BF 1272 .W156 THE TRUTH ©m f yea SU£§9M> etivtrqd ^nndag, December 24, 1S7& SAHTA BARBARA SPIRITUALIST /SSOCI/TIOlt. BY JOSEPHINE WALCOTT. SANTA BAKBAEA: TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY- wn, T-1IIB #milPH \-»i-*a» si^'^.iA I ^g#~ Shall Hake Yon Free A LECTURE, jgdhired ^undag, jgtrtnibtr 24, 187$ SANTA BARBARA SPIRITUALIST ASSOCIATION BY JOSEPHINE WALCOTT. SANTA BARBARA: TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1877. 13 F' 2 '?* Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1377, by JOSEPHINE WALCOTT, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. B S/rall yl£ci7ce ~Yba -Free. T&# cispvrcltimvfoj ' FroedoniUs ouc of . Wk# innate inspirations of the li^uncuisouh In the lower, primary conditions of or- ganized life, the same desire is manifest in the struggle for and jnaijitaiyajice of- : the itnr est rained volition of pJiysicaf powers. The ehainedbriitewill chafe w?d , fret in foams of passion for the liberty of \. his riaiive wilds, The caged Ibird Wbeaiz with restless pinions the prison bar§ that shuts its harrow space from the freedom of the outer, unlimited atmosphere. \T1iQ: groveling reptile struggles bejieath the op- pression of a careless foot. The veriest serf fulfils with reluctant drudgery the tasks allot ed by his master. 2 &* E™*h £Ml <&**' §m 4***- ( All nature is eloquent with the grandeur of freedom. "The wind bloweth where it listeth. 9 ' The sunshine illumines the void of space, unthwarted by the finite will. The mighty impulse of life throbs in the bosom of the earth, and responsive to the sacred volition, abundant verdure springs upon every side. In the great wilderness of natural life, there is freedom to fulfil the destinies of being. The rivers seek the larger element of ocean. The oceans toss and tumble in awful liberty, yet make no mistake. All nature is safe hi freedom, because free- dom itself is held in the grasp of immut- able and universal law, without which, not anything is free, and in which, there is freedom for every element of animate and inanimate life. Within the enlightened thought of every soul, there reigns a desire for larger and more comprehensive realities; a fulfil- ment of the noble ideals]that have evolved P' C«ty Mt'xii i£&*** §W #"•• * new grace and glory with each successive age. Thrilling through the destinies of soul existence is the Spartan cry for Freedom. 4 'Give me MbeHy or give me death.'* Lib- erty for the body and liberty for the soul: Liberty to consecrate to the highest and most conscientious uses every function of being. Liberty to seek for happiness. and tit e fulfilment of * our noblest aspira- tions in whatsoever avenue the highest intelligence shall dictate. What, then, shall make us free? Fan backward in the vast ages, was uttered this transcendent aphorism, ik Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." How then shall we know the truth t WJiat new lens shall open to the spiritual vision new vistas of revelation ? How shall we rise from the shackles of ig- norance, prejudice and superstition f How shall we eliminate the intelligence from the parasite encunibrance Of false 4 \ght gmtl { glwll Jgfaht Son &tt. education and transmitted opinions ? How shallwe unfold that greatness of in- tellect that shall fathom and make plain the mysteries of the law of life ? We an- swer, as the lower is a stepping grade to the higher — the lesser to the greater — the younger to the elder, — so the past shall he to the future, only much more abundant. Every perfect solution to the world's vast problems has been in answer to earnest, unremitting questioning, and rigid, un- swerving investigation. Nature becomes a tevelator to the eager seeker after her hiddenhar monies. The scientist delves in- to the inner labyrinths of the earth, and it is revealed to him ofceons on ceons of time — of eternities of the past — that by the little span of the present may be linked with eternities to come ; with him . there is neither begining nor ending, but grada- tion in the everlasting cycles toward per- fection. He speaks to the flowers and they yield to him the secret of incense, growth and bloom, the trees dre as orMles, and every shrub a high priest of knowledge. The firmament expcvhds cCbbve hint its Uh open bbblc, lettered with myridd sidH. He measures the constellations and re- veals to Us worlds upon worlds ^ countless as atoms that float lit ihfiihiie spaee. Bui to him thai questions fiotl alt ria- idre is sJiut and sedled ; the edrth is a conipaci of rock and soil for his shufiting, shanibling feet— the illiahined dome of Skies d roof stuck with candles that he may better grope his way about. Bui when thought and reason wtestle together in earnest conflict after truth, mind in contact* with hiind, inteUigmce With intelligence, in ha get frictiony some glihtmeris sure te pmettdte the portals of unwilling ignorance and doubt, and though ndiie may cbirifireJiehd ail of at- solute truth, ybt the relation condition of each miM> UhigMf, Mtter and more re- ceptive: for fttiMst fUemm OMd