity had no ade- quate design in the beginning. He first developed a mineral world ; but it contemplated nothing above mere mineral forms! Hence he had to add something else, from himself into it, in order to cause it to bring forth a vegetable ! And, when he formed a vegetable kingdom, he had to add something to that, above even the first formation of that kingdom or the one below it ; if he had not made the addition to the vegeta- ble kingdom, there could have been no animals born. And so upwards. The idea is absurd, and discordant with' what we know to be the universal, independent, and unvarying laws of Nature, and the eternal God. Even the Jews declared that God's work was perfect. And we have only to form a just conception of this fact, to per- ceive how preposterous that notion is, which carries us so far into the invisible and unknown, that we imagine such vast and appalling defection in the system which has Infinite Intelli- gence for its Author. A defection, with a vengeance, that must have been, which rendered it absolutely necessary for the Author of Nature to beget himself, conceive himself, and born himself, (what else shall we call it) contrary to the es- tablished laws of the universe in respect to male and female, which he himself had ordained. Nor is it possible to compre- hend what real virtue there could have been in the birth of Jesus, even admitting that he had no mortal father. God is really the Divine Father of all men, as he is the Author of the whole system of Nature. What virtue can there be in the mere birth of any one 1 The dogma in respect to the resurrection of the dead body of Jesus, was unquestionably first originated and formed in that region of invisibility in which the potent unknown operat- ed for its production. Between the period when the alleged event took place, and the accounts that were written and pub- lished of it, many years elapsed. And, we have noticed, that in all such stupendous, miraculous events, they must occur many years before they are heard of. (189 ) It is long after the thing is said to have been done, that it is told for the first time. And when the accounts of it are published, we know 210 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. too well how much relig-ious credulity, ignorance of Nature's laws, and marvelousness, must have to do, in cases where God's invariable laws are suspended, and a dead carcase is raised and reanimated again with life. Witclicrafft. 202. We now approach a feature of our general subject of surpassing interest, but which, it is hoped, we may not find it very difficult to comprehend, if what is said upon mental con- tagion and fanaticism be attentively borne in mind. What horrible deeds have been chronicled under the name of witch- craft ? And mixed up as those accounts unquestionably are, with a vast amount of fabulous matter, it must be admitted that many occurrences did certainly partake largely of the marvel- ous if not of the spiritual. And, may we not hope that the time is now approaching, when a consistent solution is to be given to all those perplexing mysteries, which, two hundred years ago, struck so much terror into the hearts of all. In the' year 1515, five hundred witches were burned at Geneva, in the course of three months ; and in one year, one thousand were executed in the diocess of Como. It is be- lieved that in Germany alone, not less than one hundred thousand victims suffered death from this cause, in the 16th and 17th centuries. In England, witchcraft was held in great abhorrence, and in the course of one hundred and fifty years, no less than thirty thousand persons suffered death for suspi- cion of witchcraft ; and some of these poor wretches were condemned by Sir Matthew Hale, a man universally renowned on the strength of his understanding and the purity of his, cha- racter. And it is said that the last person condemned by him, for this crime, happened to be a woman, the daughter of an Inn- keeper, where he had stopped some twenty years before. She was then a girl and subject to fits. Hale made a " charm" of some pieces of paper he carried in his pocket which he directed her to wear. She did so, and was cured! Twenty years afterwards she was found with that same " charm" or talisman about her person, and for this cause was suspected, accused, arrested, and tried as a witch; and upon her trial Sir Matthew Hale found upon her the identical amulet he had given her twenty years before ! I have now before me numerous pamphlets giving accounts of those times; and containing pictures of old women accompanied with a cat. In one of them we are told that in 1706, a Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, a child nine years of age, were hanged at Huntingdon, for selling their souls to Satan, tormenting and destroying their neighbors by making them vomit pins, and raising a storm so that a ship was almost lost, which storm, it seems, was raised WITCHCRAFT. 211 by the diabolical arts of putting off their stockings and making a lather of soap. Annong all nations witchcraft has always been held in ab- horrence, but was not publicly proceeded against, as a crime, until the year 1484, when prosecutions commenced under the direction of Pope Innocent YIII., and for more than two cen- turies Europe was in a state of tumult and consternation, in consequence of the trials and executions of persons accused of this so called crime. The last murder (for so we must call it,) of a witch in Eng- land took place in 1722, and the statutes against witchcraft were repealed in 1735. This gave such offence to a respect- able sect of Christians in Scotland, that in their annual con- fession of personal and national sins, they complained of " the penal statutes against witches having been repealed by parlia- ment contrary to the express law of God!" The Christians who emigrated from that country where such views prevailed, of course, brought vvitli them those ideas of a good God and an evil devil, which resulted in similar horrors here. The first person convicted of this crime in New England, was a poor woman named Mary Oliver. She was convicted at Spring- field, on her own confession, in 1650, but that she was executed, does not clearly appear. In the following year three persons were executed in Boston, Mass., all of whom asserted their innocence. In 1655, Ann Hibbins, the widow of a man of respectability, in Boston, was convicted of witchcraft, and executed. This sentence was disapproved of by many in- fluential men, and although several executions for this offence, subsequntly took place in Connecticut, no other person suffiered death in Massachusetts, until the lapse of nearly thirty years. What is generally called the " Salem Witchcraft," com- menced in 1691, and furnishes a melancholy illustration as to the fate which the so called manifestations from the spiritual world will be likely to meet with, where ignorance and super- stition prevail. Persons reputed to possess pure principles, and sound understandings, were loud in their denunciations of witchcraft, and anxious to bring the offenders to condign punishment. Reason was for a time deposed, and fanaticism, with her gloomy attendants, the scourge, the stake, and the gallows, reigned triumphant. The history of this period can- not be dwelt upon without pain. In about a year and a half, nineteen persons were hanged, and one pressed' to death, eight more were condemned, making twenty-eight in all ; fifty others confessed themselves witches, none of whom were executed ; about one hundred and fifty were imprisoned, and two hundred more were accused, when the delusion suddenly vanished, and men began to wonder at the unjust and sanguinary part which 212 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. they had been performing-. The special session of the court was abruptly closed, and the accused and the condemned were set at liberty ! Now, if we suppose that eiforts, so to speak, were made by the spirit world, during tlie times of what is called witchcraft, buc, that ignorance of these times led the people to denounce all such manifestations as coming from " the devil," it is easy to see' that it was this ignorance and superstition which made all the discord and real difficulty. The natives of Nootka Sound, we are told, seeing the moon eclipsed, commenced beating their drums and made the most hideous noises. On being asked the reason, they said a great fish was about to swallow the moon, and they made noises to drive the fish away. And so of ignorant people, the world over. And especially of ignorant priests; for the clergy of New England, it is very evident, did more than any other class to originate and foster this delusion in this country. It broke out in the family of a minister in Salem, Mass. The clergy believed in it, and encouraged it by their preaching. They published circulars (one was issued from Cambridge College,) about it, they addressed the courts of justice where the witches were tried. Thej^ published exaggerated accounts of it. It was low enough, ignorance enough, bad enough, for them to encourage it indirectly in the manner I have stated, but when we see one of them (Rev. Cotton Mather,) present, near the gallows, when one of the poor victims is about to be launched into the spiritual world, the spectacle becomes melan- choly indeed. And that victim was himself, also a clergyman, the Rev. George Burroughs, a large portly man; his evincing more than common physical strength, was admitted by the court as an evidence of his being a wizzard, and so he was sent in a cart to the gallows. The pious Cotton Mather had aided in his conviction, and when this unhappy man was under the gallows, with the rope around his neck, Mather went up and stood by to see the deed done ; nay, he even addressed the spectators and told them not to believe tiiat the criminal was a clergyman. He probably thought his being convicted on such testimony as a wizzard, deprived him of his clerical credentials. My own opinion is, that such a conviction more than any other would give a good title to that profession, as one of the per- quisites to the clerical title is a firm and unshaken belief in the devil. How much longer this delusion might have been kept up in this country, but for the timely labors of a " Boston merchant,'* nained Robert Calef, it is not easy now to conjecture. In 1699, he addressed a number of caustic letters to Cotton Mather upon the subject, and challenged and urged him to an investiga- WITCHCRAFT. 213 tion and review of the whole subject, which the bigoted minister never found himself willing to undertake. In Mr. Calef's Book on Witclicraft, first published in London, in 1700,* he discloses numerous characteristic traits in Mr. Mather's character, connected with his management of witches, and it is quite certain that we are indebted to this " Boston merchant" ft)r the first successful check that was put upon that dreadful scourge, in this country ; and it affords me pleasure to record in these pages the name of one who, at that early period took such accurate views of this subject, and who did more than any other person, perhaps, to break the terrible spell, with which the people of that dark age were bound. It must, I think, be sufficiently evident to every candid mind, that the state of society which has originated withcraft, depends upon ignorance, marvelousness and fear. Whenever these faculties become very much excited, and the mind is occupied with the thoughts of witchcraft, then it is that such persons have thought themselves, or their neighbors, really bewitched. (190.) Coiiditioii§ of Witclicraft. 203, Witchcraft then has never been known, except under Che following circumstances : — • 1. The people believed in it, and thought it produced by supernatural power. 2. The persons concerned in it, were ignorant of the laws . of mind, and superstitious. 3. Innocent persons accused themselves and one another, and in this way they came to think themselves, or others, bewitched. 4. Their ignorance and superstition led them to attribute certain strange phenomena to witchcraft. 5. The excitement and fear upon the subject, the sight of persons said to be in league with the devil, all tended to keep up that state of feeling, which constituted the thing called witchcraft. What more likely to bewitch an ignorant, fearful, and highly susceptible person, than to charge him with witchcraft, as many have been from envy or hatred 1 The bare suspicion spreads from ear to ear, and strikes terror throughout the neigh- borhood and country where the belief in witches obtains. The suspected person is shunned, as being worse, if possible, than the * " More Wonders of the Invisible World." It was re-printed in Salem, Mass., in 1823. See, also, " Narratives of Sorcery and Witch- craft," by Tliomos Wright. Stearua, & Co. New York, 1852. A valuable work. 214 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. devil himself; and the horror and fear attendant on the mere suspicion of a crime, so monstrous and dreadful in its effects, prostrates all before it, and leaves nothing but fear and witchery in- its train. There is not a case of witchcraft upon record, but which, if produced, would confirm the views I have here given of this thing. A lady in New York, consulted a fortuna- teller, and was so much affected by his prediction of her death, that she actually died the very next day, as the old negro told her she would ! Take the cases of the children in the poor-house at Haarlem, in Holland, who were seized with sympathetic con- vulsions ; or any similar excitement which ever occurred, and you will find facts enough to demonstrate the doctrine here ad- vanced. At such times the nervous system becomes excited and deranged, and hence the mind may be impressed and moulded into almost any shape which the prevalent whims, or superstitious notions may chance lo give it. Hence it is found so difficult to reason some people out of their peculiar notions. §tiperstitioii. 204. Gen. Walstein, who lived in the seventeenth century, was singularly superstitious, though he was brave and intrepid on the field of battle. Tn 1625, while planning one of his cam- paigns, he sat up all night, as usual on such occasions, to con- sult the stars. Sitting by his window, but in contemplation, he felt himself violently struck on the back. Feeling that he M^as alone, and his chamber door locked, he was seized with affright. He doubted not this blow was a messenger from God to warn him of his speedy death. He became melancholy, but his friends knew not the cause. His confessor, liowever, discovered the cause, and one of the pages of the general con- fessed that, being intent on playing one of his comrades a trick, he had hid himself in Walstein's apartment, and, mistaking him for his friend, had struck him on the back. While his master was examining the room, he jumped out of the window. (154.) This explanation saved the general's life; for, had it not been given, his excited fear and marvelousness would have over- powered his nervous system, and thus caused his death. So with many people, the barking of a dog at a particular time, the breaking of a looking-glass, the gnawing of a little insect upon the wall, the burning of. a candle, sight of the moon over the left shoulder, are all taken as prognostications of bad luck, ill health, or death. And where such supersti- tions prevail, people are constantly liable to be bewitched, first, out of their senses, and then their health and their lives ikU an easy prey to the same superstition. WITCHCRAFT. 215 The following account was originally published in the " Zoonomia," and was subsequently .verified by the poet Wordsworth : A young farmer in Warwickshire, finding his hedges broken, and the sticks carried away during a frosty season, determined to watch for the thief. He lay many cold hours under a hay- stack, and at length an old woman, like a witch in a play, approached, and began to pull up the hedge ; he waited till slie had tied her bundle of sticks, and was carrying them off, that he might convict her of theft, and then springing from his concealment, he seized his prey with violent threats. After some altercation, in which her load was left upon the ground, she kneeled upon the bundle of sticks, and raising her hands to Heaven, beneath the bright moon, then at the full, spoke to the farmer, already shivering with cold, " Heaven grant that ihou mayest never know again the blessing to be warm.'* He complained of cold all the next day, and wore an upper coat, and in a few days another, and in a fortnight took to his bed, always saying nothing made him warm ; he covered him- self with very many blankets, and had a sieve over his face as he lay. From this one insane idea, he kept his bed above twenty years, for fear of the cold air, till at length he died. All this might be anticipated at any time, where the cir- cumstances and ignorance, and fear of the parties are suffi- cient to^be worked upon in this way, by the prediction of an old woman. But what shall we say for those of the present age, in this land of light, who profess to be intelligent and well informed, and who nevertheless retain all the old notions about the old woman, or witch, with a wrinkled face, a furred brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, a scolding tongue, a ragged coat on her back, a skull cap on her head, a spindle in her hand, and a dog or cat by her side. Or, perhaps, she is seen scudding through the air on a broom- stick,' or baring one of her numerous teats to be sucked by the devil. Nay, we have clergymen in our very midst,* who have recently written and preached upon this subject, for the purpose of creating an excitement, and increasing the faith of the credulous in witchcraft, i am not aware that we have any "regular" professional "witch-finders," who perambu- late the country as of old, with their hazel rods, to find out, detect, or accuse innocent people of this horrid crime, for three pounds apiece. Nevertheless, we have writers and preachers in favor of witchcraft, as if the crimes, and igno- * Kev. Henry Jones, of New York, and Dr. Wilson, of Cincinnati, tod others, besidea- the Mormona. 216 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. ranee, and suffering, attendant upon the prevalence of that be- lief should be too soon- prevented and banished from our world. It is not enough that thousands on thousands of innocent peo- ple, men, women, and children even, have been put to a vio- lent death by this detestable notion ; it is not enough that fe- males have been driven by it to confess themselves pregnant by the devil ; ministers of the Christian religion now advo- cate these disgraceful prejudices, and denounce those as ene- mies to mankind who attempt to give that information of the human mind which might relieve suffering humanity from this terrible scourge. Sectarianism. 205. By all parties in politics, all schools in medicine, and all sects in religion, is sectarianism disclaimed, and some- times even denounced as a very great evil. No one owns it, no one pleads guilty to the implication of sectarianism, for the more any sect becomes infected with this malady, the less of course are they willing to own it. It is supreme selfishness, upon a large scale. It is the ingestive efforts which all asso- ciated bodies make for their own conservation and enlarge- ment. It is, therefore, somewhat of a singular subject, even to contemplate. Look at the largest sect in the world, that one which boasts of being the most pure, the most powerful, the most united, the most — no, not most, but really absolutely infallible. That one which lords it over the consciences of its members, which tells them what they shall, and what they shall not believe, and threatens them with the pains of purgatory and hell if they disobey. That one that setteth itself up above all that is called God, above the civil power, (when it can do it,) and commands princes, and they obey. What is this sect striving to do, as a secti To aid in the development of the human mind 1 To teach and spread a knowledge of Nature's laws ? To enlighten its members in respect to the nature, causes and cure of those evils which afflict and distract the race ? To pour the lights of mental science upon the dark and invisible, where so many of her errors, her persecutions, and deeds of cruelty and bloodshed have been perpetrated 1 To aid in the great work of human progression 1 Why, nothing of the kind. How can a real sect, as such, do this ? Its ideas are all stereotyped. They cannot be changed. The old, though er-^ roneous, cannot be dispensed with, and no new ones can be admitted, because they are contrary to the old. They can believe nothing that was not believed by some ignorant monk, some bigoted friar, some ancient father of the church, who lived a thousand years ago. They travel* but it is iii ^ circle. SECTARIANISM. 217 They do not ascend. Sectarianism is the quintessence of conservatism. It cannot be improved. It cannot progress. Precisely vi^hat the big sect does, all the lesser sects do, for sectarianism is the same, whether upon a large or small scale. Personified in any one of the different churches, it may he heard to utter language like this : — " Come to me. Be like me. Think as I think. Do as I do. Come unto me ; become a part of me. Let me eat you. I will devour you. You shall not be, you shall not live, you shall not be happy, unless you become assimilated with me. I love you for my own sake. I seek you for my own good. Surrender j^our soul and body to me. I will keep your con- science. I will tell you what to do, what to eat and drink, and when and how to do it. I will tell you how to address God in prayer, how to be married, or whether you should be married or not ; how to dispose of your money, and all your earthly substance. You shall see through my eyes, hear through my ears, and be damned if you sin against me. Those that love me, and worship me, shall receive all my honors, and those who refuse me shall be slandered, and persecuted with fire and sword. " As to the Bible, you shall entertain the same views of it 1 do ; all its contradictions, all its errors in chronology or phi- losophy, you shall receive and interpret as I do, and in no oth- er way whatever, under the severest pains and penalties it may be in my power to inflict. And my power is terrible. "All other sects except me are heretics. They must be put down, by fair means or foul. They have no business to be in my way. You must have nothing to do with any other sect but me. You shall not attend their meetings. You shall not commune with them. You shall not aid and abet them at all. I am the real, the true, apostolic, Bible, Sun- day, Catholic, Protestant, Congregational, Baptist, Method- ist, Jev*?ish, Mormon, Quaker, Presbyterian, Universal sect, and those that are not of me, are notso good as I am, and ag they must be damned." Those who may have read the author's Book of Psychology are aware, that thirty years ?Lgo he was a sectarian, and suc- cessfully engaged in promoting sectarian excitements, techni- cally called "revivals of religion." That I know more of the Divine, and more of the human now, than I could possibly comprehend forty years ago, is not improbable, perhaps, as all will admit. At any rate, I must affirm, that if any man ever had facilities for understanding what is meant by the terms •' revivals of religion," and sectarianism, the writer was one of that number. He can now refer to popular ministers in the churches who were " converted" under his ministry, and num- 10 218 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. bers are now members of secTts, who professed their "conver- sion" was brought about by his " ministerial labors." Have I not attended camp-meetings, conferences, class-meetings, love-feasts, four-days' meetings, field-meetings, &c. ; and have I not had facilities for knowing what a revival is, if any man can know 1 Hence, I concur in the following testimony, from one of the leading sectarian papers of the day : — " It cannot be denied that the system of recruiting our church by revivals has been seriously abused ; and that the faith of our preachers and people, in the benefits of such religious excitements, has been very much shaken. The plan of forcing a periodical excitement, by the aid of professional agitators, or revivalists, has been fraught with consequences most disastrous to the church. Maciiine-made converts were found to have a very ephemeral life, and the successful labors of the revival to fill the classes with probationers, were gene- rally followed by the more laborious and very ungrateful efforts of the regular preachers, to rid them of careless and irreligious members. Camp-meetings too, from a variety of causes, have become very unproductive, and many of our most thoughtful preachers and members have found it necessary to discourage attendance upon them."