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THE 


Metaphysical  Magazine 


"INTELLIGENCE" 


VOLS.  VI-VII. 


-JwNEr^iSQy — March,  1898 


« 


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Philosophy  dwells  aloft  in  the  Temple  of  Science,  the 
divinity  of  its  inmost  shrine  ;  her  dictates  descend  among  men, 
but  she  herself  descends  not  ;  whoso  would  behold  her  must 
climb  with  long  and  laborious  effort,  nay,  still  linger  in  the 
forecourt,  till  manifold  trials  have  proved  him  worthy  of  ad- 
mission into  the  interior  solemnities. — Carlyle. 


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INDEX. 


VOLUME    SIX 


CONTRIBUTED  ARTICLES. 

rACB 

Astrological  PutoicnoN  on  President  Mc- 

KiNLKY's  Administration,  An,  1897-1901.    Julius  ErUkson^ 171 

Basis  of  iMiiORTALmr,  The, B,  F.  Underwood^ 458 

Bhagavad  GiTA  :  Songs  of  the  Master,     .     .     .  Charles  Johnston^  Af.R,A.S,f       38,371 

BUXDNESS  OF  Sight,  The Irene  A,  Safford^ 436 

"CiKTRBS  OF  Force."  AND  Being,    ....  C, //,  A,  Bjerregaard,     .    .     .    .  378 

CoMscioiTSNKSS,  Conscience,  AND '*  Being,**    .  C,  If.  A,  Bjerregaard,    .     ...  100 

Dogma  of  ™e  Atonement,  The, Henry  Frank ^ 241 

Dogma  of  Fait^,  The, Henry  Frank^ 401 

Dogma  of  Inspiration,  The Henry  Frank^ 321 

EuMENTs  of  Character  Reading A,  L.  Stone, 199 

Esoteric  Puritanism, Henrietta  Christian  Wright,      ,    .     45 

Etohjtiok  of  Consciousness,  The,  ....     IViiiiam  7\  James 362 

Fight  Not  Against  Thy  Sins,  (Pocro),  .     .     .     Mary  Putnam  Gilmore 387 

FioiT  IN  Tradition William  //.  Galvini, 127 

HiALTH  of  the  People,  The, H.  Louise  Burpee, 279 

Humit  of  the  Sierras,  The, Lydia  Bell^ 210 

Ideal,  The,  (Poem), Oliver  Hughes^ 462 

Idiauty  in  Culture, J.  B,  Miller, 430 

Imductive  Astrology, John  Hazelrigg,      .     .    272,  354,  450 

LiriNiTY  OF  the  Soul,  The Eugene  A,  Skdton, 386 

Lntilugence,  Thought,  and  Being,     .     .     .  6\  II.  A .  Bjerregaard^     ....   190 

IsIt  Worth  While,  (Poem), Reginalds,  Span, 343 

Jkiiah  :  The  Mystic  Shrine, Henry  Clay 131 

Leaves  from  a  Metaphysician's  Dairy,    .     .  Helen  Marshall  Xorth,      .    4    .     .     53 

Life  and  Health  in  Mei  aphysics,    ....     Joseph  L.  Hasbroucke^ 180 

Man  and  Nature, C,  Staniland  Wake, i 

Mazdaism  AND  *•  Being," C.  H.  A.  Bjerregaard,      ....     25 

Mental  Illumination, Paul  Avenel, 187 

MiMTAL  Pasturage, Helen  Marshall  North,       .     .      .     .108 

Metaphysics  of  Courage,  The, Charlotte  Hell  man  n 351 

MllAGE, Paul  Avenel, II4 


VI 


Index. 


PACK 

Modern  Astrology, Alan  Leo^  ...         ii 

Nineteenth  Century  Musical  Mystic,  The 

Secret  of  Wagner's  Genius, Albert  Ross  Parsons^     .     .     .     i6i,  260 

Occultism,  (Poem), James  F.  Morton,  Jr,^      ....     60 

Ourselves  Critically  Considered,  ....     ZV.  Dowson, 86 

Philosophy  OF  the  Divine  Man, Hudor  Genone^    .    .     15,  116,286,441 

Potency  of  Mind,  The,  (Poem), F.  Booker  Hawkins 285 

Psychology  of  Sleep,  The, Robert  N.  Reeves, 418 

Rationale  of  Astrology,  The, John  Hazelrigg^ 93 

Real  and  the  Ideal,  The William  H,  Francis, 203 

Scientific  Reasons  for  Mental  Healing.     .     Edwin  D,  Simpson,  M.D 423 

Search,  The,  (Poem), A.  L.  Sykes, 449 

Self-Knowlbdge,  (Poem), L.  T,  R.  Akin, 302 

Social  Relations  of  the  Kosmos,     .     .    .    .     C  Staniland  Wake, 344 

Thought  Work, Barnetta  Brown, 221 

Triunity,  (Poem), William  J,  Roe^ 140 

Two  Views  of  Life, Frank  If.  Sprague 25$ 

Under  the  Bo-Tree,  (Poem), David  Banks  Sickels, 304 

Unseen  World,  The, Andrew  W.  Cross, 81 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT,  WITH   EDITORIAL   COMMENT. 


PACE 

Action  of  Mind  on  Matter,  The, 

{Dr,  George  F.  Foote\      ....  473 

Alive,  Though  Dead, 237 

American  School  of  Metaphysics, 

The, 465 

Astronomical   and    Astrological 

Aspect, 153 

Brain  Cells  in  Finger  Tips,    .    .     .151 

Calf  Path,  The,  (Poem), 316 

Called  Back  in  a  Dream,    .     .     .    .315 
Counting  the  Atoms  in  the  Mole- 
cule,     73 

Day  Dream,  The,  (5.  C.  Dwinell)     .  395 
Day  of  the  Specialist,  The,  (Poem),  397 

Diphtheria  Curs, 233 

Doctors  and  Nature,  {Dr.  A,  Brod- 

bfck), 154 

Dogmatic  Teachings, 388 

Dreams,  (AT), 235 


PAGB 

Eight  Things  a  Physician  Should 

Never  Forget, 152 

External,  The,  {Alexander  Wilder^ 

^-^^ 74 

Experiences  in  Thought  Communi- 
cation,      6$ 

**  Flung  TO  the  Breeze,"  ....  305 
Frontispiece,  64,  145?  ^3^  3o8,  392,  469 
Future  of  Hinduism,  The,  {Coulson 

Turnbull), 310 

Futurity,  {Harriet  E,  Stevens)^  .  .  477 
In  a  LiBRARY,(Poem,  Tudor  Jenks),     .   155 

Intelligence, 62 

Mahatma,  (Prof.  Max  Muller),  .  .  148 
Meaning  of   **Hell,"    The,    {Alex. 

Kent,  D.D.\ 232 

Message,  The,  {J.  B,  Miller),  .  .  .314 
Metaphysics  in  Every* Day  Life,  .  224 
Metaphysics  of  Mind,  The,     ...  142 


Index. 


Vll 


PACK 

Mr.  Post's  Challenge 152 

New  Church,  A,  The  Raison  d*Etre, 

{Henry  Frank\ 474 

Not    Friendly    to    Col.    Waring, 

{Rambler), 478 

Odors  of  Flowers  in  the  Orient, 

{Eugene  Mesnard)^ 73 

Preserved  Sunshine,  (Poem),  ...  74 
Problem  of  Hindu  Philosophy,  The,  470 
Prof.  Ebers  on  *  *  New  Light  from 

THE  Great  Pyramid,"  ....  309 
Progressive  Improvement,  ....  463 
Psychic  Vision,  A,  ( IVm,  H.  Lochman^ 

M,D.\ 150 

Reality  and  Appearance,  (H.  D,  C)  68 
Reviews,    .    .    75,  156,  238,  318,  398,  479 


PAGE 

Rontgbn  Wave-Length,  The,  .  .  232 
School  of  Metaphysics,  A  .  .  .  .  390 
Somnambulistic  Experience,  A,  {//, 

H.  Brown), 151 

Srimadbhagavadgita, 234 

Strange  Experiences  in  the  Rock- 
ies, {William  H.  Handy),     ...     71 

Success, 146 

Success  and  Usefulness,  ....  229 
Thought  Communication,  {H  B.  T.\  393 
Trxtth,  Mighty  Truth,  (Poem,  James 

F.  Morton,  Jr,)^ 396 

Two  Hypnotic  Experiences,  {H,  //. 

Brown), 314 

X-Rays  in  Sunlight,  The,  .     .     .     .147 


VOLUME    SEVEN. 


CONTRIBUTED   ARTICLES. 


PAGB 


An  Educational  Suggestion,      .    .     .     . 

Animal  Flesh  as  Food, 

Arbitration — Force 

Atlantis,  (Poem), 

Attributes  of  God,  The 

Communion  of  Souls,  The,  (Poem),  .     .    . 
Dogma  of  the  Trinity,  The,    .     .     .     .     . 

Dogma  of  Hell,  The 

Dualism  of  Good  and  Evil,  The.      .     .    . 
Empire  of  the  Invisibles,  The,    .    .     .     . 

Ethics  of  Diet,  The, 

Evolution  in  Science, 

Ganglionic  Nervous  System,  The,  .    .     . 

Inner  Isle  of  Man,  The, , 

Medical  Science  and  Medical  Art,     .    . 
Mental  Science  and  Homceopathy,  .     . 
Mysterious  Key,  The,  An  Occult  Tragedy, 
Origin  of  Symbolism,  The,  (Illustrated),     , 

Path,  The,  (Poem), , 

Peace,  (Poem), 

Philosophy  of  the  Divine  Man,  The,  .     . 


Z.  Z.  Hopkins^ 226 

Edward  G.  Day,  M.D.,    ....  303 

Barnetta  Brown 136 

Abbie  W,  Gould, 336 

Swami  Abhedananda, 273 

Clara  A\  Alden, 316 

Rev,  Henry  Frank 115 

Rev,  Henry  Frank^       .     .     .     206,  293 

Eugene  Skilton,  ', 236 

H  E.  Orcutt,      .     .     65,  166,  246,  325 

Rosa  G,  Abbott, 173 

Aim^e  M.  Wood, 290 

Alexander  Wilder^  M.D.,  193,  279 

Shelby  Mumaugh,  M.D.,  .     .     .     .     71 
Franz  Hartmann,  M,D.,  .     .     .     .     21 

Eliza  Calvert  Hall, 32 

Joseph  S,  Rogers^     .     .     .    24,  151,  218 

Rufus  E.  Moorey I»  97 

y.  A.  Edgerton^ 245 

Annie  L,  Muzzey^ 145 

Hudor  Genone, 56,  317 


VUl 


IfuUx. 


Physical  Scixncb  vs.  Occult  Scibncx,      .    .  L,  Emerick,    .... 

Practical  Valub  of  Philosophy,  The,      .    .  Alexander  Wilder ^  M.D. 

Psychic  Vision  OF  AN  Accident, Mrs.  McVean  Adams,  , 

Pythagoras  and  Bxing,  (XXVI.),      .    .    .    .  C.  H.  A.  Bjerregaard, 

Rblated  to  thb  King,  (Poem), Mary  Elizabeth  Lease,  . 

SCIBNCB  AND  SPIRITUAL  PHENOMENA,        .      .      .  B.  F,   UnderWOod,     .      . 

Silent  Domain,  The, Rev.  Elsworth  Lawson, 

SoUL*s  Eden,  The, Charlotte  Emma  fVoods, 

Too  Progressive  for  Him,  (Poem),    ....  Laurana  W.  Sheldon,  . 

What  the  Poets  Say,  (Poem), William  T,  Jame^ 


146 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT,  WITH    EDITORIAL   COMMEN' 


PAGE 

Companion  in  Metaphysical  Work, 

A, 338 

Dream  Visions,  {John  IVidlon)^     .    .    92 
Dreams   and   Thought    Transfer- 
ence, {Ernest  Benninghoven\    .     .  347 

Family  History,  (Poem) 94 

Folly  of  Worry,  The,  (Editorial),  .  259 
Frontispiece,  (Editorial),  ....  339 
Hypnotism  as  a  Cause  of  Disease,  .  95 
La  Grippe  and  Influenza,  ....  339 
Meditation  and  Reading,  .  .  186,  266 
Metaphysical  Healing,  {Leander  Ed- 
mund Whipple) 182 

Metaphysical  Healing:  Theory  and 
General  Structure,  {F^ander  Ed- 
mund Whipple) 340 

Mind  AND  Body,  (/'r*?/".  /.a<A/),  .  .  94 
Modern  Sceptic,  A,  {F.  W.  l^wis),  .  180 
Monkey-Like    Feature    of    Babies, 

(C  E.  Achle\ 269 

New  Location,  A, .  337 


Number  ok  a  Name,  The,  (/.  Hazel- 

^*iS) 

Photography  of  the  Invisible,    .    . 

Psychic  Action  in  Dreams,      .    .     . 

Psychological  Experience,  A,    .    . 

Question  in  Theology,  A,  .     .    .    . 

Responsive  Reading  and'  Medita- 
tion, {Rev.  Henry  Frank)  ^  .     .     . 

Reviews, 95,  190,  270, 

Secret  Mail  in  India,  The,    .     .     . 

Subconscious  Imitation,  (C.  /''.  Achle), 

Truth,  the  Basis  of  Knowledge,    . 

Twenty  Arguments  in  Favor  of  Re- 
incarnation, (W.  T.  James),  .     . 

Usefulness  of  Occult  Study,  (Edi- 
torial),   

X  -  Rays  and  Their  Relation  to 
Chemistry  and  Physics,  The, 
(.SV.  John  r.  Day,  F.R.S.E.),  .     . 

Yellow-Fever  Anti-Toxin,  A      .     . 


INTELLIGENCE. 


DECEMBER,  1897. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SYMBOLISM.* 


Symbolism  originated  in  the  efforts  of  intuitively  intelligent  hu- 
man beings  to  convey  ideas  and  information  by  the  use  of  certain 


c 


Mysiic  Symbol  at  Life.     Chinese  "  Vang  and  Yin." — White,  (eminine  ;  black,  mascniine. 

signs.  The  earliest  rational  system  is  found  embodied  in  the  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics  now  credited  with  an  authentic  history  of  more  than 
eight  thousand  years. 

The  key  to  the  profoundest  knowledge  and  faith  of  the  ancients 
is  even  at  this  late  day  hidden  in  a  mysterious  system  of  symbolism 
difficult  to  interpret. 

The  traditions  of  all  countries,  however,  present  to  us  impressive 

expressions  of  reverence  for  a  mythical  ancestry  as  having  been  at  a 

remote  period  in  possession  of  superhuman  powers  with  which  to 

conquer  perverse  influences,  and  of  divine  wisdom  to  take  advantage 

*  Illustrated  by  the  author. 

Copyright,  1897,  br  Rata*  E.  Hoon. 


2  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  opportunities.  The  ancestor,  having  attained  freedom  of  over- 
coming, was  never  less  than  a  God. 

Men  of  the  periods  of  the  distant  past,  endowed  with  lofty  genius 
and  the  magical  attributes,  became  tribal  leaders  and  foremost  ob- 
jects of  worship.    The  king  stood  in  the  place  of  God. 

Wisdom  and  power  revered  as  being  at  the  root  of  things  would 
naturally  incite  the  thoughtful  to  investigate  these  subjects,  and  it  is 
the  results  of  this  early  investigation  of  the  sages  that  have  been 
handed  down  from  century  to  century,  by  means  of  a  system  of  sym- 
bols unique  and  persistent,  always  cherished  and  venerated  as  an  en- 
during possession.  The  development  of  this  early  symbolism  was 
both  emotional  and  mental,  for  the  reason  that  scientific,  or  practical, 
methods  had  not  yet  dawned  upon  the  races,  and  the  meaning  was 
held  a  secret  inviolable,  transmitted  orally  from  father  to  son  as  a 
sacred  heritage. 

It  is  supposable  that  wisely  chosen  emblems  would  be  approved 
by  the  men  of  wisdom  throughout  the  intellectual  circuit  of  the  globe, 
which  should  sufficiently  account  for  the  extensive  migration  of  sym- 
bols, and  also  for  the  similarity  of  myth  and  allegory  in  different  races 
and  widely  separated  countries.  Ancient  symbolism  though  appar- 
ently complex  is  in  reality  based  on  a  few  simple  forms  surprisingly 
direct  in  purpose  and  frank  in  presentation. 

We  marvel  to  learn  that  our  facile  nomenclature  of  to-day,  with 
its  dictionaries  of  more  than  300,000  w^ords,  owes  its  inception  and 
development  to  the  wise  selection  of  a  duodenary  of  symbolical  fig- 
ures associated  with  the  zodiac,  coupled  with  ten  numeral  signs,  the 
latter  being  extended  by  duplication  to  represent  the  manifestation 
of  the  Infinite  in  substantial  forms  together  with  the  hidden  relation- 
ship of  the  influences  that  govern  creation.  From  this  source  is  the 
naming  of  things  and  the  terms  expressive  of  the  varying  ideas  of 
relation,  all  founded  upon  the  theor}'  of  creation  by  vibration  or 
"  voice/'  Nature's  own  symbolic  language. 

These  first  numeral  signs,  from  the  earliest  hieratic  ordinals, 
i.e.,  first,  second,  third,  etc.,  counting  on  the  fingers,  were,  in  the  land 
of  their  nativity,  placed  in  a  "  magic  square  "  of  nine  chambers,  and 
designated  the  figure  of  Fate,  being  associated  with  the  planet  Saturn 


•  •• 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 


THE  ORIGIN    OF  SYMBOLISM.  3 

(  h )  because  of  its  heaven-embracing  cycle  of  least  variability,  which 
became  the  key  to  ancient  chronology. 


6 

m 

8 

7 

5 

3 

a 

9 

4 

Magiic  Square  o(  Salurn.     Archetype  of  the  Sacred  Wheel. 

The  common  summation  of  this  square  is  fifteen  in  every  direc- 
tion; or,  in  another  way,  and  leaving  out  the  central  figure — No.  5, 
the  "  mystic  mediator  " — each  number  added  to  its  opposite  makes 
ten,  the  symbol  of  Deity.  For  be  it  known  that  One  (i),  i.e.,  the 
Infinite,  is  hidden  and  impossible  of  vocalization,  therefore  zero  (o) 
was  adjoined,  forming  ten  (10),  the  visible  sign  of  the  Infinite  In 
manifestation,  and  the  starting-point  of  all  ancient  cosmologies. 

The  earliest  concise  theory  of  the  universe  is  given  symbolically 
in  the  Bible,  where  the  reader  will  find,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Ezekiel, 
the  Prophet,  the  most  probable  source  of  Oriental  symbolism.  The 
prophetical  vision  of  God  by  the  River  Chebar  is,  "  A  great  cloud, 
and  a  fire  infolding  itself; "  i.e.,  darkness  and  light,  negation  and 
power;  the  monad  of  the  philosophers — the  dual  divine  order  of  pro- 
ceeding of  the  Logos  (word)  to  manifestation,  for  every  monad  pos- 
sesses dual  potency  in  "  becoming,"  that  is,  "  Spirit  "  and  "  Voice  " 
or  vibration. 


The  "  Mon«d, 


4,  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  Oriental  figure  of  the  monad  given  here  is  called  "  the  pt 
"  the  most  venerable."  Its  visible  simulacra  are  believed  to  be 
ured  in  the  whorls  on  the  back  of  the  sacred  tortoise  that  1 
the  Earth. 


Chinese  Sacred  Tortoise,  bearing  the  Eanh.      Symbol  of:    ist.  Power;    id,  L 

Continuing  with  Ezekiel's  picture  o!  the  cosmos,  we  fine 
"  four  living  creatures,"  or  "  cherubims  "  standing  for  the  p 
tialities  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  echptic.  These  are  describ 
the  face  of  a  Bull  (East),  a  Lion  (North),  an  Eagle  (West),  i 
Man  (South),  evidently  the  vital  forms  of  the  numeral  symb 
the  great  name  (nTP),  reading  from  left  to  right,  Yod-He-Vau-J 
Yahveh,  Jehovah. 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteentii  verses  are  these  words:  "  B( 
one  wheel,"  and  following,  "  As  it  were  a  wheel  in  the  midd 
a  wheel." 

The  symbohsm  so  graphically  portrayed  by  the  "  Man  of  C 
among  the  Hebrews,  in  the  sixth  century  before  the  Christian 
migrated  eastward  during  this  first  great  period  of  commercia' 
intellectual  interchange  of  the  Mediterranean  races  and  assimi 
peculiar  variants. 

In  Chinese  symbolism,  for  instance,  one  easily  identifies  the  s; 
denary  of  numerals  still  reflecting  the  "  magic  square,"  and  the  d 


THE  ORIGIN   OF   SYMBOLISM. 


"  Sephiroth  "  of  Judaism,  but  arranged  on  a  wheel  of  nine  compart- 
ments with  the  central  one  often  occupied  by  the  "  Yang  and  Yin," 
the  figure  given  at  the  beginning  of  this  article. 


Eight  TriErams  (Pa-K 


Unit  FlgoK. 


This  wheel  contains  the  mystic  eight  trtgrams,  called  the  "  Pa- 
Kwa,"  representing  by  entire  and  broken  lines  the  relation  of  the 
masculine  and  feminine  elements  in  nature,  beginning  at  the  point 
Aries  of  the  Spring  equinox.  The  sum  of  the  lines  in  each  transverse 
direction  is  nine,  and  by  adding  unity,  the  Infinite,  we  shall  again 
realize  the  divine  numeral  symbol,  ten,  four  times  repeated.     The 


The  Mjthica]  Empetor,  Fuh-Ili  (2750 


of  the  Mystic  Fignm. 


"  Pa-Kwa"  is  said  to  have  been  revealed  to  the  fabulous  "  Fuh-hi  " 
more  than  five  thousand  years  ago.    Fable  places  its  first  appearance 


«  INTELLIGENCE. 

on  the  back  of  the  sacred  Tortoise,  which  has  a  peculiar  numei 
conformation  of  the  carapace,  consisting  of  a  circle  of  ten  whorls 
closing  three  whorls  on  the  dome  of  the  shell,  prefiguring  the  mj 
division  of  the  creative  energy.  The  revelation  associated  with 
material  symbol  of  the  second  law,  Omnipotence  (Summer),  a 


Totioise  of  ihe  Abyss. 


to  light  through  the  intervention  of  the  Dragon  Horse,  the  "  Ki-L 
representing  the  third  law,  or  mind,  aptitude  (Autumn). 

A  tabulation  here  will  best  present  the  cyclic  modifying  influe 
symbolized  on  the  wonderful  wheel  with  its  Oriental  investiture, 
indicate  the  relativity  of  the  fourfold  principles  in  connection  \ 
the  seasons  of  the  year.  The  Tetrad,  4.  from  which  forms  origin 
is  called  the  governor  of  all  things.  It  is  the  sign  of  the  ph 
Jupiter  (3i).  The  Ogdoad  (8)  is  the  "Mother"  number,  the  c 
tainer  of  all  things,  as  shown  by  the  mystic  Wheel. 

Existence  was  first  negative;  the  first  law  (Spring-motion)  t 
became  positive,  with  capacity  of  actuality,  the  second  law  (Sumn 
substance),  and  the  unique  positive  equivalent,  the  creative  "  I 
him  "  of  the  Bible,  through  which  alone  can  the  first  law  be  kno 
"  One  is  She,  the  Spirit  of  the  Elohim  of  Life."  The  "  monad 
the  glyph  of  the  dual  Infinite,  macroprosopus,  which  is  allotted 
three  first  numbers  (1-2-3  =  unity)  o"  ^^^  magic  square  of  10  e: 


THE  ORIGIN    OF  SYMBOLISM.  7 

tinting  attributes  (nine  chambers),  but  corresponds  to  Spring  and 
Summer  in  the  zodiacal  modifying  power  of  the  ecHptic,  The  "  Yang 
and  Yin  "  is  a  glyph  of  manifestation,  called  microprosopus,  man, 
having  six  symbolical  numbers  of  the  lo  emanations  (4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  g), 
and  the  two  influences  of  Autumn  (Form)  and  Winter  (Purpose), 
as  shown  in  the  tabulation  above;  and  ten  (i-o)  becomes  One  (i), 
but  in  a  different  manner,  evolving  a  new  Infinite,  the  "  Christos." 


Torioise  of  ihe  Mystic  Elements. 


The  fourfold  principles  of  ancient  cosmologies  have  been  admirably 
paraphrased  by  the  "  Mystic,"  Swedenborg: 

"  Man  Wills  (ist)  and  Asks  (2d);  God  Answers  (3d)  and  Gives 
(4th)." 

In  the  beginning  symbolism  had  a  metaphysical  origin,  the  key 
to  which  was  man  himself,  in  just  proceeding,  as  an  epitome  of  the 
universe.    "  And  the  just  man  is  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

"  Nature  reveals  Man,  Man  reveals  God." 

These  theories  were  a  natural  revelation  to  ail  ahke  in  all  coun- 
tries at  the  distant  period  of  the  first  blossoming  of  the  human  mind 
into  conscious  perception  that  spiritual  principles  manifested  are  pow- 
ers over  which  man  alone  has  control  by  intelligent  correlation,  but 
the  selection  of  the  signs  to  suggest  the  garnered  truths  fell  to  the 


e 


INTELLIGENCK 


THE  FOURFOLD  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 


I 


1 


**  Being"  =  Existence. 


Monad. 

Macroprosopus. 
Father,  Mother. 


Manifestation. 

Microprosopus. 
Man  and  Bride. 


Modifying  Creative  Forces. 
Spring  (Motion).  |  Summer  (Substance).  |    Autumn  (Form).    |   Winter  (Purpose). 

Biblical  Symbols. 
Ox  (Taurus).     |  Lion  (Leo).  |     Eagle  (Scorpio).     |     Man  (Aquarius). 


Potencies. 

Wisdom, 

Power. 

Knowledge. 

Fear, 

Ominscient. 

Omnipotent. 

Omnipresent. 

Opportunity. 

Idea. 

Volition. 

Relation. 

Function. 

' 

Activities. 

To  Will.        1 

To  Want.            |          To  Work.          | 
Material  Elements. 

To  Wait. 

Fire.            1 

Earth.                | 

Air. 

Water. 

Sulphur.         I 


Alchemical  Substances. 

Salt.  I  Mercury.  | 


Gold. 


Osiris. 


I 


Egyptian  Personifications. 
Isis.  I  Horus. 


I 


Hathor. 


Oriental  Symbols  of  the  Four  Quarters. 
Dragon  (East).   |      Tortoise  (North).      |      Ki-Lin  (West).      |     Phoenix  (South). 


Negative, 

Unit  (Love). 

True. 

Yod  (ist  letter). 


Positive, 

Duad  (Faith). 

Good. 

He  (5th  letter). 


Negative. 

Triad  (Hope). 

Beautiful. 

Vau  (6th  letter). 


Positive, 

Tetrad  (Charity). 

Holy. 

He  (5th  letter). 


Jehovah. 


Adonai. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM.  » 

wise  men  alone.    A  valorous  sage  of  the  "  Lu  Shan  "  mountain,  meet- 
ing with  a  solitary  pilgrim,  straightway  makes  salutatory  advances 


Chinese  Symbolic^  Tablet  of  Cuved  Jade.     Four  Elements :   Fire,  Earth,  Air,  Water. 


by  drawing  a  line  around  about  his  form,  meaning,  in  the  mystic 
language,  "  This  man  reveals  God,"  to  which  the  stranger  responds 
by  crescenting  or  dividing  the  circle,  presenting  thereby  a  glyph  of 


TV  Primordul  Egg.     Chinese  Emblem  of  the  Ten  Potencies,  four  ethereal  (wings),  six 
mundane  (feet). 

the  second  law — plurality,  power:  continuing  defiantly,  he  also  draws 
npon  the  sand  the  terrible  "  Swastica,"  or  "  Fylfot,"  the  oblique  cross 


10  INTELLIGENCE. 

oi  the  "  fixed  "  points  of  tlie  zodiac,  the  sign  of  the  tangential  op 
tion  of  nature,  the  cosmic  process,  the  third  law.  Then  the  pil( 
modestly  projects  a  horizontal  line  within  a  circle,  when  niagit 
the  "  Prince  "  appears — transformation,  unity  extended,  "  rebir 
a  just  gift  which  nature  cannot  withhold,  and  only  man  can  mitij 
according  to  Oriental  theories.    This  last  is  the  fourth  law. 


Symbol  of  Ihe  First  l.«w  (Spring).     The  Visible  a  type  of  the  Invisible. 


The  illustrations  of  the  four  glyphs  of  existence  given  here 
are  not  uncominon  in  eastern  hooks,  and  within  them  is  enwraj 
for  the  Oriental  student  the  deepest  esoteric  mysteries,  as  we 
profound  metaphysics. 

Singularly,  these  symbols  are  never  anywhere  explained,  the 
being  that  their  secret  is  humanity  in  the  living  stniggle,  witll 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


higher  self  as  a  foundation,  and  the  neophyte  initiate  itito  the  mystic 
riies  could  never  see  more  than  was  already  developed  within  him- 


Sfmbol  of  Second  Law  (Sud 


cH,  for  all  erudition  of  the  past,  as  of  the  present  time,  must  of  neces- 
iiy  bear  strict  relation  to  its  Alma  Mater  and  the  degree  of  adeptship. 


12 


INTELLIGENCE. 


The  seers  of  old  intuitively  knew  that  wisdom  is  the  only  panacea 
of  the  Soul  and  that  the  universe  is  its  citadel;  and  furthermore,  that 
until  favors  are  wooed  with  the  magic  wand  of  the  Shepherd  (ex- 


Symbol  of  Third  Law  (Aaramn).    Conscious  Realizoiion. 

pression  of  want,  or  prayer)  and  macerated  with  the  flagellum  of  the 
mind  (wilful  purpose,  work,  "  Karma"),  words  will  fail  to  convey 
the  silent  story  of  the  heart. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


13 


Therefore  the  symbolical  glyphs  and  festal  formularies  were 
chosen  by  the  wise  rulers  of  men  to  convince  the  common  people  and 
the  untutored  of  the  sacredness  of  "  Being  "  and  of  living. 

Obviously  correct  theories  of  the  universe  and  the  relationship 
of  principles  were  formulated  by  minds  of  vast  comprehension  of  in- 
■ard  realities  long  before  symbols  were  invented;  for  how  could  the 


Symbol  of  Fourth  Law  (Winter).      Life  extended  by  RebLrth. 


mysteries  of  creation  be  adequately  portrayed  if  not  at  first  well  un- 
derstood? The  profound  truth  of  symbolism  could  never  have  arisen 
irom  the  gaping  wonderment  of  bucolic  Accadians  viewing  in  fear 
iheorderly  course  of  nature,  though  this  is  seemingly  a  popular  theory 
of  the  present  time. 

The  "  Yang  and  Yin  "  as  a  glyph  representing  the  "  Monad  "  in 
tmnifestation,  a  symbol  of "  Becoming,"  new  life,  rebirth,  when  found 


14 


INTELLIGENCE. 


in  the  central  compartment  of  the  sacred  wheel,  stands  for  the  at 
iliary  fifth  activity,  corresponding  with  the  Jewish  feminine  sephi 
"  Geburah,"  fortitude,  signifying  exoterically  the  militant  chur. 
hierarchal  leadership.  In  China  it  is  used  as  a  banner  name,  borne 
the  leader  of  a  legion.  Its  position  as  central  signiBes  the  preset 
of  Deity  in  the  human  blossoming.    It  is  interesting  to  note  that  I 


Ju-i  (shepherd's  wand). 
Symbol  of  power  of 
failh.     Chinese   Qoi. 


Chinese  Banner.     Eight  Tripams,  Ysng  and  Yin 
Slar  Symbols  of  the  Universe. 


fifth  symbol  of  our  European  "  Tarot  "  cards  is  called  "  The  Pop 
the  visible  vicegerent  of  the  "  Elohim." 

The  origin  of  this  "  Yang  and  Yin  "  dual  symbol  traced  back 
the  ancient  hieroglyphic  table  of  the  Egyptians  is  astrological,  m 
ing  its  first  appearance  as  a  glyph  of  the  fourth  zodiacal  sign.  Cam 
the  Crab,  which  the  Sun  enters  at  the  Summer  solstice,  the  "  Gat( 
Humanity."  Cognate  figures  cut  out  of  the  precious  jade  stone  i 
pierced  are  often  worn  as  charms  in  India  and  China.  The  analoi 
of  this  ancient  symbol  in  use  at  the  present  time  is  the  comma 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


15 


employed  in  punctuation  to  indicate  slightest  separation,  and  again 
il  is  used  as  quotation  marks  (**  ")  indicative  of  bringing  to  light  a 
new  idea.  .  Permit  me  here  to  mention  an  instance  of  crass  fantastical- 


Jade  Luck  Chartn. 

ism  which  may  be  seen  in  the  substitution  by  some  printers  of  repute 
oi  ihe  meaningless  elbow  (<^  ^)  for  quotation  marks  on  the  printed 
page  in  place  of  the  most  sacred  symbol  of  antiquity. 

Occultly,  this  figure  of  the  "  Yang  and  Yin  "  is  ineffably  phallic 
in  signilicance,  representing  the  male  and  female  germs,  the  sperm 
and  the  ova,  and  symbolical  of  the  origin  of  life  on  the  earth  by  these 
tworiliated  globules  in  friendly  poise. 

it  is  the  most  obvious  sign  of  "  Becoming  "  or  of  a  revelation. 

When  the  precious  porcelain  of  China,  composed  of  two  sub- 
stances, infusible  kaolin  and  fusible  petuntse,  was  first  discovered  the 


S;mboIical  Vase  presented  lo  the 
imperor.     Chinese  Porcelain. 


Anciem  Lolus  Vase  from  Corea. 
Eight  lobes,  dec.  blue  under 
glaie.    "  Propagation  Vase." 


""He given  it  on  account  of  its  dual  nature  was  "  T'ao,"  the  same  as 
«■■"  Being,"  meaning  a  divine  revelation. 

The  first  perfect  example  of  porcelain  presented  to  the  emperor, 
The  Son  of  Heaven,"  bore  the  mystic  "  Yang  and  Yin  "  associated 
wih  the  "  eight  trigrams." 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


17 


To  the  western  world  Oriental  art  has  been  indeed  a  revelation. 
It  is  now  thought  to  be  the  most  pronounced  factor  in  the  advance- 
mem  o(  a  refined  and  discriminating  taste  in  nearly  every  branch  of 
artistic  industry.  Museums  and  private  collectors  everywhere  vie 
with  one  another  in  active  pursuit  of  rare  specimens  of  the  various 
classes,  paying  comparatively  large  sums  for  the  best.  Its  difficulty, 
courting  mastery  over  materials,  coupled  with  its  methods  of  subtle 
artistic  manipulation,  captivates  all  observers,  opening  for  the  art- 
student  apparently  another  world  of  fascinating  novelty  in  motif  for 
colors  and  forms  in  decoration  and  for  tonal  combinations.  Its  chie£ 
characteristic  at  all  periods  is  its  mystic  symbolism. 


1.  Celesiia]  Dragon.     Symbol  of  Spring — East. 

2.  TerrcMrial  Tonoise  end  Wise  Serpent.     Symbol  of  Summer — North. 
J.  Ethereal  K'i-Lin.     Symbol  of  Autumn — West. 

4.  Heavenly  Phcenii  (Feng-Hwang).     Symbol  of  Winter—Soulh. 

The  secret  of  the  firm  hold  which  the  spirit  of  the  inexhaustible 
Wv  of  Eastern  art  has  so  recently  secured  on  the  higher  intelligence 
oi civilized  people  seems  to  lie  in  the  profound  abandon  of  the  races 
to  J  deep  religious  veneration  for  their  deified  ancestry,  exalted  in 
"inh  and  allegory  as  the  defenders  of  traditions  intimately  associated 
•iihall  the  powers  and  graces  of  the  Infinite,  the  "  Great  Extreme." 
Timid  in  the  presence  of  sacerdotalism,  which  is  always  limiting  to 
tbought-creations  and  ideals,  the  mind  of  the  Oriental  has  long  been 
"rest  in  a  faith  that  is  simply  overwhelming,  always  looking  askance 
*t  the  promise  of  science  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  truth. 

The  symbols  by  which  they  seek  to  express  their  devout  adoration 
**  wei^-where  numerical,  chiefly  the  four  and  eight  sequences:  the 


18  INTELLIGENCK 

seasons  extended  symbolized  by  the  four  monsters  of  composite  ai 
mal  forms,  Dragon,  Tortoise,  K'i-Lin,  Phoenix;*  the  emanatii 
graces  personified  by  the  "  Eight  Immortals,"  and  their  auxiliari 
in  the  religious  pantheons,  with  personal  attributes  most  explicit 
form  determinations;  and  all  are  viewed  as  glyphs  of  the  Infini 
**  Being,"  external  and  plastic. 

The  meaning  of  the  glyphs  is  hidden  as  the  "  Infinite  "  is  hidd< 
but  the  archetype  is  man,  from  whose  transpositions  are  formed  i 
symbolical  glyphs  of  the  letters  of  the  Law.     Symbolism  is  stil 
living  issue  in  the  world,  though  slumbering  for  a  time  under  I 
solidifying  influence  of  orthodoxy  and  caste,  by  which  I  mean 
ligious  devotion  to  a  code  of  moral  conduct  as  distinguished  fn 
spiritual  principle.    A  divine  idea  glimmers  through  ancient  symb< 
the  true  esoteric  explanation  of  which  reconciles  all  religions;  ortl 
doxy  arising  has  given  proof  of  loss  of  the  divine  light.     Vulgai 
to  the  Oriental  mind,  we  of  the  West  may  grasp  the  universe  i 
wring  it  as  a  wet  rag,  which  is  the  province  of  science;  but  the  sec 
is  not  there:  it  is  in  man  alone,  pursuing  the  higher  possibilities 
living.    Our  ideals  of  living  may  differ,  but  the  devotion  of  the  C 
ental  to  his  ideal  is  unmistakably  expressed  in  his  art.    He  ever 
a  firm  confidence  in  the  potency  of  active  moral  energies  under 
circumstances,  sincerely  believing  that  the  Antecedent  is  servani 
the  world  for  the  asking,  and  that  the  world  of  the  beautiful  is 
world  of  his  god;  his  artistic  impulse  centres  always  in  the  adequ 
of  the  symbol  to  express  his  highest  sentiments  of  veneration,  w 
at  the  same  time  he  modestly  hides  the  animus  of  his  cultus. 
symbols  are  limited  to  the  decad  of  numeral  signs  and  their  reflect 
in  variety  of  forms  and  transformations  (except  in  the  use  of  en 
and  marks  of  cognizance),  efficacy  being  sought  in  endless  repetit; 
on  the  same  principle  as  in  the  use  of  the  prayer-wheel  or  incantati< 
the  only  clue  to  the  meaning  of  which  is  a  theory  of  the  univers 
a  unity  of  the  "  Great  Good,"  the  Infinite.    This  unity,  following 
ancient  ideals  of  Egypt,  Babylonia,  and  Greece,  consists,  accorc 
to  the  Pythagorean  theory,  of  a  trinity  of  dimension  and  an  enii 

*  There  are  different  forms  of  the  composite  monsters:    the  Dragon  has 
the  Tortoise  six,  the  K'i-Lin  four,  the  Phoenix  two. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM.  19 

of  relationship;  One  =3x3  =  9+  1  =  10  =  unity,  the  centrif- 
ugal radiating  attributes,  or  "  emanations,"  together  with  a  tetra- 
graimnation  of  centripetal  or  modifying  powers,  the  zodiacal  channels 
of  planetary  influence  represented  by  the  numbers  10,  11,  12,  13, 
5)-inbolized  by  personifications  and  monster  forms.  The  numerical 
ennead  of  the  magic  square  in  Gemaric  sequence  expanded  or  sexual- 
ized  by  duplication,  added  to  the  zodiacal  numbers,  make  the  twenty- 
two  archaic  concepts  forming  the  nucleus  of  the  primitive  alphabets. 


"The  Ttmpler."    -Chinese  God  of  InTclIigence  holding  anit 
Ihree  Slars  symbolize  CelesliaJ  Fire. 


e  of  qDanlity.     The 


The  true  key  to  Oriental  symbolism  lies  in  the  correct  placing  of 
the  ennead  and  quadrant  emblems,  twenty-two  in  number,  on  the 
saaed  wheel  in  order  to  see  their  real  relationship  in  transposition 
(humanity's  tangential  path)  which  corresponds  absolutely  to  the 
correct  housing  of  the  gods  of  the  Mediterranean  races  in  the  celestial 
mansions  of  the  ancient  "  magic  square  "  of  Saturn,  "  Lord  of  Fate." 
This  most  arcane  secret,  never  heretofore  revealed,  gives  a  clue  not 
only  to  the  identification  of  myths  and  emblems  of  all  countries,  but 
Co  the  history  of  all  religions  as  well,  forming  a  sound  basis  for  cor- 


INTELLIGENCE 


rectly  interpreting  symbolical  inscriptions  and  alphabetical  c 
ters,  and  also  a  solid  foundation  for  eliminating  the  vast  eph 
of  fantasticalism  in  religious  doctrine  and  formularies.  It  fo 
solid  defence  for  a  re-reading  of  ancient  inscriptions  and  paleog 


The  Sapemal  Mother  (Isis),  Goddess  of  Mercy.     Chinese  "  Kwanyin  of  the  Whili 
wiih  Propagation  Vase,  Emblem  of  Matter  (Summer). 


in  general.  No  history  of  an  Oriental  art  can  be  intelligible  w 
this  clue  to  its  beautiful  symbolism.  The  Christian  Bible,  by  a  » 
transliteration,  will  become  again  a  reliable  book  of  science, 
sacred  "  Wheel  of  Fortune  "  and  its  numeral  symbolism,  whicb 
in  the  verdure-clad  environment  of  the  Mediterranean  in  times  b 
the  contemplation  of  history,  must  be  reserved  for  a  future  at 
.     RUFOS  E.  McK 


^'^"'^ 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE  AND  MEDICAL  ART. 

There  is  as  much  diflference  in  the  practice  of  medicine  between 
sdcnce  and  art,  as  there  is  in  the  practice  of  music  or  painting.  There 
arc  many  people  who  are  well  experienced  in  all  the  technicalities  of 
performing  on  a  piano,  but  who  nevertheless  are  not  artists;  they 
may  produce  tunes,  but  not  music.  There  are  painters  whose  pict- 
ures are  made  according  to  the  rules  of  painting,  yet  lack  soul.  In 
the  same  way,  there  are  physicians  who  will  be  able  to  treat  their 
patients  according  to  all  the  rules  prescribed  in  their  books,  but 
who  will  nevertheless  fail  to  cure  them,  because  they  lack  one  of 
the  most  essential  elements  in  treating  disease,  one  which  cannot 
he  found  in  the  dispensary  or  in  the  apothecary-shop,  but  which  is 
called  by  Theophrastus  Paracelsus  "  the  virtue  of  the  physician." 

This  term  it  is  not  to  be  understood  as  meaning  to  say  that  a 
physician  ought  to  be  only  an  honest,  truthful,  well  instructed,  and 
benevolent  person;  all  this,  of  course,  is  desirable;  but  it  means  some- 
thing more.  It  means  that  a  physician  ought  to  have  within  himself 
the  power  for  curing  disease;  be  it  by  means  of  his  own  "  magnetism," 
of  whose  possession  he  may  perhaps  be  fully  unconscious  himself,  or 
by  the  influence  of  his  benevolent  thought,  or  owing  to  some  occult 
power  or  capacity,  such  as  is,  for  instance,  shown  by  a  certain  class 
of  people  who  are  called  "  bonesetters,"  and  who  even,  without  any 
niedical-school  education,  are  in  possession  of  the  power  of  instinct- 
J^dy  or  intuitively  recognizing  fractures  and  curing  them. 

Almost  anybody  of  average  understanding  may  become  a  scien- 
tific physician  by  attending  a  medical  school  and  acquiring  a  certain 
^nnnmt  of  experience;  but  the  medical  art  of  which  we  speak  cannot 
be  learned  in  schools  or  from  books;  it  is  a  natural  gift  with  which 
certain  persons  are  endowed  from  birth  and  which  may  be  developed 
by  practice,  just  as  there  are  children  born  with  a  great  talent  for 
Panting,  and  even  musical  prodigies,  who  astonish  the  world  by 
tbdr  perfonnances. 

21 


22  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  possession  of  this  **  virtue  "  is  most  important  for  a  physici 
the  scientific  instruction  is  a  very  useful  addition  to  it,  but  of  mi 
importance;  while  a  doctor  possessing  only  medical  erudition  j 
no  talent  for  the  practice  of  his  art  is  very  poorly  qualified  as  a  ph 
cian,  even  if  he  be  in  possession  of  diplomas  of  the  best  med 
colleges  in  the  world.  It  has  been  repeatedly  stated  by  Theophras 
Paracelsus,  who  was  the  great  reformer  of  medicine  during  the  ^ 
die  Ages,  that  it  is  rather  the  physician  himself  than  the  medi< 
which  he  prescribes  that  cures  the  patient.  To  ignore  the  nati 
qualifications  of  a  physician,  and  to  judge  his  standing  in  the  j 
fession  only  by  the  amount  of  theories  which  he  has  acquired,  h 
ignore  that  which  is  the  most  useful  and  of  real  importance  in 
practice  of  medicine.  Such  a  proceeding  is  as  absurd  as  if  we  v 
to  refuse  to  listen  to  a  beautiful  performance  of  music,  unless  well 
sured  that  the  performer  was  a  graduate  of  a  well-recognized  es 
lishment  for  manufacturing  musical  instruments,  or  of  an  acad( 
where  the  mechanical  part  of  making  music  is  taught. 

The  existence  of  a  power  to  cure  disease  by  occult  means,  I 
by  the  power  of  will  or  by  spiritual  power;  by  the  action  of  fait! 
thought,   by   "  magnetism,"    "  mesmerism,"    "  clairvoyance,"   b 
transfer  of  the  life-principle,  by  the  aid  of  invisible  being,  or  by 
other  occult  power,  no  matter  by  what  name  it  is  called,  begin 
be  an  universally  recognized  fact,  in  spite  of  a  certain  class  of 
fessional  medical  men,  who,  being  themselves  ignorant  of  the 
istence  of  such  powers,  try  to  prevent  such  knowledge  being  acqu 
There  may  be  some  of  them,  no  less  conceited  than  ignorant, 
fancy  that  the  welfare  of  humanity  is  intrusted  to  the  superior 
dom  which  they  have  learned  in  their  books.     Believing  that  t 
can  be  no  salvation  outside  of  the  system  which  they  follow,  the; 
to  prohibit  the  sick  from  getting  well  by  any  other  than  their 
method,  even  if  that  method  kills  many  more  people  than  it  cu 

No  doubt  there  may  be  impostors,  pretending  to  be  in 
session  of  powers  which  they  do  not  possess,  and  such  pei 
ought  to  be  guarded  against;   but,  also,  no  doubt  there  are 
many  practitioners  of  medicine  without  the  least  natural  qual 
tion  for  the  art  of  medicine,  whose  ignorance  is  sheltered  b< 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE  AND   MEDICAL  ART.  23 

a  diploma  from  some  medical  college,  and  whose  professional  homi- 
cides are  safe  from  prosecution,  they  being  legally  authorized  to  cure 
or  to  kill.  The  former  run  a  vastly  greater  risk  than  the  latter 
by  entering  into  medical  practice;  for,  let  a  medical  "  artist  "  be  ever 
so  dever,  as  soon  as  a  patient  dies,  while  he  is  under  his  charge  (even 
if  that  patient  would  have  died  under  the  treatment  of  any  other  phy- 
sidan)  immediately  the  legally  recognized  profession  will  pounce 
upon  him,  cause  him  to  be  punished  and  tear  his  reputation  to  pieces; 
while  if  a  regular  member  of  their  own  school  makes  the  greatest 
blunders,  there  will  always  be  an  excuse  for  him  in  **  the  will  of  provi- 
dence" or  in  the  "  possibility  of  the  fallibility  of  human  judgment." 
The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  non-licensed  medical  artist  are  so  much 
greater  than  those  in  the  way  of  a  legally  protected  theorist,  that  it 
may  be  supposed  that  comparatively  very  few  people  will  practise  the 
medical  art,  unless  they  are  duly  qualified  for  it  by  nature  and  intui- 
tively driven  to  it;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  a  great 
many  people  without  any  natural  qualification  visit  medical  colleges 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  obtaining  a  diploma,  on  the  strength  of  which 
they  may  make  money  and  lead  a  comfortable  life. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  discredit  medical  science,  but  we  would 
like  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  difference  between 
medical  science  and  medical  art,  and  that  both  ought  to  be  com- 
bined. Art  is  as  much  superior  to  science  as  practice  is  superior  to 
theory,  and  it  would  be  well  if  only  those  who  are  endowed  by  nature 
^iththe  necessary  qualifications  for  curing  disease  would  enter  medi- 
cal colleges  for  perfecting  their  education.  For  such  naturally  en- 
dowed persons,  however,  the  attendance  at  colleges,  in  which  nothing 
ibout  the  occult  healing  powers  in  the  constitution  of  man  is  taught 
or  believed,  would  be  a  useless  waste  of  time,  money,  and  energy. 
It  would  therefore  be  necessary  that  our  medical  colleges  also  should 
make  a  step  forward  in  the  higher  direction,  and  learn  something 
*l>out  the  real  nature  of  the  constitution  of  man  and  his  occult  pow- 
^:  but  this  knowledge  can  be  practically  acquired  only  when  man 
Umsclf  becomes  more  elevated  and  spiritual.  As  long  as  gross 
rostcrialism  and  the  devilish  practice  of  vivisection,  which  kills  out 
^  the  finer  feelings  in  man,  and  by  its  cruelty  paralyzes  his  con- 


24  INTELLIGENCE. 

science,  prevail  in  our  medical  colleges,  such  an  elevation  and  refii 
ment  of  the  attending  members  is  an  impossibility,  and  serves  oi 
to  make  brutes  out  of  men  and  to  blind  their  eyes  to  the  percepti 
of  truth. 

The  world  abounds  with  facts  that  go  to  prove  that  man's  hig\ 
spiritual  nature  has  endowed  his  physical  nature  with  the  germs 
occult  powers,  which  may  be  developed  and  bring  vastly  more  bene 
to  suflfering  humanity  than  all  our  scientific  medical  observations 
the  realm  of  phenomena.  Let,  therefore,  everyone  live  in  accordar 
with  the  laws  of  his  higher  nature — the  law  of  God — and  he  will  I 
come  conscious  of  the  wonderful  powers  which  are  slumbering 
the  depths  of  his  soul.  When  mankind  as  a  whole  rises  higher  in  t 
scale  of  perfection,  the  medical  colleges  will  also  be  forced  to  advani 
for  the  college  is  made  by  man,  and  not  man  by  the  college.  B 
until  this  advance  is  obtained  the  only  true  standard  for  judging  abo 
the  qualifications  of  a  physician  is  his  success  in  curing  disease. 

Fkanz  Hartmann,  M.D, 


THE    MYSTERIOUS    KEY. 
j4J\r  OCCULT  TRAGEDY. 

(I.) 

The  snow  had  been  falling  heavily.  The  fine  flakes,  driven  by 
northwest  wind,  beat  in  the  faces  of  the  pedestrians  and  piled  thei 
selves  up  in  huge  white  drifts  at  every  corner  and  curb-stone, 
was  bitter  cold.  The  motorman  said  so,  as  he  peered  along  the  gl 
tering  rails  and  sounded  the  bell  of  warning  at  every  crossing.  T 
cabman  emphasized  the  statement  with  an  oath  as  he  stirred  1 
sluggish  blood  to  better  circulation  by  vehemently  stamping  his  fc 
and  slapping  his  hands  together.  The  thermometer  most  decided 
asserted  the  fact  to  any  belated  wayfarer  who  might  pause  loi 
enough  to  satisfy  his  curiosity. 

Abul  Kahm  carefully  laid  a  lock  upon  the  shelf  and,  moving  1 
stool  nearer  the  fire,  fell  to  warming  his  hands.  Suddenly  the  strei 
door  of  the  little  shop  opened  and  closed  almost  without  a  soun 
and  some  one  stood  motionless  within  the  threshold.    Abul  start- 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  25 

from  his  place  behind  the  stove  and  came  forward.  Near  the  door 
stood  a  tall  rfan  clad  in  a  great-coat  and  wrapped  in  heavy  furs.  So 
muffled  was  he  that  only  a  pair  of  piercing  black  eyes  and  the  lower 
part  of  a  well-shaped  but  pale  and  gaunt  face  were  visible. 

"You  are  a  locksmith,  I  believe?  "  inquired  the  new-comer. 

"That  is  my  trade,  sir,"  said  Abul,  casting  a  glance  around  the 
room  as  if  to  call  attention  to  the  remnants  of  keys,  locks,  and  bolts 
that  lay  in  profusion  on  the  dusty  shelves. 

"Then,"  said  the  Stranger,  "  I  have  some  work  for  you." 

He  took  from  his  coat  a  long  velvet  case,  touched  a  spring  and  the 
lid  flew  open.  In  the  satin  folds  lay  a  long  glittering  object.  One 
end  was  like  the  shank  of  an  ordinary  key,  but  the  other  extremity  was 
egg-shaped,  and  upon  its  surface  were  a  score  of  projections  varying 
in  length  and  thickness. 

"  You  see,  one  of  these,"  said  the  customer,  pointing  to  a  portion 
of  the  instrument,  **  is  broken  off.  Without  it  the  bolt  cannot  be 
raised.  Now,  I  want  you  to  reproduce  this  key,  reproduce  it  most 
accurately,  and  have  the  new  one  ready  by  eight  o'clock  to-morrow 
evening." 

Abul  took  the  key  in  his  hand.  He  gave  a  start  and  wild  ideas 
played  havoc  with  his  brain,  for  he  knew  by  the  weight  of  the  object 
he  held,  and  its  soft  yellow  hue,  that  it  was  made  of  solid  gold. 

"Yes,"  said  the  Stranger,  watching  the  locksmith  intently  and 
swming  to  read  his  thoughts,  "  it  is  solid  gold;  but  I  can  trust  you 
-^nist  you  without  fear."    He  spoke  in  a  half-menacing  tone. 

Abul  felt  strangely  uncomfortable  but  tried  to  appear  as  if  he  took 
^crything  as  a  matter  of  course. 

'*  You  need  have  no  fears,  sir.  The  key  will  be  ready  at  the  time 
yotiname.    But  surely  you  do  not  wish  the  duplicate  made  of  gold?  " 

"  No;  brass  will  do  as  well.  But  remember  this,"  advancing  close 
to  .Abul.  "  it  must  be  accurate  even  to  the  hundredth  of  an  inch!  " 

"That  it  shall  be,  sir,"  said  Abul  more  at  ease  as  he  became  more 
^to  the  mysterious  transaction;  "  and  when  I  take  it  to  you  to- 
nwrrow  evening,  and  try  it  in  the  lock " 

'*Man,  man,  you  talk  like  a  child!  "  interrupted  the  Stranger,  a 
^k  frown  spreading  over  his  pale  face.     "  You  will  never  see  the 


i 


I. 


I- 


I 


■  rJl 


» 
■  I, 

.liG- 


f. 
!!*^ 

■^ 


26  INTELLIGENCE. 

lock  to  which  this  key  belongs."  Then,  seeming  to  recollect  1 
self,  he  added,  "  But  that  is  of  no  consequence.  The  key  mus 
ready  at  eight  o'clock.  That  is  all.  Only  understand  that  it  mus 
most  accurate,  for  should  it  not  raise  the  bolt,"  he  laid  his  hand  v 
the  locksmith's  shoulder  and  whisperedv  in  his  ear,  **  it  would  1 
matter  of  life  or  death!  " 

Abul  Kahm  started  as  if  electrified,  and  before  he  had  fully  re 
ered,  the  stranger  had  reached  the  door,  and  was  half-way  out.    T 
tl .  ing,  however,  he  whispered: 

"Remember! — eight  o'clock!  eight  o'clock!  ^^  The  door  cl' 
with  a  sharp  bang,  and  Abul  Kahm,  the  Egyptian,  was  alone. 

What  did  it  meian?    What  mystery  was  there  connected  with 
golden  key?    The  man  himself,  who  was  he?    What  was  he? 
silent  entrance,  his  half-concealed  face,  his  mysterious  air,  his  pier 
eyes,  his  pale  cheeks,  all  came  back  to  the  locksmith;  and  thei 
thought  of  the  key  itself. 

Long  and  carefully  did  the  locksmith  examine  it,  until  the 
•elusion  was  forced  upon  him  that  it  was  of  Egyptian  workmanj 
He  was  about  to  lay  it  down  when  his  quick  eye  noticed  a  nur 
•of  faint  scratches  upon  the  upper  part.  Quickly  taking  a  magnifj 
glass  he  was  not  surprised  to  find  that  the  seeming  scratches  reso 
themselves  into  a  series  of  Turkish  characters;  but  his  astonishr 
knew  no  bounds  when  he  spelled  them  out,  for  they  formed  the  r 
of  one  from  whom  Abul,  before  he  had  been  banished  from  Ej 
by  a  tyrannical  pacha,  had  learned  not  only  his  present  trade  but 
ij]  many  dark  and  hidden  secrets  of  Nature. 

:';(  This  man,  then,  his  old  master,  was  the  maker  of  the  key!    " 

:  \  the  mystery  surrounding  it — I  shall  know!  "  muttered  Abul  Kj 

It  was  not  the  custom  of  Abul,  the  locksmith,  to  work  aftei 
in  the  evening.  Yet  it  must  have  been  twelve  when  the  druggist, 
opposite,  saw  a  light  still  burning  in  his  shop. 

"  The  locksmith  must  have  a  thriving  trade,"  he  thought,  2 
closed  his  shop  for  the  night. 

"  I  wonder  if  the  fellow's  gone  to  sleep?  "  said  a  passing  pc 
man  as  the  light  attracted  his  attention  about  three  that  momi 
Abul  asleep?    Not  he! 


ij" 


■^ 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  27 

"Some  extra  work,"  he  told  the  guardian  of  the  peace,  as  the 
latter  put  his  head  in  at  the  door,  '*  which  had  to  be  finished  before 
morning." 

So  the  policeman  passed  on,  and  Abul  continued  to  ply  his  tools. 
Just  as  the  dawn  appeared,  however,  heaving  a  weary  sigh,  he 
locked  the  door,  put  out  his  lamp  and  went  to  bed  in  the  little  room 
to  the  right  adjoining  his  shop.  But  the  locksmith  did  not  require 
very  much  sleep  to  restore  him  to  the  full  vigor  of  his  manhood's 
prime,  and  at  nine  o'clock  he  was  again  at  work.  All  that  day,  ex- 
cepting for  an  hour  for  dinner  and  a  quiet  smoke,  he  toiled  inces- 
santly; now  over  the  hot  furnace,  moulding  and  welding,  now  over 
his  bench,  filing  and  hammering  with  unceasing  vigor.  At  last  he 
threw  down  his  tools  and  glanced  at  the  battered  clock  on  the  mantel. 
The  hands  pointed  to  half-past  seven. 

"Good!"  he  muttered.  "I  am  ready  for  the  gentleman  that 
wears  big  coats  and  carries  gold  keys  in  his  pockets;  "  and  he  laughed 
softly  to  himself. 

Taking  from  the  vise  the  key  he  had  just  finished,  Abul  went 
over  to  the  counter  and  pulled  open  a  drawer.  In  it  lay  the  gold 
key;  and  shining  yet  more  brightly  beside  it  was  a  brass  key — 
the  exact  counterpart  of  the  one  that  he  held  in  his  hand.  Abul 
had  not  worked  all  night  for  nothing.  He  had  made  two  brass  keys 
—one  for  the  gentleman  Stranger,  and  the  other  for  Abul  Kahm 
himself. 

'*  One  is  as  good  as  the  other,"  thought  he,  as  he  laid  the  three 
queerly  shaped  instruments  side  by  side  and  viewed  them  critically. 
"  And  they  are  *  accurate,  most  accurate,' "  he  continued,  quoting 
from  the  Stranger. 

It  was  growing  late.  The  appointed  hour  would  soon  arrive, 
and  with  it  the  tall  visitor.  Abul  quickly  wrapped  one  of  the  brass 
keys  in  a  piece  of  tissue  paper  and  placed  it  with  the  gold  key  upon 
a  shelf,  leaving  the  third  in  the  closed  and  locked  drawer.  Going 
to  his  living-room  he  returned  with  a  lamp  which  he  placed  beside 
the  other,  already  brightly  burning.  Casting  a  glance  around  the 
room  he  seemed  satisfied.  He  drew  a  paper  from  his  pocket,  and 
taking  his  seat  near  the  stove  began  apparently  to  read. 


28  INTELLIGENCE. 

Five  minutes  passed.  Ten.  Abul  grew  impatient.  He  glance 
at  the  clock  just  as  it  began  to  strike  eight. 

At  the  fifth  stroke  the  shop-door  opened,  almost  without  a  soun* 
and  a  tall  man,  muffled  head  and  ears,  entered  and  stood  motionles 
The  locksmith  came  forward  from  behind  the  stove,  and  saluted  tl 
new-comer.  It  was  none  other  than  the  customer  of  the  previoi 
evening.  The  brilliancy  of  the  locksmith's  two  lights  seemed  to  a: 
noy  him.    He  spoke  sharply. 

"  You  are  becoming  extravagant.  Last  evening  you  had  on 
one  light,  and  that  a  poor  one;  to-night  you  have  two!  " 

"  Two,"  laconically  agreed  the  locksmith,  looking  boldly  at  tl 
Stranger. 

'*  And  the  key?  Is  it  ready?  "  inquired  the  Stranger  in  a  voi 
slightly  tinged  with  anxiety. 

"  It  is  ready,"  returned  Abul,  moving  toward  the  shelf. 

Without  a  word  he  unrolled  the  key  from  the  paper  and  laid  it 
the  Stranger's  hand.  The  latter  looked  at  it  for  a  moment,  the 
taking  the  golden  key,  placed  them  side  by  side. 

**  You  have  done  well,"  he  said  almost  cheerfully,  after  only 
moment's  hesitation.  "  I  am  sure  this  will  fit.  Please  wrap  them  i 
separately; "  and  he  handed  the  two  keys  to  the  locksmith. 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  pleased,"  said  Abul,  quickly  wrapping  t! 
keys  in  the  two  packages  and  handing  them  to  the  Stranger.  T 
latter  took  them  and  threw  down  a  piece  of  gold  on  the  counter. 

**  There  is  your  pay.    In  addition,  let  me  thank  you." 

As  he  ceased  speaking,  he  extended  his  hand.  Abul  took  it. 
was  as  cold  as  that  of  a  corpse.  The  locksmith  tried  to  form  sor 
reply,  but  at  that  moment  he  seemed  to  feel  so  great  a  sorrow  for  t 
man  whose  hand  he  held,  that  he  could  only  murmur  some  confus 
words  about  always  trying  to  do  his  work  well.  The  next  mome 
he  was  alone. 

Abul  waited  a  sufficient  time  for  the  Stranger  to  be  fairly  on  1 
way.    Then,  quickly  putting  on  his  coat  and  hat,  he  opened  the  do 
and  stepped  out.     Midway  up  the  square  he  saw  the  dark  form 
the  Stranger.    Abul's  heart  beat  high  as  he  cautiously  started  f< 
ward.    Soon  he  would  know  the  tall  Stranger's  place  of  residenc 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  29 

then,  then! — and  it  seemed  to  him  that  his  hand  was  already  apply- 
ing the  queer  key  to  the  secret  lock! 

Suddenly  the  Stranger  paused  and  thrice  clapped  his  hands. 
Abul,  the  locksmith,  crept  within  the  shadow  of  a  tree-box.  Almost 
immediately  he  heard  the  sound  of  wheels  rapidly  approaching,  and 
peering  through  the  darkness  a  moment  later  he  saw  a  carriage  stop 
near  the  curb  where  stood  the  Stranger.  One  of  the  footmen  sprang 
down  and  opened  the  door.  The  Stranger  entered,  the  man  sprang 
lightly  back  to  his  place. 

Dismay  came  upon  Abul  Kahm,  the  locksmith.  Could  he  now 
hope  to  follow  the  possessor  of  the  Golden  Key?  And  even  as  he 
wondered,  the  horses  wheeled  swiftly  about  and  started  down  the 
bv-street.  Abul  sprang  frantically  forward,  and  as  quickly  paused. 
Already  the  carriage  was  a  square  away;  pursuit  was  useless  and  his 
quest  was  at  an  end.  With  a  heavy  heart  he  retraced  his  steps  to 
the  shop. 

In  the  daytime  whenever  his  shop-door  opened  Abul  would  look 
eagerly  toward  it,  half  hoping  that  the  Stranger  had  returned;  and 
when  in  the  street  his  small,  sharp  eyes  scanned  every  face  that  passed 
him.  and  peered  eagerly  through  the  windows  of  every  carriage. 

In  his  sleep  all  manner  of  wild  dreams  came  to  him.  Now  he  saw 
the  Stranger  bending  over  vast  stores  of  treasure — diamonds  and 
pearls  and  rubies.  Again  he  would  see  him  standing  in  some  damp 
>*auh  among  the  bones  and  skulls  of  those  whom  he  had  sacrificed. 
In  one  hand  he  held  the  golden  key;  in  the  other  a  long,  keen-edged 
knife,  dripping  with  blood. 

So  seven  days  passed.  Abul  was  giving  up  all  hope.  He  was  re- 
turning from  the  brass-foundry  whither  he  had  been  to  purchase 
nttterials  of  trade,  when  a  carriage  standing  in  front  of  a  book-store 
attracted  his  attention.     Two  magnificent  horses  were  attached  to 

• 

>t.  and  a  coachman  dressed  in  black  livery  was  seated  on  the  box. 
^w'e  seemed  to  be  something  familiar  about  the  carriage.  It  might 
nave  been  a  mere  fancy;  in  fact,  Abul  fancied  it  was;  but  at  the 
same  time  he  was  determined  to  see  who  would  enter  the  coach.  He 
tossed  the  street  and  idly  sauntered  into  a  convenient  doorway. 
Rve  minutes  passed.    The  door  of  the  book-store  opened  and  a  tall 


30  INTELLIGENCE. 

man  came  out.  The  heart  of  the  locksmith  gave  one  great  boun 
and  then  stood  still.  One  swift  glance  had  been  sufficient.  It  w 
the  owner  of  the  golden  key!  Straight  to  the  carriage  he  went,  an 
opening  the  door,  entered.  The  horses  tossed  their  heads  and  beg 
to  move  away.  It  took  Abul  but  a  moment  to  consider.  He  sprai 
eagerly  forward  and  hailed  a  passing  cab. 

"  Follow  that  carriage!  Keep  a  square  in  the  rear  but  do  n 
lose  sight  of  it,  on  your  life!  "  he  authoritatively  directed  as  he  sprai 
in.  The  half-frozen  driver  uttered  several  inspiriting  "  clicks  "  as 
whirled  the  long  whip  around  his  head.  The  startled  horse  gave 
lunge  forward.  There  was  a  crunching  sound  of  heavy  wheels  up 
the  dry  snow  and  the  chase  had  begun. 

Abul  flattened  his  face  against  the  window  and  never  for  one  i 
stant  did  his  eager  eyes  lose  sight  of  the  flying  carriage.  It  k€ 
straight  ahead  until  the  business  portion  of  the  city  had  been  left 
the  distance,  and  Abul  knew  they  were  nearing  the  suburbs.  Th< 
without  diminishing  its  speed,  it  turned  suddenly  down  a  side  stn 
and  passed  from  his  view.  Until  his  own  rattling  and  rumbling  cc 
veyance  had  rounded  the  corner  he  was  in  mortal  terror  lest  it  shot 
have  vanished  entirely.  But  his  heart  beat  high  when  once  more 
caught  the  tinkling  of  its  silver  trappings,  and  higher  still  when 
came  in  view  of  the  carriage  itself,  moving  at  a  more  moderate  ra 
He  cautioned  the  driver  to  keep  at  a  safe  distance,  and  feeli 
that  the  Stranger  was  now  nearing  his  home  began  to  scrutin 
the  houses  and  consider  the  general  appearance  of  the  neighb 
hood. 

It  was  evident  that  the  vicinage  was  the  older  portion  of  the  ci 
On  either  side  of  the  streets  were  spacious  houses,  most  of  them  dinj 
dilapidated,  and  uninhabited,  but  still  bearing  about  them  traces 
past  splendor,  significant  of  refinement,  wealth,  and  fashion.  1 
neighborhood  had,  in  palmier  days,  been  the  Mecca  of  Society,  1 
the  great  fickle  wave  of  fashion  had  swept  the  elite  westward,  leav: 
only  its  erosive  markings  behind. 

AbuKs  interest  was  heightened  by  these  surroundings.  Still  ke 
ing  his  eyes  on  the  vehicle,  he  saw  it  slacken  its  speed.  He  cautioi 
his  driver  to  stop.    Glancing  ahead  of  the  carriage,  his  heart  throbi 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  31 

as  he  saw  the  great  square  mansion  of  brick,  with  white  stone  trim- 
mings—a house  seeming  to  justify  his  visions. 

The  carriage  stopped,  the  door  opened,  and  the  tall  man  alighted. 
He  paused  a  moment  to  say  something  to  the  driver;  then,  turnings 
be  walked  up  the  broad  steps  of  the  house  and  entered.  The  coach- 
man shook  the  reins.  The  carriage  dashed  around  the  corner  and 
disappeared  from  view.  Abul,  having  dismissed  the  cab,  strolled 
slowly  up  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  The  house  that  the  Stranger 
had  entered,  though  an  old  one,  seemed  to  have  been  kept  in  good 
repair.  The  shades  of  all  the  windows  were  closely  drawn  and  a  spirit 
of  gloom  seemed  hovering  over  the  premises.  The  adjoining  house 
was  in  the  last  days  of  dilapidation.  It  was  a  queer  old  structure^ 
partly  of  stone,  partly  frame,  and  looked  as  if  it  might  be  haunted 
by  a  host  of  hobgoblins.  There  was  scarcely  a  whole  pane  of  glass 
in  the  windows;  the  sills  themselves  were  broken  and  falling  away, 
and  the  whole  edifice  seemed  tottering.  Yet  Abul  was  far  more  in- 
terested in  this  old  leaning  tower  than  in  the  Stranger's  well- 
kept  mansion. 

"That  old  shellis  uninhabited,"  thought  he.    ''  One  might  easily 

reach  the  third  story,  gain  the  roof  and  cross  to  the  adjoining  house. 

Then,  a  rope  swung  over  the  eaves  in  front  of  the  window  below,  a 

stealthy  descent — oh,  the  mystery  of  the  golden  key  begins  to  be 

solved!"  Joseph  S.  Rogers. 

(To  be  continued,) 


As  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he,  and  as  a  man  chooseth,  so  is  he  and  so 
is  his  nature.  A  man  is  a  method,  a  progressive  arrangement ;  a  selecting 
principle,  gathering  his  like  to  him  wherever  he  goes.  He  takes  only 
his  own  out  of  the  muhiplicity  that  sweeps  and  circles  round  him.  He 
» like  one  of  those  booms  which  are  set  out  from  the  shore  on  rivers  to 
Qtch  drift-wood,  or  like   the   loadstone  among   splinters   of   steel. — 

Be  like  the  promontory  against  which  the  waves  continually  break, 
"^  it  stands  firm  and  tames  the  fury  of  the  water  around  it. — Marcus 


♦ 

I 

•  I 

11 


«1  ■ 


•I. 

•  t 

1 

I    , 

"f 


r^l 


82  INTELLIGENCE. 


MENTAL  SCIENCE  AND  HOMCEOPATHY. 

^in  A  friend  of  mine,  a  homoeopathic  physician,  recently  placed 

my  hands  a  copy  of  the  "  Transactions  of  the  American  Institute 
Homoeopathy,"  at  the  session  of  1896,  held  in  Detroit.    Two  of  t 
\m  papers  read  there  bore  these  striking  titles:  "  The  Metaphysical,  t 

Permanent  Element  in  Science,"  and  **  Has  Suggestion  a  Legitimi 
Place  in  Therapeutics?  "  The  former  was  by  Dr.  T.  J.  Gray,  of  Mi 
neapolis,  Minn.,  the  latter  by  Dr.  Nancy  B.  Sherman,  of  Kalamaz« 
Mich. 

Dr.  Gray's  entire  article  might  be  reprinted  in  any  mental  scieil 
journal,  so  perfectly  does  it  present  a  mental  basis  of  healing,  thouf 
of  course,  in  the  phraseology  of  a  disciple  of  Hahnemann.  Dr.  Of 
quotes  with  approval  from  some  unnamed  writer  as  follows:  "i 
philosophy  must  strike  its  roots  in  the  reason,  and  its  first  princif^ 
must  be  found  or  assumed  .  .  .  entirely  within  the  transc< 
dental.  The  physical  can  find  no  law  of  exposition  save  in  t 
metaphysical." 

His  definition  of  disease  is  thoroughly  in  harmony  with  md 
physical  teaching. 

"  In  the  light  of  a  true  metaphysics,"  he  says,  "  disease  must  mt 
an  aflfection  of  the  unity  we  denominate  man.  It  is  a  modality  of  1 
being,  of  his  essential  self.  It  is  not  something  objective  to  him. 
is  not  something  in  itself,  apart  from  him.  It  exists  as  a  form  or  mai 
festation  of  him.  and  cannot  be  treated.  It  is  not  an  it,  except  aa 
figure  of  speech." 

A  stronger  and  truer  statement  of  the  true  nature  of  disease  cot 

■1 

not  be  found  outside  the  pale  of  metaphysical  writing.  The  ^*i 
sential  self  "  of  man  is  his  mind,  not  his  body.  Disease  is  "  a  mod 
ity  " — that  is,  a  form,  a  state,  or  a  point  of  view,  according  to  W(l 
ster — of  this  "  essential  self."  ' 

tl  Think  of  a  doctor — not  a  metaphysician,  but  a  "  real  doctoi 

— defining  disease  as  "  a  form,  state,  or  point  of  view  of  man's  mindj 


MENTAL  SCIENCE  AND  HOMCEOPATHY.  33 

Dr.  Gray  defends  his  definition  in  masterly  style.  He  refers 
to  the  time  when  "  medical  writers  spoke  of  disease  of  the  liver  as 
due  to  a  little  black  devil  that  troubled  its  function!"  Then  came 
the  humoral  theory,  which  made  disease  a  humor  to  be  expelled  from 
the  system;  and  now,  at  the  close  of  the  present  century,  we  wit- 
ness in  medicine  a  phase  of  the  old  sophistry  of  "  connecting  two  sec- 
ondary causes  in  a  sequence  as  antecedent  and  consequent — ^assuming 
one  to  be  th«  efficient  cause,  the  other  the  passive  eflfect.  .  .  . 
I  refer  of  course  to  the  germ  theory  of  disease.  For  granting  the 
assumption  that  the  germ  always  precedes  the  disease,  the  real  causal 
nexus  would  still  be  unrevealed.  Why  does  the  tubercle  bacillus  cause 
disease?  Who  is  diseased?  What  is  the  disease?  These  questions 
arc  all  unanswered."  Then  he  gives  a  statement  that  is  accepted, 
I  venture  to  say,  by  about  one  homoeopathic  doctor  in  a  thousand: 

"Homoeopathy,  in  its  true  doctrine,  escapes  this  pitfall  by  the 
conception  of  disease  as  a  modality  "  (that  is,  a  form,  state,  or  point 
of  view)  "  of  the  essential  self,  the  ego,  called  by  Hahnemann  the  vital 
force,  the  spirit-like  dynamis."  ..."  If  disease  is  to  be  cured 
it  must  be  by  a  change  in  the  ground  or  substratum  of  the  changeable 
nwdalities  " — that  is,  the  changeable  forms,  states,  or  points  of  view 
—"of  the  soul  in  its  unity."  ..."  Phenomena  can  be  altered 
only  by  changing  the  noumenal  ground  in  which  they  inhere." 

Dr.  Gray  discerns  "  the  common  ground  of  healing  methods," 
and  acknowledges  that  "  curative  results  "  may  ensue  "  from  so-called 
psychological  treatment,  and  will  fully  justify  the  true  claims  set 
fcrth  for  all  those  undoubted  cases  of  relief  following  the  influence 
of  the  mind  over  the  body.  Indeed,  this  is  so  true  that  Hahnemann 
»w  with  the  clear  vision  of  a  prophet  that  if  a  drug  eflfect  a  cure,  it 
nnistbe  by  virtue  of  a  power  capable  of  aflfecting  the  noumenal  ground 
Wng  back  of  the  phenomenal  appearances.  Hence  he  spoke  of  the 
^'like  dynatnis  in  the  drug — meaning  .  .  .  simply  that  qual- 
*^y  or  potency  which  would  modify  the  essential  self  of  the  patient, 
changing  disease  into  health." 

According  to  this  beautiful  and  interesting  statement  the  only 
^fferencc  between  Hahnemann  and  the  modern  mental  scientist  is 
^t  Hahnemann,  while  recognizing  disease  as  a  state  of  mind  or 


84  INTELLIGENCE. 

soul,  a  mental  point  of  view,  relied  for  cure  on  the  **  spirit-like  d) 
namis "  of  drugs  and  plants,  while  the  mental  scientist  finds  hi 
curative  dynamis  in  thought.  The  theory  that  every  plant  possess^ 
a  "  spirit-like  dynamis "  adapted  to  influence  and  change  th 
"  spirit-like  dynamis  "  of  the  patient  is  very  spiritual  and  poetica 
and  Dr.  Gray's  paper  stamps  the  author  as  an  idealist  of  the  highej 
type,  and  a  fit  representative  of  Hahnemann  and  his  system. 

The  same  assertion  may  be  repeated  of  Dr.  Sherman's  paper  dea 
ing  with  Suggestion  and  Hypnotism.  She  quotes  the  dean  of  a 
Illinois  medical  college,  who  bluntly  says:  "  It  is  preposterous  to  den 
the  profound  influence  of  mental  suggestion  over  the  bodily  ium 
tions;  and  that  doctor  is  a  fool  who  does  not  avail  himself  of  th 
means  of  treating  his  patients."  And  further:  "  To  avoid  sendin 
from  our  college  a  lot  of  poor  fellows  to  be  driven  into  poor-hous< 
by  these  Christian  Scientists,  faith-curists,  and  the  like,  we  have  en 
ated  a  lectureship  on  psycho-therapy,  and  propose  to  make  thei 
more  proficient  in  all  these  istns  than  their  professional  exponeni 
themselves  "  ! 

Dr.  Sherman  has  only  a  good-natured  smile  for  the  "  mudd 
underlying  Christian  Science,"  that  is,  the  denial  of  matter;  but  si 
is  fair-minded  enough  to  admit  that  she  has  observed  many  cun 
resulting  from  this  system  of  treatment.  She  is  also  logical  enoug 
to  see  that  if  a  cure  occurs  under  any  given  treatment  it  is  becauj 
of  an  unchanging  law,  known  or  unknown,  and  her  conclusion  is 
broad-minded  and  rational  one: 

*'  If  we,  as  a  school,  are  correct  as  to  our  claim  of  working  in  lir 
with  the  natural  effort  to  restore  normal  conditions,  .  .  .  \^ 
may  most  conscientiously  recognize  in  suggestion  a  polychrest  n< 
to  be  outranked  and  in  line  with  the  inevitable  trend  of  the  high< 
work  of  physicians,  that  of  prevention  of  disease." 

Dr.  Sherman  acknowledges  that  "  subjective  symptoms  are  a 
ways  more  significant  than  objective,  because  they  indicate  the  moi 
profound  impress."  She  sees  nothing  absurd  in  the  idea  that  thougl 
has  a  more  profound  influence  over  the  body  than  medicines. 

"  No  doubt  at  all,"  she  says,  "  that  any  or  every  energy  is  a 
entity,  whether  it  be  the  one-millionth  potency  of  a  once  tangib 


MENTAL  SCIENCE  AND  HOMCEOPATHY.  35 

drug,  or  the  thought  which  wings  its  flight  into  nothing  comparable. 

It  would  illy  become  a  Hahnemannian  to  deny  the  infinite  divisibility 

oi  matter,  and  the  late  revelations  concerning  light  and  electricity 

speak  wamingly  to  anyone  who  would  deny  entity  to   thought 

and  emotion." 

That  such  papers  as  the  two  from  which  I  have  quoted  could  be 
read  before  a  body  of  orthodox  physicians  shows  plainly  that  mental 
healing  has  nearly  passed  the  stage  of  ridicule  from  people  of  edu- 
cation and  culture.  Homoeopathy  abolished  the  massive  doses  of 
poisonous  drugs  that  allopathy  was  administering  when  Hahnemann 
appeared,  and  is  constantly  demonstrating  that  disease  may  be  cured 
by  the  most  attenuated  solutions.  If  in  addition  to  this  the  followers 
of  Hahnemann  will  constantly  insist  on  the  recognition  of  disease  as 
a  "modality"  of  "man's  essential  self,"  i.e.,  his  mind,  and  will  set 
forth  the  fact  that  their  medicines  are  the  **  spirit-like  dynamis  of 
drugs  and  plants  "  applied  to  the  '*  spirit-like  dynamis  "  of  man,  they 
wll  put  themselves  in  line  with  the  most  advanced  thought  of  the 
day  and  increase  their  power  and  success  a  hundredfold. 

The  medical  system  that  denies  the  entity  of  disease,  that  boldly 
declares  that  disease  cannot  be  treated,  and  that  looks  upon  man  as 
amindor  **  immaterial  being  "  or  "  spirit-like,  self-acting  vital  force  " 
must  eventually  triumph  over  any  system,  no  matter  how  long  es- 
tablished, that  makes  disease  an  objective  affair  and  regards  man  as  a 
body  to  be  drugged  and  dosed  without  reference  to  his  "  immaterial 
being." 

Ignorance  and  stupidity  may  find  occasion  for  laughter  in  Hahne- 
nwnn's  theory  that  there  is  "  a  spiritual  dynamis  "  in  every  drug  and 
plant  and  that  this  **  spiritual  dynamis  "  can  be  directed  to  the  healing 
<>' the  essential  ego  in  man.  The  theory  is  both  beautiful  and  rational. 
Reasoning  from  analogy  and  according  to  the  facts  of  evolution, 
^  is  impossible  that  there  should  not  be  *'  a  spirit-like  dynamis  "  in 
every  Imng  thing,  and  even  in  the  things  we  are  accustomed  to 
^  inanimate.  You  may,  for  instance,  expose  a  dose  of  allopathic 
"'^ne  to  the  air  until  it  "  loses  its  strength,"  as  the  saying  is,  and 
'becomes  worthless  for  medical  purposes.  Yet  if  it  be  weighed,  it  will 
^W  no  diminution  of  quantity.     An  imponderable  essence  has 


86  INTELLIGENCE. 

passed  from  it,  and  this  is  the  ''  spiritual  dynamis  "  of  Hahnemai 
A  poetical  rendering  of  this  idea  is  found  in  Tennyson's  "  Mauc 
where  the  lover  says : 


**  And  the  soul  of  the  rose  went  into  my  blood. 


f> 


I  quote  again  the  saying  of  the  Illinois  dean:  "  It  is  preposterc 
to  deny  the  influence  of  mental  suggestion  upon  the  bodily  functio 
and  that  doctor  is  a  fool  who  does  not  avail  himself  of  this  means 
treating  his  patients."  And  I  may  add  that  the  homoeopath  w 
slights  mental  therapeutics  is  thrice  a  fool,  for  in  so  doing  he  stril 
a  blow  at  the  theories  of  Hahnemann  himself.  The  beauty  and 
genuity  of  Hahnemann's  ideas  will  commend  themselves  to  ev< 
mental  scientist,  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  advocates  of  mental  h< 
ing  will  doubtless  continue  to  prefer  the  *'  spiritual  dynamis  "  t! 
is  taken  into  the  mind  by  the  direct  path  of  thought  to  one  that  < 
reach  the  essential  ego  only  after  a  circuitous  trip  through  the 
gestive  and  circulatory  system. 

Another  notable  paper  published  in  the  "  Transactions  "  is  "  So 
Practical  Deductions  from  Hahnemann's  Law,"  by  Dr.  Robert  ^^ 
ter,  of  Walter's  Park,  Pa.    Dr.  Walter  quotes  Hahwemann  as  say 
that  disease  is  "  not  a  material  thing  hidden  within,"  but  is  " 
product  of  the  vital  force."    And  thus  he  explains  how  disease  is 
affection  of  the  vital  force:   "  The  universally  present  law  of  v 
expression  is  self-preservation,  making  the  organism  ever  alert  to 
preservation  of  its  integrity,  the  protection  of  its  interests,  so  t 
whenever  injury  is  even  threatened  there  must  be  organic  fear— < 
fear — and  vital  disturbance  induced  by  that  fear.   Sometimes  there  i 
other  cause  for  disease  than  fear;  '  imaginary  diseases '  are  real  disei 
resulting  from  imaginary  causes."     ..."  Pathology  shows  t 
the  first  step  toward  disease  is  irritation,  due,  as  we  have  seeiii  to 
recognition  by  the  vital  cell  of  danger,  insuU,  or  jf^junft  and  ihii  \ 
tation  is  perfectly  analogous  to  mental  trrUaHan  fhfm  cufpifmd 

causes,''  ^'rs^^BStm 

This  has  a  very  familiar  sound,  and  it 
wishes  to  study  the  bottom  facts  of  meat 
take  a  course  in  Hahnemann's  Orgaii< 


88  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.* 

One  afternoon;  twenty  years  ago,  I  was  present  with  others 

the  Tribune  Building,  in  New  York,  to  inspect  the  phonograph,  whi 

;^  Mr.  Edison  had  newly  invented  and  placed  on  exhibition.     Wl 

the  magic  instrument  was  tested  and  was  winning  admiration,  a  n: 
in  the  party  accosted  me  with  the  remark  that  he  did  not  believe  tl 
there  could  be  anything  useful  effected  with  it.  The  impression  wh 
his  utterance  made  upon  me  was  most  disagreeable.  In  fact,  i 
remark  recalled  former  experiences  of  my  own.  Many  times,  wl 
I  have  endeavored  to  set  forth  some  matter  that  I  regarded  as  bd 
of  interest,  my  ardor  has  been  damped  and  chilled  by  the  disheart 
ing  question:  '*  Of  what  use  is  this?  "  Even  Doctor  Franklin,  wl 
experimenting  with  electricity,  had  the  same  odious  inquiry  to  ans« 
and  could  only  appeal  to  the  future  for  his  vindication. 

We  encounter  like  experiences  with  philosophy;  and  Schill< 
lines  are  very  appropriate: 

HI  "  To  some  she  is  the  Goddess  great; 

To  some  the  milch-cow  of  the  field; 
"^  Their  care  is  but  to  calculate 

What  butter  she  will  yield." 

The  solution  of  the  problem  is  given  by  Hardenberg  ("  Novalis 
"  Philosophy  can  bake  no  bread;  but  she  can  procure  for  us  G 
Freedom,  and  Immortality."  We  may  not,  and  we  do  not,  objed 
the  requirement  of  utility,  for  utility  is  the  moving  principle  of 
universe.  We  ask,  however,  that  the  term  shall  have  a  broader  sc 
than  the  minting  of  coin  and  the  hoarding  of  gold.  That  transcend 
good  which  is  "  without  money  and  without  price  "  is  too  pred 
to  be  measured  by  the  "  guinea's  stamp."  We  have  to  purchas 
with  the  devotion  of  our  lives.  Having  purchased  it,  we  find  ij 
1  once  invaluable  and  unsalable.    Nevertheless,  if  one  were  to  offt 

in  the  market  he  would  be  found  unable  to  transfer  it. 

♦  Delivered  at  the  Philosophical  Symposium  of  Illinois  College,  Jacksoir 
III,  June  3.  1897. 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.  89 

According  to  the  Stoic  definitions  given  by  Plutarch,  wisdom  is 
that  knowledge  which  includes  all  truth,  human  and  divine;  philos- 
ophy is  the  exercise  and  application  of  the  art  which  is  promotive  of 
such  knowledge;  and  virtue  is  the  sole  and  sovereign  art  which  is 
thus  promotive.     It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  true  philosopher  is 
ihc  complete  man  who  contemplates,  admires,  and  reveres  That 
which  really  Is — the  Infinite  and  Supreme;  and  who  is  conversant 
likewise  with  those  questions  which  concern  vitally  the  welfare  of 
human  beings,  counting  nothing  common,  profane,  or  unclean. 

The  relations  of  Philosophy  to  Science  are  naturally  and  neces- 
sarily a  theme  of  speculation.  Like  the  wife  and  the  husband  in  a 
well-ordered  household,  each  has  a  department  of  its  own,  but  is  ever 
auxiliary  to  the  other.  Science  includes  that  knowledge  which  comes 
within  the  purview  of  the  understanding,  in  which  the  results  of  in- 
vestigation have  been  worked  out  and  systematized.  Philosophy 
goes  beyond  all  this,  and  deals  with  principles  and  causes  themselves. 
Science  is  the  knowing  which  relates  to  natural  objects  and  phe- 
nomena; philosophy  includes  the  supernatural  or  higher  natural, 
thenoumenal,  the  epistemonic,  the  spiritual — the  principles  on  which 
all  knowledge  and  being  ultimately  rest.  It  aspires  to  the  knowing 
of  God,  and  ramifies  through  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  man- 
kini  Thus  it  is  paramount  over  Science,  uniting  the  various  depart- 
ments into  a  complete  whole,  permeating  them  with  its  own  essence. 
It  seems  to  me  that  in  these  days  we  are  having  too  much  edu- 
Qting  that  does  not  educate.  There  is  a  "  little  learning  "  which  is 
jnstly  declared  "  dangerous,"  a  knowledge  that  puflFs  up  and  inflates, 
kot  assures  no  spiritual  growth,  nor  development  of  high  moral  prin- 
ciple. The  committing  of  text-books  to  memory,  and  becoming  con- 
Want  with  what  is  inculcated  in  discourses  and  lectures,  must  be 
^ovcd  as  necessary  and  most  valuable;  but  to  denominate  all  this 
**«dacation,"  is  almost  a  misuse  of  terms.  In  the  course  of  our  mod- 
*ni  legislation  the  candidates  for  the  various  professions  are  made 
wkjcct  to  official  examinations  which  are  confined  to  such  learning. 
These  are,  therefore,  not  only  oppressive  and  liable  to  open  a  path  to 
P^Iation,  but  for  all  practical  purposes  they  are  veritable  shams. 
his  true  that  instructors  may  put  the  student  in  the  way  of  obtain- 


40  INTELLIGENCE. 

ing  fresh  perceptions,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  impart  any  knowlec 
where  the  main  elements  of  it  are  not  in  the  mind  already. 

The  true  education  is  an  educing,  a  calling  forth  of  that  wh 
is  already  present,  a  developing  of  the  powers  and  faculties,  ex 
cising  each  along  its  particular  line,  and  properly  co-ordinating  2 
subordinating  them;  and  he  is  the  educator  who  is  able  to  acco 
plish  this  to  the  best  practical  result,  so  that  the  knowledge  wh 
the  student  acquires  becomes  a  constituent  of  his  spiritual  beii 
Thus  it  is  in  strict  analogy  with  the  principle  of  justice  or  righteo 
ness  which  the  Apostle  describes  as  being  revealed  from  faith 
faith— out  of  the  faith  and  mind  of  the  one  into  the  faith  and  und 
standing  of  the  other. 

Such  being  the  province  of  Philosophy  in  education,  we  may 
gard  it  as  properly  having  a  corresponding  place  and  function 
society.  The  term  "  civilization,"  in  its  etymology,  signifies  the 
or  technique  of  living  in  social  relations.  It  embraces,  according 
all  the  various  institutions — the  home,  the  neighborhood,  and  t 
commonwealth.  These  in  their  proper  development  make  up  : 
us  all  that  is  valuable  of  life  on  the  earth.  That  development  is  be 
educational  and  practical.  It  brings  into  consciousness  and  activ 
those  divine  qualities  and  principles  that  are  in  every  one,  thou 
more  or  less  dormant,  and  makes  them  the  basis  of  our  social  life 
well  as  of  our  just  legislation. 

The  motto  of  the  State  of  New  York  is  the  simple  word:  "  E 
celsior!*' — an  appeal  to  every  one  to  press  on  upward;  that 
Rhode  Island,  "  Non  Sibi  sed  Toti  " — 2l  reminder  that  none  shot 
live,  act,  or  even  die,  for  self  alone,  but  do  all  for  the  good  of  i 
Truly,  in  these  two  legends  we  find  plainly  indicated  the  whole  pi 
pose  and  utility  of  human  life.  So  far  as  their  lesson  is  realized^ 
solves  the  problem  whether  life  is  worth  living.  Everything  of  i| 
dom,  duty,  worship,  bears  direct  relation  toward  them  as  ends, 
person  living  alone,  or  for  self  alone,  is  virtually  not  a  man  at  i 
The  Athenians  would  have  called  him  an  "  idiot  "  (ISuorrfs!).*  Evi 
one  must  sustain  and  maintain  fraternal,  neighborly,  and  co-op 

*  In   English  letters:    idiotes.      'ISti^f    in  Greek  means  a  private  persoi 
and  hence  an  individtial  who  is  not  distinguished,  and  thus  a  plebeian  or 
ignorant  fellow — the  last  being  a  derived  meaning,  from  which  we  get  "  idiot** 


J 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.  41 

ative  relations  with  others  as  an  elemental  and  necessary  condition 
of  his  being.    Loving  and  serving  make  up  the  true  life. 

Some,  perhaps,  may  question  this  assertion,  and  desire  to  know 
why  it  is  so.    However  true  it  may  be  considered,  one  is  naturally 
unwilling  that  even  so  vital  a  truth  should  be  dogmatically  pro- 
pounded,  without  its  reason  being  shown.     There  should  b^  a 
demonstration  that  comes  within  the  province  of  our  knowledge 
and  experience. 

Let  us  therefore  attentively  consider  a  case  in  which  we  have 
sought  some  object,  and  have  failed  to  obtain  all  we  had  hoped  to 
secure.  For  instance,  it  is  an  instinct  of  our  nature  to  make  happi- 
ness the  goal  of  our  pursuit ;  and  we  accordingly  regard  whatever 
promotes  enjoyment  as  being  substantially  good.  Often,  and  very 
generally,  we  fail  to  accomplish  our  expectation;  or  the  delights 
wMdi  we  seek  pall  upon  our  taste  or  bring  disappointment,  suflFering, 
and  even  anguish  in  their  train.  If  we  are 'thoughtful  and  reflective, 
wc  may  discern  as  the  cause  of  such  failure  that  in  consulting  our 
own  pleasure  we  had  not  considered  what  was  due  and  just  to  others. 
Yet  even  that  estimate  of  duty  will  fall  short  of  the  ideal  Right,  unless 
it  proceeds  from  the  conviction  that  to  be  strictly  and  unqualifiedly 
jnst  there  must  be  inherent  in  our  motive  a  sincere  good-will,  even 
to  making  the  welfare  and  advantage  of  our  fellows  our  aim,  above 
and  instead  of  our  own.  In  this  conviction  lies  our  redemption,  and 
we  realize  the  full  purport  of  the  oracular  saying  of  Jesus:  "  He  that 
hdeth  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake 
sbll  find  it." 

This  conviction,  this  epinoia,  affords  its  own  illumination.  It 
*ris  no  interpreter.  In  this  yielding  up  of  the  life  or  soul  as  hap- 
piness, this  "  forsaking  of  father  and  mother,"  and  all  things  esteemed 
^prcdous,  there  is  gained  a  hundredfold  in  what  is  even  more  pre- 
Qow,  the  eudaimonia,  or  blessedness.  Emanuel  Swedenborg  has  set 
tkis  forth  as  heaven  itself,  heavenly  joy  and  felicity,  declaring  that  it 
consists  in  willing  from  the  heart  the  good  of  others  more  than  of 
<*Relvcs,  and  the  serving  others  for  the  sake  of  their  happiness,  with- 
[  out  regard  to  any  end  of  remuneration  therefrom,  but  from  the  prin- 
opleoflove." 


42  INTELLIGENCE. 

In  this  question  the  interests  of  human  society  itself  are  vitall 
concerned.  The  sentiment,  however,  while  perhaps  accepted  in  pre 
fession  is  sadly  ignored  in  action.  Little  children  are  taught  to  pra 
at  night  to  the  Father  in  the  heavens,  and  afterward  there  is  diligentl 
impressed  upon  their  minds  the  maxim  of  worldly  prudence:  "  Evei 
one  for  himself."  Oftentimes  the  good  seed  and  then  the  more  pn 
lific  tares  are  sown  by  the  same  hand,  and  the  divine  crop  is  utteri 
choked  and  brought  to  naught. 

The  notion  of  individuality  has  led  men  to  regard  themselves  ; 
strangers  to  one  another,  as  competitors,  and  even  as  adversarie 
Upon  this  concept  our  politics  and  business  appear  to  be  principal 
transacted.  I  remember  pleading  once  with  a  man  to  consider  tl 
strait,  the  necessity,  and  helplessness  of  another  whom  he  was  vei 
certain  to  injure  irreparably  by  a  business  proceeding;  and  the  answ 
which  was  made  to  me — that  "  the  man  must  take  his  chances." 

Heartless  and  cruel  as  was  this  reply  it  seems  to  be  in  full  accoi 
with  the  current  maxims  of  business  management.  Everywhere  v 
are  told  that  **  there  must  be  no  friendship  in  trade."  This  mear 
in  plain  speech,  that  no  principle  that  may  ennoble  human  natu 
and  exalt  man  above  a  savage  animal  should  have  any  place  in  h 
business  dealing  with  his  fellow-man. 

If  we  dig  down  to  the  foundations  of  this  rule  and  usage,  we  shi 
find  them  to  be  the  legitimate  deductions  of  a  prevailing  disbelief 
immortality.  No  matter  whether  this  be  avowed  or  disavowed,  up< 
this  hypothesis,  and  upon  this  only,  can  they  be  maintained.  If  o 
relations  with  our  fellow-beings  are  to  end  with  the  period  of  leavii 
the  present  life  they  can  hardly  be  very  intimate  or  obligatory. 

If  human  society  is  to  have  no  broader  foundation  than  world 
conditions  and  circumstances,  the  Social  Compact  has  only  bru 
force  to  authorize  and  sanctify  it.  Safety  for  the  weaker  is  witho 
any  proper  security.  Why  spare  man,  why  respect  woman,  if  tl 
wheel  of  time  is  going  to  whirl  us  all  into  the  abyss  of  utter  extinctio: 
The  creed  and  inspiration  of  such  a  constitution  of  society  is  fail 
and  fully  set  forth  in  the  maxim:  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-mc 
row  we  die." 

Truly,  as  men  think,  so  they  are.    Wherever  the  rule  prevails  th 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.       LliJfeA^^onlf?^  ^'^o     / 

— --SHlSino^  / 

those  may  take  who  have  the  power,  and  only  those  may  keep  who 
can,  the  war-cry  is  "  Vae  Victis!  *' — woe  to  those  that  are  overcome 
in  the  struggle  of  life!  What  wonder  is  it  that  a  sordid  self-interest 
often  impels  the  wealthy  and  powerful  to  employ  their  arts  and  re- 
sources to  oppress,  and  extort  ill-recompensed  service  from  the  com- 
monalty; the  craftsmen  in  the  various  callings  to  form  in  their  turn 
combinations  which  in  scope  and  operation  may  be  as  unfair,  exact- 
ing, and  even  cruel  as  the  wrongs  of  which  they  complain;  and  that 
all  groups  are  jealous  of  one  another,  and  bitterly  hostile? 

In  such  ways  the  whole  commonwealth  is  placed  in  mortal  peril. 
The  tnic  function  of  government  is  that  of  a  pilot  to  guide  the  ship 
of  public  affairs  through  every  sea;  but  in  the  all-absorbing  scramble 
for  place,  power,  and  emolument  as  reward  for  partisan  service  there 
is  fearful  peril  of  shipwreck.  When  the  public  policy  upon  which  all 
are  dependent  becomes  a  football  between  political  factions,  the  gen- 
eral welfare  will  be  only  a  matter  for  minor  consideration.  In  such  a 
condition  the  commonwealth  becomes  little  else  than  an  anarchy 
restrained  only  by  the  police,  and  so  its  functions  are  limited  to  the 
.security  of  life  and  property  alone. 

In  the  perfect  commonwealth,  all  the  parts,  like  the  organs  of  the 
human  body,  act  in  harmony.  Society  then  is  what  Emanuel  Swe- 
denborg  graphically  represents  as  the  Maximus  Homo,  the  Grand 
Man,  and  every  citizen  has  his  place  in  the  organism.  Plato  describes 
it  as  a  State  ruled  by  philosophers — or  perhaps  it  is  better  to  say — 
where  the  rulers  are  imbued  with  the  philosophic  spirit. 

It  is  not,  however,  in  the  nature  of  anything  human  to  remain 
stable  and  without  change.  The  history  of  the  world,  of  peoples,  of 
orterprises,  and  of  individual  human  beings,  has  always  shown  prog- 
ress in  cycles.  There  is  nowhere  the  example  of  a  nation,  or  even 
2  religion  or  civilization,  where  there  was  progress  in  straight  lines. 
It  has  always  been  an  apparent  advancing  followed  by  a  conspicuous 
retrograding.  Plato  has  accordingly  presented  in  detail  the  process 
of  dissolution  in  the  Ideal  Commonwealth,  by  which  retrograding 
from  just  and  wholesome  administration,  the  government  was  to  be- 
come corrupt,  oppressive,  and  a  pernicious  despotism. 

We  find  the  account  in  the  Eighth  Book  of  "  The  Republic/'    Be- 


44  INTELLIGENCE. 

ing  subject  to  mutations  like  other  human  structures  the  governmc 
degenerates  into  a  mixed  administration  in  which  a  spirit  of  ambiti 
and  greed  of  gain  will  take  the  lead,  the  art  of  war  will  prepondera 
and  the  rulers,  the  guardians  of  the  State,  will  think  lightly  of  p 
losophy  and  more  highly  of  political  power.  Nor  does  it  stop  long 
this  point,  but  descends  into  oligarchy,  or  more  correctly,  plutocra 
Then  gold  becomes  all-powerful,  and  both  public  and  private  virl 
are  put  to  the  wall.  The  country  becomes  divided  into  two  class 
one  of  them  enormously  rich  and  the  other  miserably  poor.  1 
yeomanry — who,  in  most  communities,  carry  on  the  useful  arts,  ( 
most  of  the  taxes  and  uphold  the  commonwealth — are  hopeles 
degraded  into  a  populace.  Almost  all  are  poor,  except  the  gove 
ing  class;  paupers,  tramps,  and  criminals  multiply,  and  educati 
deteriorates. 

The  intemperate  passion  for  riches,  and  the  license  and  extra 
gance  that  always  accompany  the  possession  of  inordinate  weal 
produce  their  characteristic  fruits.  On  all  sides  there  are  g^aspi 
usurers  and  ruined  spendthrifts.  Drones  and  paupers  throng  ev< 
place.  Finally,  the  lower  classes  become  turbulent  and  conscious 
their  power;  the  old  checks  and  safeguards  are  removed,  and  1 
oppressed  become  the  ruling  class.  Then  is  established  a  correspoi 
ing  constitution  of  government,  giving  equal  rights  to  uneq 
persons,  together  with  a  marvelous  freedom  of  speech  and  act* 
Respect  for  age  and  rank  dies  out.  Father  and  son,  teacher  z 
scholar,  master  and  servant,  are  on  the  same  dead  level.  Every  < 
does  what  he  likes,  with  a  contemptuous  disregard  of  the  law. 
obeys  or  disobeys  at  his  own  pleasure.  If  a  criminal  is  sentenced 
death,  imprisonment,  or  exile,  he  will  probably  be  encountered  i 
next  day  alive  and  at  liberty,  parading  the  streets  like  a  hero, 
much  for  the  picture  as  it  is  drawn  by  the  great  philosopher.  1 
career  of  a  civil  polity  under  such  conditions  may  be  traced  by  i 
light  of  history  in  its  vortical  downward  progress  from  the  guard! 
ship  of  its  best  citizens  to  the  dominion  of  the  wealthy  and  powa 
few,  and  thence  to  the  domination  of  the  uneducated,  irresponsi 
many — culminating  in  the  autocracy  of  the  political  demagogue, 
the  imperial  sway  of  the  Man  on  Horseback. 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.  46 

The  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  affairs,  and  the  only  proper  safe- 
guard against  its  occurrence  or  its  recurrence,  will  be  the  same  as  in 
the  case  of  an  individual  person.    Our  ethics,  to  be  stable  and  endur- 
ing, and  adequate  to  the  purpose,  must  have  their  foundation  and 
their  inspiration  in  justice  and  truth.    Nor  may  we  be  content  with  the 
petty  definitions  for  these  terms  that  are  found  in  dictionaries.  Justice 
means  more  than  a  simple  paying  of  debts  and  thereby  becoming  free 
from  all  further  responsibility  to  the  individual.    It  is  infinitely  more 
than  any  interest  of  the  stronger.  Nor  may  it  be  measured  by  statutes, 
rales,  and  maxims;  for  it  comprises  all  these,  and  more.    It  includes 
harmonious  development  of  the  nature,  so  that  each  faculty  of  the 
soul  shall  perform  its  own  functions  without  interfering  with  the 
others.    Then  the  whole  man  is  settled  in  the  best  temper,  possessing 
sell-control  and  justice  with  wisdom. 

In  analogy  with  this,  the  office  of  the  commonwealth  is  to  assure 
to  every  individual  full  opportunity  for  his  talent,  letting  him  have, 
unhindered,  a  place  and  employment  which  shall  be  most  in  accord- 
ance with  his  disposition  and  qualifications,  and  shall  enable  him  to 
be  most  useful  and  profitable  to  the  other  members  of  the  social  body. 
For.  really,  in  a  genuine  commonwealth,  there  is  not  any  clashing  of 
interests  or  prospering  of  one  at  the  expense  of  another.  Everything 
is  reciprocal ;  all  suffer  and  rejoice  together  as  one  personality.  In- 
deed, the  true  ecclesia  or  commonwealth  is,  in  principle  and  in  action, 
a  co-operative  structure  in  which  every  part  ministers  to  the  rest. 
This  is  what  justice  means  in  the  full  philosophic  sense  of  the  term; 
and  to  this  complexion  we  shall,  in  the  regeneration,  come  at  last. 
It  may  be  now,  and  it  may  long  continue  to  be,  an  Utopia  or  a  New 
Jenisalem  that  exists  only  in  our  sublimer  thought ;  but  none  the  less 
shall  we  do  well  to  contemplate  it  in  our  graver  moments,  and  live 
to  the  ideal  as  best  we  may. 

Hence  we  require  broader  and  more  perfect  conceptions  of  our 
own  nature,  and  of  our  relations  to  one  another  and  to  the  whole 
universe  of  being.  There  is  never  any  development  in  a  man's  soul 
^t  docs  not  more  or  less  owe  its  existence  to  spiritual  relationship 
*ith  others.  The  universal  soul,  the  soul  of  the  Grand  Man,  gives 
itsdf  a  peculiar  personal  representation  in  every  one  of  us ;  and  from 


46  INTELLIGENCE. 

that  representation  we  must  find  the  essential  truth  which  pertaii 
to  the  higher  life  that  is  ours  from  the  eternal  region.  We  may  ha^ 
the  philosophic  insight  with  which  to  perceive  it;  but  we  must  tra 
scend  the  arbitrary  limitations  of  sensuous  vision  and  depend  upc 
the  active  sense  which  the  soul  possesses  of  its  own  quality  as  an  ot 
come  and  portion  of  the  Supreme  Essence.  For  we  are  more  or  le 
aware,  all  of  us,  that  there  is  something  more  of  ourselves  than  simp 
the  thought  which  refers  itself  to  the  summit  of  the  head  and  tl 
emotions  that  centre  themselves  within  the  breast.  "  We  oft< 
feel,"  says  Emerson,  "  that  there  is  another  youth  and  age  than  th 
which  is  measured  from  the  year  of  our  natural  birth.'*  There  is 
times  what  another  writer  calls  a  strange  sad  seeming  of  soul-sen 
that  says:  "  Such  as  you  are  you  have  been  someivhere  for  ages." 

Older  than  the  body,  the  soul  brings  hither  somewhat  of  its  recc 
lections.  When  Socrates  in  the  Dialogue  questions  Meno  as 
whether  Virtue  or  moral  excellence  can  be  imparted  and  implanti 
in  a  person  by  instruction,  he  succeeds  in  eliciting  from  the  youi 
man  the  acknowledgment  that  there  are  in  every  mind  apperceptio 
of  what  is  just  and  what  is  true,  which  no  human  teacher  or  teachit 
had  ever  communicated.  Such  apperception  is  a  recalling  into  co 
scious  memory  of  knowledge  already  possessed. 

These  ideas  which  have  thus  come  with  the  inmost  soul  from  tl 
great  Foreworld  may,  therefore,  justly  be  regarded  as  the  most  cc 
tain  of  all  truths;  and  truly  they  embrace  the  most  important  co 
ceptions,  such  as  God,  Eternity,  Immortality,  Love,  Duty — ever 
thing  that  confers  dignity  upon  human  life  and  human  endeavor,  ai 
opens  the  way  into  the  knowing  and  consciousness  of  all  truth. 

"  Every  human  soul  has  the  Absolute  Soul,"  says  the  eloque 
Transcendentalist,  David  A.  Wasson,  *'  has  the  whole  truth,  signi 
cance,  and  virtue  of  the  universe  as  its  lawful  and  native  resource 
Therefore  says  Jesus:  "  The  kingdom  of  the  heavens  is  within  you; 
and  therefore,  Antoninus:  "  Look  inward,  for  within  is  the  founta 
of  truth;"  and  therefore  Eckhard:  *' Ye  have  all  truth  potential 
within  you." 

Plato's  concept  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  commonwealth  cc 
responded  in  all  its  particulars  to  what  the  individual  ought  to  t 


THE  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  PHILOSOPHY.  47 

The  classes  of  citizens,  arranged  as  the  guardian  or  deliberative  body, 
the  executive  or  military  and  police,  and  the  producing  yeomanry, 
are  in  strict  analogy  with  the  faculties  of  the  soul :  the  voo^  or  higher 
reason,  the  Bvfid^  (thumos)  or  active  will,  and  the  iinOvfiia  (epi- 
thumia)  or  acquisitive  disposition.  In  India  this  arrangement  was 
crystallized  into  the  Brahman,  the  military,  and  the  yeoman  castes. 
The  trend  of  all  well-ordered  society  is  toward  the  adopting  of  this 
himan  form  of  the  Grand  Man. 

The  endeavor  to  pervert  this  natural  order  constitutes  a  funda- 
mental error  in  governments.  Hence  they  are  largely  mere  make- 
shifts, the  shuttlecocks  of  political  parties.  The  issue  of  ascendency 
is  chiefly  between  the  oligarchy  and  military  class  on  one  side  and 
the  unstable  commonalty  on  the  other.  There  are  constitutions,  but 
the  safeguards  to  personal  rights  and  liberty,  like  the  levees  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  are  swept  away  by  the  inundations  of  police-power. 
As  a  result  they  are  paralyzed  and  impotent  to  resist  invasion  and 
encroachment  by  the  privileged  classes,  the  moneyed  corporation,  or 
the  vender  of  alcoholic  beverages. 

We  are  counting  too  much,  therefore,  upon  our  institutions  and 
eternal  conditions.  It  was  predicted  by  Elliott  Cresson  that  the 
party  that  should  set  the  colored  man  free  would  destroy  the  liberty 
of  the  others.  Evil  custom  extends  everywhere,  taints  everything; 
»kI  so,  like  Plato's  charioteer,  the  effort  is  fruitlessly  made  to  drive 
the  chariot  with  one  horse  belonging  to  the  sky  and  the  other  to  the 
ttrth.  The  reliance  is  upon  the  Dollar;  no  value  is  attached  to  Faith. 

Confucius,  once  visiting  a  town  in  China,  was  told  by  a  woman 
whom  he  met  that  her  father,  husband,  and  near  of  kin  had  all  been 
Med  by  a  tiger  that  infested  the  region.  ''  Why  do  you  not  remove 
^osomc  other  place?"  he  asked.  "  Because,"  said  she,  "we  have 
*  good  government."  The  sage  then  turned  to  his  disciples  and  said: 
"  Behold,  a  bad  government  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  a  ferocious 
tiger." 

Man  must  conquer  his  necessities  by  the  work  of  his  own  hands 
*hI  the  operation  of  his  own  thought.  Without  these  there  will  be 
no  enrichment  by  a  tariflF,  no  advantage  by  any  form  of  money,  nor 
koiefit  by  any  adjustment  of  industry  or  property.    It  is  an  ideal  life 


48  INTELLIGENCE. 

where  we  neither  command  nor  obey,  but  a  holier  one  where  e; 
from  intelligent  charity,  gives  his  best  effort  for  the  good  of  his 
lows.  "  The  superior  man  is  catholic  and  not  partisan,"  says  C 
fucius;  "  the  inferior  man  is  partisan  and  not  catholic." 

We  are  thus  again  and  again  relegated  to  the  subjective  truth 
all  social  amelioration  and  regeneration  must  be  accomplishec 
each  individual.    Public  virtue  is  the  good  thought,  good  word, 
good  deed  of  each  citizen,  and  will  not  exist  where  these  are  want 
All  ideas  of  truth  and  the  inexorable  Right  dwell  in  every  soul; 
in  every  soul  they  are  at  first  wrapped  in  deep  sleep  produced  by 
draught  which  no  vessel  contains.     It  is  a  sleep  infinitely  profoi 
and  the  base  incense  of  brutish  lives,  like  the  fumes  of  an  anaesth 
steep  them  more  and  more  in  oblivion.    To  awaken  the  soul  from 
Lethean  condition  and  to  bring  into  consciousness  the  truth 
moral  sensibility  dormant  there,  is  the  highest  aim  that  we 
achieve,  and  the  most  eminent  service  that  one  can  render  to  anoi 

Intellectual  power  and  material  success  are  far  from  being  all 
is  to  be  accomplished  by  culture  and  development.  The  other 
higher  faculty  must  succeed  and  transcend.  Take  that  away, 
there  is  nothing  of  real  value  left.  The  man  and  the  commonwe 
liberty  and  virtue,  alike  are  dependent  vitally  upon  it.  We  al 
sojourners  here,  children  of  one  Father,  and  from  the  Eternal  rq 
Hence  we  participate  in  the  same  nature  and  necessities,  and 
not  prudently  or  innocently  neglect  what  is  due  to  one  anothei 
one  of  us  suffers,  all  are  certain  to  be  affected;  not  one  of  us 
fall  without  all  being  involved  in  the  calamity.  By  realizing  this 
living  in  harmony  with  this  conviction  we  shall  also  realize  the  | 
tical  use  of  Philosophy  in  the  perception  of  that  which  really  isu 

Thus  we  know  the  Truth,  and  so  by  possessing  and  doing  it 

Truth  shall  make  us  free. 

Alexander  Wilder,  M, 


A  man's  genius,  the  quality  that  differences  him  from  any  othei 
susceptibility  to  one  class  of  influences,  the  selection  of  what  ta  fi 
him,  the  rejection  of  what  is  unfit,  determines  for  him  the  charact 
the  universe. — Emerson. 


PSYCHIC  VISION  OF  AN  ACCIDENT. 

It  was  a  beautiful  afternoon  in  June.  Winter  had  lingered  late 
that  year,  as  he  often  does  in  Michigan. 

AB  along  the  dooryard  fence  the  lilies-of-the-valley  shook  out 
thdr  fairy  bells  in  the  sunshine,  forming  a  snowy  fringe  at  the  edge 
of  the  smooth  green  velvet  of  the  lawn.  Beside  the  walk  to  the  door, 
the  poet's  narcissus  proudly  bore  its  perfect  flowers  on  long,  upright 
stems.  Inside  the  house,  my  pretty  double-parlors  had  a  festive  ap- 
pearance; the  dining-room  beyond  the  arch  showed  an  elaborately 
hid  tea-table  with  flowers  and  favors,  while  the  large  bedroom  open- 
ing from  the  back  parlor  afforded  a  view  of  new  spring  wraps  and  lace 
bonnets  carefully  disposed  upon  the  immaculate  counterpane. 

Yes,  I  had  company — an  afternoon  party  of  ladies,  invited  to  a 
five-o'clock  tea.  A  small  company,  scarcely  a  dozen,  but  all  con- 
genial and  members  of  the  same  circle;  most  of  them  were  young 
married  women,  like  myself. 

Three  little  children  who  had  accompanied  their  mothers  were 
pbjing  out  of  doors,  with  my  own  five-year-old  son.  Their  musical 
Wes,  floating  in,  added  a  joyous  note  to  our  low-toned  conversation. 

Having  made  careful  preparations  for  the  occasion,  I  was  devoting 
MyscKto  my  guests,  with  a  mind  very  much  at  ease.  My  husband  had 
pnxnised  to  come  early  from  the  store,  so  that  our  little  feast  should 
not  be  kept  waiting.  My  neat  Swedish  maid  was  prompt  and  cap- 
able, and  knew  just  what  was  expected  of  her.  I  had  every  reason 
to  be  happy,  and  certainly  was  light-hearted  and  free  from  care. 

It  was  at  the  time  when  the  "  point-lace  "  furor  was  raging  in  our 
fttle  city,  and  indeed  throughout  the  land.  Nearly  all  the  women 
present  were  interested  in  learning  a  new  stitch  in  that  fascinating 
farm  of  decorative  art.  I  was  making  a  cobwebby  cap,  as  a  gift  for 
flie  approaching  birthday  of  a  revered  friend  whose  beautiful  hair 
vas  as  white  as  the  snows  of  her  eighty  winters.  Several  of  my  guests 
'we  gathered  close  about  my  chair,  absorbed  in  learning  a  new  de- 

40 


50  INTELLIGENCE. 

sign  in  "  old  rose  point."  I  was  explaining  as  I  worked,  and  had 
begun  to  say,  "  You  see  it  is  easy,  anyone  can  do  it  who  can  mal 
button-hole  stitch." 

How  much  of  the  sentence  I  left  unsaid  I  do  not  know. 

Suddenly  a  cold  horror  seized  me,  my  hair  began  to  creep  u 
my  scalp,  and  I  felt  my  cheeks  contract,  as  if  the  skin  were  drawni 
ward  by  invisible  Angers.  Darkness  fell  before  my  face — the  opa 
blackness  of  deep,  still  water,  but  now  agitated  by  violent  movein 
and  in  the  water  I  saw  a  face  arise,  a  countenance  of  distorted  chiV 
loveliness,  which  I  could  almost,  but  not  quite,  recognize.  Aa 
the  white,  dimpled  cheeks,  wet  hair  of  a  golden  color  was  streamj 
The  voices  of  my  companions  sounded  faint  and  far  away.  S 
denly  the  cathedral  bell  of  my  little  onyx  clock  chimed,  as  if  it  ste 
against  my  ear,  "  One,  two,  three,  four." 

With  convulsive  movements  of  my  arms,  I  struggled  up  aga 
.the  darkness,  and  rushed  from  the  room. 

Through  the  dining-room  I  sped,  where  in  the  sideboard  mi 
I  caught  a  flying  glimpse  of  the  white,  set  face  of  a  woman  I  did 
know,  and  through  the  kitchen  I  hurried,  where  my  Katrina ' 
placidly  measuring  out  material  for  biscuits,  but  paused  to  stan 
I  passed. 

Down  the  cellar-stairs  I  flew,  straight  to  our  cistern,  which  I  fa 
covered  as  usual,  with  a  heavy  weight,  much  beyond  my  powa 
lift,  upon  the  cover.  Once  more  the  blood  receded  from  my  b 
to  my  cold  face  and  prickling  hands  and  feet. 

Almost  sobbing  with  the  reaction  of  my  relief,  I  ran  out  from 
cellar,  through  the  open  double  doors,  and  into  the  back  yard.  Th 
quietly  seated  upon  the  grassy  terrace,  were  my  boy  and  his  t) 
little  playmates.  Swooping  down  upon  the  little  group,  I  gatlu 
them  all  into  the  house,  where  I  found  my  guests  whispering 
gether,  in  startled  groups. 

The  comments  of  two  of  them  caught  my  ear,  "  Did  you  see 
face? — just  awful,  I  thought!  "  and  "  Why,  she  actually  pushed  1 
Smith  over,  chair  and  all,  when  she  flew  out !  " 

The  entrance  of  the  children  made  a  welcome  diversion.  T 
very  naturally  supposed  they  had  been  hurried  in  to  supper,  and  f 


PSYCHIC  VISION  OF  AN  ACCIDENT.  51 

disappointed  accordingly.  I  escaped  to  my  room  to  prepare  the  soap- 
suds and  glycerine  for  the  bubble-blowing  that  I  had  hastily  prom- 
ised them,  and,  being  alone,  I  composed  my  trembling  limbs  as  best 
I  could,  and  wiped  the  clammy  drops  from  my  forehead. 

Returning,  I  established  the  children  on  the  long,  shaded  piazza, 
at  their  new  play,  then  gathered  up  the  delicate  lace-work  and  ma- 
terials that  I  had  trailed  through  the  two  rooms  in  my  flight. 

I  apologized  to  my  guests  by  explaining  that  having  imagined 
our  dstem  might  be  uncovered,  and  fearing  that  one  of  the  children 
might  fall  in,  the  thought  had  frightened  me  so  that  even  when  I 
fcund  it  safe,  I  had  brought  the  little  ones  in.  One  of  the  ladies 
tacthilly  sat  down  to  the  piano,  and  while  we  were  listening  to  her 
really  fine  playing,  the  click  of  the  gate  and  my  husband's  familiar 
step  on  the  walk  were  heard. 

His  step  seemed  to  lag — to  lack  its  usual  spring,  I  thought — but 
my  nerves  were  all  a-tingle.  He  stopped  to  frolic  with  the  little 
bubble-blowers  in  his  usual  merry  fashion,  but  I  noted  that  he  took 
oar  own  boy  (big  as  he  was)  quite  into  his  arms,  for  a  long  hug  and 
a  shower  of  kisses. 

The  little  changes  in  his  dress  which  the  occasion  demanded  were 
soon  made,  and  my  husband  came  in  and  greeted  the  company,  all 
of  whom  were  his  friends.    But  I  felt  that  something  was  wrong. 

His  was  a  peculiar  temperament — sensitive,  sympathetic,  and 
transparent  as  a  child's;  and  I  knew  that  he  was,  or  had  lately  been, 
<>«ply  agitated. 

My  five-o'clock  tea  was  a  success,  the  serving  was  perfect,  and 
wygnests  seemed  to  have  forgotten  my  strange  rudeness  of  the  after- 
noon. My  husband  was  attentive  to  all,  and  quite  the  model  host. 
But  I  kept  wondering  what  bad  news  he  could  be  keeping,  to  tell  me 
^hen  we  were  alone. 

Finally  the  last  guest  went  down  the  step,  carrying  her  flowers, 
^  leading  her  little  daughter  by  the  hand.  Then  I  turned  to  my 
■""^and  in  the  hall  and  whispered,  "  Now  tell  me — is  it  any  bad  news 
'^om  mother?  " 

"  No,  no,"  he  responded ; "  do  not  be  too  greatly  alarmed,  but  Mrs. 
over's  little  Teddy  was  drowned  this  afternoon,  in  their  cistern." 


I 


62  INTELLIGENCE. 

**  At  what  time? ''  I  gasped,  sinking  into  the  hall-chair. 

"  At  four  o'clock.  They  heard  him  fall,  but  he  was  quite  dc 
before  they  could  get  him  out.*' 

"  The  poor  mother — the  poor  mother!  "  I  repeated  mechanical 
while  all  the  time  the  cold  horror  of  my  inexplicable  vision  swi 
through  my  mind.  And  the  spell  had  been  broken  by  the  clock  stii 
ing  the  hour  of  four! 

I  now  recognized  the  cold,  wet,  dimpled  face,  with  the  gold 
hair  washed  straight  along  the  white  cheeks.  It  was  little  Teddy,  t 
laughing,  chubby  darling  of  my  neighbor's  household. 

Almost  in  silence  my  husband  and  I  walked  the  mile,  throoj 
the  sweet  June  twilight,  to  that  stricken  home. 

Yes,  it  was  the  very  face  of  my  vision,  but  oh,  so  still  and  meek 
the  golden  hair  just  drying  into  its  old-time  fluffy  rings. 

I  even  leaned  and  looked  into  the  opaque  blackness  of  the  wat 
It  was  just  as  I  saw  it,  before  the  face  appeared.  At  the  right,  a  laf 
iron  spike  had  projected  from  a  beam  of  wood,  in  my  vision;  and  I 
old  horror  seized  me,  as  I  recognized  this  in  the  identical  place,  f 
as  it  looked  when  the  blackness  fell  before  my  eyes,  shutting  out  I 
bright  room,  my  work,  and  the  intent  faces  of  my  friends. 

By  what  unknown  power  had  that  scene  (which  no  human  i 
gazed  upon)  been  brought  before  my  unwilling  vision,  as  I  sat,  a  H 
away,  unconcerned  and  happy,  absorbed  in  other  matters? 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pulver  were  acquaintances  of  ours,  but  no  espd 
liking  or  friendship  existed  between  us. 

My  husband,  with  a  heart  big  enough  to  gather  the  griefs  of ; 
and  make  them  his  own,  naturally  went  at  once  to  any  scene  of  sorrt 

At  the  funeral  of  little  Teddy  Pulver,  one  of  the  guests  of  my  t 
party  whispered  to  me,  "  How  queer  that  you  were  thinking  ah 
your  cistern  that  very  same  day!  " 

But  not  to  her,  not  to  the  Pulvers,  not  even  to  my  husband,  < 

I  ever  before  relate  the  true  history  of  that  day. 

Now  who  can  explain  my  experience? 

Mrs.  McVean  Adami 

Note. — This  is  evidently  an  instance  of  thought-transference  occurring  thro 
unusual  sensitiveness  of  the  emotional  nature.  The  thought-image  or  mental  pifl 
so  clearly  seen — viz. :  black  water,  still  at  first,  then  agitated  as  the  little  body 


J 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  VERSUS  OCCULT  SCIENCE.  58 

brought  to  the  surface,  the  wet  face,  the  ugly-looking  spike  that  was  in  the  way 
of  quick  removal  of  the  body,  the  horror  and  the  fear  which  seized  and  controlled 
a  fflind  "  sensitive  '*  for  the  time  being — all  these  are  exact  features  of  the  picture 
flashing  through  the  mind  or  minds  of  whoever  discovered  the  catastrophe. 

The  rapidity  and  force  of  thought -action  under  such  circumstances  are  seldom 
rcaliied  when  superficially  considering  similar  experiences.  The  thought-picture 
b  thrown  upon  the  psychic  aura  with  tremendous  force,  and  may  be  consciously 
recognized  by  anyone  sufficiently  sensitive,  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  right 
fdn  of  emotional  mentality  to  be  impressed  by  the  thought.  In  this  case  all  these 
features  were  present  and  especially  favorable  for  such  a  result.  These  were:  a 
Toung  mother,  little  ones  belonging  to  other  mothers  at  play  with  her  own  child, 
those  mothers  having  come  together  for  enjoyment — ^the  emotional  nature  being 
foremost-— and  herself,  the  hostess,  principally  resi>onsible  for  the  happiness  of 
each  and  presumably  feeling  a  measure  *of  responsibility  for  the  personal  safety 
of  each  child  present.  All  these  facts  combine  to  produce  unusual  sensitiveness 
ud  to  make  her  receptive  to  that  tremendously  agitated  thought  of  death  sent  into 
the  aura  of  a  neighborhood  where  each  resident  was  personally  known  to  all  the 
others. 

Poor  o'clock  was  the  hour  at  which  the  accident  became  known;  the  boy  was 
beard  to  fall,  but  was  drowned  before  help  could  reach  him ;  and  at  four  o  clock 
she  saw  the  vision.  There  is  a  perfect  psychic  correspondence  between  the 
tuntolacHan  of  the  distressed  relatives  and  the  ftiefttal  vision  of  the  sensitively  re- 
Jponsivfc  friend  and  member  of  the  neighborhood  of  mutual  acquaintances. 

The  writer  is  wrong  in  assuming — ^as  stated — ^that  "  no  human  eye  gazed  upon 
d»e  scene."  The  child  was  heard  to  fall  and  the  danger  was  instantly  apprehended, 
presumably;  then,  every  detail  of  what  she  saw  was  seen  by  the  first  eye  that  rested 
«pon  the  water. 

Another  possible  explanation  of  such  an  occurrence,  and  one  based  upon  the 
same  law  of  action — but  not  probable  in  this  instance — is  the  same  going-out  of 
the  thought  of  the  child  himself.  This,  however,  would  not  have  been  likely  to 
orry  the  stillness  of  the  water,  the  wet  face,  the  position  of  the  hair,  or  the  spike  in 
^beam.  as  the  child's  mind  would  have  acted  in  quite  another  manner,  giving  a 
«nerem  picture. — Ed. 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE   VERSUS  OCCULT   SCIENCE. 

In  an  age  of  intellectual  unrest  and  revolution  an  advance  step 
^ys  implies  a  clash  of  the  new  thought  against  the  old.     In  this 
J    »ay  only  is  progress  possible,  for  thoughts  which  do  not  stimulate 
^     counter-thoughts  are  of  no  practical  value  as  a  factor  of  newer 
gnmths. 

He  who  is  satisfied  of  the  certitude  of  the  ground  on  which  he 
^^^^  ^iW  not  make  a  step  out  of  this  stage  of  his  mental  progress 
ontil  there  is  aroused  within  him  by  newer  thoughts  a  doubt  of  the 
stahility  of  his  present  mental  growth. 

Physical  science  holds  to  the  verities  of  its  foundation  and  claims 
^0  have  reached  the  boundary  lines  encompassing  the  whole  field 
<*  which  it  is  possible  to  be  sure  of  the  advance  made.    It  denies  that 


54  INTELLIGENCE. 

any  progress  can  be  gained  outside  of  the  mechanical  instrumenta 
ties  made  to  give  extension  to  the  so-called  physical  senses,  and  the 
physical  senses  themselves. 

It  is  here  where  the  clash  of  counter-thoughts  is  seen,  as  well 
the  contradictory  attitude  of  physical  science  with  itself.    To  place 
limit  on  the  capacities  of  the  human  mind  is  to  contradict  the  dc 
trine  of  evolution,  so  haughtily  paraded  as  evidence  of  the  certain 
of  this  same  physical  science. 

Listen  to  this:  Physical  science  has  no  certitude^  save  that  wU 
is  based  on  the  hidden,  the  occult;  and  to  deny  this  is  to  desti 
physical  science  itself. 

Let  us  clearly  see  the  truth  of  this.  All  phenomena  are  eflfec 
and  on  these  phenomena  are  built  both  physical  and  occult  scicn 
The  causes  that  develop  the  phenomena  are  occult,  and  constitt 
the  foundation  for  the  construction  of  a  science  of  the  occult. 

Physical  science  claims  to  have  discovered  these  occult  causes 
means -of  the  so-called  physical  senses,  aided  by  mechanical  inst 
ments,  and  has  constructed  a  science  of  matter  and  force. 

In  this  science,  it  is  taught  that  blind  force  conflicted  with  bl 
force,  or  blind,  stupid  law,  and  in  this  way  constructed  a  univc 
and  that  now  the  same  agencies  give  all  phenomena  of  matter. 

Occult  science  discovers  these  hidden  forces,  and  attributes 
them  cohscious  intelligence.  By  this  conscious  intelligence  of  piy 
the  universe  is  constructed  and  is  controlled  at  this  moment  in  all 
phenomena  exhibited. 

It  is  clearly  seen  that  all  visible  or  sensuous  matter  has  no  existe 
of  itself,  for  it  is  being  constantly  transformed  from  the  invisibk 
the  visible,  thence  dematerialized,  to  again  materialize  through 
circuit  of  power,  like  an  endless  chain,  and  the  only  persistent  C3i 
ence  seen  is  force  or  motion,  and  matter  is  known  to  disappear. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  physical  sciences,  the  causes  t 
materialize  and  dematerialize  substance  are  found  in  blind  nat 
law.  They  are  found  by  occult  science  in  intelligent,  conscious  poi 
that  permeates  the  whole  structure  of  the  universe.  In  this  dil 
ence  of  the  teachings  of  the  two  sciences,  if  there  be  two,  is  seen  t 
conflict.    The  battle  is  now  on! 


PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  VERSUS  OCCULT  SCIENCE.  56 

The  existence,  transitory,  of  matter  or  substance  is  a  phenomenon 
oi  itself,  and  since  all  phenomena  are  effects  and  have  no  real  ex- 
istence apart  from  the  occult  powers  that  develop  them,  to  believe 
matter  or  substance  that  can  only  be  cognized  by  the  physical  senses 
to  be  real,  is  to  believe  a  delusion,  is  to  build  on  sand.  Also  to  be- 
lieve that  blind  force  or  laws  of  nature  constructed  a  universe,  is  to 
bcHeve  a  delusion;  and  physical  science  per  se  is  one  whole  delusion, 
because  basing  certitude  on  fleeting  and  transforming  substance  and 
correlated  phenomena. 

The  sensuous  universe  being  itself  a  phenomenon  is  only  a  vast 
system  of  symbology,  expressive  to  the  consciousness  of  the  existence 
and  reality  of  a  conscious  Intelligent  Power  immanent  in  all  sensuous 
matter.  It  is  the  interpretation  of  the  meaning  and  purpose  of 
this  vast  system  of  symbology  that  has  g^ven  all  the  systems  of  phi- 
losophy, all  the  systems  of  science,  and  all  the  systems  of  religion  the 
world  ever  possessed.  It  is  the  expression  of  these  symbols  as  seen 
by  the  physical  senses  that  has  developed  all  mechanical  art  and  in- 
vention that  the  world  now  contains. 

It  is  the  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  this  great  symbol  that 
has  divided  the  philosophical  mind  into  two  classes,  idealist  and 
realist;  finally,  it  is  the  interpretation  of  the  whence  and  whither 
of  the  whole  of  the  sensuous  system  of  worlds  and  the  objects  on 
them  and  their  uses,  which  is  the  storehouse  of  all  man's  knowledge 
of  the  past  and  of  to-day,  and  that  will  ever  keep  him  employed  in 
•ttrning  and  advancing  step  by  step  till  he  sees  and  knows  himself 
ariGod 

To-day  most  methods  of  teaching  and  plans  for  enlightening 
the  minds  of  the  people  are  based  upon  the  physical  plane  of  being;  the 
^"ncisnow  ripe  for  a  growth  of  mind  based  on  the  astral  plane;  con- 
**<pently  occult  science  is  being  more  and  more  cultivated. 

L.  Emerick. 


Motion  or  change,  and  identity  or  rest,  are  the  first  and  second  secrets 
<^  nature:  Motion  and  Rest.  The  whole  code  of  her  laws  may  be  written 
**  fte  thumb-nail,  or  the  signet  of  a  ring.  The  whirling  bubble  on  the 
^^bct  of  a  brook  admits  us  to  the  secret  of  the  mechanics  of  the  sky. 
^^^  shell  on  the  beach  is  a  key  to  it. — Emerson. 


66  INTELLIGENCE. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 

(V.) 

Upon  the  doctrine  of  the  calculus  of  life  depends  the  whole 
catenary  of  Causation.  It  eliminates  all  necessity  for  the  unnatural 
intervention  of  a  hypothetical,  mystical,  anthropomorphic,  and  ex- 
traneous first  cause,  and  makes  the  processes  of  creation  as  natural 
as  their  principles  are  universal.  This,  and  this  alone,  accounts  for  the 
hideousness  of  the  monster  as  well  as  the  beauty  of  the  rose,  for  the 
cancer  as  well  as  the  lily,  for  both  the  disappearance  of  a  type  and  the 
survival  of  the  fittest.  Circumstances  and  conditions — ^the  environ- 
ment of  individuals — determine  their  place  in  the  procession  of  prog- 
ress, and  it  is  this  principle  which  has  retarded  some  and  advanced 
others,  as  the  Chinese  manners  have  remained  stationary  while  the 
agile  West  has  hastened  onward  along  the  path  toward  perfection. 

A  remarkable  coincidence — to  some  perhaps,  as  all  antiquities  arc 
venerable,  corroborative  of  the  modern  theory  of  evolution — is  found 
in  the  account  given  in  the  Eastern  Scriptures  of  the  appearances 
of  the  second  person  of  the  Brahminical  Trimurti — Vishnu,  the 
Preserver. 

These  are  represented  as  his  avatars  or  incarnations:  I.  A  fish. 
II.  A  tortoise.  III.  A  mammal.  IV.  A  beast-man.  V.  A  dwarf. 
VI.  A  hero.  VII.  Rama,  the  hero's  brother.  VIII.  The  higher  man. 
IX.  The  Buddh.  The  tenth  avatar  is  still  to  be.  Buddhism,  which  is 
reformed  Brahminism,  and  is  to  the  ancient  religion  of  India  what 
Christianity  is  to  Judaism,  is  a  religion  of  knowledge,  not  of  faith, 
although  many  of  its  greatest  minds  do  not  hesitate  (as  the  Catholic 
hierarchy  inculcate  the  use  of  objective  symbols)  to  permit  the  faithful 
a  sort  of  adoration  of  venerable  and  venerated  shrines  and  relics.  How 
in  the  light  of  modem  lore  the  true  meaning  of  these  avatars  gleams 
forth  like  the  sun  rising  through  a  thick  bank  of  fog! 

We  behold  in  the  symbol  of  the  fish,  deity's  first  appearance  upon 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 


57 


this  planet  in  a  form  of  life  at  all  like  any  with  which  we,  proudest  of 
the  vertebrates,  are  in  the  least  disposed  to  claim  kinship.  We  see 
there  the  gigantic  snail — the  ammonite,  the  great  progeny  of  the 
trilobite  and  the  swarming  of  myriad  scaly  monsters  sporting  in  the 
ancient  Devonian  seas.  Then  in  another  fulness  of  time  the  hideous 
beasts,  winged  and  wingless,  the  simian-shaped  arboreal  monster, 
the  ape  that  has  grown  a  thumb  and  lost  the  prehensile  vertebrae, 
the  chatterer  turned  talker,  the  talker  thinker,  and — lo !  Man. 

To  every  seed  his  own  body;   this  was  nature's  order,  quietly, 
earnestly,  grandly  fitting  the  body  that  shall  be,  out  of  the  bare  grain; 

Bink  OR  Ite  Orliil  of  Rogress. 


4llf^    S  ^Mo(kn  *fi 


»L 


fli  finally,  on  honor's  crowning  height,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
6nc  and  change  into  the  nostrils  of  the  animal  was  breathed  the 
Jwathof  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul. 

There  are  few  who  understand  rightly  the  true  meaning  of  evo- 
Intionary  progress.  I  think  a  glance  at  the  accompanying  diagram 
'ffl  show  the  truth  perhaps  more  clearly  than  words :  of  the  con- 
tinoously  ascendant  faith,  whereon  the  elements  to  be  mixed  in  man 
^^"^^  off  from  epoch  to  epoch  the  impediments  of  lowlier  nature. 
Man  had  in  him  from  the  first  (as  in  the  foetus  from  conception  to 
^^)  the  substance  of  his  divinity. 

But  the  end  was  not  yet;  the  first  man  was  made  a  living  soul 
^  last  a  quickening  spirit. 

The  supreme  Volition,  while  continuous  in  manifestation,  has  had 

^^  diagram  in  the  November  number  of  this  magazine. 


58  INTELLIGENCE. 

its  avatars  in  the  natural  order,  to  be  discerned  when,  through  loo 
travail,  the  early  age  has  given  birth  to  the  later.  From  that  sublin 
moment  when  the  initial  trump  was  sounded,  "  Let  there  be  light 
step  by  step  Spirit  has  marched  steadfastly  onward.  The  age  of  nn 
tion  culminating  in  that  medium  to  which  the  name  ether  has  bee 
given;  the  age  of  matter,  mounting  the  spires  of  form  till  the  ino 
ganic  came;  the  age  when  the  chemic  tribes  wandered  in  the  lone 
wilderness  till  at  last  they  came  into  the  Canaan  of  the  organic;  d 
age  of  organisms,  triumphing  in  moving  life;  the  age  of  the  catt 
and  creeping  thing  culminating  in  the  rude  man  of  the  morning,  tl 
first  man  Adam  become  the  thinker,  and  the  thinker  in  the  fulne 
of  time  the  quickening  spirit. 

We  abolished  mechanicalism  in  all  its  forms  and  phases  in  reco 
nizing  as  we  have  the  indubitable  presence  through  all  creation 
some  function  of  that  Power  which  differed  not  only  in  degree  b 
in  kind  from  the  Power  which  is  the  perfect  form  of  Action.  We  a 
content  to  call  this  all-pervading  power  of  Volition — not  that  i 
identify  it  with  will,  but  that  it  includes  will,  and  is  in  fact  the  perft 
form  of  will — Intelligence  in  activity. 

The  substance  of  our  facts  has  long  been  known  to  thinkers,  fa 
the  utmost  that  the  most  sagacious  has  done  in  establishing  the  uI 
mate  principles  thereof  has  been  either  (with  Kant)  to  bewail  t 
elusion  of  that  truth  which  he  so  deeply  felt,  or  (with  Spinoza) 
predicate  the  presence  of  God  in  all  things  and  nominate  that  presofl 
Pantheism.    The  ancient  Greeks  forestalled  the  great  German,  t 
the  ancient  Hindus  the  wonderful  Jew.    But  the  idea  called  pantl 
istic  is  absolutely  alien  to  the  true  conception.    God  is  not  in  growl 
He  is  progress;  He  is  not  in  vitality,  He  is  Life;   He  is  not  in  1 
phases  of  mutation,  He  is  changeless.    God  is  not  in  the  path,  1 
is  A  and  /2,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last — Spii 
and  spirit  only. 

God  does  not  grow;  God  is  eternal;  his  manifestations  advan 
He  does  not  think  in  the  reactions  of  matter,  his  atoms  act,  and  1 
cause  they  act  mechanically,  and  have  no  choice  which  thought  g^ 
they  act  invariably,  obeying  the  primal  impulse;  they  always  | 
not  in  antagonism  to  their  nature,  but  conformably  to  •■ 


I 

I 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  59 

was  only  when  the  mammal  man,  in  the  process  of  the  ages  of  de- 
velopment, had  become  thoughtful  that  he  became  free,  and  becom- 
ing free  became  a  chooser,  and  deliberately  because  he  volitionally 
chose.  "  Behold  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us,  to  know  good  and 
eril."  This  was  the  fall  of  man,  because,  having  the  power  to  choose 
the  good,  he  chose  the  evil. 

When  a  point  is  projected  into  space  the  result  is  a  line;  when 
thelme  is  rotated  in  the  same  plane  the  result  is  area  or  surface;  when 
the  area  is  rotated  on  an  axis  the  result  is  volume.  Space  of  one  di- 
mension (linear)  becomes,  by  Action,  space  of  two  dimensions  (area), 
and  space  of  two  dimensions,  by  further  action,  becomes  volume. 

If  you  take  a  steel  bar,  like  a  knitting-needle,  and  cause  it  to  re- 
volve in  the  same  plane  around  one  of  its  ends,  if  the  rotation  be 
sufficiently  rapid  the  result  will  be  a  flat  disk  whose  diameter  will  be 
twice  the  length  of  the  needle.  This  disk  will  be  practically  a  surface, 
on  which,  for  a  practical  demonstration,  you  may  place  any  number 
of  articles;  their  weight,  and  the  ability  of  the  single  needle  to  sus- 
tain them  bearing  a  strict  mathematical  relation  to  the  swiftness  of 
rotation  of  the  needle. 

Now  this  disk,  or  an  ordinary  plate  of  material  (so  called),  may  be 
rotated  in  like  manner,  and  a  resultant  solid  be  formed.  Its  impene- 
trability— the  very  first  attribute  of  matter — will  be  dependent  upon 
the  velocity  of  rotation,  and  upon  nothing  else.  In  this  way  a  thin 
plate  of  metal  will  turn  a  bullet,  or  the  bullet  will  flatten  against  the 
sequence  of  positions  of  the  planes  that  constitute  the  revolutions. 
An  illustration  in  practice  of  this  principle  may  be  seen  at  any  hy- 
^ulic  mine,  where  an  axe  wielded  with  the  utmost  power  will  re- 
l^nd  from  the  jet  at  the  nozzle  of  the  hose,  battered  and  broken 
^  the  edge,  as  from  impact  with  a  solid  bar  of  iron.  This  is  caused 
l^y  the  resistance,  not  of  water,  but  of  speed;  not  of  matter,  but 
o'  motion. 

This,  then,  is  the  essence  of  the  creative  functions  in  nature ;  this 
the  reality  underlying  the  phenomena  of  matter.  Not  points  en- 
*^ed  with  force,  nor  centres  of  force  make  matter;  but  matter  is 
^phenomenon  of  pure  motion,  not  something  moving;  the  motion 
•'^is  the  something. 


60  INTELLIGENCE. 

This  motion  in  its  variant  relations  makes  the  elements  and  their 
combinations  and  permutations : 

I.  Position  multiplied  by  Motion  is  Light. 
IL  Light  multiplied  by  Motion  is  Matter. 

in.  Matter  multiplied  by  Motion  is  Life.* 

The  same  sort  of  potency  which  whirls  the  spirals  of  nebulae,  and 
sends  stars  and  planets  and  systems  on  their  orbits,  forms  the  tiny 
globules  of  ether  and  the  aggregates  of  atoms.  This  potency,  this 
principle,  does  not  stop  with  the  line,  after  passing  through  the  sur- 
face and  solid;  it  goes  even  to  the  point — that  which  has  no  attribute 
but  position;  and  this  is  spirit;  this  is  substance. 

The  chemist  has  already  found  these  facts;  he  knows  practically 
that  matter  is  not  quiescence,  but  inconceivably  rapid  motion. 

And  those  same  principles  of  evolution,  which  are  now  coming 
to  be  accepted  by  the  whole  world,  apply  to  the  remotest  past — the 
things  perceived  were  bom  of  the  things  conceived,  things  from 
thoughts,  all  things  from  the  All,  all  from  the  One. 

When,  over  the  stretched  membrane  or  the  sonorous  copper 
cymbal,  the  swath  of  scattered  sand  hears  the  notes  of  the  violin,  at 
once  among  the  throng  of  tiny  fragments  a  huge  commotion  ensues, 
and  thousands  start  up,  eager,  expectant;  and  then,  at^the  tone  of 
the  command,  as  the  bow  vibrates  the  tense  string,  they  rush,  pell- 
mell,  hither  and  thither,  jostling,  hurrying,  each,  like  a  sentient  self, 
to  his  appointed  place,  till  in  long  lines  and  delicate  curves  the  seem- 
ingly conscious  sand  takes  station,  and  the  geometer  starts  amazed  at 
the  wonderful  dexterity  and  grace  of  movement  and  at  the  mathe- 
matical accuracy  of  the  result. 

But  this  is  not  yet  all;  the  sand,  or  better  yet,  a  pure,  free,  not 
too  viscous  liquid,  shows  even  vaster  evidences  of  a  profound  intelli- 
gence— the  obedience  of  the  mote  to  the  note,  the  dominance  of 
action  over  being,  the  ward  of  nature  finding  the  way  from  the  word. 
Here  we  may  see  the  freer  motions  fit  themselves  yet  more  wonder- 
fully to  the  harmony.    The  figures  which  one  chord  made  geometric, 

♦But  "the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  Immortality  is  the  choice  of  man,  and 
not  the  consequence  of  mortal  life,  of  which  more  will  be  said  in  the  following 
papers. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  61 

another  makes  artistic ;  and  a  song  makes  a  rose,  a  thistle,  or  a  lily, 
Wlelcss  but  beautiful — ^a  demonstration  of  the  power  of  music  to  bring 
order  out  of  confusion,  law  out  of  chaos,  the  formed  crystal  out  of  the 
amorphous  mass,  life  out  of  dust,  divinity  out  of  humanity. 

The  rhythm  and  music  of  the  spheres  is  not  imaginary;  it  is  of 
the  same  order  of  reality  as  that  tact  of  tone  in  the  voice  which  means 
always,  truth — that  union  of  good-will  and  self-possession  that  has 
power  over  the  savage  and  brute,  and  is  able  to  exact  tribute  from 
all  the  world.  It  is  in  the  mechanic's  problem,  the  statesman's  diplo- 
mac)',  the  sage's  logic,  the  artist's  dream,  the  fine  frenzy  of  the  poet, 
and  the  voice  of  the  leaders  of  men. 

So  aeons  in  the  past,  for  this  one  of  countless  universes,  out  of 
the  silence  and  darkness  the  spirit  moved,  and  the  choir  invisible  of 
thcmoming  stars  sang  together.  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word 
and  the  Word  was  with  God  and  the  Word  was  God." 

h  would  be  futile  to  declare  absolutely  the  validity  of  all  the  re- 
ceived dicta  of  science.  The  magnificent  nebular  hypothesis  of  La 
Place  must  take  its  rightful  rank  in  our  thoughts  as  an  hypothesis. 
But  if  a  theory  may  be  ignored  by  philosophy,  a  fact  demands  recog- 
nition. It  comes  with  credentials  from  its  sovereign;  it  comes  with 
.  a  letter  of  introduction  from  The  Truth.  Laplace  may  not  be  ab- 
solute, but  Kepler  was;  Darwin  and  Lamarck  and,  older  yet, 
Anaximander,  may  have  proposed  theories  somewhat  astray  from  the 
right  line  of  verity,  but  Euclid's  metaphysics,  and  Edison's  and 
Tcsla's  achievements  cannot  err.  The  practical  result  of  a  true 
^kwT)' smiles  at  fine-drawn  sophistry,  and  defies  the  point  of  the  most 
^truse  argument. 

In  that  remarkable  debate  between  Frederic  Harrison  and  Her- 
^  Spencer  on  "  The  Nature  and  Reality  of  Religion,"  Spencer's 
l-'nknowable  "  is  mercilessly  attacked  as  a  positive  negation;  his 
l-nbown  Deity  is  satirized  as  x^  and  man  caricatured  as  nx;  the 
"^er  expression  denoting  some  final  power  of  an  assumed  variable, 
^own  in  man  and  therefore  continuing  unknown  though  raised 
^^^  infinite  power,  and  the  latter  being  an  expression  for  the  natural 
''^n  as  some  number  of  functions  of  his  final  self.  Harrison  says: 
*he  Unknowable  is  practically  nothing  "  ;    a  proposition  which 


62  INTELLIGENCE. 

every  day's  experience  practically  disproves;  matter,  for  instance 
the  present  state  of  science,  is  unknowable,  and  yet  is  a  very  obi 
sive  fact.  On  such  a  basis  we  should  be  compelled  to  deny  our  c 
existence,  because  thought  and  the  surgeon's  knife  and  the  higl 
powers  of  the  microscope  fail  to  disclose  the  secret  of  existence.  St 
reasoning  would  imply  that  there  is  a  point  somewhere  in  philosop 
as  we  know  theologians  assert  that  there  is  in  religion,  beyond  vvh 
it  is  not  safe  to  venture  in  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail  of  Truth. 

The  jest's  prosperity,  Shakspere  says,  lies  in  the  ear  of  the  heai 
and  it  is  quite  equally  evident  that  in  practical  experience  alow 
to  be  found  proof  or  disproof  of  theory,  in  the  demands  of  a  poster* 
the  claims  of  a  priori.  It  is  the  attribute  of  intelligence  to  investig 
and  to  learn.  We  shall  find  at  the  very  outset  unforeseen  conditi 
besetting  us;  the  roads  of  progress  ramify  till  they  appear  a  v 
labyrinth;  the  forest  of  facts  grows  dark  and  dismal — we  feel  losi 
the  jungle  of  inquiry.  But  behind  us  thought  has  blazed  upon 
boles  a  straight  line.  It  is  ours  to  face  forward  and  follow  that,  j 
longing  it-— our  mete-wand — to  the  stars.  Facts  and  conditii 
ideas  and  circumstances,  increase  and  multiply,  more  and  more  a 
plexity  as  we  grow  to  more  and  more  knowledge.  But  by  and 
even  through  the  interlacing  boughs,  glistens  above  and  beyon 
light.  We  press  on  and  up,  and  lo!  the  temperate  oak  replaces 
torrid  palm,  and  the  arctic  pine  thrusts  back  the  oak.  And  the  p 
are  stunted  and  hug  the  ground,  and  then  rocks  are  bare,  or  gai 
only  in  lichens.  The  light  we  have  seen  is  that  of  an  unknown  and 
off  luminary  shining  on  the  snow.  We  rise  upon  the  highest  pea 
intellect  and  are  in  a  frozen  world.  Shall  we  then  say,  having  travc 
with  all  our  experience  all  the  zones.  ''  What  is  all  this  worth? 
arose  out  of  nothing  and  into  nothing  it  must  lapse;  dust  we  arc 
unto  dust  we  shall  return?  " 

Not  so;  these  are  thoughts  of  folly  and  delusion,  for  the  s 
power  that  brought  us  to  this  sterile  height  is  able  to  conduc 
yet  further.  The  sensuous  suflfers.  but  thought  need  not  suffer: 
yond  the  range  of  perception  lie  the  **  Delectable  Mountains,"  bi 
with  the  breath  of  verity.  There  is  a  certainty  higher  than  phy 
science;  a  truth  greater  than  fact;  a  faith  nobler  than  fortune 


J 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  63 

fact  alone  is  not  truth,  and  does  not  become  true  till  we  have  fixed 
its  place  in  eternal  principle,  till  we  have,  by  ordinates  and  abscissa, 
fixed  its  tnieness  immovably  by  the  great  planes. 

If  we  take  for  our  guide  the  nebular  hypothesis  and  limit  its  puis- 
sance to  the  universe  of  which  our  sense  takes  cognizance,  how 
quickly — ^as  many  a  thinker  has  before — ^we  flounder  in  the  morasses 
of  speculation.  The  vagaries  of  life,  as  we  look  backward,  vanish  in 
the  inconstancies  of  chemic  changes  and  geologic  upheavals,  and 
chaos  and  darkness,  and  a  globe  of  fire,  and  a  fiery  ring  and  a  vortex 
of  furious  flame  more  and  more  tenuous,  the  vastly  extended  matter 
merging  into  ether,  and  the  light  fading  as  the  frontiers  expand,  then 
a  faint  nucleus,  and  then — nothing! 

Physical  Science,  mailed  and  booted  and  armed,  no  matter  how 
just  its  quarrel  with  the  elements  of  being,  comes  to  the  confines  of 
the  worlds  and  finds  its  profoundest  thinking,  its  highest  climbing, 
has  brought  it  at  the  last  to  naught — the  worlds  have  left  not  a  rack 
behind. 

But  philosophy — that  of  the  foundations  of  rock,  that  of  the  di- 
vine man,  that  of  God  himself — finds  here  no  obstacle  to  progress. 
The  unharnessed  Berserker  goes  on  his  way  unharmed — 

"  The  soul  goes  forth  not  like  a  vessel  wrecked 
That  drifts  dismantled  to  an  unknown  shore, 
But  like  a  barque  for  fresh  discoveries  decked 
That  spreads  its  sails  new  countries  to  explore." 

If  that  congeries  of  shining  points  of  light  piercing  the  blue-black 
<lonie  of  night  were  all,  then  perhaps  we  might  be  content  with  the 
bst  word  of  science,  even  content  to  submit,  as  the  children  of  Saturn, 
to  be  devoured  by  their  unnatural  creator.  But  this  dynamo,  the  sun. 
with  his  dark  retinue  of  planets,  is  not  all.  Beyond  the  solar  system. 
beyond  the  mighty  company  of  stars  of  the  Via  Lactea,  beyond,  far 
beyond  the  outermost  bounds  of  our  immense  system  other  points 
^  patches  of  radiance  stud  the  midnight  sky.  Some  of  these  are 
&tant  kin  of  ours,  galaxies  like  our  own  made  up  of  countless  stars. 
^  periiaps  brooding  like  our  own  Helios,  over  her  oflfspring  planets. 
^  some  are  of  a  different  order,  of  a  nature  as  different  as  the  foetus 


64  INTELLIGENCE. 

from  the  breathing  mammal,  as  remote  from  conditions  like  the 
we  know  as  the  sterile  Moon  and  the  fiery  Sun  differ  from  this  b 
ance  of  forces — Earth.  These  are  the  irresolvable  hebulae,  kno^ 
now  to  be  unsolvable  because  of  tidings  brought  directly  from  thi 
to  us  by  a  messenger  so  swift  and  withal  so  trustworthy  that  we  mt 
believe  him.  There  was  an  era  in  the  history  of  physical  astronoi 
when  it  was  believed  that  all  the  myriad  nebula  would  eventually 
found  to  be  clusters  of  stars.  After  the  resolution  of  some  of  the 
by  the  famous  telescope  of  Lord  Rosse,  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  k 
the  favor,  for  a  while,  of  science.  But  the  time  came  for  its  restoi 
tion.  The  great  discovery  of  spectroscopy  proved  beyond  questk 
that  the  light  emanating  from  some  clusters  was  the  light  due  to  i 
candescent  solids,  or  analogous  to  that ;  but  that  from  others  it  w 
light  from  vaporous  masses.  This  satisfied  the  demands  of  the  grt 
theory,  and  the  thinkers,  stifling  in  an  atmosphere  of  doubt,  breath 
freely  once  more. 

This  is  written  not  to  congratulate  ourselves  that  theory  has  ii 
failed,  but  to  point  out  the  truth  that  it  cannot  fail;  not  that  it  cfl 
forms  to  known  facts,  but  that  it  conforms  to  eternal  principles.  T 
existence  of  the  resolvable  nebulae  proves  that  this  universe  of  ot 
is  not  all;  but  the  existence  of  the  irresolvable  nebulae  proves  tl 
creation  is  not  limited  to  cosmic  conditions  which  we  call  materi 

From  nebula  to  man,  from  man  to  nebula:  this  by  some  ordo 
progression  akin  to  the  swelling  and  swaying  and  oscillating  of  wi 
motions-— of  sea,  or  air,  or  ether — has  heaved  thought  up  out  of  t 
vasty  deep.  Evolution  and  involution,  with  their  maxima  and  m 
ima,  flow  as  the  current  of  eternity;  this  is  the  divine  trajectory. 
V,  Kant,  propounding  his  great  question,  stood  amazed  at  the  a&) 
of  doubt  that  his  wonderfully  profound  thought  had  conjured.  ] 
saw  the  categorical  imperative  of  the  moral  law,  but  could  not  bri 
his  vast  intellect  to  become  as  a  little  child's  to  recognize  in  wl 
likeness  it  was  made. 

Schopenhauer  has  called  the  power  back  of  phenomena.  Will ;  I 
because  he  found  nature  insatiable  in  its  exactions,  he  ascribed  d 
ilish  attributes  to  its  creator — found  man  a  feather  in  the  wind 
destiny,  a  chip  upon  a  torrent,  a  mote  in  a  sunbeam — law  everywhi 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  65 

freedom  nowhere,  man  a  puppet,  God  a  demon,  and  all  creation  a 
failure,  making  and  crushing  souls  out  of  men. 

The  irresolvable  nebulae  are  links  in  the  divine  catenary  spanning 
the  abyss  of  reason  between  the  maker  and  the  made,  between  Voli- 
tion and  the  worlds.  Creation  is  not  design;  it  is  not  accident;  it  is 
evolution;  and  that  factor  in  all  the  epochs  of  progress  which  is 
called  design  by  the  religious  and  accident  by  the  unbelievers  is  the 
development  due  to  the  continuous  presence  of  a  function  of  that 
Volition  which  is  as  surely  there  as  the  several  relations,  howsoever 
complex,  or  the  several  changes  of  relation,  howsoever  multitudinous. 

Doubt  if  you  must,  but  inquire.  Doubts  are  not  signs  of  the  in- 
firmities of  age,  nor  of  the  pangs  of  a  debauched  prime ;  they  are  the 
growing  pains  of  progress,  for  Progress  is  always  young. 

Think,  and  you  must  believe;   but  belief  alone  is  not  the  birth 

couch,  it  is  the  tomb  of  Thought. 

HuDOR  Genone. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

(I.) 

THE  GHOST. 

"lam  surprised!    This  is  not  what  I  expected!"  exclaimed  a 
glwst  as  he  walked  slowly  back  and  forth  in  the  spacious  parlors  of 
I     a  stone  mansion  on  Drexel  Boulevard,  and  paused  meditatively  in 
j     *c  bay-window  to  look  out  upon  the  gay  life  on  the  street. 
[        "Here  I  am,  all  alone!     Not  a  friend  has  come  near  me.     For 
^ht  I  know  to  the  contrary,  I  am  the  only  ghost  in  existence.    If 
^  is  all  there  is  of  a  future  life,  I  must  say  that  it  is  extremely  un- 
satisfactory!    I  always  supposed  the  invisible  world   was  thickly 
P<>pulated,  but  as  yet  I  see  no  signs  of  any  other  inhabitants.    Before 
I  stepped  out  of  the  body,  I  thought  that  by  this  time  I  should  be 
•^^Aiing  interesting  conversations  with  friends  who  have  crossed  the 
^cr  of  Death  before  me,  roaming  around  on  the  surface  of  the 
^'Hxm,  or  visiting  some  of  the  other  planets!    I  always  had  consider- 
ate curiosity  about  the  rings  of  Saturn  and  the  moons  of  Jupiter. 


66  INTELLIGENCE. 

I  should  like  to  study  the  effect  of  four  moons  in  a  sky  on  a  cloudl 
summer's  night.  But  somehow  I  don't  feel  much  like  roaming, 
have  a  strange  disinclination  to  go  any  farther  than  my  own  fn 
doorstep.  Something  pulls  me  back  into  the  presence  of  the  body  1 
first  tried  so  hard  to  escape  from.    Strange!    I  fail  to  understand  it 

The  ghost  left  the  window  and  again  began  his  monotonous  w; 
back  and  forth  through  the  parlors.  Unconsciously  he  attempt 
to  put  his  hands  in  his  pockets — for  he  seemed  to  himself  to  b 
hands;  but  he  found  that  he  did  not  seem  to  have  pockets.  Th 
was  a  large  easy-chair  near  the  bay-window.  The  ghost  took  hold 
it  and  tried  to  move  it  where  he  could  have  a  better  view  of  1 
passers-by  on  the  boulevard.  But  his  attempt  was  vain.  He  coi 
not  stir  the  chair. 

"  I  hoped  I  might  be  stronger  to-day,  but  I  am  as  helpless 
ever!  "  he  said.  *'  The  limitations  of  a  ghost  are  as  vexatious  as  I 
limitations  of  a  body.  I  can't  see  that  I  have  gained  much  by  st 
ping  out.  More  loss  than  gain  so  far.  Lost,  a  body  that  could  wa 
and  swim,  and  lift,  and  manage  a  horse,  yes — and  skate,  too,  as  v 
as  one  could  expect  of  a  body  that  had  been  in  use  for  a  half-centu 
It  was  a  very  good  body,  as  bodies  go.  And  there  it  lies  now,  s 
and  cold  and  helpless.  A  deserted  tenement.  Its  owner  a  wande 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  without  home  or  habitation.  .  . 
And  that  crape  floats  upon  the  breeze  to  tell  to  the  happy  life  of 
Boulevard  as  it  glides  by  in  well-appointed  carriages,  that  death  1 
entered  here.  .  .  .  But  is  the  Boulevard  life  as  happy  as  it  i 
pears  to  the  looker-on?    Not  often — not  often!  " 

Tired  of  his  monotonous  walk,  the  ghost  leaned  against  the  ¥i 
dow  to  watch  the  scenes  on  the  street,  although  the  sight  of  the  en 
and  ribbon  which  fluttered  from  the  door-knob  was  an  annoyanc 

**  There  goes  young  Rathsberger,   who  is  busy  spending 
father's  money,  inherited  last  year — he  is  happy.    And  he  will  be 
long  as  the  money  lasts!    And  then — the  bottomless  abyss  of  p 
erty  will  swallow  both  him  and  his  happiness.    But  is  happiness  mei 
a  question  of  money? 

"  No!  Here  goes  Smith,  the  millionaire.  How  the  harness  g 
ters!    That  is  one  of  the  handsomest  turnouts  in  the  city.    Bit 


4 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  67 

his  Hife  is  suing  for  a  divorce,  and  his  only  son  was  recently  killed  in  a 
drunken  brawl.  He  hasn't  a  friend  in  the  world,  poor  man — not  a 
friend.  But  his  money  buys  him  a  few  acquaintances  who  are  ready 
to  help  him  spend  it.  After  all,  personal  character  is  a  more  important 
clement  in  the  production  of  happiness  than  money.  It  is  a  beautiful 
world,  and  I  loved  life.  But  I  was  tired  of  the  continual  struggle 
for  existence — tired  of  hard  times.  Tired  of  *  business  '  carried  on 
according  to  modem  *  business  principles.'  Money  sits  on  a  throne, 
and  men  worship  as  if  they  were  slaves.  At  least  I  have  gained  one 
thing  in  stepping  out  of  the  body.  I  have  gained  freedom.  I  am 
no  longer  a  slave  to  gold.  Here  it  is  worthless  trash;  a  mountain 
of  pure  gold  could  neither  help  nor  hinder  me  in  this  new  life. 
Strange,  when  it  played  so  important  a  part  in  the  old  one! 

**  But  am  I  alive?  How  do  I  know  that  I  am  anything  more  than 
an  astral  shell  doomed  to  slow  disintegration? 

**  I  am  more  thoroughly  alive  than  ever  before.  I  am  all  here, 
inchiding  memor}',  though  the  philosophers  are  so  fond  of  asserting 
that  we  must  lose  that  faculty  when  we  leave  the  body.  I  believe 
I  could  think  up  every  incident  of  every  day  since  I  was  born,  if  I 
chose  to  spend  my  time  that  way.  I  can  think  of  a  thousand  things 
that  a  week  ago  I  had  entirely  forgotten.  .  .  .  But  I  want  new 
«q)cncnces.  I  am  not  content  merely  to  live  the  old  life  over.  I  am 
ihve,  but  with  a  different  set  of  limitations,  a  set  to  which  I  am  not 
yet  thoroughly  accustomed.  Matter  has  no  power  over  me — which 
ttgain;  but  I  have  no  power  over  matter — which  is  loss.  The  law  of 
gravitation  has  ceased  to  affect  me — personally.  I  can  sit  on  a  lamp- 
ddnmey,  but  I  can't  lift  a  penny;  I  can  twist  through  a  keyhole,  but 
lon't  turn  a  door-knob!  Even  if  there  is  no  key-hole,  the  door 
rtsdfisnot  an  insurmountable  obstacle.  The  exercise  of  a  little  will- 
power brings  me  on  the  other  side  of  it.  I  seem  to  be  merely  thought 
dothcdin — what?  Mist?  Brick  walls  cannot  stop  thought,  nor  can 
tbcy  stop  me. 

"  I  wonder  how  I  look? — and  I  am  likely  to  wonder.  There  isn't 
^wjugh  of  me  to  make  an  impression  on  a  mirror,  and  yet — I  seem 
to  tavc  some  sort  of  a  vapory  body.  I  wonder  if  that  new  thought- 
'•^fing  machine  could  read  my  thoughts?    That  is  worth  looking 


68  INTELLIGENCE. 

into.  It  may  furnish  a  means  of  communication  with  the  visib 
world.  And  this  is  likely  to  prove  a  lonely  life,  unless  I  can  learn  1 
communicate  with  the  visibles.  What  is  life  worth  if  one  can't  ta 
to  his  friends?  I  never  thought  I  should  like  to  be  a  hermit.  I  a 
walk  and  stand  and  sit,  but  nobody  sees  me  or  pays  the  slighte 
attention  to  me. 

"  It  seems  strange!  I  was  sitting  in  the  chair  by  my  bedroo 
window  when  Bridget  came  in  to  make  the  bed.  The  first  I  kne 
she  put  both  pillows  and  the  bed-clothes  into  the  chair  where  I  w 
sitting!  It  was  extremely  annoying!  I  don't  think  she  would  ha' 
done  it  if  she  had  seen  me.  She  would  probably  have  screamed.  B 
it  was  worse  yet,  when  the  undertaker  came  and  sat  down  on  me.  I 
is  a  large,  heavy  man  and  completely  filled  the  chair.  I  wonder  wh 
he  would  have  thought,  if  he  had  known  I  was  watching  him!  Sin 
that  experience  I  have  ceased  to  occupy  chairs  for  fear  of  accidem 
I  tried  the  centre-table,  but  Bridget  put  the  big  Bible  on  me.  Nc 
I  sit  on  the  clock-shelf  or  on  the  picture-frames  where  people  cai 
get  at  me,  unless  they  take  a  broom. 

**  I  never  supposed  that  people  attended  their  own  funerals;  b 
I  shall  certainly  attend  mine.  There  doesn't  seem  to  be  much  d 
of  interest  going  on.  The  funeral  is  to  be  to-morrow  at  two  o'cloc 
they  say.  That  gives  the  relatives  time  to  get  here.  They  sent  te 
grams  as  soon  as  they  found  me — the  thing  has  been  very  well  ma 
aged  so  far.  They  have  all  done  just  as  I  thought  they  would — a 
nobody  suspects.  That  is  the  best  of  it  all.  Nobody  suspects!  B 
when  my  brothers  and  sisters  find  that  I  died  poor,  instead  of  ri 
— how  will  it  be  then?  Will  they  suspect?  I  hope  not.  They  \i 
be  happier  if  they  never  know  the  truth. 

"  And  the  doctor? 

"  He  is  a  good  friend  of  mine.  He  will  write  out  a  burial-cert 
cate  reading  '  heart  failure '  and  help  me  keep  my  secret,  unless 
blunders  and  concludes  I  was  murdered  by  some  one  else.  Tl 
would  complicate  matters.  Then  he  would  move  heaven  and  eai 
to  find  and  punish  the  criminal.  I  would  not  like  to  see  an  innoc< 
person  arrested,  imprisoned,  and  tried  for  a  murder  I  had  committ 
Yes;  murder!    That  is  what  it  seems  like  now.    Three  days  ag< 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  69 

called  it  *  suicide/  and  felt  that  I  had  a  right  to  take  myself  out  of  a 
world  that  I  had  no  voice  in  entering.  But  now — it  looks  different. 
A  useful  body  had  been  put  under  my  control,  and  because  I  feared 
that  my  supply  of  happiness  was  likely  to  run  short — I  murdered  it. 
I  hoped  to  solve  the  problem  of  existence,  but  it  is  as  inexplicable  as 
ever.  I  wonder  why,  when  we  are  alive,  we  all  think  that  the  mo- 
ment that  we  are  dead  we  shall  know  everything.  It  is  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment. Here  I  am,  a  piece  of  animated  vapor,  but  still  an 
inhabitant  of  the  same  old  world,  with  no  other  interest  in  life  except 
to  go  to  my  own  funeral ! 

"After  that — what? 

"I  cannot  imagine.  That  dead  body  under  the  black  canopy 
there,  attracts  me  so  that  I  cannot  get  very  far  away  from  it.  Will 
it  be  the  same  after  it  is  buried?  Shall  I  have  to  spend  the  remainder 
of  my  existence  w^andering  around  among  the  tombstones  in  the 
cemeter)'?  Not  a  cheerful  prospect  certainly!  But  perhaps  that  is 
where  all  the  ghosts  live.  From  time  immemorial  the  human  race 
has  believed  in  haunted  houses  and  in  burial-places  populous  with 
ghosts.   Perhaps  there  is  something  in  the  old  legends.    Who  knows? 

"Really  I  am  getting  lonely.  I  should  like  somebody  to  asso- 
ciate with  on  terms  of  equality.  This  sneaking  around  through 
dosed  doors,  and  listening  to  conversations  not  intended  for  me  to 
hear,  is  hardly  a  respectable  occupation.  I  don't  like  it.  Life  in  the 
ccmeterj',  leaning  against  tombstones,  watching  other  people's 
funerals  and  getting  acquainted  wnth  the  new  ghosts,  would  be  as 
interesting,  and  certainly  less  sneaky. 

"  I  wonder,  I  just  wonder,  what  there  is  to  prevent  me  from  trav- 
dling,  after  the  funeral.  I  always  wanted  to  see  the  world.  Now  I 
have  all  the  time  there  is,  for  I  am  no  longer  obliged  to  use  it  to 
Dttke  money.  What  a  wild,  conscienceless  struggle  it  is  to  get 
nwne)'!  And  in  these  days  of  fierce  competition  it  requires  a  con- 
stot  struggle  to  keep  it.  The  human  race  is  going  mad  over  money. 
Never  before  since  the  world  began  were  there  so  many  opportunities 
for  happiness.  Never  before  was  there  more  misery,  or  more  men 
ind  women  in  anxiety  as  to  how  to  obtain  a  subsistence.  The  whole 
^'orld  is  a  battle-field  which  is  constantly  strewn  with  the  wreckage 


[ 


70  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  war,  the  wounded  and  dying  killed  by  our  present  industrial  system. 
But  then — my  friends  called  me  a  monomaniac  on  that  subject.    Per- 
haps I  am.    But  it  is  hard  to  see  the  slow  gains  of  an  honest  business 
life  of  thirty  years  swallowed  at  one  gulp  by  a  trick  corporation  which 
makes  a  business  of  crushing  out  competitors.    It  is  as  wicked  as  high- 
way robbery  or  piracy,  and  yet  it  is  done  over  and  over  again  right 
here  in  America,  and  by  men  who  pose  before  the  Republic  as  hon- 
est and  respectable.    It  is  maddening!    It  has  driven  better  men  than 
I  into  insane-asylums  and  suicides'  graves.     But  I  am  free  from  all 
that  now — a  ghost  cannot  starve,  needs  no  clothes,  and  can  find  shel^ 
ter  anywhere.    Bolts  or  bars  or  iron  doors  cannot  keep  out  a  ghost  ! 

"  And  yet — in  spite  of  all  these  advantages,  I  feel  as  if  I  would 
like  to  be  back  in  the  fight  again.  Life  is  worth  living.  I  never  wa3 
surer  of  that  than  I  am  now  that  people  call  me  dead.  We  seldoin 
fully  appreciate  a  thing  while  we  have  it.  Earth-life  was  interesting" 
in  spite  of  financial  worries;  and  it  seems  that  annihilation  is  a  fic- 
tion. Change  occurs,  but  annihilation  is  an  impossibility.  I  have 
jumped  from  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire.  .  .  .  And  now,  I  don't: 
know  of  any  other  place  to  jump.  How  can  a  ghost  kill  itself?  And 
what  would  it  be  next?  I  do  not  think  I  will  experiment  any  farther 
in  that  direction  at  present;  I  might  turn  into  a  mere  memory,  with- 
out the  capability  of  motion.  Til  wait  until  I  know  what  the  next 
state  of  existence  is  like,  before  I  try  to  force  myself  into  it. 

*'  I  wonder  if  anybody  will  shed  real  tears  at  my  funeral?    I  won- 
der how  much  they  will  care — those  brothers  and  sisters  of  mine? 
I  gave  the  best  years  of  my  life  for  their  support  and  education^ — 
but  what  do  they  know  or  care  for  that?    It  seemed  sometimes  as  if 
all  they  wanted  of  me  was  money!    But  then — perhaps  I  am  wrong- 
ing them.     Perhaps  if  they  had  known  my  need  they  would  have 
given  to  me  as  gladly  as  I  gave  to  them.    .    I  doubt  it!    .    I  doubt  it! 

''  I  am  tired  of  this  solitude,  this  silence!  The  night  was  so  long" 
— so  unutterably  long!  They  may  not  come  for  hours.  ...  I 
believe  I  will  go  out  to  the  cemetery  and  see  where  they  are  going 
to  put  me.  It  will  be  pleasanter  than  staying  here  alone — with  the 
dead.  That  body  of  mine  is  certainly  dead,  and  not  very  good  com- 
pany for  a  live  ghost. 


THE    INNER    ISLE    OF    MAN.  71 

"  1  couldn't  get  a  nickel  out  of  that  pocket-book  that  used  to 
be  mine  tb  save  my  life;  but  as  the  conductor  can't  see  me,  he  won't 
in  to  collect  any  fare.  Yesterday  I  wanted  to  turn  a  dime  over  so 
1  could  see  the  date,  but  I  might  as  well  have  attempted  to  Hft  up 
the  Auditorium  tower  and  throw  it  into  Lake  Michigan!  I  can't 
even  lift  a  sheet  of  note-paper,  and  as  for  a  lead-pencil — it  weighs 
tons;  I  might  as  well  try  to  write  with  Cleopatra's  needle!  I'm  not 
of  as  much  account  in  the  material  world  as  a  lively  breeze.  The 
rad  is  shaking  that  lace-curtain  and  pulling  it  out  of  the  window 
—which  I  could  not  do!  But  I  can  pass  through  that  pane  of  glass! 
I'm  ahead  of  the  wind  there.  I'll  go  out  and  take  a  car  and  see  how  it 
seems  to  be  among  the  Hving.    I'm  tired  of  silence  and  myself." 

H.  E.  Orcutt. 
(To  be  continued,) 


THE  INNER  ISLE  OF  MAN. 

The  finer  part  of  man  was  not  made  a  lie.  Intuitions  are  founded 
in  truth  and  fact,  not  falsehood  and  fiction.  In  all  lands  and  climes, 
certain  truths  concerning  the  human  mind  have  always  been  in  force, 
and,  too,  without  the  aid  of  systematized  metaphysics. 

Even'^^here  the  sentiment  of  humanity  answers,  in  all  ages,  as 
to  the  independent  principle  of  mind  in  the  race  of  Adam.  In  the 
sublime  poetical  beauties,  the  strange  historic  pages,  and  the  inter- 
^>ng  mythological  evidences  of  antiquity,  it  is  enwrapped.  In  the 
general  laws  or  principles  of  every  philosophic  system  on  which 
natural  effects  are  explained,  it  comes  up.  The  most  earnest  desires 
»d  deepest  yearnings  of  the  human  heart  add  silent  proof  to  it.  By 
no  cHme  bounded,  by  no  race  unknown,  and  by  no  historic  period 
limited,  it  is  one  of  the  most  profound  and  universal  sentiments  of 
the  mimortal  substance  in  man.  To  resist  it  is  to  oppose  the  voice 
of  consciousness.  The  groundwork  of  nearly  all  knowledge  would 
oe  subverted  by  taking  away  or  invalidating  the  authority  of  that  in- 
ternal sense  or  act  of  the  mind  which  is  an  essential  attribute  of  spirit. 

Knowledge  by  consciousness  is  the  only  conception  one  can  form 


\ 


72. 


INTELLIGENCE. 


.i 


n 


I.  • 


I  '.I 


•■  i: 


M  ,.- 


>   ■•  -ft 

;•-■  Ji' 

m 


1 , 


■.^3 


.It  "I 


'I- 


»: 


I  ;■ 


i', 


\  i 


of  that  power  which  calls  back  the  past  and  plans  the  future — tl 
power  which  enables  man  to  investigate  the  laws  of  nature;  to  re 
at  will  from  continent  to  continent,  from  world  to  world,  from  s; 
tem  to  system,  viewing  the  works  of  an  all-powerful  being.  T 
proof  of  knowledge  founded  in  individual  consciousness  may  still 
disowned  by  science,  but,  nevertheless,  it  will  in  all  time  to  come  i 
main  an  undeniable  basis  of  truth  that  a  ruling,  fixed  power,  withi 
wholly  distinct  from  any  corporeal  function,  is  known  and  felt  1 
every  individual. 

That  the  mind  is  an  independent  something,  requiring  the  brai 
not  for  its  existence  but  for  the  mode  of  its  manifestation,  has  be 
in  all  ages  gone  by,  is  at  this  time,  and  forever  will  be  in  time  to  con 
the  most  prevalent  belief  both  among  the  learned  and  the  ignorai 
A  quiet  feeling  having  its  seat  in  the  soul  tells  us  that  mind  is  n 
merely  a  phenomenon  resulting  from  the  play  of  organic  elemeni 
but  is  an  original  organization  of  first  principles  which  existed  pi 
vious  to  the  formation  of  the  body  and  must  live  after  the  dissol 
tion  of  it. 

The  essential  objects  and  ends  of  our  existence  are  provided  I 
in  the  very  constitution  of  our  being.  This  is  positive  evidence 
the  actuality  of  the  end  thus  made  certain.  Every  sentiment  of  t 
soul  or  power  of  the  mind  has  a  field  of  exercise  and  means  of  gra 
fication.  Upon  something  more  than  the  accidents  of  education  ^ 
the  higher  purposes  of  existence  rest.  There  is  a  feeling — whetl 
in  the  shape  of  an  animal  propensity  or  an  all-pervading  sentiment 
which  impels  man  to  long  for  existence  beyond  the  present  life, 
is  original  in  human  nature,  and,  like  the  axioms  of  mathemati 
thus  furnishes  conclusive  proof  of  that  which  first  principles  ma 
known  to  us. 

There  is  a  strong  belief  on  the  ground  of  satisfactory  eviden 
not  derived  from  poetry  or  philosophy,  but  which  comes  from  1 
highest  part  of  our  being,  telling  us  that  this  is  not  the  be-all  a 
end-all  with  us.  This  first  principle  or  original  sentiment,  found 
the  infant  as  well  as  the  adult,  and  promising  the  immortal  exista 
which  its  gratification  demands,  we  must  accept  as  true.  Othenn 
we  must  admit  and  believe  that  mind,  so  perfect  in  every  other 


iHt'NBWToiTl 


THE    INNER    ISLE    OF    MAN.  I     i^^^  J$ 


spect,  is  but  a  bundle  of  errors  here,  or  has  been  endowed  witlT 
power  lacking  a  possible  sphere  of  activity — a  conclusion  which  in- 
telligent people  must  deny.  Individual  consciousness  is  the  highest 
proof  known  to  man.  It  does  not  conflict  with  science,  but  is  above 
and  beyond  science. 

Facts  concerning  finer  mental  faculties  and  nobler  powers  of  the 
rational  soul  are  not  to  be  declared  impossible  merely  because  some 
conditions  associated  therewith  are  beyond  our  comprehension.  Our 
knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  the  science  of  being  will  broaden  with 
the  willingness  of  men  to  accept  new  facts  and  to  give  credence  to 
the  theories  of  trustworthy  specialists.  The  metaphysician  of  to-day 
is  proclaiming  scientific  advances  to  which  the  world  should  atten- 
tively listen.  Man  is  on  Old  Earth  for  a  purpose.  The  betterment 
of  humanity  is  the  chief  object  of  life.  The  individual  cannot  dis-^ 
seriate  himself  from  the  human  family  as  a  whole.  Men  are  inter- 
dependent.   Their  interests  are  common  and  will  be  to  eternity. 

What  is  life?  Theories  of  nature  were  evolved  by  the  dead  past 
and  are  continuously  being  considered  by  the  living  present  to  explain 
this  mystical  question.  Metaphysics  is  unfolding  many  of  the  mys- 
teries of  that  which  when  in  the  body  makes  it  "  alive."  It  is  time 
for  organized  knowledge  to  blush  at  its  vainglorious  boasting  and 
to  cease  its  ostentatious  self-applause,  for  Science  has  failed  by  any 
chemical  union  of  elementary  substances  to  cause  life  to  be.  How 
much  more  certain,  then,  the  failure  of  every  experiment  to  produce 
the  higher  manifestations  of  being — to  create  mind  or  spirit! 

If  life  was  only  a  function  of  matter,  then  somewhere  in  the  records 
of  science — somewhere  in  the  histofy  of  human  observation,  the 
spontaneous  and  original  production  of  the  immaterial  part  of  being 
3nd  its  mysteries  would  be  recorded.  Nowhere  has  the  living  prin- 
^pk  been  found  without  evidence  of  its  antecedent  living  germ. 
Nowhere  has  the  Promethean  fire  with  its  life-giving  principle  in- 
fused life  and  breathed  animation  into  the  inanimate  clod  of  clay  by 
the  aid  of  science.  Atoms  culled  by  mortals  for  human  clay  will  be 
nothing  more,  even  after  all  attempts  to  snatch  life  from  the  altar  of 
^"^  supernatural  and  to  steal  from  heaven  the  coveted  fire  of 
Prometheus. 


74  INTELLIGENCE. 

Chemical  science  has  completely  analyzed  and  ascertained  tl 
composition  of  the  physical  nature  of  man.  It  has  made  known  tl 
elements  and  the  exact  proportions  in  which  each  is  held  by  chemia 
union  to  form  the  body  and  its  various  parts.  It  may  compound  tb 
same  elements  in  the  same  proportions  again  and  again,  but  a  livin 
man  it  has  not  formed  and  cannot  form.  Nay,  not  by  the  moi 
accurate  and  delicate  methods  known  to  biology  can  the  smalla 
existence  be  created  and  animal  life  imparted  to  it.  Nor  can  afl 
science  in  any  way  ever  cause  the  most  minute  particle  in  existenc 
to  cease  to  be.  Every  atom  in  the  universe  may  pass  through  te 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  transformations,  but  its  being  will  fa 
ever  remain  untouched — its  identity  will  never  be  lost.  Annihilatifl 
is  no  part  of  the  plan  of  creation. 

Every  faculty  of  the  mind  was  created  for  a  purpose.  The  cfl 
livation  and  right  exercise  of  each  and  every  one  confers  happinei 
Mental  supremacy  on  metaphysical  lines,  in  the  upper  realm  of  tnij 
and  higher  nature  of  man,  is  developed  in  a  special  manner.  Intt 
tion  and  consciousness  were  designed  by  nature  to  catch  the  aron 
of  the  most  delicate  fancy,  to  scale  the  highest  thoughts  and  sota 
the  deepest  pathos;  yet  not  in  one  mind  in  thousands  do  these  hi^ 
est  faculties  rise  even  to  mediocrity.  By  intuition  is  man  endowi 
with  an  immaterial  principle  which  sees  and  knows,  irrespective  i 
reason  or  material  organs  of  sight.  By  a  mental  or  spiritual  seni 
there  is,  in  certain  states  of  the  human  system,  vision  independenl 
of  the  material  eyes.  This  fact  has  not  only  been  philosophical 
demonstrated  but  is  as  firmly  established  as  the  truths  of  astron<Ml 
or  the  self-evident  propositions  of  mathematics.  By  more  than  0| 
method  of  proof,  clairvoyance  has  established  the  same  phenomend 

That  there  is  some  higher  faculty  which  gives  us  the  power  1 
form  conceptions  of  things  not  material  is  a  reality  of  which  we  l| 
all  conscious.  The  recorded  evidence  of  thousands  of  intelligent  ai 
veracious  persons  exists  to  confirm  the  fact  that  the  forewarniny^ 
coming  events  is  an  occurrence  not  uncommon.  In  behig  there 
what  may  be  called  "  a  forewarning  principle."  which — separate  aH 
apart  from  reason — reveals  to  man  what  shall  be  hereafter  when  ti 
earth  grows  older  and  the  sun  shines  longer.     Without  knowlec| 


THE    INNER    ISLE    OF    MAN.  75 

and  contrary  to  all  appearances,  the  vision  of  intuition  reads  the 
Book  of  Fate  before  time  breaks  the  seal,  and  teaches  man  things 
which,  because  they  depend  on  contingencies  yet  untranspired,  rea- 
son can  never  know.  This  spiritual  vision,  which  light  cannot  en- 
lighten, darkness  fails  to  darken,  and  distance  intercepts  not,  dis- 
closes conclusions,  often  in  the  very  teeth  of  reason,  but  in  strict 
accordance  with  what  subsequently  occurs.  We  must  admit  this 
higher  faculty  or  intuitive  guide,  or  else  be  forced  to  deny  the  ex- 
istence of  the  soul. 

Tnrough  his  physical  nature  man  is  allied  to  all  material  existence, 
and  through  his  mental  being  to  all  intelligence.  The  powers  of  the 
higher  faculties  are  embraced  only  by  the  few  who  inquire  at  the 
shrine  of  the  inner  man.  It  is  by  opening  the  finer  mental  windows 
of  being  and  allowing  the  light  of  the  soul  to  shine  in,  that  mind  be- 
comes capable  of  soaring  high  above  that  which  intellect  can  reach. 
The  laws  of  the  realm  of  metaphysics  do  not  conflict  with  intellect 
Of  reason,  for  intelligence  harmonizes  with  all. 

Sublime  truths  of  advanced  scientific  thought  in  mental  philos- 
ophy are  not  appreciated  by  the  many.  From  the  beginning  of  the 
traiversc,  progression  has  been  the  motto  of  nature.  Why  should 
the  mental  faculties  not  enlarge?  Metaphysical  reasoning  is  not 
fantastical  rhapsody.  It  is  but  exact  scientific  deduction  from  the 
normal  functions  of  mind.  It  is  based  upon  sober  philosophy  on  the 
one  hand  and  upon  experimental  reality  on  the  other.    By  this  inner 

0 

^wc  we  are  related  to  and  placed  in  communion  with  the  infinite. 
Abomidless  number  of  relations  are  opened  to  us,  and  hints  of  powers 
^bich  surpass  all  the  bounds  of  our  present  comprehension  are  sug- 
gested for  mental  consideration.  Without  this  force,  there  would 
be  no  such  thing  as  capacity  of  the  mind  to  know  or  understand 
^tual  existence.  Without  either  scepticism  or  credulity  we 
should  open  our  minds  to  receive  new  and  apparently  superhuman 
P'^M^itions,  and  to  test  them  in  the  crucible  of  intellect. 

Mind  is  not  a  peculiar  combination  of  cerebral  elements.  It  has 
a  mysterious  energy  distinct  from  and  a  strange  power  superior  to 
the  material  tabernacle  it  inhabits.  Thought',  feeling,  and  conscious- 
"^  exhibit  powers  above  and  beyond  those  of  organic  matter.    The 


76  INTELLIGENCK 

body  is  only  the  training-place  of  mind — merely  a  handmaid  for  its 
growth  and  development.  Mind  is  capable  of  indefinite  progress  and 
advancement  whereby  it  becomes  capable  of  fulfilling  the  nobler  ends 
of  existence.  The  fortunes  of  men,  together  with  the  welfare  and 
happiness  of  the  race,  are  determined  by  mental  efficiency,  now  more 
than  ever  before.  All  classes  have  use  for  their  minds.  They  have 
occasion  to  think.  Indeed,  they  are  required  to  think  instead  ol 
allowing  others  to  think  for  them. 

Brain  and  intellect  are  not  identical.  Mind  is  not  the  organic 
function  of  matter — not  the  slave  of  the  body.  How  could  the  brain 
make  use  of  itself? — a  condition  which  must  be  conceded  if  the  organ 
constitutes  the  mind.  The  physical  theory  of  mind  involves  absurdity 
after  absurdity.  It  is  one  of  the  clearest  dictates  of  reason,  recoa- 
cilable  with  all  phenomena  of  mental  action  and  in  harmony  with 
well-anchored  facts  in  the  psychological  history  of  man,  that  mind 
has  an  independent  and  superior  existence,  exerting  a  controlling 
hifiuence  over  the  bodily  functions.  In  the  last  physical  analysis  of 
the  brain  and  nervous  system,  not  a  substance  is  found  in  their  com- 
position that  would  allow  us  to  suspect  the  production  of  mind.  The 
heavenly  gift  of  poesy,  touching  the  tender  chords  of  human  syna- 
pathy,  taste,  and  sentiment,  was  not  built  up  from  phosphates  in  the 
brains  of  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Scott,  and'Dryden.  Michael 
Angelo's  art  creations  did  not  find  origin  in  albuminous  matter. 
The  philosophic  thought  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  which  sought  with  all- 
comprehending  grasp  to  encircle  the  universe  was  not  the  product 
of  osmazome.  The  glowing  eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry  and  Daniel 
Webster  was  not  the  fire  of  oxygen  blazing  out  nor  of  hydrogen 
soaring  about.  All  the  glorious  manifestations  of  intellect  among 
men  sprang  from  some  other  source  than  peculiar  combinations  of 
elementarv  substances. 

The  history  of  all  men  and  of  all  ages  confirms  the  statement  that 
no  relationship  exists  between  the  force  and  vigor  of  the  intellect 
and  the  qualities  of  the  body.  How  many  persons  celebrated  for 
intellectual  power  have  lived  in  debilitated  and  emaciated  frames! 
Would  you  have  looked  for  vigorous  functions  of  memory,  clear  fac- 
ulty of  perceiving,  with  reason  supreme  upon  its  throne,  in  the  moving 


THE    INNER    ISLE    OF    MAN.  77 

frame  of  Dean  Swift,  the  feeble  house  of  clay  inhabited  by  the  radiant 
intellect  of  Richard  Watson,  the  deformed  physical  system  of  Lord 
Byron,  or  the  rickety  constitution  of  Alexander  Pope,  through  whose 
exquisite  lines  the  genius  of  poetry  touched  the  chords  of  human 
sympathy,  sentiment,  and  taste? 

The  annals  of  medicine  furnish  conclusive  proof  that  the  brain 
may  be  injured  or  destroyed  to  a  large  extent  without  destroying  the 
functions  of  mind.  A  wide  induction  from  well-authenticated  facts 
shows  that  one  portion  of  the  brain  has  been  found  to  be  destroyed 
or  disorganized  in  one  instance,  another  in  another,  and  so  on  till 
the  aggregate  would  comprehend  every  organic  portion,  while  yet 
intellectual  life  and  mental  power  remained  unaffected.  It  is  a  fact 
which  no  one  disputes  that  mind  communicates  with  the  material 
world  through  the  brain  and  nervous  system  generally.  It  is  equally 
true  that  mind  is  endowed  with  an  existence,  an  energy,  and  a  power 
of  action  independent  of  and  superior  to  its  material  habitation.  This 
is  made  positive  and  shown  in  the  clearest  light  of  demonstration  by 
numerous  examples  in  the  mournful  catalogue  of  human  accidents 
snd  infirmities. 

Overall  that  was  possible  to  nerve  and  sense,  mind  has  frequently 
triumphed.  Prostrate  has  the  body  many  times  been  laid  by  mental 
causes.  Individuals  have  died  without  injury  as  a  result  of  hazing. 
'  Soldiers  have  been  found  dead  without  wounds  upon  the  battle-field. 
^\\vso?  Mental  action  resulted  in  physical  effects — a  thing  clearly 
impossible  on  the  theory  that  mind  is  merely  the  result  of  the  or- 
ganization of  matter  or  force  so  produced. 

The  active  manifestation  of  mental  excellence  which  no  ill-fortune 
^n  reach  is  the  true  basis  of  happiness.  Not  only  are  great  intellects 
wpable  of  great  achievements,  but  minds  less  happily  endowed  are 
^pable  of  sharing  those  privileges  which  constitute  the  higher  phases 
ct  human  happiness.  Of  course  genius  comes  by  nature,  but  leaving 
wit  of  N-iew  the  few  splendid  exceptional  cases,  the  careful  observer 
^n  hardly  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  original  endowment  has 
less  to  do  with  the  result  than  have  patient  application,  indefatigable 
Perseverance,  and  continual  endurance.  Nature  always  aims  at  the 
^st,  and  provides  that  it  may  be  attained  through  a  certain  course 


78  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  teaching  and  training,  by  all  who  are  not  physically  or  mental! 
disqualified.  Moral  excellence  is  the  result  of  habit,  but  intellectu 
excellence  is  chiefly  improved  by  precept. 

Strictly  upon  the  metaphysical  line  of  facts  does  human  advano 
ment  depend.  As  the  science  of  Metaphysics  advances  or  recede 
so  must  human  excellence  stand  or  fall.  Amid  sneer  and  jeer  h; 
each  science  successively  risen,  just  as  if  in  each  case  all  truth  ha 
been  discovered  and  nothing  remained  to  be  learned.  Throughot 
times  past,  all  discovered  truth  which  the  world  has  brought  to  ligl 
has  met  with  denial,  ridicule,  and  scorn.  Opposition  and  scepticis; 
once  contested  the  new  established  truths  concerning  the  mysteri< 
of  physical  law  and  the  marvels  of  organic  creation.  Every  gre 
fact  and  principle  by  virtue  of  which  we  exist  and  act  was  time  ar 
again  "  put  down  "  by  the  science  of  days  gone  by.  The  heresy 
the  past  is  the  belief  of  the  present,  and  what  we  now  deny  may  1 
accepted  as  the  creed  of  the  future. 

Shelby  Mumaugh,  M.D. 


WHAT  THE   POETS   SAY. 

O  poet,  whose  expansive  soul 

Swells  outward  to  infinitude, 
Thou'rt  versed  in  Nature's  mystic  scroll. 

And  art  with  prophecy  imbued. 
What  dost  thou  know  of  heaven  and  earth? 

What  of  the  secrets  back  of  life? 
What  strange  catastrophe  of  birth 

Hath  thrust  me  in  this  mental  strife? 

What  though  I  know,  how  shall  I  say? 
Words  are  but  words — and  what  arc  they? 

O  poet,  thou  art  ever  keen 
To  pierce  an  adamantine  heart. 

Thou  searchest  man's:   What  hast  thou  seen 
In  one  unscathed  by  Cupid's  dart? 

When  counteractive  currents  play — 
But  these  are  words — and  what  arc  they? 
In  labyrinths  of  evil  schemes 
Devised  by  wicked,  cruel  men. 


WHAT  THE  POETS  SAY.  79 

What  motives  hast  thou  found?    What  dreams 
In  yonder  sordid  citizen?  ^ 

To-morrow  oft  redeems  to-day. 

These  are  but  words — and  what  are  they? 

Men  tell  me  God  is  good  and  kind, 
That  He  knows  all,  and  nought's  amiss. 

0  what  a  riddle!    Canst  thou  find 

No  words  to  prove  the  truth  of  this? 

What  knows  the  ant  of  man,  I  pray? 

1  give  thee  words — but  what  are  they? 

Then  hear  my  plea,  and  heed  the  tone: 

Life  seems  a  play  without  a  plot. 
How  shall  I  mankind's  wrongs  condone? 

How  cease  to  murmur  at  my  lot? 

O  empty  words! — the  husks  of  thought 

A.id  must  God's  truth  in  them  be  brought? 

And  must  I  act  thy  Spirit's  part, 

And  try  to  speak  for  thine  own  heart? 

Ah,  mortal!  mine's  a  sorry  task. 

Thou  callst  for  Truth.    Behold  her  mask: 

Canst  thou,  e'en  with  a  Euclid's  brain. 

Compute  the  desert's  grains  of  sand? 
Canst  thou,  with  Intuition  slain, 

Appraise  all  factors? — understand 
The  complex  interplay  of  law 

That  rules  the  Cosmos  and  the  gnat? 
The  sparrow  in  the  falcon's  claw 

Is  an  effect  a  cause  begat. 
Should  I  but  tell  thee,  wouldst  thou  know 

That  God  is  just  and  all  is  right? 
Though  God  Himself  should  tell  thee  so. 
Thou  hast  but  heard;   thou  still  must  grow 

Above  the  darkness  into  light. 
Let  poets  tell  whate'er  they  may. 
How  few  know  what  the  poets  say? 

William  T.  James. 


Ye  are  not  bound!  the  Soul  of  Things  is  sweet, 
The  Heart  of  Being  is  celestial  rest; 

Stronger  than  woe  is  will:   that  which  was  Good 
Doth  pass  to  Better — Best. — Edwin  Arnold. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT 


WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


PSYCHIC  ACTION  IN  DREAMS. 

• 

The  many  and  varied  phases  of  psychic  action  that  are  now  absort 
attention,  offer  ground  for  much  speculation  about  the  laws  of  ad 
involved,  and  the  uncertainty  of  this  speculation  leads  readily  to  wide 
vergence  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  nature  and  character  of  the  ad 
which  is  recognized. 

From  time  to  time  we  have  given  instances  of  psychic  action 
dreams,  believing,  as  we  do,  that  an  important  as  well  as  exceedii 
interesting  line  of  natural  action  lies  just  beneath  the  surface  of  c 
sciousness,  and  that  much  important  information  may  be  secured  b 
careful  search  in  this  realm  of  activity.  These  instances,  howeva 
judged"  entirely  by  their  surface  indications,  which  rest  in  close  jtc 
position  to  the  external  sense-plane,  may  mislead,  and  result  in  a  grc 
depth  of  ignorance  than  ever.  They  are  all  the  more  dangerous  bea 
the  victim  feels  that  he  has  had  an  actual  experience,  out  of  the  rang 
the  ordinary,  and  that  as  he  really  did  see  something  he  therefore  kn 
exactly  what  it  was  that  he  saw.  This  granted,  in  his  own  mind,  the 
becomes  easy,  and  he  falls  at  once  into  a  train  of  beliefs  already  for 
lated  by  others  who  have  had  similar  experience  in  practically  the  • 
ways.  It  is  quite  as  easy  to  become  bigoted  in  this  as  in  any  of 
forms  of  belief  usually  denounced  as  narrow  by  even  these  delt 
people  themselves. 

The  whole  difficulty  rests  on  the  same  ground  as  that  occupied  by 
material  reasoner.    It  is  a  matter  of  "  mistaken  identity,"  so  to  speak,  1 

regard  to  the  phenomena  witnessed,  and  all  the  errors  occur  becam 

80 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  81 

the  limitation  and  imperfection  of  the  sense  or  senses  employed  in  inves- 
tigation, or  subconsciously  involved  in  the  experience. 

In  our  editorial  columns  this  month  we  give  a  dream  experience  re- 
counted by  Mr.  John  Widlon. 

This  case  so  clearly  illustrates  a  phase  of  psychic  action  which  is  alike 
misinterpreted  by  both  novice  and  scientist,  that  we  venture  to  give  an 
explanation  of  it  from  the  basis  of  thorough  demonstration  of  the  psychic 
powers  of  the  human  mind. 

The  phenomena  in  these  cases  is  doubtless  real,  and  the  experience 
to  each  person  is  so  vivid  that  the  sceptic  will  find  it  entirely  useless  to 
attempt  to  arg^e  him  out  of  his  conviction  that  it  was  true.  What  actually 
occnrred,  however,  and  the  true  explanation,  according  to  the  operative 
hws  of  the  universe,  can  only  be  understood  through  correct  interpreta- 
tion of  the  vision ;  and  this  is  almost  universally  misinterpreted  and  mis- 
judged, with  the  inevitable  result  that  theories  entirely  erroneous  are 
CTohred  and  given  out  as  true  because  of  the  imperfect  evidence  rendered 
by  the  psychic  senses. 

In  the  light  of  present  knowledge,  no  sane  thinker  denies  that  the 
physical  senses  are  subject  to  illusion.  There  is  a  psychic  sense-plane 
also  and  it  is  in  the  realm  of  this  finer  action  that  the  phenomena  above 
"tferred  to  occur.  But  even  here  the  action  is  still  in  the  realm  of  sense, 
nd  subject  to  all  the  laws  of  sense  action. 

Psychic  sense  is  just  as  subject  to  illusion  and  consequent  erroneous 
«wdcncc  as  physical  sense;  they  are  probably  the  same  instrument, 
though  which  the  personality  functions,  now  on  the  one  plane,  now  on 
Mother.  Psychic  sense  also  involves  a  mode  of  automatic  reversal,  as 
far  as  the  vision  of  objects  is  concerned,  which  is  a  most  prolific  field  of 
■^interpretation  and  wrong  judgment  of  phenomena. 

In  the  case  cited  above,  the  writer  quite  naturally  concludes  that  his 
Wier  saw  the  freed  spirit  of  his  own  mother,  and  that  she  spoke  to  him 
•tth  her  own  voice,  and  laid  her  own  cold  hand  upon  his  face.  That 
»  dearly  the  direct  evidence  of  the  psychic  sense  involved  in  the 
P**w>menon.  To  a  mind  untrained  in  psychic  action  and  having  only 
fc  sense  evidence  to  judge  by,  this  conclusion  becomes  inevitable.  It 
B.  however,  a  judgment  based  wholly  upon  the  bare  evidence  of  psychic 
*^nse,  and,  like  any  sense-evidence,  it  is  false  in  its  plain  presentation  of 


82  INTELLIGENCE. 

objects;  and  unless  the  evidence  be  reversed  and  analyzed  by  the  jud 
ment,  through  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  psychic  action,  the  tnj 
is  not  recognized. 

The  facts  of  the  phenomena  in  the  case  in  hand  are  as  above  recorck 
— he  saw  a  face  and  figure,  heard  a  voice,  felt  a  touch,  and  received  ii 
formation  which  afterward  proved  to  be  true. 

Further  facts  are  (and  this  line  of  facts  is  too  often  left  entirely  a 
of  consideration)  that  at  or  near  the  time  when  the  phenomena  occum 
there  was  intense  mental  action  in  operation  at  the  home  of  the  mothc 
where  the  minds  of  all  were  doubtless  in  a  state  of  unusual  excitemei 
and  where  it  is  distinctly  stated  a  letter  was  prepared  and  forward 
to  the  son,  expressly  stating  in  words:  "  Your  mother  is  dead!  "  Tk 
"  thought  "  was  repeated  in  mind,  as  well  as  in  audible  words,  by  all  pre 
ent  (which  is  the  habit  of  the  average  mind),  giving  it  force  for  action 
the  psychic  aura;  and  in  preparing  this  letter  the  particular  thought  vn 
subconsciously  at  least,  directed  especially  to  the  son,  and  its  thougt 
picture  projected  to  his  locality.  In  the  state  of  sleep,  when  the  mind 
active  on  the  subconscious  plane,  this  thought-picture  came  across  I 
vision  and  he  saw — what?  His  mother?  Not  at  all;  he  saw  the  thougl 
picture  in  her  friends'  minds,  and  heard — not  his  mother's  words  b 
the  words  of  the  thought  of  those  at  home — "  Your  mother  is  dead! "  ai 
he  felt  their  thought  of  the  "  coldness  of  death  "  as  expressed  in  the  lifelc 
clay,  not  his  mother's  own  hand,  as  it  seemed  to  him. 

That  the  thought  held  by  the  others  was  pictured  to  his  psychic  visii 
as  his  mother,  herself,  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  natural  psyd 
action;  also,  that  the  words  took  such  exact  form  as  his  own  persofl 
interpretation  would  require,  is  perfectly  natural,  because  when  a  Psyd 
Image  enters  the  Aura  of  a  personality,  that  personal  mind  at  once  pt 
it  into  such  expression  as  may  conform  to  its  own  state  of  consciousm 
at  the  time;  e.g.,  the  simple  statement  "  Your  mother  "  will  immediati 
take  form  in  your  own  mental  imagery  in  a  picture  of  that  personage 
you  have  seen  her,  and  your  own  mind  gives  the  picture  its  details  of  dre 
appearance,  and  surroundings;  it  even  may  give  the  face  a  changii 
expression  and  put  words  into  the  mouth  of  your  own  mental  image 
your  mother.  The  most  astonishing  action  takes  place  in  mind  in  tl 
way,  and  the  almost  infinite  possibilities  of  the  variety  and  power 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  83 

mental  action  arc  here  more  clearly  illustrated  than  in  almost  any 
other  realm  of  activity.  The  possibilities  of  mind  are  unlimited  within 
human  comprehension. 

But,  we  are  perhaps  asked:  "  How  do  you  know  he  did  not  actually 
see  his  mother  in  spirit  form?  That  is  the  evidence  to  him,  and  on  the 
hypothesis  of  spirit  life  it  is  entirely  feasible.  May  not  the  vision,  after 
all,  have  been  true  as  he  saw  and  interpreted  it?  " 

To  reply  effectively  to  these  questions,  several  points  must  be  care- 
fully considered. 

1st  There  is  no  direct  evidence  that  the  action  involved  extends  be- 
yond the  limits  of  this  plane  of  life;  and  we  hold  that  for  investigation  to 
have  any  scientific  value,  supposition  without  evidence  should  always  be 
avoided.  2d.  Every  variation  of  the  phenomena  concerned  in  this  ex- 
perience is  common  on  the  psychic  mental  plane.  3d.  It  can  easily  be 
duplicated  in  experiment,  with  fictitious  details.  4th.  It  may  occur  be- 
tween the  minds  of  living  persons,  subconsciously,  with  the  phenomena 
uncolored  by  intention  and  entirely  without  knowledge  of  what  is  taking 
place,  on  the  part  of  any  one  concerned. 

We  take  the  ground  that  in  the  light  of  science,  and  for  the  good  of 
all  concerned,  there  is  no  justification  in  going,  at  a  bound,  entirely  off 
the  plane  where  the  phenomena  occur,  for  explanations  in  pure  specu- 
lative opinion,  while  the  occurrence  can  be  explained  in  action  common 
to  its  own  plane.  When  something  occurs  that  is  clearly  of  a  different 
order  and  outside  the  possibility  of  any  known  law  of  action  here,  then, 
*e  think,  will  be  a  sufficient  time  to  establish  an  hypothesis  entirely 
on  the  other  plane. 

In  the  case  in  question  we  note  the  following  actual  facts :  Every- 
tWng  that  he  became  conscious  of  in  the  dream  was  active  in  the  minds 
0^ those  at  his  mother's  home  at  the  time  of  his  experience;  no  informa- 
tion was  conveyed  to  him  save  what  they  were  planning  to  convey, 

^'ow  consider  for  a  moment  the  spiritual  probabilities: 

If  eitlier  metaphysical  or  spiritualistic  principles  are  true,  so-called 
death  is  an  awakening  into  bright  and  joyous  life.  This  being  true,  the 
^^  last  communication  a  freed  spirit  would  be  likely  to  make  would 
^  the  direct  statement  of  death.  It  does  not  stand  to  reason,  because 
tnc  thought  of  such  a  being  would  necessarily  be  quite  the  opposite. 


84  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  next  evidence  offered  was  the  psychic  touch  of  an  icy  hand.  This 
would  be  the  most  natural  result  of  the  purely  psychic  action  of  the  minds 
of  those  at  home,  who  were  occupied  chiefly  with  the  thought  of  the 
"  coldness  of  death/'  but  the  most  utterly  absurd  thought  to  put  into  the 
soul  of  a  spiritual  being  realizing  the  infinite  activity  of  spiritual  life.  His 
mother  would  have  been  a  thousand  times  more  likely  to  have  stated,  "  I 
am  alive,  well,  and  happy,"  even  though  she  should  state  the  fact  of  the 
change  of  plane  of  her  life. 

As  before  suggested  there  is  not  in  this  experience  any  evidence  of 
action  outside  the  known  field  of  the  psychic  powers,  and  nothing  but 
what  actually  occurred  in  the  mental  realm  at  the  mother's  home.  The 
writer  has  witnessed  thousands  of  similar  incidents,  having  examined, 
traced,  and  tested  them  in  all  phases,  without  meeting  with  one  that  could 
withstand  the  actual  test  of  the  psychic  powers  of  the  human  mind;  it 
seems  safe,  therefore,  to  judge  that  phenomena  of  this  order  arc 
psychic,  and  have  their  origin  in  the  subconscious  realm  of  mentality 
of  living  persons. 

An  incident  which  occurred  twelve  years  since  illustrates  this  action 
in  another  phase — ^that  of  the  power  of  the  mind  to  symbolize  its  thought, 
subconsciously.  A  lady  patient  came  to  the  writer  one  morning  in  con- 
siderable agitation  of  mind  to  ask  explanation  of  a  "  singular  experi- 
ence." The  previous  night  she  had  dreamed  vividly  that  a  favorite  sister 
stood  before  her  and  held  out  toward  her  a  rosebud.  The  stem  just  under 
the  bud  was  broken  and  the  bud  itself  drooped  over,  hanging  downward. 
The  sister  remarked  in  a  voice  filled  with  emotion :  "  See,  Carrie,  the 
dear  little  thing  is  broken  off."  The  vividness  of  the  dream  caused  her 
to  awake  with  a  start,  upon  which  she  found  herself  trembling  with  fear 
as  though  anticipating  danger.  She  noted  the  time,  i.io  a.m.,  and  re- 
turned to  sleep.  At  the  breakfast-table  the  dream  recurred  to  her  mind, 
and  she  was  telling  it  to  her  husband  when  the  doorbell  rang  and  a  tele- 
gram was  brought  to  her.  It  was  from  this  same  sister,  in  a  city  distant 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.    It  read:  "  Baby  died  at  one  o'clock." 

She  had  no  knowledge  of  either  sickness  or  danger,  and  had  abso- 
lutely no  indication  in  any  ordinary  way  of  anything  that  happened,  yet 
who  will  say  that  she  did  not  receive  accurate  information?  With  a 
knowledge  of  the  symbolizing  tendency  of  the  mind  in  psychic  action. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  85 

a  vast  field  of  intelligent  activity  of  a  very  high  order  is  opened  up  to 
the  recq)tive  investigator.  The  off-hand  spiritualistic  interpretation  that 
is  so  often  given  to  phenomena  of  this  or  of  a  similar  order,  closes  and 
bars  the  door  to  real  learning  as  effectually  as  the  sceptical  denials  of 
both  theology  and  materialism. 

That  man  lives  after  death  (so-called)  we  are  as  confident  as  the  most 
pronounced  thinker  in  any  line  can  be.  All  honest  investigation  leads 
straight  to  that  goal.  That  spiritual  minds — souls— can,  may,  and  prob- 
ably do  communicate  with  one  another  is  as  necessary  to  the  conception  as 
that  they  communicate  here;  but  that  these  simple  physical  characteristics 
of  personal  life  in  the  physical  realm  occupy  the  attention  of  Spiritual 
Intelligences,  in  such  trivial  matters  as  are  usually  reported  as  **  com- 
nranicated,"  does  not  correspond  for  a  moment  with  the  action  of  that 
quality  of  reason  with  which  we  are  familiar.  It  has  already  been  proved  '^ 
that  mind,  alone  and  unaided — ^and  of  living  persons  at  that — can  and  con- 
stantly docs  perform  all  the  so-called  materializing  and  communication  ^ 
acts  of  modem  spiritualism,  with  perfect  ease  and  facility. 

One  must  needs  learn  all  the  instruments  of  the  orchestra  if  he  would 
intelligibly  interpret  the  score  of  the  music.  Let  us  investigate  more, 
and  avoid  jumping  at  conclusions  which  in  the  darkness  may  turn  out 
to  be  iikUs. 

FRONTISPIECE. 

We  take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  our  readers  this  month  a  handsome 
pwtrait  of  Dr.  Alexander  Wilder,  a  writer  well  known  to  those  inter- 
ested in  matters  pertaining  to  the  occult  and  philosophical  in  modem 
literature. 

The  natural  trend  of  Dr.  Wilder's  thought  has  always  been  in  a  lit- 
^^  direction,  with,  since  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  a  decided  mysti- 
^  Md  philosophical  tendency,  and  constantly  advancing  along  these 
"•^  Circumstances,  however,  have  placed  him  in  various  positions  of 
PobBc  Bfe.  In  1854-56  he  was  clerk  in  the  Department  of  Public  Insti- 
*«»o«  at  Albany.  After  that,  editor  of  the  "  New  York  Teacher/'  In 
'8#-7i  he  was  on  the  staff  of  the  New  York  "  Evening  Post,"  and  in 
■^072  he  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  New  York  City. 

'^•Wilder  has  lectured  on  Philosophy  and  Chemistry  in  the  Syracuse 
Medical  College,  and  on  Philosophy,  Psychological  Science,  and  Mag- 


r 


86  INTELLIGENCE. 

netic  Therapeutics  in  various  other  medical  colleges.  He  comes  from  the 
best  of  New  England  parentage.  President  John  Quincy  Adams  and 
Margaret  Fuller  were  near  relations. 

The  portrait  presented  here  is  an  excellent  likeness,  showing  the 
genial  and  jovial  gentleman,  as  well  as  the  thoughtful  philosopher  and 
earnest  scientist. 


PHOTOGRAPHY  OF  THE  INVISIBLE. 

THE  X-RAYS  AND    THEIR  RELATION  TO  CHEMISTRY 

AND  PHYSICS* 

At  page  147  of  "  Intelligence  "  for  July,  1897,  I  have  just  read  a  note 
entitled  "  The  X-Rays  in  Sunlight,"  which  deals  with  some  points  wherein 
I  am  much  more  than  usually  interested,  because  of  certain  very  unlooked- 
for  results  which  I  have  recently  obtained  in  photographing  blank  space 
in  daylight. 

The  results  obtained  at  the  commencement  of  my  investigations  con- 
vinced me  that  of  necessity  they  were  produced  by  the  same  influence 
or  agency  which  has  hitherto  been  attributed  as  the  peculiar  endowment 
of  the  so-called  X-Rays ;  but  then  the  photographs  I  refer  to  have  been 
produced  in  broad  sunlight,  without  the  use  of  a  vacuum  tube,  without 
anode  or  cathode,  without  electrical  apparatus,  without,  in  fact,  anything 
save  an  ordinary  photographer's  camera  and  dry  plates. 

The  startling  results  which  I  have  obtained  prove  most  unequivocally 
that  there  is  a  light  or  photo-chemical  agency  infinitely  brighter,  in- 
finitely more  intensified  than  sunlight,  shining,  penetrating  right  through 
sunlight  itself,  and  in  comparison  to  the  brightness  of  which  sunlight 
is  indeed  relatively  darkness.  This  new  light,  or  photo-chemical  agency, 
not  only  penetrates  through  unknown  thicknesses  of  sunlight,  and  is 
indeed  reflected  back  from  it  as  from  a  black  and  dense  environment,  but 
it  passes  too  through  thick  masses  of  organic  matter  and  affects  a  sen- 
sitized dry  plate  just  as  ordinary  vacuum-tube  light  will  do. 

I  have  demonstrated,  from  a  continuous  succession  of  experiments, 
that  the  vacuum  tube  with  its  reflectors,  its  anode  and  cathode  and  theii 
electrical  attachments,  have  really  no  part  whatever  in  the  productior 
of  the  X-rays ;  and  while  not  yet  venturing  upon  any  statement  in  resped 
thereof  which  I  should  wish  at  present  taken  as  a  final  conclusion  refer 
ring  to  their  cause  or  origin,  I  desire  here  to  express  the  deep  impressiof 

*  This  article  being  the  author's  first  communication  of  his  experiments  to  th' 
public,  a  copy  has  been  deposited  with  the  Royal  Society,  London. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  87 

I  have  received  and  which  I  have  provisionally  accepted  as  probably  the 
tnie  explanation  of  the  singular  phenomena  of  this  apparently  invisible 
and  intangible  light  Roentgen's  discovery  and  the  numerous  experi- 
ments which  have  since  been  made  in  the  same  direction,  which  are  duly 
chronicled  in  the  scientific  press  since  June,  1896,  until  quite  recently, 
until  even  the  surmise  expressed  by  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Emmens,  contained 
in  the  note  in  your  issue,  above  referred  to,  have  nearly,  if  not  quite  all, 
been  conducted  with  a  Crookes'  tube  in  which  a  high  vacuum  is  main- 
tained—a vacuum  say  of  about  one-millionth  the  volume  of  air  which 
the  tube  would  contain  at  atmospheric  pressure. 

A  tube  in  this  highly  vacuous  condition,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume, 
contains  vastly  more  of  the  ether  than  it  would  contain  if  filled  with  at- 
mospheric air,  for  because  of  the  vacuum  the  volume  of  occupation  of  the 
tube  by  the  air  molecules  is  withdrawn  from  it.  Evidently,  then,  the  X-ray 
photographs  developed  in,  by,  and  from  the  vacuum  tube  are,  to  say  the 
least,  closely  allied  with  the  etheric  condition  of  the  tube,  or  directly 
auscdby  the  concentration  of  ether  within  it,  which  the  formation  of  such 
vacuum  allows  to  take  place ;  this  concentration  is  indeed  the  direct  result 
of  the  creation  of  that  vacuum,  while  the  passage  of  current  or  of  residual 
electrified  atoms  may,  not  improbably,  produce  an  intensification  of  the 
frequency  of  vibration  of  the  ether  therein,  and  so  accentuate  the  invisible 
photochemical  effect  of  the  rays,  whose  true  origin  and  character  appear 
even  yet  to  be  an  unknown  quantity ;  therefore  we  persist  in  calling  them 
X-rays,  while  the  results  of  my  investigations  above  referred  to  seem  to 
suggest  that  they  should  rather  be  named  Etheric  Rays. 

From  the  facts  and  the  reasoning  upon  them  which  has  preceded,  it 
would  seem  that  each  invisible  photo-chemical  influence  of  these  rays  is 
«  effect  of  the  concentration  and  intensification  of  frequency  of  vibra- 
tion of  the  ether.  Perhaps  further  weight  is  added  by  the  non-refrangi- 
biiity  of  the  X-rays,  and  the  hitherto  impossibility  to  focus  them,  which  I 
attribute  to  their  being  etheric,  that  is  to  say,  penetrating  all  substances 
^ike  and  in  all  directions.  The  ether  itself,  being  invisible,  and  having  all 
necessary  qualities,  passes  through  the  glass  of  the  focussing  lens  of  a 
^^njera  just  as  it  would  pass  through  a  flat  plate  of  glass.  Indeed  without 
*8y  glass  at  all  it  would  produce  precisely  identical  photo-chemical  effects 
*?wn  the  sensitized  plate  and  on  a  dimension  precisely  following  the  law 
<rf  inverse  squares. 

If,  then,  within  Nature  there  be  an  agency  which  is  capable  of  con- 
^^Jrtrating  the  ether  anywhere  in  nuclei  of  any  definite  shape  or  form 
to  an  extent  whereby  the  rays  of  energy  emitted  or  reflected  from  such 


// 


88  INTELLIGENCE. 

nuclei  may  invisibly  penetrate  through  sunlight,  or,  for  that  matter, 
darkness,  would  it  not  be  surprising,  indeed,  if  we  failed  by  photography 
to  obtain  these  very  pictures  of  etheric  form  so  concentrated? 

In  the  present  state  of  speculation  as  to  the  nature  of  the  ether,  and  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  invisible  parts  of  the  solar  spectrum  beyond  the  red 
and  violet,  no  reasonable  doubt  can  exist,  I  think,  that  the  explanation  of 
these  "  Etheric  Photographs,"  is  the  true  one.  If  so,  then  it  is  one  proof 
at  least  of  the  actual  existence  of  the  Ether  and  of  one  particular  part  which 
it  plays  in  the  multisidedness  of  truth. 

It  may  well  be  asked  how  can  such  concentration  of  the  ether  be 
produced  in  space?  The  answer  to  this  is  not  difficult  to  find,  for  is  it 
not  the  fact  that  space  teems  with  energetic  nuclei?  Are  not  we  our- 
selves each  a  centre  around  and  within  which  unseen  etheric  energies 
concentrate?  And  cannot  each  nucleus  of  such  energy  concentrate  its 
activities  according  to  its  own  law  derived  from  the  Supreme  Source  of 
all  Energy?  If  so,  then  the  answer  is  given,  the  apparent  difficulty  is 
vanished,  the  light  shines  in  the  darkness,  and  the  darkness  at  last  com- 
prehendeth  it!  In  view  then  of  what  precedes  I  conclude  that  Dr.  Em- 
mens,  however  nobly  intentioned,  cannot  possibly  be  right  in  his  con- 
clusion that  "  the  Roentgen  ray  exists  in  every  source  of  light." 

I  consider  the  X-ray  to  be  an  existence  quite  independent  of  any 
known  source  of  light,  and  because  these  rays  are  not  refrangible  I  con- 
'  elude  they  must  be  made  up  of  the  ether,  which,  alone  of  all  penetrating  in- 
fluences, so  far  as  we  are  at  present  acquainted  with  them,  is  the  only  one 
which  is  non-refrangible. 

Another  fact  lending  much  aid  to  the  view  that  the  X-rays  are  con- 
centrated etheric  influences  is,  that  when  a  Crookes'  tube  has  been  in 
operation  for  a  short  time,  the  degree  of  vacuum  actually  increases.  Elihn 
Thomson  has  recently  attributed  this  to  the  very  high  temperature  within 
the  vacuum  tube,  causing  the  formation  out  of  the  residual  gas  or  out  ol 
the  ether,  of  new  and  denser  materials,  thereby  making  room  for  more 
ether. 

While  I  consider  Elihu  Thomson's  suggestion  to  be  an  extremely 
likely  one  in  the  case  of  what  takes  place  in  the  Crookes'  tube,  yet  it  must 
not  be  overlooked  that  by  other  modes  or  processes  of  producing  inten- 
sified vibrations  of  the  ether,  besides  that  of  temperature,  the  ether  may 
be  concentrated  or  placed  in  an  abnormal  condition,  so  that  we  thus  arrive 
at  the  apparently  very  near  discovery  of  what  Professor  J.  J.  Thomson, 
of  Cambridge  University,  England,  has  recently  suggested  as  a  "  break- 
ing down  "  of  what  up  till  now  we  have  looked  upon  as  the  elements. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  89 

To  myself  there  is  no  doubt  remaining  that  we  are  actually  within  sight        i 
and  touch  of  such  a  discovery,  and  in  respect  of  it  I  for  one  wait  sanguinely 
to  hear  the  result  of  Professor  Michelson's  very  latest  announcements 
from  the  investigations  being  carried  on  by  him  at  the  Ryerson  Labora- 
tory of  the  University  of  Chicago.    A  doubt  indeed  can  hardly  remain 
that  the  doctrine  of  molecular  vortices  long  ago  proposed  and  since 
upheld  by  Sir  William  Thomson,  now  Lord  Kelvin,  and  by  Helmholtz 
in  particular,  is  about  to  be  proved  absolutely  untenable,  therefore  un- 
true, while  Lord  Kelvin's  further  doctrine  in  respect  of  the  dissipation 
of  the  sun's  energy  in  the  form  of  heat,  propounded  in  his  memorable      1  j  1^ 
paper  read  to  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh  in  1852,  entitled  "  On  a 
Universal  Tendency  in  Nature  to  Dissipation  of  Mechanical  Energy," 
will  be  shown,  as  indeed  it  is  already  shown  and  accepted  by  many  phys- 
idsts  to  be  an  absolute  impossibility  in  view  of  the  proofs  of  the  "  Con- 
servation of  Energy  "  and  "  Indestructibility  of  Matter "  through  the 
transmutations  of  both,  whereby  the  stability  and  endlessness  of  the 
Kosmos  are  forever  maintained.    The  sagacious  suggestion  of  Newton, 
made  230  years  ago  in  his  famous  "  Letters  to  Bentley,"  "  that  perhaps        y 
all  things  may  be  derived  from  the  ether,"  the  urgent  pressing  of  the 
same  idea  at  a  later  date  by  Daniel  BernouilH  upon  the  attention  of  Euler       ^f 
in  his  letter  dated  February  4,  A.D.  1784,  and  the  very  latest  insistence 
of  the  same  concept  by  Hertz  upon  the  German  Association  for  the  Ad-         ' 
nncemcnt  of  Science  at  the  Heidelberg  meeting  just  before  his  death, 
point  directly  to  the  immediate  creation  of  a  new  chemistry,  new  dy- 
namics, corrected  notions  in  respect  of  Newton's  first  law  of  motion,  and 
an  entire  change  in  the  accepted  views  as  to  what  Lord  Kelvin  and  Pro- 
fessor P.  G.  Tait  have  taught  the  world  in  respect  of  potential  energy,        ' 
^fithoot  proper  recognition  of  the  transmutation  of  molar  into  molec- 
dtf  motion. 

At  a  future  date  I  shall  hope  to  return  to  the  significant  matters  dealt 
^  in  this  article. 

St.  John  V.  Day,  F.R.S.E. 


THE  NUMBER  OF  A  NAME. 

He  that  hath  understanding,  let  him  compute  the  number  of  the  name  of  the 
***••  which  is  the  number  of  a  man." 

bomber  proceeds  from  Unity,  of  which  form  is  an  abstraction.  Form 
^  noinbcr,  therefore,  arc  largely  analogous.  Number  is  essential  to 
^^f  consequently  it  would  be  impossible  for  harmony  to  exist  except 


«0  INTELLIGENCE. 

through  mathematical  dependencies  which  are  resolvable  into  Uni 
correlation  is  the  unifying  principle  in  which  reposes  the  equilibr 
the  universe.  Hence,  it  would  seem  irrational  to  concede  exactit 
mathematical  law  without  first  recognizing  a  virtue  and  efficacy  ii 
ber.  The  Pythagoreans  taught  that  time,  motion,  action,  form,  and 
subsist  by  and  receive  their  virtue  from  numbers.  The  exhalatic 
breath  is  of  a  mathematical  value,  for  breath  symbolizes  life,  and 
thought-activity,  or  the  Divine  Mind  in  action. 

The  principles  of  metaphysics  demonstrate  that  thought  has  a 
tial  value  in  the  sphere  of  activities.  From  thought  is  generated  a 
thence  a  form  or  mental  image  is  induced,  which  in  turn  is  individ 
by  a  name.  This  name,  if  correct,  is  a  sound  vibrating  in  numeric 
mony  with  a  law  of  sequence  which  becomes  a  reiterative  exprea 
Unity. 

Christian,  the  French  mystic,  asserts  that."  at  the  hour  of  birth 
thing  has  already  taken  place  in  the  life  of  the  child ;  its  Name  con 
the  generation."  A  true  name,  though  ostensibly  but  a  symbol 
•objective  plane,  is  expressive  of  a  definite  potency  in  the  subjective 
of  thought.  Yet  in  no  sense  is  a  name  arbitrary  in  significance,  1 
consciously  to  our  reasoning  faculties,  we  externalize  an  idea  with  i 
ical  expression  whose  vibrations  accord  with  those  activities  in  tk 
jective  realm  from  which  it  emanated. 