tdhdid tf gh* %rntt[ ghall &*he $ou gnt. reasoning. "Come, let us reason together said the ancient prophet evoked by th$ spirit of investigation, and St. Pa,ul, one of the most learned of ancient seekers af- ter the true philsophies of life reasoned with the people they might find the. free* dom of truth, and to-day , throughout th$ civilized world, the great and learned of intellect are saying, each unto each, "Come, let us unite our endeavor and see what manifold secrets nature will unfold, from her lahratory. Let us combine our intelligence and see what lofty revelations shall make answer to our aspiration and research. Thus the chemist, the naturalist, the philosopher tread hand in hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder the upper paths of knowledge ; neither may one impede the* other for all seeming differences resolve themselves into perfect harmonies on the clear, serene heights where truth unfolds her inspirations and her laws. v §he grutlt gfmll j$zhe §au grtt. 7 " What is the good of it?'' is the question of the unthinking mind when some new truth is elicited from the wide domain of the hitherto undiscovered or unaccepted —not realizing thai" all truth, however in- significant in its seeming relations to Jm~ inanity, when once received into the mind as such, is the nucleus from which evolve still grander perceptions, widening arid illuminating the mental horizon until the whole being becomes radiated and transfigured by this inflow from the di- vine. A single drop of water is replete with beautiful revelation : analytically con- sidered f >, it becomes the focus of myriad forms of life with infinite possibilities of renewal and expansion. So it is with a single mental conceptions If it embody one germ of truth, it is the nucleus of a manifold dev elopement, attractiug unto itself from the realm of universal facts and realities, tin til the mental and spir- 8 P* grulh &*& 4B**'- §™ 4"'- itual perceptions he come so quickened and enlarged, that truth for its own sake is the spontaneous desire and food for the soul. The purposes of this life are for disci- pline and to he of use — the attainment of truth its aim. Then shou Id we fearlessly seek out all truth, trusting to the har- mony of God's law for the end. Wh at is the good of it I No?ie may es- timate the value of a single truth. For whose benefit ? For the benefit of unnum- bered millions, and for mv lions yet un, born. Nothing is insignificant that per tains to human destiny — nothing is com- mon or unclean, if folded in the white clasp of truth. We have always been an advocate of re- form: not sudden revolutionary reforms but steady, straightforward innovations to new and better conditions— a progress that rights things in the right way,^ Old fallacies need not be perpetuated because W* grtitft Malt &aWffott gm. $ Ihey are old:' we may not abuse them, bit 1 hewing served their purpose, let them pass away. A. false theory issometimes a step- ping stone to that which is trite, so we may treat error dispassionatly—it may at least contain an experience that shall in- dex to true conclusions. : We have known many a man to belong to a sect or faction, political and also re : ligious,for no other reason than that the f cither did before him and that he had no strength of conviction of his own, yet would lash with the zeal of a bigot, all who diff- ered from] rim and the manner of the fa- ther befoie him. The child was laugh' ivhat others had thought before him, but did not think nor question for himself. Glcl tradition usurps the place of orig- inal thought, and error becomes so thor- oughly assimilated with truth that the process of disintegration is as slow as the evolution of the generations. The new of to-day is the outgrowth of the old of yes- IP §he gmty §Ml J£tffo @m 4,$$, terday qjtd is just as deserving of human consideration. The gradual growing out of old errors,, whether of belief or custom, and the in- growing of the true and upright consti- tutes reform, The few of to-day, deeply conscious of the errors and transgressions of the past, pioneer the unequal struggle between the true and the false , hewing a slow but sure pathway through the wild- erness of unscientific conceptions and un- sound conclusions. The many dispute every footstep of progress, almost inviting some siyift revolution before they build anew.. The extravagance of the age de-^ viands retrenchment; that would be re- formatory: but extravagance prefers th$ feast of to-day and will take the famine when it is inevitable ; this is revolution- -. : ary. The state pampers her sons and stead- ily refuses justice to her daughters. Jus-, tice willl come, even though heaven need f h* gritty ghnU Jpft* §au <$nt. 11 send the thunderbolt of r win to state and church to enforce it. From that awful pyre of national devastation, the daugh- ters of the land -will rise side by side with the sons on the divine plane of human equality, to redeem and make free with more effulgent knowledge and sublime wisdom, garnered from tlie experience of the past— to