* I have, for years, been of the opinion, that the days of sectarian propagandism, or " revivals," may be considered as numbered. Religion is on the increase, just as sure as the Divine Original, its author, is eternal, and progressive in his laws. And, in proportion as religion is developed in man, sec- tarianism decreases, as we see the puerilities of youth vanish, as the child advances into manhood. But, then, what are we to understand by " Machine-made- converts ?" The sectarian who wrote the above was, himself, made a convert by those very laws of mental sympathy which he here condemns. Why does he find fault with them 1 Is it not because the lights of mental science, and the progressive tendencies of the age have disclosed the real merits of all those excitements called "revivals," by whatever machinery they may have been got up ? That machinery had a good effect on my mind. It taught me important lessons. I regret no parfc of it. It was an important stepping stone to something above. So are all those occurrences in this rudimentary state to be considered. The lower steps are sometimes made of stone. The first is as necessary as the second. So we ascend, one after another. See, now, where they have brought me : — 1. In my religion. Formerly, it consisted mostly in fear. Now, it consists in contentment, in view of the past ; gratitude N. Y. Christian Advocate. SECTARIANISM. 219 for the present ; and hope for the future. Hope, not for my- self merely, but for the whole human race. Formerly God was presented to me as a most repulsive sovereign, jealous, angry, vindictive, and revengeful. Now, I contemplate him as the benign Father of all, not as a stern judge, not as an enemy, seeking and watching for some occa- sion for injuring his creatures, and putting them to pain. God is good and his tender mercies are over all his works. He has made a good system of worlds, and because he made them to progress from low to high, it must be from evil to good, from discord to harmony. This Father is so wise he cannot err, hence, he cannot be disappointed ; he cannot be grieved. But, developing men, first in the form of infants and children, they being ignorant, are often grieved, and in their ignorance they imagine God may be grieved also. But not so. He is neither grieved nor frustrated, in whatever he designs. He has undertakan to fill the Heavens with happy spirits, developed out of human forms like those we now iniiabit. And what he has begun to do he will surely accomplish without the possibility of failure. To fulfill this design ^the earth revolves in its seasons, and flows into the vegetable kingdom. The vegetable kingdom flows into the animal ; and the vegetable and animal flow together, into the human ; all for the purpose of fulfilling that glorious design of developing immortal spirits to ascend and dwell for- ever in the Heavens of the angels. All forms of matter, when they have been left by their seed, or spirit, the higher princi- ple which they assisted in developing, go back to their original condition. So with plants, and so with man, and thus I infer it must be, with this earth itself. When, therefore, it has gone through all those processes, possible, or necessary for develop- ing all those spirits which comport with its capacity, like all else in the coarser forms of matter, it must relapse back to the sun, or the central sun, or source whence it came. And now, who would not believe in this Heavenly Father 1 Who does not love Him. Those who think they do not love him, do not know him. To know him is to love him, as the chief among ten thousands, and the One altogether lovely. But, this sectarian machinery, not only tells men they hate this lovely Being, but it conjures up such views of him that men are compelled to hate him, or those false views which they take for him. The life, the conversation, the manners, the every day con- duct, is the prayer which one and all human beings are constantly uttering to this universal Father. You need not of necessity go by yourself to pray to him. Enter your closet, you may, indeed, when you wish to commune with him ia 220 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. secret. But your every day life is your chief prayer. After you have learned your lesson, you do not need always to carry your school book in your hand. So if you have learned the relation you sustain to the Benign Father, you do not need any set form of vocal prayer. What does your conduct say 1 Your life, yes, your inmost and every day life ! Your conduct towards your family, your wife, your husband, your parents, your children, your neighbor, and toward all men ? Do you love to do as God does for them 1 He develops them with air, and food, and labor, and all things else that he sees good. 2. In my object. Formerly it was sectarianism. Now, it is HARMONY in all man's relations — conjugal, fraternal, universal HARMONY. In infancy all are sectarians. We are all then for self; it is all for me, all mine. But as we approach manhood we expand. We give, as well as receive. We put ourselves into the sphere of others, we wish to help them, we do not wish to draw all into self Self-love is the germ of all other love, but when it germinates and grows, as it may and should, "we love our neighbor as ourselves. 3. In my motto, or the means I use for realizing my object. Formerly, I gratified my combativeness by holding up those who differed from me, as " infidels," who would be doomed by the Infinite Father of all to smell fire and brimstone in iiell for ever. Now, my means are comprehended in the universal diffusion of goodness, justice, and truth. And I may, perhaps, add that never, till I came to these views of the Divine Father, was I perfectly willing to be misrepresented, slan- dered, abused, and denounced by professsed Christians and clergymen, as an " infidel," nay, anything but an " honest man." What I am, my works will testify. I neither ask, nor wish for any other vindication. Sectarianism jDefined. 206. There may be said to be three elements, so to speak, which tend to make up, sectarianism, and which we wish to avoid : 1. Exclusiveness, withholding equal justice, or privileges, from an individual, merely on account of a difference in opinion. 2. Dogmatism. Asserting one's own opinion with undue severity and positiveness ; not allowing room for*a modest doubt of one's infallibility. 3. Censoriousness. How much of what is called "gospel preaching," is made up of nothing but censure merely on ac- count of a difference of opinion ! Indeed, what else do we hear tn most of the pulpita from SECTAEIANISM. 221 Sunday to Sunday, except in substance what might be sum- med up in so many words — " think as I do, or be eternally damned." We conclude, therefore, that there is and must be a vast difference between sectarianism and religion, and in propor- tion as the heart of man is expanded in pure philanthropy by the latter, he finds himself leSs and less in possession of the former. , The true doctrine of manhood is individual sovereignty. Sectarianism is the denial of this doctrine ; it is the assump- tion of the right, of dictation, of censure, and of punishment, merely on account of difference in opinion. That man is, therefore, a sectarian, who theoretically denies the doctrine of man's individual sovereignty. And when this denunciation is carried out in censures, de- nunciations, or the infliction of pains, on account of a mere difference of opinion, it becomes persecution. Hence, the greatest sectarians have always been the greatest bigots and persecutors. It is a peculiarity of sectarianism, that while it proscribes others, its own votaries are more or less blinded by its influence, and unable to see the injustice of their own conduct ; so that while they often cruelly persecute their neighbors, they ima- gine they are doing God service. ISectari£iiiisiii Unfriendly to Science. 207. As sectarianism is always made up of ignorance and bigotry, so we know its iron arm has often been raised against the plainest dictates of science. Galileo was twice denounced in the Inquisition — in 1615 and 1633. On the former occasion it was decreed that — 1. The proposition that the sun is in the centre of the world, and immovable from its place, is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical, because it is expressly contrary to the Holy Scripture ; and that, 2. The proposition that the earth is not the centre of the world, nor immovable, but that it moves, and also with a diurnal motion, is also absurd, philosophically false, and theo- logically considered, at least erroneous in faith. ^ The philosopher having persevered in teaching this alleged heresy, was cited to Rome in 1633, where he was compelled to " abjure, curse, and detest the error and heresy of the motion of the earth." So far from being permitted to prove his doctrine by astronomical reasoning, rather than Scripture, he was con- demned for having maintained " that an opinion can be held and supported as probable, after it has been declared and finally decreed contrary to Holy Scripture." His punishment 222 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. was imprisonment during the pleasure of the Inquisitors, and the recital of the seven penitential psalms once a week for three years. Similar proscriptions have heen practised by Protestants. The Rev. James Jones, a Wesleyan minister in England, wrote a book in 1828, the design of which was to confute the popular notion of the Divine prescience. His sect forbade its circulation, and required him to burn the entire edition, which was done. And among that body of late years, a series of unrelenting persecutions have been carried on against numbers of its ministers for merely exercising the right of expressing their views on matters of church discipline. At their yearly conferences, they have arraigned members, and instituted the inquisitorial process of demanding "of them whether or not they did, or did not write certain books, or papers, anonymously published, and then expelled those who refused to answer. The chief leaders in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in this country, have waged a vindictive and most determined war against the freedom of opinion, and the right of free discussion, not merely on the subject of slavery, but on matters of church discipline. Indeed, both of these churches, north and south, have a law in their book of discipline, which prohibits the ex pression of an opinion in respect to that very book ; so that> a member who ventures to give his views as to the expediency of any change for the better, is liable to be arraigned and expelled from the sect for the mere expression of such an opinion. » Clergymen in this church, of good and irreproachable cha- racters, have been arrested, and tried before their conferences on charges of slander, merely for expressing their views on the subject of American slavery, and they have been pros- cribed, hindered, and persecuted, till, becoming weary of such bitter fruits of sectarianism, they left the sect in disgust. And what is here said of one sect might with some qualification be said of them all. Rome has declared that the earth stands still, and that the sun moves from east to west ; or, in other words, that the earth does not go round the sun, but-that the sun goes round the earth. Galileo taught the contrary — taught the true sys- tem — and was compelled to abjure it on his knees. Rome is infallible and unchangeable. What is the astronomical system taught in the Roman Catholic colleges of this country ? We shall be thankful for information on this head.* Galileo was not cast into the dungeons of the Inquisition, as is sometimes * Montreal Kegister. SECTAIIIAXIS]^!. 223 affirmed. His imprisonment was light. But the fact of his 'persecution cannot be denied, and it is worse than useless to attempt to gloss it. Nor is there a sect in the world, not a so-called religious body, that tolerates unrestricted investigation, and freedom of thought in respect to Theology, Philosophy, and Science. The moment a member proposes or begins the discussion of any one of its traditional dogmas, he is thrust out. In the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass., (and pro- bably other similar institutions,) the Professors take an oath once in five years, that they still believe the dogmas of Cal- vinism, and have not progressed a hair's-breadth in matters of religious belief. What is this, but swearing that if they are in error, they will stay there for ever. A beautiful comment this on the progressive tendencies of orthodox sectarianism ScctariamsBii opposed to Freedom. 208. Sectarianism has always opposed human liberty, of which individual sovereignty is the only true foundation. In the time of Torquemada, the first Grand Inquisitor of Spain, (that is to say, from 1481 to 1498,) 10,220 persons were burned in efiigy ; and 97,071 were condemned to the galleys and to the prison. From 1495 to 1507, there were 2,598 persons burned alive ; 820 burned in effigy ; and 32,752 consigned to the prison or to the galleys. From 1507 to 1517, the numbers who were burned, 3,564 , burned in effigy, 2,352 ; condemned to prison and the galleys, 48,059. From 1517 to 1521, under Adrian Florencio, the fourth Grand Inquisitor, the victims were; 1,620 burned alive ; 560 burned in effigy ; 5,060 sent to prison and the galleys. From 1521 to 1522 there were 324 individuals burned alive ; 112 burned in effigy ; 4,481 condemned to the galleys and to *prison. Alphonso Mauriquez was Grand Inquisitor from 1523 to 1538, and during that time 2,250 individuals were brought to the stake ; 1,122 were burnt in effigy ; and 1 1,250 were con- demned to the galleys and to prison. From 1538 to 1545 there were burned alive 480 ; burned in effigy, 420 ; sentenced to imprisonment and the galleys, 6,550. From 1545 to 1546, in the reign of Charles Y., 1,305 suf- fered in the flames ; 660 were burned in effigy, and 6,660 were condemned to prison and to the galleys. During the reign of Philip II., the numbers were — burned alive 3,990 ; in effigy, 1,845 ; imprisoned or sent to the galleys, 18,430. In the reign of Philip III., between 1597 and 1621, 2iM BOOK 01^ HUMAN NATUKE. there were burned alive 692 ; burned in effigy, 10,716 , un- der Philip IV., from 1621 to 1665, there were burned alive, 546; in effigy, 652; under Philip V., from 1700 to 1746, they burned 1,600 persons alive ; 760 in effigy, and 9,120 sent to the galleys and to prison. In the reign of Charles VI., from 1788 to 1808, the num- bers diminished still more. One person only was condemned to be burnt in effigy, and 42 were consigned to the galleys and the prison. It was evident that the time of desolation had come ; the holy tribunal was forced to abdicate before the civil spirit of the age — it was sufficient for its glory that it had fulfilled its duty during 339 years. What can be more eloquent than this naked summary of figures, in 339 years 1 Thanks to the decrees of the Holy Inquisition, 33,658 souls were " dismissed to the flames of hell, after their accursed bodies had been burnt to ashes at the stake !" 18,049 persons were burned in effigy, and 288,214 were condemned to prison and the galleys — a punishment, perhaps, involving greater misery than that of suffering at the stake. ^ Tiie spirit of sectarianism is the same, whether in Protest- ant or Papist. When one, two, or more, combine and make effi3rts to impose their peculiar notions upon others, by pro- scribing, threatening, or denouncing them in the name of God or Religion, that is sectarianism. If I call you by opprobrious terms, on account of your dissent from me, that is sectarian- ism. Hence, when one party denounce another party as " fallen," " sinners," and the like, on account of difference in opinion merely, it is pure sectarianism ; and all this may be done on a small or a large scale. Persecution or denunciation for opinion's sake, has general- ly been done by religious bigots, who have relied most on the priesthood or the Bible for their authority. Hence we find, that as men depend upon one man, or one book for their au- thority in matters of Faith, instead of Truth; or when they look for truth, principally from one man or one book, in- stead of receiving it from the Universal Heavens, they then become sectarians, and act accordingly. It is easy to see and repudiate the sectarianism of the Papists who have proscribed intelligence, and put people to torture and death for their opin- ions merely ; but, we overlook the numerous little popes, so to speak, scattered throughout Christendom, and the " Popish churches" on a small scale, which have sprung into existence all over the Protestant world. * these statistics are from the Italia Liberia, an Italian Journal, and are believed to be accurate- THE SPIRITUAL WOPLD. 225 PNEUMATOLOGY. SPIRITS, POSSESSION, INSPIRATION The ISpii-itiial W orld. 209. The views which have, from time immemorial, pre- vailed on the Spiritual World, have not differed more, perhaps, than the views of the same persons on matters connected with the present life. Look at that little child. He is symmetri- cal, healthy, beautiful, and happy. But ask him any question about his manhood, and see what his answer will be. Has he any idea of a future existence at all ? Has he any conscious- ness of conjugal, filial, or Divine love ? And does it follow, because he cannot comprehend these things now, that there- fore, the time will never come, when he can comprehend them 1 Because he is now a child, is he always to be one, and never arrive at manhood 1 You do not, it may be, comprehend what is meant by Spirits^ or the Spiritual World. But do you comprehend what is meant by the animal world 1 You believe there is a mineral world, in which vegetables may not be found ; and a vegetable ivorld, in which no animal is found ; and an animal world, in which no human being is found. Can you perceive no distinc- tion to be made between the mineral, vegetable, animal, and mental worlds? Can you perceive no sense in which one of these worlds is above the other 1 Can you understand no sense in what is said, w^ien it is affirmed, that the lower, or mineral world, cannot comprehend the vegetable world which is above it ? (12, 13.) And so of the animal world, it cannot comprehend the mental world which is above, only in so far as it approaches, and is developed into the sphere of mind. The child is the man in miniature ; but the child cannot understand that which belongs to manhood, only as he approaches and is developed into that state. And, when arrived at manhood, he can comprehend what is peculiar to mind, only in so far as his own mind is developed in the knowing faculty. 10* 226 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. External senses, for an external world. Internal senses, for ideas, for the mental and spiritual. If, then, we must have external eyes for external objects, should we not have spiritual eyes for spiritual objects? Suppose our organs of 5z^A^ were not perfectly developed, till late in life, and that they should come into use by degrees, after our nature should be matured in all other respects. Suppose, indeed, that we should remain totally unable to discern anything by sight till long after having the sense of feeling and hearing perfectly educated ; so that we might pass years of our lives, in hearing about sight, before we should find ourselves able to use this faculty at all. How difficult it must be, in such a condition, to realize anything as to what the sense of sight would be when once perfectly developed 1 We might hear the most enrapturing discourses on colors and the beauties of the rainbow. But, alas ! never having seen it, nor having seen any one who had been more favored in this respect than ourselves, it would seem to us like an idle dream, and we should be ready to exclaim — " Show us a rainbow ! Let us see one, then we will believe, but not till then." So we say of the spirit and the spiritual world. Show us a spirit, let us see one ! Well, now let me ask, — Have you a mind ? Let me see your mind. How will you convince me, that you have any mind, unless you show it to me 1 0, yes, you exclaim, you will show your mind to one who has mental eyes to see it. Mind can be seen only by mind. True. And so we say of spirit. Spirits can be seen only by spiritual eyes, as external objects can be discerned only by external sight. But, to many who have, from their earliest years, been ac- customed to believe in the spiritual world, it is exceedingly difficult to form any idea as to how " disembodied spirits," as they are called, can make themselves known to men's external senses, as they are said to do in the " mysterious knockings." The term '*' disembodied" is not philosophically correct. A spirit is a bodi/, that is, the personality to which we apply the term spirit, is as much a body, and has form, as really as any object in the external world. If a human being could be made of pure air ; such a being would have a body, though of air. Or, if we could imagine a human body made of electricity, it would give us an idea as to how a body may exist, while invisible to the external senses. Spirits, then, are not dis- embodied in any other sense, than that they have left, or cast oiF this coarse, external body, which was so closely allied to earth. Indeed, we cast off our earthly bodies a number of times during the space of twenty-one years, even. We have the same external form, but it is not composed of the same THE SPIKITUAL WORLD. 227 particles of matter that entered into its composition ten years ago. Hence, we are now, disembodied, in one sense ; we are changing the components of our external forms constantly, from the moment we are born till we throw them off entirely. The spirit, within, then, must give shape and form to the body without ; and as the animal body is developed and shaped by the spirit principle within it, so we can perceive what Form the spirit is in after death; and the misuse of terms in calling the spirit of man " immaterial." If we mean by this term, that man's spirit is not dissoluble, it is well enough, but not if we use it to signify something which is not substance, or nothing. The term immaterial is often, improperly. I think, used to signify whatever is opposed to the external world ; and so the spirit is said to be immaterial. But it should be enough to signify what we mean by the term spirit, which, though matured, or composed of substance, refined and sublimated be- yond all that can be imagined or described in this lower sphere, yet it can never be dissolved, and hence must exist for ever. It would not follow, that because we cannot tell how a spirit after death can act upon our external senses, that, there- fore, no such action can be made. The most that we believe of human life, we admit, not because we know the how or the manner of it, but, because we know the facts to be true, though we are not by any means able to explain them. We believe facts, though at the same time we know, or feel perfectly satisfied, that the manner of the thing is not only inexplicable, but, indeed, far beyond our present powers of comprehension. Can any one tell how a blade of grass grows ? We are unable to explain what we call the most simple, and why should we be dissatisfied if the higher and more complicated phenomena are not unraveled to our feeble comprehension ? And suppose some superior Intelligence from above, were to attempt an ex- planation to us of the manner in which the blade of grass is made to grow ? Are we sure we should be able to comprehend what would be said to us upon the subject? Do we know what matter, or substance is? And, what is force? You know what is meant by gravitation. But can you make this understood by a child? The child can distinguish between an apple and an acorn, but can he tell the difference between an emotion and a volition ? It is easy to see, that there are differences which some minds are too feeble to appreciate, and realities there may be, and laws appertaining to the spiritual world, which, indeed, enter into the very constitution of our nature, and yet we may be too gross to understand them. MB BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. What lias Occurred? 