According  to  John  Timbs,  F.S.A.,*  "  Physical  science  sho^ 
numbers  have  a  significance  in  every  department  of  nature.  Ti 
pears  as  the  typical  number  in  the  lowest  class  of  plants.  Three 
characteristic  number  of  that  class  of  plants  which  has  paralleled 
and  is  the  number  of  joints  in  the  typical  digit.  Four  is  the  sigi 
number  of  many  beautiful  crystals  which  show  that  minerals  (as  > 
stars)  have  their  geometry.  Six  is  the  proportional  number  of  c 
Eight  is  the  definite  number,  in  chemical  composition,  for  oxyge 
most  universal  element  in  nature." 

The  Kabala  presents  a  system  of  vaticination  based  upon  tl 
merical  value  of  names,  taken  in  connection  with  the  birth  data 
individual,  thus  affording  a  key  number,  through  the  aid  of  which 
interesting  phases  of  condition  and  destiny  may  be  disclosed. 

The  Rosicrucians  were  adepts  in  this  system  of  Astrology, 
also  the  method  utilized  by  the  mysterious  Red  Man  of  the  Ta 
in  his  remarkable  forecast  of  the  notable  epochs  in  the  life  of  Na| 
To  fully  elucidate  the  canons  of  this  system  of  numbers  would  1 

♦  "  Mysteries  of  Life,  Death,  and  Futurity,"  London,  1877. 


r' 

k 

» 

•^ 

\.* 

\\ 

*.  . 

*_ 

> 
It 

I 

I 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  91 

the  scope  of  a  large-sized  volume ;  the  striking  appropriateness  of  some 
of  its  results,  however,  may  be  easily  illustrated.  The  value  of  the  letters 
of  the  English  alphabet,  numerically,  are  given  as  follows: 


A=  I 

F  =  8 

K  =  2 

P  =  8 

U  =  6 

B  =  2 

G  =  3 

L  =3 

Q=i 

V  =  6 

C=2 

H  =  8 

M  =  4 

R  =  2 

W  =  6 

D  =  4 

1  =  I 

N  =  5 

S  =  3 

X  =  6 

E  =  s 

J  =  i 

0  =  7 

T  =  4 

Y  =  I 
Z  =  7 

To  illustrate  the  working  of  this  table  we  will  take  the  name  of  this 
magazine.  Intelligence.  Its  title-value  is  obtained  by  multiplying  the 
equivalent  of  the  first  letter  by  the  total  number  of  letters  which  form  the 
name,  and  the  succeeding  letters  successively  in  a  decreasing  ratio,  thus : 


I 

I  X 

12  =  12 

N 

5  X 

11  =  55 

T 

4  X 

lo  =  40 

E 

5  X 

9  =  45 

L 

3  X 

8  =  24 

L 

3  X 

7  =  21 

I 

I  X 

6=  6 

G 

3  X 

5  =  15 

E 

5  X 

4  =  20 

N 

5  X 

3=15 

C 

2  X 

2=  4 

E 

5  X 

I  =  5 

262,  which  added  2  +  6  +  2  =  10. 

Thb  number  becomes  the  key  number  of  Intelligence,  which  finds 
its  aplanation  in  the  Tarot  as  Point  X. — The  Sphinx. 

In  the  Divine  World,  the  Sphinx  represents  the  Principle  which 
causes  life. 

In  the  Intellectual  World,  authority,  supremacy,  genius. 

In  the  Physical  World,  good  or  bad  fortune,  rise  or  fall,  according 
to  the  signs  and  planets  which  accompany  this  point. 

In  the  Horoscope,  the  Egyptian  Sphinx  is  compounded  of  four  nat- 
o'^s— it  has  a  human  head,  the  body  of  a  bull,  the  claws  of  a  lion,  and  the 
*»ngs  of  an  eagle. 

The  human  head,  mark  of  intelligence,  signifies  that  before  entering 
®to  the.  struggle  of  life  one  should  have  acquired  that  knowledge  which 
^  illQminate  the  goal  and  the  road.  The  bull's  body  signifies  that,  in 
^€  of  the  trials,  the  obstacles,  and  the  dangers  of  life,  one  must  be  armed 
^  a  strong,  patient,  persevering  will  in  order  to  carve  out  the  tenor 


92  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  one's  life.  The  lion's  claws  signify  that  to  will  with  effect  one  must 
dare  and  make  one's  self  room  to  the  right  or  left,  in  front  or  behind,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  make  freely  that  irresistible  flight  toward  the  heights  of 
fortune  which  are  indicated  by  the  eagle's  wings. 

"  If,  therefore,  one  knows  how  to  wish  for  that  which  is  true;  if  he 
wish  that  which  is  right;  if  he  dare  that  which  he  can  attempt;  if  he  keep 
silence  with  regard  to  his  plans;  if,  through  his  perseverance,  the  mor- 
row be  only  a  continuation  of  the  day  before :  then  he  will  find  one  day 
under  his  hand  the  Key  to  Power." 

Could  anything  be  enunciated  more  apropos  to  the  recognized  aim 
and  purpose  of  this  magazine,  than  is  here  unfolded  in  the  mathematical 
value  of  its  name  according  to  ancient  calculations?  The  Sphinx,  sym- 
bol of  Unity,  which  illustrates  the  merging  of  the  lowest  into  the  highest^ 
the  dependence  of  the  animal  upon  the  human,  the  inseparableness  of 
the  Microcosm  from  the  Macrocosm,  typifies  the  existence  of  interchange- 
able values  in  the  scale  of  Being,  as  represented  by  ten,  the  universal,  all- 
inclusive  number;  the  end  and  perfection  of  all  numbers,  which,  pro- 
ceeding from  Unity,  thence  returneth  unto  Unity. 

The  Psalms  were  sung  with  ten  musical  instruments,  and,  according 
to  Hilarius,  were  brought  into  order  through  the  efficacy  of  numbers. 
Then  is  the  sum  of  the  elements  of  Four,  1+2  +  3  +  4=  lo,  which  con- 
stitutes the  name  of  the  Deity,  and  in  most  of  the  ancient  languages  was 
represented  by  a  word  composed  of  four  letters.  In  it  is  embodied  the 
four  bounds  of  metaphysics,  Being,  Essence,  Virtue,  and  Action. 

"  There  is  a  divinity  which  shapes  our  ends,  rough-hew  them  as  wc 
may."  The  essence  of  that  divinity  may  be  comprehended  externally 
through  Number. 

John  Hazelrigg. 

DREAM  VISIONS. 

In  1876  I  was  a  boy  nine  years  old,  living  with  my  grandparents  near 
Vexio  in  southern  Sweden.  My  parents  had  emigrated  to  this  country 
six  years  before,  leaving  me  with  my  grandparents  who  had  refused  to 
give  me  up  as  long  as  they  lived,  and  my  parents  did  not  hesitate  .to  com- 
ply with  their  wishes,  knowing  that  I  would  be  well  cared  for  until  they 
should  be  better  able  to  send  for  me.  One  day  in  April  my  grandmother 
was  taken  ill,  but  it  was  not  considered  serious  until  the  tenth  day,  when 
she  grew  worse,  and  died  on  the  fourteenth  day.  In  those  days  it  took 
a  month  for  a  letter  to  go  from  Sweden  to  Crew  Lake,  Louisiana,  where 
my  parents  resided.    Just  a  month  from  the  day  of  my  grandmother's 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  93 

death  we  received  a  letter  from  my  father  in  Louisiana,  telling  us  he 
was  tearful  something  serious  had  happened;  that  on  a  certain  night 
(corresponding  with  the  day  when  my  grandmother  died)  he  dreamed 
that  his  mother  stood  before  him  and  told  him  that  she  was  dead;  he 
reasoned  with  her,  but  to  prove  it  she  placed  her  ice-cold  hand  on  his 
cheek.  My  mother  noticed  that  my  father  was  restless,  and  woke  him 
two  or  three  times  during  the  night,  but  each  time  as  soon  as  he  closed 
his  eyes  there  stood  his  mother  before  him  bringing  him  the  message 
Irom  iar-off  Sweden  that  she  was  dead,  and  again  and  again  pressing 
her  ice-cold  hand  on  his  cheek.  When  he  saw  that  he  could  not  get  any 
rest  he  got  up  and  dressed  and  wrote  the  letter  above  referred  to.  Now 
this  letter  and  the  one  that  was  written  in  Sweden  must  have  met  in  mid- 
ocean,  as  each  reached  its  destination  a  month  from  Grandmother's  death. 

The  truthfulness  of  the  above  statement  can  be  vouched  for  by  my 
father  and  mother  who  still  live  in  the  State  of  Washington. 

I  have  studied  this  incident,  together  with  others,  and  I  am  sure  that 
oar  dreams  are  not  in  vain ;  that  this  earthly  shell  of  ours  is  not  all  that 
there  is  of  us;  that  there  is  something  that  neither  distance  nor  oceans 
can  obstruct,  and  that  is  our  inner  life,  our  spiritual  body.* 

^  :¥  ^  *  *  *  Hfc 

Another  incident  that  would  not  be  out  of  place  to  speak  of  here  oc- 
cnrrcd  at  Fort  Pierre,  South  Dakota,  about  six  years  ago.  A  friend  of 
nine,  Professor  A.  J.  Leatherman,  a  prosperous  young  attorney,  had 
ooved  to  that  town  from  Highmore,  where  he  had  been  superintendent 
o(  schools.  One  night  he  dreamed  that  he  was  crossing  the  Missouri 
River  and  the  boat  capsized  and  that  he  was  drowned.  When  he  awoke 
he  told  of  his  dream  and  made  a  jest  of  it.  He  was  warned  by  many  not 
to  go  on  the  river,  as  it  might  come  true.  But  he  scoffed  at  the  idea  that 
he,  being  a  good  swimmer,  should  drown.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  an  in- 
timate friend  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  telling  of  his  queer  dream.  A  week 
iftenikard,  together  with  four  other  young  men,  he  engaged  a  yawl  to 
tike  a  sail  on  the  river — z.  common  occurrence.  This  day  being  unusually 
^the  strong  current  of  the  treacherous  Missouri  carried  the  boat  down 
t'^rd  the  pontoon  bridge.  Suddenly  the  bottom  of  the  boat  struck  the 
ohle  that  anchored  the  bridge  and  the  boat  was  capsized.  All  were 
^f^ed  except  poor  Leatherman.  The  strong  current  dashed  his  head 
^Sainstsome  timbers  of  the  bridge  and  that  was  the  last  seen  of  him  alive. 
His  body  was  recovered  several  days  afterward  with  his  skull  crushed. 

Had  Leatherman  heeded  this  warning,  this  inner  voice ,  this  guardian 

*  ^  editorial  page  80. 


•I 

-■■» 
I 


94 


INTELLIGENCE. 


11 


V.        \ 


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"*  M.I  ' 

V  ■.{■■:.' 

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angel,  he  might  have  been  alive  to-day.  Indeed  life  is  a  mystery.  I 
we  must  realize  that  there  is  something  more  than  this  body.  There 
a  spiritual  body  that  is  in  constant  communion  with  our  guardian  ang 
who  warns  us  of  danger  and  communicates  it  to  the  earthly  body  wt 
we  sleep.  If  we  could  give  this  subject  more  thought  we  would  \ti 
much.*  John  Widlon 

MIND   AND   BODY. 

In  the  "Journal  of  Metaphysics,"  Professor  Ladd,  of  Yale,  says:  ) 
cannot  deny  the  facts  of  physiological  psychology.  No  doubt  conscioi 
ness  depends  on  the  condition  of  the  brain.  Drugs  may  modify  charact 
Insanity  may  be  produced  by  physical  conditions.  The  decay  of  mi 
leaves  no  part  of  consciousness  free.  The  way  to  meet  this  class  of  fa 
is  not  by  denial,  but  by  showing  another  class,  another  side  of  the  sai 
problem,  which  makes  as  good  a  showing.  While  we  believe  that  c( 
sciousness  depends  on  the  brain  and  on  health,  an  equally  significant  fi 
is  that  the  bodily  state  depends  on  the  consciousness.  The  impress 
thing  is  that  bodily  health  is  chiefly  related  to  a  state  of  the  mind.  Il 
rather  more  true  that  digestion  depends  upon  feeling  well  mentally  tl 
that  feeling  well  mentally  depends  on  the  digestion.  If  it  is  true  tha 
hot  iron  burns  the  flesh,  it  is  also  true  that  burn  brands  have  been  pre 
uced  by  hypnotic  suggestion.    It  is  a  reciprocal  union. 

FAMILY  HISTORY. 

"  Can  "  and  *'  Will  "  are  cousins,  dear, 

Who  never  trust  to  hick; 
"  Can  "  is  the  child  of  **  Energy," 

And  •*  Will  "  the  child  of  **  Pluck." 


"  Can't "  and  "  Won't "  are  cousins,  too. 
They  are  always  out  of  work; 
For  *•  Can't  "  is  son  of  *'  Never  Try," 
And  "  Won't  "  is  son  of  "  Shirk." 

In  choosing  your  companions,  dear, 

Select  both  **  Will  "  and  **  Can  "  ; 
But  turn  aside  from  "  Can't  "  and  "  Won't," 

If  you  would  be  a  man. — Success. 

*  If  all  the  facts  in  the  case  were  known  this  would  probably  prove  to  be 
same  sort  of  a  case  as  the  one  described  above.  Either  his  own  subconsci 
thought  of  the  possible  danger,  or  the  conscious  thought  of  some  friend  cc 
easily  result  in  a  similar  dream.  The  fact  is  thnt  he  did  not  drown,  but  was  ki11c< 
a  blow  on  the  head  crushing  the  skull.  If  an  intelligent  being  knew  in  advance  1 
he  was  to  meet  his  death  and  warned  him  in  a  dream,  why  was  not  the  mt 
of  death  accurately  given?    If  known  at  all  it  would  be  known  accurately. — Ed. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  95 

HYPNOTISM  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  DISEASE. 

The  danger  of  amateur  hypnotism  is  well  shown  by  a  case  mentioned 
►y  Desplats  (Journal  des  sciences  medicales  de  Lille),  that  of  a  baker's 
ipprentice  who  was  put  to  sleep  daily  by  a  physician,  for  his  amusement. 
The  lad  became  hysterical  and  had  grave  crises  with  attacks  of  ambu- 
latory automatism.  The  most  varied  impressions,  the  sight  of  a  brilliant 
[)bject  or  of  a  person  or  hearing  a  sound,  would  put  him  to  sleep.  He 
became  a  veritable  automaton,  psychically  infirm. — The  Daily  iMncet. 


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96  INTELLIGENCE. 

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INTELLIGENCE. 


JANUARY,  1898. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SYMBOLISM. 
(II.) 


The  nativity  of  symbols  is  unmistakably 
wrapped  up  in  the  origin  of  civilization,  or 
the  first  conscious  organized  exercise  of 
mind  to  conquer  environment  for  a  benefic 
purpose. 

The  superiority  of  man  as  an  agent  of 
the  Infinite  God  is  everywhere  exemplified 
in  his  art,  which  is  always  found  to  be 
superior  to  the  art  of  nature,  and  comple- 
mentary thereto.  Therefore,  whenever  one 
is  called  upon  to  determine  where  and  when 
the  early  blossoming  of  the  human  mind 
reached  a  stage  of  conscious  effort  of  a 
civilizing  nature,  we  look  first  into  the  artis- 
of  the  various  communities  of  the  far  distant  past,  and 
<ly  the  dawn  of  beneficent  purpose  and  the  ideals  of  ethical  ex- 
we.  The  first  ideas  of  man  were  communicated  by  signs  and 
nbols  as  yet  imperfectly  understood. 

The  origin  of  civilization,  and  the  correct  interpretation  of  the 
nbolica!  language  of  the  races  upon  this  subject,  will  be  the  first 
stion  on  the  broad  bulletin  of  the  coming  century;  and  the  an- 
ito  this  problem  will,  to  my  mind,  be  scientific,  and  tend  in  broad 

Conrrisbt,  T>97.  br  Roftn  E.  Moon. 


1^ 


Urok  W1i«l  o[  the  dec»d 
ddAc  energies,  thawing 
ft  directions  of  vibralioo, 
nlk  "  Inner  "  (Lotas)  ind 
l"0«ter"(Hidden).  Jap- 
at;  bnnue  gilt. — Aathor's 


I 


r 


7i 


r 


lil 


r 


I 


jnboo  Emblem  of  Longe%nly, 
icialcd  with  ihe  fourth  qoar- 
h  from  Japuiese  Kakemono. 
'»  collection. 


channels  to  unity  our  conceptions  of  the  univ 
to  bring  man  nearer  to  his  Maker. 

As  the  cradle  of  humanity,  various  localities  a 
present  assigned  among  the  fertile  borders  oi 
deltas  of  the  chief  rivers  of  the  globe  where  great  i 
have  been  known  to  exist ;  and  most  valuable  ren 
of  human  activity  have  been  recently  unearthed  ii 
valleys  of  llie  Nile  and  Euphrates  rivers,  where,  an 
the  debris  of  forgotten  centuries,  wonderful  writ 
art -treasures,  and  inscriptions  have  been  found  v 
evince  a  high  state  of  refinement,  and  throw  i 
light  upon  the  hidden  paths  and  the  achievemer 
generations  of  men  long  entombed. 

Active  research  for  archieological  specimens  ( 
industry  and  art  of  primitive  peoples  is  now  1 
greatly  extended,  to  include  the  favored  regioi 
Persia,  India,  China,  and  America,  and  many  arc! 
ogists  have  been  deeply  impressed  by  the  eviden< 
a  past  unique  civilization  shrouded  in  the  vast  fiel 
crumbling  edifices  and  monuments  of  symbolical 
known  to  exist  in  Central  America. 

Some  reputable  savants  seem  even  incline 
claim  that  Mexico  is  in  reality  the  cradle  of  the  i 
races  of  mankind,  and  that  its  crude  synibohsm 
the  first  impulse  that  resulted  in  the  magnificent : 
of  the  ethical  development  of  the  prehistoric  peo] 
Europe  and  Asia. 

Beginning  with  the  realistic  and  plausible,  tht 
mative  art  of  a  race  always  persists  in  its  fore 
types;  and  the  memory  of  it  is  said  never  to  perish 
to  remain  a  divine  heritage  that  may  be  moulded 
new  ideals,  The  question,  then,  arises,  in  which  ( 
try  do  we  find  evitlence  of  the  best  primitive  an 
gether  with  Ihe  most  constant  types  of  symbi 
representation  of  ideas? 

The  most  universal  symbol  in  archeology  ^  ' 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


99 


doubt,  the  "  Sacred  Wheel,"  with  its  widely  distributed  attri- 
M.  This  "  Mystic  Wheel  "  has  been  heretofore  persistently  taken 
a  sun-symbol;  and  "  Sun  Worship  "  has  been  read  into  the  re- 
ous  formularies  of  all  countries,  apparently  for  no  much  better  rea- 
i  than  its  easy  grace  as  a  catch-word.  Not  the  sun  nor  yet  the  dila- 
7  moon  was  the  first  object  of  mystery  to  the  wise  men  of  old;  but 


!k  SfBbcdicil  Lotm,  fint  blosiom  of  the  fotmdation  of  ihe  Image  arising  from  the 
Cddron  of  (he  Eleoienis. 
(1)  Fite.     (J)  Lotus.     (3)  Air.     (4)  Water. 

:y  sought  first  to  know  the  relationship  of  things  and  the  principles 
wning  creation,  or  Life,  as  the  symbolism  of  primitive  man  always 
indantly  proves  whenever  examined  by  eyes  trained  to  sweep  the 
:ire  field. 

The  "  Rise  "  and  also  the  "  Fall  "  of  the  "  Spirit  "  is  in  the  ma- 
ial  world  always  a  cataclysm,  symbolized  in  all  ages  by  the  ever- 
:sent  solar  cross,  the  universal  sign  of  the  spirit's  sacrifice  and  an 
nlmte  of  the  Mystic  Wheel.    So  the  first  blossom  of  a  conscious 


I'-J  H>/cS 


100  INTELLIGENCE. 

mind  was  likewise  a  cataclysmic  manifestation  of  the  wisdon 
Infinite  God,  and  intuitively  wise  within  its  environment,  a 
the  divine  Logos.    Scant  honor  to  the  Omniscience  inherited 


Body  of  the  Universe.  Cross  of  Passion. 

Cross  of  Crucifixion.  Operation  of  the  Law. 

Soul  to  attribute  to  mankind  only  the  lowest  material  instinct 
period  of  his  conscious  nativity! 

The  relationship  of  things,  then,  is  the  only  object  of  syir 
that  would  appeal  to  the  wise,  and  man  in  relation  to  the  Uf 
we  believe  has  ever  been  the  chief  solicitude  of  the  prophet 
recovery  of  the  lost  symbols  is  necessary  to  the  fulfilment  of 
ecy.  Beginning  now  at  bed-rock,  we  must  realize  the  impa 
of  conceiving  of  One,  Unity,  *'  God,"  except  by  having  son 
to  contrast  it  with,  making  a  second  term,  Duality,  "  Son." 
two,  the  first  free  and  active,  the  second  enduring  and  apathi 


Ancient  Phallic  Cross.  Triple  Greek  Cross. 

Symbol  of  the  Planet  Venus.        "  Ansata,"  *«  Solar,"  "  Cosmic"  (d 

often  absent). 

called  **  negative  "  and  **  positive  "  respectively,  and  their  di 
or  connection  makes  the  third  term,  the  Trinity,  **  Spirit/* 
in  the  Christian  acceptation  as  "  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
These  three,  the  knower,  the  known,  and  the  knowledge,  in 
tion  with  each  other  can  form  no  more  than  nine  variants  (3  x 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM. 


101 


nine  relationships  are  the  foundation  of  our  highest  conceptions 
e  constitution  of  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  that  is  all  and  con- 
i  all,  the  visible  universe;  and  the  type  is  man,  in  all  ages  es- 
led  the  ultimate  reflection  of  the  Divine  mind.  "  Man  re- 
s  God." 

We  conceive  of  the  Infinite  God  as  Unity,  but  of  a  dual  nature; 
'  unity  is  not  a  number  but  all  numbers  " ;  of  His  image  as  three- 
l;  o(  the  results  of  His  operation,  exhibited  in  natural  phenomena, 
neric  and  plastic,  as  fourfold.    His  emanating  attributes  are  neces- 


t  Wiiie  Tiger— nJer  of  Ihc  laud.  Crowned  with  the  altribuies  of  ihe  Inliiule,  — (TamniDE). 

ily  limited  to  nine,  the  cycle  of  the  greater  gods;  and  this  plan 
li  a  di\ine  revelation  to  all  ahke  in  the  beginning,  because  the  hu- 
uimind is  powerless  to  conceive  a  different,  consistent  plan.  This 
^lon  of  elementals  was  always  numerical  because  definable,  and  it 
oM  not  have  been  otherwise,  nor  can  it  ever  be  changed.  It  is  the 
stive  form  of  the  reason  of  truth  which  was  in  the  beginning,  and 
■i**  *  H(e-history  reaching  back  to  the  creative  fiat,  as  amenable  to 
"nlific  deduction  as  the  growth  of  vegetable  structure  or  animal 


"^  ionitifically  disposed  may  ex. 
f  wwtnm  of  the  amnial  kingdom. 


the  octangular  formatio 


W  INTELLIGENCR 

There  are,  therefore,  no  more  than  nine  conceivable  emai 
»(  interior  grace,  or  energies  of  the  Spirit  of  things,  of  the  Ii 
.nd  these  are  supposed  to  be  perpetually  concentrating  cen 
ubstantial  forms  of  potentiality  everywhere  in  nature,  the  p 
cation  o(  which  in  all  countries  represents  functions  of  the 
oul  in  its  redeemed  state,  accepted  and  revered  as  the  aa 
iforthy  of  propitiation.  It  is  from  the  necessity  of  limitation 
he  so-called  "  Sephirotic  "  energies  present  that  the  unasf 
[oality  of  philosophical  speculations  of  early  times  attained  c* 
elativity  in  diverse  nationalities. 

The  ecclesiastical  system  of  Egypt,  thought  to  be  lost  in  tb 
if  time,  has  a  Trinity  of  gods  comprehensive  of  the  Ennead  ii 
acred  temples.    This  number  was  extended  by  reflection  and  i 


Chinese  Ciligraphic  Glyph  of  the  Ennead  of  Graces. 

if  function  until  finally  a  multifarious  pantheon  was  formed.  , 
ir  system  prevailed  in  every  country  where  temple  formulari* 
itelligibly  adopted.  The  mandala  groups  of  Buddhistic  de 
rhina  and  Japan  generally  consist  of  thirteen  figures,  whid 
rise  the  Ennead,  with  the  addition  of  the  deified  spirits  of  ti 
uarters  corresponding  to  the  seasons  of  the  year.  The  pr 
aligraphic  glyph  of  existence  and  Long-Life  Charm  of  early  C 
ivention  consists  of  thirteen  strokes  of  the  brush,  a  monograi 
eil  of  the  sacred  wheel  and  "  Cycle  of  Life,"  an  illustration  ol 
}  given  here. 

These  functions  of  the  soul,  personified,  preside  over  the  ( 
lents  of "  Being,"  the  Life  which  is  the  light  of  the  world,  and 
he  immortal  part  of  man  from  malefic  influences  of  the  mo 
srces  of  the  planets,  and  all  fateful  potencies  of  physical  mai 
ion;  and  whenever  aid  is  secured  by  acquiescence  in  natun 
rith  exercise  of  faculties  of  circumspection,  man  finds  his  q 


THE  ORIGIN    OF  SYMBOLISM. 


103 


peace  with  eternal  purpose  and  filled  with  silent  approval  of  the 
Chrisios  within.  The  fatal  modifying  potencies  of  planetary  influ- 
ence attain  efficiency  in  cycles  symbolized  by  the  serpent  holding 
hit  tail  in  his  month — eternal  dispensation  of  the  gods. 

These  theories  were  the  first  subjects  of  symbolization.  all  cen- 


dteaa  OJiprapttic  ryfOilnit  (rf  "  Ijoag  Life,'  Iiitperial  ^[y.year  Cycle,  and  Rirth-day  CliJirm 
tonaai)  i^  thinoai  timkn  of  (he  brash,  on  which  are  figured  the  ten  divine  iiliribuie&  as 
Ihn  tttfit  "  ImiDortils  "  iriib  tin  Qnc«n  and  child.  MacroprouipDj.  the  theater  connie- 
MHx.  hu  iJtirMen  codfurmatimis :  Man,  microprosopus.  is  enduwed  with  nine  only. — 
CflfiBd  ffiMB  u  oLd  xnbraidrred  silk  memoriBl  curtain  in  possesiion  of  the  aaihor. 

teing  in  and  flowing  out  of  the  mystic  wheel,  which  unifying  emblem 
kept  in  reasonable  form  the  sacred  attributes.  The  archaic  type  of 
ihe  myiiic  wheel  of  Chaldean  origin  is  formed  by  four  wedges  of 
theoinetform  characters  placed  like  a  star  of  eight  rays,  the  occtilt 
°wsaii»g  of  which  is  the  universe,  firmament,  or  vault  of  the  heavens. 
In  tW  jocient  cabalistic  system  of  the  Jewish  faith,  the  emanating 


INTELLIGENCE. 


races  of  the  Infinite  were  represented  by  qualitative  terms  cal 
le  "  Sephiroth,"  for  the  reason  that  graven  images  and  personifi 


Assyrian  Symbol  of  the  Universe  in  Cuneiform  Characters :  the  type  of  the  mystic  wlie 

ons  were  not  permitted  by  the  great  law-giver  of  Egyptian  natin 
ho  presented  the  Decalogue  to  the  Hebrews. 

TABLE  OF  THE  TEN   SEPHIROTH,   OR  DIVINE  EMANATIONS; 


HNG  THE  CABALISTIC  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  DECAD  OF  QUALITATIVE  TBI 

The  Sephiroth, 

Planets,                Graces, 

Symbols, 

I     Kether 

Motion                  Crown 

Circle 

2    Chokhmah 

Zodiac                  Wisdoni 

Wheels 

3    Binah 

Saturn                  Understanding 

Throne 

4    Chesed 

Jupiter                  Mercy 

Mighty  One 

5     Geburah 

Mars                     Strength 

Seraphim 

6    Tiphereth 

Sun                       Beauty 

Mage 

7    Netzach 

Venus                   Victory 

Beni  Elohim 

8    Hod 

Mercury               Splendor 

Gods 

9    Ycsod 

Moon                    Intelligence 

Living  One 

lo    Malkuth 

Elements              Kingdom 

Cherubim 

TABLE  OF   HEBREW   OR  CHALDEE   LETTERS, 

WITH  THEIR  OCCULT  MEANING  AND  RELATION  TO  THE  DEIFIC  ENEBGIlt 


?. 


^tter. 

Name, 

Hieroglyph. 

Signification, 

Attribute 

K 

Aleph 

Ox 

Crown 

Inscrutabl 

3 

Beth 

House 

Wisdom 

Father 

J 

Gimel 

Camel 

Sensation 

Mother 

T 

Daleth 

Door 

Expression 

Mighty  0 

n 

He 

Lattice 

Acquisition 

Fear 

1 

Vau 

Peg-nail 

Activity 

Knowledi 

r 

Zayin 

Weapon 

Morality 

Chariot 

n 

Cheth 

Enclosure 

Imagination 

Justice 

D 

Teth 

Serpent 

Meditation 

Fate 

♦ 

Yod 

Hand 

Realization 

Queen 

n> 


THE  ORIGIN   OF   SYMBOLISM.  106 

Tbe  above  personifications,  qualitative  terms,  or  numeral  attri- 
butes of  Deity  which  epitomize  cosmogonies  in  the  names  of  num- 


'^^  "Bnddba  of  the  boundless  Ufe."  The  Iranscendeal  Image  of  the  universe,  diffusing 
dinnc  tSnlgence  in  &Q  ennead  of  pure  rays  characterized  on  the  sacred  wheel  (i.  and  lo. 
t*uig  idenliol),  u  humanity.  SmiUl  ftguies  indicate  ultimate  altainment  of  Buddhahood. 
Ailhelell  are  the  "Ancient,"  the  "Temple"  (Nun),  "Supernal  Queen,"  Ambassador, 
Offiwi.  At  the  right  appear  the  "  Virgin  "  (Mourner),  "  Mercbani,"  "  Maid,"  "  Lord," 
"Jntt  mm."  Ad  interesting  parallel  to  this  symbolical  decad  may  be  seen  in  the  Tarot 
(Mt. 


106  INTELLIGENCE, 

bers,  compose  the  symbolic  category  of  principles,  originally  arranged 
within  a  formal  grouping  of  nine  squares,  known  as  the  "  Mansions 
of  the  Gods,"  and  mystically  as  the  "  Magic  Square  of  Saturn,  Lord 
of  Fate,"  referred  to  in  a  former  article.  There  were  known  to  be 
fifty  different  ways  of  placing  the  ten  numeral  signs  within  the  nine 
houses;  one  and  ten,  being  identical,  always  occupied  the  first  house. 
These  were  the  Fifty  Gates  of  Knowledge,  one  of  which,  the  "  Golden 
Gate,"  constituted  the  vita!  formula  of  the  system  of  the  Gematria 
method  of  determining  the  relative  value  of  signs  comprising  the 
secret  teaching  of  the  Law,  and  also  of  calculating  cabalistic  aflini- 


Ancienl  Chinese  atrangeoienl  of  the  Ennead  of  allribules  and  order  of  reception  and 


ties,  mythological  relationships,  and  the  occult  meaning  of  religious 
formularies.  To  divert  attention  from  this  primitive  arrangement  and 
render  the  plan  occult  and  practically  impossible  of  discovery,  the 
priesthood  conspired  to  change  the  "  Magic  Square  "  to  circular 
form,  which  resulted  in  the  investiture  of  the  "  Sacred  Wheel  of  the 
Law"  with  the  eternal  attributes,  the  centre  and  circumference, 
counting  as  two  houses  to  accommodate  the  ten  deific  energies.  This 
circular  form  explains  the  significance  attached  to  "  the  convex," 
"  the  concave,"  "  the  tangent,"  and  "  the  abyss  "  by  alchemical  sym- 


THE   ORIGIN    OF   SYMBOLISM. 


Temple  Bell  uF  broni^c 
gill  —  Japanese,  sur- 
mounled  wjlh  treasure 
charm  shrine  of  pa- 
goda furni  showing  tho 
■ '  Tee  "  fmial  of  9  cir- 
cular receptacles  of  <he 
effulgence  of  deity. 
Occasionally  the 
"Tee  "  finiHl  will  have 
13  circular  pieces  to  in- 
clude the  4  chief  diree- 
lions  with  the  enncod 
of  influemial  mcdin. — 


Orii 


108  INTELLIGENCE. 

bolism.  This  wheel  is  common  to  all  ancient  cosmogonies  invented 
for  the  world  and  all  time,  which  alone  can  elucidate  the  secret  mys- 
teries ot  faith  and  devotion  in  religious  ceremonies,  always  leading 
to  abundant  beneficence  when  accepted  as  spiritual  principles,  or  to 
superstition  and  fantasticalism  when  adopted  as  by  ignorant  approval. 


**  Swastika,"  Inferior  Direction.  "  Swastika,"  Superior  Direction. 

The  Ennead  of  spiritual  principles,  with  their  eternal  relationships 
definitely  determined  by  the  plan  of  the  sacred  wheel,  have  been  the 
inspiration  of  a  vast  religious  literature  wisely  written  in  the  mystic 
language  of  allegory  and  symbolism,  forming  the  foundation  of  all 
the  great  Bibles,  any  literal  translation  of  which  alone  is  certain  to 
lead  to  fatuitous,  if  not  fatal,  results. 

The  order  in  which  the  decad  of  universal  signs,  personifications, 
and  qualitative  terms  are  placed  on  the  sacred  wheel  according  to 
the  "  golden  gate  "  of  interpretation  (reserved  for  the  present)  is 
deeply  interesting,  for  they  nowhere  in  mystic  association  of  affini- 
ties complete  a  cosmogonical  circle,  nor  yet  the  form  of  a  spiral; 
but  on  the  contrary  enforce  the  tangential  course  of  material  and 
spiritual  progression  which  is  symbolized  in  all  countries  by  the 
"  Swastika  "  cross,  that  fatal  emblem  of  superstitious  terror  to  the 
uninitiated  in  all  ages.  The  wheel  is  breaking  perpetually  and  as  often 
renewed  as  humanity  sacrifices  in  pain  and  exults  in  pleasure;  it  has 
been  the  unspeakable  secret  of  the  ages. 

The  arms  of  the  imaginary  cosmic  cross,  the  "  Swastika,"  are 
sustained  in  Taurus,  Leo,  Scorpio,  Aquarius,  the  fixed  signs  of  the 
zodiacal  belt  of  the  heavens,  the  solar  cross  being  sustained  by  the 
cardinal  points. 

The  symbolism  of  the  honored  game  of  chess,  which  is  also  traced 
beyond  authentic  history,  was  designed  as  a  preservative  illustration 
of  the  living  struggle  prefigured  in  the  categories  of  the  mystic  wheel 
and  represents  the  allegorical  legend  of  humanity  which  is  every- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SYMBOLISM. 


109 


wtktvt  written  the  same  as  a  highly  involved  contest  in  miniature, 
w"  It  ere  men  of  the  dual  legions  of  the  luminous  white  and  the  malefic 
blsick  are  endowed  with  eminence  and  powers  intimately  related  to 
thcdeific  attributes. 

We  may  easily  trace  the  primitive  Ennead  of  attributes  in  the 
cig-ht  pieces  and  the  victor;  and  notably  even  the  patient  "  pawn  " 
trksty  become  a  victor  and  occupy  the  central  compartment  of  the 
"  oelcstial  mansions."     The  dominating  privilege  accorded  to  the 
*•  queen  "  in  the  game  of  chess  suggests  again  the  ancient  faith  in 
the  feminine  principle,  the  second  law,  as  the  unique  positive  equiva- 
lent.  The  **  bishop  "  can  move  only  on  the  bias,  which  may  convey 
a    subtle  reflection  upon  the  animus  of  the  priestly  office.     The 
''  knight "  is  Hermes,  thought,  and  jumps  about  on  the  chess-board 
2ls  befits  the  prerogatives  of  the  human  mind  in  its  field  of  activity. 
The  "  castle  "  is  supposed  to  contain  the  congregation.     No  one 
iarailiar  with  the  profound  possibilities  of  the  game  of  chess  can  es- 
cape its  suggestive  enforcement  of  the  deepest  sigh  of  the  human 
heart,  that  "  men  must  work  and  women  must  weep  "  ere  the  voice 
divine  may  sing. 

The  formal  denaries  of  our  common  playing-cards,  together  with 
the  emblazoned  coat-figures,  4  kings,  4  queens,  4  knaves,  compris- 


C^liildren's  game  of  Hop-ScoCch  traced  to  the  ennead  of  graces  of  primitive  times, 

charged  with  the  cosmic  cross. 

H  four  series  of  thirteen  each,  distinguished  by  the  familiar  symbols 
wK)wn  as  clubs,  hearts,  spades,  and  diamonds,  respectively,  are  im- 
P^nt  in  symbolization,  and  prove  their  identity  of  origin  with 
l^nutive  symbolical  signs  by  a  certain  definable  correspondence  of 


110  INTELLIGENCE. 

Structure  and  hidden  purpose.  These  cards  were  desigjned  to  sym- 
bolize the  exterior,  modifying  influences  connected  with  the  celestial 
zodiac,  as  a  hovering  veil  of  the  impenetrable  decrees  of  fate.  They 
were  used  in  divination,  and  I  shall  call  them  the  "  Deck  "  cards  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  less  common  "  Tarot  "  cards,  the  "  Sacred 
Book  of  Thoth  "  which  treat  of  the  numeral  alphabet  proper.  The 
combined  synthetic  symbolism  of  the  wheel,  popular  games,  chess, 
deck  cards,  and  Tarot  cards  is  unequivocally  based  on  the  sublime 
Ennead  of  eternal  attributes  of  the  Infinite  and  teaches  occultly  of 
the  possibilities  of  existence  as  the  chance  of  a  complicated  game  de- 
pending largely  on  the  skill  of  the  player. 


Crystal  Ball — Symbol  of  the  Spirit.     Ensphered  image  in  the  globule;  primordial  cell. 

The  Oriental  theory  is  that  the  decad  of  spiritual  functions  of 
the  soul,  the  ancestor  worthy  of  all  praise,  ensphered  by  a  concen- 
trating centre,  called  the  apathetic  cell,  blossoms  into  the  initial  image 
as  it  descends  into  matter  and  assumes  structural  form  through  the 
crystallization  caused  by  the  creative  **  Voice,"  "  Music  of  the 
Spheres,"  or  vibration;  receiving  differentiation  from  environment, 
which  is  the  modifying  forces  of  planetary  conformation  prefigured 
in  the  twelve  zodiacal  houses  of  the  ecliptic.  The  symbolical  wheel 
in  which  are  traced  spiritual  similitudes  throws  out  but  eight  pure 
rays  which,  together  with  the  inner,  the  outer,  the  above,  the  below. 


THE  ORIGIN   OF   SYMBOLISM. 


Ill 


make  twelve  receptacles  of  sensation,  the  ultimate  number,  the  fatal 
liiirteen,  being  the  path  of  transformation,  either  to  the  above  or 
below,  symbolized  in  the  Tarot  cards  by  the  reaper  Death. 


Ten  Bells,  to  symbolize  (he  vibralion  of  Ihe  etementals. 


processional  trophy.) 


The  game  of  chess  shows  the  adaptability  of  the  Ennead  of  the 
interior  graces  in  human  affairs.  In  the  four  sequences  of  our  com- 
mon playing-cards  we  must  look  with  oracular  mind  for  the  portents 
of  fateful  exterior  influences  written  in  the  constellations  which  con- 
lain  the  problems  of  the  future,  according  to  the  belief  of  ancient 
limes;  and  they  relate  absolutely  to  the  four  seasons  of  the  year, 


iBt  Bird  b  (he  Stm.   Feminine  ethereal  and  posilive.  Three  feet  =  Non-prograssive.   (Chinese.) 

"Th  their  extensions,  and  also  to  houses  of  the  zodiac.  In  the  prac- 
'•M  ol  augury,  the  cards  find  a  curious  parallel  in  the  breast-plate 
"Wi  by  the  Jewish  High  Priest,  adorned  with  twelve  precious  stones 
"pon  which  were  engraved  various  zodiacal  signs  as  the  banner- 
"anies  <rf  the  tribes  of  Israel. 


U2  INTELLIGENCE. 

It  will  be  my  endeavor  to  treat  these  subjects  separately  at  sonw 
future  time.  The  divine  attributes  of  the  ancient  octic  "  Wheel  m 
Fortune  "  have  aroused  in  all  nationalities,  from  Egypt  to  Japan 
much  ot  the  native  instinct  of  primordial  necessity  of  preservation 
which  has  proved  to  be  an  enduring  inspiration  to  the  religious  tenet: 
involved  in  taking  care  of  self  and  otfters  with  prayerful  devotion  b 
all  things  of  reasonable  benefit.  This  is  the  one  creed  innate  in  primitiva 
theology  that  can  never  be  superseded.  Upon  this  creed  has  alway- 
rested  the  hope  of  humanity  as  expressed  by  Paul,  "  Christ  in  yon 
the  hope  of  glory  "  (Col.  i.  25-27),  the  conscious  spirit  of  the  Infinit- 
inherited,  anointed  with  privilege  of  choice,  and  capable  of  becon 
ing  "  Adonai,"  a  new  helper,  the  "  Osiris,"  the  ideal  Messiah  bj 
attainment;  a  prophetic  prerogative  of  the  individual  wrested  froc 
the  priesthood  and  presented  to  the  common  people  by  the  revere 
Nazarene. 

This  perfectly  developed  system  of  synthetic  thought  in  philoa 
ophy  and  religion  was  in  existence  as  a  foundation  of  mystic  sym 
bology,  myth,  and  fable  at  the  very  dawn  of  the  period  of  the  bes 
art  of  antiquity,  and  is  now  receiving  proof  daily  of  its  integrity  fron 
the  results  of  archxological  research.    The  vast  artistic  remains  re- 


Myttic  Wheel  of  ihe  hidden  deity  and  S'  direction!,  with  ihe  "Trinity"  occapyiug  ibecenod 
whorl,  ihuf  completing  the  decad  of  (he  graces  of  (he  Infinite. — Old  cwing  from  Medti 
(obiidian) — collection  of  the  author. 

cently  unearthed  in  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor  have  disclosed  no  nen 
types.  If  we  accept  the  theory  of  the  survival  of  the  best  in  art  and 
thoughts,  we  must  apparently  con6ne  our  research  to  the  Meditep 


THE  ORIGIN   OF  SYMBOLISM.  113 

ranean  water-shed  for  final  evidence  of  the  first  blossoming  of  man's 
conscious  superiority  over  nature. 

The  symbolism  and  art  of  India,  China,  and  Japan  is  distinctly 
marked  by  a  convincing  progressive  refinement  which  suggests  con- 


'Vi$vm.Vtjra."  Pointed  cross  with  lotus  centre — "Thunder-bolt  of  the  four  directions."   A 

magical  charm  in  malefic  influence  ;  bronze  gilt. 

tinuous  drinking  at  the  parent  fountain  of  inspiration ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  the  primitive  art  of  the  Toltecs  of  Mexico  and  Central 
America  everywhere  presents  symbolism  founded  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  that  of  the  Mediterranean  races,  but  disclosing  only  evi- 
dence of  decadence  and  debasement  in  all  her  vast  ruined  cities,  such 
^  might  be  the  natural  effect  of  isolation  by  calamity,^  or  of  being 
soddenly  cut  off  from  the  inspiration  of  early  tradition  and  example. 
An  micommon  archaeological  find  has  been  recently  brought  to  me 
from  Mexico.  It  is  no  less  than  a  representation  of  the  "  Mystic 
^Ueel"  of  the  Semitic  race  of  the  Mediterranean  valley,  shaped  in 
volcanic  obsidian,  seven  inches  in  diameter,  a  picture  of  which  is 
P^*en  herewith.  On  the  obverse  will  be  seen,  carved  in  good  lapidary 
style,  the  eight  pure  rays  in  glyphs  of  fire  and  water  signs,  masculine 
*nd  feminine,  alternating,  the  centre  whorl  occupied  by  the  "  Trin- 
^)'*'  indicated  by  two  masculine  and  one  feminine  signs.  Three- 
kwhs  of  the  periphery  has  a  band  one  inch  in  depth  on  which  are 
formal  scales  of  the  serpent.  On  a  portion  projecting  from  the  rim 
of  the  disc  is  carved  in  full  relief  the  girdled  head  of  Deity,  having 
elongated  ears  pierced,  to  be  seen  from  the  otherwise  plain  reverse 
^de.   This  is  intended  for  the  head  of  the  Infinite,  hidden  as  the  One 

• 

*^  always  hidden  and  impossible  to  realize,  a  simple  childish  effort 
n«rc  to  correctly  portray  a  tradition  of  mystic  significance  inherited 
^om  a  long-obscured  past. 


114  INTELLIGENCE. 

Certainly  the  mystic  wheels  were  never  intended  to  be  lod 
upon  as  "  sun-symbols  "  or  calendar  emblems! — and  I  have  not  b 
able  to  discern  in  the  remains  of  prehistoric  Americans  evidence 
a  period  of  inventive  industry  distinguishing  their  civilization,  [ 
only  a  seeming  tendency  to  rest  in  efforts  to  perpetuate  types  fr 
a  tradition  long  separated  from  the  living  fountain;  the  resulU 
which  are,  as  we  see  them,  a  monumental  fantasticalism  showing 
best  feelings  of  their  nature  to  have  been  degraded  by  superstiti 
The  hidden  Deity  of  this  mystic  wheel  from  Mexico  proves  its  inti 
rity,  and  points  unmistakably  to  a  foreign  nativity  of  the  art-impd 
of  the  race.  A  more  convincing  proof  of  the  migration  of  symboli 
the  continent  of  ancient  America  could  scarcely  be  anticipated.  ; 
vestigation  has  proved  the  antiquity  of  symbology,  and  that 
philosophies  adhere  to  the  primitive  method  which  discloses  the  a 
of  the  expression  of  nature,  God,  Soul,  and  immortality,  and  that) 
first  blossom  was  the  true  type  of  all,  and  divine. 

RuFus  E.  MooRt 


The  "Hidden"  Deicy  is  seen  from  the  reverse  of  the  Mjntic  Wheel  from  Meuca  j 


THE  DOGMA  OF  THE  TRINITY.  115 


THE  DOGMA  OF  THE  TRINITY. 

It  is  surprising  how  easily  the  Christian  dogmatician  can  formu- 
late a  theory,  based  upon  apparent  historical  authority,  which  when 
examined  proves  to  be  a  bubble  quickly  exploded  by  the  first  breath 
of  opposition. 

Joseph  Cook  at  one  time  reached  the  very  pinnacle  of  polemical 
prominence  as  a  scholarly  defender  of  orthodox  Christianity.     At 
this  advanced  day   (but  a  single  generation  in   the   progress   of 
thought),  when  we  return  to  his  somewhat  antiquated  and  withal 
fostian  pages,  we  are  amazed  that  such  grandiloquent  but  anaemic 
substance  ever  lived  a  day  in  literature.    But  we  are  still  more  amazed 
at  his  audacious  assertiveness,  his  sophistical  fallacies,  so  pompously 
proclaimed  in  the  midst  of  this  learned  age.     In  his  defence  of  the 
dogma  of  the  Trinity  he  propounds  seven  propositions  in  which  he 
ondcrtakes  to  demolish  James  Freeman  Clarke's  statement  that 
"down  to  the  time  of  the  Synod  of  Nice — ^Anno  Domini  325 — no 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  existed  in  the  Church.''  *    To  prove  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  existed  previous  to  that  date.  Cook  quotes  a 
statement  made  by  the  Emperor  Adrian  to  the  effect  that  "  Alex- 
andria is  divided  between  the  worship  of  Serapis  and  Christ."    He 
farther  quotes  the  famous  passage  in  Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan :  "  They 
[Christians]  are  accustomed  to  meet  on  certain  days  and  sing  hymns 
to  Christ  as  god."    He  quotes  one  or  two  more  rumored  statements 
d  the  martyrs  who  when  given  to  the  flames  proclaimed  their  faith 
""the Holy  Trinity  in  the  midst  of  their  torture.f 

But  these  seemingly  weighty  authorities  vanish  into  nothingness 
*^  put  under  the  microscope.  Pliny's  innuendo  as  to  Christ  is 
^'^hless.  In  Pliny's  day  many  a  human  being  was  deified  by  popu- 
w acclaim.    Cassius,  speaking xlerisively  of  Caesar,  exclaims: 

"  And  this  man  is  now  become  a  god!  " 

Tmths  and  Errors  of  Orthodoxy,  p.  508. 
*Cook,  Orthodoxy,  p.  85. 


11? 


116 


INTELLIGENCR 


Even  the  Bible  itself  uses  the  term  "god"  in  this  sense.  "T 
shall  not  revile  the  gods  "  (marginal  reading,  "  or,  judges  ").*  " ' 
standeth  in  the  congregation  of  the  mighty;  he  judgeth  among 
gods"  {"judges").t  Pliny  could  easily  have  conceived  that  the  0 
tians  regarded  Christ  as  a  god  in  the  same  sense  as  he  would  rei 
.one  of  the  heroes  of  his  day  who  had  been  deified. 

In  after  years  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  adopted  the  same 
torn  by  canonizing  its  most  exalted  devotees  and  praying  to  thei 
"  saints."  If  we  translate  the  pagan  term  "  god  "  by  the  Cat! 
word  "  saint  "  we  shall  grasp  the  heathen  notion  of  deity  and  see 
utter  futility  of  Cook's  effort  to  drag  in  Pliny  as  authority  in  sup 
of  his  theory  that  the  earliest  Christians  held  the  same  idea  of 
trinity  that  we  have  held  since  the  Nicene  council. 

We  have  a  very  good  Biblical  illustration  of  how  the  ane 
heathens  regarded  the  term  "  god  "  in  the  curious  incident  recoi 
in  the  Acts  concerning  Paul  and  Barnabas.  J  When,  at  Lystn 
the  story  runs,  they  cured  a  cripple,  the  people  cried  out,  "  The  ( 
are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men."  The  ancients  cl< 
held  no  such  far-away  and  awful  notion  of  Deity  as  we  do,  and  PIJ 
reference  to  Christ  as  "  god  "  was  manifestly  of  this  character, 
audacious  author  then  quotes  a  few  passages  from  Polycarp 
Clement,  which  in  a  vague  and  colorless  fashion  seem  to  intil 
the  Divinity  of  Jesus  but  do  not  bear  directly  upon  the  Trinity  d 
Godhead.  Nevertheless,  as  if  he  had  advanced  positive  and  in 
trovertible  proof  instead  of  mere  rambling  assertions  and  fustian  b 
bast,  he  declares  that  the  literature  of  the  ante-Nicene  church  (b« 
A.D.  325)  "  everywhere  proclaims  God  as  three  in  one,  omnipre 
in  natural  law;  "  and  "  that  that  doctrine  is  the  teaching  of  the 
three  centuries."  § 

Some  fifteen  years  ago  when  Joseph  Cook  thundered  froni 
Boston  throne  and  shook  his  Jove-like  head  it  was  supposed  thai 
entire  theological  world  quivered  to  its  centre  and  his  every  an 
onist  was  hurled  irrecoverably  to  the  ground. 

*  Exodus,  xjtii.  28. 

t  Ps.  Ixxxii.  I.    Also.  John  x.  34.  3S:  "  Is  it  not  written  in  your  law,  I  sai 
are  gods?    If  then  he  called  them  '  gods  '  unto  whom  the  word  of  God  came, 
t  Acts  xiv,  8  to  II.  t  Cook,  Orthodoxy,  pp.  86,  87. 


THE  DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  117 

Now,  what  says  history?  To  begin  with,  the  ante-Nicene  age  was 
the  anti-theological  age  of  the  church.  The  philosophical  spirit,  still 
overlapping  Christianity  from  the  preceding  reign  of  Plato  and  Aris- 
totle, prevailed  in  Christian  thought.  Polycarp,  Irenaeus,  Clement, 
and  Justin  Martyr  were  not  polemics;  they  did  not  fight  for  a  dogma; 
they  rather  chose  to  breathe  in  their  utterances  the  effusions  of  love 
and  tnithfulness  in  imitation  of  their  yet  undisguised  Master.  For 
the  first  time  in  history  thought  was  absolutely  free.  The  limits  of 
thought  were  as  boundless  as  the  imagination.  In  such  an  atmos- 
phere it  was  inevitable  that  the  largest  learning  should  be  accorded 
to  him  who  spoke  most  directly  to  the  heart,  the  conscience,  and  the 
reason."  *  Says  Pressense,  in  his  "  Christian  Life  in  the  Early 
Church"!  :  "  With  reference  to  Christian  doctrine,  properly  so  called, 
the  catacombs  give  us  the  broadest  possible  view  of  it ;  we  find  our- 
selves still  in  the  age  of  freedom,  which  precedes  the  great  councils 
and  their  theological  decretals.  The  faith  which  lives  in  representa- 
tions in  the  catacombs  is  peculiarly  characterized  by  the  absence  of 
theology,  properly  so  called,  with  its  subtle  distinctions  and  formal 
s)*stems;  so  much  so,  that  there  is  no  believer  in  our  day  who  may  not 
find  there  the  simple  and  popular  expression  of  his  own  faith/' 

Such  is  the  statement  of  an  orthodox  but  able  and  impartial  his- 
torian concerning  the  theological  status  of  the  ante-Nicene  church. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  church  with  a  religion,  but  without  a  fixed,  bewil- 
feing,  and  incomprehensible  theology.  It  had  a  faith  but  no  sys- 
ton;  a  living  hope — but  no  dictum  of  salvation.  The  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  as  understood  by  all  Christendom  since  the  days  of 
Athanasitts  could  no  more  find  hospitable  reception  in  that  anti- 
tkedogical  age  than  could  a  solid  globe  of  matter  float  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  this  planet  without  being  attracted  to  its  surface. 

Only  by  intentional  perversion  of  the  palpable  meaning  of  the 
writings  of  the  ante-Nicene  Fathers  can  their  assertions  be  twisted 
®to  a  corroboration  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Trinity.  To  learn 
"^  N-ariously  and  loosely  the  early  Christians  construed  the  after- 
<k^elopcd  and  fixed  dogma  of  the  Trinity,  we  need  but  know  that  the 


.  Allen'i  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought,  p.  3, 
^'W..  lAge  soB. 


118  INTELLIGENCE. 

Montanists,  who  sustained  about  the  same  relation  to  the  and 
church  as  the  Spiritualists  doto  the  modem,  and  who  were  denoum 
as  heretics,  believed  in  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  "1 
Cataphrygians,  or  Montanists,"  says  Epiphanius,  "  accepted 
whole  of  sacred  scripture,  both  Old  and  New,  and  confess  also 
resurrection  of  the  dead;  they  hold  the  same  views  as  the  H 
Catholic  Church  with  regard  to  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit. 
Even  Pressense  says  of  the  Montanist  conception  of  the  doctri 
"  Montanism  was  no  pioneer  in  theology;  its  doctrine  of  the  trit 
has  no  more  precision  than  had  the  orthodoxy  of  the  age  on  this  to 
dark  and  difficult  point."  t  If  the  Montanists  believed,  as  s 
Epiphanius,  in  the  same  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  did  the  Holy  Ca 
olic  Church,  and  if,  as  Pressense  says,  the  Montanists  had  no  pret 
conception  of  the  doctrine,  then,  manifestly  on  historic  proof,  ' 
early  (i.e.,  the  Catholic)  church  held  no  precise  but  merely  a  lo 
and  ill-defined  understanding  of  this  mystery. 

Irenxus  says,  "  If  it  is  asked  in  what  manner  did  the  Son  proc< 
from  the  Father,  we  reply  that  this  procreation,  this  generation,  t 
production,  this  manifestation,  or  call  it  what  you  will,  this  unull 
able  generation  is  known  to  none;  not  to  angels,  archangels,  pt 
cipalities,  or  powers.  It  is  known  to  the  Father  alone,  who  brou| 
forth  the  Son,  and  to  the  Son  who  is  born  of  him.  His  general 
cannot  be  told."  t 

While  in  this  passage  Irenasus  seems  to  hint  at  the  modern  dog 
concerning  the  second  person  of  the  Godhead,  he  shows  how  sue 
perversion  of  his  understanding  would  be  wholly  unwarranted, 
says,  "  The  universal  Father  is  indeed  above  all  human  affections  l 
passions.  He  is  a  simple  and  not  a  compound  being — ever  equal  l 
unchangeable."  §  "  As  God  is  in  all  spirit,  all  reason,  all  operati 
mind,  all  light,  ever  identical  and  equal  with  himself,  we  may  not  th 
of  him  as  in  any  sense  divided."  \\ 

But  the  modern  orthodox  polemic  insists  upon  quoting  tli 


*  Pressens^'s  Early  Years  (Heresy  and  Doctrine),  page  103. 
t  Ibid.,  page  125. 
t  Ibid.,  paxe  370- 
llbid.  (Heresy),  p.  377. 
n  Ibid.,  page  379. 


THE'  DOGMA   OF   THE  TRINITY.  119 

vague  passages  from  the  Fathers  to  bolster  up  and  sustain  doctrinal 
points  for  which  they  were  never  intended.  It  is  such  colorless,  in- 
conclusive, and  ill-defined  intimations  of  the  ancients  on  which  Joseph 
Cook,  and  all  modem  dogmatists,  rest  the  astounding  declaration 
that  the  ante-Nicene  "  literature  copiously  asserts  .  .  .  that 
God  as  three  in  one  is  omnipresent  in  natural  laws,"  and  "  is  the 
teaching  of  the  first  three  centuries." 

But  what  is  this  doctrine  for  which  the  church  contends  so  ar- 
dently and  which  is  incorporated  in  every  modern  Christian  creed 
either  directly  or  indirectly?  Is  it  a  scriptural  doctrine?  Is  it  a  doc- 
trine exclusively  Christian,  or  was  it  also  taught  in  other  religions 
which  existed  many  centuries  antecedent  to  Christianity? 

While  it  may  seem  to  some  that  it  is  a  mere  waste  of  time  to  re- 
vamp the  old  discussion  and  point  out  anew  the  falseness  of  the 
aadcnt  position  of  the  creed,  on  the  ground  that  but  few  are  inter- 
ested to-day  in  maintaining  it,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  are 
told  every  honest  Christian  must  mentally  accept  the  dogma,  on  the 
peril  of  his  salvation,  no  matter  how  inexplicable  or  absurd  it  may 
appear  to  him.  No  theologian  pretends  to  explain  the  doctrine,  much 
tes  to  comprehend  it.  Indeed  they  all  admit  that  they  must  accept 
it  as  a  revealed  doctrine,  in  spite  of  its  irrationality  and  because  of 
its  very  incomprehensibility.  Nevertheless  every  Christian  communi- 
cant b  taught  to  believe  that  if  he  rejects  the  dogma  he  does  so  at 
the  risk  of  eternal  condemnation.  Says  Dr.  Watson,  "  We  now  ap- 
proach the  great  mystery  of  our  faith — for  the  declaration  of  which 
w  arc  so  exclusively  indebted  to  the  Scriptures  that  not  only  is  it 
•w^frfe  of  proof,  a  priori;  but  it  derives  no  direct  confirmatory  evi- 
faicc  from  the  existence  and  wise  and  orderly  arrangement  of  the 
•oAs  of  God."  *  Again  he  says,  "  More  objectionable  than  the  at- 
tenpts  which  have  been  made  to  prove  this  mystery  by  mere  argu- 
™«Jt  are  pretensions  to  explain  it."  f 

If  this  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  so  incapable  either  of  proof  or 
explanation,  and  is  likewise  repugnant  to  reason,  why,  then,  was  it 
"»corporated  in  the  system  of  Christian  theology  and  made  the  chief 


'  Jnstitmcs  of  Theology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  447. 
^  'W.,  Vol  I.,  p.  44a 


I 


120        '  INTELLIGENCE. 

corner-stone  of  the  entire  structure?    We  shall  soon  see  that  it  slo*^ 
crept  unrecognized  into  the  Christian  system  from  the  pagan 
heathen  schools  of  philosophy,  and  was  thence  adapted  to  Cath4 
theology  in  the  same  manner  as  the  usages  and  ceremonies  of 
ancient  religions  were  rehabilitated  and  Christianized  in  the  Cathi 
rites  and  customs.     "  It  has  been  the  vice  of  the  Christians  of 
third  century  to  involve  themselves  in  certain  metaphysical  questic 
which,  if  considered  in  one  light,  are  too  sublime  to  become  the  s 
ject  of  human  wit;  if  in  another,  too  trifling  to  gain  the  attentiot 
reasoning  men."    *'  As  soon  as  the  copious  language  of  Greece  ^ 
vaguely  applied  to  the  definition  of  spiritual  things,  and  the  expla 
tion  of  heavenly  mysteries,  the  field  of  contention  seemed  to  be 
moved  from  earth  to  air — where  the  foot  found  nothing  stable 
rest  on."  *    So  long  as  the  prelates  had  confined  themselves  to 
mere  language  of  scripture  and  only  repeated  the  sayings  of 
Apostles  without  undertaking  to  explain  them  philosophically,  th 
arose  no  confusion  or  dispute.    But  when  the  more  learned  pag 
began  to  enter  the  churches  (those  who  had  been  schooled  in 
neo-platonic  systems  of  Alexandrian  philosophy),  they  undertool 
reduce  the  idealized  and  poetic  fancies  of  the  scriptures  into  fit 
systems  of  thought  and  theology.    They  hovered  long  between 
exalted  idealism  of  Plato,  which  for  a  time  found  a  sympathetic 
mosphere  in  the  teachings  of  Ammonius  Saccas  and  Plotinus,  J 
the  sterner  systems  which  at  length  found  expression  in  the  dedl 
tions  of  Athanasius  and  Augustine. 

No  one  can  read  the  history  of  the  Nicene  council — of  its  &i 
contentions,  its  brutish  attack  upon  the  Arians,  its  interminable  , 
gon  of  speech  and  culminating  confusion,  without  coming  to  the  C 
elusion  of  Constantine,  the  presiding  Emperor,  that  it  was  an  abs 
affair,  and  that  there  had  not  really  been  any  new  heresy  introdfS 
by  the  alleged  heretics,  but  that  all  the  contending  parties  r© 
fought  for  the  same  opinion,  although  they  could  not  understi 
each  other,  t 

But  theologians  are  unwilling  to  admit  that  the  doctrine  ha 

♦  Waddington's  History  of  the  Church,  p.  92. 
t  Ibid.,  p.  94. 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  121 

pagan  origin  and  insist  with  Dr.  Priestley  that  "  however  improbable 
in  itself,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  certain  peculiar  texts  of  Scripture ; 
and  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  these  particular  texts  we  should  have 
found  no  want  for  it,  for  there  is  neither  any  fact  in  nature,  nor  any 
purpose  of  morals,  which  are  the  subject  and  end  of  all  religion, 
which  require  it."  * 

It  behooves  us,  then,  to  inqyire  if  Dr.  Priestley's  dictum  is  cor- 
rect, and  if  Scripture  really  does  authorize  this  repugnant  and  irra- 
tional dogma.  Of  course  all  students  of  the  Bible  know  that  the  word 
** Trinity"  cannot  be  found  between  its  covers.  The  word  is  not 
scriptural  but  purely  theological;  it  is  not  only  theological  but 
polemical,  being  the  product  of  contention.! 

We  shall  find  it  necessary  to  understand  the  intellectual  atmos- 
phere of  the  days  of  early  Christianity  in  order  to  appreciate  the  in- 
troduction of  this  curious  idea  into  the  growing  theology.  There 
existed  then  two  great  parties  representing  diametrically  opposite 
phases  of  thought.  One  party  represented  the  spiritual  phase:  they 
were  the  esoterists,  the  illuminati.  The  other  stood  for  the  meta- 
physical thought,  in  the  sense  of  the  formal,  systematic,  and  logical. 
The  first  were  known  as  the  Gnostics,  consisting  of  a  number  of 
schools;  the  second  was  the  Alexandrian  or  philosophical  party,  which 
s<Might  to  foist  upon  Christian  theology  the  metaphysical  interpreta- 
tions which  were  consonant  with  the  theories  of  the  Greek  Acade- 
micians. Gnosticism  "  consisted  essentially  in  ingrafting  Christianity 
opon  Magianism.  It  made  the  Saviour  an  emanated  intelligence 
derived  from  the  eternal,  self-existing  mind;  this  intelligence,  and 
not  the  Man- Jesus,  was  the  Christ,  who  thus  being  an  impassive  phan- 
tom, afforded  to  Gnosticism  no  idea  of  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  none 
of  an  atonement."  I  am  quoting  from  Draper,:):  who  further  says: 
*"rhe  African  or  Platonic  Christianity  .  .  .  modified  the  Gnostic 
»<Iw  to  suit  its  own  doctrines,  asserting  that  the  principle  from 
*Wch  the  universe  originated  was  something  emitted  from  the  Su- 

9 

*  Watson's  Institutes  of  Theology,  Vol.  II.,  p.  452. 

.JTcrtulIian  in  the  third  century  first  introduces  the  word  in  his  fiery  discussion 
J'tn  Praxcas.  Vide  Waddington's  History  of  the  Church,  p.  77.  Pressens^'y 
'^^y  Years  (Heresy),  p.  437.  and  Century  Dictionary,  under  the  word  "Trini*** 

♦Draper's  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,  Vol.  I.,  p.  273. 


52  INTELLIGENCE. 

reme  Mind  and  capable  of  being  drawn  into  it  again,  as  they  sul  j)- 
osed  was  the  case  with  a  ray  and  the  sun."    The  Alexandrian  scho^^l, 
pparently  by  accident,  gave  rise  to  the  modern,  or  post-Nicer-me, 
otion  of  the  Trinity,  by  endeavoring  to  present  a  philosophical  ^  :x- 
lanation  of  the  theory  of  the  Sonship  of  the  Godhead.    In  the  tixraie 
f  the  Emperor  Hadrian  Christian  thought  had  become  thorougflr-»Iy 
ermeated  by  the  Platonizing  influences  of  the  Alexandrian  phil^^s- 
phers.    Following  the  habit  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  they  begj-.an 
)  regard  the  doctrine  of  the  procession  of  the  Son  from  the  Fattier 
5  something  mysterious.     Justin  Martyr's  illustrative  explanation 
ecame  very  popular.    He  said  as  one  lamp  was  lighted  from  anottier 
ithout  in  aught  diminishing  its  light,  so  the  glory  of  the  Son  p«ro- 
seded  from  that  of  the  Father,  without  detracting  from  it.    "  G^od 
I  God,  Light  of  Light." 

It  is  now  beyond  dispute  that  this  mysterious  interpretation  of 
le  doctrine  was  foisted  upon  Christianity  by  foreign  Oriental  influ- 
ices,  although  as  first  introduced  its  character  was  spiritual  and 
loflfensive. 

At  this  juncture  it  will  be  an  interesting  digression  to  trace  tl^^ 
istory  and  evolution  of  this  dogma,  not  only  in  the  Christian  Chur^:^^» 
nt  as  well  in  all  the  religions  of  the  world.    We  shall  discover  thB-^^ 
is  a  universal  doctrine;   a  conception,  which  either  in  poetic  a^""* 
eal  form,  or  in  formal  and  systematic  expression,  found  some  r^ 
isentation  in  all  the  ethnic  religions.    We  shall  also  discover 
ike  in  all  religions,  its  first  expression  is  poetic  and  exalted;  inspi 
r  the  voices  of  nature  and  the  experiences  of  mankind.    In  this  foi 
5  influence  was  ennobling;    it  uplifted  and  purified  the  faithf 
jvotee.    But  as  it  finally  takes  shape  in  the  crystallized  creed  of  tl 
lurch,  it  is  transformed  into  a  hard,  repulsive,  and  offensive  do 
-a  dogma  utterly  incomprehensible  by  the  keenest  intelligences  a: 
luseating  to  sensitive  and  refined  natures.    The  growth  of  this  d 
ine  pursues  the  same  course  in  all  the  religions  of  the  earth  alik 
lie  trend  of  human  history  is  ever  the  same;   the  heart  of  man 
entical  under  every  arc  of  the  circumambient  skies.     The  Ved— 
Vedanta  religion  is  probably  the  oldest  on  the  earth.    "  It  will 
fficult  to  settle  whether  the  Veda  is  the  oldest  of  books,  and  wheth 


THE  DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  123 

some  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  may  not  be  traced  back  to  the 
same  or  even  an  earlier  date  than  the  oldest  hymns  of  the  Veda.  But 
in  the  Aryan  world,  the  Veda  is  certainly  the  oldest  book,  and  its 
preservation  amounts  almost  to  a  marvel/'  *  Let  us  then  enquire 
whether  in  so  old  a  religion  we  shall  find  any  intimations  of  this  sup- 
posedly exclusive  Christian  dogma;  a  dogma  which,  according  to 
established  orthodox  authorities,  already  cited,  is  founded  absolutely 
on  scriptural  revelation.  Monier-Williams,  one  of  the  best  authori- 
ties on  the  Indian  religions,  writes  as  follows:  "  When  the  universal 
and  infinite  Brahma — the  only  really  existing  entity,  wholly  without 
form,  and  unbound  and  unaffected  by  the  three  Gunas  or  by  qualities 
of  any  kind — wished  to  create  for  his  own  entertainment  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  universe,  he  assumed  the  quality  of  activity  and  be- 
came a  male  person,  as  Brahma,  the  Creator.  Next,  in  the  progress 
of  still  further  self-evolution,  he  willed  to  invest  himself  with  the  sec- 
ond quality  of  goodness,  as  Vishnu,  the  Preserver,  and  with  the  third 
quality  of  darkness,  as  Shiva,  the  Destroyer.  This  development  of 
the  doctrine  of  triple  manifestation  {tri-miirti),  which  appears  first 
in  the  Brahmanized  version  of  the  Indian  epics,  had  already  been 
adumbrated  in  the  triple  form  of  fire,  and  in  the  triad  gods,  Agni, 
Suna,  and  Indra;  and  in  other  ways/'  f 

From  this  we  will  perceive  that  a  trinitarian  conception  prevailed 
even  at  the  very  dawn  of  history;  and  that  the  notion  grew  out  of 
the  effort  to  interpret  the  phenomena  of  existence.  In  the  Vedas 
Brahma  is  made  to  represent  the  universal  matrix — the  all-creative 
principle — out  of  which  every  visible  thing  has  been  evolved.  The 
process  of  evolution — the  harmonious  co-operation  of  the  cosmic 
functions,  maintaining  the  perpetuity  of  the  integral  universe — is  rep- 
resented by  Vishnu,  the  Preserver.  The  disintegrating  and  recon- 
structive forces  of  nature — repellance  and  cohesion — the  permanence 
of  life  in  the  midst  of  endless  disintegration  and  death — is  represented 
by  Shiva — the  Serpent — the  Destroyer. 

This  purely  poetic  interpretation  of  nature,  founded  on  meta- 
physical aptitudes,  gradually  deteriorated  into  a  more  tangible  and 

*Max  Muller,  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,  Vol.  I.,  p.  5. 
'Indian  Wisdom,  p.  324. 


124  INTELLIGENCE. 

material  conception,  transforming  the  three  forces  everywhere  r^rBani- 
fest  in  nature  into  individualities  and  self-conscious  persons. 

This  evolution  of  the  apparent  forces  of  nature  into  individualities 
is  evidenced  by  a  very  ancient  poet,  Kalidasa,  when  he  singj*s  in 
"  Kumara-sambhava  "  as  follows: 

In  those  three  persons  the  one  God  was  shown — 
Each  first  in  place— each  last — not  one  alone; 
Of  Shiva,  Vishnu,  Brahma,  each  may  be, 
First,  second,  third,  among  the  blessed  three.* 

It  is  not  a  subject  of  wonder  that  when  the  first  Christian    mis- 
sionaries discovered  these  evidences  of  extra-Bible  revelations  to 
these  heathen  people  they  were  baffled  and  confounded.     In   his 
"  Asiatic  Researches"  Sir  William  Jones  remarks  (Vol.  I.,  p.  272) 
that  the  missionaries  insisted  that  the  Hindus  were  almost  Christians, 
because  their  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Shiva,  were  no  other  than    the 
Christian  Deity.     The  limitations  of  this  paper  will  not  permit   ^^ 
to  illustrate  this  fact  any  further,  else  it  could  easily  be  shown  th^^ 
the  triad  or  trinitarian  conception  is  alike  found  in  the  Parsee,   *^^    [ 
Chinese,  the  Egyptian,  the  Jewish,  the  Mexican,  Aztec,  and  ind^^"    1 
in  every  religion  of  whose  cult  we  have  any  records  or  traditions-  i 

The  fact  that  these  startling  correspondences  can  be  traced  ^^ 
tween  Christianity  and  the  pre-existing  ethnic  religions  has  gi"^^^^ 
rise  to  two  antagonistic  conclusions,  neither  of  which  I  believe  ^'^^ 
history  of  thought  corroborates. 

On  the  one  hand  we  have  the  aggrieved  and  disconcerted  d^^S* 
matic  divines,  who  assert,  as  did  Francis  Hernandes,  when  he  wr^^^^ 
concerning  his  discoveries  among  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians^     ^ 
follows:  "  The  Indians  believed  in  the  God  who  was  in  heaven;  tl^^ 
this  God  was  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost!    It  is  strange  tl^^ 
the  Devil  has  brought  a  trinity  into  idolatry,  after  this  manner;     ^^ 
the  three  images  of  the  Son  signifieth  Father — the  Lord-Sun,    ^^^ 
Son-Sun,  and  the  Brother-Sun;   which  they  said  was  One  in  TH'^^ 
and  Three  in  One.    .    .    .    The  Devil  in  his  obstinate  pride   .    .    .     ^^ 
Steal  all  he  could  from  the  truth,  to  employ  it  in  his  lying  and  deceit-       ' 

♦Griffith's  Kumara-sambhava,  VII.  44;   also  Doane's  Bible  Myths,  p.  37a 
t  Kingsborough's  Mexican  Antiquities,  V©1.  VI.,  p.  64. 


THE   DOGMA   OF   THE   TRINITY.  126 

This  is  but  the  trick  of  the  purblind  dogmatician  who,  discover- 
ing aught  in  nature  which  confounds  the  dictum  of  his  creed  and 
disrupts  the  well-wrought  links  of  his  logic,  at  once  laments  that  the 
Devil  is  the  omnipresent  x  in  the  universe,  which  makes  all  scientific 
accuracy  an  impossibility,  when  such  accuracies  are  to  be  dovetailed 
with  alleged  revelation. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  equally  unacceptable  assertion 
by  the  sceptic,  that  all  such  discovered  correspondences  between 
Christianity  and  the  ethnic  religions  is  proof  prima-facie  of  fraud  and 
collusion,  and  are  sufficient  to  dishonor  all  their  claims  to  respectful 
consideration.    Thus  the  Rev.  Robert  Taylor  (an  unjustly  maligned 
and  persecuted  rejecter  of  Christianity)  says,  when  considering  the 
con-espondences  between  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  other  creeds  of  the 
Pagans:  "  As,  then,  the  so-called  Apostles'  Creed  is  admitted  to  have 
been  written  by  no  such  persons  as  the  Apostles,  and,  with  respect 
to  the  high  authority  which  has  for  so  many  ages  been  claimed  for 
it,  is  a  convicted  imposture  and  forgery,  the  equity  of  rational  evi- 
dence will  allow  weight  enough  to  overthrow  all  the  remains  of 
its  pretensions."  *      Such    conclusions    are    apparently    rash    and 
nnphilosophical. 

A  later  and  far  worthier  authority,  Mr.  C.  F.  Keary,  of  the  British 
Museum,  in  his  "  Outlines  of  Primitive  Belief,"  has  given  us  a  middle 
pound  on  which  to  rest,  and  one  where  our  conclusions  will,  I  think, 
^^e nearer  to  historical  accuracy.  He  says:  *'  When  resemblances, 
*uch  as  those  we  have  noticed,  are  to  be  found  in  the  religions  of  many 
different  peoples,  they  spring  out  of  the  fundamental  likeness  of  all  re- 
"pons,  as  being  products  of  human  thought.  .  .  .  The  ancients 
^I^vs  made  things  happen  in  the  way  of  importation  and  personal 
^fluence:  the  worship  of  a  god  in  their  traditions  is  generally  said 
^0  have  been  introduced  by  some  particular  hero.  But  such  is  not 
Ac  usual  history  of  religious  ideas.  Either  they  spring  up  naturally 
orthey  never  flourish  at  all."  f    But  that  the  conception  of  the  Trinity 

!  Jaylor's  Diegesis,  p.  lo. 
..jv  Kttry's  Outlines,  p.  220  ei  seq.;  also  vic/^*  Spencer's  First  Principles,  pp.  13,  14. 
fto  •  ^?*  ideas  of  one  kind  or  another  are  almost  universal.  ...  A  candid 
^"jination  of  the  evidence  quite  negatives  the  doctrine  maintained  by  some  that 
j/fw  arc  priestly  inventions.  ...  In  different  places  and  times,  like  conditions 
°*^^  led  to  similar  trains  of  thought  in  analogous  results." 


i 


126  INTELLIGENCE. 

has  emanated  from  the  far  misty  antiquity  of  thought  is  beyond  dis- 
pute. **  It  is  now  well  known  that  traces  of  this  doctrine  are  dis- 
covered not  only  in  the  three  principals  of  the  Chaldaic  theology; 
in  the  Triplasios  Mithra  of  the  Persians;  in  the  triad — Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Shiva  of  India;  but  in  the  Numen  Triplex  of  Japan;  in 
the  inscription  *  To  the  Triune  God  '  upon  the  famous  medal  found 
in  the  deserts  of  Siberia,  to  be  seen  at  this  day  in  the  valuable  cabinet 
of  the  Empress  at  St.  Petersburg;  in  the  Tanga-Tanga,  or  *  Three 
in  One,'  of  the  South  Americans,  and  finally,  without  mentioning 
the  vestiges  of  it  in  Greece,  in  the  symbol  of  the  Wing,  the  Globe, 
and  the  Serpent,  conspicuous  on  most  of  the  ancient  temples  in 
Upper  Egypt."  *  This  passage  was  written  as  early  as  1794  and  gave 
the  first  scientific  shock  to  the  comforting  assertions  of  the  dog- 
matic divines  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  originated  with  Chris- 
tianity and  found  its  authority  in  the  famous  passage  of  i  John  v.  7, 
now  long  admitted  to  be  an  interpolation  by  all  unprejudiced  Bible 
scholars,  f 

Having  thus  traced  this  doctrine  through  its  manifold  variations 
in  the  religions  of  the  earth,  it  will  be  interesting  to  still  further  pur- 
sue its  evolution  to  its  final  form  as  expressed  by  the  Nicene  Council 
A.D.  325.  It  will  be  curious  to  observe  how  materially  transformed 
and  signally  debased  a  purely  metaphysical  idea,  resting  on  natural 
phenomena,  becomes  when  passing  through  the  dry  brains  of  theo- 
logians. Some  have  discerned  a  mystical  origin  of  the  doctrine 
sprung  from  the  ancient  occult  knowledge  of  Nature.  **  That  heaven 
in  its  whole  complex  resembles  a  man  "  (it  is  Swedenborg  who  is 
speaking)  "  is  an  arcanum  not  yet  known  to  the  world.  Heaven  is 
the  greatest  and  the  Divine  Man.  The  ancients  called  man  a  micro- 
cosm, or  a  little  universe,  from  a  knowledge  of  correspondence  which 
the  most  ancient  people  possessed." 


♦Indian  Antiquities,  Thomas  Maurice,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  125-127.  Of  this  author, 
McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclo.  of  Bib.  Lit.  says  (s.v.):  "Noted  particularly  for 
his  studies  of  the  antiquities  of  India— was  Bishop  of  Lowth— the  irreligious  spirit 
of  the  French  Revolution  alarming  him.  induced  him  to  remodel  his  first  work 
after  it  was  nearly  completed,  and  to  devote  a  considerable  portion  to  the  disserta- 
tion on  Hindu  mythology.     The  work  remains  to  our  day  a  trustworthy  book 

of  reference." 

1 1  John  V.  7:  "  For  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost:  and  these  three  are  one." 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  127 

From  this  alleged  arcanum  the  notion  of  the  triplex  constituency 
of  the  starry  heavens  was  developed.  This  triplex  constituency  con- 
sisted in  the  pre-existing  essence  of  light;  the  starry  spheres  mani- 
festing this  light;  and  lastly  the  watchfulness  of  the  orbs  of  splendor 
over  the  fates  of  men.  Thus,  Light  was  the  pre-existing  Father;  the 
condensed  globes  of  the  stars — the  manifestation  of  light  in  concrete 
form— the  Son;  and  the  ever-present  rays  of  light  emanating 
from  the  heavens  constituted  the  Holy  Spirit.  Traces  of  this  con- 
ception are  to  be  found  all  through  ancient  art.  There  have  been 
found  pictures  of  a  man  suspended  in  mid-heavens — his  head  repre- 
senting the  Father — "  the  most  High  "  ;  his  heart  representing  the 
Son— the  luminous  centre  of  creation;  and  the  generative  organs 
representing — by  a  six-pointed  star — the  conjunction  of  the  higher 
forces  with  the  lower— or  "  the  overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ** 
in  the  affairs  of  man. 

However  mystical  and  unintelligible  this  arcane  interpretation  of 
nature  may  seem  to  modern  minds,  it  is  certainly  not  so  absurd  or 
irrational  as  its  crystallized  expression  in  the  Christian  Creed.  As 
I  have  shown  above,  the  apprehension  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
in  the  early  Christian  church  was  vague — expressed  in  loose  and  ill- 
deiined  language — and  not  considered  capable  either  of  interpreta- 
tion or  formalized  expression.  But  when  the  councils  of  the  church 
appropriated  it,  they  removed  it  from  its  vague  atmosphere  and 
sought  to  confine  it  in  specific  and  exact  language,  which,  though 
meaningless,  is  nevertheless  so  positive  as  to  allow  of  no  other  inter- 
pretation save  that  which  orthodox  authority  has  imposed. 

Before  quoting  the  dictum  of  Athanasius,  after  whose  thought 
the  dogma  found  its  final  expression — it  will  be  of  value  and  interest 
to  state  the  circumstances  which  compelled  the  church  council  to 
declare  itself  ex  cathedra  on  the  doctrine.  The  very  fact  that  the  great 
Council  of  Nicaea  was  forced  to  decide,  after  a  long,  heated,  brutal 
debate,  the  exact  and  authenticated  expression  of  the  dogma,  proves 
that  until  this  council  convened  in  the  year  325  there  was  no  author- 
ized or  fixed  interpretation  which  was  commonly  entertained.  This 
simple  fact  alone  is  suflScient  to  override  Joseph  Cook's  pompous 
declaration  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  we  now  understand  it 


128  INTELLIGENCE. 

was  the  universal  teaching  of  the  church  in  the  first  three  Q 
centuries. 

But  the  storm-centre  of  the  discussion  was  the  problem  tc 
the  divinity  of  the  second  person  of  the  Godhead  gave  rise, 
argued  by  Arius  and  his  followers  that  the  Son  proceeded  fr 
Father — as  it  was  commonly  understood  in  the  theology  of  tl 
but  if  the  Son  proceeded  from  the  Father — after  the  similil 
human  procreation — then  of  course  he  could  not  be  co-etem 
the  Father,  and  must  have  had  an  origin  or  creation.  This  i 
crucial  problem.  If  Arius  was  right,  then  the  theory  as  to 
which  the  orthodox  party  had  invented,  must  fall  to  the  grou 
the  worship  of  Jesus  be  declared  idolatrous. 

But  there  rose  up  to  contest  the  logic  of  the  saturnine  Li 
keen,  virile,  aggressive,  and  casuistical  antagonist,  whose  f 
personal  character  and  lack  of  intellectual  scruple  were  so  sti 
to  overpower  the  assembly  and  command  the  votes  of  the  m; 
For  let  no  student  of  religion  forget  that  everything  which  is 
the  essence  of  theological  Christianity  has  been  voted  into  aul 
as  any  law  is  enacted  by  a  legislature  or  parliament,  wholly  \ 
the  intervention  of  any  special  providence  or  revelation,  notwitl 
ing  the  constant  claim  that  all  the  doctrines  of  the  church  ; 
thorized  by  God  through  the  only  revelation  which  has  eve 
given  to  mankind. 

Nor  let  it  be  passed  as  a  slight  circumstance  that,  accon 
the  best  orthodox  authorities,  Arius  was  defending  the  real,  ao 
and  well-understood  interpretation  of  the  early  church.  "  I 
intending  simply  to  defend  the  old  doctrine.  He  doubtless  b 
that  he  was  maintaining  the  ancient  doctrine  of  the  church- 
tie  diflFerence  was  there,  according  to  Neander,  between  the  d 
of  Arius  and  that  of  the  preceding  ages/'  * 

Thus  the  entire  Christian  world  was  involved  in  a  discussl 
taining  to  a  theme  more  abstruse  and  recondite  than  any  t\ 
confronted  the  Academicians  or  Peripatetics  of  the  ancient  < 
Minds  ill  prepared  by  the  profound  investigations  of  science 

*  Neander's  Hist.  Christian  Religion,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  361-365,  as  quoted  in  ! 
Church  of  the  First  Three  Centuries,  p.  254  et  seq. 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  129 

discipline  of  philosophic  speculation  were  called  upon  to  decide  as 
to  metaphysical  differentiations  of  thought  from  which  the  philoso- 
phers of  antiquity  and  the  careful  students  of  our  day  would  recoil 
with  terror.  TertuUian  boasted  that  **  the  Christian  mechanic  could 
readily  answer  such  questions  as  had  perplexed  the  wisest  of  the 
Grecian  sages."  *  But  notwithstanding  this,  that  same  Athanasius 
who  conquered  the  council  of  Nicaea,  rode  rough-shod,  although  a 
young  man,  over  the  venerable  Eusebius  of  Nicodemia  and  the  astute 
Arius,  and  compelled  the  assembly  to  endorse  the  creedal  form  of 
the  Trinity^  was  constrained,  in  his  moments  of  honest  meditation, 
to  declare  that  '*  whenever  he  forced  his  understanding  to  meditate 
on  the  di\inity  of  the  Logos,  his  toilsome  and  unavailing  efforts  re- 
coiled on  themselves;  that  the  more  he  thought  the  less  he  compre- 
hended; and  the  more  he  wrote  the  less  capable  was  he  of  expressing 
himself."  f  Nevertheless,  without  understanding  what  he  wrote,  in- 
capable of  intelligibly  expressing  his  thought  upon  this  inexplicable 
theme,  and  certainly  while  wholly  unconscious  of  the  historic  origin 
of  this  most  mystical  of  all  dogmas^— this  same  Athanasius  wrote  that 
section  of  the  creed  which  here  follows — which  defies  the  interpreta- 
twn  of  the  keenest  minds  that  have  exercised  their  reason  over  it. 
(To  be  accurate,  Atnanasius  did  not  himself  write  the  creed,  but  its 
fcnnula  was  taken  directly  from  his  writings  against  Arius,  and  it 
^therefore  entitled  the  Athanasian  Creed.) 

**  Whoever  will  be  saved  before  all  things  it  is  necessary  that  he 
hold  the  catholic  faith.  Which  faith  except  every  one  do  keep  whole 
^undefiled  without  doubt  he  shall  perish  everlastingly." 

Now,  one  would  suppose  that  this  severe  and  threatful  preamble 
^d  introduce  a  faith  at  least  so  intelligible,  simple,  and  compre- 
'*^T)le  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  But — behold  the  faith  one  must 
■^  whole  and  undefiled,  or  perish  everlastingly! 

"And  the  catholic  faith  (i.e.,  the  true  faith)  is  this:  that  we  wor- 
^ipone  God  in  Trinity;  and  trinity  in  unity;  neither  confounding 
^  powers  nor  dividing  the  substance.    For  there  is  one  person  of 

Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  II.,  p.  311. 
,  J.Gjbboii,  VoL  XL,  p.  310.    Vide  Waddington's  Church  History,  p.  97,  who  says: 
^^lAthanashis's]  character  is  admirably  described  by  Gibbon — and  written  with 
'*'w  ind  impartiality.''    Waddington  is  of  course  very  orthodox. 


130  INTELLIGENCE. 

the  Father;   another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  yet  they  are  not  three  Eternals  but  one  eternal.    So  the  Father 
is  God,  the  Son  is  God,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God.    And  yet  there  are 
not  three  Gods  but  one  God.    For  like  as  we  are  compelled  by  the 
Christian  verity  to  acknowledge  every  person  by  himself  to  be  God 
and  Lord,  so  we  are  forbidden  by  the  Cathblic  religion  to  say  there 
be  three  Gods  and  three  Lords.    He  therefore  that  will  be  saved  must 
thus  think  of  the  Trinity," 

What  wonder  that  Athanasius,  who  holds  the  distinguished  honor 
of  having  this  famous  creed  called  after  him,  acknowledged  that  when 
he  forced  his  mind  to  meditate  on  it  he  found  that  his  toilsome  eflforts 
recoiled  on  themselves!  M.  Reville,  in  his  "  Dogma  of  Jesus,"  p.  95, 
says  that  "  The  dogma  of  the  Trinity  displayed  its  contradictions 
with  true  bravery." 

A  more  audacious  jumble  of  meaningless  words,  a  more  blaring 
resonance  of  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal,  in  the  name  of  tnith 
and  sincerity,  was  never  before  heard  in  human  history.  , 

And  mark  the  austerity  of  the  pronouncement.  One  "  must  thus  \ 
think  of  the  Trinity  " — as  three  in  one  and  one  in  three — three  per-  , 
sons  yet  not  three  persons — three  gods  yet  not  ^^ree  but  one  God — '  1 
at  the  peril  of  everlasting  damnation!  What  daring;  what  perverse?^ 
ness;  what  blindness!  However,  since  the  days  of  the  Nicene  Council 
this  is  the  doctrine  which  is  proclaimed  by  all  orthodox  churched-  * 
On  its  acceptance,  by  whatever  stultification  of  one's  reason,  the  sal***^ 
vation  of  every  individual  is  said  to  depend.  ] 

It  would  seem  that  modern  divines  would  be  too  rational,  to-*^'^ 
truthful,  too  intelligent,  to  continue  to  advocate  such  bald  jargor*-*^ 
such  a  mess  of  syllogistic  absurdities.  But  the  truth  is,  this  doctrin^^ 
involving  that  of  the  Godship  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth — the  very  comeC*-^ 
stone  of  the  orthodox  structure — must  necessarily  be  insisted  upos^] 
unless  they  are  willing  to  surrender  the  entire  system.  No  effort  5^ 
made  to  explain  it,  much  less  to  comprehend  it.  But,  as  if  it  weir^: 
a  positive  law  of  nature,  it  is  regarded  as  a  revelation  of  truth,  an" 
accepted  the  more  because  of  its  very  inexplicableness  and  mystcr^*^ 

Is  it  not  time  that  the  intelligence  of  the  age  should  inquire  int 
this  curious  doctrine  and  seek  to  discover  some  rational  and  historic 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  131 

)asis  for  it?    Why  not  try  to  discover  its  origin  in  human  thought 
IS  we  strive  to  discover  the  origin  of  thought  in  general?    Is  it  not 
possible  that  there  is,  after  all,  nothing  whatsoever  mysterious  or 
abstruse  or  mystical  in  this  universal  conception,  but  that  it  has  its 
basis  in  the  physical  and  mental  experience  of  the  human  race?    The 
very  fact  of  its  universality  proves  that  it  is  not  a  special  revelation 
to  any  people — if  such  a  revelation  were  scientifically  possible.    Has 
it  not  a  deeper  purport,  a  more  serious  origin — one  more  immedi- 
ately related  to  the  vicissitudes  and  experience  of  the  race?     Is  it 
all  myth — all  mere  absurdity? 

Although  we  reject  the  antiquated  interpretation  of  the  mysteri- 
ous doctrine  we  are  contemplating,  and  cannot  accept  the  system  of 
theology  which  the  church  has  reared  upon  it,  nevertheless,  it  may 
find  a  place  in  rational  thought  and  the  deeper  interpretation  of  nat- 
t    are.  Man  never  conceives  of  aught  which  the  necessities  of  his  nat- 
tirc  do  not  demand.     Nor  has  aught  ever  been  conceived  by  the 
human  mind  which  did  not  in  some  manner  satisfy  an  inner  yearn- 
*   ing.  Can  we  not  find  in  the  very  constitution  of  the  human  mind, 
in  its  laws  of  being,  and  in  the  analysis  of  its  function  of  thought — 
the  inception  and  primitive  basis  of  this  curious  doctrine  which  has 
so  long  bewildered  the  theologian  and  baffled  the  philosopher? 

Is  there  not  a  trinity  in  man — and  has  he  not  by  the  accident  and 
delusion  of  experience  projected  his  intuitive  apprehension  of  him- 
self into  the  realm  of  the  objective?  Has  not  this  resulted  in  an 
wmeous  conviction  that  what  was  but  a  necessary  concept  of  his 
roind  was,  indeed,  an  entity  existing  extraneously  to  himself? 

Kwe  trace  the  gradual  steps  of  self-consciousness  we  may  discern 
the  evolution  of  this  mental  condition.  The  natural  man — the  sav- 
m*— first  realized  himself  as  form — body — externality.  While  he 
^f^s  exploring  the  physical  possibilities  of  earth — while  he  hunted, 
•^t,  toiled,  hewed  the  forest,  split  the  rock  and  conquered  the 
*™ents — he  had  not  yet  acquired  time  or  ability  to  discern  aught 
m  himself  but  materiality — ^mass — configuration — ^articulating  joints 
**^ elastic  muscles.  But  as  time  slowly  rolled  by  and  the  subtle  forces 
^civiliration  gradually  triumphed — when  the  time  for  leisure  and 
contemplation  came  to  him — then  awoke  the  magic  power  of  his  soul 


182  INTELLIGENCE. 

— his  intellect — and  man  began  to  think  and  reason.  That  deep  «. 
fathomable  reservoir  of  being,  which  we  call  the  soul,  whose  mystc 
ous  depths  have  never  yet  been  sounded  by  the  plummet  of  hum 
knowledge,  gradually  sent  forth  its  streams  of  discovery  and  cogj 
tion — till  man  was  transformed  from  the  grovelling  savage  to  1 
divine  philosopher.  Then  were  builded  the  glorious  things  of  cii 
ization — its  cities  and  nations  and  continents — magic  transformatic 
of  untiring  genius.  Then  followed  the  scientific  conquests  of  t 
battle-field — the  splendors  of  art — the  glory  of  literature.  The  mi 
— that  impalpable  something — wrought  from  rough-hewn  mart 
the  sculptured  forms  of  angels;  glowed  in  luminous  ideals  thj 
breathed  upon  the  living  canvas;  effloresced  in  the  poetic  imagery < 
thought;  delved  into  the  depths  of  nature's  arcana;  stole  the  secret 
of  the  stars  and  dissolved  the  mysterious  union  of  the  elements— ti 
man  rose  from  the  dank  and  boggy  lowlands  of  savagery  to  the  goldc 
heights  of  pure  intelligence. 

The  age  of  the  troglodyte  had  ascended  to  the  age  of  Pericte 
Caliban  had  become  Plato;  Sycorax,  Hypatia.  The  man  of  musd 
is  now  the  man  of  brain.  Invention,  machinery,  all  the  instruracf 
talities  of  industrial  progress — swift  oflfspring  of  the  prolific  brain  C 
man — glorify  his  habitation  of  the  earth.  This  is  the  Golden  Age  I 
man's  highest  external  attainments,  when  the  ideals  of  the  soul  shin 
forth  in  the  tangible  forms  of  beauty,  utility,  symmetry,  and  grandetti 
when  every  thought  that  breathes  spurs  the  heart  to  action,  and  evci 
word  that  burns  thrills  a  responsive  world  with  inspiring  hope.  Th 
is  the  second  stage  of  man's  ascent,  when 


«< 


Science  moves  but  slowly,  slowly — creeping  on  from  point  to  point." 


But  is  this  the  last  stage? 

There  is  another.  The  time  comes  when  there  bursts  upon  huml 
consciousness  a  light,  that  never  shone  on  land  or  sea,  which  does  ni 
project  upon  the  screen  of  the  outer  world  new  visions  of  wonder  ac 
mystery — ^but  casts  its  splendor  within  and  reveals  a  shoreless  ocd 
whose  fathomless  depths  the  mind  in  vain  has  ever  sought  to  soun 
whose  weird  entrancement  ever  holds  the  contemplative  spirit 
ecstatic  rapture. 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  188 

Then  is  indeed  the 

"  Meadow,  grove,  and  stream, 
The  earth  and  every  common  sight, 
Appareled  in  celestial  light. 
The  glory  and  the  freshness  of  a  dream." 

This  is  the  third  stage — the  highest — the  last  on  earth.  This  is  that 
state  of  ascent  where  man  cries  out,  in  the  language  of  the  Christian 
Gnostic:  "  O  Light  of  lights,  Thou  whom  I  have  seen  from  the  be- 
ginning, listen  to  the  cry  of  my  repenting.  Save  me,  O  Light,  from 
my  thoughts,  which  are  evil!  Now,  O  Light,  in  the  simplicity  of  my 
heart,  I  have  followed  the  false  brightness  which  I  mistook  for  Thee. 
Deliver  my  soul  from  this  dark  matter  lest  I  be  swallowed  up." 
(Pistis  Sophia*)  This  is  the  stage  when  the  things  of  matter  pass 
away  and  the  eternities  of  spirit  dawn  upon  the  soul.  Then  from  this 
lofty  height  man  contemplates  himself,  not  only  as  body — mass, 
solidity,  opaqueness — but  as  soul — moving  matter,  energy,  thought, 
brain  activity;  and  anon,  as  the  real  Paraclete — the  possessor  of  glori- 
ous light,  light  that  is  supernal,  the  light  of  love,  wisdom — all  knowl- 
edge and  consciousness  of  the  eternal. 


"  Hence  in  a  season  of  calm  weather. 
Though  inland  far  we  be. 
Our  souls  have  sight  of  that  immortal  sea 
Which  brought  us  hither." 

Not  one  of  these  three  stages  of  human  progress  has  yet  been 
P^ectly  realized  in  man's  evolution.  Nevertheless,  each  stage  has 
tt'iphasized  itself  in  man's  development  commensurately  with  human 
needs.  But  each  higher  stage  has  given  intimations  of  its  realm  and 
l^ssibilities  to  man  while  he  still  groveled  in  the  lower  levels.  These 
intimations  have  ever  troubled  the  spirit  of  the  race  and  disturbed 
Its  scientific  conclusions.  It  is  not  then  to  be  marveled  at  that  they 
have  found  expression  in  vague  and  bewildering  phases  of  human 
thought  and  even  in  the  religious  formulae  of  earth. 

To  me,  then,  this  seems  to  be  the  scientific  analysis  of  the  uni- 

*Prcsscnsc*s  Early  Church  (Heresy),  pp.  37,  38. 


184  INTELLIGENCE. 

versal  conception  of  the  Trinity,  which  has  so  long  puzzled  schol 
and  theologians: 

Matter — form — the  matrix  of  manifest  existence — is  the  / 
Father — the  primal  source — the  potent  factor  which  man  realize 
essential  to  all  life.  Without  matter,  the  world  were  not;  with 
body,  the  race  had  never  been ;  without  form  there  had  been  no  di£ 
entiation — hence  no  self-consciousness.  Thus  arose  the  first  intii 
tion  of  "  the  universal  presence."  This  idea  we  may  discern  vagt 
hinted  at  in  the  old  Indian  names  of  Deity.  They  had  various  nat 
for  Deity,  but  when  they  desired  to  think  of  him  as  ever  immanent  ti 
called  him  **  Dyaus  "  (this  means  the  ever  bright  sky  *) ;  this  amo 
the  Greeks  was  transformed  into  Zeus,  from  which  came  the  phn 
Zeus-pater,  afterwards  Zeupater,  ultimating  among  the  Romans 
the  term  Jupiter.  Mr.  Keary  very  adroitly  shows  how  all  these  tcr 
come  from  the  same  idea  and  nearly  from  the  same  root.  From  t 
primitive  notion  (that  the  sky  was  ever  present  and  the  light  of  ma 
path)  has  come  the  name  of  every  god  whom  in  man's  moments 
forlornness  he  has  called  in  the  emphatic  sense — ^The  Father. 

The  second  stage  of  progress  was  the  thought-stage — the  sti 
of  mind — the  epoch  of  mental  and  physical  activities — the  age  of  m 
civic  growth,  science,  industry,  and  the  arts.  Here  we  discern  I 
outgoing,  the  moving,  the  dynamic  factor  of  growth.  The  sih 
matrix — the  universal  potentiality — matter — ^awakens,  moves,  1 
gets,  and  manifests  in  the  forces  and  forms  of  living  nature. 

Here  is  the  Sonship. 

The  Father  is  Nature— quiescent,  potential,  passive.  The  S 
is  Nature — perfervid  with  energy — active,  achieving.  In  this  matt 
we  may  discover  a  natural  origin  in  human  thought — ^however  vaj 
Its  primitive  intimations — of  that  mysterious  problem  of  the  en 
— the  procession  of  the  Son  from  the  Father.  Here  is  the  whole  m 
tery  of  nature — the  stumbling-block  of  science;  namely,  the  gent 
tion  of  life — the  transformation  of  potential  matter  into  living,  a 
scious  activity.  Science  to  this  day  knows  nothing  of  this  probh 
and  both  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  and  the  entire  modern  school 
physicists,  have  despaired  of  solving  the  problem  of  spontaneous  g 

♦  Keary's  Outlines,  p.  41 ;  also  M.  Miiller's  Origin  of  Religion,  p.  4. 


THE   DOGMA   OF  THE  TRINITY.  135 

eration.     No  wonder  Irenaeus  exclaimed,  "  If  it  is  asked  in  what 
manner  did  the  Son  proceed  from  the  Father,  we  reply  that  this  pro- 
creation is  known  to  none — not  to  angels,  archangels,  principalities, 
or  powers  "  !  *    First,  then,  the  visible  universe  of  form — ceaseless 
presence — gave  rise  to  the  conception  of  the  "  All  Father."    Second, 
the  active,  generating,  dynamic  world  gave  rise  to  the  notion  of  "  the 
Son  " — procession — procreation.    Thus,  thirdly,  the  dreamy  idealism 
that  clothed  all  nature  with  the  golden  mist  of  poetic  fancy — that 
discerned  a  light  beyond  the  stars — a  mantle  of  glory  over  every 
flower  and  stream  and  rocky  height  (which  the  dull  physical  eye  of 
man  could  never  discover),  gave  rise  to  the  conception  of  an  all- 
pervasive  and  overshadowing  Light — in  all  and  enveloping  all — that 
mystic  something  in  whose  alembic  the  base  metal  of  common  con- 
sciousness is  transformed  into  pure  reality — the  reality  of  Being, 
where  abides    the    all-enswathing    presence — the    Comforter — the 
Holy  Ghost. 

If  we  but  realize  how,  in  historic  growth,  great  results  have  fol- 
lowed infinitesimal  beginnings,  we  shall  not  marvel  that  so  monstrous, 
so  bewildering,  unthinkable,  and  absurd  a  metaphysic  and  theology 
have  evolved  from  such  simple  origins,  as  I  have  above  indicated,  of 
man's  conception  of  his  triune  nature. 

He  is  indeed  body,  mind,  and  soul:  form,  intellect,  spirit;  or,  in 
Paul's  words,  "  body,  soul,  and  spirit.''  He  cannot  escape  his  con- 
scious tri-unity  in  whatever  mood  of  thought  he  may  enter.  Every 
idea  he  conceives  has  come  to  him  through  these  three  stages  of 
progress.  Or,  if  they  have  passed  through  only  two,  his  conscious- 
wss  is  yet  in  a  state  of  arrested  evolution. 

If  man  rests  only  on  the  plane  of  mind  and  body,  he  has  not  yet 
f^ed  himself.    Not  until  he  perceives  himself  imaged  in  the  mir- 

♦  "  Who  knows  the  secret?    Who  proclaimed  it  here, 
Whence,  whence  this  manifold  creation  sprang? 
The  gods  themselves  came  later  into  being — 
Who  knows  from  whence  this  great  creation  sprang? 
He  from  whom  all  this  great  creation  came, 
Whether  His  will  created  or  was  mute, 
The  Most  High  Seer  that  is  in  highest  heaven. 
He  knows  it — or  perchance  even  He  knows  not." 

#5*tract  from  a  hymn  in  the  Rig- Veda  translated  by  Max  Miiller.     Vide  Chips 
^^  a  German  Workshop,  Vol.  I.,  p.  76. 


136  INTELLIGENCE. 

ror  of  his  own  soul — in  the  mirage  of  spirit — will  he  ever  know  him- 
self as  he  is.  **  Now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face 
to  face." 

The  Trinity  as  a  dogma  of  theology  is  repulsive,  unintelligible, 
and  ludicrous — if  not  atrocious.  But  as  a  metaphysical  concept,  rest- 
ing on  actual  human  experience,  it  is  a  natural  product  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  man — the  orderly  and  scientific  expression  of  his  triune  nature. 
Thus  comprehended  it  may  constitute  a  fundamental  basis  for  scien- 
tific knowledge  of  real  man,  and  incite  to  a  profounder  investigation 
of  the  recondite  than  the  race  has  ever  yet  known.  The  scientific 
principles  of  the  Trinity  may  furnish  the  knowledge  to  man  for  his 
self-realization  on  the  plane  of  divine  consciousness. 

Henry  Frank. 


ARBITRATION,   FORCE. 

"  An  inevitable  dualism  bisects  nature,  so  that  each  thing  is  a 
half,  and  suggests  another  thing  to  make  it  whole:  as,  spirit,  mat- 
ter; man,  woman;  odd,  even;  subjective,  objective;  in,  out;  upper, 
under;  motion,  rest;  yea,  nay." 

You  will  recognize  Emerson  in  that  sentence.  However  great 
a  seer  he  may  be  considered,  he  failed  to  foresee  that,  to  meet  the 
demands  of  this  paper,  **  arbitration,  force,"  should  be  on  this  list; 
for,  kindly  soul  that  he  was,  he  would  surely  have  placed  the  words 
there,  had  he  foreseen.  I  am  therefore  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
making  the  addition  myself  because  it  seems  wise  to  consider  arbi- 
tration and  force  in  just  this  relation  of  opposition.  The  manner  in 
w^hich  they  come,  advancing  together  down  the  ages,  indicates  a 
strong  affinity. 

Progression,  evolution,  or  growth  being  admitted  (as  most  read- 
ers are  quite  reconciled  to  the  admission  to-day),  we  begin  our  search 
for  these  two  factors  in  the  problem  of  life;  to  learn  to  know  them 
as  they  have  existed;  to  follow  them  as  they  have  grown  and  devel- 
oped in  their  march  **  down  the  corridors  of  time  ";  to  regard  them 
critically  as  they  exist  to-day,  all  their  operations  past  and  present 


ARBITRATION^,  FORCE.  137 

made  visible  in  man's  doings  in  this  wonderful  world  of  ours.  And 
who  knows,  but  from  our  study  may  result  some  faint  idea  of  what 
our  interesting  pair  may  become  in  the  future! 

Man,  the  greatest  of  all  living  things,  is  by  nature  the  most  feeble. 
In  the  earliest  stages  of  his  evolution,  he  is  born  to  wage  war  with 
the  beasts  of  the  forest,  the  foes  of  his  race,  and  even  with  the  ele- 
ments; and  he  is  furnished  with  no  weapon  of  defence  in  either  case. 
Were  it  not  for  his  faculty  of  invention,  life  itself  would  be  impos- 
sible; and  we  find  him  in  the  Stone  Age  making  weapons  for  de- 
fence or  attack,  or  rough  instruments  for  building  canoes  or  pre- 
paring food.  These  he  constructs  of  the  stones  lying  loose  at  his 
feet,  or  of  bits  of  bone  or  wood  or  horn. 

We  find  him  inventing  clothing  of  skins  of  animals,  sewed  with 
bone  needles  and  thread  of  sinews.  We  find  him  building  rude  huts 
of  earth,  and  of  the  branches  of  trees,  and  of  rough  blocks  of  stone 
heaped  together.  These  are  his  first  arbitrations — his  arbitrations 
^"ith  Nature.  He  cannot  match  her  in  force.  Therefore  he  sayg, 
"1  will  do  this,  since  you  will  not  do  that  ";  and  Nature  agrees,  for 
she  needs  must. 

As  we  follow  man  through  the  Ages  of  Bronze  and  of  Iron,  we 
find  these  arbitrations  more  extensive.  Still  to  avoid  being  con- 
<iuered  by  nature,  men  learn  to  cultivate  wheat  and  to  store  up  food ; 
to  weave  garments  and  even  to  tame  animals  and  turn  them  to  use. 
TT^y  learn  to  make  pottery  and  coins;  they  discover  glass  and  in 
other  ways  achieve  great  development,  until,  finally,  from  rude  sav- 
^[wythey  emerge  into  a  more  enlightened  state  of  existence,  and  we 
«vcthe  first  three  classes  of  men:  shepherds,  farmers,  and  traders. 
Pood,  shelter,  and  clothing  having  become  more  or  less  established 
«rts,  man  turns  somewhat  from  his  arbitrations  with  Nature,  to 
rtich  heretofore  his  almost  undivided  attention  has  of  necessity  been 
R'^'tti.and  eves  his  fellow-man. 

While  he  trades — and  this,  too,  is  a  species  of  arbitration — he  also 
>nntates  the  beasts  of  the  field,  with  whom  he  has  many  a  time  and 
^t  measured  force;  and,  his  anger  or  envy  aroused  by  the  l)etter 
edition  or  the  unrelished  action  of  his  neighbor,  he  uses  '*  brute 
force  "against  his  brother  man.    This  brings  us  to  the  time  of  the 


138  INTELLIGENCE. 

Shepherd  Kings — and,  recalling  our  reading  of  the  Old  Testament, 
we  review  endless  chronicles  of  tribal  wars,  of  fighting  over  boutt 
daries,  divisions  of  flocks,  and  neighborly  differences  of  various  kindl 

During  these  times,  and  for  centuries  to  come.  Arbitration  ap 
pears  attenuated  indeed ;  and  sometimes  she  is  almost  lost  sight  c 
in  the  shadow  of  her  kinsman.  Force,  who  grows  to  be  of  large  sijs 
and  robust,  fed  by  **  man's  inhumanity  to  man."  She  has  acconfl 
plished  some  ends,  but  she  is  by  far  the  weaker  of  the  twain.  Sb 
does  not  thrive  as  Force  does,  but  she  manages  to  escape  total  annd 
hilation ;  and  as  though  fascinated  by  her  fierce  companion,  she  i 
ever  at  his  elbow,  patiently  jogging  it  whenever  she  dares,  until  hi 
won  perhaps  to  a  calmer  mood  by  her  gentler  influence,  allows  bC 
occasionally  a  small  share  in  his  dealings  with  man.  It  is  to  her  tlai 
we  may  attribute  the  Cities  of  Refuge  of  ancient  times,  where  all  wh 
entered  were  secure  from  physical  penalty;  the  increased  temporia 
ing  with  Nature  as  shown  in  further  inventions;  the  extension  I 
trade,  which  grew  and  flourished  more  and  more;  the  tranquil  timi 
known  to  have  existed  in  the  old  nations;  all  agreements  and  col 
enants  between  men  or  tribes;  and  upon  all  occasions  (and  there  vwl 
such  in  the  olden  days,  despite  appearances),  where  peace  was  pf| 
ferred  to  combat,  we  may  feel  her  kindly  presence.  She  stani 
strongly  in  contrast  with  Force,  for  the  latter  is  by  far  the  dominj 
ing  spirit  of  the  times,  the  spirit  which  insists  upon  "  an  eye  fori 
eye;  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  and  which  continued,  in  human  form,  d 
ethics  of  the  beasts. 

Through  all  these  ages,  a  **  law  of  love  "  had  been  apprehendl 
and  taught.  Confucius  declared,  "  Do  not  to  others  what  you  wod 
not  have  them  do  to  you."  Buddha  said,  "  The  man  who  cattH 
joy  now,  shall  rejoice  hereafter  ";  and  also,  "  Conquer  anger  by  mih 
ness,  evil  by  good,  falsehood  by  truth."  The  religion  of  Zoroasti 
taught  men  to  live  peacefully  together,  and,  according  to  a  Christil 
writer,  was  "  surprisingly  pure  and  elevated."  In  the  early  tin* 
of  India,  the  Veda  tells  us  there  was  no  war  worthy  the  name.  Soa 
of  Plato's  conceptions  cannot  be  excelled  by  later  ideals.  Nob 
thoughts  and  aspirations  are  found  in  the  religions  of  all  peopte 
yet  it  was  not  until  the  coming  of  Christ  that  the  truest,  most  honei 


ARBITRATION,  FORCE.  139 

and  gentlest  way  of  living  with  one's  fellows  was  so  fully  preached 
or  practised.  Although  his  life  was  one  of  practical  resistance 
against  established  theories  of  life  and  of  customs  in  vogue,  "  Jesus 
said,"  declares  Tolstoi,  "  simply  and  clearly,  that  the  law  of  resistance 
10  evil  by  violence,  which  has  been  made  the  basis  of  society,  is  false, 
and  contrary  to  man's  nature ;  and  he  gave  another  basis — that  of 
non-resistance."  But  let  no  one  suppose  this  "  non-resistance  "  is 
a  passive  thing,  else  there  is  lost  the  essence  of  the  lesson  of  Jesus's 
life,  and  a  "  long  farewell  "  is  bidden  to  progress.  When  we  con- 
sider that  Christ's  countrymen  found  this  so-called  **  non-resistance  " 
>o  dangerous  that  they  put  him  to  death,  we  must  conclude  that  by 
teaching  and  preaching  and  the  heralding  of  truth,  Christ  did  resist, 
in  his  own  peculiar  way,  and  that  along  the  lines  of  his  life  there  is 
discerned  a  force,  gentler  truly  than  brute  force,  milder  even  than 
arbitration,  but  something  which  is  still  a  compelling  force. 

For  a  few  years  his  followers  struggled  along  in  the  path  marked 
out  for  them  by  the  master,  bravely  trying  to  illustrate  in  their  lives 
jtBtwhat  he  meant;  and  in  the  stories  of  the  early  fathers  and  of  St. 
Augustine  and  his  companions,  we  can  see  the  kind  of  power  they 
wielded.  But  the  times  were  not  yet  ripe.  This  old  yet  new  law 
uict enemies  at  the  outset.  Neither  physical  force  nor  arbitration  was 
prepared  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  this  divine  Law  of  Love.  Men 
iddcd  to  Christ's  simple  teaching  pagan  customs  and  pagan  ideas; 
'Kdessand  hurtful  dogmas;  worldly  laws  and  brutal  punishments; 
^d  while  this  little  local  intermission  in  the  historv  of  the  rule  of 
physical  force  carries  power  still  among  us,  yet,  never  since  the  early 
Fathers,  except  in  individual  cases  or  on  rare  occasions,  has  the  man- 
londthat  has  known  him  really  followed  in  Christ's  footsteps.  Our 
Wends,  Arbitration  and  Force,  kept  up  their  pace  down  the  centuries, 
overshadowing  and  outgeneralling  a  gentler  power. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  the  Romans  were  the  most 
^^ilized  nation  of  the  world.  Their  wonderful  and  far-reaching  con- 
quests had  been  made,  and  under  Augustus,  a  prince  inclined  to 
'noderation,  peace  and  tranquillity  for  a  time  largely  usurped  the 
place  of  war.  It  is  cheering  to  see  Arbitration  gaining  more  and 
™^c  influence,  coming  more  and  more  into  activity.    The  very  word 


140  INTELLIGENCE. 

comes  into  use,  and  we  hear  for  the  first  time  of  an  **  arbiter ' 
Roman  umpire  chosen  by  agreement  to  decide  differences  in  ma 
of  law.  We  hear  oftener  of  treaties,  and  a  long  step  ahead  is  t 
when  Augustus  avoids  a  war  with  the  Parthians,  gaining  dej 
concessions  by  means  of  a  treaty.  His  immediate  successors,  " 
pily,"  says  Gibbon,  **  for  the  repose  of  mankind,"  followed  his  C3 
pie,  and  the  only  conquest  made  in  one  hundred  years  was  the 
quest  of  Britain.  However,  brute  force  is  not  easily  to  be  succa 
by  any  better  power,  and  the  Romans  kept  the  peace  by  care 
guarding  the  frontiers  and  by  constantly  improving  their  army. 

Physical  force  is  made  evident  as  time  goes  on,  in  religious  pi 
cution.  The  tales  of  the  early  Christian  martyrs  and  of  the  ! 
victims  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  furnish  us  with  evidence  ol 
prominence  man  gave  to  brute  force,  and  testify  to  his  belief  tfa 
he  had  the  power  he  also  had  the  right  to  use  it;  that  might  ii 
right,  even  for  the  glory  of  God,  even  in  that  most  sacred  doma 
man's  own  soul. 

Then,  again,  "  in  the  name  of  God,"  we  hear  the  cms 
preached.  Of  all  strange  wanderings  of  the  human  mind,  this  sn 
the  strangest  far!  A  Holy  War!  How  can  a  war  be  holy?  Aftei 
"  Peace  on  Earth,  good  will  to  men  ";  after  the  **  Resist  not  e\ 
still  in  the  name  of  him  who  taught  it,  and  with  the  cry,  *'  God 
it!  "  men  rushed  into  battle. 

Yet  amid  this  darkness  a  light  shines.  Chivalry  lends  its  h 
to  brighten  the  **  Dark  Ages,"  and  amid  the  brutality  can  be  se 
growing  recognition  of  responsibility  toward  the  weak,  a  desii 
protect  the  feeble,  and  a  taming  of  man's  animal  instincts.  T 
comes  to  be  a  certain  amount  of  refinement,  chastity,  and  ten 
ance,  in  man's  actions.  When  a  young  novice  knelt  and  vowe 
"  speak  the  truth,  to  protect  the  distressed,  to  practise  courtes] 
vindicate  his  honor,"  and  then  arose  a  knight  pledged  to  the  scj 
of  **  God  and  the  ladies,"  something  good  and  wholesome  can 
amidst  all  the  sickening  mistakes  and  distorted  ideas  of  the  tini 

While  we  see  war  rapidly  passing  on  to  its  culminating  point 
hear  more  and  more  often  of  treaties,  of  ransoms,  of  negotiation 
peace,  of  exchanges  of  prisoners,  edicts  of  toleration,  and  tim< 


ARBITRATION.  FORCE.  141 

truce;  we  can  discern  a  distinct  longing  for  peace  and  quiet.  Men 
of  brain  desired  time  for  other  things  than  war  and  turbulence;  and 
where  at  one  time  every  man  of  a  nation  was  a  warrior,  we  find  now 
only  one  class  of  a  nation  given  over  to  this  employment,  while  ranged 
against  this  one  class  are  many  other  classes,  gladly  turning  their  at- 
tention to  other  and  more  peaceful  occupations.  As  the  convolu- 
tions in  the  gray  matter  of  man's  brain  grew  deeper  and  more  nu- 
merous,  intellectual  pursuits  gradually  became  attractive,  and  the 
fierce  desire  to  fight  on  the  slightest  provocation  began  to  go, 
slowly,  out  of  fashion. 

Many  causes  combined  to  cause  the  downfall  of  war.  Man's  ar- 
bitrations with  Nature  continued. 

The  discovery  of  steam  as  applied  to  locomotion,  rendering  dis- 
tances less  and  the  acquaintanceship  of  nations  closer  and  their 
understanding  of  one  another  better;  the  gradual  elevation  of  po- 
litical economy  into  a  science,  thus  making  causes  and  effects  more 
plain;  the  influence  of  public  opinion,  as  it  came  more  and  more  to 
be  a  power,  the  growth  of  the  principle  of  representation  in  govern- 
ment; the  desire  to  trade;  the  longing  for  quiet  which  would  make 
it  possible  for  man  to  study,  to  write,  to  investigate,  and,  curiously 
enough,  the  invention  of  gunpowder — all  have  contributed  to  put  a 
quietus  upon  brute  force  as  illustrated  in  war. 

Still  the  Hves  of  the  rulers  of  Europe  from  1400  down  even  to  our 
own  time  have  been  one  long  record  of  battling.  Most  of  the  dates 
committed  to  memory  in  our  school-days  mark  the  beginning  or  end 
of  wars;  and  most  of  the  names  with  which  we  then  learned  to  be 
familiar  bring  to  our  ears  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  sound  of  martial 
music.  But  underneath  this  din  of  battle,  began  to  be  heard,  more 
and  more  distinctly,  persuasive  voices — first  the  voice  of  woman  pro- 
testing against  the  giving  up  of  her  dear  ones,  and  pleading  tearfully 
for  peace.  The  quiet  tones  of  the  Quakers  penetrate  to  our  ears; 
then  we  distinguish  the  voice  of  the  daring  and  unappreciated  abbot, 
*ho  during  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  advanced  a  much  derided  idea, 
for  which  he  was  removed  from  his  high  office,  but  an  idea  which 
has  at  last  become  one  of  the  leading  ideals  of  to-day.  He  called  it 
the "  project  of  perpetual  peace."    Then  we  hear  a  French  minister 


1 


142  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  war,  saying  that  the  "  voice  of  humanity  should  supplant 
the  cannon  ";  and  we  are  able  to  place  over  against  such  t 
Napoleon,  Marmont,  Wellington,  Napier,  Nelson,  and  Gf 
names  of  men  of  peace  like  John  Bright,  Gladstone,  Blaine; 
memories  of  battles  like  Waterioo,  Jena,  Austeriitz,  Bull  I 
Chickamauga,  we  place  memories  of  the  Jay  Treaty,  the  1 
Ghent,  the  Geneva  Arbitration,  the  wonderful  settlement  of 

» 

puted  Presidential  election  by  tribunal  and  vote;  the  Pan-/ 
Congress,  by  means  of  which  it  was  sought  to  prevent  and 
on  this  continent,  and  which,  though  it  failed  to  receive  Govei 
approval,  still  had  a  tremendous  moral  effect;  and  the  Be 
controversy  quietly  settled  by  arbitration. 

With  our  long  unappreciated  but  persistent  friend  Arbit 
work,  peace-societies  are  formed  and  war  discouraged,  and 
at  last  a  little  history  more  pleasing  than  that  which  record 
tails  of  battles,  with  their  surroundings  of  horror  and  son 
we  are  pleased  to  hear  even  soldiers  deprecating  the  nee 
their  profession. 

Although  the  time  is  not  yet  ripe  for  the  full  realizatic 
law  of  love,  we  know  that  the  days  of  the  sway  of  brute  ) 
numbered,  and  Arbitration  must  come  daily  into  greater  pro 
growing  more  and  more  fit  by  continued  practice  to  cont 
kind  as  strongly  as  ever  brute  force  has  done. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  lives  of  nations  that  Physical  Force  h 
He  has  intruded  upon  the  most  sacred  of  relations;  in  the 
in  society,  in  business,  in  the  family,  we  find  a  story  simila 
one  we  have  heard  of  the  race.  The  religious  sects  of  all  ag< 
all  nations  have  tried  to  force  the  particular  creed  or  pet 
the  times  and  of  the  stage  of  their  development  upon  such 
prone  to  believe  differently,  and — as  time  has  often  prove 
truly.  The  martyrs  of  the  business  world  are  many  and  the 
not  the  most  agreeable  one  can  hear;  while  society  has  coi 
and  often  cruelly  dealt  with  many  who  failed  to  bow  to  her 

Who  can  measure  the  amount  of  force  which  has  been 
family  life?  Sad,  indeed,  is  the  life  story  of  this  dying  force — d 
not  dead;  for  how  stands  the  record  of  to-day? 


ARBITRATION,  FORCE.  143 

The  consideration  of  this  point  brings  to  mind  the  words  of 
Howells'  "Traveler  from  Altruria/'  who,  like  many  another,  was 
-  f  puzzled  as  to  where  to  draw  the  line  between  a  barbarous  and  a  civ- 
ilized people.  He  says,  in  describing  the  civilization  of  America,  **  I 
DSC  the  word  civilized  because  one  has  to  use  some  such  term  to 
describe  a  state  which  has  advanced  beyond  the  conditions  of  can- 
nibalism, tribalism,  slavery,  feudalism,  and  serfdom."  We  have  ad- 
vanced, but  can  we  be  truly  civilized  until  physical  force  is  laid  at 
rest  forever,  not  only  in  one  department  of  life,  but  in  all? 

While  war  remains;  while  strikes  are  still  a  method  of  settling 
difficulties;  while  capital  punishment  lasts:  just  so  long  must  we 
be  content  to  be  styled  modern  barbarians.  Yes,  and  longer  prob- 
ably; for  is  not  *'  an  eye  for  an  eye  "  the  foundation  of  our  laws, 
written  and  unwritten — the  laws  of  our  intellectual  and  moral  life? 
Are  we  not,  in  our  dealing  with  one  another,  apt  to  incline  toward 
the  battle  lines  of  force  than  toward  the  peaceful  tribunal  of  consid- 
eration and  arbitration  ? 

The  character  of  brute  Force  we  have  known  long  and  well;  and 
we  make  no  mistake  in  regard  to  his  personality  when  we  find  him 
unworthy  of  administration.  The  only  thing  we  can  say  for  him 
I  is  that  "  nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet,"  and  that  his  noisy  tramp 
'  through  all  these  hundreds  of  troublous  years  was  at  least  necessary 
I  in  order  that  a  certain  goal  should  be  reached.  For  "  whatever  is, 
:  **  right,"  in  the  sense  that  each  stage  exists  for  progress,  and  is  pres- 
oit  at  any  given  time  only  that  we  may  work  out  of  it. 

Arbitration  is  not  so  well  known.  Let  us  look  at  her  a  moment. 
We  found  her  in  the  beginning  causing  Dame  Nature  to  arbitrate. 
Causing  her?  Indeed,  she  compelled  Nature  to  arbitrate,  as  we  saw; 
ferwhen  man  makes  certain  contrivances  Nature  must  acquiesce,  for 
1*^  power  is  limited.  Then  is  not  arbitration  closely  akin  to  force? 
Do  they  not,  after  all,  present  a  strong  family  likeness?  Observe 
^t  from  the  same  root  from  which  comes  the  word  arbitration, 
come  also  the  words,  arbitrary — defined,  despotic;  arbitrarily — de- 
™cd, despotically;  arbitrariness — defined,  tyranny.  Here  is  a  whole 
volume  of  comment,  history,  and  prophecy. 

Inuring  the  Pan-American  Congress,  Mexico  did  not  look  with 


144  INTELLIGENCE. 

good-will  upon  the  idea  of  "  forced  arbitration,"  as  she  termed  it, 
and  objected  to  making  "  arbitration  obligatory."  In  the  light  of 
these  expressions,  Arbitration  assumes  a  new  aspect.  She  has  seemed 
mild,  in  contrast  with  so  fierce  and  stormy  a  figure  as  Physical  Force, 
As  he  retires  somewhat  into  the  background  and  we  contemplate  her 
alone,  we  find  her,  after  all,  not  the  gentlest  creature  of  whom  wc 
can  conceive,  even  at  our  point  of  civilization;  for  what  does  a  nation^ 
a  societv,  an  individual  do  when  the  decision  of  a  court  of  arbitra- 
tion  is  adverse?  The  defeated  party  submits,  of  course;  and  why? 
Because  it  must — which  is  exactly  the  same  reason  for  submitting 
to  the  decisions  of  war.  Not  necessarily  because  the  decision  must 
be  right — for  the  decisions  of  arbitrators  may  be  as  misgfuided  as 
may  the  results  of  war;  but  simply  because  it  must;  and  submission 
is  believed  to  be — as  in  war — the  best  policy.  And  so  it  is,  and  wc 
are  gainers  by  man's  growing  willingness  to  choose  arbitration,  as 
once  he  chose  fighting. 

Turn,  for  a  moment,  to  Tolstoi's  interpretation  of  Christ's  words> 
**  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged."  This  means,  he  claims,  not  only 
that  we  should  refrain  from  judging  our  neighbor  in  our  own  minds^ 
but  that  tribunals  of  all  kinds  are  wrong  and  against  the  teachings 
of  Jesus.  If  he  be  right,  a  new  light  is  thrown  upon  arbitration;  and 
while  we  gladly  welcome  the  reign  of  the  gentler  force,  let  us  not 
make  the  mistake  of  thinking  her  the  ultimate  ideal.  When  physical 
force,  moved  by  the  more  humane  force,  arbitration,  shall  be  won 
at  last  to  her  arms;  and  when,  his  usefulness  ended,  he  shall  finally 
vanish  away,  leaving  his  sceptre  in  her  hands,  she,  made  stronger  and 
better  through  effort  and  struggle,  will  carry  on  the  work  of  devel- 
opment commenced — barely  commenced,  "  though  numberless  cen- 
turies have  passed  since  the  '  Childhood  of  the  World.'  " 

"  Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs. 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns." 

And  this  is  why  we  rejoice  that, 

"  Not  in  vain  the  distance  beacons.    Forward,  forward  let  us  range. 
Let  the  great  world  spin  forever  down  the  ringing  grooves  of  change." 

And  it  may  be  that  in  these  future  days  of  the  reign  of  Arbitration 


ARBITRATION,  FORCE.  145 

she  will  find  herself  matched  and  contrasted  with  the  **  law  of  love;  " 
and  some  one  will  ask  Emerson — should  he  be  then  remembered — 
to  revise  his  list  again  and  add  to  it  "  arbitration,  love." 

Then,  with  physical  force  a  memory,  these  two  factors  in  man's 
development  will  clear  the  way  ahead;  and  in  the  light  of  history, 
made  and  making,  no  one  can  doubt  the  result.  For,  blind  as  we 
are  to-day,  we  can  see  that, 

"  The  love  of  God  is  broader 
Than  the  measure  of  man's  mind, 
And  the  heart  of  the  Eternal 
Is  most  wonderfully  kind." 

The  mind  cannot  reach  a  conception  of  the  great  times  to  come. 
We  must  be  content  to  work  and  to  think  partly  in  the  dark;  but 
"we  have  gained  one  immense  advantage  over  our  ancestors  who  lived 
in  those  dismal  days  of  old  when  all  the  light  seemed  to  have  gone 
out,  inasmuch  as  we  have  reached  a  point  where  we  may  be  abso- 
lutely certain  that  we  are  working  onward  toward  something  greater 
and  better;  that  life  is  well  worth  living;  and  that  in  the  more  com- 
plete future  the  inhabitants  of  Earth  shall  need,  not  only  no  war,  but 
no  arbitration;  that  all  shall  be  peace,  and  love  shall  be  the  force  that 
shall  rule  all  lands.    But — is  it  not  true  that  some  kind  of  force  must 

always  "  enfold  us.  round  *'  ? 

Barnetta  Brown. 


PEACE. 

O  fair,  sweet  Life  wherein  we  find  our  rest, 
And  free  ourselves  from  worry,  fear,  and  doubt: 
With  all  the  jar  and  fret  of  earth  shut  out 

We  lie  like  children  on  the  mother's  breast, 

And  feel,  whatever  betides,  Love  knoweth  best. 
With  Love's  defences  we  are  hedged  about, 
With  Love's  dear  name  our  foes  are  put  to  rout, 

With  Love  we  bless,  and  blessing  we  are  blest. 

Ah  let  the  mad  world  go  its  dizzy  round! 
Serene  we  lie  upon  the  trusted  Oar 
That  pulls  us  out  to  broader,  calmer  seas 
Where  we  the  purer  depths  of  life  may  sound; 
And  still  in  sight  of  Earth's  receding  shore 
Wc  touch  the  borders  of  Eternal  Peace. 

Annie  L.  Muzzey. 


146  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  SOUL'S  "EDEN/' 

(I.) 

It  is  a  familiar  assertion  that  the  Universe  exists  for  the  purposes 
of  the  soul,  and  is  both  the  outcome  and  the  expression  of  its  neces- 
sities.   If  this  be  true,  we  have  a  hint  of  the  rationale  of  things  whidi 
it  will  be  worth  while  to  investigate.    In  regarding  life  from  the  most 
advantageous  stand-point  open  to  us,  we  are  led  to  conclusions  sub- 
versive of  much  that  has  hitherto  stood  under  the  broad  heading  o* 
truth.    Most  of  us  will  agree  that  concerning  the  questions  of  good 
and  evil;   the  destiny  and  training  of  the  soul;   its  cycles  and  pur-  : 
poses;  and  its  relation  to  the  external  world,  a  larger  word  has  y^^   ; 
to  be  spoken.    We  need  for  our  philosophy  a  basis  that  shall  cover  j 
the  whole  area  of  the  soul's  life,  instead  of  a  segment  only.    Hitherto  1 
our  problem  has  been  worked  with  insufficient  factors;  what  marvd   ; 
that  its  solution  has  baffled  us? 

Let  us  turn,  then,  the  search-light  of  intuition  upon  the  AbX^ 
track  of  the  soul's  past,  as  revealed  by  reason  and  ancient  teachings; 
and  fear  not  to  follow  its  rays,  even  though  they  illumine  a  distance 
unexpectedly  remote.     By  so  doing,  we  see  ourselves  to  be  vastly 
more  than  the  creatures  of  a  few  decades.    The  immortality  to  which 
we  cling  is  made  possible  for  us  only  by  the  eternity  from  which  >^^ 
have  come.    Back  into  the  distant  vistas  of  the  universe  we  tr^^^ 
ourselves — or  that  which  once  we  were — demanding  from  evc^y 
grade  of  nature  our  imperative  god-need,  experience.    The  old  Ca^^* 
ists  rounded  the  soul's  cycle  with  an  enormous  radius.     "  A  st^i*^ 
becomes  a  plant;  a  plant,  a  beast;  a  beast,  a  man;  a  man,  a  spi^^' 
and  the  spirit,  a  god/'  ran  their  aphorism;  nevertheless,  the  mati  ^ 
as  much  the  preserved  energies  of  the  lower  grades,  plus  somethi^^^ 
infinitely  higher,  as  the  god  will  be  the  sum  of  human  energies,  p'^ 
an  unthinkable,  divine  enfoldment. 

Taking  this  larger  view  of  the  soul's  experiences — backward  ov^ 


THE  SOUL'S  "EDEN."  147 

>ne  short  life — backward  over  many  lives,  backward  over  the  borders 
>f   the  lower  kingdoms,  into  a  past  whose  beginnings  are  not  "  of 
:he  earth  earthy  " — one  great  principle  is  brought  prominently  be- 
fore us,  that  of  a  graduated  evolution,  by  means  of  a  graduated  and 
ordered  experience.     It  is  a  condition  of  the  soul's  growth  that  it 
shall  know  by  actually  becoming.     Universal  being  and  universal 
knowledge  go  hand  in  hand.    To  understand  completely  any  phase 
of  being,  we  must  first  pass  through  it.    The  perfect  state — the  high- 
est summit  of  spiritual  consciousness — is  that  in  which  the  trinity 
of  knovver,  object  known,  and  knowledge  is  merged  into  the  unity 
of  unconditional  Wisdom.    This  we  may  call  the  end  and  aim  of  soul- 
training — this  the  basis  of  the  soul's  universal  cry  for  experience.    It 
is  interesting  to  see  how  that  cry  is  answered  by  Nature. 

We  submit  that  the  Universe  exists  for  the  Soul;  by  which  term 
I  would  connote  a  larger  meaning  than  that  of  the  personal  Ego  in 
man.    We  cannot  study  the  human  soul  without  bearing  in  mind 
the  Great  Soul  of  which  it  forms  a  part — that  World-Self  whose  mo- 
tions are  poetically  glimpsed  by  Brahmanical  thought  in  its  teaching 
of  the  "  Days  and  Nights  of  Brahma."    The  periodic  ebb  and  flow 
of  the  **  Great  Breath  "  produces  an  eternal  procession  of  Universes, 
through  which  Evolution  proceeds  in  an  ordered  and  unending 
march.    Between  each  alternating  cycle — and  the  great  one  is  com- 
posed of  many  smaller — comes  the  temporary  stillness  of  "  non- 
brcathing,"  the  "  Rest  "  or  "  Sabbath  "  of  God. 

According  to  this  venerable  teaching,  then,  Matter  has  been,  from 
^'eternity,  the  vehicle  of  Spirit  in  manifestation;  and  we  who  have 
oow  attained  to  the  dignity  of  the  human  plane,  have  tasted,  in  a 
previous  cycle,  the  preliminary  experiences  of  the  kingdoms  below 
I  '*^.  At  that  stage  Nature  sketched  in  the  program,  as  it  were, 
*Mch  is  now  being  more  completely  carried  out.  For,  to  follow  the 
Brahmanical  thought  to  its  furthest,  we  must  assume  that  the  present 
Processes  of  Nature  are  repetitions,  in  a  denser  form  of  matter,  of 
^ose  which  composed  the  former  period. 

The  Divine  Essence  runs  like  a  golden  thread  from  cycle  to  cycle, 
"^ng  in  its  heart  an  ideal  which  it  ever  strives  to  evolve  in  form, 
•^or  this  end  it  confines  and  focuses  its  energies  by  the  casting  of 


48  INTELLIGENCE. 

noulds  of  matter;  first  building  its  prison;  then  becoming  it;  ac 
inally  transcending  it  by  the  evolution  of  higher  and  freer  activitie 
rhus  it  climbs  from  kingdom  to  kingdom;  the  same  One  Soul  J 
ach,  yet  cloaking,  in  a  measure,  its  identity  with  the  old  stage  by  tt 
ncreasing  complexities  of  the  new. 

The  human  soul  thus  becomes  the  focus  at  which  all  the  forc^ 
)f  Occult  Nature  meet.  It  is  the  knower,  the  interpreter  of  tt: 
vorld  by  right  of  the  immeasurable  garnering  of  its  immeasurabS 
)ast.  Lord  and  master  of  all  lower  things,  can  there  be  aught  in  th 
mdergrades  of  the  Universe  which  it  has  not,  at  some  former  pericH 
xperienced?  If  so,  whence  its  sublime  sovereignty — its  master-pla€ 
n  lower  nature  ? 

Should  this  world-old  Pantheism  appear  phantastic  to  those  wh 
vould  fain  express  the  deep  secrets  of  Nature  by  the  shibboleths^ 
1  materialistic  science,  it  is  yet  a  logical  phantasy.  All  things  exia 
►y  reason  of  a  deep,  divine  necessity,  which  is  hidden  from  spb 
tual  vision  by  the  blindness  of  the  natural  man.  The  apparent  U9< 
essness  of  external  nature  sometimes  appals  us  until  we  reflect  Q 
he  marvelous  complexity  of  its  hidden  side,  and  on  the  plan  aiJ 
mrpose  of  Forces  which  direct  the  phenomena  from  behind  tfc 
cenes.  The  soul,  then,  that  moves  toward  omniscience  has  first  t 
larticipate  in  the  necessary  life  of  lower  things  if  it  would  share  in  thi 
►erfection  which  is  the  sum-total  of  all  possible  experience. 

Coming  now  into  the  soul-sphere  which  has  for  us  the  most  iflC 
nediate  interest — the  human  kingdom — we  have  to  watch  the  bcai 
igs  of  the  great  principle  of  development  through  material  expcfi 
nces  on  the  deep  pr6blem  of  good  and  evil.  Eden  and  its  trage^ 
5  the  destined  experience  of  every  human  soul;  nevertheless  it  is 
act  which  cannot  be  relegated  for  all  to  the  same  point  in  histof] 
t  seems,  indeed,  that  a  man  has  to  reach  a  certain  point  in  Evolutio 
►efore  he  acquires  the  power  to  sin.  This  assertion  may  seem  af 
urd,  at  first  sight;  nevertheless,  if  thoughtfully  considered,  it  thron 
faint  side-light  on  the  enormous  Mystery  of  Evil. 

Now  the  question  presents  itself:  What  is  Evil?  Are  our  Thcc 
3gians  in  a  position  to  tell  us?  Because,  if  they  knew  rightly  whi 
Lvil  is,  they  would  be  nearer  a  knowledge  of  its  why  and  its  wheit 


n 


THE  SOUL'S  "EDEN."  14:9 

lore.  Evil,  according  to  current  opinion,  is  the  violation  of  a  divine 
law;  "  the  deviation  of  a  moral  agent  from  the  rules  of  conduct  pre- 
scribed by  God,"  as  Webster  has  it.  This  definition  is  as  accurate 
from  the  stand-point  of  orthodoxy  as  we  can  get,  but  does  it  cover 
much  ground?  Is  it  satisfying?  Clearly,  no.  We  are  prompted  to 
push  the  question  back  to  the  real  point  at  issue,  and  inquire  what 
element  in  man  instigates  the  deviation;  whence  its  origin;  and  for 
what  purpose  its  strong  and  persistent  existence?  Evil  is  not  an 
act;  it  is  that  which  gives  rise  thereto.  An  act  is  a  dead  thing,  when 
j^  considered  apart  from  the  impulse  that  prompted  it.  Evil  is  vastly 
more  than  the  mere  absence  of  righteousness;  it  is  more,  too,  than 
the  violation  of  a  divine  law;  it  is  a  positive  and  important  factor  in 
the  operations  of  Great  Nature;  a  fierce  and  potent  element  in  the 
constitution  of  the  human  race,  which,  if  it  would  be  successfully 
mastered,  has  first  to  be  scientifically  understood. 

By  many — we  might  almost  say,  by  the  majority — Evil  is  vaguely 
regarded  as  a  dangerous  something  that  has  been  created  by  the 
Divine  Providence  for  the  sole  purpose  of  being  avoided.  Such  a 
y\tK  IS  as  absurd  as  it  is  unphilosophical.  That  which  persists  by  its 
ot«i  laws;  maintaining  a  strong  and  independent  life  amid  opposing 
conditions;  that,  in  short,  which  has  stability  enough  to  form  a  recog- 
nized element  in  Nature,  has  to  be  reckoned  among  the  necessary 
methods  of  soul-training.  Evil  is  the  birch-rod  that  stings  us  into 
obedience.  Its  nature  is  ever  the  same;  but  its  name  changes  with 
^bc  sinner's  degree  of  growth.  There  is  an  early  stage  in  which  it 
has  to  be  experienced  in  the  absoluteness  of  its  separation  from  the 
K^ine,  but  at  that  stage  it  has  not  yet  become  Evil.  It  is  a  thing 
^hat  is  natural  to  the  condition  of  the  elementary  soul,  who,  by  liv- 
"^?  the  life  of  the  animal,  and  tasting  its  fierce  and  savage  experiences, 
"^ds  out  that  side  of  Universal  Life,  and  then  passes  on. 

Jf  the  question  arises:  Why,  in  order  to  reach  our  Divine  God- 
"^t  must  we  first  stray  far  from  it?  I  would  suggest  that  we 
r^nedy  our  previous  notions  of  Divinity.  So  long  as  the  old,  super- 
"^  view  of  "  good  and  evil  "  as  separate  and  ever-opposed  entities 
's  adhered  to,  so  long  shall  we  be  in  confusion  regarding  the  true 
"^^re  of  both.    Old  Heraclitus  had  sighted  one  clue  to  the  mystery 


160  INTELLIGENCE. 

when  he  proclaimed  the  One  Life  as  the  Ever-becoming.  "  The 
Universal  Life,"  he  says,  "  is  an  eternal  motion,  and  therefore  tends, 
as  every  motion  must,  toward  some  end,  even  though  this  end,  in  the 
course  of  the  evolution  of  life,  present  itself  to  us  as  a  mere  transition 
to  some  ulterior  end." 

In  the  course  of  the  transition  of  the  Divine  Life  from  an  ele- 
mentary to  a  more  complex  expression  of  itself  in  matter,  it  takes   ; 
on  an  aspect  which,  on  the  arrival  of  a  higher  condition,  straightway  ; 
becomes  **  Evil."    The  "  evil  "  is  not  in  the  thing  per  se,  but  in  the 
stand-point  from  which  it  is  considered.    It  is,  in  reality,  the  effete, 
the  outworn,  the  useless;   the  rejected  husk  of  the  growing  soul, 
which  has  no  longer  a  purpose  or  a  place  in  evolution;   which  finds 
itself  now  an  intruder  where  once  it  held  a  fixed  and  rightful  sway^ 
To  those  of  mankind  for  whom  the  hour  of  responsibility  has  strucVc^ 
'*  evil,"  or  the  contact  of  the  soul  with  the  grosser  elements  of  matter, 
is  (or  should  be)  an  outgrown  stage.    The  story  of  Eden  is  the  story 
of  the  arrival  of  the  new  condition.    There  comes  a  stage  in  every 
soul's  experience  when  the  mandate,  "  Thou  shalt  not,"  first  thundd^ 
with  awakening  force — announcing,  by  its  very  implication  of  a  pos- 
sible free-will,  the  birth  of  the  higher  growth  in  which  disobedient* 
(and  therefore  its  opposite)  becomes  one  of  the  god-powers  of  ^^^ 
evolving  being.    The  birth  of  Evil  is  the  birth  also  of  the  moral  la^* 
''  I  had  not  known  sin,"  says  Paul,  "  but  by  the  law:   for  I  had  tiO^ 
known  lust  except  the  law  had  said,  Thou  shalt  not  covet.    But  5H*» 
taking  occasion  by,"  pr  better,  taking  its  start  from,  "  the  command* 
ment,  wrought  in  me  all  manner  of  concupiscence.    For  without  th* 

law,  sin  was  dead."    Rom.  vii.  7,  8. 

Charlotte  M.  Woods- 

(To  be  continued.) 


Ima^nation  is  the  faculty  to  create  something  which  we  can  percei^^* 
to  reproduce  a  perceptible  object  in  the  mind;  to  recall  a  state  of  rtii^ 
which  has  been  experienced ;  to  take  such  material  as  our  experience 
direct  apprehension  furnishes  and  construct  it  into  new  forms  and  imag" 
It  is  the  abiHty  and  disposition  to  form  ideals,  or  mental  creations 
Alexander  Wilder y  M.D. 


THE   MYSTERIOUS    KEY.  151 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY. 
AN  OCCULT  TRAGEDY. 

(II.) 

"  My  friend,"  said  the  druggist,  entering  the  locksmith's  shop, 
**  you  look  pale  and  thin — ^yes,  and  overworked.    You  ought  to  take 
a  rest,  or  else  you  will  be  buying  tonics  and  drugs,  and — coffins, 
maybe." 

Abul  laid  down  his  screw-driver  and  looked  smilingly  up  at  the 
druggist. 

"  Oh,  no.  That  is  not  so.  I  was  never  better  in  my  life  than  now." 

**  But,  see  here,  do  you  think  you  can  stay  up  working  till  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  still  be  a  well  man?  " 

*  It  was  only  for  one  night  that  I  did  that,"  retorted  the  Egyptian, 
lightly;  "and  the  fact  is  I've  done  very  little  since  then.  It  is  true 
that  I  have  had  some  outside  work  at  night,  but  it  was  not  hard, 
and  the  chances  are  I  will  finish  this  evening." 

The  druggist  was  not  a  shrewd  man,  nor  was  he  suspicious;  but 
as  he  crossed  over  to  his  store,  a  few  minutes  later,  his  thoughts  ran 
somewhat  in  this  line: 

"Outside  work  at  night!  Never  heard  of  a  locksmith  having 
otttside  work  at  night  before.  He  seems  to  be  an  honest  man;  but 
I  m  blessed  if  there  isn't  something  strange  about  him  and  his  *  out- 
side work.'  He  looked  rather  peculiar,  too,  now  that  I  think  of  it, 
*hen  he  said  he  would  finish  up  his  work  this  evening.  But — it's  no 
"^ness  of  mine,"  and  he  hurried  on,  out  of  the  fast-falling  snow. 

Not  very  long  afterward,  Abul  emerged  from  his  shop.  The 
strange  Egyptian,  as  a  rule,  cared  very  little  for  the  severity  of  the 
'''^ther;  but  to-night  he  seemed  wrapped  up,  head  and  ears.  He 
^"as  accustomed  to  greet  his  acquaintances  with  a  pleasant  word,  ac- 
companied by  a  straightforward  glance  of  the  eye;  but  to-night  he 
s^^ed  inclined  to  hurry  past  his  friend  the  policeman,  whom  he  met 


52  INTELLIGENCE. 

lalf-way  up  the  square.    And  when  the  latter  had  stopped  him 
nake  some  trivial  inquiry  he  kept  his  eyes  strangely  fixed  upon  tl 
hird  button  of  the  officer's  coat. 

"  You  look  cold,  to-night,"  the  officer  said. 

'*  Cold  it  is,  and  it  may  be  colder  still  to-night,"  rejoined  the  loci 
mith,  smiling  faintly. 

"  You  look  half  like  a  house-breaker,  with  your  face  all  bundk 
ip  and  that  little  satchel  of  yours,"  said  the  policeman,  laughingl 

"  So  I  am,"  Abul  answered,  in  a  forced  voice. 

"  Well,"  said  the  policeman  as  he  passed  on,  "  Til  know  who 
o  lay  my  hands  on  you." 

"  So?  Very  good!  "  said  the  locksmith,  as  he  likewise  quickem 
lis  pace. 

Within  half  an  hour  he  was  within  a  few  squares  of  the  Strange! 
louse.  The  snow  had  ceased  falling,  and  a  strong  northwest  win 
prang  up.  Abul  walked  at  a  brisk  pace.  His  face  was  bent  low  i 
[  to  shield  him  from  the  wind,  his  hat  was  drawn  closely  over  his  ey€ 
^ore  than  once  he  cast  furtive  glances  behind  him,  for  the  last  sa 
ence  of  the  policeman  had  jarred  slightly  on  his  nerves.  Might  ni 
\e  be  suspected  of  some  underhand  work,  and  even  followed?  B 
he  streets  were  almost  deserted,  and  each  time  he  looked  back  ac 
ound  no  one  dogging  his  footsteps,  he  laughed  at  his  foolish  fean 

Night  had  fairly  set  in  when  a  dark  form  glided  swiftly  from  d 
meven  street  into  the  dismal  basement  of  the  old  frame-house  ai 
oining  the  mysterious  Stranger's  residence.  The  shadow  groped  i 
vay  to  the  inner  room,  crept  to  a  far  corner,  and  seemed  to  st<x 
lown.  An  interval,  and  a  faint  light  shone  through  the  dingy  apai 
nent.  A  match  was  being  applied  to  the  wick  of  a  small  bull's-e; 
antern.  The  flame  suddenly  flared  up  and  flashed  full  upon  the  h 
)f — Abul  Kahm,  the  locksmith. 

He  quickly  closed  the  lantern,  and  placed  it  upon  the  Hot 
Slowly  he  felt  his  way  back  to  the  front  of  the  house,  and  there  to 
ip  his  stand  at  a  point  from  which  he  could  see  the  dark,  silent  str< 
without  being  seen. 

It  had  been  cold  an  hour  before,  but  it  was  bitter  cold  now. 
!iad  been  blowing  slightly  when  Abul  left  his  shop,  but  the  wind  b 


tj 


THE    MYSTERIOUS    KEY.  153 

turned  into  a  perfect  hurricane.  It  moaned  through  the  shattered 
windows  of  the  basement;  it  howled  through  the  crumbling  door- 
ways; it  shrieked  through  the  empty  chambers,  one  and  all. 

As  he  stood  waiting,  Abul  felt  a  strange  dread  gradually  creeping 
over  him.  Everything  was  so  wild  and  weird  and  mystic  and  thrill 
ing.  Not  a  sound  but  the  wind;  not  a  soul  abroad  save  himself;  and 
all  around — darkness. 

Why  had  he  ever  interested  himself  in  this  strange  mystery? 
What  was  there  to  be  gained  even  if  he  solved  it?  Was  it  not  curi- 
osity—inordinate, criminal,  and  even  dangerous — that  led  him  on? 
Was  he  not  abusing  his  powers  in  delving  into  that  which  concerned 
him  not?  Had  he  not  better  quietly  return  home  before  it  was  too 
late,  and  strive  to  forget  the  mysterious  Golden  Key?  His  very 
marrow  began  to  be  chilled;  his  teeth  chattered  and  his  knees  shook. 

He  had  half  turned  to  go  when  some  mysterious  power  seemed 
to  root  him  to  the  spot.  He  almost  fancied  that  he  heard  a  voice 
crying  out:  "  You  shall  not  go!  Search!  Search!  "  At  the  same 
moment  he  felt  as  if  there  was  a  line  of  invisible  forces  reaching  from 
the  upper  room  of  the  Stranger's  house,  drawing  him  irresistibly 
thither. 

Just  at  this  juncture  he  heard  the  sound  of  wheels  plowing 
through  the  dry  snow,  and  a  carriage  stopped  in  front  of  the  brick 
mansion.  Almost  immediately,  by  the  dim  light  of  the  carriage-lamp, 
he  saw  the  tall  form  of  the  Stranger  leave  the  house  and  enter  the 
carnage;  then  he  heard  the  door  slam,  and  the  wheels  rumbled  away 
into  silence. 

Then  it  was  that  there  came  upon  him  strength  that  seemed  al- 
"wst  superhuman.  Warm  blood  flowed  through  his  stiffened  limbs, 
^d  a  mysterious  impulse  nerved  him  to  action.  He  walked  swiftly 
to  the  back  room,  took  up  the  lantern  and  drew  back  the  slide.  The 
light  fell  once  more  upon  his  face.  It  was  fixed  and  determined,  as 
°Pon  the  night  of  the  Stranger's  first  appearance  in  his  little  shop. 
"C  threw  across  his  arm  the  strap  attached  to  his  satchel,  flashed 
the  light  in  front  of  him,  and  began  to  move  along  the  mildewed  halls 
^^  up  the  creaking  stairs. 

A  watcher  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  gazing  intently  at 


L54  INTELLIGENCE. 

the  top  of  the  frame-house  might  have  seen,  a  few  minutes  later,  t 
form  of  Abul  creeping  slowly  along.    Ten  more  yards  and  he  b 
jained  the  Stranger's  house-top.  Hastily  wrapping  one  end  of  a  stc 
rope  around  the  chimney,  he  let  the  other  dangle  down  directly 
^ont  of  the  window  by  which  he  hoped  to  enter. 

Stealthily  he  crept  to  the  eaves  of  the  roof,  seized  the  rope  a 
began  the  descent.  Down,  down,  down — slowly,  firmly;  hand  unc 
hand;  once,  twice,  thrice,  four  times,  five  times,  and  his  feet  rest 
upon  the  window-sill.  He  released  one  hand  from  the  rope,  raifl 
the  window,  pushed  aside  the  curtains  and  swung  himself  boldly  in 
the  unknown  room. 

He  was  distinctly  conscious  of  three  things:  First,  that  he  sto 
on  the  softest  of  velvet  carpets;  second,  that  there  was  a  pecufi 
odor  which  reminded  him  of  an  embalmer's  establishment;  last 
that  it  was  intensely  dark. 

He  took  the  lantern  from  the  satchel,  where  it  had  been  careful 
carried  in  an  upright  position,  and  moving  back  the  slide  flashed  t 
light  about  the  room. 

He  stood  in  a  gorgeous  apartment  which,  but  for  the  deep  daroa 
tapestry  that  covered  the  four  walls,  was  furnished  and  decorat 
in  Oriental  style.  The  floor  was  spread  with  a  thick,  soft  carp 
Quaint  cushions  made  from  the  skins  of  various  animals,  voluptuo 
divans  and  delicately  wrought  chairs  were  placed  tastefully  here  ai 
there.  At  one  side  of  the  room  was  a  white  marble  carving  of  t 
Sphinx  and  close  by  was  the  somber  figure  of  a  gigantic  cat,  car?- 
from  the  blackest  ebony. 

But  nowhere  could  he  see  any  object  that  could  possibly  relate 
the  mysterious  Golden  Key. 

His  eager  eyes  fell  upon  no  ill-concealed  trap-door;  his  ever  bu 
liands  brought  to  light  no  damp  and  bottomless  vault.  A  great  d 
appointment  welled  up  in  his  heart.    He  must  search  below. 

Partly  closing  his  lantern  he  crossed  to  the  door,  and,  noiselesi 
opening  it,  found  himself  in  a  spacious  hall.  Descending  one  flig 
of  stairs  he  entered  the  front  room.  It  was  a  large  library.  Arotu 
the  immense  room  were  massive  mahogany  cases  filled  with  gth 
looking  volumes.    In  the  center  of  the  apartment  was  a  broad  tab 


THE   MYSTERIOUS    KEY.  155 

upon  which  were  scattered  numberless  books  and  papers  in  great 
confusion. 

But  again  the  heart  of  the  locksmith  sank  within  him.  There 
was  no  trace  of  the  lock  for  the  Golden  Key. 

He  turned  and,  crossing  the  hallway,  entered  a  room  to  the  left. 
He  stood  upon  the  threshold  of  an  immense  chemical  laboratory.  In- 
numerable  bottles  were  arranged  around  the  room.  There  were 
troughs  and  tanks,  retorts  and  crucibles.  On  a  bench  at  one  side 
were  many  kinds  of  tools  and  delicate  instruments — magnets  and 
coils  and  armatures.  Against  one  wall  were  ten  or  twelve  shelves  of 
great  glass  batteries,  and  above  he  saw  a  network  of  wires  running 
hither  and  thither.  It  was  all  very  fine;  all  very  surprising  to  the 
locksmith,  but  he  had  made  no  progress  whatsoever. 

Emerging  once  more  into  the  hall,  he  was  about  to  abandon  the 
search  when  again  he  felt  a  mystA-ious  something  that  impelled  him 
toward  the  room  he  had  first  entered. 

Having  gained  it,  he  threw  himself  down  into  a  chair  and  began 
to  ponder.  Whatever  thefe  was  to  be  discovered  was,  he  felt  sure, 
in  that  room  and  nowhere  else.  He  had  searched  every  nook  and 
corner  and  had  brought  nothing  to  light.  Either  he  must  find  some 
cleverly  concealed  trap-door,  some  secret  panel  in  the  wall,  or  give 
up  the  search. 

Taking  a  small  hammer  from  his  satchel,  he  began  to  sound  the 
^.  listening  attentively  and  hopefully  for  some  hollow  reverbera- 
tion. In  order  that  the  sound  should  not  be  deadened  by  the  drapery 
It  was  necessary  for  him  to  smooth  the  damask  against  the  wall  with 
one  hand  and  to  use  the  hammer  with  the  other.  He  had  thus  nearly 
completed  the  circuit  of  the  room  when  his  hand  suddenly  came  in 
ttWJtact  with  a  small  protuberance.  It  projected  out  from  the  sur- 
'ice  of  the  wall  not  more  than  an  eighth  of  an  inch  and  was  about 
the  size  of  a  small  coin. 

Like  a  revelation,  the  truth  flashed  upon  him.  It  was  an  electric- 
'^ton!  He  moved  his  hand  a  little  further  and  discovered  that  there 
^^cfour  more  of  these  knobs.  Hesitating  but  a  moment  he  pressed 
^"^  first.  The  room  became  brilliantlv  illuminated  bv  manv  incan- 
"«cent  lamps  that  were  imbedded  in  the  frescoed  ceiling!    A  cry  of 


156  INTELLIGENCE. 

dismay  escaped  from  the  locksmith.  The  light  would  betray  bis 
presence.  The  second  knob — would  it  cut  oflf  the  current?  Hastily 
he  pressed  it,  and  immediately  the  circular  light  from  his  bull's-eye 
lantern  was  all  that  illumined  the  room. 

Abul  breathed  easier.  He  had  discovered  the  use  of  the  first  two 
knobs.    What  of  the  third? 

He  placed  his  finger  upon  it  and  was  about  to  press  it  when  some 
strange  psychological  force  compelled  him  to  remove  his  hand.  Again 
he  tried,  but  was  unable  to  control  his  muscles.  A  strange  spell 
seemed  to  come  upon  him.  His  heart  beat  loud  and  strong,  and  a 
chilliness  overspread  his  frame. 

"  Bah! ''  he  hoarsely  whispered,  grinding  his  teeth,  '*  I  am  be- 
come a  child! ''  With  one  powerful  effort  of  his  will  he  quelled  hi* 
emotions,  swiftly  raised  his  hand  and  touched  the  knob. 

At  the  same  instant  there  wa^  a  dull,  buzzing  sound,  as  if  ma- 
chinery were  being  set  in  motion.  At  first  Abul  was  unable  to  ascer* 
tain  its  source,  but  as  it  grew  louder  he  faced  about  and  flashed  the 
lantern  across  the  room.  To  his  astonishment  he  saw  the  tapestry 
that  hung  from  the  opposite  wall  slowly  part,  as  if  unseen  hands  were 
drawing  aside  the  curtains  of  a  doorway.  The  white  wall  beyond 
seemed  to  recede  and  a  pale  yellow  light  shimmered  through  the 
opening.  The  break  assumed  the  proportions  of  an  ordinary  door- 
way; there  was  a  sharp  report,  a  blinding  Hash  from  the  recess  be' 
yond,  and  instantly  everything  became  still  as  death! 

Abul  stood  trembling  in  every  limb.  He  was  a  brave  man  and 
was  used  to  all  things  weird  and  uncanny.  But  he  was  amid  strange 
surroundings.  For  a  moment  he  stood  irresolute;  then  conquering 
his  fears  he  stepped  boldly  forward  and  parted  the  curtains.  A  cfj 
of  triumph  escaped  from  his  lips.  He  stood  upon  the  threshold  C^ 
2L  small  crypt  or  vault. 

It  was  not  more  than  ten  by  seven  feet  in  size,  but  had  a  hi^ 
ceiling,  in  the  centre  of  which  burned  an  electric  lamp.  Reachirm 
from  wall  to  wall  and  nearly  filling  half  the  crypt  was  a  massive  che^ 
shaped  somewhat  like  a  coffin.  It  was  made  of  yellow  metal  wic: 
strange  signs  and  symbols  carved  upon  it,  and  it  was  studded  wiC 
many  gems.     Yet  it  was  not  the  sight  of  the  precious  metal  th^ 


THE   MYSTERIOUS    KEY.  157 

lused  Abul  to  cry  out;  nor  the  signs  or  symbols;  nor  yet  again  the 

wels  themselves.    His  quick  eye  had  detected  something  far  more 

nportant.     On  the  side  and  about  the  middle  of  the  chest,  three 

iches  from  the  upper  edge,  was  a  large,  queerly-shaped  keyhole. 

For  one  moment  Abul  stood  half-stunned  with  glad  surprise. 

The  next  he  sprang  forward.     He  took  the  key  from  the  satchel 

»vhich  hung  at  his  arm,  and  tremblingly  applied  it  to  the  lock.    One 

sharp  turn  to  the  right — the  bolt  had  yielded ! 

Almost  mad  with  eagerness  he  seized  the  lid  with  both  his  hands 

and  exerting  all  his  strength  raised  it.    On  the  velvet  cushions  that 

lined  the  chest  rested  the  still  form  of  a  beautiful  woman. 

Her  dark  hair,  her  slender  form,  her  browned  complexion,  and 

her  loose  white  robe — all  proclaimed  her  some  fair  daughter  of  the 

distant  Nile.    Her  eyes  were  sealed  as  in  death.    Her  jeweled  hands 

were  folded  across  her  breast.    Her  colorless  lips  told  that  blood  had 

ceased  to  flow -through  her  veins.     Just  resting  upon  her  forehead 

was  the  end  of  a  large  copper  wire,  and  touching  one  of  her  daintily 

sandaled  feet  was  the  other  electrode. 

As  the  locksmith  bent  over  this  beautiful  vision  of  death,  and 

"marked  the  mild  angelic  air  "  that  rested  upon  the  calm,  noble  face, 

he  felt  strangely  drawn  toward  her;  knew  that  between  the  dead  girl 

and  himself  there  existed  some  subtle  affinity:   realized,  at  last,  that 

he  had  not  been  directed  upon  his  perilous  and  seemingly  useless 

quest  by  mere  idle  curiosity,  but  that  some  occult  power  had  shaped 

his  course  and  brought  him  hither,  for  what  end  he  knew  not.    And 

as  he  grazed  upon  his  fair  countrywoman  the  memory  of  other  days,  of 

happier  days  and  happier  nights,  crowded  upon  him;  days  and  nights 

passed  upon  the  shores  of  the  abundant  Nile,  and  among  maidens 

as  darkly  fair  as  she  who  lay  before  him. 

Joseph  S.  Rogers. 

(Concluded  next  month.) 


168  INTELLIGENCE. 


PYTHAGORAS  AND  "  BEING/' 

(XXVL) 

Democritus  and  Pythagoras  are  the  two  most  interesting  | 
ophers  among  "  physical  metaphysicians  "  of  the  first  age  of 
philosophy;  and  they  are  the  final  effort  of  the  Greek  mind  o 
period  in  its  speculations  on  Nature. 

I  have  already  treated  the  Democritic  ideas,  and  have  i 
them  to  resemble  will  forces.  I  now  come  to  the  Pythagorean 
ber,  which  will  be  shown  to  be  an  expression  for  relationship,  a  i 
tive  principle,  a  principle  of  **  harmony  *'  and  of "  construction." 
together  with  the  Democritic  atomistic  philosophy,  the  Pythaj 
Number  may  be  said  to  represent  *'  transcendental  physics." 

Neither  Pythagoras  nor  any  of  his  immediate  disciples  conii 
their  teachings  to  writing.  The  earliest  Pythagorean  treatise 
posed  by  Philolaus,  a  contemporary  of  Socrates,  is  known  to  t 
in  fragments,  and  the  genuineness  of  these  is  disputed.  Apoc 
Pythagorean  literature  is  abundant.*  He  seems  to  have  foa 
fundamental  principles  in  the  Orphic  hymns,  and  in  Egypt.  ] 
connection  I  have  only  to  do  with  his  number  theory.  "  Nt) 
are  the  principles  of  things."  *'  Number  is  the  substance 
things."  "  In  numbers  the  Pythagoreans  fancied  they  beheld 
resemblances  for  entities  and  things  that  are  being  produced^ 
than  in  fire,  and  earth,  and  water  "  ;  these  are  the  words  of  Ari 
To  Pythagoras,  according  to  the  ancient  commentators,  it  dc 
matter  what  we  call  the  original  substance;  the  nature  of  each 
is  after  all  the  law  of  development,  the  measure  of  its  condeni 
It  is  proportion  that  makes  this  existence  into  a  Kosmos  or 
derly  system;  and  it  is  harmony  that  is  the  secret  of  a  virtuous 

Number,  viz.,  the  numerical  and  mathematical  relations  of  \ 

*  ZcIIer  says,  "Of  Pythagorean  ism  and  its  founder,  tradition  has  the  moc 
us  the  farther  it  is  removed  in  time  from  its  subject;  whereas  it  becouM 
reticent  in  proportion  as  we  approach  chronologically  nearer  to  that  subjcd 


PYTHAGORAS  AND   "BEING."  169 

lakes  the  thing  as  we  know  it.  Number  harmony  makes  music; 
roportion  is  the  characteristic  element  in  sculpture  and  architecture; 
nd  in  the  movement  of  the  heavenly  bodies  we  discover  order  and 
aw,  a  **  harmony  of  the  spheres,"  as  Pythagoras  is  reported  to  have 
aught.  Take  number  away,  remove  the  relative  order  of  things,  and 
*e  have  chaos.  Let  the  men  of  a  regiment  of  soldiers  march,  not 
iceeping  step  with  one  another,  and  **  the  bearing  power  "  is  gone — 
the  marching  becomes  "  hard  work."  A  nature- principle  reveals  itself 
in  the  tact  which  makes  threshing  and  smithing  easy.  The  measured 
movement  introduces  the  power  of  a  universe,  the  rhythm  of  the  mo- 
tion accords  with  universal  vibration.  Music  becomes  the  mother- 
tongue  of  feeling  humanity,  when  in  well-graded  measure  it  calls  out 
such  feelings  in  us  as  correspond  to  those  tone  combinations,  which 
arc  true  expressions  for  the  universal  motion.  The  ancients  personi- 
fied universal  emotion  in  Apollo,  the  god  of  Harmony. 

All  this  implies  that  number  has  a  magical  power,  and  that  was 
what  the  Pythagoreans  taught.  It  is  to  them  divine,  the  permeating 
force  of  the  Universal.  Philolaus  is  represented  as  saying  that,  "  the 
nature  and  energy  of  number  may  be  traced  not  only  in  divine  and 
demonic  things,  but  even  in  human  works  and  words  everywhere, 
and  in  all  works  of  art,  and  in  music."  This  proves  to  the  mind 
crfRitter  *  most  distinctly  that  number  was  to  the  Pythagoreans  the 
dime  or  the  first  principle  of  all  things  and  a  Something  diffused 
throughout  the  whole  world;  and  that  they  also  held  it  to  be  in  itself 
unknowable,  only  revealing  itself  in  mundane  things  as  that  which 
'^conciles  all  to  friendship,  adapts  them  to  each  other,  and  thereby 
^dcrs  them  knowable.  Cicero  also  speaks  in  a  similar  way,  "  God 
*ith  the  Pythagoreans,  is  the  soul  which  is  diffused  through  and 
jovtming  in  all  things,  and  from  which  our  souls  derive  their  origin." 

Immediately  connected  with  the  central  doctrine  of  number  is 
the  Pythagorean  theory  of  opposites:  and  that  theory  furnishes  the 
'^t  proof  for  the  explanation  of  the  number-theory  as  being  one 
that  explains  the  world  and  all  its  phenomena  as  a  result  of  relation- 
^*Pt  viz.,  that  all  we  know  is  simply  modes  of  perceptions,  and  these 
Inceptions  translated  into  conceptions  of  our  own  minds. 

*  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy;   Oxford,  1838,  Vol.  I.,  369. 


160  INTELLIGENCE. 

Pythagoras  no  doubt  believed  in  the  continuity  of  all  na 
phenomena  and  processes.  So  believing,  he  could  look  upon  tht 
tions  of  cause  and  effect  only  as  convenient  artifices,  and  coulc 
ascribe  to  them  any  reality.  When  he  derives  the  Many  fron 
One. he  is  only  describing  an  aspect  of  Being,  or  an  **  attribute 
Spinoza  would  say.  Between  the  two  poles,  the  Odd  and  the  i 
existence  comes  to  being,  according  to  him.  Not  that  existen 
but  that  it  constantly  **  comes  to  be.''  *'  Contraries  are  the 
principles  of  entities."  **  The  greater  portion  of  things  human 
be  reduced  to  two  classes;  call  them  contrarieties."  Thus  rq 
Alcmoeon  of  Crotona,  **  who  had,"  as  Aristotle  said,  **  reached 
age  of  manhood  when  Pythagoras  was  an  old  man."  The  dc 
truth  of  the  Pythagorean  declaration  that  numbers  are  even  and 
seems  to  be  the  law  of  polarity. 

Existence  oscillates  between  two  poles:  Being  and  Not-B 
Nature  is  an  endless  combination  and  repetition  of  a  very  few ! 
Existence  is  like  a  flowing  river;  not  a  particle  is  at  rest;  all  i 
simultaneously  toward  the  boundless.  If  we  look  for  rest  we  ; 
give  perpetuity  to  the  moment  we  have  seized.  And  we  do. 
ideas  we  ascribe  to  the  ocean,  *'  Eternity,  Immensity,  and  Po^ 
are  our  ideas,  though  they  have  been  called  forth  by  the  ocean 
other  words,  the  manifestations  are  themselves  realities  and 
stance  itself  is  only  known  by  these  manifestations  or  the  mon 
of  relation,  the  moments  in  which  Being  takes  form  in  our  min 

Beginning,  Origin,  Being,  the  Fundamental,  or  whatever  eh 
may  call  the  starting-point,  cannot  be  conceived  except  bj 
mediate  appearance  of  an  Other,  be  that  Other,  End,  Effect,  1 
uct,  or  the  "  energia  "  or  the  *'  telos."  The  End,  in  the  pii 
sense,  is  the  cause  of  the  action,  hence  the  cause  of  the  Begin 
Beginning  and  End  condition  each  other.  But,  not  only  doc 
Second  lie  in  the  First,  also  the  Third  lies  there,  for  it  "  procc 
the  moment  we  conceive  the  First  and  the  Second;  it  is  the 
necting  link,  the  affmity  of  the  two.  The  First  is  the  active  prin* 
the  father  principle;  the  Second  is  the  passive  principle,  thfe  m 
principle;  and  the  Third  is  the  unitive  principle,  the  child;  all 
are  Being  in  diremption,  and  "  proceed  "  out  of  each  other  h 


PYTHAGORAS  AND   "BEING."  161 

order,  i,  2,  3.    In  the  Hebrew  sacred  name  we  have  a  fourth  "  pro- 
ceeding," the  actual  existence,  the  World,  or  Man,  represented  by 
the  final  He,  thus:   Yod — He — Vau — He  =  Yohveh.     Here,  then, 
the  numerical  relationship  of  thoughts  becomes  the  means  where- 
with we  express  Being.     If  we  are  Nominalists,  then  these  notions 
are  to  us  mere  names  or  words,  and  they  have  no  objective  realities 
corresponding  to  them.     But  if  we  are  Realists,  they  contain  Uni- 
versals  and  they  are  not  mere  conceptions  and  expressions.     Most 
occult  students  are  realists  and  believe  that  the  trinity  of  i,  2,  3,  is 
sacred  and  a  talisman  that  unlocks  many  secret  doors  to  the  Cosmos, 
>T2.,  the  Great  Order,  the  Macrocosmos.    All  will  acknowledge  that 
in  the  four  we  have  completeness  as  it  is  in  the  actual  world.    The 
circle  is  completeness  in  the  infinite,  but  the  square  is  the  sign  of 
completeness  in  the  actual  world,  because  it  is  the  End  or  the  World, 
Man,  as  the  outcome  that  completes  existence.    The  square  is  the 
sign  of  Man.     Man  is  only  perfect  when  his  measure  in  height  cor- 
responds to  his  width,  represented  by  his  outstretched  arms. 

The  Pythagorean  speculation  knows  these  four  categories  or 
classes  to  which  things  or  thoughts  may  be  referred.*  The  earliest 
table  of  categories  known  is  that  of  the  Pythagoreans,  preserved  by 
Aristotle  in  the  first  book  of  his  Metaphysics.  The  Orphic  philos- 
ophy saw  in  these  categories  an  expression  for  the  mysteries  of  Samo- 
thrace,  which  were  a  dramatic  representation  of  the  life  of  the  Great 
Gods,  viz.,  universal  mind  and  productive  body,  or  Heaven  and  Earth. 
This  actual  world  was  the  outcome  of  that  life.  Thus  the  ancients 
hy  kindergarten  pictures  demonstrated  the  four.  In  another  designa- 
^»n  their  names  are  Cronos  (time),  Zeus  (ether),  Kasma  (original 
^nff),and  Phanes  (the  world,  also  called  the  "  love-creator  ").  Plato 
^  a  similar  four-foldness  in  the  dialogue  "  Philebus  *'  :  Being; 
Pcras,  the  End  or  **  constitutor; ''  the  Indeterminate;  and  the  Com- 
^  or  Compound.  These  four  are  **  the  sources  of  the  roots  of 
eternal  nature;  "  they  are  **  the  mother  of  all."  That  which  the  One, 
^hc Undifferentiated,  holds  in  its  abyss,  comes  to  light  in  these  four; 
^. out  of  these  four  (arranged  thus,  1+2  +  3  +  4=10)  comes  the 

It  being  impossible  to  know  all  things  individually,  philosophy  arranges  things 
rSJwghts,  according  to  their  common  properties,  in  classes.  Such  classes  are 
^^'^  categories.    Science  does  the  same  thing  with  its  material. 


162  INTELLIGENCE. 

ten,  the  "  all  complete,"  which  cannot  be  passed.*  The  Pythagoi 
called  Ten,  Deity,  Eternity,  and  Heaven,  viz.,  "  That  which  rcc 
all  things  "  (decad,  from  dekomai,  to  receive).  It  is  also  called 
mos,  and  with  the  Kabbalists  it  is  the  Kingdom,  or  the  Sum-tol 
all  divine  diremption.  Numerically  it  has  so  much  interest  bee 
it  represents  the  ten  fingers,  not  only  as  in  mystical  language  ' 
fountain  of  eternal  nature/'  but  *'  all  that  can  be  counted." 

Phanes,  the  *'  love  creator,"  or,  as  Plato  calls  his  fourth  catcj 
Peras,  **  the  constitutor,"  is  of  special  interest  and  becomes  a  sy 
of  Being  as  the  *'  final  cause  "  or  the  involution  of  Being. 

When  we  turn  to  science  in  our  studies  of  relationship,  t< 
how  all  known  forms  are  evolved  from  the  One,  Being,  we  arc 
plied  with  a  magnificent  apparatus  for  the  proof  of  the  Pythagc 
proposition,  that  **  all  things  are  by  number,"  or  **  by  relationshij 

**  All  things  the  world  which  fill,  of  but  one  stuflF  are  spun; " 
that  stuflf,  "  universally  known  and  yet  essentially  unknown,"  sd 
calls  Protoplasm.  It  describes  it  as  **  not  a  compound,  but  a  struc 
built  up  of  compounds,  consisting  of  elementary  substances:  car 
hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  in  very  complex  union."  Pf 
plasm  is  a  semi-fluid,  sticky  material,  full  of  numberless  minute  g 
ules  in  ceaseless  and  rapid  motion. 

In  analyzing  Protoplasm  science  gives  us  four  terms,  and  the 
it  has  not  yet  shown  in  what  order  they  properly  lie  in  nature,  w« 
readily  compare  them  to  the  four  abstractions  underlying  the  sa 
Name,  as  defined  before.  In  speaking  of  the  physical  basis  of 
science  usually  makes  use  of  only  three  terms:  carbonic  acid,  w 
and  nitrogenous  compounds,  because  the  four  usually  exist  in  < 
binations.  Carbon  and  oxygen  unite  and  make  carbonic  acid; 
drogen  and  oxygen  produce  water,  and  nitrogen  with  other  eleni 
give  rise  to  nitrogenous  salts.  Which  of  the  three  (or  four)  is 
or  the  mother  element  is  not  yet  known,  but  one  no  doubt  is. 
Ionic  philosophers  variously  called  the  One  either  water,  air,  or  ti 
and  from  the  one,  which  stood  for  the  First,  they  derived  the  o 

♦  The  Pythagorean  oath  centred  on  the  Tetrad.  As  given  in  the  Golden  V 
it  runs:  ''  I  swear  it  by  Him  who  has  transmitted  into  our  soul  the  sacred  Qt 
nion,  the  source  of  Nature,  whose  course  is  Eternal." 


PYTHAGORAS  AND    *  BEING."  163 

two  after  the  abstract'  method  indicated  before  and  exemplified  by 
the  terms  Beginning,  End,  and  Affinity.  The  truth  probably  is  that 
in  the  actual  world  either  may  be  first  or  last,  and  that  Being,  **  uni- 
versally known,  yet  essentially  unknown,"  appears  in  and  by  means 
of  any  of  their  combinations.  In  Professor  Crookes,  science  has  at- 
tained by  speculation  the  conception  that  in  reality  there  is  but  one 
clement  and  all  the  others  are  only  differentiations  of  that.  He  calls 
this  One  Element,  Protyle.  Another  scientist,  Mendelejeff,  has  ar- 
ranged these  differentiations  in  certain  order,  and  the  result  is  very 
curious,  and  at  the  same  time  furnishes  a  strong  proof  that  the  Pyth- 
agorean doctrine  of  number  is  a  doctrin;e  of  relationship.  Arrange 
after  Mendelejeff's  plan  the  chemical  elements  in  order  of  their  atomic 
weights,  and  their  relative  position  will  show  most  conclusively  their 
family  likeness  and  suggest  their  descent  from  each  other  in  regular 
order.  In  other  words,  will  prove  them  modifications  of  one  primary 
clement,  or  show  that  their  existence  is  purely  a  result  of  relationship. 
The  various  number-systems  undoubtedly  arise  by  evolution  from 
One  and  Two.  Three  is  **  what  goes  beyond."  Four  is  "  and  three,'* 
^12.,  one  and  three.  Five  is  "  that  which  comes  after,''  namely,  after 
four.  Six  is  probably  a  compound  of  two  and  four,  or  the  name  five 
'or  the  five  fingers  plus  the  first  counted  once  more;  just  as  seven  is 
an  expression  for  five  and  the  two  first  fingers  counted  twice.  Seven 
has  been  called  *'  that  which  follows/'  namely,  follows  six.  Eight, 
nine,  and  ten  may  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way.  In  other  words, 
from  six  to  ten  we  simply  count  the  first  five  over  again,  and  have 
*  duplication ;  five  being  the  fundamental  form,  and  One  the  orig- 
"^l  from  which  all  number  concepts  arise.  This  derivation  is  in  the 
"'ain  taken  from  Bopp,  the  famous  authority  in  Comparative  Gram- 
'"ar.  Scholars  almost  universally  agree  that  to  Humboldt  we  owe 
^"c  underlying  idea  of  our  amderstanding  of  the  various  number- 
systems.  He  pointed  out  that  the  Sanskrit  pankan  was  the  Persian 
P^jch,  meaning  "  the  outstretched  hand,"  or  the  five  fingers,  a  word- 
'orni  that  repeats  itself  in  the  numbers  from  five  to  ten.  The  five 
""gers  are  but  one  fivefold  hand;  Evolution  shows  how  necessity 
^^ided  the  one  hand  into  the  five  fingers.  Of  Number  I  have  written 
already  in  this  series  of  essays. 


164  INTELLIGENCE. 

Music  may  be  called,  as  Veron  calls  it,*  the  Architect 
Sound;  and  Architecture  may  well  be  called  the  Music  of  Spj 
both  depend  upon  proportion  and  harmony,  or  numerical  re 
The  rhythm  of  music  controls  even  the  most  uncivilized  natioi 
children  and  savages,  the  regular  recurrence  of  intonations  an 
lar  cadences  are  most  agreeable.  The  monotonous  air  whose ) 
harmonizes  with  the  regular  movements  of  the  cradle  puts  tl 
atune  with  its  fundamental  composition  of  elements,  which 
selves  are  symbols  of  relationships.  Rhythm  contains  a  gene 
which  possesses  a  power  over  almost  all  living  things.  Rhytli 
be  said  to  be  the  dance  of  sound ;  and  sound  is  but  the  numer 
pression  for  vibration,  or  the  movement  of  existence.  The  : 
onous  dwelling  upon  a  single  note  satisfies  the  savage,  who 
nearer  to  Nature  than  his  civilized  brother.  The  negroes'  ; 
number  is  limited  to  four,  when  no  external  circumstancej 
modifications.  Here  again  we  have  fundamentals.  The  mc 
orously  these  monotonous  notes  recall  natural  impressions  of 
the  more  the  savage  likes  them ;  which  shows  an  original  relati 
Sounds  have  no  meaning  in  themselves,  but  they  obtain  one  I 
connection  with  our  perceptions. 

All  motion  is  rhythmical,  viz.,  it  is  characterized  by  regular 
ured  recurrence  of  stress  or  impulse.  Without  motion,  i 
Hence  our  conceptions  of  life  as  a  physical  manifestation  a 
mately  bound  up  with  rhythm,  vibratory  relationships,  or  i 
forms.  Modern  psycho-physics  has  done  our  science  an  in 
service  by  its  demonstrations  of  this  fact  in  psychology.  Bu 
modern  occultists  have  been  led  astray  by  the  current  doctr 
vibrations,  and  seem  to  believe  that  life's  mystery  is  solve< 
are  not  nearer  Being  because  the  laws  of  mechanics  have  beci 
to  apply  to  many  psychic  facts.  We  have  found  additional  co 
tions  for  our  belief  that  Being  manifests  itself  also  in  vibratory 
ments,  but  we  have  not  yet  found  the  backstairs,  that  some  8 
think  exist  and  which  lead  to  the  Universe,  the  euntis-vem 
which  turns  about  and  is  the  One.    There  are  no  backstair 

*  Eugene  V^ron:  iSsthetics.    Translated  by  W.  H.  Armstrong.  Lond 


PYTHAGORAS   AND   "BEING."  165 

neither  the  doctrine  of  number  nor  any  of  the  other  doctrines  I  have 

set  iorth  in  this  series  on  Being,  will  alone  lead  us  to  the  goal.    They 

are  all  true;  but  we  shall  not  have  found  the  Truth  till  we  see  that 

they  mutually,  by  transmutation,  can  assume  each  other's  form.    It 

is  well  to  remind  ourselves  of  this  from  time  to  time.    All  truths  are 

but  relationships,  numerical  forms  of  Truth.     Thus  a  deeper  study 

of  the  Pythagorean  proposition  leads  to  a  wonderful  esoteric  plane 

of  existence.    After  the  numbers  have  served  us  in  physics  and  proved 

to  us  that  our  existence  is  not  a  chaos,  but  an  Order,  a  Cosmos,  they  , 

leave  us  on  the  middle  of  the  road  where  we  discovered  that  order, 

and  they  point  to  their  own  original.  Number,  as  our  next  guide. 

When  they  have  proved  to  us  that  they  are  but  varying  planes  of  the 

One,  they  have  actually  brought  us  into  the  One.    They  have  proved 

the  Pythagorean  doctrine  that  "  number  is  the  essence  of  things.'' 

When  this  fact  has  become  part  of  our  life;,  we  are  ready  to  profit 
by  the  next  teachings  which  Pythagoreanism  has  to  offer.  The  next 
teachings  are  those  that  relate  to  the  "  immortality  doctrine,"  and 
cannot  be  received  by  one  ignorant  of  the  method  of  life.  The 
Pythagorean  culture  of  character  is  not  possible  except  by  practical 
ascetics,  and  these  have  their  rationale  in  the  number-doctrine.  How 
can  one  care  to  deny  himself  if  he  has  not  understood  that  things  are 
but  relative,  '*  in  relations,"  and  only  thus  receive  their  life  and  have 
their  being?  No  mere  impulse  or  feeling  will  make  one  enter  upon 
the  hard  road  of  overcoming.  But  if  one  can  see  the  rationale  of  self- 
conquest  to  be  a  rise  to  higher  forms  of  life,  of  understanding,  and 
ttjpcrience,  then  the  work  is  comparatively  easy. 

Pythagoras's  final  aim  seems  to  have  been  Ethics,  an  aim  of  life 
be  learned  in  Egypt ;  hence  we  can  readily  see  the  need  of  the  doc- 
^e  of  number  or  of  relativity  of  things.  By  Ethics  he  of  course  did 
not  understand  any  single  set  of  rules  or  any  ism.  The  word  wa^ 
probably  not  known  to  him.  He  meant,  as  all  contemporary  philos- 
ophers of  any  note  meant,  an  endeavor  to  fall  into  the  order  of  things, 
*  wisdom  that  expressed  itself  not  in  formulas,  but  in  an  harmonious 
'fe  a  life  in  truth.  This  part  of  his  philosophy  does  not  belong  to 
^y  present  scheme  of  essays  upon  Being.    Hence  I  pass  it  by. 

C.  H.  A.  BjERREGAARD. 


166  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

(II.) 

THE   GHOST   VISITS   THE   CEMETERY. 

"  As  sure  as  Tm  alive  there  is  a  ghost  sitting  on  a  tombstone 
watching  the  grave-digger!  Evidently  I  have  come  to  the  right  place 
to  find  company.  The  living  don't  know  how  to  treat  a  ghost.  The 
conductor  wouldn't  stop  the  car  for  me;  and  in  spite  of  my  wild 
gesticulations  and  earnest  remonstrances,  a  washerwoman  who  was 
taking  home  a  basket  of  clothes  put  it  in  my  lap,  just  because  I  was 
sitting  in  the  only  vacant  seat  in  the  car.  She  couldn't  see  that  the 
seat  was  occupied.  But  it  was  worse  yet  when  she  got  out  and  three 
small  boys  with  energetic  heels  took  her  seat — ^and  mine.  I  never 
did  like  to  be  kicked.  I  am  not  a  rowdy,  and  I  know  I  couldn't  have 
presented  a  very  dignified  appearance,  if  anyone  could  have  seen 
me,  climbing  out  of  the  car  window  onto  the  roof — but  what  was  to 
be  done?  I  didn't  like  to  sit  on  the  strap-pole  for  fear  someone  would 
see  me.  There  are  people  who  see  ghosts — at  least  they  say  they  do. 
I  used  to  doubt  it.  But  now  that  I  am  a  ghost  myself  it  seems  as  if 
everyone  ought  to  see  me." 

"  Good-morning!  Is  this  man  digging  your  grave?  "  the  Ghost 
who  was  sitting  on  the  tombstone  inquired  of  the  New  Ghost  as  he 
approached. 

"  Perhaps  so.    I  am  to  be  buried  out  here  to-morrow/' 

"  It  is  a  pleasant  cemetery." 

"  Yes;   I  always  liked  Oakwoods.     I  heard  them  say  my  gra^c 
was  to  be  in  sight  of  one  of  the  lakes,  so  probably  this  is  it." 

"  I  congratulate  you  on  your  location.  But  I  wish  you  could  t^^ 
your  friends  to  put  up  a  square- topped  tombstone  for  you.  They  a^ 
all  round  or  pointed — there  isn't  one  in  sight  comfortable  for  a  gho*^ 
to  sit  on." 

'^  What  difference  does  it  make?  " 


>> 

>» 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  167 

"  I  was  a  fat  man;  and  unless  I  have  a  good  square  seat  I  always 
jel  as  if  I  am  slipping  off.  I  like  to  be  high  enough  so  I  can  see,  and 
don't  like  to  be  walked  over,  as  anyone  is  liable  to  be  when  he  stays 
n  the  ground  among  people.  The  relatives  who  order  tombstones 
eldom  give  a  thought  to  the  convenience  pi  the  ghosts  who  are  to 
se  them! " 

*"  That  is  a  fact.    Never  having  had  any  experience  as  ghosts  they 
lon't  know  what  ghosts  want." 
••  How  do  you  like  it?  " 
'•  Like  what?  " 

*'  The  Empire  of  the  Invisibles.' 
"  It  doesn't  meet  my  expectations.' 
"  You  are  disappointed?  " 
**  Yes." 

"  The  most  of  us  are.  When  we  step  out  of  life  we  expect  to  im- 
prove our  condition.  But  in  a  material  world,  life  with  a  body  is 
preferable." 

"Where  are  the  other  ghosts?     You  are  first  and  only  one  I 
have  seen." 

"Oh,  they  are  scattered  around  in  various  places.  There  are 
al^'ays  a  few  at  the  club.  Some  are  in  the  library,  reading;  six  or 
right  went  to  Lincoln  Park;  five  or  six  said  they  were  going  to  take 
*  sail  on  the  lake.  The  others  are  scattered  around  the  streets  and 
scores.   There  are  three  or  four  who  are  inveterate  shoppers." 

"  But  that  accounts  for  only  a  few,  and  there  are  thousands  of 
P^le  buried  in  the  cemeteries  around  Chicago.     Where  are  their 

I    ghosts?    I  didn't  meet  any  on  the  street." 
"Perhaps  there  are  not  so  many  of  us  as  you  think." 

"There  must  be  millions  of  ghosts!  Just  think  of  the  millions 
who  have  died!" 

"Millions  have  died,  certainly.  That  fact  is  indisputable.  But 
where  they  are  I  do  not  know.  Why  did  you  wish  to  join  the  in- 
^blearmy?" 

**  Wish?    You  speak  as  if  you  thought  I  wished  to  die?  " 

"  I  do  not  think — I  know." 

"  You  know?  " 


$f 


168  INTELLIGENCE.  ! 

"  Yes." 

"That  is  strange!" 

"  Not  at  all.    Men  who  do  not  wish  to  die  do  not  commit  suicide." 

"  Who  told  you  that  I  committed  suicide?  " 

"  No  one." 

"  What  makes  vou  think  so?  " 

**  I  do  not  need  to  think — I  know." 

"  Were  you  watching  me?  " 

"  I  never  saw  you  until  now.'* 

"  Will  every  ghost  who  sees  me  know?  " 

"  Yes." 

**  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  there  is  something  about  me  which 
will  betray  my  secret  to  every  inhabitant  of  this  land  of  shadows? 

"  Certainly." 

"  I  am  bewildered.    Please  explain." 

"  It  is  most  simple.  Only  suicides  make  ghosts.  We  never  sec 
anything  of  the  people  who  really  die.  They  do  not  stop  in  Shadow* 
land.  The  universe  is  not  so  loosely  constructed  as  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  thinking  while  we  are  on  the  other  side.  We  can  shove  our- 
selves out  of  the  body;  so  much  lies  in  our  power.  But  we  cannot 
shove  ourselves  into  the  next  world.  Death  holds  the  key,  and  all 
our  efforts  to  unlock  the  door  without  his  aid  are  in  vain.  This  land 
of  ghosts  is  the  half-way  house.  We  ghosts  are  neither  wholly  dead 
nor  whollv  alive." 

"  Where  is  heaven?  " 

"  I  don't  know." 

"Where  is  hell?" 

**  I  don't  know  that  either — unless  this  is  it.  I  sometimes  think 
this  monotonous  monotone  of  an  actionless  existence  is  more  hcH 
than  I  know  what  to  do  with.  But  there!  I  shouldn't  discourage 
you!    Perhaps  you  will  enjoy  this  new  kind  of  life  for  a  while." 

*'  If  sitting  on  tombstones  is  the  most  cheerful  occupation  you 
can  find,  it  looks  to  me  as  if  opportunities  for  happiness  must  be 
limited!" 

"  Oh,  well,  you  won't  need  to  watch  the  cemetery  until  your  turn 
comes.     If  you  object,  you  won't  need  to  do  it  at  all.     There  are 


J 


THE   EMPIRE   OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  169 

enough  of  us  old  ghosts  who  find  it  as  interesting  as  anything  else 
we  can  do.  I  usually  take  it  a  month  in  the  summer-time.  It  is  a 
little  breezy  in  the  winter — but  then  I  am  always  ready  to  take  it 
when  no  one  else  wants  it.'* 

**  Watch  the  cemetery!  Do  you  expect  the  dead  to  get  up  and 
run  away  with  their  coffins?  or  do  you  fear  that  burglars  will  carry 
off  the  tombstones?  " 

**  If  burglars  wanted  to  carry  off  the  tombstones  I  don't  know 
how  ghosts  could  prevent  them.  We  watch  the  cemetery  for  the 
benefit  of  new  ghosts  like  you,  who  are  apt  to  be  lonesome.  By  the 
time  his  funeral  is  over,  a  new  ghost  is  usually  glad  to  meet  other 
ghosts  who  can  tell  him  something  about  Shadowland,  and  introduce 
him  to  its  inhabitants.'* 

**  I  began  to  fear  that  I  was  the  only  ghost  in  the  world,  and  that 
my  ghostly  existence  was  a  huge  mistake,  or  a  fantastic  dream  from 
which  I  should  slip  into  the  night  of  annihilation  and  total  uncon- 
sciousness. And  that  I  disliked,  because  I  always  had  a  consuming 
curiosity  to  know  why  I  was  born." 

"  My  life  in  Shadowland  has  not  helped  me  to  solve  that  mys- 
tery. The  problem  of  existence  is  as  inexplicable  as  ever.  I  don't 
know  of  anyone  who  knows  anything  about  it,  unless  it  is  the  Oc- 
cultist.   You  will  have  to  consult  him." 

"  Since  all  ghosts  are  suicides,  may  I  inquire  what  induced  you 
to  cross  the  boundary-line  between  worlds?  " 

•*  The  usual  cause — lack  of  funds.  Money  represents  all  the  good 
things  of  life  in  these  days.  I  came  over  during  the  hard  times  just 
after  the  World's  Fair  in  1893.  Out  of  a  job.  No  prospect  of  getting 
any.  Lived  on  one  meal  a  day  until  I  was  as  thin  as  a  rail.  I  con- 
cluded there  were  too  many  men  in  the  world.  There  ought  to  be 
food  enough  for  all,  but  there  was  no  chance  for  some  of  us  to  get  hold 
of  any.  I  tried  to  borrow  a  pistol  to  shoot  myself  with,  but  I  couldn't. 
Jk>  I  walked  out  to  the  end  of  a  pier  and  jumped  off  in  deep  water. 
There  was  a  high  wind  coming  in,  and  a  big  wave  took  me  and  dashed 
me  against  a  post.  That  finished  me.  But  I  had  to  stay  out  on  that 
pier  all  night  in  a  drenching  rain-storm,  to  see  that  my  body  didn't 
get  lost.    I  don't  know  why  it  is,  but  I  haven't  found  a  ghost  yet  but 


it 
t( 
n 


170  INTELLIGENCE. 

feels  as  if  he  must  keep  track  of  his  body  until  it  is  safely  buried,  so 
he'll  know  where  to  find  it." 

*'  An  unpleasant  prelude  to  life  in  the  world  of  shadows! " 

**  Rather!  The  sailor  found  me  in  the  morning.  He  keeps  watch 
of  the  river  and  harbor.  You  can  see  him  almost  any  time  perched 
in  the  rigging  or  sitting  on  the  top  of  a  mast.  He  likes  to  stay  on  the 
pleasure-yachts  anchored  in  the  basin,  and  watch  life  on  the  water. 
It  is  pleasant  there.  I  spend  a  day  with  him  occasionally.  But  it 
looks  as  if  you  were  to  have  an  expensive  funeral.  It  couldn't  be 
hard  times  that  sent  you  over." 

It  was  the  loss  of  my  fortune." 
Indeed!    How  did  you  come?  " 

Poison.  I  am  something  of  a  druggist,  and  I  prepared  it  my- 
self. Three  drops  were  enough.  I  prepared  it  in  a  test-tube,  and 
when  I  was  ready  drank  it,  crushed  the  glass-tube  in  my  hands  and 
threw  the  pieces  out  of  the  open  window.  I  had  just  time  to  get  into 
bed  in  a  comfortable  position.  I  had  been  complaining  of  my  heart 
for  a  week  or  two — the  thing  had  acted  queerly!  They  found  me 
in  the  morning  and  supposed  of  course  it  was  heart-failure.  My  plan 
has  worked  well  so  far.  No  one  has  suspected  suicide — unless  the 
doctor  has  thought  of  it.  But  whatever  he  may  think  he  has  said 
nothing." 

"  You  have  no  near  relatives?  " 

"  I  have  a  brother  and  a  sister,  married  and  living  in  homes  of 
their  own  at  a  distance.    They  ought  to  be  here  by  this  time.    I  shall  . 
have  to  go  back  to  the  house  to  see  what  is  going  on." 

*'  I  don't  wonder  you  are  anxious.    We  had  an  unpleasant  case 
similar  to  yours.    A  wealthy,  well-known  artist  poisoned  himself;  and 
his  younger  brother,  who  inherited  his  fortune,  was  charged  with 
murdering  him.    The  brothers  had  had  a  violent  quarrel  about  money 
matters  a  week  before,  although  they  really  thought  a  great  deal  of  ■ 
each  other.     The  younger  one  was  arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and   j 
hung — actually  hung  for  a  murder  which  was  not  committed!    A    ' 
man  never  can  tell  what  sort  of  a  tangle  he  is  leaving  behind  hini 
when  he  tries  to  step  out  secretly." 

"  Will  you  be  here  to-morrow?  " 


i 


THE   EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  171 

"Yes;  after  your  funeral  I  will  take  you  down  to  the  club  and 

introduce  you — unless  you  prefer  visiting  your  relatives.     Some 

ghosts  spend  a  few  weeks  with  their  relatives;   but  they  soon  get 

:    tired  of  associating  with  the  living,  it  is  such  a  one-sided  piece  of 

r 

^    business.    And  then — ^it  disturbs  some  ghosts  to  see  how  soon  they 

\    are  forgotten." 

"  I  have  been  wondering  what  I  should  do  with  myself  after  the 
funeral.  I  don't  think  I  should  enjoy  sitting  on  tombstones  an  in- 
definite length  of  time." 

The  New  Ghost  walked  quietly  out  of  the  cemetery,  unseen  by 
the  half-dozen  mourners  he  met,  who  were  coming  to  visit  graves, 
and  unnoticed  by  the  funeral  procession  which  was  slowly  winding 
through  the  gate.  To  his  annoyance,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  give 
the  whole  road  or  be  walked  over.  It  was  the  same  on  the  sidewalk. 
No  one  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  him.  He  took  a  seat  in  an 
«npty  cable-car,  which  slowly  filled.  The  conductor  passed  him 
without  asking  for  a  fare,  and  the  passengers  took  no  notice  of  him 
until  a  fat  woman,  carrying  a  three-year-old  child  in  her  arms,  sat 
down  on  him  and  failed  to  get  up  for  the  next  twelve  blocks. 

"Twenty-one  carriages!    Those  relatives  of  yours  will  have  quite 

a  bill  to  pay  for  funeral  expenses,"  remarked  the  Old  Ghost  to  the 

New  Ghost  as  they  stood  at  the  side  of  the  grave,  the  next  day, 

watching  the  people  as  they  alighted  from  the  carriages.     "  Climb 

op  on  this  tombstone  at  the  right  and  then  we  can  see  without  being 

crowded.    Are  these  your  relatives  and  their  children  here  in  these 

first  carriages?  " 

les. 

**  See  that  golden-haired  six-year-old  crying  for  *  Uncle  Rodney!  * 

And  that  big  boy — he's  ashamed  to  cry,  but  he  can't  help  it.    They 

are  all  nice-looking  folks,  too!    You  sister  is  taking  it  hard.    They 

don't  §joan  and  howl  the  way  I  have  heard  some  folks,  but  you  can 

see  that  they  all  feel  bad.    What  a  fool  you  were  to  come  over  here 

and  leave  all  that!    Do  you  think  I  would  have  come  if  I  had  had 

relatives  and  friends?    Not  a  bit  of  it!    I  fail  to  see  any  reasonable 

excuse  for  your  desertion  of  life." 


172  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  New  Ghost  was  intently  watching  the  disposal  of  his  body, 
and  made  no  reply  to  the  Old  Ghost's  comments.  They  were  silent 
until  the  service  was  through  and  the  last  carriage  had  departed. 

**  Have  the  arrangements  suited  you?  " 

"  Yes;  they  had  the  right  minister  and  everything  has  been  done 
in  good  order,  and — nobody  suspects!  I  must  say  that  I  never  ex- 
pected to  enjoy  attending  my  own  funeral  as  well  as  I  have.  Of 
course,  I  never  expected  to  attend  it  consciously — nobody  does!  It 
is  the  unexpected  that  happens  on  this  side  of  the  grave  as  well  as 
the  other,  I  find." 

'*  Chills  would  run  down  the  backbones  of  the  mourners  if  they 
knew  we  ghosts  were  looking  on." 

**  How  is  it  that  you  and  I  can  hear  each  other,  when  the  people 
around  us  do  not  hear  a  sound  we  are  making?  " 

"  We  are  not  making  a  sound." 

**  But  I  hear  every  word  you  say." 

'*  Not  at  all.    You  simply  imagine  that  you  do." 

'*  You  must  permit  me  to  doubt  that  statement  until  you 
prove  it." 

**  You  will  have  to  talk  with  the  Occultist.  He  can  explain  the 
matter  much  better  than  I  can.  Sound,  you  remember,  is  caused 
by  a  vibrating  body  which  sets  sound-waves  in  motion.  The  sub- 
stance of  which  we  ghosts  are  composed  is  of  too  rarefied  or  ethereal 
a  nature  to  have  power  over  matter  in  its  ordinary  forms.  It  is  as 
impossible  for  us  ghosts  to  set  a  sound-wave  in  motion  as  it  would 
be  for  us  to  lift  up  Lake  Michigan  and  empty  it  into  the  Atlantic" 

"  But  I  certainlv  liear  vou! " 

"  You  only  think  you  do.  Because,  during  life  on  earth,  when 
we  communicate  with  our  friends  their  thoughts  usually  reach  us 
through  their  voices,  we  learn  to  associate  thought  with  sound,  am^ 
continue  to  imagine  that  we  hear  voices  in  this  world  of  silence.  That 
is  a  mistake.  Sound  for  us  is  no  longer  a  reality.  We  have  neither 
ears  to  stop  a  sound-wave,  nor  vocal  organs  to  set  one  in  motion.  If 
a  man  should  fire  a  cannon  at  our  feet  we  couldn't  hear  it;  althougii 
you  would  probably  imagine  that  you  did." 

"  Yet  I  understand  you." 


THE   ETHICS   OF   DIET.  178 

'*  Certainly.  It  is  a  matter  of  thought-transference.  We  have 
our  compensations.  We  can  understand  what  is  going  on  in  the 
visible  universe,  just  as  well  as  those  who  have  bodies — but  it  is  in  a 
different  way.  I  refer  you  to  the  Experimenter  for  further  explana- 
tions. He  is  full  of  theories.  Will  you  go  down  to  the  club  with 
me  now?  " 

'•  Thank  you.  I  think  Til  go  home  with  my  sister.  It  made  me 
feel  queer,  when  she  knelt  by  that  poor  deserted  body  of  mine  and 
cried  as  if  her  heart  would  break!  I  didn't  know  they  would  care 
so  much.  And  yet — I  ought  to  have  known!  We  were  always  a 
united  family.  After  I  have  stayed  with  her  awhile  I  will  go  and  see 
my  brother.  He  took  it  hard,  too.  I  wish  there  was  some  way  of 
letting  them  know  that  I  am  alive  yet,  and  just  as  near  as  ever!  *' 

'*  Don't  try  it.    You  would  only  scare  your  sister  into  fits,  and 

your  brother  into  brain-fever.    There  are  very  few  people  who  care 

to  associate  with  ghosts." 

H.  E.  Orcutt. 
(To  be  continued.) 


t» 


THE  ETHICS  OF  DIET. 

He  that  killeth  an  ox  is  as  if  he  slew  a  man/' — Isaiah,  Ixvi.  3. 


There  are  certain  superficial  people  who  teach  that  diet  is  of 
ifight  consequence  in  the  development  of  the  psychic  nature,  and  that 
s«K-control  is  more  easily  attained  when  one  is  quite  indifferent  to 
both  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  food  consumed.    These  persons 
are  not  necessarily  insincere,  nor  are  they  slaves  to  the  savory  de- 
fights  of  gustatory  sensuality  in  such  measure  that  they  are  unable 
to  withstand  the  "  flesh-pots."    They  are  primarily  ignorant  of  the 
tremendous  influence  an  habitual  food  exerts  upon  the  changing 
'^y-cdls,  and,  reflexively,  upon  the  mental  and  spiritual  man;  and 
^^  arc  also  ignorant  of  the  meaning  of  love  and  humanity  in  their 
^^osmical  signification;  that  is.  they  are  not  yet  truly  spiritualized. 

The  mediaeval  Christian  church  sank  into  the  depths  of  glutton- 
^  indulgence  despite  the  mandate  of  the  early  Christian  fathers 


174  INTELLIGENCR 

against  such  debauching  of  the  spiritual  nature.  St.  Augustine  de- 
nounced flesh-eating  as  an  obstruction  and  a  snare;  and  he  had, 
apparently,  many  imitators  and  followers  in  this  regard.  But  as  the 
church  receded  from  the  heights  of  watchful  purity,  and  fell  away 
into  ritualism  and  worldliness,  over-indulgence  in  gross  food  (that 
thermometer  of  psychical  ascension  and  declination  in  the  nation  or 
the  individual)  manifested  itself  so  offensively  that  mediaeval  writings 
abound  in  illustrations  of  priestly  gluttony.  Sensual  gratification  ol 
the  palate  constitutes  an  abiding  hindrance  to  the  religious  life  of 
the  pulpit.  Lambeth  Palace  has  been  more  celebrated  for  the  quality 
of  its  wines  and  the  elaborate  variety  of  its  dinners  than  for  the  utt- 
compromising  purity  of  its  ethics  or  its  attitude  of  worldly  renun- 
ciation. Some  of  the  most  unwilling  converts  and  the  most  hostile 
opponents  to  a  non-flesh  regimen  in  America  are  found  in  the  min- 
isterial ranks.  The  lamentation  of  a  recent  great  novelist  over  the 
inadequacy  of  the  fin  de  siecle  church  to  cope  effectively  with  the 
powers  of  evil  constitutes  a  strong  sermon  against  the  low  psychical 
state  of  our  clerical  leaders,  and  the  total  absence  of  a  veritable  Chris- 
tianity among  us. 

Now,  the  injunction  to  "  watch  and  pray  " — to  live  in  daily  ol>- 
servance  of  the  "  beatitudes,''  the  "  golden  rule,"  and  the  "  fruits  (rf 
the  spirit  " — to  "  concentrate,"  is  absolutely  antagonistic  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  gross  and  insensitive  diet  of  dead-animal  flesh,  with  \VBk 
accessory  necessity  for  a  degraded  butcher-class,  set  apart  for  th^ 
daily  avocation  of  slaughtering  millions  of  shrinking  victims.  Nc^ 
metaphysician,  no  Christian  has  an  ethical  right  to  thus  brutalize  hi^ 
brother  man,  and  to  cut  off  sentient  beings  possessing  a  nervous 
system  similar  to  man's,  together  with  the  human-like  sensibility  tcj^ 
suffering.  Let  one  sincerely  and  honestly  put  himself  in  the  place 
of  the  animal  thus  maltreated,  from  the  branding  of  tender  calves,  and 
the  **  shrinkage  "  caused  by  fever  and  suffering  during  transporta- 
tion in  cattle-cars,  to  the  final  exposure  of  their  decomposing  bodies 
in  the  meat-stalls,  and  the  horror  of  the  custom  will  be  realized. 
Humane  societies  cannot  consistently  and  progressively  exist  while 
this  odious,  almost  cannibalistic,  practice  is  authorized  by  ethical 
leaders  and  instructors. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  DIET.  175 

A  non-sentient,  non-resisting  diet  is,  on  the  other  hand,  of  supe- 
rior advantage  in  the  development  of  spiritualized  perceptions.  Flesh, 
impregnate  with  impure  matter,  strengthens  the  sensual,  passional 
nature,  and  dulls  the  mental  and  psychical  apprehension;  while 
cereals,  fruits,  nuts,  are  buoyant  with  a  latent,  constructive  energy, 
which  nourishes  the  thinking-principle. 

No  psychic  myopia  should  be  encouraged  by  the  metaphysical 
guide.    Let  it  be  reiterated  with  emphatic  insistence  that  the  deeper 
humanity  and  love  are  all-encircling,  cosmical  emotions.     Not  only 
arc  they  invincibly  antipathetic  to  sensuous  indulgence,  profitless 
luxury,  and  that  thoughtlessness  which  lowers  one  to  the  beast-level, 
but  the  very  condition  of  existence  of  these  emotions  in  their  pristine 
parity  necessitates  appreciation  of  and  sympathy  with  **  the  great 
silent  caste  "  which  is  also  groping  its  way  toward  the  light  of  spir- 
itual consciousness.    Let  mankind  realize  that  its  vaunted  evolution 
is  but  slightly  in  advance  of  that  of  these,  our  sentient  comrades. 
The  same  Being  is  in  one  and  all,  manifesting  from  the  plane  of 
Unity;  with  the  difference  that  the  soul-principle  is  more  densely 
veiled  behind  its  tissue  of  matter  in  the  animal  than  in  the  man — 
a  difference  that  is  one  of  degree  only,  not  of  kind. 

An  ethical  consideration  of  diet,  with  renunciation  of  flesh,  alco- 
hol, and  all  gross  matters,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  new,  incoming 
,^  body-cells  with  pure,  solarized,  buoyant  foods  which  shall  develop 
serenity,  wisdom,  and  health,  prepares  the  way  and  makes  the  paths 
straight  "for  the  deliverance  of  the  aspirant  spirit  from  its  material 
gj'ves. 

Rosa  G.  Abbott. 

The  things  that  are  really  for  thee  gravitate  to  thee.  You  are  running 
*o  seek  your  friend.  Let  your  feet  run  but  your  mind  need  not.  If  von 
^  not  find  him.  will  you  not  acquiesce  that  it  is  best  that  you  should  not 
""dhini?  For  there  is  a  power,  which,  as  it  is  in  you,  is  in  him  also,  and 
^M  therefore  very  well  bring  you  together,  if  it  were  for  the  best. — 

The  contemplation  of  celestial  things  will  make  a  man  both  speak 
*nd  think  more  sublimely  and  magnificently  when  he  descends  to  human 
affairs..-Cffw. 


176  INTELLIGENCE. 

TOO   "PROGRESSIVE"   FOR   HIM. 

I  am  somethin*  of  a  vet'ran,  jest  a  turnin'  eighty  year — 

A  man  that's  hale  an'  hearty  an'  a  stranger  tew  all  fear — 

But  I've  heard  some  news  this  mornin'  that  has  made  my  old  head  spin. 

An'  I'm  goin'  tew  ease  my  conshuns  if  I  never  speak  agin! 

I've  lived  my  four-score  years  of  life,  an'  never  till  tew  day 

Wuz  I  taken  fer  a  Jackass  or  an  ign'rant  kind  o'  Jay, 

Tew  be  stuffed  with  such  durned  nonsense  'bout  them  crawlin'  bugs  an'  worms 

That's  a  killin'  human  bein's  with  their  "  Mikroscopic  germs." 

• 

They  say  there's  **  Mikrobes  "  all  about  a  lookin'  fer  their  prey — 
There's  nothin*  pure  tew  eat  nor  drink  an'  no  safe  place  tew  stay — 
There's  '*  Miasmy  "  in  the  dew-fall,  an'  **  Malary  "  in  the  sun — 
'Tain't  safe  to  be  out  doors  at  noon  or  when  the  day  is  done. 

There's  **  Bactery  "  in  the  water  an'  "  Trikeeny  "  in  the  meat — 
"  Ameeby  "  in  the  atmosphere,  "  Calory  "  in  the  heat — 
There's  **  Corpussuls  "  an'    *  Pigments  "  in  a  human  bein's  blood— 
An'  every  other  kind  o'  thing  existin'  sence  the  flood. 

Terbacker's  full  o'  **  Nickerteen,"  whatever  that  may  be — 

An'  your  mouth'll  git  all  puckered  with  the  **  Tannin  "  in  the  tea — 

The  butter's  **  Olymargareen,"  it  never  saw  a  cow — 

An'  things  is  gettin'  wus  and  wus  from  what  they  be  jest  now. 

Them  bugs  is  all  about  us  jest  a  waitin'  fer  a  chance 

Tew  navigate  our  vitals  an'  tew  'naw  us  oflF  like  plants; 

There's  men  that  spends  a  life-time  huntin'  worms,  jest  like  a  goose— 

An'  tackin'  Latin  names  to  'em  an'  lettin'  on  'em  loose. 

Now,  I  don't  believe  sech  nonsense  an'  I'm  not  agoin'  tew  try — 
If  things  has  come  tew  sech  a-pass  I'm  satisfied  tew  die — 
I'll  go  hang  me  in  the  sullar,  fer  I  won't  be  sech  a  fool 
As  to  wait  until  I'm  pizened  by  a  "  Annymallycool !  " 

Lurana  W.  Sheldon,  in  "  The  Juryr 


Everywhere  and  at  all  times  it  is  in  thy  power  piously  to  acquiesce 
in  thy  present  condition,  and  to  behave  justly  to  those  who  are  about 
thee,  and  to  exert  thy  skill  upon  thy  present  thoughts,  that  nothing*  shall 
steal  into  them  without  being  well  explained. — Marcus  Aurelius. 

A  healthy  soul  stands  united  with  the  Just  and  the  True,  as  the  mag- 
net arranges  itself  with  the  pole,  so  that  he  stands  to  all  beholders  like 
a  transparent  object  between  them  and  the  sun,  and  whoso  journeys 
toward  the  sun,  journeys  toward  that  person.  He  is  thus  the  medium 
of  the  highest  influence  to  all  who  are  not  on  the  same  level.  Thus,  men 
of  character  are  the  conscience  of  the  society  to  which  they  beloi^r..-^ 
Etnerson. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT 


WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


THE   USEFULNESS   OF   OCCULT    STUDY. 

Tlie  literature  of  the  day  is  becoming  more  and  more  impregnated 
with  ideas  [>ertaining  to  the  occult  sciences,  and  with  thoughts  developed 
by  comprehension  of  those  principles  of  action  which  have  heretofore 
been  considered  as  belonging  to  a  hidden  side  of  nature,  and  not  to  be 
tmderstood  by  man  in  this  phase  of  life.  The  teaching  crops  out  in  nearly 
even-  line  of  literary  endeavor  and  already  shows  its  advancing  tendency 
in  the  most  of  our  educational  and  intellectual  methods,  in  both  social  and 
professional  life. 

The  question  frequently  arises :  What  practical  use  in  every-day  life 
ha>  such  a  train  of  ideas?  Even  if  true,  will  men  and  women  become  bet- 
ter, stronger,  more  self-reliant,  purer,  more  upright,  or  in  any  way  better 
equipped  for  citizenship  and  social  relation  with  others,  through  knowl- 
«^e  of  Occult  Philosophy  ? 

To  all  these  questions  we  would  unreservedly  reply,  Yes!  Every 
^c  idea  advanced  by  any  of  the  various  philosophies  of  occult  science, 
•s  uplifting  and  ennobling  in  its  influence  on  human  life,  and  tends  in-r 
^^^bly  to  strengthen  the  character  and  give  stamina  to  all  the  faculties 
^  *^  mind  and  soul. 

^ut.  replies  Mr.  SoHdweight  of  the  business  world,  questions  relat- 
^^  ^0  the  mind  and  soul  are  of  little  importance  in  a  hard-scrabble  life 
liKc  ours.  My  soul  (if  I  have  such  an  incumbrance)  must  take  care  of 
^^y  my  mind  requires  only  enough  attention  to  enable  me  to  avoid 
the  tricks  of  others  and  protect  my  own  interests,  while  my  body  requires 
^<^h  constant  care,  in  order  that  I  may  even  live,  that  attention  to  occult 
>Mosophy  would  be  a  sheer  waste  of  time  on  my  part. 


178  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  ground  of  this  argument  is  purely  material,  and,  in  the  light  € 
metaphysical  philosophy,  is  not  well  taken  because  not  fundamental 
true.  The  Body,  Mind,  and  Soul — whether  considered  as  facukie 
functions,  vehicles,  instruments,  or  beings — are  not  separate,  and  do  ni 
in  any  true  sense  either  act  or  respond  to  action  independently.  Tin 
are  mutually  responsive  to  the  vital  activity  of  the  Spirit,  the  real  Bcil 
— Man  himself. 

A  body  does  not  exist  without  a  Mind;   a  mind  cannot  continue 
action  entirely  devoid  of  Soul;  and  a  soul  with  no  Spirit  would  posse 
no  vitality  and  could  not  remain  in  existence. 

Every  man  is  a  being  possessed  of  vital  energy.  The  being  operal 
superconsciously  in  pure  spiritual  activity,  on  the  plane  of  IntelligCM 
dealing  with  absolute  reality.  The  same  being  functions  sub-consciouii 
on  the  next  outward  plane,  in  various  modes  of  consciousness,  wMc 
collectively,  we  speak  of  as  Soul-life.  Here  we  describe  him  as  So« 
Again  he  moves  outward  and  downward,  in  his  comprehension  of  thim 
and  functions  externally,  through  processes  of  reason,  as  mind;  inti 
lectual  power.  Here  he  deals  objectively  with  ideas,  principles,  and  lai 
evolving  a  species  of  consciousness  based  upon  the  separateness  of  thin 
and  the  aggregation  of  his  separate  thought-processes  forms  itself  in 
an  organic  structure  known  as  his  body.  It  is  not  the  man  himseli« 
does  not  for  a  moment  exist  independently  of  either  of  these  higher  ps 
of  his  constructive  being,  and  it  should  not  receive  his  chief  consideratk 

The  intelligent  activity  of  man's  spiritual  consciousness  expresses 
self  in  his  Soul-being,  the  activities  of  his  soul-nature  are  reprodttC 
in  the  Mind,  and  the  pictures  formed  in  mind,  by  his  thought-procesf 
crystallize  in  the  organic  structure  of  the  Body;  therefore,  to  give  eof 
attention  to  material  subjects  is  to  form  only  external  pictures  in  the  iilii 
thereby  stifling  all  the  higher  faculties  and  subjecting  the  body  entlr 
to  external  influence.  This  excludes  the  beneficent  influence  of  aD  I 
faculties  of  the  higher  nature  of  both  Mind  and  Soul,  on  the  plam 
actual  intelligence,  by  means  of  which,  alone,  is  man  higher  than  1 
animal. 

On  this  lower  plane  every  thing  is  comparatively  coarse  and  gt 
and  every  action  becomes  heavy  and  difficult  to  accomplish,  until,  fiiia 
life  itself  through  its  struggles  becomes  almost  unendurable.    The  bll 


i 

I 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  179 

ancy,  brightness,  happiness,  and  content  that  belong  by  right  to  every 
human  being,  become  buried  under  the  accumulation  of  cares  incident  to 
material  beliefs^  until  life  seems  so  serious  and  important  that  the  entire 
attention  is  given  to  bodily  cares. 

Under  this  delusive  experience  he  perhaps  may  **  gain  the  whole 
world,"  but  he  thereby  "  loses  his  own  soul;  "  i.e.,  he  loses  consciousness 
oi  his  higher  faculties  and  forgets  that  he  has  a  soul.  The  more  convinced 
he  is  that  the  only  reality  is  matter,  the  more  dense  his  views  of  life,  and 
the  more  serious  his  daily  duties  become,  until,  eventually,  every  care  is 
a  burden  and  every  burden  a  curse  to  his  existence. 

It  is  just  here  that  occult  understanding  becomes  valuable.  As  com- 
monly defined,  **  Occult "  means  **  hidden  "  ;  but,  strictly,  it  means  that 
which  is  not  plain  to  external  vision ;  that  which  the  senses  do  not  ex- 
hibit. It  is  that  part  of  knowledge  which  is  plain  to  the  higher  faculties 
of  both  mind  and  soul.  The  mysteries  of  existence  may  be  studied  and 
made  plain  through  exercise  of  these  higher  faculties.  Learning  how 
to  develop  and  use  the  higher  reason,  the  philosophical  powers  of  soul- 
intelligence,  the  perceptive  faculties  of  the  super-conscious  spirit  nature, 
gives  knowledge  of  a  thousand  and  one  faculties  and  powers  never 
dreamed  of  in  sense-action  and  renders  easy  of  solution  many  a  vexed 
problem  of  material  life,  not  otherwise  to  be  understood. 

The  simplest  rules  of  occult  teaching  enable  the  student  to  so  frame 
bis  thoughts  as  to  form  pictures  in  mind,  which,  operating  through  the 
wtural  laws  of  reflective  action  on  the  body,  influence  its  action  in  direc- 
"<^s  that  may  produce  the  very  result  that  the  mind,  relying  upon  sense 
*tion  and  material  belief  alone,  finds  impossible  of  accomplishment. 

The  anxious  cares  of  the  mind  with  regard  to  bodily  health  vanish  like 

"^  mist  when  the  natural  result  of  a  conscious  mental  imagery  of  active 

^^  is  understood.     The  stagnating  worries  about  money  matters  and 

^^crial  values,  cease  to  oppress  when  it  is  seen  that  worry  is  only  the  con- 

nnued  action  in  mind  of  the  mental  picture  of  a  conscious  thought  of  the 

^^O"  thing  not  desired ;  that  such  action  followed  up  only  tends  to  produce 

^"^  tindesired  result;  and  that  through  reasonable  exercise  of  the  higher 

tnougf^j.fji^^j^jgg  the  opposite  result  can  be  produced,  even  easier  than  the 

^''ong  one,  because  the  higher  faculties  are  involved  and  they  invaria- 

"*y  contain  the  greater  power.    The  lower  never  controls  the  higher;  we 


180  INTELLIGENCE. 

only  allow  the  lower  to  operate  uncontrolled,  by  withholding  the  | 
which  we  really  possess  and  may  use  at  will.  Conscious  realization  o 
powers  within  ourselves  brings  the  buoyant  happy  strength  of  the  q 
idea  of  possession,  in  the  radiant  hope  of  which  the  weighty  stone  o 
duty  becomes  a  dewdrop,  that  evaporates  in  the  morning  sun,  ai 
problem  of  life  a  diamond,  gleaming  with  the  many-hued  light  of  q 
activity  made  manifest  in  the  intelligence  of  man — the  Image  and  li 
of  Deity, 

A  MODERN  SCEPTIC. 

There  is  no  better  evidence  to-day  of  the  spirit  of  religious  tolt 
than   that   which   manifests   itself   when   questions   of   faith   arc 
studied  from  a  scientific  and  truthful  stand-point.    It  is  the  truth  a 
the  doctrines,  the  facts  and  not  the  fallacies,  that  receive  sanctic 
encouragement  among  laymen. 

Less  than  fifty  years  ago  a  man  who  questioned  and  inquin 
considered  a  "  sceptic,"  and  a  sceptic  was  no  better  than  an  infidel 
now  modern  intelligence  tolerates  sceptic  and  infidel.  The  "  1 
Criticism  "  makes  room  for  many  "  sceptics,"  and  paves  the  hi 
for  many  infidels,  and  unless  he  makes  himself  specially  obnoxk 
loud  assertions  of  his  beliefs  or  unbeliefs,  neither  need  feel  ig 
Guised  as  an  Agnostic,  or  non-sectarian,  he  may  pursue  his  way 
religious  world,  unmolested,  so  long  as  his  religious  ethics  are  no 
cally  opposed  to  all  ethics.  The  present  social  and  religious  coii( 
prove  these  statements. 

The  ethics  of  the  Christian  religion  dominate  in  nearly  alt  spb 
religious  belief  in  America,  but  they  are  being  reduced  more  and 
to  purely  ethical  principles.  Christianity  is  throwing  off,  piece  by 
its  habiliments,  its  livery  so  to  speak ;  as  adornment  precedes  dress  i 
savage  tribes,  so  has  pomp,  ceremony,  and  the  miraculous  precede 
obscured  the  ethical  principles  in  all  religions.  I  doubt  not  thJit  I 
entific  men  will  admit  that  the  Israelites,  as  a  people,  furnished  th 
example  of  a  religious  evolution,  but  they  will  nowhere  acknowk 
supreme,  "  personal  "  dictator,  as  guiding  the  destiny  of  this  people 
than  others,  except  as  they  translate  "  supreme,"  "  personal."  etc 
scientific  phraseology;  and  this  means  that  the  highest  and  best  i 
principles  or  laws  conducive  to  health,  happiness,  and  longevity 
evolved  in  this  race.    This  interpretation  of  "  Israel's  God  "  will  I 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  181 

be  approved  by  nine-tenths  of  all  scientific  men.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
to  go  into  any  controversies  over  the  Old  or  New  Testament ;  that  is  left 
to  men  of  greater  ability.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  Old  Testament  hav- 
ing been  so  scientifically  and  truthfully  interpreted,  the  New  Testament 
six)uld  receive  similar  treatment. 

The  "  modem  sceptic  "  comes  in  at  this  point  and  says,  I  do  not  doubt 
the  authenticity  of  Bible  writings.  I  do  not  doubt  the  probability  of  the 
four  Gospels,  of  Christ's  birth  and  death,  etc. ;  but  I  do  doubt  very  much 
the  unnatural  and  unscientific  explanations  of  many  events  narrated  in 
the  New  Testament,  if  they  occurred  at  all. 

The  sceptic  and  the  Christian  still  collide  on  the  ground  of  ethics. 
Laying  aside  all  the  "  livery  "  of  miracles,  "  blood  atonement,"  "  immacu- 
late conception,"  **  resurrection,"  etc.,  they  still  are  guided  and  controlled 
by  those  fundamental  principles  which,  after  all,  are  the  foundations  of 
ill  religions. 

Although  we  caiinot  reduce  religious  beliefs  to  a  "  positive  philos- 
ophy **  and  science,  yet  ever,  more  and  more,  the  metaphysical  and  ab- 
stnise,  in  creeds  and  doctrines,  are  giving  way  to  rules  and  laws  demon- 
strable in  human  action.  That  which  is  unknown  cannot  be  the  bulwark 
of  our  faith  as  we  progress  in  intelligence.  In  the  unfolding  of  life  there 
must  be  conditions  which  we  cannot  know  nor  understand,  and  these 
conditions  must  furnish  the  basis  for  our  theories,  doctrines,  and  meta- 
physical deductions.  The  rules  and  guides  of  men  in  their  so-called  spir- 
rtoal  life  are  the  simple  yet  profound  laws  of  love  and  duty  toward  man, 
^^ture,  and  deity.  These  are  the  fundamentals  of  all  religions,  and 
through  their  perfect  understanding  and  application,  any  man,  whether 
he  be  Jew,  Gentile,  or  Pagan,  may  attain  unto  that  condition  of  serene 
happiness  which,  after  all,  is  the  destiny  of  but  few  to  enjoy.  In  that 
«l?«r  religion  which  is  growing,  the  best  parts  of  all  religions  will  be 
^bodied.    Ten  million  doctrines,  but  one  religion. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  that  when,  guided  by  ethical  laws  regidating 
their  moral  sentiments,  their  conceptions,  and  worship  of  deity,  all  men 

sharing  and  living  by  these  laws,  shall  truly  be  called  the  "  children  of 
God.*' 

F.  W.  Lewis. 


182  INTELLIGENCE. 

METAPHYSICAL  HEALING.* 

The  Subject  pursued  in  the  study  of  Metaphysical  Healing  is  repre- 
sented by  the  term  Being,  which  means  the  Living  Reality  of  the  Um- 
verse — Life. 

Life  includes  both  Activity  and  Intelligence;  Being,  therefore,  is  liv- 
ing and  intelligent  Activity.    The  established  modes  of  operation  of  the 
various  activities  of  living  Intelligence  are  the  universal  laws  of  Life. 
These  universal  laws  are  involved  in  every  form  of  living  Being.    They 
differ  only  in  mode,  and  in  the  degree  of  the  intensity  of  their  action. 