build together a nobler his- tory among the destinies of the nations.. So "let justice be done though ithe heavens fall/' This question of Woman's r Suffrage, which seems so complicated to the une- qual vieivs of a class of individuals, ad- justs itself unerringly when weighed in the scales of justice. Justice says, "if the franchisebe a privilege, then it should be- long to woman as' well' as toman; if it be a duty, it also becomes individual, and "no person can justly perform the duties of another." Intelligence should be the basis of the 12 &ht §rutl ( §hHll 4B*h gou grtt. franchise, which is also the sweeping de- cree that intelligence should he universal. To have intelligence we must educate the embryo faculties of the mind. The hope of the world is in the rising generation. Our common schools are the cradles of American Liberty, and instead of being the overcrowded^ hotbeds of physical and mental disorder, they must be so multi- plied andregiila,ted that every child, male and female, rich and poor, should recieve equal and abundant opportunity for in- tellectual and physical development. That ignorant m en now have the power of ballot is no reason that intelligent wo- man should be debarred the same privi- lege. That some women do not want the franchise is no reason ivhy it should be il- legal io those who would not ignore the duty of this republican privileger. The aggregate of slaves didnot demand their liberty, yet it was just and righteous to make th°mfree. The ignorant do not ffc* §mti( §h:ill 4&the §au gnc M (M*norformiettigence,yet the state wise- ly legislates for education. The barbar- ous nations do not desire enlightenment. The heathen do not desire Christianity, yet the great and good of many ages have sacrificed country, home, friends, and life itself to offer them its teachings. Women are but dimly concious of their power, so circumscribed ai'o their limits". Nor can man -vise to' the full power and majesty of manhood while women hang as fettered cmd helpless appendages upon his resources diul his strength: Woman must be free, iudepen dent f set. f --reliant aitd individualized ; v then wiE she M irvdrts most worthy Jielp??iate/cd7?ipajiiori and co-worker. The argument that the franchise will yjtfit woman for the duties of wife and mother falls powerless when we reflect that paralell aiguribents would be equally signiiicant if applied as anobstttcle to the evifranchisnienl v of'77tsn^ Eet justice be H ghe gmt\\ ghzll ^ke §aa ^m. done, and the inevitable result will be the enlargement and uplifting of the nation- al life. The chureh holds with fatal pertinacity to the letter of the past, though both clergy and laymen practically ignore them Will the chureh purge itself of the unrea- sonable dogmas which emanated front the mental monstrosities of the popes fa- natical sovereigns and self -righteous Cal- vins of the unlettred past, rather than from a perfect Deity ? Will the church open her spiritual arms to all God's chil- dren and make the Christ-love a reality of universal benificence ? Or will she con- tinue to exalt on the one hand and send, forthherflat of condemnation on the other, according to the fallible doctrine of priests and bishops ? If the ecclesiastical estab- lishments have the truth, the whole, abso- lute truth, why fear to shed its divine ra- diance over the great multitude of be-, nighted souls ? , If truth is mightier fArfn///? ghall M^e §m 4'**- # them falsehood, which should tremble and quake before the other ? Truth belongs to the universal and absolute— U belongs to all humanity and cannot be obscured in magnificent synagogues, loaded with costly ornamentation, pew rents and mortgages. Why must these hired divines stand aloof from the great unwashed, than kino God that they are not as other men are. or even as these poor Spiritualists. If the religious bodies of to-day have alt of truth, why fear the innovation of a demonstrated immortality ? Fear proves us slaves of error, for truth makes us free and fearless. And yet in every age of the world, positive religionists have stead- fastly opposed the investigations and con - elusions of scientific research. Science is based, upon the immutability of the laws of nature and the complete harmony of every event of the universe. Science ac knowledges the necessity and reason of a W f»* Irii/^f Jfcf// <^M* §ou 4th.. law. It gathers substance from the vast realm of facts traces backward to hidden causes of existing effect siul onward to ultimate results. A religion which involves an qcknowl- edgeine icof God as the author of all law, which stimulates to recognition of duly to every surrounding object, enldnlding emotions of aspiration, reverence and devotion toward all truth, from whatever source it may emanate, must in the hope- ful fu tu re be the religion oftli e en Ugh ten ed world. It will listen with high enthusi- asm and tender awe to the logical induc- tions of reason, the proofs of science and the beautiful inspsrations of every age of the world, and. the coming people ivill worship God in spirit and in truth . Although tliere is a growing liberality ajnong the professed evangelists of the age, yetreligion, asrepresentedin the fixed creeds of many religious sects, is a policy of bigotry, s elf -right e ou sn ess and intoler- f|g ps|| £ig| JKi&j #w 4"*- if a/u j e, ^«f i?