210. It is peculiar to infancy and imperfection to ask the question as to the why of phenomena, even long before any desire is felt to understand what has occurred. Why does it rain 1 Why does the wind blow ? Why does the water freeze. How often are these and similar queries put to the parents, while no one ever thinks of asking as to the real essence or form of the phenomena that have occurred. And thus it happens in respect to all branches of science. The most important questions are the very last ones to be asked, and for this sufficient reason, that the mind must be developed by observation before it is capable of putting questions in re- spect to the real essence of things. The brains are the last to be matured, and the most important knowledge is that which results from experience, age, and the longest course of observation. At first view it seems difficult to speak of the phenomena that have arrested so much attention throughout this country during the last five or six years, and which have taken the name of spiritual manifestations. It is difficult, not only because the phenomena themselves are new, startling, and in- credible even ; but because they are found to combine so many different phases, apparently, so much that is intangible, ""so much that is apparently contradictory, and so very many cir- cumstances, conditions, views, feelings, affinities, and laws, visible and invisible, that it is found to be utterly impossible to do the subject justice, either in a few words, or in one attempt. There is every thing to be learned, not merely of a section of the vegetable or animal worlds ; every thing to be learned not merely of a branch of natural or moral science, nor indeed of the whole circle of science and philosophy, ap- pertaining to this world of which we form a part. The in- vestigation upon which we now enter, is, or must be supposed, deeper, broader, higher, than all that appertains to the world in which we live. It is not of the physical, or the mental, that we speak, not of the world we have seen or heard, or comprehended with our external senses at all. No marvel, therefore, that the mind does sometimes, tremble upon this verge, and fear to proceed. It is a path never before trodden, and leads not to a distant city, not to a thick wild wood, not to the regions of fancy, even in the invisible, but to another world ! We say world, because* it is no part or section of this world with which we are ac- quainted ; a world of which we know nothing, and believe but little. And, phenomena reaching to such a world, must be THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 229 involved in more than common mystery, and the danger of misjudging in respect to them must, in the very nature of the case, be very great indeed. We do not know that there iis such a world. Or, if there be, we do not know which part of it approximates to the external world in which we live. Or, if there be approximation, we do not know how it is, nor why ? We have every thing to learn. Nothing must be taken for granted. We must see, or hear, or feel our way, step by step. Caution was given us for some good purpose. Perhaps it was to guard us from entering too deeply into the invisible ; against giving too much sway to our fancy, or an excited imagination. Let us be prepared, then, as best we may for an examination of any thing and all things ; to look at phenomena that may appear to us not merely, incredible, but as actually and physically impossible. Nay, we must not merely look at them, we must take hold of them, we must ex- amine them with each of our senses, we must enter among them, go into them ourselves, and let them into us, into our minds ; we must take them into our hands, we must dissect them, " mark, learn, and inwardly digest" them, in order to do justice to this momentous subject. Suppose the difficulties in our way may be, indeed, formidable. Those very difficulties call into action the faculties of our minds that were given us for overcoming them. What, then, has been done? What are the phenomena alleged to have occurred? This question fairly answered, if indeed it can be, and we may be the better able to give the reason implied in the why and wherefore. I myself, in the beginning, was embarrassed for the want of facts, such as I now have a knowledge of; and others may be liable to suffer from the same cause. Hence it seems to me, that we can not safely form conclusions in regard to the history, philosophy and uses of this whole subject, until we have all the facts before us. Facts become science when they are multiplied in sufficient numbers, and so systematized as to preclude all dis- pute. Admitting then, as I am ready to do, that, perhaps, more than seven-eighths of all that has occurred under the name of withcraft, or the modern spiritual manifestations, so called, may be satisfactorily accounted for by the laws of psychology, yet I am bound to say, that neither these nor any other laws that appertain to this sphere, as far as my know- ledge and belief extend, are at all adequate for explaining that which I myself have witnessed.* Many I know have erred in their attempts "to account for these things, for a want of a knowledge of all the facts. The newspapers have teemed * See (151,) what has already been said concerning " od." 280 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. with articles in which ' all the mysteries" are solved, as it were, by one stroke of the pen ! Various books and pamphlets have been published, in which the writers are confident that they have found the only true explanation that can be given of these wonderful phenomena ! One theory will account for one phenomenon, but not for all. It is curious to witness how sanguine and confident certain writers are, that they have hit upon the solution of all the phenomena, merely because they suggest an explanation which might be sufficient to account for one single fact, without allowing it to be done by spirits out of the human body. We want not only all the facts, but we desire them " with- out note or comment," we want them to be permitted to'speak as it were for themselves. The disadvantage is great when a fragment only of the subject is perceptible, as even when the whole appears, and under circumstances the most favor- able, it cannot be understood precisely alike, perhaps, by any two persons, as no two may be found whose capacities for comprehending any given facts are exactly the same. Unaccountable Phenomena. 211. The following are a part of the phenomena produced in my own family, and which have been witnessed by multi- tudes of people ; and these results have been testified to, pub- licly and privately, often, and in different localities throughout the country. I prefer to state only what I have myself witnessed. But, then, it must be borne in mind, that the same that I here de- scribe as having occurred in my own family, and " even great- er works than these," have been witnessed elsewhere, and well-authenticated accounts of which have been laid before the public. So that, at the present time, it cannot be said that these things have either been done in a corner, nor that accu- rate accounts of them were not made known at the very time they occurred. These reports are now public property, in such a sense, that no one thinks of calling their authenticity in ques- tion, nor of disputing but that the facts did actually occur, as is here and elsewhere set forth. When, in the following account, I say that certain things were done "without human agency," I mean that no human efforts were made ; and under most of the circumstances none could be made without being instantly detected ; and further, that no human being present had any thought of the results, often before they were developed. They were addressed to each of the external senses. Thus — I. Hearing. Sounds v^ere made in one or a half dozen places, at once ; different sounds, made on the floor, on the . THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 231 table, on the chairs, on the window, on the sides of the house, and under the feet of spectators. These sounds made visible vibrations in articles that were not touched, at the time, by any mortal. They varied in loudness and force, from a mere rap, as with a finger upon a table, to those which sounded as if the floor were struck with a large hammer, or stamped upon by some liv- ing person, so as to shake the house. At times they are made with the table, that is, an ordinary parlor or centre table is seen without hands, to rise up, move about, and fall upon the floor rapidly, as if some intelligent power were attempting to pound the floor with the table. Sounds imitating mechanics at work, such as striking with a hammer, driving nails, planing, sawing, driving hoops, grooving, &c., and made on the table when no human hands touched it. Strange noises, like the human voice ; articulation of words and sentences. Sounds imitating the discharge of fire-arms and minute guns at sea. Sounds imitating the bass and snare drums ; tunes drum- med out, of which no one present had any knowledge. Music produced by drumming on the table or floor, and by musical sounds, resembling an Eolian harp. I have heard music produced in this way, for five and ten minutes at a time, most beautiful and heavenly, superior to any and all the music I ever heard from human beings. I heard it at one time when only two other persons were pres- ent in the house. It was continued for some five minutes, and one of the strains was a tune I had often heard before. It commenced apparently at a distance, but gradually drew near- er — and as it did so, the swells and cadence were charming beyond the power of language to describe. II. Sight. Strange lights produced in a dark room, and the appearance of human forms seen by skeptical spectators. Sometimes only a hand, or a face, or a part of the features ; at other times, the whole contour of the human form is seen. This I know from personal experience. At Dr. Phelps', in Stratford, Ct., appearances were seen as if persons were walking from room to room, covered with a sheet. On watch- ing the figure the sheet is seen to fall upon the floor, and no- thing under it. Here it was, also, that other strange sights were seen. The beds altered, and the clothes adjusted as if a corpse were laid out, in the bed. The wearing apparel of the family, made into ten images resembling human beings ; they were arranged in a row. all kneeling, before ten chairs, and each had a Bible in its hands, as if in imitation of the 232 BOOK OF HUMAK NATURE. manner in which Dr. Phelps and his family performed their worship. Volumes might be filled with details of phenomena ad- dressed to sight, and evincing Force exercised over physi- cal bodies. A window in my daughter's room has been raised without human power ; doors have been moved, opened, and shut, when requested. A table bell has been rung, and the same bell taken from a table, without hands, and wrapped in a silk apron. Silk and woolen form no obstacle in the way of this force. The table moved without human hands. It is upset, raised up, made to dance, and carried a distance of fifty feet ! Chairs turned over, or made to vibrate without human agency. Arti- cles moved, or thrown from place to place in all directions, to, and obliquely from, the medium. Books and papers have been repeatedly moved in the hands, and taken out of the hands of spectators. Writing on a slate and on paper, with a pencil ; done when the paper was held in the hand of the spectator ; done over and under the table. The hand-writing of deceased persons apparently imitated, of which the medium had no knowledge at all. III. The Sense of Feeling. I have been taken hold of, handled, patted on my head, shaken, my clothes pulled, and touched with great force, when no human being, (whose hands were not both held fast) was near enough to me to touch me in any way. Have had the sensation of another taking hold of my hand, touching me as if to call my attention. Once I was struck, with such force that the blow caused a sensa- tion approaching to pain, and the sound was heard a consider- able distance. Mysterious Intelligence. 212. But, in addition to all the phenomena like those here described, it is the communication of intelligence, and the manifestation of love, joy, and hatred, that give these things a claim to our consideration, which cannot be well re- sisted. Nor would this account be at all complete, were I to omit to describe something of what these things have them- selves done ; the impressions they have made upon the minds of mortals, and the estimate which is put upon them. Not merely what has been done by the invisibles, such as the manifestations of all those traits which characterize In- dividual Personality, but also the effects which these mani- festations have had on many minds who have witnessed them. Premising, then, that it must be constantly borne in mind, that no one knows, and perhaps no one can know, very THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 233 well, WHO these invisibles are ; for, thus far, in these devel- opments, it does not seem to have been demonstrated, that in these manifestations, demonstration of personal identity is a part of the thing to be done. Whether ii can be or not, may well be doubted, but here it is only necessary to remember as we | proceed, that this has not yet been done. Mortals may he- 1 lieve what they please, as we have seen ; they may enter the invisible, and inquire for the unknown ; and when in those shades of uncertainty and doubt, they may exercise any amount of faith that they find themselves capable of doing ; and the exercise of this faith is precisely what these spiritual manifestations confessedly have done. Oh, the potency of faith, by which "The invisible appears in sight, And God is seen by mortal eyes." So we must enter again the invisible, to find what these mysterious manifestations have indeed done. And even then we shall scarcely be able to do the subject ample justice. It combines so much of love and goodness, the excitement of all that is tender and gentle, all that is near and dear ; all that is delightful in friendship, all that is involved in conjugal, paren- tal, fraternal and filial Love. Love that has been once be- reaved, love that followed the cherished object of its ador- ation to the lone and silent grave. "Who has not lost a friend, a brother, Heard a father's parting breath. Or, gazed upon a hfeless mother Till she seemed to wake from death ?" And, now, after years of absence, after burying your loved ones from your sight, after having dismissed all thought of know- ing more of them till (per chance,) you should find them in that " undiscovered land from whose bourne no traveller returns," nay, after having long doubted whether there were really any consciousness after death, to hear certain " mysterious sounds," and by a certain interlocutory process, in which you speak, and something else, " raps," you succeed in working yourself into the belief, that you are indeed actually holding a conversa- tion with your own dear father, mother, brother, sister, child, husband, or wife, long since departed from this mortal coil ! All this you believe, and what hope, what love, what ecstatic joy is revived in the soul ! You are in a new world. Crea- tion itself puts on a new phase, so real are your faith and hope. You are now in Heaven, that blissful sphere where the counte- nances of all are radiant with purity and inexpressible delights. Conscious of your elevation above the plane of doubt and fear 234 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. about death and immortality, you instinctively repel all that are below you, who are not receptive with you of the same views with yourself. You are now consoled with the real presence of " guardian spirits" who watch over you all the time for good. Communications of love are " spelled out" to you, or communicated in some other way, all coming from those you knew and loved while they, like you, were in tene- ments of clay. You are enraptured with the beautiful mes- sages made to you. True, they do not come quite so often as you could desire, and when you have asked for a " test," it was not forthcoming as you might have expected. But, then, what of that? They are spirits. And spirits never make mistakes ; or if there be any mistake about it, the spirits do not tell lies ; or, if some spirits do, your guardian spirits do noc. You know your own loved ones would not lie to you. And what if promises are often made which are never fulfilled, wliat if you find it is not exactly so, they are good spirits and cannot lie. They are clairvoyant spirits, too, and often tell what is in the mind of the medium, or what they perhaps, imagine is, or ought to be there, and when they cannot tell their earthly names, nor their age, when they died, nor the place where, nor the time when, nor the manner how ; or rather, when your own dear loved guardian spirit forgets, or falsifies about some one, or all of these things, you must not, do not doubt but that it is the real something or somebody you take it to be. If, then, we admit that any amount of joy, as if upon the recognition of long lost and dear friends, any amount of con- jecture and guess work, as to who the spirits may be, any amount of real pleasure and satisfaction which vast multitudes of intelligent people have taken from first to last, in com- muning with spirits who they supposed were their departed friends ; any amount of excitement and joy even, which must naturally result from such belief, however unfounded it might be, if I say, we admit all this, (and much more that will be stated in the sequel,) then we may have some just conception of what these mysterious things have done. This is the bright side. The picture is not perfect without a few shades, which will appear in due time. Metliod of Investigation. 213. Presenting, then, as this subject does, so many features that are confessedly of human origin, while at the same time it brings before us a multitude of phenomena, startling, and astonishing, even beyond the power of language to describe ; phenomena which I do not know how to account for, except I admit the agency of spirits out of the human body, it becomes SPIRITUAL WORLD. 235 a question to which strict justice cannot be done in a few words. It assumes an aspect which imperiously demands in- vestigation, and in a form that I do not feel disposed, either to deny or to evade. What I propose is, not myself as a teacher or dictator on the subject. Having traveled a long journey, and finding others going in the same direction, in search of Truth, it is natural that I should describe the difficulties I have met with in the rout I have taken, as also, the notes and observations I have made by the way, and speak, also, of the point whence I started, the views by which I was stimulated in my labors, to- gether with the satisfaction I have experienced in my own mind, in witnessing, as I have, the beauties of the country through which I have passed. A pathway beset, indeed, with frightful precipices, leading through a country unfrequented by mortals, and without a chart or guide; without any accounts of this '• unknown country," upon which I can wholly rely from those who have gone before. There may be quick falls, which I never suspected, wild animals and ferocious beasts, lurking for their prey. The country is unknown, the passage, the path that leads to it, wholly untried : — " Bound on a voyage of awful length And dangers little known, A stranger to superior strength, Man vainly trusts his own." My readers then, are entitled to know how I commenced thi!» journey, the state of mind in which this investigation was entered upon, and all and singular in respect to the affinities, capacities, hopes, fears, advantages, or disadvantages, which have helped me forward, or which may be thought to have retarded my progress in an undertaking of this kind. I must, therefore, open my heart and think aloud on this subject. I must make known my inmost nature ; the reader must know all necessary to be known, to enable him to judge as to the source whence the details come, that are now submitted for his adjudi- cation. Personal. 214. 1. That I am not now, and wasnot when I commenced the investigation of the subject, a sectarian in any oifensive sense of the term. My creed is a short one. Individual sovereignty, the true doctrine of Manhood, and Eternal Pro- gression the destiny of the Race. I was in the beginning as wow, wholly uncommitted to all mere traditional dogmas, either in respect to this world or another, to which we may be tend- ing. Hence, it must be obvious, that I neither believed in the notion of absolute evil, here or elsewhere ; nor in the popular 286 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. dogmas in respect to an old boss devil, or " evil spirits." When I first commenced conversing with the invisibles who purported to be spirits, that had left the human form, I had no thought nor suspicion of being deceived by what was affirmed to me. Hence, I infer, that if any spirit have ever falsi- fied to me, either incidentally or from design, it could not have been caused by a belief in myself, that brought such spirits near to me, for I had no such views. A belief in the doctrine of spiritual affinities has inspired me with a love of goodness for goodness" sake, a love of the truth for its own sake. Hence, as I would not be deceived, so I have never, from first to last, designedly deceived any spirit, or any medium, or mortal, connected with this subject. I have feigned nothing, have never asked' for a fictitious spirit, or for the spirit of one who had not (as I believed) left this sphere. But I have often allowed spirits to carry on. conversations, when I knew that every word they uttered was falsehood, from beginning to end. But I do not give my own experience as a standard for any other person. Each must seek, judge, and act for himself. We shall find, perhaps, on comparing notes, that, while our experiences may all agree in some points, they disagree in others ; and hence we shall be slow to use the word " alivays^^'' when speaking of spirits who inhabit another world which we have not entered, as when certain writers have said, " Spirits always do so and so." They may " always" do so with one medium ; but with another, it may be altogether different. 2. I undertook this inquiry with an ardent desire to main- tain an evenly balanced state of mind ; to be neither unreason- ably doubtful on the one hand, nor unduly credulous on the other. If the mind be not harmoniously developed, or if it be shackled with traditional prejudices, its condition must neces- sarily be unfavorable for receiving new truths. And thus, while we yield all the conditions we can, consistently, to the spirits, which they ask for, we should bear in mind what is necessary for us mortals who are a party in this investigation, and have immense interests pending its issue. 3. During the past three years, 1 have enjoyed all the facilities for investigating this subject, which, perhaps, could be reasonably desired, not excepting some days and nights spent in the family of Dr. A. Phelps, in Stratford, Ct. And in passing let me say, that I do not perceive how any one can be well '• posted up" on this subject who has not either visited the family of Dr. Phelps, or read some authenticated account of the most unaccountable things that have taken place there. The " disturbances," as they were called, in Stratford, which occurred during the year 1850, are among the most strange of SPIRITUAL WORLD. 