The  basic  principle  of  all  natural  law  is  Harmony;  therefore  the 
natural  activities  of  every  mode  of  life  are  harmonious  activities. 

Life  is  Action.  The  various  conditions  met  with  in  the  life  of  each 
Individual  are  simply  the  varying  states  of  activity  resulting  front  his 
experience;  or,  changes  of  action  taking  place  during  his  life. 

Health  is  the  Harmony,  i.e.,  the  natural  Activity  of  Life.  The  har* 
monious  activity  of  Being. 

Sickness  is  an  inharmonious  condition  caused  by  a  departure  from 
natural  law;  a  temporary  failure  to  realize  the  harmonious  activfties  of 
Life  which  always  exist  and  are  continuously  in  operation  for  all.  This 
being  true,  health  may  be  restored  by  re-establishing  the  natural  activi- 
ties of  harmonious  life  which  have  been  set  aside,  neglected,  or  tem- 
porarily lost  sight  of  by  the  sufferer. 

In  every  action  of  human  life  three  elements  are  involved,  viz..  Intelli- 
gence, Consciousness,  and  Activity.  Intelligence  is  Consciousness  in 
the  same  sense  as  Life  is  Activity.  Conscious  Intelligence,  therefore, 
seems  to  be  the  right  instrument  through  which  to  direct  the  activities 
of  Individual  Life. 

Intelligence  belongs  to  the  spiritual  side  of  Being;  it  is  not  in  any 
sense  material.  In  its  ultimate  it  is  Pure  Spirit.  In  its  operative  action 
it  IS  the  true  spiritual  activity  of  the  real  life  of  Being;  self-existent, 
non-destructive,  eternal  Reality. 

Copyright.  1897.  by  L.  E.  Whipple     All  Rights  Reserved. 

♦  Introduction  to  the  system  of  Instruction  in  MeUphysical  Healing  given  by 
The  American  School  of  Metaphysics. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  183 

An  act  of  conscious  Intelligence  is  a  purely  spiritual  act  in  which 
neither  matter  nor  sense  plays  any  part.    It  is  Consciousness  itself. 

A  conscious  act  of  Intelligence  with  regard  to  this  every-day  life  is 
a  Thought,  in  which  the  mental  faculties  are  involved;  an  act  of  Mind, 
resulting  in  Mental  Action.  It  has  three  stages  of  operative  action — 
Conscious,  Sub-Conscious,  and  Super-Conscious. 

An  Organic  Function  is  the  movement,  or  operative  action  of  organic 
tissue  in  imitative  response  to  sub-conscious  mental  action — physical  re- 
production of  mental  movement. 

From  these  deductions  it  is  inferred  that  the  right  remedy  for  dis- 
turbed and  inharmonious  conditions  will  be  found  in  the  restoration  of 
natural  mental  conditions  sufficient  to  re-establish  the  harmony  of  uni- 
versal life.  Where  such  natural  harmonious  action  is  re-established  in 
the  mental  processes,  both  conscious  and  sub-conscious,  its  modes  will 
be  imitated  and  reproduced  in  the  physical  mechanism  of  the  organic 
structure — ^the  body — and  health  will  be  restored.  This  is  the  purpose 
of  Metaphysical  Healing;  and  the  work  which  is  continually  being  accom- 
plished through  its  influence. 

Knowledge  of  the  laws  of  action  involved  in  conscious  life,  both  in 
sickness  and  in  health,  becomes  necessary  to  the  intelligent  exercise  of 
the  mental  faculties  in  producing  the  required  changes.  This  necessitates 
the  studying  of  Man  in  the  various  phases  of  his  Being,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  intelligently  direct  his  thought  activities,  and  thereby  help  in 
healing  his  infirmities  and  in  lessening  the  tribulations  of  his  physical  life. 

The  problem  is  not  so  formidable  a  one  as,  at  first  sight,  might  seem 
probable.  Although  the  field  of  research  is  broad,  and  the  distance  to 
be  travelled  great,  while  the  facts  to  be  investigated  are  numerous,  and 
Che  principles  with  which  we  deal  of  supreme  importance,  yet,  the  very 
Truth  of  these  principles  renders  them  transparent  to  the  gaze  of  the 
earnest  student. 

With  eternal  truth,  as  with  the  sunbeam,  a  little  light  penetrates  to 
a  great  distance,  each  ray  uniting  with  the  other,  eventually  producing 
a  flood  of  light  which  extends  in  all  directions  and  pierces  the  dark- 
est depths,  finally  burning  from  the  escutcheon  of  conscious  thought 
every  darkened  stain  of  erroneous  reasoning,  and  laying  bare  the  entire 
tdieme  of  conscious  existence  in  the  universe. 


184  INTELLIGENCE. 

When  understood  as  a  whole,  life  is  readily  comprehended  in  ad 
of  its  parts;  then  separate  actions  become  as  easy  to  control  as  to  cob 
prehend.  While  our  problem  is  not  impossible  to  solve,  not  yet  bcyai 
our  reach  in  practical  work,  still  it  is  intricate  enough  to  demand  d 
closest  attention  during  study,  and  the  subject  is  deep  enough  to  reqol 
the  most  free  and  unprejudiced  examination,  with  all  faculties  thorougl 
alive  to  the  principles  of  demonstrable  truth,  whenever  and  howei 
they  may  come  before  our  notice. 

In  practising  the  Science  of  Metaphysical  Healing,  every  vicissito 
of  human  life  comes  before  us  for  judgment  and  for  healing  actit 
The  power  to  cope  successfully  with  the  host  of  difficulties  continuon 
presenting  themselves,  is  gained  through  knowledge  of  the  general  la 
involved  in  human  existence.  Such  knowledge  can  be  attained  only 
a  clear  comprehension  of  the  pure  Principles  of  Reality,  which  princip 
comprise  the  vital  part  of  every  human  being.  The  invariable  nail 
of  these  vital  principles  is  harmonious;  their  action  must  necessarily 
in  perfect  freedom,  since  nothing  can  be  purely  harmonious  when  un 
restraint,  or  when  curtailed  in  action  by  fixed  opinion. 

If,  then,  we  come  to  the  study  of  principles  so  wide,  so  deep,  and 
powerful  as  these,  with  opinions  already  formed  about  the  laws  wh 
it  is  required  to  examine,  we,  in  the  beginning,  surround  ourselves  n 
limitations  which  may  cause  the  most  vital  principles  to  seem  insigii 
cant,  thus  depriving  ourselves  of  the  power  that  may  be  gained  throi: 
right  comprehension.  If,  however,  we  can  for  the  time  being  leave  i 
bundle  of  preconceived  opinions  at  the  outer  gate,  and  approach  this  sti 
in  perfect  freedom,  ready  to  measure,  weigh,  and  examine  on  its  0 
merits  each  principle  of  life  presented,  we  shall  then  be  in  the  best  p 
sible  condition  for  dealing  fairly  with  each  law  of  action,  thus  coming 
know  the  Principles  of  Being  through  pure  contact  with  the  Laws 
which  they  are  expressed.  If,  perchance,  any  opinion  previously  fa 
should  suffer  by  comparison  with  the  law  thus  divulged,  so  much 
worse  for  that  opinion;  and  every  fair-minded  person  is  only  too  % 
to  see  the  ashes  of  an  opinion  which  cannot  stand  against  demonstrs 
law  scattered  in  the  four  winds.  It  is  only  while  one  supposes  his  opin 
to  be  truth  that  it  possesses  value  to  him. 

The  nature  of  Truth  is  eternally  harmonious.    All  Truths,  theref 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  185 

fit  perfectly  together  in  the  grand  Mosaic  of  Reality.  Herein  we  may 
find  a  sure  test  of  any  statement,  and  opinion  alone  becomes  no  longer 
of  any  importance.  If  the  opinion  is  established  upon  a  genuine  Truth 
of  actual  Reality,  it  can  be  demonstrated  in  the  laws  of  human  life.  If 
it  will  not  stand  demonstration  in  perfect  fairness,  it  is  neither  true  nor 
real,  no  matter  how  fair  its  visage  may  seem. 

Power  rests  in  knowledge,  and  is  developed  through  right  under- 
standing of  the  real  principles  of  life.  Belief  is  not  sufficient,  and  is  sel- 
dom accompanied  by  power  equal  to  the  occasion,  since  one  who  believes, 
only,  does  not  know ;  and  if  he  trusts  his  belief,  he  does  not  wish  to  under- 
stand.  In  his  own  ignorance  he  is  stupidly  content. 

The  study  of  the  subject  of  Being,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a 
science  of  Mental  Healing,  necessitates  an  examination  of  all  real  laws 
of  human  life.  In  order  to  understand  these  laws  correctly  there  must 
be  some  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  spiritual  side  of  man's  Being. 
Study  of  these  laws  and  principles  brings  one  at  once  into  the  Meta- 
physical field,  where  the  work  becomes  a  Science  of  Healing  through 
knowledge  of  the  Principles  of  Metaphysics. 

The  principles  of  Metaphysics  are  the  true  laws  of  action  in  the  uni- 
verse; they  are  absolutely  essential  to  every  mode  of  life.  All  right  men- 
tal action  takes  place  in  accordance  with  these  laws. 

Physical  action  is  reflected  from  Mental  action,  and  corresponds  to 
it  in  every  detail.    As  is  the  thought,  so  must  be  its  physical  expression. 

This  Philosophy  claims  as  its  natural  fruits  the  healing  of  sickness, 
coffering,  and  sorrow,  without  the  intervention  of  materiality  in  any 
nttnner  whatsoever.  If  this  claim  holds  good,  then  the  resultant  facts 
*r^  radically  different  from  the  supposed  facts  of  common  experience. 
The  facts  being  different,  it  is  natural  to  anticipate  that  the  theories  pro- 
ducing such  results  will  vary  somewhat  from  those  through  which  only 
^he  common  results  are.  obtained.  Results  prove  the  character  of  every 
mode  of  action. 

Right  investigation  of  any  theory  can  only  be  conducted  through 

'he  faculty  of  reason.     Reason  is  the  association  of  Ideas,  through  a 

calm  consideration  of  their  character  and  qualities.     In  this  way  ideas 

-.jy  be  carefully  examined  from  their  spiritual  side,  where  the  actual 

has  of  permanent  reality  are  found,  and  where  the  eternal  Truth  of  any 


186  INTELLIGENCE. 

theory  always  rests.    The  foundation  of  every  real  Idea  is  a  spiritual 
principle. 

Truth  is  always  discovered  within  the  Idea;  never  entirely  within 
the  Thing  or  Object.  The  object  only  imperfectly  expresses  the  action 
of  a  truth,  while  Truth  is  the  ultimate  reality  of  the  thing.  Truth  is 
subjective,  while  the  thing  is  always  objective,  or  external  in  nature,  in 
substance,  and  in  action.  The  objective  thing  may  be  examined  materi* 
ally,  but  the  subjective  truth  yields  itself  only  to  spiritual  manipulation. 
Through  the  exercise  of  pure  reason  the  qualities  of  the  idea  may  be 
examined,  disclosing  the  real  principle  on  which  the  idea  is  constructed. 

The  study  of  Metaphysical  Healing  is  based  upon  examination  of 
the  Ideas  involved  in  the  existence  of  generic  man.  The  healing  act 
involves  an  application  of  the  natural  laws  of  existence  to  each  man's 
experience  in  life. 

Knowledge  of  these  natural  laws  is  acquired  through  correct  exam- 
ination of  the  Principles  of  Reality  in  the  universe.  These  principles 
are  discovered  only  while  analyzing  real  Ideas.  In  the  present  phase  of 
existence  our  readiest  instrument  of  analytical  observation  is  Reason. 
Because  of  these  facts  it  is  especially  important  to  develop  the  faculties 
of  reason  in  the  very  inception  of  this  study. 

Unfettered  reason  leads  through  analytical  processes  eventually  to 
a  clear  understanding  of  pure  truth.  This  brings  us  in  contact  with  the 
Realities  of  the  universe  which  we  inhabit.  Understanding  these  realities 
we  are  enabled  to  work  with  them  and  to  operate  through  their  natural 
laws  of  action ;  then  we  may  recognize  the  unreal  character  of  the  vari- 
ous illusive  appearances  with  which  we  are  necessarily  surrounded  during 
this  material  life. 

In  dealing  with  such  problems  as  these,  reason  is  our  only  salva- 
tion; argument  proves  of  no  avail.  In  argument  each  considers  his  con- 
feree an  opponent,  and  throws  out  his  opinion  through  the  assertive 
forces  of  his  own  self-will;  while  in  reason  each  considers  the  other  as 
himself,  presents  Ideas  for  mutual  consideration,  and  elucidates  the  ideas 
through  the  illuminative  faculties  of  Intelligence. 

Reason  is  the  association  of  Ideas,  while  argument  is  the  combat  of 
opinions.  During  the  combat  of  argument,  Ideas  usually  take  to  them- 
selves wing^  and  depart  for  a  more  congenial  clime. 


THE  WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  187 

In  the  combat  of  argument  neither  reason  nor  intelligence  is  dis- 
played; opinion  has  the  entire  field,  and  still  holds  sway  after  the  con- 
test is  ended.  Argument  is  always  the  implement  of  opinion,  while  reason 
is  the  instrument  of  Intelligence. 

Opinion  never  has  any  use  for  reason.  Opinion  knows  it  all  without 
taking  the  trouble  to  investigate.  This  attitude  closes  the  door  to  knowl- 
edge, in  which  state  the  opinionated  bigot  never  learns  how  little  he  really 
does  know.  In  action  of  this  kind  there  is  no  progress  for  ourselves  and 
no  power  to  help  others. 

The  true  way  to  learn  and  to  help,  is  to  reason  together.  In  reason 
each  stands  open  and  receptive  to  such  fact  as  may  be  presented  by  the 
other,  still  remaining  calm  and  clear  in  his  own  thinking  faculties.  Each 
b  thereby  enabled  to  see  whatever  points  of  error  may  be  contained  either 
in  his  own  theory  or  in  that  of  the  other.  Thus  both  gain  through  reason, 
while  both  invariably  lose  by  argument. 

Reason  is  a  faculty  of  the  Soul,  spiritual  in  its  nature  and  aspiring 
^  in  action.  Its  tendency  is  to  build  and  sustain  Truth.  It  is  the  external 
instrument  of  pure  Spiritual  Intelligence,  and,  when  rightly  exercised, 
leads  inevitably  upward  to  higher  ground  of  understanding.  It  is  the 
whide  of  Optimism.  Argument,  however,  is  based  upon  animal  sense 
sod  is  material  in  all  its  tendencies;  its  aim  is  always  toward  destruction, 
«Mi  it  is  unyielding  in  every  operation.  It  is  the  recourse  of  the  Pessi-  ' 
onst  Truths  blend  and  Facts  unite  in  Reason,  while  error  only  empha- 
•utt  error  in  argument. 

In  this  study  we  base  action  upon  Reason,  and  work  through 
*at  to  the  ground  of  the  higher  perceptive  faculties.  The  truths  of  the 
•^'ttJce  are  reached  and  understood  by  dealing  with  Ideas — objective 
*inp  receiving  only  a  secondary  consideration,  on  their  own  ground, 
**  natural  expressions  of  real  Ideas. 

"  careful  examination  be  given  to  the  Ideas  presented  and  impartial 
J'^^ent  be  exercised  on  the  facts  deduced,  while  theories  are  tested  by 
^^  niles  as  are  necessary  in  a  study  of  mental  faculties  and  spiritual 
*^^tie$,  forces  and  powers  unknown  to  material  reasoners  will  be  recog- 
'^^  which  can  only  be  reached  through  Metaphysical  investigation. 
Metaphysics  is  the  Science  of  Being. 

Leander   Edmund  Whipple. 


188  INTELLIGENCE. 


MEDITATION  AND  READING.* 

MEDITATION. 

To  think  aright  is  to  Hve  aright.  To  think  the  truth  is  to  become  the 
Truth.  Truth  is  substance;  error  is  shadow.  Truth  is  light;  error  is 
darkness.  We  desire  to  become  truthful  in  all  things  that  we  may  dwd 
in  the  light.  Darkness  generates  fear;  fear  is  bondage;  bondage  gciH 
erates  discomfort,  disease,  and  death.  Therefore,  let  us  flee  from  the 
darkness  of  error,  which  would  enslave  us.  Then,  we  shall  know  the 
Truth  and  the  Truth  shall  make  us  free.  We  know  if  we  think  the  tmtii 
we  will  speak  the  truth.  We  desire  that  our  tongues  shall  not  lead  u$\, 
away  by  rash  words.  If  we  are  truthful  we  will  be  honest,  generous,  for-; 
giving,  gentle,  and  loving,  for  we  know  the  infirmities  of  all  men  are 
like  our  own.  If  we  are  truthful  ourselves  we  will  drive  error  out  of 
others.  They  will  then  see  the  light  as  we  see  it  and  they  will  live  in  har- 
mony with  us  as  we  with  them.  Without  truth  we  are  miserable;  with; 
truth  we  are  always  happy  and  blessed.  Let  us  repeat  over  and  over  to 
ourselves  till  it  becomes  our  permanent  thought:  "Truth  is  Light 
Truth  gives  Peace.    Truth  will  ever  Conquer."    Amen. 


RESPONSIVE    READING. 

Minister. — Great  is  Truth  and  stronger  than  all  things. 

Congregation. — All  the  earth  called  upon  the  Truth  and  the  heavea, 
blessed  it. 

Minister. — All  works  shake  and  tremble  at  it  and  with  it  is  no  vat^i 
righteous  thing. 

Congregation. — It  endureth  and  is  always  strong;  it  liveth  and  coo-i 
quereth  forevermore. 

Minister. — With  her  is  no  accepting  of  persons  or  rewards;  but 
doeth  the  things  that  are  just,  and  refraineth  from  all  unjust  and  wici 
things. 

Congregation. — Neither  is  her  judgment  in  any  unrighteousness. 

Minister. — And  she  is  the  strength,  kingdom,  power,  and  majestf^j 
of  all  ages. — Book  of  Esdras,  Apocrypha, 

*  Selected  from  the  Service  of  the   Metropolitan   Independent   Church,  'R« 
Henry  Frank,  Minister,  Hardman  Hall,  New  York  City,  November  7,  1897. 


I 


THE  WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  189 

SUBCONSCIOUS   IMITATION. 

Boonville,  Mo.,  October  5,  1897. 
Editor  "  IntelUgence." 

Dear  Sir:  Noticing  frequent  allusions  to  the  subject  of  heredity  in 
your  valuable  journal  recalls  a  case  in  my  own  family. 

My  father,  a  physician  of  high  standing  in  Germany,  had  the  very 
peculiar  habit,  when  in  a  deep  study,  of  crooking  his  index  finger  and 
pressing  it  against  the  upper  lip,  apparently  unconsciously  gnawing  its 
inner  lining. 

Resembling  my  father  in  scarcely  any  respect,  I  not  only  never  ac- 
quired this  peculiar,  perhaps  unique,  habit,  but,  coming  to  this  country 
in  early  youth,  had  almost  forgotten  it,  when,  to  my  surprise,  I  noticed 
my  oldest  son,  bom  two  years  after  his  grandfather's  demise,  assume  my 
fither's  attitude  and  practise  it,  also  in  apparent  total  unconsciousness."^ 

Respectfully,  C.  F.  Achle. 

TRANSFUSED  AFRICAN   BLOOD   SAID  TO   BE  A 

YELLOW  FEVER  ANTITOXIN. 

Sebree,  Ky.,  October  9. — On  the  basic  fact  that  the  pure-blooded 
African  has  absolute  protection  from  yellow  fever,  Dr.  A.  R.  Jenkins,  of 
Kentucky,  offers  to  the  experts  present  in  the  focal  region  of  that  dis- 
ease this  new  treatment:  That  they  transfuse  the  blood  of  the  colored 
man  into  patients  suffering  in  the  beginning  stage  with  the  severe  form 
of  fever  as  a  yellow  fever  antitoxin. 

It  may  cure  or  immunize  through  the  destruction  of  the  yellow  fever 
germs  in  the  patient's  system  by  the  phagocytes  and  planocytes  of  the 
African's  blood.  It  is  almost  certain  that  it  is  these  organisms  in  the 
African's  blood  that  protect  him. — The  Daily  Lancet. 


•  This  does  not  necessarily  relate  to  heredity.  It  comes  under  the  head  of 
tabcanscious  Thought-Transference,  becoming  operative  through  the  latent  tendency 
of  the  human  mind  to  imitate  what  it  sees. 

The  fnental  image  of  the  eccentric  act  was  clearly  defined  in  the  subconscious 
realm  of  the  mind  of  the  parent  of  this  child,  who  had  so  often  witnessed  and 
diooght  about  it  as  unique.  Temporary  forgetful ness  did  not  obliterate  the  picture 
in  mind,  which  constantly  remained  and  could  have  been  seen  by  a  clairvoyant 
mind,  at  any  time. 

The  mind  of  the  child,  being  intensely  clairvoyant  by  nature  (as  are  the  minds 
of  all  children),  clearly  recognized  this  image  of  action  in  the  mental  atmosphere, 
and,  through  the  natural  tendency  to  imitation,  reproduced  it  in  operative  action, 
quite  unconsciously. 

The  operation  was  an  automatic  imitation  of  a  mental  image  of  action,  recog- 
nized subconsciously.  It  was  therefore  not  "  inherited  "  in  the  flesh,  in  the  blood, 
or  in  the  mind:  yet  by  transference  of  an  image  it  did  pass  through  an  intermediate 
mind  to  the  distant  offspring. — Ed. 


190  INTELLIGENCE. 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 

YERMAH:   THE  DORADO.     By  Frona  Eunice  Wait.     Qoth,  350  pp.,  $iiS. 
William  Doxey,  631  Market  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  literary  merit  of  this  book  is  far  above  the  average  work  of  fiction.  TIk 
wide  range  which  the  author's  imagination  covers  in  weaving  into  the  romance 
the  magical  rites,  occult  ceremonies,  and  religious  observances  pertaining  to  the 
most  ancient  peoples,  shows  an  ability  quite  remarkable.    The  scenes  of  the  story 
are  laid  in  San  Francisco,  *'  eleven  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  yean 
ago,"  and  this  vicinity  is  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  a  colony  from  Atlantis.  The 
destruction  of  Atlantis  is  the  principal  incident  depicted.    The  interest  is  sust^nei 
throughout,  and  those  who  delight  in  gorgeous  imagery  and  scenic  effects  wil 
feel  amply  repaid  by  a  perusal  of  this  attractive  book. 

STUDIES  IN  PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH.     By  Frank  Podmore.  M.A.    QoUi, 
454  PP-»  $2.00.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  27  West  Twenty-third  Street,  New  York. 

To  those  who  are  attracted  to  subjects  of  a  mystical  nature  this  work  will  be 
of  extreme  interest.  Mr.  Podmore  gives  an  extended  and  systematic  account  of 
the  work  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  througlij 
its  committees  and  individual  members,  and  gives  the  conclusions  reached,  but  hej 
warns  his  readers  that  his  book  represents  his  individual  impressions  of  the  resuhf^ 
of  their  work  and  that  his  colleagues  are  in  nowise  committed  to  the  views  ex*' 
pressed  therein. 

The  author  states  that  "  of  the  illustrative  narratives  quoted,  the  greater  number 
are   taken    from    the    Monthly   Journal   and    other   unpublished    records   of  the 
Society."    Many  interesting  cases  of  hypnotism  are  given,  besides  a  large  araooit.l 
of  testimony  to  premonitions  and  previsions,  while  to  spiritualism  and  its  attendant^ 
hallucinations  the  greater  portion  of  the  work  is  devoted. 

A  MANUAL  OF  ETHICS.    By  John  S.  Mackenzie,  M.A.    Cloth,  437  pp.,  $i.5a 
Hinds  &  Noble,  Cooper  Institute,  New  York. 

Books  of  this  nature  are  always  welcome  to  the  student  of  ethics,  to  whom  the 
systematic  treatment  of  this  most  interesting  subject  adopted  in  the  present  volame 
will  be  a  valuable  aid.    The  author  does  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  metaphysics 
is  the  foundation  of  all  ethics,  although  he  states  in  his  Preface  that  his  dc«g«  j 
is  to  "  give,  in  brief  compass,  an  outline  of  the  most  important  principles  of  cthkil  I 
doctrine,  so  far  as  these  can  be  understood  without  a  knowledge  of  metaphysics. 
His  aim  is  "  to  conduct  the  student  gradually  inward  from  the  psychologncal  out- 
works to  the  metaphysical  foundation." 

His  metaphysical  point  of  view  is  that  of  the  school  of  Idealism — ^in  that  res 
similar  to  other  treatises  which  have  already  appeared — but  he  handles  his  sul>j*<* 
in  a  slightly  diflFerent  manner.  This  is  the  third  edition,  and  has  been  enlar^t* 
revised,  and  partly  rewritten.  The  work  has  been  divided  into  five  parts.  Of  thi*** 
Book  I,  is  devoted  to  Prolegomena,  chiefly  psychological;  Book  II.,  Theories  * 
the  Moral  Standard;   Book  III.,  The  Moral  Life. 

The  Introduction  gives  a  general  indication  of  the  nature  of  ethical  scienc^- 

ZELMA.  THE  MYSTIC;   OR.  WHITE  MAGIC  VS.  BLACK.    By  AIwyr»   } 
Thurber.    Cloth,  380  pp.    Authors'  Publishing  Company,  Chicago. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  "  clothe  in  story  form  a  train  of  philosoS^' 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  191 

chings,  with  a  view  of  dfawing  the  line  between  the  confusing  psychical  happen- 
;s  of  our  day  and  the  truly  mystical  observances  of  him  or  her  who  has  the  gift 
prophecy  or  healing." 

With  this  opening,  the  author  sets  forth  in  the  Preface  his  attempt  to  make 
ictical  some  of  the  graver  truths  of  occultism  by  the  aid  of  fiction,  and  these 
im  the  attention  of  the  reader  throughout  the  pages.  The  story  is  an  interesting 
t,  depicting  human  nature  in  its  highest  phases. 

OTHER  PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

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AMONG  OUR  EXCHANGES. 

IE  THEOSOPHIST,  for  October,  is  full  of  good  subject-matter.  The  leading 
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192  INTELLIGENCE. 

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INTELLIGENCE. 


Vol.  VII.  FEBRUARY,  1898.  No.  3. 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  : 

ITS  RELATIONS   TO   PSYCHIC   AND   PHYSIOLOGICAL   LIFE. 

The  late  Professor  John  W.  Draper  declared*  that  the  time  had 
»mc  when  no  one  was  entitled  to  express  an  opinion  in  Philosophy, 
accept  he  had  first  learned  Physiology.  "  Why,"  he  asks,  "  why 
iould  we  cast  aside  the  solid  facts  presented  to  us  by  material  ob- 
ttts?  In  his  communications  with  us  throughout  the  universe,  God 
svcr  materializes.  He  equally  speaks  to  us  through  the  thousands  of 
graceful  organic  forms  which  are  scattered  in  profusion  over  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  through  the  motions  and  appearances  presented 
by  the  celestial  orbs.  Our  noblest  and  clearest  conceptions  of  his  attri- 
feteshave  been  obtained  from  these  material  things.  I  am  persuaded 
tkat  the  only  possible  route  to  truth  in  mental  philosophy  is  through 
a  study  of  the  nervous  mechanism." 

We  may  not  accept  this  hypothesis  without  qualification.  We  are 
oot  willmg  to  acknowledge  that  "  what  is  not  founded  on  a  material 
•"^stratum  is  necessarily  a  castle  in  the  air."  The  proposition  appears 
to  t»  to  have  no  more  substantial  support  than  the  senseless  notion 
^t  the  earth  stands  on  a  rock,  or  on  the  back  of  an  animal.  Firm  as 
■i^ermay  seem  to  the  sensuous  vision,  the  finer  perception  cognizes 
"^  as  only  dynamic  force,  dependent  accordingly  for  its  power  of  mani- 
^tation,  and  even  for  its  own  existence,  upon  a  superior  principle. 
E^tti  though  God  may  materialize,  and  geometrize,  it  is  by  no  means 

l^onan  Phyfiology,  Book  II.,  ch.  xiv. 

193 


194  INTELLIGENCE. 

ft 

necessary  to  suppose  him  to  be  restricted  to  such  modes  of  proced 
The  aspirations,  the  intuitive  conceptions  of  the  human  mind, 
themselves  so  many  indications  to  the  contrary. 

Nevertheless,  we  may  not  dispute  the  vast  importance  of  a  ko 
edge  of  the  nervous  mechanism  to  an  intelligent  understandii^ 
psychology,  as  well  as  of  physiology  and  pathology.  It  is  essenti 
judicial  as  well  as  speculative  investigation  and  distinguishes 
profounder  scholar  from  the  more  superficial  sciolist.  The  stg 
cance  of  this  knowledge  is  exemplified  in  the  intermediate  reh 
which  the  nervous  organism  sustains  between  the  psychic  essence 
the  bodily  framework.  The  union  which  thus  subsists  maintains 
physical  life.  The  moral  and  mental  qualities  are  also  brought 
thereby  and  carried  to  exterjial  manifestation  and  activity.  Ma 
thus  the  synthesis  of  the  creation,  including  in  himself  the  subjec 
principles  of  things,  with  the  objective  constituents  which  I 
permeate.  It  is  the  common  practice,  accordingly,  to  describe  hii 
a  twofold  being,  consisting  of  a  body  and  a  soul.  It  would  be  more 
sonable  and  philosophic,  however,  to  make  this  delineation  mcxe 
cise  and  complete,  by  naming  also  the  interior  spirit  or  intuitive  a 
lect.  We  would  then  be  better  able  to  attain  a  definite  comprehcfl 
of  the  whole  subject. 

**  The  great  obstacle  to  the  thorough  understanding  of  the 
vous  system  of  animal  and  organic  life  presents  itself,"  Dr.  J 
O'Reilly  declares,  **  in  the  want  of  humkn  intelligence  of  a  stani 
sufficiently  high  to  comprehend  the  agency  of  immaterialism  is 
operations  of  materiality." 

According  to  this  dogma,  we  cannot  afford  to  rest  content  wM 
imperfect  knowing,  but  must  push  our  research  toward  the  veryi 
of  the  matter.  It  has  been  common  to  classify  knowledge  as  sent 
scientific,  and  metaphysical.  At  the  same  time  there  has  been  a 
position  to  relegate  all  philosophy,  including  mental  and  ill 
science,  and  whatever  relates  to  causes  and  principles,  to  the  real 
metaphysics,  and  to  neglect  it  as  visionary,  impractical,  and  bcj 
the  province  of  sensuous  experience.  It  is,  nevertheless,  t!ie  hi| 
and  more  important  as  concerning  that  which  is  actual  reafity, 
furnishes  the  ground  for  the  right  understanding  of  things.    Thtii 


THE   GANGLIONIC    NERVOUS    SYSTEM.  196 

(ntiment  of  optimism,  the  intuition  that  creation  and  events  partake 
I  good  and  are  from  it,  originated  from  this  metaphysical  source,  and 
>  evolved  from  the  interior  recesses  of  the  mind.  On  the  other  hand 
he  views  of  human  life  and  action  which  are  attributed  to  no  superior 
mnciple,  and  are  commended  by  many  as  practical,  too  generally 
lave  their  beginning  in  selfishness,  a  voluntary  ignorance  of  the  bet- 
er,and  a  gloomy  notion  that  all  things  are  controlled  from  the  worst. 

The  psychic  nature  is  correspondent  to  the  physical,  and  forms 
:hc  essential  selfhood  and  personaUty  of  each  human  being.  It  is 
liversified  in  energy;  it  is  intellectual,  and  perceives;  it  is  moral,  and 
«ds;  it  is  commingled  with  the  bodily  organism,  and  desires.  There 
tnay  be  a  harmony  between  all  these,  but  at  times  there  is  discordance. 
VVcmay  feel  and  desire  in  one  direction,  jand  our  convictions  may  im- 
pel us  in  another.  The  same  person  may  act  sincerely  the  part  of  Mr. 
Jekyll  at  one  time,  and  become  the  baser  Mr.  Hyde  at  another. 

This  diversified  aspect  is  in  perfect  analogy  to  the  physical  struct- 
ure. Plato,  following  Pythagoras,  sets  forth  in  the  TimaioSy  that  the 
immortal  principle  of  the  human  soul  is  from  the  Deity,  and  has  the 
body  for  its  vehicle.  He  likewise  describes  a  mortal  part  of  the  soul 
irhich  is  seated  in  the  thorax  and  abdomen,  having  the  qualities  of 
voluptuousness,  fear  of  pain,  temerity  and  apprehension,  anger  hard 
to  appease,  and  hope.  These  several  psychic  entities  are  assigned  by 
Nm  to  different  places;  the  rational  and  immortal  to  the  summit  of 
(behead,  the  moral  and  passionate  to  the  breast,  and  the  sensuous  to 
ftc  r^on  below. 

There  are  distinct  nervous  systems  that  correspond  to  these  di- 
•ttse  psychic  energies.  There  is  the  cerebro-spinal  axis,  consisting  of 
Ikebrain,  the  commissures  and  other  fibres,  the  sensorium,  spinal  cord 
ttdncr\'es;  and  there  is  also  the  organic  system,  better  known  as  the 
Apathetic  or  ganglionic,  which  includes  the  various  ganglia  of  the 
•iiccra,  and  other  structures,  with  the  several  prolongations,  bands, 
tod  fibres  which  connect  them  with  one  another  and  with  the  other 
kodily  organs.  Our  attention  will  be  directed  as  exclusively  as  may 
kto  this  latter  system  and  its  various  relations. 

Bichat  was  first  among  later  writers  to  declare  that  the  sympa- 
Iketic  system  is  a  structure  distinct  in  its  origin  and  functions.    It  had 


196  INTELLIGENCE. 

been  conjectured  that  it  originated  from  the  roots  of  the  o 
spinal  system  to  extend  into  the  internal  organs  of  the  body 
hypothesis  has  been  propounded  that  it  is  a  special  system,  oi 
the  ganglia  are  so  many  independent  centres  communicating  h< 
there  with  the  cerebro-spinal.  This  speculation  seems  manifei 
congruous.  The  origin  of  the  sympathetic  or  ganglionic  syst 
ffjetal  dissections  appear  to  prove,  is  in  the  great  solar  or  sen 
ganglion  at  the  epigastric  region.  It  is  the  part  first  formed 
embryonic  period,  and  from  it  the  rest  of  the  organism  procee 
ferentiating  afterward  into  the  various  tissues  and  structures.  . 
focus,  according  to  the  great  philosopher,  the  impulsive  or  pasf 
nature  comes  into  contact  with  the  sensuous  or  appetitive;  a 
fact  is  apparent  to  everybody's  consciousness  that  it  is  the  ( 
point  of  the  emotional  nature.  The  instinct  of  the  child  and  1 
servation  of  the  intelligent  adult  abundantly  confirm  this. 

The  name  ganglionic  is  applied  to  this  system  because  it  c 
distinctly  of  ganglia  or  masses  of  neurine  and  nerve-structun 
necting  them.  Solly  has  proposed  the  longer  but  more  exg 
designation  of  cyclo-ganglionic  system,  as  corresponding  in  i 
tomic  arrangement  with  the  nervous  system  of  the  cyclo-ganj 
or  molluscus  division  of  the  animal  kingdom.  It  is,  also  vt 
quently  called  the  great  sympathetic,  from  having  been  suppc 
have  the  function  of  equalizing  the  nervous  energy,  the  tempe 
and  other  conditions  of  the  body.  It  has  also  been  denominai 
vegetative  system,  as  controlling  the  processes  of  nutritic 
growth;  the  visceral,  intercostal,  and  tri-splanchnic,  from  its  pi 
chiefly  in  the  interior  part  of  the  body;  the  organic,  as  supplyi 
force  which  sustains  the  organism;  and  the  vaso-motor,  as  ma 
ing  the  blood-vessels  in  vigor,  enabling  them  to  contract  and  p 
to  send  forward  the  blood,  and  so  to  keep  the  body  in  normal 
tion.  Draper  considers  that  the  name  "  sympathetic,'*  which  i 
common  in  the  text-books,  has  been  a  source  of  injury  to  the  i 
of  Physiology,  and  that  it  would  be  well  even  now  to  replace  it  I 
a  term  as  vincular  or  moniliform,  or  some  title  of  equivalent  ii 
These  terms  indicate  the  fact  that  the  ganglia  of  this  system  aj 
nected  like  a  necklace  or  chain  of  beads.    As  the  designation  of 


THE   GANGLIONIC   NERVOUS   SYSTEM.  197 

glionic  "  approximates  that  meaning  and  likewise  denoted  the  pe- 
culiar constitution  of  the  nervous  structures,  it  is  preferable. 

The  function  of  the  ganglial  nerve-cells  and  molecules  consists  in 

the  elaborating,  retaining,  and  supplying  of  "  nervous  force."    The 

chief  ganglion  is  denominated,  from  its  peculiar  form,  the  semilunar; 

and  the  group  which  surrounds  it  is  known  as  the  solar  plexus,  from 

the  fact  that  this  region  of  the  body  was  regarded  anciently  as  being 

under  the  special  guardianship  of  the  solar  divinity.     It  has  been 

,   designated  "  the  sun  of  the  abdominal  sympathetic  system,"  and  Solly 

[   describes  it  as  a  gangliform  circle  enveloping  the  cceliac  axis.    From 

f  this  circle  there  pass  off  branches  in  all  directions,  like  rays  from  a 

k   centre,  and  it  appears  to  be  the  vital  centre  of  the  entire  body.  Injuries 

j   at  every  extremity  are  reported  here,  and  every  emotion  and  passion 

•   has  its  influence  for  ill  or  good  directly  at  this  spot. 

It  may  make  the  subject  clearer,  if  we  give  a  brief  outline  of  the 

Kstory  of  the  cerebro-spinal  axis.    If  we  consider  it  according  to  its 

frocess  of  evolution  we  must  begin  at  the  medulla  oblongata  as  the 

fat  rudimentary  structure.    In  point  of  time,  the  ganglionic  nervous 

system  is  developed  and  in  full  operation  in  the  unborn  child,  while 

the  other  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  begun  a  function  till  after  the 

lirth.   The  rudiments  of  the  spinal  cord  are  found  to  exist,  however, 

at  a  very  early  period  in  foetal  existence.    The  close  relation  of  the 

'  nedulla  oblongata  to  the  ganglionic  system  is  shown  by  the  evidences 

t  of  inter-communication,  and  more  particularly  from  the  fact  that  it  is 

'  die  seat  of  power  for  the  whole  body.    It  seems  to  be  the  germ  from 

iWch  the  entire  cerebro-spinal  system  is  developed;  and  it  is,  in  fact, 

;  theequator  of  the  cerebro-spinal  axis.    At  the  superior  extremity,  two 

\  Arous  branches  extending  toward  the  rear  of  the  head  form  two  lobes 

•f  the  cerebellum.    A  second  pair  of  fibres  develop  into  the  optic  gan- 

Cfa;  and  from  these  in  their  turn  proceed  two  nervous  filaments  with 

tterudimentary  eyes  at  their  extremities.    The  auditory  and  olfactory 

Unrts  issue  from  the  ganglia  at  the  medulla,  each  initial  structure  of 

'  tte  future  oi^an  pertaining  to  it.    Another  and  later  formation  is  the 

h)otaI  lobe  of  the  brain.     In  due  time,  but  not  till  a  season  after 

^irth,  the  whole  encephalon — brain,  commissures,  sensory  ganglia, 

ttrebellum — ^becomes  complete.    The  spinal  cord  below  and  the  rami- 


198  INTELLIGENCE. 

fying  nerves  are  also  formed  about  simultaneously  with  the  other  parts 
of  the  structure. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  suggest  that  the  primordial  cell  or  ovule  is 
itself  a  nervous  mass,  and  that  the  spermatic  fluid  appears  to  contain, 
if  not  actually  to  consist  of,  material  elementally  similar  to  that  com-  : 
posing  the  nerve-substance.    This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
germ  of  the  body  is  constituted  of  nerve-material,  and  that  all  the  : 
other  parts,  tissues,  membranes,  and  histologic  structure  generally, 
are  outgrowths  or  evolutions  from  the  nervous  system,  if  not  actually  i 
that  system  further  extended.    There  is  nothing  known  in  physiology  3 
that  conflicts  radically  with  this  hypothesis.    If  such  is  actually  the 
case,  the  intelligent  understanding  of  the  nervous  systems  and  their 
functions  can  be  greatly  facilitated. 

The  cerebral  and  spinal  systems  of  nerves  acting  together  trans* 
mit  the  various  sensations  and  impulses  of  feeling,  thinking,  and  wBr  ! 
ing.  These  are  the  motions  of  the  central  ganglion  or  registering  afc^  -i 
which  receives  impressions  from  without,  enabling  them  to  be  pc^  g 
ceived  by  the  mind,  thought  upon,  and  action  decided  accordingly;! 
after  which  the  striated  bodies  and  motor  nerves  become  the  mediumi  il 
to  transmit  the  mandates  of  the  will  to  the  various  departments  of  Ae  i 
body  to  be  carried  into  effect.  m 

Fibres  from  the  sympathetic  ganglia  also  pass  to  the  roots  of  the  " 
nerves  of  the  cerebro-spinal  system,  and  anastomose  at  every  impor- 
tant point,  so  that  the  several  kinds  are  included  in  the  same  trunk. 
They  are  likewise  distributed  to  and  over  the  innermost  membrane  of 
the  blood-vessels,  thus  transmitting  their  vital  stimulus  to  the  blood 
In  this  way  they  accompany  the  vessels  which  supply  the  variottt 
structures  of  the  brain.    Each  of  the  cerebral  ganglia  is  arranged  on  tH 
artery  or  arteriole  after  the  manner  of  grapes  on  a  stem.    There  is  abo 
a  double  chain  of  ganglia,  more  than  fifty  in  number,  extending  front 
the  head  along  the  sides  of  the  spinal  column  to  the  coccyx.    Thcifc  = 
give  of?  fibres  to  the  various  spinal  nerves  which  proceed  from  th^ 
vertebral  cavity  to  the  various  parts  of  the  body.    They  are  nanied^ 
from  their  several  localities,  the  cervical,  dorsal,  and  lumbar  ganglia. 

In  like  manner  there  pass  from  the  various  ganglia  distinct  Bbf^ 
ments  which  constitute  complete  networks  or  plexuses,  and  accoofc^ 


THE  GANGLIONIC   NERVOUS   SYSTEM.  199 

tany  all  the  branches  of  the  abdominal  artery.  These  are  known  as  the 
arotid,  the  superficial  and  deep  cardiac  plexuses,  the  phrenic,  gastric, 
icpatic,  splenic,  suprarenal,  renal,  pudic,  superior  and  inferior  mesen- 
teric— according  to  their  respective  places  and  functions  in  the  body. 
Fhcy  arc  generally  complex  in  their  structure,  being  often  made  up  of 
Bbres  from  several  of  the  ganglia,  with  filaments  from  certain  of  the 
ipinal,  or  even  of  the  cranial  nerves. 

Thus  there  is  afforded  a  general  commingling  of  influences  from 
the  respective  nervous  systems,  by  the  presence  of  fibrils  from  each  in 
the  nerve-trunks  of  the  others.  As  regards  the  ultimate  distribution 
of  the  great  sympathetic,  it  sends  its  branches  to  all  the  spinal  and 
cranial  nerves,  thereby  transmitting  the  vital  stimulus  to  them.  The 
coats  of  all  the  arteries  are  supplied  in  like  manner,  and  all  the  in- 
numerable glandular  structures.  The  viscera — thoracic,  abdominal, 
lod  pelvic — all  more  or  less  abound  with  nerves  of  this  system. 

Dr.  R.  M.  Bucke  places  the  heart  at  the  head  of  the  list;  as  it  re- 
ceives six  cardiac  nerves  from  the  upper,  middle,  and  inferior  cervical 
ganglia,  and  has  four  plexuses,  two  cardiac  and  two  coronary,  devoted 
lo  its  supply,  and  also  numerous  ganglia  embedded  in  its  substance, 
tnrcr  and  above.  These  are  centres  of  nervous  force  for  its  own  use. 
The  suprarenal  capsules  come  next,  and  then  the  sexual  system.  In- 
ternal organs  are  more  copiously  supplied  than  external  ones;  hence 
the  female  body  has  a  larger  proportion  than  that  of  the  male.  In  con- 
sderation  of  this  richer  endowment,  women,  and  indeed,  the  female 
of  all  races,  have  superior  longevity  and  capacity  for  endurance,  fa- 
t^,  and  suffering.  Next  come  the  organs  of  special  sense,  the  eye, 
the  internal  ear,  nasal  membranes,  and  palate.  After  these  are  the 
itomach,  the  intestinal  tract,  and  the  liver;  and  then  the  larger 
glandular  structures,  and  last  of  all  the  lungs. 

The  minute  ramifications  of  the  ganglionic  nervous  system  consti- 
tute its  chief  bulk.  Its  tissue  is  found  with  every  gland  and  blood-ves- 
*d,and  indeed,  is  distributed  so  generally  and  abundantly  as  to  extend 
to  every  part  of  the  organism.  It  would  be  impossible  to  insert  the 
point  of  a  pin  anywhere  without  wounding  or  destroying  many  of  the 
BttJc  fibrils.  The  ganglia  themselves  are  almost  as  widely  distributed 
M  the  nerve-cords ;  so  that  the  assertion  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Davey  is  amply 


200  INTELLIGENCE. 

warranted,  that  the  nervous  tissue  of  the  ganglionic  system  consti* 
tutes  a  great  part  of  the  volume  and  weight  of  the  whole  body. 

The  entire  structure  differs  essentially  from  that  of  the  cerebro- 
spinal system,  indicating  that  there  is  a  corresponding  diflFerence  in 
function.  The  arrangement,  the  great  number  and  extraordinary  dif- 
fusion  of  its  ganglia,  the  number  and  complexity  of  its  plexuses  arc  » 
many  additional  evidences. 

Physical  Functions. 

The  ganglionic  nervous  system,  with  the  solar  or  semilunar  gan- 
glion for  its  central  organ,  performs  the  vital  or  organic  functions.  S^  i 
cretion,  nutrition,  respiration,  absorption,  and  calorification  beinj 
imder  its  influence  throughout  the  whole  body,  it  must  animate  the 
brain  as  well  as  the  stomach,  the  spinal  cord  as  well  as  the  liver  or. 
womb.  In  fact,  if  any  one  of  these  organs  or  viscera  should  be  tt^ 
moved  from  the  influence  of  the  ganglionic  nerves  which  enter» 
largely  into  its  very  composition,  its  specific  vitality  would  cease,  and 
its  contribution  to  the  sum  total  of  life  would  be  withheld. 

The  creative  force  is  directed,  accordingly,  toward  the  develop*-; 
ment  of  the  central  organ  or  organism  predestined  to  be  the  mcditfli 
for  giving  life  and  form  to  all  others — whichare  thus  created  as  their 
peculiar  force  and  direction  are  assigned,  determining  the  essential 
parts  of  the  future  animal  and  its  rank  and  position  in  the  infinitude  of 
existence.  Lawrence  expresses  this  in  precise  terms:  "  The  first  ef* 
forts  of  the  vital  properties,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  directed  toftvA, 
the  development  of  a  central  organ,  the  solar  ganglion,  predestined 
hold  a  precisely  similar  relation  to  the  dull  and  unmoving  o 
as  the  vital  fire  to  the  animated  statue  of  Prometheus."  Ack< 
asserted  in  more  definite  terms  that  the  ganglionic  nervous  syste© 
the  first  formed  before  birth,  and  is  therefore  to  be  considered  as 
germ  of  everything  that  is  to  be  afterward  developed.  Blumenl 
adds  his  testimony:  "  The  nervous  system  of  the  chest  and  abdonao^ 
is  fully  formed  while  the  brain  appears  still  a  pulpy  mass." 

It  is  the  foundation  laid  before  the  superstructure  is  built. 

Mr.  Quain  also  confirms  the  priority  of  the  ganglionic  to  th* 
cerebro-spinal  nervous  system.    **  As  to  the  sympathetic  nerve,"  sayl 


SCIENCE  AND   SPIRITUAL   PHENOMENA.  201 

he,  "  so  far  from  being  derived  in  any  way  from  the  brain  or  spinal 
:ord,  it  is  produced  independently  of  either,  and  exists,  notwithstand- 
ing the  absence  of  both.  It  is  found  in  acephalous  infants,  and  there- 
fore does  not  rise  mediately  or  immediately  from  the  brain ;  neither 
can  it  be  said  to  receive  roots  from  the  spinal  cord,  for  it  is  known  to 
exist  as  early  in  the  foetal  state  as  the  cord  itself,  and  to  be  fully  de- 
veloped, even  though  the  latter  is  altogether  wanting." 

Alexander  Wilder,  M.D. 

(To  be  continued.) 


SCIENCE  AND  SPIRITUAL  PHENOMENA. 

No  person  should  be  censured  for  not  adopting  a  theory  because 
the  proof  is  regarded  as  insufficient.  Suspended  judgment  in  the  ab- 
sence of  satisfactory  evidence,  is  an  indication  of  the  judicial  spirit. 
Most  people  must  either  believe  or  disbelieve.  To  the  weighing  of 
testimony  and  the  discriminating  examination  of  facts  they  are  unac- 
customed, and  doubt  is  painful  to  them.  Large  numbers  believe 
merely  on  authority,  and  think — or  rather  imagine  that  they  think, 
while  they  merely  give  their  assent — ^in  herds. 

There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  minds  that  are  unreasonably  incred- 
idous.  Under  the  influence  of  prejudice  and  preconception,  or  owing 
to  mental  rigfidity,  they  are  not  only  incapable  of  intellectual  hos- 
pitality to  a  new  idea,  but  they  are  unable  to  estimate  the  evidential 
▼Jiueof  testimony  in  favor  of  facts  which  seem  to  be  inconsistent  with 
conclusions  they  have  reached,  or  convictions  which  they  hold.  This 
Jtote  of  mind  is  equally  as  unfavorable  to  mental  development  as  ex- 
ttssive  credulity.  Both  blind  the  eyes  to  truth  and  perpetuate  error; 
Iwh  generate  bigotry  and  intolerance;  both  are  opposed  to  revision 
*nd reform;  both  retard  discovery  and  progress.  Excessive  credulity 
^d  blind  faith  on  the  one  hand,  and  excessive  incredulity  and  bigoted 
*^tachment  to  opinions  on  the  other,  have  the  same  effect  in  deterring 
^inds  from  investigating  new  claims  and  from  accepting  newly  dis- 
^vered  or  newly  announced  truths. 

Scientific  men,  as  well  as  theologians,  have  too  often  declared  upon 


\ 


202  INTELLIGENCE. 

merely  a  priori  grounds,  against  the  possibility  of  discovered  achicvfr  j 
ments  and  natural  occurrences  which,  later,  had  to  be  recognized  a$ 
established  facts.  Generally  speaking,  the  scientific  mind  of  to-day, 
made  wise  by  mistakes  of  the  past,  is  cautious  in  regard  to  setting 
limits  to  what  is  possible  within  the  domain  of  law  and  causation,  and 
when  it  is  confronted  with  what  seems  to  be  incredible,  it  merely  asb 
for  evidence.  But  there  are  certain  psychical  and  psycho-physical 
phenomena  which  have  commonly  passed  under  the  name  of  Spirit- 
ualism, and  which  representatives  of  science  have  preferred  to  ignore 
when  they  have  not  treated  them  with  contempt.  Their  attitude 
was  once  the  same  in  regard  to  the  now  recognized  facts  of  hypnotism. 
These  were  almost  universally  denied  and  derided  by  the  medical 
profession. 

So  general  and  so  strongly  believed  was  the  theory  of  special 
creation,  that  until  within  the  memory  of  the  writer,  there  was  not, 
among  men  of  science,  any  just  appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  large 
collection  of  facts  which  are  now  believed  to  prove  the  transmutatioa; 
of  species.    Fifty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  scientific  man  of  reputatiofl 
in  Europe  or  America  who  held  any  position,  not  one  in  all  ourinstt'  j 
tutions  of  learning,  who  recognized  the  fact  of  evolution.    "  WitUft  j 
the  ranks  of  the  biologists  at  that  time"  [1851-58],  says  Professor  ] 
Huxley,  "  I  m«t  nobody  except  Dr.  Grant  of  University  College  who  ; 
had  a  word  to  say  for  evolution,  and  his  advocacy  was  not  calculated 
to  advance  the  cause.    Outside  these  ranks  the  only  person  known  to 
me  whose  knowledge  and  capacity  compelled  respect,  and  who  was  at 
the  same  time  a  thorough-going  evolutionist,   was   Mr.   Herbert  i 
Spencer,  whose  acquaintance  I  made,  I  think,  in  1852."    Yet  the  facts  ' 
of  embryology,  of  morphology,  of  rudimentary  structure,  etc.,  had 
long  been  known  and  had  convinced  many  thinkers  of  the  truth  of  ■ 
the  "  Development  Theory,"  when  it  was  treated  by  official  orthodox 
science,  if  noticed  at  all,  only  with  contempt.     Its  early  advocates, 
Lamarck,  Erasmus  Darwin,  Robert  Chambers — author  of  the  "  Ves- 
tiges of  Creation  " — and  even  Darwin,  Wallace,  Huxley,  and  others 
after  the  publication  of  the  "  Origin  of  Species,"  were  objects  of  much  | 
disparaging  criticism  by  representatives  of  orthodox  science;  for  be 
It  remembered,  as  Mrs.  Romanes  observes  in  the  "  Life  and  Letters 


J 


SCIENCE  AND   SPIRITUAL   PHENOMENA.  203 

of  her  husband,  "  There  is  a  scientific  orthodoxy  as  well  as  a  theo- 
logical orthodoxy." 

Some  forty  years  ago  Dr.  Robert  Hare,  distinguished  as  a  chemist, 
and  later.  Professor  William  Crookes,  called  attention  to  and  de- 
scribed some  of  the  phenomena  which  were  and  are  associated  in  the 
popular  mind  with  Spiritualism.    They  urged  systematic  investigation 
j   dthe  subject.    They  were  treated  by  fellow-scientists  as  though  they 
I   were  known  to  be  only  credulous  victims  of  deception  and  fraud. 
Since  then  a  number  of  distinguished  scientific  men  have  investigated 
these  phenomena,  but  so  strong  has  been  the  prejudice  to  overcome, 
that  not  until  within  the  last  few  years  have  many  well-known  men  of 
science  recognized  these  phenomena  as  a  legitimate  subject  for  in- 
vestigation.   Now  we  see  the  names  of  such  eminent  authorities  in 
science  as  Professor  Charles  Richet,  Professor  Oliver  J.  Lodge,  Pro- 
fessor W.  F.  Barrett,  Professor  Caesar  Lombroso,  and  Professor 
William  James  connected  with  these  investigations,  while  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  to  which  belong  hundreds  of  the  best-known 
scientists,  philosophers,  and  writers,  is  making  these  phenomena  a 
subject  of  the  most  painstaking  examination. 

Still,  there  is  yet  on  the  part  of  orthodox  science  a  somewhat  dis- 
dainful dislike  of  the  whole  subject  of  Spiritualism,  and  a  disinclina- 
tion to  make  it  a  subject  of  sustained  and  systematic  investigation. 
For  this  attitude  of  the  scientific  mind  there  are  several  reasons, 
among  which,  it  is  believed,  are  the  following: 

1.  The  phenomena  for  the  most  part  cannot  be  produced  or  ex- 
Mjited  at  will,  and  when  they  have  been  once  observed  and  curiosity 
^awakened,  attempts  to  reproduce  or  to  repeat  them,  often  prove  to 
w  failures.  The  scientific  mind  is  accustomed  to  repeat  experiments, 
and  under  the  same  conditions  to  observe  the  same  results. 

2.  The  amount  of  trickery  and  fraud  practised  by  professional 
®^ums  is  so  gfreat,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  with  certainty 
^cn  there  is  or  is  not  a  genuine  phenomenon — a  strange  occurrence 
^  caused  by  the  medium.  One  who  commences  the  investigation 
^  sure  to  be  confronted  with  so  much  charlatanry,  vulgarity,  and 
Wckcry,  that  he  is  very  likely  to  become  discouraged  and  disgusted, 
^^i  perhaps  withdraws  from  any  further  association  with  such  char- 


204  INTELLIGENCE. 

acters  as  he  has  to  meet.  The  biographer  of  the  eminent  scientist,  th 
late  George  John  Romanes  says:  "  He  worked  a  good  deal  at  Spiridi< 
alism  for  a  year  or  two,  and  he  never  could  assure  himself  that  thai 
was  absolutely  nothing  in  Spiritualism,  no  unknown  phenomena,  I* 
derlying  the  mass  of  fraud,  trickery,  and  vulgarity  which  have  sat' 
rounded  the  so-called  manifestations." 

3.  Many  of  the  most  remarkable  manifestations — so  considered tif 
the  majority  of  spiritualists — when  examined  closely  have  bca 
proved  to  be  fraudulent,  and  the  attempts  to  defend  and  to  shield  tltf 
so-called  mediums  who  have  been  exposed,  have  been  of  a  character 
to  discourage  intelligent  and  honest  investigators. 

4.  The  proportion  of  erratic  and  credulous  people  attracted  to  the 
ranks  of  Spiritualism  is  so  large,  that  it  has  tended  to  produce  the  iit' 
pression  that  it  is  best  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject,  aal 
men  of  science  have  not  cared  to  invest  it  with  the  importance  it  migli 
gain  from  their  connection  with  it,  even  as  investigators. 

5.  There  have  been  connected  with  Spiritualism,  loose  theoiiel 
and  practices  which  have  done  much  to  strengthen  the  impression  tW 
its  influence  is  morally  and  socially  disorganizing,  unwholesome,  aal 
injurious. 

6.  The  contradictory  character  of  the  messages  purporting  te 
come  from  spirits,  even  in  regard  to  matters  of  fact  relating  to  spiril 
life,  and  the  very  inferior  quality  of  most  of  the  literature  produced  bj 
the  spirits,  even  when  it  claims  to  be  from  great  minds  that  hat< 
passed  from  earth,  have  contributed  to  that  indifference  to  the  subjcd 
which  is  so  common,  and  which  makes  many  quite  indisposed  to  vieS 
mediums  to  find  out  what  modicum  of  truth  there  may  be  in  the  prt* 
tensions  and  performances  of  which  they  read. 

There  are  doubtless  other  reasons  why  men  of  science  have  oo' 
given  more  attention  to,  or  taken  greater  interest  in,  those  psychici 
and  psycho-physical  phenomena  which  are  known  by  careful  invcsti' 
gators  to  be  real,  and  which,  of  late  years,  have  been  recognized  byi 
number  of  our  most  eminent  scientific  minds.    The  French  physto 

logical  psychologists,  Binet,  Ribot,  Richet,  and  others,  are  entitW 

• 

to  credit  for  their  investigations  of  automatic  writing  and  other  vart 
eties  of  automatic  action,  even  though  their  theories  may  fall  5h(rf 


SCIENCE  AND   SPIRITUAL   PHENOMENA.  206 

explaining  all  the  facts.  The  hypnotic  trance  and  multiplex  per- 
lality  which  have  by  many  people  been  ascribed  to  the  agency  of 
irits,  have  been  more  carefully  and  thoroughly  investigated  by  men 
science  in  France  and  elsewhere.  Telepathy,  clairvoyance,  halluci- 
tions,  apparitions— of  the  living  as  well  as  of  the  dead — the  trance, 
itomatism,  these  and  other  phenomena  of  a  kindred  nature,  have 
jcn  and  are  being  made  subjects  of  the  most  thorough  investigation 
f  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research.  The  wheat  is  being  separated 
om  the  great  mass  of  chaff  slowly  but  surely,  and  soon  people  who 
ive  not  the  time  nor  the  skill  to  examine  this  subject  will  be  able 
)  judge  intelligently  how  much  of  the  so-called  phenomena  of  Spirit- 
alian  is  genuine,  not  due  to  trickery,  and  then  they  will  be  better 
ilc  to  form  an  opinion  whether  any  of  these  phenomena  may  not  be 
itisfactorily  explained  without  invoking  the  agency  of  other  intelli- 
cnccs  than  those  which  belong  to  this  state  and  order  of  being.  Both 
yost  who  think  they  see  in  the  phenomena  the  sure  manifestations 
I  departed  spirits,  and  those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  find  in  them 
othingbut  fraud,  may  have  to  revise  their  conclusions,  and  the  truth 
mnd  between  these  extremes  may  prove  to  be  a  very  important  and 
aluable  contribution  to  science. 

B.  F.  UNDERWOOn 


Wc  all  dread  a  bodily  paralysis,  and  would  make  use  of  every  con- 
"i^ce  to  avoid  it,  but  none  of  us  is  troubled  about  a  paralysis  of  the 

Man  stands  as  in  the  centre  of  Nature ;  his  fraction  of  Time  encircled 
^  Eternity,  his  hand-breadths  of  Space  encircled  by  Infinitude. — Carlyle. 

Nothing  can  bring  you  peace  but  yourself.  Nothing  can  bring  you 
*cc  but  the  triumph  of  principles. — Emerson. 

The  philosophy  of  six  thousand  years  has  not  searched  the  chambers 
d  magazines  of  the  soul.  In  its  experiments  there  has  always  remained, 
the  last  analysis,  a  residuum  it  could  not  resolve. — Emerson, 

From  within  or  from  behind,  a  light  shines  through  us  upon  things, 
d  makes  us  aware  that  we  are  nothing,  but  the  light  is  all.  A  man  is 
*  bqade  of  a  temple  wherein  all  wisdom  and  all  good  abide. — Emerson. 


206  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL. 

Of  all  the  conceits  which  have  held  the  mind  of  man  in  awe,  the 
most  appalling  is  the  picture  of  eternal  Hell.  That  man — but  an  in- 
stantaneous flash  of  light,  coming  and  going  like  a  lightning-gleam  on 
a  darkened  sky,  but  a  second's  thought  and  then  no  more — ^should  in 
that  instant  of  time,  in  that  momentary  flash  of  existence,  form  and 
fashion  his  eternal  fate  for  weal  or  woe,  is  a  belief  so  monstrous  that 
we  can  scarcely  convince  ourselves  that  it  was  once  almost  universal 

What  sinister  power  so  perverted  his  logic,  as  to  force  man  to  think 
so  diametrically  contrary  to  the  truth?  Why  should  he  be  his  own 
contemner?  Why  should  he  who  loves  himself  more  than  aught  else 
in  the  universe  condemn  himself  above  all  things  else?  His  observa- 
tion of  Nature  had  taught  him  that  all  her  punitive  energies  are  bent, 
not  on  deterioration  but  on  melioration ;  not  on  dissipation  but  on 
integration.  ''  There  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will 
sprout  again,  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  ccaafc  i 
Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and  the  stock  theitrf  ■ 
die  in  the  ground;  yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud,  arf'. 
bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant.*'    (Job  xiv.  7,  8,  9.) 

The  dank  days  of  dark  and  chill  November  must  needs  forcsta^i 
the  wholesome  snows  of  winter  through  whose  frosty  air  the  'vxnffi 
orating  sun  emits  his  healthful  beams;  the  death-like  barrenness  ^ 
winter's  solstice  forms  but  the  white  chrysalis  from  which  anon  tl* 
spring  tide  leaps  with  resurrection  life;  every  seed  that  falls 
fades  in  the  ground  bursts  forth  once  more  wMi  life  renewed;  eve 
leaf  that  shrivels  in  the  dust  out  of  its  own  decay  gives  forth  n< 
energies  that  crystallize  in  fructifying  forms  of  plant  and  tree 
flower;  the  plague  that  blights,  consumes,  and  withers,  but  gathe- 
the  death-breeding  germs  of  the  atmosphere  and  wrings  them  out 
from  a  sponge;  the  hurricane  that  blasts  with  wind  and  rain 
lightning  but  re-establishes  the  equilibrium  of  the  air,  without  whic^ 


THE   DOGMA   OF    HELL.  207 

Diitinued  comfort  were  impossible.    Every  affliction  of  nature  has  a 
jndency  to  gcx>d;  every  destructive  force  is  bent  on  restitution. 
Why,  then,  should  he,  whose  destiny  it  is 

"To  lie  in  cold  obstruction  and  to  rot," 

•elieve  that  there  is  for  him  alone  a  resurrection  whose  fate  eternal  is 

"  worse  than  worst 
Of  those  that  lawless  and  incertain  thoughts 
Imagine  howling?  " 

A  mind  that  is  tuned  to  the  sensitive  note  of  harmony  must  shud- 
ieringly  exclaim  with  the  poet,  "  it  is  too  horrible!  " 

kit  not  strange  that  man  should  have  imagined  for  himself  an  end 
more  execrable,  more  horrible,  than  what  he  has  conceived  for  beast 
or  bird,  or  any  living  thing?  For  them,  at  least,  is  rest  and  the  last 
long  sleep  of  peace!  For  them,  no  phantom  horrors  sit  with  chatter- 
ing teeth  to  tell  a  tale  of  endless  woe;  for  them  no  sulphurous  cal- 
drons "boil  and  bubble"  with  the  dying  forms  that  never  die;  for 
them  no  worm  of  agony  that  never  dieth,  no  consuming  fire  that  is 
never  quenched.  The  beast,  the  fowls  of  the  air,  the  crawling  insects 
—for  these,  at  least,  the  imagination  of  man  has  mercy. 

But  for  himself — the  crown  and  glory  of  all  creation — he  thinks 
but  curse  and  final  woe.  For  him  "  in  action,  how  like  an  angel!  in 
apprehension  how  like  a  god!  the  beauty  of  the  world!  the  paragon 
ofammals  V — for  him  there  awaits,  if  he  be  not  obedient  to  the  "  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  a  life  worse  a  thousand-fold  than  death; 
where  shall  his 

"  delighted  spirit 
Bathe  in  fiery  floods,  or,  reside 
In  thrilling  region  of  thick-ribbed  ice! 


ft 


The  invention  of  the  imagination  seems  to  have  been  strained  to  an 
extreme  tension  by  the  poets  and  theologians  who  have  been  true  to 
the  traditions  of  the  church.  The  greatest  poet  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tiamty  thus  describes  the  abode  of  the  damned: 

"  Beyond  the  flood  a  frozen  continent 
Lies  dark  and  wild,  beat  with  perpetual  storms 
Of  whirlwind  and  dire  hail.    .    .    . 
Thither  by  harpy-footed  furies  haled. 


208  INTELLIGENCE. 

At  certain  revolutions,  all  the  damned 

Are  brought;  and  feel  by  turns  the  bitter  change 

Of  fierce  extremes,  extremes  by  change  more  fierce: — 

From  beds  of  raging  fire,  to  starve  in  ice 

Their  soft  ethereal  warmth,  and  there  to  pine 

Immovable,  infixed,  and  frozen  round. 

Periods  of  time;  thence  hurried  back  to  fire. 

They  ferry  over  this  Lethean  sound. 

Both  to  and  fro— their  sorrow  to  augment. 

And  wish  and  struggle  as  they  pass,  to  reach 

The  tempting  stream.    .    .    . 

But  Fate  withstands,  and  to  oppose  the  attempt 

Medusa  with  Gorgonian  terror  gfuards 

The  ford,  and  of  itself  the  water  flies 

All  taste  of  living  wight,  as  once  it  fled 

The  lip  of  Tantalus!"* 


This  may,  however,  be  said  to  be  but  the  imagery  of  the  poet,  who 
enjoys  the  license  of  his  profession.  But  the  theologian  who  revelled 
in  the  literal  tradition  of  religious  myth  was  loath  to  allow  the  poet 
to  pass  him  in  vivid  depiction  of  the  eternal  torment.  In  proof  here 
are  extracts  from  some  not  very  antique  sermons. 

*'  See!  on  the  middle  of  that  red-hot  floor  stands  a  girl;  she  lodo 
about  sixteen  years  old.  Her  feet  are  bare.  She  has  neither  stock- 
ings nor  shoes.  Listen !  she  speaks.  She  says  I  have  been  standing 
on  this  red-hot  floor  for  years.  Day  and  night  my  only  standing- 
place  has  been  this  red-hot  floor.  Look  at  my  burnt  and  bleeding  feet 
Let  me  go  off  this  burning  floor,  only  for  one  short  moment.  The 
fourth  dungeon  is  the  boiling  kettle — in  the  middle  of  it  there  is  a  boy. 
His  eyes  are  burning  like  two  burning  coals.  Two  long  flames  come 
out  of  the  ears.  Sometimes  he  opens  his  mouth  and  blazing  fire  rolU 
out.  But  listen!  there  is  a  sound  like  a  kettle  boiling.  The  blood  is 
boiling  in  the  scalded  veins  of  that  boy.  The  brain  is  boiling  and  bub- 
bling in  his  head.  The  marrow  is  boiling  in  his  bones.  The  fifth 
dungeon  is  the  red-hot  oven.  The  little  child  is  in  this  red-hot  oven. 
Hear  how  it  screams  to  come  out.  See  how  it  turns  and  twists  itsdf 
about  in  the  fire.  It  beats  its  head  against  the  roof  of  the  oven.  It 
stamps  its  little  feet  on  the  floor."  t 

♦  Paradise  Lost,  Book  II. 

t  Extract  from  a  sermon  by  a  Catholic  priest,  Rev.  J.  Fumiss,  C.  S.  S.  R.,  qoot 
in  Bray's  God  and  Man,  p.  255. 


THE   DOGMA   OF   HELL.  209 

However  we  may  be  repelled  by  the  horror  of  such  fiendish  senti- 
ments, the  student  will  certainly  find  it  both  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive to  search  for  their  historical  origin.  They  could  not  have  sprung 
spontaneously  from  the  heart  of  man.  They  must  have  sprung  from 
inimical  and  untoward  experiences,  which  left  inerasable  impressions 
on  the  human  mind. 

The  life  and  experience  of  every  child  is  the  life  and  experience 
of  the  entire  race  in  miniature.  The  child  loves  that  which  pleases, 
and  hates  and  fears  that  which  tCMtures  him.  The  little  lap-dog  is  his 
playmate  and  his  joy  till,  perchance,  it  snaps  at  and  bites  him;  then 
it  becomes  his  terror — ^the  monster  from  which  he  ever  flees.  The 
lightning  that  leaps  from  the  heavens  on  a  summer  night,  and  thrills 
his  sensitive  nerves  with  exquisite  pleasures,  if  perchance  it  smites  the 
tree  at  his  side,  ever  after  frightens  and  appalls  him  as  an  evil  power. 

Such  was  the  experience  of  the  first  races  of  the  earth:  the  child- 
hood races  of  mankind.    They  were  indeed  but  children.    They  were 
at  first  amused  by  nature's  elements,  as  by  toys,  until  they  turned  upon 
them  as  monsters  and  struck  terror  into  their  breasts.    How  could 
puny  man  prevail  against  the  mighty  elements  of  the  air,  and  the 
prowling  beasts  that  populated  the  earth?    Behind  every  tree  lurked 
a  leopard;  in  the  shadow  of  every  rock  a  crouching  lion;  above  their 
heads  vampires  flapped  their  hideous  wings  thirsting  for  the  blood  of 
victims;  whilst  in  the  grasses  monstrous  serpents  lay  concealed  or 
from  the  foamy  deep  uprose,  more  frightful  than  what  encoiled  Lao- 
coon  and  his  young  sons.    He  was  besieged  on  all  sides  by  dreadful 
objects  which  inspired  but  fear  and  terror.     At  first,  trustful  and 
credulous  as  an  infant,  he  saw  good  in  all.    He  had  not  yet  learned 
aught  of  nature's  inimical  powers.    He  found  in  every  object  a  friend 
and  in  every  feature  a  god.    There  is  nothing  in  the  universe  that  at 
some  time  has  not  been  venerated  by  man  as  an  object  of  worship. 
Such  his  faith — ^his  credulity.    The  serpent  whose  sting  was  death 
was  once  his  companion  and  his  joy.    He  adored  the  lion  as  he  lay 
down  in  peace  with  the  panther.    The  crocodile  he  idealized  into  a 
Drity,  and  the  Egyptian  serpent  was  the  messenger  of  good.    Each 

I  mountain  peak  and  jutting  sea-cliff,  each  graceful  tree  and  piebald 
^er,  the  purling  streams,  the  rushing  torrents,  the  wind,  the  rain. 


210  INTELLIGENCE. 

the  clouds,  the  starry  worlds,  the  all-pervading  sun — ^all  he  worship! 
as  his  gods  and  goodly  powers.  This  was  the  fabled  golden  agi 
man:  when  ignorance  was  bliss;  when  the  serpent's  femg  was 
unpoisoned  and  the  leopard's  touch  aroused  no  shudder.  Lege 
of  this  fabled  time  of  peace  may  be  discerned  even  in  so  comparatii 
recent  a  work  as  the  Bible.  Here  man  was  first  pictured  as  the  o 
panion  of  the  beasts.  Eve  and  Adam,  first  of  mortals,  walk  in  feat 
companionship  with  the  serpent ;  and  Adam  seems  so  well  acquaii 
with  the  characteristics  of  all  animals,  that  Jehovah  asks  him  to  ( 
to  each  a  name  as  they  pass  before  him  in  grand  review! 

But  ere  long  this  early  time  of  peace  and  mutual  trust  is  tn 
formed  into  a  period  of  strife  and  mutual  fear.  Then  man's  dd 
become  his  devils.  The  thing  he  once  loved  he  learned  to  hate;  a 
object  once  his  friend  became  his  enemy.  His  whole  conceptioi 
nature  then  changes.  He  believes  that  all  the  world  is  now  compc 
of  a  multiplicity  of  monsters  which  use  him  as  the  especial  but 
their  enmity,  on  whom  to  ply  their  forces  of  evil  to  his  destruct 
Hence  man  learns  to  stoop,  to  crouch,  to  cower.  He  fell  from  gl 
to  dishonor — from  fortitude  to  infirmity.  He  became  cunning,  gl 
ful,  treacherous,  and  deceitful.  He  learned  to  think  of  others  ai 
thought  of  himself.  He  conceived  that  the  gods  he  once  obeyed 
adored  were  now  designing  demons  who  ever  plotted  his  defeat — t 
were  the  secret  cause  of  all  his  suffering. 

Then  fell  disease  upon  him — some  demon  had  infected  him.  S 
ten  with  infirmity: — some  harpy-footed  power  of  the  air  had  deed 
him  and  was  thus  wreaking  vengeance.  Torrents  come  from  the 
and  inky  blackness  shrouds  the  day: — fell  demons  are  upon  him 
swarming  armies  of  destruction.  Helpless,  alone,  pitiless,  his  f 
arm  is  lifted  against  the  universe.  ''  A  hostile  power  is  in  arms  agl 
him — ^armed  with  sunbeam,  thunder-bolt,  flood  and  gale.  His  U 
a  contest  with  this  power  that  is  in  his  path  and  about  his  bed,  thu 
ing  him,  wounding  him,  blighting  his  happiness,  smiting  him  with 
ease,  and  finally  dragging  him  underground  to  rottenness."  * 

Thus  developed  man's  theory  of  evil  and  suffering,  from  ex( 
ence  and  crude  reasoning. 

♦  Origin  and  Development  of  Religious  Belief,  by  B.  Gould,  p.  325. 


THE   DOGMA   OF   HELL.  211 

But  anon  he  perceived  another  truth.  While  at  first  he  believed 
that  all  was  good  and  then  afterward  that  all  was  evil — ^he  discerned 
at  times  that  the  good  and  bad  were  mixed.  What  at  one  time  over- 
took him  as  an  evil  at  another  was  beneficent.  The  drouthy  sun  and 
death-breeding  simoon  were  demons  of  destruction ;  but  anon,  in  the 
spring-time  the  sun  shed  mild  and  life-giving  rays  on  his  rudely  tilled 
fields  and  in  the  autumn-time  ripened  his  much-loved  fruits.  Then 
again  was  the  sun  his  god — ^his  protector  and  giver  of  good  things. 
When  the  wind  came  not  in  simoon  or  gale  but  in  spicy,  vernal  zeph- 
yrs, then  was  it  a  goodly  messenger  and  again  adored  as  a  god.  In 
the  hymns  of  the  Vedas,  traces  of  this  early  disposition  are  discernible. 
"  Destroy  not  our  offspring,  O  Indra,  for  we  believe  in  thy  mighty 
power."  "  When  Indra  hurls  again  and  again  his  thunderbolt  then 
they  believe  in  the  brilliant  god."  In  these  passages,  Indra  is  feared  as 
the  deity  of  danger,  revenge,  and  pimishment.  But  again:  "  If  you 
wish  for  strength  offer  to  Indra  a  hymn  of  praise."  "  Wise  and  mighty 
are  the  works  of  him  who  stemmed  asunder  the  wide  firmament 
(heaven  and  earth).  He  lifted  on  high  the  bright  and  glorious  firma- 
ment." "  Thou  art  the  giver  of  horses,  Indra,  thou  art  the  giver  of 
cows,  the  giver  of  com,  the  strong  lord  of  wealth,  the  old  guide  of 
nan,  disappointing  no  desires,  a  friend  to  friends — to  him  we  address 
this  song."  * 

Here  we  discern  the  dual  attitude  of  the  primitive  mind  toward  the 
deities — affected  wholly  by  his  daily  experience.  As  says  Keary, 
**The  world  around  us  is  what  we  believe  it  to  be  and  nothing  more." 
Brtout  of  these  opposing  dispositions  of  fear  and  trust,  ensuing  from 
nan's  interpretation  of  nature's  forces  as  they  affected  him,  followed 
tt  course  of  time  his  conceptions  of  heaven  and  hell — the  eternal 
food  and  the  eternal  bad.  Gradually  the  idea  of  immortality  unfolded 
to  the  human  consciousness.  When  man  was  still  but  a  nomad,  a 
*3Uiderer.  a  mere  beast  of  the  field,  his  breast  could  have  entertained 
^  little  human  affection.  He  may  have  loved  as  the  horse  or  dog 
^  cat  loves,  perhaps  a  little  more,  but  merely  through  the  sense  of 
companionship.  A  lasting  sense  of  love — at  love  that  lives  in  the  well- 
^ngs  of  being  and  establishes  the  foundations  of  hope  and  bliss — 
•  MuUer's  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  31  and  42. 


212  INTELLIGENCE. 

such  love  he  could  not  yet  have  known.  But  gradually  as  he  co; 
gates  in  tribal  relations  and  anon  in  village  communities  and  a 
in  familyhood — that  love  which  to-day  constitutes  the  woof  anc 
of  our  social  fabric,  began  to  germinate. 

When  once  that  deep  affection  smote  his  breast  man  wi 
longer  a  beast  but  a  thing  divine.    He  loved  his  love  and  he  di 
not  that  his  love  should  die.    Hence  his  clinging  to  those  he 
even  after  their  bodies  were  buried  or  burned  in  the  final  rites  of  ( 

"  The  placing  of  clothing,  utensils  of  cooking,  and  implemei 
war,  with  the  dead,  was  the  custom  of  our  European  anceston 
is  that  of  the  American  Indians  to  this  day.  Sometimes  the  hoi 
dog,  the  slaves  or  the  wife  of  the  deceased,  were  slain  to  accon 
the  dead  to  the  shadow  realm  and  attend  to  his  comforts  there. 
Indians  light  a  fire  on  the  grave  of  the  deceased  and  maintain 
several  days,  to  light  him  on  his  journey.  Combs  and  mirrors 
been  found  in  the  ancient  tombs — proofs  that  their  fair  occu 
were  expected  to  be  as  greatly  addicted  to  vanity  in  the  spirit  ^ 
as  in  that  of  the  flesh."  * 

We  also  learn  that :  "  Among  the  Aryans  the  love  of  the  dep 
so  affected  their  religious  faith  as  to  gradually  bring  whole  tril 
the  sea-shore — that  mysterious  Sea  of  Death — in  search  for  ttu 
titious  paradise  to  which  their  loved  ones  had  gone.  They  espc 
honored  their  heroes  and  leaders  by  placing  their  bodies  on  a  boal 
setting  it  afire,  sent  it  afloat  mid-flame  upon  the  stormy  deep.  ^ 
could  they  have  meant  by  this  rite  but  that  their  heroes  shoo 
forth  to  other  fields  of  glory  surrounded  with  the  splendor  of  a  A 
ing  ovation  as  a  credential  for  future  honors  in  the  paradil 
yond?  "  t  We  can  almost  hear  them  chant  their  requiems  by 
side  and  river  bank,  as  they  cast  their  burdens  of  love  upon  the  ? 
and  watch  them  float  away  with  flame-sails  into  the  mist-mi 
bosom  of  the  deep. 

Forever  they  wander  without  halt  or  a  pause, 
Like  the  waves  of  a  mystical  river; — 

Floating  on,  floating  on,  to  the  unseen  shore 
Of  a  sea  that  is  silent  forever. 

Baring-Gould's  Origin  of  Religious  Belief.  Vol.  I.,  p.  88. 
t  Keary^s  Outlines  of  Primitive  Belief,  pp.  280  and  284. 


THE   DOGMA   OF   HELL.  213 

The  worship  of  his  ancestors  represents  the  first  phase  of  religion 
rhich  the  primitive  man  expressed.  The  longing  to  still  abide  with 
hem  gradually  developed  into  the  hope  for  their  return.  The  hope 
Kzs  father  to  the  wish,  the  wish  to  the  thought;  and  they  grew  to 
Delieve  that  their  ancestors  did  return. 

Hence  the  legendary  lore  of  ghosts  and  goblins— of  apparitions 
and  spirits. 

At  length — the  forces  of  retribution  and  compensation  warring  in 
the  breast  of  man — he  conceived  that  those  who  left  this  world  unre- 
warded would  in  the  hereafter  secure  that  reward,  and  they  who  here 
escaped  their  retribution  would  in  the  unseen  world  suffer  their 
merited  punishment.  The  spirit  of  vengeance,  ungratified,  tears  the 
heart  with  feverish  torment.  The  uncouth  savage  having  learned  to 
hate  the  human  agent  who  brought  grief  to  his  breast  and  woe  to 
his  door,  curses  his  outgoing  and  his  future.  Coupling  the  love  of 
his  ancestors  with  the  thought  of  future  existence,  he  finds  herein  a 
healing  balm  for  his  feverish  breast  by  believing  that  his  enemy,  here 
unavenged,  has  gone  forth  upon  his  curses  to  learn,  beyond  the  grave, 
his  meed  of  woe. 

The  quenchlesss  fires  of  vengeance  in  the  human  breast  gave 
rise  to  the  thought  of  the  quenchless  fires  of  punishment  hereafter. 
The  vice  of  hate  holds  in  its  grip  the  immortal  soul,  and  conjures 
brits  solace  a  ghoulish  god  who  will  obey  its  dictum.  Hate  is  the 
*omb  which  gave  birth  to  Hell.  Vengeance  is  the  bosom  which 
Wffscd  the  deadly  adder.  Fear  was  the  tyrannous  god-father  which 
ttmed  the  eternal  fate  for  weal  or  woe.  Death  was  the  weapon  which 
tyranny  raised  to  terrorize  the  race.  Before  the  dark  god  of  fear  the 
^hole  world  fell  in  awe.  Beyond  the  grave  was  darkness — ^yet  beyond 
*^  life!  How  full  of  possible  horrors  for  the  untutored  mind. 
Eternal  life  in  eternal  darkness: — what  horror  more  horrible!  Out 
of  such  small  beginnings  of  thought  came  forth  the  dreams  of  heaven 
^d  the  nightmares  of  hell.  The  world  and  all  the  universe  are  indeed 
*s  we  believe  them  to  be  and  nothing  more. 

Having  thus  sketched,  in  rough  outline,  the  origin  and  growth  of 
^^^  sentiments  of  good  and  evil — heaven  and  hell — it  would  be  in- 
^ructivc  to  discover  the  extent  to  which  these  ideas  entered  into 


214  INTELLIGENCE. 

theologies  and  religions  and  finally  how  and  why  they  became  incor- 
pprated  into  the  Christian  religion. 

The  poetic  sentiment  of  love  seems  scarcely  capable  of  such  per- 
version as  is  found  in  its  distortive  representations  in  mediaeval  the- 
ology. But,  like  all  things  human,  we  shall  discover  that  its  beauty 
was  not  suddenly  lost,  but  has  slowly  deteriorated,  as  it  was  basely 
abused  by  selfish  utilitarians.  Priestly  theology  soon  learned  to  turn 
to  its  advantage  the  fear  of  mystery  and  the  dread  uncertainty  of  the 
unseen  world.  What  mystery  more  opportune  for  such  jugglery  than 
the  sombre  gloom  which  enshrouds  the  grave?  What  spot  so  soft 
as  the  human  heart  when  smitten  with  grief?  Even  in  those  ancient 
Aryan  requiems  we  may  hear  the  plaintive  wail — ^the  g^oan  of  the 
broken  heart.  What  wonder  that  man  should  have  been  awed  by  his 
surroundings!  What  wonder  his  native  imagination  transformed  ex- 
ternal phenomena  into  poetic  fancy,  which  at  length  grew  into  myth, 
tradition,  legend  and  theology!  We  can  catch  a  glimpse  of  this  great 
truth  in  the  Epic  of  the  Eddas.  No  more,  however,  than  in  the 
mythology  of  all  antiquity. 

Conceive,  for  a  moment,  the  glories  of  the  Aurora  Borealis!  We 
who  live  in  the  semi-sombre  atmosphere  of  this  zone  may  well  fort- 
stall,  by  imagination,  the  speechless  wonder  which  would  seize  tt» 
were  we  first  to  behold  that  most  dramatic  phantasmagoria  of  sun- 
phases  on  sky  and  snow  and  ice.    The  Teutons  portrayed  their  emo- 
tions in  their  legends  relating  to  their  god  Loki.    In  the  story  of  to 
funeral  pyre  we  detect  the  imagery  inspired  by  the  splendors  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis.    Loki  is  the  god  of  evil — enemy  of  both  gods  and 
men.    Fire,  at  first  dangerous,  at  last  the  friend  of  man,  is  the  eair 
blem  of  this  dark  god.    He  is  surrounded  by  flame,  through  whose  cir- 
cumference man  must  pass  to  the  place  of  eternal  sleep.    He  is  pict- 
ured as  seizing  his  faithful  steeds  and  plunging  into  the  sea  of  fire 
(the  aurora  borealis),  and  then  disappearing.    Men,  heroes,  and  gods 
follow  him.     Some  return — some  never.     On,  on,  to  the  dark,  icgf 
regions,  beyond  the  dismal  iron-wood,  where  all  is  night — ^the  Laiul 
of  Shade — to  the  very  house  of  Death  where  reigned  King  Death 
guarded  by  his  two  dogs.    We  need  not  penetrate  much  deeper  iato 
the  mythology  of  antiquity  to  discover  all  the  norms  around  whit 


THE   DOGMA   OF   HELL.  215 

gathered  the  legendary  superstition  of  mediaeval  Christianity  cod' 
cerning  hell. 

Indeed  it  will  be  discovered  by  students  that  the  Scandinavian 
legends  are  much  responsible  for  the  dark,  gloomy  phases  of  Chris- 
tian theology — especially  concerning  Hell  and  the  Devil.* 

But  it  will  interest  and  instruct  us  to  trace  this  thread  of  imagery 
through  Greek  thought  before  it  entered  more  fully  into  Christian 
mythology.  We  can  easily  discern  the  story  of  Loki  and  the  sun- 
flamed  steed  of  Death  in  the  wanderings  of  Ulysses  to  the  far  borders 
of  Hades  across  the  dark  and  stormy  deep.  Students  believe  that  the 
river  mentioned  in  the  wanderings  of  the  Odyssey  is  none  other  than 
the  Caspian  sea,  that  far-northern  Oceanus  which  lies  in  the  midst  of 
the  "  Cimmerian  land  "  where  Hades  was  located : 

"Where  the  mournful  Cimmerians  dwell,  there  the  sun  never  throws 
His  bright  beams  when  to  scale  the  high  star- vault  in  the  morning  he  goes; 
Or  earthward  returns  h-om  the  midday  rest;   for  the  gloom 
Of  night  never  ending  reigns  there — a  perpetual  gloom."  t 

Here  we  meet  with  the  same  dark,  Cimmerian  wood  as  in  the  Ed- 
das,  into  whose  depths  the  light  of  modem  civilization  had  not  yet 
penetrated,  and  whither,  it  was  supposed,  the  spirits  of  the  departed 
wandered,  perhaps  never  to  return. 

Is  it  not  thus  very  evident  that  the  whole  legend  concerning 
Hades — the  Cimmerian  land — perpetual  gloom — emanated  from 
the  existence  of  an  impenetrable  forest  of  midnight  darkness,  where 
the  foot  of  man  had  not  yet  trod?  What  could  be  blacker,  darker, 
more  horror-brooding,  than  the  primeval  Teutonic  forests?  Gradually 
the  idea  developed,  that  entrance  to  this  dark  abode  was  through  a 
deep  burial  gate,  inasmuch  as  it  was  a  place  of  darkness  and  only 
through  darkness  could  it  be  approached.    As  in  the  Vedas: 

**  Let  me  not  yet,  O  Varuna,  enter  into  the  house  of  clay: 
Have  mercy.  Almighty,  have  mercy!  " 

But  the  primitive  conception  of  the  place  of  the  dead  seems  to 
lave  been  one  of  hollowness ;  of  emptiness.    The  departed  were  pas- 

*I  have  elsewhere  (in  my  Evolution  of  the  Devil)  traced  in  full  the  growth 
of  Scandinavian  m3rthology  into  the  Devil  and  Hell  theology  of  mediaeval  Chris- 
tianity. 

1 04  xL,  12  sqq.    See  Keary's  Outlines,  p.  277. 


216  INTELLIGENCE. 

sive,  wandering  ''  simulacra  of  mortals  " — ^senseless,  unintelligent 
We  may  discern  this  early,  primitive  notion  concerning  the  dead  croi 
in  the  initial  Jewish  mythology,  which,  by  the  way,  reveals  its  antique 
legendsiry  origfin. 

"  But  man  dieth  and  he  is  gonel 
Man  expireth,  and  where  is  he? 

The  waters  fail  from  the  lake, 
And  the  stream  wasteth  and  drieth  up; 

So  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not; 
Till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  he  shall  not  wake. 

Nor  be  roused  from  his  sleep. 
O,  that  thou  wouldst  hide  me  in  the  under-world !  "  * 

"  Sheol  shall  not  praise  thee,  Jehovah, 
The  dead  shall  not  celebrate  thee, 
They  that  go  down  into  the  pit  shall  not  hope  for  thy  truth."  t 

By  slow  degrees  the  Hadean  population  becomes  animated,  and 
the  dwellers  of  the  nether  world  become  active  with  exertions  for 
good  or  ill.  "  Hell  becomes  a  being.  Most  likely  this  being  was  at 
first  endowed  with  the  figure  of  some  ravenous  animal,  some  bird  or 
beast  of  prey,  a  wolf,  a  lion,  a  hawk,  a  dog.  In  mythology  a  shade 
more  elaborate,  the  same  thing  is  represented  by  imaginary  creatures, 
dragons,  griffins,  what  not.  The  dragons  which  we  meet  with  in 
mediaeval  legends  were  once,  most  of  them,  in  some  way  or  other  em- 
bodiments of  Death.  At  the  door  of  the  Strassburg  cathedral  and  in 
one  of  the  stained  windows  within,  the  reader  may  see  a  representation 
of  the  mouth  of  Hell,  in  the  form  of  a  great  dragon's  head,  spouting 
flame.''  X 

In  the  old  Mission  cathedral  at  Tucson,  Ariz.,  I  saw  a  mediaeval 
painting  representing  Hell  in  the  form  of  an  impossible  monster 
whose  vast  mouth,  red-lined,  was  wide  expanded  and  into  which 
hordes  of  human  beings  were  tumbling,  and,  if  too  slow,  were 
whipped  along  by  accommodating  demons. 

The  speechless,  voiceless  House  of  the  Dead,  is  thus  gradually 
galvanized  into  life  until  it  becomes  the  most  fascinating  condition  of 

♦Job,  xiv.  10-1.^  (Noyes'  translation). 

t  Isaiah,  xxxviii.  i8,  19. 

t  Keary's  Primitive  Outlines,  p.  269. 


•I 

i 


THE   DOGMA   OF   HELL.  217 

ter-death  existence.  Slowly,  in  Jewish  thought — not,  however,  until 
tcr  the  Captivity — the  notion  of  a  personified  Hell  succeeds  to  that 
the  abode  of  the  passive  dead. 

But  faint  hints  of  this  post-Captivity  conception  may  be  found  in 
ic  ancient  Hebrew  writings.    In  one  breath  the  Psalmist  exclaims: 

**  For  in  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of  Thee;  in  the  grave  who 
lall  give  Thee  thanks?  "  (vi.  5),  and 

"  As  for  me,  I  will  behold  Thy  face  in  righteousness.  I  shall  be 
itisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness."    (xvii.  15.) 

Only  by  a  forced  interpretation  can  such  exclamations  be  made 
o  refer  to  after  existence.  He  meant  that  his  God  would  guard  him 
«rhile  he  slept;  and  when  he  awoke  in  his  likeness  (as  he  elsewhere 
says  "  in  the  light  of  His  countenance,"  Ps.  iv.  6) — then  he  would 
kave  strength  to  cope  with  the  enemies  of  whom  he  had  been  com- 
)laining.  Henry  Frank. 

(To  be  continued,) 


"  Have  Rood-will 
To  all  that  lives,  letting  unkindness  die 
And  greed  and  wrath;  so  that  your  lives  be  made 
Like  soft  airs  passing  by." 

"  Govern  the  lips 
As  they  were  palace-doors,  the  King  within; 
Tranquil  and  fair  and  courteous  be  all  words 
Which  from  that  presence  win.' 


t* 


"  Let  each  act 
Assail  a  fault  or  help  a  merit  grow : 
Like  threads  of  silver  seen  through  crystal  beads 
Let  love  through  good  deeds  show.' 


»» 


"  Live — ^ye  who  must — such  lives  as  live  on  these; 
Make  golden  stair-ways  of  your  weakness;  rise 
By  daily  sojourn  with  those  phantasies 
To  lovelier  verities." 

**  So  shall  ye  pass  to  clearer  heights  and  find 
Easier  ascents  and  lighter  loads  of  sins, 
And  larger  will  to  burst  the  bonds  of  sense." 

The  Light  of  Asia,  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold. 


218  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY. 
AN   OCCULT  TRAGEDY. 

(in.) 

Long  did  Abul  Kahm  bend  over  the  Egyptian,  forgetful  o 
time  was  speeding;  unconscious  of  his  perilous  surroundings; 
ious  to  all  save  that  he  was  near  the  remains  of  some  being  ti 
whom  his  soul  went  out,  over  whom  he  seemed  to  feel  an  almost  \ 
human  dominion. 

He  heard  not  the  rumbling  of  wheels  in  the  street  below;  the 
made  by  closing  the  carriage-door  did  not  reach  him;  a  few 
toned  words  spoken  to  the  liveried  attendant  at  the  door  pene 
not  to  the  locksmith  as  he  gazed,  enraptured,  upon  the  moti 
form  of  the  beautiful  woman. 

But  suddenly  a  sense  of  impending  danger  crept  over  him 
started  as  one  awaking  from  a  dream.  At  the  same  instant  a 
step  sounded  on  the  stairs.  The  locksmith  heard  it  and  realize 
not  a  moment  could  be  lost.  He  quickly  closed  and  lockc 
jeweled  casket  and  sprang  into  the  main  room.  For  an  insb 
stood  before  the  concealed  key-board  thinking:  "The  first  I 
made  light,  the  second  darkness;  the  third  opened  the  panel, 
fourth  does  not  close  it,  I  am  lost!  " 

He  touched  the  fourth  knob,  and  like  a  flash,  with  scarcely  a 
the  opening  in  the  wall  closed.  Footsteps  sounded  only  a  few 
from  the  door.  Abul  seized  his  lantern  and  satchel  and  conceata 
self  behind  the  drapery  just  as  the  door  was  thrown  open. 

He  waited  in  breathless  suspense.  Someone  passed  by  his 
of  concealment,  and  in  another  moment  the  room  was  brilliail 
luminated.  Peering  through  a  tiny  opening  in  the  tapestry,  Abi 
a  tall  man  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room  with  his  watch 
hand.  He  was  none  other  than  the  mysterious  Stranger.  H 
consulted  his  watch  he  returned  it  to  his  pocket  and  began  tc 
the  floor. 


.) 


THE   MYSTERIOUS   KEY.  219 

md  broke  the  deathlike  stillness  save  the  sweeping  of  the 
out  and  the  light  tread  of  the  Stranger.     Five  minutes 
gain  the  tall  man  looked  at  his  watch, 
time,"  he  said,  in  a  firm  voice,  and  stepped  toward  the  con- 
-board. 

t  immediately  Abul  heard  the  buzzing  noise  and  saw  the 
igin  to  part.  Again  there  was  a  blinding  flash,  a  sharp  re- 
ill  was  still.  The  stranger  stepped  into  the  vault.  Abul's 
irs  caught  a  faint  click.  The  chest  had  been  opened ! 
ige  vibrating  noise  now  echoed  through  the  room.  It  was 
und  made  by  a  current  of  electricity  passing  through  an  in- 
U. 

oon  the  tall  man  returned  to  the  main  room  and  sitting 
aed  to  relapse  into  the  most  profound  thought.  Abul  re- 
itue-like.  He  was  afraid  to  move  a  muscle;  almost  afraid 
,  lest,  by  the  slightest  sound,  he  should  betray  his  presence, 
•wever,  human  endurance  gave  way  and  the  poor  locksmith 
eep  breath  and  shifted  his  weight  from  one  leg  to  the  other. 
I  to  him  as  if  he  had  made  noise  enough  to  arouse  the  dead, 
anger  still  sat  rapt  in  thought. 

u\  watched  him  through  a  small  hole  in  the  curtain,  he 
at  his  pale  face  had  grown  a  trifle  more  pallid;  that  his 
5  now  shone  with  a  peculiar  lustre;  that  his  well-shaped  lips 
lined  jaws  had  become  fixed  and  set;  that  his  hands  grasped 
)f  the  chair  with  a  tighter  hold — in  a  word,  that  his  whole 
gradually  become  rigid. 

moan  sounded  through  the  room.  Scarcely  had  it  died 
1  the  mysterious  Stranger  lifted  his  hand  and  made  several 
asses  in  the  air.  There  was  another  half  moan,  half  sigh, 
:ksmith  heard  a  slight  rustling  noise  which  proceeded  from 

the  Stranger  raised  his  hand.  It  was  tightly  clenched  now 
d  in  an  authoritative  gesture.  At  the  same  moment  his 
led  to  lose  its  rigidity;  on  each  cheek  burnt  a  bright  red 
upon  his  countenance  sat  an  expression  of  triumph  and 
With  flashing  eyes  he  turned  toward  the  opening  in  the  wall. 


220  INTELLIGENCE. 

Abul  was  now  conscious  of  some  great  power  that  seemed  to 
dormant  in  his  soul.    He,  too,  glanced  in  the  direction  of  the  crypt 
as  he  gazed  a  white  hand  slowly  drew  the  curtains  aside,  a  white  fc 
filled  the  entrance  and  the  Egyptian  had  risen  from  the  dead! 

The  locksmith  was  too  much  overcome  to  cry  out.    He  closed 
eyes,  passed  his  hand  across  them,  then  to  reassure  himself,  k 
again.     No,  it  was  no  delusion!     No  foolish  impression  of 
strung  nerves;  no  oflfspring  of  a  quickened  imagination. 

Tall,  with  a  great  profusion  of  dark  hair  reaching  almost  to 
floor;  her  beautiful  brown  arms  clearly  defined  against  the  dark 
ground  of  damask,  her  lips  well-curved  and  red  with  the  warm  bl( 
of  life,  her  wondrous  black  eyes  fixed  strangely,  almost  sternly,  u] 
the  Stranger,  she  seemed  like  some  great  goddess  triumphing  oy 
dissolution  and  death! 

"  What  wouldst  thou,  Prince?  "  she  asked  in  a  low  thrilling  v< 
that  seemed  to  come  from  afar.    The  tall  man  arose  from  where  he 
and  went  toward  the  Egyptian.    He  took  her  hand  tenderly,  alm( 
reverentially,  and  led  her  to  a  seat. 

"  I  would  have  thee  near  me.  Iris,  looking  as  thou  didst  when 
we  wandered  by  the  Nile,"  sighed  the  man,  sinking  down  by  hersidt 

"  Ah,  why  recall  those  happy  days?  "  answered  the  Egyptian, 
eyes  growing  dim.    "  Do  they  not  drag  after  them  a  lengthening 
of  events  filled  with  darkest,  fiercest  grief?    On  the  wings  of  lighti 
followed  the  fall  of  my  people,  my  sickness,  and  my  death!  " 

"  Yet,  Iris,  even  those  dark  days  were  not  without  a  gleam  of  joy/ 
said  the  man,  "  for  I  had  hopes  of  restoring  thee  to  perfect,  lasting 

"  From  my  boyhood  I  was  a  great  student.  Long  before  I  came 
Egypt  I  had  mastered  the  laws  of  psychical  phenomena  known  alinoiK 
exclusively  to  the  seers  of  the  Eastern  nations.  I  had  delved  into  th* 
secrets  of  nature,  found  new  forces  and  made  discoveries  in  physic 
never  known  to  the  scientific  world.  So  that  when  dark  death  hMm 
sealed  thy  blessed  eyes,  and  stolen  the  color  from  thy  lips,  even  in  that 
dismal  hour  I  was  not  overwhelmed  with  grief.  I  felt — I  knew-* 
that  I  could  bring  thee  back  to  life.  Science,  my  mistress  ere  I  tri€* 
thee,  would  be  thy  handmaiden.  Thenceforth  I  thought  only  of  a* 
sisting  thee,  my  queen,  to  life  and  love  and  happiness.    Oh,  what  * 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  221 

crowning  of  my  life-long  toils  that  now  Science  and  Love  should  unite, 
and  bid  thee  live  again !  From  that  day  I  devoted  my  life  to  this  one 
object. 

*'  By  means  of  electric,  magnetic,  and  mental  forces  I  have  been 
successful  in  restoring  you  to  life  for  a  brief  fixed  period  each  day. 
Yet  my  progress  shall  not  stop  here.  I  feel  assured  that  in  a  short 
time  thou  shalt  conquer  death  itself." 

"  In  vain,  in  vain,  in  vain !  "  sighed  the  beautiful  woman.  "  Thou 
bast  reached  the  limit  of  thy  science  and  strained  the  capabilities  of 
nature  even  in  giving  me  momentary  life.  Thou  canst  go  no  further. 
Thou  canst  not  give  me  back  to  life.  Cease  to  love  me.  Abandon  all 
thy  hopes  at  once  and  cease,  oh,  cease,  to  torture  my  spirit  by  calling 
it  back  to  this  frail  clay!    Let  me  pass  away  into  dust  and  cease  to  be." 

"Iris!"  cried  the  man,  falling  on  his  knees,  "speak  not  thus! 
You  crush  me  to  the  earth.  Patience,  but  a  little  patience  and  thou 
shalt  live — I  swear  it ! " 

"Hush!"  solemnly  raising  her  hand.  "It  is  not  so  ordained. 
Thou,  thou  art  not  the  one,"  she  heavily  sighed,  as  a  strange  expres- 
sion came  over  her  beautiful  face. 

"  And  yet,"-  continued  she,  in  so  low  a  voice  that  its  tones  scarce 
reached  the  other  side  of  the  room,  "  and  yet,  if  thou  wouldst  know  it, 
there  is  one  whose  mere  will,  now  that  thou  hast  effected  thus  much, 
could  give  me  natural  life." 

"You  speak  of  Him,  the  Creator?  "  said  the  man,  pointing  up- 
ward. 

"  Not  so.  I  speak  of  a  creature  like  thyself,  yet  one  ordained  with 
tUs  Creator-like  power." 

"A  man!"  exclaimed  the  Stranger,  springing  instantly  to  his 
feet  "  What  say  est  thou,  Iris?    Speak!" 

"  Even  so,"  answered  the  Egyptian  in  a  low  whisper. 

"Art  thou  returning  to  thy  dead  state?  "  and  the  stranger  bent 
over  her  making  rapid  passes  in  the  air. 

With  a  great  effort  the  Egyptian  controlled  herself. 
"  I  am  not,"  she  answered  in  a  firm  voice,  motioning  him  with  an 
imperious  gesture  to  his  seat. 

"Why  speak  so  strangely,  then?  "  he  sighed,  obeying  her  gesture. 


222  INTELLIGENCE. 

"  I  speak  but  the  truth.  There  is  one  who  could  restore  me  by  Wr 
will  alone,"  was  her  response. 

"  Dost  thou  believe  this? — that  there  lives  the  man  who  can  suc- 
ceed where  I  have  thus  far  failed?  Were  it  indeed  so  I  would  reward 
him  with  my  wealth,  my  life,  my  all! "  and  he  buried  his  face  inUf 
hands. 

"  Thou  wouldst  not,"  answered  the  Egyptian,  a  strange  smile 
spreading  over  her  lips. 

"  Dost  doubt  it,  woman?  "  exclaimed  the  Stranger  starting  vio- 
lently and  frowning  for  the  first  time.  '*  Thou  hast  little  faith  in  taf 
love!" 

"  Nay,"  she  softly  answered;  "  I  have  all  faith  in  thy  love.  That 
wouldst  not  give  that  man  the  poorest  jewel  on  thy  fingers;  for, 
should  he  bring  me  back  to  life  he  would  claim  me  for  his  own." 

"  Oh,  and  wouldst  thou  love  the  one  who  gave  thee  life?  " 

"  Even  so,"  she  answered,  "  for  life  is  love." 

The  Stranger  bowed  his  head.  He  took  several  strides  across  the 
room,  then  pausing  in  front  of  the  Egyptian  asked  in  a  cold,  half-tatmt* 
ing  voice : 

"  And  pray,  strange  woman,  where  might  I  find  this  potent  man? 

She  sighed  and  shook  her  head. 

"  I  know  not,  Prince;  but  if  I  held  thy  hand,  through  thy  stroog 
will,  perhaps  I  then  could  tell  thee." 

Without  a  word  he  seated  himself  by  her  side  and  laid  his  handift 
hers. 

A  deep  silence  reigned  throughout  the  room.  Even  the  wxA§] 
lately  howling  so  furiously,  seemed  stricken  dumb,  and  Abul  codi ' 
hear  no  sound  except  the  strong,  rapid  beating  of  his  own  heart.  He  i 
had  become  somewhat  accustomed  to  his  remarkable  surroundiflgh 
yet  at  the  same  time  he  instinctively  felt  that  a  crisis  of  some  character 
was  impending.  Suddenly  the  Egyptian  turned  her  head  and  fixe4 
her  gaze  upon  the  very  curtain  behind  which  the  locksmith  was  coo-' 
cealed. 

"  Now,  now! "  she  exclaimed  in  an  excited  manner,  rising  froio 
her  seat.  "  Now  I  can  tell  thee  where  the  man  is  who  can  give  fflC 
life?  " 


THE  MYSTERIOUS   KEY.  223 

"Canst  thou?  Then  tell  me,  Sweet,"  answered  the  man  as  if  he 
were  humoring  a  mere  whun. 

"  He  is  nearer  than  I  could  ever  have  dreamed ;  he  is  here  in  this 
house;  he  is  here  in  this  very  room,"  she  almost  joyfully  cried,  placing 
her  hand  on  her  heart  as  if  to  still  its  mad  beating. 

A  compassionate  expression  spread  over  the  countenance  of  the 
man.  He  took  the  Egyptian  by  the  hand  as  if  to  lead  her  to  the  crypt, 
saying: 

"  My  Iris,  I  fear  that  I  have  kept  thee  too  long  to-night.  All  this 
is  a  fantasy.  There  is  no  one  here  but  ourselves.  Come — come  with 
me."  But  she  snatched  her  hand  away  from  him  and  drawing  herself 
up  to  her  full  height,  flashed  her  fiery  eyes  upon  him. 

"  Ha,  thou  knowest  that  he  is  here  and  wouldst  lead  me  back  to 
death!   But  thou  shalt  not!  "  she  cried,  wringing  her  hands. 

He  seized  her  by  the  wrist  and  tried  to  soothe  her.  "  I  see  no  one 
here  but  yourself,  my  life." 

"  0  fool,  if,  with  all  thy  art  and  science,  thou  dost  not  in  reality  see 
[  him,  tear  aside  that  drapery  and  be  convinced !  "  she  cried,  lifting  her 
brown  arm,  and  pointing  to  the  curtain. 

"  To  rob  thee  of  this  delusion  I  will  do  as  thou  hast  bid  me,"  said 
the  Stranger,  and  he  moved  across  the  room.  One  step,  two,  three, 
four,  five — "  See,  dearest,  there  is  no  one  here,"  and  he  tore  the  drap- 
ery from  its  fastenings.  The  full  glare  of  the  electric  light  streamed 
upon  Abul  Kahm. 

A  terrible  expression  swept  over  the  countenance  of  the  Stranger. 
In  it  was  commingled  almost  every  passion  of  the  human  heart — love 
and  hate,  rage,  revenge,  baffled  hope,  despair.  He  clasped  his  hands 
to  his  forehead  and  staggered  backward  as  if  he  had  received  a  power- 
ful blow.  For  a  moment  the  Egyptian  stood  perfectly  motionless, 
eying  the  two  men.  Her  nostrils  were  expanded,  her  cheeks  pale  as 
the  marble  Sphinx,  her  great  eyes  dilated;  her  bosom  rose  and  fell. 
Suddenly  she  seemed  to  give  away  to  some  great  emotion,  and  crying 
out: 

"  My  saviour!  let  me  live  for  thee!  "  she  sprang  toward  the  lock- 
smith. But  she  never  reached  him.  The  Stranger  heard  the  cry,  and 
saw  her  advance  a  step. 


224  INTELLIGENCE. 

Then  it  was  that  his  form,  only  a  moment  before  shrunken  and; 
bent  with  age,  became  straight  as  an  arrow;  that  his  dejected  coun- 
tenance grew  calm  and  as  stern  as  death ;  that  his  eyes,  now  filled  with 
a  desperate  triumph,  burnt  like  gleams  of  lightning. 

With  a  bound  like  that  of  a  tiger  he  placed  himself  between  thej 
locksmith  and  the  Egyptian,  and  raising  his  hand  far  above  his  head, 
spoke  to  the  woman  in  a  voice  of  thunder. 

"  Back,  ingrate,  or  by  the  power  centred  in  one  motion  of  my  band 
thou  Shalt  be  blasted!" 

The  Egyptian  recoiled  to  the  curtain  of  the  crypt  and  stood.) 
trembling  in  every  limb.    Abul  came  boldly  forward  to  the  centre 
the  room.    It  seemed  that  he  knew  no  dread  now;  that  the  mysteri( 
man  before  him  could  not  harm ;  that  he,  Abul,  was  master. 

But  the  Stranger  seemed  to  ignore  his  presence,  as  he  ad^ 
a  step  toward  the  trembling  woman.    The  expression  of  his  coun-j 
tenance  was  terrible  to  behold. 

**  Base  ingrate!  "  he  hoarsely  whispered.  "  This,  this  thy  grati-j 
tude!  Wouldst  fly  to  this  man's  arms  and  leave  one  who  for  lonj 
years,  by  night  and  day  has  toiled  for  thee  and  thee  alone.  O,  woiDas,v 
woman !  Love  is  turned  to  hate  and  hope  into  black  despairl  Onei 
thing  alone  is  left  me,  and  in  that  I  triumph  still!  " 

With  a  swift  motion  he  took  a  small  vial  filled  with  a  greeniA 
liquid  from  his  pocket.    The  Egyptian  saw  the  movement. 

"  Will,  will  that  I  shall  live! "  she  shrieked  out  turning  an  ago* 
nized  countenance  toward  Abul.  The  latter,  at  the  same  moment,  fdl 
a  multitude  of  strange  potent  forces  sweep  over  him  and  in  a  finn 
voice  he  cried; 

"  By  a  power  that  I  know  not  of,  Egyptian,  I  do  will  " 

"  That  thou  shalt  die !  **  broke  in  the  Stranger,  raising  his  hand 
and  hurling  the  vial  toward  the  woman. 

Abul  sprang  forward  to  arrest  his  arm  but  he  was  too  late. 
The  fatal  missile  struck  her  fairly  on  the  forehead,  breaking  with  I 
slight  crash. 

One  awful  shriek  went  up  from  the  woman,  and  where  she  stood " 
a  moment  before  was  now  only  a  black  formless  mass  of  human  ashes. 
For  an  instant  the  Stranger,  who  seemed  suddenly  to  have  grown  to 


< 

J 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  KEY.  225 

gigantic  height,  gazed  upon  his  work.    Then,  with  all  the  fierceness 
of  a  demon,  he  turned  upon  Abul. 

"See!  See! — the  being  thou  wouldst  bring  back  to  life!"  he 
cried.  "  O  cursed  fool,  dost  think  that  I  would  blast  the  woman  that 
I  loved  and  let  thee  escape?  "  He  laughed  a  loud,  frantic  laugh  as  he 
moved  swiftly  toward  the  concealed  key-board. 

"  We  shall  die  together!  "  he  said. 

Actuated  by  what  power  he  knew  not,  Abul  fell  flat  upon  his  face, 
at  the  same  moment  that  the  Stranger  placed  his  hand  upon  the  fifth 
knob.  Instantly  there  was  a  bolt  like  that  of  thunder.  A  great,  broad 
band  of  lurid  lightning  swept  the  room  from  wall  to  wall.  It  passed 
fairly  over  the  prostrate  locksmith  but  caught  the  towering  form*  of 
the  Stranger  midway  between  the  chin  and  chest.  For  an  instant  he 
seemed  about  to  fall,  but  by  a  powerful  effort  righted  himself  and 
again  pressed  the  fifth  button.  There  was  another  bolt  louder  than 
the  first,  another  band  of  electric  fluid  and  the  Stranger  shrieking  out 
in  accents  of  madness  the  name  of "  Iris  "  fell  heavily  to  the  floor. 

Abul  sprang  to  his  feet.  The  lights  had  gone  out  but  the  electric 
discharge  had  set  fire  to  the  drapery  throughout  the  room.  By  the 
red  glare  of  the  fast  spreading  flames  Abul  saw  the  fallen  form  of  the 
Stranger. 

Perhaps  he  was  only  unconscious?  Should  he  be  left  there  to  per- 
ish in  the  fire? 

Abul  hesitated  only  a  moment,  then  sprang  forward  and  tore  the 
dothing  from  the  Stranger's  chest.  Across  it,  from  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  was  a  blood-red  streak,  where  the  current  had  passed.  He 
placed  his  hand  over  the  mysterious  man's  heart.  It  had  ceased  to 
beat.  The  room  was  now  enveloped  in  flames.  A  portion  of  the  burn- 
ing tapestry  had  fallen,  thus  setting  fire  to  the  carpet  and  floor. 

It  was  intensely  hot  and  the  smoke  had  become  stifling.  Abul 
could  already  hear  cries  of  "  Fire!  Fire!  "  from  below.  He  cast  one 
hst  glance  at  the  formless  ashes  of  the  Egyptian,  and  springing 
through  the  flames,  mounted  to  the  window.  A  great  torrent  of 
>noke  came  rolling  after  him.  As  he  stood  for  a  moment  irresolute  it 
dung  round  and  enveloped  him  as  with  fostering  care.  Then,  as  he 
soied  the  rope,  it  reached  out  its  dark  arms  and  seemed  to  bear  him 


226 


INTELLIGENCE. 


upward,  unfalteringly  upward.    There  was  a  great  crash  within.  A 

part  of  the  floor  had  fallen  and  in  a  moment  a  thousand  eager-tongued. 

flames  came  leaping  through  the  window. 

But  the  smoke  had  already  vanished  and  with  it,  Abul  Kahm, 

the  Locksmith. 

Joseph  Sebastian  Rogers. 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  SUGGESTION. 

Conceive  in  your  mind  an  all-inclusive  unity,  embracing  all  phe-^ 
nomena,  all  sensation,  all  feeling;  in  fact  all  things  throughout 
universe,  the  sum  total  of  all  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual  tnil 
the  vast  aggregate  of  possible  conditions,  forces,  and  experiences, 
this  conception  be  so  broad  that  no  thought  can  ever  enter  your  nundj 
except  as  a  part  of  its  grand  wholeness.    Let  it  be  so  deep  as  to  readi] 
the  deepest  recesses  of  Hades;  so  high  as  to  extend  to  the  very 
nacle  of  heaven;   so  wide  as  to  surround  the  outermost  bounds 
infinity. 

The  paucity  of  our  language  renders  it  impossible  to  express  tUi 
conception  with  any  one  word.    The  word  that  would  express  it 
my  mind,  might  convey  to  you  an  idea  either  limited  or  totally  dit-j 
similar;  and  a  word  expressing  the  required  meaning  to  your 
might  mean  to  another,  something  entirely  different.  Therefore, 
reader  should  select  a  word  for  his  own  use,  but  it  must  act  upon  UtJ 
mind  as  a  stone  dropped  into  the  water,  which  causes  ripples  (hat  ex-: 
tend  to  the  farthest  shore. 

For  one,  the  word  Infinity  might  answer;  for  another.  Mind; 
still  another,  God;  and  for  others  Absolute,  while  yet  others  migiil 
use  Universe,  understandingly,  with  the  same  meaning.     However, 
the  word  itself  is  of  little  importance;  the  Idea  is  the  object  of 
search  and  one  word  will  answer  as  well  as  another  if  it  expresses 
full  conception  without  abridgment  or  limitation.    The  word  must 
even  further  than  to  encompass  all  the  universe — it  must  include  the 
conception  of  absolute  Unity.    This  must  be  an  all-pervading  interde-i 
pendence;  a  recognition  of  the  truth  that  all  things  are  but  parts  c 


III  n   • 


AN   EDUCATIONAL  SUGGESTION.  227 

whole;  that,  however  dissimilar  things  may  appear,  they  are  in 
vdity  related,  and  have  a  common  centre.  Underlying  all  are  certain 
■indples  or  laws  that  cement  them  into  one  grand  universal  whole. 

This  fact  of  law,  or  order  dominating  all,  must  be  conspicuous  in 
le  conception  called  up  in  your  mind  by  the  chosen  word.  You  must 
fealize  that  there  is  absolutely  no  such  thing  as  chance;  that  in  some 
lay,  seen  or  unseen,  there  is  a  basis  of  law  and  order  for  every  phe- 
KMnenon  of  whatever  nature,  and  that  under  identical  circumstances 
nd  conditions,  the  same  result  will  be  produced. 

Now  that  you  have  a  clear  conception  of  all-inclusiveness,  absolute 
■ity  and  perfect  order,  blot  out  from  your  mind  whatever  meaning 
nm  may  have  heretofore  attached  to  the  word  Truth  and  consider  it  a 
ynon^fm  for  the  word  you  have  chosen  for  this  Idea.  In  every  place 
I  use  the  word  Truth,  you  substitute  your  chosen  word,  for  my 
of  Truth  is  only  to  simplify  expression  and  I  mean  by  it  just  what 
mean  by  Infinity,  God,  Absolute,  Universe,  or  whatever  you  have 
bed  to  express  the  idea  which,  I  trust,  we  both  now  have  clearly  fixed 
■our  minds.  Let  the  word  Truth  act  upon  your  mind  as  a  clapper  on 
I  bell,  causing  the  remotest  molecule  to  vibrate. 

Within  this  conception  Truth  includes  a  multitude  of  ideas  based 
■  our  experience  in  a  universe  of  diversity ;  but,  we  must  also  recog- 
at  that  there  is  a  fundamental  principle,  always  operative  and  always 
kMntiiating  every  successive  step  in  the  creation  of  this  diversity — one 
DDdition  always  present  and  perpetually  forming  the  deciding  condi- 
ion  in  every  differentiation. 

The  conception  must  also  include  the  idea  that  at  one  time  all 
homogeneous;  there  were  no  different  facts;  diversity  had  not 
In  some  way — for  the  present  beyond  our  ken,  and  quite 
■tside  of  the  present  discussion,  there  arose  a  differentiation  which 
■s  gone  on  and  on  till  the  present  universe  of  diversity  has  resulted. 
nnist  have  been  successive  steps  through  which  this  differentia- 
passed,  because  we  perceive  successive  steps  in  the  recognition  of 
henomena,  for  which  diversity  is  but  another  name. 

Wc  also  recognize  that  all  these  steps,  so  far  as  we  can  perceive, 
re  taken  in  accordance  with  definite  principles,  or  laws.  In  the  dif- 
Btmt  realms  there  are  many  laws  which  apply  only  to  certain  phe- 


228  INTELLIGENCE. 

nomena  taking  place  in   the  physical  world,   some  according  toji 
which  plants  exist  and  grow;  still  others  operate  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  others,  yet,  in  the  higher  realm  of  morals.    All  the  activi 
of  our  life  and  progress  are  based  upon  our  intelligent  recognition 
these  laws. 

We  make  intellectual  progress  not  by  acquiring  a  knowledge 
certain  facts,  but  by  learning  the  laws  in  accordance  with  which 
facts  exist.    Knowing  the  law  under  which  a  given  result  is 
plished,  we  are  able  to  produce  that  result  at  will  by  providing 
necessary  conditions. 

If,  then,  knowledge  of  certain  specific  laws  operating  in  c 
limited  areas,  gives  us  power  over  certain  fields  of  activity  and 
ments  our  progress,  would  not  a  knowledge  of  universal  law,  o 
in  every  sphere,  and  constituting  a  determining  factor  in  every 
nomenon,  be  of  even  greater  value? 

Such  a  universal  law  seems  to  me  necessary  to  the  very  existence 
the  universe.    Without  it  a  universe  would  be  an  unthinkable 
strosity  and  we  ourselves  palpable  impossibilities;  for  we  exist 
as  parts  of  a  Whole,  and,  to  exist,  that  whole  must  be  under 
domination  of  law.    There  could  not  be  a  unity  of  phenomena  with 
a  unity  of  law.    All  our  scientific  research  and  philosophic  specula 
point  to  a  oneness  of  the  universe,  and  any  science  is  a  farce  unlesti 
there  is  a  fundamental  principle  underlying  all  principles,  and  of  wl 
all  other  principles  are  but  various  manifestations. 

What  is  this  one  fundamental  principle,  according  to  which 
step  from  absolute  homogeneity  to  universal  diversity  has  been 
It  must  be  exact,  unchanging,  unvaryingly  constant,  a  law  depeni 
on  no  other  law,  a  principle  necessarily  present  at  every  stage  of 
velopment,  and  absolutely  inflexible  in  its  application. 

But  one  principle  seems  to  me  to  fit  the  case,  viz.,  Math 
Our  conception  of  mathematics  is  but  a  corollary  of  the  concep 
of  exactness.    One  implies  the  other.    To  be  mathematical  is 
sarily  to  be  exact,  and  vice  versa.    Much  might  be  said  in  this  o 
tion,  showing  the  grounds  for  the  conclusion  that  mathematics  is  tb 
one  all-pervading,  ever-present,  fundamental  principle  underlying  th 
very  basis  of  Truth, 


AN   EDUCATIONAL   SUGGESTION.  229 

Mathematics,  then,  forms  the  basis  for  all  phenomena,  and  if  we 
an  find  the  fundamental  mathematical  principle  involved  in  any  one 
iiange  or  step  in  diversity,  we  shall  have  ascertained  the  fundamental 
principle  involved  in  every  other  step;  because  to  know  the  absolute 
principle  of  any  natural  phenomenon  is  to  understand  the  primal 
dunge  by  which  homogeneity  began  its  transformation  into  diversity. 
Mathematics  being  but  the  conception  of  the  relation  between  units, 
or  Number,  the  fundamental  step  must  in  some  way  relate  to  number. 

To  get  this  idea  correctly  into  our  minds  let  us  revert  to  the  con- 
xption  of  a  homogeneous  state,  and  conceive  of  the  modification  or 
iiange  constituting  the  first  step  in  diversity. 

Prior  to  this  change  all  was  a  Unit ;  after  the  change  in  conception 
there  appeared  more  than  one  unit,  and  here,  it  seems  evident,  is  the 
^ciple  involved,  as  there  is  no  other  change  necessarily  involved. 
Fhc  mere  fact  that  where  formerly  there  was  but  one  there  is  now 
norc  than  one,  is  quite  sufficient  to  constitute  diversity,  and  be  the 
bundation  of  all  subsequent  changes.  That  the  parts  may  be  exactly 
identical  does  not  affect  the  case;  the  mere  fact  of  Number  being 
present  is  sufficient  to  all  the  ends  of  infinite  diversification. 

With  this  idea  of  division  in  our  minds  the  natural  and  simplest 
^ucry  is,  how  many? 

In  the  answer  to  this  question,  I  believe,  lies  the  solution  of  many 
problems  which  have  vexed  the  mind  of  man  for  ages,  for,  as  I  have 
ihtady  pointed  out,  the  applications  of  this  answer  are  practically 
iBfinite,  as  it  will  apply  with  equal  force  to  any  and  every  subsequent 
fknomenon  throughout  the  entire  realm  of  Truth. 

At  first  thought  it  may  seem  an  impossible  problem,  and  to  sug- 
|6t  an  answer  may  appear  like  the  very  madness  of  presumption ;  but 
ve  should  bear  in  mind  that  this  question,  like  all  others  of  great  im- 
portance that  have  already  been  answered,  is,  in  reality,  very  simple. 
ftooJ  of  the  truth  of  the  answer  is,  in  all  probability,  beyond  us  at 
iwcnt,  but  to  suggest  and  to  prove  are  two  very  different  matters.  I 
I  fcnot  intend  to  attempt,  alone,  a  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  my 
•Ration.  That  can  only  be  done  by  the  practical  application  of  the 
*«ory  suggested  to  all  matters  that  occupy  the  mind  of  man — a  task 
*viously  beyond  the  power  of  any  one  person. 


230  INTELLIGENCE. 

But  the  theorem  must  precede  the  demonstration,  and  my  purpo 
is  merely  to  state  the  theorem,  leaving  the  demonstration  to  thai 
versed  in  the  several  branches  of  knowledge.  If  my  suggestion  rerf 
contains  the  seed  of  truth  it  will  find  lodgement  in  fertile  soil  and  4 
required  effort  will  be  put  forth  to  cultivate  it  till  it  shall  blossom  nj 
bear  fruit  to  the  enrichment  of  humanity.  Of  this  I  feel  confidd 
and  it  is  only  because  of  this  confidence  that  I  make  bold  to  give  foQ 
to  my  conviction.  j 

The  realization  that  Truth,  though  springing  from  the  meaori 
soil,  will  gather  to  itself  the  elements  needed  for  its  own  growth  m 
development  impels  me  to  cast  this,  as  I  firmly  believe,  seed  of  IMl 
Truth,  to  the  winds,  having  faith  that  it  will  not  fall  upon  ground 4 
stony  that  no  soil  will  be  found  to  give  it  nourishment. 

In  seeking  an  answer  to  the  question,  How  many?  one  turns  ahnd 
instinctively  to  the  world  of  matter,  probably  because  we  have  I 
customed  ourselves  to  depend  almost  entirely  upon  sense  impressifll 
and  these  come  only  from  the  material  side  of  existence.  To  tl 
material  universe,  then,  let  us  turn  for  an  analogy. 

Our  first  thought  is,  naturally,  that  the  material  world  is  baai 
upon  space,  time,  and  motion,  of  which  space  seems  to  be  the  fa 
damental.  Now  what  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  space?  Perht 
the  word  principle  is  not  the  proper  term,  but  you  will  grasp  my  md 
ing  when  I  answer,  Dimensions.  And  here  again,  comes  the  questifl 
How  many? 

Does  not  the  answer  to  this  question  carry  with  it  a  very  reaio 
able  answer  to  the  other?  In  this  case,  as  in  the  first  one  cited,  till 
is  absolutely  no  element  present  but  that  of  Number,  and  it  seent 
me  at  least  fairly  plausible  for  us  to  regard  both  questions  as  appljn 
to  the  one  fundamental  principle  which  we  have  referred  to  as  undl 
lying  all  phenomena  and  present  in  all  changes.  The  answer  may  B 
be  so  apparent  in  facts  of  more  concrete  and  specialized  detail,  but 
not  that  because  the  fundamental  principle  is  buried  out  of  sight  1 
minor  laws  and  more  diversified  conditions? 

Now  take  color,  which  is  known  to  possess  a  unity,  and  ask  A 
same  question  in  regard  to  its  differentiation.  In  this  case,  also,  the 
seems  to  be  but  the  one  element  present,  viz.:  Number.    It  is  ai 


AN   EDUCATIONAL  SUGGESTION.  281 

G)lor  should  contemplate  a  subdivision  of  itself  for  the  purpose  of  man* 
iiestation.  The  only  question  to  be  decided  is  "  Into  how  many  parts 
shall  I  resolve  myself?  '*  It  would  obviously  be  just  as  easy  to  form 
six  colors,  or  nine,  or  five,  or  two,  but  none  of  these  numbers  was  se- 
lected. According  to  our  present  knowledge,  Color  decided  upon 
Three,  whether  from  mere  accident  or  because  there  is  deep  down  in 
its  very  nature  a  predisposition  to  regard  the  number  Three  with 
favor  is,  of  course,  not  contained  in  our  scientific  lore.  But  the  fact 
remains  that  Color  is  now  manifested  in  a  threefold  phase. 

So  I  might  go  on  with  other  illustrations,  but  to  do  so  would 
smack  too  strongly  of  a  desire  to  prove  my  position.  You  can  find  any 
desired  number  of  instances  where  scientific  progress  has  met  this 
trinitarian  disposition  of  things  material,  and  strangely  enough  failed 
to  trace  any  connection  between  these  different  landmarks.  They 
fcave  been  regarded  as  merely  accidental  coincidences;  or,  rather, 
fcave  hardly  attracted  enough  attention  to  be  regarded  at  all.  This 
seems  strange,  when  we  consider  the  fact  that  Science  positively  de- 
nies the  existence  of  accident  or  chance ! 

I  ? 

2? 

3? 

With  the  knowledge  that  there  is  a  sufficient  cause  for  every  phe- 
wmcnon,  am  I  not  justified  in,  at  least,  suggesting  that  the  same 
Quse  that  produced  a  threefold  manifestation  of  Color  and  Space  was 
jIso  operative  in  the  manifestation  of  Truth,  where  there  was  ap- 
parently but  one  condition  present  and  that  condition  apparently 
identical? 

And  if  Truth  began  by  a  threefold  expression,  is  any  other  conclu- 
>on  possible  than  that  it  has  continued  throughout  all  manifestation 
to  follow  the  same  trinitarian  course?  At  each  stage  of  her  progress, 
rten  a  new  form  or  phase  of  expression  was  to  appear,  has  not  the 
ftme  question.  How  many?  been  the  only  condition  present?  Truth 
'ould  not  change  her  course  without  cause,  and  what  cause  could  it 
wvcto  be  trinitarian  in  one  place  and  quatarian  in  another,  when  the 
^itarian  form  suits  all  possible  needs,  as  it  certainly  does? 
In  short,  is  it  not  plausible  to  postulate  a  something  in  the  very 


Color, 


1  Red. 

2  Yellow.  Space, 
.  3  Blue. 


1  Length. 

2  Breadth.  Truth, 
.  3  Thickness. 


282  INTELLIGENCE.  _    , 

nature  of  Truth  corresponding  to  what  we  term  habit?    And,  H  S^  ^^ 
would  it  not  be  easier  for  Truth  to  choose  a  threefold  form  of  a^^ 
pression  in  minor  details,  if  that  form  had  been  chosen  in  the  verf 
beginning  of  change?    If  it  is  easier  to  do  a  thing  the  second  or  the 
two  hundredth  time,  than  the  first,  is  it  not  plausible  to  suppose  that 
Truth  would  find  it  easier  to  subdivide  its  expression  as  Color  into  Ae 
same  number  of  parts  as  it  had  already  chosen  for  other  divisions? 

This  conception  of  habit  or  tendency  to  repeat,  as  being  a  fundi* 
mental  element  of  Truth,  just  as  it  is  in  every  recognized  sphere  of 
choice,  seems  to  me  a  rational  view,  and  if  it  can  be  sustained  it  will  at 
once  establish  conclusive  proof  of  my  position. 

Throughout  all  phenomena  there  is  a  fundamental  principle  of 
manifestation  based  upon  a  universal  division  into  threes;  that  com- 
plexity is  produced  by  a  division  of  simpler  forms  or  elements  into 
trinitarian  groups.  The  total  number  of  facts  in  the  universe  is  ex- 
actly divisible  by  three,  and  each  successive  quotient,  in  turn,  is  divis- 
ible by  the  same  number.  In  other  words  all  facts  are  mathematical 
and  are  expressed  by  numbers,  and  they  have  all  been  produced  by 
raising  3  to  the  x  power.  Every  fact,  in  its  very  nature,  is  trinitarian^ 
and  unless  we  recognize  three  elements  in  any  given  fact  we  do  not 
fully  understand  that  fact. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  theory  and  thus  perhaps  making 
it  plainer  than  I  could  by  abstract  expressions,  let  us  start  at  the  be- 
ginning with  the  conception  "  Truth,"  subdivided  into  three  phases, 
elements,  parts,  or  whatever  you  choose  to  call  them. 

For  the  first  division  set  off  in  your  mind  all  that  part  of  Truth  in 
which  phenomena  occur,  in  accordance  with  what  we  might  call  physi* 
cal  law,  and  in  which  the  element  we  recognize  as  life  is  not  present. 
I  know  of  no  word  exactly  suited  to  label  this  division  so  that  the  word 
will  of  itself  convey  the  correct  meaning,  but,  inasmuch  as  you  have 
the  idea,  the  word  law  will  suffice.  If  you  think  any  other  word  better 
suited,  substitute  it  and  we  shall  the  better  understand  each  other. 

In  the  second  division  I  would  place  all  facts  and  phenomena  pro- 
duced by  the  presence  of  what  has  very  aptly  been  called  "  elective 
affinity,"  the  choice  of  conditions  in  effecting  combinations.  This 
division  I  will  call  life. 


RELATED  TO  THE  KING.  233 

;  third  division  contains  all  that  higher  realm  which  we  recog- 
Jy  through  our  moral  and  religious  natures,  not  very  clearly 
le,  because  neither  its  existence  nor  its  immediate  manifesta- 
liscemible  by  the  physical  senses.  Naturally  the  selection  of  a 
i  word  to  designate  this  division  is  more  difficult  than  either 
receding,  but  a  sufficient  word  for  my  purpose  will  be  found  in 

e  then  we  have  the  first  grand  division;   the  primal  change 

leness  to  mathematics;  the  first  step  in  the  direction  of  a  uni- 

diversity. 


L.  L.  Hopkins. 


(To  be  continued.) 


RELATED   TO   THE   KING. 

I  haye  traveled  far,  and  am  grown 
World-worn  and  weary. 
Coyered  with  the  dust  of  life's  desert-sounds, 
I  have  forgotten  who  I  am. 

I  have  forgotten  my  name  and  title; 
I  am  fast  forgetting  that  I  came 
Of  princely  lineage,  and  that  I  am 
In  some  way  related  to  the  King. 

I  have  not  seen  a  living  soul 
For  many  weary  leagues.    I  long 
For  knowledge  and  assurances  of  rest; 
I  must  have  answer. 

Nay^  I  care  not  to  loiter  with  the  servants. 
I  thirst  and  hunger,  but  I  seek  the  Master. 
I  shall  not  accept  shelter  in  the  basement, 
Nor  in  the  kitcnen,  for  I  am  a  royal  guest. 

O  universe  of  God  I    O  distant  stars, 

My  request  is  simple.    Help  me 

To  recognize  myself.    Help  me  to  remember  who  I  am, 

That  I  may  go  home  to-morrow. 

To-morrow?    Nay,  not  that;   1  would  go  home  to-day. 
The  winds  blow  to  me  from  the  hills  of  sleep; 
The  fountains  play  upon  the  far-off  lands  of  home. 
Who  am  I?    Show  the  way.    I  fain  would  rest. 

Then  came  the  answer:  **  Thou  art  a  child  of  God; 
A  part  of  that  Divine  Intelligence 
That  evolved  harmony  from  chaos,  and 
Fashioned  the  universe  from  nothing. 

"A  prince  of  the  blood  royal; 

Thine  inheritance  immortality. 

Thy  name.  Spirit;   the  way  a  consciousness 

Of  thy  at-<mf-ment  with  the  Universal  Mind." 

Mary  Elizabeth  Lbasb. 


984  INTELLIGENCE. 


THE  SILENT  DOMAIN. 

The  frivolousness  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  laid  its  det 
ing  hand  on  some  of  our  richest  proverbs,  and,  when  it  suits  iti 
pose,  does  with  a  gem  of  human  wisdcmi  what  it  has  long  dom 
the  divinest  of  wisdom ;  i.e.,  rudely  pushes  it  aside  in  order  to  { 
its  own  way  in  bliss  which  is  the  direct  product  of  ignorance. 
"  Speech  is  silvern,  silence  is  golden  "  seemed  to  hold  some 
serious  meaning;  but  now  there  seems  no  significance  in  the  pr 
Still,  some  truth  must  remain  in  this  saying,  or  why  has  it 
False  things  never  live  longer  than  a  generation  or  two,  and  tl 
inevitably  approaches  when  the  dead  falsity  shall  lie  at  the  mc 
its  quondam  victims;  the  truth,  escaping,  reincarnates  itself  in 
thing  other,  less  false  perhaps,  and  lives  through  fire  and 
through  neglect  and  abuse,  through  obscuration  and  perversio 
one  generation  or  a  dozen,  but  forever.  Truth  has  value  for  all 
it  is  greater  than  the  conventionalities  of  any  age,  and  cann< 
Truth  is  of  God. 

So  it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  proverb  but  of  the  age  that  we  t 
stand  not  the  exceeding  wealth  of  silence.  One  important  i 
is  that,  in  the  strain  for  mere  existence  we  have  forgotten  h 
think.  It  is  not  often  that  one  can  luxuriously  meditate;  then 
few  avail  themselves  of  an  opportunity  when  it  offers,  and  man] 
lutely  refuse  to  think.  Meditation,  therefore,  has  become  a  lo 
It  requires  complete  silence,  while  this  is  an  age  of  noise  and  t 
of  traffic.  What  Butler  called  "  going  over  the  theory  of  ani 
in  one's  thoughts  and  drawing  fine  pictures  of  it "  is  not  thii 
It  is  useless  and  emasculating  reverie;  yet  many  people  m 
blank,  mental  wanderings  for  thought,  and  after  an  hour's  mej 
less  staring  at  faces  in  the  fire,  congratulate  themselves  on  the 
of  time  by  the  delusion  that  they  have  been  entertaining 
thoughts.  Meditation  is  not  the  fantastic  dreaming  of  things  I 
ful,  but  stem,  serious,  and  uncompromising  mental  applicati 


THE  SILENT  DOMAIN.  235 

hatsoever  things  we  have  in  hand.  A  far  different  thing,  that,  from 
ic  dream-pictures  we  so  often  allow  to  suiround  the  germ-thought, 
>  its  final  obscuration. 

Another  lost  art  which  requires  silence  for  its  perfecting  is  the 
urt  of  listening,  in  which  immediate  inward  silence  is  an  absolute 
lecessity.  If  we  would  have  the  power  of  hearing  sound-effects  in- 
wardly we  must  silence  all  else.  Matthew  Arnold  says  that  when  we 
walk  to  and  fro  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean  of  history,  "  we  ought  to 
listen  to  the  surges,  and  not  to  our  own  voices.''  But  too  satisfied 
are  we  with  our  own  voices,  too  easily  enchanted  with  the  insensate 
howling  of  the  multitude,  to  wait  with  anything  like  intentness  and 
patience  for  the  significant  voice,  wheresoever  it  may  be  heard,  that 
reveals  God.  Hearing  is  an  art,  and  few  can  hear  aright.  We  often 
mistake  echoes  for  voices,  and  the  smaller  voices  for  the  thunders 
of  a  God.  In  the  true  listening  attitude  God  himself  will  speak  to 
us.  Having  forgotten  how  to  think  or  listen,  we  feel  no  need  of 
the  silence;  and  it  remains  an  unexplored  domain.  To  advance  in 
the  process  of  a  genuine  and  complete  experience  we  must  learn  to 
listen  to  the  voice  that  lies  deepest  within  us.  Then  after  the  silence 
may  come  the  speech. 

There  is  little  "  speaking  to  the  age  out  of  eternity  "  to-day  be- 
ausc  we  speak  too  much  and  too  loudly,  and  cannot  hear  "  the  inner 
low  of  things."  The  man  who  speaks  aright  will  not  need  to  say 
nuch,  but  must  continually  repeat  yesterday's  message — so  slow  are 
ve  to  understand  the  prophetic  speech.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  the 
itrangc,  new,  lofty  idea  when  it  comes  to  you.  The  highest  thought, 
ike  the  highest  art,  is  always  intelligible  to  the  true  soul.  High 
bought  docs  not  mean  intricate  thought,  and  the  most  profound 
teaching  is  always  the  most  simple.  The  tone  of  our  teaching  should 
Qot  be  lowered,  but  our  prayers  should  glow.  It  is  inspiration,  not 
^planation,  we  need.  But  the  silence  must  come  first.  Learn  to 
dwell  in  the  silence.  It  is  in  the  silent,  solitary  depths  of  life  where 
the  thing  divine  in  the  poetry  we  have  read,  the  music  we  have  heard, 
the  pictures  we  have  seen,  the  scientific  fact  we  have  learned,  will 
^e  itself  known  and  delight  our  hearts.  Be  not  afraid  of  those 
silent  hours;  the  visionary  is  not  the  man  who  sees  visions,  but  he 


236  INTELLIGENCE. 

who  never  looks  for  their  immediate  incarnation.  When  "large 
imaginings  of  God  and  good  "  fill  your  soul,  look  around  you;  there 
is  sure  to  be  some  one  through  whom  those  imaginings  can  be  in- 
terpreted. Aim  to  develop  the  seeing  eye,  the  hearing  ear,  the  un- 
derstanding heart. 

Rev.  W.  Elsworth  Lawson. 


THE  DUALISM  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL. 

We  have  often  heard  it  said  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  draw  a 
definite  line  between  good  and  evil. 

Is  this  so?  Is  it  impossible  to  live  an  absolutely  sinless  life?  These 
are  questions  one  would  answer  affirmatively,  at  first  glance;  but  if 
the  answer  be  true,  then  man's  condition  and  destiny  are  in  a  des- 
picable plight.  If  man's  will  is  so  shackled  that  selfishness,  sensuous 
gratification,  the  sense  of  physical  comfort  and  pleasure,  forever  ] 
overwhelm  his  soul,  he  is  then  living  a  soulless,  animal  life;  his 
spirit  is  lost  in  the  body,  and  surely  man  can  never  hope  for  a  bodily 
immortality. 

Why  is  it,  then,  that  the  perfect  life  is  so  unattainable;  is  it  not 
because  we  do  not  realize  what  Love  is?    To  possess  Love  is  to  pos^ 
sess  the  Spirit;  no  man  has  the  Spirit  without  Love.    Love  is  not 
finite,  changeable,  divisible ;  for  to  be  of  Love  we  must  not  be  bouoA 
by  finite  desires.    Conceive  of  the  infinity  of  real  soul,  of  Spirit,  oi 
Love,  and  then  reflect  on  the  limits  of  our  possessions.    We  canii^ 
expect  to  have  the  perfect  soul  until  Love  enters  it ;  and  that  tak«* 
place  only  when  we  have  overcome  the  physical  cravings.    Some  <* 
us  show  no  more  soul  than  animals;  our  desire  for  selfish  comfortii 
our  ambition  for  power,  and  our  cleaving  to  finite  objects,  prove  orf^ 
that  we  are  as  finite  as  our  desires. 

Were  eternity  a  condition  in  Time  wherein  physical  objects  w^^ 
still  in  being,  we  should  be  justified,  perhaps,  in  carnally  desiring*  ^ 
common  with  the  rest  of  the  animal  world.  But  as  we  are  beings  ^ 
intellect,  soul,  and  spirit  (or  rather,  potential  spirit),  must  we 
see,  then,  that  the  hereafter,  as  far  as  finite  form  and  matter  are  c 


THE  DUALISM   OF  GOOD   AND   EVIL.  237 

cemed,  will  be  physically  void?  Man  has  the  only  intellect  in  nat- 
ure; why  does  he  not  pursue  the  perfect — summum  bonutn — which 
his  intelligence  sees?  It  is  not  an  ignis  fatuus;  it  is  imperishable.  All 
else  shall  pass  away,  but  Love  shall  never  fail. 

Man  can  be  tempted  only  in  three  ways:  the  desire  of  appetite, 
the  desire  of  applause,  and  the  desire  of  power;  and  these  are  not  ex- 
ternal temptations,  but  man  tempting  himself.  When  Paris  was 
offered  his  choice,  he  craved  the  apple  of  Venus  (Love) ;  so  Solomon 
selected  the  golden  apple  of  Minerva  (Wisdom),  and  Alexander  the 
fruit  of  Jimo  (Power).  They  all  fell;  Paris  never  rose  above  the 
physical  love;  Solomon's  wisdom  was  the  soujfce  of  the  vanity  that 
destroyed  his  soul,  and  Alexander's  ambition  killed  all  his  love  for 
man.  They  all  lived  for  material  aims,  and  in  achieving  a  higher, 
^tual  life — a  life  that  would  have  benefited  posterity — they  all 
failed. 

As  an  antithesis  to  this — ^for  we  are  all  at  some  time  given  the 
ame  opportunity — Christ  (if  you  will  pardon  the  figure)  chose  the 
golden  apple  Love;  but  as  it  touched  his  divine  hand,  it  became  in- 
deed a  new  Love.  He  loved  all  that  was  good,  both  physical  and 
sfiritual;  and  who  can  deny  that  his  life  lifted  mankind  higher  than 
even  the  dreams  of  any  other.  His  life,  as  a  material  benefit  to 
posterity,  was  most  surely  not  in  vain;  and  in  his  spiritual  incarnation, 
Ws  Perfection,  rests  the  only  hope  of  the  world. 

If  man  as  a  soul  expects  immortality,  he  must  not  allow  his  spirit 
to  die.  As  with  his  body,  so  with  his  soul :  it  requires  nourishment. 
Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone."  His  spirit  requires  the  exer- 
^  of  its  being — the  love  of  man.  Paul  surely  understood  Love, 
^  immortality,  its  imperishability,  its  greatness ;  but  did  he  per- 
^eits  infinity,  the  cleaving  of  the  infinite  to  the  infinite  alone?  If 
»*  dung  to  the  finite,  he  was  mortal ;  if  he  was  immortal,  he  was 
P^ect  in  Love. 

As  to  the  evil  (and  by  that  I  mean  physical  desires),  we  know  that 
^  future  life  cannot  have  it.  It  either  lives  in  good  (Love),  or  in 
^  dies  with  the  mortal  coil.  Were  it  in  our  power  to  take  the  course 
^  *  departed  soul,  were  it  in  the  being  of  that  spirit  to  possess  the 
"^om  of  Space — as  all  souls  must — it  would  be  but  a  condition 


M 


238  INTELLIGENCE. 

for  that  ego  to  traverse  the  universe,  reviewing  the  remote  pano- 
rama of  moving  gray  specks,  which  we  call  suns.  Yet  a  disembodied 
soul  has  no  eyes.  It  sees  only  spirit,  and  that  with  spirit.  Physically, 
all  would  be  eternal  darkness,  but  spiritually  (and  that  must  be  in 
Love)  all  is  deepest,  sweetest  feeling.  It  is  the  feeling  for  others,  the 
loss  of  self,  the  rapture  that  we  scarcely  understand,  this  is  what 
Love's  being  is;  and  eternity  in  such  a  state  is  all  but  Divinity. 

Thackeray  said,  "  Love  is  immeasurably  above  ambition,  more 
precious  than  wealth,  more  noble  than  name."  Thus  it  is  higher, 
greater,  and  beyond  each  of  the  three  temptations.  "  Life,"  as 
Goethe  so  practically  wrote,  "  outweighs  all  things,  if  Love  lies  with- 
in it."  "  Love  is  the  emblem  of  eternity,"  says  Madame  de  Stacl; 
"  it  confounds  all  notions  of  time,  effaces  all  memory  of  a  beginning, 
all  fear  of  an  end."  And  yet  some  have  said  that  Love  is  simply  a' 
feeling,  soul  but  a  thought,  hence  eternity  an  empty  nothing.  R^ 
garding  its  active  reality,  we  would  answer,  with  Dryden, 

"  Why,  Love  does  all  that's  noble  here  below." 

Infinity  hereafter  will  hold  little  that  is  finite.  To  "  die  "  is  simply 
an  annihilation  of  the  physical  for  that  soul.  Then,  too,  all  that  was 
created  must  ultimately  fade  away,  as  scientific  experience  is  daily 
demonstrating.  If  our  being  is  identical  with  that  of  an  animal— 
a  changeable,  finite  idea  passing  through  Time,  with  only  selfish  aims 
— ^it  will  die,  as  a  thing  purely  physical.  But  the  intellect  whidi 
man  possesses  was  given  for  something  greater  and  grander  than 
mortal  gratifications.  If  it  achieves  the  unchangeable  element  in 
Time — and  that  is  Love — it  cannot  die,  for  it  is  infinite.  Its  very 
sympathetic  throb  is  but  the  emanation  of  its  infinity. 

Eugene  A.  Skilton. 


O  believe,  as  thou  livest,  that  every  sound  that  is  spoken  over  the 
round  world,  which  thou  oughtest  to  hear,  will  vibrate  on  thine  ear. 
Every  proverb,  every  book,  every  by-word  that  belongs  to  thee  for  aid 
or  comfort  shall  surely  come  home  through  open  or  winding  passaged 
Every  friend  whom  not  thy  fantastic  will,  but  the  gjeat  and  tender  heart 
in  thee  craveth,  shall  lock  thee  in  his  embrace.  And  this,  because  the 
heart  in  thee  is  the  heart  of  all. — Emerson. 


THE  SOUL'S  ''  EDEN." 


(11.) 

The  Divine  Life,  in  the  course  of  its  upward  progress,  not  only 
takes  on  fresh  aspects,  but  joins  with  lines  of  Force  on  higher  and 
inner  planes.  Man*s  birthplace  is  both  the  above  and  the  below.  At 
the  stage  we  are  considering,  his  animal  self  has  felt  the  first  thrill  of 
contact  with  new  and  diviner  elements — the  principles  of  mind  and 
soul.  These  evolving  on  their  own  lines,  pari  passu  with  that  of  the 
animal,  reach  at  length  a  juncture-point  at  which  perfect  manifesta- 
tion of  the  soul  in  matter  becomes  possible.  The  animal  who  has 
bad,  hitherto,  but  one  standard  of  action  passes  on  to  become  the 
man  who  has  two — the  outworn  which  straightway  becomes  Evil, 
and  the  new  which  is  dictated  by  the  aspiration  to  a  higher  image. 
Then  begins  the  ceaseless  conflict  between  what  we  once  entirely 
were,  and  in  a  measure  still  are,  and  our  god-nature  which,  in  its 
present  unfoldings,  has  not  strength  enough  to  become  the  master. 

Man  is  a  compound  of  the  early  experiences  of  a  previous  stage 
lith  the  higher  impulses  of  the  present.  The  growing  organism 
carries  over  into  its  new  condition  a  store  of  elemental  forces  which 
are  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  synthesis  of  the  material  experi- 
ences through  which  he  has  been  passing.  At  the  arrival  of  the  hour 
when  he  becomes  something  more  than  an  aggregate  of  uncontrolled 
desire-forces,  the  full-grown  animal  has  to  discover  his  proper  rela- 
tionship to  the  incipient  god.  That  which  was  first  in  the  old  con- 
&ion  has  to  become  last  in  the  new.  Henceforth  man  becomes  the 
pwnt  at  which  two  lines  of  evolution  join.  He  is  vastly  more  than 
4c  simple  continuation  of  an  outgrown  stage.  The  lower  line  is 
Mnasclf,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  slowly-wrought  basis  upon  which  the 
true  man  is  now  to  start  his  life-journey — the  pedestal,  so  to  speak, 
^>pon  which  the  statue  is  to  be  fashioned  by  the  tireless  hands  of  great 
8nd  loving  Nature.    Nevertheless,  it  is  the  animal  only.    The  god- 

289 


240  INTELLIGENCE. 

hood  we  dimly  recognize  as  the  birthright  and  mainspring  of  human- 
ity is  not  of  it,  nor  ever  can  be.  Its  sovereignty  of  the  lower  kingdoms 
is  reached  at  the  point  in  evolution  when  it  inhabits  a  human  body^ 
and  performs  its  functions  through  the  complexities  of  a  human  brain. 

Still,  a  birth  in  human  shape  does  not  guarantee  the  possession 
of  a  balanced  human  nature.  Many  whom  the  world  calls  "  men  ** 
are  at  present  rounding  out  their  animal  stage  in  a  shape  in  which, 
to  all  appearance,  they  have  been  born  too  soon.  For  them  evil  is 
not  evil,  because  they  have  not  yet  been  aroused  to  the  possibilititt 
of  good.  The  sins  they  commit  are  sins  only  to  those  who  judge  ^ 
from  a  higher  standard.  They  are  thinking  animals,  in  whom  the 
link  is  yet  wanting  that  shall  bind  them  to  their  true  and  nobler  sdL 
But  its  birth  is  preparing.  By  the  very  heat  of  passion,  crime,  and 
self-will  they  are  forging  it — the  link  that  shall  one  day  join  them 
to  that  which,  at  present,  they  dream  not  they  are.  Evil  (as  ft 
understand  the  term)  is  the  grandest  educator  in  the  life  of  mafl. 
By  it  the  animal  learns  his  animalism.  He  realizes  painfully,  and  bjf 
a  long  process,  that  sin  implies  a  counterpart,  righteousness.  He 
gradually  comes  to  recognize  the  pressure  on  his  nascent  soul  of  great 
world-laws  whose  violation  prevents  his  further  advance,  and  thrusts 
him  further  back  into  the  conditio.n  from  which  he  half-consdously 
longs  to  free  himself.  He  learns  this  by  the  knowledge  innate  ill 
every  thinking  animal,  that  whatever  brings  about  suffering  brings 
about,  also,  the  end  and  purport  of  suffering — a  realization  of  the 
true  Self,  without  whose  co-operation  the  further  evolution  of  the  j 
animal  is  at  an  end. 

Strange! — to  uphold  as  an  educator  that  which  is  generally  ^^ 
garded  as  an  enemy  of  souls.  Can  we,  however,  in  reason,  deny  to 
the  sinner  his  place  among  the  learners  in  the  great  school  of  the 
world?  If  knowledge  is  to  be  gained  only  by  an  actual  becoffling; 
if  the  soul's  universal  cry  for  experience  demands  a  universal  answer, 
then  all  places  must  be  traversed,  be  they  foul  or  fair.  A  sad  and 
painful  training,  perhaps,  but  surely  not  unnecessary,  if  the  motive 
be  evolutionary. 

But  the  stage  that  more  particularly  concerns  ourselves  is  that 
in  which  the  soul  sins,  not  by  necessity  arising  from  ignorance,  bta* 


THE  SOUL'S  EDEN.  241 

from  choice.  There  is  probably  less  of  free-will  in  the  commission 
of  sin  than  our  theologians  would  have  us  believe ;  since  the  only 
free  man  is  he  who  is  no  longer  in  chains  to  desire — that  fruitful 
lourcc  of  all  wrong-doing.  Nevertheless,  if  there  be  many  who  cry, 
out  of  the  darkness  of  spiritual  infancy,  "  Evil,  be  thou  my  goodl " 
there  are  many  more  who  sin  in  the  light  of  a  clear  reason.  Such, 
[  repeat,  are  the  real  and  only  **  sinners,"  in  the  philosophical  sense 
Df  the  word,  for  such  have  reached  the  point  in  evolution  when  alone 
Bn  becomes  possible.  Their  Eden  of  irresponsibility  has  been  marred 
ind  lost  by  actions  which  marked,  at  once,  the  birth  of  an  incipient 
Eree-will,  and  the  loss  of  the  child-state  in  which  ignorance  and  in- 
nocence blended. 

Watch  the  affrighted  Adam  hiding  from  his  Maker  a  knowledge 
ntuch  only  disobedience  has  taught  him.  See  him — the  man  of  in- 
experience— ^aroused  from  his  state  of  spiritual  blindness  by  the  sud- 
den realization  of  the  existence  of  that  blindness;  learning  through 
lin  the  nakedness  of  his  untrained  soul,  and  its  deep,  pressing  need  for 
experience  in  matter.  Watch  his  first  faint  efforts  to  remedy  that 
^^palling  nakedness;  to  clothe,  as  it  were,  his  elementary  soul  by 
contact  with  the  matter  of  his  environment.  See  him  step  out  of 
^Dorance  into  responsibility;  and  ask  the  method  of  this  awakening? 
The  old  legend,  with  delightful  inconsistency,  makes  knowledge  the 
itward  of  "  Evil."  We  would  rather  see,  in  that  immemorial  allegory, 
the  first  awakening  of  the  animal  soul  to  the  existence  of  its  divine 
coanterpart — the  moment  when,  in  the  blaze  of  a  new  light  the  ani- 
mal saw  himself  to  be  but  animal,  and  straightway  translated  the 
responsibility  of  his  past  actions  into  terms  of  the  new  standard. 

A  sterner  word  is  here  called  for,  lest  some  be  misled  into  arguing 
tbt  because  evil  is  an  inevitable  and  educative  condition  of  the  soul's 
Qriy  life,  it  is  therefore  of  small  consequence  to  sin.  Be  not  deceived. 
^  reversal  of  Nature's  upward  processes  is  fraught  with  the  gravest 
consequences,  on  all  planes  of  the  soul's  life.  In  every  sin,  deliberate 
^d  unrcpcnted,  a  step  is  taken  toward  the  closed  door  of  animalism. 
Tlic  lower  self  has  by  this  time  so  far  assimilated  the  light  of  its  divine 
cocnteqjart  as  to  be  firmly  planted  on  the  road  to  immortality.  It 
^^ds  now  in  the  dignity  of  a  human  soul,  having  come  within  the 


242  INTELLIGENCE. 

shadow  of  the  heavenly  Psyche.  Sin  to  the  soul  that  has  entered 
under  the  higher  law  of  righteousness  is  nothing  short  of  a  violatioQ 
of  the  ground-principles  of  Being.  And  by  "  sin  "  I  am  not  here 
thinking  of  the  innumerable  falls  and  failures,  followed  by  as  man; 
upward  efforts,  which  mark  the  course  of  a  growing  soul ;  but  of  i 
line  of  conduct  which  has  for  its  only  aim  the  gratification  of  the 
purely  animal  man. 

The  penalty  of  long  and  uninterrupted  persistence  in  aninal 
conduct  can  be  nothing  less  than  a  slow  cutting  off  of  the  lower 
self  from  that  which  lends  it  its  humanity.     "  The  soul  that  sia* 
neth,  it  shall  die,"  is  a  literal  truth  that  may  not  be  escaped  bjf 
any  sophistry  of  criticism.     The  animal,  by  virtue  of  his  borrowed  I 
powers  of  mind  and  knowledge,  will  be  a  million  times  more  revoltiif  { 
in  his  retrograde  condition  than  before  he  had  entered  within  the] 
realm  of  reason.    Nevertheless,  so  great  is  the  power  of  will  in 
that  all  the  forces  in  Nature  cannot  bar  against  him  the  closed  doocj 
of  the  old  condition.    By  acting  according  to  the  laws  of  the  alid 
kingdom,  he  enters  again  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  binds  himsdij 
unto  a  slavery  the  more  terrible  because  it  is  the  result  of  misosel' 
freedom. 

Even  though  the  soul's  "  loss  "  be  measured  but  by  a  cycle;  cvtl^ 
though  ".death,"  ultimate  and  eternal,  be  an  impossibility  in  a  Uni*' 
verse  of  Life;  no  distant  confidence  of  restoration  can  remove  tta! 
terror  of  darkness  and  separation,  both  now  and  through  an  age-lOQg 
future,  for  the  man  who  will  not  be  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  higbtf 
kingdom.  How  perverted  that  god-power  in  man  which  urges  hhi! 
to  fly  in  the  face  of  laws  by  which  the  very  Universe  is  steered!  Hot' 
daring  the  impiety — how  significant  the  inverted  grandeur  of 
will  which  prompts  the  animal  to  use  his  borrowed  powers  for  th^^ 
destruction  of  that  which  the  whole  course  of  Nature  has  conspire^ 
to  evolve!  Nevertheless,  the  longest  cycle  has  its  limits;  and  in  tfci* 
new  Dawn  the  God  conquers. 

In  all  the  deep  mystery  of  the  evolution  of  the  dual  souls  in 
the  question  of  questions  still  remains  untouched.     Of  what  use 
the  animal  behavior  of  human  beings,  commonly  known  as  "  Evil 
Will  the  outcome  of  this  clash  of  opposing  forces  justify,  in  the  ci 


At  ^ 


THE  SOUL'S  EDEN.  243 

ts  strange  and  troublous  existence?    In  other  words,  has  Evil  a  use 
D  the  economy  of  soul-growth? 

I  am  optimist  enough  to  affirm,  in  the  face  of  modern  Agnosti- 
ism,  that  it  has.    If  we  would  hold  to  the  existence  of  Order  and 
Design  as  an  earnest  of  some  "  far-off,  divine  event "  to  which  both 
past  and  present  alike  are  leading  us,  there  is  nothing  in  the  world's 
condition  to-day  that  need  shake,  for  an  instant,  our  firm  and  philo- 
Mphic  trust.    Evil,  to  be  even  dimly  understood,  must  be  viewed 
from  a  standpoint  from  which  the  universe  is  contemplated.    What 
ire  countless  seons  in  the  life-experiences  of  that  which  "  inhabiteth 
Eternity  "  ?    The  animal  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  steps  by  which  the 
Imman  soul  mounts  unto  the  Divine.    Plato's  Psyche  has  to  take  pos- 
tcsaon  of  an  alien  land,  and  to  master  conditions  foreign  to  her  true 
nature.    She  who  is  ruler  in  her  own  sphere  must  undertake  the  in- 
finitely harder  task  of  wresting  from  an  alien  and  an  enemy  the  su- 
premacy of  ages.    She  has  a  great  mission  in  matter: — not  only  to 
acquire  for  herself  additional  wisdom  by  association,  under  the  law  of 
Cause  and  Effect,  with  the  range  of  passion-forces  that  rule  the  mo- 
lecular plane;   but,  chiefly,  to  transmute  the  baser  material  of  the 
animal  into  the  gold  of  the  spiritual  nature.    Neither  of  these  aims 
is  possible  without  a  close  union  of  the  two  alien  elements.    Small 
wonder,  then,  that  the  Soul  now  and  then  forgets  her  identity,  and  is 
led  far  astray  by  the  superior  force  of  the  animal  king.    He  who  for 
ages  has  ruled  the  body  will  not  abdicate  without  a  mighty  struggle. 
Bat  the  contest  works  for  good,  notwithstanding.    Psyche,  strong  on 
ker  own  plane,  is  weak  and  unwise  when  in  contact  with  a  foreign 
dement.    She  needs,  therefore,  the  sturdy  self-assertiveness  of  the 
ttumal  principle  to  carry  her  through  the  troublous  waves  of  material 
tristencc.    She  needs  it  as  the  weapon  with  which  she  is  eventually 
to  conquer  matter.    Nevertheless,  the  conqueror  has  first  to  be  the 
conquered,  if  she  would  learn  her  strength  and  the  strength  of  her 
opponent. 

At  the  present  stage  of  evolution  the  struggle  is  unequal.  But 
^0  dare  say  that,  in  thus  temporarily  associating  herself  with 
^ne  animal  basis,  even  to  the  forgetting  of  her  true,  divine  nature, 
*°^  w  not  learning  matter  in  the  only  way  consistent  with  the  law 


244  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  evolution  by  experience — the  only  way,  in  short,  by  which  mai 
can  be  learned? 

It  is  curious,  in  viewing  the  motions  of  Divinity  throughout 
world,  to  notice  Nature's  abhorrence  of  hard,  unbroken  lines, 
where  do  we  see  the  various  divisions  separated  by  a  clear-cut 
"  Pass  not."    The  edge  is  softly  blurred  by  the  blending  of  the 
stage  with  the  new.    Revolutions  which  shake  the  old  and  the 
worn  to  their  very  foundations  are  always  presaged  by  a 
preparing.    The  future  is  "  writ  large  "  in  the  signs  of  the  times 
those  who  have  eyes  to  see.     Nothing  is  sudden;   nothing 
pared.    Even  the  mightiest  physical  upheavals  have  given  their 
and  ominous  warnings.    So  with  the  growth  of  the  human  souL 
it  be  argued  that  Evil  is  very  far  from  being  an  outgrown  ele 
since  it  is  still  rampant  in  the  human  heart,  I  can  but  point  to 
unvarying  rule  in  Nature.    Everywhere  stages  overlap.    Spring 
not  leap,  in  all  the  charm  of  gracious  air  and  opening  leaf,  direct 
the  bosom  of  winter.     Her  advent  is  marked  by  a  slow  decline 
severity — a  gradual  stir  of  dawning  life.    So  the  animal-human 
may  yet,  for  many  ages  to  come — for  Nature's  cycles  are  drawn 
an  enormous  radius — ^blend,  in  unequal  contest,  the  previous  and 
present  stages  of  the  Soul's  unending  life.    He  has  no  right  to 
title  "  man  "  in  whom  the  lower  reigns  an  unchecked  thing, 
in  how  many  of  our  race  to-day  is  it  under  complete  control?    Yet 
hour  of  its  downfall  is  approaching.    The  old  dies  hard,  but  it  di< 
exceeding  sure.    As  certainly  as  spring  succeeds  to  winter,  will 
true  man  pass  from  the  stage  of  thinking  animal  to  that  in  which 
"  Thinker  "  reigns  supreme. 

Ours  it  is  to  further  the  dawn  of  that  glad  day  by  the  active 
ization,  in  our  own  lives,  of  this  deep  philosophy.  We  who  kn 
that  we  are  no  longer  animals,  though  we  once  were  such ;  we 
glory  in  a  noble  scheme  of  existence  whose  mainspring  and  basis  i 
spiritual  Evolution:  we  are  to  quicken  the  revolution  of  the  Gr 
Wheel  whose  turns  bring  life  and  death;  the  growth  of  the  animal,! 
and  the  "  fall "  of  the  learning  god.  For  cycles  have  their  root  in 
human  consciousness  and  human  behavior.  Are  we,  in  a  great  meast 
ure,  bound  by  their  inexorable  limits? — our  Spirit  it  is  that  has  fixed 


THE    PATH.  246 

our  Spirit  alone  that  can  over-step  their  bounds.  For  the 
man  is  one  with  the  Will  of  the  Cosmos,  though  limited  by 
al  environment,  self-made;  nevertheless,  the  limitation  is  for 
Iment  of  a  wise  purpose,  which,  on  the  passing  of  the  condi- 
II  become  manifest. 

us,  too,  in  our  eagerness  to  flee  evil  behavior  and  conversa- 
ware  how  we  judge  those  for  whom,  perchance,  the  wheel  of 
evolution  turns  but  slowly.  In  very  truth,  none  save  those 
yes  are  opened  can  tell  of  his  fellows  who  is  a  "  sinner,"  in 
,  philosophical  sense,  and  who  is  not.  Down  the  ages  comes 
tome  of  uttered  mercy,  and  deep-seeing  wisdom,  "  Judge 
and  2,000  years,  it  seems,  has  not  been  enough  for  man  to 
wide,  philosophic  import.  Let  us  realize  that,  from  a  larger 
sinner^s  sin  may  become  a  sinner's  good;  and,  carrying  our 
ge  into  action,  take  a  further  step  toward  the  ideal  Brother- 
it  is  to  persist  through  the  Eternities. 

Charlotte  Emma  Woods. 


THE  PATH. 

From  God  we  are  and  unto  God  return, 

As  through  successive  births  and  deaths  we  go; 
From  sorrow,  pain,  and  suffering  we  learn. 

In  wisdom,  love,  and  helpfulness  we  grow. 

Upon  an  endless  ladder  mounting  slow. 
Forever  to  the  better  we  ascend; 

Till,  leaving  all  unworthy  us  below. 
At  last  into  the  life  divine  we  blend. 

A  thousand  lives  and  deaths — the  days  and  nights 
Of  being — pass  we  in  our  onward  way; 

Until  we  see,  beyond  the  farthest  heights, 
The  sweeter  dawning  of  the  perfect  day. 

Where  love  is  light;  where  beauty,  truth,  and  good 

Arc  endless,  boundless — the  Beatitude. 

J.  A.  Edgerton. 


246  INTELLIGENCE. 


m 

t 

THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  fcbi 

(in.) 

THE   GHOSTS'   CLUB. 

"  Good  morning,  my  vapory  friend.    You  look  as  if  the  windafl^ 
noyed  you." 

"  It  does.    I  always  disliked  an  energetic  wind.    The  lake  is  ^ 
rough  and  the  waves  run  so  high  you've  no  idea  what  a  time  I  ha^ 
had  1    Lake  Michigan  is  treacherous.    Last  night  when  I  took  tti^ 
steamer  to  go  across,  there  was  hardly  a  ripple  to  be  seen;  and  d*^ 
lake  was  as  calm  and  untroubled  as  an  inland  pool  so  surrounded  \Jff 
woods  that  the  wind  can  scarce  ruffle  its  surface.    Now  you  sec  thoP^ 
billows  as  high  as  a  roof;  and  when  a  big  wave  dashes  over  the  end 
a  pier,  see  the  white  spray  rise  forty  feet  into  the  air  1    I  don't  see  hoir  ^ 
ever  lived  to  get  through  it!  " 

"  Where  did  you  come  from?  " 

"  I  hardly  know  myself.  I  remember  jumping  off  of  the  steameT 
after  we  were  out  of  sight  of  Chicago,  and  starting  for  the  bottom  rf 
the  lake.  Then  I  don't  know  exactly  what  did  happen — ^but  I  have 
been  hours  trying  to  get  back  on  shore." 

"  So  you  are  a  Chicago  man,  and  left  your  body  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  lake,  did  you?  " 

"  I  suppose  so.    I  don't  seem  to  have  it  with  me." 

"  That  is  unfortunate.  It  will  be  so  much  trouble  to  find  it.  Yott 
don't  look  like  a  sailor.  How  came  you  to  cross  to  the  Empire  of  the 
Invisibles  by  means  of  water?  " 

"  I  always  had  a  great  deal  of  curiosity  to  know  if  a  person  really 
did  live  his  life  over  again  while  he  was  drowning.  The  more  I  re- 
flected upon  the  matter,  the  more  insatiable  grew  my  curiosity.  At 
last  I  determined  to  satisfy  it." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  curiosity  alone  brought  you  over 
here?  " 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  247 

;  course  there  were  other  reasons  that  had  some  influence.  The 
where  I  had  spent  the  best  years  of  my  life,  decided  to  do 
my  services  because  my  views  on  certain  questions  qf  the  day 
fully  harmonize  with  those  of  the  officials.  My  tastes  are 
but  it  takes  a  certain  amount  of  money  to  buy  food  and  chem- 
id  pay  rent  and  gas-bills^ and  coal-bills;  and  when  a  person  has 
ely  no  cash,  and  no  means  of  obtaining  any,  as  life  on  earth  is 
id  at  the  present  time,  a  man  is  much  better  off  out  of  the 
ban  in  it." 

hat  may  be  true.  But  how  is  a  man  to  get  out  of  the  world? 
a  question  which  I  should  like  to  have  answered.  You  have 
ut  you  are  still  here!  You  have  merely  got  rid  of  your  body — 
n  many  respects  is  a  great  convenience  to  have." 
am  quite  willing  to  try  life  without  it  for  a  while,  although  I 
:knowledge  that  I  expected  something  different  from  this.  I 
inderstand  what  has  happened  to  me.  I  feel  so  light  and 
.  I  had  no  trouble  at  all  to  walk  on  the  water.  As  for  you, 
►k  as  much  like  a  piece  of  animated  fog  as  anything  of  which  I 
ik.  What  have  you  done  with  your  body?  " 
tried  the  same  experiment  you  did — several  years  ago;  that  is, 
to  get  out  of  the  world." 

idecd !  do  you  mean  to  say  you  have  been  living  in  this  vapory 
Dn,  for  several  years?  I  should  think  you  would  have  blown  to 
ong  ago." 

hat  would  be  impossible.  Wind  is  nothing  but  air  in  motion 
1  will  find  that  it  cannot  affect  you,  unless  you  choose  to  let  it. 
in  its  ordinary  form  has  no  power  over  us — which  is  sometimes 
intage.  But  we  have  no  power  over  matter,  which  is  often  a 
tntage.  This  is  the  first  lesson  ghosts  have  to  learn." 
nd  is  experience  the  teacher?  " 

ertainly— experience  is  the  best  teacher  in  the  universe.  Some 
d  ghosts  will  learn  in  no  other  school." 

ow,  it  really  seems  to  me  that  a  wind  traveling  at  the  rate  of 
miles  an  hour,  as  this  one  surely  is,  would  have  power  enough  to 
nythine:  as  thin  and  unsubstantial  as  we  are  to  the  North  Pole. 


248  INTELLIGENCE. 

I  don't  know  that  I  should  object  to  the  trip.   I  would  really  like  to  sec 
how  it  looks  up  there." 

"  You  will  have  to  talk  with  No.  209,  over  at  the  club.  He  has  been 
thinking  of  joining  some  of  the  Arctic  expeditions.  You  might  go 
together." 

"  Who  is  No.  209?  " 

''  Oh,  he's  a  ghost  that  came  over  a  few  months  ago.  I'm  not 
much  acquainted  with  him.  He's  a  great  traveler — ^always  was  before 
he  came  to  Shadowland." 

"Shadowland!    Where  is  that?  " 

**  Everywhere!  We  ghosts  call  the  region  we  inhabit  '  Shadow- 
land,'  although  we  are  not  so  substantial  as  a  shadow,  for  ordinary 
people  can  see  shadows,  but  they  can't  see  us." 

"  Are  you  sure  people  cannot  see  us?  " 

**  Certainly.  Walk  down  State  Street  any  afternoon  when  it  is 
crowded,  and  you  can  convince  yourself  of  that  fact.  Nobody  will 
know  you  are  there.  People  will  walk  right  through  you,  unless  you 
dodge." 

**  Extraordinary! — most  extraordinary!  I  shall  try  that  experi- 
ment at  the  first  opportunity!  I  should  think  the  other  people  would 
dodge.  A  person  has  such  a  peculiar  appearance  when  he  walks  about 
without  his  body.    Do  all  ghosts  look  like  animated  fog?  " 

"  That  is  altogether  according  to  circumstances.  If  we  had  known 
each  other  while  on  earth,  we  should  see  each  other  now  as  we  looked 
then.  Meeting  as  strangers,  we  have  no  preconceived  ideas  as  to  each 
other's  personal  appearance  and  so  we  see  ourselves  as  we  arc.  Or, 
rather,  we  look  to  each  other  as  we  have  always  imagined  that  a  ghost 
would  look." 

"  Extraordinary!  Most  extraordinary!  I  don't  understand  it 
Do  you?"  ^  •    1  ' 

"  Oh,  there  are  theories — plenty  of  them!  Shadowland  is  fall  of 
theories;  but  they  are  not  always  satisfactory.'* 

"  There  is  another  ghost  coming  down  the  pier!  " 

*'  Yes;  that  is  No.  14.    He  is  fond  of  the  water  and  has  come  to 
lieve  me." 

"  Relieve  you?   What  do  you  mean?  " 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  249 

"  We  ghosts  who  like  the  water  intend  to  keep  watch  of  the  river 
and  harbor  so  as  to  greet  the  new  ghosts  when  they  come.  When  I 
came  to  Shadowland  there  was  no  one  to  meet  me  and  I  found  it 
decidedly  lonesome,  wandering  around  alone  and  finding  out  every- 
thing for  myself." 

"What  an  ancient  piece  of  fog!  He  looks  old  enough  to  be  the 
grandfather  of  ghosts! " 

"  He  is  the  oldest  Chicago  ghost.  There  were  a  few  before  him, 
but  they  have  died  off." 

"  Ghosts — die!    I  don't  understand  you!  " 

But  before  a  reply  was  made  the  old  ghost  had  joined  the  others. 

"  No.  14,  permit  me  to  introduce  the  latest  arrival  in  Shadowland," 

The  gray  old  ghost  extended  a  ghostly  hand  which  the  new  ghost 
grasped  as  cordially  as  a  ghost  could. 

"  How  do  you  like  the  change?  " 

"  I  hardly  know.    It  isn't  what  I  expected." 

"  That  is  what  they  all  say.  I've  asked  every  one.  They  all  say  it 
isn't  what  they  expected." 

"  How  long  have  you  lived  in  Shadowland?  " 

"  Forty  years  next  month." 

"  How  do  you  like  it?  " 

"  Too  monotonous.  I'll  be  glad  when  the  call  comes  to  move  on. 
Pve  stayed  here  as  long  as  I  care  to,  but  you  will  probably  find  many 
things  to  interest  you." 

"  Where  are  you  going  to  next?  " 

"That  is  what  we  should  all  like  to  know.  When  you  find  out, 
josttell  me!   The  sail-boats  all  came  in  hours  ago,  I  suppose?  " 

"None  have  been  out  to-day,  the  wind  was  so  high.  A  tug 
steamed  out  to  the  crib  with  supplies,  but  there  has  been  very  little  stir 
on  the  lake — except  the  wind  and  the  waves.  The  white  caps  have 
M  things  their  own  way." 

"No  chance  to  get  out  to  the  light-house,  then?  " 
"  Not  unless  you  walk.    I  think  I  shall  go  to  the  Court  House.  I'm 
^xious  to  hear  how  a  certain  case  went  this  morning.     No.  14  will 
fcep  watch  now.    Would  you  like  to  accompany  me  and  be  intro- 
lacedtotheQub?" 


250  INTELLIGENCE. 

"  If  that  is  the  proper  thing  to  do,  of  course  I'd  like  to  do 
I  shouldn't  be  in  the  least  surprised  if  the  wind  should  blow  i 
this  pier  into  the  lake." 

"  No  harm  done  if  it  should;  you  could  walk  ashore.  But 
Don't  give  way  to  your  fears;  walk  fast  and  you  will  be  i 
There  is  no  need  of  letting  the  wind  influence  you." 

"  This  pier  is  so  long !  I  wonder  if  we  couldn't  sit  dom 
where  a  few  minutes.    I  believe  I  am  tired." 

"  Nonsense!  that  is  all  imagination!  There  is  nothing  at 
to  get  tired!  You  have  no  muscles  to  need  relaxation,  no  r 
need  rest." 

"  But  I  was  blown  about  the  lake  so  long!  It  was  hours 
could  get  ashore.  I  know  I'm  tired.  The  wonder  is  thai 
through  it  all!" 

"  Very  well,  we  will  sit  down  on  a  vacant  seat  at  the  dc 
you  have  overcome  the  illusion.  Your  weariness  is  a  good  lUi 
of  the  power  of  imagfination.  If  you  were  wearing  a  body, 
been  blown  all  over  the  lake,  your  body  would  be  exhaustc 
need  of  rest.  But  we  ghosts  can  keep  going  the  whole  twi 
hours  without  any  danger  of  wearing  out  the  machinery  of  c 
No.  196  practises  ghost-gymnastics  the  most  of  his  time.  H< 
only  walk  on  water  and  penetrate  walls,  but  he  is  taking  lesso 
Experimenter  to  learn  to  sit  on  nothing." 
Sit  on  nothing t  " 

Well,  on  air,  then.  I  suppose  air  is  something.  They 
a  man  of  average  size  sustains  an  external  pressure  of  aboi 
tons." 

"  Sit  on  air?  " 

"  It  amounts  to  the  same  thing.  The  Experimenter  says 
of  will-power,  and  force  of  earth-habit  is  all  that  prevents  tl 
us  ghosts  from  learning  to  sit  on  nothing  whenever  we  plea9< 

"Extraordinary!  Most  extraordinary!  I  don't  undci 
Do  you?  " 

"  Theoretically,  I  ought  to  be  able  to  sit  on  the  point  of  1 
practically  I  feel  as  if  it  pricked  me.  Of  course  it  doesn't- 
feeling  makes  me  uncomfortable.    I  prefer  a  chair." 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  251 

'•  To  sit  on  air  is  unearthly.  I  can  feel  a  chill  run  down  my  spinal- 
column." 

"  Another  illustration  of  the  force  of  habit,  as  you  have  no  spinal- 
column  for  a  chill  to  run  down." 

"  What  you  tell  me  is  all  so  very  extraordinary !  " 

"  The  Occultist  says  we  ought  to  be  able  to  walk  through  the  air  or 
go  to  the  moon  if  we  want  to.  He  says  we  are  nothing  but  visible 
thoughts — ^visible  to  each  other  though  not  to  the  inhabitants  of  earth 
—and  we  ought  to  be  able  to  go  wherever  our  thoughts  go.  If  you 
have  overcome  the  illusion  of  weariness  we  will  walk  on.  Look  out, 
or  you  will  be  stumbled  over!  Remember  these  people  don't  see  us 
and  we  must  do  the  dodging! " 

"What  a  long  bridge  this  is!  I  never  crossed  it  before,  as  many 
years  as  I  have  lived  in  Chicago.  There  is  such  a  pretty  view  of  the 
basin,  the  sail-boats  and  the  lake.  But  it  is  not  so  pleasant  to  look 
down  at  the  trains  of  cars  passing  underneath.  I  don't  like  to  walk 
directly  over  a  smoking  engine  even  if  I  am  a  ghost." 

"  It  will  be  gone  by  the  time  we  reach  there." 

"  What  a  long  train !  Are  there  always  so  many  people  on  this 
bridge?    And  are  they  always  in  a  hurry?    How  they  crowd  to  get 

mr 

"There  is  more  room  in  the  street.  Here  we  are!  Don't  run  in 
front  of  that  cable-car!    The  conductor  can't  see  you." 

"  What  would  happen  if  it  should  run  over  me?  " 

"Oh,  nothing  serious!  You  would  have  to  pick  yourself  up  and 
P«t  yourself  together  again — that  is  all.  But  it  is  not  a  pleasant  ex- 
prtcnce,  so  it  is  as  well  to  avoid  it,  when  you  can." 

"How  good  those  peaches  and  bananas  look!  If  I  only  had 
*omc  money!" 

"What  would  you  dp  with  it?  You  couldn't  lift  an  ounce  of  it,  if 
y?a  had  a  ton  of  gold.  You  couldn't  eat  a  peach  if  you  had  a  hundred 
bushels." 

"  It  really  seems  to  me  that  I  am  hungry." 

"  An  illusion  which  will  soon  wear  off.  Ghosts  have  no  use  for 
*ood.  Yonder  is  the  Court-house.  And  there  is  the  Experimenter 
*Wng  on  that  low  cloud  that  hangs  just  over  the  street.    He  says  he 


252  INTELLIGENCE. 

is  going  to  learn  to  ride  the  wind,  and  I  presume  he  will.  1 1 
would  come  down.  I  would  ask  him  to  keep  a  look  out  for  you 
It  is  easier  for  him  than  for  any  of  the  others,  because  he  cat 
the  clouds  when  they  drift  over  the  lake.  I  am  always  afraid 
fall  through  and  therefore  I  do." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  pass  between  these  immense  flying-doc 

"  Wait  until  somebody  swings  one  open,  then  step  in  1 
Keep  to  the  side  of  the  hall  or  you  will  be  walked  over.  There 
did  I  tell  you!" 

**  But  he'd  no  business  to  walk  through  me  like  that!  '. 
gentlemanly!    Where  am  I,  anyway?  " 

"  Oh,  you  are  all  here!  Gather  yourself  up,  and  you  wil 
right.  It  isn't  every  ghost  that  has  the  honor  of  being  walked  tl 
by  the  Mayor." 

''  Was  that  the  Mayor?  " 

**  Yes;  with  an  alderman  on  one  side  of  him  and  a  lawyer 
other.  These  Court-house  corridors  are  thick  with  lawyers, 
men  and  city-officials  of  all  sorts." 

"  He's  very  impolite,  if  he  is  the  Mayor." 

**  He  couldn't  see  you.  The  first  time  I  came  into  this  coi 
policeman  with  a  lighted,  cigar  stepped  right  through  me. 
frightened.  I  didn't  know  but  I  should  burn  up  or  explode,  1 
other  gaseous  substance.  I  was  so  startled  that  before  I  could 
myself  together  and  get  out  of  the  way,  another  and  a  fatter  pel 
walked  over  me.  We  ghosts  have  to  learn  to  be  expert  dodger 
have  all  the  dodging  to  do.  Shall  we  take  an  elevator,  or  shall  i 
up  the  stairs?  " 

"  The  elevator  by  all  means  I  should  say.  Are  there  an) 
tions?  " 

"  It  is  usually  crowded,  and  it  sometimes  requires  consi 
expertness  to  slip  in  behind  other  people  without  getting  ca 
the  door.  If  the  elevator  boys  could  see  us,  I  am  sure  they  w 
more  accommodating.  The  stairs  are  usually  empty,  so  there  i 
of  room.  It  takes  longer  to  walk,  and  if  one  doesn't  know  wh 
with  his  time  that  is  an  object.  Watch  your  chance  and  slip  in 
that  fat  man.    There  you  are!    Don't  try  to  sit  down,  for  thqi 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  263 

sure  to  sit  on  you  if  you  do.  Here  we  are  at  the  top  floor  without  any 
disagreeable  accidents.  Oh,  you  will  soon  learn  to  accommodate 
yourself  to  the  exigencies  of  ghost-life." 

"  That  fat  woman  poked  her  umbrella  directly  through  my  ribs!  I 
should  think  I  would  bleed !  They  crowded  me  so  my  internal  organs 
feel  as  if  they  were  squeezed  out  of  place.  I'll  try  the  stairs  next  time. 
People  arc  so  unaccommodating.  They  don't  give  us  the  ghost  of  a 
chance." 

"  The  visibles  are  inconsiderate.  They  seem  to  think  there  is  no 
one  in  the  world  but  themselves.  I  sometimes  feel  as  though,  if  I  had 
a  body  to  fight  with,  I  should  like  to  fight.  But  here  we  are  at  last. 
These  long  corridors  and  vacant  halls  are  the  headquarters,  the  club- 
rooms,  of  Ghosts'  Club  No.  i  of  Shadowland.  Here  is  where  all  our 
ghosts  congregate  when  they  have  nothing  more  interesting  on  hand. 
There  is  No.  203,  the  Showman.  It  is  his  delight  to  take  a  new  ghost 
around  and  introduce  him,  so  I  will  deliver  you  into  his  charge.  I'm 
anxious  to  see  how  that  law-case  was  decided." 
"  Why  didn't  you  ask  No.  14?  " 

"  He  wouldn't  know.  He  takes  no  interest  in  law-cases — can't 
even  get  him  inside  of  a  court-room.  No.  203,  this  is  a  late  arrival  by 
the  way  of  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  I  think  he  would  like  to  see  the 
Philosopher,  and  the  Optimist,  and  the  Pessimist,  and  the  Scientist — 
he  is  fond  of  experiments  himself." 

"They  are  all  here — except  the  Experimenter.  I  haven't  seen 
Wni  for  an  hour  or  two." 

"  He's  out  viewing  the  city  from  a  cloud.  We  could  signal  him 
"Om  the  roof,  but  it  isn't  wise  for  a  new  arrival  to  be  in  too  much  haste 
about  seeing  everybody.    There  will  be  plenty  of  time." 

"  Yes;  there  is  plenty  of  time,  and  no  way  to  kill  it !  "  groaned  the 
Pessimist.     "  Time  is  the  one  thing  of  which  we  have  a  super- 
abundance in  Shadowland.    How  do  you  like  it  over  here?  " 
"  I  hardly  know  yet." 

*  A  dull  life,  insufferably  dull!  No  sensations,  nothing  to  eat, 
^nnk,  or  wear;  nothing  to  excite  or  interest  one.  I  don't  see  why 
^*e  can't  die  and  be  done  with  it !  The  Experimenter,  with  all  his  wis- 
^^m, hasn't  found  out  how  a  ghost  can  commit  suicide!  " 


264  INTELLIGENCE. 

''But  we  are  dead!" 

"  No;  folks  think  they  can  kill  themselves — ^but  they  can't.  They 
can  only  turn  themselves  into  ghosts,"  was  the  Pessimist's  reply. 

"  The  dark  waters  of  the  river  of  death,"  remarked  the  poet, "  sep- 
arate the  known  from  the  unknown,  the  seen  from  the  tmseen.  It  is 
not  in  the  power  of  man  to  enter  the  next  world  tmstunmoned  Wc 
can  desert  from  our  post  on  earth,  and  leave  our  bodies  uninhabited 
and  subject  to  decay,  but  we  are  unable  to  open  the  doofs  of  the  ncit 
world.  The  universe  is  not  so  loosely  hung  together  that  we  in  our 
puny  childlike  anger  can  disarrange  its  mechanism  and  force  ourselves 
where  we  do  not  belong.  It  is  not  in  our  power  to  enter  another  lite 
uncalled  before  our  place  is  prepared  for  us  and  our  work  ready.  This 
is  the  half-way  house,  where  we  must  wait  for  the  Death  Angel  to 
come  and  turn  the  key  which  unlocks  the  gates  that  inclose  the  In- 
visible Empire." 

"  I  never  felt  quite  sure  whether  death  meant  annihilation  or  the 
beginning  of  a  new  existence.  But  of  course  Shadowland  solves  that 
problem,"  said  the  new  arrival. 

"  Hardly,"  replied  the  Poet.  "  We  have  simply  learned  that  we 
cannot  die  until  death  calls  us.  All  our  efforts  to  escape — ^whether 
we  consider  existence  a  blessing  or  a  curse — ^are  in  vain.  Life  is  a 
school  from  which  no  pupil  is  excused  until  death  calls  the  roll.  The 
doors  of  the  next  world  are  locked  against  us.  On  earth  we  said  that 
death  waits  for  no  man;  here  we  find  that  men  are  compelled  to  wait 
for  death." 

"  You  see,"  explained  the  Pessimist,  "  we  don't  die  up  here  until, 
if  we  hadn't  killed  ourselves,  we  should  have  died  a  natural  death  on 
earth.    I  was  talking  with  a  ghost  once  when  he  disappeared  in  the 
middle  of  my  sentence.     It  must  have  been  that  that  ghost  would 
have  died  a  sudden  death  on  earth.    I  have  often  wondered  what  i^ 


was." 


''Couldn't  you  find  out?" 
"  No." 


Then  don't  you  know  what  becomes  of  us  ghosts  when  we  rea 
die?" 

"  We  have  plenty  of  theories — but  nobody  can  prove  them." 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  255 

*'  What  are  we  here  for?  " 

"  That  is  an  absolute  mystery,  which  no  man  or  ghost  has  yet 
»lved — to  the  satisfaction  of  other  men  and  ghosts/' 

**  Surely  we  have  learned  one  thing.  We  know  that  death  is  not 
ic  end/' 

*'  It  looks  that  way  to  some  of  us.  But  we  had  a  scientist  here  once 
rbo  said  that  this  ghostly  existence  was  no  proof  whatever  of  a  future 
ifc.  The  next  time  we  died,  it  would  be  the  end  of  us.  He  was  the 
DOSt  unhappy  ghost  we  ever  had.  He  numbered,  ticketed,  and  classi- 
led  us  all  during  the  first  week,  and  after  that  he  couldn't  find  any- 
Ung  else  to  do." 

"  Not  an  uncommon  complaint  in  Shadowland,"  interpolated  a 
lew-comer.  "  I'm  afflicted  that  way  myself.  I've  seen  all  the  sights; 
low  what  is  there  to  do?  I'm  not  a  poet,  or  a  philosopher,  or  a  scien- 
ist;  and  I  never  did  like  to  read.  I'm  just  a  common,  ordinary  man, 
irith  no  scholarly  tastes;  and  what  I  am  to  do  with  myself  in  this 
place  where  there  is  no  eating  or  drinking  to  be  done,  no  cards  to 
pby,  and  no  money  to  be  made,  is  more  than  I  can  tell.  What 
do  you  do  with  yourselves — ^you  fellows  who  are  not  faddists 
or  specialists?" 

"  I  know  how  to  sympathize  with  you,"  added  the  Waiter.    "  Last 
month  I  watched  the  crowds  taking  their  meals  at  restaurants  and 
hotds;  and  last  week  I  went  to  all  the  big  dinners  I  could  hear  of, 
Ahcr  public  or  private.    But  it  grows  insufferably  dull  to  see  other 
people  eat  when  a  man  can't  eat  a  mouthful  himself.    I've  taken  to 
^ting  the  clothing-stores  to  see  the  men  and  boys  get  their  new 
»its;  and  to  watching  people  buy  furniture,  and  groceries,  and  dress- 
goods  at  the  big  stores,  such  as  my  wife  was  always  wanting  for  herself 
Jnd  the  children.    You  see,  I  had  such  a  big  family  to  support,  and  we 
were  always  needing  things,  and  the  money  never  would  hold  out !    I 
^'t  seem  to  get  my  mind  on  anything  but  eating  and  groceries  and 
fanuture  and  clothes.    I  saw  a  stove  at  the  Fair  yesterday,  just  such 
^  roy  wife  ought  to  have.    I  wish  I  could  buy  it  and  order  it  sent 
np  to  her." 

T^en  your  wife  hasn't  married  again?  " 

^o;  and  she  is  haying  a  hard  time.    She  can't  keep  the  children 


256  INTELLIGENCE. 

together.    I  ought  to  have  stayed  and  helped  her.    I  was  a  fool  to 
come  to  this  place!  " 

"  Go  with  me  to-morrow,"  said  the  Carpenter,  "  and  I'll  take  yoo 
to  see  some  fine  new  buildings.  There  are  a  dozen  jobs  of  interest  on 
hand  at  present.  The  smell  of  the  shavings  will  do  you  good.  After 
work-hours  we  will  go  down  to  the  university  and  study  with  some  of 
the  students  until  they  go  to  bed.  I've  found  one  that  reads  history 
until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  After  that,  we'll  take  a  walk  around 
the  city  until  daylight.  These  beautiful  June  mornings  I  like  to  stay 
in  the  parks  until  work  begins.  Go  with  me,  and  I'll  help  you  get  rid 
of  one  twenty-four  hours." 

"  Take  turns  in  going  around  with  us  until  you  get  over  the  blues,* 
remarked  the  Engineer.  "  Fll  take  you  with  me  the  next  day.  Wd 
go  the  rounds  and  look  at  all  of  the  big  engines  in  the  city,  and  I'll  ex- 
plain how  they  work.  We  can  put  in  the  whole  twenty-four  hours  m 
that  way." 

"  The  Experimenter  says  I  need  intellectual  development.  He 
took  me  with  him  one  day;  but  what  do  I  care  about  walking  on  air? 
Stairs  and  elevators  are  good  enough  for  me.  I'm  not  interested  il 
sitting  on  clouds,  or  riding  on  the  wind.  He  tried  to  get  me  to  wak 
out  of  an  eighth-story  window,  but  I  knew  I  should  fall  and  I  wouldn't 
try.  He  said  I  wouldn't  fall  unless  I  was  afraid — that  I  didn't  need  to 
fall." 

"  That  is  what  he  told  me,"  interrupted  the  Blacksmith.  "  He 
wanted  me  to  walk  off  of  a  roof — and  I  did,  just  to  oblige  him!  I 
knew  I  should  fall,  and  down  I  went  right  on  to  the  stone  walk.  When 
I  got  up,  I  told  him  that  any  man  who  weighed  two  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds  was  a  fool  to  think  he  could  walk  on  air!  He  said  that 
was  just  the  trouble!  I  thought  of  my  weight,  and  it  carried  me 
down.  If  I  had  only  remembered  to  think  that  I  was  a  spirit  and  wai 
really  much  lighter  than  air — which  is  a  coarser  form  of  mattcr-J  \ 
could  have  walked  on  it  all  right.  The  fall  gave  me  such  a  shock  thai 
I  haven't  got  over  it  yet." 
Did  it  injure  you?  " 

Not  at  all.    It  is  not  in  the  power  of  matter  to  really  injure  * 
ghost.    But,  you  see,  the  idea  of  falling  is  not  pleasant  to  a  heavy  md^ 


ft 
It 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  267 

yho  has  lived  on  earth  a  good  while.    We  can't  forget  our  bodies.    But 
vhat  has  become  of  the  Inventor?    I  haven't  seen  him  for  a  week." 
"  He's  at  Menlo  Park  now,  watching  Edison." 
"  And  the  Electrician,  where  is  he?  " 

"  Gone  to  Wiirzburg.  He  and  the  Inventor  and  the  Experimenter 
enjoy  ghost-life." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Pessimist;  "the  people  who  were  born  with  a 
craze  to  know  all  the  secrets  of  the  universe  get  on  very  well  over 
here.  But  ordinary  folks  like  me,  who  were  just  busy  trying  to  get  a 
living,  don't  find  much  to  interest  them.  If  one  could  only  sleep  half 
the  time!  But  the  days  are  twenty-four  hours  long!  I  never  was  any 
hand  to  think.  And  if  I  think  now,  it  is  of  the  family  I  left  behind  me, 
and  the  grief  of  my  wife  and  mother." 

"  I  am  more  fortunate  than  you,"  said  the  Optimist.    "  Nobody 
inotims  for  me.    My  wife  is  happily  married ;  and  no  doubt  she  is  glad 
that  I  am  out  of  the  way,  for  her  new  husband  has  plenty  of  money — 
and  that  I  never  did  have.    What  I  could  get  hold  of  never  would  stay 
%ith  me  long  enough  for  her  to  get  much  of  it.    As  for  me,  I  enjoy 
Siadowland.    I  am  blessed  with  a  powerful  imagination.    I  had  ex- 
pensive tastes  without  the  money  to  indulge  them.    Now  I  am  living 
the  idle,  leisurely  life  I  always  longed  for  and  could  never  obtain  on 
ttrth.    I  spend  my  days  in  hotel  corridors — the  most  expensive  hotels, 
too;  that  is  the  beauty  of  it — reading  the  papers  and  listening  to  the 
news  and  seeing  all  the  noted  people.    When  some  one  goes  out  for  a 
drive  in  the  park,  I  go  too.    When  there  is  a  big  convention  or  a  fine 
lecture,  I  attend  it,  no  matter  how  exclusive  the  invitations  or  high- 
priced  the  tickets.    I  was  always  fond  of  the  theatre  and  the  opera. 
Kow  I  hear  all  the  great  actors  and  all  the  great  singers.     Price  of 
tkkcts  no  hindrance.    After  the  opera  is  over,  I  call  at  the  depots  or 
Jt  the  newspaper-offices  and  hear  what  news  the  telegraph  brings,  and 
wad  the  first  edition  of  the  morning  papers.    It  is  surprising  to  see  how 
"»any  people  are  awake  and  at  work  after  midnight  in  a  great  city  like 
Qucago.    I  enjoy  life  in  Shadowland.    I  always  did  like  to  see  other 
.eoplc  work! " 

"I  believe  you  say  you  enjoyed  everything — even  to  attending 
^  own  funeral/'  growled  the  Pessimist. 


1 


268  INTELLIGENCE. 


"  Of  course  I  did!  We  all  want  to  see  how  the  relatives  and 
friends  take  it.  We  all  attend  the  coroner's  inquest  too!  We  are  curi- 
ous to  hear  the  views  of  the  reporters  as  to  why  we  committed  suicide, 
and  anxious  to  see  the  account  the  papers  will  give.  But  it  is  humili- 
ating to  find  only  a  paragraph  where  we  expected  to  have  a  column 
at  least." 

*'  But  that  is  a  frequent  occurrence!  " 

"  And  then,  some  ghosts  are  inclined  to  take  it  a  little  hard  when 
they  find — as  some  of  us  do — that  our  friends  are  happier  without  us 
than  they  were  with  us.  But  that  is  a  pessimistic  view  of  the  situation. 
The  true  optimist  always  rejoices  in  the  increase  of  happiness.  Ah! 
here  comes  the  Experimenter.  He'll  say  we  have  talked  to  you  too 
much.    You  do  look  more  vapory  than  you  ought." 

**  They  signalled  to  me  that  there  was  a  new-comer  here,"  said  tlic 
Experimenter,  stepping  into  the  fourth-story  window  near  which  the 
ghosts  were  standing.  "  Have  they  been  too  lavish  with  your  vitality? 
Do  you  need  rest?  " 

*'  I  should  like  to  go  up  and  sit  on  one  corner  of  that  cloud  yoii 
were  occupying." 

"  Do  you  think  you  could?  " 

"  I  walked  on  the  water.    I  must  be  lighter  than  the  air;  so,  oft 
the  same  principle  I  ought  to  be  able  to  walk  on  that.    If  you  will  ffi{ 
first,  I  believe  I  can  follow  you.    I  should  like  to  try." 

**  You  can  do  it  if  you  think  so.  Fear — one  of  the  illusions  of  tb* 
body — is  the  greatest  enemy  of  both  ghosts  and  men.    Come! " 

"  See  them  go!  "  exclaimed  the  Pessimist,  staring  wildly  at  the  tW^ 
ghosts,  who  slipped  out  of  the  window  and  walked  up  the  air  as  easik 
as  ordinary  people  fall  through  it.  "  That  new  fellow  must  be  anoth.^ 
Occultist!" 

Harriet  E.  Orcutt-- 
(To  be  continued,) 


Some  thoughts  always  find  us  young  and  keep  us  so.    Such  a  thousfl 
is  the  love  of  the  universal  and  eternal  beauty.    Every  man  parts 
that  contemplation  with  the  feeling  that  it  rather  belongs  to  ages 
to  mortal  life. — Emerson, 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT 


WITH    EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


THE  FOLLY  OF  WORRY. 

Worry  acts  as  a  blight  upon  the  mental  faculties.    Furthermore,  it 

is  a  habit  and  can  be  either  encouraged  or  discouraged  according  to  the 

exercise  of  legitimate  mental  powers.    These  facts,  though  not  generally 

recognized^  are  nevertheless  true.    They  are  also  of  vital  importance  to 

every  man,  woman,  and  child  concerned  in  this  busy  Western  life  of 

hurry,  anxiety,  care,  and  struggle  for  an  existence  that  is  loaded  with 

desire — to  the  man  because  of  the  mischief  he  may  work  for  himself  and 

for  his  loved  ones,  by  wasting  in  unnecessary  worry,  energies  that  he 

might  better  use  in  productive  ways;  for  the  woman  because  of  what  she 

might  do  to  help  her  loved  companion  to  think  in  strong  productive  chan- 

ndsifshe  only  recognized  his  mistake  in  its  true  light;  and  for  the  child 

bccsmse  of  the  host  of  diflSculties  that  he  may  meet  in  life  with  a  con- 

<|Qering  vigor,  if  he  early  learns  to  remain  positive,  and  waste  none  of 

Im  forces  in  anxiety  about  the  bridge  before  the  stream  is  reached. 

Worry  is  always  unnecessary.  It  never  creates  energy,  does  not  de- 
'dop  power,  or  bring  out  forceful  action  for  the  fulfilling  of  any  purpose. 
It  never  accomplishes  anything.  It  is  not  a  help  but  is  always  a  hindrance 
^  any  tmdcrtaking.  It  is  negative  in  all  its  tendencies.  The  Pessimist, 
H  he  ever  gets  so  far  as  to  have  anything  to  do,  invariably  worries  over 
^  which  he  might  readily  accomplish  with  half  the  mental  force  and 
^^W  he  expends  upon  the  worry.    It  is  always  a  sign  of  weakness. 

I  am  worried  almost  to  death,"  remarks  the  hurrying  man  upon 
^hom  extra  duties  have  devolved  in  his  business.  "  She  has  worried 
"cnelf  sick,  poor  soul,"  is  said  of  the  mother  or  housewife  who  has  the 
^re  of  others,  and  more  duties — caused  perhaps  by  unnecessary  desires 
"""*^  At  can  attend  to. 

259 


260  INTELLIGENCE. 

These  are  common  examples  in  Western  life.  Both  are  in  the  wrong 
channel  of  action.  By  worry  neither  accomplishes  any  part  of  the  neces- 
sary work,  but,  on  the  contrary,  obstructs  activities  and  reduces  powen 
for  action,  thereby  thwarting  the  original  purpose  by  every  worrying 
thought 

"  But,"  replies  the  matter-of-fact  business  man  and  head  of  the  family, 
"  I  have  to  worry  I  It  is  imperative  that  I  should  worry  all  the  time,  die 
I  never  could  keep  my  end  up,  and  everything  would  go  to  destruction!" 

This  statement  of  the  case,  my  friend,  suggests  two  very  important 
thoughts  which  are  largely  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  this  rcstlcsi 
monster  which  seeks  to  suck  your  life  blood  rather  than  to  develop  legiti- 
mate powers  for  action.  You  have  admitted  a  heavy  end  to  keep  vf, 
thus  showing  the  mental  attitude  with  which  you  approach  your  wofk 
for  the  day;  and,  worse  still,  you  have  admitted  that  your  mind  is  pos- 
sessed of  the  idea  (notion,  rather)  of  "  destruction."  It  is  this  false  idea 
that  is  responsible  for  all  worry.  Without  it  life  would  be  the  state  of 
peace  which  it  was  intended  to  be. 

When  one  admits  his  load  to  be  heavy,  he  quite  naturally  looks  aheid 
to  the  time  when  he  can  no  longer  carry  it — when  his  plans  must  fail;  Wi 
ideals  (be  they  good  or  bad),  the  pride  of  his  personal  desires,  must  periiii» 
because  he  can  no  longer  keep  them  in  operation ;  and  "  destruction  " '« 
his  interpretation  of  the  probable  result,  to  which  his  morbid  thougiA 
reaches  out  in  advance. 

So-called  destruction  is  a  change  which  may,  and  usually  does,  bring; 
into  life  new  values  better  than  the  old ;  and  a  "  load  "  is  just  as  heatf ; 
as  it  seems — no  more,  no  less,  in  any  event.    The  harm  is  in  the  opiniai 
held  regarding  the  transaction,  rather  than  in  the  result  itself,  which  is  thd 
legitimate  outcome  of  natural  law,  and  necessarily  right. 

Besides,  worry  does  not  in  any  event  help  the  matter.  The  ondestrel 
is  not  any  less  liable  to  occur  because  of  the  worry  indulged.  In  hdi 
the  vital  point  in  the  question  all  rests  just  here:  By  every  law  of  actioi 
of  the  human  mind,  worry  tends  with  all  its  seeming  forces  to  prodod 
the  very  condition  that  is  not  desired.  Worry  rests  upon  a  foundation  d 
fear.  One  worries  because  he  fears  some  undesircd  result  Fear  restt 
upon  expectation  of  harm,  which  in  turn  is  the  result  of  doubt  or  nncef^ 
tainty  in  mental  attitude  toward  a  subject.    The  whole  line  of  action  tl 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  261 

lin,  hesitating,  withdrawing,  anxious,  negative  and  weak.  The 
ss  and  vigor  of  the  positive  forces  are  absent. 
this  negative  attitude  the  mind  enters  a  channel  of  doubt  and  all 
idred  mental  elements  follow  in  train.  First  doubting,  the  mind 
mticipates  "  something  "  different  from  its  desires;  next  it  expects 
t  anticipates;  third,  it  realizes  its  expectation  as  probable,  and  at 
egins  to  worry  about  that  which  is  expected — always  something 
is  not  wanted.  The  act  of  realization  at  once  forms  a  mental  image, 
ure  in  the  mind,  and  then  settles  down  to  continuous  thought  on 
ca.  The  longer  he  thinks  the  clearer  the  picture  becomes  and  the 
trength  the  idea  seems  to  possess,  until  it  controls  his  entire  think- 
[)aratus  and  he  becomes  absorbed  in  the  object  of  his  worrying  ex- 
on  of — that  which  has  not  come  and  may  never  come  to  him  in 
experience, 

the  changing  process  of  reconstruction,  the  body  reproduces  the 
of  the  mind;  consequently,  the  Image,  persisted  in,  affects  the  cells 
>rain  and  nervous  system,  which,  in  turn,  reproduces  its  destructive 
;  and  the  thought  of  worry,  indulged  perhaps  because  believed  to 
essary  in  order  to  succeed  in  a  physical  undertaking,  becomes  an 
A  power  for  thwarting  the  very  purpose  that  it  was  intended  to 
t.  In  this  manner  the  entire  physical  system  is  undermined  and 
res  scattered  by  persistence  in  a  false  imagination  of  something 
does  not  exist. 

d  this  unwise  action  may  extend  still  further  in  its  negative  down- 
urse.  It  is  now  a  thoroughly  established  scientific  fact,  that  an 
clearly  formed  in  mind  may  be  transferred  to  other  minds  by  direct 
on  of  the  Image.  Through  this  action  the  other  mind  receives  the 
:ion  and  begins  to  think  the  same  idea;  therefore,  one  who,  by 
or  continued  anxiety,  allows  the  imaging  faculty  of  his  mind  to 

in  thought-form  that  which  he  desires  should  not  take  place,  calls 
lited  mental  action  the  subconscious  activity  of  the  mind  of  every 

to  whom  his  thought  turns  on  that  subject,  thereby  setting  in 
on  the  most  powerful  forces  of  earthly  life,  for  the  speedy  destruc- 
his  own  hopes,  desires,  and  plans. 

ther  is  this  operative  action  any  less  sure  or  effective  because  all 
led  are  unaware  of  it ;  the  action  is  subconscious,  only  becoming 


262  INTELLIGENCE. 

conscious  through  external  results,  and  it  is  fully  possible  for  a  result  to 
be  produced  entire,  from  start  to  finish,  by  subconscious  mentality  begun 
in  a  pure  imagination,  and  which  would  never  have  occurred  if  the  orig- 
inal mental  image  had  not  been  formed. 

These  are  the  natural  operations  of  mental  laws  which  cannot  be 
avoided  by  ignorance  or  wilful  neglect,  and  they  should  not  be  neglected; 
once  understood,  they  become  the  most  powerful  allies  for  use  in  every 
path  of  life,  and  render  success  in  any  laudable  undertaking  essentially 
sure. 

It  is  just  as  possible  to  use  the  Imaging  faculty  understandingly,  and 
to  control  all  the  faculties  so  as  to  start  action  in  the  right  direction  in- 
stead of  the  wrong.  This  once  done,  the  same  laws  of  action  and  life 
that  before  worked  toward  ruin,  now  make  for  success;  and  every  vibrir 
tion  of  thought  on  a  given  subject,  calls  out  a  responsive  vibration  in  the 
mind  of  each  person  concerned,  until,  subconsciously  at  least,  all  arc  j 
moving  in  the  same  direction  and  combining  forces  for  a  mighty  unioB 
that  may  stir  the  very  vitals  of  human  life.  Under  such  action  success 
must  be  an  assured  fact. 

A  correct  start  is  essential  to  an  effective  termination.    Worry  can, 
in  no  instance,  do  any  good,  because  what  one  cannot  do  without  worry  he 
cannot  possibly  do  with  it.   Through  knowledge  of  the  imaging  process  ol  \ 
mind,  thought  may  be  consciously  controlled,  and  the  mental  forces  con- 
centrated in  correct  lines  so  that  worry  becomes  impossible  and  every 
spiritual  power  is  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  impulse  desired.    Then,  j 
all  that  remains  necessary  is,  that  the  motive  impulse  be  right,  and  that  ] 
the  desire  be  in  accordance  with  natural  laws ;  for  the  higher  forces,  i«  1 
which  the  greatest  and  most  certain  powers  rest,  lend  themselves  only  J 
to  that  which  is  true — the  false  being  foreign  to  their  nature.    Under  this  i 
law  everything  right  is  possible. 


For  the  thinker  the  world  is  a  thought;  for  the  wit,  an  image;  for  the 
enthusiast,  a  dream;  for  the  inquirer,  truth. — L.  BUchner. 

Every  condition,  nay,  every  moment  is  of  infinite  value,  for  it  is  the  ^ 
representative  of  a  whole  eternity. — Goethe, 


I 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  263 


TRUTH— THE  BASIS  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

There  is  something  that  is  the  cause  of  all  the  mental  and  moral  un- 
rest that  now,  like  an  epidemic,  disturbs  the  whole  world.     From  the 
laborer's  cottage  to  the  home  of  the  astronomer  in  lonely  vigil  there 
is  something  that  will  not  allow  of  contentment.     All  are  striving  for 
something,  longing  for  something;   what  is  it?    Is  it  not  truth?    Is  it 
not  this  soul-hunger  for  truth  that  drives  one  to  the  arctic  seas,  and  an- 
other through  the  African  jungle?    Man  must  satisfy  it,  and  it  is  not 
the  joy  of  enduring  hardships  that  satisfies  these  explorers,  it  is  the  knowl- 
edge of  having  discovered  the  truth  concerning  those  regions.    So  it  is 
with  the  scientist  in  his  laboratory  and  the  yogi  in  his  cave.    Truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth,  is  the  watchword  of  the  day.    And  the  ultimate 
truth,  is  it  not  divine?    God  is  Truth  and  Truth  is  God.    In  the  end  the 
religionist  and  the  scientist  meet  at  one  common  point.    One,  by  know- 
ing God,  knows  all  truths,  and  the  other,  by  knowing  these  truths  knows 
God.   Then  knowledge  will  be  the  true  religion  for  the  whole  thinking 
world,  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  beliefs,  for  what  is  known  cannot  be 
called  a  belief.    Now  it  is  but  a  scattered  few,  seekers  after  Truth — ^Theos- 
ophists — ^whose  eyes  have  seen  the  Light.    Neither  are  all  true  Theoso- 
phists  known  to  one  another,  nor  are  they  in  the  Society,  by  any  means. 
In  all  of  the  great  religions  of  the  day  is  the  grain  of  truth  in  a  bushel  of 
chaff,  and  those  with  eyes  to  see,  have  seen,  and  the  Path  is  before  their 
feet.   One  man  has  seen  one  phase  of  truth,  he  knows  it  is  truth  and  he 
follows  it  up,  all  his  life;   another  thus  follows  another  thread.     Each 
thinks  he  is  right;   he  does  not  notice  the  other  man's  thread;   he  may 
even  doubt  if  it  is  true;  it  may  be  he  is  too  busy  to  look.    So  the  world 
goes  on.    By  and  by,  x)ne  by  one,  the  threads  get  so  close  together  that 
each  sees  the  other's  thread  and  so  more  and  more  get  in  the  same  line: 
they  all  are  following  a  larger  and  more  promising  lead.    Presently  they 
one  by  one  look  up;  they  see  how  all  lines  are  leading  to  one  source;  they 
see  all  beginning  and  ending  in  one  great  basic  truth,  and  they  leave  their 
narrow  trail  and  grasp  the  whole.    They  see  how,  at  first,  all  were  wrong 
and  yet  held  the  truth,  but  now  they  know  what  the  goal  is  and  they  seek 
the  Path  leading  direct  to  that  goal.    The  Path  exists  by  which  it  may  be 
attained,  but  perhaps. they  do  not  see  it.    To  make  that  Path  plainer;  to 
help  others  to  see  it,  is  now  the  great  joy  and  duty  of  the  advance  guard. 
fhe  Paths  may  be  only  parallel,  not  identical.    Let  the  direction  you  are 
taking  be  known.    Each  and  every  one  must  "  let  his  light  shine  before 


264  INTELLIGENCE. 

men."    But  how?    That  is  the  great  question  which  must  be  solved  by 
each  in  his  own  way.    Some  quietly,  by  action,  plodding  under  heavy 
burdens;    others  by  writing  and  lecturing — famous  before  the  world 
Most  of  us,  however,  in  a  small  way,  among  those  around  us;  unnoticed 
by  the  world  but  all  equal  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest    How 
can  one  do  this  better  than  in  helping  the  little  ones  to  look  higher.    Not 
only  your  own,  of  your  own  flesh  and  bloody  but  all  children,  wherever 
they  may  be  met.    Look  at  the  children  of  our  Christian  countries;  are 
the  schools  teaching  them  a  high  standard  of  regard  for  truth?    No,  that 
is  left  for  the  home  and  the  Sunday-school.    And  is  the  teaching  there 
high  and  inspiring,  philosophical  and  scientific?    Are  the  teachers  living 
up  to  the  ideals  they  inculcate?    Again,  no.    In  fact  the  general  tendency 
of  our  so-called  religious  training  is  one  of  hypocrisy ;  pretending  to  b^  \ 
lieve  what  is  taught;  pretending  to  live  a  life  which  is  unknown  outside  \ 
the  Church  walls.    And  why  is  this  lamentable  state  of  affairs.    From  lad  • 
of  Truth.    From  that  and  nothing  else.    The  human  heart  knows  and 
seizes  instinctively  the  truth,  and  at  no  time  is  this  trait  more  keen  or  true 
than  in  youth.     Gradually,  however,  this  intuitive  perception  is  lost 
Every  jar  of  hypocrisy,  every  conventional  lie,  every  injustice  of  life  which 
is  accepted  and  condoned  on  the  plea  of  "  being  practical,"  helps  kill  it 
out.    Instead  of  learning  to  lead  a  true  life,  one's  first  years  are  spent  learn- 
ing the  conventionalities.    And  no  wonder  that,  at  maturity,  precedence, 
law,  custom,  and  usage  take  the  place  of  an  innate  grasp  of  truth,  justice,  jj 
morality,  and  harmony  with  the  laws  of  nature.    Can  we  not  remedy  this  ^ 
state  of  things,  in  our  own  homes  at  least,  and  by  looking  back  at  our  own  , 
childhood  see  how  to  apply  the  truths  we  know  to  our  present  troubles?  ! 
Who  of  us  cannot  remember  days  and  weeks,  yes,  years,  of  bewilderment,  • 
trying  to  consolidate  the  lies  told  us  into  logical  or  just  continuity;  qiies-  j 
tioning,  wondering  at  the  chaos  of  nature,  not  getting  satisfying  answers,  ] 
or  boldly  holding  our  parents  in  contempt,  for  dense  stupidity.    Som^ 
times  even  losing  all  confidence,  because  of  evasions,  prevarications,  and 
lies  coming  as  answers  to  honest  questions.    Never  tell  a  child  he  vril 
find  out  by  and  by.    If  he  can  question  he  can  understand.    If  he  cannoi 
understand  your  answer  clearly,  perhaps  then  he  may  be  told  that  he  i* 
not  old  enough.    One  of  the  first  and  most  interesting  of  enigmas,  to  ^ 
child,  is  his  own  origin.    This  is  of  tremendous  importance,  and  concert*" 
ing  it  he  should  get  clear  and  truthful  answers.    There  is  so  much  lying  *^ 
regard  to  this  point  that  I  suggest  a  change  to  the  truth.    It  certainly  c^ 
do  no  more  harm  than  the  present  system  of  evasion. — The  Theosophu^ 
Adyar,  India. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  265 

THE  SECRET  MAIL  IN   INDIA. 

What  is  known  as  the  **  secret  mail "  of  India  has  for  more  than  a 
deration  perplexed  the  English  mind,  and  is  still  a  profound  mystery, 
ilthough  numberless  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  it.  Every  one 
irho  has  lived  long  in  Asiatic  countries  is  aware  that  the  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  important  happenings  at  a  distance  is  often  possessed  by  the 
natives  a  considerable  time  before  it  is  obtained  by  the  Government,  and 
even  though  special  facilities  had  been  provided  for  the  transmission  of 
the  news. 

This  was  frequently  and  conspicuously  illustrated  throughout  the 
Sepoy  rebellion.  Happenings  occurring  hundreds  of  miles  away  were 
usually  known  in  the  bazaars  hours  and  sometimes  days  before  the  news 
icached  the  authorities,  and  the  information  obtained  was  regarded  as 
so  trustworthy  that  the  natives  speculated  upon  it  even  to  the  full  extent 
c(  their  fortunes.  Indeed,  upon  one  occasion  the  "  secret  mail  "  beat  the 
Coverament  courier  by  fully  twelve  hours,  although  every  endeavor  had 
1)ceii  made  to  secure  the  swiftest  dispatch. 

The  Hindoos  themselves  say,  when  they  consent  to  talk  about  it  at 
an, that  they. depend  neither  upon  horses  nor  men,  and  have  no  secret 
code  of  signals,  but  that  they  do  possess  a  system  of  thought  transmission 
"•hich  is  as  familiar  to  them  as  is  the  electric  telegraph  to  the  Western 
'Worid.    Any  one  may  accept  this  explanation  that  will. 

But  though  most  people,  with  less  fondness  for  the  mysterious  and  a 
Vtler  knowledge  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  Hindoos  for  making  riddles 
^ifthe  simplest  facts,  will  look  for  a  more  prosaic  explanation,  it  remains 
*)  be  said  that  none  has  been  forthcoming.  The  "  secret  mail  *'  is  an 
■dnbhable  reality,  and  no  Westerner  has  ever  succeeded  in  solving 
fc  mystery. 

K  news  is  transmitted  by  signals  no  one  has  ever  seen  the  signallers ; 
■or,  if  there  is  a  vast  system  of  stages  in  operation,  covering  hundreds 
■ri  thousands  of  miles,  has  any  one  ever  come  across  any  of  its  ma- 
^J^wry.  And,  indeed,  it  would  seem  that  some  means  of  communication 
•wtbcat  the  command  of  the  natives  more  rapid  than  horses  or  runners. 
'-Tke  Providence  Journal 

Great  men  stand  like  solitary  towers  in  the  city  of  God,  and  secret 
••"^ges  running  deep  beneath  external  nature  give  their  thoughts  inter- 
**"**  with  higher  intelligences,  which  strengthens  and  consoles  them, 
*****  of  which  the  laborers  on  the  surface  do  not  even  dream. — Longfellow. 


266  INTELLIGENCE. 


MEDITATION  AND  READING.* 

MEDITATION, 

To  succeed  we  must  have  courage.  Courage  springs  from  firmness 
of  will.  A  firm  will  is  born  of  earnest  thought.  We  earnestly  desire  tri- 
umph in  every  trial,  hope  in  the  face  of  disappointment — flight  even  whtt 
darkness  prevails.  We  know  we  are  masters  of  our  own  fates.  Wc  wB 
not  yield  to  discouragements — to  dark  foreboding^s — ^to  evil  insinuatioiis. 
Our  minds  are  fixed  on  the  triumph  of  truth.  We  know  we  shall  succeed 
in  every  right  undertaking  because  our  minds  are  fixed  on  success.  Wt 
know  that  thought  is  all  powerful.  We  will  think  aright  that  we  may  lift 
aright.  To-day  we  banish  from  our  minds  all  thought  of  gloom,  of  timid- 
ity, of  anxiety,  of  distress,  of  whatever  retards  our  forward  work,  in  one 
hearts  and  in  the  world.  We  face  the  day,  we  behold  the  light,  we  foUov 
the  sign  of  victory.  We  are  panoplied  with  courage,  and  our  star  of  hope 
is  on  high.  Nothing  can  daunt  us.  We  are  children  of  the  light  We 
hear  the  truth,  and  we  shall  obey  the  truth.    Amen. 

RESPONSIVE  READING. 

Minister. — If  a  man  hold  himself  dear,  let  himwatcb  himself  carefully. 

Congregation. — Let  each  man  make  himself  as  he  teaches  others  to  b€» 

Minister. — He  who  is  well  subdued  may  subdue  others. 

Congregation. — One's  own  self  is  difficult  to  subdue. 

Minister. — Self  is  the  Lord  of  self.    The  evil  done  by  one's  self,  sell- 
begotten,  self-bred,  crushes  the  wicked,  as  a  diamond  breaks  a  stone. 

Congregation. — By  one's  self  the  evil  is  done.     By  one's  self  out 
suffers. 

Minister. — By  one's  self  evil  is  left  undone;  by  one's  self  one  is  purifieiL 

Congregation. — Let  no  one  forget  his  own  duty  for  the  sake  of 
other's,  however  great. — Dhammapada  (Buddhist). 


Silence  is  a  solvent  that  destroys  personality,  and  gives  us  leave  to 
be  great  and  universal. — Emerson, 

*From  service  of  Metropolitan  Independent  Church,  Berkeley  Lyceufn,  Nci 
York  City,  Rev.  Henry  Frank,  Minister. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  267 

A  QUESTION  IN  THEOLOGY. 

A  mother  tells  a  writer  in  Kate  Field's  Washington  that  she  doubts  the 

^Rrisdom  of  impressing  upon  children  the  doctrine  of  hell.    She  doesn't 

"believe  in  such  instruction,  and  her  doubts  originated  in  this  way;   she 

•ays:  "  One  day  I  found  my  two  sons,  aged  respectively  ten  and  twelve, 

in  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  combat    The  younger,  badly  whipped  and  livid 

>rith  rage,  shrieked:  *  Never  mind,  Toml    I'll  get  even  with  you  some 

4ay— see  if  I  don't! '    *  Hush,  hushl  *  I  cried,  after  administering  a  severe 

rq>roof  to  Tom.    *  What  an  expression,  Dick!    Get  even  with  Tom!    I'm 

tihamed  of  you!'    When  Dick's  wrath  had  somewhat  cooled  I  said  to 

kim:  '  Never  let  me  hear  you  say  such  a  thing  again.    Is  that  showing 

Christ's  spirit?    Did  he  ever  say  to  any  one  who  had  injured  him:  "  I'll 

get  even  with  you?  " '   *  No,'  said  Dick  humbly.    A  moment  later  his  face 

fit  ap  with  a  sudden  gleam  of  thought  as  he  added:  '  No,  he  never  said  he 

iponld,  but  he's  going  to!  *  " — Exchange. 

TWENTY  ARGUMENTS  IN   FAVOR   OF  REINCARNATION. 

1.  800,000,000  people  believe  in  reincarnation. 

2.  Jesus  said  that  John  the  Baptist  was  Elias  reincarnated,  and  His 
teachings,  esoterically  understood,  include  that  of  re-birth. 

3.  The  Bible  contains  numerous  allusions  to  this  doctrine,  which  the 
tfttceming  student  will  readily  discover,  despite  the  deviations  of  the 
Hanslaticn  from  the  original  and  the  misinterpretation  of  theologians. 

4.  Origen,  perhaps  the  most  enlightened,  as  well  as  other  eminent 
fithers  of  the  Christian  Church,  believed  and  advocated  it. 

5.  Buddha,  Plato,  Socrates,  Pythagoras,  and  others  of  the  world's 


teachers,  philosophers,  and  poets  of  every  age  and  race  have  taught  it 

6.  It,  or  doctrines  deduced  from  it,  is  to  be  found  in  the  sacerdotal 
of  Christendom,  the  Jews,  the  Parsees,  the  Chaldeans,  the 

Egyptians,  the  Hindus,  and  the  Chinese,  and  not  infrequently  is  it  to  be 
detected  in  Roman  and  Grecian  mythology  and  among  the  traditions  and 
rites  of  savage  tribes. 

7.  It  was  taught  and  symbolized  in  the  initiatory  ceremonies  of  the 
Mysteries,  and  was  a  prominent  tenet  of  the  Gnostics. 

8.  It  is  agreeable  to  a  rational  concept  of  the  soul. 

9.  Analogical  correspondences  corroborate  its  claims. 


268  INTELLIGENCE. 

10.  It  is  strictly  within  the  scope  of  scientific  research — ^is,  in  fact,  the 
only  scientific  theory  which  fully  explains  the  origin  and  destiny  of  man. 

11.  It  interprets  many  experiences  that  were  heretofore  mysterious. 

12.  It  shows  a  reason  for  our  likes  and  dislikes  and  the  mental  pict- 
ures of  persons  and  places  unrelated  to  the  whole  experience  of  this  pres- 
ent life,  as  well  as  innumerable  other  phenomena  continually  cropping  op. 

13.  It  explains  what  heredity  is  unable  to  account  for,  viz.:  the  asooh 
alous  confiictions  with  this  recognized  law,  as,  for  instance,  the  remaik* 
able  difference  occasionally  observed  between  twins  bom  under  predsdjf 
the  same  conditions. 

14.  It  alone  affords  a  justification  of  human  misery  and  inequality. 

15.  It  ensures  equal  chances  to  all,  and  denies  favoritism  and  the  in- 
justice of  an  arbitrary  determination  of  one's  environment. 

16.  It  is  more  in  harmony  with  reason  and  justice  than  the  dogmai 
of  predestination  and  everlasting  punishment. 

17.  It  proves  that  man  is  the  maker  of  his  own  destiny,  and  that  he 
alone  is  responsible  for  his  own  sufferings  and  enjoyments. 

18.  It  offers  the  most  potent  inducements  to  honesty,  integrity,  iW)- 
rality,  religious  aspirations,  humanitarianism,  unselfishness,  and  a  just  ^^ 
gard  for  the  rights  of  others. 

19.  Apart  from  it  there  can  be  no  immortality  for  man. 

20.  Reincarnation  is  becoming  widely  accepted  as  a  powerful  factor  ^  1 
social  reform,  bringing  back  the  culprit,  as  it  does,  to  be  punished  in  ^ 
body  for  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  and  thus  providing  the  missing  link  wb^^ 
will  connect  truth  in  the  abstract  with  right  in  the  concrete. 

William  T.  Jamc^ 

The  language  of  truth  is  simple. — Euripides. 

The  Universe  is  an  infinite  sphere,  the  centre  of  which  is  evcrywto^ 
and  the  circumference  nowhere. — Pascal. 

The  Universe  is  the  realized  thought  of  God. — Carlyle. 

The  Universe  stands  by  him  who  stands  by  himself. — Emerson. 