#*^ persecute what it cannot proselyte and anathematize what it dare g(P^ destroy. Jesus, the most radical of spiritual reformers, was ciucified: insomuch that the truths he uttered were fatal to the existing laws of Moses, accepted by the people as direct from God. The ?:acjc, the stake and the cross are dead issues of the past in this land, but the re- former of to-day undergoes a crucible no lees terrible: thai the wound is upon the spirit and not l upon the flesh— in the slan- ders, false testimony, evil gossip andinis- representaiions, that in the refinement of cruelty are hurled upon those who dare tQbe true toMteir \ convictions, if adverse to popular opinion. When Galileo gave to th world the re- sull of his investigations and declared to Papal Rome the revolutions of the earth/ theTewasarevoliinthe religious world. Galileo's discoveries were declared to be contrary to Scripture---the pope issued a IS §1* §™tl( ghali Make Qon ^rtt. proclamation — claiming direct comntu- nication from God— asserting that tlte earth did, not move. The story of his per- secutions is too idetl Jcnowu to be repeated. The Inquisition had done its worst when that great spirit quailed, under the tor- ture of the flesh and he retracted what na- ture had revealed, to him under the scru- , tiny of his master search. Lather, the pioneer reformer, in his grand stride toward religious Liberty when he assumed for every individual the right to interpret the Scriptures according to his own intelligence, thus giving intel- lectual liberty to the religious age, braved the anathema of the church and the per- secutions of the catholic ivorld,. When the investigators of * to-day declare .that there is a law by which we may span the chasm of death and communicate i Unth those who dwell in spheres of spir- ,. itual being and, thus gain new knowledge of immortality, stand beneath a storm of §ht grutk gHiiU jgaAr &» 4nt. W reproach and .accusation \\ of which insan- ity is the very least. .. Servetus was burned at the t slaxr through the zealous bigotry of Calvin, lo- calise he clawed to declare his belief in (he unity instead, of the trinity of God : and these were Marshals in the grand anuij of human martyrs, struggling forever, to- ward the truth which shall make us free. To-day, revered and honored by the very horde that spurned them, as heralds tf larger liberty yet lobe. So the investiga- tor of to-day, may well await the verdict of coming generations. JS "acton, Fran i< : tin, Morse, Tyndall, Darwin , Huxley , and hosts of others, have faced the scorn, dcr Vision and prejudice of the world, strong in the conviction of the truer and nobler fu ture of the race. Why this, terrible protest that spares from its ostracism neither learning, ug<< nor sex :?. Is it that truth is conservative, and has arrayed itself An relentless con* 20 ghc gritty §h;ill ^Ithc gon gnc r flict against error, or is it that intolerance is afraid of truth — afraid of investiga- tion. We meet our friend with the glad tidings of a proven immortality, and, he turns coldly away as if Ulcere a bitter lie. But thank God, they come to us from the by-ways and the hedges, from the high places and the low places, and angels come and talk to us, and we find we are as one, on the level plane of hunianibroth- erhood. To believe or not to believe cannot alter the truth that makes us free, and we who have heard the whispers of the angels may possess our souls in patience, while the battle of the creeds goes on. We need not fear, though the keen arrows of falsehood lacerate the sensitive spirit. The holj/ spirit of truth is with us, and shall make us steadfast strong and glad. The earth glows with a new beauty. There is new beauty in the faces we love — we catch fresh glimpses of the soul, and liNM* i^ mM* #*fc Jfafc 21 the temple of the soul is ever beautiful fo the soul seeing eye. I can perceive no in- consistency between true Spiritualism of to-day and Christianity as taught by Je- tus, I cannot l perceive why the churches of to-day cannot accept the God-given truths of Spiritualism, It is a need of the human soul , else the law for its fulfil- ment would not exist: While ive know that our loved ones that we left in the cold trance of death have spanned the awful chasm and come to as with loving words as in the olden time, we would gladly shake off every ism and stand forth, free and enfranchised as sons and daughters of one God, on the level plane of common humanity, seeking only to know thai which is true. But when we tell of tender voices that have floated to us in some quiet hour, revealing of another and spiritual life succeeding the physical, beyond, the change of death— of existence too beautiful for language to describe — of joys that can - M gin grutff glmll M^ #>"