237 amy ^nd all things of the kind, of which history has given us any account, and far exceeding even the vv'onders of " witch- craft" of past ages. Indeed nothing of the kind has ever occurred, as far as I know, in any other part of the world. The time I spent there was by the kind invitation of Dr Phelps, whom I knew to be a venerable, truthful, excellent, Orthodox clergyman. What I witnessed at his house was strange, and unaccountable indeed, and what I never could have believed, 4iad I not witnessed such things with my own external senses. My investigations have not been casual nor incidental mere- ly ; nor have they been confined to times or^ places. They were undertaken in order to find the truth, and have been continued, in different parts of the country, for years, with- out any interruption. During this time, I have devoted my whole attention to this work, so that I have been, not dai- ly, but hourly, as it were, in converse with the spirits by the " sounds." Sittings have been held in my own family, till they approached a thousand, which have been attended by large numbers of people, not to speak of the constant op- portunities which my own children (who were the media,) afforded me, at my own fireside, of investigating this mat- ter in every possible form which curiosity, credulity or skep- ticism could suggest. In my own tamily, all the phenomena have taken place which have been described by various writers on the sub- ject, except what might be classed under the head of " ner- vous," or sympathetic. The mediums in my own family have been audibly spoken to, and manuscript writing has been done in their presence, without any motion made by any human being. I wish to be understood as saying, that the " spiritual man- ifestations" which have forced certain conclusions upon the unbiased judgment of those whose opinions I now utter, have not, as I believe, been inferior, in any sense, to any of the same class, ever made in any part of the world. These remarks seem due to the subject, here, as nothing is more common than for mediums who are possessed or as- sociated with a certain spirit, and those of their friends vi'ho rely upon communications made by such spirits, to flatter themselves that they are not deceived, though others may be \ they attract spirits of a very high order, and who would not lead them astray ! But considerable experience has con- vinced me, that those who rely upon these invisibles are the most deceived when they are so possessed and hallucinated by some apocryphal spirit, as to imagine they either never were deceived, or that they are so secure that they could not be. 238 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. I have witnessed these " manifestations " in all their vari- ous forms, in different places throughout the country. In- deed, I have witnessed more of them than any other one per- son, of whom I have any knowledge. I have the testimonies of a very large number of intelligent candid people, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Providence, R. I., and from the extreme West, including those who have themselves been mediums for every variety of the spiritual phenomena. The experience from which my conclusions are drawn, in- cludes communications purporting to come from the spiritual world, combining all of Goodness and Truth, as I l)elieve, which was ever made to mortals (in this manner,) and af- fording the highest elements for instruction, admonition and hope. I have no knowledge of any similar "communica- tions," assuming even to be of a higher order than what I have witnessed myself, or that have been witnessed by those whose opinions I give. 4. As I approached this investigation uncommitted in the- ory, being uninformed as to what it was, or why it was done, I did not and have not undertaken to say what it should he. I have used no dictation, and have carefully striven to avoid the exertion of any influence which might prevent the thing from speaking for itself, and making known its own Essence, Form, and Use. Hence, in all the sittings which I have ever attended, I have requested simply to witness what should come to pass ; to have the " spirits," whoever they might be, do their own work, and do it in their own w^ay. During the whole process of my investigations, I have been animated with a conscious love of the truth, and with an ar- dent hope that great good would eventually grow out of these developments — good for the whole human race. And I may add that 1 have experienced great satisfaction in the results of my labors. Though often disappointed, by finding something below what I had hoped for, and at other times witnessing what compelled me reluctantly to admit there must be the false where I had looked for the truth, yet I have been abun- dantly rewarded for all my toils. No labor, no investigation that I ever engaged in, ever afforded me more rational, manly satisfaction, than I have found, from the first till now, in the examination of this subject. Tome, the Truth is above all price — more precious than rubies, or the gold of Ophir. All things that can be desired are not to be compared to her. Labor is sweet, pain is rest, if so be we may progress in Good- ness and in Truth, however much we may be compelled to endure in their acquisition. THE SPIEITUAL WORLD. 239 "What lias done it ? 215. All results have an adequate cause. Here are phe- nomena that are new, and certainly very strange. What has produced them ? What is the remote cause 1 What can it be 1 Is it human ? Is the cause within the reach of natural science 1 Enough has already been said under the head of od, (151,) to show that it cannot be some unknown, undefinable some- thing evolved from the human body. Nor can it be the hu- man mind, acting in a new way. (174.) Persons unacquaint- ed with Mind, say it is the human mind acting somehow, they know not exactly how. But why call it the human mind, if you do not know what it is"? Why call it mind, when it is so contrary to all else that we know of mind ? Why call it mind, when the most powerful, the most intelligent minds are utterly unable to produce any thing of the kind ? If it be the human will, do it. The fact that similar things do occur in the presence of a certain class called mediums, when they will these things, is not sufficient to authorize this assump- tion. And besides, the persons in whose presence the table is seen to move when the hands are put upon it, are mediums for what are called spiritual manifestations. Mark this. You will never find physical bodies moving in this manner without the presence of spiritual mediums. But it is not true that these phenomena do, always, occur in the presence of all who are the media for these things. Some mediums, who will them ever so much, do not succeed in producing them at all. The phenomena occur in their pre- sence, but not as the results of volition on' the part of any mortal. So it was especially at Dr. Phelps'. Were these results dependent on human volition, they should always occur in the presence of those mortals whose WILL is the strongest. But this is not the case, by any means. But they are produced by electricity *? Well, and how does this appear 1 Here is an electrical machine. See, now, if you can produce them. You try, and fail. So have I tried, and failed. So have others. Here is a galvanic battery. Try that. Can you produce them? Not at all. I know that you cannot produce them by any battery, ever so powerful. But it is said they must be produced by electricity evolved from the human body, because if at any time a half-a-dozen persons sit around a common table, with their hands on it for a half an hour, the table will become so much affected with something, that it will move. Indeed ! Affected with some- thing. Well, what is the table affected with when you take 240 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. hold of it and move it yourself^ But then, what if a table does move with a half-a-dozen hands upon it. How does this account for a table's moving a distance of fifty feet, as I have seen it do, with no human being touching it in any way. The eases are not parallel. But, after all, " it is electricity." It must be electricity, because if it be not, the objector does not know what else it can be. Well, so I might say, it is caused by the moon — because if it be not the moon, I cannot tell what it is. What is gained by talking in this way"? As long as we cannot ac- count for these things by any of the known magnetic or elec- trical laws, it is scarcely allowable to call these phenomena by these terms. And then, again, it is a matter of just complaint, that we have never yet been told what kind of electricity this is. Is it frictional, thermal, animal, or what? Who knows'? Who can tell 1 O, says one, it must be animal electricity, like that which is evolved by the gymnotus. Ah, indeed. And how does this appear ? That which comes from the electric eel affects nothing but animals ; it produces shocks only in a liv- ing body. It does not make loud sounds, nor does it move tables and chairs, and much less do we find the electrical eel answering questions, and holding conversations with human beings. Electricity does not think; it has no ideas, no con- sciousness of selfhood. It never says me, mine, myself. The electrical telegraph does not convey intelligence of itself — it is an agent merely, worked and operated upon by a liv- mg^ thinking organism, as high above electricity as man is above the earth. Perhaps no man in this country is more familiar with the entire subject of electricity, magnetism, and electro-magnet- ism, than Mr. Daniel Davis, formerly Mathematical Instru- ment maker, of Boston. At my request, this gentleman brought an electrometer to my house for the purpose of test- ing this question in respect to electricity. It was of such ex- quisite susceptibility to the presence of electricity, that the gold leaf was moved by the friction on one of the brass knobs, of a single human hair! Mr. Davis truly remarked, that *' electricity next to nothing would move the instrument," with such exceeding sensitiveness had it been constructed. The medium, my daughter, was isolated, and with her hand resting upon the brass ball, the " mysterious sounds," were made, as usual, while the gold leaf of the instrument was not moved in the least perceptible degree. Here, then, was a test. In this case it was not done by electricity ; for elec- tricity forcible enough to make loud sounds upon a chair, so as to caiuse it to vibrate, must have caused some motion in the THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 241 gold leaf. Had there been any evolution of electricity from the body of the medium, it must have been indicated by the instrument.* I have, also, tested the subject with magnetism. I put upon the table, and in various positions contiguous with the me- dium, a very powerful horse shoe magnet, sufficient to raise seventy-five pounds. It produced no effects whatever. But says the objector, if it be not electricity, it is pathetism. O, yes, undoubtedly. If it be not magnetism it is electricity, and if not electricity, why it is pathetism, and if not pathetism, it is something else ! Undoubtedly it is something else. But, let me ask you, how you account for the fact, that if it be pathetism, I, myself, am not able to do these things ? I think I understand what is implied in the use of such terms as mes- merism, or pathetism. Nor am I aware that any results have ever been induced by this process which I have not brought about. How is it, that if it be the influence which I have been in the practice of exerting so constantly for the last thirty years, that I cannot find it out ? I have tried it, and failed ; have entranced the mediums, but found no advantage from this power ; no advantage from clairvoyance, no help from the human will, ever so powerful, nor from any number of wills conjoined. Hence I conclude, that the laws of these phenomena are not included in psychology, nor electricity, nor any, nor all other branches of science that appertain to this world. That these phenomena are not produced in whole or in part by laws that appertain to the mundane, I do not affirm, but I do say, that if this, indeed, be so, those laws have not yet been discovered, and whether they ever will be or not may well be doubted. Superficial observers, witness a few of these things, and they write books, and articles for the press, saying, *' We have found it — we have found it." I, however, do not perceive any grounds for these statements ; my opinion is, that as yet, and possibly for some time to come, mortals will not be able to tell how these things have been done. I own, myself, conscious of a willingness to have the ra tionale of these strange things made out, if it can be done. If they can be accounted for by any laws already within our * It is well known, that Mr. Davis has offered a reward in good faith, of $iOOO. to any person who shall prove that these phenomena are produced oy electricity ; or, in other words, that they can be satisfactorily accounted for without reference to spiritual agency. Wliy do not those who have " discovered" so many times how these things are done, claim this reward ? The liow of the thing has been discovered many times, if we ean believe all we see reported in the papers. See New York Tribune, of Jan. 24, 1853. 242 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. knowledge, so much the better. It will require so much the less labor to find them out. But, it is evident enough how mortals are puzzled with these things. Witness how much has been written upon them to show the cause, how they are done. And yet, the name has not been found, if it be not spirits. 'One after another writes a book, or an article for the papers — " it is" — " it is"—" it is" — " something," " but I don't know what 1" And editors review these books, and pro- fess to be very much interested and enlightened. It would, perhaps, be bordering upon the cruel to deny our fellow mor- tals the privilege of settling upon "something." They know very well " something" has come to pass, something very strange, very much out of the common way of things. They as well as we, must account for it in some way. So one calls it by one name, and another by another name. But why not let it name itself? We do not know what it is ; and, as long as we cannot account for it by any laws that come within our knowledge, why not let the subject explain itself? I put the question to all the branches of natural science with which mor- tals have any knowledge ; and ask what is it 1 The answer is, we do not know. Again, I put the question to this myste- rious something, itself, and ask, whol or what are you? And the answer comes back, sufficiently distinct and explicit — " We are spirits out of the human body." Hence it is in these remarks I use the term " spirits," because it is the most convenient, and also, because I do not know what else it can be. Until we know what it is, this word is as good as any other ; and, as none of us really know what it is, it may be spirits, after all. I am aware, that some, who do not seem to have had a very large experience, assume to know all about spirits. But, for myself, I do not know what a spirit is. I do not know what that other world is. I was never there. But, in admitting this much in respect to the spirituality of the cause of these strange things, I am reminded of that very large class of sectarians who believe or who attempt to do so, that the whole is the work of necromancy or the devil ! Well, perhaps it is, who knows so well as those who have the most to do with his satanic majesty. The clergy believe in the devil, they preach him, or stoutly affirm his real personal ex- istence in their sermons ; indeed, they make as much of him almost as they do of God. But as I never saw the devil, and never having found any evidence of his personal identity, I cannot, of course, admit of this summary disposition, of the matter ; there are conclusive reasons against it : — 1. It has not yet been proved that there is, or ever was, or ever will be any such devil as is alleged in this objection. His existence is not provided for ia any one of the kingdom^ THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 243 of the universe ; no laws of nature develop such a being ; man has no wants, natural, spiritual, to be thus provided for. Hence I must conclude that this idea of a personal devil is a figment of human fear and ignorance, a term suggested by the evils and discords peculiar to the race. There is, indeed, one necessity for the existence of the devil, and that necessity I must believe to be the veritable cause of his being. That necessity is the ignorance of the race. Here it was, un- doubtedly, that all the devil there is, had his origin, and hence it is, that this same old devil, dies out of the faith and the minds of men precisely as fast as they become developed and informed in respect to nature's laws. 2. There is no evidence sufficient to prove that these things could be done by the devil, even if we were to admit his per- sonal existence. 3. This is an objection made by those not familiar with all the facts in the case. Those who have investigated this sub- ject the longest, and who know the most about it, take a dif- ferent view of it altogether. And, how then, are we to ac- count for it that those who have scarcely investigated it at all, are so very ready to bring the devil into the account ? Is it not an unfavorable sign when mortals seem to be so very familiar with the devil, when they are so ready to see him in whatever may occur? "The devil is always near when you are thinking about him." And shall we not infer from this proverb, that he is very near those clergymen and others who are so ready to call in the devil for the purpose of accounting for that which they cannot comprehend 1 Would it not be a better view to suppose God himself does these things'? And that they are " a part of His ways?" Does He not govern the universe? Can a straw fall to the ground without His notice 1 Why, then, are we so slow to perceive the benevolent design of our Heavenly Father, in thus arresting the attention of His children, and in a manner which induces them to inves- tigate the laws which appertain to the higher life, an immortal state of being 1 Sugge$tion§. 216. Perhaps the reader may now be willing to hear a few suggestions, which seem appropriate upon the threshold of this subject. They may assist his mind as they have my own ; — Not Ephemeral. 217. 1. That it is not unreasonable to suppose, that these manifestations are neither ephemeral nor accidental, any more than the development of the human race can be said to have been so. The race has resulted from the infinite DEsmiJ of 244 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. the Great Harmonia. And so have the same laws of eternal progression brought the race out of the external, or physical, into the spiritual. These laws have brought the race to the discovery of the magnetic telegraph, and to the process of daguerreotyping. They have developed, in fact, all that is now known of nature, physical, animal, spiritual, and divine. 2. That these " manifestations" correspond with all of nature's other developments, especially in their beginning and progression. The first communications are imperfect and fragmentary when compared with those which follow. And nature's developments, always correspond with the wants of the human race, with the mediums through which they reach us ; with their sources, or the spheres, whence her communica- tions are received. Grade of Spirits — whence they come. 218. 3. That communications from the spirits to this ex- ternal world, can come only from that class of spirits who, so to speak, are the least spiritual, or the nearest to the external ; and those mortals are media who most approximate to this class of spirits. The analogy of reason teaches, that in just so far as a spirit is spiritual it is removed from this external world ; and hence, the lower or coarser the spirit, the nearer it is to man's external senses, and the more easy it may be to communicate through mortals, by using their organs of speech, or moving their hands to write. Correspondence in God'^s Works. 219. 4. It is worthy of notice that mortals should express surprise when they find that all of God's laws and works per- fectly correspond. In childhood we form ideas of things which we believe appertain to manhood, and then when we reach manhood we are surprised and disappointed to find things al- together different from what we had imagined. Thus the traveller reads descriptions of distant countries, which give him an ardent desire to see them. But on reaching the places about which he had read so much, he does not find things pre- cisely as he anticipated. Many things he expected to see he does not find in existence at all ; and other things which had been painted to his imagination he finds so very different from what he expected, that he can scarcely believe that he has indeed reached the land about which he had read and thought so much. Now, if it be difficult to obtain correct views of foreign countries, of whose language we have knowledge, and whose inhabitants we may have seen, may we not well suppose it more so for mortals to Obtain accurate views of that world, SPIRITS. 245 which is so high, so much above the one we inhabit, that " the eye hath not seen it, neither hath the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive" what its peculiari- ties are 1 Contradictions admitted. 220. 5. Suppose that those who have had the best op- portunities for testing what purports to have come from the world of spirits, are ready, if need be, to admit most of the complaints made as to the discord in the spiritual communica- tions. The solution of this difficulty may be found in the suggestion already made. Communications from the lowest grade in the world, above us, must necessarily be fragmentary and imperfect, though they may be the best and the highest which can be given by the spirits nearest to this earth. In judging, therefore, of alleged communications from the spiritual world, it is obviously the safest course to look at them as a whole, to contemplate them all together. They* may come from a sphere we have not yet entered, and of whose exist- ence the great majority of mortals, up to this time, have doubted. What man most needs, therefore, is the conviction of his IMMORTALITY. He waiits to be made conscious of " an hereafter," and to know his true destiny. And the first thing demonstrated by these " manifestations," admitting them to come from spirits, is this great fact, that all human beings, passing through death, live for ever ! This stupendous truth has not yet taken sufficient hold upon the affections of mortals. No previous " revelations," to Jews or Gentiles, no " visions" of ancient or modern " seers," were sufficient to attract the attention of an external skeptical world. But now, whether there be any spiritual world or not, one fact is quite manifest : these so-called spiritual manifestations have brought more of the human family to a firm belief in such a world, than were ever brought to such a belief before, in the same space of time. Their Use. 221. 