Tho'  world  on  world  in  myriad  myriads  roll 

Round  us,  each  with  different  powers. 

And  other  form  of  life  than  ours, 

What  know  we  greater  than  the  soul? 

— Tennyson. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  269 

A  MONKEY-LIKE  FEATURE  OF  BABIES. 

Dr.  Louis  Robinson,  of  London,  has  made  experiments  with  respect 
the  dinging  capacity  of  new-born  babes.  Under  the  heading,  "  Are 
bies  Like  Monkeys?  With  Pictures  from  Life,"  "The  Pall  Mall 
zcttc"  has  an  illustrated  interview  with  Dr.  Robinson,  who  says: 
ivcry  new-bom  child,  unless  it  is  sickly  or  otherwise  imperfectly  de- 
lOpedy  has  a  most  wonderful  power  in  the  flexor  muscles  of  the  fore- 
n,  and  will  support  the  whole  weight  of  its  body  during  the  first  few 
urs  after  birth  for  a  period  varying  from  ten  seconds  to  two  minutes 
d  a  halL  Now,  everybody  knows  that  in  monkeys  the  power  of  grip 
▼cry  fully  developed;  quadrumana  can  do  anything  with  their  hands 
id  arms,  and  in  case  of  danger  this  power  is  a  chief  means  of  self- 
eservation.  It  is  curious  that  it  never  occurred  to  Darwin  to  try  this 
:periment. 

"I  have  now  experimented  on  one  hundred  and  fifty  babies — some 
:  them  bom  within  an  hour  or  two,  some  a  few  days  old — ^and  in  two 
ISC8  only  have  they  failed  to  hang  by  their  hands,  even  the  tiniest  sup- 
orting  the  weight  of  its  body  for  ten  seconds,  most  of  them  much  longer, 
nd  in  a  few  cases  they  have  clung  to  a  finger  or  a  stick  for  two  minutes 
lid  a  half.  And  even  in  the  two  cases  failure  was  due  to  other  causes 
han  the  infants'  lack  of  muscular  strength.  I  ought  to  say  that  I  never 
attempted  to  experiment  on  weak  children,  who  might  be  injured  by 
fl»e  exposure." — The  Philadelphia  Inquirer, 


Sacred  courage  indicates  that  a  man  loves  an  idea  better  than  all  things 
w  the  world;  that  he  is  aiming  neither  at  self  nor  comfort,  but  will 
^oittircall  to  put  in  act  the  invisible  thought  in  his  mind. — Emerson, 

The  fruit  of  life  is  experience,  not  happiness,  and  its  fruition  to  accus- 
to  ourselves,  and  to  be  content  to  exchange  hope  for  insight. — Schopen- 

friends  of  "  Intelligence"  will  render  material  aid  by  informing 
'*  oy  postal-card  or  otherwise  when  they  fail  to  find  the  magazine 


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INTELLIGENCE. 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 

MESSAGE  OF  THE  MYSTICS.  By  Mary  Han  ford  Ford  Cloth,  3  voU.,  cofr 
prising  471  pp.  Single  vol.,  $1.00;  full  set,  $3.00.  Alice  B.  Stockliam  ft  Cftv 
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These  dainty  little  volumes  are  not  only  a  delight  to  the  eye,  but  a  feast  to  til 
mind.  The  subjects  are  respectively:  The  Holy  Grail,  the  silent  teacher.— GoetiiA < 
Faust,  the  growth  of  spirit. — Balzac's  Seraphita,  the  mystery  of  sex.  Mrs.  FofA 
charming  interpretation  of  these  masterpieces  is  an  inspiration,  rerealing  a  Ibm 
intuitive  sense  of  the  meanings  they  contain,  throwing  a  new  light  upon  thdr 
beauty,  and  giving  a  deeper  insight  into  the  profound  teachings  embodied  in  tlioe 
great  works.  The  thoughtful  mind  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  delightfal 
treatment  thus  accorded  to  subjects  ever  replete  with  fascination  and  abtorlnf 
interest  for  the  student  of  literature. 

VEDANTA  PHILOSOPHY:  Raja  Yoga,  and  other  Lectures.  By  the  Swlrii 
Vivekfinanda.  Goth,  392  pp.,  $1.50  net;  by  mail,  $1.61.  For  sale  by  HcBf  | 
J.  Van  Haagen,  1267  Broadway,  New  York. 

This  volume  contains  an  interesting  collection  of  the  lectures  given  by  ikt 
Swami  while  in  this  country,  and  will  be  welcomed  heartily  by  his  admiren^tf^ 
well  as  those  who  find  satisfaction  in  these  themes.  India  is  offering  a  great  ddl 
that  is  inspiring  to  the  Western  world,  and  it  were  well  to  broaden  one's  miodlif 
a  liberal  investigation  into  the  truths  of  these  anciefit  philosophies,  so  modi  oMtf 
than  Christianity  and  quite  as  full  of  sweetness.  The  first  part  of  the  book  befoit 
us  treats  of  the  Science  of  Raja  Yoga;  the  second  part  is  a  free  translatioo  of  tkrl 
Aphorisms  of  Patanjali,  with  a  running  commentary.  To  further  aid  the  itaM 
an  extensive  glossary  of  Sanscrit  words  will  be  found  in  the  contents. 

INTRODUCTION  TO  PHILOSOPHY.  A  Handbook  for  Students  of  ftf 
chology,  Logic,  Ethics,  i^sthetics,  and  General  Philosophy.  By  ^v^ 
Kulpe.  Cloth,  245  pp.,  $1.60.  The  Macmillan  Co.,  ^  Fifth  Aveniie,  Net 
York. 

In  writing  this  book  the  author's  aim  has  been  to  "  produce  an  elementary  W 
complete  guide  to  philosophy,  past  and  present,"  as  well  as  to  contribute  to  tte 
philosophical  work  of  the  day.  It  is  intended  to  supply  a  long  felt  need  of  a  red 
preparation  for  the  study  of  philosophy,  and  the  work  is  classified  in  such  a  mannef 
as  to  make  it  valuable  to  the  student.  Chapter  I.  is  devoted  to  the  definition  u>» 
classification  of  philosophy.  Chapter  II.  to  a  survey  of  the  separate  discipHse* 
which  are  now  included  under  the  general  name  of  philosophy.  Chapter  III. to* 
characterization  of  the  more  important  schools  of  philosophic  thought,  and  Chapter 
IV.  to  the  problem  of  philosophy  and  the  philosophical  system.  This  work  wiu 
not  only  be  a  help  to  the  beginner,  but  will  assist  the  student  in  the  undcrstandiflf 
of  lectures  and  treatises  upon  special  philosophic  topics. 

IN  TUNE  WITH  THE  INFINITE.    By  Ralph  Waldo  Trine.    Qoth,  tn  PP- 

$1.25.    Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  100  Purchase  Street,  Boston. 

In  the  present  work,  the  author  contributes  a  valuable  addition  to  the  literatitf* 

of  the  present  day  which  seeks  to  guide  the  world  to  right  thinking  and  right  liviflfi 

With  the  aim  in  view  to  point  out  the  laws  underlying  the  workings  of  the  spirits'* 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  271. 

«s,  "  so  simply  and  clearly  that  even  a  child  can  understand/'  Mr.  Trine  has 
reeded  with  more  than  ordinary  ability  in  presenting  a  philosophy  that  must  be 
>urce  o!  inspiration  to  many  hearts.  We  quote  a  few  passages:  "The  mental 
tnde  we  take  toward  anything  determines,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  its  effects 
tn  us."  "  In  coming  into  the  realization  of  our  oneness  with  the  infinite  Life, 
are  brought  at  once  into  right  relations  with  our  fellow-men.  We  are  brought 
>  harmony  with  the  great  law  that  we  find  our  own  lives  in  losing  them  in  the 
rice  of  others."  "The  real,  vital  forces  at  work  in  our  own  lives  and  in  the 
rid  about  us  are  not  seen  by  the  ordinary  physical  eye.  Yet  they  are  the  causes 
vliich  all  things  we  see  are  merely  the  effects.  Thoughts  are  forces;  like  builds 
t,  and  like  attracts  like.  For  one  to  govern  his  thinking,  then,  is  to  determine 
life." 

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272  INTELLIGENCE. 

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^Sb?^' 


INTELLIGENCE. 


Vol  VII. 


MARCH,  1898. 


No.  4. 


THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD,  AND  MAN'S  RELATION 

TO  THEM. 

All  Scriptures  unanimously  declare  that  God  is  Spirit;  infinite, 
Vernal  and  unchangeable,  true  and  One.  If  you  ask  a  Christian,  a 
Uohammedan,  a  Parsee,  a  Hindoo,  or  a  follower  of  any  other  sect 
or  creed,  what  is  his  God,  each  one  will  quote  passages  from  his  Script- 
ures, giving  this  same  answer  as  to  what  God  is.  The  attributes  of 
God  are  with  each  exactly  the  same.  The  Catholic  priest  who  bows 
dov^n  before  an  image  of  Jesus  and  prays  to  Him,  bums  incense  and 
lights  candles,  will  give  the  same  answer.  A  Protestant  clergyman, 
who  does  not  believe  in  any  image,  will  give  the  same  answer.  There 
is  no  difference  between  the  God  of  a  Christian  and  that  of  a  Moham- 
medan or  Hindoo,  but  still  a  Christian  calls  the  Hindoo  and  Moham- 
medan heathens,  and  they  quarrel  with  one  another;  though  they 
give  the  same  attributes  to  God,  their  eyes  are  blinded  with  ignorance, 
superstition,  bigotry,  and  fanaticism.  They  cannot  see  that  every- 
body worships  the  same  God.  It  is  the  idea  that  their  God  is  true  and 
their  neighbor's  God  is  not  true,  that  does  all  the  mischief.  A  fanatic 
was  preaching  in  one  of  the  pulpits  not  long  ago  and  he  said,  "  Beware 
of  the  heathen's  God,"  etc.;  as  if  there  were  tico  Gods.  Ignorance 
is  the  mother  of  superstition,  bigotry,  fanaticism,  and  all  the  effects 
they  produce.  People  cannot  understand  that  God  is  common  prop- 
erty. How  can  there  be  many  Gods  when  the  followers  of  each  sect 
and  creed  say,  God  is  infinite  and  one!  Among  those  who  are  not 
fanatical  there  are  many  who  will  give  the  same  attributes  to  God 

378 


274  INTELLIGENCE. 

without  understanding  their  meaning;  who  will  say,  "  God  is  infinite 
and  one/'  but  think  of  some  being  like  a  man  sitting  somewhere  out- 
side of  this  universe.  If  you  ask  them  the  meaning  of  the  word  "in- 
finite ''  their  answers  will  be  full  of  illogical  nonsense.  They  will  make 
God  as  finite  as  possible,  and  bring  forward  all  sorts  of  fallacious 
arguments  to  support  their  position.  Those  who  believe  in  a  personal 
God,  give  the  same  attributes,  but,  without  realizing  the  fncaningoi 
these  attributes,  they  will  give  a  human  form  to  God.  This  is  not  thdr 
fault,  because  we  are  all  human  beings;  the  limit  of  our  conceptioo 
is  a  human  being.  When  we  attempt  to  conceive  of  the  governor 
of  the  universe,  we  give  Him  a  human  form,  like  a  state  governor; 
with  this  difference,  that  the  governor  of  the  country  is  small  in  aid 
limited  in  powers,  while  the  governor  of  the  universe  is  immensdr 
magnified  in  size  and  unlimited  in  power  and  qualities,  but  is  stil 
to  us  a  human  being. 

Our  explanation  of  the  universe  has  become  human ;  our  universe 
is  a  human  universe,  and  our  (iod  is  a  human  God.  Suppose  a  cot 
had  a  religion,  her  conception  of  God  would  be  a  cow  form— her 
explanation  of  the  universe  would  be  through  that  cow-god:  she 
could  not  comprehend  our  God  at  all.  So  if  a  tiger  became  a  philos- 
opher and  had  a  religion,  his  conception  of  God  would  be  of  the 
tiger  form.  If  there  be  another  being  with  a  form  different  from  ours, 
with  a  nature  higher  than  ours,  his  God  would  be  like  himself.  So 
none  of  these  pictures  of  God,  and  none  of  these  explanations  of  the 
universe  would  be  complete  in  itself.  It  might  be  a  partial  truth,  but 
not  the  whole.  Such  a  God,  or  such  an  explanation,  is  incomplete 
and  imperfect,  but  people  can  not  believe  that.  Each  is  sure  his  con- 
ception and  explanation  is  the  best.  If  you  ask  them  what  are  the 
attributes  of  a  human  God,  they  will  give  the  same  attributes;  they 
will  say  He  is  infinite,  eternal,  unchangeable,  true,  and  one.  Yet 
they  will  unconsciously  make  God  finite  and  infinite  at  the  same  time. 
Can  there  be  anything  more  contradictory  and  absurd  than  a  finit^ 
infinite  God!    What  thing  can  be  finite  and  infinite  at  the  same  time? 

If  He  is  finite  He  is  limited  by  time,  space,  and  causation,  must 
have  a  beginning  and  an  end,  and  cannot  be  unchangeable.  A  finite 
God  must  be  changeable,  and  must  perish  like  all  mortal  things.  Att 


THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD  275 

ady  to  believe  in  such  a  perishable  God?  Not  for  a  moment, 
annot  give  any  form  to  God,  because  form  means  limitation  in 
.  No  form  can  exist  without  space;  every  form  must  have  a 
ning  and  an  end.  Consequently,  a  God  who  has  any  kind  of 
cannot  be  eternal  and  impiortal.  Therefore,  we  cannot  say  God 
te  or  has  form. 

e  is  infinite.  Let  us  understand  clearly  what  this  word  "infinite'' 
s.  That  which  is  not  limited  by  time,  space,  and  causation; 
which  has  no  other  cause,  is  infinite.  God  is  above  time  and 
;  and  all  limitations  that  we  can  imagine.  He  is  absolute.  The 
te  must  be  one;  otherwise  it  is  finite.  If  there  be  any  other 
besides  that  infinite,  then  it  is  no  longer  infinite;  it  is  limited  by 
thing,  consequently  it  has  become  finite.  If  we  admit  that  God 
inite  and  one,  we  deny  the  existence  of  any  other  thing  besides 
If  we  say  matter  is  separate  from  or  outside  of  God,  we  have 
J  God  limited  by  that  matter,  we  have  made  Him  finite,  we  have 
J  Him  perishable.  If  we  say,  **  I  am  separate  from  God,"  then 
jod  is  no  longer  infinite.  Consequently,  there  is  not  a  single 
cle  of  this  universe  which  is  separate  from  or  outside  of  God 
is  Infinite  and  One;  every  atom  of  my  body,  from  the  minutest 
le  biggest,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest — everything  in  this 
rse  is  one  with  God  who  is  Infinite  and  One. 
^his  will  be  startling  to  many,  but  if  we  want  to  be  logical,  if 
word  **  Infinite  "  conveys  any  meaning  at  all,  we  cannot  avoid 
ogical  conclusion  that  will  inevitably  follow.  But  if  we  say  **  In- 
r*  and  mean  something  finite,  then  how  foolish  shall  we  be. 
conclusion  is  this, — if  God  is  Infinite,  then  matter,  mind,  force, 
i  and  evil,  virtue  and  vice,  heat  and  cold,  and  all  the  dual,  relative, 
)site  existences  are  not  without  but  within  that  Infinite.  The 
le  universe  is  in  God,  and  God  is  in  it;  it  is  inseparable  from 
He  is  in  me  and  I  am  in  Him.  Nothing  can  exist  in  this 
erse  besides  God  who  is  Infinite. 

-et  us  understand  the  meaning  of  the  other  attributes  of  God. 
s  unchangeable,  because  He  is  eternal,  i.e.,  without  beginning 
id.  That  which  has  a  beginning  must  have  an  end.  He  is  spirit, 
t  do  we  understand  by  spirit?    Pure  Self-luminous  Intelligence, 


276 


INTELLIGENCE. 


which  is  the  background  of  mind  and  matter,  of  subject  and  object. 
Again,  He  is  true.  That  which  is  not  God  is  untrue  or  unreal:  or 
in  other  words,  that  which  is  finite,  manifold,  changeable,  non- 
eternal,  transitory,  and  not  spirit,  is  untrue  and  unreal.  If  all  these 
attributes  of  God  be  summed  up  they  will  signify  One  Infinite  Ocean 
of  Pure,  Self-luminous  Intelligence,  which  is  eternal,  unchangeable, 
and  true. 

Here  a  question  arises, — if  there  is  no  other  thing  besides  God 
what  will  become  of  the  diverse  phenomena  of  the  universe?  Do 
they  not  exist?  Yes,  they  do,  but  their  existence  depends  on  GoA 
they  have  no  separate  and  independent  existence ;  they  are  like  froth, 
bubbles,  and  waves  on  that  infinite  Ocean  of  Intelligence.  We  at 
like  so  many  bubbles  in  that  ocean.  Any  other  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  will  be  illogical  and  will  make  God  finite  and  perishable. 
This  ocean  of  pure,  self-luminous  Intelligence  is  expressed  in  the 
Vedanta  by  the  word  Brahman,  and  these  phenomena  are  expressed 
by  the  word  **  Maya.*'  As  waves  and  bubbles  cannot  exist  indepen- 
dent of  the  ocean,  so  phenomena,  or  Maya,  cannot  exist  independent 
of  Brahman.  As  long  as  the  name  and  form  of  waves  exist,  they 
appear  as  waves,  but  in  reality  they  are  nothing  but  water.  Simi- 
larly, as  long  as  the  name  and  form  of  diverse  phenomena  exist,  thejr 
appear  as  phenomena,  but  in  reality  they  are  nothing  but  God  or 
Brahman. 

We  see  this  chair  and  that  table.  Where  is  the  difTerence  b^ 
tween  a  chair  and  a  table?  In  name  and  in  form.  Take  away  name 
and  form  and  what  remains?  Common  wood.  Take  away  the  name 
and  form  of  wood,  what  remains?  Molecules  and  atoms;  take  these 
away,  only  the  one  undifferentiated  energy  is  left.  Thus  we  see  name 
and  form  are  unreal,  and  that  which  is  nameless  and  formless  is  true 
and  eternal.  Although  name  and  form  are  unreal,  they  appear  as 
real.  Thus  we  see  they  are  expressions  of  the  eternal  Truth,  God 
or  Reality.  As  one  clod  of  clay  appears  in  various  forms,  such  as  pots. 
vases,  basins,  bricks,  etc.,  the  difference  being  only  in  name  and  fonn 
the  substance  being  the  same  clay,  so  the  substance  of  these  diverse 
phenomena  of  the  universe  is  the  one  Reality  which  is  called  God 
or  Brahman.    As  name  and  form  cannot  exist  separate  from  the  subi 


THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  277 

tance,  so  the  name  and  form  of  this  universe  do  not  exist  separate 
rem  God.  The  whole  universe,  whether  manifested  or  unmanifested, 
annot  exist  separate  from,  or  independent  of,  God.  Thus  if  we  try 
:o  understand  the  meaning  of  the  attributes  of  God  we  are  forcibly 
Iriven  to  the  conclusion  of  a  Vedantist.  The  Vedanta  explains 
hrough  logic  the  meanings  of  the  attributes  that  are  already  given  in 
lifferent  scriptures.  It  brings  eternal  light  and  dispels  the  darkness. 
We  commit  another  error  when  we  say  God  created  this  universe. 
[f  we  once  admit  God  is  infinite  and  one,  we  have  no  right  to  say 
hat  He  created  the  universe.  When  God  is  the  reality,  when  He 
$  the  substance,  when  nothing  besides  Him  can  exist,  whom  will 
He  create?  How  can  the  sum  total  of  the  universe  create  the  uni- 
rcrse?  If  God  is  eternal  the  universe  cannot  be  otherwise.  Is  there 
inything  more  absurd  than  to  say  that  God  who  is  infinite  and  one, 
rreated  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  out  of  nothing,  and  for  our  benefit! 
Joth  the  creator  and  the  created  are  God  Himself.  Some  people  may 
:hink  that  this  explanation  is  pantheistic,  but  it  is  not.  This  ex- 
danation  is  based  on  Monism.  It  says  God  is  all  in  all,  and  nothing 
exists  in  this  universe  but  God.  He  who  realizes  this  infinite  Ocean 
rf  Pure  Intelligence,  becomes  conscious  of  his  own  immortal  nature, 
fc'hich  is  God.  The  realization  of  Unity,  or  being  and  becoming  God, 
s  the  highest  ideal  of  all  religions.  Here  we  may  ask,  if  our  true 
nature  is  divine,  how  can  we  become  one  with  God?  Although  it 
» true  that  we  are  already  one  with  God,  we  are  not  conscious  of  it. 
Ha\ing  covered  our  eyes  with  our  own  hands  we  are  thinking  like 
kx)ls  that  we  are  blind,  that  we  can  not  see  the  light,  and  are  crying 
for  help,  *'  Lord  help  us.  Lord  save  us.''  If  we  take  off  our  hands 
Wc  shall  see  the  light,  which  is  already  there.  Realization  means, 
to  become  conscious  of  one's  divine  nature.  When  Jesus  became 
conscious  of  his  divine  nature,  he  said,  **  I  and  my  Father  are  one." 
^•Vhen  the  Hindoo  sage  realizes  it,  he  says,  **  I  am  Brahman  '';  when 
*Sufi  realizes  it,  he  says,  "  I  am  He."  How  do  they  realize?  Some 
''calize  through  wisdom,  some  through  love,  some  through  devotion, 
*ome  through  good  works,  some  through  concentration.  Those  who 
?o  through  the  path  of  wisdom,  burn  the  vast  wilderness  of  the  mul- 
tiplicity of  existence  by  the  fire  of  wisdom,  break  down  all  names  and 


278 


INTELLIGENCE. 


forms  with  the  hammer  of  discrimination,  dive  deep  beneath  the  sur- 
face of  phenomenal  appearance,  and  whenever  they  find  any  trace 
of  name  and  form  they  say  '*  not  this  " — **  not  this,''  and  when  they 
find  the  nameless  and  formless,  eternal,  Truth,  they  become  one  with 
that.  The  number  of  such  people  is  very  small  indeed.  Those  who 
go  through  the  path  of  love  and  devotion,  want  to  have  a  personal 
God.  From  very  ancient  times  the  Vedantic  sages  realized  that  the 
vast  majority  of  mankind  want  a  personal  God.  Most  people  in 
every  country  require  a  personal  God  in  some  form  or  other.  Buddha 
denied  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  yet  within  fifty  years  after 
his  death  his  followers  manufactured  a  personal  God  out  of  him. 

Ordinary  minds  cannot  grasp  the  highest  ideal,  so  in  coursed 
time  Buddha  became  idolized.  In  the  same  manner  Jesus  became 
a  personal  God,  and  his  votaries  and  followers  called  Him  "  Mediator." 

The  Vedanta  says,  you  may  choose  any  one  of  these  ideals  whidi 
attracts  your  mind,  follow  and  worship  Him,  and  through  that  yofl 
will  reach  the  ultimate  end.  As  Jesus  said,  **  I  am  the  way,"  so 
each  one  of  these  said,  **  I  am  the  path  which  leads  to  the  etenuJ 
ocean  of  Truth  and  goal  of  Unity.''  Let  those  who  find  their  con- 
solation in  the  character  of  Jesus  follow  his  teachings,  and  those  who 
find  that  ideal  in  Buddha,  or  others,  follow  their  teachings.  Do 
not  say  one  ideal  is  true  and  another  is  false.  Be  tolerant.  If  your 
ideal  is  the  incarnation  of  God,  let  others  hold  their  incarnation  of 
God.  Otherwise  you  will  quarrel  and  fight,  and  this  has  been  going 
on  since  the  beginning  of  history.  When  each  of  these  is  God  Him- 
self, how  can  there  be  one  better  or  higher  than  the  other?  It  is 
only  through  our  ignorance  that  we  see  one  higher  or  lower  than 
another.  Wherever  there  is  any  manifestation  of  any  power,  it  is 
the  power  of  God. 

So,  shake  off  this  idea  of  a  division  between  God  and  man,  which 
idea  is  the  source  of  all  unhappiness;  realize  that  you  live,  and  move, 
and  have  your  being  in  God.  God  is  all  in  ali  There  is  no  other 
thing  but  God,  and  therefore  it  is  said,  '*  Realize  that  eternal,  all- 
pervading  truth,  that  He  is  in  everything,  and  ever>'thing  in  Him- 
Then  art  thou  blessed,  immortal,  one  with  the  Father  in  Heaven." 

SwAmI    ABH£DANAND^ 


THE  GANGLIONIC   NERVOUS   SYSTEM  279 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM. 

{Concluded.) 
PSYCHIC   FUNCTIONS. 

The  proposition  is  generally  accepted  that  the  brain  is  essen- 
lly  the  organ  of  the  mind.  Thinking  and  cerebration  are  regarded, 
cordingly,  as  associated  processes.  The  Moral  Nature,  however, 
distinguished  from  the  mind  and  understanding,  operates  in  con- 
ctiun  with  the  ganglionic  structures.  The  common  instinct  refers 
ssion  and  emotion  of  every  character  to  the  epigastrium,  the  region 
the  semilunar  ganglion.  This,  in  fact,  rather  than  the  muscular 
•ucture  so  designated,  is  the  heart,  or  seat  of  the  affections,  sensi- 
itics,  and  moral  qualities  in  general.  The  passions,  love,  hate,  joy, 
ief.  faith,  courage,  fear,  all  have  here  their  corporeal  centre. 

While  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  compose  the  organism  by  which 
an  sustains  relations  with  the  external  world,  the  ganglionic  system 
the  organ  of  subjectivity.  He  feels  with  it,  and  this  feeling  com- 
ning  with  the  mental  faculties,  prompts  him  to  the  forming  of 
irposes.  "  We  will  find,**  Dr.  Kerner  truly  remarks,  **  that  this  ex- 
mal  life  is  the  dominion  of  the  brain — the  intellect  which  belongs 
)  the  world:  while  the  inner  life  dwells  in  the  region  of  the  heart, 
ithin  the  sphere  of  sensitive  life,  in  the  sympathetic  and  ganglionic 
rstem.  You  will  further  feel  that  ])y  virtue  of  this  inner  life,  mankind 
'  1*01111(1  up  in  an  internal  connection  with  nature.*'  Dr.  B.  W.  Rich- 
rd>on  is  ecjually  explicit :  **  The  organic  nervous  centres  are  the 
^tres  also  of  those  mental  acts  which  are  not  conditional,  but  are 
nsiinctive,  impulsive,  or,  as  they  are  most  commonly  called,  emo- 
ional." 

It  occurs,  accordingly,  that  the  emotions  make  themselves  mani- 
c^t  through  this  department  of  the  physical  being.  Ever>'  new  phase 
>i!iie.  every  incident  or  experience  which  we  encounter,  immediately 
-'>pla\s  its  effects  upon  the  central  organs  of  the  body  and  in  the 
sk-zlular  structures.     Emotional  disturbance  acts  upon  every  func- 


1 


280  INTELLIGENCE. 


tion.  We  lose  our  appetite  for  food,  we  are  depressed  and  languid, 
or  elated  and  buoyant,  at  the  gratification  or  the  disappointment  of 
our  hopes,  or  at  some  affectional  excitement.  A  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  various  forms  of  disease  will  disclose  an  analogy,  and  often 
a  close  relationship  between  a  malady  and  some  type  of  mental  dis- 
order. The  passions,  fear,  grief,  anger,  and  even  sudden  joy,  wiH 
involve  the  vital  centres,  paralyze  the  ganglionic  nerves,  disturb  aod 
even  interrupt  the  normal  action  of  the  glandular  system,  raodiff 
the  various  functions  of  life,  or  even  suspend  them.  These  influences, 
if  sufficiently  prolonged,  would  bring  on  permanent  disease,  and  in- 
deed when  very  intense,  will  result  even  in  death.  Hence  that  maxim 
of  Pythagoras  cannot  be  too  carefully  heeded:  **  Let  there  be  noth- 
ing in  excess.*' 

The  converse  of  this  appears,  after  a  certain  manner,  to  be  like 
wise  true.  Emotional  manifestations  attend  peculiar  conditions  of 
the  ganglial  nervous  system.  At  those  periods  of  life  when  the  nutri» 
tive  functions  are  exceptionally  active,  such  moral  faculties  as  Io\t 
and  faith  also  exhibit  a  predominating  influence.  We  observe  this 
in  the  young,  and  likewise  in  individuals  recovering  from  wasting 
disease.  But  during  the  period  of  such  wasting,  and  when  digestion 
is  imperfect,  the  mental  condition  is  clouded,  and  the  sufferer  is  liable 
to  be  gloomy,  morose,  and  pessimistic. 

Indeed,  there  is  a  continual  action  and  reaction  between  the  mini 
and  this  nervous  system.  Each  is  a  cause  of  corresponding  moodi 
and  conditions  of  the  other.  The  functional  impairment  of  these 
nerves  is  often  produced  by  mental  disturbance.  The  man  who  i*" 
suflfering  from  nervous  dyspepsia  will  often  experience  a  sense  of  gr^ 
fear  and  the  heart  will  exhibit  distressing  symptoms;  and  on  tW 
other  hand,  great  fear  will  interfere  with  the  action  of  the  heart  at»* 
prevent  a  proper  digestion  of  food.  For  a  time  the  fear  resulti^ 
from  the  disorder  will  be  simply  terror;  but  after  a  while  it  v^ 
be  likely  to  be  fixed  upon  some  object.  There  will  be  the  religioi^ 
minded  person's  fear  of  punishment  after  death,  the  lawyer's  app^ 
hension  of  a  professional  mistake  or  of  loss  of  money,  the  phy^ 
cian's  dread  of  sudden  death,  poison,  or  incurable  disease.  Fat^ 
degeneration  of  the  heart  and  calcareous  deterioration  of  the  arteri ^ 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM.  281 

re  accompanied  by  great  depression  of  spirits,  and  even  by  agonies 
f  anxiety  and  terror.  Great  fear  will  sometimes  produce  the  sense 
f  stabbing  in  the  heart.  The  rage  of  anger  will  disturb  the  motion 
i  the  heart  and  arteries,  and  disorder  the  blood,  changing  it  from 
►ure  to  poisonous.  A  person  in  such  a  case  will  turn  deadly  pale, 
ose  more  or  less  the  control  of  the  voluntary  faculties,  and  in  very 
^eat  excitement  will  even  fall  dead.  An  angry  woman  nursing  a 
child  will  make  it  deathly  sick,  and  sometimes  the  venom  of  her 
milk  will  kill  it  outright. 

In  the  exacerbations  of  fear  the  sweat  will  transude  through  the 
pores,  but  will  be  rather  of  the  consistency  of  serum  than  like  the 
normal  product  of  the  sudorific  glands.  Envy  and  jealousy  arrest 
the  processes  of  digestion  and  assimilation,  and  if  long  continued 
wll  cause  leanness.  The  example  of  Cassius  in  the  drama  of  *'  Julius 
Cxsar"  is  a  forcible  illustration;  his  "  lean  and  hungry  look  ''  and 
slcq)less  nights  were  just  causes  of  apprehension. 

Instinct  is  plainly  a  function  of  the  ganglionic  nervous  system. 
The  infant  manifests  it  in  common  with  the  lower  animals;  and  in 
both  alike  it  is  not  amenable  to  the  reasoning  processes.  It  is  not 
to  be  cultivated,  but  it  may  be  perverted. 

IMPAIRED   GANGLIAL  ACTION  IN  DISEASE. 

Microscopic  observation  has  not  been  carried  to  a  degree  of  per- 
fection warranting  us  to  depend  upon  it  in  investigations  of  morbid 
conditions  of  the  brain  or  nervous  structures.  Few  of  the  explora- 
tions of  brains,  whether  of  sane  or  insane  persons,  are  entitled  to 
nnplicit  confidence.  Dr.  Copland  declares  that  ''  changes  may  take 
place  in  the  nervous  system  sufficient  to  cause  the  most  acute  dis- 
ease, or  even  to  subvert  life,  without  being  so  gross  as  to  be  demon- 
strable to  the  senses.''  Dr.  J.  C.  Davey  also  asserts  that  during  his 
official  connection  with  the  Hanwell  Asylum  in  England,  eight  per 
cttit.  of  the  cases  examined  post  mortem  exhibited  no  indication 
sufficient  to  account  for  death.  A  culprit  named  Blakesley  had  been 
executed  for  murder,  and  a  question  was  raised  in  regard  to  his  in- 
sanity. It  was  formally  reported  to  the  public  through  the  daily 
newspapers  that  this  idea  was  untenable,  as  his  brain  had  been  ex- 


-f 


282  INTELLIGENCE. 

amined  with  great  care,  and  no  sign  or  appearance  of  altered  struct- 
ure or  disease  had  been  discovered.  The  inconclusiveness  of  sudi 
a  position,  Dr.  Davey  accordingly  declared  to  be  certain. 

It  is  faulty  pathology  to  describe  insanity  as  primarily  and  essen- 
tially a  disease  of  the  brain.  It  would  be  more  proper  to  define  it 
as  functional.  The  blood  and  nervous  substance.  Dr.  Kreysig  truly 
declares,  are  the  primitive  and  essential  instruments  of  all  the  organic 
functions;  and  hence  "  the  elements  of  general  and  internal  disease, 
or  the  morbid  predispositions  which  form  the  most  important  objects 
of  treatment,  may  all  be  reduced  to  vitiated  states  of  the  blood  and 
of  the  lymph,  or  to  derangement  of  the  nervous  system."  It  is  safe 
to  supplement  this  quotation  by  the  declaration  that  neither  the  blood 
nor  the  lymph  is  likely  to  become  vitiated  unless  the  organic  nervous 
system  has  been  primarily  affected. 

In  fevers  we  find  an  impairment  of  all  the  vital  functions;  the 
stomach  refusing  food  or  rejecting  it,  the  liver  failing  to  secrete 
healthy  bile,  the  excretions  no  longer  indicative  of  health.  The  actiop 
of  the  heart  is  oppressed,  as  is  also  the  respiration;  and  the  skin 
betrays  disturbance.  The  various  symptoms  are  like  those  from  a 
blow  on  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  Cholera,  although  in  so  many  re- 
spects differing  from  fever,  yet  exhibits  similar  evidence  of  impair- 
ment. The  patients  in  India,  it  is  said,  when  the  shock  is  great,  fall 
dead  as  though  stnick  by  lightning,  or  by  a  blow  on  the  epigastrium 

Disease  of  the  heart  is  often  set  forth  as  a  very  frequent  causi 
of  sudden  death.  It  would  be  more  rational  in  many  cases,  to  impute 
the  death  to  fatigue  and  exhaustion.  Animals  hotly  pursued  oi 
pressed  l)eyond  their  power  of  endurance,  will  drop  down  and  die 
and  birds,  in  their  flight  over  the  ocean,  often  fall  dead  from  a  simila 
cause.  The  late  Vice-President  Schuyler  Colfax,  on  a  cold  momini 
in  Januar}\  1885,  hurried  across  the  town  of  Mankato  in  Minnesota 
a  distance  of  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  in  order  to  be  in  tiin 
for  a  railway-train.  On  arriving  at  the  station  he  sat  down  ait 
breathed  his  last.  Mayor  Havemeyer  of  New  York  died  suddenly  » 
1874  under  similar  circumstances.  General  McClellan,  hastening  t 
make  sure  of  his  passage  on  a  North-River  ferry-boat,  contractc 
the  disorder  of  which  he  died  in  a  few  davs. 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  283 

In  these  cases  the  exhaustion  left  no  force  or  stimulus  at  the  epi- 
jastric  regfion  to  propel  the  blood  or  to  breathe  properly.  The  dep- 
ivaiion  of  oxygen  can  be  accompanied  by  only  one  result.  Surgical 
operations  are  often  fatal  from  the  shock  on  this  part  of  the  corporeal 
system.  Women  in  childbed,  otherwise  apparently  doing  well,  now 
and  then  collapse  and  die.  Sunstrokes  are  mortal  from  the  same 
cause.  The  passions — fear,  grief,  anger,  even  sudden  joy — will  attack 
this  citadel  of  life,  paralyze  the  sympathetic  system,  suspend  the  vari- 
ous functions  or  modify  them,  and  even  produce  death  when  suffi- 
ciently intense.  Indeed,  we  may  go  through  the  whole  array  of 
causes  of  disease,  and  be  sure  to  find  a  similar  solution. 

The  whole  range  of  disorders  called  nervous  will  be  found,  upon 
careful  examination,  to  begin  with  disturbance  of  the  ganglionic 
centres.  It  is  but  rarely,  says  Dr.  Davey,  that  persons  afflicted  with 
diseases  do  not  exhibit  signs,  more  or  less  evident,  of  something  amiss 
with  the  liver,  stomach,  or  parts  accessory  or  subordinate  thereto. 
This  is  true  of  epilepsy,  hydrophobia,  tetanus,  delirium  tremens,  hys- 
teria, chorea,  and  paralysis  in  several  of  its  forms.  It  is  a  usual  prac- 
tice to  refer  the  external  symptoms  of  these  disordered  conditions 
to  the  cerebro-spinal  organism;  but,  as  has  been  shown,  the  integrity 
of  that  organism  depends  upon  that  of  the  ganglionic  system,  and 
therefore  these  diseases  are  to  be  accounted  for  accordingly. 

Insane  patients  and  persons  suffering  from  other  nervous  dis- 
OT'lers  invariably  exhibit  disturbances  of  the  functions  of  digestion, 
secretion,  and  absorption.  Nor  can  they  be  relieved  or  materially 
•benefited  till  these  are  corrected.  The  morbific  action  began  with 
ihese  functions,  and  extended  afterward  to  other  manifestations.  We 
can  have  little  confidence  in  the  utility  of  the  treatment  of  patients 
3t  asylums  for  the  insane,  except  when  the  treatment  is  conducted 
as  is  suggested. 

These  considerations  appear  to  establish  firmly  the  fact  of  the 
agency  of  the  ganglial  ners^ous  system  in  every  form  of  functional 
action  in  the  body,  normal  or  abnormal.  The  energy  which  it  im- 
parts enables  the  various  organic  functions  to  be  duly  performed — 
*"«  circulation^  sanguification,  calorification,  nutrition,  and  others. 
Tne?e  are  all  links  in  the  chain  of  physical  life.    If  one  of  them  is  im- 


284  INTELLIGENCE. 

paired  the  others  participate  in  the  harmful  results.  They  arc 
dependent  upon  ganglial  innervation,  and  fail  of  healthy  perform 
when  that  does  not  take  place  normally.  When  that  is  insufl5ci« 
the  blood  cannot  move  in  the  vessels  with  the  necessary  rapid 
There  is  passive  congestion;  the  blood-making  processes  also 
retarded,  and  then  follows  a  train  of  evils:  failure  of  nutrition,  d 
ciency  of  animal  warmth,  and  likewise  disagreeable  dreaming,  ph 
tasms,  and  sleeplessness.  These  are  preludes  to  other  troubles 
a  more  formidable  character. 

PASSIVE  CONGESTION. 

Dr.  E.  H.  Wood  has  set  forth  these  facts  in  his  little  monogra 
"  Gangliasthenia/*  with  great  distinctness.  He  considers  it  aim 
susceptible  of  demonstration  that  all  disturbances  of  the  orgs 
functions  are  due  to  impairment  of  the  ganglial  innervation, 
accordingly  designates  the  condition  gangliasthenia,  or  deficienq 
ganglionic  nervous  force,  not  employing  the  more  popular  naiw 
*'  nervous  prostration/*  and  objecting  to  the  term  neurasthenia 
somewhat  misleading  and  not  sufficiently  expressive  of  the  actual ( 
dition.  The  terminology  employed  should  be  in  accordance  with 
fact.  He  laid  down  the  following  as  an  axiomatic  pathology:  *'  Wl 
ever  idiopathic  passive  congestion  is  present  it  is  due  to  gang! 
thenia;  and  the  intensity  of  the  congestion  is  the  measure  of 
degree  of  ganglionic  exhaustion."  The  changes  which  ensue  in 
quality  of  the  blood  are  liable  to  result  in  some  form  of  specific  dis< 
as  may  be  determined  by  individual  peculiarities,  epidemic  tenden* 
or  other  morbific  agencies.  Disease  is  protean  in  shape  and  man 
tation,  but  the  signs  of  impaired  nervous  energy  are  unvaryinj 
character,  and  their  meaning  is  invariably  the  same. 

Common  intelligence  is  sufficient  to  dissipate  the  notion  that 
sive  congestion  is  the  result  of  malaria.  The  conjecture  of  spc 
poison  is  destitute  of  adequate  support.  It  may  be  regarded  as  mc 
an  assumption,  the  truth  of  which  has  never  been  demonstratci 
scientific  investigation.  The  actual  source  of  trouble  comes  f 
within  the  body  itself,  and  not  from  extraneous  agency.    The  ^ 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  386 

orce  from  the  ganglia,  which  permeates  the  blood  and  vivifies  every 
rorpusclc,  is  withheld  or  diminished,  and  the  blood,  as  a  direct  con- 
jequence,  is  unable  to  free  itself  from  the  dead  and  worn-out  mate- 
rial which  it  has  accumulated  in  the  course  of  its  circulations.  The 
jlands  are  unable  to  perform  their  functions  properly.  The  poison 
is  thus  generated  from  disordered  and  morbific  conditions  existing 
ftithin  the  corporeal  economy.  In  all  forms  of  passive  congestion 
the  blood  remains  fluid  after  death;  thereby  showing  that  the  vital 
energy  had  become  dormant  before  dissolution. 

Sometimes  the  corpuscles  when  deprived  of  their  normal  supply 
of  nervous  force,  will  lodge  at  the  points  where  the  vessels  intersect. 
Then  becoming  swollen  by  endosmose  of  serum,  they  burst  and  their 
fragmentary  remains  are  carried  again  into  the  circulation.  This 
constitutes  what  is  denominated  specific  poison.  It  also  is  often 
termed  contagion.  In  another  form  of  congestion  the  corpuscles  pass 
through  the  walls  of  the  capillary  vessels  into  the  tissues;  but  some- 
times they  are  entangled,  and  remain  half  inside  and  half  outside  the 
wall  of  the  vessel,  and  exhibit  a  curious  distortion  of  shape  from  their 
peculiar  predicament.  This  appearance  is  often  attributed  to  the 
supposititious  agency  denominated  malaria. 

The  kinds  of  passive  congestion  correspond  with  the  manner  in 
which  the  ganglia,  or  any  of  them,  may  be  affected  by  depression. 
Every  ganglion  is  a  focus  or  magazine  of  vital  energy,  and  is  capable 
^cordingly,  in  its  own  peculiar  province,  of  receiving,  transmitting, 
and  reflecting  impressions  on  which  the  healthy  performance  of  func- 
tion  depends. 

The  ganglial  system  being  the  corporeal  seat  of  the  emotions,  it 
IS  immediately  affected  by  every  cause  that  excites  them.  The  blush 
of  shame  or  diffidence  is  produced  from  a  temporary  depression  of 
the  vaso-motor  nerves  of  the  arteries,  which  accordingly  produces  a 
transient  congestion  of  the  arterioles:  while  the  pallor  of  guilt,  or 
t^r,  or  anger,  proceeds  from  a  corresponding  depression  of  the  nerves 
of  the  veins  which  control  the  venules.  Apathy,  the  absence  of  all 
amotion,  is  a  prominent  feature  in  all  acute  congestive  diseases,  and 
denotes  the  profound  depression  under  which  the  ganglial  structures 
are  laboring. 


286  INTELLIGENCE. 

Thus  in  one  form  of  passive  congestion,  the  face  is  suffused  and 
of  a  dusky  red.  It  has  the  appearance  of  a  permanent  blush,  and  is 
the  result  of  congestion  of  the  arterial  blood-vessels.  In  other  forms 
the  countenance  exhibits  a  permanent  paleness,  often  mistakenly 
termed  anaemia.  This  is  due  to  the  congestion  of  the  veins  and 
venous  capillaries  occasioned  by  depression  of  the  veno-motor  nerves. 

This  distinction  marks  the  division  of  congestive  diseases  into 
two  types:  the  one  characterized  by  deficient  animal  warmth,  and  the 
other  by  excess  of  heat — hypothermy  and  hypcrthermy.  In  the  for- 
mer type,  the  congestion  is  in  the  venous,  and  in  the  latter  in  the 
arterial  blood-vessels.  The  abnormity  of  temperature  in  the  patient 
affords  a  means  of  estimating  its  intensity.  The  hypothermic  type, 
which  is  due  to  congestion  arising  from  nervous  depression  of  the 
venous  system,  exhibits  at  its  extreme  degree  a  fall  of  eight  degrees 
(Fahrenheit)  below  the  normal  standard.  The  hyperthermic,  which 
originates  from  the  congestion  produced  by  arterial  depression,  will 
show,  in  its  severest  form,  an  increase  of  temperature  as  high  as  ten 
degrees  above  the  standard  of  health. 

In  the  veno-motor  form  the  nervous  apparatus  of  the  veins  is 
paralyzed,  and  the  blood  is  impelled  by  the  vital  force  till  it  emerges 
from  the  capillaries,  when  it  is  cut  off  from  that  influence,  and  the 
veins  are  accordingly  engorged.  In  the  other  form  conversely,  the 
vaso-motor  nerves  of  the  arterial  system  are  enfeebled,  and  the  im- 
pulsion from  the  heart  seems  to  be  the  sole  or  principal  force  to  propel 
the  blood  through  the  arteries.  The  result  is,  that  these  vessels  retain 
an  undue  proportion  of  the  blood,  and  the  venous  system  is  corr^ 
spondingly  deprived  of  its  normal  supply. 

PATHOLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 

Disorders  from  perverted  functional  activity  are  most  likely  to 
appear  when  there  has  been  some  severe  strain  upon  the  nenous 
system.  It  may  be  overwork,  insufficient  sleep,  or  mental  shock; 
or  perhaps  from  an  enfeebled  condition  with  no  assignable  cause. 
Chorea,  epilepsy,  and  the  various  forms  of  insanity  are  from  debility, 
and  therefore  to  be  traced  to  the  same  source.  There  are  also  con- 
tributions in  the  way  of  heredity.    The  weaknesses  of  parents^  whether 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM.  287 

moral,  mental,  or  physical,  are  liable  to  manifest  themselves  anew  in 
the  children.  As  social  demoralization  invariably  characterizes  the 
generation  bom  next  after  a  war,  so  mental  and  nervous  infirmity 
appear  after  an  epidemic  visitation  or  other  wide-spread  calamity. 
The  history  of  the  numerous  plagues  that  ravaged  Europe  during  the 
Middle  Ages  abounds  with  illustrations.  Alcoholism  entails  neurosis 
of  the  ganglial  system.  Indeed,  vice  and  immorality  in  every  form 
are  pernicious,  and  certain  in  some  way  to  impair  the  integrity  of 

the  body. 

The  mind  itself  is  often  a  forceful  originator  of  disease.  *'  When- 
ever the  equilibrium  of  our  mental  nature  is  long  or  very  seriously 
disturbed,"  says  M.  Reveille-Parise,  "  we  may  rest  assured  that  our 
animal  functions  will  suffer.  Many  a  disease  is  the  rebound,  so  to 
speak,  of  a  strong  moral  emotion.  The  mischief  may  not  be  ap- 
parent at  the  time,  but  its  germ  will  be  nevertheless  inevitably  laid." 

In  diseases  of  organs  not  liberally  supplied  with  ganglial  nerves 
there  is  less  evidence  comparatively  of  physical  suffering  or  mental 
disturbance.  Persons  injured  in  the  lungs  make  little  complaint  and 
appear  to  suffer  less  than  those  hurt  or  diseased  in  the  abdomen. 
But  when  the  stomach,  heart,  liver,  or  other  of  the  glands  or  internal 
structures  that  have  an  ample  supply  of  organic  nerves  are  disordered, 
there  is  always  emotional  perturbation.  Cancer,  ulceration,  or  inflam- 
mation of  the  stomach  are  emphatically  characterized  in  this  way. 
Every  physician  has  observed  the  emotional  horrors  that  often  attend 
dyspepsia.  Insane  persons  are  always  more  or  less  enervated,  and 
usually  have  intestinal  disease,  often  without  any  apparent  cerebral 
lesions.  They  become  moody  and  low-spirited;  indeed,  everything 
with  them  seems  to  be  out  of  plumb.  In  fact,  functional  derangement 
and  mental  disorder  accompany  each  other  with  more  or  less  un- 
certainty as  to  which  was  first  and  which  the  resultant. 

In  this  way,  doubtless,  the  whole  department  of  Pathologic  Sci- 
«ice  can  be  adequately  set  forth.  Every  agency  that  tends  to  lower 
the  spirits  and  moral  power  of  an  individual  is  certain  thereby  to 
impair  the  vital  energy.  It  is  usual  to  enumerate  such  causes  accord- 
mg  to  our  habits  of  accounting  for  things;  as,  for  example,  the  vary- 
ing conditions  of  the  atmosphere,  social  inharmonies,  the  circum- 


1 


288  INTELLIGENCE. 


stances  of  life  regarding  food,  clothing,  labor,  and  sleeping  ar^ang^ 
ments:  in  short,  however,  we  may  name  everything  from  within  or 
without  that  affects  the  corporeal  condition.  The  particular  type 
which  disease  assumes  is  determined  by  the  peculiar  temperament  and 
external  circumstances  of  the  individual. 

The  following  comparison  of  the  respective  functions  of  the  two 
departments  of  our  nervous  organism  is  given  by  Dr.  Bucke,*  and 
is  entitled  to  careful  attention.  He  represents  the  cerebro-spinal  sys- 
tem as  an  enormous  and  complex  sensory-motor  apparatus,  with  an 
immense  ganglion — the  cerebrum,  whose  function  is  ideation — super- 
imposed upon  its  sensory  tract;  and  another,  the  cerebellum,  whose 
function  is  co-ordination  of  motion,  superimposed  upon  its  motor 
tract.  The  Great  Sympathetic  is  also  a  sensory-motor  system  with- 
out any  superimposed  ganglia,  and  its  sensory  and  motor  functions 
do  not  differ  from  the  corresponding  functions  of  the  cerebro-spinal 
system  more  than  its  cells  and  fibres  differ  from  those  of  this  latter 
system;  its  efferent  or  motor  function  being  expended  upon  ua* 
striped  muscle,  and  its  afferent  or  sensory  function  being  that  p^ 
culiar  kind  of  sensation  which  we  call  emotion.  As  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  co-ordination  of  emotion  as  there  is  co-ordination  of  motion 
and  sensation,  so  in  the  realm  of  the  moral  nature  there  is  no  sudi 
thing  as  learning,  though  there  is  development. 

It  follows  as  a  corollary  that  every  form  of  earthly  excellence  is 
closely  allied  to  the  functional  integrity  of  the  ganglionic  system 
Religion  is  always  an  exercise  of  the  affections  exalted  into  the  higher 
domain   of  our  nature  by  veneration,   conscientiousness,  and  the 
sublimer  faith :   and  as  a  general  rule  the  superior  genius  is  of  a  re- 
ligious character.    Taking  the  modern  phrenological  method  of  es- 
timating, however  full  may  be  the  development  of  brow  and  middle 
regions  of  the  head,  the  three-storied  brain  carries  off  the  palm.   In- 
tellect is  more  than  reasoning  faculty  or  understanding;   it  is  the 
power  that  looks  beyond.    The  highest  moral  nature  is  most  closdy 
in  accord  with  the  truth  of  things.    All  our  great  artists  are  largdy 
endowed  in  this  respect.     We  naturally  conceive  of  selfish  persons 
that  they  are  narrow  minded,  and  of  generous  and  liberal  souls  thai 

*  Man's  Moral  Nature,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  18791 


THE  GANGLIONIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  28» 

they  are  broad  and  full  developed.  Savages  are  proverbially  deficient 
in  noble  qualities;  they  are  heartless  and  untrustworthy  in  social, 
family,  and  other  relations  which  involve  fidelity  and  unselfish  af- 
fection.   They  are  also  short-lived  in  comparison  with  other  races. 

Men,  however,  who  are  distinguished  for  superior  moral  qualities 
generally  excel  others  in  the  average  length  of  life.  The  Semitic 
peoples  are  more  tenacious  of  their  religious  customs  and  more  gen- 
erally educated  than  many  of  the  Aryan  communities,  and  they  are 
certainly  longer  lived.  In  physical  development,  while  they  are  fully 
equal  in  mental  power,  they  are  superior  in  bodily  conditions. 
Women,  likewise,  have  a  richer  endowment  of  the  organic  nervous 
system  and  of  the  moral  qualities  which  are  allied  to  it;  and  they 
not  only  excel  the  other  sex  in  longevity  and  power  of  endurance, 
but  also  generally  exercise  an  influence  correspondingly  greater  on 
manners  and  social  culture. 

The  married  usually  live  longer  than  the  unmarried,  it  is  fre- 
quently remarked.  This  is  not,  however,  solely  because  the  con- 
jugal relationship  is  more  accordant  with  nature  and  preventive  of 
disorder,  but  likewise  because  they  who  contract  it  are  commonly 
individuals  more  perfectly  endowed  with  moral  sentiment  in  corre- 
spondence with  the  nen'^ous  organism,  and  therefore  have  that  in- 
stinct of  long  life  and  permanent  domestic  relations  which  make 
marriage  desirable.  These  statements  are  borne  out  by  statistics 
J«id  amply  verified  by  observation. 

The  study  and  exploration  of  the  grand  system  of  ganglionic 
structures,  it  is  evident,  will  enable  us  to  understand,  as  we  may  not 
otherwise,  the  connection  of  every  organ  with  all  the  others,  and  their 
relation  to  the  mind  and  psychic  nature.  *'  It  must  be  now  obvious," 
says  Dr.  O'Reilly,  "  that  a  thorough  and  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  laws  and  connections  which  govern  and  regulate  the  animal 
and  organic  nervous  systems  is  indispensably  required  by  every  med- 
ical practitioner;  such,  in  reality,  being  the  alpha  and  omega  of  med- 
ical and  surgical  science.  It  is  the  foundation,"  he  continues,  "  on 
which  a  permanent  superstructure,  capable  of  containing  a  universal 
Knowledge  of  the  nature  of  diseases,  as  well  as  a  true  explanation 
of  the  modus  operandi  of  therapeutic  agents,  can  be  erected." 


290 


INTELLIGENCE. 


This  knowledge  of  the  Hfe-ministering  nervous  structures  may 
not  be  overlooked  or  neglected.  It  is  essential  in  regard  to  the 
Higher  Remedial  Art.  Medical  learning,  in  order  to  be  philosophic, 
must  cognize  as  a  fundamental  truth  the  influence  of  moral  and 
mental  states  over  the  physical  functions.  The  missing  link  which 
is  to  be  discovered  and  recognized  is  not  only  the  skill  to  restore 
a  mind  diseased  and  **  rase  out  the  hidden  troubles  of  the  brain/' 
but  to  recruit  as  well  as  sustain  the  vital  forces. 

To  the  ganglionic  system  pertains  the  operation  of  the  vis  mdi- 
catrix  Naturcc,  the  force  which  is  Nature's  physician.  It  holds  the 
middle  place  in  our  being,  between  the  within  and  the  without,  stand- 
ing at  the  last  verge  of  mortal  existence.  It  is  the  first  thing  cre- 
ated in  our  bodies,  the  last  which  is  palsied  by  death.  It  contains 
the  form,  or  organizing  principle,  which  abides  permanently  with  us 
and  controls  the  shaping  of  the  corporeal  structure,  and  at  the 
same  time  it  mirrors  the  whole  universe. 

Alexander  Wilder,  M.D. 


EVOLUTION   IN  SCIENCE. 

*'  Here  we  find  ourselves  suddenly,  not  in  a  critical  speculation,  but  in  a  \^1 
place." — Emerson. 

That  at  the  sound  of  certain  musical  tones  wheels  can  be  made 
to  revolve,  and  weights  to  rise  and  fall,  seems  a  fact,  which,  however 
incomprehensible  to  the  uninitiated,  is  yet  becoming  well  established 
in  the  nineteenth  century  scientific  world. 

The  trend  of  modern  investigations  and  researches  has  l)efli 
steadily  toward  unfolding  one  universal  law  that  bespeaks  one  priiHil 
energy  or  power,  governing  and  back  of  all  external  phenomena. 

Ether,  imponderous,  ever-present,  immaterial  substance  of  nat- 
ural science,  which  Sir  Isaac  Newton  called  spirit,  has  been  revealed 
as  the  origin  of  all  force  or  forces.  Scientists  now  agree  that  **  molec- 
ular vibration  in  matter  is  caused  by  etheric  undulations/' 

The   doctrine    of   conservation    of   energy,    which,    simply  ^^j 
fined,  comprises  an  evolvement  of  the  fact  that  though  the  exprcs^] 


EVOLUTION  IN  SCIENCE  291 

;  force  or  forces  may  change,  the  great  all-inclusive  principle  of 
lergy  itself  remains  unalterable,  if  not  an  axiom  in  modern  science, 
et  points  to  and  sustains  the  same  truism. 

This  volatile  essence,  ether,  by  Newton  called  spirit,  the  one  en- 
rg)'  back  of  all  material  energies,  the  one  law  back  of  all  physical 
iws,  has  yielded  to  the  world  a  new  secret.  It  is  by  no  means  a 
lew  force,  since  we  know  it  to  be  old  as  the  material  cosmos  itself; 
)ut  the  discovery  and  unfoldment  of  its  laws,  and  their  application 
10  the  movement  of  molecular  bodies,  and  of  machinery,  is  new,  and 
presents  in  its  far-reaching  scope  a  startling  phenomenon. 

Every  aggregation  of  molecules,  or,  in  other  words,  every  solid 
body  or  mass  of  matter,  has  been  found  to  possess  inherently  a  key- 
note, a  sympathetic  chord,  which  if  made  to  vibrate  would  give  forth 
a  certain  quality  of  tone.  The  finding  of  this  key-note  and  the  sound- 
ing of  it  from  without,  creates  a  direct  reverse  action  of  the  vibration, 
with  the  result  of  ultimately  shattering  the  solid.  Thus  the  preser- 
vation of  the  latter  depends  upon  the  sustaining  of  its  normal  state 
oi  molecular  movement. 

Mr.  John  W.  Keeley  some  years  ago  evolved  from  the  all-inclusive 
etheric  essence  the  new  vibratory  force,  recent  experiments  with 
which  have  astonished  and  mystified  experts. 

The  striking  of  a  chord  upon  the  musical  tubes  or  prongs  of  the 
generator,  starts  a  wheel  on  a  model  engine  that  has  15  horse-power. 
The  force  may  be  so  controlled  as  to  regulate  the  action  of  the  wheel 
so  that  the  latter  can  be  made  to  revolve  quickly  or  slowly,  or  it 
may  be  stopped  entirely  by  striking  a  discord — one  not  in  harmony 
with  the  chord  that  started  the  revolutions.  Any  musical  instru- 
ment, however,  may  be  played  in  the  room  without  interrupting  the 
motion,  which  is  not  affected  save  by  the  vibrations  of  the  chord 
stnick  upon  the  generator  prongs. 

The  wheel  once  thus  started  would  continue  on  forever,  becom- 
mg  an  evolved  mechanical  expression  of  perpetual  motion  on  the 
scientific  plane,  were  it  not  for  the  eventual  wearing  out  of  the  ma- 
chinery, or  unless  an  inharmonious  chord  be  struck. 

In  causing  a  brass  globe  to  rise  in  an  exhausted  receiver  by  the 
sounding  of  a  musical  tone  which  is  the  globe's  key-note,  Mr.  Keeley 


292  INTELLIGENCE. 

explains  that  the  vibrations  interfere  with  or  make  void  the  eartl 
magnetic  currents,  thus  overcoming  the  force  of  gravity. 

The  latter  cannot  certainly  be  **  overcome/'  being  a  universal  k 
of  nature  which  nothing  can  nullify  or  render  powerless,  nor  can  ev 
one  iota  be  detracted  from  its  force.  But  the  quality  of  the  bodi 
upon  which  it  acts  may  be  altered,  since  they  may  be  made  l\g 
or  heavy,  rare  or  dense,  as,  for  example,  when  clouds  float  above  t 
being  but  water  rarefied  and  risen  from  the  earth. 

Under  the  search-light  of  psychic  science,  tremendous  truths  a 
being  revealed  and  unfolded  to  the  world,  startling  the  materii 
minded  into  a  vague  perception  of  something  too  rare  and  deep  ai 
true  for  ruthless  sifting  or  vague  hypothesis. 

The  beginnings  of  so-called  material  life  were  primarily  evoWi 
from  the  invisible  ether,  which  has  through  all  the  rolling  centtiri 
given  forth  more  and  more  of  forces,  of  powers,  of  wonders,  to  d 
external,  visible  perception. 

Creation  is  continuous.  Evolution  is  ever  from  the  lower  tod 
higher,  and  the  present  trend  of  modern  scientific  research  teoi 
indeed  toward  the  highest  developments,  since  it  is  slowly,  but  surd 
tracing  to  One  Source  the  underlying  laws  governing  electric^ 
dynamics,  and  every  molecular  force. 

Rev.  John  Page  Hopps,  of  London,  has  said:  **  Science  is  carr 
ing  us  in  every  direction  into  an  unseen  universe,  and  this  unstt 
universe  is  everywhere  felt  to  be  the  sphere  of  causes  and  the  soan 
and  centre  of  all  the  essential  elements  and  activities  of  creation." 

Later  than  Mr.  Kceley's  wonderful  discovery  is  that  of  the  inn 
ether,  air  within  air,  before  which  we  stand  in  reverent  awe,  awal 
ening  to  a  deep  sense  of  the  possibilities  suggested. 

Continued  research  may  prove  this  newly  found  ethereal  wofi 

to  be  but  the  invisible  plane  above  us,  made  necessary  for  the  spiriltt 

unfoldment  of  those  who  pass  to  its  purer  atmosphere,  where  tl 

things  of  time  and  sense  forever  cease  from  troubling  and  a  highi 

life  of  power  and  achievement  continues  on  unbroken  in  its  cvoh 

tionary  sequence. 

AiMEE  M.  Wood. 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL  293 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL. 
(Coficluded,) 

Ancient  Hebrew  thought  is  silent  as  to  after-death  experience. 
Post-Captivity  Jewish  thought,  complexioned  by  Persian  mythology 
—which  in  turn  was  itself  complexioned  by  gloomy  Scandinavian 
legend — speaks  more  clearly  of  the  life  of  the  dead,  but  only  in  faint 
tones  as  compared  with  mediaeval  Christianity. 

But  here  it  might  be  pertinently  asked,  Why  should  we  search 
the  Bible  for  proof  of  Hell  after  death?  Because  it  has  more  author- 
ity?   Because  of  its  inspiration?    Truth  forbids  this. 

No,  we  search  the  Bible,  as  other  books  of  antiquity,  merely  to 
learn  in  what  manner  this  Hell-dc^^a  developed  out  of  primitive 
iancy  and  idealism  into  the  horrible  realism  of  ecclesiastic  formulae. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  even  the  Bible  does  not  clearly  and  indis- 
putably sustain  this  abominable  doctrine,  and  it  is  not  a  difficult  task 
to  show  that  the  vague  passages  on  which  theologians  base  this  ghoul- 
ish dogma  cannot  be  as  positively  interpreted  in  their  behalf  as  they 
would  wish. 

The  word  **  Hell ''  itself  clearly  reveals  its  pagan  or  natural  origin. 
Originally  it  was  in  no  sense  a  theological  term.  It  did  not  primarily 
mean  even  the  place  of  the  dead.  It  meant  merely  a  concealed  or 
covered  place.  The  word  is  derived  from  the  Saxon  word  "  Helan  " 
•^to  cover — signifying  merely  to  conceal  or  cover.*  The  word  after- 
wards became  personified  in  Hel — the  ogress  of  the  abode  of  Loki. 
She  was  the  Proserpine  of  the  Scandinavian  mythology.  It  is  from 
^liat  mythology,  as  I  have  said,  that  the  personification  of  the  Devil 
and  literal  interpretation  of  Hell  developed. 

Now,  the  Bible  employs  three  principal  words  which  cover  this 
subject,  and  which  have  constituted  the  storm-centres  of  theological 
discussion  for  ages.     These  words  are:    Sheol,   Hades,   Gehenna. 

*  McGintock  and  Strong's  Cyclo.  Bib.  Lit.,  s.v. 


294  INTELLIGENCE. 

Sheol  occurs  65  times  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  A.  V.  it  is  rep 
resented  31  times  by  "  grave  ';  31  times  by  **  hell  ";  3  times  by  "pit 
Now,  **  Hell  "  representing  "  Sheol ''  in  the  Old  Testament  31  time 
is  in  the  New  Testament  the  translation  of  Hades  and  Gehemi 
**  Hades ''  in  the  New  Testament  is  translated  by  **  Hell  "11  time 
**  Gehenna"  is  translated  by  **  Hell  '*  12  times. 

Now,  let  us  see  if  we  can  get  at  the  exact  meaning  of  these  wort 
Unless  Hades  and  Gehenna  can  be  shown  to  sustain  the  medisi 
interpretation,  of  course  the  Old-Testament  term  Sheol  will  0 
count  at  all.  If  we  can  show  that  Hades  and  Gehenna  are  pure 
figurative  terms  and  arose  out  of  sympathetic  communication  wi 
pagan  nations,  among  whom  no  positive  theology  existed — it  • 
then  be  evident  that  the  Bible  will  present  no  valid  apology  for  tl 
existence  and  permanence  of  so  revolting  a  dogma  as  the  one  1 
are  now  considering. 

The  original  meaning  of  the  term  Hades  is  similar  to  that  of  tl 
Saxon  term  Helan.  It  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words  meaniii 
**  not  seen  " — invisible.*  Thus  the  original  meaning  of  Hades  wi 
like  Hell,  the  concealed  or  covered  place  of  the  dead — the  gnu 
Afterward  it  came  to  mean  the  abode  of  the  living  dead — but  of  tk 
good  as  well  as  the  bad.  **  There  is  in  the  Hades  of  the  New  Testa 
ment  an  equally  ample  signification  with  the  Sheol  of  the  Old  Testi 
ment  as  the  abode  of  both  the  happy  and  miserable  spirits.''  t 

I  am  quoting  very  orthodox  authority.  Hades  is,  therefore,  ntf 
at  all  Hell — in  the  exclusive,  reprehensible,  damnatory  sense  of  th 
Creed. 

Now  as  to  Gehenna,  the  more  terrible  term  of  the  New  Tcsti 
ment.  This  term  is  composed  of  two  Hebrew  words  which  men 
"  Valley  of  Hinnom."  Hinnom  was  the  name  of  the  proprietor  0 
the  valley.  The  Septuagint  calls  it  the  "  Valley  of  the  son  of  Hitt 
nom."  Thus  we  discover  at  once  a  local  coloring  to  the  tcfffl 
Hence  it  must  indicate  something  for  which  the  valley  of  Hinnoil 
emphatically  stood.  This  valley  was  to  the  ancient  Jews  a  placed 
abominations — for  there  was  established  worship  of  the  barbaro* 

♦  Liddell  and  Scott's  Lexicon,  s.v. 

t  McClintock  and  Strong  Cyc.  Hib.  Lit.,  s.v. 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL  295 

gods,  Chemosh  and  Molech.  Afterward  it  became  the  place  of  com- 
mon sewage  for  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  Talmudic  times,  in  the 
literature  of  mediaeval  Judaism,  was  figuratively  employed  to  indi- 
cate the  condition  of  the  damned. 

It  will,  however,  be  an  important  fact  to  remember  that  this  term 
was  not  employed  by  the  Jews  till  after  the  Captivity.  It  is,  therefore, 
plain  that  the  Jews  had  acquired  from  their  Babylonian  captors  a 
harsher  and  more  dismal  notion  concerning  the  condition  of  the  dead 
than  they  had  previously  entertained. 

M  this  juncture,  then,  when  the  Jewish  thought  mingles  with 
the  Persian,  which  itself  is  fathered  by  the  Scandinavian,  we  discern 
the  natural  mythological  origin  of  this  now  so  revolting  dogma. 
When  hell  becomes  the  theological  place  of  the  damned,  we  behold 
again  Loki — and  Hel — the  ogress  of  the  cave  of  the  Cimmerian  land 
where  abides  perpetual  gloom.  Not  only  this  Eddaic  gloom  enters 
into  post-Captive  Jewish  theology — but  also  the  Persian  or  Zoroas- 
trian  DuaHsm — which  they  discovered  in  Babylonia.  Here  entered, 
in  their  theology,  the  personal  Devil.  With  him  came  the  sulphurous 
Hell  and  all  the  sufferings  of  Gehenna  fire,  so  vividly  pictured  in 
the  New  Testament. 

Of  course  casuists  may  be  able  to  explain  away  the  figurative 
meaning  of  Gehenna,  but  it  is  difficult  to  do  so  when  we  find  it  in 
such  an  expression  as  this  alleged  to  be  from  the  lips  of  Jesus:  "  De- 
pan  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels."    The  reference  here,  of  course,  is  to  the  well-known 
fire  of  Gehenna,  whose  smoke  was  continually  arising  from  the  bum- 
*ng  of  the  city's  waste.    The  reference  is  purely  figurative.    Never- 
theless, he  undoubtedly  meant  the  expression  to  be  illustrative  of 
a  perpetual  condition  of  the  soul.     Those  who  are  so  crude  as  to 
^  bound  bv  the  literalism  of  the  Bible  must  needs  believe  in  the 
possibilities  of  a  terrible  condition  for  the  so-called  "  damned."    But 
**hen  we  make  allowance  for  the  high  coloring  of  the  oriental  imag- 
"'ation  it  will  be  at  once  perceived  that  the  emphatic  and  literal 
interpretation  which  modem  theology  has  put  on  the  words  of  Jesus 
's  wholly  unwarranted. 

It  cannot,  however,  be  denied  that  in  the  primitive  church  a  very 


296  INTELLIGENCE. 

gloomy  interpretation  was  placed  on  the  teachings  concerning  the 
state  of  the  damned.  A  literal  **  hell  fire  "  was  almost  universally 
believed.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  considering  the  liability  ot 
the  early  Christians  to  persecution  and  martyrdom.  But  there  \n'as 
by  no  means  a  settled  or  fixed  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  among 
the  Fathers  and  some  of  the  most  learned  and  influential  among 
them  boldly  discarded  the  literal  and  repulsive  teaching  which  de- 
clared a  literal  fire  and  an  eternal  condition  of  misery.  Among  these 
the  most  significant  was  the  great  preacher  and  philosopher  Origcn. 
He  was  one  of  the  clearest-headed  and  most  illuminated  of  all  the 
Fathers  of  the  church.  His  teachings  were  so  much  against  the 
dogmatic  conclusions  of  subsequent  mediaevalism,  that  the  later 
teachers  found  his  books  so  dangerous  and  reprehensible  that  they 
were  all  burned  and  his  bones  resurrected  from  the  grave  and  con- 
sumed with  them.  And,  three  hundred  years  after  his  death,  be 
was  declared  a  heretic.  This  alone  proves  the  decadence  of  the  churd 
and  its  gradual  recession  from  the  exalted  height  which  the  spiritual 
leaders  of  the  early  church  had  attained.  Origen  insinuates  that  the 
eternal  fire  is  neither  material  nor  kindled  by  another  person,  but 
that  the  combustibles  are  the  sins  themselves  of  which  conscience 
reminds  us;  thus  the  fire  of  hell  resembles  the  fire  of  the  passions. 
The  consuming  fire  of  these  passions  was  itself  punishment  whidi 
would  continue  till  the  unholy  powers  were  wholly  destroyed.  For 
he  further  taught  that  the  end  of  all  these  punishments  was  to  heal 
and  correct  the  victim,  and  thus  finally  to  restore  the  sinner  to  the 
favor  of  God.     (Hagenbach,  "  History  of  Doctrines,"  sec.  78.) 

But  how  futile,  how  puerile,  all  this  dispute  over  a  dogma  that 
has  so  surreptitiously  crept  into  the  teachings  of  a  church  which  has 
borrowed  all  its  doctrines  and  its  rites  from  pre-existing  religions  and 
usages!  It  is  very  evident  that  neither  the  Bible  nor  the  writings  of 
the  eariy  Fathers  can  give  us  as  much  light  on  this  doctrine  as  comes 
from  the  legends  and  stories  of  the  ancient  nations  which  existed 
so  many  centuries  previous  to  the  advent  of  Christianity.  When, 
therefore,  we  discover  the  purely  natural  and  evolutional  origin  of  a 
dogma  which  has  played  so  ghoulish  a  role  in  the  drama  of  thought Jt 
is  time  we  should  relegate  it  to  its  proper  sphere — that  we  should  W 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL  297 

ic  classified  with  the  effete  my tholcTgies  of  an  effete  and  forgotten 
rid. 

The  astonishing  and  repulsive  feature,  however,  of  this  myth  of 
U,  is  that  as  it  penetrates  the  period  of  intellectual  refinement 
I  modem  civilization  it  grows  more  and  more  hideous,  and  loses 
the  poetry  and  phantasy  which  enhaloed  it  at  its  primeval  origin, 
ire  is,  certainly,  poetry  and  beauty,  a  certain  sombre  tinge  of  pa- 
5,  in  the  legends  of  flame-encircled  Loki,  his  faithful  dog,  and  Hel, 
cave-bound  ogress;  of  Proserpine  and  Pluto;  erf  Isis  and  Osiris 
the  evil  genius,  Typhon;  of  Circe  and  Odysseus,  whose  wander- 
5 in  Hades  are  so  replete  with  imagery  and  spiritual  signification; 
Lurydice,  and  Orpheus,  whose  lamentations  made  the  hollow  vault 
lell  reverberate  with  the  sense  of  his  spiritual  loss — but  all  these 
ies  are  simple,  human,  and  natural.  They  are  full  of  engrossing 
Test  because  they  neither  contradict  human  nature  nor  are  they 
siting  to  one's  contemplation. 

But  how  gross,  how  abusive  and  repulsive,  have  these  same 
tnds  become  when  reduced  to  the  literalistic  and  forensic  pict- 
s  of  mediaevalized  mythological  theology!  This  theology  con- 
s  of  three  salient  features,  each  of  which  rivals  the  other  in  re- 
siveness.  There  is  a  God,  who  sits  as  Tempter,  Tormentor,  and 
Ige,  in  one,  acting  in  collusion  with  his  great  Protagonist,  the 
vil  to  whom  carte  blanche  is  given  to  corral  all  his  wandering 
nan  sheep  and  pitch  them,  when  condemned,  with  one  fell  swoop 
3  the  ever-burning  pit,  whose  sulphurous  stenches  become  a 
R'eet  smelling  savor  "  to  the  accommodating  Host  of  the  Orgy. 

Hel,  the  ogress  of  the  cave,  daughter  of  the  giantess  Angurboda, 
e  of  Loki,  who  sits  a  saturnine  object  of  perpetual  gloom  at  the 
astern  gate,"  and  broods  and  broods,  and  thirsts  for  the  victims 
t  must  come,  is  an  object  of  poetic  beauty  beside  the  mythical 
oul  which  mediaeval  theology  has  presented  to  us  as  a  God. 
All  the  beauty  of  earth's  childhood  hope  seems  to  have  been  meta- 
T)hosed  in  that  middle  age  of  darkness  into  Gorgonian  horrors 
I  Medusa  heads!  Primarily,  love  and  sweetness,  ambition  and 
^.  were  inspired  by  the  legendary  songs;   but  when  the  coarse 


298  INTELLIGENCE. 

Ijrain  of  the  Crusader  and  the'  weird  fanatics  of  the  caves — ^the  an 
chorites  and  the  pillar  **  saints  *' — seized  upon  them,  they  chilled  tb 
blood  and  stalled  the  heart.  In  the  middle  ages,  when  Odin  woi 
ship  had  been  overthrown  and  the  gods  of  Asgard  descended  to  He 
home — Odin  still  pursued  his  office  of  conductor  and  leader  of  soul 
But  now  he  hounded  them  to  the  under-world.  Thus  we  see  tl 
simple,  hardy,  ruffian,  but  good-natured,  god  of  childhood  religio 
becomes  the  tormentor,  the  pursuer,  the  fierce  avenger  of  the  mcd 
i'eval  religion. 

And,  strange  to  remark,  we  who  live  in  all  the  splendor  of  th 
modern  age  of  intelligence  have  not  yet  outgrown  its  pall  of  glooi 
The  churches  still  reverberate  with  its  awful  tone  of  terror;  revivalis 
with  pale  lips  and  sunken  eyes  still  picture  the  final  scenes  of  w 
before  aflfrighted  audiences  who  falter,  faint,  and  lose  their  sent 
in  the  scramble  after  salvation.  Oh,  that  more  poetry  would  ent 
into  our  lives! — that  fancy  would  succeed  perverted  fact,  and  that  tl 
song  of  childish  hope  would  supplant  the  stultifying  credulity  of  ag 

I  have  sought  in  this  paper  to  study  the  doctrine  of  Hell  pure 
from  the  naturalistic  view-point.  I  have  therefore  avoided  cnterii 
into  the  endless  and  profitless  discussion  of  theologians  as  to  tl 
possible  Bible  interpretations  of  the  idea.  Having  determined 
regard  the  Bible  only  as  literature  which  but  reflects  the  mode 
thought  of  its  own  age,  it  matters  not  what  apparently  authoritati 
teaching  the  Bible  gives  concerning  Hell.  It  is  of  no  more  esscnt 
value,  so  far  as  its  conclusions  or  its  compulsory  acceptance  tH 
go,  than  are  the  legends  of  ancient  peoples  or  the  mythologies 
defunct  religions.  We  cannot  understand  the  Bible  except  as 
compare  it  with  other  sacred  literatures.  We  cannot  underst^ 
religious  dogmas  except  by  pursuing  their  natural  origin  and  dev 
opment.  When  separated  from  the  delusion  of  supematuralism  a 
inspiration,  we  learn  that  these  affrighting  dogmas  are  but  the  c 
spring  of  the  human  imagination.  Once  conceived,  they  are  < 
forced  through  the  love  of  natural  tyranny.  When  thus  enforce 
they  become  unimaginative,  reprehensive,  and  contradictory  of  fe 
man  experience.    Only  by  freeing  ourselves  from  the  error  of  50C 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL  209 

delusions  can  we  discern  a  deeper  and  purer  meaning  in  the  doc- 
trines which  all  religions  have,  in  some  form,  fostered. 

What,  then,  shall  we  do  with  the  dogma  of  Hell?  Having  shorn 
it  ot  its  supernatural  locks,  and  reduced  it  to  its  natural  lineaments, 
has  it  now  for  us  nothing  but  repulsiveness,  and  shall  we  banish  it 
from  our  gallery  of  thought?  I  think  not.  Why?  Because  I  think 
there  is  truth,  evidenced  in  the  experience  of  the  race,  which  may 
be  elucidated  by  the  abused  doctrine,  and  thus  lead  him  who  under- 
stands to  a  loftier  plane  of  being. 

Hell  is  indeed  darkness,  and  justly  associated  with  darkness.  But 
error  also  is  darkness — for  it  is  the  shadow  cast  by  the  presence  of 
Truth.  Were  there  no  truth  there  would  be  no  error.  Or,  con- 
versely, did  not  error  enter  into  thought,  truth  would  be  inconceiv- 
able. In  short,  knowledge  is  relative.  Everything  is  known  only 
by  contrast  and  comparison.  We  know  light  as  light  beoeuse  there 
b darkness;  and,  conversely,  we  call  darkness  night  because  we  know 
the  day.  To  know  darkness  proves  that  also  light  must  be  known. 
The  knowledge  of  error  is,  therefore,  proof  of  the  knowledge  of  truth. 

To  apprehend  Good  we  must  be  acquainted  with  Evil !  All  knowl- 
edge has,  therefore,  a  double  face.  It  is  a  coin  whose  obverse  and 
reverse  sides  are  essential  to  its  existence.  With  only  one  side  a 
coin  could  not  be.  Likewise  knowledge  must  consist  of  both  truth 
and  error— else  there  were  no  knowledge.  We  know  error  that  we 
may  see  the  truth.  We  apprehend  truth  that  we  may  escape  error. 
Did  I  not  know  that  air  could  not  sustain  my  weight  I  would  attempt 
^0  walk  on  the  atmosphere.  Experience  would  tea'ch  me  the  truth, 
^ut  first  through  error.  Did  I  not  know  that  blood  would  flow, 
and  pain  follow,  and  death  come  on  apace,  I  might  for  sport  pierce 
my  body  with  weapons,  or  thrust  my  hands  into  the  flame. 

On  the  contrary,  knowing  I  cannot  walk  on  the  air,  I  avoid  step- 
ping from  the  house-top.  Knowing  I  would  perish,  I  do  not  pierce 
my  heart  with  weapons — unless  I  am  bent  on  death.  Manifestly, 
l^nowledge  of  truth  can  come  to  us  only  through  knowledge  of  error. 
In  other  words,  we  are  made  wise  only  through  experience.  By  ex- 
perience we  learn.  But  experience  begins  in  ignorance.  Ignorance 
's  error.    Error— darkness — is,  therefore,  the  foundation  of  human 


300  INTELLIGENCE. 

knowledge.  Error,  as  I  have  said,  is  the  basis  of  truth.  Paradox, 
though  this  be,  it  is  a  philosophic  fact.  But  error  is  darkness  and 
darkness  is  Hell!  Hell  is  the  covered  place,  the  place  of  gloom,  of 
foreboding,  ''  of  lawless  and  incertain  thoughts." 

To  dwell  in  these  thoughts  of  gloom,  of  unhallowed  darkness, 
of  fear,  of  narrow  limitation,  of  torturing  confinement — ^is  to  dwell 
with  error,  with  darkness,  with  hell.    To  pervert  this  life,  to  believe 
that  it  is  encompassed  with  evil  influences,  that  man  is  a  ''fallen" 
being  and  is  inherently  and  totally  depraved,  in  whom  is  nothing  good 
— this  is  error,  darkness,  hell.    To  dwell  in  the  thoughts  of  hatred, 
of  vengeance,  of  red-clouded  war,  of  direful  anger — this  is  error— 
this  is  hell.    To  believe  that  you  are  bound  b^  the  limitations  of  the 
body,  the  fixed  forms  of  confluent  atoms,  the  narrowness  of  traditional 
thought,  the  hereditary  powers  of  the  aggregate  race — this  is  error, 
darkness,  hell.    To  believe  that  error  is  more  potent  than  truth,  to  \ 
disbelieve  in  the  all-potency  of  truth,  to  be  turned  by  every  wind 
of  doctrine  and  become  but  the  child  of  impulse — this  is  error,  hclL 
To  narrow  the  horizon  of  one's  being  and  think  only  in  the  past- 
brooding  over  sorrows,  nursing  pain  and  hugging  melancholy — this 
is  darkness,  hell.    To  be  bestial  and  baneful  and  bloodthirsty,  setting 
traps  for  your  neighbor,  cunning,    designing,  intriguing,  seeking 
selfish  ends  by  atrocious  methods,  to  obey  passion  rather  than  con- 
science, to  love  indulgence  better  than  sacrifice,  this  is  error,  dark- 
ness, hell.     Hell  is  at  once  a  condition  and  creation  of  thought 
Heaven  is  likewise.    Think  truth,  we  become  the  truth.    Think  error, 
we  become  error.    Think  light,  and  one  is  full  of  light.    Think  dark- 
ness, and  one  is  overshadowed  by  the  night.    Our  thoughts  are  the 
basis  of  our  responsibility.    There  is  nothing  but  thought.    We  dwell 
in  heaven  when  we  entertain  heavenly  thoughts:  when  our  minds  an 
bent  on  goodness,  truth,  and  beauty.     We  dwell  in  hell,  when  out 
minds  are  of  the  night — black  with  the  inky  gloom  of  vengeance  O! 
"  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  "  of  fear  and  woe. 

**  I  sent  my  Soul  throuj?h  the  Invisible, 
Some  letter  of  that  After-life  to  spell: 
And  by  and  by  my  Soul  returned  to  me, 
And  answered,  "  I  Myself  am  Heav'n  and  Hell: 


THE  DOGMA  OF  HELL.  301 

Hcav'n  but  the  Vision  of  fulfilled  Desire 
And  Hell  the  Shadow  from  a  Soul  on  fire. 
Cast  on  the  Darkness  into  which  Ourselves, 
So  late  emerged  from,  shall  so  soon  expire."  * 

This  is  all  there  is  of  Hell.  But  one  asks,  **  Is  there  no  future — 
isall  life  existent  but  here  on  this  evanescent  sphere?  '*  Are  we  forced 
to  conclude: 

*'  One  thing  is  certain  and  the  rest  is  lies: 
The  flower  that  once  has  blown  forever  dies  "? 

One  thing  is  sure:  thought  lives,  while  lives  the  human  mind.  If  the 
human  mind  is  eternal,  thought  is  eternal.  Thought  is  the  seat  of 
Heaven — the  substance  of  Hell.  If  we  think  forever  we  shall  be  for- 
ever in  Heaven  or  Hell — for  we  dwell  in  our  own  thoughts  alone. 
^Vhat  need  we  fear,  then,  the  curse  of  Judgment  the  Great  Court  shall 
flecree  at  the  Last  Assize?  It  is  not  this  we  need  fear — but  some- 
what more  awful.  Such  a  Court  might  relent — it  might  heed  the 
en-  and  tear  of  the  mournful  sinner. 

*'  Oh,  Thou  who  didst  with  pitfall  and  with  gin 
Beset  the  Road  I  was  to  wander  in, 
Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestined  Evil  round 
Enmesh,  and  then  impute  my  Fall  to  Sin! 

Oh  Thou,  who  Man  of  baser  Earth  didst  make. 

And  ev*n  with  Paradise  devise  the  Snake: 

For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face  of  Man 

Is  blacken*d — Man's  Forgiveness  give — and  take!  "  t 

Such  pleas  of  logic  and  tender  pathos  might  conquer  a  man-like 
jdge.  But  a  Judge,  a  Court  of  Last  Resort,  more  terrible,  more 
rrtain,  more  irrevocable,  haunts  us  each  hour  and  day.  We  sit  at 
5  Judgment  Bar  every  moment.  Every  second  we  hear  its  decrees. 
hey  are  registered  on  the  leaves  of  our  lives  and  lettered  even  on 
jr  veins  and  sinews. 

This  ever-present  Judge  is  the  all  potent  Thought.  He  sits  stern, 
lentless,  unconquerable.  Each  moment  he  writes  his  swift  deci- 
ons  upon  the  vital  forces  of  our  Being.    He  carves  the  very  features 

•  Omar  Khayyam's  Rubaiyat  (Fitzgerald),  LXXX. 
t  Ibid..  LXXXI. 


802  INTELLIGENCE. 

of  our  visages,  he  orders  the  pulses  of  the  brain,  he  counts  and  dir« 
the  palpitations  of  the  heart,  he  breathes  in  the  respiration  of  o 
lungs,  he  poses  in  our  gestures  and  mesmerizes  our  attitudes.  V 
cannot  escape  him. 

"The  moving  finger  writes;   and  having  writ, 
Moves  on:   nor  all  your  Piety  nor  Wit 
Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  line. 
Nor  all  your  Tears  wash  out  a  Word  of  it.** 

What  need  to  preach  a  Hell  eternal,  when  a  potential  Hell  s 
realizable  is  ever  with  us?  And  yet,  what  a  cj>nsolation  have  we  eve 
in  this  philosophy!  For  we  need  not  dwell  in  Hell.  We  keep  ev< 
with  us  the  Master  Magic  by  which  we  may  prevail.  We  carry  cvt 
with  us  our  Aladdin's  Lamp  which  we  are  free  to  rub  that  we  ma 
receive  its  wondrous  blessings. 

Our  Master  Key  to  this  Magic  is  our  WILL.  The  Lamp  ( 
Aladdin  is  our  THOUGHT. 

We  can  uplift  ourselves  from  Hell  to  Heav'n, 
From  Darkness  unto  Light,  as  Gloom  is  riv'n 
By  one  swift  Gleam  of  Splendor,  e'en  though  dark 
Were  all  the  world,  entombed.    By  one  bright  Spark 
Our  Thoughts  with  Hope  ignite,  and  thus  illume 
Otir  breasts,  where  erst  dwelt  Monsters  of  the  Gloom! 

Henry  Frank. 


"  Kill  nr>t — for  Pity's  snko— and  lest  ye  slay 
The  meanest  thing  ni)on  its  ujjward  way." 

■'  CJive  freely  and  receive,  but  take  from  none 
By  greed,  or  force  or  fraud,  what  is  his  own." 

"  Bear  not  false  witness,  slander  not,  nor  lie; 
Truth  is  the  speech  of  inward  purity." 

"  Shun  dru^rs  and  drinks  which  work  the  wit  abuse: 
Clear  minds,  clean  bodies,  need  no  Soma  juice." 

"  Living  pure,  reverent,  patient,  jiitiful. 
Loving  all  things  which  live  even  as  themselves: 
Because  what  falls  for  ill  is  fniit  of  ill 
Wrought  in  the  f>ast,  and  what  falls  well,  of  good." 

The  lAfihi  of  Asia,  by  Sir  Fldwin  ArnrSf 


ANIMAL  FLESH   AS   FOOD. 

Until  recently,  the  human  family,  especially  in  the  Occident,  with 

exception  of  a  comparatively  few  members  who  have  usually  been 

;sed  as  "  peculiar,"  **  unbalanced,''  or  '*  sentimental,"  have  held 

t  animal  food  was  a  pre-requisite  for  the  development  and  main- 

ance  of  physical  and  mental  vigor. 

This  opinion  has  been  fostered  by  those  physiologists  who  have 
utly  maintained  that  certain  nutritive  elements  were  alone  pro- 
able  from  animal  tissues.  A  careful  review  of  the  food  tables  pub- 
led  during  the  last  half  centur>'  would,  I  think,  reveal  the  fact  that 
ich  of  this  teaching  is  purely  traditional  and  not  the  result  of 
vanced  thought  or  recent  investigation. 

It  is  much  easier  to  travel  in  a  well-worn  groove  than  to  construct 
AOihcr,  especially  when  the  recent  highway  may  subject  one  to  un- 
:illing  criticism.  Man  shrinks  from  the  epithet  **  non-conventional," 
lence  to-day  we  find  otherwise  intelligent  writers  expressing  the 
opinions  of  their  forefathers,  many  of  which  may  be  as  little  adapted 
lo  our  present  need  as  the  garments  of  our  infancy. 

A  statistical  investigation  would  reveal  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
diminishing  demand  and  a  growing  dislike  for  animal  flesh  as  food, 
alihoug^h  hitherto  it  was  supposed  an  indispensable  article  of  diet. 

Doubtless  the  revelations  of  the  pathological  laboratory  have 
P^atly  promoted  the  evolution  of  this  distaste;  but  we  must  recog- 
n»^e  as  an  important  factor  the  psychic  influence  which  has  emanated 
^rom  the  few  daring  minds  thinking  and  speaking  with  the  energy  of 
<^')n\iction.  These  have  questioned  the  infallibility  of  the  time-hon- 
<^*re(|  food  tables,  relegated  many  of  the  dietetic  dogmas  to  the  do- 
^am  of  the  non-proved,  and  empirically  established  the  truth  of  their 
<-"i^victions.  Thoughts,  like  other  forms  of  vibration,  become  mate- 
nahzations  possessing  potential  energy  to  arouse  like  vibrations  in 
^ther  minds.  The  great  truth  underlying  this  fact  is  just  dawning  on 
the  horizon  of  modern  science,  but  the  day  is  not  distant  when  it 

303 


1 


304  INTELLIGENCE. 


will  be  fully  recognized  and  accepted  as  the  explanation  for  manj 
occurrences  veiled  in  mystery.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  power  for  good 
or  evil  so  great  as  concentrated  thought. 

It  is  needless  to  recapitulate  the  arguments  in  favor  of  animal 
food,  as  they  are  patent  to  most  readers.  Let  us  briefly  consider  a 
few  reasons  opposed  to  its  use. 

First. — The  instant  that  vitality  leaves  the  animal  body  disintegra- 
tion begins.  "  The  millions  of  infinitesimal  lives  which  originallj 
built  up  the  organism,  no  longer  restrained  by  law,  run  riot  and, 
mob-like,  tear  down  the  mansion  which  they  constructed."  Disin- 
tegration in  this  case,  means  decomposition  or  putrefaction,  resulting 
in  the  release  of  ptofnaines  which  are  detrimental  to  the  living  body. ; 
Our  senses  are  not  sufficiently  acute  to  detect  when  the  process  has 
passed  the  danger  line.  Hence  much  animal  food  is  received  into 
the  human  stomach  in  a  condition  to  destroy  rather  than  to  build  up 
tissue. 

Second. — The  animal  body  is  often  filled  with  parasites,  which, 
having  become  encysted  in  the  flesh  food,  only  await  the  action  ol 
the  gastric  juice  in  the  human  stomach  to  be  set  free  and  renew  their 
activity.  This  process  is  demonstrated  in  the  history  of  the  trichina 
and  the  three  varieties  of  tape-worm,  which  as  cysticerci  are  found 
respectively  in  beef,  pork,  and  fish.    Prolonged  cooking  will  doubtless  j 

destroy  these  parasitic  embryos,  but  when  account  is  taken  of  the  | 

■I 

enormous  consumption  of  underdone  meat — apart  from  the  "raw 
scraped  beef  **  which  is  professionally  (?)  prescribed — the  possibilities 
become  interesting  and  suggestive.  Again,  the  body  of  the  animal 
is  often  the  seat  of  malignant  disease,  which  may  be  thus  communi- 
cated to  his  human  brother. 

Third. — A  large  proportion  of  the  material  in  meat  is  not  assinu- 
lated  by  our  tissues,  but  becomes  so  much  scrap  to  be  eliminated. 
Now,  beyond  a  certain  normal  activity,  the  more  work  that  an  (Xgao 
has  to  perform  the  earlier  will  the  integrity  of  its  action  be  impaircdf 
or  worn  out,  and  functionally  useless.  The  digestive  apparatus  >* 
overtaxed  when  forced  to  extract  a  small  amount  of  tissue  from  * 
mass,  which,  for  the  most  part,  will  become  residuum  demanding 
energy  to  eliminate.    Such  conditions  must  eventually,  in  obedicnc* 


ANIMAL   FLESH   AS   FOOD.  305 

)  the  inexorable  law  of  cause  and  effect,  develop  a  diminution  in 
xecutive  ability,  as  evinced  in  that  very  prevalent  condition  known 
s  dyspepsia. 

Fourth. — ^Animal  traits  are  believed  to  be  engendered  and 
trengthened  by  the  absorption  of  animal  tissues.  From  the  coarse 
avage  who  subsists  on  uncooked  flesh,  up  to  the  dainty  maiden 
who  **  dotes  on  rare  roast  beef,"  it  is  said  that  varying  degrees  of 
inimality  may  be  traced.  The  hypothesis  becomes  reasonable  when 
ft-e  reflect  that,  with  each  morsel  of  flesh  there  is  taken  into  the  sys- 
tem countless  cells  which  composed  the  animal's  body,  each  of  which 
possessed  a  sub-conscious  life  and  was  endowed  with  that  vitality 
from  whence  the  creature  derived  its  existence  and  nature. 

It  is  not  to  be  asserted  that  patrons  of  a  vegetable  or  frugiverous 
diet  are  free  from  animalism,  as  this  seems  to  be  a  common  heritage, 
but  they  undoubtedly  possess  fewer  animal  traits  than  the  advocates 
of  a  meat  diet.  In  obedience  to  a  psychic  law,  the  less  the  animal 
nature  is  fostered  the  sooner  will  it  be  subordinated  and  eliminated, 
and  the  earlier  will  come  the  efflorescence  and  fruitage  of  the  spir- 
itual or  higher  nature,  to  nourish  and  render  fragrant  everything 
which  it  touches.  The  higher  self  in  its  essence  is  always  pure.  It 
is  the  lower  or  animal  nature  that  exhibits  qualities  which  are  desig- 
nated as  sinful  and  criminal. 

Fifth. — Meat  is  not  necessary  as  a  food.  Every  essential  quality 
which  it  contains  can  be  found  in  other  palatable  and  harmless  sub- 
stances. A  healthy,  well-developed,  muscular  body,  harmonious  in 
all  its  activities  and  correlations,  strong  for  action,  endurance,  and 
resistance,  may  be  built  up  and  sustained  on  a  diet  from  which  every 
form  of  animal  food  is  excluded. 

This  assertion,  based  upon  the  writer's  personal  experience  ex- 
tending through  years,  is  made  boldly  and  without  qualification. 

Sixth. — The  preparation  of  animals  for  the  market  is  most  de- 
nioralizing  to  those  engaged  in  the  work. 

Why  does  every  man  and  woman  of  average  refinement  shrink 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  slaughter-house,  and  studiously  avoid  even 
reference  to  the  spot?  Is  it  not  the  consciousness  that,  though  re- 
garded as  a  necessary  evil,  it  is  the  domain  of  blood,  brutality,  and 
nnwholesome  exhalations? 


806  INTELLIGENCE. 

If  the  horrors  of  the  shambles  were  fully  realized  there  are  many 
who  would  forever  eschew  the  use  of  anything  which  encouraged  such 
practices.  Men  who  work  in  abattoirs  become  more  or  less  brutal- 
ized. Their  sympathies  are  blunted;  familiar  with  suffering  and 
agony  in  dumb  victims,  they  disregard  like  manifestations  of  human- 
ity. Brutal  thoughts  displace  divine  aspirations,  and  acts  of  violence 
supplant  errands  of  mercy. 

Is  it  possible  that  men  who  wade  in  blood  amid  the  din  of  tort- 
ured and  dying  animals,  mingled  not  infrequently  with  profanitv 
and  obscenity,  are  fit  to  become  parents?  Is  not  the  seed  of  the 
future  plant  influenced  by  the  environment  in  which  it  matures?  Are 
there  no  pre-natal  impressions  which  may  warp  or  blight  the  forth- 
coming personality?  This  is  a  serious  question;  one  which  should 
engage  the  thoughtful  attention  of  every  man  and  woman  in  whom 
there  exists  any  desire,  however  slight,  for  the  advancement  of  the 
human  race  and  the  protection  of  the  other  members  of  the  animal 
kingdom.  There  is,  moreover,  a  sacredness  about  life  wherever  man- 
ifested. We  cannot  tell  to  what  extent  the  harmonious  equilibrium 
of  nature  is  disturbed  by  its  wanton  displacement. 

Edward  G.  Day,  M.D. 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  SUGGESTION. 

(Concluded.) 

Each  of  the  three  divisions  of  Truth — Law,  Life,  and  Love,  is 
itself  a  triune  manifestation;  e.g.,  I  would  subdivide  the  first,  Law', 
into  three  subdivisions:  Substance,  or  that  which  stands  back  of  phe- 
nomena and  furnishes  the  foundation  for  physical  forms;    Force,  o« 
the  conditioning  influence  which,  applied  to  Substance,  produces  vvh»- 
I  should  consider  the  third  subdivision.  Matter. 

The  second  division.  Life,  seems  to  be  naturally  subdivided  int 
Vegetable,  Anitnah  and  Human.    Comment  on  the  meaning  of  the^ 
terms  would  be  superfluous. 

For  the  third  division,  Love,  I  will  suggest,  first,  that  eleme 


AN    EDUCATIONAL   SUGGESTION. 


807 


»ins  to  come  into  most  direct  contact  with  us,  and  through 
;  recognize  the  existence  of  the  higher  realm,  using  the  word 
c  to  express  the  idea;  second,  the  impelling  power  of  Love, 
mi  or  principle  which  we  recognize  as  working  toward  good- 
ressing  it  by  the  word  Will;  and  for  the  third  subdivision 
ting  state  of  Harmony  seems  to  fit  very  well, 
of  these  subdivisions  constitutes  a  triune  group  of  facts,  or 
>,  or  phenomena;  but  further  suggestion  would  be  super- 
>  far  as  explaining  my  theory  is  concerned;  and  that  being 
Dbject,  I  will  refrain  from  any  further  attempt  at  elaboration. 
:he  theory  will  be  still  more  clearly  brought  out  by  a  graphic 
ation,  thus: 


fi.  LAW 


I.  Substance 


2.  Farce. 


I.   Vegetable 


2,  LIFE 4  2.  Animai 


3.  Human 


.3.  LOVE 


I.  Conscience 


2.  wm. 


3.  Harmony. 


A. 
B. 
C. 

D. 
E. 
F. 


,  I.  G. 
^^ii^ ^2.  H. 

3.  I. 


's  tabulation  is  susceptible  of  an  infinite  development,  and, 
property  carried  out,  a  place  will  be  found  for  every  fact. 


308  INTELLIGENCE. 

thought,  or  experience,  throughout  the  entire  universe.  It  wiUbe, 
what  science  is  supposed  to  be,  a  mirror  of  nature,  a  systematic  U'\ 
rangement  or  classification  of  all  our  knowledge,  a  perfect  expressioii 
of  the  relations  between  facts. 

When  this  development  has  progressed  far  enough  to  include  thej 
details  of  specific  facts  upon  which  the  mind  depends  for  its  worldof  | 
material,  what  a  revolution  will  have  been  accomplished!  Howtfae 
average  person's  conception  of  the  universe  will  differ  from  the  hazf 
notion  prevalent  to-day!  How  firm  a  foundation  we  will  have  for  oar 
science,  and  what  a  plain,  straight  path  will  be  pointed  out  for  futoRi 
investigation  and  research!  The  innumerable  fields  of  human  effort j 
in  which  a  revolution  will  be  wrought  need  not  be  recounted  hertj 
A  little  reflection  will  convince  you  that  it  is  impossible  to  ovff- 
estimate  the  good  sure  to  result  from  this  tabulation. 

But,  you  ask,  is  it  possible  for  anyone  to  devise  a  complete  tabfcj 
or  even  sufficiently  complete  to  be  of  practical  utility  in  rcfc 
to  our  knowledge  of  details?     I  answer  **  No  "  most  emphaticaDf* 
This  tabulation  can  never  be  like  a  piece  of  handiwork,  turned  otf | 
complete  by  an  individual.    It  must  be  like  a  living  organism, 
ing  from  the  seed,  constantly  increasing  by  the  observation  and 
of  all  the  world's  thinkers;   it  must  pass  through  all  the  stages 
tissue  building  and  destroying,  just  as  is  experienced  in  other 
ganisms.    Fed  by  the  thought  of  many  minds  this  food  must  be 
gested,  circulated,  and  assimilated.    What  one  thinker  suggests  rat 
be  thoroughly  analyzed  and  criticised  by  others  working  in  the 
field  till  the  concensus  of  opinion  settles  upon  a  certain  division  wl 
will  then  be  adopted  and  the  table  increased  thereby.    So  the  w< 
must  proceed  through  many  years;  in  fact  forever,  for  the  table 
never  l>e  completed  as  long  as  there  are  still  left  facts  for  man 
ascertain  and  discoveries  for  him  to  make. 

Just  how  this  work  can  be  facilitated  is  difficult  to  see.  Perhaj 
an  association  could  be  formed  having  for  its  object  the  elaboratii 
of  this  scheme  of  classification;  the  membership  being  divided  inta 
three  branches,  each  of  these  being  divided  into  three  sections,  an| 
so  on  to  the  fields  of  the  specialists,  as  fast  as  satisfactory  di\nsioal 
could  be  determined.    As  the  membership  would  necessarily  be  vertl 


AN    EDUCATIONAL    SUGGESTION.  309 

much  scattered,  some  sort  of  journal  or  organ  would  have  to  be  pro- 
vided, in  which  to  publish  reports  of  meetings  held  by  societies  in 
different  localities,  and  in  which  also  would  appear  the  pros  and  cons 
of  suggested  divisions.  Space  for  a  department  could  be  secured  in 
some  established  periodical  until  a  special  organ  would  be  rendered 
necessary  by  increased  membership  and  consequent  multiplication  of 
{Nipers  and  reports. 

But  before  any  such  step  is  taken  there  must  be  a  great  deal  of 
work  done  by  individuals  in  accumulating  a  mass  of  confirmatory  evi- 
Ance  to  form  a  basis  for  future  reasoning. 

Without  in  the  least  wishing  to  have  this  essay  regarded  as  even 
l)eginning  this  accumulation  I  cannot  refrain  from  pointing  out  one 
field  in  which  very  positive  evidence  to  many  minds  lies  on  the  very 
surface.  This  is  a  Christian  era  and  all  thought  is  largely  influenced 
hj  the  truths  of  the  Christian  religion.  I  dare  say  that  many  readers 
whose  minds  are  especially  bent  on  religious  lines  have  selected  the 
word  God  as  the  synonym  for  TRUTH,  and  to  these  some  very  strik- 
ing facts  will  occur.  By  analyzing  Christ's  teaching  much  will  be 
fcmnd  corresponding  to  the  statements  implied  by  the  table  God  is 
Law;  God  is  Life;  God  is  Love.  Here  we  have  very  clearly  and 
forcibly  presented  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  a  little 
thought  will  convince  you  that  there  is  nothing  in  this  doctrine  limit- 
mg  its  application  to  a  single  trinity;  nothing  that  denies  a  triune 
sature  to  each  number  of  the  Godhead.  Lazv  the  Father;  Life  the 
5on,  and  Lave  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  teach- 
Bgs  of  Christ,  and  reflection  on  this  view  may  help  to  remove  much 
f  the  mystery  that  has  always  surrounded  this  doctrine  of  the  trinity. 
The  religious  mind  will  also  find  many  sermons  in  these  words: 

The  Law  of  Life  should  be  Love. 

The  Life  of  Law  should  be  Love. 

The  Love  of  Life  should  be  Law. 

The  Law  of  Love  should  be  Life. 

The  Love  of  Law  should  be  Life. 

The  Life  of  Love  should  be  Law. 
By  keeping  in  mind  the  ideas  for  which  the  words  stand,  you 
ill  see  that  there  is  much  meaning  in  each  of  these  precepts,  and 


^ 


810  INTELLIGENCE. 

• 

that,  viewed  in  this  connection,  the  Trinity  assumes  a  new  and  vital 
aspect.  It  becomes  more  than  a  meaningless  article  of  faith;  it  is 
transformed  into  a  living  principle  dominating  all  affairs,  human  and 
divine. 

God  the  Father,  Law;  God  the  Son,  Life,  and  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Love,  is  indeed  fraught  with  infinite  meaning  and  power. 

The  student  of  Brahmanism,  Buddhism,  or  Evolution,  will  find 
the  gradual  development  from  Chaos  to  Cosmos,  a  "  Cycle ''  of  . 
Brahm,  exempUfied  in  the  words  from  Substance  to  Harmony.  The  ; 
subdivisions  will  naturally  carry  this  idea  out  so  that  the  ultimate 
series  of  words  in  the  table  would  express  the  entire  process  of 
natural  development.  With  this  point  in  mind,  a  system  of  corre- 
spondencies will  almost  inevitably  make  itself  apparent  and  form  a 
key  to  the  exact  nature  of  the  divisions  to  be  sought  under  any  given 
subject,  so  that  in  obtaining  new  knowledge  we  shall  have  two  ele- 
ments ready  at  hand,  viz. :  the  number  of  facts  under  a  given  postu- 
late, and  the  nature  of  each  fact,  together  with  a  very  strong  hint 
of  the  relation  they  bear  to  each  other  and  to  other  similar  facts. 
In  this  way  the  work  of  carrying  out  the  table  to  the  limits  of  pres- 
ent knowledge  and  beyond,  will  follow  the  law  of  constantly  accel- 
erated velocity,  as  seen  in  falling  bodies. 

That  this  will  furnish  a  much  needed  basis  for  uniform  classifi- 
cation of  knowledge,  will  in  fact  be  a  Science  of  the  sciences,  seems 
obvious. 

Another  equally  needed,  though  perhaps  not  so  obvious,  reform 
that  will  be  introduced  is  that  of  an  exact  and  scientific  Terminol- 
ogy. Involved  in  this  is  a  more  far-reaching  and  far  more  important 
subject,  that  well  deserves  a  special  volume,  but  which  can  be  out- 
lined in  a  few  paragraphs  under  the  head  of  j 

LANGUAGE. 

Words  arc  the  tools  used  in  the  workshop  of  the  mind,  and  when 
these  are  vague  and  indefinite  it  is  the  same  as  though  a  carpenter's 
chisels  and  planes  were  dull.  A  carpenter  cannot  do  good  work 
with  poor  tools,  nor  can  the  mind  turn  out  superior  thoughts  while 
using  inferior  instruments.     The  difficulty  is  not  alone  in  our  in- 


AN    EDUCATIONAL   SUGGESTION.  311 

>ility  to  give  expression  to  our  ideas,  but  the  ideas  themselves  are 
mdered  defective  by  the  imperfect  tools  with  which  they  are  pro- 
uced. 

It  has  been  said  that  there  is  not  a  single  word  in  the  English 
anguage  possessing  an  absolutely  fixed  and  unvarying  meaning. 
kVhether  or  not  this  be  true,  it  is  evident  that  the  vagueness  and 
variation  of  meaning  of  our  words  lead  to  endless  confusion  and  mis- 
onderstanding,  making  it  extremely  difficult,  if  not,  indeed,  practi- 
cally impossible  to  convey  to  another  a  clear  and  exact  conception. 
Whatever  word  or  words  we  associate  with  a  certain  idea  or  thought, 
will  be  found  connected  in  another's  mind  with  a  mental  image  dif- 
fering in  some  degree,  if  not  totally  dissimilar.  To  abate  or  overcome 
this  difficulty  will  be  one  of  the  chief  avenues  through  which  this 
beneficent  system  of  classification  will  be  felt. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  to  indicate  this  application. 

Observe  the  figures  i,  2,  and  3  placed  before  the  respective  words 
Law,  Life,  and  Love  in  the  table.  These  words  we  have  now  asso- 
ciated in  our  minds  with  certain  definite  conceptions,  not  so  much 
because  of  the  philological  construction  of  the  words  as  from  their 
particular  use  in  this  tabulation.  It  will  be  easy,  therefore,  to  substi- 
tute the  figures  for  the  words  and  let  i,  2,  and  3  represent  the  respec- 
tive conceptions. 

In  the  same  way  the  figures  i,  2,  and  3  appear  before  the  words 
Substance,  Force,  and  Matter. 

The  conceptions  represented  by  these  words  being  but  branches 
0!  the  conception  of  Law,  the  figures,  when  regarded  as  synonyms 
for  the  words  they  accompany,  represent  the  same  respective  subdi- 
risions  of  the  conception  i.  To  graphically  represent  the  conception 
Substance,  we  would  then  use  1,1.  In  the  same  way  Force  would 
^>e  represented  by  i,  2  and  Matter  by  i,  3. 

So  in  the  second  category  the  Vegetable  kingdom  would  be  graph- 
ically represented  by  2,  i ;  the  Animal  kingdom  by  2,  2,  and  the  realm 
"f  Human  affairs  by  2,  3.    And  so  with  the  third  branch. 

Under  the  conception,  Substance,  or  i,  i,  the  subdivision  repre- 
ented  in  the  table  by  the  letter  A  would  then  be  i,  i,  i;  B  would 
>c  I.  I,  2;  C,  I,  I,  3.    So  the  conception  indicated  by  the  letter  K 


312  INTELLIGENCE. 

would  be  represented  by  2,  i,  2;  S  would  be  3,  i,  i,  and  so  on  through- 
out the  scale. 

Thus  terminology  will  be  reduced  to  a  mathematical  basis,  and 
will  consequently  be  absolutely  fixed  and  exact.  There  can  be  (lot 
the  slightest  variation  in  the  meaning  of  any  word,  or  rather,  sign,' 
because  its  very  construction  is  based  upon  pure  conceptions  and 
not  upon  any  chance  usage  of  illiterate  ancestors,  or  the  slang  of  tte 
present  day.  Etymological  anomalies  will  be  finally  relegated  to  their: 
proper  sphere,  the  museum  of  antiquities,  and  grammar,  coming  in 
for  its  needed  reorganization  under  the  head  of  2,  3,  will  assume  X 
rational  system  and  we  shall  then  occupy  the  unique  position  of  being 
able  to  select  words  meaning  to  another  just  what  they  mean  to  ui» 
being  perfectly  confident  of  our  spelling  and  knowing  just  how  t» 
combine  them  into  proper  sentences. 

Of  course,  the  use  of  these  figures  as  indicated  is  but  a  crude  sug- 
gestion which,  naturally,  will  be  modified  into  practicability.  For  in- 
stance, to  prevent  unwieldiness  which  would  result  from  having  9n 
long  series  of  figures  to  represent  a  certain  idea,  we  may  select  twenty* 
seven  distinct  consonant  sounds,  modifying  the  alphabet  so  that  each 
sound  would  have  an  appropriate  representative  letter.  These  sounds 
could  be  substituted  for  the  initial  three  figures,  taking  the  relative 
position  of  the  letters  A,  B,  C,  etc.,  in  the  table,  and  the  single  sound 
used  to  represent  the  conception  for  which  the  word  in  its  position 
stands. 

Then,  by  devising  a  series  of  twenty-seven  vowel  sounds  to  repre- 
sent the  second  series  of  three  figures,  and  thus  alternate  consonant! 
and  vowels,  the  number  of  characters  in  a  given  word  would  be  re- 
duced to  a  very  practical  basis.  This  leaves  two  divisions  as  the  great- 
est possible  number  unprovided  for,  and  these  would  always  be  at  the 
end  of  a  word.  For  these,  combination  sounds  could  be  proxidcd, 
paying  due  regard  to  the  euphony  and  case  of  pronunciation. 

Under  this  system  all  words  would  begin  with  a  consonant,  th< 
second  letter  would  be  a  vowel,  the  third  a  consonant,  the  fourth  i 
vowel,  and  so  on  to  the  last  syllable,  which  would  usually  be  a  com 
bination  sound,  though  it  would  often  be  a  consonant  or  vowel.  0 
these  combination  sounds  there  must  needs  be  two  classes,  the  firs 
containing  three  letters,  the  second  nine. 


AN    EDUCATIONAL    SUGGESTION.  313 

One  sound  would  necessarily  be  set  aside  for  Truth,  Law  being 
q)resentcd  by  the  initial  Truth  with  the  first  of  the  first  series  of 
ombination  sounds  added.  For  Matter,  the  third  sound  of  the  sec- 
nd  series  of  combination  sounds  would  be  added,  and  so  on  through 
he  table.  For  words  other  than  these  thirteen  preceding  the  regular 
ise  of  consonants  and  vowels  as  indicated,  these  letters  could  be 
mitted  and  the  word  commence  with  one  of  the  twenty-seven  des- 
piated  sounds,  as  suggested  above. 

With  this  system  fully  developed,  all  the  glaring  defects  of  our 
iresent  language  would  disappear.  The  very  fact  of  having  an  idea 
would  include  as  a  corollary  the  knowledge  of  a  word  with  which  to 
fhre  it  perfect  expression  and  correct  spelling.  No  other  spelling 
■ould  be  thinkable,  and  no  interpretation  other  than  the  one  you 
lave  in  mind  would  be  possible. 

But  of  all  the  reforms  which  will  naturally  follow,  or  rather  ac- 
sompany,  the  fuller  development  of  this  theory,  the  one  of  paramount 
importance  is  certainly  the  revolution  of  our  Educational  System. 
The  reform  will  be  one  of  practice,  rather  than  of  theory,  for  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  teaching  have  been  enunciated  by  thinkers  for 
over  two  hundred  years,  but  the  lack  of  a  definite  basis  for  actual 
operation  of  an  ideal  school  has  thus  far  rendered  all  the  theorizing 
of  little  avail.  It  is  conceded  that  our  (fortunately  fast  becoming 
obsolete)  system  of  alphabet  teaching  as  the  elementary  step  in  edu- 
cation is  entirely  erroneous  in  principle.  The  word  method  is  none 
the  less  so,  as  has  been  recognized  by  the  army  of  writers  who  have 
pleaded  for  **  first  the  idea,  then  the  word."  But  the  difficulty,  here- 
tofore insurmountable,  has  been  that  no  practical  means  of  supplant- 
ing this  admittedly  wrong  method  has  as  yet  been  discovered. 

When,  however,  we  come  into  possession  of  a  more  complete  tab- 
ulation as  herein  suggested,  the  means  will  become  apparent. 

Then,  perhaps,  a  school-room  will  be  equipped  with  a  number 
)f  large  tables,  and  boxes  of  various  sizes.  These,  with  the  requisite 
lumber  of  seats  and  conveniently  arranged  desks,  will  constitute  the 
ntire  working  furniture.  On  the  first  day  of  a  child's  school  life 
e  ii-ill  be  asked  to  bring  with  him  a  number  of  the  commonest  ar- 
cles  with  which  he  comes  in  constant  contact — sticks,  stones,  metals, 


1 


3U  INTELLIGENCE. 


flowers,  sand,  wood,  coal,  cloth,  groceries,  buttons,  and  so  on,  what- 
ever comes  handiest  and  is  easily  portable.  All  these  contributions 
by  different  members  of  the  class  will  be  scattered  over  a  table  large 
enough  for  all  the  pupils  to  find  a  place  at  the  sides.  After  allowing 
the  children  sufficient  time  to  look  over  all  the  objects,  while  the 
teacher  is  making  a  few  introductory  remarks,  and  all  are  becoming 
acquainted,  three  large  boxes  will  be  placed  on  the  table.  An  ex- 
planation will  be  made  that  the  first  lesson  will  be  devoted  to  stow- 
ing away  into  the  proper  box  every  object  on  the  table,  placing  in 
one  all  the  objects  about  which  there  is  no  life,  as  the  stones,  sand, 
soil,  coal,  etc.,  in  another  all  the  living  things,  including  objects  once 
alive  or  coming  from  living  creatures  and  the  vegetable  kingdon^ 
and  in  the  third  box  may  be  placed  pictures,  illustrating  stories  and 
parables  pointing  moral  truths. 

Then  the  pupils  will  begin  actual  school- work.  Picking  up  one 
object  after  another,  they  will  tell  into  which  box  they  think  it  should 
be  placed.  Naturally  this  will  provoke  a  deal  of  animated  discussion, 
and  insure  a  very  thorough  study  of  each  object,  the  teacher  finally 
explaining  the  reasons  for  its  final  disposition. 

This  work  will  be  continued,  the  children  constantly  adding  to 
the  collection,  till  the  pupils  are  thoroughly  grounded  in  this  funda-  ' 


mental  distinction  and  are  able  to  correctly  sort  all  the  common  ob-  i 
jects  without  assistance.     Objects  that  cannot  be  brought,  such  as  ! 
animals,  houses,  ships,  etc.,  will,  of  course,  be  represented  by  pictures. 
Then  these  boxes  will  be  emptied  onto  tables  and  their  contents 
distributed  among  nine  smaller  boxes,  the  day  being  divided  into 
periods  and  a  certain  amount  of  time  devoted  to  each  box.    All  the 
time  new  objects  will  he  accumulated  and  classified,  till  the  school- 
room will  be  a  veritable  museum  of  common  things,  the  things  about 
which  the  children  most  need  information,  and  in  which  they  are 
most  interested.     As  the  pupils  grow  older  the  variety  of  objects 
will  increase,  and  with  the  successive  classifications  will  come  more 
and  more  detailed  knowledge  and  keener  reasoning  will  be  required- 
Under  the  division  2,  3,  will  come  all  the  mental  and  physical  activit^^ 
of  man,  and  in  its  proper  place  the  child  will  find  language,  art,  p^* 
itics,  history,  etc.    Much  more  time  will  naturally  be  given  to  t^ 


AN    EDUCATIONAL   SUGGESTION.  816 

ranch  than  to  the  others,  as  **  the  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man/' 
nlcss  the  pupil  is  destined  to  become  a  specialist  in  botany,  geology, 
T  some  other  science,  requiring  special  study  in  a  particular  branch. 
Whatever  branch  of  study  he  may  choose  for  his  life  work,  if  he 
las  gone  through  ten  or  twelve  years  of  schooling  on  this  basis,  he 
m\l  have  a  broad  and  liberal  foundation  for  all  his  subsequent  work. 
He  will  be  able  to  see  things  from  the  highest  standpoint,  because 
he  will  be  dominated  by  the  noblest  conception  of  his  relation  to 
the  universe. 

It  would  be  superfluous  for  me  to  cite  the  recognized  principles 
of  pedagogics  and  point  out  how  this  system  will  fill  every  require- 
ment. You  who  are  interested  in  educational  work  are  already  fa- 
miliar with  these  principles,  and  a  very  little  study  will  make  plain 
to  you  the  applications  of  this  theory.  Leaving  you  to  study  this 
out  for  yourself  will  free  this  treatise  from  much  that  would  prove 
tedious  for  the  general  reader. 

But  one  point  is  so  especially  important  that  I  cannot  leave  the 
subject  without  a  brief  allusion.  I  have  in  mind  the  influence  this 
system  will  exercise  over  the  memory.  Scientists  have  demonstrated 
that  the  memory  is  imperishable;  that  every  thought,  or  word,  or 
deed,  every  impression  made  upon  the  mind  in  any  manner  what- 
soever, remains  there  to  the  end  of  life.  Forgetting  is  not  the  drop- 
ping entirely  out  of  the  memory,  but  the  lack  of  recollection.  What 
is  commonly  called  memory  is  better  expressed  as  conscious  recol- 
Icaion,  and  this  has  been  shown  to  depend  upon  no  one  thing  to 
a  greater  degree  than  the  association  of  ideas.  Clearness  and  strength 
of  impression,  and  frequency  of  recalling  are,  of  course,  important 
tkments,  but  not  so  important  as  the  association  established  between 
the  idea  to  be  recalled  and  other  ideas.  The  longer  the  chain  of  as- 
sociated ideas,  the  easier  it  is  to  remember  any  link. 

This  system  will  establish  in  the  scholar's  mind  the  closest  possible 
relationship,  and  association  of  not  only  every  fact  contained  in  the 
school  curriculum,  but  he  will  naturally  place  in  its  proper  relation 
every  fact  learned  outside  of  school,  as  long  as  he  continues  to  ac- 
Swc  knowledge.  And  this  relationship  or  association  will  not  be 
*  nicrc  arbitrary  arrangement,  including  only  certain  definite  data, 


316  INTELLIGENCE. 

but  will  extend  to  the  outermost  bounds  of  his  mental  horizon  and 
include  in  an  orderly,  rational  system  all  his  knowledge.  There  will 
be  in  his  mind  no  two  facts  unrelated,  and  he  will  be  able  to  start 
from  any  idea  and  think  back  along  natural  lines  of  development  to 
any  other  idea,  so  that  forgetting  will  be  almost  as  difficult  as  is 
remembering  under  the  present  chaotic  state  of  the  mind's  furniture. 
The  very  existence  of  an  idea  or  fact  in  his  mind,  the  very  word  wth 
which  he  expresses  it  even  to  himself,  will  contain  in  itself  an  ex- 
pression of  the  true  relationship  of  that  idea  to  all  the  rest  of  the 
universe. 

The  value  of  this  theory  in  this  one  particular  cannot  be  over- 
estimated, and,  it  seems  to  me,  must  challenge  the  attention  and 
enlist  the  co-operation  of  all  lovers  of  progress  throughout  the  worM. 

Then,  too,  considering  this  trinitarian  view  of  the  nature  of  the 
universe  to  be  true,  the  mind  itself  is  trinitarian;  it  has  a  threefold 
nature,  and  will  naturally  adapt  itself  very  readily  to  grasp  and  retain 
subjects  presented  to  it  in  conformity  with  its  very  nature.  Thus 
a  child  will  understand  more  readily  when  knowledge  is  imparted  in 
harmony  with  the  natural  operation  of  his  mind,  and  memory  will 
be  improved  by  the  clearer  impression  made. 

Every  word  used  throughout  life  will  by  its  use  alone  call  up 
a  multitude  of  ideas  related  and  associated,  so  that  memory  will  be 
strengthened  by  this  inevitable  frequency  of  recalling. 

Thus  will  wc  pass  from  the  Chaos  of  the  present  to  a  universal 
Cosmos  in  the  mind  and  affairs  of  mankind.         L.  L.  Hopkins. 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SOULS. 

I  know  not  where  you  are,  and  yet  I  know 

The  same  world  holds  us  both.    For  should  that  light 

That  guides  your  soul  along  an  earthly  way 

Be  quenched,  my  soul  would  know  the  very  day. 

The  very  hour  you  vanished  from  Earth's  sight. 

So  should  Fate  part  us,  even  to  the  day 

You  passage  take  upon  the  Stygian  sea, 

I  shall  be  there  in  spirit.    I  will  lift 

My  soul's  clear  eyes  to  see  your  pale  bark  drift 

Away.    'Twill  carry  all  life's  worth  to  me! 

Claire  K.  Alden. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 

(VI.) 

The  intelligence  of  the  ethereal  waves,  of  the  atoms,  of  the  mole- 
cules, of  the  phases  of  life,  low  or  high — these  all  are  manifestations, 
functions  of  the  primal  Intelligence,  varying  as  the  opportunity  va- 
ried, increasing  and  expanding,  rising,  deepening  and  broadening 
with  conditions,  even  as  a  child  is  led  and  guided  and  governed  by 
its  parents  to  the  time  when,  as  a  man,  it  is  bidden  to  put  away  child- 
ish things. 

So  in  man  the  living  thing  attains  the  freedom  which  alone  en- 
ables it  to  elect,  enables  it  to  soar  with  wings,  or  rfwables,  at  his  choice 
and  peril,  to  wallow  in  the  slime  whence  he  grew.  God  has  done 
an  He  can;  do  you  now  for  yourself.  You  have  been  under  gov- 
ernors and  tutors,  now  become  the  one  potent  factor  in  your  own 
advancement. 

A  false  idea  of  the  meaning  of  substance  has  been  one  cause  of 
the  fallacy  of  unreason  that  has  pestered  philosophy,  and  kept  even 
the  most  enlightened  religions  in  the  dim  twilight  of  paganism  and 
superstition. 

"Things  have  attributes,"  men  reasoned;    "to  have  attributes 

■ 

»t  was  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  something  to  which  the  attri- 
butes were  attached,  from  which  they  emanated,  and  for  whose  be- 
•Mwf  they  existed." 

This  for  many  ages  seemed  a  quite  essential  train  of  logic  in  all 
'"Otters;  then  the  number  of  matters  diminished  one  by  one,  as 
science  conquered  a  new  region  of  savagery,  till  now,  practically,  it  is 
'^'y  in  theology  that  the  human  mind  holds  fast  to  that  which  is 
Mish  with  a  grip  at  once  tenacious  and  pitiful. 

*  God  and  man,"  so  the  specious  reasoning  continues,  "  have  at- 
tributes; therefore  there  must  be  a  God  and  a  man  of  a  sort  different 

*rom  the  attributes  and  around  which,  as  to  a  chief's  standard,  the 

317 


1 


318 


INTELLIGENCE. 


I 
\ 


warring  phenomena  can  cluster,  to  some  battle-cry  of '  Rally  on  the 
reserve! '  " 

Now,  manifestly  there  are  such  things  as  phenomena;  there  are 
attributes,  and  for  every  cluster  of  phenomena  there  is  a  coordi- 
nating thing  which,  contradistinguished  from  phenomena,  is  called 
(by  us  troublesome,  exact  truth  seekers)  a  noumenon. 

But  a  noumenon,  when  you  come  to  analyze  it,  is  a  noun — ^a  name, 
and  nothing  more. 

In  an  earlier  paper  I  pointed  out  the  fact  of  the  Hebrew  myth 
being  that  of  the  Great  Name,  while  the  Greek  was  that  of  all  the  at- 
tributes, and  found  that  on  the  whole  the  latter  was  the  more  prac- 
tical poetical  expression  for  things  as  they  are. 

Let  us  understand  this  subject  fully;  it  is  of  the  most  vital  im- 
portance in  considering  the  sources  of  the  sublime  confidence  ol 
Jesus,  and  lies,  indeed,  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  divine  philosophy. 


nBJECT/ViP 


Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  idea  of  matter,  of  one  kind  of  matte 
in  particular — the  metal  gold.  In  the  accompanying  diagram  Al 
represents  the  perceiving  brain,  XY  the  perceived  thing.    The  metJ 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE   DIVINE  MAN. 


819 


las  qualities  which  could  have  no  meaning  unless  between  the 
vtd  and  the  perceiver,  subject  and  object,  a  bond  was  formed 
le  sort  linking  the  two  together. 

e  nature  of  this  bond  has  eluded  reason  because  the  true  unity 
sation  has  ever  been  elusive  to  material  things.  The  diagram 
'.  think,  tell  its  own  story:  it  is  that  of  the  circle,  not  the  seg- 
-that  which  is  segmentary  giving  the  facts  of  perception  only; 
ge  segments  AX  and  BY  being  the  loci  of  all  those  unperceived 
ites,  which  join  and  unify  that  function  of  Spirit,  which  is  man, 
attributes  of  Spirit — qualities  which  in  gold  appear  as  gold 
ie  of  the  conditions  seemingly  permanent,  in  reality  evanescent. 
Ad  is  no  more  material,  no  more  permanent,  than  the  red  ray 
ruby,  the  violet  gleam  in  the  amethyst,  or  even  the  color  of 
ectrum.    It  and  they  are  conditional. 

lere  is  nothing  new,  strange,  or  startling  about  this;  scientists 
lemonstrated  these  facts  long  ago;  the  line  XY  has  been  re- 
to  a  series  of  relations,  at  first  complex,  and  finally  to  the  very 
:ity  of  the  abstract — to  pure  relation. 

itter  is  indestructible,  not  because  it  has  power  of  itself,  but  be- 
t  is  a  function  and  manifestation  of  a  Reality  which  is  normally 
tal.  But  it  is  the  reality  which  is  immortal,  not  the  function. 
w  we  become  aware  of  things;  by  what  process  the  conscious- 
hich  we  know  we  have,  links  itself  to  sensations  derived  from 
we  know  we  are  not,  has  been  the  battle-ground  of  casuistry 
•  er  logic  couched  a  lance,  or  thinker  flung  down  for  a  gauntlet 
hy?" 


the  aid  of  the  accompanying  very  simple  diagram  it  may  be 
nderstood  how  in  one  domain  that  form  of  Action — that  mode 
on — which  we  call  heat,  modifies  the  same  essential,  and  pre- 


820  INTELLIGENCE. 

sents  that  essential  (in  each  case  a  function  of  pure  relation)  in  at  least 
four  different  and  distinct  phases.  This  is  to  say  that  gas,  vapor, 
water,  and  ice  are  the  resultant  of  conditions.  They  are  not  thingi 
in  themselves,  but  are  qualities  of  the  essential  thing,  and  not  as 
things,  but  as  qualities  are  they  added  to  our  qualities. 

Like  things  can  be  added  only  to  like. 

As  it  is  with  one  set  of  symbols  and  one  phase  of  conditions  so 
must  it  be  with  all.  We  know  the  essential  which  manifests  itsdf 
through  the  four  qualities — gas,  vapor,  water,  and  ice — ^and  wc  knot 
the  essential  which  manifests  itself  through  the  four,  extension,  r^ 
sistance,  color,  and  weight,  in  gold. 

The  same  method  of  reasoning  will  apply  strictly  to  both 
But  how  diverse  the  two  seem.    In  the  case  of  the  gold  that 
the  essential,  which  in  fact  holds  its  qualities.    But  it  becomes  di 
if  not  impossible,  to  imagine  water  as  the  quality  of  an  unapi 
ciated  simple. 

And  yet  it  is  only  as  we  learn  that  the  two  examples  are  pra 
of  one  (and  nature's  sole)  method  that  we  can  conquer  that  fcr 
beast — the  mystery.    As  coal  and  diamond  are  both  carbon,  so 
two  are  identical  in  substance,  diverse  only  in  manifestation. 

I  have  used  the  metal  gold  to  illustrate  this  principle,  chiefly 
cause  it  possesses  so  few  properties.    Huxley,  following  a  tim 
ored  example,  uses  the  orange. 

But  I  have  selected  gold  to  briefly  epitomize  the  further  idea 
relationship  bound  up  in  matter,  that  attention  may  be  called  to 
fact  of  mass  not  having  any  necessary  connection  with  volume, 
which  any  modern  chemistry  will  give  ample  information,  and 
chemical  laboratory  opportunity  for  proof,  as  to  the  atomic  weii 
of  elements  from  hydrogen  to  the  dense  thallium,  osmium, 
iridium. 

If,  therefore,  under  normal  conditions  prevailing  on  this  pi 
such  divergences  exist,  it  is  not  only  probable,  but  in  so  vast  a 
verse  practically  certain  that  elsewhere  matter  exhibits  itself  in  ^! 
vastly  farther  apart,  attenuated  to  or  beyond  that  hypothetical  d 
gree  called  ethereal,  or  so  enormously  concentrated  that  a  sph^ 
an  inch  in  diameter  could  balance  a  globe  more  than  a  moon. 

I 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  321 

In  the  case  of  the  phases  of  perception  "  revealed  "  in  the  four 
several  "  incarnations  "  of  water,  it  is  not  quite  assured  that  beyond 
the  limits  called  gaseous  is  at  least  one  other  manifestation,  not  in- 
deed perceived,  but  conceived — the  ether.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  the  limit  of  attribute  of  the  norm  of  water  been  reached  in  the 
ice?  Ordinarily  it  appears  to  be  so,  and  yet  there  is  known  to  be  a 
degree  of  cold  by  which  ice  loses  wholly  its  qualities  as  ice,  and  be- 
zomes  virtually  rock;  the  snow  no  longer  affords  a  sliding  surface, 
the  Esquimaux  sleds  no  longer  glide ;  it  is  only  another  kind  of  gravel. 

It  is  the  same  with  all  rocks;  they,  too,  are  the  product  of  heat 
renditions.  It  is  the  same  with  the  metallic  elements,  every  one;  and 
the  gold  which  we  have  considered  is  after  all  only  a  frozen  thing, 
maintained  as  a  solid  only  because  at  the  normal  temperature  which 
permits  us,  and  likewise  compels  it. 

We  are  quite  willing  to  concede  the  non-existence  of  an  entity, 
either  gold,  metallic,  or  of  matter,  except  by  its  qualifications;  but 
we  shrink  from  a  too  rigorous  logic,  a  too  exact  science  as  applied 
to  what  we  call  ourself,  lest  at  the  last  our  soul,  "  defected  to  a  pure 
nonentity,"  should  vanish  altogether! 

The  human  mind — the  apparatus  of  thought — considering  the 
problem  of  its  own  existence,  and  the  facts  of  conception  and  percep- 
tion, seems  to  have  been  impelled  to  take  mentally,  as  naturally  and 
effectively  as  the  body  has  taken  physically  the  form  of  male  or  female, 
either  the  nominalistic  or  the  realistic  view  of  all  things. 

Men  are  either  Platonic  or  Aristotelian,  either  spiritual  or  mate- 
rial in  their  opinions  of  the  essentially  real,  of  the  absolute,  as  in 
nature  or  as  transcending  nature. 

The  contest  between  supernaturalism  and  naturalism,  or,  as  more 
commonly  known,  spiritualism  and  rationalism,  has  come  down  to  us 
through  the  ages  from  the  remotest  past,  varying  from  century  to 
centur>-  in  its  phraseology  and  method  of  casuistry  and  argument, 
but  always  at  heart  ranging  upon  the  two  sides  of  this  great  question. 

As  to  the  origin  and  meaning  of  things,  how  diverse,  discordant, 
and  eccentric  have  been  the  guesses  of  men.  Among  the  ancient 
Greeks  we  find  the  schools  divided  between  Ionic  (or  materialistic) 
and  Eleatic  (or  spiritual) ;  and  among  the  several  philosophers  the- 


1 


822  INTELLIGENCE. 


ories  as  vag^e  and  untenable  as  there  were  thinkers  to  imagine  them 
— vagaries  of  imagination  concerning  the  sublime  subjects  of  God 
and  Man,  their  natures,  characters,  and  relations  almost  as  numerous 
as  the  speculative  minds. 

To  merely  enunciate  a  few  of  the  many  opinions  is  to  demonstrate 
their  want  of  true  reason  and  lack  of  all  scientific  method,  while  yet 
indicating  (as  contrasted  with  the  pagan  lethargy  of  their  times)  the 
value  of  even  the  crudest  thought. 

That  which  claims  to  be  principle  and  varies,  as  principle,  is  not 
principle;  but  a  principle  that  cannot  vary  continually,  as  manifesta- 
tion, is  not  principle. 

When  you  look  at  a  man  what  is  it  you  see?  The  outward  man 
only,  him  first  of  the  clothes,  the  form  of  features,  the  expression, 
the  manner;  then,  on  further  acquaintance,  little  by  little  that  which 
is  within  gradually  unfolds  to  your  perception — gradually  his  soul  r^ 
veals  itself.  You  discover  something  of  what  he  says,  then  of  what 
he  has  done;  you  learn  what  business  he  is  in,  or  has  been  in,  and 
what  successes  or  failures  he  has  made;  what  sort  of  wife  he  has, 
children,  servants,  who  are  his  friends,  and  how  these  treat  him,  what 
they  say  of  him,  how  they  esteem  him.  If  he  has  built  a  house,  what 
sort  is  it?  how  is  it  furnished?  what  are  his  tastes,  relaxations,  fan- 
cies? Has  he  written  for  the  public?  then  why  and  of  what  sort  arehii 
writings?    Do  you  find  traces  of  soul  there,  or  only  soul  masks? 

Here  is  a  watch.    We  all  remember  how  ardently  and  foolishly 
the  argument  from  design  has  utilized  that  beautiful  piece  of  mech- 
anism.   We  all  remember  Bishop  Butler  and  his  Analogy,  how  beauti- 
ful it  is,  and  how  consoling  it  would  be  if  only  as  accurate  as  beautiful. 
We  look  at  the  mechanism  of  the  man  and  say  there  must  be  a  sell, 
an  ego,  an  entity  within  this  wonderful  work.    If  not,  there  is  no  souU 
immortality  is  a  dream,  death  ends  all.    Here  is  the  watch — its  case, 
mainspring,  balance,  jewels,  wheels,  cogs,  everything.     It  is  wound 
up,  it  runs.    For  what  purpose?    To  keep  time.    There  must  then  be  « 
watch-soul;  if  not  then  there  is  no  watch.    On  the  same  basis  there 
must  be  a  similar  man-soul:   if  not,  there  can  be  no  man.    But  the 
watch  is  made  by  the  man  to  keep  time  and  the  man  is  formed  by  nat* 
ure  to  keep  character. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  323 

Of  the  Godhead,  **  neither  confounding  the  persons  nor  dividing 
substance,"  we  have  placed  the  truth  that  Jesus  knew  by  feeling 

preached  by  emotion  on  the  basis  where  he  said,  and  rightfully, 
t  it  belonged — the  basis  of  the  rock. 

It  now  devolves  upon  us  to  take  up  the  question  of  man  in  the 
le  spirit  of  exact  logic,  in  order  that  we  may  clearly  understand 
selves;  in  one  sense,  not  to  think  of  ourselves  more  highly  than 
ought  to  think;  and,  in  another,  to  enter  in  at  once  upon  our 
eritance  as  the  heirs  of  the  ages  and  to  recognize  the  stamp  of 
seal  of  the  eternal  in  cur  souls — to  know  whose  image  and  super- 
iption  is  this. 

The  rainbow  and  mirage,  to  which  attention  has  been  previously 
led  as  illustrations  of  illusion  of  sense,  are  far  from  being  the  only 
es  of  which  we  are  forced  to  take  cognizance.  Beneath  our  feet  a 
St  stable  earth,  seemingly  so  quiescent,  rushes  through  space  with 
)st  amazing  speed — at  once  speed  of  revolution  and  in  its  mighty 
bit  round  the  sun,  and  that  around  a  mightier  sun,  above  our  heads 
dome  of  blue,  blazing  with  gold  by  day,  spangled  with  silver  by 
ght,  but  all  illusion. 

To  come  yet  closer,  we  ourselves  are  an  illusion ;  properly  under- 
ood,  I  am  an  illusion  to  you,  you  to  me,  I  also  to  myself. 

Analysis  of  knife  or  microscope,  eye  or  reason,  discloses  within 
w  sacred  precincts  of  man's  bodily  organism  at  first  the  horrible 
pcctade  of  bloody  flesh,  of  solid  bone,  of  inanimate  sinew — a  vast 
ontinent  of  earthy  matter  traversed  by  rivers  of  blood — a  furnace 
n1  by  food,  a  charnel  house  of  constant  dissolution  and  decay. 

The  fairy  form  we  love  is  form  alone,  the  "  too,  too,  solid  flesh  " 
hall  melt  in  the  fierce  light  of  science,  fiercer  than  "  that  which 
^ts  upon  a  throne." 

But  though  at  first  we  shrink  from  these  ghastly  scars  of  thought; 
though  we  fear  the  Lions  at  the  Gate,  they  only  guard  from  the  un- 
Wicver  the  delectable  palace  beyond.  Of  a  truth,  as  they  proved  to 
^ristian  so  shall  they  be  to  us  in  our  nobler  progress  through  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  death. 

Rene  Descartes,  in  his  celebrated  summarv  of  the  characteristics 
^f  the  human  mechanism,  says:  "All  the  functions  which  I  have  at- 


324  INTELLIGENCE. 

tributed  to  this  machine,  as  the  digestion  of  food,  the  pulsation  o( 
the  heart  and  arteries;  the  nutrition  and  growth  of  the  limbs,  respira- 
tion, wakefulness,  and  sleep;  the  reception  of  light,  sounds,  odors, 
flavors,  heat,  and  such  qualities  in  the  organs  of  the  external  senses; 
the  impression  of  the  ideas  of  these  in  the  organ  of  common  sense 
and  the  imagination;  the  retention  or  the  impression  of  these  ideas 
on  the  memory;  the  internal  movements  of  the  appetites  and  pas- 
sions; and,  lastly,  the  external  movements  of  all  the  limbs,  whjch  fol- 
low so  aptly,  as  well  as  the  action  of  the  objects  which  are  presented  to 
the  senses,  as  the  impressions  which  meet  in  the  memory,  that  they 
imitate  as  nearly  as  possible  those  of  a  real  man:  I  desire,  I  say,  that 
you  should  consider  that  these  functions  in  the  machine  naturally 
proceed  from  the  mere  arrangement  of  its  organs,  neither  more  nor 
less  than  do  the  movements  of  a  clock,  or  other  automaton,  from 
that  of  its  weights  and  its  wheels;  so  that,  so  far  as  these  are  con- 
cerned, it  is  not  necessary  to  conceive  any  other  vegetative  or  sen- 
sitive soul,  nor  any  other  principle  of  motion  or  of  life  than  the  blood  ^ 

mi 

and  the  spirits  agitated  by  the  fire  which  burns  continually  in  thei 
heart,  and  which  is  no  wise  essentially  different  from  all  the  fires  whidi  ^ 
exist  in  inanimate  bodies." 

If  God  were  solely  Relation  and  Volition  he  would  be  as  Brahnit 
was  and  will  be,  according  to  the  Hindu  mythology,  drowsy  andthco 
wrapped  in  the  slumbers  of  ages.  But  God  is  active,  for  he  is  Action 
itself,  and  his  activities  are  manifested  by  means  of  the  mechanics 
of  the  Cosmos.    So  it  is  with  our  little  being. 

God  is  not  in  his  eternal  laws,  he  is  those  laws:  we  are  not  in orxt 
manifestations,  we  arc  our  manifestations. 

Strong  as  Descartes'  belief  was  in  the  physical  man  as  a  machine, 
he  dared  not  openly  avow  his  belief;  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisition 
were  too  great  for  him:  his  thesis  was  of  an  imaginary  man;  aric 
so  (perhaps  to  hide  his  real  convictions)  he  avowed  his  faith  in  • 
real  if  incorporeal  soul,  locating  it  in  that  organ,  now  known  to  l> 
a  rudimentary  eye — the  pineal  gland  of  the  brain. 

HuDOR  Genone. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  325 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

(IV.) 
SITTING   ON   A  CLOUD. 

The  streets  of  Chicago  were  as  full  as  usual,  but  no  one  noticed 
wo  ghosts  who  stepped  out  of  the  Court-house  window,  and  walked 
ip  the  air,  as  if  it  contained  invisible  steps.  It  was  quite  a  walk  to 
tach  even  the  lowest  cloud. 

"What  do  you  think  of  it?"  inquired  the  Experimenter,  sitting 
lo*n  on  one  comer  of  the  cloud,  and  showing  the  New  Ghost  where 
he  could  obtain  the  best  view  of  the  city  below  them. 

"It  is  beautiful  up  here,  and  I  have  enjoyed  the  walk.  It  gives 
one  a  peculiar  sensation  to  feel  that  the  forces  of  nature  are  mastered, 
■othat  air  becomes  as  solid  as  adamant  beneath  the  feet.  But  how 
inmge  the  city  looks!  I  never  realized  before  that  Chicago  was  so 
fct!" 

"Flat  as  a  pancake — you  remember  it  was  built  on  a  marsh." 

"The  streets  resemble  lanes.  The  parks  look  like  country  door- 
Jirds  with  evergreens,  and  the  buildings  like  dry-goods  boxes  set 
•ncnd  with  an  occasional  bean-pole  for  a  steeple.  And  the  lake  is 
»calm  and  blue  as  a  summer's  sky.  Who  would  think  it  had  been 
*  furious  a  few  hours  ago?" 

"  I  wish  this  cloud  would  sink  a  little  lower,  so  you  could  get  a 
doscrviewof  the  city.*' 

"Can't  you  control  it?" 

"  Not  in  the  slightest  degree.  It  seems  as  if  I  might,  but  I  haven't 
Jtt  found  out  how.  Perhaps  you  will.  You  must  have  learned  to 
«>nccntrate  on  earth.  You  have  more  will-power  than  any  other 
l"^t  1  have  met — unless  it  is  the  Theosophist  or  the  Occultist,  and 
*^  not  sure  whether  they  are  ghosts  or  not!  You  walk  on  air  far 
»^c  readily  than  I  did  when  I  first  tried." 

"The  circumstances  are  different.    I  saw  you  sitting  on  a  cloud, 


326  INTELLIGENCE. 

and  was  told  that  you  could  walk  on  air,  and  that  some  other  gb 
were  learning.  When  you  first  tried  it,  I  presume  they  all  laugl 
at  vou  and  said  it  couldn't  be  done." 

*'  Yes;  all  but  the  Theosophist  and  the  Occultist — they  encc 
aged  me,  and  said  I  could  do  it  if  I  thought  so." 

**  Then  ghosts  as  well  as  men  measure  their  own  ability? " 

**  That  is  about  the  way  of  it.  There  may  be  limitations.  1 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  ignorance  is  the  greatest  limitation  w 
which  either  men  or  ghosts  have  to  contend.  We  can  do  what 
think  we  can  in  Shadowland,  as  well  as  on  earth." 

*'  I  always  had  a  desire  to  fly.  When  I  was  a  boy  I  used  to  dre 
of  sailing  out  of  the  window  and  away  over  the  tree-tops  and 
houses.  But  I  remember  it  always  required  a  great  and  continut 
effort  to  keep  myself  up  in  the  air.  The  earth's  attraction  was 
strong.  In  spite  of  my  best  efforts  I  would  find  myself  slowly 
scending.  When  I  once  reached  the  ground,  it  was  next  to  imf 
sible  to  rise  from  it,  and  the  attempts  I  would  make  to  do  so  wo 
usually  awaken  me." 

"  That  partly  accounts  for  your  remarkable  ability  to  navij 
the  air.  When  I  was  a  boy  I  always  wanted  to  walk  on  the  wa 
but  I  never  could  do  it  until  I  got  over  here.' 

*'  What  experiments  are  you  trying  now? 

"  I  am  learning  to  float  on  the  air,  to  stop  myself  anywhere  i 
and  I  should  like  to  be  able  to  sit  on  it.  Theoretically,  it  is  all^ 
sense — this  being  obliged  to  find  a  cloud  to  sit  down  on.  Practk 
we  should  sink  to  the  earth,  if  it  were  not  for  the  cloud  we  an 
cupying.  We  arc  lighter  than  the  air,  and  it  should  support  us. 
one  of  the  illusions  of  earth  that  we  cling  to,  in  spite  of  everyt 
is  the  idea  that  we  must  have  some  visible  means  of  support.  I 
ghost  over  here — when  I  say  every  ghost  I  am  not  includinj 
Theosophist  or  the  Occultist — after  he  has  exercised  awhile  i 
ines  himself  tired,  and  will  look  around  for  some  projecting  st 
to  sit  on.  It  is  all  the  force  of  habit!  Of  course,  when  we 
bodies  built  upon  a  net-work  of  muscles  and  nerves  it  was  some 
different.  But  there  is  no  possible  reason  why  a  ghost  should 
be  tired.    Yet  I've  seen  ghosts  walk  up  the  Court-house  stair 


>» 


>♦ 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  327 

50  into  the  reading-room  and  drop  into  a  vacant  chair  as  if  they 
tfvcre  exhausted.    They  really  thought  they  were  tired." 

"  What  success  are  you  having  with  your  experiments?  " 

*•  Yesterday  I  undertook  to  float  off  of  a  cloud.  I  rolled  off  the 
edge,  and  lay  on  my  back  looking  up  at  the  sky  for  as  much  as  two 
minutes.  Then  I  happened  to  think,  *  if  I  should  fall,  how  intensely 
Jisagreeable  it  would  be! '  Down  I  went!  I  got  hung  on  a  church 
spire,  and  had  quite  a  serious  time  to  get  myself  collected  together 
again.  Fear  is  our  greatest  enemy.  While  I  had  no  fear  I  was  in 
10  danger." 

"  I  conclude  that  this  phase  of  existence  is  both  curious  and  in- 
teresting.   But  what  next?    What  is  there  beyond?  " 

**The  next  world  is  not  on  exhibition.     Samples  of  the  future 
ife  are  not  offered  for  examination  with  the  privilege  of  returning  if 
lot  found  suitable." 
•*  But  haven't  even  you  learned  anything  about  it?  " 

'*  Nothing  worth  mentioning.  The  same  impenetrable  veil  con- 
fronts one  here  as  on  earth.  While  there,  not  all  the  wealth  for  which 
men  sell  years,  would  purchase  an  hour  of  the  future  life  *  on  trial.' 
The  ordinary  individual  can't  even  get  to  Shadowland  unless  he  comes 
to  stay.  We  all  guess — the  same  as  we  did  on  earth.  And  it  amounts 
to  just  as  much!  As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  object  of  this  phase 
of  existence  seems  to  be  to  continue  the  intellectual  development  be- 
gun on  earth.    There  is  no  way  of  satisfying  appetites  or  passions." 

*•  What  are  we?  " 

'*  I  don't  know.  I  don't  see  as  we  get  much  nearer  the  solution 
f  that  problem  than  the  ancients  did.  Wasn't  it  Pythagoras  who 
liked  about  an  infinitely  subtle  substance,  out  of  which  all  other  sub- 
ances  are  constituted?  " 

*•  I  believe  he  did  write  something  of  that  sort." 

•*  I'd  like  to  meet  Pythagoras.  He  had  sensible  views  on  a  good 
any  subjects,  if  he  did  live  a  long  time  ago.  I'd  like  to  talk  things 
rer  with  him.  He  said  there  was  the  same  principle  underlying  the 
irmonies  of  music  and  the  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  I  should 
ce  to  know  whether  he  has  got  so  he  can  hear  the  music  of  the 
)hcrcs  yet/' 


328  INTELLIGENCE. 

"  Do  you  believe  there  is  a  music  of  the  spheres?  " 

'*  Certainly.  Do  you  think  the  earth  moves  through  its  orbit  in 
silence?  1  don't.  I  believe  the  moon,  and  the  planets,  and  all  the 
stars  moving  through  ether  with  such  rapidity  cause  ethereal  vibra- 
tions. These  vibrations  are  too  fine  and  delicate  to  make  any  im- 
pression upon  an  ear-drum  of  flesh  and  bone,  so  to  speak.  But  if  we 
ghosts  could  get  out  into  space  far  enough  to  be  away  from  the  ordi- 
nary noises  of  earth,  I  believe  we  could  hear  the  rushing  of  the  planets 
as  they  move  in  their  orbits.  1  believe  we  could  hear  a  grander  md- 
ody  than  if  all  the  instruments  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  were  united 
in  one  harmonious  band — the  song  of  the  stars  as  they  sweep  through 
space!  The  future  will  be  full  of  musical  surprises.  The  swift  and 
rhythmical  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  must  produce  musical 
tones.  Harmonv  is  the  law  of  the  universe;  discord  a  crime  whidi 
has  its  home  upon  the  earth  and  cannot  rise  above  it.  There  is  music 
everywhere  and  in  everything.  Do  you  remember  that  German  in- 
vestigator who  says  that  the  contraction  of  the  muscles  of  the  humaa 
body  produces  musical  tones  which  he  has  been  able  to  hear?  " 

"  I  think  I  never  heard  of  him.'' 

*'  The  thing  is  not  so  unreasonable.  The  muscles  are  nothing  but 
bundles  of  fibres.  Contraction  jcauses  vibration.  Vibration  caused 
sound-waves.  But  he  must  have  a  remarkable  ear,  to  be  able  to  dis^ 
tinguish  sound-waves  caused  by  such  infinitesimal  vibrations.  I  want 
to  read  more  about  him  and  his  theories,  but  I  haven't  found  anyoft« 
else  who  is  interested  in  the  subject." 

"  What  difference  does  that  make?  " 

"  All  the  difference  in  the  world.  We  ghosts  read  under  seriom^ 
disadvantages.  If  I  want  to  look  up  anything  in  Plato  or  Aristotle 
or  Schopenhauer,  I  have  to  wait  until  I  can  find  someone  else  wh^ 
wants  to  read  what  I  do.  It  is  easy  enough  to  read  the  daily  papcT^ 
and  the  current  magazines,  but  when  it  comes  to  studying  philosopl:»^ 
ical  or  scientific  questions,  it  is  different.  There  are  so  few  peopl* 
interested  in  the  philosophy  of  the  ancients." 

"  I  fail  to  see  how  that  affects  you." 

"  That  is  because  you  have  not  dwelt  in  Shadowland  long  enouf^ 
to  learn  your  limitations.     We  ghosts  find  ourselves  unable  to  tf 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  329 

a  sheet  of  paper  or  to  turn  a  page.  So  when  we  wish  to  read  a  book, 
we  have  to  find  someone  else  who  is  reading  it  and  who  will  turn 
the  pages  for  us." 

*'  Indeed !  that  is  a  serious  drawback  to  scholarship  in  Ghostland. 
But  how  do  you  manage  the  newspapers?  '' 

"  I  usually  take  the  cars  mornings,  and  read  with  the  business  men 
as  they  go  down  to  their  offices.  Some  ghosts  read  with  certain 
people  who  are  in  the  habit  of  reading  at  certain  hours;  but  I  take 
my  chances  on  the  cars.  Most  men  hold  their  papers  so  that  a  ghost 
can  sit  on  their  shoulders  and  read  almost  anything  on  the  first  page. 
When  they  turn  the  paper,  they  are  apt  to  fold  it  smaller,  which  makes 
it  less  convenient  for  the  invisible  reader.  There  are  quite  a  number 
of  inconveniences.  The  holder  of  the  paper  is  quite  likely  to  read 
too  fast  or  too  slowly.  But  worst  of  all  are  those  dreamy  readers 
who  permit  their  minds  to  wander  at  the  end  of  a  paragraph,  and 
forget  to  turn  the  page  for  half  an  hour." 

"  That  must  be  annoying." 

"  It  is.  The  Poet  does  the  most  of  his  reading  with  a  literary 
friend.  The  Philosopher  reads  at  the  Newberry  library.  He  is  there 
every  day  as  long  as  it  is  open,  and  says  that  he  usually  finds  some- 
one who  reads  something  in  which  he  can  interest  himself.  The 
Engineer  and  the  Electrician  use  the  reading-room  of  the  public 
library.  They  want  papers  and  magazines  about  new  inventions  and 
electrical  devices.  The  reading-room  is  the  place  to  read  the  current 
magazines.  But  if  a  ghost  wants  to  look  up  something  in  a  back 
number,  he  will  be  ready  to  swear  at  himself  for  being  a  ghost;  for 
he  may  have  to  watch  the  library  for  months  before  anyone  else  will 
want  to  consult  that  back  number.  And  if  someone  does  call  it  out, 
more  than  half  the  chances  are  that  said  person  will  not  glance  at 
the  article  the  ghost  particularly  desires  to  read.  Every  such  expe- 
rience makes  me  more  determined  to  find  some  way  to  counteract 
the  force  of  gravity." 

"  Is  that  possible?  Gravitation  is  the  force  which  holds  the  uni- 
verse together.  Without  it  the  earth  would  cease  to  accompany  the 
sun,  and  there  would  be  a  universal  wreckage  of  worlds  and  planet- 
ary systems.    It  is  beyond  the  imagination  of  man  to  conceive  what 


330  INTELLIGENCE. 

would  happen  if  the  force  of  gfravity  should  be  counteracted  even  for 
one  moment!  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mean  to  counteract  it  in  any  such  wholesale  manner 
as  to  affect  the  planets.  When  we  walked  up  to  this  cloud  we  coun- 
teracted the  force  of  gravity  tending  to  hold  us  to  the  earth,  by  our 
own  will  power.  Would  it  wreck  the  universe  if  we  ghosts  should 
gain  the  power  to  lift  a  sheet  of  paper  and  to  handle  a  book?  " 

"It  might.  As  I  understand  it,  from  what  I  have  seen  and  heard 
since  my  arrival  in  Shadovvland,  ghosts  are  mere  lookers-on  at  the 
feast  of  life,  and  not  in  any  sense  participants.  If  ghosts  should  gain 
the  power  to  lift  books  they  could  probably  lift  other  things,  and  the 
material  world  would  be  subject  to  serious  disarrangement.  If  you 
could  carry  books,  the  librarians  would  be  puzzled  to  know  where 
to  find  their  libraries.  Just  think  what  a  commotion  it  would  cause 
if  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  Epicurus  and  Zeno,  who  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  sleeping  quietly  on  bookshelves  for  so  many  centuries,  should 
take  to  midnight  wanderings  about  the  city!  " 

**  It  would  furnish  some  newspaper  sensations!  Perhaps  I  should 
forget  Schopenhauer  on  the  Auditorium  roof — which  would  be  an 
excellent  place  to  read  on  cloudy  days!  And  the  Sailor  would  be  suri 
to  leave  his  book  fastened  in  the  rigging  of  a  vessel  where  he  sits  hall 
his  time.  The  Poet  would  forget  Tennyson  or  Browning  on  a  pari 
seat,  and  No.  206  would  be  certain  to  leave  his  book  on  the  top  ol 
some  flat  tombstone  in  Oakvvoods  or  Graceland." 

"  If  the  inhabit:.nts  of  the  Invisible  Empire  could  lift  and  carry 
material  objects,  the  interests  of  the  two  worlds  would  soon  clash. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  lower  world  would  be  helpless  against  the  in- 
visibles." 

**  But  there  are  so  few  things  that  ghosts  want! " 

"  Ghostly  desires  would  increase  with  the  possibility  of  possession- 
Avarice  and  greed  would  find  a  new  home.  A  ghost  with  thie^'ish 
propensities  could  carry  off  all  the  gold  in  the  United  States  treasury, 
and  the  whole  United  States  army  couldn't  prevent  him!  Nothing 
would  be  safe! " 

"  No  ghost  wants  gold.  It  is  of  no  possible  use  in  Shadowland- 
Besides,  if  he  could  lift  it,  he  couldn't  carry  it  through  a  closed  door 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  331 

ind  if  he  could,  what  would  he  do  with  it?  There  is  nothing  to  buy 
>rsell!" 

**  Then  here  the  '  precious  metal '  of  earth  is  useless.  But  if  one 
ran't  turn  a  page,  it  must  be  a  serious  matter  to  get  a  book  read 
ihrough." 

"  It  is.  I  don't  often  read  a  book.  I  had  such  a  time  trying  to 
read  *  Trilby  '  that  it  discouraged  me.  I  ought  to  have  read  it  as  it 
came  out  in  the  magazine;  but  somehow  I  didn't  hear  of  it,  until  it 
would  have  bothered  me  to  get  the  back  numbers.  When  it  reached 
Chicago  in  book-form,  I  haunted  the  stores  and  looked  with  longing 
eyes  at  a  pile  of  them  higher  than  my  head.  The  first  purchaser  I 
saw  was  a  young  man.  I  went  home  with  him  to  Evanston,  hoping 
he  would  read  on  the  cars — but  he  didn't!  He  smoked.  And  when 
he  reached  home  he  put  *  Trilby  '  with  a  package  of  other  books  and 
a  croquet  set  that  was  to  be  taken  to  a  sister  in  Michigan  by  some 
member  of  the  family  at  some  indefinite  period  of  time  in  the  future! 
I  went  back  to  the  store  without  even  having  had  a  look  at  the  title- 
page.  A  white-haired  old  lady  was  the  next  purchaser,  and  I  accom- 
panied her  home  only  to  find  that  *  Trilby '  was  to  be  mailed  to  a 
daughter  in  Mexico!  I  went  back  to  the  book-store  and  waited  until 
a  stylish-looking  girl  bought  a  copy.  She  began  it  on  the  cars  and 
I  felt  quite  encouraged.  We  read  the  first  chapter  and  then  she  put  it 
on  the  parlor  centre-table  and  took  pride  in  telling  her  friends  for 
the  next  two  months  that  she  was  '  so  interested  in  "  Trilby  "  but 
hadn't  had  time  to  read  more  than  the  first  chapter! '  I  know, 
because  I  called  there  and  heard  her  say  it.  I  went  back  to  the 
store  and  read  the  titles  of  all  the  new  books  while  I  waited  for 
the  next  purchaser.  I  rejected  two  or  three  that  I  thought  would 
treat  me  as  the  others  had.  But  when  I  heard  a  lady  tell  the 
<^lerk  that  she  must  read  *  Trilby  *  as  soon  as  possible  so  as  to  send 
't  to  a  niece  for  a  birthday  present,  I  thought  my  chance  had 
<^ome  at  last." 

**  And  you  accepted  it?  " 

"  Yes;  I  had  no  idea  what  a  woman  with  five  children  has  to  con- 
tend with!  If  the  baby  didn't  cry  the  three-year-old  did!  If  by  any 
remarkable  chance  those  two  were  both  quiet  at  the  same  time,  the 


332  INTELLIGENCE. 

six-year-old  would  want  her  dress  changed,  or  her  apron  mended,  or 
her  hair  combed,  or  her  doll's  hat  fastened  on ;  and  she  would  be 
sure  to  want  something  to  eat !  When  she  was  disposed  of,  and  about 
sixteen  lines  of  *  Trilby '  read,  the  eight-year-old  would  cut  his  fin- 
ger, or  lose  his  ball,  or  have  the  nose  bleed,  or  break  his  rocking- 
horse,  which  mama  must  help  mend  at  once!  By  the  time  his  wants 
were  attended  to,  and  another  sixteen  lines  of  *  Trilby '  were  read, 
the  ten-year-old  would  be  on  hand,  and  want  help  about  his  lessons, 
or  inquire  if  his  jacket  was  mended,  or  whether  mama  wouldn't  go 
to  the  store  so  he  could  go  too!  And  by  the  time  he  was  disposed 
of,  and  another  sixteen  lines  of  *  Trilby '  were  read,  the  baby  would 
wake  up,  and  the  whole  process  would  have  to  be  gone  through  over 
again.  It  reminded  me  of  Cicero's  Orations  ;  we  used  to  translate 
sixteen  lines  a  day  in  high-school;  and  for  that  woman,  reading 
'  Trilby  '  was  about  as  slow  work  as  reading  Latin  is  for  the  average 
high-school  boy.  The  first  three  chapters  were  such  a  miscellaneous 
mixture  of  babies,  dolls,  kites,  balls,  cookies,  milk,  blocks,  drums, 
rocking-horses,  and  torn  clothes,  that  I  gave  up  in  despair.  But  I 
heard  her  tell  a  friend  that  she  was  *  enjoying  "  Trilby  "  so  much!' 
I  went  back  to  look  for  another  reader.  The  next  purcliaser  was  a 
bald-headed  man  who  didn't  look  as  if  he  had  ever  read  a  novel  in 
his  life.  I  thought  probably  he  would  mail  the  book  to  his  wife  in 
Maine,  or  his  daughter  in  California,  or  his  sister  in  Texas,  or  his 
nephew  in  Florida,  so  I  didn't  accompany  him  home.  The  joke  of 
it  was,  the  Electrician  met  him  at  the  door,  saw  '  Trilby  *  in  his  hand, 
and  suddenly  made  up  his  mind  he'd  like  to  read  it.  So  he  followed 
him  home.  The  man  was  an  architect  and  his  wife  read  to  him  even- 
ings while  he  was  drawing.  She  was  a  good  reader,  and  all  the  Elec- 
trician had  to  do  was  to  drop  around  evenings  after  supper-time  and 
listen.  Tt  was  the  best  chance  in  the  world  and  I  threw  it  away! 
However,  I  succeeded  in  getting  through  the  book  first.  I  waited 
until  a  romantic  school-girl  made  her  appearance.  I  went  home  with 
her,  and  she  read  until  midnight.  The  next  morning  she  began  again 
at  daylight,  and  we  devoured  the  book  in  a  few  hours.  But  I  was 
more  interested  in  '  Peter  Ibbetson,'  Du  Maurier's  first  book." 
"That  was  a  sort  of  a  dream-story,  was  it  not?  " 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  333 

"  Yes ;  I  had  been  reading  several  curious  books  on  mystic  and 
Kxult  subjects  until  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  might 
)c  something  in  the  idea  that  we  ought  to  be  able  to  recall  our  past 
experiences  and  re-live  at  will  the  scenes  we  have  once  passed  through, 
rhcre  are  so  many  theories,  adopted  by  persons  of  widely  different 
riews,  pointing  in  that  direction.  Many  Christians  believe  that  when 
%e  stand  before  the  judgment-bar  of  God,  our  whole  past  life  will 
>ass  before  us,  as  in  a  vision.    Nothing  will  be  forgotten!  " 

"  And  our  friends  the  spiritualists  think  they  will  be  able  to  read 
everything  in  the  astral  light.** 

"  And  science  declares  that  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain  contains 
n  its  wrinkles  a  complete  record  not  only  of  every  event  of  which 
ve  have  been  cognizant,  but  of  every  thought.  Of  what  use  is  the 
•ccord  if  we  are  never  to  read  it?  Why  is  it  there?  Theosophists 
ook  forward  to  the  time  when  in  some  future  reincarnation  they 
vill  be  able  to  review  all  of  their  past  lives.  They  do  not  believe  that 
nemorv'  is  dependent  upon  the  brain  and  must  decay  when  that  or- 
gan's billion  cells  resolve  into  their  primal  elements.*' 

**  Ghost-life  in  Shadowland  proves  that  bit  of  physiology  incor- 
rect! We  have  no  brains — speaking  physiologically — but  we  remem- 
ber and  we  think!  " 

**  Theosophists  believe  that  the  history  of  the  world  in  all  ages, 
not  only  of  great  events  but  of  trifling  ones,  not  only  of  nations  but  of 
individuals,  is  written  in  the  memory  of  those  who  make  that  his- 
tor\-.  They  believe  that  memory  is  eternal.  Some  mental  scientists 
claim  that  the  human  will  is  the  most  powerful  force  in  the  universe. 
They  claim  that  when  properly  educated  and  directed,  all  other  forces, 
«vcn  those  which  lead  to  the  decay  and  death  of  the  human  body, 
can  be  put  under  its  control.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  the 
^'11  is  master  and  possesses  such  marvellous  powers,  it  surely  ought 
^^  be  able  to  put  me  in  the  way  of  reading  that  record  of  my  past 
We.  whether  written  in  my  brain  or  in  the  astral  light.  I  determined 
^'»  tn-  it.  So  I  practised  concentration  with  that  single  purpose  in 
View— I  would  learn  to  re-live  my  past  at  will." 

"How  did  you  go  about  it?    What  did  you  do?  " 

*'It  is  simple  enough  after  one  has  learned  to  concentrate.     I 


884  INTELLIGENCE. 

wonder  that  people  never  thought  of  it  before.    All  that  is  required 
is  patience  and  perseverance  guided  by  a  strong  will." 

"  But  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea  how  one  should  go  to  work." 

**  Take  an  easy,  restful  position,  and  forget  that  you  have  a  body. 
I  used  to  lie  on  my  back.  Make  sure  that  you  will  not  be  disturbed, 
for  the  fear  of  disturbance  causes  uneasiness.  I  selected  for  my  ex- 
periment one  of  the  happiest  days  of  my  boyhood — the  day  when 
my  uncle  came  to  take  me  with  him  on  a  long  promised  trip  to  the 
city,  which  I  had  never  seen.  I  knew  that  day,  with  its  joys  and 
surprises  and  excitements,  must  be  as  deeply  impressed  upon  the 
gray  matter  of  my  brain  as  any — and  yet  it  took  me  six  mouths  of 
persevering  effort  to  bring  back  that  one  day!    But  it  came  at  last." 

*'  Was  it  anything  more  than  a  vivid  dream?  By  thinking  in- 
tently upon  a  subject  before  going  to  sleep,  one  can  often  cause  him- 
self to  dream  about  it.*' 

**  That  is  true  enough.  But  a  dream  is  different.  In  a  dream 
things  are  apt  to  be  jumbled.  There  is  no  beginning,  no  end,  and 
the  most  extraordinary  events  are  liable  to  occur.  The  impossible 
happens  as  often  as  the  possible,  and  the  dreamer  accepts  everj'thing 
as  true,  although  a  subconscious  undertone  keeps  whispering  *  this 
is  nothing  but  a  dream.*  Re-living  the  past  is  different.  It  is  not 
a  dream.  It  is  simply  reading  memory's  record.  The  past  takes  the 
place  of  the  present.  The  man  I  had  grown  to  be,  forgot  himself  in 
the  boy  he  watched  with  so  much  interest.  Try  to  recall  the  scenes 
and  the  events  of  some  pleasant  day  in  your  life.  For  instance,  take 
the  first  day  you  visited  the  WorUrs  Fair.  Try  to  recall  your  first 
views  of  the  buildings,  and  the  grounds  and  the  people.  My  expe- 
rience is  that  I  can  recall  buildings,  lakes,  bridges,  and  all  sorts  of 
scenery  more  readily  than  I  can  people.  Think  of  yourself  and  your 
companions,  if  you  had  any,  and  you  will  soon  see  them  more  or  less 
vividly — and  yourself  with  them.  lUit  the  waking  memory  of  a  day 
long  past  is  indistinct  and  full  of  gaps,  yawning  abys.ses.  as  it  were, 
in  which  nine-tenths  or  more  of  the  day  is  lost.  Only  a  few  of  the 
most  prominent  happenings  can  be  recalled.  But  when  one  sinks  the 
consciou.sne.ss  of  the  present  and  locks  himself  away  from  it  in  sleep* 
that  he  may  live  only  in  the  past — it  is  all  there!    One  sees  the  who^^* 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  336 

Tothing  is  lost.    The  record  is  continuous  and  no  moment  is  for- 
otten  or  dropped  out/* 

•*  A  most  extraordinary  experience!  " 

**  I  endeavored  to  recall  other  days,  but  with  varying  success.  It 
as  a  year  before  I  gained  the  ability  to  read  whatever  page  of  my 
ast  life  I  desired.  It  was  curious  and  somewhat  interesting,  but  not 
>  satisfactory  as  I  expected.  The  perfect  days  in  an  ordinary  per- 
>n's  life  are  not  numerous.  I  made  the  unpleasant  discovery  that 
had  been  a  bad-tempered,  disagreeable  youth  with  an  unfortunate 
ibit  of  getting  into  all  sorts  of  scrapes.  Who  wants  to  re-live  a 
lildhood  full  of  punishments?  Not  I !  Peter  Ibbetson  and  his  Mary 
ad  an  ideal  childhood,  which  they  could  take  comfort  in  re-living; 
ut  I  got  so  I  dreaded  to  start  out  on  a  new  day,  for  fear  I  should 
itch  myself  doing  some  mean  trick  I  had  forgotten  all  about  years 
;o. 

"  Couldn't  you  select  your  days?  " 

"  One  must  have  the  memory  of  some  certain  event  as  a  sort  of 
e>'  to  unlock  the  past.  But  in  choosing  a  day  from  one  event  I  often 
let  with  unpleasant  surprises.  For  inctance,  I  once  chose  my  sister's 
rcdding-day,  and  found  that  I  had  a  fight  two  hours  after  the  cere- 
lony,  which  cost  me  a  black  eye  and  a  lame  shoulder.  Things  turned 
ut  that  way  too  often  to  be  agreeable,  so  I  started  out  on  a  new 
ct  of  experiments.  I  thought  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  to  learn  to 
cave  the  body  and  return  to  it  at  will.  The  result  of  that  was  that 
i  got  out  of  the  body  spre  enough,  and  before  I  got  back  in  it,  they 
liad  it  buried.  So  I  am  a  ghost  by  accident.  I  enjoyed  life  in  the 
body,  and  never  would  have  committed  suicide  intentionally.  The 
visibles  have  a  better  chance  to  find  out  the  secrets  of  the  universe, 
than  we  invisibles  have.  They  can  control  matter  and  we  ghosts 
can't— that  is,  we  ordinary  ghosts!  But  there  is  something  queer 
ilwut  the  Theosophist  and  the  Occultist.  I  more  than  half  believe 
^t  they  have  bodies  on  earth  to  which  they  can  go  back." 

Harriet  E.  Orcutt. 


336  INTELLIGENCE. 


ATLANTIS. 


Lost  Atlantis,  sad  Atlantis, 
Thou  comest  in  dreams  to  me; 

As  the  moan  of  a  shell. 

As  the  tone  of  a  bell. 
That  falls  on  your  ear  from  the  sea. 
Out  of  the  past,  so  fabled  and  eld. 
Out  of  the  past,  where  your  ruins  are  held. 
Out  of  the  past,  whose  heat  time  has  quelled. 
Again  from  the  mists,  are  you  free. 

Lost  Atlantis,  grand  Atlantis, 
Where  sunbeams  never  fall; 

Beneath  the  sea  waves. 

In  deep  coral  caves. 
The  Gnomes  in  bower  and  hall, 
Play  with  a  tress  of  the  sea-maid's  hair, 
Bow  to  the  sea-elf.  who  holds  sway  there. 
Beauty  and  love,  are  seen  everywhere, 

Where  the  sea-star*s  shadows  fall. 

• 

Lost  Atlantis,  sad  Atlantis. 
What  do  you  speak  of  the  past? 

White  are  the  bones. 

Whiter  than  stones, 
Of  heroes  in  the  waves  cast; 
Never  to  see  the  eye  of  the  sun, 
Never  to  see  the  willed  deed  done, 
Never  again  to  be  smiled  upon 
But  lost  to  the  present  and  past. 

Bold  Atlantis,  brave  Atlantis, 
What  was  the  power  you  sought? 

To  wrest  from  the  sky 

The  powers  on  high, 
By  the  terrible  force  of  thought?" 
It  came,  with  the  lightning's  flash  and  roar. 
It  came,  with  the  steady  river's  pour. 
It  came,  till  you  sunk  to  rise  no  more 
On  the  face  of  land  or  sea. 

Lost  Atlantis,  dream  Atlantis. 
Do  you  dwell  among  the  stars? 

In  the  milky  way, 

In  the  moonlight  ray. 
Do  you  weep  for  your  stains  and  scars? 
I  cannot  tell,  the  dream  goes  by: 
I  cannot  tell,  the  dawn  is  nigh; 
I  cannot  tell,  but  in  yonder  sky 
All  mystery  God  unbars. 

Abbie  W.  Goi 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT 


WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


A  NEW  LOCATION. 

The  growth  of  interest  in  the  movement  represented  by  this  periodical 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  quarters  heretofore  occupied,  though 
in  the  beginning,  have  become  inadequate  for  thorough  work  in 
an  the  various  lines  of  action  desirable  to  maintain  for  the  good  of  the 


Its  publishers,  therefore,  with  an  eye  to  the  requirements  both  of  the 
and  the  interested  public,  have  secured  a  long  lease  of  liberal 
and  advantageous  premises,  at  No.  465  Fifth  Avenue,  in  a  new  build- 
ing with  all  modern  equipments.  The  location  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tifiil  as  well  as  convenient  in  New  York  City,  for  this  enterprise,  which  in- 
dodes  a  book  and  publication  business,  library,  reading-rooms,  halls  for 
class-teaching  and  lecturing,  appointments  for  meeting  friends,  etc.,  where 
the  largest,  handsomest,  and  best  appointed  office  and  store  yet  established 
m  the  interests  of  this  cause  will  be  maintained,  thoroughly  up  to  date, 
meeting  every  requirement  of  all  branches  of  the  Advance-Thought 

»venient.  Nothing  important  has  been  omitted,  and  new  features  will 
be  added  as  fast  as  the  growing  requirements  of  a  developing  cause  make 
such  desirable. 

Agreeable  attendants  will  always  be  in  charge  of  the  Library,  Reading- 
Rooms,  Lecture-Rooms,  and  Store,  and  interested  persons  will  always  be 
welcome. 

We  take  pleasure  in  editorially  making  this  announcement  to  our 

readers,  and  trust  that  all  friends  of  the  new  movement  in  any  of  its 

win  give  the  publishers  at  least  one  personal  call. 

887 


1 


338  INTELLIGENCE. 

A  COMPANION  IN  METAPHYSICAL  WORK. 

A  new  venture,  in  which  we  take  no  little  interest,  is  the  recent  es- 
tablishing of  the  Classic  Monthly,  **  Pearls,"  for  the  purpose  of  covering 
the  ground  not  fully  occupied  by  this  Periodical,  and  of  ministering  to 
the  wants  of  the  many  intelligent  readers  of  all  ages,  who  wish  to  de- 
velop the  purer  sentiments  of  life,  and  therefore  need  a  periodical  that 
can  be  relied  upon  for  correct  teaching  along  the  lines  of  the  heart  as 
well  as  of  the  head. 

There  is  a  vast  field  for  research  and  development  here,  in  the  vao^ 
interesting  and  practical  lines  which,  as  yet,  have  been  scarcely  toucbed* 
except  on  the  emotional  borders,  and  where  the  most  important  featara 
of  education,  especially  of  the  minds  of  the  child  and  youth,  are  to  bcd^ 
veloped  for  the  lasting  good  of  the  coming  race.  The  necessity  and  the 
desire  for  such  teaching  have  progressed  hand  in  hand,  and  we  are  daily 
receiving  most  urgent  calls  for  the  means  of  encouraging  such  growth 
in  the  home.  "  Pearls  "  is  the  result  of  our  efforts  to  meet  this  growiof 
want,  and  its  editor  and  publishers  intend  that  it  shall  not  be  found  want- 
ing. "  Pearls  "  will  be  a  companion  in  Metaphysics,  dealing  with  sub- 
jects near  to  the  home  and  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all  who  love  the  light  d 
truth  and  recognize  its  universal  radiance. 

Many  sides,  but  one  Truth — is  the  keynote  of  all  metaphysical  teach* 
ing.  The  simplicity,  purity,  and  perfection  of  the  Gem  will  be  found 
throughout  the  pages  of  this  new  messenger  of  love,  while  its  teachings 
may  be  relied  upon  as  correct  in  principle  and  sound  in  law.  The  laws 
of  human  life  are  the  blossom  of  the  divine.  The  poetry  of  Law  is  har- 
mony, and  the  "  harmony  "  of  life  is  love. 

We  believe  that  our  interested  readers  will  find  both  these  true 
hearted  productions  indispensable  in  the  home.     In  the  two,  the  entire 
range  of  experience  will  be  covered  in  all  its  phases  of  truth  and  reality 
and  in  every  dress  of  enjoyment.    The  mental  and  spiritual  forces  of  tbc 
world  are  combining  for  this  work,  and  the  publishers  hope  to  hear  from 
all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  human  race  out  of  the 
bondage  of  incorrect  views  and  into  the  freedom  of  true  understandinf^ 

With  the  establishing  of  "  Pearls  *'  the  present  work  of  "  Intelligence" 
will  be  divided  between  the  two,  Pearls  taking  the  lighter  material.    TWl 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  339 

LCtically  obviates  the  difficulties  met  with  in  the  use  of  our  original 
ne ;  and  with  the  April  number  we  shall  return  to  our  "  first  love," 
Tie  Metaphysical  Magazine,"  which  will  hereafter  be  the  name  of  this 
riodical. 

FRONTISPIECE. 

We  present  to  our  readers  this  month  an  exceedingly  good  likeness 

the  Swami  Abhedananda,  who  brings  to  the  Western  world  the  good 

lings  of  the  Eastern  teaching  of  true  metaphysical  principles.    A  more 

ar-cut  type  of  the  union  of  both  heart  and  intellect  is  seldom  seen  in 

human  face,  especially  in  this  hard  practical  Western-world  life. 

An  essay  by  the  Swami,  which  opens  this  number,  shows  this  strength 
mbined  with  simplicity  in  a  marked  way.  His  thought,  while  deep  and 
Be  to  the  inexorable  logic  of  reality,  is  yet  so  simple,  so  plain,  so  com- 
lehensible,  and  so  beautiful  withal,  that  it  carries  no  evidence  of  the 
inexorable  " — which  seems  to  trouble  the  minds  of  some,  who  have 
►  strong  a  desire  to  be  independent  that  the  idea  of  logical  exactness 
«ns  burdensome.  The  teachings  of  this  article  are  plain  metaphysical 
nth,  and  well  understood  here  by  those  who  have  studied  Eastern  lore. 
It  the  Western  mind  is  apt  to  labor  more  in  expressing  its  thought;  and, 
i  is  always  the  case  in  mental  action,  the  putting  forth  of  laborious  effort 
loods  the  intellect  and  smothers  the  spiritual  faculties. 

Spirit  moves  as  the  light  shines — in  silence;  and  the  great  things 
I  life  always  operate  quietly.  Calmness  is  the  first  requisite  of  mental 
brcc.    The  Swami's  valuable  contribution  verifies  all  of  these  thoughts. 

LA  GRIPPE  AND  INFLUENZA. 

The  prevalence  of  the  disease  known  from  Maine  to  California  as  "  la 
pippc  "  illustrates  the  remarkable  avidity  with  which  Americans  seize 
Vwi  a  new  word.  Worcester  says  that  influenza  is  called  "  la  grippe  " 
■  France.  Webster  says  that  *'  grippe  "  is  the  French  word  for  influenza, 
fhrough  some  kind  of  jugglery,  however,  Americans  seem  always  to 
are  the  French  disease,  and  the  Frenchmen  the  American  disease.  Dis- 
atches  from  Paris  announce  the  spread  of  influenza,  while  dispatches 
om  towns  about  New  York  tell  of  the  spread  of  "  la  grippe."    Cardinal 


340 


INTELLIGENCE. 


Simeoni  died  at  Rome  from  influenza,  but  Professor  Aiken  died  at  Prince- 
ton from  "  la  grippe."  Will  some  coming  lexicographer  gravely  announce 
that "  grippe  "  is  the  English  for  influenza,  and  that  influenza  is  the  French 
for  "  grippe  "?— ATotf  York  Tribune. 


METAPHYSICAL  HEALING. 
THEORY  AND  GENERAL  STRUCTURE* 

The  Science  of  Metaphysical  Healing  presents  a  reliable  method  of 
acquiring  and  retaining  heahh  without  the  use  of  drugs  or  material  ^em^ 
dies,  or  the  employment  of  any  injurious  process. 

It  is  based  upon  certain  fundamental  truths  of  Being  which  show  that 
the  mental  and  spiritual  faculties  are  higher  in  nature,  more  powerful  in 
action,  and  therefore  greater  in  importance  than  the  physical,  alone,  and 
that  they  govern  or  control  the  physical  at  all  times,  under  all  circum- 
stances, whether  so  recognized  or  not. 

An  intelligent  understanding  of  the  laws  through  which  the  mind  is 
constantly  influencing  the  body,  consciously,  sub-consciously,  or  super- 
consciously,  for  either  good  or  ill,  enables  one  to  operate  upon  the  mind  of 
another  in  such  a  manner  as  to  remove  a  condition  of  sickness  and  ^^ 
establish  the  normal  state  of  health ;  to  release  from  the  bondage  of  it- 
pendence  upon  a  drug,  whether  stimulant  or  opiate,  and  to  remove  in- 
jurious habit  either  of  thought  or  act.  In  fact,  it  gives  power  to  heal  and 
restore  to  the  normal  condition,  either  the  body  or  mind,  when  suffering 
from  any  element  of  discord. 

The  reason  for  this  power  is  found  in  the  fact  that  comprehension  of  the 
vital  principles  involved  in  the  philosophy,  enables  one  to  mentally  fonn 
correct  thought  pictures  with  regard  to  life.  Through  the  operation  of  the 
reflective  action  of  mind — now  known  as  thought-transference — these  cor- 
rect pictures  may  then  be  directly  transferred  to  other  minds,  as  a  good 
influence.  When  such  influence  is  received  by  any  mind,  the  correspond- 
ing activity  will  be  generated  in  its  own  body,  through  natural  laws,  and 

♦  This  is  Lesson  I.  in  the  System  of  Instruction  given  by  The  American  School 
of  Metaphysics,  New  York.  It  is  given  in  connection  with  the  Introduction,  whic* 
appeared  in  these  columns  last  month — the  two  comprising  the  first  lesson  «• 
Course  I. — Philosophy. 

Copyright,  1897,  by  L.  E.  Whipple.    All  rights  reserved. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  341 

1  a  perfectly  natural  manner.  This  regeneration  must  necessarily  result 
3  renewed  health,  vigor,  and  happiness. 

Through  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Mental  Imagery  (the  picturing  of 
deas  in  mind),  and  Mental  Photography  (the  transference  of  those  pict- 
ires  of  ideas  to  other  minds),  together  with  the  reflected  physical  copy  of 
he  thought-picture  on  the  body,  the  conscious  or  sub-conscious  genera- 
ion  of  a  diseased  condition  is  made  clear. 

The  body  is  always  a  correct  copy  of  the  mind,  and  accurately  registers 
jvery  thought-picture  formed  through  the  imaging  faculty,  whether  right 
3r  wrong — the  right  for  permanent  good,  the  wrong  for  a  seeming  bodily 
harm.  Recognition  of  these  facts  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  by  replacing 
incorrect  mental  pictures  with  correct  ones,  a  cure  of  any  form  of  disease 
may  be  possible. 

These  principles,  whenever  applied  under  such  exact  conditions  as  are 
necessary  for  any  test  or  demonstration  in  Science,  invariably  produce 
exact  results  which  prove  the  truth  of  the  theories.  These  results  may  be 
obtained  and  the  facts  demonstrated  by  any  member  of  the  human  family 
who  will  sufficiently  inform  himself  and  so  conduct  his  habits  and  powers 
of  thought  as  to  conform  to  the  fixed  laws  of  the  universe  in  which  he 
dwells,  and  of  which  he  is  a  living  part.  This  clearly  suggests  the  real 
Jttture  of  the  theory,  which,  being  capable  of  universal  application,  in- 
variably with  good  results,  must  be  true,  therefore  scientific. 

In  this  age  of  materiality  and  scepticism  we  frequently  hear  the  remark 

,-that  mental  methods  have  no  claim  to  the  term  Science,  but  are  distinctly 

^scientific.    Let  us  examine  this  statement  in  the  light  of  the  true  mean- 

'8^  of  words — the  only  way  in  which  they  can  be  used  understandingly 

fcr  scientific  purposes. 

Each  word  in  a  language  stands  for  an  Idea  which  the  word  was  origi- 
^ly  coined  to  represent.  Frequently,  in  the  English  language,  the  same 
^rd  is  used  to  express  diflferent  ideas,  sometimes  with  exactly  opposite 
^nings.  In  the  description  of  ideas  this  is  confusing  to  the  student  un- 
^s  the  fact  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  most  instances  there  is  but  one 
Irictly  true  meaning  for  the  word;  i.e.,  the  root  or  derivative  meaning. 
In  other  so-called  definitions  are  simply  common  usages,  which  have  grown 
round  the  w'ord  from  careless  habit  or  custom,  and  are  finally  adopted  as 
Icfinitions  because  of  the  frequency  of  that  use.    But  these  usages  are  not 


842  INTELLIGENCE. 

correct,  and,  if  words  are  employed  in  the  wrong  way  in  philosophical  or 
scientific  literature,  entirely  wrong  ideas  are  conveyed,  and  much  harmb 
done,  through  the  misleading  of  the  mind. 

In  the  earlier  days,  when  the  most  of  our  philosophies  and  sciences 
were  determined  and  defined,  these  usages  were  not  known;  therefore, to 
employ  them  now  is,  in  many  instances,  to  render  entirely  erroneous  mean- 
mgs,  because  the  truth  as  taught  by  the  writer  who  used  the  words  witb 
the  pure  meaning,  is  either  clouded  or  entirely  lost. 

With  every  idea,  there  was  a  time  when  it  existed  with  no  word  in  the 
English  language  to  express  it.  A  word  was  then  coined  for  that  purpose. 
At  this  time  the  purpose  was  clear  and  single.  Nearly  all  Enghsh  words 
were  produced  by  combining  words  from  older  languages.  These  foreigB 
words  then  stood  for  the  same  ideas  for  which  English  words  were  it 
sired ;  therefore,  if  we  consider  the  meanings  of  these  roots,  we  shall  ifr 
variably  find  the  original  and  right  meaning  of  the  English  word.  Fori 
long  time  this  was  the  only  meaning  borne  by  that  word,  and  it  is  the  onlj 
definition  that  can  be  safely  employed  in  scientific  and  philosophicjl 
matters. 

The  word  Science  is  derived  from  the  Latin.  The  original  En^isb 
word  was  Scient,  which  meant  knowing,  skilful;  now  obsolete.  The 
Latin  of  Scient  is  Scicns:  p.  pr.  of  Scire,  to  know.  The  Latin  word  for 
Science  is  Scientia,  The  definitions  of  the  word  Science,  according  to 
Webster,  are : 

1st.  *'  Knowledge;  penetrating  and  comprehensive  information;  tf 
e.g.,  *  Shakespeare's  deep  and  accurate  science  in  mental  philosophy/- 
Coleridge.'' 

2d.  "  The  comprehension  and  understanding  of  truth  or  facts;  ifl" 
vestigation  of  truth  for  its  own  sake;  pursuit  of  pure  knowledge." 

3d.  *' Truth  ascertained;  that  which  is  known.  Hence,  specificall]r» 
knowledge  duly  arranged;  philosophical  knowledge;  profound  knowl- 
edge; complete  knowledge :  true  knowledge.  '  Science  is  .  .  .  acotfr 
plement  of  cognitions,  having,  in  point  of  form,  the  character  of  logid 
perfection,  and,  in  point  of  matter,  the  character  of  real  truth.* — Sir  If* 
Hamilton.** 

Science  is  either  applied  or  pure.  Continuing  Webster's  definition 
we  find  that  "  Applied  science  is  a  knowledge  of  facts,  events*  or  pb< 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  848 

Bomena,  as  explained,  accounted  for,  or  produced  by  means  of  powers, 
causes,  or  laws.  Pure  science  is  the  knowledge  of  these  powers,  causes, 
or  laws,  considered  apart,  or  as  pure  from  all  applications." 

Metaphysical  Healing  is  an  applied  science,  or  knowledge  of  meta- 
physics, applied  to  the  healing  art. 

Webster  further  says:  **  Science  is  literally  knowledge;  but  more  usu- 
ally denotes  a  systematic  arrangement  of  knowledge.  The  most  perfect 
state  of  science,  therefore,  will  be  the  most  high  and  accurate  inquiry." 

Scientific  means  "  Agreeing  with  or  depending  on  the  rules  or  prin- 
ciples of  Science.    Evincing  profound  and  systematic  knowledge." 
A  Scientist  is  "  one  learned  in  Science." 

According  to  these  definitions  the  term  Science  can  be  legitimately 
employed  only  to  represent  real  truth,  actual  facts,  or  some  exact  arrange- 
ment of  actual  knozvledge  in  regard  to  facts ;  hence,  any  theory  based  upon 
opinions  whicfi  can  be  demonstrated  to  be  untrue,  is  not  scientific,  there- 
fore cannot  stand  for  a  Science,  opinions  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
"  True  science  has  no  belief.    True  science  knows  but  three  states  of 
mind:  denial,  conviction,  and  the  vast  interval  between  these  two,  which 
is  not  belief,  but  the  suspension  of  judgment. 
I       Science  in  our  modern  times  proceeds  otherwise;  it  either  denies 
point  blank,  without  any  investigation,  or  sits  in  the  interim  between  denial 
ttd  conviction,  and,  dictionary  in  hand,  invents  new  Graeco-Latin  appella- 
tions for  non-existing  kinds  of  hysteria."  * 

The  system  of  Metaphysical  Healing,  as  now  formulated,  is  claimed 
to  be  a  Science  because  it  is  founded  upon  the  most  definite  knowledge  of 
the  real  facts  in  regard  to  both  life  and  health.  In  its  operative  action  it  is 
^curately  scientific  in  character,  in  construction,  and  in  application  to  the 
rtcissitiides  of  life. 

The  first  question  asked  by  the  average  inquirer  is,  "  What  is  Meta- 
physical Healing?  "    This  is  usually  supplemented  by  the  interrogatories: 
*s  it  Mesmerism?    Electricity?    Faith  Cure?    Will  power?  etc.    Does  it 
^ploy  remedies  as  aids?    Does  it  require  faith  on  the  part  of  the  patient? 
In  order  to  clear  the  atmosphere  of  erroneous  opinions  which  seem 
to  be  commonly  entertained  with  regard  to  the  ivork,  it  may  be  well,  in 
*^nning,  to  first  explain  what  it  is  not  and  what  is  not  to  be  expected  of 
I  H.  This  will  leave  the  field  clear  for  constructive  operation. 
*  Bulwcr  Ljrtton. 

L 


344  INTELLIGENCE. 

First,  then,  it  is  not  in  any  sense  a  Medical  treatment;  no  remedies  are 
required,  as  higher  methods  of  accompHshing  the  required  results  are 
employed.  Neither  is  it  Massage ;  there  is  no  physical  manipulation  or 
bodily  contact  of  any  kind  in  true  **  Metaphysical  "  healing. 

It  is  not  based  upon  Magnetism,  and  does  not  employ  any  form  oi 
animal  influence,  or  deal  in  any  manner  whatsoever  with  the  animal  nature. 
Neither  is  it  Electricity  in  any  physical  sense. 

It  is  not  Mesmerism,  or  Hypnotism.  These  are  but  the  control  of  one 
mind  by  another,  through  exercises  of  the  animal  nature,  and  they  belong 
entirely  to  the  plane  of  Will,  in  the  sense  of  brute  force;  but  Metaphysical 
influence  is  not  will  power  in  the  sense  of  selfish,  or  wilful  determination; 
it  appeals  entirely  to  the  spiritual  nature,  in  a  development  of  the  faculties 
of  pure  being. 

It  is  not  "  Faith  Cure  "  in  the  sense  of  dependence  upon  prayer  or 
supplication^  which  is  necessarily  based  upon  some  form  or  degree  d 
superstition;  neither  is  it  emotionalism,  fanaticism,  or  supposition. 

The  foregoing  are  mostly  names  of  healing  methods  which  are  based 
upon  various  opinions  and  theories  about  life  and  its  laws.  Each  theory 
thus  advanced  is  based  upon  Materialism,  and  the  separateness  of  Person- 
ality. In  each  is  contained  grains  of  truth,  usually  hidden  from  view  anJ 
v/eakened  in  power  by  the  blind  and  sometimes  fanatical  determination  ol 
its  founder  or  followers  to  materialize  both  the  theory  and  its  application, 
while  to  be  fundamentally  true  both  must  necessarily  be  spiritual,  ifl 
essence. 

The  founders  of  the  most  of  these  theories  seem  to  have  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  brightness  and  power  of  truth  inherent  in  the  spiritual  nature  of  mam 
but  being  so  wedded  to  material  things  and  sense  illusion,  they  have  failed 
to  follow  through  to  the  ultimate  the  element  of  truth  thus  partially  difi 
cemed;  the  usual  result  has  been  an  eflfort  to  explain  the  demonstration 
of  power  obtained  on  a  strictly  material  plane  and  in  personal  terms. 

This  is  an  utterly  futile  eflfort.  The  more  they  try  to  explain,  the  deep* 
they  inevitably  get  in  the  mire  of  superstition  and  error,  and  the  more  bta* 
they  become  to  the  only  spark  of  truth  that  was  ever  contained  in  thcs 
theories,  namely,  that  Spirit  alone  is  the  power  which  worketh  all  thinC 
and  that  matter  is  only  worked  upon  or  acted  upon  by  spirit,  but  dcv< 
works  of  itself,  or  directly  upon  anything. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  346 

The  individual  may  not  know  a  word  of  the  theory  of  any  of  the  above- 
iicntioned  methods  of  cure,  yet  he  may  be  the  means  of  healing  not  only 
ill  that  such  methods  can  help,  but  also  the  many  that  through  all  of  these 
methods  combined  have  failed  to  cure  and  have  been  obliged  to  leave  to 
their  suflFering,  if  he  rightly  understand  the  laws  of  his  own  being,  knowing 
how  mind  acts  upon  mind  and  controls  the  body,  at  all  times,  in  both  health 
and  sickness.  This  fact  has  been  thoroughly  proved  and  thousands  are 
to-day  demonstrating  the  power. 

The  healing  of  disease  without,  the  use  of  drugs,  manipulation,  or  ma- 
terial remedies,  is  generally  spoken  of  as  Mental  HeaHng.    By  a  careless- 
speaking  public,  it  is  commonly  termed  Mind  Cure,  and  it  is  variously 
known  by  the  sects  who  have  adopted  mental  methods,  as 
Mind  Cure,  Mental  Science, 

Mental  Cure,  Spiritual  Science, 

Mind  Healing,  Divine  Science, 

Mental  Healing,  Christian  Science, 

Spiritual  Healing,  Christian  Metaphysics, 

Divine  Healing,  Psychology, 

Christian  Healing,  Psychopathy, 

Psychic  Healing,  Old  Theology, 

Psychopathic  Healing,  Ontology, 

Psychological  Healing,  Pneumatopathy, 

Mind  Science,  Pneumatology. 

It  is  strictly  the  Philosophy  of  Metaphysics — the  Science  of  Being; 
ind  as  a  scientific  system  it  is  rightly  named  Metaphysical  Healing. 

All  of  these  are  names  employed  by  people  who  are  engaged  either 
in  the  work  of  heaUng  without  the  agency  of  material  remedies,  or  in 
theorizing  about  work  performed  by  others.  They  are  attempts  to  name 
*  force  newly  recognized,  but  which  as  yet  is  almost  beyond  human  com- 
prehension. The  same  principles  and  laws  are  dealt  with  by  all,  though 
in  different  degrees  of  understanding  and  methods  of  application.  Some 
^em  to  find  the  man  in  the  will,  either  upon  the  animal  or  the  divine 
plane,  according  to  the  development  of  the  thinker;  others  think  they 
nndhim  in  the  emotional  nature,  still  others  in  the  psychic  nature;  while 
W)me  recognize  him  as  a  spiritual  being  but  see  no  way  of  reaching  him 
^ve  through  the  emotions.    There  are,  however,  others  who  recognize 


346  INTELLIGENCE. 

him  as  pure  spiritual  being,  to  be  found  and  reached  through  familiarity 
with  the  real  spiritual  laws  of  his  nature.  All  are  by  different  paths  seek- 
ing the  same  goal.  But  Man,  like  God,  has  his  source  in  spirit,  and  must 
be  found  amidst  spiritual  activities.  **  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among 
the  dead?  "  Leander  Edmund  Whipple. 

A  PSYCHOLOGICAL   EXPERIENCE. 

MORE   SCARED    THAN    HURT. 

Here  is  a  psychological  experience  of  a  remarkable  kind.  A  day  or 
two  before  Christmas  a  lady  was  coming  out  of  Park  Square,  across 
Boylston  Street,  to  the  Common.  The  crossings  were  muddy  and  very 
slippery.  She  had  been  dodging  wagons  and  cars,  and  was  picking  her 
way  across  the  muddy  street,  when  she  saw,  coming  down  the  Boylston 
Street  incline,  a  double  team  attached  to  a  heavy  express  wagon,  with  a 
projecting  pole  in  front.  She  slipped  on  the  wet  crossing,  and  the  little 
accident  so  delayed  her  movement  that  the  team  was  upon  her  almost  be- 
fore she  knew  it.  The  speed  of  the  horses  was  so  great  that  the  driver 
could  not  have  checked  them  or  diverted  them  in  time  to  save  her.  She 
made  a  desperate  struggle  to  get  away  and  slipped  again,  and  at  this 
instant  the  pole  of  the  rushing  wagon  grazed  so  closely  to  her  cheek  that 
she  felt  its  rushing  movement.  It  was  here  th^t  the  psychological  phe- 
nomenon referred  to  occurred.  The  lady  distinctly  heard  and  felt  the 
cracking  and  crunching  of  her  own  bones  under  the  wheels  of  the  wagon; 
she  was,  in  her  own  consciousness,  completely  under  the  wheels  of  the 
vehicle,  where  she  was  being  fatally  run  over.  At  the  same  instant  this 
thought  flashed  through  her  mind:  "There  is  no  means  of  identif)'ing 
me  except  a  railroad  commutation  ticket  in  my  bag,  which  has  my  hus- 
band's address  written  on  the  cover.  How  dreadful  for  him  to  hear  of  this 
in  this  way."  Then  there  came  to  her  senses  a  sort  of  panoramic  picture 
of  her  husband  and  children  at  home,  with  no  way  to  find  the  Christmas 
presents,  which  she  had  hidden  away  in  various  places  about  the  house. 
Her  imagination  recalled  every  separate  spot,  with  all  the  details  of  its 
surroundings,  in  which  these  presents  were  located — some  in  the  attic, 
some  in  closets,  some  in  bureaus,  etc. 

By  this  time  the  lady  had  reached  the  curbstone,  and  had  not  been 
run  over  at  all!  The  whole  affair  had  taken  place  within  three  feet  of 
the  curb,  and  had,  of  course,  occupied  only  the  merest  instant  of  time 
The  impression  of  the  breaking  bones,  the  wheels  going  over  her,  and  all 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  847 

the  rest,  had  been  pure  imagination,  and  had  come  to  her  at  the  very  in- 
stant when  the  pole  of  the  wagon  brushed  so  closely  to  her  face.  Never- 
theless, she  carried  away  an  ache  in  every  bone,  and  could  not,  for  some 
time,  disabuse  her  mind  of  the  sensation  of  having  been  actually  run 
o\tT.—The  Transcript,  Boston, 

DREAMS  AND  THOUGHT  TRANSFERENCE. 

Some  years  since  I  met  with  a  railroad  accident  on  the  Northern 
Pacific  in  Montana.     Shortly  before  midnight,  the  sleeper  in  which  I 
occupied  a  berth  broke  from  the  train,  caused  by  spreading  of  the  rails, 
and  tumbled  down  an  embankment  into  the  Yellowstone  River.    I  dove 
through  the  car  window  without  clothing  and  saved  myself  by  swimming 
to  the  shore  and  creeping  up  the  steep  bank.    I  had  cut  my  hands,  feet, 
and  side  by  breaking  the  jagged  pieces  of  glass  left  in  the  frames  of 
the  window  when  broken,  to  enable  me  to  escape.     Besmeared  with 
mud  and  blood,  I  was  taken  into  the  train,  which  still  stood  on  the 
track,  while  a  fierce  thunderstorm  was  raging  and  the  rain  came  down 
in  torrents.     Four  weeks  before  this  happened,  my  mother,  living  on  a 
farm  near   Geneva   Lake,   Wis.,   saw   me   in   a   dream   standing   pale- 
faced,  naked,  and  covered  with  mud  and  blood  on  a  stage  in  a  theatre; 
she  noted  the  play,  which  she  saw  (in  the  dream)  before  I  appeared  on 
the  stage  in  the  midst  qf  a  storm.    About  one  week  before  my  accident, 
niy  parents  were  invited  to  visit  a  friend,  Mr.  A.  C.  Hesing,  the  presi- 
<i«nt  of  the  IlHnois  Staats-Zeitung  Co.  of  Chicago.    After  visiting  more 
Wends  in  the  city,  Mr.  Hesing  invited  my  mother  to  witness  a  perform- 
ance in  a  theatre  (the  Auditorium)  in  which  she  had  never  been  before, 
^s  soon  as  she  entered,  she  recognized  the  same  drapery  and  furnish  ■ 
*"?s  which  she  had  seen  in  her  dream;    also  the  same  equipment  and 
^^ting  on  the  stage,  after  the  performance  began.    Alarmed,  she  insisted 
^^  returning  home  next  morning,  fearing  that  something  dreadful  might 
"^^"e  happened  on  the  farm,  for  she  was  certain  that  the  last  part  of  the 
'*<^am.  concerning  myself,  would  come  true,  as  the  first  part  had  done. 
•^»>iving  at  the  farm,  she  found  everything  in  good  order  and  no  bad 
^^vs  had  been  received  from  me.    Several  days  after  her  return  an  as- 
'^^ont  editor,  and  a  friend  of  my  parents  and  Mr.  Hesing,  came  to  the 
^^^^  to  spend  a  vacation  and  remarked  at  the  dinner-table,  incidentally: 
*  our  son  was  very  lucky,  after  all,  to  escape  as  he  did,  in  that  dreadful 
^^ident,  wasn't  he?  "    My  mother  was  speechless  for  a  minute,  and  the 
^^itor,  being  surprised  that  she  knew  nothing  of  it,  told  her  all  the  details, 


348  INTELLIGENCE. 

which  I  had  written  to  Mr.  Hesing,  asking  him  to  inform  my  parents. 
He  also  had  published  an  account  of  it  in  his  paper  (in  July,  1891).  So 
this  dream  proved  true  like  many  others.  From  my  own  experience  and 
that  of  others,  I  should  conclude  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  a 
danger  or  a  misfortune  can  be  avoided,  if  the  dream  which  mirrors  them 
be  heeded  as  a  warning.  It  seems  that  the  more  vivid  the  dream,  the 
more  certain  are  the  foreboded  things  to  happen.  Isn't  the  strong  mental 
picture  proof  positive  of  its  realization?  Isn't  the  present  pregnant  with 
the  future  and  really  no  such  thing  as  **  time  "  in  the  realm  of  Spirit? 
So  the  very  occurrence  of  the  vivid,  startling  dream  would  seem  to  guar- 
antee its  realization,  and  the  not  heeding  of  the  warnings  of  the  dream 
might  be  taken  as  such.  I  could  bring  more  proof,  if  you  care  to  have 
it,  to  sustain  this  argument. 

Now,  a  few  words  about  transference  of  thoughts  and  pictures.  I 
have  an  uncle,  only  brother  of  my  mother,  who  builds  and  superintends 
powder  and  dynamite  factories  for  Noble  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  France.  As 
he  travels  very  much,  we  often  do  not  hear  from  him  for  a  long  time 
and  are  anxious  at  times,  fearing  that  something  serious  has  happened 
to  him.  One  night  in  February.  1897,  I  ^^'^s  dreaming  an  ordinary,  tririal 
dream  in  Omaha,  Neb.,  when  suddenly  I  heard  a  fearful  detonation,  saw 
green  and  blue  fire  spurt  in  all  directions  like  lightning,  and  felt  myself 
as  if  I  had  been  annihilated.  It  required  a  few  minutes  till  I  reaHzed 
that  I  was  not  dead  and  that  all  had  been  a  dream.  I  thought  at  once 
of  my  uncle  and  that  one  of  the  factories  had  exploded.  In  the  morning,  at 
the  breakfast-table,  I  told  my  brother  of  the  vivid  dream,  which  had  not 
the  least  connection  with  the  trivial  dream,  and  I  said  that  I  was  certain 
that  one  of  uncle's  factories  was  blown  up.  Two  days  after  a  cable  dis- 
patch appeared  in  the  morning  paper,  saying  that  Noble's  dynamite  fac- 
tory near  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  had  exploded,  killing  half  a  dozen  men  and 
breaking  window-panes  for  forty  miles  around.  Upon  investigation  the 
fact  developed  that  the  factory  blew  up  at  the  same  time  I  had  the  dream, 
considering  the  diflference  in  time  between  Nebraska  and  Scotland.  ^^}' 
uncle  was  not  near  the  factory  at  the  time,  but  in  France. 

My  mother  tells  me  that  about  forty  years  ago,  on  a  Fourth  of  J«b'' 
the  date  on  which  people  celebrated  "  Kirmes  "  in  the  village  of  Rhenish- 
Prussia,  where  her  parents  resided,  her  father  was  to  accompany  her  to 
a  ball.  He  was  always  of  a  jolly  disposition,  but  on  that  particular  day, 
as,  also,  on  the  day  before,  he  appeared  to  be  unusually  grave  and  avcrs*^ 
to  merriment.    He  himself  said  it  seemed  strange,  but  he  could  not  help 


THE  WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  349 

It.  He  finally  said  he  did  not  feel  inclined  to  go  with  his  daughter  and 
nake  merry,  but  was  persuaded  to  go,  by  his  wife,  to  please  the  only 
laughter.  On  the  way  to  the  ball  he  grew  more  sad,  and  said  he  had 
lis  father  constantly  on  his  mind  and  was  certain  that  something  bad 
lad  happened  to  him.  His  father  was  living  in  Pennsylvania,  having 
emigrated  to  the  United  States.  When  my  mother  had  reached  hearing 
distance  of  the  merry  music,  her  father,  who  had  always  been  one  of  the 
merriest  at  the  festivities,  shook  with  emotion  and  began  to  weep,  say- 
ing that  he  could  not  bear  the  music,  nor  the  "  Kirmes  "  ;  that  the 
thought  of  his  father  was  so  intense  that  it  would  not  leave  him.  He 
turned  back  with  her  and  went  home,  denying  himself  to  all  callers.  Just 
twenty-eight  days  afterward  he  received  a  letter  from  Pennsylvania,  saying 
that  his  father  had  died  on  July  5th  from  the  effects  of  eating  poisonous  ice- 
cream on  July  4th,  which  had  been  prepared  in  a  copper  vessel.  Here 
you  have  the  transmission  of  a  woebegone  feeling  across  the  ocean,  from 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  to  the  shores  of  the  Rhine!  A  telegraphy  with- 
out wire!  Ernst  Benninghoven. 

RESPONSIVE  READING  AND  MEDITATION.* 

RESPONSIVE   READING. 

Minister. — On  that  effulgent  power  which  is  God  himself,  and  is 
called  the  Light  of  the  Radiant  Sun,  do  I  meditate;  governed  by  the 
mysterious  light  which  resides  in  me.     • 

Congregation. — I  myself  am  an  irradiated  manifestation  of  the  Su- 
preme Being. 

Minister. — There  is  only  one  Deity,  the  great  Soul.  He  is  called 
the  Sun,  for  he  is  the  Soui  of  all  beings. 

Congregation. — That  which  is  One,  the  wise  call  it  in  divers  manners. 

Minister. — Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  One. — Rig  Veda, 
^300  B.C.,  and  Bible. 

MEDITATION. 

Man  is  not  content  within  narrow  limitations.  The  earth  cannot  cou- 
sin him.  He  defies  the  confines  of  the  body.  He  breaks  his  prison  bars. 
He  aspires.  He  soars.  He  is  conscious  of  that  which  is  not  fed  by 
'^read  alone.  He  must  have  soul-food ;  else  he  shrivels  and  decays.  He 
^^eks  within  himself  that  which  is  higher  than  himself.  Anon  he  learns 
^hat  higher  self  is  still  himself.    Seeking  this,  he  seeks  the  divine.    Here 

«.  *Froni  the  services  of  The  Metropolitan  Independent  Church.  Rev.  Henry 
^rink.  Minister.    Berkeley  Lyceum,  19  West  Forty-fourth  Street,  New  York  City. 


1 


860  INTELLIGENCE. 

he  holds  communion — here  he  prays.  He  who  knows  himself,  ever  dwells 
in  aspirations — his  prayer  is  ceaseless.  As  the  flower  drinks  the  sun- 
light—his being  absorbs  the  light  divine.  Here  he  aspires  toward  purity, 
love,  gentleness,  kindness,  peace,  truth,  and  goodness.  He  dwells  on 
these  powers.  He  holds  their  image  in  his  mind.  He  sees.  His  mind 
is  clothed  anew.  He  is  transformed.  Such  is  true  prayer.  So  let  us 
ever  pray.    Amen. 

METAPHYSICAL  HALL. 

On  our  new  premises  we  have,  for  evening  lectures,  a  fine  hall,  high 
studded,  perfect  ventilation,  electric  light,  and  steam  heat,  swift  elevator, 
and  all  appointments  first  class.    Seating  capacity  300. 

The  schedule  of  dates  for  the  season  is  now  open. 

Also,  we  have  a  beautiful  front  room  that  may  be  engaged  for  small 
audiences,  classes,  and  teaching  purposes,  morning,  afternoon,  or  even- 
ing, throughout  the  year. 

Applications  for  either  of  these  premises  should  be  entered  at  once. 
Apply  on  the  premises,  or  address 

The  Metaphysical  Publishing  Company, 
465  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

BOOK  REVIEWS. 

WHOSE  SOUL  HAVE  I  NOW?     A  Novel.     By  Mary  Qay  Knapp.    Goth, 
240  pp.,  75  cents.    Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  New  York  &  Chicago. 
There  are  many  eager  minds  turning  hopefully  toward  the  realm  of  spirit  ^^' 
ing  in  its  mysteries  a  solution  of  the  perplexing  problems  that  confront  us  «i 
every  side.    To  such,  this  attractive  book  will  appeal  with  absorbing  interest  Th« 
author,  with  rare  skill,  weaves  her  story  in  simple  narrative  around  the  central 
figure,  a  woman  with  a  highly  spiritual  nature,  who  is  made  a  living  sacrifice  f^ 
duty  (?)  because  of  the  conventionalities  of  social  life.    Thought  and  soul-trans- 
ference arc  treated  as  facts,  and  love  as  the  dominating  element  in  life.    Writing* 
of  this  class  cannot  fail  to  advance  the  higher  thought,  in  this  materialistic  age. 

IN  SEARCH  OF  A  SOUL.  By  Horatio  W.  Dresser.  Cloth.  273  pp.  The  Phil^ 
sophical  Publishing  Co.,  19  Blagden  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
This  volume  is  a  collection  of  papers  read  before  various  societies  in  Bost^" 
and  other  cities.  The  chapters  group  themselves  about  one  central  theme— tnc 
search  after  the  soul,  and,  to  quote,  "  so  far  as  this  book  inculcates  a  meth'^'' 
of  development,  it  emphasizes  the  natural  principle  of  attainment  as  exeinpliB<^^ 
in  our  daily  human  social  life  at  its  best."  If  it  succeeds  in  bringing  struggli^^ 
souls  into  harmonious  relationship  with  the  Universal  Spirit,  it  will  have  won  *^* 
right  to  live. 

HEILBROUN  :  OR  DROPS  FROM  THE  FOUNTAIN  OF  HEALTH.  Br 
Fanny  M.  Harley.  Paper,  133  pp.,  50  cents.  The  F.  M.  Harley  Publishing 
Co.    87  Washington  Street,  Chicago. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  361 

lis  is  a  series  of  articles  from  Mrs.  Harley's  pen,  published  in  "  Universal 
/*  from  month  to  month,  now  collected  and  put  into  book  form.  The 
ng  is  especially  that  of  self-healing  for  soul  and  body,  and  full  of  wholesome 
ractical  thought. 

NEW  PURITANISM.  Papers  by  Lyman  Abbott,  Amory  H.  Bradford, 
Charles  A,  Berry,  George  H.  Gordon,  Washington  Gladden,  Wm.  J.  Tucker. 
With  an  introduction  by  Rossiter  W.  Raymond.  Cloth,  175  pp.,  $1.25. 
Fords.  Howard,  &  Hulbert,  New  York. 

ith  such  names  on  the  title  page,  this  book  insures  an  interest  and  gives 
ntce  of  a  force  and  vitality  of  thought,  which  is  fulfilled  upon  reading  the 
irticle  by  Dr.  Abbott.  He  gives  the  name,  "  The  New  Puritanism,"  to  the 
It  aspect  of  theological  thinking  among  a  large  proportion  of  the  Protestant 
hcs.  The  occasion  of  delivering  the  addresses  contained  in  the  present 
ic  was  the  semi-centennial  anniversary  celebration  of  Plymouth  Church, 
dyn  (1847-1897),  the  speakers,  men  of  eminence,  whose  broad  views  cannot 
•  attract  and  interest  thinking  people.  The  introduction  by  Dr.  Rossiter  W. 
lond,  gives  a  lucid  account  of  the  celebration  and  of  the  object  sought  in 
ng  the  presence  of  each  one  of  the  speakers. 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HEALTH  AND  HAPPINESS.  By  La  Forest  Pot- 
ter, M.D.  Cloth,  163  pp.,  $1.00.  Philosophical  Publishing  Co.,  19  Blag- 
den  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

lis  book,  with  its  suggestive  title,  marks  a  decided  departure  from  the  con- 
)nal  orthodox  treatment  of  disease,  and  has  a  significance  not  to  be  over- 
d  as  coming  from  the  pen  of  a  physician  in  active  practice.  Dr.  Potter  dis- 
s  his  subject  rationally  and  broadly,  and  with  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
ncc  of  mind  over  matter,  does  justice  to  the  mental  method  of  healing.  It 
lieved  that  this  book  will  bridge  over  the  chasm  between  the  orthodox 
il  of  medicine  and  the  mental  school.  It  certainly  is  instructive,  and  will  be 
il  to  the  many  people  who  are  anxious  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  old  ruts  of 
ion. 

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1 


THE 


AiETAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE 


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VOLUME  VIII. 


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INDEX. 


VOLUME   EIGHT. 


CONTRIBUTED  ARTICLES. 

l'A(iK 

»s  THE  SiLKNCB,  (an  Allegory)       .     .     //.  Juiith  Gray, 183 

>LOGiCAL  Symbolism John  Hazeirigg,  .     .     .59,  20S.  238 

HE  (J ATE  i)K  Dreams, Lewis  Worthingion  Smith,   .     .313 

TKR  ON  THE  ENGLISH  Lancuac.k,  A,    .  Alexander  Wiider,  Af.  Z?.,   .     .417 

T.  The,   (Poem). Ruth  Ward  Kahn 387 

if-ssioN  OF  Faith.  A.  (Poem).     .     ,     ,    J.  A.  luigerton 472 

.riAMiY  AND  Reincarnation.     .     .     .     E.  W.  Keeiy 335 

ierparts  thb  Basis  ok  Harmony,    .     M.  A,  Clancy, 9 

riSM H.   W.  G 298 

*iTiON  OF  Wealth,  A, Stanton  Kirkham  Davis,  .     .     .  497 

.N  uF  Nature.  The. C.  St  anil  and  Wake,       ....       i 

iRBNT     Planes     of     Consciousness, 

HE Frank  H.  Sprague,  .     .     .    353,  460 

*INB  OP  Reincarnation.  The,  .     .     .  Mrs.  Charles  L,  Howard,  .    141,  169 

A  OF  the  Incarnation, Rev.  Henry  Frank,    .     .     .     39.  no 

IE  OF  the  Invisibles.  The Harriet  E.  Orcutt, 

52.  135.  190,  246.  331 

VAL  Life.  The Frank  H.  Sprague   .....  262 

CY  OP  Vaccination,  The,     ....  Alexander  Wilder^  M,  D.^   .    .     81 

>OM  AND  Progress. Veda  Elizabeth  Snyder,    .     .     .  388 

Me  the  Light  (Poem), J-  A,  Edgerton 189 

TH Floyd  fi.   Wilson 301 

Offii'e  of  THE  Poet.  The,      .     .     .  Stanton  Kirkham  Davis,  .     .     .  436 

sENCK.  (Poem). Mary  Peahody, 269 

L'TioM  AND  Evolution Helen  /.  Dennis 504 


VI 


Index, 


pa<;e 


Is  Gravity  Immutable? 

Is  Man  the  Architbct  of  His  Own  Des- 
tiny?   

Live,  (Poem), 

Love  Is  God,  (Poem). 

Manifestation — An  Inquiry.  (Poem),    .     . 

Memory  op  Past  Births,  The,      .     .     .     . 

My  Astral  Guardian, 

Nature's  Enchantress 

Nature's  Trinity 

New  Learninc,  The, 

New  Renaissance,  The.  Platonism  and 
"  Being." 

One*s  Atmosphere, 

Passing  of  Dogma,  The, 

Pertinent  Truths, 

Philosophy  of  the  Divine  Man,      .     .     . 

Power  op  Beauty.  The 

Raptures,  (Poem), 

Recognition.  (Poem) 

Reincarnation 

.Reugious  Thought  in  Contemporary 
India, 

Results,  (Poem), 

San  Grael.  The,  (Poem) 

Son  Kleon  the  Hindu, 

Sophists,  Socrates  and  ••Beixc,"  .     .    . 

Study  prom  Faust,  A, 

Symbolism  op  Nirvana,  The, 

Theology  of  the  Future,  The,  .... 

Thou  Shalt  Not  Kill 

True  Nature  op  Prayer,  The. 

True  Test,  The,  (Poem),    .     . 

Vortex  op  Nature,  The.     .     . 


E,  S.  Wicklen, 


C,  G.  Oyston, 

Kathleen  Phillips,  .  .  . 
Rev.  Henry  Frank,  .  .  . 
Alivyn  M,  Thurber,  .  . 
Charles  Johnston .  J/.  R,A.S. 
Emma  Louise  Turner^ 
H'ini/reti  E.  Heston,  .  . 
Af.  J.  Harnett,  .... 
C.  H.  A.  Hjerre^aard, 


97. 


•  • 


C.  H.  A.  Bjerre^aartl, 
Floyd  B,   Wilson,       .     .     . 
Rev.  Henry  Frank,      .    369, 
Alexander  Wilder,  M.D., 
Hudor  Genone,       .... 

Maria  Weed, 

Illyria  Turner,     .... 

Geori^e   Wentz 

Alhro  B.  Allen,  M.D.,      . 

Rev.  Andrew  IV.  Cross,    . 
K at  her  in  e  B.  Huston,    .     . 
Adfiie  W.  Gould,       .     .     . 
Allen  R.  Par  row,     .     .     . 
C  H.  A.  Bjerre^aard, 
Emily  S.  Hamblen,    .     .     . 
Harriet  B.  Bradbury, 
Rev.  Joseph  Fort  New  ton, 
Shelby  Mumaugh,  M.D., 
Stanton  Kirkham  Davis,    . 
Katherine  B.  Huston,    .     . 
C.  St  anil  and  Wake,       .     . 


449. 


363 

20 

29 
330 

ISO 

5M 
530 
200 

468 

37S 
103 

S» 

374 
Its 

178 

536 

459 

36 


]6l 
207 

254 
25S 

30.130 
442 

25 

321 

381 

309 

3S 

2S9 


hidcx\ 


Vll 


E   WORLD  OF   THOUGHT.    WITH    EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


PA(iR 

SIS    OF    A    Waking    Dream, 

lla    Walton) 15^) 

LOGICAL  Indication  of  Fu- 

'<\.  EvRNis 149 

ESS  AND  Power 549 

e  IN    Progress, 66 

<.p   A   Name.    The.    {E,    S. 

t'nsiow) 351 

Without  Medicine,  ...  68 
rMRNT  FOR  Home  Work.  A,  281 
K    nv  Medical    Monopolv, 

K 344 

Elixir,  The 221 

l>I'IECK, 67 

RKTATION     OF     PSYCHIC     AC- 

•N 214 

?>.  (A.  A.  Holmes,  M.D.,  P. 

I'onl) 217 

ima'iical  Value  of  Man  and 
TURE.  The,  {Matinee  SIot- 

sly) 550 

vl  Monoi'ulv, 70 

l  i.mpression 557 

lYSICAL     HeALINO — PHILOSO- 

'.  \  Lt' antler  Etlmund  Whip- 

) 4</o 

fiYSics  IN  Progress,    .     .     .  486 

s  IxguisiTioN.  A.   .     .     .     .152 
LOiiicAL   Origin    of    Chris- 
mi  v.  Thk -46 


PAGE 

Number  Ten,  The,  ( V.  L.  Perry, 

M,D,\ 489 

Pasteur's  Vaccines,  (Joseph  Col- 

Itnson), 558 

Peace  and  Prosperity,    ....  344 

Phases  of  Occultism, 282 

Professor    William    James    and 

THE  Medical  Bill, 154 

Psychic   Experience,    A.    {H,    R. 

Tierney), 413 

Psycholo(;y  of  Inspiration,  The,  406 

Recent    Smallpox     Epidemic    at 
Gloucester,  The 349 

Results  of  Vaccination,    {Alex- 
ander Wilder,  M,J),),     .     .     .412 

Saved  by  a  Dream, 220 

Strange    Hypnotic    Experience,^ 
A,  {H.  H,  Brown) 78 

Telepathy,  {John   W.    Wilkinson^ 

Ph.D.) 552 

Telepathy,  (Sir  W.  Crookes),  .     .  488 
Telepathy  Through  Love,       .     .  216 

Thoughts  About   Learning,  (/?. 
Joseph  Fonseca,  LL,D.\       .     .  489 

Thought     Transference     in     a 
Tivj&ML,  {Theresa  F.  Cogswell),  495 

True  Education,  The,    ....  407 

Vaccination   in  England,     .     .     .  410 


VIU 


Index, 


THE  HOME  CIRCLE  DEPARTMENT. 


PAGE 

Bbautipul  Thought,  The,  (Eva 

Best) 476 

Bit  op  Philosophy,  A,  (Poem).    .  483 
Findings  in  the  Science  of  Life, 

(Marion  Hunt) 

271,  340,  401,  480,  540 
Golden  Age,   The.  (Poem.   Ciara 

Elizabeth  Choate) 540 

Harmony  of  Lipe,  The,  ....  475 
Harold    and    Alice.     (Winifred 

Johnes) 275 

Home  Circle,  The 270 

Horse       Intelligence,     (H.      B. 

Greeley) 483 

How  Gladly   Fall  the  Leaves, 

(Charles  A.  Winston),  .  .  .  546 
Just     Do    Your     Best,     (Poem, 

James  Whitcomb  Riley),  .  .  544 
Letter,  (Ernest  Henning haven),  .  274 
Life's    Horoscope,    (Rev,   R,   H. 

Horkin) 545 


PAOE 

Love  and  Hate.  (Eva  Besf),    .    .  339 

Love  Versus  Prejudice,  ....  392 

Meditation,  (Rev,  Henry  Frank),  2S0 

Not    por    Ourselves,    (Constance 
Entwhistle  Hoar), 343 

Parable,   A,    (Poem.  Clara  J.  L, 
Pierce), 465 

Promised  Day,  A,  (Eva  Best),      .  393 
Responsive  Reading  and  Medita- 
tion,   40s,  S47 

Right  Living, 33S 

Selp-Developmbnt 537 

Thou  Art,  (Poem,  Eva  Best),  ,    .  538 
Town  of  Nogood,  The,  (Poem),    .  400 

Two  Flowers,  (a  Song.  M,  G,  7. 
Stempel), 398 

Two     Little     Stockimos,     The. 

(Poem) 544 

Woman  8  Hand,  A,  (Poem).  ...  404 


THE 


METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE 


Vol.  VIU.  APRIL,  1898.  No.  1. 


THE  DESIGN  OF  NATURE. 

The  metabolic  activity  within  the  organism,  which  consists  in  the 
breaking  down  and  building  up  again  of  its  structural  parts,  and  is 
essential  to  its  continuance,  would  be  of  little  value  if  it  were  attended 
^'ith  nothing  more  than  simple  reproduction.  The  organism  might 
live,  but  its  life  would  be  little  better  than  vegetation,  and  the  "  other 
selves "  which  were  produced  by  it  would  be  such  and  nothing  more. 
Thus  metabolism  in  Nature  implies  growth,  not  in  size  or  quantity, 
but  in  quality,  a  general  attribute  belonging  to  motion  rather  than  to 
nwtter.  The  evcrfution  of  Nature  is  such  a  growth,  in  which  every 
step  is  a  progression  toward  some  higher  goal.  This  progress  takes 
place  almost  imperceptibly  in  the  individual,  and  is  stayed  at  death, 
but  it  is  carried  on  by  the  oflfspring  of  the  individual  in  overlapping 
^riation,  and  becomes  very  marked  in  the  race  made  up  of  rriany 
generations  of  individuals.  The  evolution  thus  indicated  is  a  process 
^f  refinement,  which  operates  throughout  the  whole  constitution, 
physical,  psychical,  and  spiritual,  of  the  organisms  subjected  to  it,  by 
virtue  of  their  vortex  nature.  Everything  which  is  taken  into  the 
body  undergoes  a  change  of  some  kind,  through  the  action  of  the 
organic  vortex,  and  reappears  under  another  form. 

This  is  no  less  true  of  the  mind,  which  through  its  organ  the  brain 

operates  in  much  the  same  manner  as  the  body,  although  its  food  is  of 

^different  character.    What  is  most  remarkable,  however,  is  that  the 

^'■ganism  is  itself  transformed  by  its  own  action  on  what  it  acquires 

from  without— continually  undergoing  a  refining  process;  unless  it 

should  happen,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  that  unfavorable  conditions 

1 


2  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

have  become  established;  and  in  that  case  the  change  takes  the  dov 
ward  path  of  degradation.  If  we  compare  the  savage  with  the  mat 
culture,  we  see  what  improvement  may  take  place  within  the  limiti 
the  human  race;  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  former  often  • 
hibits  the  degrading  influence  of  an  unfavorable  environment,  a 
tinned  so  long  that  it  has  affected  the  plasticity  of  the  organism. 