6. Here, then, we might rest, but we go further, and affirm that these manifestations not only harmonize perfectly, with the great design of God, in their production, but they do also harmonise, when in themselves considered as a whole, hx more than the theological sects do in this world. Thus : — The discrepancies in spiritual communications agree in demonstrating that about man's future condition, which the theological sects themselves are not agreed, either in believing or teaching. As, for instance, these sects affirm and deny the same things in regard to man, and his state after death. One 246 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. says the spirit is annihilated ! Another says death is such a change as makes man essentially different, immediately after death, in his moral character, from what he was before. An- other sect affirms that death renders a part of the human race worse off, eternally, than they were when in this life ! And most of the sects teach thai a man's love may be changed in a moment of time — that is, a man may steal, or commit murder, from the love of it, and the next moment, that murderer may kneel down, pray, repent, believe in Jesus Christ, and rise up from his knees "justified," and as innocent as if he had. never sinned ! We refer to these views here, because they are such as the sects themselves have always disagreed and disputed about. And now it is clearly manifest that if there be discord in the communications made from the spiritual world, these very discords settle one or all of these questions in respect to man and his condition after death. For while the spirits, taken together, do not endorse -either of the sects, as such, nor their peculiar theological dogmas ; yet their discordant " manifesta- tions" do unite in testifying that man's condition after death, (though on the whole better, as he inhabits a better sphere,) may be inferred from his love or life in this world. Tlie £xterMal, not tbe Real. 222. We have seen (34, 35) that in no one of the king- doms of the universe is the external the real, or truthful. The external is the superficial, the imperfect, where we find discord and error. The external man is not the real ; and so we say the externals of all things are not the most essential, and cannot be. Reasoning from analogy, then, which is the highest authority we know of in this matter, manifestations made from the spiritual world to the external, must be the lowest and most imperfect. The external is not to be de- pended upon — never. We do not rest in philosophy, and es- pecially in spiritual science, upon the external. We must as- cend higher. We must penetrate deeper to find the real truth. Those, therefore, that look no farther than the external — who depend upon the mere appearances of the phenomena that occur, must fail, and be deceived, more or less. On this subject I find the truth has been so appropriately expressed by another, that I conclude it will be a favor to my readers to avail myself of what he has said upon it : — " We hear it said that ' Truth is immortal and changes not, and that error is mortal and cannot live ;' which, no doubt, in one sense, is an axiom well founded and true ; but, as ordina- rily understood, I conceive it to be highly questionable. Doubtless, it is true of what are denominated the exact SPIRITS. 247 sciences, or those sciences which are founded upon quantity and number — such, for instance, as arithmetic, goemetry, mensuration, and the mathematical sciences. Twice two are four. The two angles of a triangle are equal to one right an- gle, and the sum of the squares of the base and perpendicular, is equal to the square of the hypothenuse, which are truths to all eternity. But, in the moral sciences, or those science^ which depend upon experience, induction and ratiocination, truths are only apparent, and eternally progress with the state of love and intelligence of the percipient and rational agent. Permanency, quiescency, or fixedness, is no part of their na- ture. Under the law of progression, they are ever changing with the ever changing universe, from lower truths to higher, as human spirits develop, and are more and more fitted to per- ceive, understand, and love them. There is no such thing as quiescency, or a state of absolute rest, in all the universe of God. No inertia, but only life and activity. Quiescency, vacuum, nothing, &c. &c., are absurd and ridiculous notions, and the truth is, when we come to look narrowly at them, we have no such ideas. They imply an absolute conception which we have not got, noy in fact, cannot have. " None but God sees things as they truly are in their in- mosts, because He is properly in the inmost of all things, and of course sees them in all their degrees of development or ex- istence, as they really are. To His perception they are not represented or appear to be such and such, and so and so, ac- cordingly as He views them this way or that way, or in this state or that state, but seeing them in the inmost, and from the inmost, sees and knows them as they essentially, abso- lutely, and truly are in themselves. But the perceptive un- derstanding, or spiritual vision of man, never passes beyond, or deeper than, the representative or apparent. To him all things appear, or are represented according to his state of life and intelligence, or according to his degree of develop- ment ; and this is not only so in this material or rudimental sphere, but strikingly so in the spiritual spheres, where those representatives or appearances relate to, and more directly depend upon, the specific quality of the recipient spirit. There every thing that can be seen or felt by him is in exact corres- pondence with his affections, and his degree of intelligence from those affections. Hence all things, from the lowest to the highest throughout the material, spiritual and celestial spheres, are to him but appearances, representatives, or im- ages and likenesses, each in its degree of the Divine Inmost of all things. " First consider appearances in the sensational world, and here we find all things illusive or only apparent. Philoso- 248 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. phers have called those illusive appearances the 'fallacy of sense,' and have fully and clearly shown how, by reason and experience, we learn to, or do, instinctively correct them ; but have never satisfactorily explained the reason or use of those ' fallacies of sense,' which, to the spiritually minded investiga- tor, is seen as part of the spiritual arrangement *of God's most glorious economy of the universe ! It is an illusion or mere appearance that we see distance — we see only the colors, out- lines, lights and shadows of things, and were we to open our eyes for the first time, all things would appear equally near to them, and, like the infant, we should stretch out our hands to grasp the moon or stars ; and this appearance is, without experience and reason, complete and perfect. But by obser- vation, experience and reason, we learn to correct this ap- pearance by the still higher one of perceiving distances and spaces, which, in their turn, are only appearances or repre- sentatives of the state of the spirit in the spiritual spheres — one spirit being distant from another spirit just in the degree their several qualities or states diifer. in like manner is it with the sense of sound. Were our ears opened for the first time, all sounds would be perceived as equally near them, dif- fering only in degree of loudness, &c,, and would be heard close at them, if not in our head. But experience and reason teaches us to locate sound, and we do so every day and hour, as we measure distance every day, hour and minute with the eye. So with our sense of smell ; we learn only by experi- ence and reason, to refer the fragrance of the rose to its pro- per object, &c. And so of our other senses. Thus, in the sensational kingdom, all is illusion or appearance. The sun appears to be but a little distance up in the heavens, and to rise in the east, and go down beyond the hills, or sink in the ocean of the west ; the stars to be only sparks of fire ; the street to form an angle, and close up at the end ; a straight river to flow and form a circle round you, &c. &c. &c. Moreover, if we alter the power or quality of our sensa- tional perceptions, we change the appearance of all material nature. Witness the microscope or telescope, the ear-trum- pet, &c. Thus all things appear to us according to the state of our senses, the law of things here in this kingdom being to appear to our senses according to their states, as it is the law of things in the moral and spiritual kingdoms to appear to us according to our receptive capacities, or the state of our moral and spiritual organisms. Not that the things and ob- jects of the material world do not really and substantially ex- ist, but that the manner and use of their existence only ap- pear to us, this way or that way, and for this purpose or that, according to our state, sensational, intelligent and affectional. SPIRITS. 249 To us God works by illusions, appearances or representa- tive ; it is only an appearance that the candle burns of itself: it is only an appearance that the light of the diamond ^s its own; it is only an appearance that the tree grows of itself; it is only an appearance that the beauty of the flower is its own ; it is only an appearance that the eye sees of itself — that the stomach digests of itself, &c. &c. Moreover, it is only an appearance that I exist of myself ; that I love and hate, that I think, reflect, and will of myself. Swedenborg calls those ' real appearances,' by which is meant, not that I do not exist, will, love, hate, think and reflect, but that the appear- ance consists in my doing so, of and from myself ; not that the sun don't shine, the tree grow, the eye see, the stomach digest, &c., but that they appear to do so of themselves. The light of the diamond is not its own, neither is the light and heat of the sun its own, but only apparently so, yet derived from still higher and higher sources ; and as we progress from one state to another, and from one sphere to another, we come into view of the higher appearances or truths, and see that the light and heat of the material sun is not its own, but derived from the spiritual sun, &c. &c. &c. In the scientific world, the same great law of appearances, or apparent truths, prevail ; sciences perfecting and advancing as the perceiving, knowing and investigating agent progresses. To illustrate my meaning more clearly, let me instance in a single science, astronomy : — In the early ages of the world its rude astronomers believed that the earth was flat, that the sky was concave as it appears, and that the suns, (every day having a new sun,) were no larger than their heads! To them these were apparent truths, and from their learning and experience and observation, or their state of development, they were the highest truths they were receptive of. They believed them as complacently and implicitly as we now believe Herschel's system of astronomy, and to them they were true. In succeeding ages, when more extended obser- vation and experience had further developed the human mind, the astronomers got above this appearance, and believed that the earth was rotund and stationary, and that the sun revolved in an orbit around it ; which, in its turn, was the highest truth they were capable of, and was consequently true to them ; and, indeed, what greater appearances in nature are there than these 1 But when the human mind was still fur- ther developed, the astronomers of still succeeding times de- monstrated that the sun was stationary, and that it was the earth that revolved around it, &c., which was an apparent truth of still higher order, and was true to Newton and the astronomers of his time — an apparent truth which addressed 11* 250 SOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. itself to their receptive capacities. But lastly, the advanced astronomers of a period still later, have demonstrated the still higher apparent truth, of not only the sun and the solar sys- tem, but the whole astral system being translated in space toward or around some still vaster centre ! But is this latter discovery an absolute truth 1 Rather, is it not an apparent truth of a still more exalted nature 1 Now, what is thus true of astronomy, is also true of all other sciences, of all philo- sophy, theology, and religion : or of all the moral sciences as contradistinguished to the exact sciences. Look at theology ! Every man sees God according to his state of affection and thought. The malignant and revengeful man sees Him as an angry and vindictive God. The oppressor and persecutor sees and fears Him as a tyrant. The jealous and envious man, as a jealous and envious God. The proud and vain man, as a proud God, flattered with praise, adulation and servility The benevolent and kind man, as a good and merciful God ; and- the man of universal love, as a God of universal love, peace and harmony. And has not our ideas of the Divinity perfected, as we have perfected, steadily and unfailingly through all past ages 1 Still appearing to our spiritual percep- tions, more a man perfect and glorious — more good and wise, as we become regenerated, purified and exalted 1 And look at the social sciences ! Do they not perfect as our confrater- nal and social natures develop '? Constantly carrying us for- ward to higher truths, and more perfect systems of social order? The man sees things in a very dift'erent light from that in which the child sees them, and things appear to the philosopher in a vastly different way from what they appear to the rude and illiterate countryman. To the child the sun only appears a ball of fire, and the stars sparks, while the astro- nomer looks upon them as other planets and systems. To the refined taste of the connoisseur, the statue of the " Greek slave," is a model of symmetry, perfection, and beauty, while to the Cherokee or Choctaw, whose sublimest conceptions of human perfection, centres in '' Me big Ingen," it is con- temptible, deformed, and homely. They see or receive truth in different degrees, according to their development. All things thus appear to us just as we are fitted for, and capable of seeing and understanding them ; and abolish these apparent truths, in which created intelligences always have been, and always will be, and you not only abolish ' eternal progression,' but, to man, you abolish the symbolical or representative uni- verse. Man being, himself, only an ' image and likeness' of the Absolute, can perceive and apprehend only apparent truths. In the endless history of his existence, he is never out of or beyond; appearances, according to his state. They SPIRITS. 251 are a necessary condition of his being-, and all the universe to him. The ' real reality- alone is the Jnmost, which is God ; and even of Him we "have no absolute conception. Finite intelligences are ever in apparent truths ; and the ' all of things' is thus a universe of types and shadows, (to us real and substantial,) symbolizing the Deity as a universal universe of ' images and likenesses of God !' " In the spheres beyond external nature, these appearance? or representatives, according to the state of the spirit, take on a seven-fold more representative character. All things there being arranged in correspondence with the qualities of the angels. Here things, being material outbirths of spiritual principles, have a certain fixedness of character and perma- nency of existence, although when seen by us, they are modi- fied, enlarged, contracted, adapted, or accommodated to the capacity and quality of our sensational perceptions, and studied ;ind understood according to our degree of science and philo- sophy — while, in the spiritual spheres, the things seen and felt are, and cannot but be, in exact correspondence with the intelligence and love of the angels. Let me illustrate this by an example. Time as well as space, paradoxical as it may seem, are appearances, and actually and truly, or inmostly, there are no such things. Time represents states of life ; and space, the changes, or the difference between those states. In the spiritual world, time is viholly an appearance, accord- ing to the state ; and space wholly in appearance, according to the changes of, or difference between those states. We see that time, even here, is long or short, according to our states. With the lover awaiting the nuptial hour, minutes appear to be hours, and hours days ; while with the convict about to be executed, days appear to be hours, and hours minutes. To the profligate heir, the gray-headed ancestor appears to lengthen out his years far beyond the ordinary time ; whereas, was be now enjoying an estate dependent upon the ancestor's life, he would appear to die prematurely, &c. Thus the state of the spirit determines time, which is but an appearance from it. In the spiritual world, time appears thus long or short in precise correspondence with the states of the spirits, and there is no other admeasurement of it ; but in the material world, the fixedness and periodicity of things, serve as criteria of ad- measurement, and we are accustomed to refer to this external standard of time, instead of the internal one of state, from whence the appearance of time comes. In like manner with all things. The whole spiritual kingdoms are constituted of, governed, and controlled by those representative appearances. The evil spirit views around him, and dwells in the midst of infernal scenery, habitations, cities, ugly beasts and birds, 252 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. owls, bats, snakes, crocodiles, &c., with a sterile and poi- sonous earth, and a gloomy, dark, and threatening sky, the correspondents of his evil affections, lusts, and concupiscences, and his false thoughts. They are the legitimate outbirths, or offspring of his own evils and errors, and though they appear to him actual and substantial, objective realities, yet they are really and truly subjective — dependent for their very life and existence upon his interiorly evil state. His own diabolic universe is around him, and he dwells in the specific hell of his own ruling evil affection ! There are around him rank and baneful vegetation — dark and doleful caverns, that lead down to lower depths of perdition — lakes of fire and brimstone — sunless chasms — ' regions of sorrow, doleful shades' — mud cities and filthy dwellings, &c. &c., his own spiritual crea- tions ! — there are ' dogs and sorcerers, whoremongers, liars,' &c., and with this evil state he can no more enter heaven, than a 'camel can go through the eye of a needle.' But the good spirit dwells in the Eden of his own re- generated affections, and has around him all that is corres- pondently beautiful, sublime, holy, and pure. If a spiritual angel, (or those whose ruling affection is the love of intelli- gence,) he sees in the pure, white, silvery light of Divine Truth, indescribably magnificent and lovely scenery — a Ceru- lean sky, and a Sicilian earth — palaces of jasper and crystal, with portals of silver, of the most superb and transcendent architec- ture, and glorious and effulgent with the bright light of truth — ever blooming gardens of intelligence, vocal with the songs of spiritual love — ever-gushing fountains of pure and crystal water — groves of palms, magnolia, and oak — doves, eagles, birds of paradise, and all the good, gentle, strong, and useful animals ; and his life and delight consists in the untiring per- formance of all spiritual uses to his fellow-angels and to man, by which, and in which, he is ever hastening on to still new and higher uses and delights ! And if a celestial or inmost angel, (or those whose ruling affection is the good of love,) he sees in the flame-colored and golden light of Divine Love, which pervades the celestial heavens with a holy warmth, the roseate beauties of a living scenery — an auroral sky and vital earth — oval palaces of sapphire and ruby, with portals of gold of a living architecture, and glowing with the steady, calm, holy, and golden light of Divine Love — flowers exhaling the pure loves of the celestials, and smiling with a joyous in- nocence in the vital aura — groves of olive and poplar, and fountains flowing for ever with the " water of life." But those beauties and transports which " eye hath not seen, ear heard, or heart of man conceived," fall far short of the beauty, ^nd perfection, and glory, of the human form and character of SPIRITS. 253 the angels there. The innocence and beauty of infancy there unite with the wisdom of age in the perpetual flower of youth, and their beauty such as few mortals here are worthy to unite. It is given to those " pure in heart" to see God.* Now, it is in the light of these truths that we must examine the question in respect to the external works of spirits ; tiie attempts of disembodied spirits to get back again into the external. What must be the "grade of such spirits "? How near must they be to the external world in order to obsess and possess]; it, to control the bodies of mortals'? Must they not be on a low plane in the spiritual to come in contact with the external body at all, and lower still when they take posses- sion of the external body, the external hand, the external organs of speech, and remain there as they do in all cases of the writing, speaking mediums. When a mortal who is low in his organization wishes to gain possession of the mind or the body of another who may even be above him, he addresses himself to the lower nature, or to those higher organs, that are accessible to him. He addresses the higher organs for effect, in order to carry out his wishes. Now, all mortals have an interior, a higher nature, which must be accessible to all the intelligences of the other sphere who are high, truthful, and good. This order of spirits would not come into the external if they could, and there is no neces- sity for it, because man's higher or interior nature is open to them. Hence, when they are attracted they speak to the higher nature always, and never to the lower. And thus we perceive the use that is to follow in these lower manifestations. Mortals perceive from them the great fact of a spiritual world, and the necessity of becoming inherently good, of loving good- ness for its own sake, and loving truth, for truth's sake, indeed, that they may thus be receptive of spiritual influences from above, which shall flow into their inmost or higher nature. This dependence upon the external, this consulting the external, and relying upon it for advice, for direction and coun- sel, in matters of faith, is the great error of the external * W. S. Courtney, Esq., Spirit World, Vol. 3, No. 5. + These terms may be .said to be nearly synonymous. They both come from sedeo, to sit ; as from this act is signified occupaney-j pos- session. Obsession has been used to signify the first act by which spirits besiege mortals ; and possession, the state of the case after the physical or nervous system is yielded up to the control of another dis- embodied spirit. They may signify, when speaking of spirits, what PaifAeJ^ism signifies when speaking of human beings ; as it seems mani- fest that spirits may be, and often are obsessed or possessed, controlled by mortals, as often, perhaps, as that the latter are possessed and con- trolled by the former. 254: BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. world. It is the stumbling- block of infidelity, the chief im- pediment in the way of spiritual or mental culture. We cannot dispense with the external, because it is of use, though of a lower grade ; we cannot divide what God hath joined together. Hence, it becomes our duty to examine all phenomena, all causes that phenomenize or externalize themselves. But their coming out into the external is to make us acquainted with the internal whence they come. Such are the analogies of reason which direct us what to do with external spiritual manifesta- tions now under consideration. Cliaracteristic ]>«tails. 223. In the detail of facts connected with this subject, three methods are presented for choice. I must either undertake the description of all that I have witnessed, which would fill a volume of itself, and much of it mere repetition, or I must g-ive the results merely, without describing the processes by which they were arrived at ; or, what will perhaps be, on the whole, the most acceptable to my readers, if I select the most important facts, or those which seem to me to be so — those which are really characteristic of the whole subject, and classify these under their appropriate heads. We want all the facts, and want to see them in the order, precisely, as they occurred. Those facts are the most important which are cha- racteristic of the entire subject. If the phenomena occur in difl^erent localities, in different families, and we find them modified or aflfected by the views and feelings of mortals among whom they occur ; if in some features they are con- trolled by certain external circumstances, and in others they are not ; it ^s desirable to know in what respects they all agree, because, if in one or more of their principles, elements or methods, we find they do all agree, then it becomes more easy to arrange them so as to deduce the laws by which they must directly or remotely be originated. TESTS OF CONGENIALITY. 