Hence,  Nature  not  only  manifests  her  activity  under  the  vari( 
guises  which  vortex  action  assumes,  but  everywhere  her  operatit 
have  the  transforming  effect  of  the  crucible.  As  a  vortex,  an  org 
ism  is  a  marvelous  machine;  but  its  chief  value  depends  on  the  I 
that  it  is  a  centre  of  attraction  for  the  surrounding  medium,  fr 
which  it  acquires  and  absorbs  what  is  necessary  for  its  physical  2 
mental  pabulum.  What  is  drawn  into  the  vortex  is  subjected  U 
process  of  disintegration,  and  undergoes  the  operation  of "  digestio 
in  which  that  part  of  the  food  which  is  to  be  retained  passes  throu 
various  changes,  the  unfit  being  rejected. 

The  ancient  alchemists  endeavored  to  imitate  Nature  by  subn 
ting  substances  to  *'  digestion  "  in  the  crucible.  They  thought  tl 
by  the  action  of  heat  such  substances  could  be  sublimated,  or,  rati 
that  their  spiritual  essence  could  be  released.  They  believed  tl 
**  even  in  the  mineral  world  there  was  a  spiritual  element,  naiw 
color,  brightness,  or,  in  their  language,  tincture."  We  are  told  tl 
'*  the  alchemists  sought  for  physical  conditions  in  their  invisible  a 
spiritual  world,  and  for  a  spirit  even  in  stocks  and  stones."  Tb 
they  tortured  to  get  at  their  vital  activities,  and,  although  their  vi< 
were  often  false,  yet  Paracelsus,  who  thought  that  he  was  destined 
make  Germany  the  home  of  science,  declared  that  "  true  alchemy  I 
but  one  aim  and  object :  to  extract  the  quintessence  of  things,  and 
prepare  arcana,  tinctures,  and  elixirs,  which  may  restore  to  mani 
health  and  soundness  he  has  lost."  The  alchemists  may  have  b< 
wrong  in  thinking  that  mankind  had  actually  lost  what  they  sought 
gain  for  it,  but  their  operations  showed  that  they  recognized  theti 
principle  at  work  in  Nature — the  evolution,  by  a  process  of  sublit 
tion,  of  higher  out  of  lower  forms,  of  mind  or  spirit  out  of  substaii 
which  would  not  be  possible  unless  what  was  sought  for  already  tb 
existed. 


THE   DESIGN   OF   NATURE.  3 

The  human  mind  and  spirit  are  the  noblest  results  of  the  refining 
process  of  the  vortex-crucible  of  Nature,  the  aim  and  design  of  which 
is  the  attainment  by  the  race  of  perfect  harmony  with  her,  and  with 
the  divine  spirit  immanent  throughout  Nature.  But  the  race  can  be 
perfected  only  through  the  individuals  which  compose  it.  Every 
organism  reproduces  in  itself  the  memory  of  the  experiences  through 
which  the  race  to  which  it  belongs  has  attained  to  its  present  condi- 
tion, and  each  should  furnish  evidence  of  some  improvement  over  past 
generations.  Some  individuals  are,  however,  more  in  harmony  with 
their  environment  than  others,  and  hence  the  expression  **  survival  of 
the  fittest,"  the  fittest  being  those  which  are  best  able  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  the  ever-varying  conditions  of  life.  Thus  the  individual 
organisms  which  make  up  the  race,  and  not  the  race  as  such,  have  to 
be  subjected  to  the  refining  influence  of  the  crucible,  so  that  they  may 
become  in  harmony  with  Nature,  that  is,  with  the  highest  principles 
of  their  own  being,  which  is  an  epitome  of  Nature,  a  focal  point  of  the 
Universal  Existence.  That  process  cannot  be  gone  through  without 
suffering,  which  suffering  is  too  often  regarded  as  evil;  just  as  the 
action  of  the  great  Nature-vortex  in  crushing  out  the  weak  and  de- 
fective that  stand  in  the  way  of  her  march  toward  structural  and 
functional  perfection  is  improperly  called  "  evil.'*  All  such  action  has 
in  view  the  improvement  of  the  race,  and  of  the  individual  organisms 
which  constitute  it,  and  if  any  of  these  cannot  or  will  not  adapt  them- 
selves to  Nature's  forward  step,  they  will  become  subject  to  the  law 
of  retribution,  with  its  attendant  pains  and  penalties. 

It  is  remarkable  how  general,  among  peoples  of  various  degrees  of 
^Iture,  has  been  the  idea  that  suffering  and  self-denial  have  a  bene- 
ficial effect  on  the  destiny  of  the  person  denying  or  enduring.  The 
''most  incredible  tortures  which  the  Mandan  Indians  allowed  to  be 
inflicted  on  them,  as  described  by  George  Catlin,  were  supposed  to  be 
''^warded  by  the  Great  Spirit,  and  undoubtedly  the  fakirs  of  India  were 
^^  one  time  animated  by  a  similar  sentiment  when  devoting  them- 
^Ives  to  a  life  of  misery  and  self-torture.  A  volume  might  be  filled 
'^'ith  examples  of  such  practices,  and  such  a  compilation  would  form  a 
^rious  history  of  human  belief  in  the  salutar>'  effect  of  patience  under 
Urdships,  which,  if  not  actually  self-inflicted  are  often  practically  so, 


4  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

as  they  could  be  avoided  at  will.  The  discipline  enforced  by  the  re- 
ligious orders  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  by  the  earUer  anchorites  of 
the  Egyptian  desert,  was  known  to  Eastern  religions  long  before  the 
birth  of  the  founder  of  Christianity,  who  appears  not  to  have  been  him- 
self of  an  ascetic  disposition.  One  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  life 
of  the  Hindoo  Brahman  is  his  **  mortification  of  the  flesh/'  which  fits 
him  for  the  study  of  the  sacred  Word,  and  enables  him  at  the  decline 
of  life  to  quit  without  regret  the  society  of  men,  to  end  his  days  in  the 
quiet  seclusion  of  the  forest.  The  Brahman  is  known  by  the  title  of 
**  twice-born,*'  he  being  supposed  to  have  attained  to  the  condition  of 
rebirth,  a  spiritual  state  which  Jesus  himself  referred  to  when  he  said 
to  Nicodemus,  **  except  a  man  be  born  from  above,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  This  was  anciently  regarded  as  a  spiritual  resur- 
rection after  the  subjugation  of  the  desires  of  the  material  nature,  and 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  central  doctrine  of  the  teaching  which 
attended  initiation  into  the  sacred  mysteries.  Matter  was  associated 
with  darkness  and  spirit  with  light,  and  spiritual  birth  was  thus  sym- 
bolized as  the  passage  from  darkness  to  light.  We  have  in  the  dogma 
of  the  "  new  birth  "  a  summary,  indeed,  of  the  teaching  of  all  real  re- 
ligions, although  it  is  sometimes  disguised  by  reference  to  reason  in- 
stead of  goodness.  These  cannot  be  divided,  however,  any  more  than 
can  the  **  faith  "  and  "  good  works  ''  which  have  been  the  occasion  of 
so  much  discussion  between  Christian  teachers.  As  faith  without 
works  is  dead,  so  works  done  not  in  the  spirit  of  faith  are  usually  value- 
less. In  like  manner  goodness  not  guided  by  reason  is  fruitless,  and 
conduct,  however  rational,  unless  it  is  based  in  goodness,  has  no  eth- 
ical worth.  Spirituality  is  the  expression  of  the  combination  of  good- 
ness and  reason,  and  hence  it  is  attended  with  the  constant  repression 
of  the  desires  of  the  lower  self.  The  "  crucifixion  "  of  this  self  is  essen- 
tial to  the  refinement  which  exhibits  itself  as  the  higher  nature  of 
the  spiritual  man. 

Life  is  a  continual  process  of  disintegration  and  reintegration,  un- 
der the  conditions  supplied  by  the  organism  itself;  and  this  process  is 
applied  to  everything  taken  in  or  absorbed  by  the  organism,  whether 
physical  or  mental,  in  order  that  r^-formation,  which  psychically  or 
morally  is  reformation,  may  result.    The  higher  physical  and  mental 


THE  DESIGN   OF   NATURE.  6 

formation  thus  sought  to  be  reached  constitutes  an  ideal,  the  attain- 
ment of  which,  Hke  the  climbing  of  a  mountain  peak,  opens  out  a  fresh 
prospect,  not  only  widening  in  its  extent,  but  bringing  into  view  an- 
other and  still  another  higher  and  yet  higher  elevation  to  be  desired 
and  attained.    Although  Truth  is  said  to  lie  at  the  bottom  of  a  well, 
it  is  none  the  less  situated  on  the  mountain  tops  of  aspiration.    What 
is  below,  from  one  point  of  view,  is  above  from  another  standpoint, 
and  the  spiritual  nature,  although  it  forms  the  centre  of  being,  is  also 
its  summit ;  as,  the  more  we  dig  down  toward  the  roots  of  Nature,  the 
higher  we  rise  to  acquire  the  fruit  which  is  the  reward  of  our  labor. 
The  precious  metals  are  supposed  to  be  formed  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  but  they  have  been  brought  to  the  surface  by  some  process  of 
re-formation  the  earth  has  undergone,  by  the  return  currents  of  the 
mighty  vortex  action  to  which  it  has  been  subjected — ^similar  to  that 
which  gives  rise  to  the  marvelous  movements  in  the  solar  body,  at- 
tending the  formation,  on  the  one  hand,  of  what  are  called  sun-spots, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  eruption  of  gaseous  vapors  from  the  sun's 
chromosphere  to  almost  incredible  elevations  above  its  surface. 

There  can  be  no  concentration  of  any  kind  without  a  proportionate 
radiation  of  some  kind,  and  the  application  of  this  truth  to  man's 
spiritual  nature  was  made  by  Jesus  when  he  declared  that  a  man  is 
defiled  only  by  that  which  comes  out  of  his  mouth.  If  each  human 
being  is  an  organic  vortex,  receiving  nourishment  from  the  physical 
and  mental  food  it  appropriates,  and  emanating  influences  of  all  sorts 
in  every  direction,  Jesus  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  moral  and 
spiritual  vortex  the  world  has  ever  seen.  He  is  said  to  have  declared 
that  all  men  should  be  drawn  to  him  when  he  was  lifted  up,  a  prophecy 
which  has  been  amply  fulfilled  in  the  Christianization  of  the  civilized 
world,  as  well  as  in  the  civilization  of  the  savage  world  to  a  large  ex- 
tent. Christ's  teaching  is  especially  fitted  for  the  "  poor  in  spirit," 
that  is,  for  those  who  are  free  from  the  haughtiness  of  mind  that  too 
often  accompanies  the  intellectual  attainments  which  constitute,  ac- 
cording to  many  persons,  the  most  important  feature  of  civilization. 
The  rational  faculty  of  Jesus  is  sometimes  spoken  of  disparagingly, 
but  without  good  cause.  He  never  professed  to  be  a  logician,  or  a 
mathematician,  or  even  a  grammarian,  but  he  had  that  without  which 


6 


THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


none  of  these  qualifications  are  of  any  real  service  to  their  possessore. 
When  sending  his  disciples  to  announce  his  coming,  he  is  reported  to 
have  said:  **  Be  ye  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves."  And 
Jesus  always  showed  the  profound  wisdom,  which  was  anciently  ever)- 
where  associated  with  the  serpent,  even  with  the  serpent  of  Eden. 
whom  Hebrew  legend  makes  the  moving  cause  of  the  Fall  and  there- 
fore of  the  knowledge  acquired  by  man  as  its  consequence. 

Without  the  wisdom  displayed  by  Jesus,  the  possession  of  intel- 
lectual knowledge  is,  in  the  long  run,  of  but  little  value.  In  his  post- 
humous work,  "  Thoughts  on  Religion,"  George  John  Romanes,  who 
was  a  disciple  of  Darwin  and  recognized  as  the  chief  exponent  of  Dar- 
winism, makes  some  remarkable  statements  bearing  on  that  subject 
After  referring  to  Pascal's  observation  that  the  nature  of  man  is  thor- 
oughly miserable  without  God,  he  says:  **  I  know  from  experience  the 
intellectual  distractions  of  scientific  research,  philosophical  specula- 
tion, and  artistic  pleasures ;  but  am  also  well  aware  that  even  when  all 
are  taken  together  and  well  sweetened  to  taste,  in  respect  of  conse- 
quent reputation,  means,  social  position,  etc.,  the  whole  concoction 
is  but  as  high  confectionery  to  a  starving  man."  He  adds,  it  is  noto- 
rious that — 

**  It  is  by  God  decreed 
Fame  shall  not  satisfy  the  highest  need/' 

and  that  he  had  known  not  a  few  of  the  famous  men  of  this  generation, 
and  he  had  always  observed  the  poet's  remark  to  be  profoundly  tnic. 
They  had  not  undergone  the  "  crucifixion  "  of  self  that  exercises  the 
purifying  and  refining  influence  which  gives  the  highest  wisdom.  This 
is  consistent  with  the  greatest  intelligence  and  the  most  complete 
rational  culture,  but  these  alone  do  not  constitute  it.  True  wisdom 
is  based  in  the  emotional  nature,  for  the  highest  development  of 
which  Nature  appears  to  require  the  education  given  through  self- 
sacrifice,  that  is,  relinquishment  of  the  desires  of  the  lower  nature. 
Sometimes  this  can  be  done  with  ease,  at  other  times  it  requires  a 
strong  effort  of  will,  and  not  seldom  it  is  accompanied  by  sickness  or 
sorrow.  This,  if  accepted  in  the  proper  spirit,  is  followed  by  the  spirit- 
ual peace  which  really  seems  to  be  the  final  aim  of  Evolution,  the 
"  peace  which  passeth  understanding."    It  is  the  passage  "  from  dark- 


THE  DESIGN   OF   NATURE.  7 

CSS  into  light,"  which  has  ever  been  taught  as  the  central  doctrine 
•  religious  truth,  and  is  the  key  to  all  that  is  profound  in  the  most 
cred  mysteries. 
But  what  is  this  light  except  the  revelation  of  the  divine  principle 
man?  The  Gospel  according  to  St.  John  begins  with  the  profound 
atement:  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
od,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with 
od.  All  things  were  made  through  Him;  and  without  Him  was  not 
lything  made  that  hath  been  made.  In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was 
le  light  of  men."  This  would  seem  to  be  a  re-echo  of  the  opening 
issage  of  the  Old  Testament  book  of  Genesis,  which  says:  **  In  the 
cginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  And  the  earth  was 
aste  and  void,  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep:  and  the 
pint  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  And  God  said,  Let 
here  be  light ;  and  there  was  light."  The  voice  of  the  God  of  Genesis 
sthe  Logos  of  St.  John's  gospel,  who  was  thought  and  deed  as  well  as 
lord,  and  was  both  the  life  from  which  all  things  proceeded  and  the 
ight  which  was  the  first  step  in  the  endless  procession  of  creation. 
Jut  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  light,  we  see  that  it  is — ^as  is  said,  in 
he  *•  The  Revelation  "  of  St.  John,  of  the  Son  of  Man — the  first  and 
he  last,  the  very  life  itself.  Without  the  light  of  the  sun  all  things 
^ould  quickly  die  and  the  whole  earth  become  desolate.  The  whole 
)rocess  of  evolution  is  nothing  but  the  coming  to  the  light  of  the  cen- 
tal principle  of  life,  which  is  the  light  itself.  The  eye  is  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  organs  of  special  sense,  as  without  it  we  should  grope 
n  darkness,  and  have  no  perception  of  the  beauties  of  our  planet  nor 
rf  the  glories  of  the  outspread  universe.  It  is  through  the  perceptions 
eceived  through  the  eye,  in  the  first  place,  that  man's  mental  develop- 
ment has  taken  place,  and  that  the  inner  eye  of  intellectual  sight  has 
*^en  opened,  through  which  shines  the  conscience  that  enlightens 
^ery  man.  This  conscience  is  a  consciousness  of  the  relation  which 
iJbsists  between  self  and  the  other  self,  of  Nature,  which  are  two 
^Ives  of  the  same  whole,  and  are  thus  reunited.  In  conscience  man 
nds  himself  in  God,  who  is  the  Universal  Whole,  and  hence  God  finds 
imsclf  in  man,  who  is  the  final  expression  of  the  life  and  light  which, 
» Logos,  was  the  creative  word  and  deed.     Evolution  is  thus  the 


8  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

mode  by  which  God  reveals  himself,  not  only  as  the  First  Cause  ( 
change  but  the  moving  cause  in  every  step  of  progress,  and  the  actu; 
summation  of  all  things. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  atonement  which  has  taken  the  place  of  tl: 
at-one-ment  of  earlier  Christian  thought,  is  required  to  satisfy  divii 
justict.  The  notion  here  is  that  man  having  broken  the  law,  andw 
being  himself  able  to  pay  the  penalty,  the  Son  of  God  undertook  ll 
task  on  man's  behalf  and  thus  satisfied  an  angry  Father.  This  is  a  vci 
inadequate  view,  as  every  person  must  bear  the  penalty  provided  I 
Nature  for  wrongdoing.  Justice  requires  such  a  course,  as  not  only 
it  the  making  right  what  is  wrong,  but  it  is  the  doing  right  that  thin] 
may  be  evenly  balanced,  that  is,  **  equal."  In  the  sense  of  makii 
straight  or  equal,  justice  must  be  declared  to  be  the  actual  design 
Nature  and  the  end  of  Evolution.  The  mode  in  which  this  aim 
sought  to  be  carried  is  what  is  called  design  in  Nature,  but  there isi 
occasion  for  this;  as  Nature  embodies  the  very  principles  of  right d 
ing,  and  therefore  cannot  miss  the  aim  which  evolution  is  intended 
bring  about — the  perfecting  of  the  equation  of  Justice.  The  balance 
continually  moving  first  up  and  then  down,  but  its  variations  are 
continually  becoming  smaller  and  smaller,  as  the  swings  of  the  pend 
lum  become  shorter  and  shorter,  and  the  period  will  arrive  when  wi 
perfect  equilibrium  the  equalness  of  justice  will  be  attained.  This  a 
pears  to  be  the  idea  entertained  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  when  her 
fers  to  ultimate  equilibrium  as  '*  the  limit  of  the  changes  constitutii 
evolution."  When  the  conduct  of  man  in  relation  to  Nature,  as  rcpr 
sented  by  himself,  and  to  his  fellow-men  is  perfect,  he  will  have  a 
tained  to  spiritual  equilibrium.  This  is  the  goal  of  human  progre 
and  happy  the  individuals  who  are  able  to  further  by  their  persor 
'*  justice  "  the  perfect  reformation  which  Nature  and  man  must  final 
reach.  C.  Staniland  Wake. 


Nowhere  does  human  progress  appear  in  a  straight  line  of  continue 
advance.  Life  is  rounded,  history  is  in  cycles,  and  civilizations  cornea 
go  like  the  seasons.  At  the  heel  of  them  all  is  savagery;  but  evcrywh^ 
about  them  is  the  life  eternal. — Alexander  Wilder^  M.D. 


COUNTERPARTS  THE  BASIS  OF  HARMONY.* 

If  a  new  fact  before  a  jury  will  suffice  to  reverse  its  verdict,  why 
may  not  a  new  view  in  Philosophy  serve  to  reverse  the  verdict  of  man- 
kind? Many  instances  might  be  cited  where  a  new  view  has  entirely 
revolutionized  the  opinion  of  mankind,  but  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
interesting  is  the  Copernican  in  place  of  the  Ptolemaic  view  of  the 
astronomical  universe — the  heliocentric  in  place  of  the  geocentric  sys- 
tem. It  cannot  be  said  that  this  change  of  viewing  the  facts  changed 
the  facts  themselves,  but  it  so  changed  their  value  in  the  estimation 
of  mankind  that  an  entirely  new  science  of  astronomy  was  founded. 
So,  if  we  may  be  able  to  take  a  new  position  of  observation  with  refer- 
ence to  certain  important  philosophical  facts  and  considerations,  we 
may  be  able  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  and  important  science  af- 
fecting in  a  vital  manner  the  interests  of  mankind.  A  transfer  of  at- 
tention is  necessary  from  mere  facts  to  the  relations  between  them — 
the  laws  and  principles  governing  them.  The  claim  is  here  made  that 
"Counterparts  the  Basis  of  Harmony,"  when  considered  in  its  most 
far-reaching  sense,  becomes  a  formula  of  universal  application,  and 
enables  us  to  comprehend  and  unravel  the  thousands  of  heretofore 
inexplicable  enigmas  in  Science,  Religion,  Philosophy,  and  Art.  Let 
us  see  whether  we  can  gain  a  clear  comprehension  of  its  meaning. 

The  dimensions  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  as  given  by  John  the  Rev- 
dator,  are  thus  stated: 

"The  city  lieth  four-square,  and  the  length  is  as  large  as  the 
breadth;  and  he  measured  the  city  with  the  reed,  twelve  thousand 
furlongs.    The  length  and  the  breadth  and  the  height  of  it  are  equal." 

I  refer  to  this  not  for  the  purpose  of  a  description  of  this  heavenly 
oty,  but  to  draw  attention  to  the  general  subject  of  measurement. 

•COUNTERPART. — 2.  One  of  two  persons  or  things  corresponding  or  fitting 
**Whcr ;  one  who,  or  that  which,  supplements  or  answers  to  another,  as  the  im- 
P'cssion  to  the  seal ;  something  taken  with  another  for  the  completion  of  either  ;  a 
^^plcment ;  fellow  ;  match  ;  hence,  an  opposite  ;  as,  the  right-hand  glove  is  the 
^ntcrpart  of  the  left ;  she  is  the  counterpart  of  her  husband,  calm  when  he  is 
PWsioiiatc. 

Harmony. — 3.  completeness  and  perfection  resulting  from  diversity  in  unity  ; 
^S^^cment  in  relation ;  order ;  in  art,  a  normal  state  of  completeness  in  the  rela- 
"*^8  of  things  to  each  other. — Standard  Dictionary, 

9 


10  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Length,  breadth,  and  height  are  the  three  directions  which,  when  co- 
ordinated, constitute  the  basis  of  all  terrestrial  admeasurement,  both 
positive  and  negative;  that  is,  whether  we  measure  the  dimensions  of 
the  earth,  or  the  vacuum,  or  space  which  it  occupies,  we  use  these 
same  three  directions.  According  to  the  record,  the  heavenly  city 
was  a  cube,  the  full,  complete,  and  perfect  form  of  scientific  measure- 
ment. When  we  consider  these  directions,  we  perceive  that  each  is  a 
generalization  from  two  infinities.  If  we  think  up  and  down,  fomard 
and  backward,  or  right  and  left — the  directions  of  height,  length,  and 
breadth — the  mind  may  go  out  along  each  line  in  those  directions  in- 
finitely, or  until  it  stops,  and  the  balance  or  equation  is  found  at  their 
point  of  intersection.  This  point  is  the  harmony  of  equation  between 
the  two  opposite  infinities  along  each  of  the  three  lines,  and  these  op- 
posite infinities  are  counterparts. 

This  figure  which  I  have  attempted  to  describe  is  the  foundation  oi 
all  astronomical  and  geometrical  measurement,  and  it  may  be  said 
here,  incidentally,  that  it  is,  analogically,  also  the  basis  of  all  mental  or 
immaterial  measurements  as  well;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  only  by  the  co- 
ordination of  differing,  diverging,  and  converging  lines  of  thought 
that  any  conclusion  can  be  rightly  arrived  at  in  logic  or  mathematics. 
In  another  place  we  are  informed  that  the  measurement  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  is  the  measure  of  the  angel,  which  is  the  measure  of  a  man. 
For  instance,  all  measurements  on  the  earth  are  reckoned  from  the 
six  points.  East,  West,  North,  South,  Zenith,  and  Nadir,  and  the  same 
points  or  lines  are  observed  in  astronomical  observations  and  measure- 
ments. The  superiority  of  this  mode  of  measurement  is  appreciated 
when  we  go  back  to  the  time  when  no  such  means  of  measurement  ex- 
isted, when  the  earth  was  supposed  to  be  a  plain  extending  indefi- 
nitely, the  sun  and  stars  moving  in  the  heavens  in  accordance  with  no 
known  law  or  principle  of  motion,  the  whole  panorama  being  an  un- 
intelligible series  of  incomprehensible  movements. 

But  Counterparts  are  not  confined  to  one  department;  they  may 
be  found  in  all  directions,  in  departments  of  all  dimensions,  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest,  from  the  Universe  itself  down  to  its  least  part  or 
particle.  It  may  be  instructive  to  consider  a  few  of  these:  Heat  and 
cold,  light  and  darkness,  sound  and  silence  are  Counterparts,  and  illos- 


COUNTERPARTS   THE   BASIS   OF   HARMONY.  11 

tive  of  the  application  of  the  same  principles.  As  we  descend  into 
I  bowels  of  the  earth  we  find  the  temperature  increasing  in  a  certain 
Unite  ratio;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  as  we  ascend  into  the  atmos- 
ere  above  the  earth  we  find  the  temperature  decreasing  in  like  man- 
r.  The  temperature  which  we  have  at  the  earth's  surface  is  the  com- 
lalion,  in  varying  degrees,  of  these  two  extremes  or  counterparts; 
(1  when  we  are  told  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  with  its  enveloping 
mosphere  bears  the  same  relation  to  its  magnitude  that  the  shell  of 

egg  does  to  its  bulk,  we  may  form  some  idea  how  thin  compara- 
:ely  is  the  space  of  endurable  temperature  through  which  we  daily 
ss  in  our  life-pilgrimage,  and  how  narrow  the  chance  of  our  being 
)zen  on  the  one  hand  or  roasted  on  the  other.  We  are  living,  as  it 
;re,  in  a  species  of  purgatory,  from  which,  however;  if  we  should  fall 
It.  either  up  or  down,  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  would  ever  reach 
aven.  On  the  contrary,  this  purgatory,  if  its  extremes  were  har- 
oniously  adjusted,  would  become  a  veritable  heaven  itself,  so  far  as 
mate  is  concerned,  since  it  would  be  the  harmonious  adjustment  of 
unterparts,  producing  a  result  which  no  heaven  could  exceed.  I 
eak,  of  course,  only  with  reference  to  climate,  and  we  have  all  heard 
a  "  heavenly  climate." 

Light  and  darkness  are  subject  to  the  same  treatment  as  heat  and 
Id,  each  representing  an  extreme  opposite  point  in  this  department,, 
d  that  which  addresses  the  sense  of  sight  is  the  commingling  of 
ese  extremes  or  Counterparts  in  varying  degrees  or  proportions, 
fact,  there  is  a  similar  gamut  for  each  of  the  senses,  subject  to  the 
me  law,  and  we  need  not  pursue  them  in  detail. 

If  we  look  through  a  magnifying  glass  one  way,  objects  appear 
larged.  and  if  we  reverse  it  and  look  through  it  in  the  opposite  di- 
ction, objects  appear  diminished.  This  suggests  the  existence  of  a 
icrocosm  and  a  microcosm,  of  a  great  world  and  a  little  world,  of  the 
finitely  small  and  the  infinitely  large;  and  it  is  equally  clear  that  the 
^rld  which  is  presented  to  our  senses  is  the  commingling  of  these 
0  extremes  in  varying  proportions.  That  is  to  say,  that  these  two 
pects  are  Counterparts  of  each  other,  or  that  the  infinitely  great  and 
e  infinitely  small  constitute,  combinedly,  the  Universe  of  sensuous 
'pression  and  perception. 


12  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations,  we  are  naturally  led  to  the 
philosophical  distinction  between  Something  and  Nothing.    Hegd, 
the  German  philosopher,  makes  the  enigmatical  statement  that  Som^ 
thing  and  Nothing  are  equal— enigmatical,  however,  only  to  those 
who  have  given  the  subject  of  Counterparts  no  thought  in  its  wid^ 
spreading  and  all-including  implications.     If  the  statement  has  any 
sense  or  meaning,  it  must  be  found  in  the  direction  which  we  are  now 
pursuing,  which  is,  that  Something  and  Nothing  must  be  considered 
as  Counterparts.     If  we  consider  Nothing  as  the  negative  pole  of 
Something — the  least  aspect  of  Reality  in  comparison  with  the  great- 
est— we  shall  begin  to  get  some  meaning  out  of  the  statement  that 
Something  and  Nothing  are  equal;  that  is,  that  they  are  equal  only  in 
the  sense  that  each  is  an  opposite  extreme  of  the  great  Universe  of 
Reality,  in  which  they  are  infinitely  commingled.     The  general  im- 
pression is  that  Nothing  is  of  no  value,  and  not  that  it  is  of  even  small 
value  in  comparison  with  Something.    Reflection,  however,  will  show 
that  they  must  be  of  equal  value,  since  the  value  of  Something  depends 
entirely  upon  the  fact  that  it  has  a  locus  or  place  or  vacuum  in  whidi 
it  can  be.    But  as  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  pure  Nothing— or» 
for  that  matter,  of  pure  Something,  since  Reality,  both  in  the  objec- 
tive and  subjective  realms,  is  the  commingling  and  compounding  of 
the  two — it  must  follow  that  Nothing  is  that  negative  pole  of  Reality, 
where  the  least  possible  quantity  of  the  Something  element  is  to  be 
found.    The  discrimination  here  sought  to  be  made  is  very  well  illus- 
trated by  Matter  and  Space,  which,  cooperating,  form  the  material 
world.    If  there  were  no  Space,  there  could  be  no  room  for  Matter;  so 
these  two  become  another  set  of  Counterparts  forming  the  basis  of 
harmony  in  the  material  realm,  as  Something  and  Nothing  constitute 
a  like  basis  in  Philosophy. 

Perhaps  one  step  further  should  be  taken  in  order  to  complete  the 
possible  scope  of  consideration  of  the  subject  of  Counterparts;  and 
that  is  the  distinction  between  the  Absolute  and  the  Relative.  The 
difference  between  this  pair  of  Counterparts  and  that  last  considered 
under  the  names  of  Something  and  Nothing,  is  one  not  generally  un- 
derstood, and  requires  a  little  close  thinking  to  make  plain.  Noth- 
ing and  the  Absolute  seem  so  clearly  to  be  companions  that  we  need 


COUNTERPARTS   THE   BASIS   OF    HARMONY.  13 

)t  waste  time  in  attempting  to  draw  distinctions.  But,  as  between 
Dmething  and  the  Relative,  while  one — that  is,  Something — is  con- 
icted  with  facts  and  substances,  the  other — the  Relative — ^includes 
Qt  only  these,  but  also  the  relations  subsisting  between  them.  Now, 
relations  are  not  Substances  nor  things  in  any  ordinary  sense,  and 
herefore  cannot  be  included  under  the  term  Something,  but  are  quite 
ntelligible  under  that  of  the  Relative;  that  is,  while  substances  or 
;hings  do  not  in  themselves,  except  subordinately  and  by  implication, 
include  Relations,  yet  Relations  can  subsist  only  as  between  sub- 
stances or  entities. 

Xow  the  Absolute  and  the  Relative  are  so  all-inclusive  that  we  can 
find  no  greater  or  more  extensive  terms  to  describe  or  express  our 
ideas  of  Universal  Being.  The  idea  sought  to  be  expressed  by  the 
term,  the  Relative,  is  that  of  Universal  Being  as  it  stands  out  before 
the  mind  in  all  its  variety  and  multiplicity,  both  of  entity  and  phe- 
nomena, in  time  and  space,  and  so  specifically  as  to  be  capable  of 
examination  in  detail  down  to  its  least  elements.  All  modes,  all 
forms,  all  essences,  all  relations,  considered  in  their  general,  individ- 
ual, special,  and  particular  aspects,  go  to  make  up  the  idea  of  the 
Relative  Universe.  The  Absolute,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  same 
Universe  of  Being,  considered  now,  however,  as  undiscriminated  or 
undifferentiated,  so  commingled  and  compounded  as  to  be  incapable 
of  distinction  of  parts;  in  short,  one  mass  in  which  there  are  no  pos- 
sible lines  of  demarcation. 

The  description  of  the  Jewish  Jehovah  is  here  recalled:  "  With 
*hom  is  no  variableness  neither  shadow  of  turning."  It  will  be- 
come apparent  that  the  attempt  to  realize  the  Absolute  can  never 
be  successful,  since  the  individuality  of  the  thinker,  if  he  were  suc- 
cessful, would  be  wiped  out  along  with  all  other  discriminations. 
So  the  distinction  between  the  Absolute  and  the  Relative  is  merely 
an  aspect  or  mode  of  considering  the  Universe,  and,  though  not  prac- 
tically possible,  yet  it  contains  practical  considerations  of  far-reaching 
iniportance.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  the  Actual  Uni- 
^*erse  of  perception  and  conception  is  the  commingling  of  these  two 
counterparts  in  such  proportions  as  the  particular  individual  mind 
'^y  be  able  to  make. 


W  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

At  the  risk  of  taxing  your  patience,  I  will  advert  to  the  criticism, 
sometimes  made,  that  it  is  impossible  to  think  the  Absolute  or  to  think 
Nothing,  because  all  thinking  must  be  relative,  that  is,  that  we  must 
have,  at  least,  two  things  before  the  mind  in  order  to  think  at  all.  In 
other  words,  that  we  cannot  think  Nothing  or  the  Absolute,  pure  and 
simple,  as  totally  unrelated  to  all  things  contained  in  their  opposites, 
Something  and  the  Relative.  But  in  answer  to  this,  while  strictly  it 
is  no  doubt  true,  yet  it  may  be  said  that,  as  fundamental  elements  of 
thinking,  the  Absolute  and  Nothing,  as  correlatives  of  the  Relative 
and  Something,  respectively,  are  just  as  thinkable  as  that  one  and  one 
are  two.  It  must  not  be  supposed  from  this,  however,  that  we  are 
capable  of  thinking  infinitely,  as  there  must  be  a  point  at  which  we 
must  stop  thinking;  but  that  we  can  think  Infinity  as  an  elemenl 
of  a  logical  proposition  is  as  clear  as  that  one  can  be  thought  in  the 
proposition  that  one  and  one  make  two. 

We  have  thus  far  considered  only  the  material  or  objective  aspect 
of  the  Universe.  But  it  may  be  said  that  it  has  another  aspect,  if  there 
is  not,  as  some  contend,  an  entirely  different  Universe,  known  under 
many  names,  as  Mind,  Spirit,  Life,  Subjective,  all  of  which  carry  the 
implication  of  non-materiality  and  non-objectivity — a  world  which 
cannot  be  known  by  the  exercise  of  the  senses,  but  must  be  cognized 
by  the  intellectual  powers  alone,  sometimes  called  Faith,  sometimes 
Inspiration,  sometimes  Reason,  and  sometimes  Intuition,  defined  as 
ability  to  know  something  beyond  the  scope  of  the  special  senses. 

Without  adopting  any  of  the  attempted  definitions  of  this  depart- 
ment, vv'e  may,  for  the  purpose  of  reference,  call  it  the  Spiritual  World, 
hi  contradistinction  to  the  Material  World,  which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering, and  we  may  legitimately  endeavor  to  ascertain  whether 
these  two  furnish  another  set  of  Counterparts,  the  understanding  oi 
which,  and  their  mutual  relations,  shall  throw  light  upon  some  of  the 
problems  of  existence  hitherto  unexplained  or  only  partially  and  un- 
certainly understood. 

But,  however  we  may  view  Mind  and  Matter,  or  the  Material  and 
the  Spiritual — whether  we  consider  them  as  part  and  parcel  of  Uni- 
versal Being,  or  as  so  separated  that  there  is  no  relation  between  them 
— it  is  certain  that  there  is  a  connection  between  them  through  the 


COUNTERPARTS  THE   BASIS   OF   HARMONY.  15 

medium  of  sense  perceptions  in  their  relation  to  intellectual  actions; 
ind  it  is  by  means  of  this  connection  that  we  are  able  to  comprehend 
:he  existence  of  Mind;  for  we  cannot  describe  Mind  except  in  terms 
)f  Matter.  The  very  words,  Mind,  Spirit,  Life  are  primarily  descrip- 
:ive  of  material  acts  or  facts,  and  it  is  only  by  using  these  terms  in  a 
«condary  or  derivative  sense  that  we  can  refer  to  the  non-material 
)art  of  our  being.  To  the  purely  sensuous  savage,  there  is  nothing 
)ut  the  material  man;  to  him  there  is  no  soul,  or  mind,  or  spirit,  be- 
:ause  these  are  invisible,  and  cannot  be  perceived  till  the  intellectual 
)r  spiritual  vision  becomes  developed. 

In  spite  of  the  difficulties  of  Language — its  inadequacy  to  deal 
with  this  hidden  and  occult  portion  of  our  nature — let  us  try  to  see 
whether  we  can  trace  the  operation  of  the  same  law  in  this  domain  as 
bthat  of  the  material  universe.  Commencing  with  special  aspects,  we 
find  that  there  is  an  antipodal  relation  between  the  mental  qualities  of 
Love  and  Hate,  Joy  and  Sorrow,  Pleasure  and  Pain,  Knowledge  and 
Ignorance,  Reason  and  Insanity,  etc.,  as  we  found  in  the  material 
domain  between  heat  and  cold,  light  and  darkness,  sound  and  silence, 
etc.  As  we  found  these  latter  to  be  Counterparts  of  each  other  materi- 
ally, so  mentally  the  qualities  I  have  mentioned  must  be  considered  in 
like  manner  as  Counterparts.  In  so  doing,  we  are  compelled  to  think 
along  the  same  lines,  that  is,  from  one  extreme  to  its  opposite. 

In  the  broader  generalizations  of  Religion  and  Morals,  we  find  the 
same  condition  of  things.  God  and  the  Devil,  Heaven  and  Hell,  Good 
and  Evil,  Right  and  Wrong,  reveal  the  same  oppositional  character- 
Jstics.  It  will  be  observed  that  these  are  pure  creations  of  the  mind, 
kased,  no  doubt,  upon  observation  of  the  facts  of  the  external  world. 
>W  picture  Heaven  and  Hell  as  places,  the  one  of  supreme  enjoyment, 
the  other  of  supreme  suflfering,  thus  representing  the  extremes  in  this 
respect.  So,  likewise,  God  and  the  Devil  represent  two  ideal  person- 
ages of  opposite  characteristics,  one  of  supreme  goodness,  purity,  and 
^th,  the  other  standing  for  all  that  is  opposed  to  these.  Right  and 
"fong,  again,  are  qualities  of  polar  opposition,  and  may  be  said  to  be 
Counterparts  in  the  moral  domain. 

These  instances,  both  in  the  material  and  non-material  realms, 
^e sufficient  to  convince  us  that  Counterparts  do  actually  exist;  that 


1 


16  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

is,  that  there  are  things,  conditions,  qualities,  of  such  opposite  char- 
acter, that,  ordinarily,  it  seems  impossible  that  they  can  coexist — that 
their  natures  are  so  at  war  with  each  other  that  the  first  impression 
naturally  would  be  that  they  must  mutually  destroy  each  other,  "  nor 
leave  a  vestige  behind." 

The  most  marked  instance  of  Counterparts,  and  one  in  which  wc 
are  more  interested  than  in  any  other,  is  that  between  Life  and  Death. 
Akin  to  this  is  that  known  under  the  terms  Consciousness  and  Un- 
consciousness. These  are  closely  allied;  that  is,  during  Life  wcare 
conscious,  while  death  deprives  us  of  Consciousness,  at  least  so  farai 
the  facts  of  the  external  world  are  concerned. 

But  now  another  feature  presents  itself,  heretofore  incidentally 
referred  to.  While,  theoretically  or  ideally,  we  may  consider  the  ex- 
tremes of  these  various  Counterparts  as  the  basis  of  harmony,  the 
Actual  is  really  their  combinations  in  varying  proportions,  and  in  these 
combinations  are  to  be  found  the  thousand  and  one  varieties  of  philos- 
ophies, theories,  sciences,  and  arts,  as  well  as  the  innumerable  practical 
methods  instituted  among  men  the  world  over  since  man  began.  In 
mechanics,  all  movements  depend  upon  opposite  forces;  in  Astron- 
omy, we  have  centripetal  and  centrifugal  tendencies;  in  electricity, the 
highest  result  thus  far  attained  is  by  the  alternation  of  positive  and 
negative  currents,  and  it  is  noticeable  that  this  latter  result,  the  most 
wonderful  in  all  history,  is  produced  only  when  the  alternation  of  posi- 
tive and  negative  is  made  exact  and  equal.  In  Art,  the  same  rde 
holds;  in  painting,  the  due  commingling  of  Light  and  Shade  with 
Color  produces  the  best  effect ;  in  music,  harmony  is  reached  by  the 
combination  both  of  Sound  and  Silence  and  high  and  low  tones  in 
just  and  true  proportions.  In  Philosophy,  the  constant  tendency  i$ 
to  include  more  and  more  the  facts  and  qualities  of  Universal  Being, 
however  opposite  in  their  character,  and  it  has  now  come  to  be  the 
accepted  doctrine  that  nothing  can  be  omitted  which  can  by  possh 
bility  be  conceived  by  the  human  mind  or  affect  human  interests. 

Now  the  Universe  is  one,  and  in  this  One  are  to  be  found  all  po^ 
sibilities,  all  powers,  all  entities,  all  relations,  and  all  essences.  Thi 
complex,  then,  which  we  call  the  Universe,  must  be  a  Consistency 
that  is,  however  various  its  parts,  however  apparently  contradictor^ 


COUNTERPARTS   THE   BASIS   OF   HARMONY.  17 

>  myriad-fold  aspects  to  our  limited  vision,  yet  Reason  tells  us  that 
icse  parts  must  be  components  of  that  which  is  so  much  greater 
lan  they  that  they  all  find  a  place  and  a  function,  an  arena  for  their 
peration  and  a  faculty  for  harmonious  interaction.  As  light,  heat, 
nd  electricity,  have  full  play,  each  for  its  own  special  action 
ithout  danger  of  interference,  although  all  occupying  the  same  do- 
lain — that  is,  the  air — ^so  all  the  powers,  forces,  and  essences  in  the 
Jniverse  act,  react,  and  interact,  not  only  without  interference,  but 
rith  that  coordination  which  constitutes  the  harmony  of  Universal 
king.  The  Universe  is  an  arena  large  enough  for  the  display  of  all 
tiat  the  imagination  can  conceive  or  thought  can  compass;  and  all 
:s  domains  and  departments,  down  to  their  least  parts  and  particles, 
re  so  indissolubly  connected  by  the  operation  of  Universal  Lazv  that 
o  single  atom  can  be  destroyed  and  no  single  domain  blotted  out. 
Tie  Spirit  of  the  Universe  is  in  them  all,  through  them  all,  and  around 
hem  all,  sustaining,  connecting,  preserving,  and  continuing  them  in 
heir  sublime  on-going. 

Order  is  said  to  be  Heaven's  first  law.  In  the  broadest  view,  the 
Jniverse  must  be  considered  as  equivalent  to  Heaven,  since  no 
mount  of  apparent  disorder  can  aflfect  its  harmony  and  beauty. 
Vhat  we  call  disorder  is  only  seeming.    As  Pope  says: 

*'  All  Nature  is  but  Art,  unknown  to  thee  ; 
All  chance,  direction  which  thou  canst  not  see  ; 
All  discord,  harmony  not  understood  ; 
All  partial  evil,  universal  good  ; 
And,  spite  of  Pride,  in  erring  Reason's  spite. 
One  truth  is  clear.  Whatever  is,  is  right." 

From  the  Universal  point  of  view,  each  thing  has  its  place  and 
Performs  its  function,  and  this  place  and  this  function  are  exactly  what 
hty  must  be,  because  they  are  exactly  right.  What  we  call  Right  and 
i»Vrong  are  purely  relative,  and  depend  entirely  upon  our  own  limited 
>owers  of  perception.    There  is  no  universal  Wrong. 

What  effect  must  the  contemplation  of  this  order  and  harmony 

lave  upon  the  character  of  the  individual?    When  he  reflects  that  he 

spart  and  parcel  of  Universal  Being,  subject  to  its  laws,  upheld,  sus- 

ained,  cared  for  by  Infinite  Power  and  Affection,  with  no  possibility. 

n  all  the  eventualities  of  Time  and  Change,  of  being  either  actually 

2 


18  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

lost,  misplaced,  or  neglected,  what  tremendous  influence  for  high  and 
noble  aspiration  and  performance  must  exert  itself  upon  the  mind! 
We  seek  pleasure  and  avoid  pain  because  constrained  by  the  laws  d 
our  being,  which  are  the  Laws  of  Universal  Being;  but  present  pleas- 
ure may  be  the  cause  of  future  pain,  and  present  pain  that  of  future 
pleasure,  which  seems  to  be  contradictory.  This,  however,  is  one  of 
the  indications  of  the  principle  of  Counterparts,  as  showing  that 
Pleasure  and  Pain  are  extremes  which,  in  the  whirling  of  Time,  are 
brought  alternately  in  the  ascendant,  and  that  which  at  one  stage  isi 
Pleasure  at  another  becomes  Pain,  and  vice  versa.  Time  itself— one 
of  the  extremes  in  the  Counterparts  Time  and  Eternity — works  such 
wondrous  changes  that  at  one  point  we  perceive  one  of  the  Counter* 
parts  or  extremes,  and  at  another  point  the  other  is  brought  into  view. 
Pope  again  says: 

**  Love,  hope,  and  joy,  fair  pleasure's  smiling  train, 
Hate,  fear,  and  grief,  the  family  of  pain  ; 
These  mixed  with  art,  and  to  due  bounds  confined. 
Make  and  maintain  the  balance  of  the  mind  ; 
The  lights  and  shades,  whose  well-accorded  strife 
Gives  all  the  strength  and  color  of  our  life." 

The  Actual,  being  thus  the  commingling  of  extremes,  it  becomes 
us  to  comprehend  and  make  the  golden  mean  the  rule  of  our  lives— 
what  the  French  call  the  juste  milieu  or  just  medium  between  oppo- 
sites.  We  cannot  do  exactly  right,  or  absolutely  right — only  God  can 
do  that,  because  he  is  the  Absolute.  All  our  acts  must  be  more  or  less 
a  mixture  of  that  which  is  right  and  that  which  is  wrong,  or  that  which 
is  straight — for  right  means  straight — and  that  which  is  crooked,  for 
wrong  means  twisted  or  turned  or  bent  from  the  exact  straight  or 
level.  Hence,  while  we  have  ideally  an  absolute  standard  of  morals. 
we  can  only  approximate,  as  near  as  possible,  to  that  standard,  with- 
out expectation  of  ever  absolutely  reaching  it.  And  if  we  cannot,  for 
ourselves,  hope  for  more  than  approximation  toward  perfection,  how 
much  charity  must  we  have  for  those  who  may  be  a  little  below  us  in 
power  of  understanding  and  action.  In  thinking  of  our  sinning  fellow* 
creatures,  should  we  not  adopt  that  rule  embodying  so  much  ws- 
dom:  **  Judge  not,  lest  ye  be  judged  "  ? 


COUNTERPARTS  THE   BASIS   OF   HARMONY.  19 

Under  the  influence  of  the  Golden  Mean,  we  should  not  allow 
either  the  fear  of  hell  or  the  hope  of  heaven  to  swerve  us  unduly.  I  say 
unduly,  because  they  will,  and  rightly,  influence  us  to  some  extent.  As 
heaven  means  extreme  order  and  hell  means  extreme  disorder,  our 
constant  effort  must  be  to  cling  to  the  one  and  avoid  the  other.  In 
this  view,  however,  it  is  seen  that  Language  does  not  exactly  repre- 
sent the  facts  of  the  Universe  as  we  are  now  trying  to  present  them, 
for  there  must  be  a  modicum  of  disorder  even  in  the  greatest  order, 
and  there  can  be  no  disorder  so  great  that  it  has  not,  at  least,  the  im- 
pKcation  of  order.  The  finest  tuning  of  the  piano  cannot  totally  expel 
the  "  wolf  "  of  discord.  And  this  may  also  be  said  of  the  actual  condi- 
tion between  the  extremes  of  all  the  Counterparts  to  be  found  in  Uni- 
versal Nature.  Absolute  exactness  can  be  found  only  in  the  Ideal; 
the  Actual  must  always  contain  elements  of  inexactness. 

No  finer  perception  or  expression  of  the  wonderful  contrariety  and 
oppositional  character  of  the  spirit  of  Universal  Nature  can  probably 
be  found  in  all  literature  than  Emerson's  brief  description  of  Brahma: 

If  the  Red  Slayer  think  he  slays, 

Or  if  the  Slain  think  he  is  slain, 
They  know  not  well  the  subtle  ways 

I  come  and  pass  and  turn  again. 

Far  or  forgot  to  me  is  near. 

Sunlight  and  shadow  are  the  same  ; 
The  vanished  gods  to  me  appear. 

And  one  to  me  are  shame  and  fame. 

They  reckon  ill  who  leave  me  out, 

When  me  they  fly,  I  am  the  wings  ; 
I  am  the  doubter  and  the  doubt, 

And  I  the  hymn  the  Brahmin  sings. 

The  strong  gods  pine  for  my  abode, 

And  pine  in  vain  the  sacred  Seven ; 
But  thou,  meek  lover  of  the  good, 

Find  me,  and  turn  thy  back  on  heaven. 

M.  A.  Clancy. 

When  Wisdom  has  been  reached,  through  acquirement  of  the  non- 
ieliberative  mental  state,  there  is  spiritual  clearness.  In  that  case,  then, 
liere  is  that  Knowledge  which  is  absolutely  free  from  Error. — Patanjali. 


20  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


IS  MAN  THE  ARCHITECT  OF  HIS  OWN  DESTINY? 

We  become  so  familiarized  with  the  bold  innovations  of  scientific 
thought  as  to  be  comparatively  indifferent  to  their  philosophical  sig- 
nificance. We  stand  upon  the  grand  towering  heights  of  knowledge, 
and  behold  *'  Hills  peep  o'er  hills,  and  Alps  on  Alps  arise/*  but  simply 
regard  them  as  valuable  accessories  to  our  progressive  march.  The 
evidences  of  man's  potent  creative  power  pass  us  heedless  by.  The 
mighty  forces  of  invisible  nature,  the  greatest  promoters  of  human 
advancement,  are  seized,  harnessed,  and  controlled  by  the  powers  of 
the  mind  and  will,  and  compelled  to  subserve  the  purpose  of  man  dur- 
ing his  sojourn  on  earth.  The  refractory  characteristics  of  external 
conditions  are  by  this  means  measurably  harmonized,  modified,  and 
regulated  in  operation,  and  all  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  the 
supremacy  of  their  master,  man.  Yet  how  many  fail  to  see  in  this  an 
earnest  and  a  prophecy  of  illimitable  possibilities! 

These  stupendous  material  achievements  have  not  only  enlarged 
the  grasp  of  our  receptivity  and  mentality,  but  the  daring  and  audac- 
ity of  our  **  men  of  light  and  leading  "  have  extended  the  compass  of 
our  thought-realm.  We  have  "  defied  the  Omnipotent  (Superstition) 
to  arms,'*  and  entered  *'  fresh  woods,  and  pastures  new."  All  honor 
to  those  grand  souls  who,  by  the  sunlight  of  their  thought,  have  dis- 
sipated the  midnight  gloom  of  slavish,  abject  bigotry  and  fear!  Now 
we  can  pierce  the  veil  of  mystery  surrounding  us,  heedless  of  the  anath- 
emas of  craven  hearts,  and,  turning  our  faces  to  the  glowing  cast, 
gladly  welcome  the  dawn  of  a  glorious  day.  We  become  enthusiastic 
in  enumerating  the  deeds  of  heroism  performed  by  the  warriors  of  the 
past.  We  never  weary  in  sounding  their  praises  and  recounting  their 
prowess  in  removing  the  obstructions  to  man's  material  progress,  and 
It  is  well  to  accord  them  their  due  measure  of  recognition;  but  how 
can  we  find  words  to  give  adequate  expression  to  the  gratitude  we 
feel  for  the  inestimable  service  rendered  to  mankind  by  those  who 
have  made  it  possible  to  think  on  proscribed  lines  of  investigation  and 
research?  They  have  cast  from  us  those  galling  fetters  by  which  w^ 
have  been  darkly  bound,  and  we  follow  in  their  footsteps  to  that  sub- 


IS  MAN  THE  ARCHITECT  OF  HIS  OWN  DESTINY  ?  21 

ne  height  where  "  Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar,"  radiantly  hope- 
1  regarding  the  future  of  the  race. 

Our  ideas  respecting  the  Great  First  Cause;  the  Eternal  Mind; 
le  personal  God,  have  now  undergone  considerable  modification, 
easoning  from  analogy  and  experience,  we  dare  to  maintain  that  man 
Dssesses  in  some  degree  all  the  attributes  heretofore  ascribed  to 
)eity. 

True,  while  immured  in  the  grosser  conditions  of  material  life, 
;hile  struggling  mightily  in  the  throes  of  undevelopment,  he  seems 
veak,  and  a  prey  to  every  stormy  adverse  wind;  but  every  time  he  is 
lurled  to  the  ground  by  the  fury  of  the  blast  he  braces  himself  for 
nightier  resistance  in  the  future,  and  eventually  he  will  bid  defiance  to 
ill,  and  reign  as  monarch  over  them. 

The  principal  attributes  of  the  anthropomorphic  Deity  worshipped 
n  the  past  were  Omnipotence,  Omniscience,  and  Omnipresence. 
S'ow  let  us  examine  the  soul  of  man  and  its  characteristics,  as  mani- 
ested  to-day,  and  see  if  that  eternal  being,  even  in  his  comparatively 
ow  state  of  unfoldment  on  earth,  does  not  possess  deific  possibilities 
if  potency.  We  must  not,  however,  limit  our  speculation  to  six  or 
>cven  decades  of  years  as  computed  by  time,  for  time  is  but  a  means 
whereby  we  measure  a  portion  of  eternity.  We  must  carry  our  de- 
luctions  into  the  spiritual  world,  and  recognize  continued  unfoldment 
Ji  infinite  and  eternal  expression.  Man  has  boldly  seized  the  mighti- 
Kt  forces  of  nature,  and  made  them  subservient  to  his  intelligence, 
the  invisible  agents  are  the  greatest  manifestors  of  nature's  latent  en- 
^gy,  viz.,  steam,  air,  ether,  and  electricity.  These  component  parts 
Ijavebeen  utilized  by  the  human  spirit  to  facilitate  continued  progress. 
They  are  the  mere  vassals  of  man's  will,  and  in  proportion  to  his  wis- 
tlom  is  his  control.  Sometimes  he  goes  "  sounding  on  a  dim  and 
Pilous  way,"  but  eventually  he  asserts  supremacy,  and  becomes 
n^ter  of  his  surroundings. 

What  a  strange  paradox  is  man !  During  the  experience  of  unfold- 
ment he  is  tossed  to  and  fro  like  an  autumn  leaf,  weak  and  feeble,  in- 
deed, but  by  the  power  of  knowledge  manifested  through  wisdom  he 
•ommands  and  demands  subserviency,  and  external  nature  recognizes 
n  him  her  superior,  master,  and  controller.    He  is  the  sport  of  every 


22  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

wind  that  blows,  yet  he  possesses  within  himself  that  which  can  bid  de- 
fiance to  all  antagonistic  conditions.  In  a  moment  his  body  can  be 
shattered  from  the  spirit,  yet  he  is  inherently  endowed  with  that  which 
**  smiles  at  the  drawn  dagger,  and  defies  its  point."  He  can  be  tossed 
to  and  fro  a  helpless  waif  on  the  howling  deep,  and  yet  the  power 
within  can  control  the  elements,  and  effectually  bid  them:  "  Peace; 
be  still."  He  can  be  overcome  by  the  sleep  of  death,  in  his  aerial 
ascensions,  yet  as  a  spirit  he  can  rise  on  the  ethereal  realms,  and  visit 
worlds  upon  worlds  afar.  A  shock  of  emotion,  or  thought-lightning, 
can  paralyze  his  physical  being,  but  his  soul  can  hurl  to  the  earth 
the  enemies  that  would  assail  him,  and  nothing  can  withstand  the 
fire  and  fervor  of  the  human  will  when  intelligently  poised. 

Omnipotence  in  degree  is  unmistakably  displayed  by  our  wisest 
and  best  men  of  to-day,  even  while  the  torn  and  bleeding  feet  are  lacer- 
ated during  the  journey  up  the  hill  of  progress.  The  elements  of  earth, 
fire,  and  water,  are  brought  into  direct  relationship  with  each  other, 
and  a  condition  is  produced  which  has  inaugurated  the  age  of  steam; 
that  expansive  fluid  which  has  done  so  much  for  man's  progfress;  that 
power  which  has  enabled  him  to  bid  defiance  to  time  and  space  in  es- 
tablishing communion  and  intercommunion  with  his  fellow-beings  in 
all  quarters  of  the  known  world.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  this 
potent  force  the  advancement  of  the  race  has  been  accelerated  im- 
measurably, and  heart  greets  heart  in  a  divine  glow  of  sympathy  and 
love.  The  circumambient  air  has  not  escaped  the  subtle  influence  of 
the  human  soul,  but  the  secret  of  its  latent  energy  has  been  wrested 
from  the  bosom  of  nature,  and  man  thus  disputes  her  domain  of  con- 
trol. 

But  above  and  beyond  all  the  discoveries  of  this  wonderful  nin^ 
teenth  century  is  one  before  which  all  others  pale  into  insignificance 
when  compared  with  the  possibilities  of  the  future.  We  have  not 
found  in  electricity  the  very  circulating  vital-element  which  enabte 
the  operations  of  nature  to  be  carried  to  a  successful  issue,  and  it  i*  ■ 
only  a  question  of  time  when  the  power  that  ever  subdued  man  in  the : 
past  will  exchange  places  with  her  superior,  and  yield  to  a  will  greater 
than  her  own.  However,  this  will  not  be  until  man  becomes  hanno- 
nious  with  his  fellow.  Then  Nature  will  voice  that  tranquility,  and  dis- 


IS  MAN  THE  ARCHITECT  OF  HIS  OWN   DESTINY  ?  23 

>rd  and  violence  will  forever  pass  from  the  earth.  Man's  Omnipo- 
nce  is  foreshadowed  in  the  harnessing  of  the  mighty  Niagara,  where- 
r  intelligence  and  power  can  be  disseminated  throughout  the  land, 
ommunicaticm  with  our  fellow-beings  independently  of  other  mate- 
al  means  than  the  imponderable  ether  now  absorbs  the  attention  of 
ur  master  minds  in  the  scientific  world,  and  thus  the  possibility  of 
iterstellar  association  and  exchange  of  intelligence  comes  within  an 
itelligible  degree  of  consummation. 

Look  at  the  infant  there  on  its  mother's  knee.  Whence  are  de- 
lved the  knowledge  and  power  which  enable  that  helpless  babe  to 
*eave,  mould,  and  control  the  most  perfect  machine  in  the  universe? 
Certainly  not  from  the  external,  because  the  voluntary  powers  are  but 
mechanical  in  their  operation.  The  moulding  and  building  are  evi- 
dently due  to  involuntary  manifestations  of  the  internal  man.  But 
where  did  that  inner  spiritual  principle  obtain  its  marvelous  knowl- 
edge to  display  such  wisdom  in  world-building?  Surely  not  from  the 
earthly  parents,  as  they  have  but  supplied  that  soul  with  suitable 
physical  conditions  to  display  the  microcosm  of  the  universe.  Neither 
moral  nor  spiritual  nature  was  imparted  by  the  parents,  for  these 
attributes  were  associated  with  the  child  by  virtue  of  pre-existence. 
From  eternity  that  child  has  come,  and  to  eternity  it  is  outward 
bound. 

Away  down  the  steeps  of  time,  ages  ago,  that  epitome  of  the  uni- 
verse under  other  conditions  and  coarser  environment  would  prima- 
rily grapple  with  the  material  in  its  first  effort  to  unfold  its  individu- 
ality, and  for  how  many  eons  that  spirit  dwelt  in  the  spiritual  world 
anterior  to  its  first  contact  with  matter  no  earthly  being  can  deter- 
mine. Nay,  is  it  too  much  to  maintain  that  there  never  was  a  begin- 
ning of  its  spiritual  existence,  as  there  will  never  be  an  end?  It  seems 
qtute  logical  to  assume  that  such  spirit  was,  while  in  that  pre-physical 
condition,  under  the  direct  supervision  of  wise  and  good  human  souls 
who  had  acquired  their  enlarged  experience  on  other  worlds  than 
ours — experience  which  had  endowed  them  with  power  to  condense 
this  crystallization  of  spiritual  substance  called  earth,  which  was  ren- 
Icrcd  objective  for  the  purpose  of  unfolding  the  individuality  of  the 
luman  soul.    The  mind  cannot  possibly  hark  back  beyond  this  period. 


24  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

for  past  eternity — that  vast  ocean  without  bottom  or  shore — is  as  in- 
comprehensible as  a  future  infinitude  to  which  we  are  all  tending;  but 
we  know  that  by  process  of  evolution  in  ages  gone,  man  has  acquired 
knowledge  of  his  environment,  which  entitles  him  to  the  credit  of 
being  the  architect  of  his  own  destiny. 

What  is  an  architect?  An  intelligent  human  being  whose 
thoughts  while  in  a  nebulous  condition  are  marshalled  in  consecutive 
form,  and  ultimately  find  expression  or  embodiment  in  physical  life 
according  to  his  desire.  The  thought-home  of  man  is  thus  created, 
and  fellow  mortals  render  that  thought  objective  in  material  form. 

Spiritually,  man  is  ever  building  his  surroundings  by  thought. 
The  idea  of  the  artist,  poet,  or  sculptor  becomes  embodied  in  physical 
life.  Who  then  shall  place  a  limit  to  the  potent  powers  and  creative 
energy  of  the  soul  of  man,  which  must  eternally  unfold  its  God-attri- 
butes in  the  spiritual  realm? 

If  by  operation  of  the  laws  of  attraction  and  repulsion  man  is  con- 
tinually appropriating  to  his  spirit  atomic  elements  which  contain  all 
constituent  particles  of  the  physical  universe,  and  by  his  innate  repell- 
ing powers  eliminating  substance  which  has  subserved  his  purpose,  is 
it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  man  in  the  aggregate  has  condensed 
the  stellar  worlds  from  primary  spirit-elements,  and  thus  solidified  and 
materialized  what  was  previously  spirit  proper?  For  what  is  the  ma- 
terial but  the  solidification  of  spirit?  Man  has  been  exercising  his  ac- 
tivities upon  the  external  for  ages  past,  and  doubtless  there  are  mem- 
bers of  the  great  infinite  brotherhood  of  mankind  so  far  ahead  in  the 
unfoldment  of  their  divine  possibilities  as  to  exceed  the  grandest  con- 
ception we  can  now  form  of  the  great  Deity  of  the  illimitable  universe. 
We  know  from  personal  experience  and  observation  that  ex-camate 
spirit  can  appropriate  a  material  body,  and  vacate  it  at  will.  Then 
what  does  that  imply?  Why,  that  the  external  is  but  the  servant  of 
human  intelligence,  and  that  the  human  soul  is  greater  than  all  beside. 

Like  a  warrior,  man  becomes  surrounded  by  the  enemies  or  con- 
ditions that  would  impede  his  onward  march,  but  he  contests  desper- 
ately every  inch  of  the  position,  and  eventually  he  will  become  abso- 
lutely triumphant.  The  spiritual  world  and  its  inhabitants,  impinging 
upon  him  with  a  mighty  psychological  influence — ^planetary  antago- 


THE  SYMBOLISM   OF   NIRVANA.  26 

nistic  magnetism  disputing  with  him  the  position  and  the  varied  con- 
flicting elements  emanating  from  his  companions  in  matter,  render 
the  struggle  desperate  and  terrible,  indeed.  But,  like  the  fabled  Phoe- 
nix, that  soul  soars  above  and  beyond  the  ashes  of  its  conflicts,  and 
becomes  eventually  a  ruler  of  worlds  in  the  spiritual  realm.  The  ulti- 
mate destiny  of  man  is  eternal  unfoldment — eternal  individualization; 
and,  as  everything  outside  the  human  spirit  is  but  the  embodiment  of 
the  thought  of  man  in  the  aggregate,  the  soul  itself — the  creator, 
moulder,  and  builder  of  its  environment — is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  an  embodiment  of  Thought.  C.  G.  Oyston. 


THE  SYMBOLISM   OF   NIRVANA. 

Everything  is  a  symbol  of  some  idea.  Every  imagining,  every 
dream  that  man  has  dreamed,  is  symbolical  of  some  great  fact,  past, 
present,  or  to  come. 

At  first  thought  nothing  seems  so  mysterious  as  the  prophetic 
nature  of  some  myths.  We  realize  the  prophecy  only  after  its  fulfil- 
ment, or  at  least  after  it  has  begun  to  he  fulfilled.  Where,  for  ex- 
ample, could  the  worshippers  of  Thor  and  Odin  have  come  upon  the 
idea  of  the  "  twilight  of  the  gods,"  out  of  which  was  to  come  forth  a 
new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  in  which  there  should  be  nobler  pursuits 
than  war,  and  virtues  more  excellent  than  couragfe?  How  is  it  that 
ever)'  race  with  a  strong  race-life  has  strongly  believed  in  individual 
immortality,  while  a  decadent  race  has  always  had  a  hazy  conception 
of  this  idea,  and  a  race  in  a  state  of  arrested  development — like  cer- 
tain races  of  Asia — sees  in  immortality  a  thing  not  even  to  be  desired? 

So  contrary  to  nature  is  the  desire  for  extinction,  or  even  the  de- 
sire for  endless  oblivion,  that  the  hope  of  the  Orient  for  the  condi- 
tion of  Nirvana  stimulates  curiosity  as  to  the  causes  tending  to  de- 
^'^lop  it,  and  the  place  which  the  idea  itself  occupies  in  the  universal 
symbolism  of  thought. 

Almost  as  far  back  as  we  can  trace  a  distinct  idea  of  God,  as  the 
author  of  being,  appears  also  the  longing  of  the  human  soul  for  union 


26  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

with  its  Source.  The  first  idea  of  God  seems  to  have  come  with  the 
consciousness  of  the  power  to  disobey  His  laws;  the  first  worship  was 
the  attempt  to  propitiate  Divine  wrath.  But  soon  after,  we  find 
traces  of  genuine  longing  for  a  spiritual  rebirth  into  a  condition  of 
oneness  with  the  Divine,  a  glimmering  consciousness  of  love  toward 
the  Father  of  our  being. 

The  oldest  conception  of  this  union  now  extant  is  the  "  Nirvana" 
of  the  Buddhists,  a  condition  which  they  hope  to  reach  by  overcom- 
ing all  human  passions  and  emotions.  It  would  be  interesting  to  try 
to  trace  the  process  by  which  the  master-passion  of  the  human  soul, 
the  longing  for  the  Divine,  came  to  be  regarded  as  involving  the  ex- 
tinction of  every  lesser  longing,  the  overcoming  of  that  very  force  of 
love  which  is  the  ultimate  central  spark  of  being,  and  without  which 
existence  must  cease.  The  logical  outcome  of  the  desire  to  be  with- 
out desire  is  just  such  an  ideal  as  Nirvana;  and  the  relation  of  this 
ideal  to  other  conceptions  of  union  with  Deity  is  the  subject  which  we 
now  propose  to  consider. 

To  desire  is  the  first  and  most  natural  instinct  of  the  human  sooL 
It  would  seem  that  no  soul  having  full  vitality  could  even  wish  desire 
to  be  destroyed,  since  that  is  the  attracting  spiritual  power  co^r^ 
sponding  most  closely  to  gravitation  on  the  physical  plane.  Such  a 
wish  must  arise  from  a  profound  conviction  of  the  inherent  evil  of  d^ 
sire,  and  that  in  turn  must  come  from  observation  of  the  usual  results 
of  indulging  it. 

Here  we  come  upon  something  tangible.  The  reasoning  mtistte 
somewhat  like  this:  To  want  is  to  be  unhappy — to  have  is  to  los«oc 
to  invite  satiety — therefore  it  is  better  not  to  want.  The  Infinite 
Divine  Life  is  all  happiness,  therefore  love,  and  desire,  can  have  no 
place  in  the  Divine  Life.  The  final  conclusion  would  seem  to  be,  the 
Divine  Life  is  death.  Yet  Nirvana  is  not  considered  as  meaning 
death.  What  it  does  mean  would  be  difficult  to  comprehend,  but  for 
the  light  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  comparison  with  other  ideas  ol 
what  constitutes  perfect  blessedness. 

The  Buddhist  saint  withdraws  from  the  world  and  seeks,  by  con- 
templation of  the  Infinite,  to  bring  himself  into  as  close  relation  with 
the  Divine  as  his  earthly  trammels  will  permit.    But  he  is  not  the  only 


THE  SYMBOLISM   OF  NIRVANA.  27 

J  who  does  this;  the  mediaeval  monasteries  witnessed  very  much 
same  kind  of  life.  Often  their  methods  seem  to  have  been  identical 
h  those  of  the  followers  of  Buddha,  namely,  to  destroy  all  of  man 
t  was  in  them,  that  they  might  manifest  only  God.  But  now  and 
:n  in  Catholic  countries  there  has  appeared  a  saint  whose  vitality, 
love,  was  so  strong  that  lesser  desires  were  not  destroyed,  but  only 
allowed  up  in  the  grand,  consuming  fire  of  love  to  God.  Love  in 
:h  a  soul  is  not  less  but  more  than  in  the  ordinary  ascetic;  and  yet 
It  saint  does  not  fear  his  own  desires  nor  think  of  escaping  from 
em,  because  his  one  supreme  desire  is  so  strong  that  he  is  hardly 
nscious  of  the  others.  He  does  not  leave  his  fellow  mortals  to  sink 
tper  and  yet  deeper  into  the  mire  of  sin  and  misery  while  he  in- 
ilges  in  his  shadowy  contemplations,  but  he  goes  out  among  them, 
preaches,  he  leads  men,  he  carries  with  him  on  his  way  to  Heaven 
multitude  of  souls  to  whom  he  has  been  an  inspiration. 
Such  a  saint  was  Catherine  of  Siena;  a  woman  of  splendid  powers, 
vered  by  kings  and  emperors ;  chosen  by  the  Pope  to  mediate  be- 
fttn  two  rival  cities;  a  public  preacher,  by  special  dispensation  from 
s  Holiness;  a  woman  full  of  good  works  and  greatly  loved  by  all 
e  people.  Yet  in  her  religious  ecstasies  we  find  a  notable  example 
fervid  exaltation  and  strange  illusions.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better 
>t  to  call  them  illusions,  those  visions  in  which  she  saw  Jesus  Christ 
mself  and  knew  that  He  had  given  her  "  His  heart  for  hers,  in 
ystksi]  espousals."  Who  shall  say  it  was  not  in  those  ecstasies  that 
e  received  her  power,  although  the  form  they  took  was  determined 
her  Roman  Catholic  faith?  Desire  in  her  was  stilled  in  one  sense, 
t  in  another  and  more  real  sense  it  was  only  quickened.  She  felt 
It  her  union  with  her  Divine  Spouse  was  complete,  yet  nothing  but 
ensest  love  for  her  fellow-men  could  have  prompted  her  to  all  the 
Me  deeds  of  her  useful  life. 

Dante  describes  his  perplexity  when  first  he  entered  Paradise,  be- 
ise  Piccarda  and  others  whom  he  found  in  Heaven,  but  in  the  low- 
place,  showed  no  dissatisfaction  with  their  lot.    He  asks  Piccarda; 

**  Yet  inform  me,  ye  who  here 
Are  happy,  long  ye  for  a  higher  place, 
More  to  behold,  and  more  in  love  to  dwell  ?  " 


28  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Piccarda  answers  at  some  length,  explaining  how  the  wills  of  all 
in  Heaven  are  so  attuned  to  God's  will  that  they  move  on  as  He  bids, 
without  the  consciousness  of  discontent  to  urge  them  forward. 

**  And  in  His  will  is  our  tranquility ; 
It  is  the  mighty  ocean,  whither  tends 
Whatever  it  creates  and  nature  makes. 

Thus  saw  I  clearly  how  each  spot  in  Heaven 
Is  Paradise." 

That  is,  there  may  be  union  with  the  Divine,  while  yet  develop- 
ment, or  motion,  continues,  and  in  that  state  love  or  desire  is  not  in- 
consistent with  tranquility. 

We  are  told  that  the  interplanetary  ether  is  calm  with  the  calm- 
ness of  high  vibration.  There  seems  to  be  an  analogy  here,  unless,  in- 
deed, it  is  more  than  an  analogy,  and  spirit  itself  in  its  perfection  is 
simply  the  on^  eternal  substance  in  its  highest  degree  of  vibration, 
and,  therefore,  in  its  most  perfect  condition  of  repose. 

Evidently,  then,  the  aim  of  the  Buddhist  is  the  aim  of  all  the 
human  race — perfect  union  with  the  Divine,  or  realization  of  the  EH' 
vine  Life  within.     He  mistakes,  however,  in  thinking  that  he  must 
destroy  anything  within  him  to  attain  that  state.    Not  a  love,  not  a 
human  possibility,  should  be  destroyed,  for  the  human  is  only  tbt 
undeveloped  essence  of  the  Divine.    To  develop  it  we  should  learn  to 
let  our  sympathies  go  freely  out  to  all  our  fellow-men,  though  ou^ 
words  fall  often  on  deaf  ears,  and  though  only  labor  and  martyrdotn 
reward  us  in  this  life.     No  one  can  be  saved  alone;   the  peace  that 
comes  to  the  recluse,  who  can  calmly  withdraw  from  the  struggling 
and  suffering  mass  of  humanity,  is  the  peace  of  stagnation  and  in- 
sensibility.   As  a  race,  we  share  our  triumphs,  and  we  must  shar« 
also  our  defeats.     Root  and  branch,  we  are  one;   we  stand  or  fall 
together.    The  saint  who  goes  into  solitude  to  save  himself  alofl^ 
deadens  the  very  life-force  within  him.    If  the  gain  to  his  soul  wett 
real,  it  would  drive  him  out  into  the  world  again,  to  pour  out  iipo^ 
his  fellow-men  the  riches  that  he  has  accumulated,  for  all  true  ga»^ 
is  added  life,  and  added  life  is  added  love.    To  seek  for  life  that  we 
cannot  give  to  others  is  to  invite  death;  such  selfish  seeking  works 
its  own  destruction.    It  is  better  to  come  out  of  our  seclusion  as  soon  | 


THE  SYMBOLISM   OF  NIRVANA.  29 

as  we  have  anything  to  give,  for  it  is  only  by  giving  all  we  receive 
that  we  become  able  to  receive  more.  It  is  better  to  die  with  our 
iellow-men  in  the  hottest  of  the  battle,  yea,  even  to  suffer  at  their 
hands  as  martyrs,  than  to  bury  the  talent  or  stifle  the  message  that 
lias  been  given  us  to  deliver. 

To  give,  give  freely  of  the  best  that  we  have,  to  help  our  brothers 
upward,  this  is  the  only  way  to  find  Heaven  for  ourselves.  To  cul- 
tivate and  ennoble,  not  to  extinguish,  the  love  that  is  in  us,  to  let  it 
rule  us,  and  to  find  in  it  our  reward,  will  bring  us  repose  at  last — ^not 
the  repose  of  death,  but  the  *'  calmness  of  high  vibration." 

Harriet  B.  Bradbury. 


LIVE! 

Strike  out!    Be  bold  and  live! 

Be  independent  and  the  man  you  are! 
What  is  this  bowing  to  conformity 

But  loss  of  self,  vitality  and  power? 

Society,  that  harbinger  of  shams, 

Discourager  of  truth — of  growth  divine — 

Why  worship  such  a  noisome  emptiness 
And  waste  in  fruitless  effort  precious  time? 

Society  scorns  earnestness  of  thought; 

With  heartlessness  it  treats  divinest  joys; 
Man's  individuality,  true  worth, 

All  sacred  things  it  holds  as  merest  toys. 

Surrender  not  to  custom's  changing  law 

Of  what  is  right,  what  wrong,  the  grand  reality 

Of  life's  pure  truth  which  knowledge  of 
Makes  one  a  master  of  eternity! 

Kathleen  Phillips. 


Egoism  is  the  identifying  of  the  power  that  sees  with  the  power  of 
^*ng. — (Aphorism)  Patau jali. 


80  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


SOPHISTS,  SOCRATES,  AND  "  BEING." 

(XXVII.) 

Anaxagoras  is  the  closing  point  of  the  whole  of  that  Greek  philo- 
sophical development  of  which  I  heretofore  have  spoken.  He  is  also 
the  beginning  of  an  entirely  new  development.  In  him  ends  the  ob- 
jective and  begins  the  subjective  speculation.  The  revolution  in 
Greek  thought,  and  the  introduction  of  so  radical  views  of  "  Being" 
as  those  we  now  meet  with,  is  strangely  favored  by  the  victorious  it- 
sults  of  the  Persian  wars  and  the  widening  influence  of  such  poetry  as 
that  which  came  from  Euripides  and  Epicharmus. 

Anaxagoras  teaches  that  Mind  is  a  moving  force,  is  world-moving. 
a  rational  substance,  is  Nous.  The  idea  of  a  **  world-soul,"  though  the 
expression  is  first  used  by  Plato,  is  nevertheless  present  in  Anaxi- 
menes,  Heraclitus,  and  Anaxagoras.  To  the  latter  it  is  as  homo- 
genous Reason  distributed  through  the  whole  universe,  and  is  its  mov- 
ing force.  Its  main  characteristic  is  to  know.  Knowing,  therefore,  is 
common  to  all  and  becomes  that  law  to  which  all  ought  to  conform 
and  unite  themselves.  It  is  this  conception  which,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Sophists  and  Socrates,  becomes  such  a  potent  factor  in  the 
Greek  life  that  it  enters  politics,  ethics,  and  religion;  certainly  not  al- 
ways for  good,  as  we  shall  see. 

Anaxagoras'  world-forming  Intelligence,  Nous,  is  absolutdy 
separated  from  all  matter,  and  works  with  design.  It  is  unmingfc^ 
with  anything  and  free  to  dispose.  It  is  itself  unmoved,  yet  is  th€ 
ground  of  all  movement.  It  is  pure  of  all  things,  yet  active  every- 
where. Plato  and  Aristotle  complain  of  this  definition  and  declare 
it  to  be  too  mechanical  and  to  be  only  an  energy  above  nature,  ratbtf 
than  a  truly  teleological  explanation  of  things.  Be  this  as  it  may 
the  Sophists  recognized  in  Anaxagoras'  conception  the  power  oi 
Thought,  and  they  quickly  proclaimed  their  discovery,  going,  hot* 
ever,  too  soon  to  the  extreme  of  denying  all  objective  detcnninatiofl5 
and  thus  bringing  about  their  own  fall. 


SOPHISTS,   SOCRATES.    AND    -BEING."  81 

F.  Max  Mtiller  ♦  defines  Anaxagoras'  conception  thus:  **  Anaxa- 
)ras  substituted  Nous,  Mind,  fpr  Logos  and  was  the  first  to  claim 
>mething  of  a  persona)  character  for  the  law  that  governs  the  world, 
id  was  supposed  to  have  changed  its  raw  material  into  a  cosmos. 
!t  may  be  able  to  conceive  a  law  without  a  person  behind  it;  but 
ous,  Mind,  takes  a  thinker  almost  for  granted.  Yet  Anaxagoras 
imself  never  fully  personified  his  Nous,  never  grafted  it  on  a  God  or 
ly  higher  being.  Nous  was  with  him  a  something  like  everythirig 
se,  a  Chrema,  a  thing,  as  he  called  it,  though  the  finest  and  purest  of 
1  material  things.  In  some  of  his  utterances  Nous  was  really  iden- 
fied  with  the  living  soul;  nay,  he  seems  to  have  looked  upon  every 
dividual  soul  as  participating  in  the  universal  Nous  and  in  this  uni- 
rrsal  Chrema." 

Mind  is  both  universal  and  individual,  and  human  thinking  always 
"avitates  to  forms  of  expression  drawn  from  its  own  constitution; 
mce  it  comes  easily  to  personify  the  universal  Mind.  Anaxagoras 
ught  of  Mind  as  the  intellectual  and  moral  order  of  the  Cosmos,  and 

make  that  Thought  clear  and  comprehensive  it  was  propounded 
ider  the  form  of  a  living  soul.  In  this  there  is  no  attempt  to  solve  the 
oblem  of  the  world,  whether  it  is  personal  or  not.  Anaxagoras 
nply  describes  his  vision.  Hence  so  many  contradictory  explana- 
)ns  of  Nous. 

It  was  a  most  important  move  when  Anaxagoras  chose  the  word 
Mind  "  or  "  Intelligence  "  to  designate  the  unifying  and  designing 
>wer  of  existence,  and  no  word  has  played  a  more  important  part  in 
ilosophy.  Plato,  Aristotle,  Sextus  Empiricus,  translated  it  into  the 
iguage  and  conceptions  of  the  people  as  synonymous  with  God. 
ircr  since  those  days  the  word  stands  for  the  intellectual  volition  of 
m,  and  our  own  day  has  seen  it  revived  in  that  sense,  and  is  looking 
r  a  revival  of  philosophy  under  its  impulse.  Nous,  Mind,  Intelli- 
nce,  is  the  soul's  spiritual  sense  and  definite  moral  will ;  it  combines 
ought  and  will.  The  mind  is  an  activity  of  the  understanding  in 
rich  deep  penetration  combines  with  moral  earnestness. 

Anaxagoras  rejected  both  fate  and  chance,  and  proclaimed  Intel- 
;cncc  the  arranging  power  of  events.     Diogenes  reports  that  his 

OifTord  Lectures :  Theosophy ;  or,  Psychological  Religion  ;  London,  1893,  p.  391. 


82  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

book  "  Concerning  Nature  "  opened  thus:  "  Formerly  all  things  were 
a  confused  mass;  afterward  Intelligence,  coming,  arranged  them  into 
worlds/*  Simplicius  has  preserved  another  {r^nient,  which  reads: 
**  Intelligence  is  infinite  and  autocratic;  it  is  mixed  up  in  nothing,  but 
exists  alone  in  and  for  itself.  Were  it  otherwise,  were  it  mixed  up 
with  anything,  it  would  participate  in  the  nature  of  all  things,  for  in  all 
there  is  a  part  of  all;  and  so  that  which  was  mixed  with  Intelligence 
would  prevent  it  from  exercising  power  over  all  things."  Another 
fragment,  also  preserved  by  Simplicius,  reads  as  follows  and  shows 
Nous  to  be  a  cognitive  power  :  *'  Intelligence  is,  of  all  things,  the 
subtlest  and  purest,  and  has  entire  knowledge  of  all.  Everything 
which  has  a  soul,  whether  great  or  small,  is  governed  by  Intelligence. 
Intelligence  knows  all  things,  both  those  that  are  mixed  and  those  that 
are  separated;  and  the  things  which  ought  to  be,  and  the  things  which 
were,  and  those  which  now  are,  and  those  which  will  be,  are  all  ar- 
ranged by  Intelligence."  These  words  clearly  show  Nous  as  a  know- 
ing and  acting  power,  and  contradict  Aristotle's  assertions,  men- 
tioned above. 

To  Anaxagoras,  Intelligence  in  no  wise  resembles  the  "  Idea  "  of 
Hegel  or  the  **  Substance  "  of  Spinoza,  which  can  only  be  known 
through  the  mediation  of  the  human  brain,  viz.,  previously  organized 
matter.*  He  seems  to  make  a  transcendent  being  of  it,  one  that  ex- 
ists independently. 

The  Sophists  went  to  extremes  in  their  application  of  Anaxagoras' 
principle,  but  they  were  originally  right  when  they  saw  the  Subjec- 
tively as  above  custom,  tradition,  and  the  popular  faith,  and  as  the 
natural  law-maker  for  the  Objectively,  which  they  considered  as  only 
ex-animated  matter.  They  were,  strictly  speaking,  not  a  philosoph- 
ical school ;  they  were  sceptics,  rationalists,  '*  babblers."  They  b^ 
come  revolutionists  and  arbitrary  destroyers.  They  perverted  a 
primary  truth,  "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things,'*  that  they  might 
reach  their  selfish  ends.  They  went  down  in  the  crash  of  the  state 
whose  destruction  they  prepared.  Thus  they  represent  in  the  cvoto* 
tion  of  philosophy  that  short-lived  stage  in  individual  dcvclopmert 

•  Vide  :  History  of  Philosophy  by  A.  Weber.     Translated  by  F.  Thilly,  Net 
York,  1897,  p.  52. 


SOPHISTS,    SOCRATES,    AND    "BEING."  B3 

which  takes  its  powers  and  call  in  vain,  and  seats  itself  in  the  place  of 
the  Absolute.  The  French  "  clearing  up  '*  of  modern  days  resembled 
much  the  Sophistic  attitude.  It  ended  in  the  bloody  revolution  it 
prepared,  and  proved  itself  only  a  negative  force. 

Protagoras  (about  440  B.C.)  is  the  first  who  has  been  called  Soph- 
ist. One  of  his  books  began  thus:  **  I  can  know  nothing  concerning 
the  gods,  whether  they  exist  or  not,  for  we  are  prevented  from  gain- 
ing such  knowledge  not  only  by  the  obscurity  of  the  thing  itself,  but 
by  the  shortness  of  human  life."  He  is  the  author  of  the  famous  para- 
dox: "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things.*'  Sextus  Empiricus  gives 
his  doctrine  thus: 

"Matter  is  in  a  perpetual  flux;  it  undergoes  augmentations  and 
losses,  and  the  senses  are  also  modified  according  to  the  age  and  dis- 
position of  the  body.  Men  have  different  perceptions  at  different 
times,  according  to  the  changes  in  the  thing  observed.  Whosoever 
is  in  a  healthy  state  perceives  things  such  as  they  appear  to  all  others 
in  a  healthy  state,  and  vice  versa,  A  similar  course  holds  good  with 
respect  to  different  ages,  also  in  sleeping  and  waking.  Man  is  there- 
fore the  measure  of  all  things;  all  that  is  perceived  by  him  exists;  that 
which  is  perceived  by  no  man  does  not  exist.''  *  This  is  the  sceptical 
standpoint;  not  simply  one  that  denies  for  the  sake  of  denying,  but 
One  that  hesitates  to  state  Truth  in  forms  for  which  infallibility  is 
claimed.  It  is  simply  anti-dogmatic.  Yet  in  those  days  such  words 
were  immoral  and  the  doctrine  false.  It  is  well  known  that  Sophism 
since  that  time  is  a  term  of  derision  and  reproach,  and  rightly  so,  for 
bad  men  may  and  did  in  those  days  make  a  bad  use  of  such  doctrines. 
The  doctrine  that "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things  "  is  a  paradox. 
On  one  side  it  denies  all  objective  knowledge  and  really  amounts  to  a 
denial  of  all  existence.    On  the  other  side  it  contemns  the  truth  of  all 

•  It  is  interesting  here  to  add  a  similar  utterance  from  Goethe  :  "  I  have  ob- 
served that  I  bold  that  thought  to  be  true  which  is  fruitful  to  me,  which  adjusts 
>teclf  to  the  general  direction  of  my  thought  and  at  the  same  time  furthers  me  m  it 
«ow,  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  natural,  that  such  a  thought  should  not  chime  in 
Jjith  the  sense  of  another  person,  nor  further  him,  perhaps  even  be  a  hindrance  to 
■^1  and  so  he  will  hold  it  to  be  false ;  when  one  is  right  thoroughly  convinced  of 
«» he  will  never  indulge  in  controversy."  (Goethe,  Zelterscher  Briefwechsel.)  In 
*»  "  Maxims  and  Reflections,"  Goethe  said  :  "  When  I  know  my  relation  to  myself 
*nd  to  the  outer  world,  I  say  that  I  possess  the  truth.  And  thus  each  may  have  his 
^^  tmth,  and  yet  truth  is  ever  the  same." 


84  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE.     • 

introspection.  All  our  knowledge  is  necessarily  subject,  and  comes 
from  out  our  own  innermost,  which  is  that  fulcrum  which  Archimedes 
asked  for.  Fichte  emphasized  Kant's  demonstration  of  the  phe- 
nomenal character  of  the  world  of  actuality,  so  that  it  became  a  mere 
semblance  or  appearance.  Hindu  philosophy  reduced  the  world  of 
appearance  to  an  illusion.  Fichte  went  so  far  as  to  assert  the  identity 
of  pure  abstract  consciousness  with  the  Absolute.  The  world  of  In- 
telligence is  the  noumenon.  To  Fichte,  to  "  man,  who  is  the  measure 
of  all  things,''  the  non-Ego  rises  as  a  simple  self-limitation,  a  self- 
created  object  of  thought.  The  actual  world  is  secondary  to  the 
world  of  mind  and  represents  the  residue  of  thinking;  it  is  used-up 
forms  of  thought,  ashes,  remains;  it  is  a  heap  of  shells  which  are  left 
from  thought-labor,  in  the  same  way  as  the  shell  is  a  product  of  the 
oyster;  and  as  many  lower  animals  leave  their  old  shells  to  make  new 
ones,  so  Thought  leaves  behind  it  its  used-up  forms.  They  have  an 
existence  in  length  of  time  proportionate  to  the  vitality  of  Thought, 
which  produced  them,  and  when  that  time  comes  to  an  end,  in 
virtue  of  their  inherent  Thought-remains,  they  again  ascend  to 
the  pure  Thought-world.  Thought  is  Beginning,  Middle,  and  End. 
Oxygen  is  both  life  and  death,  both  subject  and  substance,  and  sols 
Thought.  That  time  and  space  in  which  the  transformation  takes 
place  is  also  but  a  product  of  the  Thought-process — a  product  of  even 
less  endurance  than  the  so-called  objective  residue  of  Thought.  They 
are  but  shadows.  The  world  is  thus  but  a  play  of  Thought  with  itself. 
Our  world  is  an  arena  in  which  we  attain  self-consciousness  by  gain- 
ing victories  over  ourselves.  We  fight  ourselves  with  ourselves,  by 
ourselves,  and  for  ourselves.  Life  is  its  own  glory,  its  own  subject  and 
object.  Idealism,  as  this  system  is  called,  is  in  the  highest  sense  a  sys- 
tem of  freedom  and  self-dependence.  There  is  nothing  outside  the 
Ego  to  set  bounds  to  it,  nothing  to  approve  but  the  Ego  itself,  notb*  | 
ing  to  disapprove  but  the  Ego  itself,  for  the  Ego  has  made  it  all 
When  everything  else  sinks  in  the  ocean  of  transitoriness,  the 
stands  unshaken,  a  rock  towering  in  solitary  grandeur:  the  Unity,  t 
Subject,  the  Substance.  Idealism,  theologically  put:  In  his  self-i 
fice  the  divine  wins  himself.  Philosophically  put :  Being  is  its  own  I 
coming;  the  Becoming  only  is  Being.    Mythologically  put:  Phoetiui 


SOPHISTS,    SOCRATES,    AND    "BEING."  36 

sumes  itself  in  its  own  fire,  but  from  the  fire  arises  a  new  Phoenix, 
itically  put:  The  King  is  dead,  the  King  lives!  In  terms  of  phys- 
Self-conservation  is  the  one  law  of  the  All. — I  Am.r— Reality  is 
I,  the  Ego,  the  subject  of  self-consciousness,  and  there\s  no  other 
ity.    "  Man  is  the  measure  of  all  things." 

The  most  famous  Sophist  next  to  Protagoras  was  Gorgias  (about 
B.C.).  From  the  fragments  of  his  work,  **  Concerning  Not-being 
\^ature,"  we  learn  that  he  taught  that  universally  nothing  is,  or,  if 
re  could  be  being,  it  would  not  be  cognizable,  or  if  cognizable  it 
lid  not  be  communicable.  To  comprehend  this  thought  it  must  be 
lerstood  that  to  Gorgias  all  existence  is  space-filling  existence,  and 
iniversality  on  such  a  ground  can  be  established  neither  as  being 
as  not-being  nor  as  being  both,  the  denial  of  the  universality  of  ex- 
nce  is  logical  and  correct.  All  this  is  abstraction  with  a  vengeance, 
I  a  scepticism  of  far-reaching  character.  The  whole  philosophy 
Is  upon  the  ambiguity  of  the  word  existence,  Gorgias'  method 
lished  an  example  for  future  Greek  rhetors,  and  played  a  promi- 
il  but  sad  role  in  political  and  forensic  pleading.  But,  aside  from 
iestructive  character  as  regards  much-cherished  social  institutions 
1  belief,  it  must  be  said  that  in  his  method  lies  a  great  truth,  and  that 
method  is  very  helpful  in  arguments  to  prove  that  the  senses  are 
to  be  trusted,  that  language  is  nominalistic,  etc.  The  fact  is  that 
stence  is  indemonstrable.  C.  H.  A.  Bjerregaard. 

(To  be  continued,) 


Assimilation  with  the  Supreme  Spirit  is  on  both  sides  of  death  for 
sc  who  are  free  from  desire  and  anger,  temperate,  of  thoughts  re- 
ined; and  who  are  acquainted  with  the  true  Self. — Bhagavad-Gita. 

There  is  no  purifier  in  this  world  to  be  compared  to  spiritual  knowl- 
c;  and  he  who  is  perfected  in  devotion  findeth  spiritual  knowledge 
nging  up  spontaneously  in  himself  in  the  progress  of  time.  The 
I  who  restraineth  the  senses  and  organs  and  hath  faith,  obtaineth 
itual  knowledge,  and  having  obtained  it  he  soon  reacheth  supreme 
quillity;  but  the  ignorant,  those  full  of  doubt  and  without  faith,  are 
— Bhagavad-Gita. 


36  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE.  ' 

I 


REINCARNATION. 

Occult  sciences  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  metaphysical  phi- 
losophy applied  to  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  blending  of  the 
soul  and  body.  That  the  body  is  a  combination  of  physical  com- 
pounds is  clearly  demonstrable  by  dissolving  the  different  organs  and 
separating  the  different  compounds  that  together  give  form  and  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  to  a  specific  set  of  organs,  as,  for  example, 
the  nerves,  muscles,  and  bones;  and  all  these  different  organs,  when 
grouped  together  in  one  harmonious  whole,  form  the  body  which 
the  spirit  animates. 

That  the  spirit  or  mind  gives  to  the  body  animation  and  strength 
beyond  the  mere  physical  powers  to  resist  and  overcome  resistance 
is  clearly  proved  by  the  single  example  of  the  deltoid  muscle  being 
capable  of  exerting  a  physical  force  equal  to  the  lifting  of  a  thousand 
pounds  when  directed  by  the  mind,  but  when  dissected  from  the  body, 
unsupported  by  the  combined  principles  of  life,  it  is  incapable  of  in- 
sisting over  fifty  pounds. 

Again,  the  heart,  to  eject  the  blood  to  the  extremities  and  all  the 
minute  ramifications  of  the  circulative  system,  exerts  a  pressure  (rf 
over  one  hundred  thousand  pounds — proof  conclusive  that  the  mind 
is  not  a  phenomena  produced  by  the  action  of  physical  forces,  but  is  a 
principle  that,  acting  on  and  within  a  physical  organism,  gives  it 
animation,  life,  and  power  beyond  that  of  merely  physical  compounds. 
And  the  mind,  being  the  only  attribute  of  man  that  is  not  susceptible 
of  complete  analysis  as  to  its  power  to  accomplish,  its  ability  to  com- 
prehend, its  invisible,  incomprehensible  magnitude  of  scope,  maldflg 
omnipotent  the  organic  and  inorganic  Universe  so  far  as  we  are  abte 
to  judge  of  its  capabilities,  having  no  physical  attribute  within  itselfc 
must  be  a  unit;  and  as  a  unit  it  is  incapable  of  divisibility  and  rtoisX 
live  on  forever  as  one  complete  whole. 

The  physical  Universe  is  governed  by  certain  known  principle* 
of  perpetual  economy  of  the  atoms  that  constitute  the  great  entire^ 
in  aM  its  forms  of  life,  from  the  microbe  in  the  drop  of  water  to  the 
leviathan  of  the  sea;  from  the  microscopical  vegetable  mould  to  the 


REINCARNATION.  87 

>tic  trees  of  the  forest;  from  the  tiny  particle  of  steam  to  the 
iceberg;  from  the  sands  of  the  ocean's  beach  to  the  vast  moun- 
of  rock.  All  these  may  change  and  take  on  new  forms — the 
rg  melted  to  steam,  the  mountain  pulverized  to  sand,  the  earth 
:ed  to  ashes,  and  a  molten  sea  of  chaotic  incongruity — yet  it 
:1  all  be  confined  within  the  earth's  present  orbit,  and  by  the 
je  not  one  particle  would  be  lost  or  added;  the  equilibrium  of 
niverse  would  not  be  disturbed. 

Vt  know  that  organic  vegetable  life,  to-day  eaten  by  an  animal, 
o-morrow,  by  reason  of  a  chemical  change  in  its  component  parts, 
me  animal  tissue;  and  when  that  tissue  has  been  used  by  man 
Dd  in  the  form  of  a  beefsteak,  combined  with  other  foods,  it  is 
Ived,  or  completely  separated  as  to  its  chemical  compounds,  and 
of  it  form  other  combinations  and  new  tissues  in  man's  body, 
:hose  particles  not  used  in  forming  new  tissues  are  thrown  off 
sensible  exertion,  or  through  some  other  one  of  the  emunctories, 
A'hen  thus  set  free  seek  other  combination,  either  in  insect, 
:able,  or  animal  life.  This  economy  is  the  universal  law  of  nature 
•ning  the  physical  universe.  Why,  then,  should  we  set  up  an 
sly  different  theory  for  the  government  and  disposition  of  the 
ual  attribute  of  man?  In  solving  an  occult  problem  we  must 
led  upon  lines  not  at  variance  with  known  truths,  but  all  our 
:tions  must  be  in  perfect  accord  with  demonstrable  facts, 
ylhagoras  advocated  the  doctrine  of  disembodied  spirits  enter- 
ic bodies  of  animals  and  men  [a  glimpse  of  the  idea  of  how  the 
could  be  immortal].  It  seems  reasonable  and  possible,  even 
y  probable,  and  in  perfect  accord  with  the  known  laws  govern- 
he  transmutation  of  matter,  that  the  human  soul,  when  it  is 
lelled,  by  the  untenantable  condition  of  the  body,  to  withdraw 
limative  presence,  should  seek  another  abode  in  a  newly  born 
of  its  own  species,  as  the  body  is  merely  a  physical  apparatus 
igh  which  the  soul  makes  its  presence  manifest, 
he  babe  of  a  few  hours,  days,  or  weeks  is  not  of  sufficient  strength 
ve  full  expression  to  its  powers  of  mental  action;  but,  as  the 
grows  and  the  brain  develops,  the  mind,  according  to  its  activ- 
ives  expression  to  its  characteristics.    If  it  is  musically  inclined, 


88  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

and  the  brain  is  properly  formed  to  give  full  scope  to  that  talent,  wc 
have  a  musical  prodigy.  If  mathematically  inclined,  and  the  brain 
favorably  constructed,  we  have  a  natural  mathematician;  and  so  it  is 
that  the  cultivated  soul  loses  none  of  its  culture,  but  is,  possibly  for 
several  generations,  hampered  in  its  efforts  at  recognition  in  the  in- 
tellectual world  for  the  want  of  a  physical  apparatus  of  sufficient  scope 
to  give  full  expression  to  its  acquirements. 

A  poetical  soul,  properly  equipped  with  a  brain  of  the  proper  size 
and  molecular  structure  to  give  expression  to  the  rhythmic  grandeur 
of  its  emotions,  delights  the  world  with  its  flights  of  fancy  told  in 
harmonious  verse. 

Shakespeare  owed  none  of  his  greatness  to  institutions  of  learning, 
but  seemed  to  be  a  flash  of  genius  direct  from  a  haven  of  universal 
culture.  It  was  so,  also,  with  Burns.  Eugene  Gulp,  a  boy  of  five 
years,  could  read  naturally.  When  asked  by  his  astonished  mother 
how  long  he  had  been  able  to  read,  he  answered:  "  I  don't  know, 
for  I  could  always  read  and  understand  the  stories.  It  is  just  like 
some  person  telling  me  through  my  eyes.''  He  had  the  natural  brain 
conformation,  and  of  sufficient  vigor  to  give  expression  to  his  cult- 
ured soul.  The  family  resemblances  are  merely  physical  character- 
istics and  mannerisms,  the  result  of  association.  A  refined,  honest, 
and  noble  family  is  occasionally  disgraced  by  a  scoundrelly  son  or 
a  disreputable  daughter,  possibly  the  result  of  reincarnation. 

Albro  B.  Allen,  M.D. 


THE  TRUE  TEST. 


What  fallacy  the  whole  world  finds  each  day 

In  time-worn  maxims!     Aristotle  said 

That  when  the  Definite  with  Order  wed, 
Beneath  the  eyes  of  Symmetry — the  way 
To  Beauty  had  been  won.     Yet  who  will  say 

All  laws  of  mathematics  Vound  us  shed 

Can  compensate  for  truth  to  Nature  ?    Dead 
All  art  which  lacks  the  sympathy  to  stay 

Close  to  the  lines  of  life.     To  imitate 
Is  worthless,  and  the  skill  which  prates  of  self 

Is  wasted.     Chisels  may  eliminate 
Crude  lines,  but  tender  Truth,  not  love  of  pelf, 
Creates  the  artist.     High  on  Duty's  shelf 

Lay  Self  and  rules.     The  Truth  will  educate. 

Katuerinb  B.  Huston. 


DOGMA  OF  THE  INCARNATION. 

The  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  is  at  once  the  most  stupendous 
d  dramatic  of  all  human  conceptions.  By  slow  stages  only  did  man 
e  to  the  conception  of  a  Deity.  Primarily,  the  only  God  was  the 
wer  manifested  in  the  element,  or  the  rock,  the  river,  or  the  tree. 

Man  was  a  timid  wanderer  in  this  vast  ocean  of  possibiHties.  Curi- 
ity  was  his  demon,  danger  his  Nemesis.  Yet  dauntlessly  he  pushed 
:-\vard,  hoping  all  things,  trying  all  things,  till  he  became  conqueror 
the  planet.  At  length  he  cast  his  vision  beyond,  to  read,  if  possible, 
e  horoscope  of  the  Infinite. 

The  God,  then,  who  was  once  his  immediate  companion,  dwelling 

rock  or  tree,  river  or  plant,  became  the  invisible  indweller  of  the 
liverse.  The  finite  rock  man  could  compass  with  his  senses  and  his 
nsciousness.  The  immeasurable  universe  was  beyond  his  compre- 
ssion. His  eager  thought  throbbed  from  finite  to  infinite,  and  con- 
tioned  the  God  of  the  boundless,  as  it  had  previously  conditioned 
c  God  of  limitations. 

Hence  a  thousand  errors,  an  ocean  of  incongruities. 

But  from  the  hour  the  fetish-worshipper  heard  in  the  wail  of  the 
ind  the  groan  of  his  god  to  the  present  moment,  when  the  devout 
^votee  gazes  upward  for  the  inter\'entions  of  special  providences, 
leidea  of  incarnations — of  deities  indwelling  in  physical  limitations 
-prevailed  in  human  thought.  Indeed,  we  must  study  the  primitive 
vajT^e,  the  crude  fetish-worshipper,  if  we  would  discover  the  prophecy 

its  great  influence  upon  the  history  of  the  race.  The  loneliness 
nian,  his  ignorance — these  were  the  primitive  conditions  that  led 
t  only  to  his  search  after  a  god,  but  to  his  companionship  with 
ysical  nature.    Most  truly  hath  the  poet  written: 

**  The  groves  were  God's  first  temples.     Ere  man  learned 

To  spread  the  roof  above  them — ere  he  framed 
The  lofty  vault  to  gather  and  roll  back 
The  sound  of  anthems,  in  the  darkling;  wood. 
He  oflfered  to  the  Mightiest  solemn  thanks 

89 


40  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

And  supplication.     For  his  simple  heart 
Might  not  resist  the  sacred  influences 
Which — from  the  stilly  twilight  of  the  place, 
And  from  the  gray  old  trunks  that  high  in  heaven 
Mingled  their  mossy  boughs,  and  from  the  sound 
Of  the  invisible  breath  that  swayed  at  once 
All  their  green  tops — stole  over  him,  and  bowed 
His  spirit  with  the  thought  of  boundless  power 
And  inaccessible  majesty." 

Man  was  a  child  of  the  forest,  a  friend  of  the  wandering  beasts 
(which,  perhaps,  were  not  primarily  dangerous).  He  made  his  meals 
by  day  on  the  nuts  and  fruits  of  the  trees,  and  slept  o'  nights  beneath 
their  **  mossy  boughs,**  mantled  by  the  overarching  skies. 

Anon,  mingled  with  his  various  expressions,  he  heard  his  voice— 
a  strange,  weird,  unwonted,  and  uncanny  sound,  that  seemed  to  him, 
at  first,  to  come  from  without. 

I  imagine  this  human  voice  must  have  been  man's  first  cause  d 
fear. 

Whence  did  it  come?  It  was  not  like  unto  that  of  the  wild  beasts 
among  which  he  wandered,  for  it  seemed  somewhat  more  capable 
of  articulation  and  expression.  It  was  unlike  the  shriek  of  the  mighty 
birds,  or  the  whistle  of  the  winds.  Moreover,  man  soon  discerned 
that  this  human  voice  evidenced  an  individuality  quite  unlike  that  erf 
the  wild  beasts  or  birds.  They  seemed  to  possess  voices  in  common, 
alike  for  each  class  and  species.  But  each  man  seemed  to  be  endowed 
with  a  voice  which  marked  his  individual  identity,  which  distinguished 
him  not  only  from  all  the  lower  animals,  but  from  every  other  indi- 
vidual man  on  the  earth.  This  was  the  most  marvelous  feature  of  the 
voice  of  man,  and  signified  a  weird  and  uncanny  origin. 

Who  has  not  been  startled  in  the  deep  of  a  dark  forest,  where 
nothing  is  heard  but  '*  the  sound  of  the  silence,"  when  of  a  sudden 
words  escape  from  one's  lips,  to  fall  in  broken  echoes  on  the  wood. 

Hence,  how  weird,  how  startling,  must  have  been  the  first  con- 
scious expression  of  human  speech! 

Of  course  it  was  not  a  sudden  manifestation.  It  came  by  slow 
degrees.  Nature  knows  no  leaps.  Nevertheless,  the  existence  of  the 
voice — the  discovery  of  the  faculty  of  speech — was  the  initial  step 


DOGMA   OF   THE   INCARNATION.  41 

in  man's  progress,  and  the  especial  instrument  which  led  to  his  con- 
ception of  incarnate  deities. 

For,  palpably,  the  voice  was  different  from,  something  other  than, 
the  man.  It  was  an  indwelling  personality — it  was  an  ever-abiding 
presence. 

Here  was  a  unique,  a  tremendously  suggestive  discovery. 
Even  we,  in  the  far  advance  of  our  evolution,  cannot  wholly  free 
ourselves  from  the  notion  that  our  speech  (whether  audible  or  silent) 
is  the  expression  of  a  somewhat  other  than  ourselves.  If  not,  why 
do  we  talk  to  ourselves?  why  do  we  argue  and  contend  with  ourselves? 
why  do  we  chide  and  praise  ourselves?  why  do  we  lie  to  and  deceive 
ourselves? — if  the  external  expression  of  the  voice  has  not  uncon- 
sciously led  us  into  self-segregation?  It  is  the  voice  that  seems  to 
have  separated  us  from  ourselves.  For  the  voice  is  the  source  as  well 
as  the  organ  of  speech.  Without  voice  there  would  be  no  language; 
without  language,  speech  (or  lip-communion)  were  impossible. 

This  is  evident  when  we  study  our  mental  moods.  No  thought 
ever  comes  to  us  in  silence  that  is  not  voiced  by  the  inward  speech. 
Each  word,  each  syllable,  finds  silent  utterance.  Without  the  inward, 
inaudible  voice  we  would  be  without  definite  thought  or  intelligence. 
Therefore,  man's  discovery  of  his  voice  was  the  first  great  event 
(and  perhaps  the  most  momentous)  in  the  whole  drama  of  human 
development. 

At  first,  doubtless,  the  voice  seemed  to  come  from  without — from 
another.  Anon,  the  individual  discerned  that  it  came  not  from  with- 
out—from another — but  from  within,  from  himself.  Nevertheless, 
though  from  himself,  it  seemed  to  emanate  from  another  self  within 
himself.  The  human  voice  was,  then,  as  I  read  the  origins  of  history, 
the  first  suggestion  of  incarnation. 

Man,  who  was  a  mere  atom  in  this  vast  universe,  who  so  soon 
learned  to  fear  the  elements  and  the  unseen  powers,  was  not  slow 
to  conceive  that  there  dwelt  within  himself  an  Adviser — a  Protester 
-^to  whom  he  might  flee  in  hours  of  struggle  and  privation. 

This  was  the  first  vague  conception  of  incarnation,  as  we  read  it 
^  the  childhood  experiences  of  the  race. 

Strange  prophecy — poetic  reality!    After  countless  ages  of  evo- 


i 


42  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

lution,  man  returns,  now  by  the  light  of  science  and  religion,  to  his 
primal  childhood  conception  and  realizes  that  the  only  God  in  the 
universe  is  the  indwelling  God — the  only  temples  in  which  he  can 
truly  worship  are  the  temples  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens  (the  ever-present  spiritual  atmosphere). 

"  God  is  Spirit :    .    .    .    worship  Him  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth." 

By  an  easy  transition,  the  primitive  man  transferred  the  notion 
of  an  incarnate  deity  (or  power)  from  himself  to  the  world  without. 

If  his  voice  was  the  God  within,  why  were  there  not  gods  indwell- 
ing in  every  element  that  succored  him — ^in  every  physical  feature  of 
Nature  that  seemed  endowed  with  superior  powers? 

The  winds  that  sweep  down  from  mountain  heights,  and  howl  and 
shriek — ^are  they  not  gods,  made  audible  by  their  uncanny  speech? 

The  Sun,  whose  majestic  presence  overrides  the  heavens  and 
dazzles  all  the  world  with  his  glory — is  he  not,  indeed,  a  great  god  as 
he  sallies  forth  to  the  battle  of  the  day  through*  long,  triumphant 
hours? 

The  rivers  that  overflow  and  enrich  the  valleys  which  bear  for  man 
the  golden  grain  and  blushing  fruit — are  not  these,  indeed,  the  abid- 
ing-places of  the  gods,  who  thus  ever  manifest  their  goodness? 

Thus,  in  time,  the  world  was  peopled  with  gods  almost  as  numer- 
ous as  the  men  upon  its  surface. 

It  was  only  by  a  deteriorating  process  of  civilization  that  the  god 
came  to  dwell  in  the  sculptured  stone  and  radiant  marble.  But  while 
the  broad,  free,  robust  conception  of  the  primitive  man  was  lost  in 
the  more  refined  and  aesthetic  ideal  of  the  Egyptian  or  the  Greek— 
the  later  conception  indicated  a  more  recent  discovery  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  mankind,  namely,  the  existence  of  the  beautiful — which  ex- 
panded into  great  importance  in  human  progress. 

The  so-called  idolatry  of  the  ancient  religions  was  but  a  phase 
of  the  conception  of  incarnations. 

Primarily,  the  glorious  statue  was  not  itself  the  worshipful  object, 
but  the  god,  the  mysterious  indwelling  being,  whom  it  represented, 
whose  ideal  it  purported  to  incarnate. 

Pygmalion  did  not  adore  the  marble  Galatea,  the  mere  physical 
form  he  had  created;  he  bowed  before  that  splendid  statue  because 


DOGMA   OF  THE   INCARNATION.  43 

seemed  to  externalize  the  entrancing  ideal  of  his  soul.  But  not 
II  the  marble  statue  was  transformed  into  living,  speaking  flesh  and 
cod  was  his  heart's  joy  full;  not  until  the  incarnate  deity  of  love 
id  beauty,  whom  he  adored,  threw  off  the  stony  mantle  and  revealed 
jrself  did  he  stand  transfixed  in  the  presence  of  the  divine. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  the  old  mythology. 

Just  as  the  fetish-worshipper  consecrated  every  tree,  or  rock,  or 
t'cr,  or  mount,  within  which  he  believed  a  god  indwelt,  so  the 
?votees  of  Osiris  and  Isis,  of  Juno  and  Jupiter,  of  Athene  and 
polio,  or  of  Pluto  and  Proserpina,  bowed  before  the  triumphant 
lasterpieces  of  their  religious  artists  and  sculptors,  because,  origi- 
ally,  they  believed  gods  and  goddesses  dwelt  within  the  voiceless 
larble. 

Even  among  the  Semites,  whose  instinct  seemed  to  suggest  unity 
-who  sought  the  convergence  of  the  universal  All  in  the  mysterious 
rmbol  of  the  One— even  they  primarily  sought  for  this  one  God 
I  the  objects  of  Nature  and  the  workmanship  of  human  hands. 

Moses  finds  him  in  the  burning  bush;  Aaron,  in  the  Golden  Calf; 
oshua,  in  his  Ebenezer  (a  pile  of  consecrated  rocks);  the  wandering 
ribes,  in  the  Shekina  (cloud  and  'flame) ;  and  the  Temple  worshippers, 
1  the  mystic  Ark. 

\ot  till  in  the  far  advance  of  the  spiritual  unfoldment  of  the  Jewish 
eople — till  the  nation  engendered  a  far-visioned  Isaiah,  a  songful 
Javid,  or  a  Jeremiah,  the  prophet  of  woes — were  they  able  to  throw 
ff  this  species  of  idolatry  and  discern  their  God  in  the  welling  of 
piritual  aspirations  and  in  the  glorious  handiwork  of  Creation. 

At  length,  however,  the  primitive  spiritual  conception  is  lost  and 
fie  inanimate  object  itself  becomes  the  direct  object  of  worship. 

Then  the  people  sink  into  idolatrous  degradation,  and  their  glo- 
lous  ideals  are  obliterated. 

But  out  of  these  beginnings  came  the  common  doctrine  of  the 
icamation  in  the  various  ethnic  religions. 

The  Christian  religion,  however,  emphasized  into  a  supreme  ex- 
ggeration  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation.  It  sought  to  inculcate 
lto  the  religious  mind  the  notion  that  but  once,  in  all  the  annals 
4  human  experience,  the  invisible  Infinite  enfolded  himself  in  the 


U  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

narrow  mantle  of  human  flesh  and  communed  face  to  face  with  his 
own  bewildered  creatures.  To  our  modern  minds  this  conception 
conquers  by  its  very  audacity. 

The  Semitic  thought  had  for  ages  conceived  of  Deity  as  invisible, 
unknowable,  and  unapproachable.  He  stood  apart.  The  universe 
was  not  his  robe,  but  his  tool;  not  his  expression,  but  his  manipu- 
lation. He  held  the  stars  in  the  palms  of  His  hands;  He  weighed  the 
winds  and  carved  the  hollow  for  the  waters  of  the  deep. 

"  Whatsoever  the  Lord  pleased,  that  did  he  in  heaven,  and  in 
earth,  in  the  seas,  and  all  deep  places.  He  causeth  the  vapors  to 
ascend  from  the  ends  of  the  earth;  he  maketh  lightnings  for  the  rain; 
He  bringeth  the  wind  out  of  his  treasuries."    (Psalm  135.) 

He  was  not  only  unapproachable,  but  inconceivable.  His  coun- 
tenance could  not  be  cut  in  stone,  like  that  of  Jupiter  or  Ra,  nor  could 
His  migrations  be  reviewed  in  song  or  dream,  like  those  of  Mercury 
and  Apollo. 

His  realm  was  beyond  the  contemplation  of  the  human  mind;  the 
manner  of  His  presence  was  undiscoverable.  So  ineffable  was  He, 
His  name  could  not  be  uttered,  much  less  written. 

The  multitude,  which  was  benefited  by  His  munificence,  knew  not 
the  avenues  of  approach  to  His  invisible  pavilion;  the  consecrated 
priest  alone  was  endowed  with  this  precious  wisdom,  yet  even  he 
could  discern  the  presence  of  the  Mighty  One  only  in  the  dark 
recesses  of  the  "  Holy  of  Holies,"  where  unbroken  silence  reigtwd 
eternal ;  or  in  the  sudden  brilliance  of  the  magic  stones  on  Urim  and 
Thummim,  or  in  the  mystic  light  that  played  upon  the  winged  cheru- 
bim above  the  Ark. 

"  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,''  was  his  cry,  but  the  face 
of  the  Holy  One  he  never  beheld,  for  who  should  look  upon  the  face 
of  Jehovah  would  expire  in  the  overpowering  splendor  of  the  vision. 

True,  there  were  among  the  Jews  prevailing  traditions  that  ifl 
primitive  times  God  had  revealed  Himself  in  human  form  to  the  early 
leaders;  but  these  traditions  are  so  inconsistent  and  contradictory 
as  to  be  of  but  little  value. 

At  one  time  tradition  said,  *'  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place 
Peniel:  for  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life  is  preserved 


DOGMA   OF  THE   INCARNATION.  45 

.  32  :  30).    But  in  Exodus  33  :  20  we  read:   "  Thou  canst  not 

ly  face;  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me  and  live." 

Then  went  up  Moses  and  Aaron     .     .     .     ,     and  they  saw  the 

of  Israel  "  (Ex.  24  : 9,  10). 

And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh 

his  friend  "  (Exodus  33  :  11). 

»ut,  to  realize  how  purely  figurative  and  symbolic  such  language 

t  need  but  read  in  Deut.  5:4:  **  The  Lord  talked  with  you  face 

ce,  in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire.'*     Here  He  ad- 

ed  the  vast  multitude  in  the  voice  of  thunder;  His  face  was  the 

ning.    In  the  same  sense  we  must  conceive  that  God  talked  to 

is  and  Jacob  face  to  face.    However  literal  these  expressions  seem 

:,  but  a  casual  examination  of  the  text  speedily  proves  that  the 

conveyed,  even  by  this  traditional  lore,  was  not  the  actual,  hu- 

zed,  incarnate  appearance  of  the  invisible  and  mysterious  Lord, 

nerely  His  majestic  manifestation  on  great  and  momentous  oc- 

ns. 

or  we  have  a  specific  description  of  the  appearance  of  the  Lord 

oreb,  where,  we  have  seen,  the  Bible  in  one  place  (Deut.  5  : 4) 

"  The  Lord  talked  with  you  face  to  face,  in  the  mount,  out  of 
lidst  of  the  fire."  But  the  description  of  this  event  in  an  earlier 
er  of  the  same  book  (Deut.  4  :  11,  12  ff.)  shows  clearly  that  the 
irance  was  not  that  of  man  to  man,  but  simply  symbolic  and 
istive: 

Ye  came  near  and  stood  under  the  mountain ;  and  the  mountain 
^d  with  fire  unto  the  midst  of  heaven,  with  darkness,  clouds, 
hick  darkness.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  out  of  the  midst 
t  fire:  ye  heard  the  voice  of  the  words,  but  saw  no  similittide; 
a  voice  ye  heard." 

loses  severely  chides  the  Jews  lest  they  make  a  graven  image 
2  Lord  and  worship  it,  reminding  them  that  they  never  saw 

similitude  "  or  likeness  of  the  Lord.    Hence  it  is  very  evident 
xpression  **  face  to  face  "  could  not  have  been  taken  literally, 
day,  and  must  be  construed  as  figurative  and  hyperbolical, 
'hatever  traditional  lore  may  have  suggested  as  to  epiphanies 
ramations  of  Deity  in  the  early  stages  of  Jewish  history,  cer- 


46  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

tainly  long  before  the  advent  of  Jesus  all  such  possibilities  had  van- 
ished from  the  thought  of  the  people.  For  ages  they  had  been  trained 
to  think  of  Jehovah  as  the  unthinkable,  the  unapproachable,  the  un- 
knowable. 

The  prevailing  conception  of  Deity,  long  before  the  advent  of 
Jesus,  was  voiced  in  such  exclamations  as  **  For  I  lift  up  my  hand  to 
heaven,  and  say,  I  live  forever*'  (Deut.  32  140);  "  Hearken  unto 
me,  O  Jacob  and  Israel,  my  called:  I  am  he:  I  am  the  first,  I  also  am 
the  last  *'  (Is.  48  :  12);  **  Thy  throne  is  established  of  old:  thou  art 
from  everlasting  ''  (Ps.  93  : 2);  *'  For  thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty 
One  that  inhabiteth  Eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy  "  (Is.  57 :  15); 
"  Who  is  able  to  build  him  an  house,  seeing  the  heaven  and  heaven 
of  heavens  cannot  contain  him?  *'  (2  Chr.  2:6);  '*  Whither  shall  I 
flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven  thou  art  there: 
if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there  "  (Ps.  139  : 7-10). 

This  age-ingrained  national  sentiment  we  find  grandly  vdcedifl 
the  words  of  Paul :  ''  Who  is  the  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the  King 
of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords;  who  only  hath  immortality,  dwelling 
in  the  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto;  whom  no  man  k(A 
seen  nor  can  see ''  {1  Tim.  6:15). 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  this  ancient  tradition,  we  may  well  appr^ 
ciate  the  horror  of  the  Jewish  mind  when  the  advent  of  Jesus  was 
proclaimed  as  the  humanized  incarnation  and  physical  appearance 
of  the  invisible  Deity. 

What  wonder  the  Jew  cried  '*  execrable  blasphemer!  "  when  con- 
fronted by  one  of  his  own  race,  who  was  proclaimed  by  the  vokei 
of  his  followers  as  the  Very  God — the  Ancient  of  Days — the  ineffabk 
Jehovah ! 

The  conception  was  so  startling,  so  audacious,  so  defiant,  the  wofrj 
der  is  its  proclamation  was  not  slain  in  its  inception.    The  wonde 
is  the  Jewish  nation  did  not  arise  in  its  entirety  and  quell  this  M< 
sianic  uprising  before  its  voice  could  be  heard  above  the  housetopij 

The  fact  that  Jesus  was  permitted  to  preach  for  three  years; 
allowed  to  enter  the  synagogues,  read  from  the  scriptures,  and  U 
therein  without  molestation  until  He  seemed  to  be  developing  ii 
a  political  menace,  is  proof  enough  that  He  never  could  have 


DOGMA  OF   THE   INCARNATION.  47 

laimed  Himself,  as  have  His  followers  ever  since,  for  nigh  1,900 
ears,  as  the  Very  God,  whose  name  was  unspeakable,  whose  identity 
iras  concealed  in  that  quaternity  of  letters — I  H  V  H. 

But  in  the  Christian  scheme,  in  that  involved  and  abstruse  theol- 
ogy which  the  metaphysical  thought  of  the  Middle  Ages  evolved 
rom  the  simple  Gospel  narratives,  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation 
>ecomes  the  corner-stone — at  once  the  most  momentous  and  im- 
[)ossible  of  all  the  teachings  of  the  Church. 

As  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  was  un-Semitic  and  contrary 
to  tradition,  the  Jewish  people  defiantly  rejected  the  Saviour  who 
was  uplifted  as  the  proclaimef  of  the  repulsive  invention. 

Nevertheless,  in  the  minds  of  the  more  refined  and  learned  Jews 
the  notion  of  the  Logos  had  already  found  a  comfortable  reception. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  or  the  Word,  even  as  incarnate,  we  shall 
see,  existed  among  the  Grecianized  Jews  long  before  the  advent  of 
Jesus  and  several  centuries  before  its  proclamation  by  St.  John. 

Philo,  the  Jewish  philosopher  of  Alexandria,  had  taught  the  prin- 
aples  of  the  Logos — the  Word-incarnate — ^just  before  the  Jesuan 
Jpoch. 

Thus,  at  the  very  threshold  of  Christianity,  the  theologians  and 
bctrinaires  are  confronted  with  a  very  perplexing  problem. 

When  John,  alone  of  all  the  Gospel  writers  (writing  at  least  a 
uarter  and  probably  a  half  century  after  the  Synoptic  Gospels)  de- 
lares,  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Logos  (Word)  and  the  Logos  was 
nth  God,  and  the  Logos  was  God,"  he  speaks  in  language  foreign 
Id  repulsive  to  all  the  orthodox  Jewish  followers  of  Jesus,  but  sig- 
ificantly  suggestive  of  Philo  and  the  Alexandrian  school. 

However,  with  their  accustomed  nonchalance  and  hauteur,  the 
hristian  dogmatists  wave  aside  the  insinuation  that  John  may  have 
icome  tinctured  with  neo-platonism,  and  was  but  echoing  the  Lo- 
>s-doctrine  already  well  established  in  progressive  Jewish  circles  by 
hilo  and  the  Alexandrianists.  The  argument  in  their  behalf  is  for- 
bly  put  by  Domer,  who  insists  that  '*  Blinding  as  the  resemblance 
itween  many  of  his  ideas  and  modes  of  expression  and  those  of 
hristianity  may  be  to  the  superficial  reader,  yet  the  essential  prin- 
plc  IS  to  its  very  foundation  diverse.    Even  that  which  sounds  like 


48  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  expressions  of  John  has  in  its  entire  connection  a  meaning  alto- 
gether diverse.  His  system  stalks  by  the  cradle  of  Christianity  only 
as  a  spectral  counterpart.  It  appears  like  the  floating,  dissolving 
fata  Morgana  on  the  horizon,  where  Christianity  is  about  to  rise." 
(*•  Person  of  Christ,"  II.,  198,  342.) 

Notwithstanding  the  convincing  earnestness  of  these  remarks, 
any  unprejudiced  student  of  history  acquainted  with  the  several  philo- 
sophic schools  of  Alexandria,  Greece,  and  Asia,  must  be  convinced 
that  Dorner's  exaggerated  rhetoric  is  an  effort  to  draw  a  thick  vdl 
over  a  very  prejudicial  fact.  One  is  inclined  to  exclaim,  **  By  heaven, 
he  doth  protest  too  much,"  and  immediately  begin  a  search  for  the 
apparent  truth  he  is  seeking  to  conceal. 

Once  establish  the  fact  that  Philo's  Logos  was  in  all  points  an 
exact  prophecy  and  forestatement  of  John's  and  Paul's,  and  yoa 
convict  the  Christian  scheme  of  an  apparent  forgery,  or  at  least  an 
embarrassing  plagiarism.  But  we  shall  be  led  to  a  still  more  scrioos 
and  condemning  conclusion  if  we  closely  follow  the  intimations  ol 
those  ancient  times. 

Philo,  forget  not,  was  a  devout  Jew,  like  Paul,  after  "  the  most 
strictest  sect."  Moreover,  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  sacer- 
dotal order,  and  most  profoundly  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
law.  He  was  a  Pharisee — a  teacher,  or  rabbi,  in  the  synagogue,  as 
well  as  an  earnest  and  comprehensive  student  of  revived  HellenisoL 
More  than  any  other  thinker  of  his  day,  he  reflects  the  mind  and 
method — the  mysticism  and  allegorism— of  the  divine  Plato.  Hilj 
hereditary  bias  was  Semitic,  but  his  mental  culture  and  aesthetic  taste 
were  Hellenic.  Though  a  Pharisee,  he  rejected  all  literalism,  and] 
sought  after  the  spirit,  or  idea,  of  the  word. 

Now,  as  will  readily  be  seen  from  what  follows,  the  descriptiaij 
of  the  Logos  in  the  writings  of  Philo  are  so  similar  to  those  of 
Johannine  teachings  that  only  a  conscienceless  casuist  could  difftf^j 
entiate  them. 

But  a  great  problem  here  presents  itself.     Philo  was  the 
temporary  of  Jesus  and  Paul.    Why  is  it  that  Philo  did  not 
in  Jesus  the  veritable  Paraclete — God  made  manifest  in  the  fl< 
about  whom  he  had  been  so  long  and  so  eloquently  discoursing? 


DOGMA   OF  THE   INCARNATION.  49 

isuists  and  dogmatists  insist  that  Philo's  Logos  was  never  a  person- 
kation;  it  was  ever  but  an  idea,  an  abstraction,  an  emanation,  and 
upersonal  radiation  of  the  infinite  God,  and  he  was  incapable  of  com- 
prehending the  fact  of  a  real  manifestation  of  Deity  in  human  form. 
The  writings  of  Philo,  however,  seem  to  belie  this  statement. 

"  Philo's  doctrine  would  not  itself  suggest  the  application  of  the 
idea  of  the  Logos  to  any  historical  appearance  whatsoever;  for  the 
revelation  of  the  Logos  refers  not  exclusively  to  any  single  fact,  but 
to  cverj'thing  relating  to  the  revelation  of  God  in  nature  and  his- 
tor)-;'*  so  writes  one. 

If  this  be  true,  then  how  could  Philo  have  conceived  of  this  gen- 
eral revelator  of  the  Infinite  as  manifesting  in  specific  historic  in- 
stances, which  he  specifies? 

He  says  that  He  (the  Logos)  is  **  the  first-born  son  of  God  "; 
*  God's  vicegerent  in  the  world;  "  **  the  constructor  of  worlds  "  (the 
Amiurge);  he  assigns  Him  to  the  office  of  "  Mediator  between  God 
and  the  material  universe";  He  is  the  *'  High-priest  of  the  world  **;  the 
advocate  for  the  defects  of  men  with  God,  and,  in  general,  he  attrib- 
utes to  Him  the  office  of  revealing  the  divine  nature  of  Deity  to 
mankind.  This  Logos  of  Philo  is  ''  the  second  God;  the  archangel 
who  destroyed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  spoke  to  Jacob,  and  to  Moses 
fe  the  burning  bush,  and  led  the  people  of  Israel  through  the  wilder- 
•css;  He  is  the  High-priest  and  Advocate  who  pleads  the  cause 
rf  sinful  humanity  before  God  and  procures  for  it  the  pardon  of  its 
ins  "  ( ride  McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclo.  Bib.  Liter.,  s.  v.  **  Philo.'* 
*his  is  strictly  orthodox  authority.) 

Here  is  a  specification  of  every  qualification  which  Christian  the- 
logy  has  written  unto  the  person  and  office  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Nevertheless,  the  casuists  insist  that  Philo  could  not  have  referred 

the  application  of  the  idea  of  the  Logos  to  any  historical  appear- 

ice  whatever."    Then,  why  does  he  specify  its  appearance  in  the 

jming  bush,  in  the  archangel  who  fought  with  Jacob  at  Peniel, 

the  three  that  appeared  to  Lot? 

Why  is  every  historical  theophany  or  epiphany  which  is  recorded 
the  Old  Testament,  and  which  every  Christian  theologian  regards 
the  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ,  regarded  by  Philo  as  an  appearance 


50  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

of  his  Logos,  if ''  the  application  of  his  idea  of  the  Logos  could  not 
have  referred  to  any  historical  appearance  whatever"? 

Why  do  the  Johannine  writings,  and  all  orthodox  writings  since 
employ  in  their  descriptions  of  Jesus  Christ  the  very  terms,  qualifi- 
cations, and  offices  that  Philo  employs  in  describing  his  Logos— if 
it  could  have  "  referred  to  no  historical  appearance  whatever  "? 

If  Philo's  Logos  is  impersonal,  unhistorical,  abstract,  a  mere  idea, 
an  emanation,  a  radiation  of  the  Infinite  Centre,  then  such  must  have 
been  Jesus  Christ,  for  in  all  respects  the  descriptions  of  the  two  are 
not  only  similar,  but  identical. 

The  troublesome  and  perplexing  problem  which  confronts  the 
Christian  historian  and  theologian  is  this:  That,  notwithstanding 
Philo  had  so  accurately  and  significantly  described  the  very  offices 
and  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  so  far  as  they  have  been  ascribed  to  him 
in  Christian  Theology,  nevertheless  Philo,  the  contemporary  of  Jcsai 
Christ,  is  suggestively,  significantly,  tantalizingly  silent  conci 
him  as  an  historical  character! 

This  is  the  most  treacherous  of  all  historical  facts.  This  one  iin 
cident,  more  than  any  other,  casts  serious  doubt  on  the  historical 
verity  of  Jesus. 

The  silence  of  np  other  contemporary  could  be  so  significant, 
the  writings  of  Josephus  fail  to  note  the  advent  of  Jesus,  we  can 
it  over  as  the  omission  of  envy  and  the  inborn  prejudice  of  the  Phar 
isees.    If  Tacitus,  Livy,  and  all  other  profane  writers  were  silent,  tl 
fact  might  be  attributed  to  ignorance  or  want  of  familiarity  with 
history  of  a  people  so  unlike  the  Romans,  a  people  whom  the  and 
"  gentile  ''  world  never  seemed  to  appreciate. 

But  with  Philo  the  situation  is  exactly  opposite.  All  his  life, 
meditations,  his  aspirations,  and  his  philosophy  would  have  compel 
him  to  throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  Jesus — the  manifest  Paraclct 
if  he  had  met  with  or  heard  of  Him. 

How  gladly  would  this  devout  and  learned  Jew  have  accept 
the  actual  personification  of  his  own  ideas  in  his  long-dreamed 
hope — his  divine  and  unique  philosophy — had  their  incarnation 
indubitably  set  before  his  eyes!    Had  the  Incarnate  convinced 
of  His  sincerity  and  reality,  there  could  have  been  no  excuse  for 


DOGMA   OF  THE  INCARNATION.  51 

o  have  rejected  Him.  For  He  would  have  exemplified  the  very  prin- 
iples  Philo  was  enunciating,  and  the  event,  would  have  redounded 
o  Philo's  individual  glory  by  exalting  his  idealistic  and  abstract  phi- 
csophy  into  a  realistic,  human  event. 

But  Philo  is  silent,  notwithstanding  that  during  the  very  period 
fcsus  was  stirring  up  commotion  throughout  all  Palestine  Philo  vis- 
ted  Jerusalem,  and  could  not  but  have  heard  of  Him  if  He  really 
existed. 

Yet  the  casuists  insist  that  the  idea  of  Philo's  Logos  could  not 
lave  been  intended  to  refer  to  any  historical  appearance.  But  Philo's 
Dwn  words  clearlv  refute  the  insinuation. 

Of  Jesus,  his  contemporary,  Philo  is  silent.  Nevertheless,  some 
me  hundred  years  later,  at  least,  a  Christian  writer,  assumed  to  be 
John  of  Patmos,  prepares  a  narrative  of  this  same  Jesus,  and  for  the 
first  time  employs,  with  reference  to  this  personage,  the  very  terms, 
titles,  and  offices  which  the  now  silenced  Philo  had  invented  in  de- 
scribing his  ideal  Logos,  whom  he  had  never  seen  personified  in  the 
lesh.  Surely,  here  is  more  than  a  mere  coincidence;  it  is  extremely 
uggestive  of  plagiarism. 

It  seems  almost  indisputable,  as  I  have  shown  in  my  previous  ar- 

icle  on  The  Trinity,  fhat  the  story  of  the  incarnation  and  the  entire 

rinitarian  theology  originated  in  the  Alexandrine  school  of  Hellenic 

swish  philosophy. 

Henry  Frank. 
(To  be  continued.) 


« 


Then  the  World-honored  spake:    '  Scatter  not  rice, 

But  ofTer  loving  thoughts  and  acts  to  all. 

To  parents  as  the  East  where  rises  light; 

To  teachers  as  the  South  whence  rich  gifts  come; 

To  wife  and  children  as  the  West  where  gleam 

Colors  of  love  and  calm,  and  all  days  end; 

To  friends  and  kinsmen  and  all  men  as  North; 

To  humblest  living  things  beneath,  to  Saints 

And  Angels  and  the  blessed  Dead  above: 

So  shall  all  evil  be  shut  ofT,  and  so 

The  six  main  quarters  will  be  safely  kept.' " 

The  Light  of  AsUi,  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold. 


52  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

(V.) 
THE  ROMANCES  OF  THE  CEMETERY. 

"  Good  morning!  Have  you  been  sitting  on  that  tombstone  ever 
since  I  went  away?  " 

"  Probably  not,  as  I  have  several  other  occupations.  Are  you  the 
ghost  that  came  over  some  two  weeks  ago  and  went  to  visit  your 
relatives  after  the  funeral — the  Drexel  Boulevard  ghost?" 

''  Yes." 

"  How  did  you  enjoy  it?  " 

*'  I  did  not  enjoy  it;  I  endured." 

"  It  is  unsatisfactory." 

**  Very  unsatisfactory." 

"  You  are  not  the  first  home-sick  ghost  I  have  seen.  Strange  that 
people  will  take  the  trouble  to  get  here,  and  then  wish  themselves 
back  so  soon.  It  is  unreasonable!  Of  course,  it  is  not  all  sunshine 
in  Shadowland.  There  are  twenty-four  hours  in  a  day,  and  some- 
times they  seem  like  a  hundred  and  twenty-four.  But,  to  my  mind, 
sitting  on  tombstones  watching  funerals  and  looking  for  new  ghosts 
is  pleasanter  than  walking  the  streets  of  the  city,  hungry  and  cold, 
without  a  penny  in  one's  pocket,  looking  for  a  job,  when  thousandl 
of  other  men  in  the  same  condition  are  doing  the  same  thing— and 
there  are  no  jobs  to  be  found!  That  was  what  drove  me  to  Shadow- 
land.  But  I  have  been  down  and  looked  at  your  home,  and  what  sent 
you  here  is  more  than  I  can  imagine." 

The  New  Ghost  shook  his  head,  sadly,  as  if  it  was  also  more  than 
he  could  imagine. 

**  In  my  case  it  was  a  mistake."  he  said,  wearily.    "  I  see  that  now. 
I  have  friends,  and  I  should  have  stayed  with  them." 

"  This  tombstone  is  getting  a  little  hard.  Suppose  we  walk  over 
to  the  bank  of  the  lake  and  sit  down  on  the  hillside,  under  that  big 
tree.  I  suppose  you  came  to  see  if  they  were  doing  anything  abort 
your  monument;  but  they  may  not  put  that  up  for  a  year." 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  53 

I  am  in  no  hurry." 

You  will  be  before  you  get  it.  Ghosts  are  always  in  a  hurry 
t  how  their  last  residence  looks.  But  it  is  pleasanter  over  this 
to  sit  and  talk.  There  are  not  so  many  graves.  Where  can 
ind  a  prettier  place  than  this  on  a  sunny  day  in  June — or  is  it 

It  is  more  work  to  keep  track  of  the  months  than  it  is  of  the 
of  the  week.  You  can  tell  when  Sunday  comes  by  the  looks 
e  streets.  But  if  you  get  lost  on  months  you  have  to  go  and 
up  a  daily  paper." 

he  two  ghosts  walked  across  the  soft  green  grass  and  paused 
new-made  grave,  which  the  mourners  had  just  left. 
Do  you  know  who  it  is?  "  asked  the  New  Ghost. 
Yes;  Gransen,  the  millionaire.    All  the  city  is  talking  about  his 
.    Probably  you  knew  him?  " 

He  was  an  acquaintance.  I  would  like  to  see  him.  I  wonder 
?  he  is  now?  " 

So  do  I.  But  you  see  he  died.  That  is  one  reason  why  I  stay 
id  the  cemetery  so  much.  I  keep  hoping  that  Til  catch  sight 
ne  ghost  of  the  other  kind.  They  must  be  just  as  much  alive 
;  are — it  is  only  the  body  that  dies.  But  where  do  they  go? 
is  what  puzzles  me!  I  should  think  some  of  them  would  be 
jh  interested  in  earth  to  stay  around  and  attend  their  own 
als,  and  visit  their  graves.  But  I  can't  catch  them  at  it,  day  or 
.  I  camped  out  here  a  month  the  first  summer,  but  there  was 
ng  stirring  nights  except  such  things  as  birds,  grasshoppers, 
ets,  and  the  fish  in  the  lake.  It  was  so  still  I  could  hear  every 
:  anything  made,  even  to  a  mouse  hurrying  through  the  grass. 
:rackling  of  a  twig  when  a  bird  moved  uneasily,  the  jump  of  a 
the  whir  of  a  grasshopper's  wing,  the  stir  of  the  grass  when  a 
et  crept  under  a  different  pebble,  the  gliding  of  a  fish  through 
/ater — all  this  I  could  hear!    But  never  the  ghost  of  a  sound, 

sound  of  a  ghost,  came  from  the  graves.    They  were  as  still 
ath." 

Those  ghosts  must  go  to  some  other  part  of  the  universe.  Evi- 
/  they  are  not  earth-bound,  as  we  are.  Probably  they  find  the 
ife  so  interesting  that  they  have  no  inclination  to  come  back  and 


54  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

look  after  such  trifling  matters  as  funerals  and  tombstones.  What 
do  you  do  when  you  are  not  sitting  on  tombstones  or  watching 
graves?  " 

"  Yesterday  I  went  down  to  your  house.  I  thought  I  would  like 
to  see  how  you  look." 

"How  Hook!" 
\     "  Yes." 
!      "  How  did  you  expect  to  find  out  there?  " 

"  I  thought  perhaps  I  could  find  your  picture  on  the  wall,  but 
your  folks  had  taken  it  away.  They  had  taken  the  albums,  too— 
though  they  wouldn't  do  me  any  good  unless  someone  was  looking 
at  them.    I  couldn't  open  one." 

"  No;  we  can't  open  anything.  I  have  learned  that  fact  thor- 
oughly," mused  the  New  Ghost. 

"  How  do  I  look  to  you?  "  inquired  the  Old  Ghost.  "  Not  that 
I  am  vain  of  my  personal  appearance,  but  as  a  matter  of  curiosity; 
what  do  you  think  I  look  like?  " 

"  A  tall,  slim  form,  veiled  in  gray  mist,  so  thin  and  unsubstantial 
that  I  could  poke  my  fingers  through  it — that  is  what  you  seem  to 
be.  But  the  sun  shines  right  through  you,  just  the  same  as  if  you  were 
not  there.  You  cast  no  shadow.  In  fact,  you  look  very  much  like 
the  picture  of  a  ghost  I  saw  in  a  book  when  I  was  a  child." 

"  That  is  just  it!  Now  the  ghost  I  saw  in  a  book,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  wore  a  night-cap  and  a  sheet.  And  every  new  ghost  I  sec  wears 
a  night-cap  and  a  sheet — until  I  get  acquainted  with  him.  No.  198 
says  the  ghost  of  his  boyhood  days  was  a  skeleton,  so  all  ghosts  are 
walking  skeletons  to  him  for  awhile.  And  37  says  ghosts  all  look 
like  nuns  with  long,  trailing  robes,  and  99's  ghosts  are  always  dressed 
in  black,  with  their  faces  hidden." 

''Inexplicable!" 

*'  The  ghosts  87  sees  are  more  like  a  skull  and  cross-bones  than 
anything  else.  And  93 — he  is  the  one  that  is  always  reading  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  quoting  Homer  and  Virgil,  and  talking  about  Achilles 
and  Hector  and  all  those  ancient  fellows — ^his  ghosts  are  great,  big» 
shadowy  figures,  usually  carrying  a  battle-axe  about  with  them.  The 
Theorist  says  that  the  trouble  with  us  is,  we  never  gave  the  subject 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  56 

of  ghosts  any  particular  thought  after  we  grew  up,  and  so  our  child- 
hood's notions  in  regard  to  a  ghost's  personal  appearance  have  re- 
mained with  us.  He,  and  the  Experimenter,  and  the  Scientist,  and 
all  the  folks  that  have  studied  into  such  things,  see  us  more  as  we 
must  be." 

"How  is  that?" 

"Oh,  thin,  and  vapory,  and  mist-like.  We  are  lighter  than  air; 
our  particles  are  so  fine  that  we  can  go  through  a  door  or  a  stone 
wall  in  case  of  need,  so  there  can't  be  very  much  solid  substance  about 
us.  The  Poet  says  we  are  beautiful.  Our  particles  shine  and  spar- 
kle like  the  dew  upon  the  grass,  or  new-fallen  snow  in  the  sunshine. 
But  then — the  Poet  always  sees  beauty  in  everything.  He  looks 
for  it.'' 

"  Perhaps  that  is  what  poets  are  for — to  find  beauty." 

"Some  people  never  know  that  snow  is  anything  but  snow — a, 
cold,  white  substance  that  boys  use  to  make  snowballs.  But  I  have 
seen  it  here  in  the  cemetery,  with  the  sun  shining  through  the  trees, 
when  it  sparkled  like  millions  of  diamonds.  Oh,  it  looks  like  fairyland 
here,  sometimes!  It  is  pretty  now,  with  the  soft  green  grass,  the 
birds  singing  in  the  trees,  and  the  lake  there  so  cool  and  still.  In 
the  winter,  as  soon  as  the  first  snow  comes,  the  whole  cemetery  is 
dressed  in  a  robe  of  white  dotted  with  marble.  It  makes  me  think 
of  embroidery,  only  the  pattern  isn't  very  regular.  And  when  the 
trees  are  glistening  with  white  frost  or  a  light  snow,  their  branches 
kcnding  low  with  their  sparkling  weight  of  jewelry,  one  could  easily 
ttnagine  himself  in  an  enchanted  forest.' 

"  I  believe  you  love  the  cemetery.' 

"  I  do.  It  is  pleasanter  out  here,  in  this  quiet,  peaceful  city  of 
'he  dead,  than  it  is  up  there  in  the  hurry,  and  bustle,  and  confusion, 
>f  that  great,  greedy,  starving  city  of  the  living.  And  Chicago  is 
^  good  as  any  city,  and  better  than  the  most  of  them." 

"That  sounds  like  a  true  Chicagoan!  But  I  should  think  you 
^ould  find  it  dull  here,  and  monotonous,  and  would  want  something 
0  happen !  There  is  too  much  peace,  and  quiet,  and  silence,  for  an 
very-day  diet." 

"  Things  do  happen  here." 


99 


56  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

"  The  funeral  processions  come  and  go— but  that  is  monotonous. 
I  should  get  tired  of  watching  them.'' 

**  Perhaps  not,  if  you  took  to  studying  the  mourners.  I  find  it 
quite  interesting.  Folks  are  folks,  even  at  a  funeral,  and  everything 
goes  on  here  in  the  cemetery  much  as  it  does  over  yonder  in  the  city. 
I  have  seen  strange  happenings  in  the  city  of  the  dead — ^as  it  is  called! 
But  I  find  that  it  belongs  to  the  living.  Nights  it  is  sacred  to  the 
dead,  but  days  subject  to  the  passions  of  the  living.  If  the  dead 
could  be  disturbed  by  the  acts  of  the  living  they  would  be,  for  I  have 
seen  a  bold  woman  trying  to  flirt  by  the  side  of  the  open  grave, 
in  which  a  man  was  burying  his  wife.  Six  months  later  they  came 
to  the  cemetery  together — married!  " 

**  Probably  she  thought  the  rights  of  the  living  ended  with  death." 

"  Perhaps.  We  have  quarrels  here,  and  courtships,  and  betrothals, 
and  suicides — everything  but  weddings  and  divorces.  The  romances 
of  the  cemetery  are  quite  as  sensational  as  those  of  the  city.  We 
had  an  elopement — in  high  life,  too,  as  the  papers  call  it !  The  mourn- 
ers came  in  private  carriages.  The  bride  was  a  cousin  of  the  child 
they  were  burying,  and  rode  in  one  of-  the  last  carriages,  with  her 
sister  and  little  brothers.  The  children  were  anxious  to  get  near  the 
grave,  and  she  slipped  away  from  them  and  hurried  back  to  the  gate, 
where  her  lover  was  waiting  with  a  carriage.  She  stepped  in,  and 
they  drove  away  and  caught  a  train  and  were  on  their  way  to  Wis- 
consin before  her  parents  missed  her.  I  heard  the  florist  and  a  r^ 
porter  talking  about  it  the  next  day;  he  had  bought  a  bouquet  of 
the  florist.  It  was  hushed  up  so  it  never  got  into  the  papers.  I  ^"as 
at  the  grave  watching  the  mourners  while  the  elopement  was  going 
on — or  off.  It  is  impossible  to  be  present  at  all  that  happens,  even 
in  one  cemetery." 

**  I  never  supposed  people  would  elope  from  a  funeral  procession! 

"  Nor  I,  until  I  lived  in  the  cemetery.  Nor  did  I  suppose  people 
came  here  to  quarrel.  One  day  a  man  and  a  woman — both  well- 
dressed — came  along  a  path,  talking  earnestly.  The  woman  was  cry- 
ing. They  proved  to  be  brother  and  sister,  and  had  been  all  over 
the  cemetery  looking  at  lots.  They  stopped  under  a  big  tree  near 
the  tombstone  I  was  sitting  on,  to  have  it  out.    She  told  him  that, 


I 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  57 

c  was  willed  two-thirds  of  the  estate,  he  must  buy  the  lot  and 
all  the  funeral  expenses.  He  said  he  would  pay  his  proportion — 
-thirds — and  not  a  cent  more.  She  must  pay  her  share.  If  their 
er  was  like  us,  and  could  be  around  looking  after  things,  I  wonder 
t  he  thought  to  hear  his  son  and  daughter  quarrelling  over  ex- 
ses  before  he  was  buried!  There  was  no  need  of  it,  either.  They 
e  rich.  Poor  folks,  who  have  to  deny  themselves  to  comfortably 
se  their  dead,  wouldn't  think  of  quarrelling  over  it.  The  funerals 
ingle  graves  are  often  very  pathetic." 

*  A  funeral  is  always  pathetic.'* 

*  Would  you  think  that  men  would  quarrel  over  a  woman  out 
:  in  the  cemetery,  and  a  dead  woman  at  that!  " 

*  It  seems — improbable!  " 

*  There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature  on  exhibition  in  a  ceme- 

.    I  was  sitting  under  this  very  tree  a  few  weeks  ago,  when  two 

came  along  that  gravelled  path,  talking  in  loud  and  forcible  tones. 

man  was  big  and  fat,  and  owns  a  family  lot  and  a  mausoleum 

t  over  there  to  your  left.  He  wanted  to  bury  his  sister  with  the 
ly.    The  other  man  was  small  and  lean,  and  declared  that  his 

belonged  in  the  country  cemetery,  where  their  only  child  was 
td.  His  family  was  there,  he  expected  to  lie  there,  and  she  would 
?r  to  be  with  him.  Then  the  pent-up  bitterness  of  years  broke 
I,  and  I  thought  they  would  come  to  blows.    The  big  man  said 

it  was  enough  for  his  sister  to  be  separated  from  her  family 
ugh  life,  by  her  marriage  with  a  poor,  low-bred,  ignorant  for- 
er.  She  should  not  be  separated  from  them  in  death,  and  to  all 
lity!  She  had  regretted  her  marriage  as  bitterly  as  her  family 
and  she  should  never  be  taken  to  a  cheap  country  cemetery! 
'  went  on  down  the  path,  and  pretty  soon  a  handsome  carriage 

*  along  the  drive,  empty.  The  coachman  was  keeping  watch 
e  men.  Half  an  hour  later  the  carriage  drove  back.  The  two 
were  sitting  in  it  as  stiff  and  silent  as  the  marble  monuments 
were  passing.'* 

Was  the  sister  buried  here?  " 

Xo;  the  little  man  must  have  won  his  point  and  taken  her  to 

ountry  cemetery." 


68  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


H    T ^1-.J    >> 


it 
n 
it 


it 
tt 


tt 
tt 


I  am  glad.' 
**  We  don't  know  enough  about  it  to  be  glad  either  way.   There 
was  a  suicide  in  one  of  the  cemeteries  only  a  few  weeks  ago.    I  think 
they  managed  to  keep  that  out  of  the  papers,  too.    A  young  man 
shot  himself  by  the  grave  of  his  sweetheart." 

"  Do  husbands  ever  shoot  themselves  by  the  graves  of  their 
wives?  " 

I  don't  know  of  a  case." 

Of  necessity,  the  romances  of  a  cemetery  must  be  tragic." 
You  forget  the  elopement!    Or  do  you  look  at  marriage  as  a 
tragedy?    There  was  a  very  pretty  courtship  going  on  in  this  ceme- 
tery all  of  one  summer." 
A  courtship! " 
Yes." 
"  But  a  courtship  in  a  cemetery! " 
Certainly!  and  a  betrothal,  too!  " 
Impossible! " 

"  Oh,  no!  only  a  little  out  of  the  ordinary.    Such  things  do  not 
happen  every  day — ^but  they  happen!  " 

"  I  thought  cemeteries  were  for  the  dead!  " 
"  I  used  to  think  so,  too;  but  they  are  for  the  living.  Thcb^ 
trothal — I  don't  know  what  else  to  call  it^-occurred  at  the  funeral 
of  the  bride's  mother.  I  was  sitting  on  a  flat-topped  tombstone,  near 
by,  looking  on,  not  expecting  anything  unusual  from  that  set  of  folk^ 
Just  at  the  end  of  the  ceremony,  a  young  man,  who  had  stood  apart 
from  the  mourners,  stepped  forward  and  took  the  hand  of  a  weeping 
girl,  and  drew  her  to  his  side  with  an  air  of  protection.  '  As  yof^ 
all  know,  I  asked  Marie  to  be  my  wife  a  long  time  ago.  Her  mother 
gave  her  consent  last  week,  and  desired  me  to  tell  you  all,  by  the 
side  of  her  open  grave,  that  there  may  be  no  more  opposition/  h^ 
said,  in  a  clear,  firm  tone.  I  nearly  slipped  oflF  the  monument  with 
surprise,  and  a  young  man  among  the  mourners  stumbled  over  a  foot- 
stone  and  looked  so  aghast  that  I  concluded  it  was  upsetting  some 
of  his  arrangements." 

"  I  am  curious  to  hear  about  the  courtship." 

Harriet  E.  Orcutt. 

(To  be  continued.) 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM. 

(I) 

symbol,  as  an  expression  of  the  character  of  an  idea,  has  been 
divine  creation.  Long  antedating  the  records  of  Chaldea  and 
the  ideograph  is  found  depicted  in  various  forms  on  crum- 
ircophagi  as  emblematical  of  the  particular  attributes  of  the 
il  divinities  whom  those  earlier  races  embodied  in  the  visible 


». 


ereas  the  idiomatic  phraseology  which  characterizes  a  re- 
form of  expression  is  wholly  inadequate  or  else  misleading 
icure  when  utilized  in  the  domain  of  spiritual  analyses,  the 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  divine  truth,  illumines  the  un- 
ding  to  a  degree  beyond  the  bounds  of  human  intellection. 
»  fact  was  recognized  by  humanity  in  the  incipiency  of  its 
ysical  teachings,  for  the  simplest,  or  constituent,  forms  in 
t  of  ideographic  expression  were  used  for  the  elucidation  of 
itual  mysteries,  in  their  concept  of  which  the  circle  and  the 
ere  especially  symbolical  of  principles  and  potentialities  in 
e  economy.  As  representatives  of  fundamental  truths,  these 
mbols  have  retained  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  their  signifi- 
hroughout  th^  decadencies  as  well  as  the  civilizations;  and 
hey  express  to  the  spiritual  apprehension  the  same  principles 
1  when  Sanchoniathon  expatiated  upon  the  cosmogony  and 
ly  of  the  Phoenicians. 

It  so  suggestive  of  the  quality  of  perfection  as  the  Circle  (O), 
ibol  of  pure  spirit,  or  universal  Psyche — ^the  mystic  circum- 
which  comprehends  the  Unity,  or  allness  of  Being?  Alone, 
!s  Power,  which  may  be  abstractly  conceived  as  the  Primor- 
1  in  abeyance;  but  place  within  it  the  suggestion  of  a  centre 
I  generator  of  activity,  and  we  have  indicated  another  quality, 
>  Force,  the  offspring  of  Power  and  the  parent  of  Motion, 
v^italizing  energy  essential  to  all  manifestation — symbolized 

logy  by  the  Sun. 

59 


60  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

The  Sun,  therefore,  is  the  vivifying  principle  through  which  Spirit 
becomes  visible  as  Matter;  while  the  stars  are  the  cosmic  instruments 
through  which  the  higher  substantialities  are  differentiated  into  the 
four  classes  of  elemental  life — mystically  signified  by  the  Cross. 

In  these  two  symbols  are  disclosed  the  true  purport  of  Astrology 
as  the  scientific  interpreter  of  that  divine  law  of  correspondence  which 
formed  the  basis  of  those  ancient  religious  cults  whose  devotees  wor- 
shipped the  central  luminary  as  an  expression  of  the  All-Seeing  Eye. 
Therein  they  perceived  a  sovereign  principle  in  Nature,  which  would 
doubtless  prove  most  invigorating  as  a  tonic  if  persistently  and  sys- 
tematically injected  into  some  of  the  enervated  theologies  of  the  pres- 
ent day. 

Thus  the  cosmical  was  intersociated  with  the  moral  and  the  ethical; 
and  in  this  recognition  of  the  absolute  identity  of  the  objective  and 
the  subjective  is  found  the  key  to  the  transcendentalism  of  the  sidereal 
religions  which  prevailed  before  the  empiricism  of  man  attempted  an 
improvement  upon  the  science  of  Nature. 

Bunsen,  in  his  work  on  the  Zodiac,  says:  **  Sidereal  religion  pre- 
vailed in  Mesopotamia  before  the  invention  of  writing,  since  the  ear- 
liest symbol  of  deity  known  to  us  is  a  star.  Thus,  the  deity  Sibut, 
probably  connected  with  the  Pleiades,  is  determined  by  a  star  with 
the  number  7  by  its  side."  This  is  in  line  with  the  account  in  Genesis 
of  the  creation  of  man  by  the  Elohim  (the  plural  of  El,  a  star)  of  God 
expressive  of  the  seven  creative  principles  included  in  his  sidereal  con- 
stitution. 

As  the  word  Pleiades  is  analogous  to  the  Chaldaic  Chimah,  sig- 
nifying a  hinge  or  axle,  there  is  little  doubt  the  deific  symbol  referred 
to  by  Bunsen  is  none  other  than  the  fixed  star  Alcyone,  the  brightest 
of  the  seven  distinct  orbs  included  in  that  celestial  group,  a  star 
which  has  been  conceded,  as  the  result  of  careful  astronomic  obser- 
vation, to  be  the  centre  of  gravity  of  our  solar  system,  the  pivotal 
point  around  which  the  sun  and  his  numerous  family  of  satellites  arc 
travelling  with  immeasurable  velocity. 

In  the  light  of  this  revelation,  how  significant  is  God's  message 
to  Job:  **  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influence  of  the  Pleiades,  or  loose 
the  bands  of  Orion?  ''    Which  may  be  interpreted:  Canst  thou  dis- 


ASTROLOGICAL   SYMBOLISM.  61 

I  the  equilibrity  of  the  Microcosm?  Canst  thou  separate  the  idea 
iniversal  harmony  from  a  mechanism  so  orderly  and  systematic 
,  with  all  its  complexities  and  the  multiple  differentialities  in- 
'ed  in  its  various  motions,  it  continues  in  perpetual  activity,  with- 
a  displacement,  an  impingement,  or  a  frictional  impulse?  So  it 
om  the  miniature  system  of  the  molecule  to  the  vast  universe 
)lving  about  the  sun,  thence  to  the  solar  system  in  motion  about 
yrone,  and  to  that  colossal  fabric  in  turn  moving  about  a  still  more 
ential  centre — all  **  wheels  within  wheels,''  and  so  progressing,  in 
dient  measures  and  grander  numbers,  to  the  Ultimate,  which  is 
with  the  Beginning! 

This  fact  of  ceaseless,  eternal,  revolutional  activity  was  portrayed 
Egyptian  sculpture  by  a  Sphere,  symbolical  of  the  Creative  En- 
y  as  manifested  in  rotary  motion ;  this  sphere,  therefore,  stands 
I  complete  conception  of  the  universality  of  Being.  To  analyze 
all-comprehensive  an  idea  is  to  study  Being  in  all  its  processes, 
3ughout  its  manifold  determinations,  from  the  primal  font  into 
inversive  world,  wherein  is  beheld  only  the  simulacra  of  realities, 
ept  rhey  be  viewed  through  the  esoteric  significance  of  that  sym- 
ism  which  constitutes  the  alphabet  of  Astrology,  thence  back 
ough  the  transmutations  of  a  providential  Destiny  into  the  very 
om  of  the  Formless  Essence  itself. 

Thus  the  importance  of  this  science  as  an  elucidative  factor  in 
ult  dialectics  cannot  be  rightfully  ignored  by  the  student  who 
uld  attain  to  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  fundamental  genesis 
"reation,  for  in  it  alone  is  afforded  a  rational  concept  of  the  divine 
steries  as  revealed  through  the  intricacies  of  cosmic  evolution. 
Astrological    symbolism    may   be   classified    under   three    heads, 

• 

1.  Planetary^-expressive  of  the  seven-fold  constitution  of  man. 

2.  Zodiacal — typical  of  the  evolution  of  all  corporeal  form. 

3.  Astronomical  Aspects,  or  magnetic  impulses — the  measure- 
it  of  potency  between  interdepending  essentialities. 

In  the  Paternal  Unity  subsists  the  Fire  of  Life  (Spirit),  whence 
nates  the  Life  of  Fire  (Soul),  dual  entities  expressed  visibly 
>ugh  an  essential  third  or  solidifying  element  termed  Matter. 


62  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

These  constitute  the  trinity  of  being — the  hfe,  substance,  aud  ph 
nomena;  or  spirit,  soul,  and  body — ^and  are  syinboUzed,  respe 
tively,  0 ,  3) ,  -+- .  These  ideographs,  in  combinations  accordant  wit 
certain  deific  attributes,  form  the  planetary  symbols,  answering  to  tli 
following  arrangement,  with  their  correspondent  principles: 

O  Sun  corresponds  to  the  vital  principle. 

5    Moon  corresponds  to  the  astral  body,  or  sensual  souL 

5    Mercury  corresponds  to  Man,  or  the  human  soul. 

9    Venus  corresponds  to  spirit. 

<r   Mars  corresponds  to  the  animal  soul. 

U  Jupiter  corresponds  to  the  spiritual  soul. 

b    Saturn  corresponds  to  the  physical  body. 

The  following  excerpt  from  Paracelsus,  with  explanatory  inter- 
polations by  Franz  Hartmann,  here  printed  in  parentheses,  will  add 
significance  to  the  foregoing. 

'*  There  are  many  who  say  that  man  is  a  microcosm;  but  lew 
understand  what  this  really  means.  As  the  world  is  itself  an  organism* 
with  all  its  constellations,  so  is  man  a  constellation  (organism),  a 
world  in  itself;  and  as  the  firmament  (space)  of  the  world  is  ruled 
by  no  creature,  so  the  firmament  which  is  within  man  (his  mind)  is 
not  subject  to  any  other  creature.  This  firmament  (sphere  of  mind) 
in  man  has  its  planets  and  stars  (mental  states),  its  exaltations,  con- 
junctions, and  oppositions  (states  of  feelings,  thoughts,  emotions, 
ideas,  loves,  and  hates),  call  them  by  whatever  name  you  like;  and 
as  all  the  celestial  bodies  in  space  are  connected  with  each  other  by 
invisible  links,  so  are  the  organs  in  man  not  entirely  independent  d 
each  other,  but  depend  on  each  other  to  a  certain  extent.'' 

A  twofold  energy  is  essential  to  all  intelligent  manifestation— the 
active  and  the  reflective.  In  cosmic  science  these  two  forces  migtit 
be  characterized  as  influent  and  effluent,  the  former  emanating  from 
the  Sun  as  the  positive  essentiality  or  vitalizing  principle  in  all  nature; 
and  the  latter,  or  the  responsive  outward  force,  being  from  the  stars, 
as  constituting  the  human  organism,  or  body  of  the  Grand  Man; 
and  the  planets,  as  the  representatives  of  the  physical  senses,  or  in* 
terpreters  of  the  Creative  Intelligence. 

The  Sun,  as  the  celestial  source  of  external  manifestation,  in  whose 


ASTROLOGICAL   SYMBOLISM.  68 

scintillations  subsist  the  primal  potencies,  is  aptly  represented  in  its 
symbol,  the  cirde  of  perfection,  with  a  point  at  the  centre. 

The  Zohar  has  said,  **  When  the  Unknown  of  the  unknown  wished 
to  manifest  Itself,  It  began  by  producing  a  point." 

The  point  as  a  postulate  for  the  beginning  of  manifestation  can 
be  spiritually  as  well  as  geometrically  demonstrated.  As  in  specu- 
lative mathematics  it  is  accorded  position  merely  for  the  determi- 
nation of  other  quantities,  so  in  spiritual  physics  it  is  likewise  but 
relative  in  significance.  Being  without  limit  and  without  magnitude, 
and  considered  apart  from  any  associating  force,  it  remains  as  incon- 
ceivable as  the  mysteries  of  that  Infinitude  of  which  it  is  the  hypo- 
thetical centre. 

The  point,  therefore,  as  an  expression  of  activity  or  generation, 
necessarily  carries  with  it  the  inevitable  assurance  of  an  antecedent 
orself-subsistent  Power,  thus  bringing  into  range  a  duad  of  co-equal 
essentialities,  recognized  in  the  cabalistical  teachings  as  Substance, 
or  perfection  (  O  ),  and  Energy,  or  manifestation  (  •  ),  forces  co-ordi- 
nated not  only  through  the  functions  of  the  visible  Sun,  but  esoteri- 
cally  signified  in  its  symbol. 

This  theory  of  duality  in  manifestation  is  in  consonance  with  the 
Hermetic  maxim  that  **  Everything  that  is,  is  double";  which  im- 
plies the  irrationality  of  assuming  a  cause  without  including  in  the 
proposition  a  consequent  effect.  Atomization  is  but  prototypal  of 
primal  powers  that  require  coporeality  through  which  to  express  their 
number  as  a  measurement  of  force.  Stability  obtains  only  through 
association  with  movement.  Evolution  is  but  the  eternally  conscious 
recognition  of  the  involutionary  processes  which  help  to  constitute 
the  activities  of  Infinite  Being. 

It  was  from  the  spiritual  cognition  of  these  mutual  dependencies 
*n  Nature  that  the  ancients  were  enabled  to  formulate  those  marvel- 
<^us  systems  of  truth  and  philosophy  as  comprehended  in  the  doctrine 
<^f  correspondences,  of  which  Astrology  as  a  science  is  pre-eminently 
the  expounder. 

The  Sun,  thus  interpreted,  symbolically  represents  primordial 
Activity,  from  which  stand-point  it  is  easy  to  conjecture  why  the 
^lar  orb  has  ever  stood  as  the  emblem  of  supremacy,  and — if  the 


64  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

truth  were  but  acknowledged — the  central  figure  of  every  religious 
dogma;  for  the  legends  of  the  twelve  disciples  may  be  considered 
correlative  to  the  twelve  Zodiacal  signs  through  which  the  Sun-god 
passes,  evolving  annually  the  story  of  the  BibUcal  Christ  in  remark- 
able similitude. 

In  man  the  heart,  as  the  dynamic  power  through  which  the  life- 
forces  are  generated,  stands  astrologically  related  to  the  Sun  in  the 
sidereal  organism,  and  correspondentially  to  the  spiritual  Sun,  or 
celestial  centre  of  Being.  The  brain,  the  lungs,  the  reins,  the  gall 
the  liver,  and  the  spleen,  of  the  physiological  system,  with  the  heart 
as  the  administrative  centre  of  action,  are  analogous  to  the  seven 
basic  elements  of  substantiality,  as  potentialized  by  the  Sun  through 
the  distributive  functions,  respectively,  of  the  Moon,  Mercury,  Venus, 
Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn.  These  answer  to  the  seven  prismatic 
colors,  all  of  which  are  resolvable  into  the  clear  white  light  of  the 
solar  ray,  the  metaphorical  expression  of  pure  spirit. 

And  so  in  every  ray  which  ''  falls  into  matter  "  is  contained  the 
seven  creative  principles,  the  reciprocal  quantities  in  whose  very  divis- 
ibility reposes  unity. 

The  Soul  has  been  defined  as  the  conjunctive  element  between 
Spirit  and  Matter,  in  which  relation  it  is  an  exemplar  of  the  Moon 
principle  in  the  sidereal  constitution. 

The  astronomical  symbol  for  the  Moon  has  ever  been  a  crescent 
(  D  ),  or  a  rim  of  light,  embtemizing  in  physical  science  the  lunar  orb's 
recession  after  its  conjunction  wifh  the  sun,  and  its  increase  in  splen- 
dor as  it  ascends  to  its  opposite  lunation.  Esoterically  the  symbol 
personifies  her  as  Eve  extracted  from  the  side  of  Adam  (Sun),  or  the 
soul-principle  of  Spirit,  whose  effulgence  translates  the  Divine  Idea 
into  the  Word  of  manifestation. 

Astrologically  considered,  she  is  wholly  reflective  in  function,  af- 
fecting terrestrial  nature  according  to  her  diflferent  phases  in  respect 
to  the  earth  and  sun.  The  analogy  is  here  observable  by  these  co- 
relationships  of  spirit,  soul,  body,  or  earth.  In  her  increase  she  rcp^^ 
sents  centrifugal  force,  or  the  intellectual  phase  of  manifestation,  at 
which  period  of  her  circuit  she  is  regarded  as  more  powerful  in  hef 
influence  on  the  material  world.    Succeeding  her  opposition,  she  if 


ASTROLOGICAL   SYMBOLISM.  65 

ittracted  by  the  centripetal  law  of  motion  back  to  the  heart  of  the 
un,  or,  psychically  considered,  along  the  intuitional  plane  into  the 
'ery  centre  of  spiritual  Illumination. 

In  this  presentation  is  found  a  metaphysical  suggestion  concern- 
ng  the  Moon's  symbol  that,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  is  more  apposite 

0  this  line  of  inquiry  than  the  one  advanced  above,  and  for  which 
ic  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  Section  21  of  Mr.  L.  E.  Whip- 
ple's "  Metaphysical  Chart."  Therein  the  Centre  of  Being  is  symbol- 
zed  thus,  o.  Spirit  (Sun?),  whose  manifestation  is  the  Soul  (Moon), 
expressed  by  the  Circle  of  Motion,  ©,  which,  in  its  relation  to  the 
kVhole,  leaves  the  reflected  crescent. 

In  her  synodic  revolution,  as  she  journeys  through  the  constella- 
:ions  of  heaven,  the  Moon  portrays,  figuratively,  the  pilgrimage  of 
:hc  soul  from  its  descent  to  its  purification,  while  at  the  same  time 
ixcrting  upon  physical  nature  an  influence  of  a  corresponding  sig- 
lificance. 

"In  the  heavens  she  signifies  the  sensual  soul;  for,  though  the 
Moon  puts  on  the  image  of  the  Sun  and  is  full  of  light,  and  hath 

1  Uiie  heavenly  complexion,  yet  by-and-by  she  loses  all  her  light, 
becomes  dark,  and  puts  on  the  image  of  the  Earth;  even  so  doth 
the  animal  soul :  for  one  while  she  adheres  to  the  image  of  God  and 
» full  of  heavenly  thoughts  and  desires,  and  in  the  instant  she  ad- 
iiercs  to  the  flesh  and  is  full  of  sinful  aflfections;  and  thus  she  falls 
ind  rises,  rises  and  falls  again,  in  a  perpetual  course  of  revolution, 
^  that  the  most  righteous  here  on  earth  are  subject  to  these  fail- 
ings, for  they  wax  and  wane  in  evil  and  good  dispositions."  * 

John  Hazelrigg. 
(To  be  continued.) 


A  Great  Thinker,  a  gjeat  Thought  made  visible — such  is  the  uni- 
''crse. — £.  A,  Tanner,  LL.D. 

A  man's  own  natural  duty,  even  though  stained  with  faults,  ought  not 
^  be  abandoned.  For  all  human  acts  are  involved  in  faults,  as  the  fire 
"J  wrapped  in  smoke.  The  highest  perfection  of  freedom  from  action  is 
Wtained  through  renunciation  by  him  who,  in  all  works,  has  an  unfet- 
^*ntd  mind  and  subdued  heart. — Bhagavad-Gita. 

*  Fragment  from  an  ancient  MSS. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT 

WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


CHANGE,  IN  PROGRESS. 

With  this  number  we  return  to  the  original  name  of  the  magazine— 
a  move  which,  we  believe,  most  of  its  patrons  will  welcome. 

When  the  change  of  name  from  "  The  Metaphysical  Magazine  **  to 
**  Intelligence  "  was  made,  nearly  all  regular  patrons  expressed  a  pref- 
erence for  the  name  under  which  the  magazine  had  made  its  reputation 
and  had  become  a  welcome  visitor  in  the  family.  We  were  aiming,  how- 
ever, at  a  wider  circulation  among  those  who  might  first  recognize  a 
lighter  order  of  material,  and,  under  this  plan,  the  change  of  name  seemed 
advisable.  It  has  served  its  purpose,  to  the  extent  of  increasing  the  paid 
circulation  about  three  times ;  but  there  seems  to  be  a  growing  demand 
for  more  to  be  done  in  each  of  these  two  lines  than  can  well  be  accom- 
plished in  one  publication,  and,  with  a  view  to  supply  all  demands,  the 
publishers  have  decided  to  divide  the  work,  so  that  each  class  may  have 
its  own  organ  for  that  purpose,  and  to  issue  two  periodicals.  Accord- 
ingly, a  new  monthly,  to  be  called  "  Pearls,"  has  been  established  as 
a  home  classic,  to  deal  with  the  less  weighty  features  of  metaphysical 
thought,  and  to  explain  the  general  philosophy  of  existence  in  practical 
ways  and  in  simpler  form.  This  will  allow  the  parent  magazine  to  adhere 
as  firmly  as  ever  to  the  philosophic  and  scientific  aspects  of  advanced 
thought,  for  which  purpose  it  was  established,  and  in  the  interests  d 
which  It  was  originally  named. 

This  change,  for  the  purpose  of  advancement,  leaves  no  possible  ob- 
jection to  the  original  name,  which  has  all  along  been  our  favorite,  and 
which  is  unquestionably  the  most  clean,  sound,  and  thoroughly  descrip- 
tive term  for  the  work  undertaken. 

It  has  been  casually  suggested  that  "  changes  "  are  undesirable,  that 

the  public  does  not  appreciate  a  vacillating  policy — **  z  rolling  stooe 

66 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  67 

rs  no  moss,"  etc. — all  of  which  is  quite  true;  and,  if  it  were  a  mere 
r  of  purposeless  variation,  these  would  be  just  criticisms.  But  we 
)t  quite  sure  that  "  moss-gathering  "  is  the  most  useful  occupation, 
or  a  stone;  moss-covered  granite  is  seldom  selected  by  the  builder, 
jv'e  incline  to  the  view  expressed  by  some  close  observers,  that  it 
"a  wise  man  to  change  his  mind"  advantageously;  any  fool  can 
e  to  a  plan  already  established.  We  may  never  reach  the  vantage 
id  of  the  former,  but  we  wish,  at  least,  to  avoid  the  rut  in  which 
tter  falls  a  victim  to  softening  of  the  brain. 

The  Metaphysical "  will  be  maintained  on  the  highest  ground,  both 
seful  and  an  interesting  medium  for  liberal  and  progressive  thought; 
"  Pearls  "  will  be  the  "  advance  guard,"  preparing  the  way  in  the 
'  by  presenting  classic  thought  in  a  form  easily  to  be  assimilated 
en  an  untrained  mind. 

e  intend  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  on  all  the  subjects  of  progress, 
Jiough  it  shall  become  necessary  to  "  take  to  the  open  "  occasion- 
and  we  may  change  our  policy  whenever  advancement  makes  it 
necessary.  The  work  is  new,  though  the  philosophy  with  which 
al  is  as  old  as  timeless  truth.  Newly  grafted  trees  sometimes  bear 
and  finer  fruit  than  the  old  wood  can  possibly  produce. 
IT  purpose  is — ^Truth  for  the  People;  and  our  hope  is — People  for 
ruth. 

FRONTISPIECE. 

If  Frontispiece  this  month  is  an  excellent  likeness  of  Mr.  John 
rigg,  who  begins  in  this  number  a  series  of  articles  on  "  Astrolog- 
ymboHsm,"  which  promise  to  be  of  exceeding  interest.  Although 
paratively  young  man  among  those  dealing  publicly  with  the  sub- 
f  Astrology,  yet  Mr.  Hazelrigg  has  g^ven  the  subject  deep  thought 
its  esoteric  side,  and  seems  destined  to  do  the  cause  much  good 

careful,  conservative  methods  of  study,  research,  and  explanation, 
methods,  carefully  followed  out,  may  restore  to  us  the  knowledge 

movements  and  influences  of  the  gjeat  bodies  that  constitute  our 
lystem,  and  show  their  relation  to  human  life.  It  is  most  significant 
U  the  scoffers  at  Astrology  are  people  who  have  never  taken  the 
rr  trouble  to  look  into  its  mysteries.    The  only  thoroughly  effective 


68  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

"  scoffer  "  is  one  who  understands  all  the  "  ins  "  and  "  outs  "W  his 
subject.  "  It  is  easier  to  laugh  than  to  investigate,"  and  he  who  Iknghs 
loudest  frequently  knows  the  least. 

CURES  WITHOUT  MEDICINE. 

The  most  skilful  physicians  recognize  the  influence  of  the  mind  over 
the  body  in  their  treatment  of  diseases.  They  may  differ  among  them- 
selves as  to  the  extent  to  which  that  influence  operates,  and  they  probably 
notice  marked  differences  among  their  patients  in  susceptibility  to  it  Nev- 
ertheless, it  may  be  accepted  as  an  established  principle  that  thinidng 
a  good  deal  about  any  physical  ailment,  and  taking  an  unhappy  view  of 
its  probable  result,  tend  to  aggravate  the  malady,  whereas  a  cheerful 
state  of  mind,  coupled  with  artful  diversion  of  the  thoughts  from  the  fact 
of  the  illness,  help  to  mitigate  its  severity  and  to  promote  recovery. 

A  comparatively  limited  number  of  medical  men  who  have  made  a 
special  study  of  mental  or  psychological  phenomena  show  a  disposition 
nowadays  to  enlarge  the  field  in  which  this  influence  shall  be  allowed  to 
act,  and  to  give  more  particular  direction  to  its  operations.  As  yet  the 
matter  has  not  been  investigated  with  such  thoroughness  and  by  such 
strictly  scientific  methods  as  to  justify  any  definite  statement.  Some  sug- 
gestive hints  are,  however,  contained  in  an  article  which  Professor  Ebner 
Gates,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  contributes  to  The  Medical  Times,  of  New 
York,  for  December.  Professor  Gates  is  not  a  practitioner,  nor  docs  he 
take  patients  for  pay,  but  he  is  an  experimenter  in  biology  and  psychol- 
ogy.    .     .     . 

Some  experiments  with  dogs  are  described  by  Professor  Gates,  to  show 
how  It  is  possible  to  educate,  deceive,  and  re-educate  certain  centres  m 
the  brain,  groups  of  cells  that  are  related  to  the  functions  of  various  in- 
ternal organs.  By  giving  the  dogs  milk,  colored  yellow  and  containing 
an  emetic,  he  trained  them  to  refuse  yellow  milk.  Then  he  gave  them 
milk  which  was  colored,  but  did  not  contain  an  emetic,  and  offered  the 
liquid  in  the  dark.  After  the  dogs  had  drunk  some  of  it  he  turned  up 
the  light,  whereupon  they  were  nauseated.  Finally,  he  began  feeding  the 
dogs  milk,  day  after  day,  gradually  increasing  the  color  of  it  to  a  dark 
yellow,  but  adding  a  little  sugar.  Meantime  he  offered  them  uncolorcd 
milk  containing  a  little  emetic.    Thus  he  led  the  dogs  to  prefer  yellow  milk  ^ 

to  white. 

Here  is  a  case  in  which  a  human  subject  was  experimented  upon. 
Professor  Gates's  own  language  may  be  quoted,  but  with  the  prcfatoiy^ 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  69 

xplanation  that  a  series  of  earlier  experiments  on  the  lower  animals 
which  could  be  killed  and  examined)  showed  that  the  persistent  exercise 
if  certain  kinds  of  thought  and  feeling  builds  up  the  structure  of  corre- 
ponding  parts  of  the  brain. 

**  Mrs.  M.,"  says  the  Washington  investigator,  "  had  been  suffer- 
ng  for  nine  years  from  dyspepsia,  consisting  not  so  much  of  gastric  in- 
bility  as  of  improper  assimilation.  I  gave  her  a  systematic  series  ot 
raining  in  pleasurable  odors,  perfumes,  and  tastes,  and  a  systematic  series 
f  remembrances  of  pleasurable  gustatory  and  other  hunger-feelings  and 
hirst-feelings,  giving  the  training  at  the  same  hour  each  day  every  day 
>r  two  months.  The  result  was  a  complete  restoration  of  her  assimila- 
ive  powers  and  a  gain  of  twenty  per  cent,  in  weight — she  had  been  very 
luch  emaciated — and  of  more  than  thirty  per  cent,  in  strength.  The 
dditionai  brain  cells  which  I  thus  placed  in  the  cerebral  areas  of  the 
:astro-intestinal  tract  caused  the  brain  to  send  more  and  better  stimuli 
o  the  digestive  organs  and  thus  bring  about  the  cure  of  her  disease." 

Professor  Gates  holds,  and  he  is  by  no  means  alone  in  holding,  that 
he  cells  of  which  any  organ,  whether  it  be  stomach,  liver,  or  eye,  is  com- 
posed possess  a  mental  activity  of  their  own,  and  he  thinks  that  the  ex- 
periments here  described  prove  "  that  the  functioning  of  a  bodily  organ 
an  be  wholly  changed,  and  its  abnormal  functioning  cured  by  means  of 
Krvous  stimuli  sent  to  these  organs  from  their  corresponding  brain  areas, 
aid  that  therefore  the  change  must  be  effected  by  the  action  of  the  mind 
tpon  the  psychic  activities  of  the  cells  of  the  organ.*' 

But  a  patient  need  not  depend  altogether  on  his  physician  in  this  edu* 
ation  of  his  stomach-mind,  liver-mind,  and  eye-mind.  Another  series  of 
rials  made  by  Professor  Gates  shows  that  some  people,  perhaps  all  people, 
am  voluntarily  send  blood  to  a  particular  part  of  the  system  by  directing 
lieir  thoughts  thereto,  and  thus,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  alter  the 
ituation  there.  He  calls  this  performance  "  dirigation,"  and  says  that  one 
■  dirigates  to  "  his  thumb,  or  ear,  or  toe,  as  the  case  may  be. 

For  instance,  the  professor  immersed  his  ri^ht  arm  in  a  vessel  of  water 
N)  full  that  no  more  liquid  could  be  added  without  running  over.  The 
fcrm  was  not  moved,  and  the  muscles  were  left  entirelv  lax.  Attention 
tas  now  so  carefully  concentrated  that  consciousness  of  everything  except 
ic  arm  was  excluded  from  the  professor's  mind.  After  eleven  minutes 
iris  member  was  so  enlarged  from  the  inflow  of  blood  that  the  water 
)egan  to  run  over.  At  the  end  of  twenty  minutes  600  grains  of  water  had 
>cen  displaced.  In  the  mean  time  the  volume  of  his  left  arm,  similarly 
rfaced,  had  diminished. 


70  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Professor  Gates  says  that  he  can  raise  the  temperature  at  any  part  d 
his  body  and  alter  the  character  of  the  perspiration  of  that  part  simply  bjr 
"  dirigation." 

Several  instances  are  then  cited  to  show  that  persons  have  strength- 
ened their  own  muscles  without  any  exercise  whatever,  have  developed 
certain  imperfect  glands,  and  have  promoted  the  activity  of  sluggish  or* 
gans  that  would  not  yield  to  other  treatment,  in  the  same  manner,  lo 
these  cases,  the  patient  devoted  an  hour  to  **  dirigation  "  twice  a  day,  or 
four  times  a  day,  for  a  period  of  from  two  to  fourteen  weeks,  accordio{ 
to  circumstances. 

How  far  this  sort  of  thing  can  be  carried,  Professor  Gates  says,  can 
only  be  ascertained  by  further  researches,  but  such  inquiries  he  regardf 
of  the  utmost  importance.  Already  he  has  found  that  by  "dirigatiofl" 
effects  similar  to  those  of  a  few  drugs  can  be  obtained.  Still,  he  is  not 
sure  that  drugs  will  ever  be  entirely  abolished.  Although  he  does  nd 
believe  in  medication,  in  the  old  sense  of  the  term,  he  thinks  it  possibk 
that  medicines  may  accelerate  or  retard  the  "  mind  processes  of  the  ceBs 
of  the  human  body."  The  professor's  philosophy  is  summed  up  in  tbeje 
words:  ''  Mind  governs  organic  tissue  and  physiologic  functions,  became 
it  creates  these  things  and  constitutes  their  life.  To  learn  property  tO; 
regulate  each  of  the  mental  functions  means  to  become  a  king  in  your! 
own  conscious  domain." — New  York  Tribune  Editorial. 


MEDICAL   MONOPOLY.* 

A  tremendous  throng  of  men  and  women  was  massed  in  one  of  the 
largest  committee  rooms  at  the  State  House  this  morning,  long  befort] 
the  time  advertised  for  a  hearing  by  the  Committee  on  Public  H( 
on  a  bill  drafted  by  the  State  Board  of  Registration  in  Medicine, 
incorporated  in  its  fourth  annual  report,  relative  to  the  registration 
physicians  and  surgeons.    The  tenor  of  this  bill  is  that  it  will  be  unlat 
for  any  person  to  practice  medicine,  in  any  of  its  branches,  within  tl 
limits  of  this  Commonwealth,  unless  that  person  shall  have  present! 
himself  or  herself  to  the  State  Board  of  Registration  in  Medicine  for 
amination,  and  shall  have  received  therefrom  a  certificate  granting  at 
thority  to  practice  medicine.    Infringement  of  this  act  is  termed  a 
demeanor,  punishable  by  fine  or  by  imprisonment,  and  declares  that 

•From  the  Boston  Evening  Transcripts  March  3,1898. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  71 

person  shall  be  regarded  as  practising  medicine  within  the  meaning  of 
this  act  who  shall  append  to  his  name  the  letters  "  M.D./'  or  shall  assume 
or  advertise  the  title  "  M.D./'  or  "  physician,"  or  any  other  title  which 
shall  show  or  tend  to  show  that  the  person  assuming  or  advertising  the 
same  is  a  practitioner  of  medicine  or  of  any  of  the  branches  of  medicine; 
or  who  shall  investigate  or  diagnose,  or  offer  to  investigate  or  to  diagnose, 
any  physical  or  mental  ailment  or  defect  of  any  person,  with  a  view  to 
affording  relief,  as  commonly  done  by  a  physician  or  a  surgeon;  or  who 
shall  prescribe  for  or  treat  a  person  for  the  purpose  of  curing  any  real 
or  supposed  disease,  whether  by  the  use  of  drugs,  or  by  the  application 
of  any  other  agency  or  alleged  method  of  cure,  or  alleviation,  or  preven- 
tion of  disease;  or  to  operate  as  a  surgeon  for  the  cure  or  relief  of  any 
wound,  fracture,  or  bodily  injury  or  deformity,  after  having  received  there- 
for, or  with  the  intent  of  receiving  therefor,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
any  bonus,  gift,  or  compensation. 

This  bill,  according  to  the  men  who  framed  it,  is  a  blow  at  charlatanry — 
at  medical  quacks.  Spiritualists,  Christian  Scientists,  magnetic  healers, 
and  druggists,  however,  speedily  detected  in  the  proposed  measure  dis- 
crimination against,  and  danger  to,  their  various  methods  of  practice, 
which,  they  assert,  are  wholly  constitutional  and  legitimate.  ...  So 
great  was  the  crush  that  it  was  difficult  for  tardy  members  of  the  committee 
to  reach  their  seats.  Men  and  women  stood  for  several  hours,  and,  until 
warned  thrice,  applauded  vigorously  the  utterances  of  the  speakers  against 
the  bill  under  consideration.  Scores  of  Christian  Scientists  and  Spirit- 
oalists  were  present;  many  prominent  druggists,  representing  many  as- 
sociations, were  there.  In  fact,  no  hearing  at  the  State  House  this  session 
has  attracted  such  an  attendance,  or  has  aroused  such  tremendous  interest 
to  those  who  believe  themselves  concerned. 

The  committee  heard,  first,  representatives  of  druggists'  associations. 
.  .  .  Harrison  D.  Barrett,  editor  of  the  Banner  of  Light,  and  to-day  rep- 
resenting officially  the  Spiritualists,  electricians,  osteopathists,  metaphy- 
ricians,  magnetic  healers,  spiritual  healers,  botanic  physicians  and  hydro- 
pathists  of  this  State,  introduced  as  the  chief  remonstrants  Rev.  B.  Fay 
Mills,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Professor  William  James,  and  others.  He 
read  several  letters  of  protest  from  prominent  clergymen.  Rev.  Edward 
A.  Horton,  D.  D.,  wrote  that  the  proposed  medical  bill  seemed  to  him 


72  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

dangerously  near,  if  not  actually  upon,  the  ground  of  personal  liberty.  He 
believed  that  the  passage  of  the  bill  would  fail  of  its  real  purpose.  The  way 
to  abolish  "  quacks,  cranks  and  impostors  in  medicine,"  in  his  opinion,  is 
to  educate  people  to  a  grade  of  intelligence  and  responsibility. 

Rev.  B.  Fay  Mills,  of  Cambridge,  declared  that  he  appeared  to  protest 
against  an  attempt  to  deprive  the  individual  of  the  right  to  choose  as  his 
physician  the  person  whom  he  believes  best  can  cure  or  heal  his  ailment, 
whether  that  person  be  a  regularly  enrolled  physician  or  a  Christian  Scien- 
tist. He  maintained  that,  while  he  approved  the  effort  of  the  Board  of 
Registration  in  Medicine  to  drive  out  "quacks,"  he  did  not  think  the 
Legislature  had  the  right  or  the  power  to  bar  those  persons  who  practise 
by  methods  proscribed  in  the  bill.  When  asked  by  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee whether,  if  ill,  he  would  call  in  an  "  M.  D."  or  a  Christian  Scientist, 
he  declined  to  answer  publicly.  He  reserved  the  right  to  determine  for 
himself  which  he  would  choose. 

F.  E.  Edwards,  representing  a  number  of  spiritualist  organizations,  op- 
posed the  bill.  He  said  it  was  business  for  the  Board  of  Registration  in 
Medicine  to  advocate  this  bill.  The  bill  wiped  off  the  earth  every  clairvoy- 
ant, hypnotist,  magnetic  healer,  mind-curer.  Christian  Scientist,  hydropath, 
and  cosmopathic  healer.  He  had  listened  in  vain  for  any  reason  for  this 
legislation.  If  Massachusetts  had  been  such  a  paradise  for  charlatans  and 
quacks  in  the  last  forty  years,  the  death  rate  ought  to  show  it.  He  chat 
lenged  these  men  to  produce  the  statistics  which  would  show  it  The 
death-rate,  if  it  showed  anything,  showed  that  the  restrictive  legislation  did 
not  increase  longevity.  He  cited  law  to  show  that  there  was  already  suffi- 
cient legislation  on  the  statute  books  to  regulate  the  practice  of  medicine. 

William  Lloyd  Garrison  said,  in  the  course  of  his  earnest  protest  against 
the  bill  under  discussion:  **  Ostensibly  an  act  to  protect  the  community 
from  malpractice,  this  is  really  meant  to  secure  the  monopoly  of  treating 
disease  to  those  who  bear  the  credentials  of  a  recognized  school.  It  is  the 
indefinite  repetition  of  an  attempt  to  limit  admission  to  the  temple  of  heal- 
ing, since  the  first  organized  body  of  practitioners  secured  legal  posses- 
sion of  it,  far  back  in  the  dim  twilight  of  civilization.  The  most  cherished 
and  important  principles  held  by  the  medical  faculty  to-day  were  once 
maligned  and  had  to  win  recognition  against  the  opposition  of  the  estab- 
lished schools.    In  my  own  memory,  the  homoeopaths  were  proscribed 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  78 

and  denounced  as  charlatans,  just  as  those  who  practise  mental  healing 
are  now,  but  they  conquered.  To  narrow  the  service  which  offers  itself 
tor  the  healing  of  humanity  by  such  devices  as  the  one  proposed  is  to  re- 
tard the  growth  of  true  science. 

'  Our  protest  is  not  against  education  or  skill,  but  for  liberty,  without 
which  both  must  suffer.  One  has  only  to  read  the  candid  opinions  of  emi- 
nent physicians  to  realize  how  purely  experimental  is  the  science  of  medi- 
cine. The  death  of  a  patient  under  irregular  treatment,  although  it  may  be 
demonstrated  that  the  greatest  intelligence  was  used,  is  heralded  abroad 
as  something  scandalous;  but  if  any  regular  physician  were  to  make  public 
the  deaths  coming  to  his  knowledge  from  misapprehension  of  the  disease, 
or  mistaken  remedies,  the  public  might  well  be  alarmed. 

*  A  statement  of  the  truth  is  not  to  disparage  the  noble  body  of  men 
and  women  who  give  their  lives  to  this  service  of  humanity,  but  it  is  to 
remind  them  of  their  fallibility,  and  to  bespeak  their  tolerance  for  others. 
There  is  no  popular  demand  for  this  legislation;  the  persons  who  have 
resorted  to  mental  healing  are  not  of  the  class  known  as  ignorant.  Their 
very  intelHgence  and  standing  make  it  worth  while  to  try  and  hold  their 
allegiance  to  be  regular  practitioners  by  legal  force.  I  come  as  a  citizen, 
jealous  of  all  infringements  of  the  law  of  equal  freedom." 

Professor  William  James,  of  Harvard  University,  in  part  said: 

"  I  come  to  protest  against  the  bill  simply  as  a  citizen  who  cares  for 
sound  laws  and  for  the  advance  of  medical  knowledge.  Were  medicine 
a  finished  science,  with  all  practitioners  in  agreement  about  methods  of 
treatment,  a  bill  to  make  it  penal  to  treat  a  patient  without  having  passed 
in  examination  would  be  unobjectionable.  But  the  present  condition  of 
Medical  knowledge  is  widely  different  from  such  a  state.  Both  as  to  princi- 
ple and  as  to  practice,  our  knowledge  is  deplorably  imperfect.  The  whole 
'^ce  of  medicine  changes  unexpectedly  from  one  generation  to  another  in 
-onsequence  of  widening  experience :  and  as  we  look  back  with  a  mixture 
^f  amusement  and  horror  at  the  practice  of  our  grandfathers,  so  we  cannot 
^  sure  how  large  a  portion  of  our  present  practice  will  awaken  similar 
eeUngs  in  our  posterity. 

"  Each  generation  adds  something,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  to  the  treatment 
hat  will  not  pass  away.  Few  of  us  recall  the  introduction  of  the  water 
'ure,  but  many  now  living  can  recall  the  discovery  of  anaesthetics.    Most 


U  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

• 

of  us  recall  when  medical  electricity  and  massage  came  in^  and  we  have 
all  witnessed  the  splendid  triumphs  of  antiseptic  surgery,  and  are  now 
hearing  of  the  antitoxin,  and  of  the  way  in  which  hypnotic  suggestion  and 
all  the  other  purely  mental  therapeutic  methods  are  achieving  cures. 

"  Some  of  the  therapeutic  methods  arose  inside  the  regular  profession, 
others  outside  of  it.  In  all  cases,  they  have  appealed  to  experience  for  tbdr 
credentials.  But  experience  in  medicine  seems  to  be  an  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult thing.  In  spite  of  the  rival  schools  appealing  to  experience,  their 
conflict  is  much  more  like  that  of  two  philosophies  or  two  theologiei 
Your  experience,  says  one  side  to  the  other,  simply  isn't  fit  to  count 
How  many  of  the  graduates,  recent  or  early,  of  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  have  spent  twenty-four  hours  of  their  lives  in  experimentally  test- 
ing homoeopathic  remedies  or  seeing  them  tested?  Probably  not  twenty 
in  the  whole  Commonwealth.  How  many  of  my  learned  medical  friends 
who  to-day  are  so  freely  denouncing  mind-cure  methods  as  an  abomina- 
ble superstition,  have  taken  the  trouble  to  follow  up  the  cases  of  some 
mind-curer,  one  by  one,  so  as  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  results?  1 
doubt  if  there  be  a  single  individual. 

**  I  am  here  having  no  axes  to  grind,  except  the  axe  of  truth,  thai 
*  Truth  *  for  which  Harvard  University,  of  which  I  am  an  oflScer,  pro- 
fesses to  exist.  I  am  a  Doctor  of  Medicine,  and  count  some  of  the  advo- 
cates of  this  proposed  law  among  my  dearest  friends;  and  well  do  I  knot 
how  I  shall  stand  in  their  eyes  hereafter  for  standing  to-day  in  my  present 
position.  But  I  cannot  look  on  passively,  and  I  must  urge  my  point 
That  point  is  this :  That  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  is  not  a  med- 
ical body,  has  no  right  to  a  medical  opinion,  and  should  not  dare  to  take 
sides  in  a  medical  controversy.  In  the  particular  business  of  mental  heal- 
ing, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  the  proposed  law  were  really  enforced  it 
would  stamp  out  and  arrest  the  acquisition  of  that  whole  branch  of  medi- 
cal experience.  The  mind-curers  and  their  public  return  the  scorn  oJ 
the  regular  profession  with  an  equal  scorn,  and  will  never  come  up  for 
examination.  Their  movement  is  a  religious  or  quasi-religious  mov^ 
ment;  personality  is  one  condition  of  success  there,  and  impressions  and 
intuitions  seem  to  accomplish  more  than  chemical,  anatomical,  or  physio- 
logical information.  These  are  the  facts,  gentlemen.  You.  as  legislators, 
are  not  bound  either  to  affirm  or  deny  them  yourselves,  either  to  deplore 


1 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  76 

them  or  rejoice  at  them,  or  in  any  way  to  judge  them  from  a  medical 
point  of  view,  but  simply,  after  ascertaining  that  thousands  of  intelligent 
citizens  believe  in  them,  decide  whether  to  legislate  or  not.  Do  you  feel 
called  on,  do  you  dare,  to  thrust  the  coarse  machinery  of  criminal  law 
into  these  vital  mysteries,  into  these  personal  relations  of  doctor  and  pa- 
tient, into  these  infinitely  subtle  operations  of  nature,  and  enact  that  a 
whole  department  of  medical  investigation  (for  such  it  is),  together  with 
the  special  conditions  of  freedom  under  which  it  flourishes,  must  cease 
to  be?  I  venture  to  say  that  you  dare  not,  gentlemen.  You  dare  not  con- 
vert the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth  into  obstacles  to  the  acquisition  of 
truth.  You  are  not  to  ask  yourselves  whether  these  mind-curers  do  really 
achieve  the  successes  that  are  claimed.  It  is  enough  for  you,  as  legisla- 
tors, to  ascertain  that  a  large  number  of  our  citizens,  persons  as  intelligent 
and  well  educated  as  yourself  or  I,  persons  whose  number  seems  daily  to 
increase,  are  convinced  that  they  do  achieve  them.  Here  is  a  purely  medi- 
cal question,  in  which  our  General  Court,  not  being  a  well-spring  and 
source  of  medical  virtue,  must  remain  strictly  neutral,  under  penalty  of 
making  the  confusion  worse. 

"  In  the  matter  of  pharmacy,  in  the  matter  of  such  an  art  as  plumbing, 
the  Legislature  may  impose  examination  and  grant  license  without  harm. 
The  facts  here  are  ultra-simple,  and  no  differences  whatever  of  conscien- 
tious opinion  prevail  among  the  experts  as  to  what  is  right.  But  this  case 
of  medical  practice  is  absolutely  different.  It  is  the  confusion,  the  de- 
plorable imperfection  of  the  most  expert  knowledge,  and  the  conscientious 
divergencies  of  opinion,  the  infinite  complication  of  the  phenomena,  and 
the  varying  and  mutually  exclusive  fields  of  experience  that  are  the  very 
essence  of  the  case.    .    .    . 

**  Chir  State  needs  the  assistance  of  every  type  of  mind,  academic  or 
non-academic,  of  which  she  possesses  specimens.  There  are  none  too 
many  of  them,  for  to  no  one  of  them  can  the  whole  of  truth  be  revealed. 
Each  is  necessarily  partly  perceptive  and  partly  blind.  Even  the  very  best 
t>-pe  is  partly  blind.    There  are  methods  which  it  cannot  bring  itself  to  use. 

"  The  blindness  of  a  type  of  mind  is  not  diminished  when  those  who 
have  it  band  themselves  together  in  a  corporate  profession.  By  just  as 
much  as  they  hold  each  other  up  to  the  standard  in  certain  lines,  and  force 
each  other  to  be  thorough  and  conscientious  there,  by  just  so  much  along 


76  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  other  lines  do  they  not  only  permit,  but  even  compel,  each  other  to  be 
shallow.  When  I  was  a  medical  student,  I  feel  sure  that  any  one  of  us 
would  have  been  ashamed  to  be  caught  looking  into  a  homoeopathic  book 
by  a  professor.  We  had  to  sneer  at  homoeopathy  at  word  of  command. 
Such  was  the  school  opinion  of  that  time,  and  I  imagine  that  similar  en- 
couragements to  superficiality  in  various  directions  exist  in  the  medical 
schools  of  to-day. 

**  Now,  as  to  calling  fhe  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  a  trades  union 
trying  to  influence  legislation  against  scabs,  I  can  hardly  imagine  any  * 
member  of  the  society  affirming  that  in  the  movement  for  the  present  bill 
trades  union  motives  are  totally  absent.  Take  a  struggling  practitioner, 
young  or  old,  in  a  small  place.  He  has  spent  years  of  life  and  thousands  of 
dollars  in  fitting  himself  for  his  work.  Conscientious  and  self-sacrificing 
to  the  last  degree,  he  deserves  some  acknowledgment  and  reward.  What 
can  his  feelings  be  when  he  sees  the  faith-curer  alongside  and  the  metaphy- 
sical healers  opposite,  with  no  education,  with  no  sacrifices,  with  nothing 
but  their  silly  optimism  and  preposterous  conceit,  stealing  patients  from 
him  by  the  dozen?  He  can  feel  nothing  but  righteous  indignation;  and 
when  he  tells  the  tale  to  his  colleagues  their  blood  boils  like  his.  The  State 
owes  some  protection  to  us  who  have  done  right,  they  say.  And  the 
medical  politicians  who  run  the  society's  affairs,  however  great  their  dis- 
interested zeal  for  the  public  health  may  be — and  I  am  the  last  to  deny 
that — assuredly  are  not  altogether  forgetful  of  this  other  aspect  of  the 
case.  The  trades-union  instinct  is  strong  in  them;  the  trades-union  in- 
stinct has  to  be  strong  in  every  great  professional  society.  There  are 
always  some  members  who,  if  they  had  power,  would  put  down  heresy  like 
Spanish  inquisitors,  and  there  are  times  when  such  members  may  come  to 
the  top.  Pray  remember  all  these  facts,  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  when 
listening  to  your  advisers  on  the  opposite  side.  Whatever  you  do,  you 
are  bound  not  to  obstruct  the  growth  of  truth  by  the  freest  gathering-ifl 
of  the  most  various  experiences.  I  urge  that  the  best  way  to  do  that  is  to 
say  *  hands  off,'  and  to  let  the  present  law,  which  is  abstractly  a  good 
one,  and  only  four  years  old,  alone. 

"  The  hinge  of  my  whole  contention,  you  see,  is  that  in  strictly  medical 
quarrels  the  State  has  no  right  to  intervene.  I  know  there  arc  other  as- 
pects of  this  bill  with  which  every  decent  man  must  sympathize.    The 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  77 

od  of  quackery  and  medical  ignorance  about  us  is  sickening  to  think  of. 
ic's  first  impulse  is  to  get  up  and  scream,  saying,  *  Why  is  there  not  a 
r  to  stop  it? '  One's  heart  bleeds,  one's  fingers  itch,  at  the  persistent 
punity.   But  so  it  is  with  the  vileness  of  our  newspapers,  with  their  med- 

I  advertisements  and  other  filth ;  so  it  is  with  the  rottenness  of  much  of 
r  public  life.  Yet  laws  cannot  reach  such  symptoms.  Heine  said, 
very  nation  has  the  Jews  it  deserves.'  Certainly  every  nation  has 
!  newspapers  and  the  politicians  it  deserves.    A  people  that  love  quacks 

II  have  them,  laws  or  no  laws.  Instead  of  crying  out  for  legal  protection, 
c  medical  profession  ought  to  educate  the  people  better.  They  must 
member  that  the  aversion  which  they  find  in  the  public,  and  from  which 
icy  suffer,  has  historic  roots.  The  history  of  medicine  is  a  really  hideous 
istory,  comparable  only  with  that  of  priestcraft:  Ignorance  clad  in 
athority  and  riding  over  men's  bodies  and  souls.  Let  modern  medicine 
ispel  all  those  inherited  prejudices  by  living  the  historic  memories  down. 
I  may  well  be  questioned  whether  a  rcgiftie  of  license  and  monopoly, 
•ould  hasten  that  even  as  much  as  one  of  freedom  and  conciliation. 

"  Above  all  things,  Mr.  Chairman,  let  us  not  be  infected  with  the  Gallic 
pint  of  regulation  and  '  reglementation,'  for  their  own  abstract  sakes. 
-et  us  not  grow  hysterical  about  law-making.  Let  us  not  fall  in  love  with 
nactments  and  penalties  because  they  are  so  logical,  and  sound  so  pretty, 
M  look  so  nice  on  paper.  Let  us  cultivate  the  robust  old  Saxon  spirit  of 
wsibility  and  tolerance,  toughening  ourselves  manfully  to  the  sight  of 
nuch  that  we  abhor,  and  of  still  more  that  we  can  only  imperfectly  under- 
tand.  The  death  rate  is  not  rising,  in  spite  of  all  our  quackery.  That 
iows  that  we  are  not  in  any  crisis  of  danger,  and  surely  justifies  you  in 
ftting  well  enough  alone." 

Judge  Grover,  of  Canton,  of  the  Boston  Metaphysical  Society,  said 
he  bill  was  fundamentally  wrong  in  principle,  in  that  it  assumes  to  dictate 
'hat  class  or  classes  of  physicians  shall  practice  and  which  shall  not 
'^ctice.  His  society  does  not  champion  any  one  class;  it  simply  desires 
^t  justice  be  done  to  all.  He  claimed  that  the  bill  was  framed  in  a  spirit 
ingling  one-tenth  of  philanthropy  and  nine-tenths  of  self-interest.  If 
^sed,  it  cannot  be  enforced ;  it  will  lead  to  further  fraud  and  deception, 
an's  opinion  cannot  be  changed  by  law,  and  this  is  but  an  effort  at  t>T- 
ny  protected  by  statutes. 


78  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


A  STRANGE  HYPNOTIC  EXPERIENCE, 

While  giving,  in  October  last,  a  series  of  public  lectures  upon  "  Soul 

Culture,"  at  B ville,  a  little  station  on  the  U.  P.  R.R,,  an  incident 

occurred  unlike  any  I  have  ever  known  before,  and  I  have  never  seen 
a  similar  one  reported.  Its  narration  may  call  out  others,  and  thus  some 
light  may  be  thrown  upon  the  subjects  of  prophecy,  prevision,  presenti- 
ments, and  premonitions. 

In  illustrating  my  lecture,  I  had  used  Psychometry,  Telepathy,  and 
Hypnotism,  and  had  developed  several  young  men  into  fine  somnambules. 
One  Saturday  evening,  having  no  lecture,  several  persons  had  gathered 
in  my  room  at  the  hotel,  among  them  five  of  my  subjects.  Some  experi- 
ments were  tried,  successfully,  when  it  was  suggested  that  I  give  them 
a  football  game,  and  then  one  said :  "  Lei  us  see  the  game  between  the 
E 's  and  the  K 's  next  Saturday."  The  boys  who  were  my  sub- 
jects were  all  familiar  with  the  game,  all  having  played  in  some  club. 

I  at  once  put  them  to  sleep  and  said:   "  Now  you  are  on  the  grand 

stand,  looking  at  the  game  between  the  E and  the  K clubs. 

Game  has  just  been  called.    Watch  closely!  *' 

This  game  was  to  be  played  the  week  following,  and,  as  it  was  b^ 
tween  two  excellent  clubs,  it  was  well  known  that  it  would  be  an  exciting 

one.    The  E Club  was  from  a  neighboring  town,  and  at  the  beginning 

*'  my  boys  "  yelled  for  E .    They  watched  the  progress  of  the  game, 

talking  about  the  successes,  failures,  and  tactics  of  the  two  clubs;  they 
saw  the  injuries  to  different  members,  and  kept  the  tally  as  they  watched 

the  results.    They  soon  changed  their  cheers  from  E to  K .   Each 

one  saw  the  game  alike,  and  all  joined  in  conversation,  as  they  would  have 
done  had  the  scene  been  real.  They  were  fifteen  minutes  watching  what 
they  (when  they  awoke)  and  we  all  supposed  to  be  an  imaginary  game. 

The  following  Saturday  "  the  boys  "  and  I,  accompanied  by  some  of 
the  spectators  at  the  hotel  the  previous  week,  went  to  see  the  two  teams 
play.  Our  surprise  may  be  imagined  when  we  saw  the  game  begin  and 
events  in  it  follow  the  same  course  as  was  seen  by  my  somnambules.  So 
exactly  was  this  done  that  we  knew  what  was  coming  in  every  change  ta 
the  game.    The  same  parties  were  "  knocked  out,"  the  ball  followed  the 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  79 

une  course,  and  results  at  the  close  were  the  same.  Only  two  points 
rere  different,  and  those  any  spectator  might  have  overlooked.  These 
^ere,  first,  that,  while  the  ball  followed  the  same  course  and  the  boys 
ounted  the  tallies  as  they  saw  them  made,  the  umpire  called  out  some 
A  them,  and  this  fact  had  previously  escaped  them ;  and,  second,  while 

islcep,  one  had  said:   "  There's  R ;  he*s  got  his  knee  hurt  and  is  in 

he  game  no  more! "  while  R got  his  knee  hurt  a  few  days  before, 

ind  was  limping  about  the  ground,  and  did  not  enter  the  game.  These 
nvo  facts  only  heightened  our  surprise.  One  young  man,  who  was  present 
It  both  the  seance  and  the  game,  came  to  me  in  great  excitement  and 

uud:  "  S has  the  wind  knocked  out  of  him,  just  as  the  boys  saw," 

ind  this,  early  in  the  game,  convinced  us  all  that  we  were  to  see  it  played 
just  as  it  had  been  reported  a  week  before. 

If  anyone  desires  names  and  further  particulars,  I  will  give  them. 
These  questions  arise:  Do  events  exist  in  the  Mind  (Spirit)  world  before 
Ihcy  occur  in  the  world  of  sense?  Or  do  they  exist  in  conditions,  and, 
•rhcn  these  are  favorable,  has  the  soul  of  man  power  to  foresee  future 
effects  from  present  causes?  I  know  of  many  cases  where  single  indi- 
viduals have  foreseen  incidents,  but  this  is  the  only  one  in  which  several 
persons  saw  the  same  thing  and  foretold,  minutely,  the  particulars.  Such 
facts  open  the  door  to  a  deeper  vista  into  the  possibilities  of  the  Soul, 
ind,  consequently,  of  human  life.    Possibly,  Whittier  spoke  scientifically 

^rhenhe  said: 

"  The  past  and  time  to  be  are  one, 
And  both  are  Now." 

H.  H.  Brown. 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 

SOME  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  HERMETICS.  Issued  by  authority  of  a  Mystic 
Order.  Coth,  109  pp.,  $1.25.  Baumgardt  &  Co.,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. ;  The 
Metaphysical  Publishing  Company,  465  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York ;  Kegan 
Paul,  Trench.  Triibncr  &  Co.,  London. 

Among  thoughtful  people  there  is  a  rapidly  growing  interest  in  the  old  Philoso- 
Wes,  and  all  reliable  works  bearing  upon  these  themes  are  eagerly  welcomed .  The 
*ook  before  us  brings  a  message  to  every  soul,  the  power  and  beauty  of  which  is 
•ttrvekmi.  Power  is  the  keynote,  and  one  cannot  read  these  remarkable  essays 
•hhottt  a  sense  of  uplifting  by  this  very  power— the  power  of  Beauty,  of  Art,  of 
Tnitfi,of  God. 


80  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

"  You  sleep,  and  the  tide  of  your  life  goes  down— down  to  the  ebb — and  you  sigh 
in  your  dreams ;  but  Truth  never  closes  her  eyes  ;  she  watches  through  night  and  • 
day — and  she  smiles  when  you  sigh — when  the  sea  sighs.      .  .    When  yoo 

wake  from  sleep,  you  take  up  the  thread  and  weave  it  into  the  warp  where  it  dropped 
the  night  before ;  if  you  find  it  knotted —  Alas  I  you  left  it  so.  When  you  wake 
from  the  ebb-tide  of  death  and  open  your  eyes  in  the  realms  of  self,  you  pick  up 
your  thread  and  weave  again  where  you  ceased  to  weave  the  night  before.  If 
knotted —    Alas  !  you  left  it  so." 

These  are  gems  of  great  beauty,  but  all  through  the  pages,  clear  sounding,  there 
rings  a  stern  note  of  justice,  while  Conscience  holds  one  firmly  in  her  strong  clasp, 
keeping  the  head  high,  even  while  the  heart  melts.  A  wonderful  book,  which  all 
who  love  Truth  should  possess.  The  temptation  to  quote  further  for  the  benefit  of 
our  readers  is  great,  but  lack  of  space  forbids. 

THE  ELIMINATOR  ;  OR,  SKELETON  KEYS  TO  SACERDOTAL  SECRETS. 
By  Richard  B.  Westbrook,  D.D.,  LL.D.  Cloth,  435  pp.,  $1 .25.  J.  B.  Lip- 
pincott  Co.     Philadelphia,  Pa. 

In  writing  this  book.  Mr.  Westbrook  shows  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  It 
takes  a  brave  man  to  stand  alone  and  speak  the  truth  concerning  the  dogmas  of 
the  Church. 

His  aim  is  "  to  combat  the  policy  of  suppression  and  deception,  and  insist  that 
the  whole  truth  shall  be  published."  and  to  show  that  **  sacerdotalism  is  responsible 
for  the  fact  that  it  has  not  been  done."  Also  he  undertakes  to  show  that  the  so- 
called  fall  of  Adam  is  a  fable,  and  in  four  or  five  chapters  he  combats  the  idea  of 
the  traditional  Jesus. 

Throughout  the  pages  he  preserves  a  reverent  spirit,  seeking  only  for  the  tntk 
in  the  firm  conviction  that  '*  superstition  and  falsehood  cannot  promote  a  course  of 
right  living,  which  is  the  object  and  aim  of  all  true  religion." 

OTHER  PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

THE  DIVINE  KEY  OF  THE  REVELATION  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  BfWifr 
iam  Eugene  Brown.    Cloth,  439  pp.     2200  No.  20th  St,  Phila.,  Pa. 

A  BRIEF  IN  THE  HIGH  COURT  OF  JUSTICE.  By  A.  D.  Warner.  Papff. 
144  pp.,  25  cents.    Charles  H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  56  Fifth  Avenue,  Chicago. 

MERRIE  ENGLAND.  By  Robert  Blalchford.  Paper,  189  pp.,  6  cents;  25  kt 
$1.00.    Charles  H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  56  Fifth  Avenue,  Chicago. 

AMONG  OUR  EXCHANGES. 

THE  ARYA  PATRIKA.     Weekly.     5  rupees  per  annum.     Lahore,  India. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  FOR  PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH.  Part 
XXXIII..  Vol.  XIII..  February,  1898.  Price,  6  shillings.  Kegan  PmI, 
Trench,  Triibner  &  Co.,  London  ;  Richard  Hodgson,  Boston,  Mass. 

THE  THEOSOPHIST.    Monthly.    $5.00  per  annum.    Adyar.  India. 

THE  THEOSOPHICAL  REVIEW.  Monthly.  $2.75  per  annum;  wngle  copy. 
25  cents.    London,  26  Charing  Cross  ;  New  York,  65  Fifth  Aveniie. 


THE  NEW  YORK 

IPDBLIC  LIBRARY 


A6T0R,  LENOX  AND 
TILDEN    FOUNDATIONS. 


THE 


METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


ToL.  VIII.  MAY,  1898.  No.  2. 


THE  FALLACY  OF  VACCINATION. 

**  Bad  begins  and  worse  remains  behind." — Hamlet. 

The  fourteenth  day  of  May,  1896,  was  observed  at  several  places 
in  Europe  as  the  centenary  of  the  introduction  of  vaccination  among 
the  resources  of  the  healing  art.  The  event  thus  commemorated 
was  the  performing  of  the  first  operation  by  Edward  Jenner  upon 
a  young  lad  named  James  Phipps  with  the  result  of  successfully  pro- 
ducing the  characteristic  vesicle  of  the  vaccine  disease. 

The  celebration,  however,  attracted  but  little  attention;  partly 
because  those  who  credit  the  utility  of  the  peculiar  operation  are 
indifferent  to  its  early  history,  and  partly  because  the  modern  notions 
respecting  it  are  very  widely  different  from  those  promulgated  by 
Jenner  himself.  Besides,  there  is  among  profounder  thinkers  and 
obser\'ers  a  growing  conviction  that  vaccination,  so  far  from  being 
a  benefit  to  mankind,  is  itself  utterly  useless  as  a  preventive,  irrational 
and  unscientific  in  theory,  and  actually  the  means  of  disseminating 
disease  afresh  where  it  is  performed.  Hence,  while  governments  are 
stepping  outside  of  their  legitimate  province  to  enforce  the  operation, 
the  people  who  act  from  better  information  upon  the  subject,  are 
steadily  becoming  adverse. 

Several  years  ago  compulsory  vaccination  was  submitted  to  the 
voting  population  of  Switzerland  by  the  referendum,  and  every  can- 
ton but  one  g^ave  a  majority  against  it.  In  other  countries  the  gov- 
ernments act  arbitrarily,  and  have  conferred  despotic  powers  upon 

privileged  professional  men,  and  so  the  practice  is  enforced  without 

81 


82  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

mercy.  Its  advocates  have  taken  little  pains  to  convince  those  who 
distrust  its  utility,  but  instead  have  resorted  to  the  employment  of 
other  and  often  reprehensible  means.  Children  are  excluded  from 
the  public  schools  unless  they  have  been  vaccinated,  and  the  attempt 
is  made  to  worry  and  coerce  the  parents  and  guardians  into  com- 
pliance with  the  arbitrary  condition  by  prosecutions  for  truancy.  In 
many  instances  they  have  succumbed  from  a  feeling  of  utter  helpless- 
ness, precisely  as  men  submit  to  the  bastinado  inflicted  by  Oriental 
despotism.  In  other  cases,  they  have  followed  as  in  a  groove,  with- 
out considering  what  was  right  or  wrong,  reasonable  or  fallacious. 
Advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  prevalent  inattention  to  the  matter 
to  foist  upon  the  statutes  various  health  regulations  and  other  re- 
quirements, often  in  flagrant  violation  of  personal  rights,  and  with 
no  adequate  justification.  Passengers  upon  ocean  steamers  are 
forced  to  submit  to  the  operation,  unvaccinated  children  arc  ex- 
cluded from  schools,  and  persons  employed  in  factories,  warehouses,  j 
and  the  civil  service  are  compelled  to  submit  to  be  vaccinated  on  | 
penalty  of  losing  their  places.  Soldiers  in  the  army  and  seamen  in 
the  navy  are  also  obliged  to  submit  as  a  matter  of  discipline,  as  a 
century  ago  they  were  inoculated  perforce  for  small-pox. 

Nevertheless,  the  claims  for  vaccination  have  never  been  demon- 
strated to  be  sanctioned  by  any  ascertained  law  or  principle  in  the 
medical  art.  The  chief,  indeed,  the  sole  argument  has  been  the  citing 
of  statistics,  more  or  less  perverted,  and  the  inference  that  because 
the  matter  has  been  made  so  to  appear  it  must  be  presumed  to  be 
with  good  reason.  Further  argument  is  met  by  stolid  silence,  and 
by  an  apparent  concert  of  purpose  to  exclude  carefully  all  discussion 
of  the  matter  from  medical  and  public  journals,  and  to  denounce 
all  who  object.  When  an  accused  person  finds  it  hard  to  repel  a 
charge,  he  frequently  seeks  to  divert  attention  by  vilifying  another. 

Yet  many  objections  to  vaccination  have  been  intelligently  made 
from  personal  experience  and  observation,  and  by  persons  fully  en- 
titled to  respectful  consideration.  They  will  not  always  be  dismissed 
by  obstinate  silence  and  unworthy  innuendoes.  Those  who  object 
are  conscious  that  they  are  ripht,  and  therefore  entitled  to  be  heard. 
If  the  public  health  and  safety  constitute  the  supreme  law,  then  a 


THE  FALLACY   OF  VACCINATION.  88 

candid  and  critical  examination  of  this  whole  subject  is  imperatively 
demanded. 

The  contaminating  of  the  body  of  a  healthy  person  by  the  virus 
of  disease,  under  any  pretext  whatever,  is  unphilosophical,  unjusti- 
fiable, criminal.  The  possibilities  are  that  he  will  not  contract  a 
contagious  disorder,  so  long  as  the  standard  of  health  can  be  main- 
tained. To  infect  him  with  distemper  on  the  plea  of  protecting  him 
is  preposterous. 

The  lymph  of  a  vaccine  pustule  contains  no  virtue  or  quality  that 
will  in  any  way  remove  the  liability  to  contract  small-pox.  No  one 
can  intelligently  deny  that  it  is  itself  the  product  of  decay  of  tissue — 
that  it  is  produced  by  the  decomposition  or  retrograde  metamor- 
phosis  of  the  tissue  of  the  body.  It  is  but  a  little  remove  from  ab- 
solute rottenness.  This  being  the  fact,  the  inserting  of  such  material 
into  the  living  tissues  of  another  person  is  a  culpable  act,  and  nothing 
less  than  the  contaminating  and  infecting  of  the  body  of  that  indi- 
vidual with  filthy,  loathsome,  poisonous  material. 

In  fact,  it  will  be  found  by  careful  observation  that  whenever 
a  vaccinator  or  corps  of  vaccinators  set  out  upon  a  vaccinating  cru- 
sade, there  follows  very  generally  a  number  of  deaths  from  erysipelas 
and  other  maladies  which  have  been  induced  by  the  operation,  ac- 
companied by  suffering  of  the  most  heartrending  character. 

Dr.  Hubert  Boens,  of  Belgium,  has  pushed  the  matter  further, 
and  announced  even  more  alarming  discoveries.     The  appearance 
and  character  of  vaccine  pustules  have  warranted  apprehension  that 
their  remoter  origin  was  from  an  infection  more  venomous  than 
small-pox.    The  virus  used  by  the  earlier  vaccinators  had  been  de- 
rived from  the  diseased  teats  of  cows  and  heels  of  horses.    The  disease 
in  these  cases  was  thought  to  be  spontaneous.    It  appears,  however, 
that  every  such  case  could  be  traced  to  a  g^oom  or  a  milker  who  was 
suffering  from  the  "  bad  disease."    No  heifer  or  bullock  had  cow-pox, 
hut  only  milch-cattle;   and  then  only  when  the  hand  of  the  milker 
disturbed  them.    Ricord,  the  famous  specialist  of  Paris,  caused  sev- 
^  individuals  to  be  inoculated  from  the  blebs  of  patients  suffering 
from  that  complaint.    The  result  was  the  development  of  vesicles, 
^bs,  and  eschars,  easy  to  be  taken  for  those  of  vaccine  ulceration. 


84  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

The  description  of  the  one  would  answer  for  a  description  of  the 
other.  If  it  be  insisted  that  the  virus  now  used  is  not  of  such  a 
character,  it  may  be  replied  that  outbreaks  of  that  disease  have  re- 
peatedly ensued  upon  vaccination.  Besides,  the  practice  exists  of 
inoculating  calves  from  small-pox  vesicles,  and  huckstering  the  ma- 
terial thus  obtained  as  vaccine  virus. 

With  these  facts  in  view,  it  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  declare 
the  current  notion  that  vaccination  will  prevent  small-pox,  or  even 
mitigate  the  severity  of  the  attack,  to  be  entirely  destitute  of  founda- 
tion. Indeed,  every  observing  person  can  enumerate  examples  of 
vaccinated  persons  who  were  afterward  taken  with  the  disease.  Even 
young  Phipps,  whose  case  furnished  the  occasion  for  the  late  com- 
memorative celebration,  was  afterward  attacked  by  small-pox  in  the 
confluent  form.  Several  others  who  had  been  vaccinated  for  experi- 
ment also  had  the  disease  at  a  later  period.  Jenner  carefully  kept 
several  such  experiences  out  of  sight,  actually  insisting  that  facts 
of  this  character  must  be  held  from  the  newspapers.  In  a  letter 
of  remonstrance  he  wrote  as  follows :  "  I  wish  my  professional  breth- 
ren to  be  slow  to  publish  fatal  cases  of  small-pox  after  vaccination." 

Among  our  own  people  in  later  years  this  injunction  appears  to 
be  diligently  heeded.  Occasionally,  however,  a  death  by  vaccination 
is  published,  and  immediately  the  effort  is  put  forth  assiduously  to 
make  it  to  be  believed  that  it  was  from  some  other  cause.  The 
statistics  of  small-pox,  purporting  to  distinguish  between  vaccinated 
and  unvaccinated  persons,  are  too  often  not  quite  trustworthy.  Many 
persons  who  have  been  vaccinated  are  falsely  reported  as  unvacci- 
nated. Even  when  death  occurs  as  the  result  of  vaccination,  the 
truth  is  concealed  and  the  case  represented  as  scarlet  fever,  measles, 
erysipelas,  or  some  "  masked  "  disease,  in  order  to  prevent  too  close 
questioning. 

The  failure  of  vaccination  to  assure  exemption  from  small-po^ 
has  been  made  a  reason  or  pretext  for  repetitions  of  the  operation. 
Nevertheless,  the  history  of  the  last  fifty  years  affords  sufficient  e>i- 
dence  to  show  that  even  repeated  vaccination  has  no  merit.  A  case 
came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  some  years  ago,  of  a  man  em- 
ployed for  years  in  a  hospital,  who  was  *' successfully  vaccinated' 


I 


THE  FALLACY   OF   VACCINATION.  86 

some  seven  or  eight  times,  and  afterward  contracted  small-pox.  An- 
other had  been  vaccinated  in  infancy,  then  vaccinated  a  second  time 
A^hen  he  procured  employment  as  a  coachman,  and  a  third  time  upon 
entering  the  army;  after  which  he  was  taken  with  the  disease.  Much 
3f  the  terrible  mortality  of  the  prisoners  confined  at  Andersonville 
luring  the  Civil  War  was  caused  by  vaccination;  and  there  were  sev- 
eral peculiar  "  epidemics "  in  both  the  Federal  and  Confederate 
irmies,  attributable  to  a  similar  origin. 

Medical  men,  scholars,  and  publicists  of  the  highest  reputation, 
:oncur  in  their  testimony  in  regard  to  this  subject.  Alexander  Von 
Humboldt,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gibbs,  president  of  the  Anti- Vaccination 
League  of  London,  declared  emphatically :  "  I  have  clearly  perceived 
the  progressive,  dangerous  influence  of  vaccination  in  England, 
France,  and  Germany." 

"  While  utterly  powerless  for  good,"  says  Alfred  Russell  Wallace, 
''vaccination  is  a  certain  cause  of  disease  and  death  in  many  cases, 
and  is  the  probable  cause  of  about  10,000  deaths  annually,  by  inocula- 
ble  diseases  of  the  most  terrible  and  disgusting  character." 

Francis  W.  Newman,  Herbert  Spencer,  and  others  of  equal  note 
have  borne  similar  testimony.  Besides  these  are  prominent  physi- 
cians, some  of  whom  have  been  in  charge  of  small-pox  hospitals, 
^^'here  they  had  abundant  means  of  observing.  Several  of  them  freely 
gave  up  hundreds  of  pounds  of  professional  income  for  the  sake  of 
their  convictions  of  duty  thus  enkindled. 

Even  to  have  had  small-pox  itself  affords  no  safeguard  against  its 
recurring.  Louis  XV.  of  France  contracted  the  disease  by  inocula- 
tion at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  died  of  a  second  attack  at  sixty-four. 
Sir  Thomas  Watson,  author  of  the  standard  work  on  "  Medical  Prac- 
t'ce,  makes  the  following  statement :  "  During  an  epidemic  of  small- 
pox in  Scotland,  Dr.  John  Thomson  saw,  from  June,  1818,  to  Decem- 
ber, 1819,  five  hundred  and  fifty-six  cases.  Of  these,  forty-one  took 
^he  small-pox  the  second  time,  and  Dr.  Thomson  knew  of  thirty 
others,  making  seventy-one  in  all." 

The"  London  Medical  Gazette,"  of  November  6,  1830,  contained 
^  letter  dated  at  Cawnpore  in  India,  written  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Chapman, 
distant  surgeon  to  the  Eleventh  Light  Dragoons,  having  the  follow- 


86  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ing  items :  ''  Small-pox  has  been  playing  the  very  deuce  at  this  station. 
There  appears  to  be  no  positive  security  against  the  disease,  either  by 
vaccination  or  small-pox  inoculation ;  and  I  have  seen  several  cases 
where  the  patients  have  caught  the  small-pox  twice,  and  have  each 
time  been  severely  marked,  and  in  two  instances  have  died  of  the 
second  attack  of  small-pox.  Certainly  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
our  small-pox  cases  have  occurred  in  persons  vaccinated  in  India 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago."  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh, 
mentions  the  case  of  a  woman  who  died  from  her  eighth  attack.  In 
the  Small-pox  Hospital,  of  London,  there  were  three  cases  which 
occurred  after  a  previous  attack  of  the  disease,  two  of  which  were 
after  both  vaccination  and  small-pox,  besides  four  which  came  after 
the  patients  had  small-pox  from  inoculation. 

Epidemics  of  small-pox  are  as  numerous  and  as  severe  as  they 
were  one  or  two  centuries  ago.  It  is  probably  no  more  possible  to 
avert  them  than  it  is  to  prevent  volcanic  eruptions,  droughts,  or  devas- 
tating storms.  One  epidemic,  however,  is  never  precisely  similar  to 
another  in  manifestation  or  severity.  The  type  and  character  arc 
principally  determined  by  the  predominating  influence  in  the  earth 
and  atmosphere. 

Dr.  Charles  Creighton,  of  London,  writing  for  the  "  EncycIopa^ 
dia  Britannica,"  declares  that  the  total  death-rate  from  small-pox  in 
modern  times  is  almost  the  same  as  it  was  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. Large  aggregates  collected  by  experienced  statisticians  in 
times  preceding  the  introduction  of  vaccination  exhibit  a  mortality  of 
18.8  per  cent.  Those  of  later  periods  show  a  death-rate  of  18.5  p^ 
cent.,  which  is  hardly  a  noticeable  decrease.  "  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind/'  says  Dr.  Creighton,  "  that  the  division  into  discrete,  conflu- 
ent, and  malignant  small-pox,  is  an  old  one;  that  a  mild  type  was 
quite  common  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and 
was  then  characteristic  of  whole  epidemics,  just  as  in  the  case  of  scar- 
latina; and  that  the  vaccinated  are  at  present  liable  to  be  attacked  by 
the  confluent  and  malignant  disease,  as  well  as  the  discrete 
(varioloid). 

Dr.  Creighton  quotes  several  tables  of  statistics,  and  then  re- 
marks : "  The  official  figures  for  Bavaria  are  more  precise.  Among  the 


THE  FALLACY   OF  VACCINATION.  87 

^429  cases  of  small-pox  in  vaccinated  persons,  there  were  3,994 
Icaths,  while  among  the  1,313  un vaccinated  cases  there  were  790 
Icaths;  of  the  latter  no  fewer  than  743  deaths  were  infants  in  their  first 
•ear.  The  mortality,  both  among  the  vaccinated  and  the  unvacci- 
latcd,  is  always  excessive  in  infancy.  Feeble  health,  as  well  as  non- 
'accination  is  a  factor  in  the  very  excessive  mortality  at  that  tender 
ige. 

The  statistics  show  that  from  1847  till  1865  three-fourths  of  the 
ases  of  small-pox  in  England  were  those  of  children  under  five  years 
if  age.  The  Great  Epidemic  of  187 1  was  characterized  by  the  change 
)f  this  disparity  from  children  to  persons  of  mature  years.  The  aver- 
ge  number  of  children  continued  the  same  as  before,  but  the  enumer- 
tion  of  adults  had  mounted  up  to  an  extraordinary  figure. 

The  Epidemiological  Society  of  London,  making  an  effort  to  pro- 
ure  the  enforcement  of  vaccination,  cited  these  tables  of  statistics.  A 
cport  of  the  Society  accordingly  set  forth  the  comparison  that,  dur- 
ng  the  twelve  years  before  the  passage  of  the  Compulsory  Vaccina- 
ion  Act  of  1853,  there  had  died  of  small-pox  in  England  and  Wales, 
10  less  than  82,825  persons;  while  for  the  twelve  years  immediately 
tisuing  to  that  period,  the  number  of  deaths  from  that  malady  was  but 
[7.710 — a  little  more  than  half. 

It  appears  from  these  figures  that  during  the  twenty-four  years 
iiumerated  there  had  died  from  small-pox  in  the  two  countries  130,- 
i35  persons.  The  average  fatality  from  the  disease  before  the  enact- 
ng  of  the  Compulsory  Law  was  seven  per  cent.  It  seems,  accord- 
ingly, that,  despite  the  enforcing  of  vaccination,  two  millions  of  the 
^pulation  were  attacked.  Of  this  number  of  small-pox  patients, 
jghty-four  per  cent,  had  been  vaccinated. 

The  facts  hardly  verify  the  assumption  that  small-pox  had  been 
litigated  by  the  enforcing  of  the  Compulsory  Law.  In  the  Census  of 
870  there  is  a  table  which  shows  that  there  was  more  small-pox  in 
•ngland  in  i860  than  in  1850,  and  still  more  in  1870  than  in  i860, 
^all-pox  had  become  more  prevalent  since  the  spread  of  vaccina- 
on;  and  yet  in  each  year  this  disease  was  far  less  fatal  than  measles, 
•^rlatina,  or  consumption. 

An  examination  of  the  statistics  kept  in  the  different  cities  of  the 


88  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

United  States  will  disclose  similar  facts.  In  the  seasons  when  small- 
pox is  epidemic,  the  deaths  from  measles  invariably  exceed  those 
from  that  disease,  while  the  cases  of  scarlatina  and  the  deaths  from  it 
are  far  more  numerous,  sometimes  outnumbering  thirty  to  one.  If 
the  facts  were  impartially  presented  in  their  true  light,  and  no  effort 
made  to  create  a  panic  over  the  few  cases  of  small-pox  for  the  sake  of 
jobs  in  vaccination,  the  public  attention  would  be  directed  to  the  dis- 
eases that  were  actually  sweeping  away  their  victims  by  the  scores  and 
hundreds,  rather  than  to  the  meagre  roll  of  small-pox  cases. 

Before  the  end  of  the  second  twelve  years  indicated  in  the  report  of 
the  Epidemiological  Society  there  broke  out  an  epidemic  in  England 
severe  enough  to  dampen  whatever  confidence  the  representations  of 
the  Society  might  have  inspired.  During  the  years  1863,  1864,  and 
1865,  when  vaccination  had  become  general  and  compulsory,  small- 
pox prevailed  to  an  unusual  extent  in  England  as  well  as  in  Germany, 
Hungary,  France,  and  Sweden.  As  an  example  of  its  severity,  there 
were  1,346  persons  in  Upper  Bavaria  attacked  by  it  in  the  malignant 
form,  of  whom  ninety  per  cent,  had  been  vaccinated. 

Never,  however,  did  the  faith  in  vaccination  receive  so  rude  a 
shock  as  in  the  Great  Small-Pox  Epidemic  of  1871  and  1872.  Every 
country  in  Europe  was  invaded  with  a  severity  greater  than  had  ever 
been  witnessed  during  the  three  preceding  centuries.  In  England  the 
number  of  deaths  from  the  disease  was  increased  from  2,620  in  1870 
to  23,126  in  1871  and  19,064  in  1872,  falling  again  to  2,634  in  1873. 
Upon  the  Continent,  particularly  in  France  and  Germany,  the  visita- 
tion was  even  more  severe.  In  Bavaria,  for  example,  with  a  popula- 
tion vaccinated  more  than  any  other  in  the  world,  the  mortality  was 
greater  than  in  any  other  country  of  Northern  Europe,  except  Swe- 
den, which  experienced  the  greatest  that  had  ever  been  known. 

What  was  even  more  significant,  many  vaccinated  persons  in  a'" 
most  every  place  were  attacked  by  small-pox  before  any  unvaccinated 
persons  took  the  disease.  These  facts  are  sufficient  to  overthrow  the 
entire  theory  of  the  protective  efficacy  of  vaccination. 

During  these  two  years,  there  were  14,808  persons  treated  for 
small-pox  in  the  English  hospitals,  of  whom  11,174  had  been  vac- 
cinated.   Dr.  Parr,  the  Registrar-General,  was  compelled  to  acknowl- 


THE   FALLACY   OF   VACCINATION.  89 

jc,  however  reluctantly,  that  vaccination  did  not  by  any  means 
>rd  entire  immunity  against  attack,  or  even  against  death  by  small- 
c. 

Professor  William  B.  Carpenter,  the  author  of  the  text-books  on 
ysiology,  declared  in  1882  that  he  considered  the  city  of  Montreal 
thoroughly  protected  by  vaccination.  A  very  few  years  afterward 
ire  broke  out  the  most  frightful  epidemic  of  small-pox  ever  known 
the  Western  Continent.  The  panic  was  even  more  dreadful,  cx- 
iding  into  the  United  States. 

Very  similar  was  the  experience  in  the  late  epidemic  in  Chicago, 
was  enough,  we  should  imagine,  to  convince  everybody  except  those 
10  will  not  be  persuaded  even  though  one  rose  from  the  dead.  A 
lysician  of  the  city,  who  had  been  a  defender  of  vaccination,  told 
e  writer  of  a  family  that  he  had  attended  professionally  at  that  time, 
ost  of  the  members  had  been  vaccinated,  two  of  them  but  a  little 
lile  before.  The  small-pox,  however,  made  no  discrimination  in 
eir  favor;  those  who  were  vaccinated  had  it  in  the  confluent  form. 

Marc  d'Espine,  the  eminent  physician  of  Paris,  in  a  report  in  the 
Echo  Medical  "  of  July,  1859,  gave  a  statement  of  facts  occurring 
ider  his  observation.  Enumerating  the  patients  who  had  been 
ized  with  small-pox,  he  stated  that  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  those  who 
id  been  vaccinated,  and  twenty-three  per  cent,  of  the  unvaccinated 
id  the  disease  in  the  malignant  form.  When,  from  want  of  physical 
icrgy,  the  eruption  had  failed  to  appear  at  the  surface  of  the  body, 
ty-six  died  out  of  the  hundred  who  had  been  vaccinated.  Yet,  as 
iclared  by  M.  Perrin,  of  those  who  had  not  been  vaccinated  only 
ght  per  cent,  died  at  the  Hotel  Dieu. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  principal  adversaries  of  vaccination  con- 
st of  those  who  had  believed  in  it  till  the  evidence  of  its  utter  use- 
ssness  and  pernicious  results  compelled  them  to  change  their  views, 
any  of  them  are  physicians  who  have,  because  of  their  convic- 
^ns.  given  up  the  lucrative  emoluments  which  are  derived  from  the 
"actice.  It  was  the  refusal  of  one  of  these,  a  distinguished  prac- 
^ioner  of  London,  to  vaccinate  the  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Tebb, 
lat  directed  the  attention  of  that  gentleman  to  the  subject;  and  his 
vestigations,  supplemented  by  an  excessive  persecution  with  prose- 


90  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZIhtE. 

cutions,  led  him  to  undertake  the  Herculean  work  ol  delivering  Eng- 
land from  the  scourge  of  compulsory  vaccination. 

Three  Parliamentary  Commissions  have  been  appointed  at  dif- 
ferent periods,  composed  of  majorities  of  members  favorable  to  the 
practice,  and  the  unanswerable  evidence  that  has  been  produced  be- 
fore them  has  probably  given  the  obnoxious  measure  its  death-blow. 
It  is  certain  that  many  who  vaccinate  have  no  faith  in  the  operation, 
but  perform  it  for  the  sake  of  the  fee.  The  men  who  forego  this  from 
conscientious  scruples,  like  Collins,  Crookshank,  Creighton,  and  J.  J. 
Garth  Wilkinson,  are  steadily  increasing  in  number.  Some  of  the 
local  officers  of  towns,  as  in  Leicester  and  more  recently  in  Gloucester, 
have  abstained  from  enforcing  vaccination,  and  we  witness  the  grati- 
fying result,  that  while  small-pox  ravages  the  towns  where  vaccination 
is  general,  the  visitation  in  these  towns  has  been  no  more  severe.* 

The  pernicious  consequences  also  demand  notice.  The  vaccinat- 
ing of  a  healthy  person  is  nothing  less  than  the  implanting  of  a  nox- 
ious element  in  the  body.  The  success  of  the  operation  consists  in  the 
producing  of  actual  disease,  in  bringing  about  a  permanent,  unnatural 
and  morbid  condition.  The  person  thus  contaminated  will  seldom  if 
ever  regain  the  former  integrity  of  body,  but  is  made  liable  to  a  variety 
of  ailments.  Such  compulsion  to  contract  disease  is  an  outrage  analo- 
gous in  its  turpitude  to  enforced  debauchery. 

Young  children  are  the  principal  sufferers  from  such  violation. 
They  cannot  resist,  and  those  having  charge  of  them  are  often  unable 
or  too  Ignorant  to  do  so.  They  are  thus  made  subject  to  the  evil 
results  all  their  lives.  For  example,  every  fever  or  other  illness  that 
an  infant  undergoes,  leaves  its  sequels  behind.  An  expert  dentist  will 
tell  by  the  condition  of  the  teeth  of  a  lad  or  lass  whether  and  when 
there  was  sickness  in  infancy.    We  may  be  certain,  therefore,  that  a 

♦  Dr.  Walter  R.  Hadener  conclusively  disposed  of  the  false  statements  rcfpect- 
ing  the  epidemic  of  1895-96  in  Gloucester.  The  6rst  outbreak  of  small-pox  was  the 
case  of  a  vaccinated  person  ;  and  of  the  2,000  who  were  seized  with  the  malady 
1,128  had  been  vaccinated,  of  whom  1 14  died.  A  hundred  had  been  revaccinited, 
one  of  them  eight  times.  Thus  two  vaccinated  person  contracted  small-pox  to  00c 
unvaccinated ;  while  9,000  children  that  had  not  been  vaccinated  escaped  unscath^i* 
At  the  next  municipal  election  in  Gloucester,  the  opponents  of  compulsory  vacci- 
nation carried  every  ward  in  the  city. 


THE  FALLACY   OF  VACCINATION.  91 

at  cause  of  decay  of  teeth,  characteristic  of  Americans,  may  be 
rred  to  the  disease  inflicted  in  eariy  life  by  the  vaccinator.  Be- 
s,  there  are  the  multiplex  eruptive  diseases,  the  torturous  eczemas, 
their  associates,  which  so  often  make  life  a  burden. 
Consumption  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  vaccination  as  directly 
in  effect  ever  follows  a  cause.  The  vaccine  poison  being  the 
iuct  of  decaying  animal  tissue  and  often  tuberculous  in  character, 
>t  naturally  produce  its  like  wherever  it  finds  the  suitable  oppor- 
ity.  In  the  districts  of  this  country  where  vaccination  is  most  gen- 
ly  practised,  it  has  been  observed  that  pulmonary  disease  appears 
)C  a  perpetual  epidemic.  "  It  is  certain,"  says  Copland's  Medical 
tionary,  **  that  scrofulous  and  tubercular  diseases  have  increased 
:c  the  introduction  of  cow-pox,  and  that  the  vaccine  virus  favors 
ticularly  the  prevalence  of  various  forms  of  scrofula." 
Professor  Bartlett,  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 
l^cw  York,  made  the  following  statement,  some  years  ago :  "  In 
children  who  had  been  vaccinated  38  died  of  tubercular  consump- 
1,  and  i70of  other  maladies.  In  95  who  were  not  vaccinated,  30 
y  died  of  consumption,  and  65  of  other  diseases."  It  is  notorious 
t  the  mortality  in  the  city  of  New  York  from  pneumonia  and  other 
monary  complaints  is  out  of  all  reasonable  proportion ;  but  how  far 
I  is  from  climate,  general  vaccination,  or  other  specific  causes,  we 
ft  others  to  determine. 

The  "  Medical  Times  and  Gazette,"  of  London,  for  January  i, 
14,  as  long  ago  as  that  period  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  con- 
nption  had  widely  spread  since  the  introduction  of  vaccination, 
ring  the  ten  years  preceding,  it  had  slain  68,204  in  the  metropolis 
nc.  In  the  twelve  years  immediately  following  the  enactment  of 
Compulsory  Vaccination  Act  of  1853,  there  was  an  increase  of 
ths  from  this  complaint  to  almost  230.000.  The  Report  of  the 
§:istrar-General,  for  1869,  gave  the  number  of  deaths  at  53,794 
n  that  cause  alone. 

Other  diseases  appear  to  have  been  induced  as  well  as  consump- 
I.  St.  Gervais,  Hufeland,  Hertwig,  Grisolle,  Canstatt,  Beduar.  enu- 
rate  about  thirty.  That  pyaemia  and  erysipelas  should  be  caused 
0  matter  of  wonder ;  they  are  the  direct  harvest  from  the  seed.    Dr. 


92  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Nittinger,  of  Stuttgart,  asserts  that  "  the  membranes,  particularly 
those  of  the  organs  of  the  senses  and  generation  in  adults,  attest  the 
sufferings  and  dangers  originating  in  the  inoculated  kine-pox  poison, 
such    as   ophthalmia,   otorrhoea,    fluor   albus,    prurigo,    etc."      In 
response  to  an  invitation  from  one  of  the  Commissions  of  the  British 
Parliament,  he  testified  more  positively  and  at  greater  length.    There 
had  resulted,  he  declares,  "  an  immense  degree  of  sickly  sensitive- 
ness of  the  stomach  and  intestinal  canal,  accompanied  by  open  and 
hidden  disturbances  in  the  whole  digestive  apparatus,  namely:  diar- 
rhoea, dyspepsia,  phthisis  dyspeptica,  liver  and  spleen  suffering,  never 
known  before."    There  had  also  become  prevalent  since  1806  an 
entirely  new  disease,  the  typhus,  "which  is  a  mucous  fever  with  ulcera- 
tions and  pox-eruptions  in  the  abdominal  viscera."     Croup  had  be- 
come more  common  and  malignant  with  children,  as  well  as  whoop- 
ing-cough.    There  had  been  a  monstrous  increase  in  consumptive  and 
hectic  diseases,  which  mostly  originate  in  the  digestive  apparatus. 
He  also  instanced  a  vast  increase  of  disease  among  young  women  of 
chlorosis  and  fluor  albus  since  1822;  and  affirmed  that  "  our  genera- 
tion has  gained  a  far  greater  susceptibility  to  the  small-pox  poison, 
which  will  ravage  in  the  above-mentioned  diseased   forms  of  the 
mucous  membrane  till  the  feeding  of  the  poison  by  vaccination,  or- 
dered ever  by  laws,  sanctioned  by  usage,  and  held  up  by  the  Faculty, 
is  forbidden  by  severe  penalty." 

Utterances  so  sweeping  proved  too  much  for  the  Commission,  the 
members  of  which  were  not  prepared  for  such  an  indictment.  Later 
observation,  however,  fully  verifies  them;  and  the  witnesses  are  an 
army.  Dr.  L.  H.  Borden,  of  Paterson,  remarked  the  fact  that  epi- 
demics of  small-pox  and  cholera  succeeded  one  upon  the  other,  as 
though  closely  related.  Dr.  Bakewell  testified  that  leprosy  had  been 
transmitted,  and  Dr.  L.  S.  Ludington,  of  New  Britain,  Ct.,  had  a  case 
in  his  own  family. 

Cancer  may  also  be  communicated.  The  case  of  Dr.  Barnett,  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  who  was  infected  fatally  in  1895  by  the  acciden- 
tal inoculation  of  carcinous  matter,  shows  conclusively  that  this  is 
possible.  Langenbeck,  Lebert,  and  FolHer  assert  that  cancer  can 
be  thus  transplanted,  while  Villemin,  Comil,  Simon,  and  others  de- 


( 


THE  FALLACY  OF  VACCINATION.  98 

dare  the  same  thing  of  tubercle.    Bovine  virus  can  hardly  afford  ex- 
emption, for  our  domestic  animals  have  both  these  diseases. 

"  I  do  not  believe,"  says  Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  **  that  either  vac- 
cination or  drugs  can  give  absolute  security  against  the  inroads  of 
small-pox.  When  every  care  has  been  taken,  the  vaccinated  person 
has  been  known  to  be  attacked  by  the  disease.  In  an  epidemic  such 
cases  are  extremely  common." 

Dr.  George  Gregory,  who  was  himself  physician  of  the  Small-Pox 
Hospital  established  in  London  to  test  and  carry  out  the  theories,  ab- 
solutely refused  to  permit  his  own  children  to  be  vaccinated.     He 
also  published  the  following  statement  in  the  "  Medical  Times  "  of 
June  I,  1852:  "  Small-pox  does  invade  the  vaccinated,  and  the  ex- 
tirpation of  that  dire  disease  is  as  distant  as  when  it  was  first  heedlessly, 
and  in  my  humble  judgment,  presumptuously  anticipated  by  Jenner." 
He  further  declared  his  conclusions :  "  The  idea  of  extinguishing  the 
small-pox  by  vaccination  is  as  absurd  as  it  is  chimerical;  it  is  as  irra- 
tional as  it  is  presumptuous." 

In  the  face  of  testimonies  like  these,  which  are  now  multiplying 
on  every  side,  the  feeble  assertion  is  sometimes  made  that  the  ques- 
tion has  been  settled  long  ago  and  there  is  no  occasion  to  go  over 
the  argument  again.    In  matters  of  science  and  the  healing-art,  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  fact  absolutely  established  beyond  future  investi- 
gation.  Every  position  has  its  beginning  from  an  anteriorsupposition, 
and  may  be  superseded  by  later  discovery.     It  is  an  undeniable  fact 
that  the  doctrine  of  vaccination  as  a  protection  against  small-pox 
never  underwent  a  critical  scrutiny  of  the  character  that  would  be 
required  in  a  court  of  law.    Instead,  it  was  assumed  upon  doubtful  and 
equivocal  evidence,  and  promulgated  as  proprietary  nostrums  are  to 
this  day  thrust  upon  the  notice  of  the  public.    It  was  accepted,  as  Dr. 
Creighton  aptly  remarks,  upon  terms  which  will  seem  incredibly 
loose  to  every  person  who  has  not  already  made  acquaintance  with  the 
standard  of  logic  in  the  medical  profession.     Since  that,  it  is  taken 
upon  trust,  without  inquiry,  upon  the  presumption,  so  often  a  mis- 
taken one,  that  a  new  project,  especially  if  it  be  a  scientific  one,  had 
been  thoroughly  tested  and  debated  on  all  sides  before  it  received  the 
general  assent  of  its  own  age.    Hence,  in  relation  to  the  matter,  public 


M  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

sentiment  is  likely  to  verify  the  remark  of  Rudolf  Virchow :  "  When 
the  public  sees  a  doctrine  which  has  been  exhibited  to  them  as  certain, 
established,  and  claiming  universal  acceptance,  proved  to  be  faulty  in 
its  very  foundation,  or  discovered  to  be  wilful  and  despotic  in  its  essen- 
tial and  chief  tendencies,  many  lose  their  faith  in  science." 

The  actual  perils  of  small-pox  have  been  largely  exaggerated.  It 
has  always  kept  within  moderate  limits  of  age  and  place,  and  extended 
only  by  repeated  provocation.  Even  when  it  prevails,  the  other  zy- 
motic diseases  seem  almost  always  to  exceed  it  many  fold  in  intensity 
and  fatality.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  prevailed  in  Europe  till  it  was 
introduced  from  Africa,  and  it  was  brought  into  this  country  simul- 
taneously with  the  importing  of  slaves.  It  seems  to  have  been  un- 
known in  England  before  the  seventeenth  century,  and  it  has  never 
shown  a  tendency  toward  universal  infection.  It  belongs  to  over- 
crowded places,  and  breaks  out  spontaneously  in  military  camps. 
Statistical  tables  show  that  from  1675  ^o  1761,  its  yearly  average  ol 
deaths  was  as  follows:  In  London,  7  per  cent.;  in  Edinburgh, 7.6 
per  cent.;  in  Paris,  t,2  per  cent.,  and  in  Berlin,  8.1  per  cent.  After 
inoculation  for  small-pox  was  introduced  the  mortality  increased  to 
10  per  cent.  Since  vaccination  was  adopted,  it  is  15  per  cent.  Afean- 
while,  whatever  the  epidemic,  deaths  from  zymotic  diseases  are 
nowhere  materially  diminished.  As  one  epidemic  ceases  another  ap- 
pears, frequently  with  magnified  intensity. 

The  reason  for  this  undoubtedly  exists  in  the  fact  that  the  dis- 
eases now  called  **  zymotic  "  as  well  as  others,  have  a  common  begin* 
ning.  The  indicating  of  them  by  one  name  and  another  is  conven-* 
ient  for  text-books,  medical  discussions,  and  dictionaries,  but  the  dis- 
tinctions are  more  or  less  fanciful,  and  are  often  liable  to  mislead 
those  practitioners  who  usually  accept  propositions  without  investi- 
gation or  follow  routine  in  their  prescribing.  Dr.  J.  J.  Garth  Wilkin- 
son, the  physician-philosopher,  accordingly  describes  the  multiplicity 
of  diseases  and  epidemics  as  "  the  mask  of  a  single  abnormality  o( 
which  the  '  distinct  maladies,'  as  they  are  termed,  are  but  symptoms.' 
One  form  of  disease  or  epidemic  passing  into  another,  is,  therefore, 
little  else  than  the  effect  of  some  change  or  modification  in  external  or 
subjective  conditions.     Little  importance  may  be  attached  to  the 


THE  FALLACY   OF  VACCINATION.  96 

ypothesis  of  the  specific  contagion  or  infection,  further  than  may  be 
dmitted  in  a  judicial  inquiry. 

Mr.  Wolfe,  in  his  treatise  on  "  Zymotic  Diseases,"  mentions  an 
istance  in  India  where  small-pox  broke  out  in  a  region  many  miles 
istant  from  any  possible  source  of  contagion.  He  attributed  it  to  the 
ction  of  decaying  animal  matter,  and  remarks  that  the  same  poison- 
)us  air  will  sometimes  give  one  zymotic  disease  to  one  member  of  a 
amily,  and  another  to  another,  according  to  the  bodily  constitution. 
*An  eminent  physician  once  said  to  me,"  remarks  Mr.  Strickland 
Constable,  "  that  all  the  zymotic  diseases,  from  nettle-rash  to  Oriental 
plague,  are  probably  only  varieties  of  one  thing,  dovetailing  into  each 
other  with  intimate  complexities,  like  colors." 

Dr.  Samuel  Dickson,  the  propounder  of  the  Chrono-Thermal 
theory,  explains  that  when  a  disease  of  any  peculiar  type  is  present, 
anything  may  cause  it;  a  sudden  chill,  a  depressing  passion,  or  even  a 
mechanical  injury.  Dr.  Forbes  Winslow  also  declares  that  "  mental 
emotion  and  shock  to  nerves  may  cause  almost  any  disease,"  and 
adds  with  disdain,  that  there  are  medical  men  who  will  assert  that  no 
complaint  can  be  caused  without  some  subtle  poison  to  the  blood — 
doubtless,  overlooking  the  fact  that  every  shock  or  emotion  changes 
the  quality  of  the  blood  from  its  effect  on  the  nerves.  Dr.  Henry 
Maudesley  mentions  cases  of  surgical  operations  which  caused  ery- 
sipelas. Another  operation,  he  said,  produced  measles;  another, 
scarlet  fever,  and  another,  small-pox.  Dr.  Carl  Both  adds  his  testi- 
mony that  "  We  find  small-pox  among  races  or  nations  that  use  alco- 
hol freely." 

The  danger  of  contracting  the  malady  is  incident  to  the  plight  of 
the  patient,  apart  from  the  complaint.  The  disordered  condition  of 
the  person  affords  a  nidus  or  matrix  for  the  reception  and  incubation 
of  the  morbific  principle.  If  he  is  not  already  in  a  bad  or  depressed 
condition  of  health,  he  is  not  liable  to  any  malignant  or  dangerous 
^izure.  The  human  body  in  a  state  of  integrity  will  resist  any  in- 
cursion of  disease  whatever.  We  have  all  observed  that  the  various 
Malignant  diseases  and  epidemics  leave  many  persons  unscathed, 
typhus,  typhoid,  intermittent  fever,  Asiatic  cholera,  attack  only  those 
'iabic  from  deterioration  of  physical  stamina,  worry,  undue  fatigue,  or 


96  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

paralyzing  terror.  Men  and  women  in  a  cheerful  temper  of  mind,  self- 
possessed,  in  a  fair  state  of  health,  neat  and  orderly  in  their  habits,  arc 
protected  as  by  a  wall  of  fire. 

Such  are  the  facts  in  regard  to  small-pox.  Only  those  will  be 
attacked  who  are  in  the  way  of  it;  and  their  liability  is  not  so  much 
from  exposure  and  contact  with  the  patient,  or  of  morbific  emanation, 
as  from  some  ill  condition  of  body.  A  free  contact  with  atmospheric 
air  is  sufficient  to  render  harmless  any  effluvium  from  which  mischief 
may  be  apprehended.  When  small-pox  is  epidemic,  there  may  be 
greater  danger;  but  when  it  is  only  sporadic,  little  special  attention  is 
required  in  the  way  of  precaution. 

Health,  we  may  confidently  believe,  is  more  contagious  than  any 
form  of  disease,  and  far  more  likely  to  be  contracted  upon  exposure. 
It  inspires  us  on  all  sides,  and  is  energetic  to  repel  and  overcome  ever)' 
morbid  agency.  Even  contact  in  friendly  social  intercourse  with  per- 
sons in  health  is  most  salutary.  Hygienic  agencies,  courage,  and 
moral  purpose  are  the  best  preventives  in  our  possession.  There  arc 
always  persons  who  are  assured  against  such  perils  by  their  vigorous 
health,  or  perhaps  by  idiosyncrasy  or  mental  condition  We  need  not 
employ  a  Satan  to  cast  out  Satan,  but  only  the  "  finger  of  God." 

There  are  hopeful  signs  in  the  sky.  The  people  of  Switzerland 
have  rejected  Compulsory  Vaccination ;  and  every  country  in  Europe 
and  America  would  probably  do  the  same,  if  there  was  opportunity. 
The  British  House  of  Commons  has  appointed  three  several  Commis- 
sions, and  the  condemnatory  evidence  has  accumulated  to  sweep  away 
the  Great  Delusion.  It  has  shown  that  there  were  numerous  deaths 
from  vaccination,  but  the  facts  were  carefully  suppressed,  that  horrible 
diseases  have  been  often  imparted,  and  that  vaccination  has  no  warrant 
in  scientific  knowledge.  Some  of  the  facts  disclosed  were  shockingto 
every  human  sensibility.  Mary  the  Magdalen  may  have  been  relieved 
of  seven  devils,  but  in  the  category  of  vaccination  there  is  a  legion  d 
them  introduced  afresh.  The  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  arc  op- 
posed to  vaccination,  and  in  this  event  the  Parliament  and  Govern- 
ment must  respect  their  v/ish. 

In  America  is  still  the  protection  which  docs  not  protect.  Tliis 
disseminating  of  disease  under  the  pretext  of  averting  it  is  the  cardinal 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  97 

licy  of  medical  men.  Perhaps  some  continue  to  believe  in  the 
icacy  of  the  procedure ;  perhaps  professional  cupidity  has  an  influ- 
ce  to  shape  their  opinions  and  action.  Enough  now  to  say  that 
-or  is  but  for  a  limited  period  of  time.  A  better  intelligence  must 
t  dissipate  the  thick  vapor  and  let  in  the  sunlight  of  the  higher  truth, 
e  true  evangel  of  healing  disease,  instead  of  causing  it. 

Alexander  Wilder,  M.D.* 
*  First  President  of  the  first  Anti-  Vaccination  League  of  America. 


NATURE'S  TRINITY: 

BRAHMA.   VISHNU.   AND   SIVA. 

The  Hindu  conception  of  a  threefold  over-ruling  power — a  Crea- 
or,  Preserver,  and  Destroyer — antedates,  by  many  ages,  the  Chris- 
ian  Trinity  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  In  its  essential  signifi- 
ance  the  Hindu  conception  is  no  more  a  hierarchy  composed  of  three 
)crsons  than  it  is  an  autocratic  monster  with  three  heads;  though 
ather  of  these  representations  might  symbolize  the  underlying  truth, 
ind  thus  present  it  to  the  undeveloped  mind. 

Nature  is  full  of  trinities.  According  to  Science  all  evolution  is 
4ue  to  the  triple  universal  base,  spirit,  matter,  and  force,  which  three 
^c  always  associated  during  the  cycle  of  manifestation. 

In  a  further  development,  Nature  presents  herself  in  septenaries. 
Thus  we  have  the  three  primary  colors  from  which  are  derived  seven. 
In  the  constitution  of  man  we  have  also  the  three  primary  divisions 
referred  to  by  St.  Paul,  as  body,  soul,  and  spirit^  from  which  three 
*  more  analjrtical  Philosophy  derives  seven.  But  it  is  with  the  three- 
fold division  of  nature's  godhead  that  we  now  are  chiefly  concerned. 
Prom  a  close  study  of  Eastern  Philosophy,  it  would  seem  that  the 
Modern  version  of  a  deity  composed  of  three  persons,  is  but  a  distor- 
ion  of  the  broad  metaphysical  conception  of  nature's  trinity  twisted 
nto  that  limited,  material  idea  of  a  Godhead. 

The  old  Wisdom  Religion,  which  to-day  is  so  earnestly  pushed  to 
tc  front  for  investigation,  employs  many  symbols,  and  works  in  man- 


98  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ifold  ways,  in  order  to  impart  truth  to  humanity  in  all  its  varying 
stages  of  evolution.    Thus  it  is  able  to  adapt  itself  to  all  ages  and  races 
of  mankind.    Now,  this  system  of  knowledge,  in  its  Cosmogony,  pos- 
tulates that  this  earth,  as  well  as  all  other  planets,  planetary  chains, 
and  solar  systems,  was  in  the  beginning  created,  but  not  out  of  noth- 
ing.   Creation  out  of  nothing  is  a  comparatively  modem  fallacy,  and 
would  have  taken  no  more  hold  upon  the  philosophical  minds  of  the 
more  mature  ancient  races,  than  it  now  takes  upon  the  most  philo- 
sophical and  logically   developed   among  present   humanity.    As 
primordial  matter  or  the  essence  of  matter,  like  spirit,  is  eternal,  the 
beginning  referred  to  as  creation,  is  only  the  beginning  of  a  new  man- 
ifestation of  what  was  already  in  existence.    The  material  universe  is 
spirit,  of  many  gradations,  clothed  in  numberless  expressions  of  form, 
or  combinations  of  matter. 

Since  all  manifestation  is  constantly  changing,  it  will  be  clear  that 
creation,  literally  speaking,  is  a  never-ceasing  process.  But  with 
every  cyclic  manifestation,  there  is  a  beginning,  which  is  expressed  bjr 
the  term  "  creation/'  which  term  presupposes  a  creator. 

Now,  who  or  what  is  the  creator  of  universes  and  of  worlds?  Who 
created  this  planet  upon  which  we  live?  To  begin  at  the  lowest 
step,  we  will  say  that  the  creator  of  this  world,  as  of  all  worlds,  was 
a  centre  of  force,  a  unit  of  consciousness,  a  spiritual  atom  of  energyi 
whose  latent  potentiality,  when  called  forth  into  a  potency,  quickened 
matter  into  activity,  and  thus  evolution  began. 

To  go  back  of  this  process  we  will  postulate  that  there  arc  col- 
lective entities,  or  hosts  of  intelligences,  whose  mission  it  is  to  preside 
over  the  evolution  of  matter;  and  that  these  world-builders  are  di- 
vided into  an  almost  infinite  number  of  grades  and  sub-grades,  ex- 
tending on  to  the  great  master-builder,  the  cause  of  all  things,  from 
which  emanates  both  spirit  and  matter. 

To  make  use  of  an  inadequate  simile,  we  will  say  that  a  piece  of 
furniture  is  "  created,''  and  stands  before  us — a  table  for  example. 
Now,  grades  of  coarser  and  finer,  or  lower  and  higher  workmen  have 
been  employed  in  its  creation.  The  woodcutter  hewed  the  tree;  the 
mill-worker  sawed  the  rough  material  into  planks  or  boards;  the 
cabinet-maker  carried  out  a  certain  plan  conceived  in  mind,  and  gav 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  9d 

a  specialized  form  to  the  combined  pieces  of  material;  the  polisher 
anoothed  its  surface;  then  perhaps  the  artist  carried  out  his  design  in 
some  fine  decoration.  Now,  back  of  all  these  workmen  is  the  spiritual 
germ  by  which  the  tree  was  produced,  which  in  its  turn  we  can  trace 
back  until  we  reach  the  cause  of  all  things,  the  cause  of  world- 
builders  as  well  as  of  the  substance  of  which  worlds  are  made. 

The  germ  of  a  universe,  like  the  germ  of  a  tree,  includes  both  the 
power  that  works  and  the  essence  of  the  matter  worked  upon;  and  in 
the  unfolding  of  this  germ  sacred  hosts  of  conscious  divine  powers 
adjust  and  control  the  evolution  of  a  universe,  embodying  in  them- 
selves those  manifestations  which  we  recognize  as  the  laws  of  nature. 

It  is  in  this  way,  says  the  ancient  cosmogony,  that  the  Absolute, 
or  God  as  an  all-pervading,  inconceivable  principle,  is  the  Creator  of 
all  things.  It  is  in  this  way  that  Nature  in  all  her  departments  is  inces- 
santly creating,  incessantly  taking  up  old  material  arid  giving  birth 
to  new  worlds  as  well  as  to  new  manifestations  in  these  worlds;  and 
the  term  that  expresses  the  working  of  this  first  god  of  nature's  trinity 
is  the  collective  term  Creator,  or  Brahma. 

Now,  the  next  work  of  nature  is  to  preserve  in  concrete  form  that 
^hich  is  already  created.  We  can  readily  see  that  in  aim  and  interests 
the  Creator  and  the  preserver  are  one  and  the  same;  that  their  work 
'S interwoven  the  one  with  the  other;  that  the  preserver,  always  pro- 
ceeding within  the  limits  of  the  prescribed  plan,  always  maintaining  a 
copy  of  the  form-model,  even  while  pushing  onward  and  upward 
^th  his  evolutionary  intention,  is  only  another  kind  of  creator. 

This  second  god  of  Nature's  trinity  presiding  over  what  we  call  a 
«olid  rock,  for  example,  so  manipulates  the  interpenetrating  etheric 
force,  which  permeates  all  matter,  so  works  under  the  laws  of  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion,  as  to  hold  the  whirling  atoms  of  the  rock  duly 
*part  as  well  as  duly  near  together,  for  ages  upon  ages,  with  little  ap- 
parent development  toward  a  higher  form.  Also  in  the  more  rapid 
processes  of  higher  kingdoms,  however  busily  improving  in  certain 
details,  he  ever  works  to  preserve  the  original  sketch  of  the  creative 
^ist.  In  nature  there  are  no  sudden  transformations  into  more  pro- 
cessed forms.  Evolution  works  slowly  and  carefully.  As  we  see  in 
^wr  own  physical  body,  with  the  utmost  of  interior  development,  the 


I 


liliVT^ 


100  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

impress  upon  its  molecules  is  so  gradual  that  this  body  is  recognizable 
as  the  same  form,  throughout  the  term  of  a  human  life,  so  well  docs 
the  preserver  identify  himself  with  the  creator. 

Now,  the  term  Preserver  as  well  as  the  term  Creator,  is  a  col- 
lective term  signifying  innumerable  hosts  divided  into  countless 
grades  of  workers  in  all  departments  of  nature;  for  the  Infinite,  the 
Absolute,  God,  never  works  without  the  mediation  of  fitting  agents. 

It  would  seem  that  the  Preserver  with  his  maintaining  force  might 
impart  so  permanent  a  quality  to  all  manifestation,  as  to  make  every 
created  thing  immortal;  but  the  time  comes,  for  him  as  for  his  p^^ 
decessor,  when  he  must  yield  to  his  successor — when  expended  en- 
ergy having  reached  its  high  tide  begins  to  ebb,  and  his  work  is 
passed  over  into  the  hands  of  the  third  God  of  the  trinity,  the  D^ 
stroyer. 

Now,  since  'there  is  no  atom,  either  physical  or  spiritual,  ever  (fe« 
stroyedf  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  such  work  is  only  the  destnio 
tion  of  a  certain  concrete  form,  its  disintegration,  or  the  change  of 
its  particles  into  other  forms;  for,  on  the  plane  of  manifestation,  form 
must  ever  obtain,  whether  it  be  visible  or  invisible  to  our  present 
vision.  As  the  Destroyer  cannot  destroy  one  form  without  generat- 
ing another,  he  is  called  also  the  Regenerator. 

Science  asserts  that  it  is  a  necessity  of  nature  to  run  down.  WeD, 
it  is  equally  her  necessity  to  build  up  again;  and  the  running  down  or 
destruction  of  one  form  prepares  the  way  for  the  building  up  of  an- 
other. It  is  thus  that  the  work  of  this  third  power  of  the  trinity  circles 
around  and  touches  upon  that  of  the  first  power,  the  Creator. 

As  in  mathematics,  through  any  three  points  not  in  the  same 
straight  line  a  circle  may  be  drawn,  so  these  three  forces,  these  three 
classes  of  collective  hosts  of  sacred  workers,  proceeding  from  their 
three  distinct  points  of  intention,  may  and  do  combine  themselves 
into  a  circle  of  never  ceasing  activity  and  thus  constitute  themselves 
one  grand  overruling  Godhead. 

Death,  destruction,  or  disintegration  as  every  day  observed  in  the 
world  around  us,  is,  then,  only  a  change  in  modes  of  life.  In  what  we 
call  a  dead  human  body,  an  encampment  deserted  by  its  general,  there 
is  more  life  than  in  a  so-called  living  form.    There  is  too  much  life. 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  101 

lere  is  life  beyond  the  cohesive  power  of  that  body  to  resist.  The 
»ur  strikes,  the  Destroyer  brings  his  life-force  so  to  bear  upon  the 
ganized  mass  that  the  general,  the  presiding  ego,  loses  his  hold  over 
5  troops  of  subordinates,  and  mutiny,  disintegration  begins,  prepar- 
g  the  way  for  new  creations. 

So  we  see  that  death  is  only  life,  and  that  every  atom,  whether  ap- 
eciable  or  inappreciable  to  sense,  is  a  distinct  life;  and  the  same  in- 
sible  lives,  the  same  elements,  are  used  over  and  over  again,  as  it  is 
id,  for  the  mountain,  the  daisy,  the  ant  and  the  elephant,  as  well 
i  for  the  building  up  of  a  human  body. 

But  we  may  reasonably  ask  how  this  teaching  of  ancient  cosmol- 
gy  bears  upon  the  present  everyday  life  and  conduct  of  humanity,  or 
ow,  in  this  utilitarian  age,  it  can  be  made  practical.  As  our  Script- 
res  tell  us,  we  are  made  "  in  the  image  of  God,"  or,  in  the  language 
I  the  Elastern  Philosopher,  we  are  of  the  same  essence  as  the  Abso- 
atc.  Man,  the  little  world,  is,  within  himself,  a  small  copy  of  the  great 
korld  external  to  himself.  He,  like  all  manifestations  in  nature,  is 
nadc  up  of  the  imperishable  and  the  perishable,  of  that  which  endures 
Jid  of  that  which  changes.  Potentially,  he  is  possessed  of  the  same 
K)wers  as  exist  in  the  world  around  him.  He  himself  is  a  divine 
rinity,  a  Creator,  a  Preserver,  and  a  Destroyer. 

Let  him,  then,  if  he  would  be  successful  in  his  own  kingdom,  in  the 
volution  of  himself,  learn  his  lessons  from  nature,  fall  in  line  with  her 
>lan  of  operation,  proceed  in  accordance  with  her  methods.  This  old 
■Philosophy  teaches  that  it  is  from  a  study  of  great  things  that  we 
cam  the  nature  of  small  things,  and  in  acquainting  ourselves  with  the 
processes  and  economies  of  God  in  nature  we  are  coming  into  a 
nowledge  of  the  only  successful  method  of  harmonious  progress  in 
be  smaller  field  of  action  within  ourselves. 

If  we  are  Creators,  what  and  how  do  we  create?  Like  Brahma, 
ishnu,  and  Siva,  we  originate  nothing.  We  only  employ  the  forces 
:  our  command  to  work  upon  that,  which,  in  one  form  or  another, 
ready  exists.  If  we  follow  nature,  we  create  that  which  is  desirable 
id  requisite  for  orderly  evolution,  and  we  preserve  or  maintain  the 
tegrity  of  our  creation  until  it  has  served  its  whole  purpose,  until  its 
ly  is  passed;  and  then  we  destroy  or  disintegrate  that  creation  to 


102  THE   METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

make  way  for  a  more  advanced  one,  gaining  a  higher  level  on  oar 
spiral  of  progress  as  we  transfer  our  energies  to  something  ever  nearer 
the  goal  of  perfection. 

There  is  no  one  special  day  for  creation  or  for  preservation  or  for 
destruction,  but  our  threefold  work,  as  in  nature,  proceeds  in  its  three 
several  directions  simultaneously,  and  in  a  never-ceasing  round  oi 
activity.  We  are  every  moment  of  our  lives  triune  workers  on  one  or 
another  plane  of  our  complex  being.  We  may  accomplish  such  work 
physically,  mentally,  or  spiritually;  and  work  on  a  higher  plane  always 
leaves  its  impress  on  all  lower  planes,  for  mental  work  is  externalized 
on  the  physical  plane,  and  spiritual  work  becomes  manifest  on  botb 
the  mental  and  physical  planes,  and  the  higher  the  plane  the  greater 
the  result  of  any  certain  amount  of  expended  energy. 

What  should  we  most  desire  to  create? 

We  are  beyond  the  animal  kingdom;  we  are  responsible  beings, 
with  self-consciousness  and  a  free  will,  with  a  mind  or  rational  faculty, 
that  links  our  physical  body  and  animal  desires  to  our  immortal  spirit, 
so  that  evolutionary  aid  flows  in  upon  us  in  its  three  streams,  the 
physical,  the  mental,  and  the  spiritual.  What  then  should  we  most 
desire  to  create?  While  we  may,  and  must,  work  more  or  less oo 
lower  planes,  yet  our  highest  desire  should  be  for  the  attainment  d 
the  very  highest  that  is  possible  to  us.  Spiritual  evolution  should  be 
our  highest  aim ;  and  that  would  naturally  include  all  that  is  essential 
on  lower  planes. 

We  should  work  to  create  good  character,  which  is  a  part  of  o* 
that  in  essence  continues  throughout  all  future  lives. 

Even  the  savage,  as  much  as  he  appears  to  be  living  wholly  on  the 
physical  plane,  is  to  a  degree  developing  or  creating  mental  or  even 
spiritual  qualities,  when,  in  what  is  called  mere  physical  courage,  be 
sacrifices  his  body  in  warfare  for  some  supposed  good  to  his  tribe;  i<^ 
courage  of  any  kind  whatever  resides  in  the  mind  or  in  the  spirit  and 
not  in  the  body.  The  body  has  neither  courage  nor  lack  of  courage* 
it  is  simply  an  instrument  for  a  higher  part  of  man  to  act  through  on 
this  plane.  Now,  this  incipient  courage  of  the  savage,  however  mi^ 
applied,  may  for  any  one  of  us,  in  a  life  of  ages  ago,  have  laid  the  fon^' 
dation  for  a  courageous  character  which  we  now  possess;  and  asw^ 


ONE'S  ATMOSPHERE.  108 

have  now  so  evolved  as  to  come  into  a  more  advanced  race,  we  should 
so  much  the  more  intelligently  create  noble  qualities  of  heart  and 
sound  qualities  of  head.  As  is  the  case  in  nature,  the  material  for  such 
work  is  already  made  to  our  hand,  it  is  already  within  us. 

{To  be  continued.) 


ONE'S  ATMOSPHERE. 

It  is  almost  universally  conceded  that  each  one  carries  a  certain 
atmosphere  that  may  be  felt  by  all  who  come  in  contact  with  him ;  but 
how  that  atmosphere  is  formed  and  held  by  each  individual  is  an 
open  question. 

"  It  is  his  nature  "  (whatever  that  word  may  mean  to  the  speaker), 
says  one.  Another,  versed  in  astrology,  knows  that  the  stars,  at  the 
hour  of  birth,  settled  it  all.  Another  has  read  the  arguments  in  the 
books  on  heredity,  and  believes  one  may  inherit  qualities  from  father 
or  mother  or  ancestors.  A  fourth  reads  history,  and  knows  environ- 
ment to  be  the  sole  cause.  Yet  a  fifth,  claiming  to  be  wiser,  and 
broader-minded,  believes  in  the  stars,  and  fleshly  ties,  and  environ- 
ment, and  education,  as  combining  to  create  the  atmosphere  sur- 
rounding each  one. 

Accepting  fully  any  of  these  theories,  we  must  conclude  that  the 
individual  is  largely  irresponsible.  From  him  emanates  what  has 
been  by  some  of  these  forces  implanted  within  him.  In  short,  a  tide  of 
circumstances  first  met  him;  and  through  his  actions  thereby  forced 
i^as  created  the  atmosphere  that  marks  his  individuality.  If  this 
*'cre  the  truth — the  whole  truth — the  subject  would  possess  little  of 
interest,  and  might  be  at  once  dismissed. 

With  our  ideas  of  education,  which  we  have  been  following  and 
elaborating  for  centuries,  the  end  has  been  to  discipline  the  memory 
^d  to  train  the  mind  to  generalizations  and  classifications  that  give 
he  student  information,  poise,  and  judgment  in  lines  dignified  as 
ntellcctual. 

With  the  experience  gained  by  training  students  in  language, 
^mathematics,  history,  etc.,  progress  has  been  made,  so  that,  as  the 


l04  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

years  go  by,  more  and  more  (measuring  by  the  bulk  standard)  is 
being  added  to  the  curriculum  of  the  college.  Classes  being  gradu- 
ated to-day  show  greater  proficiency  in  Latin,  Greek,  modern  lan- 
guages, mathematics,  history,  and  so  on,  than  classes  on  whose  mem- 
bers degrees  were  conferred  by  the  same  college  twenty-five  years 
ago.  Professors  congratulate  themselves  on  this,  and  promise  in 
the  near  future  even  better  things. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  belittle  or  criticise  this  ad- 
vance. In  its  way,  it  is  well  enough.  A  knowledge  of  Latin  can 
be  gained  only  by  the  study  of  Latin,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  the 
student  can  now  make  more  rapid  progress  than  formerly.  I  have 
referred  to  our  educational  system  because  it  is  sometimes  claimed 
that  our  present  college  system  offers  the  best  mental  training  ob- 
tainable. Granting  that  the  college  method,  in  the  subjects  taught, 
leads  the  student  as  rapidly  as  he  can  safely  progress  in  each  one  of 
them,  still  his  real  power  in  the  world  is  given  tangible  expression 
by  his  "  atmosphere  '' — and  what  has  college  training  had  to  do  with 
that?  College  has  its  environment;  the  student  remains  within  it 
for  four  or  more  years;  its  impress  is  not  likely  to  be  completely 
eradicated.  Yet,  if  the  student  leave  the  college,  holding  any  of  the 
commonly  cited  theories  to  account  for  one's  atmosphere,  he  is  simply 
adrift  in  the  world  of  thought.  Is  there  safe  anchorage  to  be  found? 
Let  us  see. 

This  subject  of  one's  atmosphere  stands  forth  as  a  great  is.  It 
is  a  mighty  reality.  Though  its  creation  may  be  surrounded  with 
mystery,  its  existence  is  as  real  as  the  noon-day  sun.  We  feel  it 
everywhere  in  mingling  with  people;  it  in  some  attracts,  and  in  others 
repels.  Recognizing  unfavorable  atmosphere  surrounding  a  friend 
or  associate,  attempts  have  been  made  to  change  it.  As  a  rule,  the 
result  of  such  attempts  has  been  a  failure.  What  is  worse,  the  great 
majority  of  the  human  family,  while  lamenting  that  their  atmosphere 
is  so-and-so,  declare  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  powerless  to 
change  it. 

This  subject,  therefore,  has  a  charm  more  than  sacred  to  cvcrf 
being;  a  charm  reaching  his  innermost  holy  of  holies.  Let  one  de- 
clare repeatedly  and  openly  as  he  may  his  inability  to  control  his  owfl 


ONE'S  ATMOSPHERE  105 

itmosphere,  his  whole  existence  is  full  of  proofs  of  his  attempts 
to  do  that  very  thing.  Taking  a  broad  view,  in  the  light  of  the  new 
metaphysics,  mingling  the  truths  of  the  Eastern  philosophy  with 
;he  more  vigorous  mentality  of  the  West,  must  there  not  be  a  demon- 
jtrable  reason  for  these  attempts  to  overcome,  or  to  lift  one's  self 
)ut  of  uncongenial  atmosphere?  Why  should  the  desire  to  change 
)ne's  atmosphere  enter  the  mind,  suggesting  even  discipline  to  that 
md,  if  there  be  no  hope  of  its  attainment?  Does  not  the  desire, 
:oupled  with  the  attempt  to  satisfy  it,  mean  something? 

Again,  some  have  succeeded  in  their  work.  Do  we  not,  all  of 
IS,  know  people  whose  atmosphere  has  been  wholly  changed?  Have 
vc  not  met  them  with  surprise,  feeling  they  were  not  our  former 
ricnds,  but  reincarnations  of  them?  How  they  succeeded  has  been 
r'aguely  told  at  best.  The  investigator  listened  to  their  story,  but 
lis  logic  was  not  satisfied  ;  so  these  experiences  have  brought  little 
ruth  to  the  thinking  world. 

Where  is  the  trouble?  Is  all  real  knowledge  intuitional?  Will 
he  logic  of  intellect  ever  refuse  light  from  that  source?  If  so,  we 
nust  waken  a  higher  guide  than  intellect  to  help  us  on  these  lines. 

That  the  proposition  may  be  clearly  understood,  it  will  be  best 
0  state  it  boldly.  It  is  this:  Man  controls  absolutely  his  own  at- 
nosphere.  To  prove  this,  we  leave  the  logic  of  the  schools.  We 
nust  look  within.  We  must  enter  the  throbbing  silence  of  the  in- 
uitional.  One  cannot  refuse  to  do  so;  because,  in  the  statement  of 
>ur  proposition,  it  is  self-evident  that  "  man  "  cannot  refer  to  the 
iian  as  seen  in  the  flesh.  It  is  the  great  impersonality  of  one's  being; 
t  is  his  Ego;  it  is  the  unseeable;  it  is  the  eternal.  "  Man  controls  " 
'^eans,  then,  that  the  true  ego  controls;  and,  primarily,  if  the  true 
•go  control,  the  true  ego  must  have  knowledge  of  such  power. 
ICnowledge  of  power  must  precede  the  ability  to  use  the  power  in- 
clligently.  If  these  simple,  self-evident  statements  be  true,  how  little 
loes  our  conscious  self  know  of  the  real  self  within  ?  That,  however, 
*^*c  may  not  stop  to  consider.  The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  lead 
^^^  student  to  know  his  power,  not  to  marvel  why  he  has  not  known 
'^  before.  It  is  true  that  many  have  learned  of  this  power  and  have 
r^rted  to  it  blindly.    They  did  not  know;  they  guessed  and  hap- 


106  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

pened  to  guess  well.    In  this  day  of  advanced  thought,  however,  tbe 
student  demands  demonstration. 

Please  note,  in  passing,  that  one  might  even  have  knowledge  oi 
his  power  and  yet  not  exercise  it.  Knowledge  of  it  gives  courage, 
and  yet  all  the  work  is  yet  to  be  done. 

You  may  know  you  can  learn  Japanese,  because  of  your  acquaint- 
ance and  discipline  in  other  languages  than  the  one  first  acquired 
at  your  mother's  knee;  but  such  knowledge  alone  does  not  give  you 
a  mastery  of  even  the  simplest  phrase  in  Japanese.  Reasoning  from 
past  experiences  in  the  study  of  language,  you  know  what  the  result 
must  be,  with  faithful  work  on  your  part,  under  the  direction  of  a 
master  in  that  tongue.  All  this  reasoning  is  simple  as  to  the  learning 
of  a  language;  now,  how  far  does  that  reasoning  help  us  in  the 
demonstration  attempted?  If  we  can  control  nothing  without  full 
knowledge  of  the  power  to  control,  this  knowledge  must  precede 
the  power. 

From  whom  shall  such  knowledge  be  gained?  We  turn  to  East- 
ern philosophy,  and  read  of  the  marvels  done,  and  being  done,  by 
the  masters.  They  are  not  teachers,  and  the  story  of  their  unfolding 
is  unrevealed.  We  look  about  us  here,  and  find  some  illustrious  ex- 
amples— some  noble  victories  won  over  conscious  self  by  men  who 
could  only  see  and  read  the  shining  lights  and  signboards  appearing 
to  the  eye  of  hope  above  the  limitless  pathway  of  "  I  can."  But  tbey 
again  are  confusing  and  indefinite  when  attempting  to  tell  the  way. 
They  may  have  some  theories;  but  too  often  it  seems  they  were  led 
almost  blindly.  That  they  nevertheless  won  is  something — ^we  must 
not  forget  that. 

It  is  evident  from  what  I  have  herein  presented  that  our  proofs 
are  to  be  found  in  the  realm  of  the  intuitional.  How  can  you  know 
that  statements  from  the  intuitional  are  truths?  Your  conscious 
mind  demands  demonstration.  May  it  not  all  be  found  somewhere m 
the  history  of  progress?  Let  us  note  some  conditions,  states  of  mind, 
brought  about  by  causes  clearly  understood.    This  may  help  us. 

If  ever  you  were  in  a  railway  accident  where  you  suffered  a  severe 
shock,  have  you  not  noticed  that  for  weeks  and  months  thereafter, 
upon  taking  up  a  newspaper,  your  eye  would  quickly  fall  upon  any 


ONE'S  ATMOSPHERE.  107 

erring  to  a  railway  disaster,  of  any  nature  whatever? 
/ou  that  such  occurrences  were  increasing,  because  you 
eading  of  them.  To-day,  however,  we  know  that  your 
ted  to  the  paragraph  by  the  action  of  the  subconscious 
motive  in  the  nature  of  warning.  The  shock  you  had 
:eived  made  you  for  a  moment  absolutely  still.  At  that 
ibconscious  mind  became  charged  with  the  one  thought 
ig  you  whenever  it  might  on  that  subject;  hence  the 
conscious  action. 

1,  we  find  a  condition,  a  state  of  mind,  an  atmosphere, 
ited.  To  overcome  this  atmosphere,  one  has  only  to 
bconscious  mind  with  thoughts  of  security  and  peace, 
accomplished  in  divers  ways;  one  of  the  simplest  may 
e  fifteen  minutes  each  day  and  hold  the  thought :  "  I 
nplete  protection,  and  always  safe ! "  Soon  the  sitter 
:imidity  passing  away,  and  the  stories  of  accidents  in 
r  will  no  longer  press  themselves  upon  his  attention, 
case  the  action  which  produced  the  condition  was  in- 
le  action  to  change  is  voluntary  and  scientific. 
•  your  list  of  friends,  for  a  moment,  and  select  one  whom 
,vn  for  years  who  never  gives  a  complete,  frank  endorse- 
er.  Though  he  may  speak  of  marked  traits  with  praise, 
insists  on  adding  qualifying  phrases  by  way  of  criticism. 
1  have  observed  that  you  could  not  come  in  his  atmos- 
t  being  treated  to  a  budget  of  criticisms  on  others, 
might  be  your  friends,  or  they  might  be  public  char- 
)r  less  well  known.  Your  friend  has  learned  to  pride 
s  wonderful  ability  to  discern  faults  quickly  in  those 
'  meet.  Soon  all  his  friends  know  what  to  expect  when 
ithin  his  atmosphere.  They  also  find  that,  within  it, 
y  to  supplement  him  on  the  same  lines.  They,  too, 
finders.  The  effect  of  this  on  the  principal,  who  created 
;re  about  himself,  is  to  intensify  his  bitterness,  till  even 
e  listened  willingly  now  withdraw  from  an  atmosphere 
me  too  oppressive  for  them  to  breathe.  No  one  would 
lay  this  condition  to  "  the  stars,"  or  to  "  environment." 


108  THE   METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

There  is  hardly  a  reader  who  will  not  be  able  to  recall  the  early  life 
of  at  least  one  young  man  whose  childhood  was  spent  in  poverty,  and 
who,  in  boyhood,  expressed  a  firm  desire  to  take  a  college  course.  If, 
a  little  later,  that  desire  became  a  declared  resolve,  soon  all  the  av^ 
nues  opened  to  the  end.  That  desire  and  resolve  created  an  atmos- 
phere which  attracted  the  forces  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  the 
purpose.  Many  of  these  young  men  will  tell  us  that,  as  long  as  they 
were  hoping  and  striving  and  longing,  mountains  of  difficulty  rose 
before  them;  but  that  when  they  fashioned  their  hopes  into  fixed  pur- 
poses aid  came  unsought  to  help  them  on  the  way. 

With  a  little  reflection,  illustrations  will  present  themselves  by  the 
score  to  the  reader  as  to  some  of  the  causes  that  may  tend  to  produce 
this  or  that  atmosphere.  Our  argument  now  forces  the  conclusion  that 
the  atmosphere  about  us  is  a  product  of  thought.  Thought  makes  it 
what  it  is,  and  thought  alone  can  change  it  when  it  will.  Though  it 
be  true  that  conditions  are  stated,  as  we  have  seen,  sometimes  without 
purpose  of  will,  and  sometimes  by  purpose  half-conscious  only,  and 
sometimes  by  firm  resolve,  still,  the  bringing  about  of  an  atmosphere 
is  always  due  to  the  active  working  of  persistent  thought.  The  at- 
mosphere that  marks  strong  individuality  is  universally  conceded  to 
be  the  product  of  the  invisible  emanation  of  thought  centered  on  an 
idea. 

Our  proposition  as  to  control,  therefore,  now  reduces  itself  to  this: 
If  we  know  ourselves  master  of  our  mental  apparatus,  we  know  we  can 
control  our  thoughts  and  thus  dictate  our  atmosphere. 

It  is,  however,  pertinent  here  to  ask  how  it  is  our  thoughts  often 
seem  to  mark  out  their  own  course,  regardless  of  our  intentions.  This 
assumption  is  only  partly  true;  still,  it  is  partly  true.  If  one  allows 
others  to  do  his  thinking,  and  is  continually  moulding  over  his  own 
thoughts  so  that  they  will  run  smoothly  in  the  groves  thafcarry 
the  thoughts  of  his  friends,  he  brings  confusion  to  his  mental  at- 
mosphere; and  he  must  not  be  surprised  at  the  result.  The  mental 
work,  being  hap-hazard,  may  then  produce  an  atmosphere  neither 
contemplated  nor  desired.  We  can  direct  our  thoughts  if  we  wiHi 
but  we  cannot  direct  them  if  we  stop  to  question  whether  they  art 
right.     That,  we  must  know.     Doubting  disturbs  the  atmosphert 


ONE'S  ATMOSPHERE.  109 

bout  us  to  such  an  extent  as  to  deprive  it  of  all  its  attractive  force 
)  bring  to  us  the  thing  we  would.  Fear  or  doubt  is  the  mountain 
I  our  way ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  harbor  either  in  our  thoughts 
ir  a  single  moment. 

If  in  silence  daily  we  hold  ourselves  passive — receptive  for  the  par- 
cular  good  we  most  desire,  we  open  the  way  for  the  creation  of  the 
mosphere  that  is  sought.  One  must  come  to  these  sittings  as 
»rly  passive  as  possible;  but,  above  all,  free  from  doubt. 

Let  each  one  know  this  is  the  way,  just  as  he  knows  the  course  he 
ust  pursue  to  learn  a  language.  This  is  the  way  to  catch  glimpses 
your  true  ego — your  great,  impersonal  and  divine  selfhood.  Your 
ortal  ego — ^your  every-day  self — is  a  product  of  thought.  Allow  it 
be  tossed  about  in  the  hurry  and  rush  of  business,  receiving  through 
e  ether  the  half-expressed  thoughts  of  others,  and  you  have  the 
■crage  business  man  of  the  world.  Control  can  never  be  gained  in 
at  way.  Your  atmosphere,  being  a  product  of  thought,  must  re- 
ive all  its  power  and  force  through  the  creative  energy  that  gives  it 
:istence. 

If  one  knows,  then,  that  thought  controls  atmosphere,  and  that 
ch  individual  has  the  right  and  power  to  control  his  own  thoughts, 
ir  proposition  is  proved.  Work,  in  the  silence,  may  be  new  to  some, 
seems  hardly  fair  to  call  passiveness  work;  and  yet  work  is  our  only 
ord  to  signify  the  path  to  attainment.  To  many  it  will  be  found 
nous  work  to  learn  to  hold  themselves  passive;  so,  in  the  silence, 
3rk.    The  moments  spent  in  this  way  will  do  more  to  advance  you 

the  end  than  any  other  thing  you  can  do. 

If  you  have  never  held  yourself  thought-less — silent — know  that 
hers  have  done  so.  Knowing  this,  know  also  that  what  man 
IS  done  man  can  do  again.  Believing  this,  one  may  commence  his 
sk,  and  alone,  in  the  silence,  wait — wait — wait,  until  he  knows. 

Then,  as  knowledge  comes,  he  finds  himself  attracting  spirit  forces 
his  aid.  These  silent,  mysterious,  but  potent,  forces  from  the  Infi- 
te  could  not  reach  him  before.  Now,  he  has  created  an  atmosphere 
liich  permits  their  entrance  within  it.  They  will  never  desert  him  if 
ily  he  keeps  his  atmosphere  true.  No  great  will-power  is  required 
'  produce  the  atmosphere  one  desires,  or  to  keep  it  thereafter.    Will- 


110  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ingness  that  it  may  come,  with  the  faith  and  trust  that  always  p^^ 
cede  works,  is  the  simple  guide.  The  illumination  that  follows  will 
be  proportioned  to  the  broadness  of  the  work  attempted.  As  one 
learns  more  and  more  of  the  power  of  his  true  ego,  he  will  come  to 
know  more  and  more  of  the  Unity  of  life.  Then  he  will  not  have  con- 
quered self.    He  will  have  simply  become  acquainted  with  his  own 

divine  selfhood. 

Floyd  B.  Wilson. 


THE  DOGMA  OF  THE  INCARNATION. 

(II.) 

As  dogmatic  and  single-eyed  theology  has  ever  missed  the 
triumphant  note  of  human  inspiration  in  the  eternally  revealed 
truths  of  nature,  so  in  its  survey  of  the  universal  principle  of  the  in- 
carnation it  has  at  once  maligned  Deity  and  obfuscated  humanity. 
Unless  we  can  discern  a  rational  principle  underlying  this  doctrine 
and  secure  by  its  promulgation  some  practical  benefit  to  the  race,  it 
were  better  to  abrogate  it  absolutely  and  turn  to  something  mort 
mundane.  For  we  must  not  forget  that  the  idea  we  are  traversing 
is  a  universal  principle — limited  to  no  clime  or  place,  to  no  race  or 
religion. 

Almost  at  the  dawn  of  history,  as  we  have  seen,  the  vague  notion 
of  an  incarnation  seizes  the  dull  savage  mind,  nor  has  it  since  ceased  to 
trouble  and  confuse  the  entire  race. 

It  has  ever  been  either  confusion  or  inspiration  to  those  who  have 
studied  its  intimations. 

The  error  of  Christianism  lay  in  its  exclusive  promulgation  of  a 
doctrine  as  sui  generis  which  is  but  borrowed  from  the  general  notions 
of  the  race.  In  the  days  of  Jesus,  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  and 
Asiatics,  the  preaching  of  an  incarnate  Deity  was  not  only  not  un- 
popular, but  it  was  especially  attractive  to  the  populace. 

Nothing  so  aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  pagan  crowd  as  the  ad- 
vertisement of  the  advent  of  a  new  god. 


DOGMA  OF  THE  INCARNATION.  HI 

he  gods  were  then  supposed  to  be  capable  of  encasing  themselves 
man  flesh  and  mingling  with  the  affairs  of  men. 
{ the  Homeric  legends  we  read  how  the  gods  and  goddesses  thus 
led  with  warriors  on  the  battle-plains,  so  that  it  was  quite  diflfi- 

0  trace  the  distinction  between  mortals  and  immortals. 

he  immortals  take  sides  between  the  mortal  contestants;  they 

1  their  proteges  and  pursue  their  enemies — they  even  suffer  the 
:  of  battle  and  groan  with  painful  wounds  inflicted  by  earthly 
ors.  For  the  slaying  of  a  god  was  by  no  means  a  new  conception 
t  time  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity. 

iomed,  shielded  and  inspired  by  Minerva,  sought  to  slay  Venus, 
n,  indeed,  he  smote  through  her  "  ambrosial  veil  " : 

"  The  sharp  spear  pierced  her  palm  below  the  wrist ; 
Forth  from  the  wound  the  immortal  current  flowed, 
Pure  ichor — life  stream  of  the  blessed  gods." 

hus,  wounded  and  horror-stricken,  the  goddess  fled, 

"  Weeping  with  pain,  her  fair  skin  soiled  with  blood." 

he  visitations  of  the  gods  to  earth — even  clothed  with  human 
—was,  indeed,  so  commonplace  as  to  call  for  no  comment.  Paul 
Barnabas  were  acclaimed  as  gods  by  the  ignorant  rabble  when 
seemed  to  cure  the  crippled  and  diseased  in  their  Asiatic  wan- 

Immaculate  conceptions  and  celestial  descents  were  so  currently 
krcd  among  the  ancients  that  whoever  had  greatly  distinguished 
t\i  in  the  affairs  of  men  was  thought  to  be  of  supernatural  lineage. 

descended  from  heaven  and  were  made  incarnate  in  men,  and 
iscended  from  earth,  and  took  their  seats  among  the  gods,  so  that 

incarnations  and  apotheoses  were  fast  filling  Olympus  with  di- 
es." ♦ 

he  especial  characteristic  of  the  incarnation  of  Jesus,  however,  as 
lasized  in  Christian  theology,  consists  in  the  fact  of  his  being  the 
nd  complete  manifestation  of  the  Deity,  "  in  whom  dwelleth  all 
jss  of  the  Godhead  bodily."    (Paul  :  Col.  2  : 9.) 
t  has  often  been  insisted  that  this  unique  and  complete  incarna- 

•  Doane's  "  Bible  Myths,"  p.  112. 


112  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

tion  of  Deity  in  Jesus  is  the  characteristic  of  the  Christian  rdigioo, 
which  especially  glorifies  it,  certifies  to  the  genuineness  of  its  divine 
origin,  and  establishes  its  superiority  and  incontestable  authority  over 
all  the  other  religions  of  the  world.  But,  unfortunately,  this  convinc- 
ing characteristic  was  a  marked  feature  of  many  of  the  pagan  or  ethnic 
religions,  and  in  the  theologic  systems  of  some  of  them — such  as  those 
of  Hindostan — it  was  exalted  into  as  much  importance  as  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion. 

Thus  Thomas  Maurice  *  says : 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  the  Hindoos,  idolizing  some  eminent  char- 
acter of  antiquity,  distinguished  in  the  early  annals  of  their  nation 
by  heroic  fortitude  and  exalted  piety,  have  applied  to  that  character 
those  ancient  traditional  accounts  of  an  incarnate  God,  or,  as  they  not 
improperly  term  it,  an  Avatar ^  which  has  been  delivered  down  to  them 
from  their  ancestors,  the  virtuous  Noachidae,  to  descend  amidst  the 
darkness  and  ignorance  of  succeeding  ages,  at  once  to  instruct  and  in- 
form mankind.  We  have  the  more  solid  reasons  to  affirm  this  of  the 
Avatar  of  Krishna,  because  it  is  allowed  to  be  the  most  illustrious  of 
them  all,  since  we  have  learned  that,  in  the  seven  preceding  Avatars 
[incarnations],  the  Deity  brought  only  an  ansa,  or  portion  of  hb di- 
vinity, but  in  the  eighth  he  descended  in  all  the  plenitude  of  the  God- 
head and  was  Vishnu  himself  in  human  form."  In  other  words,  as  in 
the  Christian  theological  system  Jesus  is  represented  as  manifesting 
the  fullness  of  the  invisible  Deity  bodily,  so  in  the  Hindu  system 
Chrishna  stands  as  the  full  and  last  manifestation  of  Vishnu,  the  So* 
preme  Deity,  in  human  form.  Chrishna,  therefore,  performs  in  Hindn 
theology  the  identical  office  which  Jesus  does  in  the  Christian  system. 

I  need  not  here  review  the  facts  which  prove  that  every  religion  of 
antiquity  was  founded  on  the  myth  of  the  miraculous  birth  of  an  incar- 
nate deity,  who:e  advent  on  the  earth  was  accompanied,  in  almost 
every  particular,  by  the  very  phenomena  which  gathered  in  legend 
around  the  manger-cradle  of  Jesus. 

Even  the  very  title  of  the  Christian  Jesus  was  given  to  somcof  th« 
pagan  gods  incarnate.  M.  L'Abbe  Hue,  the  French  Missionary, 
says :  * 

♦  "  History  of  Hindostan,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  270. 
t  "  Hue's  Travels,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  327. 


DOGMA  OF  THE  INCARNATION.  118 

"  This  idea  of  redemption  by  divine  incarnation  is  so  general  and 
opular  among  the  Buddhists  that,  during  our  travels  in  upper  Asia, 
€  everywhere  found  it  expressed  in  a  neat  formula.  If  we  addressed 
) a  Mongol  or  a  Thibetan  the  question, '  Who  is  Buddha? '  he  would 
nmcdiately  reply,  *  The  Savior  of  Men.*  " 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  conception  of  the  incarna- 
on  is  universal — existing  from  most  primitive  times  among  all  peo- 
lesand  all  religions.  It  suggests  a  cosmic  fact  which  has  been  potent 
I  forwarding  the  progress  of  the  race. 

Even  at  this  hour,  learned  anthropologists  are  digging  up  from  the 
ery  beginnings  of  human  history  corroborative  proofs  of  the  exal- 
ition  of  human  beings  into  the  conception  of  exalted  deities.  Egypt 
-the  land  of  gods  and  mysteries — is  even  now  drawing  aside  the  veil 
f  ignorance  which  for  so  many  centuries  has  blinded  the  perception 
nd  confounded  the  understanding  of  men,  and  is  revealing  to  us  her 
lost  sacred  deities  as  mere  human  beings  who  lived  and  fought  and 
icd  as  have  the  common  inhabitants  of  this  planet. 

The  startling  exhumations  which  have  been  achieved  by  M.  Ameli- 
cau  at  Ul  Uxor  have  completely  revolutionized  the  age-long  notions 
•hich  scholars  have  entertained  concerning  those  strange  Egyptian 
:ods — Isis,  Osiris,  Set  and  Horus.  Scholarship  has  heretofore  ex- 
'austed  its  ingenuity  to  account  for  the  origin  of  those  far-off,  myste- 

• 

lous  deities,  and  had  reached  the  comfortable  conclusion  that  they 
We  myths  born  out  of  the  effects  of  sun,  moon,  and  stars  in  human 
xperiences. 

Thus  Prof.  George  Rawlinson  *  says  of  one  of  the  most  mysterious 
♦f  the  Egyptian  gods — Ammon — that  the  title  was  etymologically  in- 
crpreted  as  "the  concealed  god,  and  the  idea  of  Ammon  was  that  of  a 
econdite,  incomprehensible  divinity,  remote  from  man,  hidden,  mys- 
Prious,  the  proper  object  of  the  profoundest  reverence.  Practically, 
his  idea  was  too  abstract,  too  high-flown,  too  metaphysical  for  ordi- 
'«^r\*  minds  to  conceive  of  it ;  and  so  Ammon  was  at  an  early  date  con- 
fined with  Ra,  the  Sun,  and  worshipped  as  Ammon-Ra,  a  very  in- 
cllipble  god,  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  physical  sun,  the  source 
*f  life  and  light, '  the  lord  of  existences  and  the  support  of  all  things.'  '* 

♦  "The  Religions  of  the  Ancient  World"  (Humboldt  ed.),  p.  4. 


lU  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Again  in  similar  strain  he  says :  ''Osiris  was  properly  a  form  W  K^ 
He  was  the  light  of  the  lower  world — ^the  sun  from  the  time  tbat  he 
sinks  below  the  horizon  in  the  west  to  the  hour  when  he  reappears 
above  the  eastern  horizon  in  the  morning." 

Thus  are  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  resolved  into  purely  mythical  char- 
acters evolved  out  of  human  experiences  resulting  from  the  beneficent 
effects  of  the  solar  orbs,  all  thought  of  their  ever  having  been  realities 
having  long  since  been  banished  by  all  well-informed  scholars.  The 
*'  solar  myth  "  theory  has  been  the  universal  method  of  accounting  for 
all  the  ancient  gods  in  Egypt,  India,  Chaldea  and  even  Palestine. 

"  Certain  scholars,  notably  G.  W.  Cox,  and  Professor  de  Gubcrna- 
tis,  as  interpreters  of  the  myths  of  the  Indo-European  peoples,  and  Dr. 
Goldziher,  as  an  interpreter  of  Hebrew  myth  and  cognate  forms, 
maintain  that  the  names  given  in  the  mythopoeic  age  to  the  sun,  the 
moon,  and  the  changing  scenery  of  the  heaven,  as  the  myriad  shades 
and  fleeting  forms  passed  over  its  face,  lost  their  original  signification 
wholly  or  partially,  and  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  names  of  veritable 
deities  and  men,  whose  actions  and  adventures  are  the  distinguished 
descriptions  of  the  sweep  of  the  thunder-charged  clouds,  and  of  vic- 
tory of  the  hero-god  over  their  light-engulfing  forces."  ♦ 

But  now  comes  M.  Amelineau  and  seems  to  prove  that  these  arm- 
cient  deities  are  not  mere  myths,  much  less  creations  of  the  mind  de- 
picting the  varying  effects  of  sun  and  sky,  but  were  in  reality  hufl»^ 
beings  who  had  been  exalted  into  divinities.    Thus  at  the  very  thrcst»- 
old  of  history,  fully  10,000  years  ago,  we  perceive  the  notion  of  th«< 
incarnation  prevailing  as  a  religious  factor.    In  the  exaltation  of  the«< 
men  and  women  into  divinities  we  learn  how  slight  the  line  of  dein»^' 
cation  between  the  divine  and  the  human  was  conceived  to  be  in  th< 
mind  of  the  ancients.    If  men  could  be  deified,  gods  could  be  human- 
ized ;  thus  was  developed  the  interchange  of  conditions  and  attitude 
between  the  great  souls  of  antiquity  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  deft/ 
to  man. 

If  M.  Amelineau's  exhumations  are  verified,  then,  we  shall  no 
longer  think  of  these  far-off  gods  as  mysterious  and  incomprehcnsibk 
beings  or  as  wandering  images  of  a  "  mythopoeic  age/'  but  as  real  im^ 

•  Qodd's  "  The  Birth  and  Growth  of  Myth  "  (Humboldt  cd.),  p.  8. 


DOGMA  OF  THE  INCARNATION.  115 

nd  women  who  were  born,  lived,  fought,  suffered,  were  married, 
ecame  exalted,  died,  and  were  buried.  We  shall  then  once  more 
tek  to  discover  the  real  activities  and  careers  of  these  supposed  myth- 
:al  characters,  and  instead  of  deciphering  their  imaginary  deeds  in 
he  processes  of  the  stars,  the  shades  of  the  heavens  or  the  flitting 
ransformations  of  the  clouds,  we  will  dig  deeper  into  the  long-buried 
nnals  of  time  and  read,  if  possible,  in  the  resurrected  and  imperish- 
ble  monuments,  the  story  of  their  elevation  from  humble  cowherds 
0  kings,  and  from  kings  to  gods,  and  thereby  learn  that  fiction  may 
►e  stranger  than  the  truth  itself. 

If  M.  Amelineau's  conclusions  are  correct,  they  will  materially  as- 
ist  us  in  clarifying  the  atmosphere,  which  has  been  so  long  thick- 
ened by  the  "  incomprehensible  and  the  unintelligible,*'  with  which  a 
)ompous  and  authoritative  ecclesiasticism  has  so  long  surrounded  us. 
"or  we  shall,  at  the  very  threshold  of  human  civilization,  learn  how 
nen  created  their  gods  and  how  we  have  ever  since  imitated  their 
ncthods  in  the  gods  whom  we  have  worshipped.  If  it  is  unnecessary 
o  call  in  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  to  account  for  Isis  and  Osiris,  Honis 
nd  Ammon-Ra,  it  will  indicate  to  us  the  needlessness  of  calling  in  the 
ehovistic  qualities  of  the  theological  heavens  to  account  for  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  as  the  Son  of  God. 

For  the  indications  of  the  later  scholarship  now  are  that  we  shall 
-am  that  Jupiter,  Juno,  Minerva,  Apollo,  Mercury  and  Venus,  were 
n,  at  one  time,  really  men  and  women,  and  that,  having  lost  their 
Ajman  histories,  we  have  left  only  the  legendary  tales  of  their  divini- 
^Ty  deeds. 

And,  following  the  same  method  of  investigation,  scholarship  will 
t  length  doubtless  prove  to  us  that  Jesus  Christ  was  indeed  a  human 
^nglike  unto  all  other  earthly  creatures,  but  that  we  have  left  in  our 
K)ssession  chiefly  the  legends  out  of  which  were  constructed  the  myth 
^f  his  divinity  and  incarnation,  whereas  his  human  history  is  almost 
wholly  obliterated. 

I  think,  then,  we  shall  be  forced  to  reach  the  conclusion  that  the 
'onccption  of  the  incarnation  among  Christians  was  of  a  similar  ori- 
tin  as  has  been  the  notion  of  incarnations  among  all  religious  people. 

It  grew  first  out  of  the  desire  of  the  race  to  exalt  and  glorify  its 


116  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

leaders.  The  mass  of  men  are  so  commonplace,  that  when,  forsooth, 
one  flits  across  the  heavens,  of  such  majestic  proportions  and  royal 
grandeur  as  to  command  the  attention  and  awe  of  the  multitude,  they 
are  loath  to  lower  him  again  to  their  own  humble  plane,  and  insist  on 
his  remaining  in  the  heavens  among  the  unapproachable  gods.  Anon 
such  mortals,  whose  visitations  to  this  planet  were  so  infrequent  and 
spasmodic,  were  conceived  as  springing  not  from  the  earth,  as  arose 
all  human  flesh,  but  as  descending  from  the  skies,  out  of  the  realms  of 
the  invisible,  carrying  in  their  bosoms  talismans  of  unparalleled  virtue, 
conquering  the  elements,  subduing  mortals,  and  triumphing  over 
death. 

But  the  absorption  of  this  ethnic  and  popular  notion  into  a  single 
theology,  whereby  it  has  been  made  to  appear  that  once  only  in  hu- 
man history  did  the  infinite  Deity  incarnate  and  reveal  himself  in  hu- 
man flesh,  has  given  rise  to  insoluble  problems  and  to  an  interminable 
mass  of  absurdities. 

Mountains  of  literature  have  been  published  in  the  last  eighteen 
centuries  to  prove  this  impossible  proposition,  and  even  to-day  there 
are  myriads  of  benighted  souls  who  still  entertain  the  reverent  false- 
hood with  devout  tenacity. 

Now,  to  realize  into  what  a  tangled  mass  of  confusion  the  theolog- 
ical notion  of  the  incarnation  threw  the  entire  Christian  world.  I  will 
quote  a  passage  from  M.  Larroque.*  a  logical  Deist,  who  seeks  to 
disprove  the  logic  of  the  doctrine  of  the  incarnation :  "  If  Jesus  Christ 
is  not  God,  it  is  clear  that  God  was  not  incarnate  in  his  person.  Hence 
it  is  unnecessary  to  insist  at  length  on  what  is  impossible  and  contra- 
dictory, viz.,  that  the  infinite  and  perfect  essence  should  be  circum- 
scribed and  limited  in  a  finite  and  imperfect  essence;  in  other  terms, 
that  the  Divinity  should  be  added  to  the  humanity — or,  if  the  expres- 
sion be  preferred,  the  humanity  should  be  added  to  the  Divinity;  or 
that  the  same  being  should  be,  at  the  same  time,  God  and  man.  From 
the  point  of  view  of  the  dogma  of  the  Incarnation,  Christ,  as  God,  is 
an  infinite  and  perfect  spirit:  but  as  man,  veritable  and  complete,  he 
is  made  of  soul  and  body,  finite  and  imperfect  as  is. everything  bclong- 

♦  Patrice  Larroque  :  Examcn  critique  dcs  doctrines  de  la  Religion  Girftiennc- 
Quoted  by  Baring-Gould  in  **  Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs." 


DOGMA  OF  THE   INCARNATION.  117 

ing  to  our  nature.  Consequently  theology  is  led  to  sustain  that  the 
human  soul  of  Christ  does  not  comprehend  God  any  better  than  we 
do.  It  follows,  that  in  spite  of  the  intimate  union  of  the  two  natures, 
and,  on  the  other  side,  of  the  very  reason  of  that  union,  there  is  at  once, 
in  the  same  person,  two  beings,  one  of  whom  does  not  know  the  other, 
and  in  the  same  individual  two  distinct  personalities,  which  is  down- 
right nonsense." 

Now,  to  this  apparently  clear  and  conclusive  logic  Baring-Gould 
("  Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs  '')  seeks  to  present  a  metaphysical  and 
pseudo-scientific  answer  in  defence  of  the  logical  basis  of  the  dogma 
of  the  incarnation.  He  says :  **  This  objection  rests  on  the  assumption 
that  the  finite  and  the  infinite  mutually  exclude  each  other,  and  that 
therefore  their  synthesis  is  impossible." 

He  then  proceeds  to  argue  that  time  and  space  are  not  entities  and 
not  qualities  of  the  Absolute.  '*  It  is,  perhaps,  natural  that  those  who 
have  to  struggle  incessantly  with  space  and  time  should  deceive  them- 
selves as  to  its  nature,  and  erect  what  are  mere  relations  into  positive 
existences."  "  To  the  Absolute  there  is  no  past,  no  present,  no  future, 
or  past  and  future  are  at  once  present."  "  It  is  not  absurd  to  say  .  .  . 
that  God,  in  Himself,  outside  of  time  and  space,  should,  when  enter- 
ing into  relation  with  man,  become  subject  to  those  relations,  without 
which  he  would  be  incognizable  by  man."  "  In  Him  how  many  ideas 
are  there?  But  one — for  there  is  in  Him  but  one  eternal  fact.  But 
this  idea  necessarily  contains  all  possibilities.  It  contains,  therefore, 
the  idea  of  the  finite.  .  .  .  Thus  the  idea  of  God  contains  eternally 
the  infinite  and  the  finite;  the  infinite  as  essence,  and  the  finite 
as  fact." 

This  is  the  logical  method  which  this  modern  **  schoolman  "  em- 
ploys to  overthrow  the  clean-cut  logic  of  unbiased  reason.  It  sounds 
like  an  echo  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  reveals  to  us  what  a  jumble  of 
mere  words  constitute  the  theological  methods  of  argumentation. 

But  note  the  inconsistencies  and  impossibilities  he  enumerates  in 
these  few  sentences  in  order  to  maintain  the  unutterably  absurd  theo- 
logical dog^a  of  the  incarnation.  The  Absolute  is  a  Being  in  whom 
there  is  no  past,  no  present,  no  future.  In  short.  One  who  holds  no 
relations  whatsoever  with  the  manifest  cosmos.     If  He  holds  no  re- 


118  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

lations  with  the  cosmos,  then  the  cosmos  cannot  sustain  any  relations 
with  Him. 

But  two  quantities  which  are  incapable  of  sustaining  any  mutual 
relations  are,  as  to  each  other,  non-existent.  Hence  to  the  cosnjos, 
or  the  universe  of  relations,  the  unrelated  or  the  Absolute  has  no 
existence. 

Again,  he  says  that  God,  though  outside  of  time  and  space,  should, 
when  entering  into  relations  with  man,  become  subject  to  those  rela- 
tions. 

But  if  the  Absolute,  the  Unrelated,  assume  relation  to  the  related, 
then  he  ceases  to  be  the  unrelated  or  the  Absolute.  For  he  cannot 
be  the  Absolute  and  the  limited,  the  Unrelated  and  the  related,  at  one 
and  the  same  time.    A  contradiction  of  terms  is  impossible  in  reason. 

Again,  he  says  that  the  Infinite  has  but  one  idea — but  in  that  idea 
are  included  all  possibilities.  But  a  better  and  truer  statement  would 
be  that  the  Absolute  has  no  ideas  or  idea.  For  an  idea  is  a  thought:  a 
thought  is  a  process  of  thinking;  thinking  is  a  comparison  of  rela- 
tions. But  the  unrelated  can  have  no  idea  of  relations — for,  if  he 
thinks  relation,  he  must  himself  be  related.  In  the  same  manner,  to 
say  the  one  idea  of  the  infinite  encompasses  the  idea  of  the  finite  is  to 
say  that  the  infinite  must  limit  itself  to  the  notion  of  the  finite,  else  it 
could  not  comprehend  the  finite.  The  circumference  can  never  be  or 
become  the  arc.  While  the  arc  is  ever  contained  in  the  circumference, 
by  no  process  of  thought  can  we  conceive  that  the  circumference  an 
be  wholly  contained  in  the  arc.  The  circumference  can,  therefore, 
never  conceive  of  the  existence  of  the  arc,  for  to  do  so  it  must  become 
the  arc. 

I  have  pursued  the  dismal  nonsense  of  this  logic  simply  to  show 
the  reader  to  what  ridiculous  straits  a  learned  and  modem  philoso- 
pher will  allow  himself  to  be  driven  in  battling  for  an  effete  and  uh- 
supportable  dogma  of  antiquity. 

Therefore  I  conclude  that  the  Christian  dogma  of  the  incarnation 
cannot  be  demonstrated  by  history,  logic,  or  metaphysics.  That  one 
human  individual  alone  has  been  the  incarnation  of  Deity — the  mani- 
fest fullness  of  the  godhead  bodily — ^while  all  the  rest  of  the  race  have 
been  unaffected  by  this  indwelling  power — is  incredible.    If  one  hu- 


DOGMA  OF  THE   INCARNATION.  119 

sing  is  incarnate — all  are  incarnate.  If  incarnation  is  a  fact  in 
I — then  it  must  be  universal.  Does  the  experience  of  the  race 
X  this  universal  fact?    How,  then,  shall  we  conceive  of  incama- 

is  the  bodying  forth  in  physical  manifestation  of  the  Invisible 
of  the  universe.  If  this  spirit  be  interpreted  as  individual,  it  is 
vable  that  such  a  limited  spirit  might  be  contained  within  a  lim- 
lysical  organism. 

t  this  construction  of  the  dogma  would  at  once  reduce  the  su- 
and  infinite  spirit  to  the  confines  of  physical  limitations  and 
t  Him  into  a  personal  quantity,  subject  to  all  **  variableness  and 
V  of  turning." 

here  be  any  incarnation  of  the  Spirit,  it  must  be  enjoyed  by  the 
race — nay,  not  only  by  the  race,  but  by  the  manifest  universe, 
is,  itself,  but  the  outward  body  functioning  the  activities  which 
ergized  by  the  universal  spirit  within. 

y  other  interpretation  of  the  incarnation  becomes  unphilosophi- 
1  contradictory  of  the  first  principles  of  Nature.  For,  if  Spirit 
contained  only  in  One,  or  in  a  few  individuals,  but  not  in  every 
er  of  the  race,  then  they  possess  qualities  which  are  wholly  for- 
D  the  rest  of  their  fellow-creatures.  But  such  unique  endow- 
vvould  be  extra-natural  and  in  effect  miraculous.  Nature  can- 
tertain  a  miracle.  All  is  Law,  Order,  Unfoldment.  If,  then, 
have  been  certain  individuals  who  in  history  have  manifested 
5  which  appear  to  be  above  the  common  capacities  of  the  race, 
ualifications  can  be  nothing  more  than  a  higher  development  of 
I  capacities  which  are  latent  or  but  partially  developed  in  the 
of  every  human  being. 

this  sense  Jesus,  Buddha,  Quetzalcohuatl,  were  no  more  God 
ind — than  any  other  human  inhabitant  of  the  planet.  Their 
ntiation  is  alone  in  degree.  They  but  possessed  more  of  the  uni- 
spirit  which  abounds  in  all  things  and  persons  than  did  the  ordi- 
idividuals  of  the  race. 

is  interpretation  of  the  incarnation,  instead  of  demeaning  the 
World-Avatars,  really  exalts  them,  while  it  at  once  prophesies 
possible  attainments  for  all  mankind. 


120  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

We  are  all  incarnate  children  of  Deity.  Deity  is  the  all-pervasive 
presence  of  Being — the  principle  of  Life  and  Growth — ^which  sustains 
the  visible  and  invisible  universe.  Each  atom  is  an  incarnate  spirit. 
Every  globule  of  water,  and  the  Titanian  motes  that  dance  in  the  sun- 
beam, are  incarnations  of  the  all-diflFusive  spirit. 

All  are  but  emanations  of  the  universal  Luminosity,  whose  radi- 
ance is  refracted  through  them,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  breaking 
through  a  bank  of  clouds.  The  atom  contains  less  of  this  spiritual  po- 
tency than  a  star  only  because  its  undeveloped  organism  makes  its 
receptive  capacity  the  less. 

For  the  same  reason  there  is  less  of  the  universal  spirit  of  intelli- 
gence and  power  in  the  uncrystallized  rock  than  there  is  in  the  resplen- 
dent diamond — less  in  lifeless  diamond  than  in  throbbing  amoeba— 
and  less  in  any  of  the  vertebrates  than  in  man — "  infinite  in  faculty,  in 
action  how  like  an  angel !  in  apprehension  how  like  a  god ! " 

Henry  Frank. 


MANIFESTATION— AN  INQUIRY. 

Ye  scions  of  Earth,  for  Wisdom's  bounty  prone ; 

Ye  men  of  muscle,  strong  and  worldly  grown ; 

Ye  poets  born,  ye  doctors,  great  and  small« 

Have  ye  belief  that  this  one  life  is  all  ? 

Would  ye  have  choice  to  be  and  live  content 

If  for  a  single  day  you  had  been  sent 

Forth  from  the  bosom  of  the  Living  One 

To  breathe  a  few  short  hours,  and  then  'twere  done  ? 

And  yet  to  live  is  to  inhale  an  air 

With  discord  burdened,  full  of  doubts  and  care — 

These,  mixed  with  joy  and  mirth,  in  ceaseless  din, 

To  prove  the  scheme  of  life  have  entered  in. 

You  ask  us  why — to  what  great  final  end 
Does  all  this  strange  existence  here  portend  ? 
Why  is  there  day  and  night,  and  why  revolve 
The  planets  thus  ?— a  query  hard  to  solve. 
Why  did  the  manifesto  come  at  all? 
Why  were  we  born  ?  and  why  did  Adam  fall  ? 
And  why,  indeed,  had  we  not  voice  in  this* 
To  ask  for  birth,  or  choose  forgetfulness  ? 


MANIFESTATION— AN  INQUIRY.  121 

Aye,  do  we  not,  while  breathe  we  of  life's  taint 
Feel  more  than  once  to  enter  dire  complaint 
Against  the  law  that  spoke  us  into  being, 
Nor  gave  us  choice  to  be,  nor  eyes  for  seeing  ? 
Mere  creatures  we — yes,  so  the  word  goes  out. 
We  hug  the  real,  and  of  the  other  doubt ; 
We  go  to  war,  we  long  to  sail  the  air, 
Get  rich,  and  have  a  hoard  of  wealth  to  spare. 
All  this,  so  far  as  men  are  most  concerned. 
Is  life.     For  some  'tis  dearly  earned — 
Yes,  dearly  earned  by  him  who  sees  not  God 
In  every  petal  springing  from  the  sod. 

Yet  are  we  wise  ?     What  one  of  us  has  found 
The  aim,  the  purpose,  of  this  constant  round 
Of  life  and  death,  of  struggle  and  desire. 
Of  heat  and  cold,  of  shadow  and  of  fire  ? 
What  sage — with  wisdom  be  he  loaded  down — 
Can  say  why  some  acquire  such  great  renown, 
While  others — worthy  souls,  perhaps,  were  they — 
Oblivion  find  before  the  close  of  day  ? 

Listen  I     The  prattle  of  a  child,  the  bird 
That  warbles  in  the  glen,  the  tender  word, 
The  cooing  of  a  dove,  the  cricket's  sound, 
The  shimmering  brooklet  winding  round  and  rounds- 
Mere  trifles  these  ;  but  when  you  ask  us  why 
We  here  exist  beneath  this  vaulted  sky. 
Reflect  how  children  live,  and  grow,  and  sleep, 
While  men  of  power  such  restless  vigil  keep. 
How  doth  the  cricket  wheedle  out  his  song  ? 
The  dove,  unlearned  in  either  right  or  wrong  ; 
Seeks  but  his  mate,  the  wren  his  downy  nest — 
Is  there  not  heaven  in  each  of  these  expressed  ? 
Yea,  when  thy  mood  to  ask  why  we  are  here 
Comes  on  apace,  beware  of  doubt  and  fear. 
But  fix  thine  eyes  upon  the  heavens  above — 
It  were  not  will  that  put  us  here,  but  Love  I 

Alwyn  M.  Thurber. 


?ver,  in  acting,  dedicates  his  actions  to  the  Supreme  Spirit  and 
e  all  selfish  interest  in  their  result,  is  untouched  by  sin,  even  as 
jf  the  lotus  is  unaflFected  by  the  waters.  The  truly  devoted,  for 
cation  of  the  heart,  perform  actions  with  their  bodies,  their  minds, 
ierstanding,  and  their  senses,  putting  away  all  self-interest. — 


122  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 

(VII.) 

While  the  entire  body  constitutes  that  series  of  utensils  by  which 
life,  the  artificer,  labors,  it  is  within  the  small  region  of  the  cerebrum 
of  the  brain  that  the  soul  has  its  headquarters;  the  mechanical  aniiy, 
the  solid  phalanxes  of  the  line — the  vast  and  complicated  systems  oi 
motion,  the  engineers  of  the  heart,  the  batteries  of  breath  in  the  lungs; 
these  all,  on  the  march  of  duty  or  in  the  cantonments  of  rest  and  sleep, 
are  in  their  appointed  place,  servants  and  soldiers  of  the  soul,  troops 
and  artificers,  sappers  and  miners,  under  the  leadership  of  their  great 
chief.  Consciousness;  the  captain  of  their  confidence.  Intelligence 

Unto  him,  in  his  well-walled  and  guarded  tent  of  the  brain,  come 
from  time  to  time  reports  of  his  immediate  staff.  The  videttes  of 
sense,  riding  round  the  camp  or  scouting  far  toward  or  into  the  ene- 
my's country  of  the  outer  world,  now  and  then  bring  back  tidings  of 
joy  or  of  danger. 

Captain  though  he  be  of  this  army,  it  is  only  his  ministers  and  cour- 
tiers that  even  his  most  devoted  subjects  see.  That  self-pope  in  his 
immaculate  Vatican,  Grand  Lama  in  his  unapproachable  fastness,  sits 
somewhere  in  a  profound  silence,  ever  envelo[>ed  in  a  stupendous 
mystery. 

The  sight  of  the  eye  rides  up  to  the  portal  of  this  palace,  the  hear- 
ing of  the  ear,  the  touch  of  finger-tips.  They  can  go  no  further;  here, 
at  the  door,  the  gateway  and  postern,  the  tidings,  whatever  they  may 
be,  are  delivered  over  to  another's  keeping;  muscles  and  lenses  and 
tympanum  give  up  their  message  to  the  trusted  nerves,  and,  these 
hurrying  in,  the  inner  door  swings  after  them,  and  none  has  ever 
followed. 

Yet  if  we  wait,  though  we  never  catch  even  the  most  fleeting 
glimpse  of  the  great  chief,  though  his  messengers  have  told  us  noth- 
ing of  their  tidings,  though  they  all  be  mute  as  Death,  the  closed 
door  of  that  holy  of  holies  re-opens,  and  we  learn  the  meaning  of  the 
message. 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  128 

'he  bold  dragoon,  Anger,  rides  wildly  up;  a  moment,  and  from  the 
s  precincts  comes  a  guard  to  wave  upon  the  ramparts  the  black 
of  a  frown,  or  the  shotted  artillery  blazes  a  fiery  curse.  The 
t  spirit  of  Joy  comes  to  the  portal;  an  instant,  and  all  at  once, 
every  pinnacle  and  bastion,  tower  and  turret,  flags  unfurl  and 
;r  and  wave  their  gladness,  and  the  joy-bells  of  laughter  ring 
happiness. 

.gain,  with  slow  and  painful  step,  a  courier,  weary  and  travel- 
ed, delivers  his  tidings  of  sorrow.  Look !  a  tear  has  stolen  forth, 
;omes  down  the  glacis  of  the  cheek,  silently  telling  of  the  sorrow, 
h,  what  a  vast  mystery  is  within — so  sure,  so  quick,  so  constant, 
3le  with  its  wondrous  lexicon  to  translate  meanings!  What 
:  art  has  this  hidden  alchemist,  that  thus,  and  thus  only,  does  he 
IS  of  himself? 

Te  know  not  the  method,  but  only  that  somehow,  somewhere, 
ciousness  took  the  wrath,  transmuted  it  into  the  frown,  the  joy 
hanged  it  into  the  smile,  the  sorrow  and  sent  it  forth  as  a  tear, 
uch  being  the  known  facts,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  men,  from 
immemorial,  have  assumed  the  existence  of  a  substantial  entity 
tnt  within,  a  being — a  monad,  a  something,  differing  wholly  in 
from  all  his  surroundings,  not  only  from  the  material  of  his  cita- 
ut  absolutely  from  all  his  servants ;  not  only  a  little  better  than 
)rds,  more  to  be  honored  than  his  courtiers,  greater  far  than 
Is,  retainers,  videttes,  and  couriers,  but  of  an  entirely  different 
uperior  order — a  being  who,  in  himself,  willed,  chose,  decided, 
jed,  directed — a  thing  in  himself,  harmonizing,  co-ordinating, 
ng;  not  brain,  but  above  brain;  not  mind,  but  lord  of  mind;  not 
man,  but  the  god  of  man — a  soul? 

n  the  basis  of  the  hypothesis  of  the  existence  of  such  an  entity 
n  the  secret  halls  of  intellect,  have  grown  up  the  most  stupen- 
systems  of  error.  The  devout  philosophy  which  claims  for  an 
nary  power  regal  rights,  must  give  room  to  a  true  government — 
vine  right  of  kings — not  to  a  new  tyrant,  a  Cromwell  of  reason, 
»  a  pure  democracy  of  intellect,  built  upon  inviolable  principles, 
ned  by  perfect  laws,  and  in  whose  august  councils  none  is  despot 
:tator. 


124  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

On  the  despotic  basis,  untenable  except  by  the  crudest  faith  or 
the  most  foolish  sentiment,  has  infidelity  thriven  and  the  agnostic 
nourished,  and  a  host  of  mystic  '*  isms  ''  swarmed  into  the  gap  of  nega- 
tion :  to  fill  that  horrid  void  which  mentality,  no  less  than  physics,  has 
been  said  to  abhor. 

Of  late  years  much  has  been  said  by  psychologists,  who  seek  by 
physiology  to  reconcile  spirit  to  matter,  Aristotelian  thinkers  who 
do  not,  will  not,  or  cannot  think  except  in  segments,  that  thought  is 
a  mode  of  molecular  motion  of  gray  matter. 

It  is  this,  and,  to  thinkers  of  great-circle  thoughts,  vastly  more 
than  this.  The  writing  before  me,  the  printed  page  before  you— that 
may  be  compared  to  the  memory  that  stores  and  co-ordinates  impres- 
sion and  reflection.  But  the  ink  itself  is  a  matter  of  form,  now  nothing 
but  that.  But  before  the  form  there  was  motion,  of  hand  and  pen, 
muscle  and  nerve;  the  type-setter's  activity,  and  the  movement  from 
font  to  stick,  and  stick  to  press;  and  also  those  tiny,  stupendous  cycles 
of  speed  of  that  vast  world  within,  between  the  cells  of  the  cortices. 
So  motion  conveys  thought,  but  it  is  not  itself  thought. 

The  design  of  the  pattern  of  a  viable  organism  is  always  the  neces- 
sary sequence  of  the  life-habits  of  all  ante-natal  influences,  to  be  modi- 
fied, maybe,  in  the  individual,  that  the  character  of  the  unit  of  being 
may  so  impress  itself  upon  the  nature  of  the  race  that  the  race  itself 
shall  be  changed,  greatly  or  infinitesimally,  by  the  unit's  existence. 

This  principle  is  true  for  all  races  and  all  units  of  being,  including 
the  entire  cosmos  as  a  mechanism,  and,  at  the  same  time,  an  actual 
vitality,  and  including  also  the  Supreme  Being  as  a  unit  initiating 
and  immanent  in  all  forms  of  life. 

As  the  light  arises  out  of  the  not-light,  out  of  the  darkness,  so  feel- 
ing arises  out  of  the  not-feeling.  As  the  flint  and  steel,  stricken, 
evolve  a  new  and  totally  different  order,  so  by  certain  (as  yet  practi- 
cally undcmonstrated)  reactions,  that  which  we  call  the  matter  of  the 
brain,  acted  upon  by  influence  of  motion,  and  impelled  by  some  func- 
tion of  volition,  whether  automatic  and  habitual,  sub-conscious  or 
conscious,  evolved,  each  exactly  proportional  to  the  influences,  its 
product  of  mentality. 

The  light  is  a  very  common  and  hackneyed  symbol  of  life.    But  it 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 


126 


in  a  way  of  poetic  imagery  that  it  is  now  instanced.  As  a  figure 
etoric  it  has  served  the  unbehever's  purpose  well,  for,  surely, 
the  Ught  is  blown  out  its  existence  has  finally  ceased,  and 
gh  such  a  simile  negation  has  ample  proof.  Not  so  do  I  consider 
gure  of  the  light.  Photography  illustrates  amply  the  truth;  the 
ay,  or  an  instantaneous  flash-light,  produces  upon  a  sensitized 
,  blank  before  exposure,  an  impression.    That  impression  may 


THE  LOOM  OF  THOUGHT. 


ranescent,  or  may  become  permanent  by  the  developing  and  fix- 

iolutions. 

t  is  thus  within  the  material  brain.    As  on  the  chemical  plate  no 

ion  was  made  to  the  matter,  but  only  a  change  in  its  arrange- 

;.  so  in  the  brain  nothing  happens  by  which  matter  can  be  said,  in 

emotest  manner,  to  affect  itself  or  give  rise  to  thought  (as  mate- 


126  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

rialists  claim),  but  it  can  be  said  only  that  a  function  of  volition,  infltt- 
ence  of  sight,  sound — sense  in  some  shape — ^another's  thought,  or  our 
own  antecedent  thought,  has  joined  a  function  of  Action  to  a  function 
of  Relation,  and  impressed  itself,  as  form  in  form,  upon  the  sensitized 
molecules  of  gray  matter. 

As  fire  is  produced  by  a  lens,  even  by  a  lens  of  ice,  so  life,  so  fad- 
ing, so  thought  utilizes  matter  and  motion. 

.  In  the  diagram  entitled  *'  The  Loom  of  Thought  "  is  depicted  in 
outline  an  ideal  chart  or  projection  of  the  general  process  by  which 
sensation  is  taken  into  the  organized  mechanism  and  conveyed  to  its 
appropriate  locality. 

Motor-tracks,  voluntary  and  involuntary,  connect  the  brain  with 
the  appendages  of  action;  tracks  called  sensory  convey  the  tidings 
of'Sensation  by  the  outward  sense — the  physical  apparatus  that  reaps 
the  grain  and  grinds  it,  and  delivers  it,  fully  prepared,  upon  the  festive 
board  of  soul — and  other  tracts,  called  commissural,  give  and  send 
messages  hither  and  thither  to  centres  of  volition  or  action  within  the 
precincts  of  the  brain  itself. 

Some  of  the  perceptive  centres  have  been  located  with  approxi- 
mate accuracy;  the  visual  centre,  the  auditory,  the  visual  and  auditory 
centres  for  verbal  expression,  and  the  motor-centres  for  both  written 
and  articulate  language.  The  general  locations  of  the  yet  unfocussed 
faculties  have  also  been  mapped  out,  and  are  indicated  with  sufficient 
correctness  upon  phrenological  diagrams  or  busts. 

Tracts  connect  and  ramify  to  and  from  the  cerebellum,  the  m^ 
dulla  of  the  spinal  cord,  between  cortices,  and  to  and  from  the  several 
organs  of  the  brain  known  as  the  lenticular  body,  the  caudate  body, 
the  thalamuses  and  the  four  hills. 

Sensations  and  memories  are  the  warp  and  woof  out  of  which 
the  plain  fabric  of  feeling  is  woven.  This  prerogative  we  share  in 
somewhat  higher  degree  for  the  most  part,  but  in  lower  degree  ifl 
some  parts,  with  the  animal  of  all  orders.  It  is  only  when  we  con- 
sciously  adorn  and  ornament  the  woven  fabric  of  feeling  that  th 
difference  is  in  kind  and  not  degree — here,  only,  that  man  rises  t< 
the  level  of  his  Godlikeness. 

This  nervous  machine  is  kept  in  operation  by  the  other  machine- 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN.  127 

;he  circulation  of  the  blood — quite  as  wonderful,  and  nearly  as  com- 
plex, but  wholly  subordinate  to  the  former. 

It  is  for  the  behoof  of  the  mind  manufacturer  that  all  the  grosser 
txxlily  functions  are  performed — to  make  soul  and  to  perpetuate  it. 
For  this  the  sower  sows  the  grain,  for  this  the  furnace-fires  of  vital- 
ity are  fed  by  food,  to  drive  the  unerring  piston  of  the  strong  heart- 
pump,  that  in  and  through  each  chink  and  crevice  of  the  brain-struct- 
ure shall  penetrate  the  life-essence,  pouring  round  all — lubricating, 
sustaining,  and  vivifying — the  bright  arterial  blood. 

Mr.  Froude  says :  "  When  natural  causes  are  liable  to  be  set  aside 
and  neutralized  by  what  is  called  volition,  science  is  out  of  place." 

When  volition  becomes  the  equivalent  of  caprice  this  is  true ;  but 
the  volition  of  the  Universe  is  as  incapable  of  vacillation  as  either 
mathematics  or  mechanics. 

Cosmic  volition  chooses,  but  always  inerrantly,  always  well,  always 
rightly,  always  perfectly.  This  volition,  unconscious  in  all  inanimate 
nature,  follows  the  light  blindly,  never  erring.  The  same  volition 
grows  penumbral  in  the  brute  and  in  natural  man,  and  rises  only  to 
its  true  condition  of  Godliness  in  the  new  man — capable  of  choos- 
ing, conscious,  wise,  purposeful,  intelligent. 

When  you  find  science  amazed  and  confounded,  at  the  utmost 
length  of  its  tether,  straining  for  cause  in  the  field  of  physical  rela- 
tions, and  unable  to  find  it,  baffled  and  discomfited,  disdaining  free- 
dom and  mocking  at  the  liberator,  know  that  here  stands,  not  chance, 
but  a  new  order  of  certainty;  not  physics,  but  metaphysics;  not  the 
hypothesis,  but  the  new  truth. 

Volition  is  in  gravitation.  It  is  in  the  stars  and  in  the  sun,  our  own 
star.  These  are  the  centres  of  volitional  influence  of  the  universe; 
these  the  gray  cells  of  the  Almighty  Intellect. 

Volition  is  that  in  the  nucleus  and  nucleolus  of  the  seed  which  de- 
termines the  shape,  odor,  and  color  of  the  bloom,  and  the  shape,  odor, 
lastc,  and  efficiency  of  the  fruit,  and  is  that  in  beast  and  man  from  the 
natal  cell  to  the  last  effort  of  will,  judgment,  or  emotion  which  goes 
lo  the  making  of  the  character,  whereby  becoming,  out  of  the  ele- 
ments of  being,  forms  new  being  continually;  but  always  out  of  the 
x)nstant  elements  of  being. 


128  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Do  not  say  that  with  man,  the  man  of  flesh  and  bones  and  blood, 
even  with  the  man  of  nerves  and  brain-power,  even  with  the  man  of 
mentality,  Nature  has  exhausted  her  far-reaching  and  immaculate 
powers.  I  tell  you  the  man  spiritual  is  of  a  diviner  order  than  the  man 
mental.  That  mighty  thing  in  and  of  the  Universe  by  which  the  sun- 
rays  are  translated  into  grass,  and  the  grass  into  flesh,  and  the  flesh 
into  brain,  and  the  brain  into  thought,  and  the  thought  into  spirit, 
this  is  that  volition  which  was  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  "  before 
the  mountains  were  brought  forth  or  ever  the  earth  and  the  worlds 
were  made." 

This,  at  its  highest,  is  the  function  performed  behind  the  veil  of  Isis 
in  those  wonderful  cortices  of  brain.  If  we  knew  how  the  work  was 
done  there  we  should  know  the  secret  of  the  universe.  There— in 
those  black  dots  of  the  diagram — the  work  of  translation  is  done, 
the  seeming  translated  into  the  real,  things  of  space  into  things  of 
spirit,  the  corruptible  puts  on  incorruption — a  stone  greater  than 
that  of  Rosetta  or  Canopus. 

These  things  are  hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  but  are  revealed 
unto  babes:  we  know  the  way  of  truth  only  as  it  has  been  and  is  re- 
vealed through  personality,  by  the  man  of  truth;  but  the  fact  of  truth 
is  for  the  finding  of  all,  the  result  in  himself  is  attainable  to  ever)onc 
who  wills. 

The  exact  work  in  the  economy  of  the  brain  of  the  organs  known 
as  the  lenticular  and  caudate  bodies,  the  four  hills  and  the  thalamus,  is 
as  yet  unknown;  but  the  best  modern  opinion  is  that  between  them  is 
divided  the  higher  duties  of  the  individual — a  board  of  commission- 
ers preserving  order,  counting  ballots,  certifying  elections.  Some- 
where here,  doubtless,  is  the  storehouse  of  memories,  the  granaf)' 
of  habits,  inherited  and  acquired;  and  here,  probably  in  the  caudate 
or  lenticular  body,  the  faculty  of  co-ordination  of  ideas  which  we  know 
as  Consciousness  has  his  presidential  chair. 

Memories,  habits,  and  sensations  are  the  material  out  of  which  feel- 
ings are  made:  ideas  are  developed  out  of  feelings,  and  thoughts  are 
the  result  of  the  reactions  of  feeling.  Soul  is  the  sum  of  all  sentient 
symbols;  the  brain  is  a  parable  of  this  reality,  the  body  an  allegor)'of 
the  divinity  within.     Soul  is  not  the  unknown  and  hypothetical  en- 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MAN. 


129 


tiiy,  nor  is  it  the  form  of  expression,  but  is  always  tfie  determinant  of 
that  form. 

Consciousness  is  attention,  and  attention  means  capacity,  and  ca- 
pacity teaches  the  necessity  of  experience,  and  experience  is  profita- 
ble; for  it  is  the  advice  of  the  Infinite  to  the  immortal. 

When  the  eye  is  single  for  the  light  the  whole  body  becomes  full 
af  light;  full  of  music  when  the  ear  attunes  itself  to  harmony.  The 
Did  "  phrenology,"  full  of  errors  and  unwarrantable  assumptions,  is 
^ving  room  to  a  genuine  science  of  psychology.  We  know  that  the 
)rain  is  not  a  single  organ,  but  a  vast  congeries  of  organs,  amazingly 
ntricate,  amazingly  perfect,  adaptable  to  conditions  and  acting  sepa- 
rately or  jointly  as  circumstances  demand. 

Let  the  sight  of  one  eye  be  destroyed  or  impaired,  forthwith  the 
strength  of  the  other  leaps  to  the  rescue.  Both  eyes  gone,  the  ear  and 
he  touch  cry  out  in  unison,  "  We  come  t  "  and  these  good  allies,  as  if 


SECTION  OF  CORTEX  OF  THE  BRAIM. 

they  truly  felt  a  profound  sense  of  responsibility,  unite  their  forces 
to  the  aid  of  the  enfeebled  body — a  vicarious  atonement. 

"  I  in  them  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in 
one." 

A  wonderful  mechanism  is  the  brain,  this  moist,  convoluted  mass 
75  per  cent,  water,  12  per  cent,  fatty  substance,  7  per  cent,  albumi- 
nous, and  6  per  cent,  salts,  myriads  of  white  fibres,  interlacing,  con- 


130  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ducting  everywhere,  and  among  them  the  sapient  gray  ccUs  of 
thought.    "  When  those  went  these  went;  and  when  those  stood  these 
stood;  and  when  those  were  lifted  up  from  the  earth  the  wheels  were 
lifted  up  over  against  them,  for  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature  was  in 
the  wheels." 

It  is  thus  that  science  speaks  its  latest  word,  and  thus  that  thou- 
sands of  years  ago  the  word  of  truth  was  spoken  in  the  vision  of  Ezc- 
kiel.  HuDOR  Genone. 


SOPHISTS,  SOCRATES,  AND  "BEING." 

(XXVII— a/i/i««^^.) 

Prodikos,  a  contemporary  Sophist,  has  become  known  to  pos- 
terity in  the  proverb:  "  As  wise  as  Predicos."  He  was  a  teacher  of 
ethics.  To  him  is  attributed  the  story  of  Herakles  meeting  on  the 
road,  in  the  disguise  of  two  women,  Pleasure  and  Duty,  the  latter  of 
whom  he  chooses.  It  is  difficult,  says  John  Owen,  *'  in  the  Bible  itself 
to  find  a  teaching  of  a  sublimer  or  more  distinctly  ethical  character." 
I  must  pass  by  it  here,  as  it  does  not  strictly  belong  to  the  leading  idea 
of  this  series  of  essays.  I  mention  the  story  in  order  to  remark  that 
the  devotee  to  Being  will  choose  Duty  rather  than  Pleasure  when  the 
question  of  ethics  arises.  In  Duty  he  will  find  Pleasure.  The  story 
itself  will  be  found  in  any  mythology. 

The  Sophists  contributed  negatively  much  to  a  truer  study  of 
Being  by  their  iconoclastic  work;  but,  aside  from  the  deeper  thought 
that  lies  in  Protagoras's  sentence,  they  did  not  build  up  any  more  than 
other  iconoclasts.  Negativity  is  not  a  solid  basis.  It  is  method  and 
no  more.  From  the  rhetoric  of  the  Sophists  I  now  turn  to  the  dia- 
lectics of  Socrates.  The  first  Is  a  luxury,  the  latter  a  necessity  of 
human  reason  and  a  potent  instrument. 

The  new  philosophical  principle  appears  in  the  personal  character 
of  Socrates  (469-399  B.C.).  His  philosophy  is  his  mode  of  acting. 
His  life  and  doctrine  cannot  be  separated.  He  recognizes  the  truth  of 
man  as  the  measure  of  all  things,  but  to  him  it  is  man  as  universal,  ^ 


SOPHISTS,  SOCRATES,  AND  "BEING."  181 

ikingy  as  rational.  He  is  himself  a  proof  of  his  philosophy,  for  he 
ame  what  he  was  by  himself  alone,  and  he  worked  to  help  other 
1  to  "  become  themselves  *'  ;  his  art  or  philosophy  was  that  of  a 
1  "  helper  in  births."  As  such  he  stands  alone  in  history.  He 
ids  also  alone  as  a  model  exemplifying  the  force  of  character  to 
ibine  and  harmonize  the  most  contradictory  and  incongruous  ele- 
its  to  an  harmonious  whole.  He  died  a  martyr  to  his  doctrines  and 
ame  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  the  New.  He  was  not  an  Athenian, 
a  Greek,  but  a  cosmopolitan,  a  man-symbol  of  Being. 
The  Socratic  daimon  proves  him  an  idealist.  Possibly  it  is  an  ex- 
ssion  of  the  Greek  belief  in  a  good  or  lucky  genius;  but  most  likely, 
that  is  the  modern  idea,  it  is  simply  a  pronounced  subjectivity. 
s  a  common  thing  that  profound  reflection  and  great  intensity  of 
1(1  will  produce  such  effects.  Such  a  daimon  is  an  illusion  as  far  as 
ective  existence  is  concerned,  if  we  by  objectivity  understand  a 
terial  form.  It  was  his  alter  ego  or  higher  Personal  *  distinct  from 
iself,  distinct  till  at-oned  with  the  real  man.  Hegel's  interpretation 
s  follows : 

**  The  genius  of  Socrates  is  not  Socrates  himself,  not  his  opinions 
I  conviction,  but  an  oracle,  which,  however,  is  not  external,  but  is 
jective,  his  oracle.  It  bore  the  form  of  a  knowledge  which  was 
Jctly  associated  with  a  condition  of  unconsciousness;  it  was  a 
)wledge  which  may  also  appear  under  other  conditions  as  a  mag- 
ic state.  It  may  happen  that  at  death,  in  illness  and  catalepsy,  men 
)w  about  circumstances  future  and  present,  which,  in  the  under- 
od  relations  of  things,  are  altogether  unknown.  These  are  facts, 
ich  are  usually  rudely  denied. 

In  other  words,  i*  was  Thought,  or  Being  manifested  in 
3ught,  which  spoke  in  Socrates  and  speaks  in  every  idealist.  That 
nething  which  really  exists  is  Spirit,  or  '  the  thinking  principle.' 
^mpiodorus  said  that  the  daimon  was  Socrates'  conscience.  Soc- 
es  himself  does  nowhere  speak  of  a  genius  or  a  demon,  but  always 
idaimonic  somethingyj[  viz.,  a  voice,  an  inner  life,  etc.    He  was  an 

Not  individuality. 

The  reader  of  course  understands  that  here  is  no  talk  about  a  demon,  but  of  a 


182  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

idealist  in  the  true  sense,  in  the  antique  sense  of  the  word  id 
idealist  is  more  than  anybody  else  the  spiritual  represent 
Being  on  earth;  and  he  is  always  related  to  Being  through 
or  daimon.    The  "  I  am,  that  I  am,"  or  the  **  I  will  be,  that  I 
is  he  himself.    His  Ego  and  the  ^;r^ra-Ego  are  one.    Socrate 
his  daimon,  for  he  had  attained  for  himself  the  recognition 
human  mind  inevitably,  on  account  of  its  constitution,  fir 
involved  in  self-contradictions  whenever  it   ventures  to  s 
upon  the  esoteric  nature  of  Being.     He  dropped  speculate 
source  of  information,  and  fell  back  upon  the  Inner  Life, 
always  tried  to  force  his  pupils  to  the  same  method,  or,  ra 
a  skilfully  arranged  conversation,  he  made  them  see  that  spt 
is  not  the  true  man's  way  to  Being. 

Socrates  called  his  process  Dialectics.  Xenophon  tells  i 
Memorabilia  that  Socrates  said  that  "  dialectic  was  so  called 
it  is  an  inquiry  pursued  by  persons  who  take  counsel  together, 
ing  the  subjects  considered  according  to  their  kind.  He  held, 
ingly,  that  men  should  try  to  be  well  prepared  for  such  a  pro< 
should  pursue  it  with  diligence.  By  this  means  he  thouf 
would  become  good  men,  fitted  for  responsible  offices  of  c< 
and  truly  dialectical.''  Around  this  word  dialectic  turns  all  in  i 
method.  The  word  means  originally  to  distinguish,  to  pick 
to  combine — namely,  thoughts.  In  our  every-day  parlance  v 
say  that  the  word  meant  simply  to  reason,  to  rationalize,  an  a( 
the  mind  whereby  it  dissolves  thoughts  and  recombines  them 
ing  to  the  constitution  of  the  mind.  And  so  far  the  definitio 
rect  enough,  but  the  word  meant  more  to  Socrates,  Plato,  P 
Kant,  and  Hegel,  who  all  needed  the  word,  and  in  whose  philc 
plays  such  an  important  part. 

Socrates  declared  that  '*  Dialectic  is  the  nature  of  things, 
that  maxim  there  is  an  admirable  foundation-stone  for  Idea! 
declares  that  human  reason  lies  in  the  nature  of  things,  is,  or  < 
the  plan  of  the  universe,  and  is  identical  with  divine  reason.  C 
enough,  one  of  the  Schoolmen,  Berengarius,  said,  "  God  is 
tician."  It  is  hardly  necessary  at  this  day  to  defend  the  Soci 
turn.    All  who  have  risen  to  Intelligence  know  its  truth,  and  t! 


SOPHISTS,  SOCRATES,  AND  "BEING/*  133 

of  our  new  Metaphysics  in  this  country  is  based  upon  it.  Like  Soc- 
rates, the  moderns  have  abandoned  physical  research  and  confine 
themselves  to  mental  philosophy,  the  origin  and  power  of  thought  and 
knowledge.  The  object  is  to  concentrate  men's  attention  on  them- 
selves and  by  introspection  to  realize  that  Mind  is  the  all.  Introspec- 
tion is  the  direct  way  to  Truth.  Part  of  Socrates*  dialectics  was  his 
doctrine  of  nescience.  Starting  with  the  senses  and  their  deceptions, 
he  readily  came  to  the  statement  that  by  means  of  them  we  cannot 
know,  and  that  that  which  they  do  teach  is  their  own  limitations  and 
incapacity  to  go  beyond  themselves.  Experimentally,  by  way  of  the 
senses,  we  very  soon  run  up  against  a  stone  wall,  but  Mind  can  go  be- 
yond. Socrates  tells  us  that  he  inquired  into  the  physical  growth  and 
decay  of  animals,  but  with  the  sceptical  result  that  he  did  not  know 
whether  growth  depended  upon  eating  or  drinking;  he  also  investi- 
gated ordinary  ideas  of  number,  and  confessed  that  he  could  not  un- 
derstand how  one  and  one  make  two.  (Wonder  if  the  reader  knows!) 
In  the  Socratic  method  and  the  procedure  to  throw  the  student 
upon  "  know  thyself,"  we  are  reminded  of  Buddha,  who  also  strove  to 
lead  his  hearers  to  enlightenment  of  self,  an  enlightenment  calculated 
to  lead  to  a  Nirvana  of  the  senses,  and  a  nihilism  of  all  egotism — a 
know-nothing — which  at  the  same  time  is  the  door  to  chit-sat- 
onanda.  Such  is  always  the  course  of  Idealism.  On  one  side  it  is 
sceptical  and  doubtful  of  the  senses;  on  the  other  it  opens  up  the  true 
fcality — ^which  cannot  be  expressed  in  words.  Socrates  formulated 
[  this  matter  in  his  well-known  dictum:  "  Virtue  is  knowledge."  By 
f  conduct  he  would  enter  the  kingdom  of  Truth,  not  by  mere  knowl- 
,  edge.  In  our  own  day,  as  in  the  days  of  Socrates,  we  must  use  his 
own  proverb  and  say:  "  Many  are  the  wand  bearers,  few  are  the 
DJystics."  Few  idealists  of  to-day  enter  Idealism  by  conduct;  most 
come  there  by  vain  imaginings,  and,  of  course,  find  only  disappoint- 
ment. 

All  subsequent  mental  activity  of  Greece  has  henceforth  a  direct  or 
indirect  relation  to  the  Socratic  problem. 

"The  transcendentalism  of  the  Platonists;  the  Dialectic,  the 
stress  on  induction,  the  versatility  of  Aristotle;  the  Hedonism  of  the 
Epicureans;   the  absolute  morality  of  the  Stoics,  no  less  than  the 


184  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

negation  of  Pyrrhon  and  Timon;  the  probabilism  of  the  Akademy; 
the  suspense  of  Ainesidemos  and  Sextos  Empiricos,  are  all  so  many 
ramifications  of  Socratic  teaching  or  emanations  of  the  Socratic 
spirit."  * 

Cicero  made  this  famous  statement  (Tusc.  V.,  4,  10):  "  Socntcs 
called  philosophy  down  from  the  heavens  to  earth,  and  introduced  it 
into  the  cities  and  houses  of  men,  compelling  men  to  inquire  concern- 
ing life  and  morals,  and  things  good  and  evil."  It  is  this  Socratic 
attitude  which  the  modern  teachers  of  Being  must  assume  if  they 
would  succeed.  We  are  done  with  systems,  dogmas,  and  abstrac- 
tions. We  want  a  simpler  philosophy,  one  which  suits  the  market- 
place as  well  as  the  highest  intellect,  and  one  that  is  practicable.  We 
shall  not  get  it  till  we  attain  a  full  understanding  of  the  nescience  o( 
mere  intellect,  and  come  to  an  open  and  honest  relation  to  our  dairm, 
which  is  Thought,  Intelligence,  in  man.  To  the  first  we  attain  by 
dialectics  as  understood  by  Socrates ;  to  the  second  by  Virtue.  The 
Greek  people  come  to  such  a  maturity  in  Socrates.  We  may  well  ex- 
pect to  come  to  it  by  our  own  mature  efforts;  thus  we  shall  "  fulfil  the 
law  of  our  being." 

Picus  Mirandola  has  summed  up  the  Socratic  question  and  Ideal- 
ism in  these  words:  Qui  se  cognoscit,  omnia  in  se  cognoscit. 

**  Who  knows  himself^  knows  all  things  in  himself." 

In  Socrates  we  have  Being  represented  as  the  world  of  Thought, 
and  a  free  expression  of  Thought  under  the  form  of  morality.  He  is 
not  a  free  expression  of  Thought  who  merely  wills  and  does  that  which 
is  right,  but  he  is  who  has  the  consciousness  of  what  he  is  doing.  I^ 
is  this  consciousness  which  is  the  form  of  Being  represented  by  Soc- 
rates. Socrates,  however,  is  not  the  only  expression.  Greek  society 
at  his  time  gave  other  proof  of  its  freedom  and  its  office  as  the  revcaler 
of  Being.  In  art,  such  as  that  of  Pheidias  (born  about  500  B.C.)  and 
his  pupils,  we  find  it  manifested.  Greece  at  this  time  does  not  merely 
view  Being  through  one  window  of  its  body — ^beauty,  but  through  the 
entire  nature  of  man.    Its  wisdom  is  of  a  practical  character;  it  in- 

•Evenings  with  the  Skeptics;  or.  Free  Discussion  on  Free  Thinkers,  by Jok* 
Owen.    London,  1881,  Vol.  I.,  p.  252. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  185 

eludes  virtue,  viz.,  manliness  and  womanliness.    Pheidias  presented 
to  the  world  the  highest  conception  of  this  idea  in  his  famous  Athene, 
the  goddess  of  Mind.    With  him  and  his  pupils  the  number  of  heroic 
figures  was  but  small,  but  many  were  those  of  Athene  and  of  Aphro- 
dite Urania,  "  the  heavenly  goddess/'  the  feminine  principle  of  the 
universe.     It  is  at  this  time  that  the  Greek  attains  full  mastery. 
Sculpture  represents  spirit  completely  blended  with  outer  material 
form.   And  Greek  art  represented,  above  all  things,  "  pure  beauty  "; 
viz.,  it  was  not  mixed  with  passions  or  accidental  feelings  in  untrue 
Mendings.    Greek  balance  or  harmony  was  freedom,  was  a  manifesta- 
tion of  Being,  and  in  art  the  correspondent  form  to  Socratic  wisdom  in 
philosophy.    Lijce  the  Greek  philosopher,  so  the  Greek  sculptor  of  the 
perfect  form  of  the  human  body  descended  to  the  quiet  place  of  his 
o?msoul,  and  there  he  found  the  universe  reflected.    From  the  micro- 
cosmic  wellspring  arose  Athene,  apparently  a  veritable  material,  but 
really  in  the  warmth  of  human  ideal  passion,  and  as  a  creation,  not  as 
an  instinct.  C.  H.  A.  Bjerregaard. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

•  (VI.) 

THE  COURTSHIP. 

"  One  sunny  day  in  April  there  was  a  small,  unpretentious  funeral 
-*a  young  widow  burying  her  husband.  She  was  a  sweet-faced,  yel- 
low-haired girl.  I  liked  her  appearance.  She  came  to  her  husband's 
pave  every  Sunday,  bringing  a  few  flowers;  nothing  expensive,  just 
i  bunch  of  pansies,  or  a  rose  or  two,  and,  as  soon  as  she  could  find 
them,  wild  flowers  from  the  prairie.  Usually  she  came  on  foot,  and 
would  seem  tired,  for  it  was  a  long  walk.  I  went  home  with  her  one 
^y  to  see.  I  suppose  she  couldn't  afford  the  car-fare.  She  lived 
^th  her  mother,  and  they  seemed  to  be  alone  in  the  world.  The 
older  woman  sewed,  and  the  younger  gave  music  lessons  and  helped 
*bout  the  sewing.  There  are  so  many  music  teachers — ^almost  more 
teachers  than  scholars — that  I  think  they  saw  hard  times. 


136  THE    METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

"  In  May  there  was  a  funeral  from  the  boulevard — sixty  carnages; 
I  counted  them,  for  somehow  I  felt  interested  in  that  funeral  from 
the  first.  And  flowers — you  should  have  seen  them!  There  was  an 
arch  you  could  walk  under;  and  a  gate  ajar  you  could  walk  through; 
and  pillows  enough  to  cover  the  grave;  and  roses  and  lilies  by  the 
bushel!  A  man  of  about  thirty-five  was  burying  his  wife.  The  next 
day  he  was  there  in  his  carriage,  and  the  next,  and  the  next.  He 
seemed  to  take  a  little  comfort  in  rearranging  the  flowers  and  bring- 
ing fresh  ones.  Sunday  he  brought  nearly  a  bushel  of  roses,  which 
he  arranged  on  the  grave.  While  he  was  doing  it,  my  swcct-bced 
girl  and  her  mother  came  with  a  little  bunch  of  wild-flowers  for  their 
grave.  The  two  graves  were  just  across  the  path  from  each  other, 
only  a  few  feet  apart.  The  women  lingered  longer  than  the  man. 
As  they  turned  to  go,  they  noticed  the  newly  made,  rose-covered 
grave,  and  paused  before  it. 

"  The  next  Sunday  the  girl  was  there  first,  and  she  sat  dcwn 
by  the  grave  and  talked  to  her  husband  in  a  way  that  would  have 
brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  anything  but  a  ghost.  I  never  coald 
see  why  they  do  it,  but  a  great  many  people  will  talk  to  a  dead 
body  as  if  it  could  hear — if  they  think  there  is  no  one  around!  It 
seemed  to  comfort  her.  While  she  was  talking,  the  man  came  with 
his  roses.  The  coachman  took  the  dried  ones  away  in  a  basket 
and  the  man  arranged  the  fresh  flowers.  As  soon  as  the  girl  no- 
ticed him  she  went  home.  The  next  Sunday  they  both  came  earlier 
— with  the  idea  of  being  out  of  each  other's  way,  I  thought.  And 
the  next  Sunday  both  tried  coming  late,  and  after  that  they  jost 
seemed  to  come  when  it  happened,  and  sometimes  met  and  soln^ 
times  not.  I  had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  loitering  over  that  v^^lj  every 
Sunday  afternoon.  They  never  said  anything  to  each  other,  but 
whichever  stayed  the  l^ter  always  looked  at  the  other's  grave.  On^ 
Sunday  the  man  did  not  come,  but  the  carriage  appeared  with  a  ten- 
year-old  boy  in  charge  of  the  roses.  As  he  sprang  out  of  the  carriage 
and  passed  her,  he  dropped  some  of  the  roses  without  knowing  J^- 
She  watched  him  as  he  tried  to  arrange  the  flowers  on  the  grave 

"  *  Here  are  your  roses,'  she  said,  enjoying  their  sweetness  fo^ 
a  moment. 


l<  < 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  137 

" '  Don't  you  want  them?  '  he  asked.  '  Mama  has  so  many,  I  am 
sure  she  wouldn't  miss  those,  and  your  grave  needs  them,'  he  added, 
with  the  brutal  frankness  of  a  child. 

"  *  Is  it  your  mother's  grave? ' 

"  *  Yes;  but  I  can't  get  the  roses  right.  John  says  they  are  not 
the  way  papa  has  them;  but  he  is  so  stupid  he  can't  show  me  how. 
My  papa  has  gone  to  Buffalo,  but  he  will  be  back  before  next  Sun- 
day,' the  boy  chattered  on,  glad  to  find  someone  to  talk  with. 

"  *  I  have  seen  it  so  often,  I  know  how  your  papa  likes  to  have  it/ 
she  replied.  *  I'll  come  and  help  you ' ;  and  so  the  two  worked  together 
and  arranged  flowers  on  both  the  graves.  The  next  Sunday  the  man 
was  there.  As  she  stepped  into  the  path  to  go  home,  he  lifted  his 
hat  and  spoke  to  her  for  the  first  time. 

Thank  you  for  your  help  last  Sunday.    My  boy  told  me.' 
You  are  welcome,'  she  answered,  gravely,  and  passed  on. 

"  The  next  Sunday  she  did  not  come,  nor  the  next;  but  the  third 
Sunday  she  came  again,  looking  pale  and  tired.  She  brought  a  few 
sprays  of  the  early  golden-rod.  The  man  lingered  until  after  she 
started,  and  then  stepped  into  his  carriage  and  told  the  coachman  to 
follow  her  at  a  distance.  Evidently  he  wanted  to  see  where  she  lived. 
That  week  they  put  up  the  monument  at  his  wife's  grave,  and  the 
man  was  down  every  day.  We'll  go  over  and  take  a  look  at  it  some 
time;  according  to  my  notion,  it  is  as  fine  as  anything  here.  The  next 
Sunday,  early,  I  was  loitering  around  the  gate,  when  I  saw  the  man.  I 
followed  along,  and  what  was  my  surprise  to  see  the  girl  by  her  hus- 
band's grave,  weeping  bitterly.  He  saw  her  before  I  did,  and  stopped 
the  carriage  and  got  out  and  walked,  telling  the  coachman  that  he 
vould  attend  to  the  roses  later.  He  went  to  his  wife's  grave  and 
fooked  at  the  beautiful  monument  a  few  moments,  but  the  weeping 
prl  across  the  path  seemed  to  annoy  him.  At  last  he  walked  over 
and  stood  beside  her. 

"'Why  do  you  cry?    It  will  not  help  him — or  you.' 

"  *  1  know — ^but  life  is  so  hard  without  him.  Sometimes  I  can't 
"cip  crying.  He  was  good,  and  I  loved  him.  I  know  it  is  well  with 
•^m.   It  is  for  myself  that  I  am  crying.' 

I  sec.    A  case  of  self-pity.    Is  that  always  the  way  of  it,  if  we 


<i  I 


188  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

were  only  honest  enough  to  own  it?  Do  we  weep  for  ourselves  in- 
stead of  for  the  dead? ' 

"  '  Yes,  that  is  it/  she  replied,  more  calmly.  *  I  found  that  out 
weeks  ago.    It  is  myself  that  I  am  sorry  for,  now.    At  first  I  was 

sorry  for  Charlie,  to  think  that  he  had  missed  so  much  of  life—that 
he  had  to  die  young  when  he  would  have  liked  to  live.  But  now— 
he  is  used  to  the  new  life,  and  he  is  happier  than  he  would  be  here 
Now  I  am  not  grieving  for  Charlie,  but  for  myself.  You  have  put 
up  that  beautiful  monument  for  yourself — not  for  her! ' 

**  *  I  wonder  if  that  is  true?  '  he  said,  musingly.  '  I  supposed  I 
was  putting  it  up  for  her! ' 

*'  *  You  are  putting  it  up  for  yourself,  that  you  may  show  all  the 
world  how  you  loved  her.  And  I — I  was  crying  because  I  have  noth- 
ing to  bring  to  show  my  love  for  Charlie  but  those  poor  little  flowers 
that  will  fade  in  an  hour.  That  marble  will  tell  of  your  love  for 
centuries  to  come.  And  I  cannot  have  even  a  stone  at  my  Charlie's 
grave.  It  is  hard,  very  hard.'  She  was  weeping  again,  but  more 
quietly.    There  was  a  silence  of  some  moments. 

"  *  If  it  is,  as  you  say,  only  for  ourselves  that  we  bring  flowers  and 
put  up  monuments,  doesn't  that  fact  help  us  to  bear  it  when  wc 
can't  do  those  things?  '  he  asked.  *  How  much  harder  it  would  be 
if  you  thought  he  was  grieving  as  you  are  over  the  lack  of  a  stone.' 

'*  *  He  knows  that  I  would  if  I  could!  He  knows  I  love  him,  and 
that  I  have  not  forgotten  and  never  will  forget.  But  it  is  hard  to 
have  his  friends  think  that  I  neglect  him.  It  is  almost  more  than 
I  can  bear.  If  his  mother  had  not  owned  a  lot  here,  he  would  have 
had  to  be  down  there  among  the  single  graves,  and  it  seems  as  if 
that  I  could  not  have  borne.' 

"  They  talked  awhile  longer,  then  the  coachman  drove  up,  saying 
the  horses  wouldn't  stand.  The  girl  walked  away  and  did  not  come 
again  (or  three  weeks,  but  the  man  came  every  Sunday  and  put  roses 
on  her  Charlie's  grave.  The  fourth  Sunday  she  came  and  saw  the 
faded  roses  on  both  graves.  In  a  few  moments  the  man  appeared 
and  brought  her  a  bunch  of  beautiful  roses. 

" '  My  wife  would  gladly  share  her  roses  with  you  to  help  ease 
a  heartache,'  he  said. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  189 

**  *  Thank  you;  it  is  kindly  meant,  I  am  sure,  and  I  accept.  But 
ley  are  not  my  roses,  and  you  will  not  think  me  ungrateful  if  I  ask 
>u  not  to  bring  me  any  more.' 

"  '  You  are  not  speaking  from  the  heart  now.  You  are  thinking 
mere  conventionalities.' 

"  *  Perhaps;  we  are  so  much  the  slave  of  conventionalities  that 
e  hardly  know  how  we  would  act,  were  we  free.  But — I  cannot 
intinue  to  accept  your  roses.' 

"  *  If  my  wife  were  here,  she  would  give  them  to  you.  She  was 
beautiful,  noble  woman — ^as  good  as  she  was  beautiful,  which  is  not 
ways  the  case.   The  earth  has  contained  but  few  who  were  her  equal.' 

"  *  Then  your  marble  yonder  tells  the  truth?  ' 

" '  Yes.' 

"  '  I  am  glad.    It  is  too  beautiful  to  be  a  lie.' 

"  She  did  not  come  again  until  the  next  spring,  but  the  man  drove 
lit  every  Sunday  with  roses  for  his  wife's  grave.  It  was  a  beautiful 
line  morning  when  I  saw  them  together  again.  They  were  standing 
I  the  gravelled  path,  and  he  was  talking. 

"  *  They  are  not  forgotten.  They  will  never  be  forgotten.  We 
lall  never  cease  to  love  them;  but  they  are  of  the  past.  The  future 
»  ours.  Let  us  spend  it  together.  To  some  it  might  seem  strange 
hat  I  ask  you  here;  but  here  was  where  we  first  met,  and  here  it 
ras  that  our  hearts  turned  toward  each  other  for  sympathy  in  our 
Tief.  We  have  mourned  together.  But  now  let  us  put  aside  sorrow, 
nd  try  to  find  peace  and  joy.  My  darling,  I  love  you  dearly!  Will 
ou  be  my  wife?  I  think  if  our  dead  could  speak  they  would  bid  us 
»e  happy.'  He  held  out  his  hands,  and  she  put  hers  in  them,  silently, 
nd  they  walked  away  together." 

"And  were  happy  ever  after,  as  the  story-books  say?  " 

"  I  think  they  are  happy.  I  made  up  my  mind  I  should  go  to 
he  wedding,  but,  as  they  didn't  send  me  an  invitation,  I  had  quite 
^  time  to  find  out  when  it  was  to  be.  However,  I  went;  it  was 
Q  the  little  church  she  attended.  I  also  went  to  the  big  reception 
leld  afterward.  And  what  do  you  suppose  he  gave  her  for  one  of 
he  wedding  presents?  " 

"  I  don't  know.    And  yet — ^perhaps  I  could  guess !    They  do  such 


140  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Strange  things  in  the  cemetery.    Perhaps  it  was  a  monument  for  her 
husband's  grave! " 

''  Exactly.  We  will  go  over  and  look  at  it  some  day.  Probably 
you  knew  him." 

"  I  did.  I  have  recognized  him — but  we  never  knew  that  he  found 
his  wife  in  the  cemetery.  I  went  to  that  reception — but  I  didn't  set 
you  there." 

**  I  suppose  not.  It  is  a  busy  day  down  at  the  club,  to-day,  so 
nearly  all  the  ghosts  will  be  in.  It  will  be  a  good  time  for  you  to 
be  introduced,  and  then  you  will  not  be  so  lonesome.  I  think  we'd 
better  go  down,  don't  you? " 

"  Perhaps  so.  I  am  in  no  hurry,  but  if  you  want  to  go  ril  go 
with  you." 

**  We  will  go.  It  is  time  you  were  introduced  and  given  a 
number."  Harriet  E.  Orcuh. 

{To  be  continued.) 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION. 

The  existence  of  the  soul  is  an  essential  condition  of  reincarnation; 
nay,  of  all  religions.    For,  if  there  is  no  soul,  it  is  of  no  use  to  bcfierc 
in  God  or  the  future  state.    Krishna  reasons  in  the  "  Gita"  that "  If  tH^ 
soul  is  in  the  now,  it  must  ever  be;  for,  whatever  is,  can  neither  coffl^ 
from  or  to  nothing."    He  says, ''  The  philosophers,  who  understand 
the  causes  and  effects  of  things,  have  always  asserted  and  proved  tto 
fact  from  their  experience."    This  argument  of  the  great  Indian  patn* 
arch  is  too  well  proved  by  physical  science  to  admit  of  any  doubt  Mr 
Stallo,  in  his  "  Modern  Concepts  of  Physics,"  says  the  same  thing,  «^ 
"  Nothing  can  come  from  or  to  nothing."    It  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the 
most  important  principles  of  philosophy,  both  oriental  and  occiden- 
tal.   Why  should  we  go  to  others?   We  can  think  for  ourselves.  Our 
ideas  can  be  perpetuated  by  process  of  impression,  and  can  therefore 
descend  to  thousands  of  generations.    Such  being  the  nature  of  ideas. 
can  it  be  that  the  soul  which  originates  them  will  come  to  nothing? 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   REINCARNATION.  141 

there  be  no  soul  in  pre-existence  somewhere  in  the  boundless  em- 
re  of  nature,  it  cannot  come  into  existence.  This  is  a  fundamental 
-inciple  of  philosophy  and  experience.  If  there  is  no  oil  in  one 
rain  of  sand,  it  cannot  be  got  from  ten  thousand  grains.  There  is 
1  in  one  grain  of  sesamum,  so  when  thousands  are  brought  together 
id  compressed,  they  yield  oil.  There  was  a  vital  atom  before  in  the 
.mpire  of  Nature,  so  it  has  come  into  existence  and  is  variously  man- 
ested  on  the  earth.  Hence,  the  pre-existence  and  post-existence 
i  the  soul  defy  a  rational  doubt,  and  the  soul  is  therefore  eternal. 
Jeing  eternal,  it  must  live  in  some  or  other  state,  and  its  change  of 
tates  is  what  is  called  transmigration. 

Now,  there  is  nothing  more  apparent  to  the  inquisitive  eye  than 
Lhe  ceaseless  changeability  of  all  things  around  us.  The  plants  of  the 
wet  season  spring  up,  grow,  fade,  decay,  and  die  away.  Animals 
begin  their  existence  from  a  microscopic  germ  in  the  ova,  develop, 
come  out  into  visible  life,  further  grow,  attain  highest  development, 
decline,  decay  and  finally  pass  away  from  sight.  All  these  changes 
do  not  take  place  abruptly,  but  very  gradually  and  imperceptibly. 
We  cannot  say  when  the  plant  grows  or  the  animal  develops.  But  in 
all  this  going  out  and  coming  in  of  material  particles,  it  is  also  equally 
manifest  that  the  animals  themselves  remain  just  the  same  and  main- 
tain their  own  entities.  Nothing  is  either  lessened  or  increased. 
When  such  is  the  universal  phenomenon  in  the  whole  material  world 
^thout  a  single  exception,  can  we  say  that  the  soul  alone  comes  from 
or  to  nothing?  No;  on  the  contrary,  this  interminable  assumption 
of  fomis  of  material  things  is  a  glaring  fact  and  living  lesson  to  teach 
Us  that  we  also  assume  innumerable  forms  by^  the  same  laws  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  that  operate  so  evidently  before  our  eyes.  It  is  an 
old  saying  that  has  even  found  a  place  in  the  Bible,  that  there  is  noth- 
ing new  under  heaven.  Hamilton  eloquently  describes  that  there 
is  no  new  quantum  of  existence  added  to  or  taken  away  from  the  ex- 
isting things.  And  all  now  firmly  believe  and  prove  from  nature  that 
:he  quantity  of  existence  is  constant.  All  science  is  based  upon  it. 
The  moment  you  advance  the  idea  that  new  matter  can  spring  into 
ixistence,  science,  reasoning,  and  experience  fall  to  the  ground.  All 
he  superstructure  of  modern  science  is  raised  on  the  foundation 


142  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

principle  of  the  constancy  of  existence.  You  can  refer  to  various 
books  on  the  philosophy  of  science.  You  know  them  better  than  L 
Hence,  we  have  come  into  present  existence,  because  we  were  exis- 
tent in  some  or  other  mode  of  life  before,  and  this  is  what  is  meant  by 
the  transmigration  of  souls. 

It  is  evident  to  all  observers  that  whenever  we  want  to  exert  our 
powers  either  in  speculative  matters  or  in  practical  affairs,  we  need 
the  presence  of  organs.  If  there  is  no  eye,  surely  we  cannot  see.  If 
I  have  no  fingers  I  cannot  write.  Take  away  certain  parts  of  the  brain 
and  I  cease  to  think.  A  man  without  hands  cannot  work.  In  short, 
for  our  working  we  must  have  all  organs  in  perfect  adaptability  to 
our  wants.  But  all  these  organs  constitute  what  we  call  the  body. 
Hence,  if  the  soul  is  a  thinking  and  acting  being,  it  must  have  some 
kind  of  organism.  Some  men  think  that,  since  we  can  reflect  after 
having  gained  a  few  ideas  and  improve  upon  them  by  means  of  reflec- 
tion, we  do  not  require  the  accompaniment  of  the  body.  This  argu- 
ment is  put  forward  by  Butler,  in  his  '*  Analogy."  But  it  is  quite 
wrong.  We  see  that  unless  new  ideas  are  obtained  from  the  treasury 
of  nature,  there  can  be  no  improvement.  A  certain  number  will  no 
doubt  produce  a  great  many  permutations,  but  not  without  a  limit 
So  the  eternal  progress,  which  is  claimed  on  this  argument,  is  impos- 
sible. This  fact  is  so  manifest  to  the  reader  of  philosophy  that  I  do  not 
care  to  dwell  upon  it  any  longer.  Hence,  if  we  are  to  progress— and 
by  progress  we  mean  progress  in  knowledge — we  must  have  organs 
and  senses  to  gain  new  ideas,  the  increased  stock  of  which  alone  means 
progress  in  knowledge.  But  if  we  get  organs  in  after  life,  we,  in  bet, 
incarnate,  or,  in  other  words,  we  are  reborn. 

In  the  world  we  generally  see  that  virtue  suffers  and  vice  triumphs. 
The  terrible  sufferings  of  the  Hindus  under  the  Mahommedan  tyr- 
anny still  cry  for  redress.  If  all  this  goes  for  nothing,  it  is  useless  to 
talk  of  God  or  religion  in  the  world.  Also,  we  have  seen  that,  whether 
we  act  or  suffer,  we  must  have  organs  as  the  media  of  perception. 
The  great  Krishna  says  that  the  soul  alone  and  by  itself  is  incapable  of 
acting  or  suffering.  Neither  a  weapon  can  scathe  it,  nor  fire  can  bum 
It;  neither  water  can  dissolve  it  nor  the  wind  can  dry  it. 

As  we  believe  the  soul  to  be  a  vital  atom,  which  becomes  sensitive 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   REINCARNATION.  148 

►  pleasure  or  pain  when  united  with  material  atoms,  we  have  no 
>ubt  that  if  we  have  to  suffer  or  enjoy,  we  must  have  organs,  which 

the  same  as  to  assert  our  rebirth.  Hence,  God  cannot  give  us 
wards  and  punishments  without  putting  us  into  some  kind  of  body. 

there  be  no  body  given  us  in  future,  his  moral  law  will  be  a  dead 
tter  to  a  thinking  man.  It  is  the  non-acceptance  of  our  rebirth 
lat  has  given  rise  to  the  denial  of  God's  existence.  The  necessity  of 
le  body  for  the  fulfillment  of  God's  decree  at  the  day  of  judgment 

►  recognized  by  the  Christians  and  Mahommedans  in  their  doctrine 
f  resurrection,  according  to  which  not  only  the  soul  will  reappear 
iter  death  at  certain  unknown  time,  but  the  physical  body  will  rise 
1  whole  and  sound  state  from  the  sepulchre  at  the  summons  of  an  an- 
fcl.  According  to  this  doctrine,  the  organs  of  the  body  will  vegetate 
rem  its  remains.  It  says  that  after  the  Divine  judgment  is  passed, 
nankind  will  march  off  with  their  new  bodies  into  either  eternal  par- 
adise or  eternal  hell.  The  idea  is  so  deeply  rooted  in  the  minds  of 
Mahommedans  that  they  will  not  suffer  their  dead  to  be  burnt,  lest  at 
the  day  of  judgment  their  souls  should  be  left  unprovided  with  bodies 
ind  so  disqualified  for  entry  into  their  destined  paradise.  Also,  since 
the  present  body  must  dissolve  and  rise  in  resurrection,  the  new  body, 
which  the  Christian  or  Mahommedan  gets  in  resurrection,  must,  ce- 
^eris  paribus,  dissolve,  being  made  of  the  same  or  similar  materials. 
It  is  the  law  of  God  that  the  material  atoms  must  constantly  undergo 
change.  Therefore  the  new  body,  made  up  of  the  material  atoms, 
JHust  change  in  obedience  to  God's  law.  Hence  there  will  be  many 
resurrections  and  not  one,  which  is  the  transmigration  of  souls. 

We  all  know  that  no  action  is  taken  without  producing  some  kind 
of  effect  in  the  physical  world,  and  when  we  see  no  effect,  it  is  owing 
^o  some  counteracting  circumstances.  What  we  sow  in  the  field  we 
^eap  in  the  harvest.  Wheat  produces  wheat,  grain  produces  grain. 
^*ow,  the  same  is  true  also  of  the  mental  world.  If  a  man  lives  in 
had  company  who  express  bad  thoughts,  he  thinks  evil.  Metaphysics 
teaches  us  that  our  mind  faithfully  records  the  images  of  things  about 
tis,  which  are  ideas,  either  good  or  evil.  I  ask  if  this  generation  of 
ideas,  that  is,  if  evil  ideas  produce  evil  ideas  and  good  ideas  produce 
good  ideas,  is  to  end  at  death,  and  if  the  effect  of  those  ideas  are  to 


144  THE   METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

have  no  occasions  to  manifest  themselves?  No;  they  must  be  fur- 
nished with  organs  to  reap  the  fruit  of  their  working.  Hence,  by  the 
law  of  causation,  we  must  have  some  kind  of  body  to  realize  the  effects 
of  our  thoughts  and  actions,  and  this  is  as  good  a  proof  of  rebirth  as 
anything  can  be. 

As  it  has  been  proved  above  that  the  presence  of  some  kind  of  body 
is  essential  for  the  enjoyment  or  suffering  of  the  soul,  which  can  only 
be  the  consequence  of  the  justice  of  God  in  our  trial,  we  cannot  under- 
stand how  peopjle  can  prove  the  justice  of  God  without  providing  him 
with  means  of  executing  it.  We  have  already  said  that  things  both  spir- 
itual and  physical  are  not  affected  by  others  not  in  their  atomic  state. 
Consequently  God  must  incarnate  us.  Let  it  be  known  that  to  believe 
in  an  unjust  God  is  only  to  hide  atheism  in  the  heart.  If  there  is  a 
God,  he  must  be  just,  and  most  equitably  just.  Those  who  believe 
in  a  single  birth  cannot  prove  the  equitable  justice  of  God.  It  is  no 
use  to  say  that  whatever  God  does  is  just.  When  learned  men  show 
justice  in  their  life,  how  can  we  admit  that  God,  who  is  the  source  of 
knowledge,  and  from  whom  our  progenitors  sucked  the  sweet  milk 
of  knowledge,  does  not  practice  justice,  and  is  a  mere  toy  of  caprice? 
Ponder  well  on  the  justice  of  God  and  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and  yon 
will  come  to  the  same  conclusion — that  we  must  pass  from  life  to  life, 
which  is  nothing  but  the  transmigration  of  the  soul. 

It  is  the  doctrine  of  an  eternal  hell  that  started  the  idea  of  a  singk 
birth.  But  it  is  irrevocably  refuted  by  the  thinking  Christians  them- 
selves. Is  it  a  merciful  God  who  sends  us  to  the  everlasting  fire  of  hell 
on  the  commission  of  a  single  sin,  and  even  that  in  the  state  of  our  ig- 
norance? Men  give  to  criminals  on  earth  a  chance  to  rectify  them- 
selves. What  government  is  there  that  does  not  liberate  its  paltry  fd- 
ons?  The  Christians  and  Moslems  do  not  understand  the  meaning  of 
mercy,  when  they  attribute  it  to  God.  Its  meaning,  as  understood 
by  the  vulgar  among  them,  is  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  According  to 
them,  man  is  by  nature  sinful,  and  it  is  utterly  futile  to  look  to  works 
for  salvation;  they  therefore  imagine  that,  if  a  man  believes  in  their 
religious  teachers — Christ  of  the  Christians,  and  Mohamet  of  th« 
Moslems — he  will  be  saved,  despite  his  whole  life  of  sin.  As.  for  in- 
stance, if  a  Mahommedan  murders  millions  of  non-Mahommedafls 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION.  U6 

and  firmly  believes  in  the  mission  of  Mohamet,  he  is  sure  to  go  to  par- 
adise. In  like  manner,  the  blood  of  Jesus  washes  away  the  sins  of  all 
the  Christians.  The  hell  of  the  Christians  and  Moslems  is  for  the  ene- 
mies of  their  faith.  If  these  believers  get  any  punishment  at  all,  it  is 
temporary  and  of  very  light  nature.  They  are  to  be  soon  pardoned 
at  last.    This  is  what  they  understand  by  mercy. 

As  these  religions  are  all  sectarian  and  make  light  of  other  dispen- 
sations, their  selfish  injunctions  are  the  results  of  ignorance  and  world- 
liness.  Their  bigotry  never  allows  them  to  see  that,  if  their  dog^mas 
be  taken  to  be  true,  God  will  be  merciful  to  a  small  sect  and  cruel  to 
a  very  large  portion  of  mankind.  And  as  what  is  great  is  only  count- 
ed, and  what  is  small  is  left  out  of  calculation,  the  great  quality  of 
cruelty  will  be  predicated  of  God ;  for  his  mercy  is  overwhelmed  with 
cruelty. 

With  reference  to  the  question  under  discussion,  God's  eternal 
condemnation  of  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  without  listening  to 
their  petition,  is  exceedingly  cruel.  If  a  man  who  turns  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  supplications  of  another  is  considered  to  be  cruel  and  unmerciful 
by  all,  how  can  God,  who  disregards  appeals,  be  merciful? 

Again,  no  two  persons  are  exactly  alike  in  anything.  One  man  is 
more  truthful  or  more  sinful  than  another.  One  man  speaks  more 
lies  in  a  day  than  another.  A  schoolmaster  does  not  sin  in  lying  so 
frequently  as  a  tradesman.  A  gambler  cannot  be  so  holy  as  a  priest. 
How,  then,  can  they  all  be  condemned  to  burn  forever  in  hell?  There 
are  degrees  in  their  virtue  and  vice.  If  God  punishes  them  alike,  he 
is  frightfully  cruel  and  worse  than  Satan  himself.  Even  the  barbarians 
punish  their  criminals  eye  for  eye  and  limb  for  limb,  but  the  God  of 
the  Christians  and  Moslems  confounds  degrees  of  crime  and  punishes 
all  with  equal  severity  He  is,  therefore,  more  barbarous  than  barbar- 
ians. But  as  God  cannot  be  so,  this  conception  of  the  Christians  and 
Moslems  is  entirely  wrong.  It  can  never  form  a  permanent  belief  of 
a  true  religfion. 

The  merciful  God  punishes  his  children,  listens  to  their  appeals  for 
repentance,  liberates  them,  and  out  of  his  parental  fondness  always 
STves  them  chance  to  better  themselves.  He  thus  pardons,  and  he  is 
thus  merciful.    In  familiar  language,  we  may  say  that  he  allows  his 


146  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

children  to  "  try  their  luck  "  as  many  times  as  they  like,  and  thus  pun- 
ishes them  with  mercy.  They  commit  sins  which  demand  death,  but 
he  gives  them  life.  This  continual  gift  of  life,  which  is  the  fountain 
of  happiness,  gives  rise  to  the  series  of  rebirths.  Hence,  the  theory 
of  rebirth  is  consistent  with  the  mercy  of  God. 

If  the  soul  has  no  freedom  of  action,  it  is  useless  to  say  that  we  are 
responsible  agents.  A  few  short  years  of  life  followed  by  an  eternity 
of  punishment  or  enjoyment  is  no  liberty  of  the  soul.  And  those  who 
talk  of  it  do  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter.  The  soul  is  eternally 
free,  and  must,  therefore,  incarnate  innumerable  times.  Dr.  Calder- 
wood  says,  "*The  will  is  free,'  *  the  soul  is  free,'  and '  the  person  is  free,' 
with  their  correlative  negations,  are,  on  either  side,  only  three  forms 
of  expressing  the  same  thing."  The  Christians  and  Moslems  say  that 
after  the  death  of  a  person  the  soul  is  either  with  the  dead  body  or 
in  some  place  which  they  do  not  know.  Now,  both  of  these  supposi- 
tions are  wrong.  The  dead  man's  soul  leaves  his  body.  If  the  soul 
is  with  the  body,  the  body  is  not  dead.  If  the  soul  is  somewhere  and  is 
not  allowed  to  go  away,  it  is  confined.  Hence,  the  suppositions  of 
the  Christians  and  Moslems  with  regard  to  the  post-existence  of  the 
soul  are  ridiculously  erroneous.  The  height  of  absurdity  is  increased 
by  their  believing  in  the  day  of  resurrection,  when  the  corpses  of  all 
men  will  rise  with  their  souls.  Now,  neither  Christ  nor  Mohamet 
knew  of  the  time  of  resurrection.  Hence,  these  religious  sects  in- 
crease the  confinement  of  souls  to  an  indeterminate  period  of  time. 
Contrast  with  this  imprisonment  of  souls  their  liberty  to  assume  the 
forms  they  entitle  themselves  to  according  to  the  doctrine  of  reincar- 
nation. 

"  Why  are  we  on  the  earth  ?  We  did  not  ask  to  be  placed  there,  we 
did  not  express  a  wish  to  be  born.  If  we  had  been  consulted,  we  should 
probably  have  objected  to  coming  into  this  world  at  all,  or,  at  least,  we 
should  have  wished  to  appear  there  at  some  other  epoch.  We  should 
probably  have  asked  to  be  permitted  to  sojourn  in  some  other  planet 
than  the  earth.  Our  globe  is.  indeed,  a  very  disagreeable  habitation. 
In  consequence  of  its  inclination  on  its  axis,  the  climate  is  very  un- 
pleasantly distributed.  Either  we  must  succumb  to  cold,  if  we  arc  not 
artificially  protected  against  it,  or  we  must  be  terribly  incommoded 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF   REINCARNATION.  147 

by  heat.  Regarded  from  the  moral  point  of  view,  the  conditions  of 
humanity  are  very  sad.  Evil  predominates  in  the  world ;  vice  is  held 
almost  everywhere  in  honor,  and  virtue  is  so  ill-treated  that  to  be  hon- 
est is,  in  this  life,  to  be  tolerably  certain  of  evil  fortune.  Our  affec- 
tions are  causes  of  anguish  and  tears.  If,  for  a  while,  we  enjoy  the 
happiness  of  paternity,  of  love,  of  friendship,  it  is  only  to  see  the  ob- 
jects of  our  love  torn  from  us  by  death,  or  separated  from  us  by  the 
accidents  of  a  miserable  life.  The  organs  given  us  to  be  exercised  in 
this  life  are  heavy,  coarse,  subject  to  maladies.  We  are  nailed  to  the 
earth,  and  our  heavy  mass  can  be  moved  only  by  fatiguing  exertion. 
If  there  are  men  of  powerful  organization,  gifted  with  a  good  consti- 
tution and  robust  health,  how  many  are  there  who  are  infirm,  idiots, 
deaf  and  dumb,  blind  from  their  birth,  rickety  and  mad?  My  brother 
is  handsome  and  well-made,  and  I  am  ugly,  feeble,  rickety,  and  hump- 
backed ;  nevertheless  we  are  both  sons  of  the  same  mother.  So  some 
are  born  in  opulence,  others  in  the  most  hideous  destitution.  Why 
am  I  not  a  prince  and  a  great  lord,  instead  of  being  a  poor  toiler  of  the 
rebellious  and  ungrateful  earth?  Why  was  I  born  in  Europe,  and  in 
France,  where,  by  means  of  art  and  civilization,  life  is  rendered  easy 
and  endurable,  instead  of  being  born  under  the  burning  skies  of  the 
tropics,  where,  with  a  bestial  snout,  a  black  and  oily  skin  and  woolly 
hair,  I  should  have  been  exposed  to  the  double  torments  of  a  deadly 
climate  and  social  barbarism?  Why  is  not  one  of  the  unfortunate  Af- 
rican negroes  in  my  place,  comfortable  and  well-off?  We  have  done 
nothing,  he  and  I,  that  our  respective  places  on  the  earth  should  have 
been  assigned  to  us.  I  have  not  merited  the  favor,  he  has  not  incurred 
the  disgrace.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  unequal  division  of  frightful 
evils  which  fall  heavily  upon  certain  persons,  and  spare  others?  How 
have  they  who  live  in  happy  countries  deserved  this  partiality  of  fate, 
while  so  many  of  their  brethren  are  suffering  and  weeping  in  other 
regions  of  the  world? 

"  Certain  men  are  endowed  with  all  the  gifts  of  the  intellect;  others, 
on  the  contrary,  are  devoid  of  intelligence,  penetration,  and  memory. 
They  stumble  at  every  step  in  the  difficult  journey  of  life.  Their  nar- 
row minds  and  their  incomplete  faculties  expose  them  to  every  kind 
of  failure  and  misfortune.    They  cannot  succeed  in  anything,  and  des* 


148  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

tiny  seems  to  select  them  for  the  chosen  victims  of  its  most  fatal 
blows.  There  arc  beings  whose  whole  life,  from  birth  to  death,  is  a 
prolonged  cry  of  suffering  and  despair.  What  crime  have  they  com- 
mitted ?  Why  arc  they  upon  the  earth  ?  They  have  not  asked  to  be 
born,  and  if  they  had  been  free,  they  would  have  entreated  that  this 
bitter  cup  might  be  removed  from  their  lips.  They  are  here  below  in 
spite  of  themselves,  against  their  will.  This  is  so  true  that  some,  in  an 
excess  of  despair,  sever  the  thread  of  their  own  life.  They  tear  them- 
selves away  with  their  own  hands  from  an  existence  which  terrible 
suffering  has  rendered  insupportable  to  them. 

"  God  would  be  unjust  and  wicked  to  impose  so  miserable  a  life 
upon  beings  who  have  done  nothing  to  incur  it,  and  who  have  not 
solicited  it.  But  God  is  neither  unjust  nor  wicked;  the  opposite  qual- 
ities are  the  attributes  of  His  perfect  presence.  Consequently  the 
presence  of  man  on  certain  portions  of  the  earth,  and  the  unequal 
distribution  of  evil  over  our  globe,  are  not  to  be  explained.  If  any  of 
my  readers  can  show  me  a  doctrine,  a  philosophy,  a  religion  by  which 
these  difficulties  can  be  resolved,  I  will  tear  up  this  book,  and  confess 
myself  vanquished. 

"  If,  on  the  contrary,  you  admit  the  plurality  of  human  existences 
and  reincarnations,  that  is  to  say,  the  passage  of  the  same  soul  into 
several  different  bodies,  everything  is  easily  explained.  Our  pres- 
ence in  certain  portions  of  the  globe  is  no  longer  the  effect  of  a 
caprice  of  fate,  or  the  result  of  chance;  it  is  simply  a  station  of  the  long 
journey  which  we  are  taking  throughout  the  worlds." — Dr.  Louis 
Figuier's  "  Day  After  Death/'  Chapter  15,  pages  202-205. 

"  We  think,  with  Jean  Reynaud,  that  the  complete  remembrance 
of  our  previous  existences  will  return  to  the  soul  when  it  shall  inhabit 
the  ethereal  regions,  the  sojourn  of  the  superhuman  beings." — "  D^y 
After  Death,"  page  244.  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Howard. 

(To  be  continued,) 


Inspiration  may  be  defined  to  be  subjective  certitude  that  cannot  be 
accounted  for  by  reasonings  or  analyzings. — New  Lacan. 

\  I 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT 

WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT, 


ASTROLOGICAL  INDICATION  OF  FUTURE  EVENTS. 

Interest  in  the  subject  of  Astrology  as  a  science  by  which  events  may 
bretold  with  some  degree  of  accuracy  has  received  considerable  ol 
mpetus  in  this  country  during  the  past  two  years.  It  is  the  common 
g  for  those  who  have  been  "  educated  "  (with  the  Occult  left  out  of 
Curriculum)  to  jeer  at  things  not  down  in  the  "  regular  "  course  as 
ing  no  foundation  in  fact;  and  Astrology  has  not  escaped  the  general 
demnation.  A  good  thing,  however,  cannot  be  permanently  put  down 
1  bad  opinion;  nor  can  thaf  which  is  wrong  live  without  cultivation  or 
ure  by  belief  alone. 

The  attitude  we  take  in  such  matters  is  that  an  unbiassed  intellect 
i  safely  examine  any  theory,  and  that  the  true  merits  of  the  thing 
I  then  be  demonstrated.  Let  unqualified  condemnation  follow  actual 
3roof,  only,  and  the  way  to  deeper  learning  will  still  lay  open  to  us. 
In  the  August,  1897,  number  of  this  magazine  we  published  an  article 
m  the  pen  of  Mr.  Julius  Erickson,  entitled  "  An  Astrological  Pre- 
tion  on  President  McKinley's  Administration."  It  was  based  upon 
relative  positions  of  the  planets  at  the  time  of  the  administering  of 
Oath  of  Office  to  President  McKinley,  March  4,  1897.  Some  radical 
dictions  were  made  of  future  action  and  results,  which  no  one  could 
n  foresee  by  any  ordinary  means.  A  copy  of  the  paper  was  filed  in 
Copyright  Office  in  Washington,  on  March  8,  1897,  causing  the  pre- 
>on  to  stand  absolutely  upon  its  own  merits.  A  few  of  the  predictions 
ie  are  substantially  as  follows: 

*  We  are  to  have  an  American  policy  abroad,  and  the  President  will 
^  let  the  world  know  just  how  we  stand  on  protecting  American  citi- 
S-    Spain  and  all  other  nations  may  profit  by  the  prediction." 
**  Martial  men  and  martial  affairs  will  take  a  prominent  place  during 
next  four  years.    The  army  and  navy  will  be  increased." 

149 


160  THE    METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

"  Grave  questions  must  be  settled  this  year,  and  the  spirit  of  doubt 
and  uncertainty  will,  for  a  time,  permeate  the  air." 

"  Some  national  military  academy  or  school  will  suflfer  from  fire,  ex- 
plosion, or  collapse;  this  will  no  doubt  cause  investigation  by  the  au- 
thorities, for  life  is  threatened.  This  accident  will  be  accompanied  by 
some  strange  history  or  circumstance  in  connection." 

"  The  President,  before  spring's  balmy  days  are  gone,  will  be  harassed, 
thwarted,  and  perhaps  threatened  by  powerful  opponents;  but  he  stands 
like  the  pyramids  against  the  assaults  of  his  foes." 

"  The  affliction  of  the  Sun  to  the  Moon  denotes  appropriations  of 
Uioney  for  military  and  naval  affairs." 

"  We  shall  meet  with  rebuff  or  treachery  from  some  foreign  power." 

"  If  Congress  is  in  session  during  the  winter  of  1898,  extraordinary 
excitement  will  attend  its  deliberations." 

"  The  sixth  house  rules  the  Navy.  Jupiter,  its  ruling  planet,  is  retro- 
grade, unfortunately  weak  and  badly  afflicted;  this  is  ominous  of  evil, 
and  we  shall  suffer  a  loss  in  some  way  in  that  direction." 

"  The  Ship  of  State  sails  o'er  rough  seas,  but  a  good,  cool,  wise  man 
is  at  the  helm  and  he  holds  the  ship  true." 

"  These  four  years  will  make  an  impress  on  history's  page  not  soon 
forgotten;  for  two  things  are  clearly  indicated:  the  proud,  haughty  sons 
of  Castile  and  Leon,  once  rulers  of  a  mighty  empire,  have  turned  their 
faces  to  the  setting  sun,  and  as  it  goes  down  in  all  its  glory  it  carries  with 
it  the  memories  of  a  great  past ;  for  Spain's  monarchy  is  threatened,  and 
she  sinks  beneath  the  heavy  hand  of  fate." 

This  article  also  contains  many  other  predictions  for  the  period  of 
four  years,  some  of  which  have  already  been  fulfilled,  and  others,  perhapSt 
are  yet  to  occur.* 

One  feature  of  this  Horoscope,  not  before  mentioned,  is  so  clearly 
indicative  of  what  has  occurred  as  to  be  worthy  of  note  here;  viz.,  By 
Astrological  calculation,  the  sign  Gemini  rules  the  United  States.  Now, 
in  this  Horoscope,  Gemini  occupies  the  twelfth  house,  which  is  the  house 
of "  treachery,  secret  enmity,  prisons,"  etc.  Posited  in  Gemini  (17*  32')  is 
Neptune,  ruler  of  the  Ocean,  and,  in  some  particulars,  signifying  the  Nav)'. 

♦A  few  copies  of  the  August,  1897,  number  of  this  Magazine,  containing  Mr. 
Erickson's  article,  are  on  hand  and  may  be  obtained  for  25  centf  each. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  151 

>njunction  with  Mars,  the  planet  of  war,  violence,  fire,  explosives,  and 
lements  of  destruction.  The  ruling  planet  of  Gemini  is  Mercury, 
rh  is  posited  in  Aquarius,  in  the  eighth  house  (known  as  the  house 
►eath),  disposed  of  by  Saturn,  and  applying  to  close  aspect  with  Mars. 
»,  then,  is  the  successive  reading  of  the  qualities  of  Sign,  House, 
ets,  and  Aspects:  Sign,  Gemini,  signifying  the  United  States.  Houses 
lith  and  eighth),  signifying  Secret  Enemies,  Treachery,  Death.  Plan- 
S'eptune,  Mars,  signifying  Ocean,  Navy,  and  War,  in  the  Aspect  of 
junction;  and  Mercury,  signifying  the  United  States,  trine  of  Mars, 
ifying  War. 

The  planet  Mercury  also  represents  Intellect,  and  Mars  represents 
1;  the  aspect  of  Trine  is  good,  in  its  influence,  and,  although^it  occurs 
;een  houses  of  treachery  and  death,  it  may  mean  no  more  than  what 
alreadv  occurred  in  the  "  Maine  "  incident. 

\11  the  ancient  works  on  Astrology  g^ve  practically  the  same  reading 
n  these  aspects,  etc.,  and  they  seem  to  read  altogether  too  close  to 
events  that  have  already  transpired  to  be  passed  by  without  notice. 
h  knowledge,  if  possible  to  obtain,  must  become  of  great  value  in  the 
lagement  of  the  affairs  both  of  men  and  of  nations. 


The  portrait  of  Swami  Abhedananda,  which  we  reproduced  in  the 
rch  number  of  this  magazine,  may  be  had  in  a  beautiful  photograph, 
n  Mr.  H.  J.  Van  Haagen,  of  1267  Broadway,  New  York  City,  who 
'  owns  the  portrait  and  controls  its  sale,  both  wholesale  and  retail. 
The  Swami's  face  is  an  unusual  one,  and  so  fine  a  reproduction  is  well 
th  preserving.  We  advise  all  interested  persons  to  secure  a  copy 
le  it  may  be  had. 


Be  able  to  be  alone. — Sir  Thomas  Browne. 

The  foretelling  of  the  weather  was  an  exact  science  in  Ancient  Eg^t. 

The  era  of  competition  is  ended.  The  era  of  combination  has  opened, 
business  is  concentrating.  In  this  massing  of  capital  there  is  coming 
e  an  absolute  domination  over  the  wage-earner  and  the  interests  of 
people  at  large,  over  the  life  of  the  State  itself. — Rev.  Heber  Newton. 


162  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


A  MODERN  INQUISITION. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  Massacbn- 
setts  has  assumed  to  be  in  the  van  of  the  various  States  and  sections  in 
progress,  freedom,  and  toleration.  But  "  eternal  vigilance  "  is  the  price 
of  continued  liberty,  for  new  and  subtle  forms  of  tyranny  are  ever  seek- 
ing instalment. 

A  bill  has  been  formulated  which  the  General  Court  is  to  be  asked  to 
pass  into  a  law,  making  it  a  crime  to  heal  disease,  unless  it  be  done  through 
one  limited  legal  monopoly.  The  penalty  for  this  terrible  crime  of  healing 
is  to  be  "  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $ioo  nor  more  than  $500  for  each  offence, 
or  by  imprisonment  in  jail  for  three  months,  or  both."  Thus,  for  a  good 
deed,  educated  Christian  men  and  saintly  women  are  to  be  thrown  into 
prison  with  common  felons.  The  assumption  is,  that  here  in  Massachu- 
setts people  have  no  right  to  choose  their  own  method  of  relief,  or  that 
they  are  so  ignorant  that  the  State  must  do  it  for  them. 

The  medical  profession  has  in  its  ranks  hundreds  of  noble,  progressive, 
and  tolerant  men,  who  cannot  in  any  way  be  held  responsible  for  such 
an  attempted  imposition  of  mental  and  moral  slavery  as  the  State  Board 
proposes,  and  it  is  believed  that  many  of  them  will  disavow  all  connection 
with  and  indorsement  of  it.  It  involves  no  question  between  therapeutic 
systems,  but  is  a  menace  to  the  most  sacred  and  fundamental  principles 
of  personal  liberty.  Regarding  malpractice  and  the  assumption  of  med- 
ical titles,  there  is  already  ample  protection  against  all  false  pretence. 

Any  craft  that  is  so  endangered  by  the  progress  of  Truth  that  it  must 
coerce  the  public,  evidently  is  not  willing  to  rest  upon  its  own  merits 
for  patronage.  One  religious  sect  might  as  well  ask  the  State  to  enforce 
its  creed,  and  to  cast  into  prison  all  who  did  not  avow  it,  as  for  one  medical 
system  to  ask  for  legislation  to  force  unwilling  people  to  support  it  ex- 
clusively. The  spirit  of  such  a  law  would  be  exactly  in  the  line  of  the 
old-time  "  blue  laws  "  and  the  whipping  of  Quakers. 

Materia  medica  has  never  claimed  to  be  an  exact  science.  It  lacks 
the  exact  elements  of  mechanical  surgery,  and  is  admittedly  experimental 
and  empirical,  and  constantly  shifting  its  methods  and  conclusions.  The 
writer  of  this  article  is  only  an  independent  seeker  of  the  truth.    He  is 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  158 

ictitioner,  and  therefore  has  no  professional  or  pecuniary  interest 
latter ;  but,  as  an  application  of  the  higher  philosophy  has,  with- 
shadow  of  doubt,  added  ten  years  to  his  life,  he  has  a  near  and 
ic  of  what  should  be  everyone's  privilege.  He  has  many  friends 
ledical  profession  whom  he  highly  esteems,  and  under  certain 
is  he  would  employ  some  of  them,  but  he  believes  that  every  one 
would  have  the  relation  between  physician  and  patient  voluntary, 
lan  forced  by  the  State,  with  the  prison  as  an  alternative, 
true  province  of  legislation  is  to  protect  the  liberty  of  the  people 
lan  to  take  it  away.  While  the  writer  is  not  a  Christian  Scientist, 
)ecific  sense  of  that  term,  he  believes  that  the  State  has  no  more 
interfere  with  the  religious  faith  of  that  denomination  than  to 
eir  homes  and  confiscate  their  goods. 

there  is  a  scientific  as  well  as  a  religious  aspect  to  this  question. 
Dgical  and  metaphysical  laws  are  exact,  and  are  available  and 
le  in  their  own  place  and  scope.  To  approach  human  ills  from 
r,  subtle,  and  real  causative  side  is  something  which  the  average 
practitioner  knows  little  about.  How  could  he,  when  he  has 
le  subject  no  systematic  study? 

fair-minded  person  must  see  at  a  glance  that,  unless  different 
and  philosophies  are  allowed  to  stand  upon  merit  alone,  all  evo- 
y  progress  must  cease.  The  very  principles  of  constitutional  de- 
'  presuppose  that  citizens  are  not  imbeciles,  but  they  are  to  have 
(dividual  choice  in  all  those  deeper  things  which  pertain  to  their 
5,  ethical,  social,  and  physical  welfare. 

the  law  force  any  man  to  think  exactly  in  the  same  ruts  as  his 
r,  and  imprison  him  if  he  does  not?  Millions  have  poured  out 
)od  on  battle-fields  or  been  burned  at  the  stake  on  issues  far  less 
i  sacred  than  the  one  in  question. 

e  is  no  purpose  in  this  communication  to  condemn  one  system 
another,  for  the  principles  outlined  are  back  of  all  systems.  It 
ely  be  assumed  that  the  medical  profession  in  general  will  not 
:he  State  Board  in  the  extreme  and  unconstitutional  course  which 
•pose.  The  latter,  having  had  a  taste  of  rule  in  the  limited  monop- 
le  past,  now  wish  to  advance  and  make  it  unlimited, 
er  the  inquisition  of  Torquemada,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the 


154  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

bodies  of  men  were  conscientiously  tortured  for  the  laudable  purpose  of 
saving  their  souls.  It  is  now  proposed  to  torture  their  souls  (which  arc 
the  real  men)  in  order  to  save  their  bodies.  Which  is  the  worst?  One 
occurred  in  a  dark  period  of  the  world's  history;  the  other  is  advocated 
for  the  apex  of  the  nineteenth  century. — Henry  Wood,  in  the  Boston  Even- 
ing Transcript. 

PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  JAMES  AND  THE  MEDICAL  BILL 

Electrifying  as  are  the  courage  and  chivalry  of  William  James's  stand 
for  the  despised  of  the  regulars,  his  position  is  really  not  in  advance  of  his 
time.  It  is  the  most  respectable  and  eminent  faculty  from  whose  associa- 
tion he  steps  manfully  out — for  he  is  a  regularly  diplomaed  doctor  himscli, 
it  seems — that  are  behind  the  times,  as  such  authoritative  bodies  usiially 
are.  Professor  James  demonstrates  this  from  history  in  his  logical, 
soundly  psychological,  fearless  protest  against  the  bill  proposing  rcstric* 
tive  legislation  in  regard  to  the  cure  of  disease.  He  is  simply  uttering 
with  conviction  and  authority  the  thoughts  and  beliefs  of  thousands  of 
modern  men  and  women,  both  within  and  without  the  medical  profession. 
Every  physician  knows  in  his  own  practice  the  therapeutic  value  of  per- 
sonality; and,  however  hedged  in  by  professional  training  and  interest, 
recognizes  the  justice  and  logic  of  this  point  in  Professor  James's  argu- 
ment :  "  If  some  fatality  were  laid  on  us  whereby  one  type  of  practitioner 
must  perforce  be  singled  out  for  license,  and  all  other  types  stamped  out, 
I  should  unhesitatingly  vote  to  license  the  Harvard  Medical  School  type, 
for  it  lies  in  the  spirit  of  science  to  correct  its  own  mistakes  in  the  end; 
and  I  should  hope  that,  little  by  little,  though  with  infinite  slowness,  many 
of  the  things  well  known  outside  of  the  medical  school,  but  not  known 
there  at  present,  might  possibly  be  rediscovered  by  one  adventurous  spirit 
or  another  inside,  and  finally  accrete  with  the  final  body  of  doctrine.  Even 
mind-cure  methods  might  eventually  be  resurrected  in  this  way.  But 
thank  heaven,  no  such  fatal  necessity  of  giving  exclusive  license  to  one 
type  of  mind  now  weighs  upon  this  Legislature.  Our  State  needs  the 
assistance  of  every  type  of  mind,  academic  or  non-academic,  of  which  she 
possesses  specimens." 

It  would  indeed  be  a  "  fatal  necessity  "  by  which  should  devolve  upon 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  155 

stature  the  duty  of  licensing  people's  minds!  The  non-academic 
f  mind,  in  a  large  sense,  existed  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  Yet  Lincoln 
ibly  and  naturally  understood  the  management  of  human  move- 

which  others  had  to  arrive  at  by  mental  processes  following  the 

of  disaster  in  the  war.  It  has  always  been  the  non-academic  type 
id  which  has  led  in  enlargements  of  freedom,  since  the  first  steps 
pirical  healing  took  place  beside  the  poor  of  Bethesda,  or  when  the 
pressed  too  close  to  an  unlicensed  healer  for  obedience  to  the  re- 
ve  medical  laws  of  Jerusalem,  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years  ago. 
ofessor  James  spoke  a  truth,  which  all  doctors  also  understand,  in 
y  that  a  large  part  of  the  present  mind-cure  movement  "  is  religious, 
asi-religious,"  and  the  academic  mind  naturally  hangs  back  from 
ng  of  the  flesh  from  the  soul ;  and  Browning's  well-known  dictum 

academic.  But  the  core  of  the  whole  argument  is  in  the  statement 
1  this  purely  medical  question  the  General  Court,  "  not  being  a  well- 
s' and  source  of  medical  virtue,  must  remain  strictly  neutral,  under 
ty  of  making  the  confusion  worse."  That  there  is  confusion  in  these 
when  the  human  mind  is  in  a  tumult  between  old  faiths  and  new, 
)t  be  denied.    Quacks  and  humbugs  are  plentiful,  but  they  are  not 

stamped  out  by  a  law  which  would  seek  to  hamper  honest  and 
ssful  practitioners  of  the  mind-cure  in  its  various  phases.  Many 
practitioners  would  pay  the  full  penalty  of  disobeying  such  a  law, 
vere  made,  with  a  serenity  which  would  astonish  the  legislators  and 
octors.  They  have  "  eliminated  fear."  It  would  surprise  this  Com- 
vealth  to  see  sons  and  daughters  of  her  oldest  families  calmly  defy- 
ny  such  law  if  it  were  made.  It  would  be  interesting  reading — a  list 
?  people  who  practice  or  profess  the  mind-cure  in  Boston  and  vicin- 
There  are  thousands  of  them  whose  names  would  make  legislators 
? — names  of  people  as  well  known  as  those  of  Dr.  James,  and  Mr. 
son,  and  Mr.  Mills — but  in  departments  of  life  and  where  they  do 
eel  called  upon  to  "  speak  up  in  meeting  "  for  their  faith,  but  are 
nt  to  be  so  well  represented  by  so  cultivated  and  fearless  a  spokes- 
as  Dr.  James,  who,  by  the  way,  touched  even  finer  issues  as  an 
r  yesterday  than  when  he  served  the  city  at  the  unveiling  of  the 

monument  of  another  more  concrete  struggle  in  the  cause  of  free- 
— Boston  Evening  Transcript,  Editorial,  March  3,  1898. 


166  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


ANALYSIS  OF  A  WAKING  DREAM. 

I  awake  with  a  start  and  a  feeling  of  having  been  called,  combined 
with  the  mysterious,  repressed  expectancy  of  knowledge,  hitherto  obscure, 
about  to  be  revealed.  I  open  my  eyes,  and,  spread  out  before  mc,  bound- 
lessly enveloping  all  material  things,  is  a  vast  plain  of  endless  white, 
neither  adorned  nor  marred  by  projection  or  inequality.  On  this  plain 
or  screen  is  the  following  described  picture:  Nearly  in  the  centre  are 
two  dark  spots;  surrounding  these,  with  the  spots  for  an  axis,  are  cirdes, 
some  large  and  some  small,  made  with  dotted  lines.  Starting  from  the 
dark  spots  are  two  straight  lines,  which  join  above  in  the  dim  and  misty 
distance,  and  merge  into  the  soft  yellow  light  of  a  star,  which  sornetimes 
shines  with  a  clear,  steady  light,  often  with  a  hazy  obscurity,  and  then, 
again,  with  its  light  lost  in  clouds  of  formless  things — things  of  huge  and 
awful  shapes  that  are  broken  into  feathery  bits  of  vanishing  clouds  as 
they  cross  the  face  of  the  star. 

With  the  vision — a  vision  of  spiritual  reality  in  a  world  of  gross  niat6 
riality — comes  its  meaning:  Truth  in  an  atmosphere  of  error. 

Knowing  that  dreams,  either  of  our  sleeping  or  waking  moments, 
are  not  the  disordered  fancies  of  an  irresponsible  mind,  I  trace  the  vision 
to  the  causes  that  brought  it  from  its  world  of  chaotic  obscurity  into 
tangible  reality.  Within  the  last  year  I  had  read  the  "  Ice  Desert,''  by 
Jules  Verne.  In  it  are  described  the  movements  of  two  men  who  seek 
the  North  Pole,  and  their  intense  astonishment,  when  nearly  there,  to 
find  new  and  strange  footsteps  of  other  men.  They  walk  for  days,  and 
then  come  upon  the  mysterious  footsteps  again ;  but,  upon  closer  exami- 
nation, they  find  that  these  are  their  cnvn^  for  they  have  been  travelling 
in  a  circle!  These  were  the  circles  of  the  vision!  I  had  that  day  attended 
a  service  in  a  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  had  been  deeply  impressed  with 
the  beauty  of  its  symbolic  mysticism.  One  small  green  light  on  an  altar 
had  cast  its  fascinating  power  over  me.  To  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
lights,  this  one  asserted  itself,  and  beckoned  and  called,  as,  half  veiled 
in  the  clouds  of  incense,  it  mingled  with  the  music  and  became  a  part 
of  the  prayers,  and  also  a  part  of  my  mind.  This  explains  the  star  ol 
Light. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  167 

A  conversation  recently  held,  in  which  the  subjective  and  objective 
id  had  been  discussed,  was  the  link  binding  together  these  two  incon- 
lous  pictures.  Reasoning  upon  the  subject,  objectiveness  would  have 
i,  **  You  cannot  combine  them;  they  must  stand  alone; "  but  Reason 
s  asleep.  They  hovered  in  chaotic  confusion  on  the  threshold  of  con- 
^usness;  but,  before  they  vanished,  Reason  awoke,  caught  them,  and 
i,  "  This  is  what  I  have  longed  to  know." 

With  the  vision  came  its  meaning.  I  am  one  of  the  dark  spots  fixed 
objective  materialism.  The  far-off  star  is  the  Infinite  Truth,  in  the 
inite  Beyond,  and  the  line  is  the  path  that  leads  to  it.  The  second 
)t  represents  anyone  who  is  en  rapport  with  me  through  the  brother- 
od  of  the  same  thoughts,  and  who  has  the  same  lofty  ideal  in  view, 
eking  to  find  the  endless  Truth  by  following  the  straight  line,  with  no 
ide  or  chart  except  what  exists  in  ourselves,  we  travel  in  circles. 
The  subjective  mind  starts  forth  on  its  quest,  and  the  objective  mind 
for  the  time  being,  non-existent;  just  as  the  man  who,  starting  to 
ich  a  given  point,  travels  in  a  circle  and  is,  for  the  time  being,  on  the 
cumference  of  the  circle  instead  of  being  at  the  starting-point.  The 
eater  our  eflorts  to  reach  a  higher  plane,  the  greater  will  be  our  de- 
lopment.  Growth  is  never  attained  by  inaction,  although  its  efforts 
ly  not  always  be  apparent.  Our  knowledge  and  exaltation  of  mind 
II  increase  with  the  number  and  size  of  our  circling,  restless  thoughts, 
m  high,  even  though  the  most  supreme  struggle  reaches  far  short  of 
e  magic  ideal  star,  and  you  grow  weary  of  wandering  in  the  seemingly 
litless  circles!    The  circles  are  there;  they  are  our  very  own,  made  so 

our  insatiable  searchings,  and  they  are  constructed  out  of  the  ex- 
riences  and  aspirations  of  the  soul.    The  waves,  and  paths,  and  circles, 

other  minds  seeking  to  reach  the  Star  of  Light,  cross  and  overlap 
IT  sphere,  but  never  interfere  with  it.  The  higher  our  thoughts,  the 
cater  the  number  of  sympathetic  souls  we  shall  meet.  We  can  have 
>  sympathy  with  the  man  of  low  aims  and  thoughts,  because  he  never 
ives  his  objective  point,  and  no  undulating  wave  from  his  mind  can 
ccp  the  circles  of  our  highest  thoughts.  These  struggles  and  strivings, 
en  though  they  end  in  present  defeat,  will  elevate  us  far  above  the 
nds  of  those  who  are  content  to  take  things  as  they  seem,  and  will 
Jcc  us  as  much  superior  to  them  as  the  man  who  has  travelled  the 


168  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

world  over  is,  in  experience,  to  him  who  has  never  left  his  native  village. 
One  is  fitted  to  become  a  companion  of  the  wise  and  noble,  while  the 
other  will  be  unable,  for  long  years,  to  enter  the  royal  courts. 

We  can  never  go  beyond  or  outside  of  ourselves.  Man's  unattained 
ideal  is  ever  beyond  his  grasp.  He  cannot  even  create  that  ideal,  but 
must  form  it  from  what  is  in  himself;  must  evolve  its  greatness  from  the 
soul-germ  implanted  within;  must  see  it  rise  in  one  effort  of  strength 
and  Truth  from  seemingly  unimportant  combinations.  He  must  watch 
it  fade  and  wane  until,  with  a  courage  and  perseverance  born  of  convic- 
tion, and  a  patience  the  outgrowth  of  hope,  he  can  bask  in  the  strength 
and*  purity  of  its  unfading  light.  All  the  manifestations  of  Spiritism, 
Thought  Transference,  etc.,  are  the  wanderings  of  our  undefined  hopes, 
and  the  offspring  of  our  latent  and  undeveloped  thoughts. 

With  this  explanation,  phantasms  of  the  dead  are  quite  possible:  The 
soul  departs  into  another  sphere,  but  the  circling,  subjective  thoughts, 
like  an  aroma,  remain  with  us  for  a  definite  time,  until  crossed  and  ^^ 
crossed  by  the  ever-advancing  waves  of  man's  unrest. 

Our  objective  minds  do  not  see  the  objective  bodies  of  our  departed 
friends,  for  the  soul  never  returns.  In  the  upward  path  there  is  no  retro- 
gression. But,  paradoxical  as  it  may  sound,  zve  do  see  them.  To  our 
subjective  minds,  souls  and  their  thoughts  are  material.  They  pass  in 
waves  and  undulations  before  and  around  us.  If  the  ever-increasin 
circles  of  our  searchings  lead  us  into  their  range  before  they  are  destroyed, 
we  see  them  as  Phantasms  of  the  dead.  In  the  same  way,  the  advancing 
waves  of  Thought  project  upon  the  plastic  receptivity  of  our  subjcctitc 
entity,  the  forms  of  our  absent  friends.  We  cannot  deny  that  the  rete* 
tion  seen  in  the  glass  is  less  real  or  true  than  the  object  itself. 

We  cross  our  circles,  see  our  own  footsteps,  and  think  we  have  discof- 
ered  something  new,  but  we  fail  to  realize  the  unlimited  powers  of  thcsflh- 
jective  mind,  which  never  forgets  an  impression  once  made  upon  it 
Rightly  developed,  we  can  have  revealed  to  us,  through  it,  hidden  knowl- 
edge and  unknown  joys,  and  become  partakers  of  the  mysteries  erf  ^ 
unseen  but  real  world,  the  world  that  exists  within  us,  not  outside. 

Back  of  or  beyond  our  own  selves,  our  own  knowledge,  oar  o^ 
souls,  we  do  not  know,  we  cannot  pass.  We  float  upon  the  Ocean  o« 
Infinity,  but  we  can  never  leave  or  pass  beyond  it. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  159 

Apart  from  every  other  soul,  aside  from  all  other  considerations,  irre- 
spective of  the  ties  that  bind  us  to  materiality,  we  stand  alone,  the  cri- 
terion of  our  innermost  thoughts,  the  judge  of  our  own  actions,  the 
Nemesis  of  our  own  fates,  the  salvation  of  our  own  futures. 

This  is  no  deprivation,  no  limitation,  if  we  understand  ourselves  and 
the  latent  and  wonderful  power  of  the  Divine  soul  that  is  our  Self. 

Ella  Walton. 


The  senses  and  organs  are  esteemed  great,  but  the  thinking  self  is 
greater  than  they.  The  discriminating  principle  is  greater  than  the  think- 
ing self,  and  that  which  is  greater  than  the  discriminating  principle  is  He. 
Thus  knowing  what  is  greater  than  the  discriminating  principle  and 
strengthening  the  lower  by  the  Higher  Self,  do  thou  of  mighty  arms 
slay  this  foe  which  is  formed  from  desire  and  is  difficult  to  seize. — Bhaga- 
vad-Giia. 

The  words  of  a  talebearer  are  as  wounds,  and  they  go  down  into  the 
innermost  parts  {or  chambers)  of  the  belly. — Proverbs  xviii.  8. 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 


THE  NEW  PHILOSOPHY  OF   MONEY.    By  Alfred  B.  Westnip.     192  pp. 
F.  E.  Leonard,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

This  work  is  an  investigation  into  the  nature  and  office  of  money.  All  the  facts 
•ad  theories  that  have  a  bearing  on  the  subject  are  herein  treated,  and  the  author 
Urns  to  show  the  "  errors  and  fallacies  that  are  accountable  for  the  prevailing  un- 
bound notions  and  the  apparently  inextricable  confusion  that  characterize  the  sub- 
set and  arc  responsible  for  the  existing  absurd  money  system." 

The  title  is  significant  and  points  to  a  new  way  to  solve  this  much-vexed 
nestion. 

HE  NEW  PHILOSOPHY  OF   HEALTH.     By  Harriet  B.  Bradbury.     Qoth, 
103  pp.     The  Philosophical  Publishing  Co.,  19  Blagden  St.,  Boston. 

The  author's  aim  in  this  little  book,  is  to  reconcile  scientific  and  religious 
lought  on  the  subject  of  the  different  schools  of  healing,  and  "to  make  plain  to 
9th  intellectual  and  spiritual  faculties,  the  reasonableness  of  faith  in  God  and  de- 
radence  upon  the  divine  strength  in  all  the  concerns  of  human  life."  As  an  intro- 
action  to  more  extensive  works  on  this  important  subject,  it  will  find  its  place  and 
rove  its  value. 


160  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

STIRPICULTURE  :  OR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  OFFSPRING  THROUGH 
WISER  GENERATION.  By  M.  L.  Holbrook,  M.D.  Cloth,  192  pp^ 
$1.00.    M.  L.  Holbrook  &  Co.,  New  York,  and  L.  N.  Fowler,  &  Co.,  Loodon 

The  object  of  this  book  is  the  discussion  of  subjects  bearing  upon  evolutioo  and 
human  progress — an  attempt  to  arouse  a  greater  thoughtfulness  in  the  minds  of  the 
men  and  women  of  the  present  time,  upon  a  subject  so  vital  to  the  improvement  of 
the  race  that  none  should  be  indifferent  to  it.  Works  of  this  kind  must  bear  good 
fruit 

OTHER  PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

THE  PEOPLE  OR  THE  POLITICIAN  ?  By  R.  L.  Taylor.  Paper,  60  pp, 
10  cents.     Charles  H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  56  Fifth  Avenue,  Chicago. 

GIRARD'S  WILL  AND  GIRARD  COLLEGE  THEOLOGY.  By  Richard  R 
Westbrook,  D.D.,  LL.D.  Cloth,  183  pp.  Published  by  the  Author,  1707 
Oxford  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

PRESIDENT  JOHN  SMITH.  THE  STORY  OF  A  PEACEFUL  REVO- 
LUTION.  By  Frederick  U.  Adams.  Pappr,  290  pp.,  10  cents.  CharietH. 
Kerr  &  Co.,  56  Fifth  Avenue,  Chicago. 


AMONG  OUR  EXCHANGES. 

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son  Jarvis — The  Way  Upward,  by  Hon.  George  Fred.  William s—Brooklioe :  A 
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DIE  UEBERSINNLICHE  WELT.     Mittheilungen  aus  dem  Gebiete  des  Okkal- 
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Herausgegeben  und  redigirt  von  Max  Rahn.     Preis  halbj^hrlich  pdinumeraBd^ 
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THE 


METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


OL.  VIIL  JUNE,  1898.  No.  3. 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN   CONTEMPORARY  INDIA. 

India — that  land  whose  early  history  and  civilization  are  shrouded 
I  the  hazy  mists  of  the  world's  mom,  where  history's  voice  is 
rowned  in  the  intermingling  echoes  of  myth  and  legend;  that  land 
hose  star-eyed  philosophy  sought  to  peer  into  the  Arcana  of  Des- 
ny  and  read  the  riddle  of  existence  long  before  the  pyramids  threw 
shadow  by  the  banks  of  the  classic  Nile;  that  land  whose  archives 
re  hoary  with  the  rime  of  centuries  untold — it  is  meet  that  the  world 
liould  gather  in  her  titanic  temples  to  learn  the  lessens  of  her 
lodern  sages. 

The  historic  parallel  aflfords  peculiar  delight  to  the  mind  of  the 
tudent  when  the  resemblances  are  carried  out  to  the  minutest  de- 
ul.  Such  a  parallel  cannot  be  ignored  in  the  development  of  re- 
gious  thought  in  America  and  India.  Having  mentioned  the  simi- 
uity  we  must  leave  the  reader  to  follow  and  apply  it  for  himself. 

The  present  is  always  a  natural  growth  from  the  past.  It  is  ncces- 
in-  to  take  a  brief  retrospect.  Hinduism  is  all-tolerant  and  pliable. 
Icr  only  dogmas  are  the  infallibility  of  the  Vedas  and  caste  separa- 
'on,  the  latter  necessarily  implying  the  privileges  of  the  Brahmans, 
r  priestly  caste.  Hence  Hinduism  remained  on  amicable  terms 
ilh  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  until  Buddha  proclaimed  the  equality 
f  mankind  and  denied  the  necessity  of  priests.  Then  the  conflict 
^e,  and  the  older  religion  of  the  soil  triumphed,  and  Buddhism 
'3s  practically  rooted  out  of  the  land  of  its  birth. 

Hinduism's  next  conflict  was  waged  against  the  warlike  zealots 

161 


162  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

of  Mohammed,  who  sought  to  carve  the  red  borders  of  their  faith 
with  a  dripping  sword;  the  sword  was  parried,  and  Hinduism  rose 
more  invulnerable  still.     But  there  were  those  within  the  camp  of 
Hinduism  who  had  learned  her  lesson  of  pliabiHty  so  well  that  they 
could  not  help  imbibing  some  of  the  rigid  monotheism  of  Moham- 
medanism and  some  of  the  fraternal  spirit  of  Buddhism.    There  were 
numerous  spasmodic  efforts  to  reconcile  those  contending  elements 
on  the  ground  of  their  common  principles.    The  time  was  not  yet 
ripe  for  such  a  consummation  and  those  efforts  were  still-born. 
Finally  England  brought  civilization  and  Christianity  to  the  shores 
of  the  Orient,  and  this  last  religion  now  entered  the  lists  against 
the  older  inheritors  of  the  soil.    England  likewise  brought  with  her 
the  educational  and  literary  heritage  of  Europe.     It  was  not  long 
before  these  heterogeneous  influences  brought  forth  fruit. 

Ram  Mohun  Roy,  Hinduist,  born  in  1774,  was,  at  an  early  age, 
sent  to  the  Mohammedan  school  at  Patna  to  learn  Arabic  and  Per- 
sian. His  constant  association  there  with  the  rigid  monotheism  of 
the  Mohammedans  resulted,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  in  his  drawing 
up  a  protest  against  Hindu  idolatry. 

"  After  my  father's  death  in  1803,"  he  himself  wrote  in  a  letter,  "  I  oppori 
the  advocates  of  idolatry  with  still  greater  boldness.  The  ground  which  I  took 
in  all  my  controversies  was  not  that  of  opposition  to  Brahmanism,  but  to  a  ptf* 
version  of  it;  and  I  endeavored  to  show  that  the  idolatry  of  the  Brahmins ««» 
contrary  to  the  practice  of  their  ancestors  and  the  principles  of  ancient  boob 
and  authorities  which  they  professed  to  revere  and  obey." 

He  thereafter  set  about  the  study  of  all  the  principal  religion* 
with  zeal  and  energy.  He  was  the  first  earnest  investigator  in  the 
science  of  comparative  theology.  Disinherited  by  his  father,  he  \d 
to  accept  a  humble  situation,  and  for  several  years  give  up  the  propa- 
gation of  his  doctrine.  That  doctrine  was  drawn  entirely  from  the 
Vedas,  and  so  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  "  The  Society  of  God/'  which  he 
afterward  formed,  was  really  only  a  Hindu  sect.  Nevertheless^  ^ 
extreme  liberality  of  thought  is  well  illustrated  by  the  publicatiofl 
of  his  work  on  "  The  Precepts  of  Jesus,  the  Guide  to  Peace  afli 
Happiness,"  in  which  he  pays  a  high  tribute  to  the  moral  value  ot 
Jesus's  teaching.    At  the  same  time  he  unhesitatingly  rejects  the  di- 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN  CONTEMPORARY  INDIA.         168 

ty  of  Jesus.    It  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  converted  Rev.  W. 
ims,  a  Baptist  missionary,  to  Unitarianism. 
In  1830  the  Bramo  Somaj  dedicated  its  first  meeting-house.    The 
d  of  gift  says: 

No  sermon,  preaching,  discourse,  prayer,  or  hymn  is  to  be  delivered,  made, 
scd  in  such  worship  but  such  as  have  the  tendency  to  the  promotion  of  charity, 
ality,  piety,  benevolence,  virtue,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  bonds  of  union 
vccn  men  of  all  religious  persuasions  and  creeds." 

Shortly  after  the  dedication  Roy,  the  founder,  went  to  England 
1  died  there. 

Having  lost  its  leader,  the  Brahmo  Somaj  almost  shared  the  fate 
its  predecessors.  It  was  just  on  the  point  of  expiring  when  new 
was  instilled  into  it  by  the  advent  of  Nath  Tagore.  This  young 
n  practically  took  the  place  which  Roy  had  left  vacant;  but  after 
ietermined  revival  the  Society  still  claimed  only  about  1,000 
lerents. 

In  1847  a  crisis  came,  which  threatened  for  a  time  to  scatter  the 
id  of  reformers. 

It  has  been  said  that  everything  and  anything  may  be  proved 
m  the  Bible.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Veda.  Nath  Tagore 
d  some  of  the  more  liberal  of  the  Bramoists  found  a  few  statements 
the  Veda  which  they  called  in  question.  As  yet  they  did  not  doubt 
•  a  moment  the  infallibility  of  the  Veda,  but  they  commissioned 
ir  scholars  to  visit  Benares,  the  only  place  where  a  complete  and 
thentic  copy  of  the  Veda  is  to  be  found,  and  make  a  perfect  tran- 
ipt  of  that,  hoping  that  the  difficulties  would  be  removed  by  re- 
urse  to  the  original  manuscripts.  But,  alas!  they  finally  had  to 
me  to  the  saddening  conviction  that,  side  by  side  with  the  most 
Mime  precepts,  were  to  be  found  passages  which  gave  rein  to  the 
ossest  sui>erstition.  What  was  to  be  done?  Despite  the  protests 
d  threats  of  fathers,  the  tears  of  mothers,  and  the  imprecations  of 
iests,  that  band  of  heroic  reformers  courageously  threw  the  theory 
the  Veda's  inspiration  overboard,  and  now  a  great  gulf  was  fixed 
tween  the  Bramo  Somaj  and  Hinduism. 

Their  new  organization  was  founded  upon  the  unity  and  per- 
nality  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.    Up  to  this  time 


164  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

caste  distinctions  had  always  been  observed  in  their  religious  meet- 
ings. Having  taken  one  step,  they  took  a  second  bolder  than  the 
last,  and  the  institution  of  caste  also  was  relegated  to  the  sepulchre  of 
discarded  faith.  How  much  this  meant  to  these  Hindus  we  can 
hardly  imagine,  but  we  have  a  faint  conception  of  the  sacrifice  made 
for  conviction  by  Nath  Tagore,  when,  in  1861,  he  allowed  the  mar- 
riage of  his  daughter  to  be  celebrated  without  the  idolatrous  rites 
prescribed  by  Hinduism.  Indian  law  recognized  only  native  mar- 
riages; and  how  few  men  and  women  there  are  even  in  free  America 
who  would  place  themselves  in  such  a  compromising  position  for 
the  sake  of  principle ! 

The  result  of  such  earnestness  of  conviction  was  soon  manifest 
Educated  Hindus  began  to  gather  round  them  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  About  this  time  Keshub  Chunder  Sen  threw  in  his  lot 
with  the  Bramoists,  and,  going  farther  than  the  simple  rejection  of 
caste,  he  actually  sat  at  meat  with  those  of  inferior  caste,  an  action 
which  made  him  an  alien  in  his  own  family,  deprived  him  of  all  legal 
rights,  and  consigned  him  to  the  degraded  herd  of  outcasts,  the 
lowest  stratum  of  Indian  society. 

But  the  sympathy  which  was  shown  for  him  in  his  so-called  dis- 
grace brought  into  prominence  the  facts,  that  Buddha  and  his  dis- 
ciples had  not  lived  in  vain,  that  contact  with  European  civilization 
was  not  without  its  effect,  that  in  the  great  Chinese  wall  that  had 
been  built  up  around  Indian  society  a  breach  had  been  made,  and 
that  the  hordes  who  are  still  pouring  through  threaten  to  overwhelm 
the  relip^ion  which  has  stood  invulnerable  against  the  shock  of  fire 
and  sword  as  long  as  history  has  been  known.  These  great  scandals 
culminated  when  Sen  officiated  at  the  marriage  of  a  young  widow 
to  a  man  of  a  different  caste,  "  and  introduced  the  unheard-of  in- 
novation that  the  consent  of  the  woman  had  been  freely  given  before 
God  the  all-powerful,"  and  the  whole  party,  without  respect  to  caste, 
sat  down  to  the  same  meal. 

The  Society  took  advantage  of  the  excitement  caused  by  this 
incident  to  approach  the  British  government,  and  after  several  at- 
tempts succeeded  in  legalizing  native  marriages  which  were  not 
accompanied  with  the  Hindu  ceremonies.    No  sooner  was  that  ac- 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN   CONTEMPORARY  INDIA.  165 

complished  than  with  heart  and  soul  they  threw  themselves  into  the 
struggle  against  premature  marriages,  that  is,  marriages  of  children 
of  from  five  to  fifteen  years  of  age.  To  do  this  more  aggressively 
the  Somaj  founded  the  Indian  Reform  Society,  open  to  all  natives 
without  distinction  of  race  or  creed. 

The  Bramoists  early  recognized  that  the  true  ideal  of  religion 
was  to  be  attained  by  practical  brother-helping  as  well  as  by  preach- 
ing and' praying.  The  results  achieved  by  the  reform  organization 
are  too  varied  and  too  numerous  to  be  detailed  here.  They  were  in 
the  front  of  all  reform ;  built  several  colleges— more  especially  are 
their  women's  colleges  a  praiseworthy  enterprise;  they  flooded  India 
with  literature;  and  many  converts — considering  the  circumstances 
and  sacrifices  of  conversion — flocked  to  their  societv.     Their  Sun- 

m 

day  services  were  conducted  in  a  simple,  sincere  manner.  Selections 
were  read  from  the  Bible,  from  the  Veda,  or  from  the  Koran,  accord- 
ing to  taste.    Says  Sen  of  their  meeting-place : 

No  man  or  inferior  being  shall  be  worshipped  as  identical  with  God,  and  no 
hymn  or  prayer  shall  be  chanted  unto  or  in  the  name  of  any  except  God.  No 
carved  or  painted  image,  no  external  symbol  which  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be 
'Wed  by  any  sect  for  the  purpose  of  worship,  or  the  remembrance  of  a  particular 
^cnt,  shall  be  preserved. here.  No  creature  shall  be  sacrificed  here.  No  created 
being  or  object  that  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  worshipped  by  any  sect  shall 
he  ridiculed  or  condemned  in  the  course  of  divine  service  conducted  here.  No 
hook  shall  be  acknowledged  or  reverenced  as  the  infallible  word  of  God,  yet  no 
hook  believed  to  be  infallible  by  any  sect  shall  be  ridiculed  or  condemned.  No 
s«ct  shall  be  vilified,  ridiculed,  or  hated.     Divine  service  shall  be  conducted  here 

• 

*n  such  a  spirit  and  manner  as  may  enable  all  men  and  women,  irrespective  of 
^distinctions  of  caste,  color,  and  condition,  to  unite  in  one  family,  eschew  all  mzn- 
^tt  of  error  and  sin,  and  advance  in  wisdom,  faith,  and  righteousness. 

Several  times  there  has  been  a  marked  tendency  to  fall  back 
into  Hindu  mysticism,  but  this  has  been  partially  or  completely 
Overcome,  and  the  Bramo  Somaj  of  to-day  represents  that  there  are 
two  genuine  scriptures  given  by  God : 

The  wisdom,  the  power,  the  goodness  of  God  are  written  in  letters  of  gold 
upon  the  face  of  the  universe;  we  know  God  by  the  study  of  his  works.  In  the 
second  place,  all  fundamental  truths  are  met  with  in  the  spiritual  constitution  of 
man,  as  self-evident  convictions. 

The  God  of  Brahmoism  is  the  ultimate  being  who  is  both  just 
and  merciful,  and  who  never  makes  himself  man  by  assuming  the 


166  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

human  form,  though  his  divinity  dwells  in  all  men.  Thus  Jesus, 
Buddha,  Mohammed,  and  all  great  religious  reformers  have  ren- 
dered eminent  service  to  their  fellows,  and  possess  a  claim  upon 
the  love  and  gratitude  of  all.  They  were  neither  absolutely  holy 
nor  infallible,  they  were  gifted,  good  men. 

Brahmoism  recognizes  four  kinds  of  duty: 

(i)  Duty  toward  God — faith,  love,  worship,  the  practice  of 
virtue,  etc. 

(2)  Duty  of  love  and  benevolence  to  our  fellow-men. 

(3)  Duty  to  ourselves  to  preserve  health  and  pursue  knowledge, 
holiness,  etc. 

(4)  Duty  of  humane  and  kind  treatment  of  the  inferior  animals. 
Brahmoism  took  from  Hinduism  its  tolerance,  from  Buddhism 

its  gentleness  and  love  of  humanity,  from  Christianity  the  father- 
hood of  God,  and  built  up  a  new  edifice  unique  in  the  history  o( 
India. 

Nor  is  Brahmoism  the  only  liberal  church  of  India.  "For," 
writes  Sir  Richard  Temple,  "  ramifications  of  this  sect  and  kindred 
sects  moving  in  a  parallel  direction  have  spread  through  the  three 
presidencies  of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay." 

Buddhism  grappled  with  Hinduism  and  was  vanquished;  Mo- 
hammedanism entered  the  lists  and  retired  unsuccessful;  Christianity 
and  Brahmoism  have  now  challenged  the  old  faith  to  a  new  combat, 
and  what  will  be  the  result?  For  Christianity  the  outlook  has  long 
been  anything  but  encouraging.  Missionaries  have  even  returned 
home  declaring  that  they  had  "  carried  coals  to  Newcastle."  When 
the  missionaries  talked  of  the  incarnation  of  God  in  Christ,  of  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity,  of  the  inspiration  and  infallibility  of  the  Bible, 
the  orthodox  Hindus  were  scarcely  willing  to  exchange  their  own 
beliefs  for  unfamiliar  and  analogous  ones;  while  those  Hindus  who 
had  broken  away  from  the  traditions  of  their  religion,  who  had  re- 
jected a  plurality  of  Gods,  and  who  disbelieved  the  infallibility  of 
the  Veda  were  hardly  to  be  expected  to  embrace  a  system  which 
meant,  from  their  point  of  view,  a  return  to  superstition  and  crcdulit}- 

The  only  part  of  Christianity  which  has  made  the  faintest  im- 
pression on  Hinduism  is  its  moral  and  humanitarian  aspects.    These 


RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  IN   CONTEMPORARY  INDIA.         167 

•e  only  represented  by  the  liberal  church — ^by  Brahmoism  with  a 
•cal  name. 

**  We  have  not  now  a  doubt,"  says  Mozoomdar,  "  in  our  minds  that  the  re- 
pon  of  the  Bramo  Somaj  will  be  the  religion  of  India,  yea,  of  the  whole  world, 
d  that  those  who  really  care  for  God,  for  piety,  for  purity,  for  human  brother- 
kkI.  for  salvation  and  for  eternal  life,  will  have  in  one  way  or  another,  under 
le  oame  or  another,  to  accept  the  faith  and  the  spirit  that  a  merciful  God  is 
»iiring  into  the  constitution  of  our  church." 

From  the  English  Baptist  Observer  I  quote  the  following :  **  One 
.stinguishing  feature  between  Christianity  and  all  other  religions 
that  it  tends  to  elevate  woman,  while  the  other  religions,  which 
'€  from  Satan,  tend  to  degrade  her/' 

Is  such  Christianity  superior  to  the  Bramo  Somaj  ? 

The  morning  has  dawned  when  the  study  of  comparative  theology 

showing  how  all  men  have  trod  the  path  of  gradual  revelation, 
nd  students  are  constantly  asking,  "  How  should  men,  they  who 
ve  in  different  parts,  in  differing  ages,  and  unskilled  in  arts  write 
uch  agreeing  truths?  "  The  veil  has  been  slowly  lifted  from  the 
•ast,  and  the  sources  of  all  religions  and  mythologies  have  been  re- 
ealed  in  one  common  centre.  Comparative  theology  has  opened 
ip  a  great  sepulchre  into  which  the  world  is  ruthlessly  pouring  her 
>ld  sectarian  conceits  and  provincial  prejudices.  One  solitary  God- 
nspired  religion,  one  final  revelation,  one  only  little  ark  of  safety 
n  which  God's  goodness  and  truth  could  be  found !  Strange  in- 
atuations  ! — they  are  all  being  wrapped  in  the  charitable  obscurity 
>f  the  tomb;  and  the  Christian,  along  with  his  so-called  heathen 
brothers,  after  eighteen  centuries  of  time,  begins  to  discover  what 
ht  seer  of  Galilee  meant  when  he  declared :  "  They  shall  all  come 
^om  the  East  and  from  the  West  and  from  the  North  and  from  the 
^uth,  and  shall  sit  down  together  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

For  a  long  time  the  reformers  have  been  breaking  with  ruthless 
energy  the  idols  of  humanity;  sentiment  and  imagination  have  wept 
bitter  tears  at  the  open  graves  of  their  cherished  ideals.  From  their 
exalted  pinnacles  many  notions  wrapped  around  by  the  heartstrings 
^f  devotees  have  been  necessarily  wrenched  down.  And  now  the 
^el  work  is  almost  complete,  the  demolishing  process  is  almost 


168  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

over,  and  once  more  the  sweet  twin  sisters  of  Sentiment  and  Adora- 
tion have  driven  the  tears  from  their  eyes,  and  hand-in-hand  have 
set  about  the  peopling  of  the  new  heaven  with  brighter  creatures 
and  more  worshipful  ideals,  clothed  in  more  brilliant  garments  of 
glory  than  the  most  imaginative  have  ever  dreamed  of,  which  yet 
have  passed  through  the  gates  of  reason  in  their  ascent  to  the  pinnacle 
of  adoration;  and  the  prophets  at  the  new  shrine,  whose  elements 
are  yet  as  old  as  humanity,  though  separated  by  oceans,  join  their 
hearts  in  reverent  adoration  before  "  Our  Father,"  and  join  their 
hands  and  all  their  energies. 


« 


To  hunt  the  tiger  of  oppression  out 
From  office,  and  to  spread  the  divine  faith 
Like  calming  oil  on  all  the  troubled  creeds, 
And  fill  out  the  hollows  between  wave  and  wave; 
To  nurse  my  children  on  the  milk  of  truth, 
And  alchemize  old  hates  into  the  gold  of  love." 

Rev.  Andrew  W.  Cross. 


Imperfection  and  evil  are  unavoidable  in  all  derived  existence.  Yet 
they  are  full  of  utility.  They  certainly  enable  us  to  obtain  the  necessary 
experience  and  discipline  for  becoming  more  worthy.  In  this  way  they 
are  beneficial  and  a  part  of  the  Divine  purpose.  The  child  that  never 
stumbled  never  learned  to  walk.  The  errors  of  the  man  of  business  are 
his  monitors  to  direct  him  in  the  way  of  prosperity.  Our  own  sins  awl 
misdoing  are  essential  in  an  analogous  way  to  our  correction  and  future 
good  conduct.  The  individual,  however,  who  chooses  to  continue  in 
these  faults  and  evil  conditions,  thereby  thwarts  their  beneficial  objects. 
His  shortcomings  become  turpitude.  All  such,  turning  their  back  to 
the  Right,  will  be  certain  to  "  eat  the  fruit  of  their  own  way  and  be  f&^ 
with  their  own  devices." — Alexander  Wilder,  M.D. 

Things  temporal  are  sweeter  in  the  expectation;  things  eternal  arc 
sweeter  in  the  fruition.  The  first  shows  thy  hope;  the  other  crowns rt. 
It  IS  a  vain  journey  whose  end  shows  less  pleasure  than  the  way. — Quarks. 

If  a  man  wishes  to  put  himself  down  effectually  and  thoroughly  for 
this  world  and  the  next,  let  him  persist  in  the  endeavor  to  put  down  soIn^ 
body  else.    The  experiment  has  never  failed,  and  never  wilL — New  Ladf^ 


I 

J 


.^3 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION. 

(II.) 

If  there  are  no  reincarnations,  if  our  actual  existence  is,  as  mod- 
ern philosophy  and  the  ordinary  creeds  maintain  it  to  be,  a  solitary 
act  not  to  be  repeated,  it  follows  that  the  soul  must  be  formed  at  the 
ame  time  as  the  body,  and  that  at  each  birth  of  a  human  being,  a 
lew  soul  must  be  created  to  animate  the  body.  We  would  ask,  then, 
/by  are  not  these  souls  of  the  same  type?  Why,  when  all  human 
odies  are  alike,  is  there  so  great  a  diversity  in  souls,  that  is  to  say, 
1  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  which  constitute  them?  We 
rould  ask  why  natural  tendencies  are  so  diverse  and  so  strongly 
narked,  that  they  frequently  resist  all  the  efforts  of  education  to  re- 
orm,  or  repress  them,  or  to  direct  them  into  any  other  line?  Whence 
ome  those  instincts  of  vice  and  virtue  which  are  to  be  observed  in 
children,  those  instincts  of  pride  or  baseness,  which  are  often  seen 
n  such  striking  contrast  with  the  social  position  of  their  families? 
^Vhy  do  some  children  delight  in  the  contemplation  of  pain,  and 
take  pleasure  in  tormenting  animals,  while  others  are  vehemently 
nioved,  turn  pale,  and  tremble  at  the  sight  or  even  the  thought  of  a 
living  creature's  pain?  Why,  if  the  soul  in  all  men  be  cast  in  the 
same  mould,  does  not  education  produce  an  identical  effect  upon 
young  people?  Two  brothers  follow  the  same  classes  at  the  same 
school,  they  have  the  same  master,  and  the  same  examples  are  be- 
fore their  eyes.  Nevertheless,  the  one  profits  to  the  utmost  by  the 
lessons  which  he  receives,  and  in  manners,  education,  and  conduct, 
he  is  irreproachable.  His  brother,  on  the  contrary,  remains  ignorant 
and  uncouth.  If  the  same  seed  sown  in  these  two  souls  has  produced 
such  different  fruit,  must  it  not  be  that  the  soil  which  has  received 
the  seed,  i.e.,  the  soul,  is  different  in  the  case  of  each? 

"  Natural  dispositions,  vocations,  manifest  themselves  from  the 
earliest  period  of  life.  This  extreme  diversity  in  natural  aptitudes 
^'ould  not  exist  if  souls  were  all  created  of  the  same  type.  The  bodies 
of  animals,  the  human  body,  the  leaves  of  trees,  are  fabricated  after 
the  same  type,  because  we  can  observe  but  few  and  slight  differences 

169 


170  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

among  them.  The  skeleton  of  one  man  is  always  like  the  skeleton 
of  another  man ;  the  heart,  the  stomach,  the  ribs,  the  intestines  are 
formed  alike  in  every  man.  It  is  otherwise  with  souls;  they  differ 
considerably  in  individuals.  We  hear  it  said  every  day  that  such  a 
child  has  a  taste  for  arithmetic,  a  second  for  music,  a  third  for  draw- 
ing. In  the  cases  of  others,  evil,  violent,  even  criminal  instincts  are 
remarked,  and  these  dispositions  break  out  in  the  earliest  years 
of  life. 

**  That  these  natural  aptitudes  are  carried  to  a  very  high  degree 
and  unusual  extent,  we  have  celebrated  examples  recorded  in  his- 
tory, and  frequently  cited.  We  have  Pascal,  at  twelve  years  old,  dis- 
covering the  greater  portion  of  plane  geometry;  and  without  having 
been  taught  anything  whatever  of  arithmetic,  drawing  all  the  figures 
of  the  first  book  of  Euclid's  geometry  on  the  floor  of  his  room,  ex- 
actly estimating  the  mathematical  relations  of  all  these  figures  to  one 
another;  that  is  to  say,  constructing  descriptive  geometry  for  him- 
self. We  have  the  shepherd,  Mangiamelo,  calculating  as  an  arith- 
metical machine  at  five  years  old.  We  have  Mozart  executing  a 
sonata  with  his  four-years-old  fingers  and  composing  an  opera  at 
eight.  We  have  Theresa  Milanello  playing  the  violin  with  such  art 
and  skill,  at  four  years  old,  that  Baillot  said  that  she  must  have  played 
the  violin  before  she  was  born.  We  have  Rembrandt  drawing  like 
a  master  of  the  art,  before  he  could  read,  etc.,  etc. 

*'  Everyone  remembers  these  examples,  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  they  do  not  constitute  exceptions.  They  only  represent 
a  general  fact,  which  in  these  particular  cases  was  so  prominent  as  to 
attract  public  attention.     .     .     . 

"  The  predominance  of  particular  faculties  in  certain  children  is 
not  to  be  explained  according  to  the  common  philosophy  which  di^ 
cerns  the  creation  of  a  new  soul  in  the  birth  of  every  infant.  They 
are,  on  the  contrary,  easily  explicable  according  to  the  doctrine  of 
reincarnations,  indeed  they  are  no  more  than  a  corollar}'  of  that  doc- 
trine. Everything  is  comprehensible  if  a  life,  anterior  to  the  present, 
be  admitted.  The  individual  brings  to  his  life  here  the  intuition 
which  is  the  result  of  the  knowledge  he  has  acquired  during  his  first 
existence.     ... 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION.  171 

"  It  will  be  objected  to  this,  that  it  is  strange  that  aptitude  and 
ulties  should  be  the  resultant  of  a  prior  existence,  of  which  we 
/e,  nevertheless,  no  recollection.  We  reply  to  this  objection  that 
s  quite  possible  to  lose  all  remembrance  of  events  which  have  hap- 
led,  and  yet  to  preserve  certain  faculties  of  the  soul  which  are 
lependent  of  particular  and  concrete  facts,  especially  when  these 
ulties  are  powerful.  We  constantly  see  old  men  who  have  lost 
recollection  of  the  events  of  their  life,  who  no  longer  know  any- 
ng  of  the  history  of  their  time,  nor,  indeed,  of  their  own  history, 
t  who,  nevertheless,  have  not  lost  their  faculties  or  aptitudes.  Lin- 
us, in  his  old  age,  took  pleasure  in  reading  his  own  works,  but 
got  that  he  was  their  author,  and  frequently  exclaimed,  *  How 
cresting !    How  beautiful !    I  wish  I  had  written  that ! '     .     .     . 

"  In  short,  the  various  aptitudes,  the  natural  faculties,  the  voca- 
ns  of  human  beings,  are  easily  explained  by  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
fration  of  souls.  If  we  reject  this  system,  we  must  charge  God 
h  injustice,  because  we  must  believe  that  He  has  granted  to  cer- 
n  men  useful  faculties  which  He  has  refused  to  others,  and  made 

unequal  distribution  of  intelligence  and  morality,  these  founda- 
ns  of  the  conduct  and  direction  of  life. 

"  This  reasoning  appears  to  us  to  be  beyond  attack,  for  it  does  not 
it  upon  an  hypothesis,  but  upon  a  fact ;  namely,  the  inequality  of 
J  faculties  among  men,  and  of  their  intelligence  and  morality.  This 
:t.  inexplicable  by  any  theory  of  any  received  philosophy,  is  only 

be  explained  by  the  doctrine  of  reincarnations,  and  forms  the 
sis  of  our  reasoning."  (Dr.  L.  Figuier's  "  Day  After  Death," 
ges  212-218.) 

Dr.  Louis  Figuier  further  says  that  "  it  will  be  objected  to  our 
ctrine  that  the  reincarnation  of  souls  is  not  a  new  idea;  it  is,  on 
;  contrary,  an  idea  as  old  as  humanity  itself.  It  is  the  metempsy- 
Dsis  which  from  the  Indians  passed  to  the  Egyptians,  from  the 
yptians  to  the  Greeks,  and  which  was  afterwards  professed  by 
!  Druids. 