224. It is found to be an indispensable condition in all the external works of departed spirits, that it must be done by the assistance of a congenial human associate,^ who must be pre- sent at the time ; or, they must be done through a medium^ who acts and speaks for the spirit. But very few spiritual * Though there seem to be some reasons for the discrimination here made, I may nevertheless use these terms synonymously. The "associate" is not so much possessed and under the control of spirits as the passive medium. SPIRITS. 255 manifestations have ever been known w^here these conditions of association or mediamship were not observable. Without a congenial associate, or mediam, nothing can be done. With- out the telescope we cannot see the distant planets ; without a window, the light does not shine into your dwelling. And as the spirit selects a mortal for a medium who is congenial with the spirit, so it follows — that no other mortal can receive communications or responses through that medium who is not also congenial, or thought to be so, with him. You must be more or less congenial with the medium, for congeniality with him, is love for the spirit who responds through him. And corresponding with this congeniality will be the freeness of the responses made to you, and vice versa. I attend a sitting with the medium A., with whom I am congenial, and through A. I get " beautiful responses." But I attend a sitting with B., with whom I am not congenial, and I can get no responses at all, or if they do come, they will be very faint and con- tradictory. My " guardian spirit," therefore, is not the same spirit when speaking to me through B., that he is when ad- dressing me through A. Let us now attend a sitting with A. The circle is harmo- nious, and all things proceed pleasantly. The sounds are made freely, physical bodies are moved, and what are called " tests," are spelled out. But, just now, one of the circle evinces a desire to look under the table, or to watch the me- dium's feet. The sounds stop in a moment. After a while, the sounds commence again, feebly, when another of the cir- cle removes the cloth from the table, under or on which they seemed to be made. All is silent again. The spirit will not brook suspicion, not even of the associate or medium, and much less of itself. The sitting with A. is now progressing again. The manifestations are quite satisfactory, when there enters the room a person who is not at all agreeable. He has expressed an unfavorable opinion of the medium. The sounds stop. The spirits are urged to proceed, but they refuse ; till finally, perhaps, it is spelled out to this effect—" that man must leave the room," and so he has to go. Congeniality, therefore, with the medium, not only implies confidence, love, and sympathetic views and feelings, but the nearer the temperaments are alike, the better. That is, if the spectator is very much like the medium in his temperament or disposition, he will receive much more satisfactory answers. Because, always, when the medium is said to be " perfectly developed," in such cases the spirit will tell nearly or quite all that the medium knows or believes to be true ; and when the spectator is like the medium, the spirit who associates with 256 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. the medium can do the same for the spectator which it does for the medium to whom it is more directly attached. On this principle of congeniality, circles are or should be formed ; and in some localities it is carried so far as to ad- mit no person to the sitting who is not designated by the me- dium, or which is the same, by the medium's associate spirit. In such cases, no stranger can be present, no matter how much of a believer he may be in spiritual manifestations. I have attended scores of sittings where the spectator would, by pressing his tests, repel, what purported to be his guardian spirit, some near and dear relative. Anon, he goes to another medium, and he gets responses freely — all is right. But he goes back to the first medium, the offence is remem- bered, and he.is chided by this same "guardian spirit" for being so repulsive. And if a company of the merest rowdies, (all alike,) com- pose the circle, and are not offensive to the medium, they get responses freely. I was once present where some of this class composed the circle, which was surrendered to them for the time being. They called for the spirit of a companion who had been executed for burglary only a few weeks before ! The sounds were made freely to them, and they had a jolly time of it. This case is referred to, to show what is meant by congeniality. Had some pious deacon entered that circle, and c hedged the mirth of those men, the spirits would have been offended of course, and refused to proceed. TESTS OF KNOWLEDGE. 225. I do not speak of intelligence, but of that actual know- ledge which spirits manifest in this manner of this external world. Of their intelligence we speak hereafter. One may be a very intelligent personage, and yet have but little actual knowledge of any given subject. That there are certain de- grees of knowledge of this external world in these manifesta- tions, is one of the first facts that arrests the attention of all who witness them. But as to the nature and the extent of the knowledge either of this world or any other, which is evinced by the spirits, it is not so easy to decide. At least spiritualists are much divided on this subject, some ascribing to the spirits high degrees of intelligence, even bordering on omniscience, and others unwilling to admit that they know much even of any thing at all. At first most of the receivers of these things seemed to take it for granted that a disembod- ied spirit must necessarily be very wise. Questions were put to them in respect to Theology, past, present and future ; Philosophy and Science, this world and the next, God, heaven SPIRITS. 257 and hell. But the answers soon proved to be contradictory, puerile, and unsatisfactory, which very much lessened the re- liance which mediums and their friends put upon such testi- mony. Without knowing what grade of spiritual intelligences approximated near enough to this earth, to be able to give an- swers at all, it was taken for granted that any questions on Astronomy, Mathematics, or Geology, might be appropriately put and truthfully answered. However, a more enlarged ex- perience in these things has taught mortals, that an invisible, apocryphal spirit is not the most reliable source for informa- tion, perhaps, on any subject. All the tests of knowledge of this world which have ever come within my own personal observation, put with all the well authenticated cases I have seen published — all of them, without exception, partake of the following characteristic traits : — Sympathic. 226. In no case have I witnessed, nor have I ever heard of any very reliable details of what I should call independent knowledge, that is, knowledge either of this external, or of the spiritual world, as much above the human, as cases of what we call independent clairvoyance. It may be said to be the general rule, that no knowledge is evinced, or but very little, except what is from sympathy either with the medium or some other congenial person. What the medium either knows or believes to be true, whether it be so or not. Thus : — two gentlemen attended a sitting, when I was pre- sent, whom we will call Z, and G. One of them, Mr. G. wrote his name in a book that was kept by the medium for that purpose. They were both entire strangers to the medium. The next day, Mr. Z. came alone ; and on asking his " guar- dian spirit" to tell him his name, the spirit spelled out the name of his friend Mr. G., and did not know his own name ! In a casual conversation which was overheard by the me- dium, C. who was a stranger to me, she misunderstood me to call my " guardian spirit," by the name of E. Whereas it was her misapprehension of what I said, as I have no know- ledge of any such guardianship. The next evening, I at- tended a sitting with C, and had a series of responses from " E.," every word of which was false. I was about to visit a noted medium in Providence, R. I. Before leaving home, I said to my " guardian spirits," (three in number) will you go with me, and attend a sitting with Mr. M. " Yes." So it was agreed that they should go with me, attend with me, and notice all that was said and done. I arrived at Providence, and went to Mr. M.'s door precisely at 258 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. 9 A.M., as I examined my watch, particularly. On seeinjr the lady of the house, a sitting was agreed upon, at 1 o'clock P.M. At the appointed time I was present. The "sounds" were made very loud indeed, purporting- to come from Dr. Franklin, addressed to the medium ; for Dr. Franklin was the medium's associate spirit. I asked permission to converse, which was granted. Dr. Franklin said a relation of mine was present, who would converse with me. I put a dozen ques- tions, every one of which were answered incorrectly. Then I addressed myself to Dr. Franklin, and asked, " Are you the spirit that once dwelt in that external body, which mortals called Dr. B. Franklin?" The answer was "no."' Then I asked again, please to tell me, as I want to know the truth, did you make all these responses tome just now., purporting to come from my relative"? Answer, "ye^." Well, on my return home, I met a friend in the cars to whom I narrated the circumstances of this sitting, as I have here. This is worthy of notice, because, if my " guardian spirits" were not present at the sitting, but were present in the cars with me and my congenial friend, they would, of course, hear my account of what had occurred. After giving him these details, he said to me, I have just been at your house, and had a sitting with E., but we could not get any responses, as we supposed the spirits were with you. The guardian spirits of E., purported to be mine, also, who promised they would go with me to Providence. On returning I sat down with the medium E., and called on my guardian spirits to tell me what had occurred. They could not tell me a word ; not the hour when I called on Mr. M., nor the time when I had the sitting, nor what occurred there, not one word. But, I said, jokingly, to E., "you had a sitting while I was gone, and could not get any sounds." " O, yes" replied E., " because, mother, (the spirit) was with you ! I know the spirits must have told you that I had a sitting." I did not inform her that I had seen my friend H. in the cars, who gave me that information. So, after urging and trying to get some account of my visit, for a day or more, and, finding I could not, I said to the spirit, " Will you tell me how I knew that E. had a sitting yesterday and could not get any sounds V The reply was " yes, the spirits told you !" Was not this sympathetic knowledge J The spirit had no knowledge of what actually took place, but it had a knowledge of the medium's mind, and sympathised with it. In passing along one of the streets of Boston, on my way to a sitting with a good medium, Mrs. P., my attention was deeply interested with the condition of a little colored boy whom I found weeping in the street. I stopt some time with SPIRITS. 259 him, conversing and striving to comfort him. I pitied him, as his case affected my love of children very much indeed. On reaching the medium, one purporting to be my guardian spirit, responded by the sounds, when the following dialogue ensued : Q. Did you come down here with me 1 A. Yes. Q. Did any thing in particular interest me on the way ? — (I came through the common. This was known to the medium.) A. Yes. Q, Will you be kind enough to tell me what it was ? And when I put this question my mind was upon the poor little boy whom I had left crying. A. Yes. — Spelled out — the green grass, and the trees, on the common. In each of these cases, it was manifest to me, that my *' guardian spirit," so called, was, in fact, the associate spirit of those mediums. One great complaint made of this subject has been based on this fact, that so generally, so nearly always, if a mortal calls for a fictitious spirit he will receive an answer, and in this way any amount of falsehoods have been communicated. Call for any one you please (of your relations, living or dead) and you will be likely to get responses, if the medium is congenial and (^oes not know that you deceive in your questions. If the me- dium suspects deception, you will either get nothing, or a re- buke it may be. A good medium A, was visited by a widow lady who believed she had been defrauded of a large sum of money. Her uncle had declared before he died, that he sTiould make this widow his sole heir. When he died, his will bequeathed all his property to some one else. The niece, a poor afflicted woman, now calls on her spirit uncle, to knovr if he did ac- tually will that property to her or not. I heard the answers, they were to this effect : — " I made two wills. In the first, I gave the property to you. I always meant you should have it. But I cannot tell what I did with my first will, nor can I tell who wrote it, nor who witnessed it ; nor do I know what has be- come of it; nor do I know how I came to make a second will, and give my property to another." Here, too. was sympathy with the belief of that widow, but no knowledge of any thing above her own mind. My position here, is not that no knowledge is ever evinced by the spirit, except what can be traced to the laws of sympa- thy with the mind either of the medium or with some congenial person ; there may be now and then a case where we might not be able to trace any sympathy at all, with any mortal, or any facts, existing or known to mortals at the time. But such 260 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. cases are the exceptions, and they are very rare indeed. And even when they do occur, they do not reach above the power developed in good cases of independent clairvoyance. Very Limited. 227. The very ^reat desire I felt on first witnessing these phenomena to have them prove to be what they were taken for, that is, unmixed goodness and truth, made me extremely' unwilling to see and feel as I am now compelled to do, the meagre limits which do so evidently circumscribe the extent of the knowledge actually possessed by the spirits who thus address man's external senses. How many, many, very many times have I attended sittings where all appeared to be congenial and pleasant, and listened to the most feeling and urgent appeals for the most simple items of knowledge, and made all in vain of those who professed to be " guardian spirits." A young man came to a sitting and received a " most beautiful com- munication" from what purported to be his mother. He, at first put no tests, but allowed the spirit to spell out " a mes- sage" to the following effect : — " My dear son ! This is the spirit of your mother. She constantly watches over you for good. You must be a good boy. I am glad to see you here, and that you take an interest in these manifestations. Be careful of your health. Come here again." After which the following dialogue ensued : — Son. " Mother, will you tell me the disease you died of?" M. Hesitating a few moments, the answer was, " Yes." &. " Will you spell it ?" M. "No." . 2860, 2861. Now, if some of my readers fear I may have under-rated this feature of our subject, I ask them to assist me in dispos- ing of the following facts : — (1.) That, with two good mediums in my own family, through whom these manifestations have been made for years, and yet, through my own children I have never from first to last been able to get the first offer of a " rap" from my own adult relatives in the spiritual world ! There are about eight of them in all, and in this number is the spirit of a beloved sister, whose hand I held while she closed her eyes in death ; one tenderly loved, and over whose dying bed I watched with an affection which twenty-five years have hot been sufficient to lessen. Yes, that sister dear ! Why has she never come to me 1 Why, through my own dear children, whom I so much love ! Through those children I have seen multitudes of others comforted. There the brother has met what purported to be his spirit-sister ; the sister, her spirit- brother ; there, parents and children have seemed to mingle again their tears of sweetest joy. And often during this pe- riod have I asked for that sister beloved ] For that father 1 For that affectionate relative who gave my external name, and with paternal love fondled me on his knee, and called me his own, his darling boy ! Alas ! for me — no dear father, no sweet sister, no affectionate relative, tips the table, makes the raps, or spells out any heavenly messages, in the manner of which I have been speaking. How is this? And why is it? But observe :— SPIRITS. 275 (2.) Through any other medium except my own children, and especially in circles where I am not known, I get any amount of " raps" and responses from my adult relatives who are not in the spiritual world ! When the responses are given, and purport to come from my adult relatives who are dead, they are never accurate ; always, without one single excep- tion, they have contained falsehood enough to convince any person they were not the spirits they purported to be. But, as often as any way, the responses through strange mediums come to me from my friends who are not dead. And this evinces the ignorance of the spirit-medium, because it cannot be supposed that any spirit of a very tolerable degree of in- telligence or shrewdness, would risk so much in attempting to guess and conjecture whom it would do to personify, and how the different questions should be answered in order to give the most satisfaction. Now, the difficulty I have here described cannot be solved by supposing that my views of these things have repelled my own relations, when sitting with ray own children. I listened to these responses through them for years before I was driven to my present views ! When I began this inves- tigation, I believed, through my own children, the responses were what they purported to be. And now, if I have dif- ferent views, the spirits, or this whole subject, have forced those views upon me. My own opinion is, that the state of mind in which I have approached this subject has very much facilitated all my investigations, and I now have the acquisi- tion of important knowledge as the sweet reward of my la- bors. Tests of Intelligence. 234. Whatever there may be in these manifestations from spirits taken as a whole, whether " light," as it has been called, or darkness, or a mixture of both, it is for all. So it is said of the glorious sun ; it shines for all. But its rays do not reach all alike. On some they fall perpendicularly ; on others they fall obliquely ; and others, still, may live in places where its rays cannot reach them at all. The infinite God is the equal Father of all. And yet all do not equally recognize him as such. Some of his children are matured, and able to see the relation they hold to Him. Others are so little advanced from childhood, that they do not resemble the Father so much as those farther advanced. Whatever be done by any part of the spiritual world must be for the good of all. AH enter that world at death. And the vast majority enter it ere they are far advanced in this world as we know. Hence, whatever the divine Father may suffer 276 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. or order, directly or indirectly, any grade of that world to do, to or for this sphere, must be for the good of all human beings. Imperfect, contradictory, futile, and " worthless," some of those manifestations may seem to be to some of the children, yet they are from that world where we must all live ; and what they should signify it concerns us all to know. It is the appropriate work of true philosophy to examine this subject in all its different phases, whether it purport to come from " apostles" or " devils," for such are the per- sonages who, we are assured, are engaged in it. Thus, one mortal speaks of his conversations with " St. Paul," " St. John," " Solon," " Swedenborg," " Dr. Franklin," and others. Another speaks of the " Circle of Apostles and Prophets," in which are " Daniel," " St. Paul," " St. Luke," " St. John ;" and he writes poetry " dictated" by " Schiller" and " Samuel Wordsworth." And in the same circle, at Auburn, we are told that conversations had been held with " Lorenzo Dow," " President Madison," " The Cayuga Chief," and other digni- taries, ancient and modern, who have passed away from this earth Indeed, it would seem to be quite common for any and all classes of mortals, high or low, in respect to intelligence, to call on spirits, and who get answers with the " name" of "George Washington," "Lady Guion," " Zac. Taylor," " Richard Rush," " John Murray," " Thomas Paine," " Old Scratch," " Sam Slick," " Beelzebub," and even " Jesus Christ!" And the inference is legitimate and irresistible, even that if the spirits who have given us this new kind of literature, in the shape of books, lectures, &c., be what they purport to be, we must be highly favored indeed, by the "light" of their superior intelligence. Hence, we perform an act not merely of simple justice, when we test their intelligence, but we- do precisely as they themselves have directed. One of the very first communications made to me in this way, was in these words : " Judge us by our works." I have, already referred to the strange occurrences that took place in Stratford, Ct., in 1850.*' I have no doubt, what- ever, but the letters given belov/ were the entire work of spi- rits out of the human body. They were written without any human medium as far as we could ascertain. And I incline to the opinion that the manifestations at Mr. Phelps's house have come from discordant spirits, and are to be considered as the natural reflections of the theology of which Dr. Phelps has been and is one of the regularly authorized exponents. From a child, he has been a receiver, and for the last forty years, a ^ A, C. 2009. See, also,' 5614, 5648, 10,215, 5225, and 1434. SPIRITS. 277 teacher of those views of God, heaven, hell, and the devil, which constitute the Calvinistic creed of the old, dark, dis- cordant theology — a theology for which he speaks, when he says he believes these things are " to be set down as among the devices of Satan, by which he is promoting his work of destroying souls." To this judgment I have been conducted, step by step, not from an examination of Mr. Phelps's case alone. The mani- festations at his house, though in some respects, perhaps, ex- ceeding in the marvelous anything that ever was knov/n or witnessed before, yet they form but a small item in the great whole of similar things. To judge of them, therefore, accu- rately, we must reach, as it were, the centre of a circle, which includes God, nature, law, the universe, the whole heavens, and the doctrine of correspondences. Indeed, without this doctrine, we do not proceed at all in our attempts to compre- hend the world of " spirits," or the phenomena manifested from it. Spiritual Writings. 