"  The  metempsychosis  is,  in  fact,  the  most  ancient  of  philosophical 
iccptions;  it  is  the  first  theory  imagined  by  men,  in  order  to  ex- 
in  the  origin  and  the  destiny  of  our  race.     .     .     .     An  idea  does 


172  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

not  pass  down  from  age  to  age,  and  find  acceptance  during  five  or 
six  centuries,  by  the  picked  men  of  successive  generations,  unless  it 
rests  upon  some  serious  foundation.  .  .  .  The  first  obsen^ers,' 
and  the  Oriental  philosophers  in  particular,  who  are  the  most  ancient 
thinkers  of  all  whose  writings  we  possess,  had  not,  like  us,  their 
minds  warped,  prejudiced,  turned  aside  by  routine,  or  trammelled  by 
the  words  of  teachers.  They  were  placed  very  close  to  nature,  and 
they  beheld  its  realities,  without  any  preconceived  ideas,  derived  from 
education  in  particular  schools.  We  cannot,  therefore,  but  applaud 
ourselves  when  we  find  that  the  logical  deduction  of  our  ideas  has 
led  us  back  to  the  antique  conception  of  Indian  wisdom.     .     .    . 

"  The  Indian  philosophers,  the  Egyptians,  and  the  Greeks,  who 
inherited  the  maxims  of  Pythagoras,  admitted  that  the  soul,  on 
leaving  a  human  body,  enters  into  that  of  an  animal  to  undergo 
punishment. 

"  We  shall  .  .  .  show  .  .  .  how  popular  the  metemp- 
sychosis was  among  the  peoples  of  antiquity,  in  Europe  as  well  as 
in  Asia. 

"  The  most  ancient  known  book  is  that  of  the  Vedas,  which  con- 
tains the  religious  principles  of  the  Indians  or  Hindus.  In  this  code 
of  the  primary  religions  of  Asia,  .  .  .  the  soul  .  .  .  per- 
formed a  series  of  transmigrations  and  journeys,  in  various  places, 
in  different  worlds,  and  passed  through  the  bodies  of  several  different 
animals.  .  .  .  The  book  of  the  Vedas  says,  very  distinctly,  that 
the  animal,  as  well  as  the  man,  has  the  right  of  passing  to  other  worlds 
as  a  recompense  for  his  good  work.  The  Oriental  wisdom  felt  none 
of  that  uncalled-for  contempt  for  animals  which  is  characteristic  of 
modern  philosophy  and  religion. 

"  The  Egyptians  having  borrowed  this  doctrine  from  the  Hindus, 
made  it  the  basis  of  their  religious  worship.  Herodotus  informs  us 
that,  according  to  the  Egyptians,  the  human  soul,  on  issuing  from 
a  completely  decomposed  body,  enters  into  that  of  some  animal." 

The  Romans  burned  corpses,  so  that  the  soul,  resuming  its  liberty, 
might  immediately  re-enter  nature. 

The  most  ancient  and  remarkable  of  the  Greek  philosophers, 
Pythagoras,  found  out  the  doctrine  of  the  metempsychosis  in  his 


\ 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION.  173 

travels  in  Egypt.  He  adopted  it  in  his  school,  and  the  whole  of  the 
Greek  philosophy  held,  with  Pythagoras,  that  the  souls  of  the  wicked 
pass  into  the  bodies  of  animals.  Hence  the  abstinence  from  flesh 
meat  prescribed  by  Pythagoras  to  his  disciples,  a  precept  which  he 
also  derived  from  Egypt,  where  respect  for  animals  was  due  to  the 
general  persuasion  that  the  bodies  of  beasts  were  tenanted  by  human 
souls,  and  that  consequently  by  ill-treating  animals  one  ran  the  risk 
of  injuring  one's  own  ancestors.  Empedocles,  the  philosopher, 
adopted  the  Pythagorean  system.  He  says,  in  lines  quoted  by  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria : 

"I,  too,  have  been  a  young  maiden, 
A  tree,  a  bird,  a  mute  fish  in  the  seas." 

Plato,  the  most  illustrious  of  the  philosophers  of  Greece,  accords 
a  large  place  to  the  views  of  Pythagoras,  even  amid  his  most  sublime 
conceptions  of  the  soul,  and  of  immortality.  He  held  that  the  human 
soul  passes  into  the  body  of  animals  in  expiation  of  its  crimes.  Plato 
said  that  on  earth  we  remember  what  we  have  done  during  our  pre- 
vious existences,  and  that  to  learn  is  to  remember  one's  self. 

Plotinus,  the  commentator  of  Plato,  says,  concerning  the  doctrine 
of  the  transmigration  of  souls, — 

"  It  is  a  dogma  recognized  from  the  utmost  antiquity,  that  if  the 
soul  commits  errors  it  is  condemned  to  expiate  them  by  undergoing 
punishment  in  the  shades,  and  then  it  passes  into  new  bodies  to  begin 
its  trials  over  again."  * 

Every  one  knows  that  among  our  own  ancestors,  and  the  Druids 
Or  high  priests  of  the  Gauls,  the  metempsychosis  was  held  almost  in 
the  same  sense  as  among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Greeks.  It  is,  so  to 
Speak,  a  national  faith  to  us,  for  it  has  been  held  in  honor,  its  dogmas 
have  flourished,  in  the  same  countries  in  which  we  now  dwell.  (Dr. 
L.  Figuier's  "  Day  After  Death,"  pages  245-252.) 

In  the  world  vice  often  tramples  upon  virtue.  Turn  to  history 
^nd  you  will  find  the  hordes  of  barbarians  or  religionists  hacking  and 
hewing  the  weak  inhabitants  of  rich  countries.  The  reader  of  the 
I^oman  history  is  aware  of  the  dreadful  devastations  committed  by 

*  This  passage  proves  that  the  ancients  held  sojourn  of  the  soul  in  hell  to  be 
temporary  only. 


174  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Attila,  the  King  of  the  Huns.  "  It  is  a  saying  worthy  of  the  ferocious 
pride  of  Attila,  that  the  grass  never  grew  on  the  spot  where  his  horse 
had  trod."  Mahomet  II.  enslaved  and  put  to  death  thousands  of  in- 
habitants of  Constantinople  on  its  capture;  60,000  people  were  taken 
captive  from  St.  Sophia  alone.  There  are  no  words  to  express  the 
infamy  and  horror  these  barbarians  then  committed  in  the  name  of 
religion.  When  the  Christian  Spaniards  conquered  Peru  **  the  lands, 
the  persons  of  the  conquered  races  were  parcelled  out  and  appro- 
priated by  the  victors  as  the  legitimate  spoils  of  victory;  and  out- 
rages were  perpetrated  every  day,  at  the  contemplation  of  which 
humanity  shudders.  .  .  .  Not  unfrequently,  says  an  unsuspicious 
witness,  I  have  seen  the  Spaniards,  long  after  the  conquest,  amuse 
themselves  by  hunting  down  the  natives  with  bloodhounds  for  mere 
sport,  or  in  order  to  train  their  dogs  to  the  game !  The  most  un- 
bounded scope  was  given  to  licentiousness."  (Prescott's  "  Conquest 
of  Peru,''  pages  224-225.)  The  Indian  history  repeats  the  same  black 
tale.  On  Nadir's  capture  of  Delhi,  **  the  slaughter  raged  from  sun- 
rise till  the  day  .was  far  advanced,  and  was  attended  with  all  the  hor- 
ror that  could  be .  inspired  by  rapine,  lust,  and  thirst  for  vengeance. 
The  city  was  set  on  fire  in  several  places,  and  was  soon  involved  in 
one  scene  of  destruction,  blood,  and  terror."    (Elphinstone.) 

Reader,  do  not  think  that  vice  has  stopped  short  here.  It.  is 
only  a  small  drop  from  the  immense  ocean  of  slaughter  committed 
by  conquest.  Besides,  there,  are  murders  of  untold  vice,  too  numcf- 
ous  to  mention  here.  Custom  burnt  thousands  of  Indian  women  on 
the  pyre  of  their  deceased  consorts  and  killed  innumerable  girls  at 
their  very  birth.  The  altar  of  religion  is  ever  reeking  with  innocent 
blood.  The  tyrant  imagination  preys  upon  the  souls  of  many  a  weak 
mind.  Avarice,  revenge,  passion,  jealousy,  ambition,  and  wanton- 
ness daily  slaughter  the  innocent,  whose  still  voice  is  heard  bf 
God  only. 

Thus  we  see  that  virtue  and  innocence  arc  always  put  down  by 
vice  and  wickedness.  This  state  of  things  is  inconi{>atible  with  ^ 
equitable  laws  of  the  benign  and  most  holy  Infinite  Wisdom.  Wc 
see  around  us  that  whenever  an  anomaly  occurs  in  the  regulation  oi 
Nature,  it  is  soon  checked  from  further  propagation,  and  thus  ordtft 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION.  175 

irinony,  purity,  and  beauty  are  always  maintained  in  the  most  agree- 
>le  perfection.  Things  disappear  when  they  fall  into  disorder,  which 
unnatural.  Animals  cease  to  exist  when  they  are  overcome  by  dis- 
ise,  which  is  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.  It  is  right,  too;^ 
>r,  if  these  things  be  allowed  to  continue,  the  heavenly  empire  of 
ature  will  be  an  abominable  abode  of  suffering  and  sorrow.  But 
lis  is  opposed  to  the  object  of  creation,  which  is  the  happiness  of 
11  individual  creatures.  Now,  it  is  quite  plain  that  no  deformity  is 
greater  than  vice.  Look  at  the  appearance  of  vicious  persons.  How 
laggard,  grim,  unsightly,  disgusting,  and  saddening  it  is!  Who 
vould  like  to  stay  with  a  person  drunk  and  raving?  But  who  will 
not  like  to  talk  with  a  healthy  and  amiable  person,  whose  face  is 
sparkling  with  the  bloom  of  youth?  Physical  and  moral  health, 
strength,  and  beauty  constitute  virtue,  and  their  absence  and  short- 
coming vice.  As  God's  commandments  or  laws  of  nature  are  con- 
stantly restoring  order  and  removing  anomalies  in  the  heaven  of  His 
kingdom,  and  as  the  uniformity  and  continuity  of  the  laws  of  nature 
are  proved  beyond  doubt  by  science  and  philosophy,  it  is  certain 
that  the  apparent  ascendancy  of  vice  will  be  put  down  in  the  long 
run,  and  virtue  will  shine  forth  in  all  its  glory. 

But  if  there  be  no  reincarnation  which  bestows  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments on  the  works  of  persons,  the  wicked  are  certainly  in  advan- 
tage. The  eternal  hell  and  heaven  of  the  Christians  and  Moslems  are 
proved  to  be  mere  conjectures,  which,  when  reasoned  out  to  their 
legitimate  conclusions,  attribute  injustice,  cruelty,  and  ignorance  to 
the  all-just,  all-merciful,  all-wise  God,  which  is  absurd.  Hence,  re- 
birth alone  establishes  the  triumph  of  virtue  over  vice,  and  enables 
"lan  to  shake  off  the  vices  and  defects  which  he  contracts  in  his  ig- 
norance, and  lands  him  on  the  shore  of  progress  and  perfection.    This 

• 

>s corroborated  in  the  plainest  words  by  M.  Andre  Pezzani,  who  says: 
Previously  gained  experience,  the  energies  which  he  has  acquired, 
''^'p  him  in  the  new  strife,  but  in  a  latent  way  of  which  he  is  uncon- 
^*ous,  for  the  imperfect  soul  undergoes  these  reincarnations  in  order 
to  develop  its  previously  manifested  qualities,  and  to  strip  itself  of 
those  vices  and  defects  which  oppose  themselves  to  the  law  of  its 
tension."    ("  Pluralites  des  Existences  de  TAme,"  page  405.) 


176  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

The  physical  conditions  of  terrestrial  life  are  detestable.  Man  is 
a  martyr,  exposed  to  every  sort  of  suffering,  owing  partly  to  the  de- 
fective organization  of  his  body,  incessantly  menaced  with  danger 
^  from  external  causes,  dreading  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold;  weak 
and  ailing,  coming  into  the  world  naked  and  without  any  natural 
defence  against  the  influence  of  climate.  If,  in  one  portion  of  Eu- 
rope and  in  America,  the  progress  of  civilization  has  secured  com- 
fort for  the  rich,  what  are  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  in  those  very 
same  countries  !  Life  is  perpetual  suffering  to  the  greater  number 
of  the  men  who  inhabit  the  insalubrious  regions  of  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Oceania.  .  .  .  The  conditions  of  human  existence  are  as  evil 
from  the  moral  as  from  the  physical  point  of  view.  It  is  granted 
that  here  below  happiness  is  impossible,  the  earth  is  a  valley  of  tears. 
Yes,  man  has  no  destiny  here  but  suffering.  He  suffers  in  his  affec- 
tions, and  in  his  unfulfilled  desires,  in  the  aspiration  and  impulses  of 
his  soul,  continually  thrust  back,  baffled,  beaten  down  by  insur- 
mountable obstacles  and  resistance.  Happiness  is  a  forbidden  con- 
dition. The  few  agreeable  sensations  which  we  experience,  now  and 
then,  are  expiated  by  the  bitterest  grief.  We  have  affections,  that  we 
may  lose  and  mourn  their  dearest  objects;  we  have  fathers,  mothers, 
children,  that  we  may  see  them  die. 

It  is  impossible  that  a  state  so  abnormal  can  be  a  definitive  con- 
dition. Order,  harmony,  equilibrium  reign  throughout  the  physical 
world,  and  it  must  be  that  the  same  are  to  be  found  again  in  the 
moral  world. 

Descartes  and  Leibnitz  have  demonstrated  that  the  human  un- 
derstanding possesses  ideas  called  innate,  that  is  to  say,  ideas  which 
we  bring  with  us  to  our  birth.  This  fact  is  certain.  In  our  time,  the 
Scotch  philosopher,  Dugald  Stewart  has  put  Descartes's  theor)'  into 
a  more  precise  form,  by  proving  that  the  only  real  innate  idea,  that 
which  has  universal  existence  in  the  human  mind  after  death,  is  the 
idea,  or  the  principle  of  causality — a  principle  which  makes  us  say 
and  think  that  there  is  no  effect  without  cause,  which  is  the  begin- 
ning of  reason. 

Innate  ideas  and  the  principle  of  causality  arc  explained  very  sim- 
ply by  the  doctrine  of  the  plurality  of  existences;  they  arc,  indeed, 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  REINCARNATION.  177 

ercly  deductions  from  that  doctrine.  A  man's  soul,  having  already 
listed,  either  in  the  body  of  an  animal  or  that  of  another  man,  has 
eserved  the  trace  of  the  impressions  received  during  that  existence, 
has  lost,  it  is  true,  the  recollection  of  actions  performed  during  its 
St  incarnation,  but  the  abstract  principle  of  causality,  being  inde- 
indent  of  the  particular  facts,  being  only  the  general  result  of  the 
•actice  of  life,  must  remain  in  the  soul  at  its  second  incarnation. 
>ee  Dr.  Louis  Figuier's  "  Day  After  Death,"  pages  221-222.) 

The  innate  ideas,  or  the  ideas  acquired  in  our  previous  existence, 
itisfactorily  explain  our  natural  delight  in  all  that  is  instinct  with 
le;  because  our  latent  impressions  of  former  associations  are  then 
.vakened  by  the  presence  of  animals  and  trees,  the  associates  of  our 
revious  existence,  in  explaining  which  the  received  dogma  of  single 
Fe  most  miserably  fails.  We  are  again  supported  here  by  Dr.  Louis 
iguier,  who  says,  "  We  have  a  sort  of  remembrance  in  our  seeing 
hidden  world  in  the  hours  of  solitary  contemplation;  and  in  our 
nconscious  love  of  the  vegetable  world,  our  original  country." 
'  Day  After  Death,"  page  223.) 

If  we  are  born  here  but  once,  if  our  association  with  the  body 
ccurs  but  once,  we  may  well  suppose  that  we  are  the  product  of 
lance,  and  not  of  design.  It  is  the  peculiarity  of  chance  that  it  does 
ot  repeat  its  work.  Two  trains  collide  but  once  by  chance;  but 
ley  often  and  often  cross  by  design.  In  like  manner,  our  appear- 
nee  but  once  is  as  well  the  occurrence  of  chance.  But,  in  the  repe- 
tion  of  facts,  the  keen  eye  of  philosophy  has  caught  the  glimpses  of 
esign  interwoven  in  the  texture  of  the  material  world.  Therefore 
ic  repetition  of  the  facts  of  our  life,  which  is  another  name  of  the 
henomena  of  rebirth,  establishes  the  operation  of  design  and  con- 
-quently  the  existence  of  God.  When  the  great  philosophers 
Jmly  contemplated  the  working  of  Nature,  they  came  across  the 
lurality  of  man's  existences,  as  is  amply  proved  from  the  long  quo- 
tions  given  above.    Let,  therefore,  prejudice  and  bigotry,  ingrained 

us  by  the  early  teachings  of  religious  sects,  depart  from  our 
inds  before  the  matured  meditations  of  cosmopolitan  philosophers. 

Mrs.  Charles  L.  Howard. 


THE  POWER  OF  BEAUTY. 

Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  our  age  than  the  emphasis  or 
importance  given  to  an  influence  which  is  the  most  fruitful  of  results 
— that  principle  known  as  Power, 

In  the  physical  world,  the  Creator  has  demonstrated  the  great 
law  of  interdependence.  Nothing  can  live  of  itself,  nothing  is  pur- 
poseless. Everything  has  its  mission,  and  a  failure  of  one  function 
means  decrease  of  activity  to  all  the  others. 

It  is  the  aim  of  inventors  to  exceed  the  product  of  the  latest  in- 
vention in  their  device,  and  their  success  depends  upon  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  endeavor.  Fame  is  yesterday's  estimate  of  the 
achievement  of  the  previous  day;  to-morrow  may  bring  forth  a 
greater. 

As  a  man  must  follow  the  course  of  the  sun  to  be  able  to  cast  a 
shadow,  so  the  worker  in  the  nineteenth  century  must  give  close 
regard  to  his  relations  with  the  highest  luminaries  of  intelligence,  if 
he  would  leave  the  impress  of  his  life  upon  the  records  of  time. 

"  Mankind,*'  says  Dr.  Kerner,  "  is  bound  up  in  an  eternal  con- 
nection with  nature." 

It  is  perhaps  the  most  universal  of  all  errors  to  imagine  that  we 
have  no  physical  kinship  with  purely  earthly  conditions;  that  those 
elements  out  of  which  we  were  made,  and  to  which  we  will  eventually 
return,  exercise  no  influence  upon  our  natures  during  our  sojouro 
in  this  sphere. 

If,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  the  divine  Sculptor  wrought  His  rossr 
terpiecc  out  of  the  same  elements  from  which  He  constructed  the 
earth  and  stamped  the  completed  work  with  His  image,  shall  we, 
who  have  been  thus  exalted,  fail  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  our 
mortal  and  immortal  natures  were  designed  to  co-operate  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  harmonious  or  ideal  being? 

If  we  regard  our  bodies  as  the  tenements  of  our  higher  natures, 
then  it  is  most  essential  that  we  give  due  thought  to  their  culture 
and  perfection;  that  we  may  attain  the  natural  flexibility  and  ex- 
pansiveness  which  are  needful  to  make  them  a  suitable  storehouse 

178 


THE  POWER  OF  BEAUTY.  179 

vigorous  mental  and  moral  gifts,  that  here  they  may  find  that 
lity  of  shelter  and  entertainment  which  are  necessary  to  their 
ect  development.  It  requires  strength  to  support  weight,  and 
rgy  is  a  pre-requisite  to  progress.  A  feeble  physical  structure 
not  long  endure  the  ceaseless  activity  of  an  alert  mind,  rebellious 
^'es  often  undermine  and  wreck  the  brilliant  intellect — the  brain 
omes  tenantless  and  the  world  has  lost  a  power. 
Shall  we  overlook  that  principle  of  architecture  which  claims 
th  of  base  to  be  the  prime  essential  to  height  in  a  column?  Shall 
neglect  the  foundation  of  the  structure  in  our  impatience  to  be 
)wn  of  men,  and  be  content  with  less  than  all  that  is  attainable,  in 
;orld  full  to  overflowing  with  materials  for  the  creation  of  the 
ly  beautiful,  and  the  directions  for  their  use?  Ah!  that  with  the 
tt  we  might  all  believe : 

"  New  endless  growth  surrounds  on  every  side, 
Such  as  we  deemed  not  earth  could  ever  bear. " 

The  value  of  power  comes  through  the  exercise  of  the  best  di- 
:ted  energy  in  the  interest  of  universal  good.  Explosives  are  not 
3re  disastrous  in  their  effects  than  the  misuse  of  authority  or  the 
iphasis  of  false  doctrines  by  those  who  are  able  to  control  and  in- 
lence  the  minds  of  others.  A  distorted  or  pessimistic  view  of  our 
istence  is  the  canker-worm  which  reduces  the  fragrance,  color,  and 
e  beauty  of  life  to  ashes !  On  the  other  hand,  belief  in  the  eventual 
alization  of  our  fondest  desires  will  stimulate  the  weakest  among 

to  a  degree  of  effort  which  will  assert  itself  despite  the  most  vio- 
it  opposition,  and  become  a  potent  factor  in  the  accomplishment 
the  hitherto  impossible. 

Beauty  is  the  standard  by  which  we  measure  man's  aesthetic  nat- 
e;  it  is  the  loftiest  and  supremest  expression  of  the  best  and  highest 
the  human. 

Like  truth,  it  is  an  ideal  with  a  living  support,  and,  treated  sepa- 
cly,  must  be  considered  under  the  head  of  Inductive  Science. 

Psychology  claims  that  it  is  closely  related  to  intellectuality,  as 
jre  is  a  wide  agreement  among  men  as  to  what  is  beautiful  and 
at  is  not;  further  asserting  that  among  aesthetic  effects  must  be 


180  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

reckoned  only  such  as  are  pleasing  in  themselves,  apart  from  all  recog- 
nition of  utility  of  possession  or  of  ulterior  gratification  of  any  kind 
whatever. 

The  degree  of  influence  exercised  by  this  Goddess  ranges  from 
the  most  meagre  form  of  admiration  to  that  boundlessness  of  rapture 
which  drugs  the  senses  into  oblivion  of  all  else;  and  it  is  not  too 
much  to  claim  that  the  ability  to  perceive  and  appreciate  the  beau- 
tiful may  be  considered  a  determinative  feature  of  one's  being;  an 
invariable  index  to  character. 

To  the  classifier  this  is  indeed  a  golden  era;  since,  no  sooner  is 
a  unique  thought  born  or  an  old  one  rehabilitated  than  a  new  science 
springs  up  ready  to  stand  for  its  expression.  And  "  he  is  a  wise  man 
in  his  generation  "  who  can  keep  pace  with  the  multitudinous  repre- 
sentatives of  the  endless  forms  of  mental  and  moral  activity  in  our 
day.  No  wonder  that  encyclopedias  have  to  be  renewed  oftener  than 
wall-paper ! 

As  a  whole,  the  allotment  of  distinct  domains  to  the  various 
phases  of  concept  and  precept  is  a  favorable  indication,  as  it  sug- 
gests a  general  interest  in  and  close  investigation  of  those  lines  of 
thought,  which  afford  in  return  the  richest  intellectual  nourish- 
ment. Only  universal  demand  begets  such  energetic  and  enthusiastic 
response. 

Again,  multiplex  individuality  seeks  expression  in  multiplexity 
of  theory,  and  fortunately  the  space  required  for  the  investigation 
and  demonstration  of  each  of  these  is  not  in  this  limited  planet,  but 
in  a  mental  realm  which  cannot  be  overcrowded;  where  there  is 
always  standing — and  for  that  matter,  comfortable  lounging — ^room 
for  the  latest  disciple  or  new-comer. 

It  is  this  very  hospitality  which  invites  the  curious,  and  natures 
which  are  abnormally  susceptible  to  the  newest  idea,  visit  in  turn 
each  shrine,  paying  temporary  tribute  to  the  ruler  therein,  proving 
that  there  are  fluctuating  standards  of  beauty.  How  clearly  this  is 
illustrated  in  the  matter  of  modes  or  so-called  styles  which  rule  auto- 
cratically for  a  season.  Unlike  many  other  things,  distance  fails  to 
lend  enchantment  here,  and  Dame  Fashion  to-day  points  with  the 
finger  of  scorn  and  ridicule  to  a  plate,  which,  in  its  time,  held  captive 


THE  POWER  OF  BEAUTY.  181 

both  the  common  sense  and  the  good  taste  of  its  devotees;  and  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  it  was  a  recognized  violation  of  every 
rule  of  symmetry  and  proportion,  the  world  adopted  it  and  called 
it  beautiful. 

We  have  said  that  beauty  was  listed  among  the  departments  of 
Inductive  Science.  The  law  governing  here  is  influence,  or  that 
which  is  the  result  of  condition,  environment,  or  affinity. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  attempt  an  analysis  of  men  or  attributes 
without  giving  due  consideration  to  surroundings,  or  those  modifiers 
of  nature  which  are  constantly  operating  upon  mind  and  matter. 
Occult  Science  revels  in  these  mines  of  speculation  or  conjecture, 
and  whenever  a  fragment  of  circumstantial  rock  reveals  a  minute 
particle  of  the  precious  ore  of  Truth,  the  miner  is  amply  repaid  for 
his  laborious  struggle  in  search  of  it. 

The  power  of  beauty  is  coequal  with  the  power  of  Truth,  and 
nothing  which  lacks  this  essential  principle  of  perpetuity  can  endure. 
To  lay  hold  upon  it  requires  "  a  mind  nimble  and  versatile  enough 
to  discern  resemblances  in  things,  and  yet  steady  enough  to  distin- 
guish the  subtle  differences  in  them :  endowed  with  the  zeal  to  seek, 
patience  to  doubt,  love  of  meditation,  slowness  of  assertion,  and  readi- 
ness to  reconsider."  "  It  is  the  unseen  and  spiritual  in  us  which  de- 
termines the  outward  and  actual." 

It  is  the  mission  of  Art  to  represent  beauty  under  the  restraint 
of  form;  the  mission  of  music  to  voice  the  soul's  aspiration  in  raptur- 
ous melody,  and  the  mission  of  literature  to  give  utterance  to  those 
higher  or  basic  truths  which  are  the  direct  inspiration  of  the  artist 
and  musician.  They  are  the  authorized  agents  of  ideal  beauty,  and 
united  they  form  a  glorious  trinity  of  influences  which  govern  and 
develop  the  best  in  man. 

Appreciation  in  art  is  the  recognition,  not  only  of  the  work  of 
^  artist,  but  also  of  the  aim  and  aspiration  which  prompted  it. 
Since  any  worthy  accomplishment  is  the  result  of  conscientious  labor, 
the  fruitage  of  much  sowing,  a  true  estimate  of  its  value  can  only 
b€  obtained  through  a  knowledge  of  the  effort  expended  in  its  pro- 
duction. Hence  the  power  of  beauty  is  limited  to  the  breadth  of 
conception  of  those  who  come  in  contact  with  it.     Capacity  is  au 


182  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

element  of  the  moral  world,  and  to  grow  in  spirit  requires  constant 
exercise  of  our  spiritual  being;  "  we  are  all  as  finite  as  our  desires," 

Shall  it  be  said  of  us  that,  through  indifference  or  ignorance,  we 
have  failed  to  contribute  our  proportion  of  impulse  to  the  cause  of 
ideal  concept  and  precept  ?  Shall  we,  through  destructive  rather  than 
constructive  criticism,  retard  the  progress  and  development  of  the 
various  forms  of  beauty  in  the  world? 

Or  shall  we,  through  individual  sympathy  and  a  broad,  intelli- 
gent interest  in  human  endeavor  and  growth,  give  to  each  toiler  in 
the  "  World  Beautiful "  our  most  heartfelt  approval  and  our  best 
wishes  for  success;  by  surrounding  them  with  those  Edenic  condi- 
tions and  ideal  relations  which  are  essential  to  natures  susceptible 
to  the  loftiest  aspirations  and  the  achievement  of  highest  results? 

In  return  we  shall  receive  the  reward  promised  to  those  who 
"  freely  give,"  namely,  that  enlargement  of  the  soul,  that  boundless- 
ness of  conception  which  recognizes  no  restraint  or  limit  in  **The 
Power  of  the  Beautiful; "  which  requires  infinity  to  contain  it  and 
all  eternity  for  the  adequate  exercise  of  its  influences  and  the  devel- 
opment of  its  possibilities. 

Maria  Weed. 


The  progress  of  religious  belief  from  a  less  to  a  more  enlightened  stage 
is  carried  on  apparently  by  a  series  of  waves  of  thought,  which  sweep  over 
the  minds  of  men  at  distant  intervals.  There  are  periods  of  comparative 
calm  and  stagnation,  and  then  times  of  gradual  swelling  and  upheaving 
of  the  deep,  till  some  great  billow  slowly  rears  its  crest  above  the  sur- 
face, higher  and  still  higher,  to  the  last;  when,  with  a  mighty  convukioo 
amid  foam  and  spray  and  noise  of  many  waters,  it  topples  over  and  bursts 
in  thunder  up  the  beach,  bearing  the  flood-line  higher  than  it  had  ever 
reached  before.  A  great  national  reformation  has  been  accomplished.— 
Frances  Power  Cobbe, 

Eternity  is  not  one  whole  somewhat,  and  Time  another  whole  soIn^ 
what.  Eternity,  therefore,  is  not  in  one  place  and  Time  in  another;  but 
they  are  merely  aspects  of  one  whole  system  and  order. — H.  K.  Janes,  MD- 

When  the  cause  is  just,  even  the  small  will  conquer  the  great — Sofk- 
ocles. 


ACROSS  THE  SILENCE. 

(AN  ALLEGORY.) 

o  bright  youthful  figures  stood  in  the  foreground  of  a  lovely 
ipe.  The  forms  were  those  of  Imagination  and  Faith;  the 
ipe  represented  the  plain  of  Life,  with  the  Mountains  of  Mys- 
i  the  far  horizon.  But  young  Imagination  and  her  sister  knew 
)y  no  name;  they  traversed,  slowly  and  singing,  the  stretches 
ny  fields,  stooping  now  and  then  to  pick  some  bright-hued 

or  waving  fern.     "  How  lovely  the  plain  is  here,"  Faith  ex- 
d,  as  she  walked  with  her  companion  in  happy  converse  or 
lial  play, 
'es,"  answered  Imagination,  "  and  it  is  fairer  still  farther  on." 

the  days  passed  Imagination  began  to  wonder  what  should 
goal  of  her  wanderings,  and  as  the  fields  became  less  fair.  Faith 
loody  and  silent.    And  they  came  among  people  who  were  not 

and  heard  some  preach  this  doctrine  and  some  that.  Some 
hem  angry,  with  their  narrow  creed  and  hateful  cruelty  to  all 
ould  not  follow  them;  others,  again,  made  them  feel  that  noth- 
ittered,  and  said  boldly  that  there  was  no  land  beyond  those 
ains  toward  which  they  were  all  travelling;  some  even  as- 
that  behind  those  mighty  mountains  lay  the  Sea  of  Unbroken 

% 

t  Faith  and  Imagination  went  on.  They  became  more  sad  as 
assed;  and  at  last  they  no  longer  listened  to  any  teacher,  but 
to  help  all  those  who  were  tired  and  sad,  like  themselves, 
at  gave  them  a  happy  consolation  for  their  own  sorrows  and 
.  And  many  were  cheered  by  their  sympathy, 
e  day  Faith  said,  "  Let  us  try  to  be  like  the  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
[e  really  must  have  been — and  not  mind  if  He  be  God  or  man. 
do  His  works  and  try  to  enter  into  His  spirit,  we  shall  find 
:omfort." 
.nd  whether  there  be  a  God  or  not — ^let  us  pity  our  fellows; 

183 


184  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

if  there  is  no  God  and  no  hereafter,  then  they  need  our  sympathy  the 
more,"  added  Imagination,  earnestly.  "  Shall  we  go  on  to  the 
mountains?  " 

"  Surely,"  answered  Faith,  eagerly;  "  then  we  shall  see  if  there 
is  a  pass  or  not ;  and  if  there  is  a  pass,  where  it  will  lead." 

One  day  at  sunset  Imagination  looked  up  from  tending  a  sick 
soul,  to  find  herself  at  the  foot  of  a  high  mountain  range,  looming 
dark  and  mist-wreathed  before  her.  And  as  she  stood,  a  feeling  of 
fear  of  she  knew  not  what,  pressed  upon  her;  wistfully  she  watched 
the  afterglow  of  the  sunken  sun  behind  her,  and  her  usual  light  cheer- 
fulness gave  place  to  dark  forebodings.     But  she  roused  herself. 

"  Nay,"  said  Faith,  "  the  mountains  must  be  crossed,  if  we  would 
reach  the  land  beyond,  and  they  are  not  so  very  high,  after  all.  Per- 
chance, at  sunrise  we  shall  see  more  clearly  and  discover  some  hidden 
path."  Thus  she  comforted  her  sister.  But  all  the  next  day  they 
were  looking  for  that  road  and  found  it  not.  At  last,  when  it  was 
late  in  the  afternoon,  they  descried  a  narrow  defile  between  two  black 
walls  of  rock — it  was  but  a  crevice,  and  would  admit  only  one  per- 
son at  a  time. 

So  Faith  went  first  and  Imagination  followed.  Imagination  • 
shuddered.  "  Oh,  I  had  once  thought  the  plain  so  fair  and  made 
sure  the  mountain  path  would  lead  me  over  glorious  heights  whence 
I  might  view  the  promised  brightness  beyond !  and  now  I  find  a 
narrow  and  gloomy  pass,  with  none  to  guide.  Shall  I  return?  The 
plain  at  least  is  not  lonely;  "  and  she  retraced  her  steps  to  the  open- 
ing, but  stood  still  in  awed  astonishment  as  she  beheld  the  land  she 
had  just  traversed — for  it  was  no  longer  a  smiling  plain,  but  a  wilder- 
ness devoid  of  beauty,  from  which  rose  only  the  dark  mist  of  remem- 
bered joys,  now  turned  into  regret  and  sorrow.  She  sighed  and 
shivered.  No,  not  there  would  she  find  the  peace  and  gladness  and 
knowledge  of  which  she  was  ever  in  quest. 

"  Then  I  will  go  on,"  she  said,  mournfully,  and  turned  again  into 
the  narrow  pass.  But  soon  the  length  of  the  journey  began  to  tcH 
upon  them,  and  their  tired  feet  found  the  stony  road  steep  and  diffi' 
cult.  It  was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  find  it  hard  and  dark,  when 
they  had  pictured  it  easy  and  sunny.    But  the  plain  no  longer  at' 


ACROSS  THE  SILENCE.  185 

tracted,  and  as  they  toiled  on  Imagination  told  herself  that  soon  must 
come  the  opening  of  the  pass,  giving  her  a  distant  glimpse  of  the 
smiling  beauty  of  the  land  she  sought. 

Faith  grew  very  faint,  but  she  was  ever  gentle  and  steadfast  in 
her  purpose,  being  cheered  by  Imagination's  vivid  descriptions  of 
the  light  and  peace  on  the  other  side.  But  the  path  became  more 
and  more  narrow,  till  at  last  the  bare  mountains  seemed  to  meet 
over  their  heads  and  they  had  little  daylight  to  guide  them.  Then, 
one  day,  when  they  were  wearily  resting  on  some  fallen  rocks,  Faith 
suddenly  sprang  up,  and,  shading  her  eyes,  peered  eagerly  into  the 
gloomy  defile  they  had  yet  to  traverse. 

**  Methought  I  saw  a  figure  moving  there,"  she  said,  pointing  into 
the  obscurity.    Imagination's  face  brightened. 

"  Dear  sister,  it  may  be  so,  let  us  hurry  on.  But  I  fear,"  she 
said,  slowly,  "  thou  wert  deceived,  it  may  have  been  but  a  rock  of 
lighter  hue." 

'*  Nay,  but  I  feel  I  was  right !  Oh,  let  us  hasten  on,  and  if  per- 
chance there  be  any  one  in  this  place,  we  will  ask  if  we  are  on  the 
right  road." 

"  Nay,  better,  let  us  ask  if  there  is  any  road  here,  and  what  man- 
ner of  wilderness  lies  beyond  this  fearful  defile.  It  may  be  even  worse 
than  this,  it  may  indeed  be  the  Sea  of  Silence;"  and  Imagination 
shuddered. 

"Nay,  sister,"  chided  Faith,  "you  are  gloomy  to-day;  I  have 
more  hope.  Cheer  up  your  spirit;  for  surely,  the  place  beyond  can- 
not be  worse  than  this." 

"We  only  think,  Faith,  we  do  not  know''  answered  the  other, 
slowly,  gazing  before  her  with  dreamy  eyes. 

"Nevertheless,  let  us  proceed,"  said  Faith,  gently.  They  went 
on  again,  hardly  speaking,  for  they  needed  all  their  breath  for  the 
difficult  road,  on  which  they  could  make  but  slow  progress,  and 
they  had  to  be  very  careful  not  to  tread  on  loose  stones,  and  thus 
fall  into  pits  and  half-dug  wells. 

Suddenly  the  passage  made  a  sharp  turn,  and  before  their  aston- 
ished eyes  the  pass  g^ew  lighter,  and  there  stood  the  figure  of  a  woman 
*^io  longer  young,  but  tall  and  majestic.    Serene  was  her  face,  stern. 


186  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

also,  but  not  unkind,  as  she  gazed  at  them  without  either  surprise  or 
delight.  As  the  pass  was  wider  here,  Faith  and  Imagination  entwined 
their  arms  and  moved,  half  joyfully,  half  awed,  toward  the  woman 
who  stood  facing  them. 

"  So  you  have  come  thus  far,"  said  Reason,  quietly  considering 
the  faces  of  the  sisters.  "  I  have  been  long  expecting  you,  and  ht- 
gan  to  fear  you  had  stayed  on  the  plain." 

"  Yes,  we  have  come,"  said  Faith,  **  for  we  felt  sure  there  must 
be  the  promised  land  beyond.  Will  you  not  show  us  the  nearest  way 
from  here?  " 

"There  is  no  nearest  way,"  answered  Reason;  "you  can  only 
get  to  the  land  of  Perfect  Peace  and  Knowledge  by  coming  across 
the  Plain  of  Life  and  through  this  pass  of  Logic  between  these  Moun- 
tains of  Mystery.  This  pass  I  have  to  g^iard  and  to  help  on  all  whom 
I  may  meet  in  it.    God  has  given  me  that  work  to  do." 

"  And  who  is  God?  "  asked  Imagination.  "  Is  He  the  spirit  of 
whom  we  were  told  as  children,  that  He  loves  the  good  and  hates  the 
wicked;  and  that  those  who  do  not  believe  as  the  churches  demand 
are  lost?" 

Reason  looked  at  Imagination's  troubled  and  quivering  face. 
"  Nay,  my  child.  He  is  not  such  as  you  have  heard  Him  described- 
only  a  few  know  His  nature;  and  those  who  teach  that  He  is  an 
avenging  fiend  have  not  read  His  works  aright." 

"  Ay,"  said  Faith,  "  I  feel  that  if  there  is  a  God  He  cannot  be  what 
most  men  think  Him." 

"  I  know  He  is  not,"  said  Reason,  quietly.  "  But  come,  the  path 
will  be  easier  now,  and  we  can  go  together,  and  I  will  tell  you,  not 
what  I  feel  or  think,  but  what  I  know  about  God;"  and  Reason 
took  her  place  between  the  sisters  and  they  walked  on  swiftly.  Nov^' 
neither  of  the  travellers  felt  weary  or  depressed;  they  had  found 
Reason,  with  her  calm  eyes  and  steady  voice.  And  Reason  told 
them  what  she  knew  about  the  mountain  and  the  defile. 

"  But  is  there  no  other  way  across  these  mountains?  Can  one 
not  climb  some  path  to  their  tops,  under  the  light  of  the  sun?  '* 

"  Nay,  there  is  but  this  one  road.  You  might  scale  the  mountain 
side,  but  you  could  never  reach  the  summit,  for  the  hard,  rare  air 


ACROSS  THE  SILENCE.  187 

>uld  kill  you.    Logic's  path  is  the  only  one  you  can  traverse  and 
ep  alive,  dear  Faith." 

"  But  tell  us  about  God." 

"  God  is  the  all-pervading  Spirit;  He  is  Truth,  and  He  is  Love, 
lerefore,  He  is  the  Father  of  all  spirits;  of  all  items  of  Truth;  of 

sparks  of  Love.  What  He  endows  with  His  Spirit  He  never 
stroys,  for  His  Spirit  is  Life.  The  laws  He  made  He  does  not 
:ace. 

"  Among  men,  those  who  realize  more  fully  how  unlimited,  how 
iritual  is  God — nay,  that  He  is  Spirit,  and  spirit  pervades  all  things 
•have  a  more  true  ideal.  They  see  in  all  men  a  part  of  God's  spirit, 
all  life  a  part  of  God's  life.  But  the  Christians  have  thought  of 
od  only  in  one  limited  form;  and  as  the  Maker  of  one  narrow  creed, 
[ley  mistake — for  Truth  cannot  be  bound  by  any  one  creed.  All 
en  are  God's  children.  He  loves  them  all  alike,  good  and  evil;  but 
e  alters  not  His  laws  of  consequence  or  cause  and  effect,  to  help 
le  and  punish  another.  He  will  judge  them  by  no  string  of  words, 
at  by  their  thoughts  and  their  deeds — by  the  way  in  which  they  have 
orked  the  works  of  the  man,  much  filled  with  His  spirit,  whom  some 
ive  called  God  Himself,  incarnate  in  one  human  form." 

**  Then  He  is  not  angry  with  those  who  have  been  taught  to  think 
[im  what  He  is  not?  " 

'*  Ang^y?  "  Reason  smiled.  "  God  feels  no  anger.  He  mourns 
ot,  even;  for  He  knows  all  will  one  day  become  wise,  as  He  in- 
-nded  them  to  be,  and  sends  me  to  show  them  a  broader  road;  but 
^metimes  they  make  themselves  blind;  they  will  not  see  me,  and 
ill  they  see  me  I  cannot  help  them." 

"Then  there  is  no  ugly  place  called  Hell?"  asked  Imagination. 

"  Yes,  but  there  is,"  answered  Reason,  slowly,  **  both  on  earth  and 
^  the  after-life — but  no  Hell  of  God's  making.  Hell  is  the  state  of 
nind  men  suflfer  from  if  they  do  wrong;  and  it  is  a  house  of  remorse 
^^i  penitence  that  may  prove  the  gateway  to  progress  and  peace, 
^ut,  remember,  it  is  not  God's  will  that  any  should  suffer  there." 

"Can  a  man  come  out  of  hell?" 

"  Yes,  Imagination,  he  can,  and  ascend  to  highest  heaven  when 
^t  has  learned  his  lesson  and  thirsts  for  higher  things " 


188  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

"  Then  I  do  not  think  that  hell  is  so  bad  as  men  think." 

"  It  is  a  bad  place — but  need  not  be  an  abiding  place  for  any  soul 
who  wishes  to  progress,  and  of  course  it  is  not  a  place  of  physical 
anguish;  far  less  is  it  a  torture  designed  by  God  for  His  spirits  who 
are  weak  and  wilful  and  do  not  see  Him  as  they  should.  God  will 
have  all  pure  and  all  perfect,  and  to  that  end  are  all  His  laws,  and  all 
punishment  is  quite  impersonal  and  merely  another  side  to  action, 
and  remedial  in  its  effects  if  the  soul  so  wills  it.  As  the  soul  sows, 
so  it  reaps." 

"  How  great  is  God !  "  said  Faith,  in  a  low  tone. 

"  And  how  much,  much  more  glorious  than  I  can  conceive  oi! " 
whispered  Imagination. 

As  they  walked  on  and  conversed  they  began  to  love  Reason  very 
much,  and  asked  if  their  roads  were  likely  to  part  soon.  "  No,"  said 
Reason,  "  I  shall  not  leave  you  now  until  we  arrive  Home." 

"  Home?  "  asked  Imagination. 

"Yes,  I  said  Home,"  answered  Reason,  solemnly;  "Home, 
where  there  is  perfect  peace,  perfect  understanding,  and  perfect  love 
— Heaven  itself." 

Faith  and  Imagination  veiled  their  faces  and  held  Reason's  hands 
tightly,  as  a  vast,  limitless,  and  horizonless  universe  opened  before 
them,  all  beauty,  all  light  and  harmony;  but  Reason  gazed  calmly 
into  the  eyes  of  her  fellow  angels  and  commended  the  sisters  to 
their  care. 

And  as  the  three  spirits  entered  the  sphere  of  Home,  a  voice 
breathed  forth,  more  gently  and  sweetly  than  the  evening  zephyr 
on  a  southern  shore,  these  words :  "  God  is  Spirit;  and  they  that  wor- 
ship, must  worship  Him  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth."  And  "  inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto 


me. 


"  Come,"  said  an  angel,  taking  Faith  by  the  hand,  '*  come  and 
see  the  many  idols  of  thy  heart,  which  thou  didst  worship  in  ignorance; 
God  did  treasure  them  up,  and  now  thou  canst  lay  them  at  His  feet." 

"  Behold,  O  Imagination,"  said  a  beautiful  spirit,  "  thy  half- 
formed  ideals,  and  what  thou  didst  think  to  have  lost  forever.  God 
has  made  them  perfect." 


GIVE  ME  THE  LIGHT.  189 

God  is  love,"  sang  the  fairest  angel.    "  Behold  all  ye  have  loved; 

t  from  truth  no  more — but  do  together  the  works  of  God,  for 

s  Heaven." 

H.  Edith  Gray. 


GIVE  ME  THE  LIGHT. 

The  world  is  full  of  new  and  startling  thought ; 

Is  full  of  isms  and  creeds,  from  East  to  West ; 
And  unto  all  of  them  my  soul  goes  out, 

To  new  and  old,  with  never-ending  quest. 

For  Truth  and  Peace  I  seek,  but  find  no  rest. 
There  are  so  many  paths  lead  to  and  fro 
That  I  fall  back  and  sob,  **  I  do  not  know." 
I  only  pray,  **  O,  Lord  God  Infinite, 
Give  me  the  light." 

One  says,  "  The  spirits  of  the  dead  are  here  ;  " 

And  one,  **  We  cycle  on  from  life  to  life." 
One  says  that,  **  Faith  will  free  the  soul  from  fear, 

The  body  from  disease,  the  world  from  strife." 
Another  says,  '*  The  earth's  a  hollow  sphere." 

Another  that,  "  The  Universe  is  rife 
With  a  continuous  entity,  and  we 
Are  merely  links  in  one  Infinity." 
There  are  so  many  paths  lead  to  and  fro, 
I  only  fall  and  sob,  "  I  do  not  know." 
I  only  pray,  **  O,  Lord  God  Infinite, 
Give  me  the  light." 

My  soul  goes  out  to  all  who  seek  to  find 

New  Truth — which  is  the  old  but  stated  o'er  ; 
To  all  who  struggle  in  this  march  of  mind 

In  new  and  trackless  regions  to  explore  ; 
Who  strive  to  reach  new  depths  and  mysteries. 
New  mountain-tops  of  thought  and  unknown  seas. 
I  know  the  world  has  risen  by  such  as  these. 
Unto  each  new  explorer  I  cry,  "  Hail !" 
And  "  Brother  ! "  but  my  spirits  sometimes  quail, 
With  such  a  labyrinth  and  such  a  maze 
Of  theories,  new  and  old,  before  my  gaze. 
I  stand  confused  and  know  not  where  to  go. 
There  are  so  many  paths  lead  to  and  fro, 
That  I  fall  down  and  sob,  **  I  do  not  know." 
I  only  pray,  **  O,  Lord  God  Infinite, 

Give  me  the  light."  J.  A.  Edgerton. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

(VII.) 

GHOSTLY  DIFFICULTIES. 


U 


There  are  several  ways  of  getting  from  Oakwoods  to  the  library 
which  is  the  headquarters  for  the  club,"  remarked  the  Cemetery 
Ghost.  **  If  we  want  to  ride  we  can  take  the  train  or  a  cable  car,  but 
I  prefer  walking.  We  have  no  muscles  to  get  tired,  and  we  could 
start  out  and  walk  around  the  earth,  if  we  chose." 

"  Walk  around  the  earth !  " 

"  Yes." 

**  The  very  thought  of  it  tires  me." 

"  Exactly — tires  your  imagination !  Remember  that  there  is  noth- 
ing else  about  you  to  get  tired." 

"  Possibly  a  tired  imagination  may  be  as  serious  a  matter  for  i 
ghost  to  contend  with,  as  tired  muscles  and  nerves  are  for  a  person 
who  wears  a  body." 

"  Perhaps !  But  it  should  be  easy  to  overcome  a  tired  imagination 
when  one  knows  that  is  all  there  is  of  it." 

"  I  acknowledge  that  it  should  be — but  is  it?  " 

"  The  cars  are  apt  to  be  too  crowded  for  the  comfort  of  ghosts- 
unless  one  rides  on  top !  I  do  that  quite  frequently;  it  is  better  than 
being  walked  over  and  sat  upon,  and  the  women  carry  so  many  pan- 
sols  nowadays  that  a  ghost  is  in  constant  danger  of  being  speared. 
I  don't  get  used  to  it !  Long  as  I  have  lived  in  Shadowland,  I  stffl 
object  to  such  experiences." 

"  So  do  I.  The  day  of  my  funeral,  just  after  I  left  the  cemetery, 
I  was  run  over,  and  by  my  own  carriage,  too !  They  were  wait- 
ing for  some  one  at  the  corner.  Of  course  John  wouldn't  have 
done  it  if  he  had  known !  I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  horses,  look- 
ing right  at  him,  and  I  forgot  for  a  moment  that  he  couldn't  see  me. 
It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  horses  did  see  me !  John  had  to  touch  them 
with  a  whip  before  they  would  start,  and  then  they  snorted  and 
swerved  to  one  side,  and  the  front  wheel  struck  the  curbstone,  nearly 

190 


i 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  191 

^setting  the  carriage.  Before  I  knew  it  I  was  under  the  horses* 
et,  and  it  really  seemed  as  if  every  bone  in  my  body  was  breaking, 
was  some  little  time  before  I  could  get  my  wits  together  enough 
•  remember  that  I  had  left  all  my  bones  back  in  the  cemetery,  and 
id  none  with  me  to  break.  My  sister  was  shocked.  She  thought 
le  coachman  must  be  drunk.  And  of  course  it  was  unusually  dread- 
1  of  him  to  be  drunk  the  day  I  was  buried !  I  felt  sorry  for  John, 
don't  think  he  was  ever  drunk  in  his  life." 

"  Here  we  are  at  the  cemetery  gate.  Which  way  shall  we 
D?  Through  the  park  and  down  Drexel  Boulevard,  past  your 
Duse? " 

**  I  would  rather  not.  Isn't  there  another  pleasant  route?  That 
a  familiar  carriage  drive,  and  I  don't  feel  like  walking  over  it 

3W/' 

**  There  are  a  dozen  routes.  I  strike  new  streets  almost  every 
me  I  go  down.  How  would  you  like  to  go  over  to  the  lake  shore 
id  follow  that?" 

"  Can  we?  There  are  so  many  car  tracks,  a  stray  engine  will 
e  sure  to  take  us  unawares." 

"  We  can  look  out  for  that." 

The  two  ghosts  sauntered  slowly  out  of  the  cemetery,  finding 
icmselves,  as  is  always  the  case  with  the  invisibles,  obliged  to  give 
1  of  the  sidewalk  and  to  dodge  all  of  the  teams. 

"  I  don't  like  this  at  all !  "  said  the  New  Ghost.  "  We  ought  to 
ive  a  sidewalk  of  our  own.  The  visibles  positively  crowd  us  right 
to  the  street  among  the  horses  and  bicycles.  They  will  not  g^ve 
1  inch." 

**  That  is  why  secluded  streets  are  the  most  popular  with  ghosts, 
he  Experimenter  says  the  proper  way  for  us  to  do  is  to  build 
laginary  sidewalks  ten  to  twenty  feet  above  the  real  ones,  and  walk 
1  them." 

"  Up  in  the  air?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  And  walk  above  people's  heads?  " 

"  Even  so." 

"Can  he  do  it?" 


I 


192  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

''  Yes." 

"Can  you?" 

**  No;  1  haven't  made  much  of  a  success  of  it." 

"  Why?  " 

"  Because  I  lack  will  power,  I  suppose.  That  is  what  the  Ex- 
perimenter says — and  imagination!  I  was  one  of  those  practical 
folks,  and  it  takes  me  a  long  time  to  get  over  it." 

"  Walk  on  an  imaginary  sidewalk  in  the  air!  And  you  say  he 
can  do  it !  " 

*'  Yes;  but  he  doesn't  even  need  an  imaginary  sidewalk.  He 
can  walk  up  to  a  cloud  and  sit  down  on  one  corner  of  it.  As  wc  arc 
lighter  than  the  air,  it  is  a  solid  to  us,  and  if  we  only  think  so,  we  can 
make  our  way  through  it,  or  walk  on  it,  as  we  choose.  The  Philos- 
opher says  that  the  ether  filling  all  space  beyond  the  earth's  atmos- 
phere must  be  a  solid  to  us,  and  he  thinks  we  ought  to  be  able  to 
make  our  way  through  that." 

"  Then  we  could  visit  the  moon  and  the  planets !  I  have  always 
wanted  to  do  that  !  I  *d  like  to  know  whether  those  big  hollows  on 
the  moon  contain  water,  and  1  'd  like  to  get  to  the  top  of  those  high 
mountains.  The  scenery  on  the  moon  must  be  very  picturesqut 
When  my  business  matters  get  settled  here  I  believe  I'll  take  atrip 
to  the  moon.  I  think  I  would  enjoy  it  better  than  sitting  on  tomb- 
stones and  watching  funerals  as  you  do." 

"  But  there  are  a  few  little  drawbacks  to  a  trip  to  the  moon— 
the  distance,  for  instance." 

**  It  is  quite  a  way  to  walk  !  When  I  was  a  boy,  I  believe  they 
called  it  240,000  miles  to  the  moon,  and  the  sun  was  95,000,000  of 
miles  away.  But  the  astronomers  have  figfured  both  distances  down  a 
good  deal  since  then.  As  we  ghosts  do  not  need  air  to  breathe,  the 
lack  of  an  atmosphere  at  the  moon  wouldn't  make  any  difference  to 
us.    Don't  you  want  to  go?  " 

**  No;  thank  you!  The  earth  is  good  enough  for  me.  Even 
the  Experimenter  has  not  been  any  farther  up  than  a  high  clouA 
You  see  none  of  us  know  just  what  would  happen  to  us,  when  we 
got  beyond  the  earth's  atmosphere.  It  may  be  that  the  pressure 
of  the  air  is  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  this  ghostly  body  of 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  193 

ours.  We  don't  know  how  that  is.  It  may  be  that  when  we  got 
out  into  the  ether  our  particles  would  float  apart  from  each  other, 
like  a  gas,  and  we  might  lose  even  this  farce  of  a  body.  So  far,  no 
ghost  has  felt  like  trying  the  experiment;  but  if  you  are  bound  to 
go,  very  likely  you  can  find  some  venturesome  spirit  at  the  club  that 
will  go  with  you.  The  rest  of  us  will  stay  on  earth  and  wish  you 
good  luck  in  navigating  space." 

They  were  crossing  a  business  street.  While  attempting  to 
dodge  the  heavy  wheels  of  a  coal  wagon  the  New  Ghost  found  him- 
self in  front  of  a  cable  car  which  had  just  started  up.  Confused  at 
mddenly  finding  himself  in  so  perplexing  a  situation,  he  obeyed  his 
Srst  impulse  and  jumped  to  one  side,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  it 
)rought  him  directly  in  front  of  a  street  watering  cart  which  had 
ust  turned  the  corner.  He  had  no  time  to  make  another  escape 
•efore  the  heavy  wheels  were  upon  him.  The  Cemetery  Ghost 
tepped  across  the  street  with  an  ease  born  of  experience,  and  turned 
3  watch  his  unfortunate  companion,  whom  he  was  unable  to  assist 
vtn  by  advice.  He  leaned  against  a  lamp  post  to  escape  the  crowd 
ho  would  dodge  that — but  not  a  ghost. 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  was  drenched,"  said  the  New  Ghost,  trying  to  shake 
imself,  "  but  I  suppose  I  am  not.  Probably  I  went  between  the 
lolecules  of  those  drops  of  water,  the  same  as  I  do  when  I  go 
trough  a  door  or  a  stone  wall.  It  is  convenient  sometimes  to  have 
ic  ability  to  penetrate  matter.  It  is  also  convenient  to  be  able  to 
&t  up  and  walk  after  one  has  been  run  over,  and  not  have  to  wait 
T  a  doctor  to  set  bones.  And  if  one  must  have  a  barrel  of  water 
irown  over  him  it  is  a  convenience  to  not  be  wet  by  it.  But,  take 
on  the  whole,  when  I  am  crossing  a  busy  corner  like  this  I  think 
body  that  people  could  see  would  be  a  greater  convenience!  I 
>n't  see  but  this  comer  is  just  as  bad  as  the  down-town  crossings, 
here  policemen  are  stationed." 

"  You  will  not  have  so  much  trouble  if  you  will  only  learn  to 
member  that  you  must  do  all  the  dodging.  The  police  never  help 
;  ghosts,  even  if  we  are  in  the  most  crowded  part  of  the  city.  They 
e  as  blind  to  the.  invisibles  as  other  people.  We  might  have 
ossed  elsewhere,  but  I  forgot  your  inexperience." 


194  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

''  If  I  had  known  that  things  are  as  they  are,  I  should  certainly 
have  kept  my  body !  A  man  without  a  body  is  at  a  serious  disad- 
vantage— in  Chicago." 

The  ghosts  slowly  sauntered  through  Jackson  Park,  remarking 
upon  the  personal  appearance  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  looking  at 
the  buildings,  and  speaking  of  the  changes  which  had  occurred  since 
the  White  City  stood  there  in  all  of  its  beauty. 

"  Some  ghosts  spend  a  good  deal  of  time  at  the  museum  attend- 
ing the  lectures  and  looking  at  the  crowds  and  the  curiosities,  but  it  is 
too  gloomy  for  me !  I  like  blue  sky  and  sunshine  and  clouds  over 
my  head;  and  I  would  rather  look  at  live  flowers  and  birds  than  at 
dried  or  stuffed  ones.    I  prefer  the  cemetery.*' 

"  How  still  the  lake  is  to-day;  I  have  seldom  seen  it  so  quiet 
Not  a  ripple  disturbs  its  surface.  It  makes  one  think  of  a  sea  of 
glass.  Those  boats  out  there  with  sails  flapping  will  hardly  be  able 
to  get  in  until  a  breeze  comes  up." 

**  We  might  walk  out  there  and  board  one — shall  we?  " 

"  What !  walk  on  the  water?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  of  course  we  ought  to  be  able  to,  if  we  can  walk  on  air!" 

"  So  we  could  start  out  and  walk  across  Lake  Michigan,  cooH 
we?" 

Certainly. 

It  seems  as  if  I  should  get  my  feet  wet. 

"  Come  down  to  the  beach  and  try  it.  There  are  no  waves  tcnby. 
You  will  never  have  a  better  time  to  learn.  You  know  you  really 
have  no  feet  that  are  substantial  enough  to  get  wet." 

"  I  never  supposed  water  was  so  hard !  It  is  just  as  solid  as  ice 
or  a  stone  sidewalk.  But  I  don't  care  to  go  where  it  is  too  deep; 
I  might  slip  through  an  air-hole  or  something  that  corresponds  to 
it  in  Shadowland,  and  I  fear  I  shouldn't  know  how  to  swim  withort 
my  body.  I  believe  I  prefer  solid  earth— even  if  one  docs  hate 
to  dodge." 

"  There  is  hardly  anyone  on  the  beach.  We  will  follow  that 
awhile.     Did  you  enjoy  visiting  your  relatives?  " 

"No;  I  utterly  failed  to  make  them  see  me  or  understand  tne. 


"  Certainly." 

it  Ti. :r  T  -u^— u  ^^4. e^^4. 4.  » 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  195 

hings  are  all  in  a  tangle.  The  worst  of  it  is,  I  don't  know  how  to 
dp  straighten  the  tangle  out." 

"  All  we  ghosts  can  do  is  to  look  on." 

*'  I  may  have  to  look  on  and  see  somebody  hung  for  murdering 
ic — when  I  did  it  myself !  " 

"Is  it  as  bad  as  that?" 

"  Yes." 

"  An  unpleasant  prospect,  certainly !  " 

"  When  I  saw  you  at  my  funeral  I  didn't  understand  the  situa- 
ion.  The  doctor  knew  from  the  first  that  I  was  poisoned,  and  it 
as  not  occurred  to  him  that  I  did  it  myself.  He  put  the  matter  in 
lie  hands  of  a  private  detective  two  hours  after  he  found  me  dead. 
Tie  detective  advised  him  to  say  nothing  until  after  the  funeral, 
)r  they  didn't  know  whom  to  suspect.  They  waited  and  watched, 
nd  now  both  are  positive  that  they  know  exactly  who  murdered 
itr 

"  Indeed !    Can  they  get  proof  enough  to  make  mischief?  " 

**That  is  what  they  are  trying  to  do.     The  doctor  lies  awake 

ights  studying  on  it — he  thinks  it  is  his  duty.     And  the  detective 

laying  all  manner  of  cunning  plans  to  entrap  the  one  they  suspect." 

"And  who  is  it?" 

"  The  butler." 

"  I  don't  wonder  the  situation  makes  you  feel  uncomfortable, 
"cry  often  when  people  step  out  secretly  they  leave  trouble  behind. 
V^hat  evidence  can  they  get  against  the  butler?  " 

"  Nothing  but  circumstantial  of  course.  I  took  $5,000  in  gold 
'om  the  bank  about  two  weeks  before  my  death.  They  have  found 
lat  the  butler  has  possession  of  that  $5,000  and  is  about  to  marry 
ad  buy  himself  a  home  with  it.  They  think  he  stole  it  and  poisoned 
IC  to  conceal  the  theft.  They  are  hunting  the  city  over  to  find  out 
here  he  bought  that  poison.  As  I  bought  it  myself  in  Detroit,  they 
•c  not  likely  to  succeed." 

"  How  did  the  man  come  by  your  money?  " 

"  It  was  his." 

"  Can  he  prove  it?  " 

"  I  don't  know.     He  inherited  $4,000  from  his  father,  which  I 


196  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

had  invested  for  him,  and  the  other  $i,ooo  was  wages  due  him. 
There  ought  to  be  something  among  my  papers  to  show  the  trans- 
action, but  I  am  not  sure  that  there  is." 
Have  they  arrested  the  butler?  " 
Not  yet." 

Perhaps  they  never  will." 

I  hope  they  will  not — but  they  probably  will !  Do  I  sec  a  ghost 
up  there  by  Douglas's  Monument?  A  shadowy  figure  seems  to  be 
looking  across  the  water !  " 

"  Probably.    Shall  we  go  up  and  see?  " 
"  Yes;    I  wouldn't  object  to  resting  a  few  moments." 
"  How  earth  habits  do  cling!    In  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
nothing  ^bout  us  to  get  tired  we  imagine  we  are  '  tired  almost  to 
death,'  as  we  used  to  say  when  we  lived  in  bodies." 

"  I  am  tired.  I  know  I  am.  You  can't  argue  me  out  of  it  I 
haven't  walked  so  much  for  a  number  of  years.  And  besides,  this 
vapory  body  I  am  living  in  now  is  a  new  piece  of  mechanism  that 
I  am  not  used  to!  If  I  could  only  go  to  sleep,  perhaps  I  might 
get  rested." 

**  Ghosts  do  not  sleep." 

**  So  I  conclude  from  my  own  experience,  but  it  seems  as  if  wc 
might  learn  how." 

"  Perhaps  we  might,  but  the  most  of  us  are  afraid  to  try  it  U 
we  went  to  sleep  we  might  never  wake  up.  We  might  never  be 
able  to  find  ourselves  again.  We  are  so  thin  and  vaix)ry  that  it 
seems  as  if  there  is  nothing  to  hold  us  together  but  will  power,  afli 
if  we  should  lose  consciousness  in  sleep  we  don't  know  what  might 
happen  to  us." 

"  So  there  are  some  things  which  ghosts  fear?  " 
"Yes;  several  things.  We  are  all  a  little  afraid  of  fire.  The 
Chemist  says  we  are  more  like  some  of  the  invisible  gases  than  any- 
thing else  he  knows  about;  and  so  many  gases  bum  or  explode 
when  brought  into  contact  with  fire  that  we  like  to  keep  at  a  sale 
distance.  We  are  waiting  until  some  ghost  wants  to  commit  suicidt 
Then  we  will  persuade  him  to  walk  into  a  fire.  Perhaps  he  wiD  come 
*  out  unharmed,  but  we  don't  know.    I  never  heard  of  a  ghost  that 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  197 

W2S  willing  to  try  the  experiment.  That  is  the  Weather  Prophet 
\>y  the  monument.    He  has  some  curious  ideas." 

"  Why  do  you  call  him  the  Weather  Prophet?  " 

"  We  are  too  near  for  an  explanation;  he  would  hear — as  shades 
lear.    I  will  introduce  you." 

The  Weather  Prophet  was  leaning  against  the  monument,  gaz- 
ng  intently  at  the  sky. 

"  No.  85,"  said  the  Cemetery  Ghost,  courteously,  *'  this  is  the 
Drexel  Boulevard  Shade  who  came  over  a  couple  of  weeks  ago — 
)crhaps  you  remember?  " 

"  Yes;  the  millionaire.  I  remember  reading  about  you  in  the 
>apers.    They  called  it  *  heart  failure,'  I  believe." 

"  It  was— of  a  certain  kind." 

**  What  is  the  weather  likely  to  be?  "  inquired  the  Cemetery 
lihost. 

**  There  is  a  storm  brooding,  a  terrible  storm  !  An  unusual 
amount  of  suffering  in  the  city  is  causing  black  clouds  of  despair  to 
hover  like  a  pall  between  us  and  the  azure  depths  of  space  which  men 
call  the  blue  sky.  Do  you  see  them?  "  asked  the  Weather  Prophet, 
extending  a  ghostly  hand  to  the  northwest. 

"  No." 

"  Here  are  clouds  of  hatred  coming  from  the  criminal  district — 
they  are  black,  with  an  occasional  gleam  of  dark  red,  like  the  fires  of 
hell !  Despair  and  hatred  are  drifting  swiftly  toward  each  other; 
Uicy  will  soon  meet,  and  then  woe  will  befall  the  city  !  Do  you  not 
see  them,  those  heavy,  dark  clouds,  freighted  with  the  evil  thoughts 
of  men?" 

"  I  see  nothing  but  blue  sky,  with  a  few  fleecy-white  clouds  float- 
log  over  the  lake,"  replied  the  Cemetery  Ghost. 

"  It  is  strange,  strange,  that  you  see  things  only  as  the  living  do. 
Shadowland  is  a  new  world  to  me.  What  I  dreamed  of  while  in  the 
lody,  I  can  see  now.  Those  white  clouds  formed  of  good-will,  and 
oble  aspirations,  and  prayer — clouds  freighted  with  love,  must  come 
uickly  and  fill  the  sky,  and  dissolve  the  fierce  clouds  of  despair  and 
atred,  or  the  city  will  be  destroyed  !  Such  a  hurricane  as  Chicago 
as  not  known  within  the  century  will  sw^ep  across  the  surrounding 


198  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

prairies.  Buildings  will  be  wrecked,  lives  lost,  and  I  can  see  the  angry 
waters  of  the  lake  dashing  through  the  streets  !  The  destruction  wiD 
be  terrible  if  help  does  not  come  soon  !  See  the  gray  clouds  of  sor- 
row and  the  brown  fumes  of  anger  rising  from  that  desolate  part  o( 
the  city,  where  women  weep  and  children  starve  !  Will  no  one  ex- 
tend a  helping  hand  to  these  sufferers,  and  cause  them  to  send  forth 
grateful,  loving  thoughts  !  O,  if  men  on  earth  but  knew  the  power 
they  have  over  the  elements  !  If  they  could  but  see  what  I  see  !  The 
breath  of  the  hurricane  is  but  the  breath  of  man's  evil  passions  !  If 
no  evil  thoughts  ascended  to  the  sky  to  create  discord  among  the  At- 
ments  the  rain  would  descend  as  gently  as  dew,  and  refresh  the  earth, 
instead  of  coming  down  in  torrents,  which  ravage  it.  Nature  undis- 
turbed works  peacefully  and  silently,  while  the  discordant  passions  of 
men  are  disturbing  forces  which  nature  cannot  readily  subdue.  But 
see  !  Help  comes  !  Once  more  the  city  will  be  saved.  Do  yoa 
see?  " 

"Where?" 

"  See  that  white  cloud  rising  like  a  white-winged  angel  of  peace 
and  filling  the  space  between  the  dark  clouds  of  despair  and  hatred ! 
See  how  at  its  approach  they  shrivel  up  and  disappear  !  Some  one 
has  done  a  good  deed  in  the  dark  district,  and  many  hearts  arc  filled 
with  gratitude  and  love.  That  love  which  is  strong  enough  to  prompt 
to  action  for  the  good  of  the  race,  is  a  universal  solvent,  in  whid 
anger,  hatred,  and  all  evil  passions  disappear.  A  new  chemical  com- 
bination results,  which  tends  to  produce  harmony.  Again  I  say,  even 
the  elements  are  subject  to  the  will  of  man — ^if  he  but  knew  it !" 

*'  Don't  some  of  the  orientals  claim  the  power  to  make  it  rain?" 

The  question  was  unheeded. 

"  Furious  storms  are  caused  by  the  clashing  of  evil  thoughts !  H 
men  would  but  fill  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  earth  with  kind  and 
loving  thoughts,  they  could  destroy  even  the  cyclone  before  it  was 
born.  The  war  of  passions  causes  the  war  of  the  elements.  But  men 
are  blind  and  cannot  see, — will  not  see  !  I  told  of  these  things  while 
I  was  living  in  the  body,  but  no  one  listened;  no  one  believed  !  Men 
called  me  an  enthusiast,  a  fanatic.  That  is  their  usual  way  of  treating 
those  who  can  see  more  clearly  than  themselves.     Because,  forsooth, 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  199 

I  was  one  of  the  bearers  of  a  new  interpretation  of  the  invisible  forces 
by  which  the  universe  is  governed,  an  unpleasing  interpretation  to 
many,  I  must  of  necessity  be  a  fool  !  But  the  dreamer  whom  his  own 
generation  casts  out,  and  calls  fool,  is  often  revered  as  a  genius  by  the 
next  generation.  Many  can  follow;  but  few  can  break  the  paths  and 
lead  !  What  the  visibles  still  under  bondage  to  the  physical  nature 
denominate  folly  and  madness  should  be  plain  to  the  invisibles,  who 
have  cast  off  flesh  and  its  burdens — is  plain  to  those  who  are  not  earth- 
bound  !  This  conflict  of  the  passions  in  the  clouds  is  highly  interest- 
ing to  me,  and  should  be  to  you." 

Without  giving  further  heed  to  his  visitors,  the  Weather  Prophet 
^'alked  to  the  top  of  the  monument,  in  order  to  obtain  a  better  view 
)f  the  sky.  The  New  Ghost  regarded  the  accomplishment  of  this  feat 
vith  curiosity. 

**  So  that  is  what  you  call  walking  on  air,  is  it?  "  he  inquired. 

**  Something  near  it.  But  probably  he  would  like  the  place  to 
limself  just  now.  Perhaps  it  will  be  as  well  for  us  to  go  on — if  you 
ire  not  too  tired." 

"  I  had  forgotten  all  about  being  tired.  Is  he  always  like  that?  " 
inquired  the  New  Ghost,  as  they  continued  their  walk. 

**  No;  he  is  hardly  ever  twice  alike,  and  so  some  ghosts  find  him 
exceedingly  interesting.  He  can  walk  up  a  monument  or  the  side  of 
a  house,  or  any  perpendicular  wall,  in  a  most  dignified  manner,  but  he 
can't  walk  up  the  air  as  the  Experimenter  does." 

"  What  is  the  difference?  " 

"  All  the  difference  between  something  and  nothing.  I  can  walk 
ijpalow  tombstone  myself — if  I  just  know  there  is  something  solid  to 
press  my  toes  against,  I  can  get  up  all  right.  But  the  minute  I  try  to 
•valk  on  the  air  I  slip  right  back  to  earth.  The  Experimenter  says  I 
f^st  imagine  I  am  climbing  invisible  stairs — ^but  it  won't  work  ! 
t)own  I  go  !  " 

"  Curious." 

"  And  the  last  time  I  saw  the  Weather  Prophet  try,  he  couldn't  do 
nuch  better." 

"  I  should  think  he  would  be  anxious  to  learn,  so  as  to  go  up  and 
isit  the  clouds." 


aOO  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

'*  I  presume  he  is  practising.  He  went  up  the  monument  steadier 
than  usual." 

**  How  did  he  come  by  that  name?  " 

"  We  called  him  the  Weather  Prophet  because  he  is  always  study- 
ing the  clouds,  and  knows  more  about  Chicago  weather — which,  per- 
haps, you  remember,  is  an  uncertain  quantity — than  any  one  else. 
signal  station  man  can't  begin  to  equal  him  !  I  never  knew  the 
Weather  Prophet  to  make  a  mistake  on  Chicago  weather.  If  he  says 
it  will  rain,  it  rains !  If  he  had  told  us  that  hurricane  was  really 
coming,  It  should  have  taken  the  first  train  out  of  the  city  to  get 
away  from  it." 

"  Any  man  or  ghost  who  can  foretell  Chicago  w^eather  with  cer- 
tainty must  be  superior  to  his  race." 

**  If  you  care  to  cultivate  his  acquaintance  you  will  usually  find 
him  somewhere  along  the  lake  shore — where  land  and  water  meet  I 
He  hardly  ever  visits  the  club,  and  is  called  unsocial,  but  I  like  him 
pretty  well."  Harriet  E.  ORCun. 


NATURE'S  TRINITY. 
(11.) 

We  all  constantly  employ  a  certain  amount  of  energy  to  some 
purpose,  however  trivial  it  may  be.  If  that  purpose  is  not  nobk, 
we  have  only  to  transfer  that  energy  to  something  more  worthy,  whick 
may  always  be  found  by  searching  for  it. 

When  the  body  of  a  man  or  of  an  animal  is  deserted  by  its  tcnaA 
then  nature's  Creator  identifies  himself  with  the  Destroyer  and  gradfl* 
ally  removes  the  energy  from  that  form  which  has  served  its  wbote 
purpose,  and  transfers  it  to  some  other  centre  or  centres,  as  the  iw* 
cleus  or  nuclei  of  a  new  form  or  forms,  or  as  accretions  to  already- 
existing  forms.  In  a  similar  way,  we  may  take  any  dead  and  useless 
quality  within  ourselves  and  transfer  its  energy  to  something  lno^e(l^ 
sirable.  I-et  us  take,  for  example,  a  warlike,  retaliative  dispositioflt 
which  exists  individually  before  it  can  be  manifested  nationally,  ^ 
let  each  member  of  humanity  transfer  its  energy  to  the  building  oP 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  201 

a  disposition  for  conciliation.  Were  this  done,  no  such  thing  as  war 
>ul(l  exist  on  the  face  of  the  earth;  and  we  should  thus  have  em- 
oyed  our  creative  powers  to  a  high  purpose.  There  may  have  been 
time  in  our  development  when  the  animal  method  of  warfare  to 
lin  our  supposed  rights  was  consistent  with  our  status  as  barbaric 
umanity,  but  it  is  so  no  longer.  The  most  undeveloped  among 
5  deplore  it.  The  most  advanced  fully  realize  its  mistake  and  its 
errors. 

Jesus  told  us  to  resist  not  evil.  Did  any  of  us  ever  think  how  much 
lerg)'  we  every  day  misapply  in  resisting  evil,  in  being  offended  or 
dignant  with  others — to  say  nothing  of  positive  anger  and  retalia- 
on — when  the  woe  is  only  to  him  by  whom  offenses  come? 

A  wise  teacher  has  told  us  that  when  brought  face  to  face  with 
hat  we  call  evil  we  are  to  resist  by  not  resisting;  and  can  we  not 
e  that  when  we  confront  evil  with  a  tranquil  and  passionless  dis- 
)proval  that  yet  takes  no  outward  action,  we  are  meeting  it  with 
destructive  battery  of  dynamic  spiritual  energy  that  must  work  for 
le  highest  good  of  all  concerned?  We  have  thereby  created  a  Christ- 
ie quality  from  the  essence  of  the  dead,  old,  warlike  propensity 
hich,  as  destroyer,  we  have  now  disintegrated. 

When  Saul  of  Tarsus  transferred  his  vital  energy  from  deeds  of 
aughter  and  persecution  against  Christianity  to  noble  teaching  and 
sample  on  its  behalf,  he  generated  for  himself  such  character  as 
d  to  what  we  call  saintship.  Our  highest  work  of  creation  must 
e  on  the  spiritual  plane — the  field  of  our  highest  desires  and  as- 
irations;  and  such  work  is  sure  to  externalize  itself,  first  on  the 
lental,  and  then  on  the  physical  plane.  What  we  desire  we  think 
l>out;  and  what  we  think  about  is  photographed  in  our  physical 
ody  and  its  environment,  and  forms  the  basis  of  our  outward  acts, 
^ut  although  the  mind  is  a  tool  of  the  spirit,  yet  it  reacts  upon  the 
pnt,  and,  as  our  present  development  is  more  mental  than  spiritual, 
ur  creative  work  lies  greatly  on  the  mental  plane,  there  ruling  over 
ur  lower  desires  and  our  physical  life.  If  we  apply  that  colorless 
>»ritual  energy  called  will  to  the  formulating  and  controlling  of  our 
'oughts,  we  shall  have  reason  to  mangel  at  the  wondrous  work  we 
'^11  accomplish  for  ourselves — a  work  that  shall  extend  both  down- 


202  THE  METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ward  and  upward,  attracting  to  us  a  response  from  higher  realms 
whose  avenues  are  now  closed  to  us,  as  well  as  bringing  about  a  trans- 
formation on  lower  planes. 

How  rich  a  kingdom,  then,  is  our  mind,  how  potent  in  result  the 
very  least  of  our  efforts  therein !  And  this  mind  is  always  with  us. 
One  of  the  world's  greatest  dramatic  geniuses  once  remarked  that  so 
much  valuable  time  could  be  saved  by  having  something  important 
to  think  about;  and  she  not  only  gave  utterance  to  this  sentiment, 
but  she  applied  it  practically  in  her  efforts  toward  ideal  perfection  in 
her  line  of  art,  with  astonishing  results. 

It  is  for  us  to  lend  our  thoughts,  our  creative  tools,  to  that  which 
is  important  instead  of  wasting  them  upon  trivialities. 

As  the  Logos,  the  spoken  word,  the  creative  power  of  divine  will 
and  ideation,  calls  worlds  and  svstems  of  worlds  into  existence  and 
form,  so  the  self-same  powers  within  us,  derived  from  the  great 
universal  source,  may  speak  into  existence  whatsoever  we  desire; 
and  just  in  proportion  as  we  unfold  our  divine  possibilities  shall  we  ad- 
vance toward  this  creative  godhood. 

Although  desire  lies  back  of  will,  yet  it  is  paradoxically  said  that 
we  may  will  that  which  we  do  not  desire;  that  is,  the  higher  part  of 
us  may  desire  and  will  that  which  our  lower  self  does  not  desire  and 
has  no  power  to  will. 

Now,  this  contradiction  of  our  two  natures  as  emphasized  in 
asceticism,  if  it  leads  to  nothing  beyond,  is  of  little  service  in  spiritual 
evolution.  But  if  it  is  accompanied  by  an  effort  to  convert  low  d^ 
sires  into  high  desires  and  low  thought  into  high  thought,  then  co- 
ercion, which  is  only  the  first  step  of  the  ladder,  will  lead  to  regenera- 
tion. It  is  well  known  that  the  mind,  like  the  body,  is  a  thing  of  habit, 
and  the  establishment  of  fixed  habit  is  brought  about  by  repetition  in 
the  one  direction,  even  though  at  first  it  may  be  forced  and  in  opposi- 
tion to  some  other  habit.  Nature  on  every  plane  has  a  tendency  to 
repeat  itself.  If  our  body  has  once  lent  itself  to  a  certain  act,  it  is 
naturally  inclined  to  repeat  that  act,  and  with  every  repetition  it 
becomes  more  strongly  bent  in  the  given  direction.  The  innumerable 
aggregated  lives,  or  centres  of  consciousness,  of  which  the  human 
body  is  composed,  readily  learn  all  the  lessons  taught  them  by  their 


I 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  203 

commander,  the  mind  in  dominion  over  them.  It  is  then  for  the  mind 
to  create  good  habits,  not  only  in  its  own  realm,  but  also  in  the  body 
under  its  charge. 

It  is  made  clear  in  occult  research  that  thought,  with  its  dynamic 
jX)tency,  can  restore  disturbed  equilibrium  to  the  physical  body — 
can  so  change  the  vibration  of  its  molecules  that  soundness  and 
health  replace  disease.  Not  only  may  this  be  accomplished  by  will 
and  intention,  but,  with  no  effort  directed  to  that  aim,  the  body  must 
in  condition  and  quality,  to  some  degree,  correspond  to  the  mind  in 
dominion  over  it.  Impressions  made  even  unconsciously  upon  the 
particles  of  the  human  body  may  change  their  very  texture.  The  fire 
of  a  noble  habit  of  thought  may  refine  them,  just  as  the  grosser  ma- 
terial heat  may  bring  about  different  states  of  matter,  as,  for  instance, 
by  changing  water  into  steam. 

It  is  said  that  there  are  certain  human  beings  now  living  upon 
this  earth,  whose  advancement  in  purity  of  desire  and  thought  is  such 
that  they  naturally — that  is,  in  accordance  with  law— clothe  them- 
selves with  a  body  composed  of  a  higher  grade  of  matter  than  we,  in 
our  present  stage  of  development,  can  well  conceive  of — matter  that 
is  tenuous,  highly  electric,  and  even  luminous,  matter  whose  vibra- 
tions exceed  those  of  our  gross  bodies  as  those  of  the  violet  ray  of  the 
solar  spectrum  exceed  those  of  the  red  ray.  We  of  the  lesser  de- 
velopment, with  our  bodies  of  slower  vibrations,  are  down  on  the 
lowest  step  of  the  ladder,  on  a  level  with  the  red  ray,  while  they  are 
up  on  the  seventh  step,  the  grade  of  the  violet  ray,  or  perhaps  have 
mounted  many  another  and  higher  seven — or  even  seventy  times 
seven,  for  the  sevens  of  nature  are  countless — and  are  now  on  a  level 
with  some  ultra  ray  that  baffles  our  utmost  powers  of  conception. 

How  did  they  come  by  such  a  development?  They  worked  for  it. 
It  is  not,  however,  to  be  supposed  that  their  aim  was  to  change  the 
texture  of  their  physical  bodies,  but  that  such  a  change  was  an  inci- 
dental and  orderly  result  of  their  spiritual  and  mental  unfoldment; 
and  such  result  teaches  us  that  we  have  not  yet  learned  the  alphabet 
of  even  that  science  which  reveals  the  mysteries  of  physical  nature, 
though  our  present  attention  is  fixed  so  exclusively  upon  this  lower 
plane. 


204  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

That  cathode  rays  of  electricity  reach  a  sensitized  plate  by  pcn^ 
trating  what  we  have  hitherto  called  an  opaque  body,  proves  a  fact  in 
strict  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  Eastern  science,  that  the  solidity 
of  matter,  even  on  our  gross  plane,  obtains  only  relatively  to  our 
sense-perception.  We  all  know  that  a  sensitized  plate  receives  im- 
pressions too  fine  for  a  human  organism;  and  the  satisfactory  reports 
from  the  many  existing  mechanical  aids  to  sense-perception  should 
intimate  to  us  how  much  concerning  matter  we  have  yet  to  discover 
when  our  perceptions,  through  high  unfoldment,  shall  have  become 
finer,  and  our  outlook  broader  and  higher. 

Then,  the  persistent  efforts  of  that  intuitive  worker,  J.  W.  Kcdy, 
in  his  manipulations  of  inter-atomic  force,  prove  the  truth  of  the  as- 
sertion that  it  is  sound,  the  word,  the  logos,  that  is  the  magic  wand  of 
the  creator  to  marshal  into  form  the  atoms  under  his  command,  as 
well  as  to  preserve  or  to  destroy  that  form.    The  building  of  the  uni- 
verse results  from  the  vibrations  of  spiritual  force  upon  primordial 
matter;  and  it  is  by  different  degrees  of  sympathetic  vibratory  force 
that  molecules  are  attracted  together,  and  held  duly  apart  in  concrete 
form,  as  well  as  disunited  to  the  destruction  of  that  form.    The  thre^ 
fold  god  thus  personates  the  one  law  whose  opposite  effects  arc  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion,  or  the  one  force  whose  opposite  directions  arc 
centripetal  and  centrifugal.     It  is  upon  nature's  method  of  sympa- 
thetic vibration  in  what  we  call  sound  that  Keely  is  working  his 
marvels,  disintegrating  matter  when  his  vibratory  force  is  beyond  the 
power  of  molecular  cohesion. 

His  experiments  in  liberating  the  appallingly  tremendous  potency 
in  even  one  drop  of  water  suggest  that  we,  in  our  coming  develop- 
ment, perhaps  millions  of  ages  hence,  may  have  full  control  of  this 
force  of  nature's  gods. 

Do  not  these  first  faint  glimpses  into  an  unknown  region,  these 
marvellous  possibilities  of  matter  when  under  the  control  of  knowl- 
edge, prove  inferentially  that  we  have  before  us  a  long  series  of  object- 
lessons  in  matter? — and  that,  if  our  evolution  in  this  line  is  cut  short 
by  the  close  of  this  one  life,  such  waste  of  energy  is  contrar}'  to  nat- 
ure's operations  in  any  other  of  her  known  departments?  The  con- 
servation of  force  recognized  by  science  demands  that  we  return  to 


K. 


NATURE'S   TRINITY.  205 

the  plane  of  matter  again  and  again  until  our  efforts  on  this  plane 
have  ripened  into  result  and  reached  one  ultimate  aim  in  a  full  knowl- 
edge and  control  of  matter,  to  say  nothing  of  any  higher  applica- 
tion of  our  powers.  Thus  matter  alone,  manifestation  on  the  lowest 
plane  of  nature,  demands  our  return  from  a  quiescent  state,  so  far  as 
matter  is  concerned,  to  this  field,  in  order  to  exhaust  for  us  all  its 
possibilities,  to  say  nothing  of  those  higher  developments  that  are 
brought  about  by  our  struggles  and  contentions  with  matter  and  its 
concomitants. 

But,  while  we  are  waiting  or  perhaps  working  to  become  three- 
fold gods  on  the  lowest  plane  of  nature,  we  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  shortest  road  to  such  divinity  is  through  a  higher  development. 
A  spiritual  unfoldment  leads  us  back  of  external  manifestation  into  the 
realm  of  causation,  where  governing  law  is  so  revealed  to  us,  and 
where  our  discernment  and  our  controlling  powers  so  ripen,  that  we 
become  familiar  with  the  secret  springs  of  physical  action  as  our  least 
important  knowledge,  and  thus  become  gods  over  the  material  plane. 

If,  however,  our  motive  in  seeking  a  high  development  is  only  to 
gain  power  on  a  low  plane,  then  we  shall  find  ourselves  greatly 
hindered  in  our  progfress;  for  such  a  course  is  not  in  accordance  with 
the  order  of  the  divine  plan  for  our  ultimate  perfection.  The  three- 
told  endeavor  of  Evolution  is  to  fit  us  to  become  perfected  immortal 
l>eings.  That  is  the  whole  meaning  of  life,  or  it  has  no  meaning. 
Our  success,  then,  lies  in  co-operating  with  Evolution,  in  working 
^'ith  nature. 

The  only  question  is,  how  to  do  it.  It  is  done  by  means  of  true 
>pintual  alchemy,  by  turning  baser  metals  into  gold,  by  converting 
ow  desires  into  high  desires,  and  low  thought  into  high  thought, 
^y  letting  the  god,  the  divine  within  us,  work  on  nature's  plan,  for 
mature  is  God. 

Let  us,  then,  disintegrate  old  forms,  remove  centres  of  force  to 
'bother  point  in  space,  that  they  may  clothe  themselves  in  higher 
^pressions  of  our  thought  and  desire;  for  even  our  thought  and 
^ire  take  form,  however  ethereal,  in  the  world  around  us. 

Now,  it  is  possible  for  us  practically  so  to  work  upon  ourselves, 
^at  is,  for  the  higher  part  of  us  so  to  work  upon  the  lower,  as  to 


206  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

enlarge  our  field  of  action  and  purify  our  methods — ^to  raise  our 
efforts  to  a  higher  plane  in  the  given  line.  We  may,  for  example, 
convert  a  greed  for  gold  and  worldly  possessions  into  a  desire  for  men- 
tal and  spiritual  acquirements,  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  also  for 
others;  and  personal  ambition  into  a  desire  for  the  advancement  of 
our  race,  or  even  of  the  whole  human  family ;  and  a  spirit  of  rivalry, 
or  desire  for  self-success,  we  may  change  into  a  desire  for  the  success 
of  others;  and  a  spirit  of  cruelty  may  be  transformed  into  heroic  en- 
durance of  suffering  for  the  good  of  others. 

All  the  vices  are  due  only  to  misplaced  centres  of  force,  to  force 
manipulated  by  egotism  instead  of  by  altruism,  to  creation  in  a  mis- 
taken direction.  The  whole  trend  of  human  evolution  teaches  us 
that  individualism,  or  egotism,  is  stagnation.  We  all  can  observe  that 
the  very  moment  one  turns  his  energies  away  from  self  and  works 
for  the  good  of  others,  he  rises  higher  in  the  scale  of  being. 

We  may  safely  conje-'ure  that  the  greed  and  cruelty  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  which  is  so  dark  and  painful  a  problem  to  the  sym- 
pathetic soul,  is — since  all  is  working  for  good — wisely  ordered  to 
establish  that  very  individualism  which  culminates  in  self-conscious 
humanity.  But  the  aim  is  now  reached,  the  end  is  attained.  Man  is, 
at  the  present  period,  even,  over-conscious  that  he  is  apart  from  his 
fellows,  and  it  but  remains  for  him  to  become  conscious  of  the  broader 
and  higher  truth,  that  though  divided  for  a  certain  development,  yet 
he  is  not  separated  from  them.  Their  career  is  his  career;  their  aim 
is  his  aim.  With  a  realization  of  this  high  truth,  man  will  naturally 
turn  his  creative  energies  into  a  nobler  channel.  The  field  of  egotism 
is  narrow  and  barren  of  essential  result,  while  that  of  altruism  reaches 
out  and  embraces  first  the  neighbor,  then  the  nation,  then  the  race, 
then  all  humanity,  then  the  lower  kingdoms,  and  finally  every  atom  in 
the  whole  universe,  which  needs  the  godlike  impress  of  man  to  aid  it 
forward  on  its  evolutionary  journey. 

We  are  now  only  just  beginning  to  learn  our  true  relation  and 
duty  toward  our  fellow-beings;  but  in  the  ages  to  come,  when  we 
shall  have  become  a  united,  consolidated  body,  each  working  for  the 
good  of  all,  we  shall  naturally  include  in  our  efforts  all  the  kingdoms 
below  us.     Our  younger  brothers,  the  animals,  will  then  have  no 


i 


RESULTS.  207 

son  to  fear  that  the  hand  of  man  will  ever  be  raised  against  them, 
sentient  creatures  will  then  be  aided  by  us  to  live  out  their  short 
n  of  existence  in  that  joyousness  and  freedom  which  conduces  to  a 
her  development.  The  vegetable  world  will  suffer  no  wanton  or 
ish  injury  or  destruction  at  our  hands,  but  its  activity  and  advance 
1  be  to  us  a  part  of  the  great  universal  progress  whose  advance 
ks  we  are  at  last  worthy  to  lead.  Even  the  towering  mountain, 
iding  so  firm  upon  its  solid  base,  and  the  great  body  of  water 
thmically  moving  in  an  ordained  bed,  and  the  solid  walls  of  silent 
k,  all  of  which  now  seem  to  us  so  fixed  and  changeless,  shall,  under 
stimulus  of  our  collective  thought,  of  our  advanced  vibratory  im- 
ss,  evolve  more  rapidly  from  their  low  order  of  consciousness  to 
I  that  is  higher  in  the  cosmic  scale. 

Thus  we,  the  lowest  of  us,  when  we  shall  have  sufficiently  unfolded 
threefold  deific  powers  within  ourselves,  shall  become  elected  gods 
;he  great  cosmos,  world-builders — Creators,  Preservers,  and  De- 
>yers,  in  the  vast  field  of  nature  all  around  us. 

M.  J.  Barnett. 


RESULTS. 

Life  holds  a  value,  not  for  what  it  is,  alone, — 

But  more  for  what  it  may  be.    Most  famed  results 

Spring  out  of  greater  sought  for.    Of  all  the  insults 

Flung  into  a  new  day's  face,  the  very  boldest  grown, — 

Is  this :  —  "  Be  like  the  other."    Why  not  let  the  Known 

Presage  a  brighter  morrow  ? — For  a  wiser  cult 

Gives  milk  to  babes,  but  for  a  grown  man's  food  consults 

The  universe.    Why  we,  when  childish  days  have  flown. 

Short-syllabled,  should  speak  as  in  Life's  youth,  is  strange,^ 

For  manhood  craves  an  outlet  for  a  larger  heart, 

In  language  cloth 'd  wkh  finer  grace.    A  broader  range 

Must  open,  for  to  do  as  well,  to-day,  our  part, 

As  yesterday,  we  must  do  better.    At  the  start, 

Our  hands  and  hearts  were  those  of  children.    Lo,  the  change ! 

Katherine  b.  Huston. 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM. 

(II.) 

It  was  accounted  in  the  philosophy  of  the  ancients  as  unlawhil 
to  deal  with  spiritual  truth  except  by  means  of  the  symbol.  Accord- 
ing to  Porphyry,  "  the  ancients  were  willing  to  conceal  God  and 
divine  virtues  by  sensible  figures,  and  by  those  things  which  are 
visible,  yet  signifying  invisible  things."  For  instance,  the  world, 
sun,  hope,  eternity,  were  represented  by  round  things;  the  heavens 
by  a  circle,  a  segment  of  which  indicated  the  moon;  while  pyramids 
and  obelisks  were  dedicated  to  fire,  and  cylindrical  forms  to  the  earth. 

Thus,  aside  from  their  structural  simplicity,  there  is  to  be  ob- 
served in  them  that  near  cognation  of  form  to  idea  so  apparent  in 
the  wealth  of  spiritual  suggestion  afforded  by  a  proper  appreciation 
of  the  two  symbols  already  discussed;  for  as  the  circle  of  Being  rep- 
resents primordial  spirit  in  activity,  the  circumference  of  which  is 
all-inclusive,  so  does  the  sun  symbol  express  all  the  life  of  external 
nature,  and  is  therefore  a  constituent  part  of  the  auxiliary  planetary 
characters,  in  condition  and  degree  according  to  their  status  as  gen- 
erators of  the  cosmic  life-forces. 

And  so,  abiding  within  the  bounds  of  this  symbol,  as  previously 
instanced,  is  found  the  Moon  (  3) ),  who  reflects  the  Divine  light  of 
the  Creative  principle. 

As  with  its  prototype  in  the  visible  heavens,  in  her  approach  to 
the  solar  conjunction,  so  with  the  moon  or  soul  of  the  human  ego: 
it  grows  larger  and  larger  in  its  circle  of  motion  until  it  has  accom- 
plished the  at-one-ment  by  absorption  into  the  Sun  or  the  very  cen- 
tre of  pure  Spirit  (©).  "  When  this  union  takes  place,  there  is  no 
longer  need  of  an  initiator.  .  .  .  Wherefore,  as  with  the  planets, 
so  with  the  Microcosm.  They  who  are  nearest  Divinity  need  no 
moon.  But  so  long  as  they  have  night — so  long,  that  is,  as  any 
part  of  the  soul  remains  unilluminated,  and  her  memory  or  perccp- 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  209 

:ion  obscure — ^so  long  the  mirror  of  the  angel  continues  to  reflect 
:he  sun  to  the  soul."  * 

Therefore,  he  who  would  attain  to  regeneration  must  first  heed 
:hc  scriptural  injunction,  and  trample  under  foot  the  moon  or  the 
>ensual  soul  of  his  being. 

These  digressions  into  subsidiary  channels  are  deemed  pertinent 
:o  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the  basic  beauties  of  astrological  sym- 
X)lism.  Indeed,  so  singularly  suggestive  of  the  spiritual  principles 
nvolved  in  this  language  of  the  archetypal  world,  that  any  serious 
examination  of  it  must  necessarily  lead  to  a  closer  familiarity  with 
he  idioms  of  Being  itself. 

Physical  expression  at  best  reveals  but  a  shadow  of  the  truth, 
or  being  circumscribed  in  capacity  it  can  deal  only  with  limited 
ronceptions.  The  symbol,  on  the  other  hand,  leads  one  into  the 
nfinitude  of  the  eternal  Silence,  in  which  alone  the  Good  may  be 
>crceived  and  its  wisdom  understood,  and  wherein  principle  and 
nanifestation  are  to  be  viewed  as  isonomic  facts  in  the  consumma- 
ion  of  the  Divine  plan. 

The  celestial  philosophy  recognizes  four  specific  channels,  or 
>lanes  of  activity,  in  the  processes  of  cosmic  ideation,  portrayed 
OTnbolically  by  the  Cross  (  + ) ;  a  closer  examination  of  which  will 
enable  us  the  more  thoroughly  to  understand  the  real  character  and 
»ignificance  of  these  constitutive  factors  in  their  various  combinations. 

Though  monadic  life  comprehends  a  trinity  of  spirit,  soul,  and 
l>ody — the  triadic  forces  in  the  sphere  of  generation — its  projection 
nto  corporeal  conditions  on  the  objective  plane  is  accomplished  only 
through  a  coalition  with  predetermined  intelligibility,  or  mind,  thus 
^constituting  four  elements  of  manifestation,  mystically  understood 
^  stability,  motion,  intelligence,  and  consciousness. 

These  four  divisions  of  elemental  activities — which,  by  the  way, 
should  not  be  confounded  with  their  physical  prototypes — are  cos- 
f^ically  embodied  in  the  fixed  stars  which  compose  the  twelve  con- 
^ellations  of  the  zodiac,  and  answer  to  the  four  wards  of  the  stellar 
'^Q^  (!S).  designated  in  astrology,  respectively,  as  the  earthy,  watery. 
Gen-,  and  airy  trigons,  and  alchemically  expressed  as  salt,  sulphur, 
mercury,  and  azoth. 

*  "  The  Perfect  Way.'* 


210  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

It  is  through  the  functions  of  these  astral  energies  in  the  Macro- 
cosm that  the  life  emanations  are  individualized  into  essential  and 
distinctive  qualities,  and  simultaneously  converted  into  intelligent 
attributes  through  the  seven  celestial  agencies  which  represent  the 
creative  principles  in  the  individual  forms  of  objective  life. 

As  expressed  by  a  hermetic  writer — "  A  human  being,  made  up 
in  physical  form  of  seven  primary  elements,  each  derived  from  a 
kingdom  in  Nature,  involves  in  his  organism  a  representative  feature 
of  the  intelligence  which  prevails  in  each  kingdom.  ...  He  is 
thus  from  the  beginning  of  his  physical  life  a  creature  of  the  stars, 
and,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  concretion  of  sidereal  influences  flowing 
into  his  corporeal  and  physical  constitution." 

Pursuant  to  the  mystical  maxim  that  "  the  first  shall  be  last,  and 
the  last  shall  be  first,"  we  are  led  primarily  to  a  consideration  of  the 
Saturn  principle  as  the  spiritual  representative  of  the  fourth  element 
— consciousness — in  the  generative  spheres  of  the  Universal  Cosmos. 

Not  that  this  element  in  any  wise  claims  real  priority,  for  all  forces 
in  these  alchemical  processes  are  obviously  coequal  and  interd^ 
pendent  in  their  essentialities,  and  therefore  neither  may  assume 
precedence  over  any  one  of  the  others.  This  order  is  adopted  whoBjr 
by  reason  of  his  fancied  prominence  as  the  most  important  of  the 
superior  planets  in  the  astrology  of  the  ancients,  in  which  he  was 
assigned  chief  dominion  over  the  principality  of  Time  in  the  ob- 
jective realm. 

In  this  restricted  sense  his  potentialities  are  subservient  to  the 
bounds  of  limitation,  and  are  symbolically  represented  in  conncctiofl 
with  mundane  operations  as  Matter  in  dominance  over  Spirit,  or 
the  soul  principle  suspended  from  the  cross  of  Materialism  ( S  ). 

This  seemingly  malevolent  tendency  is  plainly  perceptible  to  the 
astral  physicist  when  this  planet  is  found  weak  or  debilitated  in  the 
governance  of  a  nativity,  in  which  case  he  conduces  to  env)'  and 
malice,  selfishness  and  miserliness,  and  all  such  terrestrial  drawbacta 
as  serve  to  fetter  the  soul  in  its  effort  to  express  the  godhead  inherent 
within  it. 

The  individual  thus  astrally  constituted  is  destined  to  labor  in  an 
atmosphere  where  the  sunlip^ht  of  a  holy  faith  seldom  penetrates, 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  211 

and  the  inner  voice  becomes  but  a  smothered  echo  in  comparison 
to  the  resonant  harmonies  which  pervade  the  psychic  atmosphere 
of  his  more  fortunate  brother. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  under  these  enforced  limitations  there 
should  result  those  disparities  in  the  moral  economy  which  our 
courts  of  justice  (?)  sagaciously  denominate  crime,  and  make  amen- 
able to  the  dispensations  of  a  questionable  jurisprudence? 

Moral  responsibility  cannot  be  measured  by  legal  tribunals,  nor 
can  arbitrary  punishment  ever  prove  a  prophylactic  against  moral 
wrong-doing.  One  must  penetrate  to  the  chamber  of  hidden  causes, 
pore  over  the  mystic  tomes  arranged  on  its  shelves,  and  study 
therein  the  hieroglyphs  of  occult  law,  before  one  can  hope  to  trans- 
late intelligently  the  mandates  of  the  spoken  Word. 

A  broader  and  more  universal  perception  of  these  basic  prin- 
ciples in  the  human  economy  would  incline  the  human  heart  to  a 
broader  charity,  and  to  a  more  philanthropic  view  of  the  supposed 
shortcomings  of  the  fellow  man  who  is  thus  forced  to  grope  his  way 
to  the  measure  of  a  discordant  strain.  It  remains  for  Astrology  as 
a  factor  in  the  science  of  stirpiculture  sooner  or  later  to  bring  home 
to  the  thinking  mind  the  absurdity  and  falsehood  of  a  problem  in 
human  ethics  which  involves  in  its  statement  the  presumption  of 
inequality.    This,  however,  is  irrelevant  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

Subjectively  considered,  we  find  in  the  Saturn  symbol  a  purport 
apparently  at  variance  with  the  above  interpretation;  for,  spiritually, 
it  represents  the  World  (  + )  of  Soul  ( 5 ) — the  fourfold  glyph  sur- 
njounting  the  crescent — wherein  his  is  the  formative  essence  which 
corresponds  to  Intelligibility,  by  and  through  which,  in  relation  to 
Time  and  Space,  arise  the  corporeal  conditions  of  form  and  figure, 
ttereby  effecting  a  perfect  correlation  between  the  noumenal  and 
phenomenal  planes. 

For  which  reason,  in  the  procession  of  the  gods,  he  is  designated 
^  the  astral  deity  who  presides  over  the  Holy  Triad  of  manifesta- 
^on,  and  astrologically  is  accorded  the  rulership  of  the  airy  tri- 
Plidty,  or  the  celestial  sphere  in  which  are  polarized  the  activities 
Essential  to  mundane  consciousness. 

In  our  relationship  to  fundamental  law,  this  element,  when  har- 


212  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

moniously  adjusted  in  the  microcosmic  organism,  superinduces  to 
gravity,  decorum,  contemplation,  spirituality,  and  sublimity. 

For  example,  in  the  geniture  of  the  mystic  Swedenborg,  he  was 
dignified  as  his  ruling  planet  in  the  just  and  airy  sign  Libra— the 
scales,  or  Balance — in  that  quarter  of  the  natal  figure  whose  magnetic 
activities  impel  to  mental  discipline,  philosophy,  and  religion,  and 
was  additionally  strengthened  by  a  favorable  conciliation  with  the 
Sun  in  his  house  of  life,  in  the  airy-metaphysical  sign  Aquarius. 

A  student  of  astrology  would  quickly  discern  in  these  testimonies 
functional  attributes  capable  of  attaining  to  a  spiritual  ultimate  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  ordinary  developed  ego. 

In  these  two  aspects  of  the  one  symbol  are  observed  the  exigencies 
of  the  duality  of  Being  as  concerns  one  of  its  ramifications,  and  the 
resultant  attributes  on  the  two  planes  of  consciousness,  energizing 
on  the  one  the  more  material  qualities,  and  sensitizing  on  the  other 
the  elements  of  the  purely  spiritual  type. 

But  it  naturally  follows,  that  as  in  evolutionary  law  the  higher 
must  ultimately  dominate  the  lower,  so  are  the  grosser  elements 
ever  susceptible  of  transmutation  into  the  more  etherealized  and 
sublimated  forces. 

Thus  Saturn,  from  a  physical  standpoint  tends  to  contract  the 
magnetic  activities  and  crystallize  the  finer  forces,  thereby  produc- 
ing on  the  human  sounding-board  a  repressed,  dissonant,  and  selfish 
strain;  but  his  conjuncture  with  the  more  concordant  elements  may 
convert  the  music  into  a  subdued  harmony,  whose  soul  centres  vi- 
brate more  in  unison  with  that  Nature  whose  diapason  is  ever  in 
accord  with  the  good  of  humanity. 

This  differentiation  in  the  primary  effluences  brings  under  notice 
the  symbol  of  Jupiter,  to  whom  is  allotted  dominion  over  the  third 
class  of  the  tetradic  hypostases — intelligence — functions  through 
which  the  life-consciousness,  as  determined  by  form  and  figure,  is 
stimulated  into  the  more  sensitive  elements  of  True-Being;  or  the 
Intellectual  essence,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Intelligible  activities. 

As  regards  the  dual  phases  of  the  Saturn  and  Jupiter  principles 
alluded  to  above,  suffice  it  to  say  that  the  one  stands  related  to  the 
other  as  gestation  is  to  generation,  or  affirmation  to  confirmation.  It 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  213 

will  be  observed  that  in  the  Jupiter  symbol  the  crescent  and  the  cross 
have  exchanged  places.  Inherent  IntelligibiUty,  subsisting  in  the 
World  of  Soul  {h),  has  thus  become  quickened  into  instinctive  at- 
tributes, intellectually  cognized  through  the  vehicular  activities  of 
Jupiter,  significant  of  the  Soul  of  the  World  (H). 

The  following  excerpt  from  the  ancient  MS.  previously  quoted, 
clearly  illustrates  the  astrological  distinction  accorded  these  two 
arbiters : 

"Jupiter  (tin)  is  nothing  but  the  centre  of  Saturn  (lead)  mani- 
fested; for  in  Jupiter,  which  is  the  next  planet  under  Saturn,  the 
contemplative  influence  begins  to  be  active,  which  causeth  such  a 
bright  light,  and  such  a  lively  stirring  brightness  in  Jupiter,  for  he 
is  the  first  active  planet  wherein  the  joy  of  the  contemplative  faculty 
is  manifested,  which  it  sets  forward  for  action,  and  descends  from 
Saturn  to  Jupiter.  Jupiter,  then,  as  we  have  said,  is  the  first  active 
planet,  for  in  him  that  which  first  begins  to  break  out  into  action  was 
formerly  conceived  in  Saturn.  .  .  .  Therefore,  did  the  wise  men 
attribute  to  Saturn  all  scholars  and  philosophers,  as  also  all  priests 
and  hermits,  all  melancholy  and  reserved  persons,  who  love  a  solitary 
and  retired  life,  and  who  are  always  full  of  thoughts,  and  are  more 
disposed  to  contemplation  than  to  action.  On  the  contrary,  to 
hpiier  all  statesmen,  magistrates,  and  tradesmen,  who  use  their  heads 
more  than  their  hearts,  and  who  are  always  busied  in  outward  me- 
chanical actions,  and  not  in  the  inward  profound  speculations  of 
the  mind;  and  truly  all  professed  mechanical  arts  were  found  out 
first  by  the  speculation  of  the  mind,  for  they  are  but  the  inventions 
of  contemplative  spirits,  so  that  the  statesman  receives  his  politics 
from  the  philosopher,  the  one  finding,  and  the  other  executing,  so 
that  contemplation  still  precedes  action,  as  Saturn  is  before  Jupiter 
in  the  heavens,  even  as  thoughts  are  conceived  in  the  mind  prior  to 
the  action  of  speech." 

These  deductions  are  certainly  in  line  with  the  metaphysical  sug- 
gestions involved  in  our  discussion,  and  they  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  science  of  astrology  rests  upon  no  arbitrary  or  conjectural  basis. 

John  Hazelrigg. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT 


WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


INTERPRETATION  OF  PSYCHIC  ACTION. 

« 

We  give,  this  month,  several  accounts  of  experiences  which  illustrate 
various  phases  of  those  subtle  powers  of  the  mind  now  commonly  spoken 
of  as  "  psychic." 

The  very  large  number  of  similar  experiences  which  are  received  from 
nearly  every  part  of  our  country,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent,  from 
European  countries  as  well,  indicates  a  quite  general  awakening  of  these 
powers,  or  faculties;  for  it  is  but  a  few  years  since  the  least  mention  of  the 
possibility  of  such  powers  existing,  was,  in  most  circles,  derided  as  evi- 
dence of  unsound  reasoning  faculties. 

While  in  this  day  evidences  are  too  strong,  clear,  and  numerous,  to  be 
relegated  entirely  to  the  insane  pavilion,  yet,  the  subject  is  so  new,  and  its 
operative  action  so  little  understood,  that  it  requires  careful  thought  in 
determining  the  nature  of  the  action  under  examination. 

That  a  certain  individual  experiences  something  new  to  him,  and  on- 
known  to  the  school  in  which  he  has  been  educated,  does  not  prove  either 
that  it  is  inexplicable,  or  that  the  explanation  given  by  another  is  neces- 
sarily correct. 

Psychic  action  is  extremely  subtile  in  all  its  operations,  and  cannot  be 
accurately  judged  by  the  senses,  or  by  any  process  of  reasoning  that  in- 
volves the  modes  of  action  that  relate  to  sensation.  Therein  lies  both  the 
difficulty  and  the  danger  to  one  who,  for  the  first  time,  undertakes  to  sat- 
isfy himself  as  to  the  causes  and  reasons  for  the  phenomena  just  recog- 
nized. If  he  trusts  his  ordinary  senses  at  all,  he  is  misled  as  to  the  nature 
of  what  has  transpired,  and  inevitably  forms  conclusions  which  arc  wrong, 
no  matter  how  plausible  they  may  seem  either  to  himself  or  others; 
while,  if  he  rejects  sense-evidence,  without  having  acquired  sufficient 
knowledge  of  his  psychic  faculties,  he  is  at  sea  without  a  compass,  and 

drifts  helplessly  with  the  tide  of  the  first  explanation  offered. 

214 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  216 

Psychic  action  is  just  as  easy  to  interpret  and  understand  as  conscious 
mental  operations  or  physical  action,  if  it  is  approached  rightly  and  ex- 
amined under  its  own  laws.  To  do  this,  we  must  first  leave  behind  us  all 
direct  sense-action,  as  out  of  the  realm  of  our  present  observations.  Next, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  different  laws  necessitate  correspondingly 
different  judgment,  based  upon  higher  and  finer  activities  involved  in  the 
Dew  experience. 

The  main  difficulty  which  each  one  meets  with  in  interpretation  of  un- 
familiar phenomena,  lies  in  the  perhaps  natural  tendency  to  judge  by 
previous  experience,  and  possibly  sometimes  with  a  hope  that  the  new 
experience  may  substantiate  some  previously  formed  theory,  therefore^ 
prejudice  and  personal  opinions  must  go  overboard  at  once. 

All  psychic  action  belongs  to  the  realm  of  mind  or  soul,  and  these  are 
lot  subject  to  any  of  the  limits  of  body  or  senses.  Recognition  of  this  one 
iact  alone  will  do  much  to  remove  the  prejudice  held  against  the  range  of 
powers  of  the  psychic  faculties. 

When  the  fact  is  recognized  that  two  people,  whose  physical  mechan- 
isms were  a  hundred  miles  apart  at  the  time  of  the  experience,  have  ex- 
changed ideas  on  a  given  topic,  it  is  common  to  hear  quite  conflicting 
spinions  about  how  it  occurred.  One  insists  that  his  brother  came  to 
Ww,  or  appeared  in  the  particular  physical  location  where  his  body  then 
was;  and  his  evidence  is,  that  "  he  saw  his  brother  "!  and  Where,  if  not 
'here?  Another  knoufs  he  "  left  his  body  "  and  went  sonicivhere,  and  actu- 
ally saw  the  material  things  present  with  his  psychic  conferee.  Yet  another 
is  firmly  convinced  that  some  spirit-being  brought  information  to  him, 
It  the  place  where  he  then  held  the  idea  of  himself  as  definitely  located  in 
I  physical  body.  Experience  usually  shows  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  any 
>ne  of  these  to  yield  a  point  on  his  opinion,  and  make  a  fair  examination 
>f  the  facts;  yet  it  is  probable  that  each  one  is  wrong  in  his  conclusions. 
Jut,  if  each  would  set  aside  the  factor  of  "  limitation  "  in  the  action  of 
nind,  understanding  that  it  is  absolutely  free  of  all  bodily  restraints,  he 
nay  see  that  location  is  not  a  factor,  and  time  is  unknown  in  the  soul's  oper- 
tions;  consequently,  each  is  present  in  every  place  where  his  conscious- 
ess  thinks  and  recognizes  itself  or  others,  and  that  it  is,  after  all,  a  matter 
f  change  of  consciousness  rather  than  of  time  or  location. 

The  same  unlimited  freedom  applies  to  every  phase  of  mental  action, 


\ 


216  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

and  to  every  psychic  faculty;  hence,  a  state  of  consciousness  may  present 
itself,  be  presented,  or  appear  before  another  either  as  an  object  or  a  per- 
son; as  an  act  or  an  actor;  and  the  deluded  (because  ignorant)  mind  of 
the  beholder  may  give  color  to  the  action,  shape  to  the  object,  or  in- 
dividuality to  the  seeming  person,  according  to  his  own  subconscious  in- 
clinations, while  he  seems  to  be  simply  looking  on  and  observing  what 
another  is  doing.  Psychic  action  is  usually  recognized  in  sense-judgment 
as  inverted.  There  are  a  thousand  and  one  ways  in  which  the  deluded 
sense-reasoner  may  be  psychically  deceived,  even  while  he  is  obsennng 
actual  phenomena  which  are  of  the  greatest  moment  for  him  to  understand. 
The  unlimited  freedom  of  the  soul,  and  of  the  psychic  faculties  of  mind 
is  the  key  to  such  knowledge. 


TELEPATHY  THROUGH  LOVE. 

"  During  the  course  of  my  ministry,  and  especially  of  recent  years,  I 
have  been  moved  to  certain  actions  for  which  there  seemed  no  reason,  and 
which  I  only  performed  under  the  influei)ce  of  a  sudden  impulse,"  writes 
Ian  Maclaren  in  the  Independent  "  As  often  as  I  yielded  to  this  inward 
guidance,  and  before  the  issue  was  determined,  my  mind  had  a  sense  of 
relief  and  satisfaction ;  and  in  all  distinct  and  important  cases  my  course 
was  in  the  end  most  fully  justified. 

"  It  was  my  privilege,  before  I  came  to  Sefton  Park  Church,  to  serve 
as  colleague  with  a  venerable  minister,  to  whom  I  was  sincerely  attached, 
and  who  showed  me  much  kindness.  We  both  felt  the  separation  keenly, 
and  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence,  while  this  good  and  affectionate 
man  followed  my  work  with  spiritual  interest  and  constant  prayer.  WTjen 
news  came  one  day  that  he  was  dangerously  ill,  it  was  natural  that  his 
friend  should  be  gravely  concerned,  and,  as  the  days  of  anxiety  grew,  that 
the  matter  should  take  firm  hold  of  the  mind.  It  was  a  great  relief  to 
learn,  toward  the  end  of  the  week,  that  the  sickness  had  abated;  and  when, 
on  Sunday  morning,  a  letter  came  with  strong  and  final  assurance  of  r^ 
covery,  the  strain  was  quite  relaxed,  and  I  did  my  duty  at  morning  service 
with  a  light  heart.  During  the  afternoon  my  satisfaction  began  to  fail, 
and  I  grew  uneasy  till,  by  evening  service,  the  letter  of  the  morning  count- 
ed for  nothing.  After  returning  home  my  mind  was  torn  with  anxiety 
and  I  became  most  miserable,  fearing  that  this  good  man  was  still  in  dan- 
ger, and,  it  might  be,  near  unto  death.  Gradually  the  conviction  deepened, 
and  took  hold  of  me  that  he  was  dying,  and  that  I  would  never  sec  him 
again;  till  at  last  it  was  laid  on  me  that  if  I  hoped  to  receive  his  blessing  1 
must  make  haste,  and,  by  and  by,  that  I  had  better  go  at  once.  It  did  not 
seem  as  if  I  had  now  any  choice,  and  I  certainly  had  no  longer  any  doubt; 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  217 

so,  having  written  to  break  two  engagements  for  Monday,  I  left  at  mid- 
night for  Glasgow.  On  arrival,  I  rode  rapidly  to  the  well-known  house, 
and  was  in  no  way  astonished  that  the  servant  who  opened  the  door  should 
be  weeping  bitterly,  for  the  fact  that  word  had  come  from  that  very  house 
that  all  was  going  well  did  not  now  weigh  one  grain  against  my  own  in- 
ward knowledge. 

**  *  He  had  a  relapse  yesterday  afternoon,  and  he  is — dying  now.'  No 
one  in  the  room  seemed  surprised  that  I  should  have  come,  although  they 
had  not  sent  for  me,  and  I  held  my  reverend  father's  hand  till  he  fell  asleep, 
in  about  twenty  minutes.  He  was  beyond  speech  when  I  came,  but,  as  we 
believed,  recognized  me  and  was  content.  My  night's  journey  was  a  pious 
act,  for  which  I  thanked  God,  and  my  absolute  conviction  is  that  I  was 
guided  to  its  performance  by  spiritual  influence." 

'*  Some  years  ago  I  was  at  work  one  forenoon  in  my  study,  and  was 
ver>'  busy  when  my  mind  became  distracted,  and  I  could  not  think  out  my 
sermon.  Some  short  time  before,  a  brother  minister,  whom  I  knew  well 
and  greatly  respected,  had  suffered  from  dissension  in  his  congregation, 
and  had  received  our  sincere  sympathy.  He  had  not,  however,  been  in 
my  mind  that  day,  but  now  I  found  myself  unable  to  think  of  anything  else. 
My  imagination  began  to  work  in  the  case  till  I  seemed  in  the  midst  of  the 
circumstances  as  if  I  were  the  sufferer.  Very  soon  a  suggestion  arose, 
and  grew  into  a  commandment,  that  I  should  offer  to  take  a  day's  duty  for 
my  brother.  Nothing  remained  but  to  submit  to  this  mysterious  dicta- 
tion, and  compose  a  letter  as  best  one  could  till  the  question  of  date  arose. 
There  I  paused  and  waited,  when  an  exact  day  came  up  before  my  mind, 
and  so  I  concluded  the  letter.  It  was,  however,  too  absurd  to  send;  and 
so,  having  rid  myself  of  this  irrelevancy,  I  threw  the  letter  into  the  fire,  and 
set  to  work  again ;  but  all  day  I  was  haunted  by  the  idea  that  my  brother 
needed  my  help.  In  the  evening  a  letter  came  from  him,  written  that  very 
forenoon,  explaining  that  it  would  be  a  great  service  to  him  and  his  people 
if  I  could  preach  some  Sunday  soon  in  his  church,  and  that,  owing  to  cer- 
tain circumstances,  the  service  would  be  doubled  if  I  could  come  on  such 
and  such  a  day ;  and  it  was  my  date.  My  course  was  perfectly  plain,  and 
I  at  once  accepted  his  invitation  under  a  distinct  sense  of  a  special  call,  and 
my  only  regret  was  that  I  had  not  posted  my  first  letter." 


LETTERS. 

Butte,  Montana,  March  24,  1898. 
To  Leaxder  Edmund  Whipple. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  explanation  of  dreams  in  your  journal,  vol.  vii.. 
Xo.  I,  December,  1897,  is  good.  I  must  ask  you  to  be  kind  enough  to 
read  (publish  if  you  wish)  the  following  dream,  that  did  come  true,  as  one 
of  the  mysteries  of  dream  psychology  : 

"  On  the  eighth  day  of  June,  1886, 1  had  a  dream.     I  had  been  ill  with 


218  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

a  fever,  and  sleepless  with  pain  the  preceding  night.  Toward  morning  I 
fell  asleep  for  a  minute.  During  that  brief  sleep  I  thought  I  received  a 
letter  containing  a  check  for  four  hundred  dollars.  The  letter  and  check 
were  from  a  lawyer  of  a  neighboring  city,  seventy-five  miles  distant  I,  or 
my  mind,  recognized  the  check  as  one  of  a  well-known  banking  house  of 
that  city.  I  recognized  the  handwriting  of  the  lawyer,  which  was  wdl 
known  to  me.  I  knew  the  import  of  the  contents  of  the  letter,  though  I 
did  not  afterward  recall  the  reading  of  the  letter  as  one  reads  a  letter  when 
awake;  I  saw  clearly  the  figures  denoting  the  amount  for  which  the  check 
was  drawn,  and  knew  why  it  was  sent.  I  at  once  awoke  and  muttered  to 
myself,  "  that's  pretty  good,"  then  tried  to  rest  and  sleep  again,  and 
thought  no  more,  at  the  time,  about  the  dream.  In  the  morning,  after  ris- 
ing and  partly  dressing,  and  while  resting  in  my  chair,  a  neighbor's  little 

girl,  Miss  C Y ,  now  living  here,  came  in  to  inquire  after  me. 

I  asked  her  to  go  to  the  office  to  get  my  mail,  but  had  no  thought  of  the 
dream.  She  returned  with  several  letters  and  some  papers.  Glancing  at 
the  former  I,  at  first,  took  one  to  be  a  returned  letter,  as  I  thought  I  had 
seen  it  before,  but  at  once  I  saw  it  was  not  "  returned,"  and,  on  the  corner 
of  the  envelope,  I  recognized  the  office-stamp  of  the  lawyer  referred  to  in 
my  dream.     The  dream  at  once  recurred  to  me,  and  I  said  to  the  little  girl 

at  my  elbow,   "  Hello,  C ,  Tve  got  a  check  in  this  letter  for  four 

hundred  dollars,  now  see  if  I  haven't."  Thereupon,  opening  the  letter,  I 
found  the  check  for  the  exact  sum.  I  w^as  not  expecting  the  check,  nor  a 
letter  from  the  lawyer.  The  following  are  the  pre-existing  facts  leading 
up  to  the  letter  and  check  :  Ten  years  before,  I  had  placed  in  the  hands  of 
this  lawyer  a  note  of  hand  for  a  certain  sum  bearing  interest  until  paid. 
The  party  giving  the  note  was  a  mine-owner  of  unproductive  mines.  He 
had  never  been  able  to  pay,  and  the  note  had  long  been  outlawed.  For  a 
number  of  years  I  had  given  up  expectation  of  payment,  and  for  probably 
two  years  I  had  not  thought  of  it.  But  the  miner  finally  made  sale  of  a 
mine  for  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  lawyer,  aforesaid,  trans- 
acted the  business  for  him,  and  managed  to  collect  the  outlawed  note  and 
interest.  I  had  not  been  informed  of  the  sale,  nor  of  the  likelihood  of  it: 
so  that  there  were  no  notices  calculated  to  bring  the  matter  to  my  mind 
previous  to  the  dream.  But  had  I  known  that  the  sale  was  to  take  place, 
and  that  my  note  would  be  collected,  I  could  not  have  guessed,  it  is  likely, 
within  one  hundred  dollars  of  the  amount  I  might  receive.  For,  to  be  ex- 
act, the  note  was  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  the  interest,  to- 
gether with  the  principal,  amounted  to  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars. The  lawyer  said  in  his  letter  that  he  retained  a  good  fee  for  himself. 
I  do  not  now  know  how  much  he  collected.  At  the  hour  of  mv  dream  the 
letter  containing  the  check  was  at  a  mailing  station  fifty  miles  distant,  and 
midway  between  the  mailing  office  and  the  receiving  office.  I  at  once 
wrote  to  my  lawyer  acknowledging  receipt  and  telling  him  of  my  dream. 
This  dream  was  clearly  a  prevision.     In  the  dream,  the  letter  as  to  its 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  219 

general  contents,  the  envelope,  the  stamps,  and  peculiar  marks,  the  color 
of  the  check  peculiar  to  the  bank  issuing  it,  and  the  exact  figures,  were  as 
really  seen  as  a  few  hours  later  were  the  real  letter  and  check.  I  do  not 
know  that  my  mind  left  its  natural  dwelling-place  in  the  brain  cells  in  that 
moment  of  sleep  and  entered  a  mail  sack  at  a  station  fifty  miles  distant, 
and  there  saw  the  letter  and  its  contents  and  nothing  more.  I  likewise  re- 
ject the  idea  of  any  **  spiritual  agent "  outside  of  myself  presenting  the 
matter  to  me  in  the  form  of  receiving  the  letter  and  check  before  actually 
receiving  them.  The  idea  that  the  mind  of  the  lawyer  communicated  with 
my  mind  in  that  instant  of  sleep  the  intelligence  of  the  letter  and  its  con- 
tents is  too  vague  and  fanciful.  If  the  Universe  is  an  ethereal  ocean  of  live 
intelligence  of  all  things,  enveloping  all  things,  with  here  and  there  minute 
islands  of  Forms,  where  the  conscious  element  of  individual  being  local- 
izes and  develops,  becomes  capable  of  growth  and  cultivation,  at  some 
moment  in  the  soul's  existence,  when  physical  being  has  least  restraint 
upon  it,  it,  the  mental  soul,  may  strike  in  intellectual  sympathy  with  the 
Ethereal  Whole,  the  All  Intelligence,  and  have  prophetic  vision,  at  least, 
of  that  which  is  near  to  it  and  its  own.  This  fancy  may  be  as  fanciful, 
though  not  as  vague,  as  the  third  rejection  above,  but  after  long  study  and 
many  exclusions,  it  is  the  only  theory  that  offers  to  my  mind  any  explana- 
tion of  such  dream  previsions."  L.  E.  Holmes,  M.D. 


U.  S.  Arsenal,  Augusta,  Ga.,  February  i,  1898. 
Mr.  Leander  E.  Whipple. 

Dear  Sir  :  On  the  27th  ultimo,  an  old  lady  and  gentleman  were  sitting 
at  their  fireside  conversing,  when  the  lady,  on  looking  out  of  the  window, 
saw  approaching  the  house  two  men  carrying  what  seemed  to  be  a 
medium-sized  box  between  them.  She  could  even  see  the  burnished 
handles  in  the  bright  moonlight.  Calling  her  husband,  he,  too,  saw  the 
same  picture,  and,  thinking  it  was  his  boy  coming  home  with  a  visitor, 
they  both  went  to  the  door  to  receive  them.  On  stepping  out  on  the  front 
porch,  both  saw  the  men  and  box  standing  a  little  distance  from  the  comer 
of  the  house  under  a  large,  old  cedar  tree.  The  lady,  thinking  it  was  her 
son,  called  to  him  by  name,  and  suddenly,  as  if  the  earth  had  opened  and 
swallowed  them  up,  both  men  and  box  disappeared,  and  the  cedar  tree 
shook  as  if  it  had  been  struck  by  a  whirlwind.  The  parties  in  connection 
with  this  strange  occurrence  are  close  friends  of  mine,  and  strictly  reliable. 
The  old  gentleman  up  to  this  time  was  a  confirmed  sceptic,  sneering  at 
an\'thing  touching  on  the  supernatural,  but  this  strange  scene  has  made 
such  an  impression  on  him  that  he  is  now  convinced  of  the  existence  of 
living  forces  beyond  the  vale  of  earthly  environment.  Although  I  am  not 
far  advanced  in  the  study  of  the  occult,  my  theory  in  this  connection  is, 
that  this  strange  appearance  is  a  reactionary  presentation  of  a  similar 
scene  enacted  by  those  two  men  when  on  the  material  plane,  and  repro- 
duced under  favorable  conditions  on  the  spiritual,  or  ethereal,  plane. 

Respectfully,  P.  J.  Ford. 


220  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

The  life  of  Arthur  Frazier,  one  of  the  crew  t)f  the  Eliza  S.  Foster,  the 
fisherman  recently  in  from  the  Grand  Banks,  was  saved  by  a  dream. 

One  day  when  he  was  out  in  a  dory  there  was  a  strong  northwest 
wind,  and  a  heavy  fog  shut  down,  and  hid  his  ship  from  view.  He  was 
making  for  the  vessel  with  a  load  of  fish  when  a  heavy  sea  boarded  his 
dory,  carrying  away  one  of  his  oars,  and  nearly  making  his  boat  unsea- 
worthy.  This  left  him  in  a  helpless  condition,  and  he  was  at  the  mercy  of 
the  wind  and  waves.  He  yelled  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The  men  on 
board  heard  his  cries,  but  could  not  see  him,  or  understand  what  he  saiA 
They  could  hear  him  as  his  voice  grew  weaker  and  fainter,  till  nothing 
could  be  heard  but  the  mournful  wind  whistling  through  the  rigging, 
He  did  not  return  that  night,  and  the  wind  blew  almost  a  gale. 

In  the  morning  the  wind  was  strong,  and  the  fog  hung  low.  No  sign 
of  Frazier  could  be  seen.  There  was  a  large  fleet  of  vessels  from  different 
parts  of  the  world — France,  Portugal,  Ireland,  and  America — and,  when 
Frazier  failed  to  return  members  of  his  crew  went  among  the  nearby  ones 
and  reported  a  man  lost.  Not  one  had  heard  from  him.  At  about  noon 
the  sun  came  out  and  pushed  the  clouds  of  fog  away,  but  the  wind  held  to 
the  same  point. 

The  Foster  hoisted  the  flag  to  half-mast  to  give  notice  to  the  fleet  of  a 
missing  man.  The  custom  is  in  such  cases  that,  should  the  man  be  on  any 
other  of  the  fleet,  an  answer  of  flag  at  half-mast  is  given.  No  answer  came 
all  the  afternoon,  the  flag  still  held  that  position,  and  the  wind  kept  up  at 
almost  a  gale.  That  night  passed,  no  Frazier  appeared,  and,  during  the 
night,  the  wind  shifted  two  points  to  southward. 

Next  morning  it  was  back  to  northwest  again.  Frazier  was  given  up 
as  lost.  It  was  supposed  that  the  dory  was  capsized  when  his  calls  were 
heard,  so  the  men  resumed  work,  with  a  feeling  of  sorrow,  for  Frazier  ^*as 
the  life  of  the  crew,  and  kept  them  in  constant  laughter. 

At  about  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  as  the  cook  was  scanning  the 
horizon  with  a  glass,  he  noticed  a  black  speck  in  the  ocean.  He  told  the 
captain  and  crew,  and  asked  them  to  look.  They  did  so.  One  man  said 
it  was  a  whale,  another  thought  it  was  a  ship,  and  so  on.  The  cook  and 
John  White,  who  were  the  close  friends  of  Frazier,  believed  it  must  be  he, 
and  proposed  to  lower  a  boat  and  go  to  meet  him. 

Both  men  had  had  an  odd  dream  the  night  before.  The  cook  dreamed 
that  Frazier  had  lost  an  oar,  and  that  the  wind  had  borne  him  away,  and 
he  said  he  was  called  out  of  a  sound  sleep  by  Frazier,  who  said  :  **  Doo*t 
give  me  up.  I'm  beating  back."  White  said  his  dream  was  that  Fraiier 
had  broken  his  right  arm  and  could  use  only  one  oar;  that  he  was  alive 
and  hungry  in  mid-ocean.  Both  men,  on  comparing  notes,  found  that 
they  were  awakened  on  the  same  instant  by  Frazier  calling  them  and  tell- 
ing them,  "  For  heaven's  sake,  take  a  dory  and  come  to  leeward! " 

When  they  saw  this  speck  on  the  ocean,  they  lowered  a  dor}\  in  spite 
of  the  jeers  of  some  others  of  the  crew,  and  put  off.     They  rowed  in  the 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  221 

irection  of  the  dot,  and  soon  were  out  of  sight  themselves,  for  a  heavy 
>g  had  shut  from  view  the  ship,  but  not  the  little  tattered  sail  ahead.  At 
o'clock  they  reached  a  boat  that  was  beating  against  the  mind,  and,  sure 
nough,  it  was  Frazier.  He  was  in  the  stern,  using  the  oar  as  a  tiller.  It 
.as  just  as  they  had  dreamed.  He  had  but  one  oar,  and  his  arm  was  dis- 
bled  from  a  blow  received  in  fitting  the  main  boom. 

He  was  in  a  frightful  condition.  He  didn't  appear  to  notice  the  boat 
ill  they  were  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  him.  Then  White  yelled  to 
•"razier,  and  the  latter  fainted  away  with  joy.  His  boat  began  drifting, 
nd  the  other  oar  went  over  the  rail.  It  was  quite  a  race,  but  the  rescuers 
oon  overtook  the  dory,  and  took  the  man  to  their  own  boat,  and,  letting 
he  other  dory  go  to  sea,  they  made  for  the  ship. 

That  night  there  was  intense  excitement  aboard  ship.  There  were 
hree  men  missing  now.  Fog-horns  were  blown  and  bells  rung  till  a  late 
lour,  and  then,  as  if  the  last  hope  for  their  return  had  been  given  up,  the 
loise  all  died  away.  The  trio  in  the  boat,  who  had  neared  the  ship,  now 
ould  hear  the  talking  on  board,  but  they  could  not  make  themselves  heard 
gainst  the  wind.  All  night  long  did  they  beat  their  way  against  the  wind, 
heir  only  hope  being  to  hold  the  same  position  till  daybreak. 

As  the  day  dawned,  the  fog  having  lifted,  they  were  surprised  to  find 
hat  they  had  passed  the  ship,  and  were  about  three  miles  to  windward,  but 
he  fleet  was  in  sight.  There  was  no  difliculty  in  getting  back  to  the  ship, 
v'here  they  were  taken  aboard.  Frazier  was  nearly  exhausted  for  want  of 
cx)d  and  water. 

Old  sailors  say  that  not  one  man  in  10,000  would  have  had  presence 
>f  mind  to  beat  against  the  wind  in  such  a  case  with  no  compass  aboard. — 
hston  Journal. 

THE  FAMED  ELIXIR.* 

"  Life's  enchanted  cup  but  sparkles  near  the  brim  " — Byron  sang  of 
he  mortal,  but  we  sing  of  the  immortal — Byron  spake  of  man,  but  we  talk 
rf  the  god. 

In  the  veins  of  earth's  subjects  there  runs  a  liquid  called  blood, 
hrough  those  of  the  Olympians  gushed  a  fluid  called  ichor. 

When  Solomon  founded  his  temple,  at  the  innermost  shrine  were  whis- 
>ered  secrets,  and  the  never-dying  echo  of  the  whisper  has  struck  softly 
m  the  car  of  the  incarnate  nineteenth  century. 

Since  man  caught  at  life,  as  its  own  object;  since  the  mortal  discovered 
he  god;  since  the  creatures  realized  the  inward  creator;  since  humanity 
k*as  found  drowned  in  immortality — from  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
temity  out-distances  time,  man  has  taken  the  kingdom  of  the  stars  with 
he  stormy  challenge  of  his  eyes,  while  his  feet  sank  ankle  deep  in  the  ex- 

*  Copyright  X89S,  by  D.  P.  Hatch,  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.     All  rights  resenred.     By  per- 
ion  from  adTUoed  slwets  of  *'  Some  More  Philosophy  of  the  Hermetics.  '* 


222  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

crescence  of  earth.  Man  demands,  and  in  the  very  helplessness  of  his 
cry  there  is  a  ring  of  authority  which  calls  for  a  responsive  yea  frcrni  the 
heart  of  Being  itself. 

Man  has  outdone  the  beast  in  beastliness,  whereby  Olympic  Zeus  has 
discovered  in  him  a  rival  formidable.  Man's  potency  to  vie  with  the  devil 
implies  capacity  to  compete  with  a  god. 

But  the  famed  Elixir  !     The  dream  of  dreams  ! 

The  Moslem  faces  Mecca,  the  Jew  Jerusalem;  Eldorado  is  painted  on 
the  sunset  sky,  and  the  miscalled  atheist  dips  himself  in  the  limpid  stream 
of  the  Sierra.  Hope,  with  her  six  heads  and  twelve  feet,  who  sits  on  the 
rock  of  Scylla,  is  watching  still,  and  the  corpses  of  the  shipwrecked  float 
faces  upward  on  the  sea.  « 

An  endless  siege  means  victory.  Faith  prolonged  brings  the  moun- 
tain to  Mohammed,  and  the  stars  out  of  space  to  the  children  of  earth;2ye, 
more,  man  wrests  immortality  from  the  g^m  grip  of  mortality,  and  takes 
the  crest  of  Olympus  by  storm.  The  holy  Mount  is  not  limited  to  the 
twelve  originals.  With  the  gods  man  becomes  one,  for  their  food  is  am- 
brosia and  their  drink  is  elixir. 

But  why  these  metaphors  and  similes?  Can  you  not  use  plain  Saxon, 
you  ask ;  can  you  not  lay  bare  the  heart  of  truth  that  we  may  see  it  beat? 
We  answer  yes,  and  no.  He  that  hath  eyes  to  see  will  see,  but  it  requires 
a  trained  lens.  The  sailor  can  distinguish  a  sail  from  a  patch  of  cload, 
when  the  landsman  is  blind.  The  heart  of  truth  is  so  subtle  and  refined, 
so  microscopic  in  construction,  so  far-reaching  in  vibration,  so  invisible 
to  the  eye  of  sense,  so  palpable  to  the  eye  of  mind,  so  electric,  so  calm,  that 
he  only,  who  responds  to  its  thrill,  can  read  its  meaning.  We  might  tell 
you  in  gross  words  what  the  elixir  is,  and  you  would  bandage  your  eyes  in 
horror,  and  stop  your  ears  in  disgust.  We  mi^ht  explain  to  you  the 
chemistry  of  being,  and  you  would  seek  your  closet  to  pray  for  our  be- 
nighted souls.  We  must  touch  you  with  gloved  hands,  for  you  suspect 
leprosy;  we  must  use  a  poet's  vocabulary,  for  you  fear  obscenity;  we 
must  come  to  you  steeped  in  incense,  for  your  nostrils  scent  decay;  we 
must  insulate  truth  under  guise  of  a  harmless  snake — though  it  in  no 
other  sense  resembles  a  dove — for  you  dread  inoculation.  Should  we 
speak  plain  words,  you  would  translate  them  into  your  own  soul's  lan- 
guage, which  grossness  we  desire  to  avoid.  So  we  wrap  the  white  naked- 
ness of  Truth  in  veils,  the  first,  the  second,  the  third,  lest  you  mistake  a 
virgin  for  a  harlot. 

Have  you  observed  the  bounding  step  of  youth,  the  exuberance  oi 
life,  and  the  preponderance  of  motion  over  rest.  Dawn  swallows  night 
for  its  breakfast,  and  youth  makes  a  light  meal  of  death.  But  why?  Mark 
you  these  words:  Virginity  is  insatiate,  and  life  is  its  pabulum.  Virgin- 
ity is  creative,  and,  like  Saturn,  devours  its  own  children.  Virginity 
knows  naught  of  age,  but  has  unconsciously  or  consciously  the  grasp  on 
"  The  One  Thing."    Virginity  is  never  dwarfed  by  habit,  but  sees  with 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  223 

en  eyes  the  thing  it  would  capture,  though  it  zigzags  in  the  chase.  The 
gin  bathes  herself  in  the  dew  and  drinks  at  the  fountain  spring;  she  has 
ange  gifts,  her  sight  is  clairvoyant,  her  touch  heals  the  sick.  But  the 
gin  who  conceives  a  Christ  is  pure,  not  alone  in  body,  but  in  heart.  Her 
mght  is  on  the  plane  of  life;  she  walks  on  the  mountain  ridges,  and 
3ids  the  valley  of  death.     Thus  we  speak — interpret  you  who  can. 

The  soul  has  wings,  but,  when  man  clips.  Psyche  drags  her  plumes, 
ail  !  !  the  plumes  will  grow  again.  Bury  the  shears  in  damp  earth, 
d  let  them  rust.  Psyche  comes  with  the  birds  and  bees,  and  sucks  the 
)ples  of  the  plants;  Psyche  bathes  with  Diana  in  the  running  brook, 
d  poises  on  wing  near  the  bosom  of  earth ;  she  trades  love  glances  with 
ipid,  and  kneels  at  the  shrine  of  Urania  Venus. 

The  soul  is  prolific,  and  when  it  moulds  in  matter  its  fingers  are  dainty. 

But  the  famed  elixir!  You  accuse  us  of  evading.  Let  us  reiterate  a 
K'  plain  words.  Be  assured  that  as  certainly  as  you  have  the  potentiality 
the  devil  in  you,  you  also  have  the  capacity  of  the  god. 

The  pairs  are  but  two  poles  of  being,  and  when  Lucifer  left  heaven 

fell  far.  Descent  implies  a  height  to  scale,  but  where  is  the  ladder  of 
cob  which  the  angels  walk  up  and  down?  Take  a  lesson  from  the 
ider;  her  resource  is  in  herself.  From  her  innermost  recesses  of  being 
e  finds  substance  for  prolongation  of  her  life  through  the  building  of 
ires:  she  spins  the  fairy  web,  which  bleaches  in  the  sun  to  a  thing  of  art. 
e  bridges  space  with  exudation  of  herself,  and  swings  back  and  forth 
the  air  on  the  materialized  essence  of  her  own  being.  Do  you  take  the 
It?    Can  you  not  build  the  fairy  house  of  self  out  of  self's  exuberance? 

conserve  and  transform  the  life  essence  of  a  soul,  virgin  in  intent,  is  to 
re  the  famed  elixir  in  the  holy  of  holies,  where  only  the  poet-priest  may 
er. 

The  fruits  of  a  virgin  soil  are  beyond  compare.  Have  you  ever 
amed  of  Eden,  where  flowers  were  rank,  and  earth  teemed  with  life; 
ere  to  wish  was  to  be,  and  to  will  was  to  do?  Have  vou  heard  of  a 
radise  where  the  air  swarmed  with  houris,  and  the  sea  with  nymphs:  of 
lorado,  whose  voluptuous  luxury  knew  no  profanation  of  plow  or  har- 
v,  but  whose  spontaneous  verdure  was  but  the  natural  outcome  of  a 
iserved  and  transformed  energy?  Have  you  read  of  men  who  revivi- 
1  others  with  their  touch ;  men  whom  time  passed  over,  and  who  gave 
life  with  the  glow  of  youth  still  on  their  cheeks  after  centuries  of  living? 

have  you  reversely,  in  the  shadow  of  a  shaft  which  rose  in  cold  scorn  at 

head  of  a  tomb,  shivered  and  dreamed  of  the  sterile  soil  where  Adam 
I  Eve  wandered  after  the  gates  were  guarded  by  the  angel  with  the 
Tiing  sword?  Have  you  thought  of  an  inferno  pictured  by  a  Dante, 
o  dipped  his  pen  in  blood?  Have  you  conjured  a  death  valley  which 
ead  its  skeletons  at  the  very  foot  of  a  Sierra,  whose  fern-covered  niches 
re  watered  by  perpetual  springs? 

Ah  !  the  shaft  which  marks  a  mortal's  grave  cuts  the  sun  in  twain,  and 


224  THE   METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

draws  a  band  of  black  across  heaven's  bosom,  that  outlasts  the  mourner's 
crepe. 

Remember  in  self  are  seeds  of  life  and  death ;  the  crop  will  prove  the 
planting. 

Would  you  have  perfumed  flowers  on  the  tree  of  life,  rather  than  a 
fruit  that  another  eats,  cut  off  the  opening  buds;  they  will  grow  again, 
again,  again,  in  their  ceaseless  effort  to  fruit;  and  the  air  will  be  redolent 
with  perfume,  while  the  eye  of  man  gloats  on  beauty,  and  Psyche  eats  the 
pollen  and  drinks  the  dew. 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 

THEOSOPHY  APPLIED.      Four  Lectures.     By  Lilian  Edgcr,  M.A.     Boards, 
134  pp.     The  **  Theosophist "  Office,  Adyar,  Madras,  India. 

This  little  volume  embodies  four  lectures  delivered  by  Miss  Edger  before  the 
Theosophical  Society  at  Adyar,  Madras,  at  their  Twenty-second  Annual  Convcntioo. 
The  themes  arc  :  The  practical  applications  of  Theosophy  to  Religion— To  the 
Home — To  Society — To  the  State,  and  teem  with  metaphysical  thought.  The  in- 
telligent reader  will  find  much  in  these  practical  discourses  to  interest  and  inspire. 

VICTOR  SERENUS.     A  Story  of  the  Pauline  Era.     By  Henry  Wood    Ooih, 
502  pp.,  $1.50.     Lee  &  Shepard,  Boston,  Mass. 

When  the  spiritual  insight,  philosophy,  and  wealth  of  imagination  of  such  a 
mind  as  Henry  Wood's  is  employed  in  the  creation  of  a  work  of  fiction  like  this,  the 
interest  is  certainly  well  assured.  Paul  of  Tarsus,  with  his  wonderful  experiences, 
is  always  a  figure  of  prominent  interest.  His  character  is  here  delineated  with  soch 
power  and  grace  of  imagery,  that  the  reader  is  carried  along  fascinated  to  thccwi. 

With  unimportant  exceptions,  Paul  is  the  only  historic  character,  and  thcvario« 
dramatic  and  psychological  situations  which  are  depicted  during  his  unique  devel- 
opment, are  remarkable.  Victor  Serenus,  and  the  other  personalities  that  are  em- 
ployed, are  representative  characters. 

The  pages  are  replete  with  a  penetrative  impressive  thought,  and  abound  in 
helpful  ideals. 

OTHER  PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

THE   PHILOSOPHER   OF   DRIFTWOOD.     By  Mrs.  Jcnncss  Miller.    Cloth. 
323  pp.    Jenness  Miller  Publications,  Washington,  D.C. 

MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE.  By  Richard  B.  Westbrook,  D.D..  LLB.  Goth, 
1 52  pp.,  60  cents.     The  Metaphysical  Pub.  Co.,  465  Fifth  Ave..  New  York. 

THE  BIBLE— Whence  and  What.  By  Richard  B.  Westbrook,  D.D.,  LL.B. 
Cloth,  232  pp.,  $1.00.  The  Metaphysical  Pub.  Co.,  465  Fifth  Ave.,  Ne« 
York. 

VEDANTA  PHILOSOPHY.  By  James  E.  Phillips.  Paper,  16  pp.,  price  three- 
pence.   J.  E.  Phillips,  34  Solon  Road,  Brixton.  S.  W.,  London. 


THE 


METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


'OL.  VIII.  JULY— AUGUST,  1898.  No.  4. 


THE    MEMORV    OF    PAST    BIRTHS. 

When  reincarnation  is  spoken  of,  one  question  is  invariably  raised 
-If  I  have  lived  before,  why  do  I  not  remember  it  ?  The  de- 
nders  of  reincarnation  almost  invariably  evade  this  question,  or  give 
igue  and  unsatisfactory  answers ;  so  that,  while  almost  everyone 
ho  once  grasps  the  thought  of  successive  lives  on  earth  feels  strongly 
clined  to  adopt  it,  still  this  one  point  has  remained  a  stumbling- 
lock,  and  in  all  the  years  reincarnation  has  been  talked  of  nothing 
^finite  or  to  the  point  has  been  said  as  to  this  really  vital  question. 

The  idea  of  reincarnation  came  to  the  Western  world  only  a  few 
ears  ago.  It  was  first  clearly  presented  in  an  attractive  and  sym- 
^thetic  form  in  the  "Fragments  of  Occult  Truth**  which  Mme. 
lavatsky  published  some  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  back  in  the 
^hiosophist. 

The  idea  in  the  **  Fragments  "  was  this :  To  understand  our  lives,  to 
now  what  lies  before  us  after  death  and  what  lay  behind  us,  before 
irth,  we  must  begin  by  a  better  understanding  of  ourselves.  We 
fe  not  body  only,  but  soul  and  spirit  as  well — the  soul  half  earthly, 
^f  heavenly;  the  spirit,  as  yet,  almost  unknown  to  us. 

The  soul  is  everything  between  the  body  and  the  spirit — the  pas- 

ons,  as  well  as  the  pure  will ;   the  desires,  as  well  as.  the  love  of 

eauty,  and  truth,  and  goodness.     To  the  lower  half  of  the  soul  the 

Fragments'*  gave  the  name:  the  Body  of  Desire,  while  its  higher 

ilf  was  called  the  Mind. 

The  soul  is  drawn  downward  toward  the  body  by  the  Body  of 

225 


1 


226  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Desire,  and  then  the  animal  in  us  comes  out  and  fills  our  lives  with 
passions  and  appetites.  The  soul  is  drawn  upward  toward  the  spirit 
by  its  higher  part ;  then  genius,  and  power,  and  beauty,  and  faith 
arc  developed — the  true  qualities  of  human  life.  In  the  fullness  of 
time,  death  comes.  What  happens  then?  or,  first,  what  has  happened 
at  the  moment  of  death? 

First,  the  body  has  been  separated  from  the  soul ;  the  body,  with 
all  that  network  of  instinctive  and  elemental  powers  in  it,  which  built 
it  up  and  carried  on  its  work  during  life,  and  which  now  pulls  it  to 
pieces  again,  in  dissolution.  But,  when  the  body  is  laid  aside,  the 
soul  is  not  all  pure,  any  more  than  it  was  a  day,  a  month  or  a  year 
before,  while  its  life  still  lasted  on  earth.  The  soul  has  its  worse  half 
still  clinging  to  it,  passions,  pictures  of  lust  and  appetite,  unsatisfied 
longings  for  sensuous  things,  and  the  sins  of  malice,  selfishness  and 
self-love,  which  make  up  so  much  of  ordinary  human  life. 

The  soul  is,  as  it  were,  surfeited  with  these  passions — clogged  like 
a  heavy  feeder  after  too  rich  a  meal.  It  cannot  rise  at  once  to  spir- 
itual life.  Almost  immediately  after  physical  death  the  soul  comes 
to  itself,  rid  of  its  pains  and  sickness,  and  with  a  feeling  of  lightness 
and  vigor,  resembling  the  vigor  of  keen  health  and  high  spirits.  The  ' 
vesture  of  mortality  has  been  laid  aside,  but  there  is  often  no  dear 
consciousness  that  death  has  actually  taken  place,  and  this  only  comes 
after  repeated  attempts  to  talk  to  the  living  people  so  recently  left, 
who  are  still  vividly  present  to  the  person  just  dead. 

Hut  this  vivid  touch  with  earthly  life  lasts  for  a  few  hours  only, 
or  a  few  days  at  most ;  then  the  scenery  round  the  soul  begins  to 
change,  the  passions  and  desires  begin  to  assert  themselves  and  grad- 
ually work  themselves  out  through  a  period  of  purification,  which  is 
at  the  root  of  the  teaching  of  Purgatory.  The  spirit  draws  the  soul 
toward  its  strong,  pure  life ;  but  the  soul,  overburdened  with  pas- 
sions, cannot  at  first  respond.  It  must  gradually  put  off  the  earthly 
desires,  and,  apparently,  is  still  in  contact  with  the  living  world,  in 
the  sense  that  it  has  a  consciousness  of  the  nearness  of  living  people. 
And  the  **  Fragments'*  suggested  that  any  strong  bond  of  affection 
toward  people  still  in  the  world  would  keep  the  soul  of  the  dead  per- 
son close  to  them,  and  CONSCIOUS  OF  them;  and,  so  far  as  it  lay  in 


THE   MEMORY   OF   PAST   BIRTHS.  227 

wer  of  the  soul,  it  would  help  and  protect  the  living  who  were 
[lind. 

en,  in  the  course  of  days,  or  months,  or  years,  according  to  the 
;h  of  its  earthly  desires,  the  soul  shakes  itself  free  from  its 
je  and  puts  off  the  Body  of  Desire.  The  passions  become 
and  are  as  seeds  in  the  dried  and  withered  flower.  The  higher 
the  soul  is  drawn  back  into  the  spirit,  and  the  radiant  power 
rong,  pure  will  of  the  spirit  pour  into  it,  and  breathe  new  life 
jor  into  the  soul's  dreams  of  beauty,  inspirations  of  goodness 
rivings  after  truth.  That  is  the  soul's  great  holiday,  and  day 
eshment,  when  all  the  pains  of  this  our  mortal   life  are  laid 

d  the  **  Fragments'*  further  suggest  that,  as  our  spirits  are  far 
itimately  united  than  our  bodies,  so  the  souls  of  those  who  are 
•ound  together  are  keenly  conscious  of  that  bond  and  union,  in 
rat  rest  they  enter  into,  when  the  Body  of  Desire  is  put  away, 
t  rest  of  the  soul,  the  "Fragments"  gave  the  name  of  De- 
,  a  Tibetan  word  meaning  the  "  Blissful,"  and  one  well  known 
books  of  the  northern  Buddhists.  It  was  the  idea  of  Devachan 
ban  any  other  teaching  which  made  the  fortune  of  the  **  Frag- 
of  Occult  Truth."  There  was  something  in  this  teaching,  at 
»  reasonable  and  so  sublime,  so  unlike  the  material  heavens  of 
irches,  with  their  gold  and  stones,  their  trees  and  rivers,  and 
nething  so  satisfying  to  our  best  aspirations  that  one  could  not 
rlieving  that  something  like  it  must  be  the  truth. 
;  spirit  in  us,  standing  close  to  divinity,  has  a  power,  and  im- 
youth;  an  eternal  vigor,  that  is  the  very  heart  of  joy;  and  a 
id  sweeping  knowledge  that  almost  reaches  omniscience.  As 
il  puts  away  its  garment  of  desires  it  rises  up  to  union  with  the 
1  Devachan,  the  Blissful,  and  is  thrilled  through  and  through 
e  spirit's  exultant  and  immortal  youth.  All  that  the  soul  had 
r  beauty,  and  truth,  and  goodness,  is  kindled  into  rich  and  vig- 
ife ;  all  aspirations  are  satisfied ;  all  hopes  of  heaven  are  f ul- 
all  dreams  of  joy  are  more  than  realized, 
rn  the  soul  bathes  in  the  waters  of  life,  and  is  strengthened 
reshed.     As  the  measure  of  its  aspiration,  so  is  the  measure  of 


228  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

its  reward ;  every  hope  in  it,  every  seed  of  hope,  blossoms  out  int 
perfect  flower,  under  the  sunlight  of  the  spirit  and  its  vivifying  fa 
And  as  the  souls  of  men  are  of  every  different  measure  of  aap 
tion,  so  is  the  Blissful  Rest  different  for  each.  Every  soul  form 
own  Devachan,  through  its  own  powers  and  enei^es,  reinforced  m 
strengthened  by  the  energies  of  the  spirit.  And  that  life  in  Dcvacfc 
is  the  soul's  great  opportunity  to  rise  to  new  aspirations,  to  reca 
new  seeds  of  beauty  and  joy,  which  shall  in  their  turn  blossom  in  A 
time  to  come.  Drawn  thus  close  to  the  spirit,  the  soul  shares  dl 
spirit's  greater  life  and  receives  the  seeds  of  hope,  the  ideals  of  fata 
growth,  which  are  to  guide  and  stimulate  it  when  it  returns  agaii  I 
this  earthly  life. 

But  the  soul  does  not  only  receive  from  the  spirit,  it  also  gives  I 
the  spirit;  brings  to  it  the  harvest  of  its  best  hours  in  life;  tk 
knowledge  it  has  won;  the  sense  of  the  beauty  of  the  world;  d 
sense  of  human  life,  with  its  loves  and  its  efforts;  the  sense  ofti 
well  done,  of  difficulties  overcome.  For  if  the  spirit  soars  aiifd 
above  our  life  it  is  thereby  cut  off  from  many  a  secret  that  cia 
mortal  knows;  and  these  are  the  messages  it  learns  from  thesodl 
return  for  the  power  and   peace  it  breathes  over  the  soul  in  paiadii 

That  paradise  of  peace  and  power  may  last  as  long  as  a  full  hMri 
life ;  it  may  last  thrice  as  long;  no  years  are  given  for  us  to  mcaNl 
it  by,  but  it  will  not  end  until  there  has  come  fullness  of  refftiU|| 
and  a  rest  from  the  memory  of  human  ills. 

The  radiance  of  rest  becomes  slowly  quiescent ;  the  overdnM 
ing  light  and  power  of  the  spirit  become  dim  in  the  soul  vhidi  tj 
drowsed  itself  with  peace,  and  as  the  spirit  draws  away,  the  brcifti 
the  returning  earth  begins  to  stir  and  move  in  these  seeds  of  dol 
which  were  left  when  the  flower  of  the  last  earth  life  withered. 

Gradually  the  earth's  vitality  works  in  these  germs  of  dcaiCtj 
passion,  of  lust,  of  selfishness  and  self-love  till  the  soul  is  ooccfll 
tinged  and  colored  with  them,  and,  like  drawing  to  like,  enters  ii 
more  the  confines  of  the  earth.  There  its  aflfinities  draw  it  tod 
land,  and  class,  and  family  whose  life  is  most  in  harmony  with  its • 
nature;  and,  uniting  itself  to  the  body  of  an  unborn  diild,  itpf 
ently  passes  again  through  the  gates  of  birth.     The  first  seeds 


THE  MEMORY  OF   PAST   BIRTHS.  229 

ly  things  to  come  to  full  life  in  it  are  the  elemental  and  simple 
ers  that  man  shares  with  the  animals,  almost  with  the  plants. 
,  gradually,  the  more  human  side  of  the  soul,  the  passions  as  well 
jpithe  understanding,  come  to  their  growth,  and  a  full  return  to  hu- 
pan  life  is  once  more  made.  Then  come  childhood  and  youth ;  and 
tkcn  once  more,  age  and  death. 

The  **  Fragments  of  Occult  Truth,"  and  the  additions  made  to 
bcm  afterward,  did  a  great  deal  more  than  merely  sketch  this  course 
C  a  single  human  life,  a  single  cycle  of  rebirth.  They  carried  the 
Baching  on  and  applied  it  to  the  whole  of  human  history,  even  sup- 
Eying  chapters  which  we  have  no  knowledge  of,  yet  which  seem  to 
ave  a  certain  rightness  and  reasonableness,  which  we  are  greatly 
bdined  to  admit. 

It  was  said  that  the  whole  development  of  humanity  had  been 
othing  but  the  repeated  rebirths  of  the  same  human  souls;  that  we, 
^lio  now  live  and  breathe  the  vital  airs,  are  the  same  men  and  women 
rlK>  lived  through  the  Middle  Ages,  the  days  of  chivalry  and  religious 
p  in  France,  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  England ;  that  we  are  the  same 
and  women  who  peopled  heathen  Germany,  and  Scandinavia, 
and  Russia  in  the  days  of  Thor,  and  Odin,  and  Perun  ;  that  we  our- 
.  and  no  others,  saw  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Republic,  the  de- 
of  Greece,  the  last  days  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  had, 
,  a  part  in  the  great  transition  that  passed  from  Judea  to  the 
and  Roman  worlds;  that  we  ourselves  played  a  part  in  the 
Ipmrth  of  Greece,  and  Rome,  in  the  glad  old  strenuous  days  of  in- 
lllpintion  and  liberty;  that  we  have  opened  our  eyes  to  the  daylight, 
pp  Assyria  and  Iran,  in  more  ancient  India,  and  Egypt,  and  Chaldea; 
in  older  days,  to  us  very  dim  and  mysterious,  but  bright  enough, 
real  enough,  while  we  actually  lived  them. 
Instead  of  going  back,  as  I  have  done,  the  ''  Fragments  of  Occult 
i^foth"  began  at  the  utmost  horizon  of  the  past  and  came  down  to 
Pparown  days,  outlining  no  less  than  four  great  races,  before  our  own 
Itpochf  and  the  race  which  now  inhabits  the  earth.  The  first  two 
,-fcs  were  dim  and  shadowy  as  forgotten  dreams,  but  growing  grad- 
.nally  more  gross  and  material  as  the  long  ages  went  on.  Finally, 
with  the  third  race,  came  such  material  life  as  we  ourselves  are  used 


230  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

to,  though  much,  even  in  our  purely  animal  nature,  has  been  steadi^ 
modified  and  changed.  Of  this  third  race,  we  were  told,  there  m 
hardly  more  than  a  few  fragments  left,  and  those  debased  to  tk 
utmost  limit  of  degeneration. 

The  fourth  race,  whose  memory  is  still  held  in  the  story  of  Attn 
tis,  the  vanished  continent  now  hidden  beneath  the  waves,  sent  oi 
many  races,  whose  descendants,  mingled  with  offshoots  of  the  eariifl 
third  race,  inhabit  the  lands  and  continents  we  know.  From  th 
mingling  of  the  third  and  fourth  races  came  the  fifth,  our  preseil 
humanity — the  strong,  progressive  members  of  the  race.  Of  prt 
remnants  of  the  fourth  race  there  were,  we  were  told,  a  fewstiOtt 
be  found  among  the  inland  Chinamen,  who,  with  the  flat-headd 
aborigines  of  Australia,  were  relics  and  vestiges  of  a  vanished  past 

The  third  race  had  natures  hardly  yet  fashioned  to  the  mould  d 
humanity  as  we  know  it;  with  them  instinct  had  not  yetbecomepa^ 
sion,  nor  had  the  almost  automatic  acts  of  animal  life  yet  fully changei 
to  conscious  reason.  They  were  blameless,  because  they  had  ool 
reached  any  keen  sense  of  responsibility,  or  even  of  their  own  ind^ 
vidual  lives. 

The  fourth  race  developed  a  strong  individualism,  and  with  itj 
gained  great  power  over  nature :  a  conquest  of  material  forces,  tk| 
metals,  the  powers  of  wood  and  stone,  of  iron  and  silver  and  pJi 
With  these  material  surroundings  came  a  hardening  of  the  ifl>tf; 
nature  also,  and  the  faults  of  selfishness,  of  cruelty,  of  arnHti*! 
And  so  the  fourth  race  fell,  and  Atlantis  sank  in  the  ocean. 

Then  came  the  fifth  race,  with  its  task,  to  rise  again  from  matcrir. 
ism;  to  hold  the  consciousness  of  the  fourth  race  and  theseosecf 
individual  life,  but  without  cruelty  or  too  keen  self-love;  tortj* 
the  innocence  of  the  third  race,  without  its  ignorance,  and  to  add  o** 
powers  and  perfections  undreamed  of  in  the  earlier  world*  In  thatw* 
race  is  our  own  place,  and  that  destiny  is  being  unfolded  among  *^ 

To  the  fifth  race  are  to  follow  others,  each  adding  something »«'' 
and  excellent,  until  mankind  is  perfected;  and  when  this  cycle  of  H< 
is  ended,  and  this  earth  of  ours  is  ended  with  it,  there  arcotW 
greater  cycles  and  nobler  worlds  on  which  wc,  the  self-same  soud» 
are  destined  to  find  our  fuller  growth,  our  larger  joy. 


THE   MEMORY   OF   PAST   BIRTHS.  231 

Thus  the  **  Fragments**  suggested  to  us  our  place  in  a  great  and 
orderly  development,  all  the  races  of  our  planet  filling  parts  in  the 
same  scheme,  each  supplementing  the  others  and  bringing  some 
power,  or  skill,  or  knowledge,  or  instinct  to  the  total  sum,  which 
without  it  would  have  been  by  that  much  deficient. 

Each  of  us,  we  were  told,  had  passed  through  every  race,  and 
time  and  clime;  we  were  the  Chaldeans,  the  Egyptians,  the  Indians; 
we  were  the  ancient  Romans,  the  Greeks,  the  men  of  the  Dark  Ages, 
of  the  Renaissance,  of  modern  days.  And  thus,  once  more,  we  were 
brought  to  the  question :  If  we  really  had  such  ripe  and  abundant 
experience,  how  is  it  that  we  remember  of  it  not  a  single  fragment ; 
not  one  colored  patch  of  the  Nile,  or  the  Euphrates;  not  a  single 
Atlantean  day;   no  memory  of  Babylon,  or  the  Khalifs,  or  Chivalry? 

This  question  was  answered  in  a  sense,  but  the  answer  was  not 
satisfactory,  or,  at  any  rate,  it  had  nothing  like  the  clearness  and 
definiteness  which  won  such  instant  recognition  for  the  teachings  of 
the  **  Fragments,"  especially  when  they  appeared  in  a  volume,  with 
many  additions,  as  '*  Esoteric  Buddhism."  Still,  in  this  great  and 
wonderful  scheme  of  the  races  there  was  much  to  commend  itself 
very  strongly,  even  though  it  could  hardly  be  verified  or  proved  in 
any  positive  way. 

There  was,  first  of  all,  in  proof  of  our  identity  with  the  men  of 
those  old  races,  our  keen  interest  and  understanding  of  their  works 
and  ways;  the  infinite  patience,  the  infinite  eagerness,  with  which  we 
strive  to  decipher  every  fragmentary  sign  and  inscription  they  have 
left;  and  the  fact,  too,  that  we  can  decipher  these  old  sign-pictures, 
though  they  seem  obscure  as  the  riddles  of  the  gods.  Everything  in 
the  life  of  all  races  and  all  times  is  vividly  akin  to  us;  even  the  holi- 
day crowds  in  the  museums  are  constantly  bearing  witness  to  our 
affinity  with  the  days  and  the  lands  that  are  dead. 

Then  again,  the  scheme  of  the  **  Fragments  '*  made  more  intelli- 
gible the  lingering  presence  of  low  and  abject  races  among  us,  like  the 
Bushmen,  the  Veddahs,  or  the  Australians.  These  are  the  dwellings 
of  belated  souls,  laggards  in  the  race,  who  have  yet  certain  lessons  to 
learn,  that  nothing  but  the  wild  life  of  these  wanderers  could  teach 
them.     And  when  the  laggards  have  learned  their  lesson  the  belated 


232  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

laggards  will  assuredly  disappear.     As  there  are  souls  in  all  stages 
growth,  as  souls  are  many-sided  things,  so  must  there  be  many  rac 
of  many  kinds — white  and  yellow,  red  and  black — to  give  them  t 
scope  and  opportunity  they  require.     And  we  never  can  tell  lu 
lately  we  ourselves  inhabited  other  colored  skins.      So  we  should 
very  tolerant  in  this  matter  of  color. 

Once  more,  we  find  that  the  races  supplement  each  other  ifl 
marvelous  way ;  that  the  work  of  the  temple-builders  of  Egypt  w 
carried  on,  and  perfected,  not  in  Egypt,  but  in  Greece;  that  d 
chants  of  the  Persian  fire- worshippers  have  won  a  new  life  on  the  li] 
of  Christian  choirs ;  that  the  thoughts  of  the  old  Indian  sages  wa 
caught  up,  and  given  a  beauty  and  vivj^ji  grace,  by  Pythagoras  ao 
Plato ;  that  the  work  of  Praxiteles  and  Apelles  was  handed  down  t 
Raphael  and  Titian;  that  Michael  Angelo  is  the  kin  of  Phidias:  tha 
Euripides  wrote  for  Racine ;  that  -/Eschylus  was  the  prophecy  o 
Shakespeare.  And  that,  in  one  and  all,  there  was  something  added 
a  new  development ;  a  fresh  unfolding  of  the  leaves  of  the  flower  o 
humanity,  that,  like  the  blue  champaka,  shall  one  day  bloom  ii 
Paradise.  So  all  races  supplement  each  other;  none  has  a  perfect 
gift;  but  each  lends  aid  to  every  other.  In  this  way,  too,  westt 
how  wise  it  is  to  look  on  the  whole  human  race  as  but  oncgrcal 
assemblage  of  souls,  ever  perfecting  the  great,  mysterious  work. 

There  is  for  the  whole  race  and  for  each  of  us  a  certain  path  to  be 
trod ;  a  certain  large  and  perfect  growth  to  be  reached ;  a  gradual 
development,  through  endless  change.  And  it  follows,  in  the  sun* 
plest  way,  that  the  position  of  any  one  on  the  great  path  depends 
very  definitely  on  the  distance  he  has  already  travelled ;  if  he  hi* 
gone  so  far,  in  the  days  that  are  dead,  he  is  now  at  such  a  place;  « 
he  has  lagged,  he  is  further  back ;  the  strenuous  and  courageous  i^ 
further  in  advance.  So,  where  we  shall  be  to-morrow,  a  year  hence. 
or  ten  years  hence,  depends  on  where  we  are  to-day,  and  whether^* 
still  keep  moving.  And  we  see,  very  clearly,  that  races  and  men  g^ 
on  by  their  own  works,  and  not  by  the  works  of  others;  everyone 
must  do  his  own  walking  on  the  world's  great  way ;  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  hiring  substitutes.  So  that  we  may  say  of  the  life  of  anyone. 
that  his  position  is  pretty  strictly  and  justly  due  to  his  own  walking 


THE  MEMORY  OF   PAST  BIRTHS.  233 

^one  days,  and  that  his  position  to-morrow  will  depend  on  the 
e  makes  of  to-day.  We  build  our  own  lives ;  we  are  our  own 
les ;  we  weave  our  destinies  for  ourselves.  This  is  the  law  of 
a. 

lere  are  parts  of  this  great  law  of  Karma  that  we  should  like  to 

over ;  above  all,  the  matter  of  sex,  and  the  great  question  of 

ty  and  riches.     Of  the  first,  the  teachers  of  the  **  Fragments" 

St  that  all  souls,  to  gain  perfect  experience,  must  live  the  life  of 

he  sexes;  just  as  each  of  us  must  in  every  life  inherit  childhood, 

and   maturity;  just  as  each  of  us  must  taste  both  birth  and 

As  to  poverty  and  riches,  the  question  is  too  large  to  touch  on 

but  we  may  rest  assured  that  here,  too,  essential  justice  is  done. 

e  should  try  to  see  the  matter  in  this  light :   There  is  but  one 

assembly  of  human  souls;  all  are  alive  at  this  moment ;  none 

zm  are  belated,  and  caught  in  the  net  of  bygone  ages;  all  are 

It   in  the  life  of  to-day.      But  of  these,  a  quarter,  perhaps,  are 

mbodied  on  the  earth ;   three-fourths  are  hidden  in  the  heavens, 

paradise  of  peace,  or  in  the  dim  halls  of  desire,  through  which 

souls  pass  on  their  back  and  forth  from  outward  life. 

id  this  same  assembly  of  souls  was  present  through  all  the  yes- 

rs  of  the  world,  and  will  be  present  in  every  to-morrow.     Our 

one  great  life,  of  which  we  are  all  parts ;   time  is  our  pathway, 

le  whole  earth  our  inheritance. 

it  that  question  obstinately  recurs:   If  I,  who  move  and  live  in 

orld  to-day,  who  get  such  sincere  satisfaction  out  of  life  and  all 

iences,  have  indeed  passed  through  so  rich  and  varied  days  and 

and  lives,  why  does  no  memory  of  it  all  remain?     Why  can  I 

2call  how  I   tilted  in  the  lists  in  mediaeval  days ;   how  I  prayed 

thic  cathedrals;  howl  hunted  the  deer  through  gloomy  Ger- 

forests;   how  I  shouted  for  Caesar  or  Brutus  in  the  Forum ;  how 

the  plays  of  Sophocles,  and  heard  old  Homer  sing?     What  has 

le  of  my  lotus  garlands  of  Egypt,  my  part  in  the  old  temple 

>sions  on  the  Nile,  my  share  in  the  sermons  of  Gautama,  or  the 

of  Ellora  and  Elephanta?     If  I,  indeed,  and  no  other,  moved 

days  of  Atlantis,  where  the  seas  now  roll,  or  in  yet  older  lands, 

the  sand-storms  sweep  over  desert  Tarim  and  Gobi ;   if  I  shared 


234  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  fate  of  dim,  gigantic  races,  before  Atlantis  was,  why  can  I  not 
recall  a  day  of  it?  Why  is  my  memory  as  empty  of  purple  hours  as 
a  beggar's  cloak  in  the  rain  ? 

What  said  the  ''Fragments"?  Well,  they  answered  something 
like  this :  The  memories  of  all  those  past  births  are  still  in  your  pos- 
session, every  one  of  them ;  but  they  are  hid  and  carefully  packed 
away  in  remote  corners  of  your  being,  whither  you  hardly  find  your 
way,  even  in  dreams.  But  when  the  day  of  attainment  dawns  for 
you,  those  memories  shall  be  yours;  at  the  end  of  the  way  you  will 
be  able  to  look  back  to  all  past  stages  of  your  journey. 

Well,  that  was  satisfactory  enough  in  a  way;  and  yet,  with  all 
that,  pretty  unsatisfying.  We  do  not  feel  like  waiting  for  the  day  of 
our  attainment,  at  the  end,  perhaps,  of  the  seventh  race;  we  should 
like  to  realize  a  little  of  ail  that  great  wealth  of  ours ;  like  the  Friend 
from  India,  on  whom  every  one  was  pressing  hundred-dollar  checks, 
we  feel  as  though  we  should  like  a  quarter  in  hard  cash,  on  account. 

This  is  clearly  the  most  interesting  point  of  the  whole  question: 
The  memory  of  past  births ;  and  we  should  like  to  learn  something 
more  definite  about  it.  Now,  as  it  happens,  there  is  a  good  deal  that 
may  be  learned.  All  the  world,  including  even  the  Christian  world 
at  one  time,  has  held  to  this  great  teaching  of  Reincarnation,  and  all 
the  world  has  run  up  against  this  fascinating  and  exasperating  ques- 
tion of  lost  memory.  It  has  been  thought  out  in  India,  in  Egypt,  in 
Greece,  in  Italy.  And  I  think  I  shall  be  doing  a  good  work  in  bring- 
ing together  the  chief  passages  that  bear  on  the  subject,  from  the 
Upanishads,  from  Buddha,  from  Plato,  from  Synesias,  from  Virgil. 
They  have  all  had  something  to  say ;  and  it  has  generally  been  well 
worth  saying. 

I  shall  add  the  testimony  of  the  living  to  the  witness  of  the  dead; 
we  may  be  lesser  than  the  admired  sages;  but  we  have  this advantage» 
that  we  are  here,  at  the  moment,  and  hold  the  stage  in  the  present 
hour.  Though  that  thought  of  the  ever-living  assembly  of  souls, 
one-fourth  manifest  on  earth,  three-fourths  hidden,  yet  none  the  less 
living,  in  the  heavens,  should  warn  us  against  speaking  slightingly 
of  the  dead. 

Let  me  anticipate  for  a  moment,  and  say  that  to  our  question, 


CHRISTIANITY   AND   REINCARNATION.  235 

Why  do  we  not  remember  our  past  births?  we  shall  get  this  answer 
uniformly  from  the  ages — A  good  many  do  and  always  have  remem- 
bered. 

Charles  Johnston,  M.  R.  A.  S. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  REINCARNATION. 

Within  the  church,  among  the  ministers  that  preach  God's  word, 
there  is  a  strong  feeling  against  the  doctrine  of  reincarnation.  Many 
men  who  speak  from  the  pulpit  believe  that  a  man  who  accepts  re- 
incarnation is  as  far  from  salvation  as  the  man  who  denies  God, 
absolutely.  But  let  me  say  unto  those  men  that  there  is  no  incom- 
patibility between  a  belief  in  God  and  a  belief  in  reincarnation.  The 
Bible  which  is  their  law,  their  all,  has  within  its  covers,  the  strongest 
argument,  the  strongest  proof  in  favor  of  incarnation. 

One  and  all,  we  have  come  to  believe  with  Wallace  and  Darwin 
in  evolution ;  the  proofs  that  the  life  of  the  nineteenth  century  is 
envolved  from  a  lower  life  are  incontrovertible. 

If  we  accept  physical  evolution  why  must  we  not  also  accept 
spiritual  evolution?  If  one  is  true,  the  other  must  also  be  true.  It 
would  be  as  impossible  for  the  soul  of  the  nineteenth-century  man  to 
have  occupied  the  body  of  that  first  life  as  it  will  be  impossible  for 
the  soul  of  this  body  to  enter,  without  improvement,  into  the  body 
that  will  exist  in  the  next  life.  As  there  must  have  been  a  succession 
of  improved  forms,  in  an  ascending  scale,  to  bring  man  to  his  present 
perfectness  of  form,  so  must  there  have  been  a  succession  of  incarna- 
tions, to  make  the  soul  that  knows  God,  a  fit  soul  for  its  improved 
temple. 

One  of  Christianity's  ablest  teachers,  Butler,  says  that  **our 
present  state  is  as  different  from  our  state  in  the  womb  as  two  states 
of  the  same  being  could  well  be,"  and  then  reasons  that  if  our  state 
in  the  womb  is  so  different  from  our  present  state,  there  must  be  a 
future  state  as  different  from  our  present  as  our  present  is  from  the 
past. 

He  proves  a  future  life  by  analogy,  but  is  not  his  argument  of  a 


236  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

future  existence  equally  strong  as  to  a  past  life?  And  if  there  has  been 
one  past  life  is  it  not  reasonable  to  believe  in  still  other  existence? 

Hartmann,  Schlegel,  Emerson,  Disraeli  and  others  argue  in  favor 
of  reincarnation,  but  we  need  not  their  words  if  we  but  listen  to  the 
spirit  within.  But  we  refuse  to  harken  unto  the  voice  of  our  soul 
that  has  travelled  far  and  which  yet  has  far  to  go.  Its  passing 
through  the  thousands  of  cycles  that  has  brought  it  to  its  present 
state  of  perfection  is  nothing  to  us.  Its  voice,  when  it  speaks,  wc 
treat  as  a  dream ;  as  a  vision ;  an  illusion.  Listen  to  that  voice  when 
it  speaks,  question  it,  remember  its  answer.  We  have  the  proof  of  a 
former  existence  in  ourselves.  Have  you  not  been  questioned  about 
something  that  you  have  never  studied  in  this  life,  and  given  an 
answer  correct  and  true,  and  yet  startling  to  you  so  that  you  stood 
dazed  and  wondering  how  that  answer  came  so  glibly  to  your  lips? 
The  subject  was  new  to  you,  yet  you  knew  it  and  you  knew  not  how 
nor  why.  May  it  not  have  been  that  the  soul  in  a  previous  life  had 
learned,  and  in  this  existence  remembered? 

Have  you  not  visited  a  place  never  before  visited  in  this  life  and 
felt  that  you  had  been  there  before?  Have  you  not  heard  music,  a 
new  composition,  yet  recognized  in  it  a  melody  of  cycles  and  cycles 
ago,  mellow  with  the  ripeness  of  a  great  age  and  soft  and  entrancing 
with  the  mysterious  spirituality  of  another  life? 

These  visions,  these  flashes  into  the  other  lives  prove  the  doctrine 
of  reincarnation.     The  life  of  Christ  also  proves  it. 

Reincarnation  is  to  me  an  absolute  certainty;  and  yet,  despite  the 
fact  that  many  preachers  say  a  man  cannot  be  a  Christian  and  believe 
in  reincarnation,  I  am  a  Christian.  The  two  beliefs  are  like  the 
waters  of  two  small  streams  that  unite  and  form  a  noble  river:  united 
they  are  a  perfect  religion — the  one  the  nobler,  the  truer  and  the 
better  for  the  other. 

I  believe  in  reincarnation  and  I  believe  in  the  Creed.  I  believe 
in  God  the  Father,  in  the  Son,  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  But,  I  believe  in 
God  as  the  spirit  of  good,  the  all-powerful,  all-seeing  ever-present 
and  absolute.  I  believe  in  Christ  as  the  earthly  manifestation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  spirit  of  God  thai 
was  manifest  in  Christ. 


CHRISTIANITY   AND   REINCARNATION.  237 

In  the  son  of  David  who  was  the  son  of  God — through  the  im- 
maculate conception — I  see  the  absolute  union  of  reincarnation  and 
Christianity.  The  birth  of  Christ  is  the  foundation  of  Christianity ; 
the  birth  of  Christ  is  the  proof  of  reincarnation.  If  this  is  true, 
Christianity  and  reincarnation  cannot  be  incompatible. 

To  those  that  accept  the  Bible  without  question,  who  accept 
seeming  contradictions  and  inconsistencies  without  cavil ;  whose  faith 
only  sees  in  the  seeming  faults  the  mistakes  of  man  in  recording  the 
works  and  commands  of  God,  these  can  only  be  brought  to  believe  in 
the  compatibility  of  Christianity  and  Reincarnation  through  this  book 
in  which  their  spiritual  life  exists. 

To  them  we  say,  **  in  the  Bible  is  the  absolute  proof  of  reincarna- 
tion." It  tells  that  God  promised  to  send  his  Son.  He  did  send 
his  Son ;  that  Son  existed  before  he  came ;  when  he  came  he  was  in 
a  form  different  from  the  form  he  wore  on  earth  ;  he  died  but  he  lived 
again,  which  is  the  third  incarnation;  he  is  to  come  again,  and  who  is 
it  that  believes  that  he  will  come  as  he  came  the  first  time?  When 
he  comes  it  will  be  the  fourth  incarnation.  Here  are  three  incarna- 
tions and  a  fourth  to  come.  As  we  are  of  God,  as  our  soul  is  an 
emanation  of  God,  a  part  of  the  father,  as  much  as  the  Son  was;  are 
we  not  then  creatures  of- many  incarnations  and  are  we  not  promised 
another  life  which  will  be  a  reincarnation? 

With  Christ's  life,  with  God's  promises,  with  the  evidence  fur- 
nished by  the  Bible  can  we  believe  other  than  that  the  true  key  to  the 
life  that  is  past,  the  life  that  is,  and  the  life  to  come,  is  reincarnation? 
From  all  this  it  would  appear  that  Christianity  and  Reincarnation  are 
the  heart  and  the  soul  of  religion,  and  so,  thoroughly  compatible. 

E.  W.  Keelv. 

Man  at  his  best  should  possess  a  character  which  combines  Intel- 
ligence and  Piety.  The  highest  type  of  being  is  a  man  wise  and  good. 
He  attains  this  moral  and  intellectual  altitude  by  rectitude  of  purpose 
and  intelligence  of  mind.  Thus  equipped  with  moral  and  mental 
qualities,  his  duty  is  to  aim  at  social  improvement  by  the  discipline  of 
the  family.  Should  his  circle  widen,  the  same  principles  will  be  found 
helpful  to  uphold  and  improve  the  government  of  the  country,  and 
perhaps  in  the  fullness  of  time  the  'leading  of  the  world  to  obedience 
and  the  return  of  the  happier  period. — Confucius, 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM. 
(concluded.) 

The  symbolical  significance  attaching  to  these  two  superior  planets 
is  consentient  with  that  accorded  them  in  the  old  mythological  sys- 
tems. The  Greeks,  in  their  portrayal  of  Kronos  (or  Saturn)  as  an 
emanation  from  Ouranos(the  infinite),  undoubtedly  meant  a  depiction 
of  the  elementary  processes  we  have  touched  upon.  This  seems  to 
be  proved  in  his  subsequent  dethronement  by  Jupiter,  of  whom  he 
was  the  putative  parent — clearly  an  illustration  of  the  sequential  value 
the  one  bears  the  other  in  the  planetary  procession. 

This  achievement,  so  vividly  allegorized  in  their  epics,  constituted 
Jupiter  the  tutelar  genius  who  presided  over  the  destinies  of  both 
mortals  and  immortals,  from  the  Olympian  heights,  "  bestowing  clem- 
ency and  pacifying  justice."  And  so  is  he  regarded  in  the  stellar 
science,  symbolizing  the  unfoldment  of  the  contemplative  qualities 
inherent  in  the  Saturn  principle. 

To  extend  the  analogy  to  an  astrological  application,  Saturn,  as 
the  representative  of  contemplative  Thought,  as  the  generator  of 
Time,  and  the  ruler  of  the  sphere  in  which  primordial  substance 
assumes  form  and  figure,  is  granted  regency  over  the  framtwark  of 
the  Universe,  as  well  as  the  anatomy  or  bony  structure  of  the  human 
body.  On  the  other  hand,  Jupiter,  as  the  offspring  of  the  Intelligible 
Essence,  idealizes  these  formative  attributes  into  the  elements  of 
Wisdom,  thereby  exerting  a  majestic  and  judicial  authority  over  the 
resultant  transmutations. 

The  ascription  to  Jupiter  of  the  fatherhood  of  the  gods  was  but  a 
recognition  of  him  as  a  personified  attribute  of  the  Deity;  the  intel- 
lectual essence  through  which  are  blended  the  qualities  of  prudence 
and  equity.  He  therefore  stands  astrologically  related  to  the  body 
politic  in  an  adjudicative  capacity,  and  holds  dominion  over  the  arte- 
rial system  of  the  physical  body. 

Homogeneous  with  the  primal  trinity  which  constitutes  the  basis 
of  the  astral  symbolism,  is  the  triadic  character  of  the  deific  orders  in 

238 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  239 

c  mythologies  of  the  East ;  as,  for  example,  the  triunity  of  the 
indu  philosophy,  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva — the  creator,  preserver, 
id  destroyer;  or,  metaphysically,  considered  as  substance,  energy, 
id  dissolution.  The  local  triad  at  Thebes  included  Amen-Ra,  Mut, 
id  Chous ;  while  identical  with  the  characteristics  embodied  in  these 
e  those  recognized  in  the  more  universal  worship  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and 
orus  in  the  Egyptian  cosmology. 

That  Osiris  was  typical  of  the  sun  is  evidenced  in  their  belief  that 
5  seal  was  in  some  way  allied  to  the  sacred  bull  Apis,  a  theory 
olved  from  the  fact  that  at  that  period  of  time  this  luminary  entered 
e  sign  Taurus  (the  Bull)  of  the  zodiac  at  the  vernal  equinox,  then 
e  beginning  of  the  solar  year. 

Being  thus  recognized  as  the  regenerator  of  nature,  analogically 
»iris  was  reverenced  as  emblematical  of  the  sun  principle  in  the 
here  of  manifestation,  and  so  understood  by  the  initiated  as  the 
source  of  all " ;   hence,  symbolized  by  the  circle  of  pure  spirit. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Plutarch  speaks  of  the  sacred  bull  as 
ving  a  crescent  on  its  right  side.  Remember  that  Eve  (the  moon) 
is  extracted  from  the  side  of  Adam  (the  sun).  And  so  do  we 
id  the  lunar  orb  typified  in  Isis,  the  spouse  of  Osiris,  and  repre- 
nted  as  **  crowned  with  a  sun  disc,  surmounted  by  a  throne 
^closed  between  horns."  In  astrology  the  moon  is  exalted  in 
^urus  ( b ),  whose  symbol  agrees  strictly  with  this  representation. 
le  it  is  who  is  the  soul  or  reflection  of  Osiris,  identified  with  the 
cred  bull,  and  revealed  through  the  crescent  on  its  side. 

As  regards  Horus,  the  child,  or  third  of  this  mythological  triad, 

is  sufficient  to  know  that  he  was  represented  as  the  God  of 
lence,  typical  of  substance  in  its  static  condition,  astrologically 
xnbolized  in  the  Cross. 

According  to  Pierret,  **The  numberless  gods  of  the  Pantheon 
^  but  manifestations  of  the  One  Being  in  his  various  capacities." 
o  which  Mariette  Bey  subscribes: — **  The  one  result  is  that, 
cording  to  the  Egyptians,  the  universe  was  God  himself,  and  that 
^ntheism  formed  the  foundations  of  their  religions." 

Viewing  these  subjects  purely  from  a  historical  and  speculative 
^ndpoint,  neither  of  these  writers  seemed  to  realize  that  in  these 


240  THE    METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

polytheistic  doctrines  reposed  the  grand  principles  of  genetic  law, 
thus  personified  that  they  might  appeal  thie  more  promptly  to  the 
limited  capacities  of  a  fanciful  and  credulous  constituency.  Tbe 
innumerable  deities  which  followed  were  but  the  primal  triad  differen- 
tiated into  inferior  personifications,  yet  united  by  collateral  ties  that 
were  but  symbolical  of  the  numerous  types  and  emotions  attendant 
upon  the  transformative  processes  of  evolutionary  life. 

To  quote  from  Basilides,  the  heretic: — **  There  is  a  Supreme 
God,  by  name  Abraxas,  which  the  Greeks  call  Nous.  From  this 
emanated  the  Word ;  from  the  Word,  Providence ;  from  Providence, 
Virtue  and  Wisdom  (Saturn  and  Jupiter?);  from  these  two  again, 
Virtues,  Principalities,  and  Powers  (planets?)  were  made;  thence 
infinite  productions  and  emissions  of  angels  (constellations?}." 

In  this  interpretation  one  need  not  slight  the  fact  that  prior 
to  the  projection  of  these  ministerial  forces,  is  the  Incomprehensible 
Idea  itself,  the  Spiritual  Sun,  in  whom  subsist  the  procreativc 
providences  as  expressed  through  the  executive  functions  of  the 
solar  luminary. 

Obviously,  to  view  these  cosmogonic  fables  in  other  than  a  meta- 
physical sense,  is  but  to  deny  to  them  their  legitimate  value  as 
classical  factors  in  the  celestial  philosophy. 

Let  us  suggest,  in  passing,  that  our  modern  religious  cults  are 
still  in  a  measure  consecrated  to  this  system  of  worship,  though 
perhaps  all  unconsciously.  That  Jesus  the  Christ  as  distinguished 
from  Jesus  the  man  is  qualitative  of  Divine  Spirit,  is  scarcely  a 
question  for  dispute ;  though  the  ordinary  creedal  enthusiast,  with 
his  supine  inattention  toward  matters  of  this  character,  would 
doubtless  object  most  strenuously  to  the  imputation  that  his  devotion 
to  this  principle  partakes  largely  of  sun  worship. 

We  think  this  assertion  can  be  amply  verified. 

Through  the  astronomical  law  of  precession,  the  vernal  equinoctial 
point  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era  had  retrograded  fro« 
Taurus  into  Aries,  the  Ram  of  the  zodiac;  hence,  this  animal* 
suspended  from  the  Cross,  became  an  object  for  sanctificatioHf 
because  the  sun-god  in  his  entry  therctn  had  completed  bis  annual 
revolution    and   was   then   stationary   at   the   intersection  or  cross^ 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  241 

ion  of  the  ecliptic  with  the  equator  (-(-)  for  the  period  of  three 
after  which  he  began  his  ascension  into  north  declination, 
equently  the  lamb  was  replaced  by  a  human  figure,  perhaps  as 
{  more  congruous  to  the  purposes  of  allegory, 
n  this  light  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  upon  the  CroSs  is  emblemat- 
)f  a  principle  in  the  metaphysics  of  Being,  as  portrayed  in  the 
ir  science  by  an  orbital  point  in  the  pathway  of  the  Sun,  of 
n  the  Nazarene  was  made  the  archetype.  The  sun  was  known 
e  Algonquin  tongue  as  Gheezes.  It  is  also  pertinent  to  add  in 
:onnection  that  the  zodiacal  sign  Aries  rules  over  Palestine,  the 
e  of  the  crucifixion. 

'his  is  but  the  relationship  of  the  Cross  to  our  later  churchology, 
gh  in  reality  it  far  antedates  the  Christian  religion,  being  utilized 
e  demiurgic  philosophy  as  a  symbol  of  emanation,  expressive  of 
fourfold  operation  of  that  universal  law  whose  ordinances  are 
itudinary  in  every  department  of  nature. 

in  examination  of  the  hieratic  writings  of  the  ancient  Egyptians 
OSes  the  use  of  the  astral  symbol  in  the  elucidation  of  the  spirit- 
mysteries.  Their  importance  is  also  instanced  in  their  use  of 
1  for  the  purposes  of  condensation  in  the  demotic  or  more  popular 
ession  of  thought.  Dr.  Young,  in  speaking  of  euchorial  names, 
:  '*  They  exhibit  also  unequivocal  traces  of  a  kind  of  syllabic 
ng,  in  which  the  names  of  some  of  the  deities  seem  to  have 
I  principally  employed  in  order  to  compose  that  of  the  individual 
emed :  thus  it  appears  that  wherever  M  and  N  occur,  either  to- 
er  or  separated  by  a  vowel,  the  symbol  of  the  god  Ammon  or 
m  (Jupiter)  is  almost  universally  employed."  He  quotes  as  an 
nple,  Amenothes,  written  with  the  symbol  of  Jupiter,  followed 

A'e  come  next  to  a  consideration  of  Mars,  the  ruler  of  the  second 
iion  of  the  magical  Tetrad — Motion — astrologically  embodied  in 
watery  triplicity.  At  first  thought,  there  is  an  apparent  anom- 
1  in  the  assignment  of  a  fiery  planet  to  the  governance  of  this 
m.  In  alchemic  terminology,  however,  the  explanation  is  found 
ic  correspondence  of  this  element  to  sulphur,  the  energy  inherent 
li  forms  of  intelligence;   therefore.  Mars  stands  dynamically  re- 


242  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

lated  to  the  substance  of  Motion,  in  which  sense  the  elemental  char- 
acter of  this  triplicity  is  to  be  interpreted. 

Thus,  Mars,  as  the  principle  of  Energy  in  the  septenary  formula, 
imparts  the  fixity  needful  to  a  perfect  expression  of  the  primordial 
Will.  His  is  the  cohesiveness  which  gives  to  Power  and  Creation 
their  relativity.  Accordingly,  when  potent  and  well  conciliated  in  a 
nativity,  he  contributes  the  determination  and  energy  necessar>'  to 
the  attainment  of  purpose.  But  when  inharmoniously  related  to  the 
other  elements  in  the  sidereal  organism,  these  activities  are  physical- 
ized  into  the  more  impulsive  instincts  which  constitute  the  aninial 
soul,  or  the  seat  of  Desire,  wherein  the  spirit  is  subordinated  to  the 
gratifications  of  the  senses. 

And  such  is  the  character  of  the  Mars  Symbol  (  $  )^the  material 
transcending  the  spiritual. 

But,  consistent  with  progressional  law,  these  grosser,  and  there- 
fore impermanent,  elements — impermanent  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to 
their  perverted  activities  on  the  physical  plane — are  convertible  into 
the  more  refined  properties  of  Venus,  the  magnetic  centre  through 
which  is  generated  the  sublimated  essences  of  pure  spirit.  She  is  the 
ruler  of  the  first  of  the  tetradic  forces,  stability,  the  fundamental 
power  in  which  subsists  the  quality  of  Divine  Love. 

In  the  science  of  Being  this  is  but  another  term  for  the  um'f)"ing 
principle  through  which  the  complexities  of  nature  are  correlated  and 
synthesized  into  a  spiritual  recognition  of  the  Whole;  ^  processus 
which  brings  the  circle  above  the  cross,  as  represented  in  the  symbol 
of  this  planet  (  ?  ). 

It  will  be  observed  in  this  method  of  treatment  that  the  planets 
stand  apparently  related  to  each  other  in  a  dual  capacity;  Saturn 
and  Jupiter — Thought  and  Wisdom,  constituting  twin  relevancies  in 
the  spheres  of  generation,  as  do  Mars  and  Venus — Will  and  Affec- 
tion, each  vested  with  the  animating  potency  of  the  Sun,  and 
reflected  into  mundane  channels  through  the  mediating  influence  o( 
the  Moon.  And  while  their  respective  symbols  signify  a  duality  in 
operation,  they  likewise  indicate  a  fourfoldness  in  constitution. 

This  with  the  exception  of  Mercury,  the  habitude  of  the  mind,  or 
the  intelligence  of  the  human  soul,  whose  symbol  carries  with  it  a 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  248 

triple  significance.  As  the  mind  appropriates  into  itself  all  that 
which  is  assimilative,  so  do  we  find  in  the  Mercury  symbol  ( 5 )  a 
combination  of  all  the  glyphs  which  represent  the  perfect  trinity  of 
spirit,  soul,  and  matter,  the  integral  essentialities  which  constitute 
the  aliness  of  Being. 

Esoterically  it  symbolizes  the  mediation  of  the  soul  or  perceptive 
qualities — shown  in  the  elevation  of  the  crescent — as  a  guiding  influ- 
ence to  the  spirit,  ever  destined  to  encounter  incumbrances  in  its 
material  struggles  toward  idealization.  This  consummation  is  real- 
ized only  through  the  intentional  activities  cognized  as  spiritual 
Understanding,  with  which  Mercury  is  astrologically  identified. 

Therefore,  the  mental  trend  of  the  individual  is  determined  by 
the  affections  of  this  planet  in  the  horoscope ;  for,  through  his  con- 
stant proximity  to  the  Sun,  or  vivifying  principle,  he  becomes  the 
translator  of  light  from  those  arbiters  with  whom  he  is  most  inti- 
mately conciliated.  Accordingly,  he  was  designated  in  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  ancients  as  the  **  Messenger  of  the  gods,"  by  no 
means  an  arbitrary  appellation. 

It  was  in  consideration  of  the  manifold  virtues  contained  in  these 
astral  principles  that  the  Pythagoreans  accounted  the  number  seven 
as  the  ifehiculum  of  man's  life.  The  immortal  Bard  touched  upon 
the  gist  of  this  philosophy  in  his  **  Seven  Ages,'*  which  accords  with 
the  Ptolemaic  divisions  of  the  life  span,  in  which  the  first  four  years 
is  ruled  by  the  quadrennial  period  of  the  Moon,  representing  the  in- 
compact and  formative  processes  belonging  to  incipiency ;  the  suc- 
ceeding ten  years  is  the  Mercury  period,  wherein  the  rational  part  of 
the  soul  begins  to  attract  unto  itself  the  seeds  of  Understanding;  this 
is  followed  by  the  Venus  period  of  eight  years,  in  which  the  clearer 
intellect  unites  itself  with  the  generative  principles  of  Love ;  then 
comes  the  rule  of  the  Sun,  agreeing  with  his  periodical  revolution  of 
nineteen  years,  and  showing  the  attainment  of  man  to  the  full 
majesty  of  his  powers.  Mars  governs  the  next  fifteen  years,  showing 
the  correlation  of  life's  purposes.  The  fruition  comes  in  the  reign 
of  Jupiter,  which  conforms  to  his  astronomical  period  of  twelve  years, 
after  which  the  reflective  age  of  Saturn  carries  the  human  ego  back 
into  the  bosom  of  Time. 


244  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Before  beginning  this  aperqu  to  a  close,  a  few  hints  on  the  pre- 
dictive part  of  astrology  will  perhaps  not  be  amiss. 

In  a  universe  governed  by  the  determinating  principle  of  harmony, 
no  entity  could  become  individualized  with  the  breath  of  independent 
life  except  through  an  essential  correspondency  with  the  parts  of  the 
Whole.  The  planetary  complexion  of  the  heavens  at  the  birth  of  an 
individual  may,  therefore,  be  accepted  as  a  correct  measurement  of 
his  psychical  value  in  the  universal  economy;  for,  logically,  the 
magnetic  operations  in  the  ambient  must  coordinate  in  degree  with 
their  similitudes  in  the  interdepending  organism. 

In  this  recognition  of  specific  values  attaching  to  every  organized 
expression  of  Being,  one  has  opened  the  way  to  a  clearer  apprehen- 
sion of  the  real  purport  of  the  planets  as  adjuvant  factors  in  the 
analyses  of  remote  conditions  in  the  life  of  an  individual  unit. 

It  is  the  woeful  misconception  of  the  inductive  principles  under- 
lying this  branch  of  the  astral  science,  which  has  earned  for  it  the 
charge  of  empiricism  and  irrationality. 

Man,  as  a  sidereally  constituted  individual,  or  human  atom,  is  a 
spiritual  centre  of  energy,  a  dynamo  of  psychic  activities,  involution- 
ally  expressed  through  his  attractions,  and  evolutionally,  by  his  im- 
pulsions. These  processes  are  no  more  nor  less  than  the  operations 
of  that  law  of  self-adjustment,  which  the  classes  decry  as  fatalism. 
but  which  is  more  philosophically  defined  in  the  Hermetic  writings  as 
Destiny,  **  the  executive  instrument  of  Necessity."  For  an  emana- 
tion projected  from  out  a  condition  of  latency  into  the  provinces  of 
active  Being,  necessarily  assumes  the  attitude  of  aspiration  as  the 
order  of  its  attraction  back  to  the  seat  of  its  geneses.  This  is  but  an 
act  of  expediency,  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  Divine  Justice, 
which  can  be  subserved  only  through  the  providential  attributes  of 
Necessity. 

Therefore,  conceding,  through  the  known  laws  of  correspondences, 
that  the  positions  of  the  planets  at  the  physical  birth  of  a  human 
being  are  indicative  of  certain  magnetic  points  in  his  psychical  con- 
stitution, it  should  be  comparatively  easy  to  predicate  the  possibility 
of  disturbances  in  the  correlative  part  of  the  executive  economy  when 
these  vibratory  centres  are  unduly  excited  through  certain  degrees  of 


ASTROLOGICAL  SYMBOLISM.  245 

mgibiiity  in  the  planetary  rays ;  for  these  are  but  the  ever-recur- 
poiarizations  incidental  to  the  unfoldment  of  the  individual. 
While  it  is  acknowledged  by  physical  science  that  the  qualities 
he  vibrations  peculiar  to  each  of  the  planets  correspond  respec- 
ly  to  each  of  the  seven  prismatic  colors,  psychic  investigators 
e  discovered  a  rationalistic  correspondence  between  them  and  the 
lan  emotions.  The  red  of  Desire  is  but  the  Mars  principle  in 
vity,  conducing  to  anger  and  passion ;  the  green  of  Benevolence  is 
predominance  of  the  Luna  element,  begetting  charitable  impulses 
:n  excited  in  the  horoscope;  while  the  blue  of  Saturn  tranquillizes 
passions.  In  this  chemistry  of  the  soul  and  its  relationship  to  the 
.11 "  lies  the  secret  of  the  influences  arising  through  planetary  in- 
iction. 

It  is  the  province  of  judicial  astrology  to  determine  the  times  of 
se  operations  in  the  horoscope,  and  to  interpret  through  the  phi- 
aphy  of  Its  tenets  their  spiritual  as  well  as  worldly  significance. 

•  •  What  wonder,  then,  that  we  a  science  scan. 
Which,  tracing  nature,  analyzes  man ; 
Whether  we  view  him  placed  in  joy  or  woe; 
Whether  trace  earth  or  search  her  depths  below ; 
Whether  we  contemplate  the  glorious  Sun, 
The  circling  planets  or  the  changeful  Moon ; — 
In  all,  th'  Almighty  Architect  we  mark. 
Clear,  though  mysterious,  luminous,  though  dark ! " 

John  Hazelrigg. 


All  nature  is  Divine  utterance.  In  the  beginning  it  is  all  with 
i  and  in  God.  There  was  no  primal  matter  outside  of  Him  of  which 
fabricated  the  material  world.  It  is  all  ^///-birth,  adumbration  of 
Divine  energies — of  the  Divine  thought  and  the  Divine  will.  And 
refore  the  so-called  Creation,  the  genesis  of  Nature,  the  production 
he  universe,  is  a  perpetually  fresh  evolution  of  the  Central  Energy 
he  universe — the  utterance  of  the  Immanent  Superessential  Cause, 
lifest  as  the  powers  of  life  and  the  motions  of  the  world.  And  for 
:  this  cause  is  Eternal  Same,  and  nature  the  effect;  the  different 
»t  endure  forever  with  sempiternal  time;  and  creation  must  be 
ral,  coexistent  and  coeternal  with  the  Creator,  and  cannot  be 
Heated  as  an  act  instituted  and  accomplished  in  ages  gone  by. — 
K.  Jones ^  M.  D. 


THE    EMPIRE   OF   THE    INVISIBLES. 

(VIII.) 

THE  HARDEST  WORK  IN  THE  UNIVERSE! 

**  Isn't  this  about  where  the  anarchists  used  to  form  their  pro- 
cessions and  make  their  speeches?'*  asked  the  New  Ghost,  as  the 
two  shades  sauntered  slowly  across  the  short  grass  of  the  park,  avoid- 
ing the  paths  which  were  filled  with  the  visibles,  hurrying  by  to  catch 
a  coining  or  departing  train  as  if  their  lives  depended  upon  their 
success. 

**  I  don't  remember  about  processions,  but  this  is  where  the 
anarchists  used  to  hold  meetings  and  make  public  speeches.  About 
every  opinion  ever  held  by  a  mortal  has  been  given  publicity  here." 

'*The  air  must  be  full  of  strange  ideas,  unless  the  lake  breezes 
blow  them  away  and  scatter  them  over  the  world.  Is  there  another 
spot  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  where  so  many  scenes  of  varied 
interest  have  been  presented  to  the  beholders  ?  The  life  of  the  city 
centres  here  and  Chicago  is  cosmopolitan." 

**  One  may  sit  on  a  bench  and  see  much  of  the  life  of  the  visibles 
without  stirring  from  one's  seat.  All  races,  all  peoples,  meet  here 
by  the  lake,  and  all  languages  representing  all  ideas  known  to  man 
may  be  heard  in  this  park.  It  is  a  favorite  resort  for  many  of  the 
invisibles,  who  enjoy  watching  the  hurrying  crowds.  But  life  here  i$ 
artificial.     Most  of  people  wear  masks.     I  prefer  the  cemetery." 

**  I  have  seen  masks  worn  in  the  cemetery." 

**  But  not  so  often !  Many  people  are  unmasked  at  a  funeral  wbo 
never  unmask  at  any  other  time.  There  is  a  friend  of  mine  stttioc 
on  that  empty  bench.  Suppose  we  walk  that  way.  I  would  like  to 
hear  the  Shadowland  news." 

**Some  visibles  are  walking  toward  that  same  bench.  They  will 
sit  down  on  your  friend !  " 

**  He  sees  us  and  is  coming  this  way.     It  is  fortunate  for  us  ghosts 
that  in  some  places  the  visibles  are  not  allowed  to  walk  on  the  grass,  or 

246 


THE   EMPIRE  OF   THE   INVISIBLES.  247 

ley  wouldn't  leave  us  an  inch  of  footing  on  the  face  of  the  earth !  " 

**The  visibles  are  certainly  very  inconsiderate  in  regard  to  such 
latters." 

**Good  morning,  No.  128.  Permit  me  to  introduce  the  Drexel 
<)ulevard  ghost  who  was  buried  at  Oak  woods  the  day  you  were 
own  last.     What  is  the  news  ?  ** 

**  Which  news  ?  " 

**Shadowland  news." 

**  Nothing  special,  unless  it  is  an  unusual  number  of  new  arrivals." 

*•  Have  you  seen  the  cemetery  ghosts  from  Rosehill  or  Graceland 
itcly?" 

**  I  was  out  at  Rosehill  yesterday.  I  never  saw  a  ghost  so  blue 
s  that  fellow  out  there !  I  believe  if  he  knew  how,  he  would  commit 
uicide  over  again." 

•*  Suggest  that  he  try  fire." 

**No;  I  wouldn't  advise  any  ghost  to  commit  suicide  until  he 
:iiows  what  comes  next." 

**  Nor  I ;   but  what  is  the  matter  ?  " 

**  He  can't  find  his  wife  or  children  and  it  works  on  his  mind." 

**  Where  are  they?"  inquired  the  New  Ghost. 

**That  is  a  question  ghosts  are  no  more  able  to  settle  than  men. 
(^ou  see  he  killed  them  in  a  fit  of  desperation." 

''Killed  them!" 

•*  Yes;  and  he  was  not  a  bad  man  either." 

••Are  actions  judged  by  a  different  standard  of  morals  in  Shadow- 
md  ?  " 

••  Not  necessarily.  I  think  you  will  say  as  we  do  that  he  was 
nfortunate  rather  than  wicked.  He  was  a  good  mechanic,  but  he 
>uldn*t  get  work.  He  tried  and  tried.  They  were  buying  a  cot- 
ige  on  monthly  payments.  That  had  to  go;  and  then  the  furniture 
ent  a  piece  at  a  time  to  buy  food.  His  wife  did  sewing  until  from 
/enfc'ork  and  the  lack  of  nourishing  food  she  was  taken  ill.  And 
len — it  is  a  sad  story — he  couldn't  get  money  enough  to  buy  the 
edicine  the  doctor  ordered  for  her.  And  so,  after  his  credit  was  all 
>ne  at  the  groceries,  and  he  had  walked  the  streets  of  the  city  a 
eck  looking  for  work  and  only  earned  25  cents,  he  went  back  to  the 


248  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

little  room  they  had  moved  into,  took  his  revolver  and  shot  his  wife 
and  their  two  little  girls  who  were  on  the  bed  beside  her — and  then 
himself!  He  loved  them  too  dearly  to  see  them  starve,  he  says. 
Some  people  may  call  that  a  curious  kind  of  love,  but  I  think  I  can 
understand  it/* 

**  I  don't  blame  him,"  said  the  Cemetery  Ghost. 

**Nor  I,'*  remarked  the  New  Ghost.  **  I  don't  think  any  one 
should  be  blamed  for  coming  to  Shadowland.'* 

**  Perhaps  not — except  the  criminal  ghosts.*' 

**Who  are  they?" 

**  Oh,  the  robbers,  and  murderers,  and  criminals  of  all  sorts,  who 
killed  themselves  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  their  crimes  on 
earth." 

**  But  you  do  not  call  the  Rosehill  Ghost  a  criminal." 

**  No;  we  consider  the  motive  that  prompted  the  action.  He  did 
what  he  thought  was  the  best  he  could  do  for  wife  and  children. 
There  was  no  selfishness  in  his  act.  He  found  himself  in  a  dreadful 
situation.  Those  he  loved  were  suffering  for  the  necessities  of  life, 
which  he  was  unable  to  provide  for  them.  His  friends  had  been  gen- 
erous, but  they,  too,  were  having  a  hard  struggle  to  live.  He  felt 
that  he  had  no  right  to  ask  them  to  take  bread  from  their  own  mouths 
to  give  to  him  any  longer.  It  was  a  terrible  situation  for  any  man. 
He  took  what  seemed  to  him  the  best  way  out  of  it.  He  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no  room  in  the  world  for  him  and  his 
family.  They  would  leave  it — together!  But  now  he  finds  himself 
separated  from  them  and  he  is  heartbroken." 

**But  if  murder  doesn't  make  a  man  a  criminal  in  Shadowland 
what  docs  ?  " 

'*A  selfish  motive  put  into  action  to  the  detriment  of  others. 
People  who  commit  suicide  to  escape  punishment  for  the  crimes  thc>* 
have  committed  on  earth  are  criminals  here  just  as  they  were  there/' 
replied  No.  128. 

**  It  is  a  matter  of  personal  character  everywhere,  among  both 
visibles  and  invisibles,"  remarked  the  Cemetery  Ghost.  *'  I  some- 
times wonder  if  that  is  the  whole  purpose  of  the  universe — to  form 
character." 


THE   EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  249 

**  I  should  be  inclined  to  call  destroying  the  body  of  another  an 
ction  to  that  person's  detriment,"  observed  the  New  Ghost. 

**That  maybe,"  answered  No.  128.  **But  if  the  destroyer  is 
lotng  what  he  considers  right  and  best  for  the  person  destroyed,  and 
5  acting  from  an  unselfish  motive,  Shadowland  does  not  feel  called 
ipon  to  condemn  him." 

''Then  selfishness  is  the  crime  of  crimes,  is  it?"  asked  the  New 
jhost. 

"That  individual  who  thinks  he  is  the  hinge  of  the  universe  is 
>ut  of  place  everywhere.  The  only  fit  home  for  him  would  be  an 
uninhabited,  isolated  star,"  added  the  Cemetery  Ghost. 

**  Shadowland  is  not  much  fonder  of  self-centred  characters  than 
is  the  earth.  Those  who  consider  the  interests  of  others  are  better 
citizens  for  both  countries,"  continued  No.  128.  **You  remenciber 
in  the  frontier  wars  with  the  Indians  many  a  loving  husband  and 
Father  who  fought  to  protect  his  home  and  in  vain,  saved  the  last 
bullets  for  wife  and  child  that  he  might  not  see  them  fall  into  the 
hands  of  an  enemy  who  would  kill  by  slow  torture.  Do  you  condemn 
those  men?" 

*'No." 

**  Our  friend  at  Rosehill  was  similarly  situated.  His  beloved 
were  in  the  hands  of  a  pitiless  enemy — starvation.  A  cruel,  merci- 
less enemy,  whom  hundreds,  yes,  thousands,  find  themselves  unable 
to  conquer.  Starvation  is  slow  torture.  He  saved  them.  Do  you 
condemn  him?" 

**  Starvation  in  a  land  of  plenty  is  unnecessary." 

"Should  be  unnecessary.  Quite  true.  But  it  is  a  hard  and 
inwelcome  fact  that  men,  women  and  children  do  starve  right  here 
n  America.  And  others — hundreds  of  them — give  up  the  battle 
vith  an  enemy  they  are  unable  to  overcome  and  forsake  the  world 
vhich  refuses  them  food.  Did  you  know  that  there  were  6,600 
iuicides  reported  in  the  United  States  last  year?" 

"No." 

•'It  is  a  fact." 

"That  there  were  6,600  people  who  decided  that  life  was  not 
rorth  living?" 


260  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

''Not  at  all.  Under  suitable  conditions  everybody  would  find 
life  worth  living.  Life  is  interesting.  Life  is  beautiful.  Wc  all 
enjoyed  it.  But  conditions  are  such  under  the  present  competitive 
system  of  society  that  the  sustaining  of  life  is  rendered  impossible 
among  an  increasingly  large  number." 

**  If  that  be  true,  it  is  a  powerful  arraignment  of  the  present  social 
system." 

**  It  is  true.  The  world  is  richer  than  it  ever  was  before.  Every- 
thing that  human  beings  need  or  want  can  be  produced  or  manufac- 
tured more  easily  and  more  abundantly  than  ever  before  in  the 
world's  written  history.  And  yet  the  number  of  families  whid 
suffer  for  the  necessities  of  life  through  no  fault  of  their  own  is 
yearly  increasing.  I  believe  that  the  lack  of  money  or  its  equivalent 
— the  inability  to  make  a  comfortable  living  and  share  in  the  benefits 
of  civilization — is  the  cause  of  most  suicides.  How  was  it  with  you? 
The  papers  reported  you  as  a  millionaire.  But  I  saw  afterward  that 
you  had  met  with  heavy  losses  and  your  fortune  was  not  so  large  a$ 
was  expected.  In  fact,  if  some  mining  stock  had  not  taken  a  suddefl 
boom  there  would  have  been  only  enough  to  pay  debts  and  funeral 
expenses." 

'*  Did  my  mining  stock  take  a  boom?  " 

**Yes." 

**If  I  had  only  known!  " 

**  Perhaps  if  you  had  known  you  wouldn't  have  taken  the  trip  to 
Shadowland." 

**  Perhaps  not!  " 

* '  That  goes  to  prove  my  case  that  the  lack  of  money  is  at  the 
bottom  of  most  suicides.  And  you  were  not  in  the  clutches  of 
starvation,  either!"  ] 

**  I  wonder  which  stock  it  is?     How  can  I  find  out?  " 

'*  I  don't  know.  You  might  spend  a  month  in  a  newspaper  office 
watching  the  files,  and  then  no  one  would  read  the  paper  you  wanted 
to  look  at,  when  it  is  a  back  number." 

**  But  you  haven't  told  me  the  Shadowland  news  yet,"  remarked 
the  Cemetery  Ghost,  who  was  not  fond  of  long  discussions  in  which 
he  had  no  part. 


THE   EMPIRE  OF   THE   INVISIBLES.  251 

Don't  know  that  there  is  any  of  much  importance.     No  one  has 
anything  of  No.  4  for  a  month.      His  friends  think  he  has  gone 
on.     There  have  been  several  new  arrivals ;   the  sailor  has  brought  in 
three.     Water  seems  to  be  the  favorite  route  just  now.     Perhaps  we 
arc  through  with  the  epidemic  of  revolvers  and  poison." 
**  Water  is  usually  a  favorite  route  in  Summer.*' 
'•  But  you  should  have  seen  the  class  in  gymnastics  the  other  day! 
We  asked  the  Experimenter  to  build  us  an  imaginary  sidewalk  down 
State  street — it   is  always  so  crowded — and    from  the  court  house 
over  here  to  the  new  library  building.     So   he  started  out  of  the 
Washington  street  entrance  and  walked  up  in  the  air,  as  if  on  invisi- 
ble steps,  to  the  height  of  about  20  feet,  marked  out  a  platform  and 
told  us  to  come.     Some  of  us  managed  to  struggle  up  there,  and 
some  of  us  fell  back  every  time  we  tried.     So  we  decided  to  go  to 
the  nearest   elevated  station   to    practice   and    start   from   the   high 
wooden  platform  which  the  visibles  use.     The  Experimenter  and  the 
Professor  walked  off  of  the  platform  and  I  followed  next,  looking  at 
their  heads,  and  not  thinking  much  about  my  feet  or  of  the  crowd 
on  the  street  below  me.      I  walked  as  much  as  half  a  block,  when 
3JI  of  a  sudden  I  looked  down.     You  don't  know  how  it  feels  to  see 
yourself  up  in  the  air  over  people's  heads  without  any  visible  means 
of  support.      If  I  had  been  wearing  a  body  I  should  have  thought  my 
fceart  had  gone  into   my  boots.      It  sank   as    lead — and  so   did   I ! 
Down  1  went  as  swiftly  as  an  arrow!    *And  you  should  have  seen  the 
others!     Some  of  them  slipped  down  to  the  ground  the  moment  they 
stepped  off  of  the  platform.'     Others  struggled  along  a  few  feet  and 
^hcn  dropped  like  bullets.     Three  who  were  getting  on  finely  a  few 
'^t  behind  me  looked  around  wildly  when  I  so  suddenly  disappeared. 
On   reaching   the  same  place,    they   hesitated  a  moment  and   then 
plunged  down  as  if  they  had  walked  off  of  a  precipice !    No.  131,  who 
Vas  an  athlete  and  a  fine  swimmer  among  the  visibles,  threw  out  his 
drnis,  plunged  off  the  platform  and  swam — actually  swam  through 
the  air!     It  looked  as  easy  as  it  looks  for  a  fish  to  swim  in  water! 
He  says  it  is  a  glorious  sensation  !     And  he  can  float !      He  swam  up 
to  a  cloud  and  floated  down  like  a  bird." 

**  I  believe  I  will  go  up  to  Rosehill,"  said  the  Cemetery  Ghost, 


262  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

'*  if  you  will  take  charge  of  our  new  friend  here.  Introduce  him  to 
the  Experimenter  as  soon  as  convenient,  and  if  there  is  a  chance 
perhaps  it  would  be  well  for  him  to  get  his  number  to-day,  so  we  will 
know  what  to  call  him." 

**0,  he  will  probably  be  dubbed  the  Millionaire.  I  suppose  you 
will  not  object,"  continued  No.  128  turning  to  the  Drexel  Boulevard 
shade.  *'  Not  that  it  will  make  the  slightest  difference  if  you  do,  for 
that  is  what  you  will  be  called." 

**  Then  I  may  as  well  make  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  accept  the 
name — but  I  don't  like  it !  Why  do  we  not  keep  our  own  names  that 
we  had  on  earth?  " 

*  *  The  most  of  us  prefer  to  have  our  names  buried  with  our  bod- 
ies. An  earth  name  would  serve  to  recall  the  earth  life,  and  its  inci- 
dents, and  might  enable  all  Shadowland  to  learn  our  past  history, 
which  some  of  us  would  prefer  to  have  forgotten.  Remember  that 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Shadowland  arc  persons  whose  earth  histor}' 
ended  in  a  tragedy!  Here  comes  No.  33.  Ask  him  why  people 
commit  suicide." 

**They  are  having  an  animated  discussion  over  yonder  on  the 
increase  of  happiness  among  the  visibles,  provided  the  distribution  of 
wealth  was  equalized.  Why  are  you  not  there?"  inquired  Xo.  JJ 
sinking  wearily  down  on  one  end  of  the  bench. 

**  For  the  simple  reason  that  I  find  it  impossible  to  be  in  more 
than  one  place  at  once." 

**  Money  won't  make  folks  happy!  I  had  oceans  of  it — more  than 
I  knew  what  to  do  with !  " 

**  Money  alone  may  not  be  sufficient  to  make  people  happy.  But 
it  is  equally  true  that  the  lack  of  it  will  make  them  miserable — in  the 
present  artificial  state  of  society.  You  had  too  much !  More  than 
enough  is  almost  as  bad  as  less  than  enough.  The  distribution  o( 
wealth  should  be  equalized.  One  should  not  be  permitted  to  rc\d 
in  oceans  of  it,  while  another  starves  for  lack  of  a  reasonable  amount. 
If  you  had  less  money  there  would  have  been  an  incentive  to  work; 
life  would  have  had  more  interest  and  you  would  probably  be  stirrin; 
around  among  the  visibles  now.  If  I  had  a  little  more,  I  should  be 
wearing  a  body,  instead  of  trying  to  learn  how  to  get  on  without  one. 


THE   EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  263 

'*  I  shouldn't  have  enjoyed  work;  I  was  too  tired." 
"  Aren't  you  rested  yet?  " 
'*  No;   I  never  expect  to  be." 

*  Never  is  a  long  time.  Come  and  join  the  class  in  gymnastics." 
'*  The  very  sight  of  the  Experimenter  tires  me!  He  is  too  ener- 
c.  He  is  always  busy,  always  doing  something!  I  can  under- 
d  why  the  visibles  work,  when  it  is  work  or  starve.  But  why 
lid  invisibles  exert  themselves?" 

'*  You  will  find  out  after  you  have  been  over  here  a  few  months. 
1  will  be  more  tired  of  doing  nothing  but  watch  waves  twenty- 
hours  in  a  day,  than  you  ever  were  of  exerting  yourself." 
**  Watching  waves  is  a  fascinating  employment.     The  first  day  or 
I  thought  I  should  like  it  for  at  least  a  century.      But  after  a 
k  I  concluded  it  was  work  to  keep  track  of  all   those  big  waves 
little  wavelets,  and  it  wore  upon  me.     They  mix  themselves  up 
and  then  there  are  the  white  caps!      I   stopped.      I   was  born 
d — constitutionally  tired." 

**  Shadowland  will  cure  you,  even  if  you  are  like  that  Englishman 
>  committed  suicide  because  he  was  tired  of  buttoning  and  unbut- 
ing  his  clothes." 

*'  I  was  tired  of  eating  three  meals  a  day ;  it  was  too  monotonous." 
**  And  I  was  tired  of  living  three  days  without  a  meal.  That  was 
monotonous." 

**  What  are  you  arguing  about?"  inquired  a  newcomer  who  had 
led  up  behind  them  unobserved. 

**  We  are  not  arguing,  but  merely  expressing  our  sentiments." 
**  Same  thing.  Arguing  does  as  well  as  anything  else  to  fill  up 
time  while  we  wait  until  our  turn  comes  to  move  on.  *  When  a 
n  is  weary  with  playing  his  part  he  may  be  comforted  by  remem- 
ing  that  the  door  is  open,'  one  of  the  visibles  called  a  philosopher 
s;  but  that  doesn't  apply  to  Shadowland.  We  ghosts  are  not 
e  to  find  the  door  opening  into  the  next  life.  Shadowland  is 
ast   and    airy    prison.       Though    its   walls   are    invisible    we    are 

ible  to  escape."  ^     ^ 

Harrikt  E.  Orcutt 

{To  be  continued ») 


254  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

THE   SAN   GRAEL. 

(  Tribute  to  the  pern  of  Mary  H.  Ford.) 

Oh,  Cristos.  by  thy  wounded  side. 
That  paid  the  debt  of  love, 

Down  through  the  ages. 
By  Mystics  and  Sages 
Have  rung  the  chimes  from  above; 
Mortal  come  higher. 
By  Water  and  Fire, 
By  blood  from  the  soul  of  the  world. 
Evil  forsaking,  'tis  thine  for  taking 
'Till  banners  of  God  are  unfurled. 

Oh.  Cristos  I  Mystic  of  the  years. 
Deep  in  thy  mission  to  man. 
None  can  atone. 
Who  stand  alone. 
But  must  close  with  God  in  the  van; 
The  quiet  hushing. 
Then  rosy  flushing. 
The  cup  will  be  given  to  thee. 
Caught  to  the  throne,  where  God  reigns  alone, 
From  all  carnal  life  ever  free. 

Oh.  Cristos!  Knights  will  yet  be  bom. 
Whose  shield  no  stain  can  mar; 
No  castle  grand. 
In  any  land 
Can  keep  the  Grael  afar ; — 
Then  shall  be  given. 
Out  of  each  Heaven, 
'Till  Death  no  power  can  yield 
The  truth  hid  for  ages,  by  Mystics  and  Sages 
The  Rose  on  the  Cross  concealed. 

Oh,  Cristos  I  To  thee  homage  turns. 
And  zeal  for  duties  flow. 

Man's  deeds,  he  earns. 
Love's  incense  bums. 
Not  on  clay  altars  below ; 
Pureness  of  heart 
Must  form  a  part. 
Whose  hand  would  e'er  hold  the  GraeU 
To  foe  and  to  friend,  love  without  end 
Naught  else,  the  tmth  will  reveal. 

Abbie  W.  Gould 


SON  KLEON  THE  HINDU. 

Son  Kleon,  the  son  of  Mong  La  Soo,  a  Raja  of  wealth  and  in- 
lence,  had  his  birth  in  India  at  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century 
the  Christian  era,  a  time  in  the  history  of  that  land  when  Buddhism 
a  distinctive  religion  (so  called)  was  there  already  in  its  decline. 

Though  we  speak  of  him  as  having  had  his  **  birth  "  ought  we  not 
ther  to  say,  a  **  reincarnation  **  of  his  soul  life  or  entity  from  a  for- 
er  embodiment  whose  condition  and  environments  were  totally  dif- 
rent?  Who  can  give  answer?  The  question  of  the  eternity  of  the 
)ul,  past  as  well  as  present  and  future,  if  occult  or  mystical,  is  still 
Id  to  be  an  open  one  by  many  philosophic  religionists  of  the  present 
ly  not  only  in  India  but  in  this  and  other  lands.  But  in  giving  the 
ory  of  this  young  Hindu  it  is  the  plain  fact  of  actual  experience  in 
life  all  too  short  indeed,  with  which  we  have  to  do,  and  not  to  solve 
lestions  or  to  explain  related  conditions. 

Buddhism,  from  its  earliest  conception  by  its  founder  and  teacher, 
merely  a  system  of  ethics  having  to  do  with  man's  elevation  in  the 
esent  life  through  a  righteousness  wholly  within,  dependent  upon 
mself  and  not  upon  external  or  divine  aid,  after  passing  through 
imberless  changes  and  modifications,  and  after  endless  divisions  of 
>posing  sects,  had  come,  during  the  fifteen  hundred  years  of  its  sway 
■  influence  in  India,  in  the  higher  if  not  the  most  logical  aspect  of  its 
aching  and  practice,  to  be  the  exaltation  and  worship  of  Buddha 
niself  as  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu  the  supreme  God  of  the  Brah- 
ins.  So  that  Gautama,  the  humble  and  devout  teacher  and  re- 
"T^er  of  the  ancient  Brahminical  religion  with  all  its  ritualisms  and 
^Itiplied  deities,  he,  who  had  everywhere  taught  that  man  was 
efficient  unto  himself  to  attain  to  righteousness  and  peace,  needing 
^ther  God  or  prayer  or  Priest,  had  in  these  latter  centuries  come  to 
•  regarded  by  the  multitudes  as  one  more  God  for  worship,  before 
tiom  sacrifices  were  offered  and  to  whom  prayer  was  made,  and  by 
e  ignorant  taled  forth  in  endless  repetitions  with  beads  upon  a  string 

255 


256  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

or  ground  out  for  hours  from  a  mill.  That  system  which  at  first 
repudiated  any  office-work  of  Priesthood  came  to  be  overrun  with 
sacred  orders  of  Mendicant  Monks,  to  whom  in  the  name  of  religious 
devotion  the  people  were  made  to  render  homage  and  to  pay  tribute. 