235. The first specimens of spirit writing connected with these modern spirit manifestations, as far as has come to my knowledge, were, some mysterious characters (addressed to the organs of marvelousness, as these things always are) scratched, apparently, by a blunt instrument, on a turnip, which was thrown against the window of Dr. Phelps's middle parlor, as if the design had been to throw it into or through the par- lar window. March 11, 1850, some of these characters were written on the pants of a lad in the family ; and, at another time, they were written on his blue silk handkerchief, and again on his cap with chalk. It has often been asked, whether any meaning could be drawn from these figures, or whether any explanation had been given of them? That these hieroglyphics were made by insane spirits, I do not doubt at all. Spirits that are above, in truth and goodness, would not, could not, attempt to communicate with those below in language which no one could understand. Dr. Phelps showed me some poetical translations made by Mr. A. J. Davis of some other hieroglypbical writing, which had been also thrown down by the discordant spirits in Mr. Phelps's house. They had sent the lad, who was a medium, away, in hopes thus to avoid the disturbances. Soon after, a paper was thrown down, by that unseen power, with some Hebrew and other characters upon it, a part of which Mr. Davis interpreted thus : — 278 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. " Fear not, when he returns — fear not, all danger now is o'er ; We came, we disturbed thy house, hut, shall no more j Believe us not evil, nor good, till we prove Our speech to humanity, our language of love. You may take this home. The explanation will, hereafter, come." But the sequel has proved, that if the spirits did really make the promise, as above interpreted, that they w^ould no more disturb the dwelling of Mr. P., they falsified, as we knou^ they have done in many other instances. Indeed, they have made but very few^ communications at Dr. Phelps's as to matters oifact, of which we have knowledge independent of them, but which have proved to be utterly false and frivolous. Here is a specimen of their frivolity. A paper was thrown down near Mrs. Phelps, while in her parlor with a number of ladies, having written upon it the following with a pencil. The paper was scratched as if the pencil was worn down to the point, which was the case with a pencil laying on the side- board near by : — " SiK, — Sir Sambo's compliments, and begs the laddy's to accept as a token of his esteem." A lady in Mr. Phelps's family had jocosely requested one of the spirits to write a letter for her, which she could send to her relative in Philadelphia. The spirit complied, and threw down in the presence of the family, only a few minutes after- wards, a piece of paper, which is now before me, and from which the following is transcribed. The writing was done with a pencil, and has certain peculiarities about it which were recognized at once by all the family : — "Dear Mary, — I have just time to write and tell you I am well. Give my love to Miss Kennedy and her uncle. Also Mrs. and Mr. Davis. Also to Sarah. Good bye. — H. P. Devil." The lady's name who requested this letter was " H. P.' Other papers have been similarly written upon, and signed " Sam Slick," and " Beelzebub." Sometimes papers were thrown down, signed with the names of persons, or a person, whom the family had known in Philadelphia, but who died some years since. Here is a specimen : — "If, if the Spirit purporting to be Abner Henry Benton. You can correspond with the two latter, at some future time. — Tho. Hewitt." The following was in pencil, like all the others, and seems to be written in the same hand. It is on a small piece of paper, and superscribed, " E. Phelps." " If you promise not to wri^e that I told you, I will not throw any- thing all this week, as a trial." I SPIRITS. 279 The above will be better understood, perhaps, when I state what Dr. Phelps, himself, related to me. He wrote a letter on business, containing, among other things, drafts for money, which he was about to mail for Philadelphia. On one page of his letter, he had made a remark about " the spirits," to the effect, that " if the disturbances did not cease, lie should re- move from that house." On returning from his dinner to the table where he had written and left the letter, he found that page containing the above allusion torn off and gone ! He asked " the spirits" what they had done with it, and they told him. He looked in the place designated by the spirits, and found that part of his letter torn up. And the spirits then sent him the above, desiring him " not to write" what is above given ! Indeed, Dr. Phelps assured me that he had often written letters which the spirits forbade his sending till they had read them, and they had repeatedly directed him where to put his letters, so that they (the spirits) could get them. Letters written hy Spirits. 236. The following are letters written by spirits, and thrown from the air in the presence of Dr. Phelps, or some of his family. It may seem too much for some of my readers to believe, but I have the same evidence to convince me that these letters were really written without human hands, that I have that the other occurrences took place in Stratford, re- ferred to elsewhere. These letters were thrown down from the air, July 28, 1850. They were both in the same style of writing, but bore the signatures of two different orthodox min- isters now living in Philadelphia. Nor can the reader fail to notice how strikingly the religious allusions in these letters tend to confirm the view I have suggested with regard to the true solution that is to be given of the spiritual manifestations at Stratford. They are the reflections of a discordant theo- logy, made by those spirits who owe their discord to that very theology with which their language and manifestations so evidently correspond. These letters, like many others, were addressed to Dr. Phelps. There are allusions which are much better under- stood by all who are acquainted with the parties referred to ; as, for instance, " St. Peter's" in the second letter, is a Pro- testant (Puseyite) church. " Dear Brother. — The Lord is dealing bountifully with his chosen people. Brother Barnes admitted to the church 49 last Sunday, and Brother Parker 34 to-day. Brother Converse has had the cholera ; and Brother Fairchild has grown so fleshy as scarcely to be recognized. Our friend Mr. Tarr has 280 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. buried his wife. She died of consumption. E. Tarr is married. Brother Mahn being suddenly inspired last Sunday, spoke so eloquently and so loud, and used such majestic action as to be quite done up for a while. He broke a blood vessel. Old Tiers has gone crazy, and is shut up in a mad-house, or rather a hospital. The Hewitts have gone into the country to spend some time. That is all the news. Your faithful brother in Christ, R. A." " Dear Brother. — The millennium truly is coming. The day of the Lord is at hand. We are adding countless numbers to the altar of the Lord. Brother A became inspired last Sunday to such a degree, that his soul took its flight to the regions above, and has not yet returned. The Catholic Churches, St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, were burned down. St. Peter's also ; I believe that is a Catholic church. Brother Mahn was preaching from the text, " Resist the Devil," &c., when he was suddenly overturned by an invisible power, which frightened him so that his hair turned white in 5 minutes. Brother Barnes, to render his church more attractive, is going to have opera singing and dancing every Sunday, P. M. Mrs. Alexander Tower, old Mr. Tiers, Brother Fairchild, and Mrs. Sommerville, are going to dance. I think they will find it a very lucrative employment. Jane and Martha still progress in Hebrew. Your affectionate brother, W. R." I examined the originals of these letters closely, and have no doubt at all, but that they were written without human agency, in any form. They are, indeed, a curiosity. And being the first specimens of " spirit writing," and especially of letter " writing" that occurred connected with these modern manifestations, they are worthy of notice, as showing the grade of spirits by whom this work was immediately com- menced. Since these were written, pamphlets and books have been published in large numbers, " written" by mortals, but purporting to come from spirits. LITERATURE OF SPIRITS. 237. One of the first of this class is now before me,* and purports to report the expositions of select portions of the New * " Price 50 Cents. — Exposidon of the Prophetic Scriptures of the New Testament, as received, entirely, from Spiritual Communications lit Aubnrn, Cayuga Co., N. Y. By J. M. Brown, E. H. Baxter, E. A. Benedict, Celestia Sherman, Milo Webster, Sen., D.D., T. Benedict C. Coventry, Samuel Brown, and G. W. Hyatt." SPIRITS. 281 Testament, made by " St. Paul, Timothy, St. Peter, and St. John, the Divine," with a preface, by one who says, " I am Lorenzo Dow." It is a jumble of cant phrases, bad grammar, errors, and contradictions. Indeed, the writers do not attempt anything towards showing us its authenticity. Here is a specimen of its style : — Lorenzo Dow is made to say, " Love and mercy have got to dwell in you all lirst." Timothy is made to utter the follow- ing : "Thou insolent and ignorant servant, go thou into the,' gulf of ignorance.'''' " The gospel dispensation ended on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844." [! ! !] Timothy and St. Paul are made to contradict one another thus : Timothy says, " Dogs represents (grammar 1) humble Christians." P. 38. But Paul, p. 83, says, "Dogs are those who love and make a lie." Thus it must follow, that some of those spirits, were, according to their own showing, nothing but " dogs." This pamphlet abounds in cant phrases, such as " Redeemed body," "Prophetic Scriptures," " Close of the Gospel Dispen- sation," &c., &c. Thus : — Timothy is made to utter the fol- lowing : " He that will give up his good name among men, shall fall heir to the redeemed body." P. 44. And, p. 70, the same cant is put into the mouth of " St. John." " That they may fall heir to the promise ;" and " all purified spirits who \i2ise fallenjieirs to the first redemption ;" and on p. 91, this same silly twaddle is put into the mouth of St. Paul, who is made to say, " Ye shall fall heirs to the promise," &c. But, here is the secret of this whole concoction, on p. 82, where St. John is made to say, " The opening of the seventh seal repre- sents the fulfilment of the prophetic word as regards its teach- ing by Mr. Miller and others, on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844, Jewish time, which was the 24th day of October, 1844." How it must sound to hear " St. John the Divine," say " Mr. Miller!" And to hear him saying, "The spirit is nervous fluid, inseparably connected with the mind." Paul teaches, (p. 94,) that " persecution" is signified by " being buried iri Baptism ;" but John says, " Baptism means preaching." It very much reminds one, of the " Book of Mormon." Having had an interview with two of the men whose names are on the title page of that pamphlet, from one of them I obtained some information as to the manner in which the "Spirits" purporting to be " St. Paul," "Timothy," and "St. John the Divine," expounded the " Scriptures." Portions of the New Testament were read by one of the company ; then " one of the brethren," by the name of Brown, explained^ or gave his own views of the passage, and the " Spirits" " rapped" 282 BOOK OP HUMAN NATURE. approbation or disapprobation ! The results are seen in tho pamphlet, which favors the views of Mr. Brown, with but few exceptions. When Mr, Brown jand the other brethren could not agree, then the spirits decided how it should be. I had an interview, also, in Auburn, N. Y., with the " Spirits" above referred to ; and do not marvel that they should forbid, as they did, their followers reading the writings of A. J. Davis. Mr. Davis, and those who sympathize with him, these " apostolic spirits" pronounce infidels ! Of course. But it can be of but little consequence what those spirits deny or affirm, who cannot give any satisfactory account of their identity. I asked them to submit to a test, by which I might know who they were, but they refused ! And I may add, that the manner in which Mr. " St. Luke," and Mr. " James Madison," and Mr. " St. Paul," slunk away and declined a candid examination of their claim to those names, convinced me, beyond all doubt, that they were fanatical, deluded spirits ; withall, not very intelligent, and by no means competent to teach in matters of Christian Theology ; and the mortals, how- ever candid they might be, (and of this I make no doubt in these and similar cases,) who relied upon these apocryphals for guidance were really led astray. But the subject is instruc- tive, let all " mediums" ponder upon it. A number of periodicals are now published devoted to this subject, and which contain more or less communications written by mortals and purporting to come from spirits. Here is a specimen : — " Eternal life is communicated from God the Life through God the Lord by God the Holy Procedure, who was In- carnate in Person in the Form terrestrial of Jesus Christ our Lord. Within his vehicles of spirit and of person dwelt that Infinite Being who alone is Life, Love, Essence, Form, and Harmony. He descended thus in infinite humiliation of person, that he might renew the soul of man froni life, the spirit from His love, the understanding from His essence, the person from llis form ; and pour through his whole nature, pardoned and regenerate, the eternal procedures of his harmony in beati- tudes without end ; and thus again quicken, consecrate, and glorify at last the discrowned and perishing family of man." And here is another. Can the reader tell what it means 1 " In six lesser periods, numbered as days, the Lord Creator unfolded the aeriaf races of paradise, octave by octave, from the dove even to the seraph. Thus He caused the impersonal harmonies of paradise to be made perfect in their intermediate degree and in the wisdom of love. The seventh day of this SPIRITS. 288 series was the Melodical Sabbath ; and the Lord ceased from His works of creative manifestation, and the earth had rest."* These extracts are made at random and might be continued to any length. But really, there is so much of this literature now afloat that it is difficult to make a selection from the mass. However, from a dozen books of the same class, I will name two or three which may be taken as types of the whole. The reader shall see, with what appropriateness such productions are called " Light,''''' and the reasons, also, why we should con- sider them very instructive. They show, professedly, the intelligence of those "' spirits" to whom we are called upon to look up for information, not merely in the important matters of Science, Theology, and Philosophy, but also, upon the momentous concerns of another world. Each of these produc- tions put forth similar claims ; all have one object in view, and while there may be numerous discrepancies detected in their various averments, yet there is, evidently, so much sameness in the style and the prominent characteristics of each, that no one would hesitate in pronouncing the same judgment upon them all, whatever that judgment might be. What, then, is the professed object aimed at in the publica- tion of these books 1 What are the claims they put forth, and upon what evidence are these claims based 7 Can their production be satisfactorily accounted for, without spiritual agency ? Or, admitting them to have had a spiritual origin, what is their character, merits, and use ? Sound reason and philosophy would seem to say, that if these productions can be satisfactorily accounted for, without resort to " departed spirits," we are bound to do so, for this very good reason ; some of us who do really believe in a spi- ritual world, and spiritual intercourse, are unwilling to admit that any " spirits" in the other world, can be so very ignorant as those must have been who controlled the composition of these books ! But I have shown (186 — 200) thai there is a way in which all these and similar productions can be satisfactorily account- ed for, even without implicating the integrity of any one of the mortals concerned in bringing them before the public. Those familiar with Psychology, which explains what is pe- culiar to persons who fall into a state of Trance, Somnam- bulism, or Visions, need not be told how common it is for cer- tain people to become so completely hallucinated with ^n idea, as to render themselves perfectly unconscious of every thing besides that idea, for the time being. In this manner, the * Mountain Cove Journal, 284 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. young priest wrote his sermon with his eyes shut, spoken of by the Bishop of Bordeaux, tnany years ago. And we have had an account also of a young student in Prussia, who, in a state of unconsciousness, committed his lesson to memory, but of which he, himself, could give no explanation at all. I once heard a clergyman preach a sermon, in a state of which he was not afterwards conscious of having done any thing of the kind. Volumes might be filled with similar accounts of reli- gious fanatics, who, hallucinated by some (to them) greaitidea, of God, or Angels, they become infested with it, till they lose their self-control, when they dance, or pray, or preach, or sing, prophecy, or write books, as the case may be. When, therefore, respectable and honest people write books, and call them " voices of spirits,'^ or write romances and call them " Pilgrimages," and say they did not write them, but that spi- rits used their hands, and hence they were written by spirits, we find no difficulty at all in believing them, so far as their own honesty is concerned. The rationale of the phenomena is another question altogether. (186 — 194.) But, these " mediums" tell us, that although they them- selves are partially unconscious while these books are in the process of being written, yet they are written by "spirits!" But what does testimony from such an unconscious witness amount to"? Of what is this alleged unconsciousness af- firmed 1 Not, certainly, of the body, but the mind ! Well, then, if the mind be partially demented or disabled, it is, in ,so far, rendered incompetent to testify, and hence it seems singularly unfortunate, for most of these spirit-books, that there is no evidence as to their mystical or spiritual origin ex- cept what depends upon the bare and unsupported testimony of partially-unconscious mediums ! Nor is this all — for if the mediums were entirely conscious, and wholly under their own self-control, their testimony could not be allowed in their own favor ! For although these books are ostensibly written of others who have departed this life, yet we are not called upon to receive them as the testimony of the mediums who write them, but as the testimony of the veritable spirits whose names are given in them. Here, then, is a manifest fallacy, and one too glaring to be overlooked in an investigation of this kind. A stranger approaches me with a letter purporting to have been written (through his hand) by George Washing- ton. I ask him, in what state George Washington was ena- bled thus to compose and write a letter by the use of his hand ? " O," says the medium, "you see I gave myself up entirely to the control of the spirit, and was not conscious of any volition or motion of my own, while my hand was moved to write that letter." But, if you was not in your normal SPIRITS. 285 state, perfectly conscious and self-possessed, of course you are an incompetent witness ; you are not certain — have no re- liable knowledge of it ; you may have been deceived, not merely in respect to yourself, but the spirits also of whom ^-uvu attempt to give an account. SPIRITUALISM OF THESE BOOKS CONCEDED. 238. However, to save further cavil, I will admit that these books were written by " spirits," in the sense claimed for them. That is, the mediums were honest, truthful per- sons, and w&i^ moved, excited, controlled or inspired to write what is here published by a spirit, one or more, out of the hu- man body. And so, in any further remarks, I will consider myself as dealing entirely with "invisible spirits." If, how- ever, i should, in this inquiry, chance to find all these " ma- ny spirits" centered in one human being, Mr. P., or Mr. H., then my remarks, perhaps, may fall somewhat heavily, not upon them, but upon " spirits" who have possessed them, and who have not yet "departed" very far off. And, if those ex- ternal or human spirits, should prove to be somewhat sec- tarian, not very elevated in their style, ignorant and contra- dictory withal — why, then, I shall feel myself called upon to exonerate such spirits out of the body, as the real " George Washington," "Benjamin Franklin," "Thomas .Tefferson," and others, from the degradation in which the can^ the gram- matical blunders, the tautologies, truisms, and the twaddle of these volumes would otherwise ine.vitably involve them. And all this it will undoubtedly afford these unconscious writing mediums pleasure to have me do ; for, in this way, both parties mnst be exculpated from all blame. The medi- ums say they did not compose these books, which I freely ad- mit on their own testimony, as I have no doubt at all of their integrity. Well, 1 prove that they could not have been writ- ten by the spirits whose names are announced in them, and it must follow, that they were inspired by a certain grade of apocryphal spirits, and how high they stand in the scale of in- telligence who use such language as is here given, each one must judge for himself. What do the Spirits want ? 239. But we shall be best able, probably, to determine as to what rank these spirits hold in the spheres of Intelli- gence, if we let them tell their own story as to w-hat they WANT — what has brought them back to earth again, what they propose to do, and by what means 1 And, to answer these queries, let us now listen to the " voicesj" let us look at the 286 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. ** light." and read the " instructions," all coming as they do, from the " spirit- world." I do not say spiritual world, be- cause these spirits do not say so. The spirits from the middle, or " spirit- world," therefore, are the nearest to mortals, or the nearest to the external world, and consequently that class who find it the most easy to get into mortals, and thus to gain possession of them, so as to make them (mortals) the vehicles through which they (spi- rits) can speak or write. Admitting this account of the other world to be true, then it would seem to follow that these spi- rits, one and all, had unwittingly announced themselves as " from the spirit world," not from the Heaven^i^f Angels — and have thus made it manifest what rank they hold in re- spect to Intelligence ! But let that pass. Spiritual Instructions. 340. " Come in confidence to us."* p. 14. '' Our teachings should more deeply impress you." p. 28. "You need not doubt our teachings." lb. " Remember this, and fail not to OBEY." p. 32. ""Learn of us." p. 41. " Have confidence in what you receive from us." p. 26. " Seek to learn of spirits the eternal laws of God, as they are capable of teaching them." p. 64. Obey our directions, and you will be bene- fited." p. 66. "Seek to obtain knowledge of us." p. 70. " Desire all to seek our influence." p. 92. " Have faith in us." p. 115. "Fear not to obey us." p. 117. "Fear not to obey us." p. 119. "We desire you to obey the directions we have given you." p. 120. " Obey the directions we have given you, and all the human family will he benefited there- by.'''' p. 162. " We were assured that this preparatory disci- pline was necessary, in order that the spirit might obtain entire control over the medium.^'' p. 7. Indeed, the merits of all these spirit- written books consist in the fact, that the mediums are perfectly passive — wholly given up to spirits — their own judgments, for the time being, annihilated, their individual sovereignt}^ surrendered, and wholly given up to apocryphal spirits, which enter them, take /)Ossession of them, and control them ! ! Mr. H. speaks of the fact, and the books now under notice may be considered as types of a large number, which have been written and pub- lished by " spirits." Here is one called " Light from the Spi- * Spiritual Instructions, Eeceived at the Meetings of one of the Circle formed in Philadelphia, for the purpose of Investigating Spi- ritual Intorcoursd, 1850. ISmo. pp, 180, SPIRITS. 287 rit World,"* and alleged to have been " written wholly by the control of spirits, without any volition or will [what is the difference between will and volition?] of the medium, or any thought or care in regard to the matter presented by his hand." This book bears the following characteristic marks of its origin, and, whether from a spirit out of the body or in, or one in the " first circle," or the sixth, his style I think may be considered as somewhat characteristic of his grade at least. And all this I may say, without meaning any thing disre- spectful or unkind of the " medium," who has been possessed in a manner to be compelled to utter what follows, which I am bound to suppose no mortal would or could have uttered, who was not possessed : — 1.' — Tautologies : " Wisdom is what is wise^ and what is wise is wisdom. Wisdom is not folly, and folly is not wis- dom. Wisdom is not selfishness, and selfishness is not wis- dom. Wisdom is not evil, and evil is not wisdom." p. 31. " Such has been the curse of all changes — change, then, either supposes something favorable or unfavorable, &c. It desires a change. It sets in motion means equal to change our condition to another. When that condition is changed, it must be better or worse (!) than when in the former condi- tion. If better it is wise, if worse it is unwise. When changes therefore are wrought — when selfishness enters into the change., it would surprise itself if all men shared in the benefits of the cAan^e," p. 76. See also the repetition of " wonder," p. 97, 134, where this word is harped upon till its use becomes repulsive to good taste. And thus in the un- grammatical use of the word " they," page 200, and " we see," " we see," " we see," page 218, 256. " The scorn is a work of scorn. They who scorn to visit — scorn the work required. They affect to scorn those who do it, because they wish to excuse themselves by scorn. They would not scorn what is good to others — it is not therefore the work they scorn in reality ; they affect to scorn, so that, what wisdom demands of all, may be content with scorn. It is a dignity that scorns right, that scorns duty of right, scorns Jesus, scorns religion, and scorns heaven." p. 145. 2. — Senseless Phrases : — " Witches are witches under whatever guise they wear, p. 27. He is the apex of earth's inhabitants, p. 47. Wisdom was an intuitive element of their existence, p. 48. We have seen wisdom descend on clouds * Light from the Spirit World, Comprising a Series of Articles written wholly by the Goutrol of Spirits. C. Hammoud, Medium. 1852. 18mo. pp. 263. 288 bo6k of human nature. of glory, but vainly was her mission, p. 62. Wonders have been performed on the ground you now rest, p. 77. What is, is not often is, p. 82. Extenuated such amendments, p. 84. They cannot will what is contrary to their will," p. 96. 3. — Puerile attempts at Emphasis: — "Volition or will. (Title page.) When crumbling earths and wider seas shall sink to rise no more, p. 74. [Where will they sink to 1] We will say what shall shortly be done. We shall make bare men's hearts. We have resolved to rebuke sharply. We have under our inspection, more than one, whose inducements have been such with mediums that we shall not write without writing the truth, p. 107. We see money diggers. Money diggers are misers, p. 117. The sacrifice lies in his gory bed, and the moaning night-breeze sighs over his grave, p. 125. And worse than all, worse than ever, mind is not satisfied." p. 131. 4. — Solecisms — Truisms : — " Deceiving spirits are those who deceive, p. 19. What is wrong is not right, p. 28. Nothing will control but power, p. 30. Some things are right, others are wrong, p. 31. Change is alteration, p. 32. What is wise is a work of wisdom, p. 32. Men are what they are, p. 35. Wisdom wills good ; folly wills otherwise [!] one is right, the other is wrong, p. 35. Men are wise in what they know, and unwise in what they do not know, p. 36. Works Hre the doings of a worker, p. 44. When a work is eternal it is durable, p. 44. Works of men are men's work, p. 53. Works are what they are, p. 61. Minds will show wisdom or folly, p. 74. When change comes over mind or matter, the thing changed is diflTerent, it is not what it was before, p. 75. Change is alteration. Nothing changed is the same, p. 78. vVhatever is antagonistical is at war, p. 141. If it be not right, it is wrong, p. 163. There is no circle lower than the lowest, p. 165. The good is well, but the evil is not well, p. 167. For this wrong, others wronged him. They were both wrong. Two wrongs met. Two wrongs disagree.d. Two prongs, wronged each other. They were both wrong, and they both suffered for their wrongs. They suflfered as their wrongs made them suflTer, p. 215. A wrong mind, or mind in wrong, is not right, p. 225. Mediums of writing with the aid of spirits are wise and unwise. An advanced mind will not be controlled by spirits inferior to itself, p. 242. 5. — Errors and Contradictions : — 1. " That no one can with- hold his convictions of a truth, established by miracles, p. 9. The spirits work miracles, p. 203. And yet all do not be- lieve ; nor indeed does Mr. H» himselft yield up all his own SPIRITS. 289 convictions, though he is " confounded'' by what the spirits have done, p. 7. 2. — That man can surrender his own judgment, his own reason, and safely act upon the will or judgment of another, in matters pertaining to religion and his final destiny, p. 7, 250. Throughout this book, the medium is represented as being per- fectly passive, having no will of his own, and under the com- plete control of apochryphal spirits. 3. — That spirits measure time by days and " years.'' " We offer from an experience of over fifty years in that sphere," p. 21. 4. — That there is no " deception" from spirits who have departed this life, p. 19. This very affirmation is a contradic- tion of the sentiment which it was designed to convey. 5. — That the spirits who uttered the truism above quoted, are ** the fathers, the mothers, who (thus) speak from expe- rience the wisdom of a superior sphere," p. 33. The wisdom displayed in these writings show the source whence it origi- nated to be inferior and far below, what is common to mor- tals. Such unmeaning " words" are called " light from the spirit world !" 5. — That " spirits out of the body," cannot be deceived by mortals, p. 157. ' Spirits out of the body,' have often con- fessed to me, that they had been deceived by mortals, and that they could be again. 6. — That " the simple movement of the hand, without the medium's own volition is proof of a good spirit," p. 226. A statement like this is proof of a very ignorant spirit, if he be not an " evil one." 6. — Cant phrases and grammatical blunders : — " It writes preachers or publishers, p. 84, 128, 131. We will say, p. 120. Party is the watchword. Hold ! p. 123. What is nature ? Hold ! p. 133. We will with what is done. Hold ! p. 144. We ask where I p. 124. We will not say, p. 127. We answer, p. 129. We see, p. 129. They who will scarcely find a place in the second circle, p. 138. We ask what is it I p. 139. In fact, p. 165. Such is one among many incon- sistencies we might name," p. 201. 7. — Fulsome self-laudation : — " What spirits say and write is not human wisdom, p. 90. Circles will find that they are wise when they come to a knowledge of the truth ; but we see not how they can advance one step in the way of its attain- ment, unless they will obey the directions and follow the INSTRUCTIONS of spiHts, p. 91. Circlcs will never advance until they make up their minds to receive the instructions of -spirits, p. 92. We see who has done ^11 this. We see who 13 290 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUKE. occupy the first circle in the body, p. 106. We will say what will shortly be done. We shall make bare men's hearts. We have resolved to rebuke sharply. We have under our inspec- tion more than one, whose inducements have been such, &c. We see what will make some men tremble when revealed. We will write as we intend. We are spirits, p. 107. We see some who write what they will, and then we let them write, p. 112. We take what are called the weak things of the first sphere, to confound what are called the mighty among men, p. 114. [Does this refer to all mediums whom the spirits cause to write 1] We see the sluggard. He saw not. He reaps not, unless what other hands have sown. If be reap, he works, be is not idle [I] p. 115. We write. We work, p. 116. We see it. We see the naked truth, p. 130. Who then shall write, preach, and publish, what will overcome minds and re- concile them with each other 1 We can see who will do it, p. 133. We assume to do good. We assume that no good can be expected from a corrupt fountain (mortals). We assume to correct the fountain. We assume more. We will expose the unhealthy element when in a corrupt state. Have spirits no wisdom ? Are our minds subject to the control of selfishness? p. 148. We will go ; yea, we will show by our works the nakedness of that profession which seeks to deal damnation by withholding the need which wretchedness de- mands, p. 151. We will say what should be done. We will write what should be done. Not only preachers, but lawyers, doctors, schools, colleges, and books are wrong. They are wrong in many things essential to the progress of mind. They would laugh down spirits. We see what we have written. We see more. When disease shall be controlled by spirits, mind will not be dependent on human skill for its remedy, p. 152-54. We see who writes, who preaches, and who publishes that which is known to be untrue. We see what will cure the evil. We will change that writes wrong into right, p. 163. Human destiny is now measurably in our hands, under God, p. 173. We are witnesses of the sixth circle of the second sphere, p. 174. We have not written this book in the wisdom of the sixth circle, but in the wisdom of the fourth, p. 170. We write what is next above the mind whom we wish to instruct, and hence the circle which the receiver (medium) occupies, is always indicated by the com- munication," p. 177. [A statement, this, certainly, not very flattering to the medium, who wrote this book.] The second book* is called like the first, " Light from the ^ Light from the Spirit World. The Pilgrimage of Thomas Paine and others to the Seventh Circle in the Spirit World. Hev. 0. Ham- mood medvum. 1852. 18mo. pp. 264. SPIRITS. 291 Spirit World," and purports to be " The Pilgrimage of Thomas Paine to the Seventh Circle in the Spirit World," and written by the veritable spirit of the said Thomas Paine. But, for- tunately or unfortunately, as the reader would have it, this book also, bears on its pages certain peculiar characteristics, which it would be unpardonable in any reader to overlook. They w^ere placed there, I doubt not, by Superior Wisdom, and to serve a good purpose, one of which the medium himself may have been as unconscious of, as he was of any design on his part to write a book like the one now under notice. The book itself may be called a Romance, and for evidence of which see pages 20, 21, 25, 34, 36. Its peculiar traits may be in- cluded under the head of solecisms, obscurities, cant phrases, bad grammar, absurdities, &c. All leading to identify it with' the one from which the preceding quotations have been made ; and showing if Mr. H. did not write it himself, there can be no doubt it was inspired by the same spirit which possessed him when he wrote the other. Thus we have 1. Solecistns : — "What the mind wants — the hope of the soul in a future sphere, p. 28. When a work is required, workmen are necessary, p. 80. For war never rages where peace reigns, p. 107. That which is true, is a truth, and that which is false, is not true, p. 127. When a work is under- stood, it will not need an interpretation, p. 130. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge, p. 153. The Saviour is he who saves, p. 156. AH is wrong which is not good, 159. To be well, is not ill, p. 169. Mutual attractions never repulse each other, p. 197. Wrong is not right, p. 200. The stars shine, p. 210. Never will wisdom of the will be attracted by the folly of the universe, p. 215. When a mind cannot be cruel, cruelty cannot be done by it, 241. I have seen cruel doctrines produce cruelty," p. 244. 2. Obscurities : — " A cloud of wisdom, p. 46. Rain and sunshine, [in the spirit world,] p. 134. When a minp will not acknowledge the truth, p. 171. When no unwise conduct on your part exists, p. 175. The whole would induce sight to be dazzled, p. 180. Within the theatre of a circle, p. 189. The mildew of neglect hath no surface on your minds, p. 193. It makes hope a wisdom of fact, p. 213. Attractive forces may be estimated by the distance between them and the weight of those forces." p. 214. ■ 3. Absurdities : — " It was a day of fasting and prayer, p. 144. Waste places in a world of eternal reality, p. 188 Predictions uttered after the events come to pass, p. 203, 229. The use of the talisman, in Heaven, p. 188. Baptism in the spiritual world, p. 49. Spirits measure time by days, nights, 292 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. and years, p. 39, 133. " Tom Paine, reading the Bible," in Heaven " on his knees V p. 49. Miz^ynry, and Masonic Cere- momejr, pass- words, &c., in Heaven, p. 34, 40, 44, 47, 124, 188, 189. (4.) Contradictions: — In what is said about "nature," p. 29. In what is said about happiness, p. 117. Is not the law of gravitation right ? And yet, this law makes those unhappy who violate it. That a " falsehood," is not a "/ac^,"p. 151. That ignorance is the cause of all fear, p. 178, and yet, " what is unknown ought not to create fear," p. 179. That perfect equality reigns in a certain circle, where no mind is ruler, and no mind is ruled, p. 191, and yet, superior wisdom does rule " all conditions of mind," p. 199. That positive and negative bodies, repel each other, p. 214, which is not true. (5.) Cant phrases and had grammar : — " Port holes in Hea- ven, p. 64, 127. The day of judgment, p. 68, 69. When God comes to make up his jewels, p. 69. I have been regenerated by the atonement of Christ, p. 73. The devil, p. 77. Mind is a free agent, p. 78. Saved by repentance, p. 100. Broken spears, and guns without locks, (in heaven,) p. 104. Throne of mercy, p. 104. Sling and pebbles, p. 109. The works which Christ done, p. 120. Friends, thou wilt, p. 142. Gov- ernments have arisen and fell^'' p. 242. Upon a candid examination of these books I must consider, (to use Mr. H.'s own language.) that the medium was beheaded who wrote it, as he says, " When one head controls another, the one con- trolled has been beheaded,^'' p. 76. Curiosities ofl^Spirit^ Literature. 241. Let us now examine another of these characteristic books. Here is one that purports to have been written, not by one, but " many spirits," some sixty-two or more, who have departed out of the external world.* And yet, we shall find upon due examination, that most of these so called "de- parted spirits," all speak a language which is characteristic of one spirit, which dwells in and possesses the good Mr. P. him- self. So that we are forced to the conclusion, that if he has uttered any other language besides his own, it is of that one other spirit by whom he is obsessed, but of whose real identity Mr. P. in reality knows just nothing at all ! Some peculiarities in Mr. P.'s own style may be seen in his address " to the reader," signed with his own proper name, * "Voices from the Spirit World, being Communications from ma- ny Spirits, by the hand of Isaac Post, Medium." 1852» 18mo, pp, i5Q>^ SPIRITS. 293 page 3d and 4th. Here we find such terms as the following : " IfeeV — " It seems to me'''' — " Those who have not the ;?rt- vilege, as I have." And it is curious enough to see how fre- quently these and a few other cant phrases are repeated by- each of the spirits whose signatures he has so confidingly pre- fixed, and affixed to his different communications : (1.) Sameness in the language : — "Mine is the privilege. ^^ p. 19. A. C. Cary. " I thank thee for this privilege.'''' p. 27. Elias Hicks. " Hoping at some future time to have the privilege. '^'^ p. 30. lb. " It is quite unexpected to me to be thus favored" (privi- leged) p. 31. George Washington. It is worthy of notice, perhaps, that General Washington did not in his later years sign his given name in full, as he is now made to do when speaking through Mr. P. "I had often the ;9ni;t7e^e of conversing with spirits." p. 41, — Emanuel Swedenhorg. " It is the first time it has been my privilege.'''' p. 69. Ed^ ward Hicks. " Gratitude to God for the privilege.'''' p. 69. lb. " I am grateful for this privilege.^'' p. 79. George Fox. "If I had been given the privilege.'''' p. 226. William Penn. " I thank thee for this privilege.^'' p. 237. J. M. That so many different spirits, having lived in this world at remote periods of time, and all using different styles while in the body, should now so readily fall into the use of the same cant phraseology, is indeed "most wonderful." Thus far in respect to "privileges." Let us now see how they all '^ee/." We have already noticed that the medium, when speaking in his own proper person, and of himself, finds a ready use for the little word "yeeZ," [perhaps he was once a sectarian,] and hence we need not be surprised, therefore, to find that all the spirits who purport to speak through him, " feel" it very convenient to use the peculiar language of Mr. P. himself, though we may not perceive any thing like this language in the writings which either of these persons have left behind them in this world. Now listen : " I feel I shall be." p. 12. Benjamin Franklin. " I /ee/ to encourage." p. 20. A. C. Cary. "I feel to give." lb. A. C. Cary. "I/eeZtosay a word about John C. Calhoun." p. 37. George Washington. 294 BOOK OF HUMAN NATURE. Reader, how does this language, in the mouth of a spirit, sound to you ? Do you reply, you never have heard a disem- bodied spirit talk ? Well, perhaps not; but you have heard them through a " medium," and you are called on to believe that it is all the same as if George Washington stood before' you, and you heard him utter these very words ! It sounds strange, " to be sure ;" strange, indeed. But let us proceed ; and if the reader should " feel" sorry to find himself surround- ed with a grade of spirits vi^ho can use such language, why, he must remember these spirits did not come at my call — and that these quotations are mere " drops from the ocean ;" there are many more where these are taken from, — and we wish to ascertain what place that was : — " We/eeZto encourage them." p. 66. L. E. L. " Ifeel to express my knowledge." p. 75. Edward Hicks. " I feel better. Ifcel to thank God. While I write Ifeel to bless God. In this feeling I bid you good-bye." p. 86. — William Weeks. "I begin io feel you." p. 90. John C. Calhoun. " J feel to bless him." p. 93. Elias Hicks. "He wiW feel encouraged." p. 100. Thomas Jefferson. "I/eeZ interested." p. 126. Edward Steplar. "I do not feel to condemn others." p. 134. Sarah Sharp, "I/eeZ to encourage all." p. 140. Thomas Clarkson. " If we/eeZ that we have his approbation." lb. Thomas Clarkson. And thus it is quite manifest that all of Mr. P.'s spirits feel very much alike, and that happens to be very much like himself. Hear them : — " His love I/eeZ." p. 145. Samuel Fothergill. '■'■ Ifeel grateful. I feel that the supposed resistance from earth to heaven is nearly annihilated." p. 147. Benjamin Franklin. " I feel constrained to give of the knowledge I am pos- sessed of." p. 152. Elias Hicks. " I felt as though I had been." p. 158. Nicholas Woln. " I feel to pity them." p. 167. -S. T. " I feel that I should have been." p. 175. N. P. Rogers. " I feel elevated." p. 184. Richard Henry Lee. " I feel now, to encourage every one." p. 185. Stephen Hopkins. " I feel a degree of awe." p. 186. Robert Treat Paine. " I feel to give you some short account of my spiritual life." p. 192. D. Krittenhouse. " On this, to me, most interesting occasion, I feel to give a view of the clergy." p. 200. Henry Colden. SPIRITS. 295 These quotations are made under a conviction that this sub- ject requires a more thorough sifting than has ever yet been given it. These are the spirits they purport to be, or it is all done by possession. And which is the truth, it amply con- cerns us all to know. If such senseless twaddle can be put into the mouths of Washington and Franklin without offence, it were well to pause and ask ourselves what kind of a world those worthies have gone to, or why they did not stay there, before bringing back to this world language like the following : " I was introduced into a state far better than I deserved, (where was Justice?) for which \feel thankful, and that feel- ing of gratitude, I feel advances me." p. 206. Fenemore Cooper. If this be the spirit of Cooper the Novelist, it seems he has adopted a new method of spelling his name. " Ifecl my un worthiness." p. 226. Wm. Pean, And here is another term repeated times enough to make it sufficiently manifest, that each of the different communica- tions in which it occurs, originated from one and tiie same spirit : — " Let love, unselfish, be cultivated." p. 144. Samuel Fo- thergill. " When you perform an unselfish duty." p. 149. Benjamin Franklin. "Ours is the unselfish task." p. 161. Nicholas Wain. "An unselfish desire." p. 168. »S. T. " Those unselfish truths." p. 171. Daniel G'ConnelL " The unselfish works of kindness." p. 177. N. P. Ro- gers. " Unselfish love." p. 181. William Penn, " Who works for his brother unselfishly.'^'' p. 188. P. Clanborne. " Unselfishly to do good." p. 205. Benj. Gray. "Love unselfishly manifested." p. 226. Wm. Penn. "An unselfish counsellor." p. 9. B. Franklin. " His unselfish nature." p. 72. Edward Hicks. " Such unselfish conduct." p. 85.' William Weeks. '^ Lo\e unselfish.'''' p. 88. John C. Calhoun. " An unselfish love." p. 96. Thomas Jeffersoji. " Kindness unselfishly performed." p. 113. George Fox. " To do man good unselfishly.'' p. 136. Thomas Clarkson. " Unselfishly devoted." p. 239. Thomas Witherald. And here is another, which " it seems" very singular, to hear from the mouths of so many different spirits. In reading 296 BOOK OF HUMAN NATUEE. these quotations we are led to ask ourselves what kind of a world that must be whence rays of " light" such as these come 1 How could Franklin, and Wa,9hington, and O'Connell talk in this style 1 And observe, no matter whether the spirit were Irish or French, or English, it is all the same, each one falls into the use of precisely the same word. Does not this look like possession 1 And if not, what is it? " It seems to me." p. 11. Benjamin Franklin. •' It seems to me." p. 141. Thomas Clarkson. " It seems to me." p. 152. Elias Hicks. " It seems to me." p. 157. N. Wain. " That seems to me." p. 164. Lydia Smith. " Things that seem of the greatest importance." p. 168. S. T. " It seems to me." p. 171. Daniel O'Connell. " It seems almost like being again in Congress" [!] p. 185. Thomas Jefferson. " It seems to me, I see." p, 188. Phil. Livingston. " It seems to me." p. 212. M. Fuller. " It seems to me." 225. Wm. Penn. " It seemed far better." p. 250. Voltaire. " It would seem like a repition." p. 253. lb. And, "to be sure," here is another cant phrase, which " seems" peculiar to the writings of " a spirit" in good Mr. P. :— " To be 5wre." p. 9. Benjamin Franklin. •' To be sure.'''' p. 30. Elias Hicks. " To be sure.'''' p. 98. Thomas Jefferson. "To be sure.'' p. 117. John C. Calhoun. " To be 5wre." p. 125. Mrs Franklin. " To be sure.''' p. 163. Lydia Smith. "To be sure.'" p. 170. Daniel O'Connell. " To be sure." p. 203. Paul Jones. " To be sure.''' p. 216. L. E. L. " To be sure." p. 220. Wm. Penn. " To be sure." p. 239. Colton Mathew. 1 If the last name was meant for Cotton Mather, " it seems," " to be sure," that he is not the only spirit who has forgotten how to spell his own name.' No person familiar with the cant phrases, so common among sectarians, can fail to perceive that the writer of " Voices from the Spirit World," was either himself educated a sectarian, (probably a Quaker,) or that he was obsessed by a " spirit" very familiar with sectarian phrases : — "A testimony to right." p. 150. Benjamin Franklin. " I feel to give my testimony," p. 194. G. Whitfield. SPIRITS. 297 " You have my testimony ^ p. 198. James Madison. " It seems best to add my testimony.'''* p. 253. Voltaire. "I, too, will give a sentiment.''' p. 178. Geo. Washington. " I see I am taking up too much time, [I] and, therefore, will cease at once." p. 189. G. Walton. " For this you have my earnest prayers," p. 190. J. 8. Jackson. " I desire to turn thy attention to the subject." p. 142.