But  while  it  was  true  at  this  time  that  Buddhism  was  in  a  transi- 
tion  state,  and  divided  into  numberless  sects,  the  teachings  and 
practices  of  some  of  which  were  puerile  and  even  grossly  profligate, 
there  still  remained  among  the  higher  conservative  classes  the  more 
or  less  sincere  and  devout  worship  of  the  Supreme  Buddha.  To  this 
class  belonged  the  family  of  our  young  Hindu,  Son  Kleon.  Taught 
in  his  youth  to  regard  the  vast  temples  as  holy  places,  to  bow  in 
worship  before  the  image  of  Gautama,  and  to  regard  the  Monks  of 
the  Monasteries  everywhere  as  called  to  holy  living  and  teaching,  he 
grew  to  manhood  sincere  in  the  endeavor  of  his  worship.  Yet,  as 
the  years  grew  on,  and  life  advanced  into  a  thoughtful  maturity,  he 
became  more  and  more  restless  and  unsatisfied,  until,  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years  we  find  him  questioning  and  skeptical,  painfully  alive 
to  the  inconsistencies  of  the  existing  order  of  things,  and  thought- 
fully critical  as  to  the  realities  in  the  religion  he  professed. 

With  a  nature  so  constituted  he  could  never  rest  satisfied  until  he 
had  investigated  the  historical  source  of  a  religion  so  long  dominant, 
and  had  known  its  doctrine  as  taught  by  its  founder  and  could  thereby 
test  its  practices  as  witnessed  in  daily  life.  In  so  doing  we  behold  in 
this  young  Hindu,  not  merely  a  thirst  of  the  mind  or  intellect  after 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  but  the  longing  desire  of  a  sincere  and 
devout  soul  after  righteousness,  spiritual  light,  and  salvation. 

Therefore  he  sought  diligently  the  origin  and  teachings  of  Budd- 
hism in  its  sacred  scriptures;  but  he  became  lost  in  the  labyrinth  of 
their  subdivisions,  commentaries,  and  further  commentaries.  All  of 
these  emanating  from  man  alone,  having  and  claiming  no  divine 
authority,  he  found   incapable  of  shedding  any  real  light  upon  the 

origin  and  destiny  of  the  soul  of  man ;   they  left  him  only  buried  in 

« 

the  deeper  darkness  of  a  bewildering  night.  But  with  a  nature  in- 
spired by  a  soul  longing  for  truth  and  light,  he  would  not,  and  did 
not  long  remain  in  a  condition  of  apathy  and  inaction. 

Finding  no  help  in  the  teachings  and  practices  of  the  religion  ol 


SON    KLEON   THE   HINDU.  257 

lis  youth,  his  inquiry  was  by  certain  circumstances  and  influences 
:unied  into  new  channels  of  investigation. 

How  are  we  to  account  for  this  hungering  and  thirsting  after  a 
:rue  knowledge,  a  true  righteousness,  and  a  true  salvation,  on  the 
>art  of  a  soul  born  into,  and  subject  to  the  binding  influences  of  a 
lative  traditional  false  religion,  unless  indeed  we  admit  the  possibil- 
ty  of  a  spiritual  and  divine  light  having  shone  within  it  in  a  former, 
:ven  if  a  remote  existence  in  the  body?  And  this  is  to  recognize  the 
*temity  of  spirit,  past  as  well  as  present  and  future — a  divine  emana- 
:ion,  unborn,  uncreated,  held  only  to  a  limited  and  transient  cap- 
:ivity  by  physical  conditions  and  temporary  environments. 

Is  the  subject  mystical  and  the  question  transcendental  ?  Then 
et  the  wise  investigate  and  give  answer.  It  is  not  the  province  of 
:he  writer  to  speculate  upon  the  occult,  but  to  record  actual  experi- 
ences. What  we  do  certainly  find  in  the  present  life  of  Son  Kleon 
s  a  pressing,  a  persistent  seeking  after  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
jod,  and  of  his  relations  to  his  creature,  man. 

To  our  young  Hindu  seeker  these  themes  remained  ever  personal 
md  vital.  Buddhism,  although  in  a  certain  sense  a  reformation  of 
ind  opposed  to  Brahminism,  had  in  some  of  its  features  much  in 
:ommon  with  it.  Therefore,  especially  in  these  later  centuries  in 
India,  with  all  its  subdivisions  of  sects,  a  change  to  the  more  ancient 
forms  of  Hindu  beliefs  and  worship  would  not  be  considered  as 
apostasy.  We  thus  find  our  young  Hindu  diligently  seeking  to  find 
^hc  truth  by  careful  and  laborious  study  of  the  Brahminical  literature. 
I^ut  again,  as  before  in  Buddhism,  he  became  staggered  by  the 
fastness  and  complexity  of  its  teachings,  its  system  of  traditions  of 
^hc  Gods,  its  dogmas  and  ritualisms. 

In  order  to  better  understand  their  inner  meaning,  and  especially 
^  to  what  they  taught  concerning  the  origin  and  ultimate  destiny  of 
^he  human  soul,  he  came  to  Kardetha,  the  venerable  and  learned 
Brahmin  whose  knowledge  and  authority  was  like  unto  that  of  a 
prophet  taught  of  God,  and  reverently  besought  light. 

**  Venerable  Father,"  he  said,  **  tell  me  concerning  the  origin  and 
lestiny  of  the  human  soul,  for  I  have  long  sought  for  light  and  peace 
ind  have  found  them  not  ?     Some  have  said  that  after  man*s  demi.se 


258  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

the  existence  of  the  soul  continues,  and  yet  they  conflict  in  their 
opinion  or  doctrines ;  others  have  said  that  death  ends  all.  Tell  me 
if  thou  knowest  what  is  the  truth?  " 

**  O  my  son,"  replied  the  venerable  Brahmin,  **  while  I  commend 
thy  thoughtfulness,  thou  hast  introduced  a  difficult  subject.  If  thou 
hadst  asked  me  concerning  life  and  duty,  man's  obligations  to  his 
fellow-man  and  his  relations  to  the  Gods  in  acts  of  worship,  I  might 
have  given  thee  instructions  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  until  the 
shades  of  night.  But  concerning  the  soul,  even  the  Gods  are  neariy 
silent,  and  human  wisdom  can  offer  little  more  than  opinion  or  con- 
jecture. Yet,  since  thou  seekest  it,  such  light  as  has  fallen  to  me  1 
will  give  thee,  that  thou  mayest  weigh  it  well,  and  so  judge  for  thy- 
self. The  soul  of  man  is  that  entity  of  his  being  that  has  its  emana- 
tion from  Brahma,  the  source  of  all  life  and  being.  The  soul,  having 
thus  its  origin  in  the  divine,  is  unborn,  undying,  unchangeable.  It  is 
not  injured  by  any  hurt  that  the  body  may  receive,  but  is  answer- 
able to  God  always  for  all  its  acquirements ;  it  must  render  account 
to  him  for  all  its  failures,  and  in  all  existences  it  is  made  liable  to 
rewards  and  penalties.  Whatever  befalls  it  in  its  transmigrations, 
be  they  many  or  few,  the  soul  can  find  its  ultimate  bliss  only  when 
through  right  being  and  right  knowledge,  it  attains  again  to  the  dirine 
absorption.** 

While  these  comments  of  the  learned  Brahmin  gave  stimulus  to 
thought  and  led  tr)  long  and   searching  introspection,   they  offered 
to  Son  Kleon  no  comfort  and  no  hope;   with  the  learned  teacher's 
added  instructions  concerning  present  life  and  duty,  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  merits  through  the  agency  of  many  prayers  and  fastisgs,  he 
was  already  familiar.     These  he  had  practiced,  and,  in  the  later  years, 
during  his  earnest  quest  after  longed-for  righteousness  and  peace,  he 
had  performed  many  long  and  painful  pilgrimages  to  sacred  and  dis- 
tant cities  and  rivers.     While  in  the  performance  of  such  duties  he 
found  a  sort  of  temporary  satisfaction  to  his  conscience;  there  was 
no  permanent  relief  to  his  soul,  and  no  real  light  as  to  its  present 
peace  or  eternal  destiny. 

But  the  parting  instructions  of  the  learned  Brahmin  were  that  he 
should  study  carefully  the  writings  of  the  Rig  Veda.      '*  My  Son.  in 


SON    KLEON   THE   HINDU.  259 

de  of  the  psalms  of  our  devout  Rishi,  there  may  be  found 
Df  profit  for  you  as  for  every  seeker  and  worshiper,"  said 

counsel  he  gave  heed ;  and  in  slowly  and  painstakingly 
way  through  the  clouds  of  superstitions  and  fables,  in 
falteringly  through  the  attributes  and  office-works  of  its 
•us  deities  for  a  true  Monotheism  and  a  revelation  by  which 
be  guided  in  seeking  a  release  from  the  thraldom  of  sin, 
ray  of  light  that  shone  from  some  of  these  hymns,  and 
lought  and  imagination  became  thoroughly  aroused  and 

1  these  devout  hymns  of  worship  he  found  the  recognition 
)ds,  Gods  of  various  attributes  and  names — in  fact,  a  God 
w  and  phenomenon  of  nature,  and  for  almost  every  phase 
xperience — yet  there  was  in  some  of  them  the  central  idea 
rnal  and  supreme  Creator  and  Ruler.  To  him  it  was  as 
>e  ancient  poets,  in  their  hymns  of  praise  and  prayer  to  the 
,  like  himself,  struggling  after  the  apprehension  of  a  dimly 
ecause  a  half-forgotten  truth.  In  them  the  memory  and 
the  One  only  true  God  had  become  so  mingled  with  and 
Dy  human  imaginations  that  there  remained  no  definite 
There  was  instead  a  picturesque  devout  phantasm  that 
ution  sought  to  interpret  and  to  make  real  through  the 
ises. 

le  thousand  hymns  of  the  Vedas  two  here  quoted  especially 
^  attention  of  Son  Kleon,  and  reveal  to  us  the  progress 
A'ledge  toward  the  true  light.  The  first  one  is  a  recogni- 
supreme  God  under  his  name  Varuna,  and  offers  him 
d  worship  as  the  Creator.  The  other  addressed  to  the 
,  regarded  as  Saviour,  is  plainly  the  prayer  of  the  penitent 
iviction  of  sin  and  needing  a  salvation: 

I. 

Hymn  to  Varuna  the  Creator. 

idmirable  for  grandeur  are  the  works  of  Him  who  has 
he  two  worlds  and  has  fixed  their  vast  extent. 


260  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Of  Him  who  has  set  in  motion  the  high  and  sublime  firaiament. 

Who  has  spread  out  the  heavens  upon  the  earth  beneath,  these 
heavens  and  this  earth  which  reach  so  far. 

It  is  the  King  Varuna,  the  Almighty,  who  has  traced  out  to  the 
Sun  the  broad  path  he  is  to  follow. 

He  has  put  strength  into  the  horse,  milk  into  the  cow,  intellect 
into  the  heart  of  man. 

The  winds  are  thy  breath,  O  Varuna,  which  roars  in  the  atmos- 
phere as  the  ox  in  the  meadow. 

Between  the  earth  and  the  sublime  heaven  above,  all  things, 
O  Varuna,  are  thy  creation. 

II. 
A  Prayer  of  the  Penitent. 

I  ask  thee,  O  Varuna,  because  I  wish  to  know  my  faults. 

I  come  to  thee,  I  question  thee,  who  knowest  all  things. 

All  the  Sages  with  one  voice  said  to  me,  **  Varuna  is  angry  witk 
thee.** 

Tell  me,  O  Lord,  O  infallible  One,  and  I  will  then  lay  my  homage 
at  thy  feet.      Free  me  from  the  bondage  of  my  sin. 

Do  not  sever  the  thread  of  the  prayer  that  I  am  weaving. 

Do  not  deliver  me  over  to  the  deaths  which  strike  all  who  commit 
crime. 

Send  me  not  into  the  gloomy  regions  far  from  the  light. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  the  religious  life  of  Son  KIcofl 
that  we  are  considering,  not  his  secular  or  incidental  life.  If  we  were 
to  study  this  latter,  the  causes  would  appear  which  rendered  it  ^ 
before  mentioned,  a  short  one.  Disease  early  fastened  itself  upofl 
him  and  at  twenty-five  years  of  age  we  see  him  face  to  facc»itk 
death,  the  universal  enemy  of  man.  We  have  no  word  but  death  (of 
that  mysterious  transformation  wherein  there  is  apparent  victor)'  oi 
adverse  powers  over  the  body,  but  whereby  the  soul  is  made  free  to 
enter  the  realm  of  new  discoveries  and  new  experiences. 

In.,  view  of  this  religious  life  of  Son   Kleon,   why,  never  having 


SON    KLEON   THE   HINDU.  261 

>f  the  Christian's  God  and  the  Christian's  Saviour — why  was 
ndu  not  satisfied  to  attain  through  the  **  four  noble  paths  of 
usness"  the  Buddhist  Nirvana — the  acme  of  holy  endeavor? 
i,  under  the  light  that  shone  brightest  and  clearest  in  the 
inical  theologies,  was  he  not  satisfied  to  come  to  that  high  test 
lent  of  the  devout  and  sanctified — the  re-absorption  of  his 
ito  Brahma  the  divine  and  the  eternal?  We  find  that  even 
;hcst  conception  of  the  Brahminical  doctrine  of  eternal  bliss 
lort  of  his  longing  and  his  faith ;   and  yet  at  the  end  his  long- 

his  faith  were  satisfied. 

we  then  to  understand  the  possibility  of  the  soul's  attainment 
ation  through  a  process  of  spiritual  enlightenment  wholly 
itself,  and  independent  of  the  Christian's  revelation  from  God? 

we,  in  the  experience  of  this  Hindu  seeker,  to  recognize 
•rt  of  a  soul,  looking  and  reaching  backward  through  the  dim 
f  many  intervening  transmigrations  to  some  earlier  incarnation, 
ir-away  life  on  earth  in  which  to  his  Soul-life,  the   undying 

had  come  a  clearer  revelation,  a  more  definite  knowledge  of 
id  the  eternal  destiny  of  Man? 

1  the  latter  alternative  of  our  dual  question  we  enter  into  the 
)f  the  supernatural  and  the  mystical,  we  do  no  violence  to 
:,  we  antagonize  no  settled  convictions.  In  a  realm  debarred 
rience,  where  even  inspired  vision  has  been  permitted  on  rare 
IS  to  obtain  but  a  transient  glimpse,  imagination  may  freely 
id  become  inquisitive.      But,  if    in  the  realm  of  the  spiritual 

supernatural  our  guesses  and  theories  are  vague  and  unsatis- 

facts  in  human  life  are  definite  and  reliable, 
urning  then  to  the  religious  experience  of  Son  Kleon,  we  find, 
fe  draws  to  a  close,  a  rapid  clearing  of  his  spiritual  vision.  By 
-T  source  or  process  it  has  come,  truth  has  now  illuminated  his 
1  given  it  peace.  Not  truth  revealed  to  his  mental  under- 
y  in  any  precise  form  of  literal  statement,  but  truth  appre- 

through  a  spiritual,  divine  enlightenment,  giving  to  him 
cient  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  a  satisfying  assurance  of 
n,  and  the  eternal  life. 

Allen  R.  Darrow. 


THE   ETERNAL  LIFE. 

An  illustration  of  the  narrowest  imaginable  standard  of  life  is 
furnished  by  the  individual  who  thinks  only  of  the  amount  of  per- 
sonal gratification  the  present  moment  can  be  made  to  afford;  e.  g., 
the  habitual  drunkard,  the  reckless  sensualist. 

His  thought,  which  embraces  but  a  single  instant,  even  of  his  own 
career,  in  a  personal  sense,  denotes  an  essentially  animal  type  of  life. 
Even  on  the  lowest  distinctly  human  plane,  the  individual  who  con- 
siders simply  his  own  interests,  usually  looks  ahead  and  takes  into 
account,  in  some  measure,  at  least,  the  probable  result  of  his  immedi- 
ate action  in  its  bearing  on  his  future  comfort  and  happiness.  The 
most  intelligent  and  cultured  person  may  think  only  of  his  own  wants 
and  his  own  advancement,  planning  and  scheming  to  achieve  what 
seems  likely  to  afford  the  greatest  amount  of  personal  gratification, 
either  at  present  or  in  the  future.  His  thought  of  life  expresses  but 
one  dimension — length.  He  may  be  strictly  honest,  honorable  and 
even  charitable,  in  a  narrow  sense,  often  finding  his  own  pleasure 
enhanced  by  giving;  but  always  acting,  primarily,  with  a  view  to 
increasing  his  own  happiness  and  perpetuating  his  narrow,  personal 
interests,  either  in  this  or  some  other  world.  The  salvation  of  the 
old  theology  was  essentially  of  this  everlasting,  temporal  sort  (para- 
doxical as  such  an  association  of  terms  may  seem  to  those  who  have 
become  accustomed  to  regard  everlasting  and  eternal  as  synonymous). 
It  considered  the  welfare  of  the  individual  apart  from  that  of  the 
race.  But  such  a  salvation  is  clearly  illogical.  It  only  takes  into 
account  the  linear  aspect  of  life.  The  temporal  conception,  even 
though  predominating  in  the  race-thought  at  present,  is,  after  all 
elementary.  Time  suggests  but  one  dimension — length,  and  any 
conception  which  confines  the  extent  of  life  to  time  is,  therefore,  of 
an  elementary  order. 

It  is  surpassed  by  a  conception  recognizing  breadth  as  well  as 
length  of  life;  including  other  individuals — family,  friends,  the 
nation,   the  race,   within  its  scope.     In  the  latter  thought,  personal 

262 


THE   ETERNAL   LIFE.  263 

derations  are  subordinated  to  the  interests  and  well-being  of  a 
r  circle  of  individuals.  Each  personal  life  constitutes  a  segment 
lis  circle.  By  searching  deep  enough  beneath  any  surface  indi- 
n  of  life  we  may  find  elements  of  the  heroic  and  the  tragic, 
r  presence  suggest  that  a  recognition  of  breadth,  as  well  as 
h  of  life,  is  deep-seated  in  the  race-consciousness.  Great 
1th  of  thought  leads  to  an  utter  abandonment  of  the  personal 
jde.  It  enables  us  to  reach  out  beyond  the  restricted  limits  of 
mality  and  grasp  a  larger  life,  never  fearing  the  loss  of  identity ; 
e  are  then  conscious  of  possessing  a  larger  selfhood, 
according  to  an  ancient  Roman  legend,  a  yawning  chasm  opened 
le  Forum,  which  the  soothsayers  declared  could  only  be  closed 
igh  the  sacrifice  of  Rome's  choicest  possession.  Thereupon  the 
;  Curtius  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  headlong  into  the  abyss, 
li  immediately  closed  over  him.     Innumerable  heroes  have  sacri- 

their  personal  lives  for  family  or  country.      Hosts  of  martyrs 

given  their  bodies  to  be  burned,  rather  than  surrender  alle- 
le to  principle.  Among  the  lower  animals,  birds  and  even  insects, 
nces  of  self-sacrifice  are  by  no  means  rare.  The  mother  has 
lently  been  known  to  deliberately  give  her  life  to  save  the  young 
ring.  In  certain  tropical  species  of  ants,  the  warriors  commonly 
fice  their  lives  to  protect  the  colony  from  harm. 
'he  universal  instinct  which  prompts  self-sacrifice,  self-immola- 

is  certainly  significant.  It  does  not  result  from  mere  blind, 
recklessness,  yielding  to  the  impulse  of  self-destruction,  annihi- 
n.  It  does  not  indicate  an  abandonment  of  common  sense  or 
)n,  but  an  acknowledgement  of  the  supremacy  of  a  higher 
ent  in  one  nature,  a  more  trustworthy  guide  which  transcends 
)n.  In  its  most  crucial  experiences,  the  soul  trusts  intuition 
icitly,  to  lead  it  in  the  direction  of  the  highest  good. 
Jut,  even  the  very  broadest  conception  of  life  does  not  satisfy  the 
s  supreme  desire.  The  eternal  life  is  not  only  linear;  not  only 
d ;  it  is  also  deep.  It  extends  equally  in  all  directions.  A  per- 
centre  and  three  dimensions,  or  modes  of  extension  must  be  in- 
ed  in  its  symbol  of  expression ;   and  these  requirements  are  met 

in   the  sphere  alone.     The  point,  the  line,  the  surface  are  all 


264  THE    METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

found  in  the  sphere.     It  typifies  the  world,  nature's  most  complete 
expression. 

Truly,  man  (as  a  physical  phenomenon)  is  **as  the  grass  of  the 
field.'*  Human  life  is  cheap,  indeed.  Looking  backward  over  a  past 
of  almost  inconceivable  duration,  one  is  profoundly  impressed  by  the 
spectacle  of  countless  myriads  of  lives,  flashing  into  view  and  disap- 
pearing again  from  sight,  like  an  endless  shower  of  meteors.  Even 
on  this  insignificant  planet  armies  of  human  beings  are  hurried  from 
sight  daily,  by  war,  famine,  pestilence,  accident  and  their  own  folly 
and  recklessness.  From  such  a  sweeping  survey  human  beings  might 
almost  be  accounted  as  valueless  as  the  ants  we  heedlessly  crush  under 
foot  at  every  step. 

Are  these  fleeting  phenomena  all  there  is  of  life?  Are  they  not, 
rather,  scintillating  sparks,  thrown  off  by  our  deeper,  universal  lifeasit 
moves  majestically  on  through  eternity,  altogether  unperceived  by  the 
materialistic  vision?  Are  they  not,  in  the  deepest  sense,  expressions 
of  a  universal  self  underlying  and  manifesting  itself  in  all  appearances? 

As  the  perennial  plant  sends  up  fresh  shoots,  in  the  spring,  which  , 
grow  and  flourish,  and  die  at  the  approach  of  winter,  so  the  unseen, 
the  real  life,  manifests  itself  in  these  myriad  finite  apparitions. 

Who,  in  attempting  to  sound  the  depths  of  consciousness,  has 
ever  found  a  bottom  to  mark  the  limit  of  that  life  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  regard  as  distinctively  his  own?  And  who,  after  such  an 
attempt,  has  not  been  profoundly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  theun- 
limitedness  and  the  unfathomableness  of  consciousness?  Why,  then, 
should  we  seek  to  restrict  the  scope  of  our  selfhood?  What  province 
in  the  boundless  realm  of  mind  can  we,  as  individuals,  properly  desig- 
nate as  the  exclusive  domain  of  any  merely  personal  self?  After  all, 
what  do  we  mean  by  **  self"?  How  varied  are  the  expressions  with 
which  we  have  associated  this  term,  even  within  the  brief  period  o( 
our  remembrance?  At  one  time  we  may  have  used  it  to  designate 
a  frail,  material  body,  subject  to  disease  and  external  forces;  at 
another,  a  free,  spiritual  being,  conscious  that  life  transcends  the  plane 
of  phenomena.  For  what  reality,  then,  does  the  term  stand?  N^ho 
can  comprehend  its  full  meaning? 

These  fragmentary,  finite  lives  you  and  I  claim  as  our  own  pccul- 


THE   ETERNAL   LIFE.  265 

iar  possessions  represent  incidents  or  moments  in  the  life  of  a 
common,  deeper  self.  No  finite  thought  of  self  can  more  than  faintly 
reflect  the  infinite  self.  We  are  frequently  conscious  of  a  power 
which  invades  the  domain  of  our  finite  thought  from  some  undiscov- 
ered, unexplored  region  of  our  being,  and  assumes  control  of  our 
lower  faculties.  •  We  may,  at  any  time,  rise  to  a  plane  of  conscious- 
ness where  our  commoner  experiences  are  transcended.  And,  by 
relinquishing  our  previous  standard  of  selfhood  and  accepting  a  more 
perfect  one,  we  have  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  deeper  self  within. 
For  the  higher  type  of  selfhood  to  which  we  aspire  and  which  we 
may  attain  to  is,  really,  as  much  ours  as  the  one  we  have  heretofore 
entertained. 

As  we  awaken,  by  degrees,  to  a  larger  consciousness,  we  become 
aware  that  not  alone  that  fraction  of  past  experience  we  have  been 
wont  to  distinguish  as  peculiarly  our  own,  because  we  remember  it 
as  such,  is  ours,  but  that  all  experience,  under  whatever  conditions 
of  life  and  through  however  apparently  independent  external  forms  it 
is  manifested,  is  bound  together  in  the  life  of  one  self.  Verily,  in 
the  deepest  sense,  that  self  is  ours. 

Every  one  is  conscious  of  a  self  in  which  his  separate,  personal 
experiences  are  unified,  so  that  he  knows  them  to  spring  from  a  single 
source.  Waking  and  sleeping,  he  preserves  his  identity  from  day  to 
day  and  from  year  to  year.  But,  if  we  readily  associate  expressions 
separated  in  time  with  one  self,  it  is  equally  true  that  we  may  as- 
sume a  broader  basis,  by  extending  our  thought,  so  that  it  shall 
associate  expressions,  separated  in  space,  with  one  self. 

Jesus's  thought  of  self  embraced  all  mankind.  He  said:  **  I  am 
the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches.  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you."  Paul 
declared  that  we  are  **  all  members  of  one  body."  But  Jesus's  thought 
was  deep  and  vital,  as  well  as  broad ;  intensive  as  well  as  extensive. 
Herein  it  surpassed  the  thought  of  all  other  great  seers.  No 
thought  is  perfectly  harmonious  unless  it  is  poised  at  an  absolute 
centre,  which  makes  it  one  with  the  thought  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
Jesus  could  say,  unreservedly:  **I  and  my  Father  are  one."  For 
His  thought  was  in  perfect  accord  with  the  Divine  consciousness. 
One  may  be  sympathetic,   charitable,   public-spirited  and  even 


266  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

philanthropic,  without  being  conscious  of  the  deeper  meaning  of  life. 
Emotional  intensity  is  superficial,  not  deep.  Joy  and  sorrow  meet 
in  the  profoundest  depths  of  consciousness.  The  deepest  sorrow 
does  not  call  forth  tears,  nor  the  highest  joy  exultation.  It  is  the 
finite  in  us  that  weeps  and  exults,  while  the  infinite  remains  un- 
moved; not  from  stoical  indifference,  but  because  of  that  perfect 
poise  which  enables  it  to  appreciate  life  in  its  ultimate  significance, 
without  stopping  to  dwell  on  each  trivial  incident.  In  this  way,  we 
may  stand  outside  our  finite  lives  and  view  them  comprehensively. 

The  phenomenal  aspect  of  life — the  sparks  issuing  from  real  life— 
so  dazzles  us  that  it  is  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  we  become 
acquainted  with  our  deeper  self,  the  self  of  more  than  personal 
significance.  No  general  appreciation  of  the  eternity  of  life  is 
possible  until  educational  methods  are  adopted,  calculated  to  develop 
the  expansive  power  latent  within  every  individual.  The  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  must  remain  an  enigma,  both  to  the  students  of 
human  nature  and  practical  economists,  until  this  highest  attribute  of 
life  is  taken  into  account. 

Jesus  never  established  a  reform  or  social  institution  of  any 
description.  He  recognized  the  expansiveness  of*  the  eternal  con- 
ception of  life — its  power  to  manifest  itself  by  extending  in  every 
direction.  Mere  reform,  as  an  end  in  itself,  is  superficial.  It  is  the 
reaching  out  of  society  to  extend  its  opportunities  and  better  its 
conditions.  But  it  does  not  contain  the  germ  of  the  eternal,  the 
expansive  life. 

As  the  germ  of  the  eternal  life  unfolds,  it  incidentally  brings  the 
most  desirable  achievements  aimed  at  by  reform  methods.  It  con- 
tains the  potency,  not  only  of  reform,  but  of  far  more  than  social 
reform — of  a  complete  metamorphosis  of  humanity.  Although  Jesos 
instituted  no  reforms,  established  no  economic  system,  yet  within 
a  comparatively  brief  period,  the  expansive  quality  of  the  type  of  \At 
which  he  manifested  in  a  supreme  degree,  yielded  the  fruits  of 
reform  in  more  abundant  measure  than  any  specific  reform  which  has 
ever  been  inaugurated.    **  A  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump." 

Jesus  did  not  even  seek  to  prolong  his  earthy  career  until  the 
precepts  he  had  been  inculcating  on  his  disciples  had  become  more 


THE   ETERNAL  LIFE.  267 

inly  established  in  their  lives,  as  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  policy, 
fiich  too  often  dictates  the  course  of  our  moral  and  religious  endeav- 
irs,  would  have  suggested.  How  easy  it  would  have  been  for  him, 
stead  of  encountering  the  opposition  of  the  Jews  by  publicly 
aching  in  Judea,  to  have  retired  to  some  less  frequented  locality, 
here,  unmolested  by  his  enemies,  he  could  have  instructed  his 
sciples  more  fully  in  all  things  relating  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
*  sought  to  establish  and  have  gathered  together  a  large  body  of 
rmpathizers  to  perpetuate  his  work!  But,  no;  his  uncompromising 
:titude  in  the  face  not  alone  of  personal  peril,  but,  apparently,  of 
nnninent  danger  to  the  new  movement,  not  yet  securely  established, 
as  the  crowning  manifestation,  in  all  the  ages,  of  the  eternal  quality 
f  life.  An  evasion  of  this  issue  would  have  been  a  practical  denial 
i  his  faith  in  the  potency  of  the  eternal  type  of  life.  **  And  I,  if  I 
>e  lifted  up  from  the  earth  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.** 

Material  phenomena  are  symbols  of  spiritual  experience.  We 
ire  acquainted  with  matter  in  solid,  liquid  and  gaseous  states.  When 
my  solid  substance  is  exposed  to  a  definite  degree  of  heat,  it  is 
educed  to  a  liquid.  Likewise,  when  the  temperature  rises  to  a 
lefinite  point,  still  higher,  the  liquid  becomes  a  volatile  gas.  Through 
^he  influence  of  heat,  ice  is  converted  into  water,  and  water  into 
>team.  In  the  solid  state  it  is  characterized  by  rigidity.  This  form 
corresponds  to  the  cold,  crystallized,  materialistic,  selfish,  exclusive, 
Personal  type  of  life,  which  seeks,  by  contracting,  to  hold  its  own  at 
Ul  odds,  and  refrains  from  giving  itself  out  or  relinquishing  its 
elfish  life,  for  fear  of  losing  something  it  deems  its  inherent,  rightful 
Possession.  In  the  liquid  state  it  is  characterized  by  mobility, 
endency  to  relax,  spread  out  and  extend  superficially,  thereby 
carting  with  specific  distinctions  of  form.  This  form  corresponds 
o  the  broad,  mutual,  inclusive,  social  type  of  life,  which  reaches 
ut  and  sacrifices  itself  for  the  common  good,  never  fearing  the 
ffacement  of  individuality,  or  the  loss  of  its  own  peculiar  rights  and 
rerogatives. 

In  the  vaporous  state,  it  exhibits  qualities  of  expansion  and  free- 
cm  of  motion  in  all  directions.  It  escapes  from  confinement  by 
ursting  asunder  the  bonds  that  restrain  it.      This  form  corresponds 


268  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

to  the  spontaneous,  eternal  life  of  the  spirit,  which  transcends  finite 
limitations  and  knows  absolute  freedom  alone. 

As  caloric,  the  source  of  heat  is  latent  in  all  material  substances, 
so  the  power  of  love  is  latent  in  the  soul,  and  only  awaits  an  oppor- 
tunity to  come  forth  into  manifestation  and  free  the  soul  from 
bondage  to  low  ideals.  The  principle  of  love  thaws  the  ice  of  selfish- 
ness, materialism,  dogmatism  and  finite  misconception. 

But  man  can  only  realize  his  highest  estate  when  love  is  deep 
enough  to  evoke  a  soul-consciousness,  which  transfigures  humanity 
with  divinity.  **The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth  and  thou  hearcst 
the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither 
it  goeth;   so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 

Embracing  the  eternal  conception  of  life  frequently  leads  to 
experiences  quite  unlike  the  ones  we  have  been  taught  to  desire  and 
hope  for.  *'The  Kingdom  of  Heaven"  brings  peace;  but  it  is 
inward,  not  outward  peace.  Jesus  declared  that  he  came  **  nottosend 
peace,  but  a  sword  " ;  that  the  principle  of  the  eternal  life  would 
divide  families,  turn  friends  into  enemies,  and  bring  persecution, 
even,  in  many  cases,  to  the  **  killing  of  the  body.**  Many  anticipate 
very  different  results  to  follow  their  acceptance  of  the  metaphysical 
principle,  to-day.  True,  one  may  realize  physical  health,  material 
prosperity,  a  degree  of  happiness  and  a  certain  peace  of  mind,  with- 
out encountering  these  experiences,  which,  from  a  finite  point  of 
view,  seem  so  undesirable.  But,  to  realize  the  eternity  of  life,  one 
must  be  willing  to  part  with  ease,  material  success,  friendships,  even 
physical  existence,  if  need  be. 

Jcsus's  proclamation  of  the  eternal  standard  of  life  was  the  boldest, 
most  radical  step  in  human  progress;  so  radical,  in  fact,  that,  even 
now,  the  world  does  not  comprehend  its  full  purport.  The  supposi- 
tion that  he  intended  to  establish,  as  a  general  standard  for  humanit)'. 
a  type  of  life  so  thoroughly  subversive  of  all  previous  theories  and 
practices,  seems  utterly  absurd  to  most  persons.  They  think  of  hi*^ 
life  as  a  solitary  instance,  an  abstract  ideal,  not  as  a  concrete  example 
of  the  normal  human  type  of  expression. 

Principle  may  be  made  to  subserve  selfish,  personal  ends.  But 
the  eternal  life,  manifested  by  Jesus  and  his  early  followers  cannot  be 


THE   ETERNAL   LIFE.  269 

alized  in  this  manner.  One  must  ignore  personal  considerations 
id  lose  one's  self  in  the  infinite  life  of  absolute  unselfishness.  The 
ere  realization  of  health  and  happiness,  indeed,  marks  a  step 
ward  the  eternal  life;  but  it  is  not  enough.  The  highest  joy  and 
tisfaction  are  only  attainable  through  a  soul-consciousness  which 
cognizes  none  but  the  universal  standard  of  selfhood. 

Frank  H.  Sprague. 


IN   ABSENCE. 


Though  far  my  mortal  hands  to-day, 

My  spirit  hands  are  still  in  thine ; 

More  potent  than  the  subtlest  wine 
Their  heaven-bom  pulses  play. 

About  thy  drooping  brow  they  lie 

Life's  rhythmic  current  to  sustain, 

Transmuting  thy  dark  bitter  pain 
To  peace  and  harmonv. 

Their  strength  becomes  thy  very  own. 

Through  thy  soul's  depths  thou  feelst  it  now. 

O  far  am  I !  but  surely  thou 

Must  know  thou'rt  not  alone. 

Mary  Peabodv. 


Drudgery  is  the  gray  Angel  of  Success.  The  main  secret  of  any 
uccess  we  may  hope  to  rejoice  in,  is  in  that  angel's  keeping. — IVm,  C. 
Gannett, 

A  man  comes  into  possession  of  creative  power  by  uniting  his  own 
^ind  with  the  Universal  Mind,  and  he  who  succeeds  in  doing  so  will  be 
"i  possession  of  the  highest  possible  wisdom. — Paracelsus. 

Not  he  who  distrusts  the  methods  of  reason,  but  he  who  follows 
Very  line  of  investigation,  finds  at  last  all  lines  melt  into  transcendent 
eauty,  all  fade  into  the  hallowed  mystery  that  is  pervaded  by  the 
eace  of  God. — Jenken  L,  Jones, 

Kindness  is  the  golden  chain  by  which  society  is  bound  together. — 
^^octhe. 

Mankind  are  always  happier  for  having  been  happy.  So  that  if  you 
lake  them  happy  now,  you  make  them  happy  twenty  years  hence  by 
ic  memory  of  it. — Sidney  Smith. 


THE   HOME  CIRCL.E. 


Conducted  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Francis  Stephenson. 


NOTE  TO  OUR  READERS. 


In  this  department  we  will  give  space  to  carefully  written  communications  of 
merit,  on  any  of  the  practical  questions  of  everyday  life,  considered  from  the 
bearings  of  metaphysical  and  philosophical  thought,  which,  we  believe,  maybe 
demonstrated  as  both  a  lever  and  a  balance  for  all  the  difficult  problems  of  life. 

Happenings,  experiences,  and  developments  in  the  family  and  the  commanity: 
results  of  thought,  study,  and  experiment ;  unusual  occurrences  when  well  authen- 
ticated ;  questions  on  vague  points  or  on  the  matter  of  practical  application  of 
principles  and  ideas  to  daily  experience,  etc.,  will  be  inserted  at  the  Editor's  dis- 
cretion, and  in  proportion  to  available  space.  Questions  asked  in  one  number, 
may  be  answered  by  readers,  in  future  numbers,  or  may  be  the  subject  of  editoriil 
explanation,  at  our  discretion.  It  is  hoped  that  the  earnest  hearts  and  carefol 
thinking  minds  of  the  world  will  combine  to  make  this  department  both  interesting 
and  instructive  to  the  high  degree  to  which  the  subject  is  capable  of  development 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE. 

In  beginning  the  work  of  this  department  in  The  Metaphysical 
Magazine  we  wish  to  emphasize  the  ideas  expressed  in  the  opening 
numbers  of  Pearls^  and  again  to  declare  our  desire  to  meet  the  require-  I 
ments  of  the  family  and  the  home,  in  the  development  of  plain,  practi- 
cal teaching  of  a  sound  character  in  the  line  of  metaphysical  philosophy, 
which  brings  so  much  of  real  value  to  human  life.  That  this  teaching 
must  bear  good  fruit,  is  the  conviction  that  animates  our  purpose  and 
gives  to  our  thought  the  enthusiasm  necessary  to  success. 

The  material  which  has  been  prepared  in  advance  for  Pearls  will  be 
used  here,  and  we  hope  for  the  active  cooperation  of  all  interested 
readers  to  make  this  department  equal  to  a  whole  magazine.  The 
appreciation  we  have  received  for  the  work  done  in  Pearls  emboldens 
us  to  count  upon  success  in  making  this  change,  and  we  trust  that 
because  of  it  The  Metaphysical  Magazine  will  be  received  with  an 
added  warmth  to  its  usual  welcome. 

270 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  271 


FINDINGS   IN   THE   SCIENCE   OF   LIFE. 
(A  Series  of  Letters  to  a  Thoughtful  Friend.) 


LETTER  L 

August  i6,  1897. 

**The  Wilderness." 

Dear  Comrade :  You  take  my  breath  with  your  question.  I  wish 
onest  Thoreau  or  Socrates  or  ancient  Pythagoras  were  about !  But, 
n  second  thoughts,  let  us  get  to  business,  for  I  think  I  can  answer 
omewhat,  and  perhaps  you  will  compare  your  findings  with  mine,  and 
re  shall  both  know  more  in  the  end. 

There's  need  of  honest  comparison  so  that  Universal  issues  may  be 
cached.  Courage,  then!  for  brave  thoughts  and  precious  journeys 
hrough  deep  waters.  Here  are  my  conclusions,  in  answer  to  yours  of 
;he  loth: 

I  St.  In  regard  to  Individuality  and  the  Will.  This  is  explainable 
mly  through  other  explanation.  Here  are  facts:  All  individuals  aspire, 
lU  have  form  and  all  have  life.  Being,  therefore,  is  cast  forth  with 
the  Impulse  of  Aspiration,  into  a  changing  ocean  of  free  atoms  and  into 
in  ocean  of  Vitality ;  the  one  giving  to  it  form  and  the  other,  life.  But 
what  is  this  Being?  I  may  term  it  the  **I.'*  But  what  is  the  I? 

First,  we  must  find  a  principle  characteristic  of  the  I.  This  is 
growth.  If  you  look  into  the  world  of  life  you  can  discern  no  growth 
that  did  not  arise  from  some  kind  of  seed.  Seed-life  is  a  Universal  fiat. 
The  I,  then,  is  a  germ  sent  forth  by  a  Creator  for  long  journeys  into 
Freedom. 

Not  only  does  the  material  self  come  from  the  unfoldment  of  a 
seed,  but  the  mental  self  arises  from  the  germs  of  Suggestion.  The 
soul  also  arises  from  the  germ  of  Aspiring  Impulse.  The  I,  it  is  inferred, 
is  a  germ  cast  forth  from  spirit  into  free  conditions,  for  development. 

Freedom,  with  growth,  gives  scope  for  the  Suggestion  of  Will ;  and 
will  creates  the  character,  which,  in  turn,  when  grasped,  becomes  an 
individuality. 

Soul,  which  is  suggested  by  the  seed-I  (in  its  development)  con- 
centrates the  Impulse  of  Aspiration  and  turns  toward  its  Whole.  For 
soul  is  of  the  realm  of  Spirit.  Being  a  part  with  Spirit,  it  is  attracted 
to  its  Whole. 

This  attraction,  also,  is  spiritual^  for  it  deals  with  that  which  is 
spiritual.     This  attraction,  it  is,  that  I  call  the  Aspiring  Impulse. 

Aspiration  is  not  a  material  or  mental  product.    Aspiration  exists. 


272  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

And  to  place  this  existence,  we  accord  it  to  the  realm  which  we  call 
spiritual,  because  there  is  nothing  material  or  mental  in  it.  There  is 
nothing  either  material  or  mental  about  a  principle.    We  call  it  spiritual. 

Soul  aspires  to  Spirit.  But  Matter^  to  which  the  germ-I  is  also 
attached,  learis  toward  matter,  of  which  it  is  a  part,  so  that  the  Uni- 
versal principle  of  Growth,  which  is  applied  to  the  germ-I,  evolves  two 
roots:  that  which  runs  to  Matter,  and  that  which  runs  toward  Spirit. 
Soul  rises  toward  Spirit ;  matter  flows  toward  matter,  and  the  spiritual 
seed  becomes  divided  in  character,  yet  is  one^  and  subject  throughout 
to  the  same  Universal  laws.  Like  a  plant,  the  **I"  roots  in  matter, 
breathes  in  spirit  and  fruits  in  Paradise. 

And  what  then?  And  what  for?  Imagination  peers  into  the  dark, 
but  in  the  dark  are  the  beginnings. 

Your  next  inquiry  is,  as  to  the  nature  of  pain.  Now  pain,  in  the 
physical  realm,  is  conflict.  By  analogy,  in  the  mental  world,  it  is  also 
conflict.  But  to  the  aspiring  Soul,  no  pain  exists  because  it  breathes 
of  that  in  which  lies  no  pain. 

Matter  molded  by  the  nutrient  principle  of  Growth  is  whole; 
not  so  molded,  it  is  subject  to  pain.  But  change  is  a  characteristic 
of  all  forms,  no  matter  how  controlled.  And  disappearance  is  also  a 
characteristic  of  form  life.  Pain  belongs  to  the  Province  of  Equipment; 
Spirit,  to  the  Province  of  Perfection — because  there  is  no  waste. 

That  which  will  always  apply  to  the  two  lower  realms,  will  never 
apply  to  Universal  Principle,  which  is  of  the  Spirit  or  Origin,  and 
does  not  die. 

Pain  belongs  to  individuals  that  have  conscious  life — in  their  grow- 
ing efforts  through  space. 

Next,  Emotions: 

Emotions  are  the  disturbances  of  thoughts,  and  either  bless  or 
destroy.  The  principle  of  Balance  is  a  World  principle  and  controls 
the  thought-world  as  well  as  the  vital  and  visible  worlds.  Do  not 
neglect  this — the  same  principles  that  work  this  matter  also  work 
through  mental  operation ;  and  every  explanation  is  bound  to  be  so 
far  scientific,  or  else  worthless. 

Thoughts  are  alive.  We  can  cast  Thoughts,  or  see  what  Thought 
we  desire  to  see,  and  we  are  often  unwary,  going  into  mischievous 
touch  with  wrong  thoughts.  All  action  has  a  tendency  to  repeat 
itself.  Images,  also,  have  this  tendency  of  repetition,  on  the  principle 
of  the  easiest  action ;  and  this,  on  account  of  the  increased  sensibility 
Association,  also,  bears  a  part. 

As  Sensation  (which  is  created  by  change  in  the  body)  will  pro* 
duce  change  in  the  mind,  so  change  m  the  mind  will  effect  change  m 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  273 

e  body.  But  neither  sensation  nor  emotion  is  characteristic  of  the 
111.  The  soul  adds,  without  waste,  and  by  perfect  accumulation  of 
tscious  Knowledge  of  the  Spiritual  life,  makes  a  perfect  Power  and 
rmits  the  I  to  come  into  its  Kingdom,  after  slipping  off  its  material 
eaths;  and,  if  the  life  is  rational,  matter  is  always  slipped  off  at  the 
oment  when  there  is  no  use  for  it. 

But  to  go  back  to  Emotion.  There  may  be  emotion  of  the  mind 
ithout  the  accompaniment  of  bodily  emotion  (subjective  sensation) 
id  there  may  be  physical  or  bodily  emotion  without  the  accompani- 
ent  of  mental  emotion. 

Here  you  have  the  audacity  (because  it  is  natural  to  you)  to  ask 
Why  Creation  ever  should  have  been  made  at  all!" 

Being  so  shut  in  by  my  own  half-blindness,  I  have  not  seen  trust- 
illy;  but  I  have  made  a  trustful  observation.  Reason  is  everywhere, 
^son  is  spiritual.  Reason  is  a  Universal  Principle.  Reason,  then,  will 
ve  and  we  may  trust  it. 

Now,  I  have  never  observed  any  result  but  that  held  in  it  a  reason, 
an  mortal  live  on  earth  and  see  far  into  heaven?  But  I  have  eyes  to 
ee  what  is  to  be  seen,  and  judging  from  the  little,  I  infer  the  great, 
-ooking  at  the  part — one  sees  the  Whole.  Principle  is  yet  principle, 
^aith  is  the  effect  of  Knowledge  gained  at  first,  through  reason.  I  have 
aith  to  feel  that  there  is  as  much  back  of  Creation  as  there  is  in  it ;  for 
10  result  is  more  than  its  Impulse.    Honey  is  not  greater  than  the  bee. 

One  thing  is  certain,  that  the  mental  faculties  and  life  are  not  the 
nd  or  aim  of  existence.  They  are  necessary  means  to  great  results, 
kiind  is  a  phenomenon  and  cannot  last,  because  phenomena  do  not 
ndure,  a  fact  which  you  know. 

Mind  is  mortal-made,  and  for  the  sake  of  equipment  for  spiritual 
^nsciousncss.  Born  of  the  Universe,  the  /  created  a  method  of  pro- 
cure which  is  like  the  method  of  the  Universe.  There  was  no  other 
ay.  The  principles  of  life  experiences  are  the  epitome  of  the  princi- 
es  of  the  Universe.     There  is  safety  in  the  Universe! 

Trust  it. 

Your  friend, 

Marion  Hunt. 

St.   Louis,  Dec.  12,  1897. 
r.  Leander  E.  Whipple: 

Dear  Sir. — As  a  student  of  numbers  I  was  very  much  interested 

the  article  written  by  Mr.  Hazelrigg  in  the  Holiday  edition  of  your 

igazine,  giving  the  value  of  the  letters  of  the  English  alphabet.     I 

plied  it  at  once  to  the  word  ** Jesus"  with  the  result  of  the  number 


274  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

13,  and  to  ** Christ"  the  number  10.  Now,  could  you  tell  us  the  m 
ing  of  13?  Is  it  your  opinion,  that  it  is  not  merely  superstition,  i 
refer  to  it  as  an  attribute  of  ill  omen?  I  have  met  many  persons 
thought  that  as  Jesus  was  the  13th,  the  apostles  being  twelve 
former  number  was  the  inherence  of  bad  things,  or,  rather,  **unf( 
nate,"  in  a  worldly  sense.  It  would  be  very  interesting  to  mar 
your  readers  to  hear  of  your  ideas  in  this  respect. 

J   ^  X  5  —    5 

£     5    X    4    as    20 

S  3  X3—    9 
U  6  X  2  XB  12 

S  3  X  I  =    3 

49  —  4  +  9  —  13 
Do  you  think  that  because  so  many  people  concentrate  their  thou; 

upon  the  number  13  as  foreboding  **bad  luck,*'  it  derives  that  qua] 

Ernst  Bbnninghove.v. 


PATIENCE   AND   LOVE. 

Dear  friend,  when  thou  and  I  are  gone 

Beyond  earth's  weary  labor, 
When  small  shall  be  our  need  of  grace 

From  comrade  or  from  neighbor. 
Past  all  the  strife,  the  toil,  the  care. 

And  dona,  with  all  the  sighing. 
What  tender  truth  shall  we  have  gained, 

Alas !  by  simply  dying  ? 

Then  lips  too  chary  of  their  praise 

Will  tell  our  merits  over. 
And  eyes  too  swift  one's  faults  to  see 

Shall  no  defect  discover. 
Dear  friend,  perchance  both  thou  and  I, 

Ere  love  is  past  forgiving. 
Should  take  this  earnest  lesson  home — 

Be  patient  with  the  living. 

*Tis  easy  to  be  gentle  when  death's  silence 

Shames  our  clamor. 
And  easy  to  descern  the  best 

Through  memory's  mystic  glamour. 
But  wise  it  were  for  thee  and  me, 

Ere  love  is  past  forgiving. 

To  take  this  tender  lesson  home — 

Be  patient  with  the  living. 

— Selected, 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  276 

HAROLD  AND  ALICE. 

"  I  would  speak,  though  the  angel  of  death  had  laid 
His  sword  on  my  lips  to  keep  it  unsaid." 

— Edwin  Arnold. 

;ht  snow  was  falling,  the  first  of  a  long-delayed  winter,  and 
ime  that  strangely  solemn  stillness,  that  dulling  of  the  great 
moil  which  the  snowfall  brings.  In  higher  latitudes  there  is 
*ss,  a  frosty,  tonic  quality  in  the  air  not  to  be  found  in  our 
:ity  by  the  sea.  Few  New  Yorkers,  in  walking  through  a 
id  the  pleasure  which  those  accustomed  to  Nature's  rougher 
xperience;  and  so,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  two 
alking  up  Fifth  avenue,  just  above  Madison  square,  found 
es  almost  the  only  pedestrians.  The  shorter  of  the  two,  an 
lan,  well  muffled  in  his  fur-lined  coat,  was  speaking  with  the 
eness   of   one   who    desires    to    convince   an    unresponsive 

at  more  could  you  ask,  what  more  could  any  one  wish?'*  he 
ig.      **  She  is  handsome,  although,  with  a  sensible  man  like 

is  a  secondary  matter ;   she  is  clever,  has  infinite  tact,  an 
ufflcient  for  her  own  wants ;   she  is  of  a  suitable  age  for  you 

of  all,  my  dear  Rodney,"  here  he  laid  his  hand  impressively 
mpanion's  arm,  **the  influence  of  her  family  connection  is 
lormous.  With  that  backing  your  political  aspirations  could 
:d  beyond  a  peradventure." 

ey  gave  his  broad  shoulders  a  slightly  impatient  shrug,  as  if 
off  the  snow. 

y  is  it  that  one's  friends  are  always  so  much  more  anxious 
a  match  concluded  than  those  supposed  to  be  most  inter- 
ic  asked.  **  I  grant  that  all  that  you  have  said  is  true,  but, 
ic  lady  were  willing,  and  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  she 
:,   I   am  contented  enough  as   I   am.     Why  rush  into  new 

always    more    or    less    problematic    as    to    their    resultant 

you  are  not  happy,  Rodney.  You  never  have  been  the 
1  since  Alice  died.    No" — as  Rodney  was  about  to  interrupt 


i     •'■'• 


276  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

him — **  I  know  that  such  ideal  happiness  as  was  yours  with  her  is  not 
to  be  hoped  for  twice  in  a  man's  life,  but  you  might  find  a  large 
measure  of  content  with  such  a  wife  as  Mrs.  Eliot.  As  to  her  refus- 
ing you,  that  is  all  nonsense — ^just  your  modesty,  my  dear  fellow, 
ril  wager  that  all  of  her  friends  have  held  up  before  her  the  advan- 
tages of  the  match  with  quite  as  much  persistence  as  I  have  done 
with  you,  and  I  know  that  she  likes  you  immensely.*' 

**Good  night,  Bronson,**  said  the  other  abruptly,  pausing  at  the 
steps  of  a  wide  brownstone  house,  whose  ugly  simplicity  had  been 
disguised  by  none  of  those  modern  devices  invented  of  late  bjr 
conscience-stricken  architects  to  palliate  their  aesthetic  crimes  of 
twenty  years  ago.  **  I  will  see  you  again  in  a  few  days.  Thanks  for 
your  kindly  interest." 

**Good  night,  old  fellow,"  returned  the  other.  **  Ponder  wcD 
over  the  wisdom  I  have  imparted  to  you." 

The  vestibule  door  was  not  yet  fastened  and  as  Rodney  pushed 
it  open  and  drew  out  his  latch  key,  he  said,  half  aloud,  '*  Bronson 
means  well,  but  it  isn't  fair  to  Mrs.  Eliot  that  she  should  be  thus  dis- 
cussed until  I  have  made  up  my  own  mind."  He  fitted  the  key  into  the 
lock.  Before  he  could  turn  it  the  door  was  opened  by  a  middle-aged 
manservant  who  stepped  deferentially  aside  with  a  low  **  Good  even- 
ing, sir." 

'*You  need  not  have  waited  up  for  me,  Joseph,"  said  Rodney 
kindly,  allowing  the  man  to  divest  him  of  his  great  coat  and  hat. 
*'  You  may  go  to  bed  now;    I  shall  not  need  you  to-night." 

The  man  bowed  respectfully.  **You  will  find  everything  ready 
for  you  in  your  room,  sir,"  he  said,  in  the  carefully  neutral  monotone 
of  a  well-trained  servant.  His  eyes  followed  his  master,  as  the  latter 
mounted  the  stairs,  with  a  dog-like  devotion  in  their  expression  which 
lighted  up  momentarily  his  correct,  blank  face. 

Rodney  went  up  slowly  to  the  front  room  on  the  second  floor. 
This  apartment,  spacious  and  handsome,  like  the  rest  of  the  house, 
was  somewhat  worn  and  faded  in  its  appointments.  For  ten  years 
the  furniture,  excepting  a  few  necessary  repairs,  had  remained  with- 
out alteration  or  improvement.  Nothing  had  been  changed,  nothing 
added  to  the  room  since  his  dead  wife  had  been  carried  from  it.    It 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  277 

brightly  lighted  and  a  glowing  fire  in  the  open  grate,  toward 
h  his  easy  chair  had  been  invitingly  drawn,  gave  an  air  of  com- 
and  welcome  to  its  solitude.  As  he  approached  the  fire  a  black 
i  rose  stiffly  from  the  rug  where  he  had  been  sleeping  and  raised 
im  eyes  lovingly  to  his  master's  face. 

'  Poor  Jack,  poor  Jack,'*  caressing  the  dog's  gray  muzzle.  **  It 
:ting  harder  all  the  time  to  welcome  master  as  you  used  to.  Yes," 
e  dog  once  more  stretched  himself  out  by  the  fire,  **  it  won't  be 
before  I  lose  my  poor,  old  companion,"  he  went  on  musingly  to 
elf,  **  and  some  time  old  Joseph  will  go,  too,  and  I  shall  be  quite, 
r  alone." 

lis  thoughts  returned  to  the  subject  of  his  late  conversation  with 
son — their  gracious  hostess  of  that  evening.  No  doubt  she  was 
ery  respect  suited  to  him.  She  was  charming,  too.  How  bril- 
ly  handsome  she  had  looked  that  night  and  how  well  she  had 
d,  not  in  the  lecturing,  didactic  manner  which  so  many  bright 
en  have,  but  easily,  cleverly,  responsively.  It  would  be  a  great 
to  him  in  the  political  career  which  he  had  mapped  out  to  have 
a  wife,  a  woman  of  tact  and  charm  and  of  influence  as  well.  In 
of  what  he  had  said  to  Bronson  he  knew,  too,  that  he  had  but 
k.  He  rested  his  handsome  head  against  the  chair  back  and  his 
sought  the  portrait  above  the  mantel — a  life-size  portrait  of  a 
tiful  woman.  The  great  eyes,  singularly  luminous,  seemed  to 
his  gaze.  There  was  something  so  instinct  with  life  and  char- 
in  the  frail  figure  and  spiritual  face  that  a  stranger  in  looking  at 
jld  not  but  feel  that  it  must  have  been  a  perfect  likeness.  A 
ent  woman,  very  different  in  every  respect  from  the  much-ad- 
1  Mrs.  Eliot,  a  woman  on  whose  pure  brow  and  in  whose  clear 
the  light  of  another  world  seemed  already  to  shine.  There  was 
thing  so  keenly,  pathetically  sweet  in  her  smile  that  one's  throat 
untarily  contracted  as  one  gazed  on  it. 

Alice,  Alice,"  murmurred  Rodney,  softly,  **0h,  if  I  could 
what  you  know  now — if  you  could  tell  me,  if  your  angel  hand 
t  lead  me !  How  strange ;  how  cruel  a  thing  to  have  for  years 
e  that  enfolds,  that  penetrates,  that  follows  one  everywhere, 
•  weary,   never   faltering,  and    then — all  at   once — a  blank — it 


278  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

is  gone,  and  nothing  remains.  In  vain  we  gaze  into  the  blackness 
beyond — no  sign  comes.  In  vain  we  call — only  the  echo  of  our  own 
voice  comes  back."  He  was  silent,  and,  in  his  fancy,  the  soft  grajr 
eyes  of  the  picture  smiled  on  him  more  and  more  tenderly.  The  old 
dog  stirred  uneasily  on  the  rug — a  breath  of  cold  air  lifted  the  dowa- 
dropping  lock  on  Rodney's  forehead,  as  if  in  light  caress.  Jad 
growled  and  raised  his  head.  His  dim  eyes  looked  beyond  hii 
master.  He  gave  a  whine  of  joyful  recognition,  but  was  too  feeble  to 
rise  again.  A  sensation  of  cold  enveloped  Rodney,  and  he  rose  to 
di^aw  closer  the  heavy  curtains.  He  wandered  aimlessly,  forlornly, 
about  the  room,  now  and  then  touching  with  caressing  hand  some 
object  that  had  belonged  to  Alice.  He  paused  before  her  bookcase 
and  took  out  one  volume  after  another,  running  his  fingers  lightly 
over  the  covers,  idly  fluttering  the  leaves.  Here  was  the  **  Intima- 
tions of  Immortality,*'  which,  as  if  in  prescience,  she  had  read  so 
often  in  her  last  days.  As  he  turned  the  pages  a  paper  fluttered 
from  between  them.  He  stooped  to  pick  it  up,  wondering  thai  he 
had  not  found  it  before.  It  was  a  letter  to  him  in  Alice's  handwrit- 
ing, dated  but  a  few  hours  before  her  death.  As  he  read,  his  eyes 
filled,  sobs  convulsed  his  throat.  She  had  known  a  long  time  that 
she  could  not  live,  she,  the  timorous,  sensitive  spirit,  from  whom 
they  had  conspired  so  carefully  to  guard  that  knowledge.  She  had 
known,  and  she  had  borne  it  alone,  her  grief,  and,  in  anticipation,  his 
own. 

**  I  have  tried  to  speak  to  you  about  it,  my  Harold,"  she  wrote. 
**  but  my  courage  is  so  weak  and  I  need  it  all  to  face  the  inevitable 
separation.  The  sight  of  your  grief  would  unnerve  me.  There  is  so 
much  I  long  to  say  to  you,  dear,  but  I  dare  not.  I  will  write  it  for 
you  to  read  after  I  am  gone.  It  will  be  a  message  to  you  from 
another  world. 

**  My  poor  jealous  heart,  weak  in  its  human  love,  fails  me  as  I  think 
that  some  time  another  may  fill  your  heart,  your  home.  When  my 
spirit  is  freed  from  these  limitations — when  for  me,  time,  or  space, 
or  earthly  ties  are  not — I  pray  that  then  my  soul  will  rejoice  in  your 
happiness  and  welfare,  no  matter  how  obtained.  And  if  now  I  can- 
not  say  to  you,  *  Be  happy  in  another  woman's  love,'  rest  assured. 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  279 

Flarold,  that  all  my  wishes,  all  my  hopes  are  for  whatever  is  best  for 
^ou.  You  are  young;  perhaps  a  long  path  lies  before  you.  I  would 
lot  condemn  you  to  lifelong  loneliness,  if  I  could,  and  yet " 

The  letter  broke  oflF  abruptly.  Rodney  comprehended  it  all.  In 
ler  mortal  weakness  she  had  been  obliged  to  stop,  hoping  to  finish 
t  later,  but  her  time  on  earth  had  been  even  shorter  than  she  had 
inticipated  and  she  had  gone  from  him  without  a  farewell,  without 
I  sign,  passing  away  gently  in  her  sleep.  He  fell  on  his  knees  and 
stretched  out  his  hands  to  the  pale  figure  above  the  mantel. 

**  Alice,  Alice,"  he  sobbed,  **do  you  hear  me,  do  you  know 
my  heart?  I  swear  that  nothing,  in  this  world  or  another  shall 
come  between  us.  Never,  never!'*  And  again  the  cold  air,  gentle 
as  a  sigh,  stirred  the  locks  upon  his  brow. 

Winifred  Johnes. 


Who  gives,  with  love,  from  out  his  treasure's  store 
For  every  gift  shall  be  enriched  the  more. 

Think  not  to  fathom  God  with  finite  mind, 
The  spirit  only  can  the  spirit  find. 

— Cort'f  Davis, 

No  person  can  be  truly  understood  by  another  except  through  the 
nedium  of  sympathy. — /.  Stuart  Blackic. 

Freedom  is  possible  only  to  the  free  man — the  moral  being,  capable 
>f  discerning  right  and  able  to  choose  and  obey  it. — R.  Heber  Newton, 

Do  to  another  what  you  would  that  he  should  do  to  you,  and  do  not 
o  another  what  you  would  not  that  it  should  be  done  to  you.  Thou 
ieedest  but  this  law,  for  it  is  the  foundation  of  all  law. — Kon-futsi. 

If  thou  do  ill,  the  joy  fades,  not  the  pains; 
If  well,  the  pain  doth  fade,  the  joy  remains. 

— George  Herbert. 

Are  you  in  earnest  ?     Seize  this  very  minute. 
What  you  can  do,  or  think  you  can,  begin  it. 

— Goethe, 

He  who  begins  by  loving  Christianity  better  than  Truth,  will  pro- 
reed  by  loving  his  own  sect  or  church  better  than  Christianity  and  end 
)y  loving  himself  better  than  all.  Coleridge. 

Pure  spirit  has  no  personality,  but  exists  impersonal  in,  and  as, 
Jod.  — Paracelsus, 


280  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

MEDITATION. 

We  know  there  is  one  law  in  all  the  universe.     One  life  pervades 
all  things.     The  life  that  throbs  in  the  quickening  pulses  of  man  is  not 
other  than  the  life  that  trembles  in  the  radiant  sunbeam.     The  life 
that  animates  the  growing  plant  is  not  unlike  the  life  that  weds  inani- 
mate atoms.     To  live  the  life  universal  is  to  become  one  with  the  uni- 
verse.    To  become  one  with  the  universe  is  to  enter  into  a  knowledge 
of  Supreme  Mind.     To  know  the  Mind  is  to  know  life  eternal.    In  the 
knowledge   of   the   universal  we  all   become   as   one.     If  we  absorb 
thy  essence,   O  Mind   Eternal,  as  frail   plants  drink  in   the  essence 
of  sun  and  soil  and  air,  we  know  as  they  become  like  unto  these  ele- 
ments we  shall  become  like  unto  thee.     To  accord  with  the  Supreme 
Will  is  to  become  conscious  of  the  highest  powers.      The  Will  of  the 
Universe  is  Universal  Good.     The  Will  of  the  Universe  is  Universal 
Harmony.    We  desire  to  so  live  in  act,  in  thought,  in  mutual  relations, 
that  we  ourselves  shall  manifest  the  fruits  of  goodness  and  inspire  the 
love  of  the  good  and  the  true  in  others.     Amen. 

Rev.  Henry  Fra.vk. 

The  natural  process  of  thy  growth  from  day  to  day 

Must  all  thy  nature  change ;  'tis  God's  lawful  way. 

New  forms  of  thought  and  feeling  shall  the  old  efface. 

New  hopes  and  new  desires  the  thwarted  ones  replace. 

To  newer  uses  must  our  natures  bend. 

Wtth  every  hour  some  change  begins,  some  change  must  end. 

—Corit  /XifW- 

A  healthy  soul  stands  united  with  the  Just  and  the  True,  as  the 
magnet  arranges  itself  with  the  pole,  so  that  he  stands  to  all  beholders 
like  a  transparent  object  between  them  and  the  sun,  and  whoso  jour- 
neys toward  the  sun  journeys  toward  that  person.  He  is  thus  the 
medium  of  the  highest  influence  to  all  who  are  not  on  the  same  level. 
Thus,  men  of  character  are  the  conscience  of  the  society  to  which  they 
belong.  — Emerson, 

He  who  thinks  many  things  disperses  his  power  in  many  directions; 
he  who  thinks  only  one  thing  is  powerful. — Franz  Hartmann. 

We  are  impatient  only  when  we  forget  the  Infinite  patience  — 
Jenken  L,  /ones. 

Avoid  extremes,  and  shun  the  fault  of  such. 
Who  still  are  pleased  too  little  or  too  much ; 
At  every  trifle,  scorn  to  take  offence, 
That  always  shows  great  pride  or  little  sense. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT. 


WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


A  DEPARTMENT  FOR  HOME  WORK. 

In  April  last  we  began  the  publication  of  Pearls^  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  a  lighter  grade  of  material  for  the  young  and  for  home  de- 
velopment, in  connection  with  the  substantial  work  bei  ng  carried  on 
through  the  columns  of  The  Metaphysical  Magazine. 

The  general  business  depression  attendant  upon  the  development 
of  war  proceedings,  which  came  upon  us  before  a  good  start  could  be 
made  with  Pearls^  and  which  has  become  a  marked  influence  against 
the  circulation  of  literature  not  dealing  with  the  war  or  its  problems, 
has  rendered  it  impracticable  to  continue  this  new  periodical  at  this 
^Jme,  because  its  pecuniary  support  cannot  be  counted  on  as  sufficient, 
^ntil  conditions  change.  At  the  same  time  the  **need"  to  which  we 
hen  responded  still  exists;  therefore  we  have  decided  to  incorporate 
hat  line  of  work  with  the  purposes  of  The  Metaphysical  Magazine, 
^nd  will  hereafter  conduct  a  department  known  as  **The  Home  Circle," 
'^hich  will  be  practically  ^n  open  column,  and  will  deal,  in  the  lighter 
^^d  more  directly  practical  ways,  with  the  metaphysical  aspects  of  all 
Phases  of  life. 

The  same  standard  of  excellence  as  has  heretofore  prevailed  will  be 
"Jiaintained  in  the  other  departments,  and  we  believe  the  addition  of 
^his  practical  department  will  be  welcomed  by  all  our  readers. 

The  business  stagnation  in  all  book  and  publishing  houses  and  de- 
partments outside  of  war  matters  has  rendered  it  advisable  to  partly 
ield  to  the  circumstances  of  the  temporarily  reduced  pecuniary  sup- 
ort;  therefore  we  issue  the  magazine  for  July  and  August  as  one 
umber  and  will  combine  the  September  and  October  in  the  next  num- 
er,  to  appear  October  ist. 

Subscribers  will  receive  the  full  number  of  copies  for  which  they 

281 


282  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

have  paid,  the  subscription  extending  over  two  months  more  time  to 
allow  for  the  combination.  By  that  time  we  trust  business  will  have 
revived  sufficiently  to  allow  of  the  usual  monthly  output. 

The  Metaphysical  Magazine,  as  our  readers  in  general  under- 
stand, is  conducted  for  educational  purposes  in  advanced  thought,  for 
which  it  was  founded.  It  has,  from  the  first,  been  maintained  and 
circulated  considerably  in  advance  of  its  pecuniary  returns,  thereby 
becoming  partly  a  charitable  publication ;  and  while  its  publishers  arc 
willing  to  do  all  that  is  possible  themselves,  and  always  donate  a  con- 
siderable amount  monthly  that  a  larger  number  of  copies  may  be  cir- 
culated, still  the  financial  co-operation  of  all  readers  who  appreciate 
the  work  that  is  being  effected  through  the  teachings,  is  needed  in 
order  to  maintain  its  standard  and  circulate  the  usual  quantity  with- 
out a  heavier  loss  than  can  be  maintained.  Even  if  you  drop  a  dollar 
or  two  from  some  common  channel  of  life,  don't  forget  your  magazm. 
which  will  be  sure  to  bring  you  real  satisfaction  in  many  ways  more 
substantial  than  some  of  the  common  acts  which  require  your  money. 

Subscribers  to  Pearls^  of  record  to  date,  will  be  transferred  to  the 
list  of  The  Metaphysical  Magazine,  in  which  they  will  receive  the 
literary  material  which  had  been  gathered  and  prepared  for  use  in 
Pearls,  Any  who  may  not  be  satisfied  with  this  plan  will  receive  other 
adjustment  by  addressing  the  publishers.  The  issue  of  Pearls  ceased 
with  the  June  number. 

The  Home  Circle  Department  of  The  Metaphysical  Magazine  will 
be  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Francis  Stephenson,  the 
former  editor  of  Pearls^  whose  work  on  the  latter  publication  has  re- 
ceived marked  recognition.  We  believe  this  arrangement  will  prove 
satisfactory  to  all  classes  of  readers,  and  confidently  look  for  good 
results. 


PHASES  OF  OCCULTISM. 

Everybody  within  the  limits  of  the  civilized  world,  '*from  China  to 
Peru  "  and  elsewhere,  is  interested  in  that  range  of  subjects  which  are 
classed  under  the  head  of  occultism.  In  ages  past  this  interest  has 
been  sporadic,  appearing  and  then  disappearing,  assuming  one  shape 
in  one  generation — as,  for  example,  in  Paracelsus,  Dr.  Dee,  Mcsmcr— 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  283 

and  another  shape  at  a  later  time,  as  for  instance  in  the  witchcraft 
which  was  not  confined  to  Massachusetts  by  any  means,  but  exploited 
itself  in  odd  corners  of  the  globe. 

In  these  latter  days  the  whole  matter  has  assumed  a  very  serious 
shape,  and  for  the  first  time  in  history  the  people — and  the  most 
thoughtful  of  the  people,  by  the  way — have  been  asking  themselves 
whether  or  not  there  was  some  truth  hidden  under  the  heap  of  rubbish, 
and  whether  or  not  this  modicum  of  truth  might  not  be  treated  to  a 
severe  investigation  and  made  of  some  practical  use. 

At  any  rate,  we  have  gotten  well  over  our  ridicule.  The  man  who 
sneers  at  the  possibilities  which  are  hinted  at  is  himself  sneered  at  in 
return.  Ridicule,  which  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  was  rampant,  has 
bitten  its  own  lips  and  will  hereafter  maintain  a  respectful  silence. 
Science  shrugged  its  shoulders  erstwhile  and  brusquely  relegated 
spiritualism  and  the  mind  cure  and  Christian  science  and  the  claims  of 
theosophy  to  the  pit  of  superstition.  It  would  not  tolerate  even  the 
serious  mention  of  such  subjects,  and  carried  its  prejudices,  the  pro- 
duct of  its  self-conceit,  so  far  that  the  plain  facts  of  hypnotism  were 
denied,  and  both  the  Paris  school  and  the  Nancy  school  were  thought 
to  represent  a  sort  of  popular  aberration  of  mind. 

ACTUAL    FACTS    BEHIND    THEORIES. 

It  was  discovered,  however,  that  these  new  theories  had  behind 
them  a  vast  quantity  of  actual  facts,  which  could  neither  be  denied  or 
Ignored ;  that  there  was  no  use  in  blindfolding  one's  self  and  declaring 
that  nothing  was  visible.  Some  form  of  occultism  was  spreading 
among  all  classes  with  great  rapidity  and  exercising  an  amazing 
amount  of  influence.  You  found  spiritualism,  for  example,  in  a  large 
number  of  households  where  its  presence  could  not  be  even  suspected. 

Belief  in  it  was  not  confined  to  the  poor  and  illiterate,  for  it  had 
^ound  its  way  among  the  finest  scholars  of  the  age — men  who  knew 
how  to  weigh  evidence  and  were  not  likely  to  be  deceived  by  false 
testimony.  It  was  also  discovered  that  in  some  odd  way  it  had  crept 
^'^to  the  churches,  and,  though  never  spoken  of  openly,  was  quietly 
^nd  unobtrusively  accepted.  It  was  changing  the  outlook,  the  spirit- 
ual outlook,  of  multitudes,  making  them  more  cheerful  under  the 
burdens  of  life  and  more  serene  and  resigned  under  its  bereavements. 
Moreover,  it  was  welcome,  in  part  at  least,  in  the  highest  social  circles, 
^nd  we  began  to  hear  queer  rumors  that  even  Queen  Victoria  and 
•ertain  members  of  her  family  had  had  some  experiences  which  were 
U  once  startling  and  convincing,  and  that  among  the  nobility  and  roy- 
Uties  of  the  Continent  it  was  no  strange  thing  to  find  men  and  women 


2U  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

who  were  confident  that  the  two  worlds  are  close  enough  together  to 
allow  communications  to  pass  either  way  or  both  ways. 

CHANGE    OF    SCIENTIFIC    ATTITUDE. 

All  this  gave  us  pause.  The  thing  had  grown  so  big  that  no  one 
could  help  seeing  it,  and  it  was  exercising  such  an  influence  that  it  wsrs 
full  time  to  give  it  a  very  careful  examination  and  find  out  if  it  had  a 
scientific  and  philosophic  basis,  or  was  simply  a  fog  bank,  which  the 
strong  north  wind  of  common  sense  would  blow  away. 

So  great  is  the  change  in  our  scientific  attitude  that  wheo 
Dr.  K.  M.  Bucke  made  some  bold  suggestions  at  a  recent  meeting  of 
the  British  Medical  Association,  at  Montreal,  the  members  listened  not 
only  respectfully,  but  attentively,  for  the  subject  had  clearly  assumed 
large  proportions,  and  had  come  to  be  worth  looking  into.  When  he 
said,  **  So-called  telepathy  and  clairvoyance  seem  to  be  specimens  of 
nascent  faculties,  and  I  place  in  the  same  class  the  phenomena  of  what 
is  often  named  spiritualism,"  hardly  a  single  man  shrugged  his  shoul- 
ders or  lifted  his  eyebrows.  The  jibes  and  jeers  have  all  gone  into  the 
background,  and  it  is  frankly  admitted  by  every  thoughtful  man  that 
there  is  something  behind  these  expositions  of  power  which  is  not 
fraudulent  and  which  is  worth  examining. 

Dr.  Bucke  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  **  the  labors  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  have  made  it  plain  that  these  phenomena  really 
exist,"  and  he  then  added,  with  a  kind  of  sublime  audacity,  which  only 
the  scientific  world  can  appreciate,  that  **a  study  of  the  case  of  Mrs. 
Piper  and  that  of  Mary  J.  Fancher,  of  Brooklyn,  would  compel  any 
unprejudiced  person  to  make  the  same  admission."  He  went  still 
further,  saying: — **Many  more  or  less  perfect  examples  of  this  new 
faculty  exist  in  the  world  to-day,  and  it  has  been  my  privilege  to 
know  personally  and  to  have  an  opportunity  of  studying  several  ©en 
and  women  who  have  possessed  it."  Then  he  predicted  that  **in  the 
course  of  a  few  more  milleniums  there  should  be  born  from  the  present 
human  race  a  type  of  man  possessing  this  higher  consciousness." 

GROWTH    OF    INTEREST    IN    OCCULTISM. 

All  this  seems  very  strange,  but  it  shows  that  the  world  has  at  last 
become  intensely  and  seriously  interested  in  these  more  or  less  occult 
matters.  Dr.  Bucke  was  quite  right  in  his  cautious  conclusion  thai, 
**  whether  any  given  faculty,  such  as  one  of  those  now  alluded  to,  shall 
grow,  become  common,  and  finally  universal,  or  wither  and  disappear, 
will  depend  upon  the  general  laws  of  natural  selection  and  upon 
whether  the  possession  of  the  nascent  faculty  is  advantageous  or  not 


l! 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  285 

the  individual  and  to  the  race. "     That  is  undoubtedly  a  fair  state- 
«nt  of  the  case. 

The  history  of  the  evolution  of  psychology  is  somewhat  dramatic. 
"DIThen,  in  the  forties,  the  Fox  sisters  startled  us  with  their  table  tips 
aind  uncanny  noises  we  felt  that  our  belief  in  immortality  had  been 
"brought  close  to  the  verge  of  sacrilege.     The  argument  against  such 
doings,  such  riotous,  boisterous  and  apparently  ridiculous  doings,  was 
mtrong  enough  to  be  convincing  to  the  majority  of  the  **  lookers  on  in 
Vienna.**     Can  the  people  on  the  other  side  have  lost  all  their  common 
sense,  and  if  they  have  not,  would  they  use  such  base  means  of  com- 
municating with  their  friends  here  ?     The  logic  of  the  situation  was 
irresistible,  and  a  jeering  shout  of  disgust  went  up  all  over  the  land. 

But  the  Tappings  did  not  cease ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  ever- 
lastingly persistent.  Like  Banquo's  ghost,  they  would  not  **down." 
A  few  believed,  but  the  great  majority  laughed  the  whole  thing  to 
scx)m.  Some  said  it  was  all  a  humbug;  others  declared  that  there 
might  be  a  scintilla  of  truth  in  it,  but  it  was  so  mixed  with  fraud  that 
it  was  not  worth  the  trouble  of  a  second  thought ;  while  still  others 
insisted  that  it  was  a  sporadic  exhibition  of  power  which  would  soon 
disappear. 

SEgUENCES    OF    TABLE    TIPPING. 

Now,  from  that  very  odd  beginning,  what  tremendous  results  have 
come  I  On  that  slender  foundation  what  a  stately  structure  has  been 
erected  I  We  are  surprised,  we  are  amazed,  but  there  must  have  been 
•ome  vitality  in  that  seed  corn  to  produce  such  a  crop  of  healthful, 
helpful  and  encouraging  theories. 

Table  tipping  was  the  rage,  the  craze,  for  well  nigh  twenty  years. 
It  was  said  of  Mr.  Home  that  he  was  lifted  up  to  the  ceiling,  carried 
^ut  through  one  window  and  brought  back  through  another,  and  we 
^an  all  remember  incidents,  perhaps,  in  our  personal  experience  equally 
Confusing. 

Then  it  all  died  out.  It  had  evidently  accomplished  its  mission.  It 
^as  the  protoplasm,  which  at  first  exhibited  the  crudest  form  of  being, 
liut  was  to  be  gradually  changed  by  the  uplifting  process  of  evolution. 
V^e  heard  next  of  what  were  called  ** mediums,*'  people  who  went  into 
^me  kind  of  trance,  and  gave  messages  from  the  departed.  Without 
doubt,  some  of  these  mediums  were  either  self-deceived  or  consciously 
deceptive.  They  practiced  on  the  credulity  of  the  bereaved.  But 
underneath  all  fraud  was  a  residue  of  fact  which  could  not  easily  be 
accounted  for.  Revelations  were  sometimes  made  which  shook  us 
badly,  and  we  felt  that  in  some  way  or  other  the  angels  had  been 
whispering  to  us.     The  spiritualists  were  themselves  very  stupid  and 


286  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

very  foolish.  They  did  not  protect  their  organization  against  th€ 
most  patent  humbugs,  but  by  their  neglect  to  expose,  practically 
encouraged  them.  That  was  their  fatal  mistake,  and  they  have  never 
recovered  from  it.  They  should  have  been  the  first  to  clear  them- 
selves  from  the  suspicion  of  fraud,  but  they  did  nothing  of  the  kind, 
and  outsiders  were  both  indignant  and  disgusted. 

There  are  very  few  mediums  nowadays.  They  have  mostly  disap- 
peared. The  law  of  evolution  was  working  rapidly,  and  pretty  soon 
another  change  was  made  and  another  phase  of  the  subject  was  pre- 
sented. The  old  crudity  passed  away  and  the  new  theory  was  more 
symmetrical,  more  worthy  of  our  attention  and  more  nearly  in  the 
shape  of  a  philosophy.  We  had  the  mental  cure  and  the  Christian 
scientists  at  the  front,  and  they  were  worth  listening  to,  for  they  had 
something  to  say.  The  physicians  had  taught  us  that  the  condition 
of  the  body  decides  the  condition  of  the  mind ;  that  a  bodily  ailment 
will  weaken  the  mind  and  produce  moral  results.  We  were  filled  with 
that  idea,  and  therefore  we  swallowed  drugs  ad  libitum. 

These  good  folk  came  and  told  us  that  the  condition  of  the  mind 
decides  the  condition  of  the  body ;  that  a  mental  ailment  produces  a 
bodily  ailment,  and  that  what  we  want  in  order  to  be  healthy  is,  not  a 
powerful  dose  of  medicine,  but  a  powerful  idea. 

**  Don't  go  to  the  chemist,"  they  said,  **but  go  to  yourself.  It  is 
faith  that  makes  us  whole  or  hale  and  strong." 

SOMETHING    PRACTICAL   EVOLVED. 

Well,  we  began  to  see  that  there  was  something  in  the  discovery 
and  that  it  could  be  put  to  practical  use.  The  body  of  believers  grew, 
and  at  the  present  writing  they  are  to  be  found  everywhere.  There  is 
a  voluminous  literature  on  the  subject,  and  as  a  general  thing  it  has  an 
uplifting  tendency.  It  is  so  encouraging  to  be  told  that  you  have  a 
brain  anyway,  and  still  mor^  so  to  be  assured  that  if  you  will  keep  your 
brain  straight  your  body  will  not  grow  crooked. 

What  have  helped  very  greatly  to  bring  about  these  changes  and  to 
compel  the  public  to  give  their  serious  attention  to  these  matters  arc 
the  two  Societies  for  Psychical  Research,  the  one  in  England  and  the 
other  in  the  United  States.  The  one  in  London  was  founded  in 
1882  and  was  under  the  leadership  of  Professor  Henry  Sedgwick.  That 
society  saw  that  in  the  rubbish  there  was  something  too  valuable  l<> 
lose  sight  of.  It  sifted  the  facts  which  came  to  it  from  all  quarters  of 
the  globe,  and  did  it  with  a  thoroughness  which  was  merciless  and 
relentless.     Two  years  later,  in  1884,  a  similar  society  was  formed  in 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  287 

ton,  Mass.,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Hodgson,  and  it  has  done 
HTork  with  sternness  and  persistency. 

Now  it  is  declared  by  both  of  these  societies  that  the  theory  of 
ibug  must  be  laid  aside  and  that  there  is  enough  in  spiritualism  to 
m  the  respectful  attention  of  the  world.  If  human  testimony  is 
th  anything  at  all,  there  are  well-proven  facts  enough  to  make  the 
sibility  of  communication  between  the  two  worlds  well  nigh  certain, 
those  who  believe  in  that  possibility  have  a  sound  scientific  basis 
which  to  build  their  faith. — N'ew  York  Herald^  March  27,  1898. 


Spirit  passes  into  the  body  and  out  of  it,  like  a  breath  of  air  passing 
3ugh  the  strings  of  an  aeolian  harp.  If  we  succeed  in  binding  it 
re,  we  will  create  a  source  of  undying  harmony,  and  create  an  im- 
rtal  being.  But  to  bind  spirit  we  must  be  able  to  bind  thought, 
n  is  a  materialized  thought ;  he  is  what  he  thinks.  To  change  his 
ure  from  the  mortal  to  the  immortal  state  he  must  change  his  mode 
hinking;  he  must  cease  to  hold  fast  in  his  thoughts  to  that  which  is 
scry  and  perishing,  and  hold  on  to  that  which  is  eternal. — Paracelsus. 

About  what  am  I  now  employing  my  own  soul  ?  On  every  occasion 
lust  ask  myself  this  question,  and  inquire,  **What  have  I  now  in 
>  part  of  me  which  they  call  the  ruling  principle  ?  and  whose  soul 
'e  I  now — that  of  a  child,  or  of  a  young  man,  or  of  a  feeble  woman, 
:){  a  tyrant,  or  of  a  domestic  animal,  or  of  a  wild  beast  ? " — Marcus 
rclius. 

Straightway,  then,  practice  saying  to  every  harsh  appearance, 
ou  art  an  appearance  and  not  at  all  the  thing  thou  appearest  to  be. 
en  examine  it  and  prove  it  by  the  rules  you  have,  but  first  and 
>ve  all  by  this,  whether  it  concern  something  that  is  in  our  own 
rer,  or  something  that  is  not  in  our  own  power.  And  if  the  latter, 
n  be  the  thought  at  hand:  //  is  nothing  to  Me. — Epictetus. 

The   smallest  roadside  pool   has  its  water  from   Heaven  and   its 
im  from  the  sun,  and  can  hold  the  stars  in  its  bosom  as  well  as 
great  ocean.     Even  so  the   humblest   man   or  woman   can   live 
indidly. — \Vm.  C.  Gannett. 

To  unduly  magnify  and  enjoy  the  common  little  things  of  life  is 
felicitous  illusion  of  superior  minds.  To  pine  for  distant,  extraor- 
iry  things  is  the  wretched  illusion  of  inferior  minds.  The  greatest 
ds  of  all  see  everything  as  it  is,  and  value  it  at  its  true  worth,  and 
id  firmly  poised  and  self-sufficing. — W.  R.  Alger. 


288  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

BOOK  REVIEWS. 

SEMA-KANDA:  Threshold  Memories.  By  Coulson  Tumbull.  Cloth,  254  pp., 
$1.25.     Purdy  Publishing  Co.,  McVicker's  Building,  Chicago, 

A  rather  fascinating  occult  study,  written  by  Mr.  Tumbull  while  travelling 
through  the  East.  His  inspirations  are  said  to  have  been  caught  while  io  the 
silent  solitude  of  the  Himalayas,  and  amid  the  mysterious  Egyptian  Pyramidi 
The  local  color  is  not  wanting  when  Roman  scenery  is  described,  and  the  cariy 
chapters  are  well  in  keeping  with  the  accepted  traditions  and  investigations  o( 
modern  researches.  It  is  full  of  master  thoughts  and  sweetly  inspiring  truth.  It 
is  a  book  to  please  the  truth-student,  whatever  his  domain  of  study,  occuk, 
metaphysical,  or  ethical. 

THE  WORLD  BEAUTIFUL.  Third  Series.  By  Lilian  Whiting.  Goth. 
245  pp.,  $1.00.     White  and  gold,  $1.25.     Roberts  Bros.,  Boston. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  Lilian  Whiting's  writings  will  welcome  with 
pleasure  the  third  series  of  The  World  Beautiful.  To  students  of  psychic  plw- 
nomena  it  is  very  interesting  reading.  One  finds  here  the  same  delightful  siyk 
that  always  lends  such  a  charm  to  this  author's  ennobling  and  uplifting  thooghL 
She  teaches  a  practical  philosophy  that  must  be  as  a  strong  arm  to  those  who  are 
seeking  the  light. 

WHAT  A  YOUNG  30Y  OUGHT  TO  KNOW.  By  Sylvanus  Sull.  D.D. 
Cloth,  190  pp.,  $1.00.  The  Vir  Publishing  Co.,  469  Hale  Building,  Phil*' 
delphia.  Pa. 

The  design  of  this  book  is  to  impart  important  personal  information  inapuit 
way.  The  author's  aim  in  undertaking  this  delicate  and  difficult  task  is  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  the  parents  and  guardians  a  book  that  they  can  safdf 
intrust  to  their  young  sons  when  the  mind  begins  to  question  the  origin  of  life 
and  being.  Works  of  this  kind  should  be  welcomed  by  all  pure-minded  pcrsoni 
as  tending  to  advance  purity  in  its  highest  phases,  and  serving  as  guides  in  the 
education  of  future  generations  on  these  most  vital  points. 


OTHER  PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

HUMANITY  AND  THE  MAN.     By  Wm.  Sharpe,   M.D.     Paper.  29pp..  :j 
cents.     H.  A.  Copley,  Canning  Town,  E.  London. 

THE  LAW  OF  VIBRATIONS.     By  T.  J.  Shelton.     Paper,  104  pp..  25C«itt 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 

IDEALS  FOR  INVALIDS.  With  Formulas  for  Treating.  By  Mary  Robbins 
Mead.     Paper,  42  pp.,  25  cents.     Published  by  the  Author.  Watkin5.N.  Y. 

REMEDIES  OF  THE  GREAT  PHYSICIAN.  By  Hannah  More  KohwA 
Paper,  55  pp.,  40  cents.  F.  M.  Harley  Publishing  Co..  87  Washingtoo 
Street,  Chicago. 

MEATLESS  DISHES.  Paper,  15  pp.,  10  cents.  Published  by  Chicago  V<^ 
tarian,  McVicker's  Building,  Chicago. 

THE  SONG  OF  UNIVERSAL  BROTHERHOOD.  Poem  by  Nellie  E. 
Dashiell.  Heavy  paper  covers,  illustrated.  The  Coming  Light  Publishing 
Co.,  621  O'Farrell  Street,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


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T/LDEW    FOUNDATin^ 


THE 


APHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 


L>L.    VIII. 


SEPTEMBER,  1898. 


No.  5. 


THE  VORTEX  OF   NATURE. 

It  was  a  favorite  idea  of  the  ancient  world  that  the  earth  was 
rst  inhabited  by  ethereal  spirits  who,  being  overcome  by  its  material 
ttractions,  were  sucked  down  into  the  whirlpool  of  existence,  and, 
ecoming  incarnate,  finally  gave  birth  to  the  human  race.  Various 
^gends  as  to  this  supposed  event  were  current,  and  some  of  them 
ave  been  preserved  to  the  present  day,  particularly  among  Buddhist 
•copies.  In  his  "Sacred  Books  of  Ceylon,'*  Upham  refers  to  the 
Buddhist  legend  that  the  first  human  beings  were  spirits  who  lost 
heir  perfections  by  eating  all  sorts  of  food  and  by  covetousness. 
Wording  to  the  teaching  of  Lamaism,  a  form  of  Buddhism,  current 
niong  the  Kalmucks  of  Central  Asia,  certain  divine  beings  called 
I^ingheris,  were  driven  from  heaven  for  misconduct,  and  subsequently 
f^stalled  themselves  on  our  globe.  F'or  a  long  time  these  spirits 
stained  their  divine  qualities.  They  possessed  wings,  lived  to  the 
lood  old  age  of  eighty  thousand  years,  and  had  no  occasion  for  food, 
^ut  one  fatal  day  a  certain  fruit,  as  white  and  sweet  as  sugar, 
ppcared  on  the  earth,  and  the  Tingheris,  being  tempted  to  partake 
»f  it,  at  once  lost  their  divine  perfection.  Their  wings  fell  off,  they 
elt  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and  the  duration  of  their  lives  sank  to  ten 
housand  years.  Moreover,  their  faces  lost  their  original  brilliancy 
nd  their  stature  decreased.  Other  calamities  quickly  followed,  and 
ic  legend  states  that  the  spirits  gradually  sank  lower  and  lower, 
ntil  they  finally  reached  the  condition  of  man  as  he  now  exists, 
here   is  a  curious  analogy  between    the    Buddhist   story  and  the 

289 


290  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

reference  to  the  early  history,  as  given  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  of 
the  Adamic  race,  which  appears  to  be  identifiable  with  the  "Sons of 
God,*'  who  **saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair."  But 
the  Lamaic  tradition  goes  on  to  relate  that  ultimately  all  men  will 
regain  their  perfections  after  the  appearance  of  one  of  the  holy 
Bourkhans — divinities  that  occasionally  descend  upon  earth  to  preach 
repentance — who,  when  questioned  as  to  the  cause  of  his  great 
stature  and  beauty,  will  reply  that  he  had  **  become  perfect  by  virtue, 
through  having  conquered  all  his  passions,  and  by  having  refrained 
from  sin  and  bloodshed." 

The  doctrine  of  the  descent  and  ascent  of  souls,  of  which  the  Kal- 
muck legend  is  a  re-echo,  is  said  by  Layard,  in  his  **  Worship  of 
Mithra,"  to  have  formed  the  foundation  of  the  teaching  in  the  ancient 
mysteries.  It  was  thought  that  the  soul,  after  having  once  been 
drawn  down  into  the  path  of  generation,  was  compelled  to  trace  the 
**  cycle  of  existence  '*  until  it  had  lost  all  marks  of  the  impurity  aris- 
ing from  its  contact  with  matter.  In  the  course  of  its  wanderings  it 
had  to  pass  through  various  animal  forms,  and  this  transmigration 
appears  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  kind  of  purgatory,  the  sufferii^ 
endured  in  the  course  of  it  having  an  expiatory  effect,  and  rendering 
the  soul  fitted  to  return  to  the  abode  of  eternal  felicity.  The  body 
was  considered  the  prison-house — if  not  the  tomb— of  the  soul,  and 
in  the  mysteries  men  were  taught  how  to  overcome  their  physical 
desires,  and  thus  to  regain,  by  a  spiritual  rebirth,  the  souFs  lost 
estate.  Ideas  similar  to  these  are  at  the  basis  of  Buddhism,  as  taught 
by  the  Enlightened  One,  its  founder,  Gautama,  although  not  discov- 
erable in  the  Christianized  Buddhism  of  Japan.  It  is  true  that  the 
Master  denied  that  the  human  body  is  inhabited  by  a  soul  entity* 
but  the  doctrine  of  Karma  requires  the  existence  of  something,  be  it 
called  soul  or  spirit,  to  which  the  Karma  can  unite,  and,  therefore,  of 
an  essence  which  preserves  personal  identity.  This  is  spoken  of  as  a 
**  distant  ray"  of  the  pure  spirit  or  Atman,  the  eternal  mind,  which, 
in  association  with  the  equally  eternal  matter,  "  manifest  themselves 
in  the  various  ways  in  which  we  observe  them,  for  the  working  out 
of  a  final  end." 

This   final   end   is  the  attainment   of   Nirvana,  which  Koeppen 


THE   VORTEX  OF   NATURE.  291 

shows  to  be,  according  to  the  views  of  modern  Buddhist  scholars,  '  *  a 
return  into  the  universal  soul,  rising  into  the  abstract  Monos,  divinity, 
:he  primeval  Buddha."  Nevertheless,  this  doctrine  must  in  some 
•ray  be  reconcilable  with  the  existence  of  the  highest  Buddha  world, 
•rhere  dwell  the  perfected  beings,  that  alone  escapes  destruction  at 
Jie  end  of  each  Kalpa,  the  periods  into  which  the  '*  age  of  the  gods,*' 
>r  the  existence  of  creation,  is  divided.  The  cosmical  ideas  of  Budd- 
lism  are  undoubtedly  allied  to  those  of  Brahmaism,  and  are  therefore 
ndirectly  traceable  to  the  doctrine  of  divine  emanations,  which, 
jnder  one  aspect  or  another,  was  entertained  by  nearly  all  the  civil- 
zed  peoples  of  antiquity.  According  to  that  dogma,  the  life  of  man 
s  a  spark  from  the  divine  flame,  to  which  it  will  be  reunited  after  it 
s  delivered  from  **the  degrading  and  polluting  influence  of  material 
objects."  The  body  itself  was  looked  upon  as  the  chief  source  of 
the  degradation,  a  notion  which,  notwithstanding  the  evils  attendant 
&n  the  immoderate  gratification  of  the  lower  appetites,  shows  how 
wide  of  the  truth  were  the  speculations  of  ancient  philosophy.  The 
doctrine  of  emanation  had  for  an  offshoot  that  of  the  transmigration 
Df  souls;  and  Buddhism,  as  jappears  from  the  legend  of  Samgha-Rok- 
:hita  given  by  Burnouf  in  his  "  History  of  Indian  Buddhism,*'  taught 
hat  a  man's  Karma  might  compel  him  to  pass  through  even  the  low- 
st  stage  of  existence,  that  of  material  bodies.  Hindoism  distinctly 
ffirms  that  if  a  person  loses  human  birth  he  has  to  pass,  in  an 
scending  scale,  through  all  inferior  creatures  before  he  can  again  be 
cm  in  human  form. 

The  outward  flow  of  life  and  its  ultimate  return  to  its  primal 
[)urce,  which  is  supposed  by  the  remarkable  cosmical  theory  above 
*fcrred  to,  is  a  strictly  vortical  movement,  and  it  is  analogous  to  the 
icts  on  which  is  based  the  modern  scientific  theory  of  evolution. 
'his  theory  teaches  that,  by  a  process  of  differentiation  and  integra- 
ion,  the  nebulous  matter,  the  condensation  of  which  gave  rise  to  the 
olar  systems  spread  throughout  the  Universe,  was  derived  from  the 
•rimeval  homogeneous  fluid.  Many  of  the  nebulae  now  existing  are 
vidently  vortex  masses,  and  Helmholtz  proved  by  mathematical 
nvestigation  that  if  vortical  motion  were  set  up  in  a  frictionlcss  fluid 
uch  motion  would  continue  forever.     This  reasoning  has  been  applied 


292  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

by  Lord  Kelvin  and  others  to  account  for  the  origin  of  molecular 
matter,  which  will,   according  to  that  theory,  consist  of  vortices  in 
perpetual  motion.      All  things  in  physical  nature,  from  the  greatest 
to  the  smallest,  may  be  regarded,  therefore,  as  exhibiting  some  phase 
or  other  of  the  concentrative  vortex  whirl,  unless  it  presents  a  phase 
of  the  return  motion  which  is  its  complementary.     All  vortex  motion 
is  dual,  giving  an  ascent  as  well  as  a  descent,  or  an  outward  move- 
ment following  on  the  inward  movement  by  which  it  is  initiated.    We 
see  this  in  the  tiny  whirls  which  agitate  the  water  near  the  banbof 
streams,  as  in  the  Maelstrom  of  the  Norwegian  coast,  which,  in  popu- 
lar  imagination,   engulfs    the  largest  ships,   to  cast   them  up  again 
when  crushed  and  broken  to  pieces.      The  Great  Ocean  is  thought  to 
exhibit  on  a  gigantic  scale  the  same  form  of  motion,  which  is  repeated 
in  the  cyclones  and  anti-cyclones  that  disturb  the  earth's  atmosphere, 
in   response   to   similar  movements  in   the  atmosphere  of  the  sun. 
Although  the  sun  is  autogenetic,  that  is,  self-acting,  it  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  other  parts  of  the  Universe,  and  its  vortex  motion 
may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  an  expression  of  the  general  vortical 
movement  which  pervades  the  whole  of  Nature.       The  initial  motiflB 
was  propagated  from  centre  to  centre,  not  as  simple  undulations  or 
vibrations,  but  as  vortices,  as  supposed  by  the  theory  of  Descartes; 
and  it  is  reproduced  in  the  movements  of  a  molecular  system  no  less 
than  in  a  system  of  planets. 

In  the  dual  motion  of  the  vortex  in  air  or  water,  we  have  a  physi- 
cal illustration  of  the  ancient  notion  above  referred  to,  of  the  descent 
and  ascent  of  souls,  which  had  so  powerful  an  influence  over  the 
ancient  mind.  It  is,  indeed,  the  actual  process  by  which  Nature  has 
worked  out  her  design  in  the  development  of  man  from  the  moncr, 
if  the  teachings  of  Evolutional  philosophy  are  true.  Every  stage  o( 
this  progress  is  marked  by  increased  concentricity  of  motion,  whidi 
is  impressed  on  the  organic  structure,  giving  it  greater  and  greater 
complexity.  The  process  did  not  cease  even  on  the  appearance  o( 
man ;  as  out  of  lower  races  higher  races  emerge,  exhibiting  modifica- 
tions which  point  to  a  gradual  perfecting  of  the  human  organism, 
attended  with  an  ever-increasing  complexity  of  cerebral  structure,  and 
a  correlative  heightening  of  its  functional  activity,  to  reveal  itself  ia 


THE  VORTEX   OF   NATURE.  293 

reater  and  more  widely  extended  mental  activity  and  spiritual 
rogress.  That  cerebral  action,  and  therefore  the  mental  action 
hich  accompanies  it,  is  vortical,  has  not  yet  come  to  be  recognized. 
^ut  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  the  changes  undergone  by  the  proto- 
lasm,  which  form  the  substantial  basis  of  life,  we  shall  have  no 
iflficulty  in  admitting  it  to  be  so.  Dr.  Michael  Foster,  the  distin- 
iiished  English  physiologist,  speaks  of  protoplasm  as  being  in  a  state 
»f  incessant  change,  much  as  a  fountain  is  the  expression  of  an 
ncessant  replacement  of  water,  which  he  terms  metabolism.  This,  he 
lescribes,  as  consisting,  **  on  the  one  hand,  of  a  downward  series  of 
hanges  {Katabolic  changes),  a  stair  of  many  steps,  in  which  more 
romplex  bodies  are  broken  down,  with  the  setting  free  of  energy,  into 
iimpler  and  simpler  waste  bodies;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  an 
jpward  series  of  changes  M^^^^/zr  changes),  also  a  stair  of  many  steps 
by  which  the  dead  food  ...  is,  with  the  further  assumption  of 
energy,  built  up  into  more  and  more  complicated  bodies.'*  This  is 
practically  a  statement  of  the  digestive  process  which  goes  on  in  the 
intestinal  apparatus,  and  evidently  this  is  vortical  in  its  action.  The 
stomach  possesses  three  sets  of  muscles,  each  having  its  special  work 
to  perform,  and  all  working  at  the  same  time.  One  set  of  muscles 
first  shorten  by  contraction  and  then  lengthen  again,  and  in  so  doing 
throw  the  food  received  into  the  stomach  from  right  to  left.  The 
second  set  of  muscles  act  at  right  angles  to  the  first,  and  by  their 
Contraction  and  expansion  keep  the  food  moving  up  and  down.  By 
the  action  of  the  third  set  the  food  is  kept  in  constant  motion,  so 
that  by  the  compound  movement  of  the  various  muscles  engaged,  the 
food,  while  it  is  being  dissolved  by  the  digestive  fluid  or  gastric  juice, 
^  thoroughly  mixed  up,  until  it  forms  a  kind  of  paste,  to  which  the 
lame  of  chyme  is  given.  A  similar  process  is  in  operation  while  the 
rhyme  is  being  turned  into  chyle,  and  so  on  until  it  finally  appears  as 
>lood.  The  intestinal  apparatus  is  the  seat  of  most  of  the  changes 
he  food  thus  goes  through,  and  the  muscle  of  which  the  intestines 
re  composed  is  of  the  non-striated  kind,  which,  owing  to  its  peculiar 
tnicture,  has  the  double  property  of  constriction  and  impulsion, 
iving  a  kind  of  undulatory  movement,  which  carries  the  contends 
lowly  but  surely  forward  to  the  conclusion  of  the  digestive  process. 


294  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

In  this  the  food  is  not  only  broken  down,  as  in  katabolism,  but  its 
anabolic  changes  fit  it,  by  the  complete  blending  of  its  ingredients,  for 
replacing  the  worn-out  material  of  the  organism,  and  for  being  taken 
up  into  the  living  protoplasm  of  the  structure.  Any  portion  of  it  not 
fitted  for  this  purpose  is  placed  aside  and  is  finally  expelled  from  the 
system  as  useless. 

In  this  process  of  digestion  there  is  the  action  of  analysis  and  dis- 
crimination, followed  by  assimilation  of  the  products  after  they  have 
acquired  the  proper  rearrangement  in  a  higher  synthesis.  The 
operation  is  thus  analogous  to  the  mental  process  which  attends  the 
development  of  the  intellect.  Impressions  are  received  from  the 
external  world  through  the  organs  of  special  sense,  and  when  they 
reach  their  nerve-termini,  at  the  cerebral  centres  established  for  their 
reception,  they  give  rise  to  certain  sensations.  These  sensations, 
when  they  are  due  to  impressions  derived  from  a  particular  object, 
are  united  in  the  commune  sensoriumy  where  they  give  an  image  of 
the  object,  which  afterward  can  always  be  recognized  by  its  agre^ 
ment  with  the  image  of  it  retained  in  the  memory. 

This  is  supposed  to  be  the  full  extent  of  animal  consciousness— 
that  is  the  ** knowing  together"  of  sensations  referable  to  a  common 
object — and  therefore  animal  imagination  is  limited  to  reproducing 
what  has  been  actually  experienced  through  sensation  and  in  relation 
to  particular  objects.  Wonderful  as  is  the  acuteness  of  the  senses  of 
smell  and  hearing  in  animals,  the  sensation  is  always  associated  with 
past  particular  experiences  which  do  not  give  rise  to  what  arc  termed 
''  general  ideas.'*  Thus  sounds,  and  also  sights,  which  animals  cannot 
place  cause  fright,  as  we  see  in  the  shying  of  a  horse  at  an  unfamiliar 
object. 

It  is  different  with  man,  who  is  never  afraid  of  any  fresh  object, 
unless  it  be  in  motion,  when  he  is  afraid,  not  of  the  object  itself,  but 
of  what  he  thinks  it  can  do  to  him.  The  savage,  even,  soon  learns 
however,  both  to  recognize  unfamiliar  objects  and  to  class  them  with 
others  having  analogous  qualities,  and  quickly  provides  them  with 
appropriate  names.  Names,  as  expressive  of  qualities,  are  general 
ideas,  and  these  are  formed  in  the  mind  by  a  digestive  process  similar 
in  operation  to  that  of  the  intestinal  apparatus.     The  brain  is  thus  a 


THE  VORTEX  OF   NATURE.  295 

lental  vortex  into  which  impressions  derived  from  various  sources  are 
rought  together,  and,  after  being  separated  from  the  particular 
bjects  to  which  they  belong,  are  rearranged,  all  those  that  are  alike 
>rniing  a  class  to  which  a  common  name  is  applied.  This  name  is 
le  expression  of  a  general  idea,  and  is  ever  afterward  used  to  denote 
^nsations  which  belong  to  the  particular  class  which  it  denotes.  The 
ajnes  for  colors  furnish  familiar  illustrations  of  this  principle.  Blue, 
>r  instance,  does  not  belong  to  any  object  in  particular,  and  yet  it 
lay  be  applied  to  every  particular  object  which  is  distinguishable  as 
lue  from  others  of  another  color.  This  faculty  of  generalizing  can 
«  carried  to  any  extent  and  accounts  for  the  mental  development 
lan  has  acquired.  It  is  due  entirely  to  the  **  isolation"  of  the 
[ualities  of  objects  by  a  process  of  mental  analysis  and  their  building 
ip  again  into  new  formations.  This  mental  **  digestion"  is  thus 
nalogous  to  the  physical  digestion,  whose  aim  is  to  furnish  blood  for 
he  reformation  of  the  organic  tissues  when  they  are  in  need  of 
enewal.  And  such  is  the  effect  produced  by  the  mental  vortex. 
deas  as  well  as  molecular  formations  may  become  worn  out,  and, 
ndeed,  the  mind  is  being  continually  renewed  from  youth  to  age. 
The  earliest  generalizations  formed  by  the  youthful  mind  are  found 
o  be  too  contract^ed  and  they  have  to  be  discarded  for  wider  ones ; 
ust  as  words,  if  they  cannot  take  on  a  wider  significance  than  was 
ipplied  to  them  originally,  have  to  give  place  to  other  words  of 
greater  plasticity,  or  of  fresh  growth.  Language  itself  is  one  of  the  ^ 
nost  striking  examples  of  the  vortex  action  which  pervades  Nature. 
The  English  language  has  been  submitted  to  a  process  of  breaking  to 
>ieces  in  which  it  has  lost  most  of  its  grammatical  terminations,  and 
las  become  generally  reduced  to  much  the  same  simple  condition, 
notwithstanding  its  erratic  spelling  and  pronunciation,  as  the  Chinese, 
I'hich  is  supposed  to  represent  the  earliest  form  of  structural  arrange- 
nent.  And  yet,  by  the  acquisition  of  fresh  words  from  foreign 
cinguages  and  by  the  blending  together  of  old  and  new  materials,  the 
English  language  has  become  the  best  fitted  of  any  form  of  speec 
or  the  service  of  mankind,  and  it  bids  fair  in  the  course  of  a  few 
nore  generations  to  be  the  universal  language  of  commerce,  which  is 
he  cement  of  civilization. 


296  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

That  which  is  here  said  in  relation  to  language  is  no  less  true  o( 
all  that  depends  on  language  for  its  development.  It  is  true  even  of 
the  arts  and  sciences  which  may  be  thought  to  embody  the  ideas  of 
particular  persons  or  societies.  As  a  fact,  however,  such  ideas  arc 
usually  traceable,  more  or  less  remotely,  to  other  ideas  which  have 
been  derived  from  extraneous  sources,  and  which  have  undergone  a 
process  of  disintegration  and  reformation  in  the  mind  where  they 
have  been  planted  before  appearing  again  in  fresh  clothing,  called 
forth  perhaps  by  some  accidental  or  casual  observation  which  but  for 
them  might  have  passed  unheeded.  Religious  ideas  are  those  whidi 
best  exhibit  this  process.  The  founder  of  Christianity  has  been 
accused  of  want  of  originality  because  many  of  his  sayings  may  be 
traced  to  earlier  Jewish  sources.  But  ideas  are  seldom  invented. 
They  pass  from  mind  to  mind  and  in  the  process  receive  fresh  vitality 
and  fresh  application,  so  that  they  live  on  and  become  part  of  the 
world's  riches  instead  of  being  buried  in  some  obscure  casket,  the 
key  to  which  few  persons  can  use.  Christianity  itself  is  the 
re-embodiment  of  old  truths,  which  passed  through  the  mental 
vortex  of  its  founder,  and  thus  were  perpetuated  after  going  through 
a  digestive  process,  the  **  gastric  juice  '*  of  which  was  the  principle  of 
love.  The  Pauline  Christianity,  which  is  sometimes  regarded  as  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  Gospels,  exhibits  no  less  the  operation  of  that 
process.  In  its  gnostic  principles  it  reproduces  ideas  which  have  been 
prevalent  in  the  Oriental  world  from  time  immemorial.  Some  of  its 
teachings  may  have  been  derived  from  a  Persian  source,  and  its  cen- 
tral thought,  that  of  newness  of  life,  through  crucifixion  of  the  lower 
self  and  its  desires,  was  that  of  the  ancient  mysteries.  But  in  the 
mind  of  Paul  all  these  ideas  were  recast,  and  being  concentrated 
round  the  name  and  person  of  Jesus,  and  cemented  together  by  the 
doctrine  of  divine  love,  they  received  a  co-ordination  and  a  loftiness 
of  meaning  which  had  not  belonged  to  them  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  had  used  them  rather  in  a  natural  than  in  a  spiritual  sense.  It 
would  have  been  impossible  for  any  of  Paul's  predecessors  to  have 
given  utterance  to  the  outburst  in  praise  of  love  which  occurs  in  the 
First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (xiii.). 

A  recent  writer  who  has  treated  exhaustively  of  the  Theon."  of 


THE   VORTEX    OF   NATURE.  297 

i  (W.  L.  T.  Hobhouse),  when  likening  the  **  world-whole*' 
anism,  after  remarking  that  **the  more  completely  the 
s  a  true  unity  the  more  thorough  is  the  interdependence," 
lere  is  an  obvious  development  in  the  direction  of  true  unity, 
loosely  aggregated  cell-colonies  through  the  segmented 
hich  can  live  in  parts,  to  the  higher  organisms  which  act  as 
s.  Moreover,  even  here  there  is  a  marked  increase  of 
on  as  we  pass  from  the  frog,  with  its  relatively  independent 
I  and  brain,  to  man,  whose  whole  functions  are  brought  to 
grave  injury  to  the  hemispheres."  Here  we  see  the  com- 
f  the  several  conditions  which  have  been  ascribed  to  man 
e  in  preceding  articles\  and  their  character  as  being 
1  dualities,  and  yet  trinities  and  societies.  The  breaking 
building  up  which  constitutes  the  vortex  metabolism  of  the 
is  the  duality  or  complementary  opposition  of  the  internal 
al  activities,  to  which  the  names  of  force  and  energy  have 
?d,  that  operate  throughout  Nature  as  a  whole  and  in  all 
lars.  The  co-ordination  of  these  two  activities  is  the 
of  unity,  and  (as  it  is  distinct  from  the  principles  whose 
ontrols,  being  formal  in  its  operation)  the  co-ordinative 
onstitutes  that  which  is  affected  a  trinity,  as  well  as  a 
lus  every  unity  exhibits  a  duality  and  a  trinity  of  opera- 
factors,  but  it  contains  also  a  multiplicity  of  parts  and 
md  hence  is  an  actual  society.  But  the  body  thus  consti- 
having  these  attributes  is  strictly  a  vortex,  the  centre  of 
le  polarized  expression  of  its  unity,  and  its  circumference 

sociality ;  while  its  co-ordinated  action  exhibits  it  as  a 
d  the  Complementary  opposition  of  its  centripetal  and 
activities  mark  it  no  less  as  a  duality.  Such  is  Nature  as 
d  in  every  part,  and  therefore  such  is  man  himself,  who  is 
z  image  of  God  because  he  is  a  re-presentation  of  Nature 

being  of  God. 
_  C.  Staniland  Wake. 

.    (The  Metaphysical   Magazine),    No.  5;  Vol.  V..  No.  2:  Vol.  VI. 
),  Nos.  I  and  5. 


CRITICISM. 

Discernment,  discrimination,  and  criticism  are  not  synonymous 
terms,  though  often  they  are  used  in  a  confused  way  that  lea6  to 
something  worse  than  confusion. 

True  discernment  is  an  ofHce  of  the  human  understanding.  It 
and  of  itself  it  is  a  passive,  though  by  no  means  a  negative,  quality. 
When  this  passive  quality  of  the  understanding  becomes  active  wcdii' 
criminate. 

We  discern  by  contrasts ;  we  discriminate  by  choice  or  by  prefer* 
ence.  Discernment  belongs  to  the  judgment  of  man  as  to  qualities 
and  things.  Discrimination  belongs  to  the  will  of  man.  It  is  an  act 
of  the  will  that  looks  to  results.  To  discern  is  to  know ;  to  discriflh 
inate  is  to  do. 

Criticism  differs  from  both  discernment  and  discrimination,  thou^ 
it  involves  both.  By  discernment  we  learn  to  know  good  from  evil; 
by  discrimination  we  choose  cither  good  or  evil ;  by  criticism  we 
undertake  to  approve  or  to  condemn  either  good  or  evil. 

Discernment  and  discrimination  are  necessary  to  real  knowledge 
and  correct  living. 

We  employ  them  upon  ourselves.  We  employ  criticism  usually 
upon  others.  It  is  one  thing  to  contrast  good  with  evil,  another  to 
choose  the  good  and  to  reject  the  evil. 

Here  our  teacher  is  experience  and  observation,  and  our  motive 
may  be  the  highest  and  best.  It  is,  however,  a  -very -different  thing 
to  contrast  another  person  with  ourselves,  for  here  we  are  almost 
certain  to  seek  out  all  possible  blemishes  in  our  neighbor  and  all 
imaginable  perfections  in  ourselves.  Our  motive  fnay  be  that  of  self- 
instruction  and  improvement,  or  it  may  be  to  lift  ourselves  up  at  the 
expense  of  another.  It  is  always  so  much  easier  to  pluck  the  mote 
from  the  eye  of  another  than  even  to  discover  the  beam  in  our  own. 

Rascality  may  indeed  hide  its  head  and  work  in  the  dark  for  (car 
of  criticism.  Yet  every  one  knows  that  the  great  crimes  that  come  to 
the  surface  of  society  are  born  of  the  little  vices  that  lurk  unseen  and 

298 


CRITICISM.  299 

ow  in  the  dark.  The  public  critic  is  apt  to  become  in  private  a 
nic. 

One  who.se  attention  is  always  directed  toward  the  imperfections 
id  shortcomings  of  others,  if  not  himself  guilty  of  equal  shortcom- 
gs  and  greater  vices,  will  find  little  time  or  disposition  to  cultivate 
c  beauties  and  virtues  of  existence.  The  critic,  like  the  practical 
ker,  is  apt  to  be  exceedingly  averse  to  taking  his  own  medicine.  It 
often  the  case  that  only  by  being  compelled  to  do  so  that  he  realizes 
c  nature  of  the  office  he  has  voluntarily  assumed.  Not  infrequently 
I  individual  who  habitually  indulges  in  carping  and  severe  criticism 
lagines  that  he  conceals  beneath  this  captious  spirit  a  sincere  desire 

benefit  his  fellow-man  or  the  cause  of  truth.  In  order  to  remove 
e  mask  and  destroy  the  illusion  it  is  only  necessary  that  the  critic's 
ins  be  turned  the  other  way.  If  he  does  not  run  to  cover  he  will 
row  off  all  disguise  and  throw  down  his  gantlet  with  scorn  and 
^fiance  to  the  whole  human  race.  It  is  very  questionable  whether 
ly  one  has  ever  been  made  either  wiser  or  better  by  being  continu- 
\y  reminded  of  his  faults  or  follies. 

If  he  has  already  become  sensible  of  them,  and  desires  to  get  rid 

them,  he  may  be  helped  by  advice  and  encouragement.  It  is 
iman  nature  to  deny  and  retort  upon  the  accuser  when  charged  with 
rsonal  vices  and  errors.  Criticism  stirs  up  anger  and  revenge  a 
3usand  times  where  once  it  leads  to  repentance  and  reformation,  and 
a  hundred  cases  the  motive  that  incites  strong  personal  criticism  is 
te  or  anger — the  desire  to  seem  better  than  the  victim  criticised, 
ere  once  it  springs  from  a  sincere  desire  to  benefit  society  or  the 
rson  criticised.  The  private  individual  is,  indeed,  amenable  to  law 
i  order,  and  the  public  servant  to  municipal  well-being.  When  the 
s  of  either  come  within  the  scope  of  law,  order  and  good  govern- 
nt  they  are  legitimate  subjects  of  criticism.  Even  here,  however, 
s  the  act  rather  than  the  individual  which  is  the  legitimate  subject 
criticism.  When  this  right  of  the  individual  is  ignored  criticism 
.ses  to  be  either  beneficent  or  reformatory.  It  becomes  both  par- 
in  and  personal,  and  carries  little  weight,  and  the  critic  soon  loses 
influence,  and  deserves  to  lose  it. 

The  force  of  criticism  rests  in  its  passionless  judgment  and  in  its 


300  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

justification.  It  is  the  thing  that  needed  to  be  said — the  thing  said 
with  sorrow  rather  than  with  exultation  that  carries  weight  and  com- 
pels repentance  and  reformation. 

Discernment  and  discrimination  belong  to  the  wise  and  thought- 
ful, and  these  are  always  the  most  careful  and  guarded  in  their 
criticisms  of  others.  Principles  and  measures  may,  and  often  must, 
be  discussed,  but  individuals  never.  Nothing  can  be  more  harmfuL 
or  so  hinder  individual  progress,  as  personal  criticisms  of  individ- 
uals. It  is  true  that  in  discussing  measures  and  principles  names 
have  sometimes  to  be  mentioned ;  but  this  can  always  be  done  in  a 
spirit  of  kindness  and  consideration  that  arouses  no  ill-feeling,  that 
puts  no  one  to  open  shame.  He  who  is  found  active  in  a  good  cause, 
who  stipulates  nothing  and  demands  nothing,  but  works  wherever  he 
can  find  a  foothold ;  who  takes  pains  to  commend  and  approve,  but 
who  never  condemns  or  criticises  others — such  a  one  has  learned  the 
true  spirit  of  discernment  and  the  wisest  discrimination,  and  attains  a 
power  such  as  few  can  understand. 

Many  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  if  they  do  not  hasten 
to  criticise  and  condemn,  and  even  openly  to  repudiate  the  acts  and 
words  of  others,  they  will  themselves  be  held  responsible  for  the 
same  opinions. 

These  forget  that  probably  the  first  effect  of  their  hostile  criticism 
will  be  to  confirm  their  opponent  in  his  error — admitting  it  to  he  an 
error — whereas,  if  one  is  sure  of  his  ground  and  shows  the  opposite 
views  without  reference  to  persons,  these  views,  being  passionless  and 
exciting  no  opposition,  will  attract  and  retain  by  their  own  force  and 
inherent  truthfulness.  The  opponent  is  disarmed  and  convinced,  not 
by  an  opponent,  but  by  truth  itself. 

He  who  really  cares  more  for  the  truth  than  for  his  own  opinion 
right  or  wrong ;  who  cares  more  for  the  triumph  of  truth  than  for  his 
own  triumph  over  an  antagonist,  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  which 
victory  to  choose.  If  one  really  desires  the  consciousness  of  power, 
let  him  get  squarely  on  the  side  of  truth;  sink  himself  in  its  senicc. 
be  as  impersonal  as  truth  itself ;  condemn  no  one ;  encourage  even 
one ;  help  where  he  can  as  though  he  helped  not ;  give  public  crciiii 
to  every  helper,  and  seek  no  credit  himself.     Then  he  will  not  only 


GROWTH.  301 

Lve  the  consciousness  of  being  helpful,  but  he  will  be  saved  the 
imiliation  of  being  envied. 

It  requires  a  strong,  self-centred  soul  to  persist  in  this  line  of 
Dfk.  We  are  so  hungry  for  praise,  so  greedy  for  reward.  We  are 
envious  if  another  receives  praise,  or  is  rewarded  more  than  we 
ink  he  deserves. 

This  is  because  we  have  so  littl^  confidence  in  ourselves;   so  little 

iselfish  love  for  truth ;  so  little  trust  in  the  Master  of  the  Vineyard. 

e  who  works  for  no  reward,  who  would  be  content  without  it,  find- 

g  his  reward  in  his  work,  knows  nevertheless  that  he  cannot  avoid 

if  he  would. 

He  feels  it  in  the  air;  and  when  he  knows  that  he  has  deserved 
^  lo!  it  is  already  with  him.  He  casts  his  reward  at  the  feet  of 
ruth,  and  again  enters  her  service  uplifted,  encouraged,   inspired. 

H.  W.  G. 


GROWTH. 


Growth  is  a  word  of  vast  meaning  and  significance.  Broadly,  we 
Deak  of  mental  and  physical  growths.  Each  may  pertain  as  a  whole 
3  the  mind  or  to  the  body,  in  general,  or  to  special  lines  on  which 
cvelopment  of  mind  or  body  is  sought.  When  we  speak  of  the 
rowth  of  thought,  we  are  considering  the  mental  upreaching  to  a 
>niprehension  of  truth.  There  are  other  mental  growths.  One  may, 
y  force  of  will,  discipline  the  thought-centre  to  grasp  the  niceties  in 
le  construction  of  language,  to  acquire  a  fine  appreciation  of  the 
cactnessof  mathematical  laws,  and  so  on.  This  student-work  may 
.*  good  mental-gymnastics  if  conducted  rightly,  and  may  prepare 
le  for  higher  perceptions,  for  true  spiritual  growth.  At  the  same 
ne,  this  discipline  may  be  carried  on  in  such  a  way  as  to  becloud 
tcllcct  and  so  fetter  unfoldment. 

To  understand  the  laws  of  mental  growth,  one  must  remember 
at  the  mind  is  the  spiritual  nature  whose  primary  function  is 
t'uitive  perception.  Though  the  term  mind  is  often  used  vaguely, 
shall,  in  this  paper,  use  it  only  in  its  essential  sense — the  higher 
rment  of  the  soul. 


302  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

True  growth  of  the  mind  is  not  brought  about  entirely  through 
information.  The  growth  we  seek  is  beyond  earthly  teachings. 
It  is  rather  a  freeing  of  the  mind  from  material  fetters  so  it  may 
act  for  itself.  It  is  the  uncovering  and  bringing  to  light  of  knowl- 
edge already  possessed.  For  ages  this  has  been  the  problem  d 
the  Yogi.  If  one  has  a  true  conception  of  man  and  of  creative  force, 
and  the  unity  that  binds  and  holds  them  one,  his  next  step  is  to 
bring  himself  into  the  harmonious  vibrations  that  bind  all,  as  the 
vibrations  between  the  atoms  of  wood  and  stone  bind  their  partides 
together ;   then  the  universe  of  power  is  his. 

Assuming  the  student  has  fairly  grasped  the  meaning  of  the  one- 
ness in  life,  he  next,  before  putting  himself  into  harmony  with  all 
vibrative  force,  must  recognize  that  vibrations  pass  through  ethers, 
and  in  the  ethers  individual  atmospheres  are  formed  and  held.  His 
first  discipline  is  to  make  his  atmosphere  right;  then,  and  then  only, 
are  harmonious  vibrations  possible  from  him  to  the  infinite  source  of 
power,  and  from  the  infinite  source  of  power  to  him. 

Claudius,  Hamlet's  uncle,  knelt  in  prayer;  but,  from  his  kneeling 
posture  he  rose  with  : 

'*  My  words  fly  up,  my  thoughts  remain  below; 
Words  without  thoughts  never  to  heaven  go." 

His  atmosphere  of  guilt  cut  him  off  from,  and  prevented  his  connec- 
tion with,  the  harmonious  vibrations  of  infinite  force. 

In  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  the  great  Confederate  general 
Stonewall  Jackson,  whose  power  over  his  soldiers  had  been  magical, 
and  whose  fearlessness  in  battle  had  carried  him  safely  through  teffi* 
pests  of  bullets,  when  those  around  him  were  falling — in  that  battle, 
for  one  moment,  his  atmosphere  became  disturbed,  his  vibrative  con- 
nection with  the  Infinite  was  broken,  and  the  idol  of  the  Southern 
army  fell,  never  to  rise  again  in  the  material  body  as  a  leader  of 
earth's  forces  on  the  fields  of  war. 

Jesus  stood  before  Pontius  Pilate,  a  failure.  How  the  atmosphere 
of  him,  the  most  powerful  of  psychics  of  ancient  or  modem  times, 
became  disturbed,  one  may  not  know.  It  may  have  been  caused  by 
the  repetition  of  the  words,  **  Unless  I  go  away,  the  Comforter  ^iU 
not  come  to  you.'*     I  do  not  know  the  cause;   but  I  do  claim  to 


GROWTH.  303 

now  that  a  disturbing  force  did  affect  the  ethers  about  him,  the 
[aster.  He  recognized  this,  and  knew  the  vibrations  of  harmony 
etween  him  and  Infinity  had  been  broken,  as  the  atoms  of  wood 
cognize  the  foreign  force  that  cleaves  them  in  twain ;  and  afterward 
roke  forth  his  first  and  only  lamentation,  **  My  God,  my  God,  why 
ast  thou  forsaken  me?"  This,  however,  was  said  on  the  Cross, 
ot  before  Pilate. 

With  these  familiar  illustrations  before  us,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
>gic  of  the  philosophy  I  present  will  be  understood  and  accepted, 
'hat  done,  we  are  ready  to  enter  upon  its  consideration,  to  learn  how 
'c  may  apply  it  to  assist  our  own  spiritual  growth  or  unfoldment. 

The  power  to  be  gained  by  sitting  in  the  silence,  by  absolute 
assiveness,  by  concentration,  has  been  told  a  thousand  times.  Hours 
>r  concentration  and  helps  to  concentration  have  been  themes  for  the 
^achers*  discourse  over  and  over  again.  Every  earnest  seeker  for 
ruth  finds,  in  his  own  unfoldment,  something  to  reveal.  Knowing, 
s  I  do,  that  only  **  in  the  silence  "  is  growth  possible,  I  am  about  to 
►resent  herein  some  ways  to  reach  the  elementary  or  primary  condition 
^hen  one  may  go  **  in  the  silence"  understandingly  and  bring  from 
t  the  knowledge  he  would. 

I  will  here  assume  that  the  seeker  has  broken  from  the  theological 
logma  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  fear ;  that  he  has  forever  blotted 
►ut  from  belief  the  possibility  of  there  being  a  personal  God,  sitting 
n  a  material  heaven  on  a  material  throne,  welcoming  good  immaterial 
ouls  to  this  material  heaven,  and  with  equal  delight,  sending  other 
nimaterial  souls  to  a  material  hell.  What  could  a  material  heaven 
>r  a  material  hell  hold  of  joy  or  fear  to  the  immaterial  soul? 

Growth  is  impossible  with  such  conceptions  of  Being — with  such 
conceptions  of  possible  material  future  dwelling-places  for  disembodied 
ouls.  Intelligence  is  fast  burying  this  rubbish  of  outworn  theological 
leliefs  in  unmarked  graves  beyond  the  possibility  of  resurrection. 

Assuming,  then,  that  you  have  awakened,  or  have  never  been 
nthralled  in  the  nightmare  of  ignorance,  and  that  God,  or  Being, 
neans  to  you,  above  all.  Intelligence ;  that  within  this  Intelligence  is 
ubstance — the  creative  force  of  the  universe ;  that  you  are  one  with 
hat  creative  force ;   that  you  are  an  atom  (if  you  please)  in  its  com- 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

position — then,  can  you  not  understand  why  it  is  your  right  and 
privilege  to  come  into  harmonious  vibrations  with  all  the  other  atoms, 
with  the  absolute  creative  force  of  the  universe?  This  being  your 
birthright,  you  want  what  is  yours.  God  gave  man  dominion  over 
all  the  earth.  You  are  on  the  earth — you  are  man.  Do  you  not  now 
understand  clearly?  You  are  seeking  only  what  Creative  Intelligence 
gave  you  ages  and  ages  ago.  You  are  not  seeking  what  does  not 
belong  to  you,  nor  what  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  gain  unless  by 
payment  of  wearisome  labor.  No;  you  are  only  asking  to  know hov 
to  take  the  Almighty's  free  gift  to  you  and  to  me.  Fully  recognizing 
this,  let  me  lead  you  (if  I  may)  to  the  treasures  all  your  own.  Not 
yours  only,  but  mine.  The  way  is  **  a  strait  and  narrow  one,"  but  it 
is  open  to  all.  If,  then,  you  know  your  birthright — your  oneness 
with  God — your  way  to  possession  is,  as  I  tersely  put  it  in  my 
very  introduction,  through  vibrations  that  become  magical  wilfc 
power  when  one's  atmosphere  is  made  attractive  and  the  channel  <tf 
faith  laid  open. 

Having  attained  a  true  concept  of  Being,  and  our  relations  to  the 
great  Impersonal  It  of  the  Universe,  we  are  ready  to  enter  upontbe 
study  of  atmosphere.  The  atmosphere  surrounding  us  was  not  placed 
there  by  our  parents.  We  must  drop  all  belief  in  the  possibility  of 
inheriting  spiritual  qualities.  We  may  give  the  stars  their  fair  share  o( 
credit  without  making  them  our  prison-keepers  as  to  atmo^heie. 
We,  being  one  with  God,  and  having  dominion  over  all  things,  must 
not  bow  to  heredity  or  to  the  influence  of  the  stars.  We  cannot 
recognize  any  master,  for,  in  doing  so,  we  would,  in  our  first  statement, 
be  repeating  idle  words  and  not  appropriating  the  mighty  truth  thef 
express.  Our  atmosphere  then,  marking  our  own  individuality,  nuy 
have  become  very  unwholesome  through  our  non-recognition  of  the 
truth.  Though  that  may  be  so,  it  is  in  our  power  to  make  it  what 
we  would. 

Now,  the  ways :  From  our  true  selfhood  springs  the  desire  of  the 
hour,  the  desire  of  the  month  or  year,  the  desire  of  our  life.  Let  it 
be,  for  illustration,  the  recognition  of  a  desire  to  master  the  thought 
and  purpose  of  the  poet.  Browning.  To  do  this  you  must  bring  your- 
self into  harmony  with  the  vibrations  from  the  Infinite  that  thrilW 


GROWTH.  .'^OS 

tiie  intelligence  of   Browning  as  he  wrote.     How  will  you    accom- 
plish this  ? 

First,  if  my  argument  is  correct,  you  must  fix  your  atmosphere — 

you  must  Browningize  it.     Select  an  hour  for  the  daily  reading  of 

Browning's  poems,  first  giving  attention  to  the  study  of  his  life,  by 

liis  best  biographers.     In  the  study  of  his  life,  pay  especial  attention 

to  the  order  in  which  he  wrote  his  poems — as  far  as  you  can,  group 

them  in  periods  that  mark  his  literary  growth.     You  will  soon  find 

that  this  particular  hour  in  the  day  or  night  will  have  a  sacredness. 

It  will  be  a  dedication  of  that  time  to  the  thought  of  Browning.    Read 

no  commentaries  on  Browning — study  no  criticism  on  his  works.    You 

are  seeking  guidance  from  a  higher  source.     You  may,  and  will,  carry 

more  or  less  in  your  daily  work  (whatever  it  may  be)  your  Browning 

atmosphere.     However,  try  to  overcome  that — during  the  other  hours 

of  the  day  you  may  and  should  (as  far  as  possible)  lay  aside  all  mental 

debates  that  arise  during  these  hour   sittings.     Leave   them    to  be 

taken  up  on  the  following  day.     Within  a  few  weeks  you  will  have 

finished  the  drudgery  of  your  work;   and,  at  that  hour  each  day,  you 

will  find  new  beauties  in  these  poems.     Sitting  in  the  same  chair,  in 

the  same  room,  and  at  the  same  hour  each  day,  with  mind  resting  on 

his  thought,  you  will  have  found  a  new  atmosphere,  and  that  new 

atmosphere  will  be  congenial  to  poetic  inspiration  on  the  lines  that 

Browning  found. 

Your  greatest  work  is  now  completed.  You  have  created  an 
atmosphere  whose  vibrations  will  attract  from  the  infinite  forces  of  the 
universe  just  what  you  need  to  bring  you  the  fulfillment  of  your 
desire.  Now  you  may  lay  aside  your  books,  repeating,  however, 
often  in  the  silence  some  of  the  poems,  particularly  those  that  once 
seemed  meaningless  or  mystical  to  you.  As  the  days  go  by  you  will 
cease  to  do  even  this  or  to  care  to  read  them  at  all.  Your  atmos- 
phere having  been  made  right  to  accomplish  your  purpose,  the 
vibratory  forces  now  merge  you  into  the  infinite  oneness,  where  all  is 
revealed.  Still,  you  must  learn  to  be^  or  you  will  disturb  these  vibra- 
tions. New  meanings  to  these  poems  will  come  to  you — their  beauty 
and  their  philosophy  will  be  yours.  Possibly,  in  the  stillness,  at  times, 
you  will  almost  feel  the  presence  of  Browning,  and  the  Clairvoyant, 


306  THE    METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

if  present,  would  see  him  bending  over  you.  Better  than  all,  from 
within  you  will  be  told  that  you  have  fathomed  the  mysticism  of 
Browning,  and  intuitionally  you  will  know  that  you  have  come  into 
the  same  harmonious  thought-vibrations  that  made  Browning  i 
genius,  and  made  you  to  appreciate  and  understand  his  greatness. 

For  another  example,  let  me  take  that  of  desire  for  money  at  i 
particular  time,  to  help  one  out  of  a  particularly  embarrassing  posi- 
tion.    This  is  really  the  problem  of  the  age — of  the  day — of  the  lumr. 
The  failure  that  many  make  to  draw  from  the  infinite  what  they  need 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  their  anxiety  brings  them  a  repelling  rather 
than  an  attracting  atmosphere.     Overcome  that ;    one  must,  or  the 
complete  supply  from  the  infinite  can  never  reach  the  seeker.     Here 
you  will   note  that  the  atmosphere  created  by  severe  tension  of  the 
mental  forces  breaks  off  harmonious  vibrations  from  the  fountain  of 
supply.     To  again  connect  your  selfhood  (entity)  with  the  source  of 
all  wealth,  look  first  to  your  atmosphere.     If  you  accept  and  believe 
the  truths  of  the  philosophy,  as  I  have  herein  presented  them,  you 
know  the  way.     Follow  it ;   there  is  no  other.     Turn  not  to  money- 
lenders or  to  friends  indiscriminately — the  so-called   **  hustler"  docs 
that ;   and.  if  he  hustles  hard  enough,  he  may  find  (stumble  on)  the 
harmonious   chord,    though    having    first   broken    a   thousand  other 
chords  of  harmony's  harp,  which  may  not  be  easily  mended. 

The  true  way,  the  only  way,  is  to  wait  in  the  silence  till  yon 
again  make  your  atmosphere  true.  If  your  needs  are  pressing,  in- 
tensify, not  your  anxiety,  but  your  stillness.  Let  your  intensity 
express  itself  in  hope  and  faith  and  trust.  Your  philosophy,  if  yot 
have  learned  your  lesson  right,  long  ago  would  have  told  you  there 
were  no  devils.  If  no  devils,  then  no  fear — if  no  fear,  then  no 
possible  cause  for  anxiety. 

Do  you  tell  me  that  the  plane  of  absolute  faith  and  trust,  beauti- 
ful and  grand  though  it  be,  is  a  slippery  one  for  mortal  feet  to  rest 
upon  ?  If  so,  you  have  made  it  so  by  wrong  thinking,  and  bj* 
asserting  untruths.  If  you  are  one  with  all  creative  force,  all  power 
is  yours.  Hold  this  truth — assert  it,  and  forever  banish  ever)*  devil 
(evil)  from  your  consciousness. 

Yet  you  may  be  prompted  to  ask.  What  if  we  stumble  or  fail  ? 


GROWTH.  307 

h  not  even  ask  that  question — do  not  speak  those  words  as  having 
ower  over  you.  Remember,  once  Jesus  failed — the  harmonious 
ibrations  between  himself  and  all  infinite  force  were  stopped ;  yet, 
/en  then  and  thereby,  the  whole  waiting  world  learned  a  new  truth 
lat  he,  who  had  overcome  sickness  and  sorrow  and  suffering  and 
)vcrty,  had  also  overcome  man's  historically  named  **  greatest 
lemy,"  Death. 

Sometimes  we  ought  to  fail — later  experiences  with  their  lessons 
ove  it.  We  did  not  fully  understand,  it  may  be,  the  real  purpose 
the  desire;  but  our  faith  (if  we  have  merged  ourselves  in  this 
ilosophy  as  we  should)  ought  to  be  great  enough  to  teach  us  to 
ow  that  all  is  well,  and  to  enable  us  to  thank  the  infinite  force  of 
ation  even  for  seeming  failure.  On  the  earth-plane  we  may  not 
rays  be  able  to  distinguish  between  the  real  and  the  seeming.  Let 
in  faith  always  hold  in  mind  that  even  failure  can  be  to  us  only 
:  alphabet  to  success. 

To  attain  the  purpose  which  forms  what  we  call  the  ambition  of 
•  lives,  we  must  first,  in  the  silence,  learn  if  it  be  simply  an  idle 
h  or  a  spiritual  desire  of  the  soul.  It  will  be  told  us  as  we  wait, 
I,  if  a  real  desire,  it  will  prove  itself  such  from  within.      Recogniz- 

that,  we  know  it  is  God's  message  of  promise;  then  our  work 
^ns.  We  turn  first  to  books  and  read  them,  that  their  influence 
y  help  us  to  throw  out  attracting  forces  on  the  ethers  surrounding 
Our  prayers  are  not  rhetorical  climaxes,  nor  the  half-expressed 
gings  of  one  declared  unworthy  to  be  recipient.  We  know  we  are 
rthy — ^God  told  us  that  when  He  touched  the  chord  whose  vibra- 
is  thrilled  and  filled  our  being  with  the  glorious  truth  that  real 
ire  held  in  itself  the  bright  promise  of  attainment.  Our  silent 
irs,  regularly  and  sacredly  kept  for  the  purpose,  first,  of  making 

atmosphere  true,  are  our  seasons  for  communications  with  the 
mite  God — with  Him  with  whom  we  are  one.  This  mighty  Im- 
sonality  we  cannot  define;  but  yet,  this  infinite  force  we  can 
»ropriate.  Hardly  have  we  completed  our  elementary  task  as  to 
fecting  our  atmosphere,  before  the  true  vibrations  begin.     We  do 

force  them — ^we  cannot.  With  our  atmosphere  true,  they  begin 
ir  outreaching  and  their  intermingling — the  great  harmony  sought 


308  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

for  has  come.     Oh,  how  true  the  words,  **  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and 
my  burden  is  light!" 

Seekers  for  truth — wherever  you  may  be — tell  the  world  now 
waiting  of  the  pearls  you  have  found.  Herein  I  present  you  with 
an  easier  way  than  the  Yogis  of  India  have  practiced.  I  have  proven 
its  worth,  but  find  another,  if  it  seem  best  in  your  particular  case. 
Know  above  all  things  that  vibrative  harmony  must  be  gained  to 
bring  you  into  oneness  with  Being.  Find  the  path  to  this.  Growth 
then  begins  with  the  finding  of  one's  divine  selfhood,  and  is  sustained 
by  linking  that  selfhood,  through  soul-vibrations,  to  the  Immanent 

God. 

He  has  found  himself  who  knoweth. 

That  the  power  he  may  crave 
Reveals  itself,  and  showeth 

That  it  came  but  when  he  gave — 
Gnve  of  himself  to  other  souls 

Who  struggle  hard  and  long 
To  choose  the  path  from  varied  ones 

That  join ;  but  in  the  throng 
Are  jostled,  wearied,  spent,  and  worn. 

And  find  no  peace  or  rest. 
Tis  not  of  other's  knowledge  bom. 

But  deep  within  each  breast. 

Floyd  B.  Wilson. 


There  are  those  who  approve  every  act  if  some  individual  to  whom 
they  give  allegiance  shall  do  it,  even  though  it  is  objectionable  in  itself. 
But  goodness  is  above  every  god,  leader  or  favorite  person,  and  beloogs 
solely  to  the  Absolute  One. — Alexander  Wilder^  M.  D, 

The  present  time  is  characterized  by  dilettanteism.  The  eamett 
action  which  results  from  deep  conviction  is  nowhere  to  be  found. 
The  feeling  is  widespread  that  we  have  nothing  to  do,  and  much  of 
the  energy  now  employed  is  expended  upon  means  of  recreation.  It  is 
the  age  of  bric-k-brac  in  art,  of  ceremonies  and  entertainment  in 
religion,  and  of  dress  in  society.  Life  is  less  serious  than  it  was;  we 
celebrate  great  deeds  instead  of  performing  them ;  public  officials  are 
capitalists  instead  of  statesmen — in  short,  it  is  an  age  of  mediocrity. 
The  general  tendency  of  things  throughout  the  world  is  to  rcndcf 
mediocrity  the  transcendent  power  among  mankind. — New  Lacan. 


THE  TRUE  NATURE  OF  PRAYER. 

So  unfailingly  are  the  minds  of  men  dominated  by  the  tyranny  of 
the  institution,  that  even  to  quote  the  inspired  utterance  of  Hebrew 
or  Hindu  has  become  somewhat  inexpedient  to  whomsoever  essays 
to  speak  independently  of  Truth;  inexpedient,  lest  he  shall  be 
thought  to  commit  himself  to  some  particular  and  partial  view — to 
be  the  phonograph  into  which  some  sect  or  cult  has  spoken.  But 
Truth  will  be  subject  to  neither  book  nor  institution;  will  not  be 
cornered,  nor  held  in  the  treasury  with  the  brocaded  vestments  and 
sacred  relics.  And  he  who  would  act  as  her  spokesman  must  speak 
from  without  the  world's  institutions  and  from  within  himself. 

Nevertheless  those  visions  of  Truth  which  have  been  vouchsafed 
to  men  in  all  ages,  and  the  record  of  which,  more  or  less  adulterated, 
forms  what  is  known  as  the  sacred  literature  of  the  world,  give  aid 
and  encouragement  to  all  who  search  for  the  true  meaning  of  life ; 
and  he  who  gives  ear  to  the  communications  of  the  Spirit  will  find 
their  echo  nowhere  oftener  than  in  the  Bible.  But,  once  and  for  all, 
let  us  lay  aside  prejudice  and  tradition,  and  read  the  Bible  with  open 
eyes;  and  while  we  behold  the  glorious  expression  of  that  Truth 
which  underlies  and,  indeed,  is  the  raison  d*itre  of  religion,  we  shall 
find  superimposed  upon  this,  and  to  a  great  degree  obscuring  it,  the 
dogma  and  superstition  of  another  period ;  the  tales  and  allegories, 
fable  and  fiction,  which  arose  in  after  times  to  give  to  the  inspired 
sayings  unity  from  a  certain  exterior  point  of  view,  that  they  might 
become  subject  to  the  purposes  of  institutions  and  amenable  to  the 
ends  of  priestcraft.  We  shall  see  that  the  Bible — in  its  final  analy- 
sis— presents  an  epitome  of  the  Soul's  history,  reaching  its  ultimate 
expression  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  whose  transcendent  genius  lay  in  his 
perfect  apprehension  of  the  spiritual  basis  of  Life — and  the  sover- 
eignty of  Prayer.  Through  Prayer  he  established  his  true  relation 
with  the  Infinite — and  his  human  nature  was  lost  in  the  Divine.  Him 
ail  men  reverence  but  none  comprehend.      **  Surely,"  they  say,  **  his 

309 


310  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

was  a  voice  from  Heaven** ;  and  so  he  has  become  a  fixed  star— his 
early  adherents  a  constellation. 

We  see  in  the  world  a  steadfast  adherence  to  a  form  which  usurps 
the  office  of  Prayer ;  a  kind  of  ecclesiastical  dust  thrown  in  the  eyes 
of  men.  Here  is  not  Prayer,  but  an  expression  of  faithlessness  in 
the  Divine  Order;  a  weekly  report,  as  it  were,  from  the  officious 
heads  of  departments  to  an  incompetent  Executive,  with  suggestions 
for  governing  the  Universe,  and  directions  for  the  amelioration  of 
apparently  untoward  conditions. 

He  who  is  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  Divine  Love  and  resigns  his 
life  to  its  keeping,  presumes  not  to  dictate  as  to  the  outcome.  He 
who  prays  to  a  just  God  asks  not  for  a  suspension  of  law — that 
would  not  be  justice;  he  who  prays  to  a  God  of  Wisdom  presumes 
not  to  instruct  One  Who  is  all  wise. 

A  man's  idea  of  God  is  an  infallible  test  of  his  condition.  Does 
he  pray  to  a  God  of  Revenge,  so  surely  is  he  himself  revengeful; 
does  he  pray  to  a  God  of  Love,  so  surely  does  he  esteem  Love  the 
greatest  of  all  things.  Men  may  pray  to  Mars  and  to  Athene,  but 
as  there  was  in  Athens,  so  is  there  still  within  the  human  heart — an 
altar  to  the  Unknown  God. 

Prayer  is  not  a  petitioning,  but  a  claiming ;  it  is  begotten  not  of 
infirmity  of  the  will,  but  of  assurance.  It  is  not  weakness,  but 
strength ;  and  he  who  apprehends  the  true  nature  of  Prayer  bends 
not  the  knee,  but  towers  in  majesty.  He  goes  forth  to  meet  his  own; 
he  ascends  the  mount  to  speak  with  God.  It  is  the  beggar  asking 
alms,  the  slave  imploring  mercy,  who  grovels  in  the  dust. 

Prayers  are  not  spoken — they  are  lived.  Our  lives  are  our  pray- 
ers, and  they  are  answered  each  after  its  own  kind,  be  the  seeking 
for  worldliness  or  for  wisdom.  But  this  babbling — this  lip-service  in 
which  we  foolishly  indulge — is  confuted  by  the  very  flowers  of  the 
field.  The  blossom  unfolds  its  petals,  and  in  its  fragrance  and  its 
color  expresses  its  desire ;  thus  it  offers  its  prayer,  and  waits  assured 
of  the  answer — assured  of  the  visit  of  the  bee  that  shall  consummate 
its  heart  desire. 

The  nature  of  Prayer  is  dual ;  it  is  breathing  and  the  air  breathed; 
it  is  seeking  and  the  things  sought.     Thought   and   concentration, 


THE  TRUE  NATURE  OF  PRAYER.  311 

e  are  its  vehicles.     Belief,  Faith,  and  Love — of  such  is  its  basis. 

'er  is  the  ultimate  spiritual  concept ;   it  is  a  drawing  of  the  Soul 

ird  God ;   it  is  the  sublime  expression  of  trust  in  that  which  is  not 

Ah !   we  may  but  reverently  intimate  the  sublimity  of  this — 

bond  between  the  Infinite  and  the  Soul ;   for  it  is  to  be  appre- 

led  spiritually ;   the  terms  of  three  dimensions  will  not  serve  to 

ess  the  fourth. 

!)ne  thing  above  all  others  we  may  affirm  of  the  Nature  of  Prayer : 

Love. 

**  He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things,  both  great  and  small : 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 

The  mother's  love  for  her  child  is  a  prayer  that  finds  answer  in 
happiness  and  well-being  of  the  child ;   the  scholar's  love  of  cul- 

is  a  prayer  that  is  answered  by  the  advancement  of  learning ;  the 
t*s  love  of  the  Beautiful  is  a  prayer  that  finds  answer  in  grace 

perfection  of  form,  in  harmonious  color  and  effective  composi- 
;  the  Sun*s  love  of  the  Earth  is  a  prayer  that  is  answered  in  the 
ity  and  sublimity  of  Nature ;  and  the  Soul's  love  of  God  is  the 
er  of  prayers  which  is  answered  by  all  that  is  ineffable  and  tran- 
dent,  and  by  the  **  peace  of  God  which  passeth  understanding." 
Mways  has  the  mountain  peak  been  a  symbol  of  things  spiritual, 

Ida  and  Olympus,  Sinai  and  Fuji-Yama,  bear  witness  of  the 
ity  with  which  it  is  invested.  The  dweller  on  the  mountain 
s  abroad  over  the  fogs  which  obscure  the  lowlands ;  and  he  who 
>lds  life  from  the  vantage  of  spirit  no  longer  sees  the  limitations 
;h  beset  the  natural  man — limitations  which  vanish  before  the 
lisceming  spiritual  vision.  To  behold  good  as  partial,  betokens 
owness,  and  is  virtually  to  deny  God.     All  things  arie  possible  to 

upon  the  Spiritual  plane  of  life ;  space,  time  and  personality  are 
e  conceptions  which  shall  one  day  fade  from  the  mind.  Man  is 
ord  in  the  Divine  Harmony;  a  channel  to  the  Supreme  Intelli- 
;e.  The  Infinite  arrogates  to  itself  no  privilege,  and  as  the  Soul 
ic  with  it,  so  surely  is  it  heir  to  all  things.  We  may  recognize 
out  only  that  which  is  already  within.     The  things  we  desire  are 


312  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

but  the  projections  of  the  mind.  The  noumena  is  the  unseen  but 
eternal  entity,  the  spiritual  prototype  of  the  phenomenon  which, 
though  seen,  is  but  ephemeral,  "  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  tem- 
poral ;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal "  (II.  Cor.,  4, 18). 

Only  in  the  world  of  Ideas  may  things  be  said  truly  to  exist;  and 
we  are  the  proper  agents,  each  according  to  his  capacity,  to  make 
them  manifest.  In  all-pervading  desire  the  mind  becomes  one  with 
that  which  it  desires.  Does  it  desire  purity?  It  identifies  itself  with 
the  Principle  of  Purity ;  it  touches  the  Infinite  at  that  point,  and 
forthwith  the  stream  of  purity  flows  through  that  mind  which  becomes 
its  channel.  In  the  Realm  of  Ideas  exist  all  possible  architectural 
forms :  man  the  architect  focuses  his  thought  on  this  his  desire,  and 
lo,  cities  are  built.  And  so  man  the  mechanic  or  the  carpenter  be- 
comes the  agent  of  the  Infinite  as  surely  as  does  man  the  sculptor  or 
the  painter. 

It  is  the  appointed  order  of  human  life  to  work  from  sense  to  rea- 
son, from  reason  to  intuition;  and  so  it  is  the  nature  of  man  to  essay 
first  his  self-will,  which  is  foolishness,  but  after  weariness  untold  to 
be  brought  to  the  cognition  of  the  Divine  Will  which  is  Wisdom.  In 
the  life  of  self-will  the  day  comes  when  one  by  one  every  expedient 
shall  have  failed ;   then  do  we  turn  our  thoughts  within. 

**  When  Matter  is  exhausted.  Spirit  enters."  The  supreme  fact 
of  life  then  is  this :  that  being  Spirit  we  are  in  touch  with  the  Infinite; 
that  God  has  not  left  us,  but  is  within  us,  and  to  our  awakening  toudi 
the  Infinite  responds.  He  who  boldly  lays  claim  to  the  real  preroga- 
tives of  man,  which  are  spiritual ;  who  elects  henceforth  to  walk  with 
God,  shall  be  reinforced  by  Infinite  Force,  shall  be  wise  by  the  com- 
munications of  the  Supreme  Mind;  and  giving  free  course  to  the 
Love,  the  Power,  and  the  Wisdom  that  are  around  and  within  him, 
shall  be  irresistibly  impelled  to  all  good  ends. 

Stanton  Kirkham  Davis. 


What  is  that  which  openeth  and  closeth  the  eyes,  turning  them 
away  from  things  which  they  should  not  behold^  and  guiding  them 
toward  other  things  ?  Is  it  the  faculty  of  the  vision  ?  Nay,  but  the 
faculty  of  the  Will. — Epictetus. 


AT  THE  GATE  OF  DREAMS. 

I  Mildred  was  sixteen  she  had  grown  apart  from  other  girls 
living  in  a  dream  world  of  her  own,  peopled  with  women  of 
m  mortal  loveliness  and  men  of  more  than  the  nobleness  and 
of  earth.  Out  of  old  romances  and  the  living  tales  of  courtly 
rrs  she  had  plucked  a  fancy  and  a  longing.  Knights  of  noble 
i  nobler  courage  spoke  of  battles  bravely  fought  and  bravely 
d  from  her  lips,  to  grace  their  deeds  of  Valor  with  a  fitting 

II  in  softest  cadence  the  mellow  words  of  praise.  The  sheen 
id  satin  clothed  her  day  by  day,  and  jewelled  fingers  lifted  to 
the  goblets  where  the  red  wine  sparkled  like  a  tinted  diamond 
fire. 

touched  her  with  its  thrill  of  pain  and  pleasure,  and,  more 
t,  the  knightly  heart  that  gave  her  its  devotion  burned  with 
ctrning  to  make  itself  deserving  of  so  pure  a  love  as  hers, 
that  must  be  righted  and  old  customs  that  had  need  of  being 
a  newer  time  gave  scope  and  promise  to  his  lofty  strivings ; 
y  pain  he  suffered  and  every  fear  he  had  were  made  as  noth- 
le  hope,  each  moment  cherished,  that  she  would  smile  upon 
le  end.  Before  his  banner,  borne  to  battle  with  a  purpose 
1  holy,  every  caitiff  wrong  was  swept  to  nothingness,  and 
le  broadening  vista  of  the  years  she  saw  his  cause  go  con- 
with  a  thunder  of  rejoicing  and  victorious  acclaim.  Through 
orld  she  heard  his  name  uplifted  in  the  chorus  of  admiring 
es,  and  faintly  whispering  to  herself  she  said,  *'  I  love  you." 
after  that  the  world  was  like  a  garden  nobly  tended  for  her 
ily,  where  every  flower  she  plucked  was  but  the  blossoming 
Iry,  noble  manners,  and  good  deeds,  where  evil  weeds  of 
oulness,  and  discourtesy  were  cut  away  and  cast  in  heaps  to 
re  the  burning. 

life  itself  held  for  her  something  other  far  than  this;  and. 
Tie  part  of  her  little  round  of  daily  duties  made  her  know  the 
e,  a  throbbing  of  hatred  for  herself  and  for  all  she  knew  as 

313 


314  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

hers  drove  the  tender  sweetness  from  her  eyes  and  made  her  seem  no 
more  herself.     She  looked  upon  the  boys  and  girls  who  met  her  daily  I' 
and  who  would  have  given  her  a  kindlier  regard  if  she  had  willed,  and  |^ 
in  them  there  was  neither  the  light  of  loveliness  nor  any  hint  of  chiv- 
alry or  heroism.     Their  pleasures  did  not,   to  her,  seem  pleasures, 
and,  when  she  joined  with  them  in  trying  to  be  happy,  she  found  but 
a  livelier  dissatisfaction  and  a  keener  sense  of  the  unchanging  littk- 
ness  of  life.     Sometimes  she  tried  to  fancy  a  hero  in  some  one  of  the 
boys  who  wished  at  times  to  make  her  care   for  them ;  but  always 
something  in  each  failed  her,  and  she  knew  that  she  should  look  hi 
vain  for  the  knight  of  her  longing.    Men  were  no  longer  so  brave  and 
noble ;   they  lived  for  meaner  ends,  with  lesser  purposes  and  with 
harder  hearts.      The  pettiness  of  money-getting  and  the  strife  for 
little  honors  won  by  trickery  and  fraud  filled  out  the  round  of  life, 
and  all  of   the   heart's  loftier  strivings  were  but  a  vanished  fanqr, 
gone  with  man's  first  flush  of  pleasure  in  a  world  to  conquer.    The 
man  to  catch  her  maiden  fancy  and  fill  out  her  dream  of  the  happi- 
ness of  love  was  not  such  as  lived  in  her  little  world  of  young  men 
looking  forward  to  practical  careers  and  young  women  fitted  to  make 
home  a  plefisure  to  them. 

Back  to  her  world  of  dreams  her  hero  rode,  the  kingliest  of  men, 
with  straight  eyes  fixed  upon  a  lofty  hope,  and  firm-set  lips  that  iM 
of  dauntless  courage.  She  could  hear  the  bugles  blowing  for  the 
onset,  and  upon  his  gilded  mail  the  sifted  sunlight  cast  a  mellov 
splendor.  Her  favor,  a  cross  of  diamonds  broidered  on  a  silken  ker- 
chief sprayed  with  purple  flowers,  was  fixed  upon  his  helmet,  and 
about  her  lords  and  ladies  looked  upon  her  with  sobered  eyes  oi 
wonder,  knowing  that  he  loved  her  and  would  love  her  to  the  end. 

But  while  Mildred  was  yet  hardly  more  than  a  girl,  while  the 
sweet  and  tender  eyes  of  longing  were  still  far  from  the  contented 
calm  of  womanhood,  while  in  her  smile  there  lurked  yet  a  pensive 
dreaminess,  there  came  to  call  her  the  great  destroyer  and  she  slipped 
gently  from  this  dream  to  the  other  dream  beyond.  She  did  not 
dread  the  going  when  she  knew  the  time  was  come — ^thc  great  mys- 
tery before  her  had  even  allurement  for  her;  but  on  the  other  sideol 
death,  before  she  had  gone  up  to  the  great  city,  she  knew  without 


AT   THE   GATE   OF   DREAMS.  315 

he  voice  of  any  one  to  tell  her,  that  she  had  yet  a  time  to  wait 
before  the  full  beauty  of  the  paradise  she  longed  for  should  fall  upon 
ler  ravished  vision.  Sitting  thoughtful  in  the  great  stillness  she 
:new,  by  some  subtle  instinct  such  as  mortals  know  not  of,  that  she 
Lad  not  yet  passed  wholly  from  the  life  of  earth.  Looking  back  over 
icr  dead  self  with  the  knowledge  and  the  wisdom  of  the  new  life  of 
nmortality,  she  saw  that  in  her  other  life  she  had  failed  of  being 
lany  things  that  a  woman  well  may  be.  The  sweetness  and  the 
eauty  of  her  fair  young  girlhood  had  been  a  happiness  to  no  one, 
nd  least  of  all  to  those  who  were  nearest  to  her  and  could  of  right 
lost  freely  ask  of  her  the  gracious  giving  of  kindliness  and  love  and 
^nder  ministration.  A  feeling  of  regret  for  the  happiness  that  she 
light  have  given  to  those  that  loved  her,  and  had  not  cared  to  give 
nem,  smote  her  with  a  new  love  and  longing.  The  desire  to  make 
cr  way  at  once  among  the  heavenly  places  died  within  her;  and  in 
5  stead  she  had  the  wish  to  see  once  more  the  old-time  faces,  and, 
'  she  might,  to  bring  gladness  and  rejoicing  to  them. 

It  would  be  a  glad  requital;  and,  while  the  thought  grew  in  her, 
he  knew,  as  though  a  radiant  angel  had  borne  the  message  to  her, 
hat  it  was  the  thing  that  must  be  given  fulfillment  ere  the  gate  of 
he  City  Beautiful  would  open  to  her,  She  understood,  better  than 
he  had  ever  understood,  the  needs  of  simple  human  hearts,  and  she 
ras  ready  with  a  new  sympathy  and  a  new  helpfulness  for  those 
fhom  it  might  strengthen.  A  sudden  outgoing  of  yearning  over 
inhappiness  and  unanswered  longing  thrilled  her  with  a  new  courage, 
nd  now  she  saw  for  the  first  time  a  beauty  and  a  meaning  in  lives 
vhose  outward  circumstance  gave  hint  of  nothing  more  than  com- 
nonplace. 

While  thus  she  thought  and  wondered,  thinking,  the  circumambi- 
:nt  air  grew  vaporous  to  her  sight,  and  as  her  eyes  were  lifted  she 
aicw  that  outer  space  was  fast  becoming  earth  and  earth's  dark- 
hadowed  mystery  again.  The  old  familiar  sense  of  home  and  home- 
ompanionship  grew  around  her  as  it  had  been,  only  now  it  was 
weetened,  softened,  and  made  luminous  with  a  new  purpose  and  a 
lew  content.  Looking  upon  the  old-time  faces — father,  mother, 
riends — she  knew  them  as  they  were.      No  longer  mean,   cramped 


316  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

lives  devoid  of  burning  hopes  and  noble  aspirations,  but  sweet  and 
gracious  with  the  calm  content  of  patient  duty.  With  the  fine  insight 
of  the  spirit  world  she  knew  their  spirits,  and  her  own  was  made  the 
sweeter  and  the  purer  for  the  knowing. 

But  now  that  she  had  come  to  see  life  and  men  and  women  as 
they  are,  she  did  not  lose  her  longing  to  find  a  hero  with  nobility  of 
soul  to  match  her  dream.  Into  every  heart  she  looked  with  a  steady 
purpose  to  discover  all  the  best  within  it,  to  know  its  inmost  striving, 
its  deepest  and  tenderest  longings;  and  with  her  purpose  was  a  hope 
that  she  should  find  in  some  one  all  that  in  her  heart's  romancing  she 
had  pictured  in  her  hero  long  before.  In  every  one  she  found  some 
nobility,  some  fineness,  a  touch  of  something  not  mortal  and  of 
earth ;  but  always  the  good  was  marred  by  some  sort  of  imperfection, 
and  her  ideal  knight  of  nobleness  and  high  heart  failed  her,  and 
proved  only  common  clay.  So  at  last  the  hope  grew  faint  within  her 
and  almost  failed. 

But  one  day  she  came  upon  a  youth  who  had  been  friend  and 
schoolmate  in  her  younger  years.  She  had  known  him  only  distantly, 
indeed,  for  they  were  young;  and  later  she  had  grown  to  think  him 
plain  in  thought  and  deed  and  seeming,  and  she  half  forgot  that  there 
had  ever  been  a  being  such  as  he.  Now,  when  Time  had  mowed  the 
years  since  once  his  face  was  boyish,  she  found  him  watching  by  a 
giant  lathe,  on  which  a  mass  of  steel  turned  round  and  lost  a  portion 
of  itself  at  every  turn.  Great  belted  wheels  were  revolving  cvoy- 
where  about  him,  and  the  sound  of  escaping  steam  mixed  with  the 
multitudinous  noises  of  the  place. 

But  through  all  the  jar  of  machinery  and  the  clang  of  iron  strik- 
ing iron  he  was  every  moment  calm  and  quiet,  tending  his  lathe  with 
steady  precision  and  having  no  thought,  in  seeming,  but  for  his  work. 
Yet,  looking  at  him,  she  saw  that  despite  his  absorbed  attentivencss 
the  task  he  had  to  do  was  distasteful  to  him  and  his  heart  was  else- 
where. She  stayed  and  watched  him  until  the  day's  work  was  done, 
and  saw  that  every  moment  he  did  it  all  as  faithfully  as  though  it 
were  his  own  and  a  pleasure  to  him.  Then  following  him  home  she 
saw  a  mother's  face  grow  brighter  as  he  entered  at  the  doorway,  and 
a  sister's  eyes  lighten  as  his  own  smiled  into  them.     She  knew  that 


AT  THE  GATE  OF   DREAMS.  317 

heart  was  saddened  and  disappointed  because  of  the  things 
[lad  to  do,  but  a  smile  was  in  his  eyes  the  evening  long,  and 
i  was  cheeriness  itself,  and  such  as  makes  the  hearts  of  others 

Their  home  had  little  more  than  their  happiness  in  it,  but 
;  much ;  and  despite  many  an  unsatisfied  longing,  she  knew 
tentment  dwelt  with  them. 

r  that,  day  by  day,  she  went  with  him  to  work  and  came 
ith   him,   and    he   knew  it  not.     Into  his  every  secret  she 
her  vision  pierced ;   and  these,  besides  the  thought  of  daily 
md    the  watchful  care    for  those  that   loved  him  and  were 
int  on  him,  she  found  the  glowing  fancies  of  a  heart  alive  to 
ofty  promptings  of  noble  aspiration.     The  love  of  all  things 
tl  grew  in  him,  and  desires  that  life  as  he  must  live  it  could 
ver  fed  his  soul  the  fever  of  unrest ;   but  he  spoke  no  word  of 
ss,  and  even  those  whose  lives  were  nearest  to  him  had  no 
his  desire  for  more  than  what  he  had.     Slowly,  by  some  secret 
nsmission,  she  knew  that  it  must  be  her  care  and  duty,  and 
iier  pleasure,  to  bring  into  his  life  a  soul  companionship  and 
ort — secret  and  unknowable,  yet  real  and  sincere.     She  had 
>  the  assurance  that  for  every  soul  there  is  apportioned  a  cer- 
ire  of  usefulness  and  service  unto  others,  and  that  until  that 
mplished  there  can  be  no  entrance  to  the  life  perfected  with 
py  ones  who  walk  the  streets  of  paradise  forever, 
lay  by  day  she  made  him  conscious  more  and  more  of  a  pres- 
th  him  not  of  earth,  but  sweet  and  satisfying,  making  every 
wonder  in  him,  since  he  could   not   know  whence  it  came. 
Ties,  walking  homeward  when  his  work  was  done,  the  sense  of 
ge  companionship  came  upon  him  with  a  power  so  sweet  yet 
ible  that,  pausing  in  his  walk  to  catch  the  dream,  the  passers 
that  perhaps  he  planned  some  new  invention  that  would  make 
•Id  his  debtor  ages  hence. 

ill  his  youth  he  had  never  really  given  himself  the  thought  of 

Girlish    faces    there  had    been   to    thrill    his   fancv    for   a 

t,  but  duty  had  been  dearer  to  him  than  the  smiles  of  maidens, 

had  put  such  fancies  from  him  with  a  laugh  to  hide  a  sigh, 
es  he  believed  himself  persuaded  that  he  was  wholly  happy  in 


318  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

each  renunciation  and  self-sacrifice;  but  again  a  visioned  loveliness 
had  come  to  haunt  the  happiness  he  had  just  thought  his  own ;  and 
he  had  known  that  life  lacked  something  of  its  best  and  highest. 

But  now,  he  knew  not  how,  that  lack  seemed  to  have  gone  from 
him,  and  in  its  stead  a  visioned  face,  sweet  and  fair,  radiant  with  the 
light  of  some  fine  purpose,  filled  all  his  being  with  a  new  sense  of 
completeness,  and  his  work  grew  lighter,  almost  pleasant  to  him. 
Once  when  his  mother  saw  a  streak  of  gray  upon  his  head  she  pushed 
the  heavy  hair  back  from  his  brow  lovingly  and  looked  into  his  eyes 
with  softened  tenderness. 

"You  are  getting  old,  my  boy,  and  you  should  be  thinking  of  a 
home  to  call  your  own.  I  shall  leave  you  some  day,  and  then  you 
will  need  some  one  else  to  love  you." 

Then  he  smiled  back  at  her  fondly  and  took  her  wrinkled  hand  in 
his  and  kissed  it. 

**  I  am  very  happy,  mother,  now,  and  I  need  no  other  love  to 
make  me  happy  than  the  love  I  have." 

She  looked  into  his  eyes  with  a  mother's  searching  earnestness. 

"  If  you  have  known  a  love  unanswered,"  she  said  slowly,  as  a 
mother  may,  '*  I  would  not  ask  you  to  forget  it  lightly;  but  if  you 
wait  for  love  to  come,  I  would  not  have  you  keep  it  from  you  long. 
The  pain  of  loneliness  is  lasting,  and  it  will  be  keener  as  your  hair 
grows  grayer." 

**I  am  never  lonely,"  he  said  softly,  '*and  I  have  too  much  to 
care  for  to  have  room  for  any  other  interest  now.  Perhaps  I  shall 
love  some  day,  but  the  time  has  not  yet  come." 

The  anxiety  of  a  mother's  love  followed  him,  as  he  walked  away 
half  saddened ;  and  she  could  not  know  that  the  soul  whose  care  he 
was  went  with  him,  a  sweet  presence  breathing  peace. 

And  for  the  moment  he,  too,  forgot  it,  remembering  a  boyhood's 
fancy  that  he  had  only  dreamed  might  grow  to  love.  It  was  a  fanq* 
only,  as  he  knew,  and  yet  he  had  cherished  it  through  all  the  years, 
half  thinking  life  was  sweeter  in  remembering  than  it  could  ever  be  in 
hoping  vainly,  since  any  hope  of  love  must  be  in  vain.  To-day  he 
went  back  to  the  half  hope  that  he  had  known,  and  it  grew  a  saddened 
sweetness  to  him,  while  he  wondered  whether  she  was  happy  as  a 


AT  THE  GATE  OF   DREAMS.  319 

^vife,  and  kept  her  old-time  beauty,  or  had  lost  her  girlish  charm  and 
g^oivn  to  commonplace,  and  to  the  thought  that  no  one  can  be 
happy.  Had  it  been  his  lot  to  win  her,  would  he  not  have  made  her 
life  one  long  rose-dream?  Would  he  not  have  lifted  her  to  happiness, 
as  the  lily  stock,  rooted  in  the  black  ooze  below,  lifts  the  creamy 
virhite  petals  of  the  lily  to  breath  the  air  of  heaven?  The  self- 
vrrought  yearning  grew  within,  until  suddenly  he  became  aware  of 
the  presence  with  him.  In  the  filmy,  tear-blurred  space  before  him, 
there  limned  itself  a  face  of  beauty,  filled  with  a  passion  of  beseech- 
ing tenderness  and  sweet  helpfulness,  a  face  that  might  have  been  of 
earth,  and  yet  was  not;  and  by  a  subtle  spell  that  spirits  know,  she 
^wrought  upon  him  so  that  memory  touched  his  heart  with  pain  no 
more,  and  all  the  world  was  peace  and  gladness,  as  is  Nature's  heart 
'vrhen  buds  are  blown  in  May. 

And  after  that  her  presence  was  as  the  presence  of  a  bride  beside 
him,  and  a  joy  shown  in  his  face  that  seemed  at  times  beyond  the 
joy  of  mortals.  When  his  sister  left  him  with  one  that  loved  her, 
^he  presence  by  his  side  took  away  his  sense  of  loss  and  made  him 
^^vholly  happy  in  his  sister's  happiness;  and  when  his  mother  died, 
«uid  he  was  weeping  in  their  broken  home,  she  came  again  and 
soothed  him,  so  that  he  hardly  knew  that  he  was  lonely.  He  remem- 
liered  through  his  tears  that  his  mother  had  wished  him  to  have  a 
companionship  left  him  when  she  should  be  gone;  but  if  he  had 
vegret  for  but  a  moment,  it  was  for  that  moment  only,  and  then  the 
presence  beamed  upon  him  with  the  smile  of  peace. 

He  had  passed  his  thirtieth  year,  when  there  came  a  day  of  trouble 

%o  him.     The  company  for  which  he  worked  had  taken  a  contract 

^n  some  constructions  in   iron   and  steel  at  so  low  a  rate  that  they 

could  not  fulfill  it  without  loss.     They  came  to  him  and  told  him  that 

the  work  it  was  his  care  to  overlook  must  be  a  little  slighted  and 

hurried  over,  and  that  he  must  none  the  less  sign  a  guaranty  of  its 

perfection.     He  told  them  frankly  that  he  could  not  do  it ;  and  when 

they  argued  with  him,  assuring  him  that  they  could  not  meet  the 

engagement  as  it  stood,  without  the  chance  of  bankruptcy,  he  still 

was  firm,  and  answered  that  it  had  always  been  his  wish  to  please 

them,  but  that  this  he  could  not  do.     And  as  the  overseeing  had 


320  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

need  to  be  done  as  they  wished  it,  they  let  him  know  that  some  one 
else  had  been  secured  to  do  it  in  his  place,  and  so  he  left  them. 

Then  the  presence  was  a  solace  to  him,  and  the  light  of  glad 
approval  shining  in  the  misty  eyes  made  him  all  unmindful  at  the 
moment  that  his  life  must  be  new-shaped  and  fitted  to  new  uses, 
perhaps  must  fail  and  falter  before  new  trials  and  new  fears.  A 
strengthened  hope  and  a  renewed  ambition  gave  his  pulse  the  throb 
of  promise,  and  he  knew  that  so  long  as  life  might  last  he  should 
have  with  him  joy  and  peace — love,  given  from  the  spirit  world,  and 
so  undying. 

But  she  who  gave  him  these  received  them  too,  a  reftex  influence 
upon  herself;  and,  as  day  by  day  she  walked  beside  him,  and  saw 
his  hair  grow  gray  with  years,  a  strengthened  assurance  came  upon 
her  heart,  and  she  knew  that  it  would  not  be  long  before  she  could 
enter  at  the  city  and  be  happy  with  the  blessed.  Even  had  that 
assurance  not  been  hers,  she  would  have  been  glad  that  she  had  found 
a  hero,  simple  as  his  life  had  been,  and  lacking  in  the  tinsel  glory  in 
which  long  before  she  had  clothed  her  ideal  knight.  And  if  upon  Ui 
forehead  he  seemed  to  feel  at  times  the  touch  of  loving  hands,  it  wai 
because  to  her  what  once  was  duty  had  grown  to  love  and  pleasofc, 
and  his  lonely,  wearied,  life  was  full  of  touching  sweetness  for  her. 

At  last  there  came  a  time  when  she  had  filled  out  to  the  full  dK 
measure  of  usefulness  that  had  been  meted  to  her,  and  on  that  dijr 
he  saved  a  little  child  from  being  crushed  between  two  masnve 
wheels  that  turned  forever  in  the  factory  where  he  worked.  But 
when  the  child  was  saved  his  life  had  paid  the  forfeit,  and  the  tired 
heart  rested  in  the  rest  that  comes  but  once  and  has  no  end.  And 
she,  with  some  sure  prescience  that  the  end  was  near,  had  gone  before 
and  waited  for  him  at  the  Gate  of  Paradise — the  dream  of  dreams. 

Lewis  Worthington  Smith. 


False  science  bases  its  conclusions  upon  external  appearances  caused 
by  the  illusion  of  the  senses;  true  science  rests  in  the  capacity  of  the 
higher  regions  of  the  human  mind  to  comprehend  spiritual  truths, 
which  are  beyond  the  power  of  perception  of  the  semi-animal  intellect 
and  it  reasons  from  that  which  it  not  merely  believes,  but  perceives  to 
be  true. — Paracelsus. 


J 


THt:  NEW  YORK ^ 

FUBLIC  LIBRARY 


A8TCR,  LENOX  AND 
TILDEN    FOUNDATIONS. 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  FUTURE. 

Though  we  cannot  know  the  future,  we  may  form  some  con- 
ion  of  future  conditions  by  correctly  interpreting  present 
lencies  in  the  currents  of  religious  thought.  New  orders  are 
inually  appearing ;  change  is  inevitable.  Evolution  is  a  universal 
We  must  go  forward.  Thus  far  there  has  been  no  resting- 
e  in  the  march  of  humanity.  There  is  before  us  an  ideal,  and 
e  can  be  no  stopping-place  until  it  is  realized.  Theology  is  not 
ationary  science ;  it  has  always  changed  with  the  ever-changing 
of  successive  generations,  and  can  never  cease  so  to  do.  This  is 
natural  result  of  progress,  and  progress  is  inevitable. 
Intellectual  progress  has  sometimes  meant  revolution.  The  age 
ch  fails  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  demands  of  progress  must 
shaken  by  a  convulsion,  the  magnitude  of  which  depends  on  the 
icity  with  which  men  cling  to  the  old  and  unimportant  order, 
en  we  have  issued  without  a  break  from  effete  ideas,  old  and 
ish  traditions,  and  the  bondage  of  superstitions,  into  a  larger 
dom,  as  noiselessly  and  as  happily  as  the  blossom  comes  from  the 
Then  again  there  have  been  church  disaflfections,  long  and 
er  controversies,  tumults,  and  persecutions.  Peacefully  or  not, 
»e  changes  must  come.  The  human  mind  cannot  stand  still. 
Every  student  of  ecclesiastical  history  has  observed  that  the  close 
ach  century  is  marked  by  great  agitation  throughout  the  religious 
id  and  by  radical  changes  in  theological  thought.  There  are 
ss  when  the  world  stops  to  think.  Such  periods  are  generally 
racterized  by  a  widespread  scepticism  and  unsettlement  of  soul, 
ch  leads  to  a  more  thorough  investigation  and  eventually  to  a 
e  rational  faith.  We  are  now  living  in  such  an  era.  This  is  one 
:hose  critical  and  creative  epochs  which  stand  at  lonely  distances 
►ugh  the  ages,  and  determine  the  destiny  of  the  race.  Ours  is  an 
of  criticism  and  research — an  age  with  an  interrogation-point 
r  it.  No  department  of  human  knowledge  has  entirely  escaped 
roscopic  examination.     The  Nineteenth  Century  has,  to  a  large 

321 


322  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

extent,  repudiated  the  vast  collection  of  imperfect  dogmas  bequeathed 
to  it  by  its  predecessors,  and  has  dared  to  doubt  because  it  sought  to 
investigate  and  to  eliminate  that  which  is  only  traditional  and  legend- 
ary. There  are  still  extant  many  theories  which  have  no  other 
foundation  than  an  endless  genealogy  of  traditions  or  an  intricate 
labyrinth  of  superstitions,  and  no  other  authority  than  the  mysterious 
halo  of  antiquity. 

The  effort  of  modem  criticism  to  extricate  truth  from  tradition 
and  to  embellish  life  and  society  by  augmenting  the  mass  of  well- 
founded  ideas  is  welcomed  with  enthusiasm  by  all  thoughtful  people. 
This  movement  has  met  with  pronounced  opposition,  however,  in 
some  sections.  Many  felt  that  an  application  of  the  scientific  method 
to  theological  studies  would  be  a  desecration ;  and,  on  finding  that 
some  of  their  conventional  theories  were  untenable,  they  feared  that 
all  solid  foundations  were  slipping  from  beneath  their  feet.  They 
hailed  with  a  real  delight  the  magnificent  discoveries  of  science  ii 
other  fields  of  research,  but  they  considered  the  position  whidi 
theology  has  arrogated  to  itself  in  the  hierarchy  of  thought  as  sacred, 
and  considered  that  it  was  entitled  to  a  treatment  more  deferential 
th^n  was  necessary  for  ordinary  sciences.  But  this  stage — a  nataral 
one  in  healthy  development — has  passed ;  and  theology,  the  noblest 
of  all  sciences,  has  at  last  joined  the  march  of  progress.  Theologr 
opens  up  a  rich  and  fascinating  field  for  research,  a  field  worthy  of 
the  utmost  powers  of  man.  It  is  no  longer  a  department  for  moral 
specialists,  recluses  who  live  apart  from  the  life  of  the  age,  but  is  a 
field  for  men  who  live  in  touch  with  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  times. 

At  present  certain  radical  and  important  changes  are  taking  place 
in  theological  thought,  changes  indicative  of  what  the  future  theologr 
will  be.  The  Theology  of  the  future  will  go  back  to  the  livmg. 
personal  Christ  for  its  teaching,  recognizing  the  growth  of  revelatioo, 
the  development  of  truth  and  the  supreme  authority  of  Jesus.  It 
will  study  God  as  manifested  in  Christ,  believing  that  he  is  the  only 
Word  that  can  articulate  the  solemn  mysteries  of  Deity.  It  will  set 
in  the  '*  Man  of  Nazareth  "  the  "  human  life  of  God  "  and  the  glorified 
life  of  humanity,  and  will  find  in  him  that  which  is  original  in 
thought,  immanent  in  history  and  ideal  in  life.      His  life  will  reveal 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  FUTURE.  823 

lat  man  can  do  and  be  and  dare  and  suffer  when  united  with  God 
^t  once  an  unfolding  of  the  glories  of  divinity  and  of  the  possibil- 
es  of  humanity. 

This  coming  theology  will  be  the  study  of  a  **  person  **  rather  than 
e  construction  of  a  system:  biographical  rather  than  metaphysical. 
leology  is  the  science  of  religion,  and  religion  is  a  life:  not  a  system 

dogma.  Can  we  understand  the  deep  meaning  of  the  words  of 
sus  when  he  declared,  **  I  am  the  Truth**?  He  is  truth  incarnate; 
ith's  impersonation ;  truth  translated  into  actual  life.  Jesus  was  a 
inifestation  of  God,  and  God  is  Truth.  Jesus  is  the  only  one  of  the 
>rld*s  great  teachers  who  lived  what  he  taught.  His  superiority  is 
e  superiority  of  character.  His  life  illustrates  at  once  the  prac- 
rability  and  sublimity  of  the  gospel.  Christ  is  Christianity.  His 
3ry  is  a  biography;  his  method  is  personal  friendship.  Life  can 
uch  life:  speculations  and  traditions  are  powerless.  Abstract 
id  speculative  truth  does  not  influence  life  and  character.  It  is 
:e  moonshine  playing  among  icebergs ;  beautiful,  but  without  melt- 
g  power.  Christianity  differs  from  all  other  religions  in  that  it 
sts  on  a  person,  and  the  gospel  of  a  person  is  the  gospel  of  life 
id  power.  Christ  is  not  a  doctrine;  but  a  character  and  a  life. 
Iiristianity  is  not  a  system ;    but  a  spirit  and  a  power.      Religion 

a  life;  doctrine  a  speculation.  The  theology  of  which  we  speak 
.nnot  be  reduced  to  a  system  or  comprehended  in  a  set  of  pre- 
se   ideas.     It  is  to  be  felt  and  not  described.     You  cannot  shut 

up  in  a  few  lines  of  an  abstract  creed.  As  well  might  you  seek 
>  compress  the  boundless  electric  atmosphere  or  the  all-pervad- 
g  light  into  a  coffer  of  human  manufacture,  as  to  break  up  the 
ligion  of  Jesus  into  a  few  logical  propositions.  Scholasticism  has 
^rtured  and  cramped  the  gospel  into  various  and  intricate  systems 
'  divinity,  composed  of  verbal  subtilties,  unintelligible  definitions 
id  inexplicable  contradictions.  The  Christ  of  dogmatic  theology 
id  the  Christ  of  history  are  very  different.  When  we  read  a  prolix 
iscussion  of  "the  person  of  Christ"  we  can  sympathize  with  the 
ceping  woman  at  the  tomb:  **They  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and 
know  not  where  they  have  laid  him.**  Strange  and  ancient  costumes 
•e  wrapped  around  the  figure  of  the  Christ  until  it  seems  stern  and 


324  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

featureless,  and  the  majestic  form  of  the  Gospels  can  be  discerned 
only  through  a  distorted  and  misty  medium.  The  beautiful  drama  of 
his  life  is  so  beclouded  by  traditions  and  speculations  that  we  invol- 
untarily exclaim  with  the  Greeks  of  old:  "  We  would  see /esus!" 
He  is  robed  in  the  purple  robe  of  theological  paraphernalia,  crucified 
on  the  cross  of  theological  dogmatism,  and  buried  in  the  tomb  of 
theological  confusion.  Let  there  be  a  resurrection,  that  the  man  of 
Nazareth  may  once  more  walk  abroad.  This  will  revivify  theolog)' 
and  bring  to  its  face  the  flush  of  a  new  life. 

The  theologian  of  the  future  will  recognize  the  important  distinc- 
tion between  fact  and  theory.  Fact  tells  wAat  is;  theory  attempts  to 
explain  how  it  is — the  **  modus  operandi**  of  the  fact.  The  existence 
of  God  is  an  unquestionable  fact.  The  mode  of  his  existence  and 
life  is  a  matter  of  theory  and  conjecture.  The  atonement  of  Christ 
is  a  fact — the  fact  of  infinite  love — but  the  ''modus  operandi*' of 
that  atonement,  as  regards  its  extent  and  influence  on  the  Father,  is 
a  question  about  which  we  can  only  speculate.  Who  can  be  dogmatic 
about  such  questions?  We  would  have  to  be  omniscient  to  under- 
stand them !  The  angels  did  not  understand  the  mysteries  of  the 
incarnation  and  the  atonement,  and  desired  to  look  into  those  divine 
transactions.  But  ''  fools  will  rush  in  where  angels  dare  not  tread." 
To  intrude  our  awkward  and  curious  speculations  into  those  awfnl 
secrets,  to  refuse  to  be  content  until  we  have  formulated  some  thcofy 
of  those  sublime  mysteries,  is  little  less  than  blasphemy.  The  facts 
of  religion  are  infinite  and  magnificent,  essential  and  eternal,  and  flP 
finite  theory  can  bonnet  them.  We  agree  about  the  facts,  but  ve 
wrangle  about  the  theories.  We  insist  that  men  shall  believe  otf 
explanations  of  religious  truth,  and  persist  in  making  our  pecoliv 
conclusions  regarding  speculative  questions  of  theology  tests  i 
Christian  and  church  fellowship!  It  seems  that  we  emphasize  credl- 
more  than  we  do  character.  The  truths  of  the  gospel  are  beautiMI^ 
and  intensely  practical,  but  when  the  theologians  dissect  and  royst^|- 
them,  they  are  robbed  of  their  life  and  power.  The  theologian  i 
the  future  will  extricate  the  glorious  facts  of  gospel  history  from  oit 
this  bewildering  mass  of  artificialties  and  fictions.  We  must  rettfi 
to  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ,  and  teach  a  theology  that  b  col* 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE   FUTURE.  326 

stent  with  common  sense  and  one  that  is  indorsed  by  the  intuitive 
loral  judgment  of  mankind. 

The  theology  of  the  future  will  be  on  a  more  rational  basis.  Every 
le  feels  that  our  theology  must  be  broadened  and  rationalized.  We 
lUst  not  construct  a  sacred  inclosure  within  which  doctrines  and  cus- 
>ms  are  g^uarded  with  pious  vigilance  and  the  methods  of  impartial 
iticism  are  resented  as  sacrilege.  The  ecclesiastical  dragons  em- 
loyed  by  dogmatists  to  guard  the  deformity  of  their  idols,  gave  rise 
>  the  iconoclastic  methods  of  modern  criticism,  and  through  these 
lethods  it  has  accomplished  its  work  effectively.  The  ridiculous  and 
ivage  opposition  of  theologians  to  the  developments  of  science  is  a 
ling  of  the  past;  the  warfare  between  science  and  theology  in 
hristendom  is  virtually  at  an  end.  We  have  been  born  again  into 
rasonableness.  We  have  fixed  in  our  minds,  the  belief  in  the  uni- 
erse  as  moral,  the  interpretation  of  history  as  progress,  the  faith  in 
ood  as  eternal,  the  conviction  that  evil  is  self-consuming,  and  the 
ssurance  that  humanity  is  evolving. 

The  miracles  are  no  longer  considered  violations  or  suspensions  of 
lie  laws  of  nature,  but  disclosures  of  deeper  laws  and  the  manifesta- 
ions  of  a  free  and  intelligent  Being  who  is  superior  to  all  law.  They 
eveal  to  us  our  divine  affiliations  and  make  us  keenly  conscious  of 
elations  to  immense  and  transcendent  systems  surpassing  sense,  and 
0  a  creative  personal  Spirit  by  whom  all  things  are  interfused.  The 
fible  will  no  more  be  thought  of  as  a  **  fetish**  to  be  worshiped,  but 
s  containing  the  word  of  God  to  be  estimated  according  to  its 
itrinsic  value  and  studied  with  delight.  The  human  equation  which 
titers  so  perceptibly  into  its  composition  will  be  recognized  and 
;>preciated.  Men  will  not  read  it  "as  clever  infants  spelling  letters 
om  a  hieroglyphical  prophetic  book,  the  lexicon  of  which  lies  in 
tcmity,"  but  as  a  sacred  literature  and  an  exposition  of  man's  duty 
id  hope.  Revelation  will  be  defined  as  the  development  of  the 
ipacity  to  discern  spiritual  truth,  an  internal  growth  rather  than  an 
■eternal  exhibition. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  features  of  the  future  theology  will  be 
s  nobler  conception  of  God.  The  growth  of  the  idea  of  God  in  the 
iiman  mind  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process.     In  the  dawn  of  history 


326  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

man  was  conscious  of  a  great  Being  outside  of  and  beyond  himself, 
to  whom  he  ascribed  all  power.  He  saw  in  the  lightning  the  flashes 
of  his  anger,  and  heard  in  the  thunder  the  howling  of  his  mad 
anathemas.  In  the  Old  Testament  with  its  shaking  mountains,  its 
strange,  stern  rites,  God  is  represented  as  a  Being  whose  voice  was 
muttering  thunder  and  whose  look  was  lurid  flame.  From  this  stage 
later  generations  advanced  to  view  him  as  the  tender,  loving  Father 
of  the  nation.  The  strokes  that  finished  the  wonderful  picture  of 
God  were  given  by  the  Master's  hand,  and  the  *'  beauty  of  the  Lord 
our  God"  is  revealed  in  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven.'*  We  no 
longer  think  of  him  as  an  aggregation  of  frowning  doctrines  and 
gloomy  abstractions,  encompassed  with  stately  attributes,  full  of 
inflexible  purposes,  as  stolid  as  a  stone  and  as  irresistible  as  fate;  he 
is  '^  the  one  God  and  Father  of  all  who  is  over  all,  in  all,  and  through 
all,"  and  smiling  upon  us  with  all  the  tenderness  of  an  infinite  love. 
That  **God  is  love**  is  the  grandest  revelation  of  divine  character 
ever  given  to  man.  With  the  acceptance  of  this  glorious  truth  the 
erstwhile  grim  doctrines  shine  with  the  clear,  constant  brightness  of 
the  lights  of  heaven.  This  conception  of  God  glorifies  life,  lifts 
humanity  out  of  the  Slough  of  Despond,  robs  sorrow  of  its  bitter, 
hopeless  anguish,  arches  the  tomb  with  a  bow  of  hope  and  illuminates 
it  with  the  light  of  love. 

The  coming  theology  will  recognize  the  dignity  and  divinity  of 
man  and  his  capacity  for  indefinite  development :  that  he  is  made  in 
the  image  of  God,  with  wonderful  endowments  and  magnificent 
possibilities.  Man  is  God*s  masterpiece:  the  link  between  the 
material  and  the  spiritual.  That  gloomy  theology  which  represents 
man  as  a  wild  beast  in  need  of  a  master,  and  only  safe  in  chains,  is  a 
slander  on  the  name  of  God.  It  insists  that  man  is  by  nature  totaUjr 
depraved,  without  the  ability  or  inclination  to  be  pure  and  noUe  and 
true — a  moral  monster.  Man  has  fallen,  it  is  true ;  but. he  is  a  (alien 
giant,  great  even  in  his  ruins.  His  fall  was  but  a  necessary  stage  is 
the  process  of  his  evolution,  a  fall  from  his  primitive  state  wherein  he 
was  destitute  of  moral  consciousness,  in  which  sin  and  holiness  were 
alike  impossible,  into  a  state  of  responsibility  in  which  sin  and  holi- 
ness are  alike  possible,  and  one  or  the  other  must  be  chosen.     It  vas 


THE  THEOLOGY   OF   THE   FUTURE.  327 

**a  fall  upward,  a  fall  forward**  to  where  he  is  no  longer  a  blind 
servant  of  nature,  but  a  free  moral  being.  Let  us  preach  the  ascent 
of  man  rather  than  the  fall  of  man.  Human  nature  has  impressed 
upon  it  the  radiant  signatures  of  its  divine  origin,  and  the  pledges  of 
its  celestial  inheritance.  Its  insatiable  aspirations  for  the  unseen  and 
infinite ;  its  susceptibility  to  generous  impressions,  grateful  sympathy 
and  enduring  love ;  its  examples  of  heroic  and  saintly  virtue,  its  god- 
like powers  and  tendencies — all  are  indicative  of  a  sublime  destiny. 
The  future  theologian  will  teach  that  man  is  the  child  of  God  rather 
than  the  child  of  the  devil.  He  is  a  prodigal  son  far  from  his  Father*s 
House,  yet  within  his  great  soul  are  desires  which  time  and  space 
cannot  confine  and  powers  which  endless  ages  are  to  unfold. 

The  theology  of  the  future  will  teach  that  sin  is  an  act  of  self- 
will,  a  deliberate  choice  of  evil,  and  not  an  inheritance ;  that  tendency 
and  not  guilt  is  transmitted  from  ancestor  to  posterity.  The  essence 
of  sin  is  selfishness,  and  contains  within  itself  the  power  of  sure  retri- 
bution. Salvation  will  be  considered  a  moral  transformation  rather 
than  a  legal  transaction ;  holiness  imparted  rather  than  righteousness 
imputed.  The  atonement  will  be  thought  of  as  reconciliation  instead 
of  expiation,  identification  rather  than  substitution,  vital  rather  than 
vicarious.  No  idea  of  the  atonement  of  Christ  will  be  recognized 
which  rests  on  the  moral  impossibility  of  transferring  guilt,  or  which 
represents  God  as  punishing  himself  in  order  to  forgive  his  creatures. 
We  cannot  imagine  God  as  punishing  the  innocent  and  releasing  the 
guilty,  or  as  being  a  stickler  for  the  letter  of  his  law  while  sacrificing 
its  spirit.  I  should  think  myself  living  under  a  legislation  unspeak- 
ably dreadful  and  shudder  at  the  attributes  which  rendered  the  expe- 
dient necessary.  We  refuse  to  think  of  the  death  of  Jesus  as  an 
attempt  to  appease  the  wrath  of  God,  when  in  reality  it  is  a  glorious 
manifestation  of  the  love  of  God — a  revelation  of  an  infinite  love 
rather  than  a  satisfaction  of  an  infinite  law.  It  is  God  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  unto  himself. 

The  doctrine  of  immortality  will  have  a  prominent  place  in  the 
Dew  theology.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  be  true  to  our  ignorance  con- 
cerning the  state  of  the  departed.  Death  does  not  end  all.  Death  is 
^Iso  a  resurrection.     It  is  a  transition.     It  is  a  step  in  the  evolution 


328  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

of  the  soul.     It  is  no  black  impenetrable  pall,  but  a  sacred  shadow 
through  which  comes  sweeping  the  sweet  incense  of  an  infinite  love, 
bringing  calm  to  broken  hearts  and  quiet  to  rebellious  spirits.     To  the 
righteous  it  is  the  dawning  of  the  morning  of  a  bright  eternal  day,  the 
opening  of  the  gates  of  heaven,  an  introduction  into  a  more  glorioos 
life,  the  realization  of  a  larger  hope.    To  the  wicked  its  muffled  tread 
is  a  premonition  of  darkness  and  sadness.     There  is  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  death — the  ordeal  of  a  moment — to  crystallize  character. 
It  does  not  take  away  motive,  volition,  or  responsibility ;   it  does  not 
make  man  an  automaton ;   it  does  not  mark  the  boundary  to  God's 
mercy.      If  the  death-line  marks  the  boundary  to  God's  love,  then 
His  love  is  not  infinite.     There  are  hints  in  the  Scriptures  which 
denote  that  there  were  doubts  in  the  apostolic  mind  as  to  the  impos- 
sibility   of   change  in    the   future.     Doubt  of   the    irrevocability  of 
destiny  for  all  men  at  death  has  become  common  in  our  time,  and 
**the  present  tendency  in  Christian  thought  is  toward  the  recognition 
of  greater  reality  and  freedom  in  the  other  life,  and  thus  towards  the 
possibility  of  moral  change.**     Eternal  punishment  rests  entirely  on 
the  possibility  of  eternal  sin.     The  parental  conception  of  God  gives 
us  hope  that  the  inevitable  law  of  retribution  is  an  agency  of  grace, 
parental  in  its  spirit  and  disciplinary  in  its  aim.      If  evil  is  self-con- 
suming it  may  be  possible  that  those  who  are  impenitent  and  incor- 
rigible will  suffer  annihilation  by  a  natural  process  of  moral  disinte- 
gration.    Let  us  hope  that  if  they  will  not  be  good  that  they  canmi 
be  evil  forever.    But  rather  let  us  hope  that  the  love  of  God  is  power- 
ful enough  to  yet  win  the  love  and  devotion  of  all  souls.     We  need  a 
theology  that   will  make  the  unseen  world  more  real,  its  influence 
more  potent. 

Finally,  the  theology  of  the  future  will  be  experimental  rather 
than  dogmatic.  We  live  in  an  age  of  doubt — melancholy  doubt.  It 
is  not  a  scepticism  as  to  particular  doctrines,  but  a  serious  doubt  as 
to  the  eternal  realities  and  experiences  of  religion.  Men  are  anxiously 
debating  in  their  hearts  the  being  of  God,  the  reality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  possibility  of  a  future  life.  In  their  perplexity  they  pray  to  an 
Infinity  that  is  shrouded  always  with  darkness  and  mystery,  and  the 
only  answer  is  the  awful  weight  of  silence — silence  under  which  the 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF   THE   FUTURE.  329 

itic  heart  struggles  and  stifles  as  beneath  a  pall — '*  An  infant  cry- 
in  the  nighty  and  with  no  language  but  a  cry."  In  the  storm  and 
rss  of  life  the  eternal  questions :  Whence?  and  Why?  and  Whither? 
in  upon  us  with  monotonous  iteration  like  the  sullen  surges  of 
inarticulate  sea.  With  strained  nerves  and  senses  alert,  men  and 
nen  ask  What  is  life?  and  What  is  death?  and  the  questions  float 
upon  an  ocean  with  no  further  shore  to  echo  back  an  answer, 
e  ''Why**  of  a  child  may  be  dismissed  with  a  partial  reply,  but 
"Why"  of  manhood  will  not  down  at  our  bidding.  We  seek 
:  in  theology,  but  find  it  not.  Dogmatic  theology  is  the  mother 
doubt.  The  world  is  in  need  of  a  simpler  theology  and  a  nobler 
.  These  eternal  questions  must  be  answered.  We  must  lead  men 
f esus  that  they  may  learn  of  him  and  find  rest  for  their  souls ;  we 
St  point  to  them  the  Man  of  Galilee  and  the  ideal  of  his  life,  and 
lis  spirit  as  the  motive  power  of  life.  We  must  deal  gently  with 
iggliJig  souls  and  bring  them  to  the  Master  that  they  may  put 
ir  fingers  in  the  prints  of  the  nails,  touch  and  believe. 
Dry  systems  of  dogma  do  not  quicken  the  soul  or  purify  the  life, 
idition  is  powerless.  The  point  of  emphasis  must  be  changed 
n  the  external  systems  to  the  internal  realities  and  glories  of  the 
gion  of  Jesus,  and  we  must  preach  a  gospel  that  is  the  power  of 
i  unto  salvation — one  that  brings  a  divine  comfort  to  the  sorrow- 
,  a  divine  forgiveness  to  the  guilty,  a  divine  illumination  to  those 
king  in  the  darkness  of  doubt  and  a  divine  strength  to  those 
iggling  with  temptation.  If  religion  is  a  life  and  an  experience, 
read  of  a  system  and  a  theory,  we  must  preach  it  as  if  it  were  such, 
len  a  preacher  preaches  a  truth  that  has  not  come  to  him  by  a  real 
►erience,  it  will  not  mean  anything  to  his  hearers.  The  man  of 
i  should  see  with  open  vision  the  glory  and  wonder  and  everlast- 
beauty  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  and  tell  it  in  thrilling  words, 
ausc  he  knows  it  by  a  blessed  experience  and  with  a  deep, 
sionate  love  for  the  souls  of  men.  Under  the  potent  touch  of  a 
I  experience  old  things  become  new,  and  the  very  style  of  the 
acher  will  catch  a  marvellous  vitality  from  the  theme.  The 
iliar  phrases  that  denote  the  light  and  life  of  God  in  men  will 
V  and  blaze  with  majestic  beauty.     And  when  the  preacher  has 


330  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

proclaimed  the  truth  '*  in  thoughts  that  breathe  and  words  that  burn," 
the  loveliness  of  his  character  should  perfume  it  with  a  choice  aroma 
and  the  beauty  of  his  life  should  give  it  force.  Virtue  means  force, 
and  a  pure  life  will  give  moral  momentum  to  the  truth  taught.  A 
calm  certitude  of  conviction  without  the  arrogance  of  dogmatism 
should  be  the  ideal  of  our  faith.  A  positive  faith  united  with  a  deep 
spirituality  will  move  the  world.  There  are  secret  splendors  in  the 
lives  of  the  holy :  the  pure  in  heart  see  God.  A  new  revelation  is 
gained  by  bringing  the  truth  to  bear  on  our  hearts  and  lives.  If  we 
would  strike  a  note  that  will  arouse  conscience,  quicken  zeal,  enkindle 
aspiration  and  light  up  the  flash  of  the  countenance  of  God,  we  must 
teach  a  theology  that  is  experimental  and  practical  with  an  authority 
guaranteed  by  its  vivifying  power  over  the  higher  elements  of  our 
own  nature.  Such,  we  trust,  will  be  the  spirit  and  content  of  the 
theology  of  the  future.  Joseph  Fort  Newton. 


LOVE  IS  GOD. 

Love  is  God — the  King  of  Power, 
The  Soul  of  seed  and  stem  and  flower; 
The  force  that  sways  the  world  as  one, 
And  balances  the  stars  and  sun. 

Love  lingers  in  the  azure  blue, 
And  paints  the  rainbow  tints  as  true ; 
Love,  from  the  bosom  of  the  rose, 
A  radiant  mantle  o'er  her  throws. 

Love  inspires  the  vernal  breath 
That  rescues  earth  from  winter's  death ; 
He  molds  the  perfect  Crystal  form 
Of  snowy  flake  in  frigid  storm. 

He  shapes  the  leaf,  he  builds  the  tree, 
He  is  the  soul  of  symmetry ; 
He  thrills  the  cosmic  atomy 
With  sway  of  conscious  unity. 

He  comes  from  out  the  misty  deep 

To  nestle  in  this  heart  of  mine — 
And  through  me  all  the  raptures  sweep 

Of  voiceless  dreams  that  are  divine! 

Rev.  Hbnry  Frakk. 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES. 

IX. 

{Concluded.) 

"There  is  one  thing  that  puzzles  mc,"  said  No.  33:  **Why  is  it 
iiat  Boston  people  find  life  so  much  more  satisfactory  than  New 
''orkers?  Only  one  man  in  25,000  kills  himself  if  he  lives  in  Boston, 
n  New  York  one  man  in  7,200  commits  suicide.  Can  you  ex- 
Jain  that?" 

''No;  suicide  statistics  are  inexplicable.  In  Russia,  the  home 
)f  poverty  and  degradation,  where  they  have  but  an  excuse  for  a 
government,  and  where  thousands  upon  thousands  never  have  what 
m  American  would  call  *  a  good  square  meal  *  from  the  beginning  to 
:he  end  of  their  lives,  only  one  person  in  49,000  commits  suicide ! 
kVhile  in  Pennsylvania,  where  I  used  to  live^ — and  it*s  a  good  State, 
00 — there  is  a  suicide  in  every  15,800.     Three  times  as  many!  ** 

"That  sounds  as  if  what  No.  128  has  been  saying  is  true — that 
>lks  are  contrary,  and  the  harder  work  it  is  to  live  the  more  they 
ant  to,"  remarked  No.  33,  wearily. 

"The  ancients  declared  suicide  cowardly,"  continued  the  new- 
:>iner,  who  seemed  happy  to  think  he  had  found  listeners.  "The 
•picureans  said  suicide  was  '  death  by  the  fear  of  death.*  Socrates 
^clared,  *  We  men  are,  as  it  were,  on  guard,  and  it  does  not  become 
nyone  to  relieve  himself  from  his  station.'  " 

"Socrates  knew  a  thing  or  two,  if  he  did  live  when  the  world 
as  younger.     I  wonder  where  he  is  now?  " 

"  Epictetus  took  his  time  to  say  the  same  thing.  I  rather  like 
is  way  of  putting  it:  *  Remember  that  you  are  an  actor  in  a  play 
f  whatever  part  the  Master  of  the  company  pleases ;  if  He  assigns 
ou  a  short  part,  then  of  a  short  one ;  if  a  long,  then  of  a  long  one ; 
He  chooses  you  should  personate  a  poor  man,  or  a  lame  man,  or  a 
Magistrate,  or  a  private  person,  see  that  you  perform  your  character 

331 


332  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

to  the  best  of  your  power;   since  this  is  your  business,  to  act  well  the 
character  assigned  you  ;   but  to  choose  it  belongs  to  another.* " 

**That  was  the  old  theory,"  observed  No.  128.  **  We  modems 
are  claiming  that  man  chooses  for  himself — that  he  has  the  power 
to  rise  superior  to  both  heredity  and  environment." 

' '  Zoroaster  has  the  whole  thing  in  a  nut-shell :  Mt  is  forbidden  to 
quit  a  post  without  the  permission  of  the  commander.  Life  is  the 
post  of  man.*  And  we  have  all  quit  our  posts  without  permission! 
And  there  is  not  one  of  us  who  has  been  here  a  month  but  would  go 
back  if  he  could.  I  see  the  Sailor  coming  with  a  new  arrival.  1*11 
go  and  help  welcome  him.** 

'*  Be  thankful  that  you  are  spared  the  rest,"  said  No.  33,  as  the 
last-comer  passed  out  of  hearing.  '*  I  am  always  tired,  but  he  makes 
me  more  tired — and  what  must  it  be  for  you  shades  that  have  been 
over  here  a  year  or  two?  *' 

'*  I  thought  him  quite  interesting,*'  remarked  the  New  Ghost. 

**  He  is — at  first.  But  that  string  of  quotations  gets  monotonous 
at  the  twentieth  repetition.  And  he  always  drags  them  in !  You 
have  heard  only  about  half  of  them.  You  will  hear  these  again,  and 
the  other  half,  too,  the  next  time  he  sees  you.  The  fact  that  you 
have  not  been  introduced  will  not  help  you  any." 

**What  were  they  doing  over  at  the  library  when  you  came 
away?**  inquired  No.  128  of  No.  33. 

**Oh,  the  philosophers  and  the  scientists  were  up  in  Memorial 
Hall  holding  a  discussion.*' 

''Together?" 

''No;  the  philosophers  were  at  one  end  of  the  hall  and  the 
scientists  at  the  other." 

"  What  were  they  talking  about?  " 

"The  philosophers  were  discussing  vortex-rings  and  the  fourth 
dimension  of  space,  and  a  new  atomic  theory.  I  listened  awhile  to 
see  if  they  think  we  shades  are  occupying  the  fourth  dimension  ci 
space,  but  I  didn't  find  out.'* 

"What  did  they  say  about  atoms?  When  my  father  was  i 
schoolboy  an  atom  was  a  hard  particle  of  matter,  so  small  it  couido't 
be  divided.     He  used  to  think  of  them  as  fine  shot,  too  little  to  hf 


THE  EMPIRE  OF  THE  INVISIBLES.  333 

een.  When  I  studied  about  atoms  they  were  nothing  but  centres 
f  force,  or  centres  of  attraction.  I  wonder  how  the  next  generation 
rill  define  an  atom?  " 

'*  They  were  talking  over  there  about  atoms  being  vortex-rings. 
nd  vortex-rings  seem  to  me  to  be  very  much  like  smoke — invisible 
moke — but  then  I  am  not  a  philosopher !  Then  they  talked  about 
>alton's  atomic  weights  and  Heckert's  theory.  Heckert  thinks  that 
istead  of  there  being  some  65  or  70  elements,  as  I  learned  in  my 
hemistry,  there  are  only  seven  elementary  substances !  For  aught 
know  the  next  man  they  mentioned  would  claim  there  was  only 
ne — or  none!     It  was  more  perplexing  than  waves,  so  I  left.** 

"  What  did  the  scientists  talk  about?  ** 

'  *  Disease  germs  mostly,  and  laboratory  experiments.  One  has 
►een  to  Washington  watching  Professor  Gates,  and  another  has  just 
eturned  from  Menlo  Park.  But  he  didn*t  find  Edison  there.  He  was 
►ff  watching  one  of  his  machines  that  he  has  recently  invented  to  eat  up 
nountains.  They  were  even  less  interesting  than  the  philosophers, 
«  I  didn*t  stay.  The  very  thought  of  Edison  tires  me!  A  man 
iving  in  a  body  who  will  go  thirty-six  hours  without  a  wink  of  sleep 
loesn't  appreciate  his  privileges.  I  can  better  understand  the 
fethodist  bishop  who  said  that  when  he  got  to  heaven  he  should  put 
is  head  in  his  wife's  lap  and  rest  for  a  thousand  years!  ** 

*  *  That  bishop  had  travelled  the  world  over,  and  exhausted  his 
:rength  working  for  the  good  of  others.  It  is  no  wonder  that  his 
lea  of  heaven  was  embodied  in  the  word  rest.  I  knew  a  chair-bound 
ivalid  whose  home  was  a  noisy  railroad  crossing.  His  idea  of 
eaven  was  a  place  of  perfect  silence.** 

**rm  willing  to  hand  him  my  share  of  silence.  As  forme,  Fd 
e  thankful  for  the  vocal  organs  of  a  rooster.  The  inability  to  make 
noise  is  one  of  the  most  exasperating  features  of  Shadowland.  I 
nvy  a  small  boy  with  a  drum.  If  I  could  Td  join  a  brass  band  or 
an  an  engine — anything  to  make  a  noise  !  There  comes  the 
Experimenter." 

**  A  beautiful  day!     I  just  met  No.  206  and  he  told  me  there  was 
new  arrival  here." 

"Yes,"  replied  No.  128,  giving  the  usual  introduction. 


J 


334  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

**  Have  you  seen  the  Sailor  to-day?" 

'*  No;   he  told  me  yesterday  that  he  thought  he  would  go  to  the 
coast  and  take  passage  on  some  battleship  that  is  going  to  Cuba." 

**  I'd  like  to  see  him  before  he  starts/' 

'*  Probably  he  has  gone.'* 

*'  And  there  is  no  way  of  reaching  him?  " 

**  No;   can't  even  send  him  a  message." 

''If  we  could  use  the  telegraph  lines  and  telephones  of  the 
Visibles  it  would  be  a  great  convenience." 

"  It  certainly  would.  In  an  emergency  we  realize  our  helpless- 
ness. If  we  had  a  chance  to  try  life  in  bodies  again,  we  would  have 
a  better  appreciation  of  the  privileges  of  flesh  and  blood." 

**  Very  likely.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  we  are  not  making  the 
best  use  of  our  opportunities  as  ghosts.  There  are  so  many  things 
that  we  need  to  know.  It  may  be  possible  for  us  to  find  a  medium 
of  communication  with  the  Visibles,  through  thought-transference. 
The  mere  fact  of  our  existence  and  power  to  think  proves  that 
thought  is  not  a  mere  secretion  of  the  brain,  as  some  physiologists 
have  taught.     It  must  be  a  matter  of  vibrations." 

**  It  certainly  seems  so." 

* '  There  are  theorists  who  maintain  that  man  is  the  creature  of 
his  imagination;  that  his  power  is  limited  only  by  his  ignorance; 
and  who  insist  that  he  is  a  part  of  the  creative  force,  and  can  do 
what  he  will,  as  soon  as  he  fully  recognizes  himself  and  knows  his 
own  power.  If  that  be  true,  if  ignorance  is  our  only  limitation,  it  is 
all  that  prevents  us  from  communicating  with  our  friends  on  earth, 
and  doing  a  thousand  other  things  that  we  all  wish  to  do." 

'*It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  we  could  make  our  friends 
understand  if  we  only  knew  how,"  said  No.  128. 

**  As  soon  as  I  found  myself  a  ghost,  it  seemed  as  if  I  might 
travel  through  space  untrammelled.  Why  is  it  that  we  shades  cannot 
go  wherever  we  can  send  our  thoughts  ?  Why  are  we  not  able  to 
follow  our  thought,  though  it  be  to  the  farthest  limit  of  the  visible 
universe  ?  "  asked  the  New  Ghost,  eagerly. 

'*  Perhaps  the  visible  universe  has  no  limits.     I  find  it  as  difficult 


THE   EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  335 

conceive  of  a  limited  universe  as  some  people  do  to  conceive  of  an 
ilimited  one." 

"As  to  that,  either  conception  is  inconceivable.  The  mind  of 
in  is  incapable  of  understanding  how  the  universe  can  be  either 
lited  or  unlimited." 

"Trying  to  think  of  it  is  enough  to  drive  a  man,  or  a  ghost  either, 
>tracted.      Is  there  an  insane  asylum  in  Shadowland  ?  "  inquired 

5.  33. 
•'  No;    I  suppose  if  there  was  we  should  all  be  in  it.     According 

the  well-to-do  Visibles,  anybody  who  commits  suicide  is  crazy,** 

swered  No.  128. 

"We  ought  to  organize  ourselves  into  sections  for  the  study  of 
e  various  departments  of  science.  The  Professor  is  up  in  Memorial 
all  now,  talking  the  matter  over  with  the  philosophers  and  scien- 
its.  We  could  do  so  much  more  toward  enlarging  the  boundaries 
knowledge  if  we  would  get  together  and  form  some  definite  plan  of 
>rk.  It  will  also  help  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  Shadowland  life 
d  give  those  unhappy  ghosts,  who  sit  in  the  dumps  all  day  because 
ere  is  nothing  worth  doing,  an  incentive  to  work." 

"  But  suppose  we  don't  care  to  work  ?"  inquired  No.  33. 

"  If  you  don't  care  to  you  needn't  until  you  do.  You  will  get 
'cd  of  doing  nothing  soon  enough." 

"  I  am  tired  of  doing  nothing  now ;  but  I  am  more  tired  of  work.** 

"  I  believe  I've  heard  of  you !  Are  you  the  shade  that  came  over 
xause  you  were  tired  of  having  to  get  up  and  dress  or  be  dressed 
^ery  day?" 

"Yes." 

"  And  you  sat  out  there  on  the  lighthouse  and  watched  the  waves 
r  a  week  without  stirring?  " 

"Yes." 

"  How  do  you  like  Shadowland? 

"I'm  tired  of  it.  If  I  knew  how,  I'd  go  on  and  try  the  next 
orld.     I'd  like  to  find  a  phase  of  existence  that  is  not  tiresome." 

"  Then  there  is  your  incentive  to  work!  You  will  be  experiment- 
g  with  the  best  of  us  soon.  You  were  an  unfortunate  victim  of  too 
uch  money  while  on  earth,  without  an  idea  of  the  corresponding 


336  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

duties  connected  with  it.  Never  having  learned  the  pleasure  of  doing 
something,  you  failed  to  learn — even  by  experience — that  doing 
nothing  is  the  hardest  work  in  the  universe !  That  leaves  you  entirely 
dependent  upon  your  own  intellect  for  amusement !  Of  course  you 
are  tired !  Anybody  would  be !  You  are  really  working  very  hard. 
When  you  get  tired  of  it  and  want  something  easier,  come  to  me." 

'*  What  is  your  plan  for  work?"  inquired  No.  128. 

**  We  thought  we  would  call  a  sort  of  public  meeting  and  get  all 
the  suggestions  we  could.  A  rough  outline  of  the  work  we  wish  to 
accomplish  would  be  something  like  this :  the  inventors,  the  astrono- 
mers, the  chemists,  and  the  laboratories  should  be  watched.  Wc 
want  the  earliest  news  of  every  important  discovery  in  the  physical 
world.  We  want  a  committee  appointed  to  read  all  the  important 
philosophical  and  scientific  articles  that  come  out  in  the  magazines; 
also  a  committee  to  read  the  noteworthy  books  as  they  appear,  and 
report  on  them.  Any  of  you  who  have  tried  to  read  will  know  about 
how  much  work  that  will  take.  It  is  not  as  if  we  could  pick  up  a 
book  and  sit  down  and  turn  the  leaves  and  read  it.  We  must  wait 
until  we  can  find  some  of  the  Visibles  reading  it.  Then  we  ought  to 
make  a  greater  effort  to  find  all  the  ghosts  that  come  over.  It  must 
be  inexpressibly  lonely  for  those  we  do  not  find.  They  think  they 
are  the  only  ghosts  and  that  somehow  there  has  been  a  catch  in  the 
machinery  of  the  universe  and  they  have  been  dropped  out,  or 
left  behind,  or  forgotten.  Then  we  should  try  all  manner  of  experi- 
ments to  see  how  much  we  can  learn  of  the  laws  which  govern  us— or 
whether  we  are  indeed  superior  to  the  law." 

**  Who  will  appoint  the  committees?" 

**  Everybody  will  appoint  himself.  We  will  meet  in  a  sort  of  a 
convention  and  talk  over  the  work  that  needs  doing,  and  each  one 
will  choose  what  he  prefers  to  do.  Our  new  friend  here  wants  to 
climb  the  mountains  of  the  moon.  The  lack  of  an  atmosphere  or  of 
water  will  not  disturb  him  in  his  present  condition,  and  perhaps  be 
may  find  a  lake  in  some  of  those  deep  valleys.  No.  201  wants  to  go 
to  Mars.  He  is  curious  about  the  leaves  and  grass — wishes  to  know 
whether  they  really  are  red.  They  should  get  together  and  try 
experiments  in  regard  to  overcoming  distance." 


THE   EMPIRE  OF  THE   INVISIBLES.  337 

gave  up  going  to  the  moon  when  we  figured  out  that  it 
take  me  about  a  thousand  years  to  walk  there!  " 
t  is  too  far  to  walk.  If  we  are  ever  to  visit  our  planetary 
ors  we  must  find  a  swifter  mode  of  travel  than  that !  I  believe 
norance  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  universe  is  all  that  pre- 
is  from  visiting  our  nearest  neighbor,  the  moon,  or  Mars,  or  in 
ly  planet.  After  we  have  learned  how  to  travel  through  our 
Jar  system  I  fail  to  see  what  is  to  prevent  us  from  visiting  the 

^ck  of  time  perhaps,  the  distances  are  so  great." 
Ve  must  learn  to  overcome  time  and  distance.  One  can  think 
5  as  quickly  as  of  New  York,  although  it  is  farther  away.  We 
earn  to  travel  with  the  speed  of  thought.  I  will  go  on  and 
many  of  the  ghosts  as  I  can  of  the  convention.  You  all  help 
ad  the  news.  If  it  is  pleasant  we  will  meet  on  the  lake  front, 
in  Memorial  Hall." 

re  for  the  present  we  will  leave  the  ghosts,  busily  engaged  in 
to  solve  their  problems — which  are  also  the  problems  of  the 
he  problems  in  which  we  all  are  interested, 
t  perhaps  Shadowland  may  be  visited  again  at  some  future 
md  the  events  occurring  among  the  Invisibles  be  again 
:led.  Harriet  E.  Orcutt. 


sre  is  a  light  in  the  spirit  of  man  illuminating  everything,  and 
ch  he  may  even  perceive  supernatural  things. — Paracelsus, 

len  you  have  adapted  your  body  to  a  frugal  way  of  living,  do  not 
yourself  on  that,  nor  if  you  drink  only  water,  say,  on  every  op- 
ity,  /  drink  only  water.  And  if  you  desire  at  any  time  to  inure 
If  to  labor  and  endurance,  do  it  to  yourself  and  not  unto  the 
— Epictetus. 

look  to  others  for  the  love  and  sympathy  they  cannot  or  will  not 
to  be  miserable.     The  wise  course  is  to  try  to  do  our  duty,  per- 
irselves,  harmonize  our  thoughts,  independent  of  the  opinions  of 
people. — W.  R.  Alger, 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE. 


Conducted  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Francis  Stephenson. 


NOTE  TO  OUR  READERS. 


In  this  department  we  will  give  space  to  carefully  written  commonicatioot  of 
merit,  on  any  of  the  practical  questions  of  everyday  life,  considered  from  the 
bearings  of  metaphysical  and  philosophical  thought,  which,  we  believe,  may  be 
demonstrated  as  both  a  lever  and  a  balance  for  all  the  difficult  problems  of  life. 

Happenings,  experiences,  and  developments  in  the  family  and  the  commanity: 
results  of  thought,  study,  and  experiment;  unusual  occurrences  when  well  aatheo- 
ticated ;  questions  on  vague  points  or  on  the  matter  of  practical  applicatioo  of 
principles  and  ideas  to  daily  experience,  etc.,  will  be  inserted  at  the  Editor's  dtt- 
cretion,  and  in  proportion  to  available  space.  Questions  asked  in  one  number, 
may  be  answered  by  readers,  in  future  numbers,  or  may  be  the  subject  of  editorial 
explanation,  at  our  discretion.  It  is  hoped  that  the  earnest  hearts  and  carefol 
thinking  minds  of  the  world  will  combine  to  make  this  department  both  interestiiif 
and  instructive  to  the  high  degree  to  which  the  subject  is  capable  of  developmeBt 


RIGHT   LIVING. 


What  is  right  living  ?  The  answer  to  this  vital  question  concerns 
every  thoughtful  person.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  throw  some  light  on 
the  subject : 

Ideas  of  fight  living  are  based  upon  right  thinking.  This  is  their 
foundation.  Many  people  with  the  most  earnest  desire  to  do  right 
fail  to  attain  their  object  simply  because  they  do  not  realize  the  power 
of  thought.  Tho  general  opinion  of  undeveloped  minds  is,  that  it  docs 
not  matter  what  one  thinks;  action  only  is  important.  These  fail  to 
see  that  the  act  is  always  the  result  of  the  thought — ^that  the  thought 
must  determine  the  act. 

We  speak  of  a  ** thoughtless  act;"  but  there  can  be  no  such  thing 
— it  is  impossible  to  act  without  thinking.  The  thought  is  there,  but 
it  is  without  depth,  and  lacks  consideration  by  the  undeveloped  mind 
which  was  responsible  for  the  **  thoughtless"  act. 

Children  should   be  taught  to  think  only  kind,   gentle,  truthful 

388 


THE  HOME  CIRCLE.  339 

elfish  thoughts.  They  should  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
:  the  idea  that  every  unkind  thought  hurts  some  one,  and  that 
Ifish  thought  hurts  themselves,  in  obstructing  the  growth  of 
The  responsibilities  of  the  parent  would  be  very  much  light- 
tic  would  educate  himself  to  understand  this — the  true  philoso- 
ight  living. 

thought  is  unimportant.  People  are  influencing  each  other  all 
;  through  thought  action,  and  just  as  strongly  even  if  not  con- 
t  the  influence.  To  realize  the  full  meaning  of  this  for  the 
le  brings  one  almost  to  a  breathless  stop.  But  fear  is  unneces- 
iCnowledge  calms  every  agitation. 

effectually  arrest  the  attention  of  a  thoughtful  mind  is  to  help 
5  path  of  obstructions  and  develop  a  power  he  dreams  not  of,  to 
lis  life  and  that  of  others,  into  lines  of  Harmony,  Peace, 
Truth,  Love. 

LOVE  AND  HATE. 

Before  a  crystal  gate  Hate  stood  and  knocked, 

Demanding  entrance ;  but  he  knocked  in  vain, 
The  radiant  portal  moved  not  at  the  blows 

That  fell  upon  it  like  an  iron  rain. 

Its  many  prisms,  full  of  dazzling  light. 

Flashed  like  bright  gems  beneath  his  smiting  hand ; 

On  golden  hinges  swung  the  shining  door 
That  barred  him  from  the  sweet  celestial  land. 
•*T  will  yield  in  time,  for  I  am  strong,"  cried  Hate, 

Nor  ceased  his  blows  upon  the  crystal  gate. 

Long  ages  passed.     On  the  unyielding  door 

The  strong,  persistent  blows  still  fell  apace, 
Until  by  chance  Love  came,  and,  passing  by, 

Smiled  gently  up  in  Hate's  forbidding  face. 

•*  What  seek  ye  there  beyond  the  gate  ?"  Love  asked. 
** Heaven!"  cried  Hate,  and  dealt  a  hurtling  blow 
Upon  the  panel,  raging  in  his  wrath 
That  this  one  barrier  withstood  him  so. 

•'You  will  not  find  it  on  the  other  side — 
Here  where  I  am  is  Heaven,"  Love  replied. 

Eva  Best. 


340  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

FINDINGS   IN   THE   SCIENCE   OF   LIFE. 

LETTER   I. 
{Continued.) 

You  ask,  **Why  should  I  lead  the  passionless  life?"  And  again^ 
**Must  I  not  be  natural?" 

I  say,  **Yes,  be  natural." 

If  the  temperament  is  not  fine — do  not  try  to  do  violence  to  its 
instincts,  unless  the  mind  is  uncommonly  g^eat.  Such  a  temperament 
is  clogging  and  does  not  often  permit  the  finer  development.  That 
does  not  matter,  except  to  delay  progress.  The  great  thing  to  be 
observed,  is,  to  do  the  best  that  is  possible,  and  spoil  no  ideals,  no 
matter  what  happens.  All  normal  action  consists  in  establishing  a  high 
ideal  through  aspiration,  and  in  keeping  close  to  Universal  Princij^e. 
No  one  is' asked  to  do  better  than  his  best;  but  be  natural.  The  gifts 
of  perpetuation  are  only  for  the  sake  of  perpetuation.  Do  not  take 
a  treasure  to  make  a  bauble. 

The  first  law  of  fruit  is  on  the  plane  of  coarse  matter;  next,  on 
the  plane  of  mind.  Next  on  the  plane  of  Higher  Life — of  which  I 
cannot  tell  you  from  any  gift  of  conscious  spiritual  knowledge,  but  the 
principle  must  be  the  same,  because  the  principles  of  the  Universe 
penetrate  all  the  phases  and  planes  of  the  Universe.  One  kind  of 
fruit  excludes  another.  The  desiring  and  aspiring  nature  informs  the 
human  being  as  to  the  kind  of  ideal  he  must  live  up  to  in  order  to  be 
natural,  or  normal — which  includes  progression. 

Now,  no  step  of  experience  may  be  skipped,  no  plane  may  go 
undeveloped.  But,  we  get  experience  through  many  lives.  Many 
lives  may  even  be  lived  in  one  life,  through  the  method  of  absorption, 
and  if  there  are  great  gifts  and  firm  health. 

All  planes  interfere  with  each  other,  yet  harmonize  in  action. 
Pure  intellectual  action  will  not  admit  of  muscular  action  at  the  same 
time ;  one  will  destroy  the  power  of  the  other  by  spoiling  the  concen- 
tration, and  both,  or  either  of  these  actions,  will  exclude  the  spiritual 
action,  or  abstraction. 

But  to  return  to  my  illustration.  Fruit  is  a  law — a  Universal  fiat 
There  must  be  fruit.  **  The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit."  If  it  is  bar- 
ren, it  is  cut  off  and  cast  away.     Why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ? 

Activity  is  a  living  Principle.  Sometimes,  with  a  pure  and  clean 
temperament,  there  is  a  remnant  of  some  former  life-passion  idea. 
These  thoughts  must  be  displaced  by  firm,  sweet  images  of  a  Higher 
Life,  for  this  temperament  is  capable  of  great  power  for  the  use  of 
mind.     Mental  fruit  will  be  the  right  result.     Anything  short  of  the 


tn 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  341 

best  possibility  is  always  sin.  Deal  with  aspiring  natures  and  let  the 
znind  rise  on  the  current  of  this  helpful  thought.  These  powerful 
ascending  currents  were  created  by  powerful  emotions  (or  motions) 
^which  will  elevate  up  to  their  level,  if  you  will  be  carried.  As  you 
advance,  life  offers  temptation  at  every  hand.  In  weakness,  avoid 
"these;  but  in  strength,  satisfy  your  mind  that  you  no  longer  attach 
yourself  to  matter — ^that  you  no  longer  desire  that  which  belongs  to 
^e  plane  from  which  you  are  rising.  Satisfaction  is  the  last  safe  test 
of  all  thought  that  we  cast  off.  Until  there  is  perfect  satisfaction,  we 
do  not  cast  off  thought.     Life  develops  by  degrees. 

Now,  when  the  passionless  life  is  achieved — the  body  and  the  mind 
become  free  in  reciprocal  action,  and  the  body  becomes  a  pure  and 
responsive  instrument,  to  be  guided  by  a  mere  gesture  of  the  mind. 
The  mind  is  free,  to  go  on — not  being  harassed  by  the  instincts 
which  before  clogged  its  machinery.  Such  instincts  as  are  needed, 
remain.  In  this  condition  of  responsiveness  the  body  is  fine ;  and,  like 
a  precious  violin,  even  the  weather  will  damage  it.  At  command  of 
the  mind  it  may  even  die,  for  the  mind  is  its  master. 

The  body  requires,  therefore,  no  asceticism,  but  great  kindness 
and  appreciation.  There  can  be  no  great  length  of  life  left  to  such  a 
body,  for  it  has  little  to  say  and  nothing  to  attract  it  to  matter  save  its 
unfolding  seed-life,  or  germ.  It,  also,  admits  of  swift  and  easy  work, 
great  power  and  skill,  and  seems  to  permit  a  hundred  lives  in  one.  A 
curious  fact  about  the  responsive  body,  is,  that  while  heavy  and  low  vi- 
bration, such  as  of  cannon,  has  powerful  destructive  effect,  yet  the  finer 
vibrations  of  terrible  lightning  have  no  power  to  shatter  the  nerves. 

Now,  it  is  not  alone  the  coarser  physico-mental  plane  which  must 
he  worked  out  of,  but  also  the  finer  plane  of  intellectual  thoughts. 
The  mental  plane  must  also  be  worked  out  of,  with  satisfaction. 
Intellectual  life  is  an  absolute  necessity.  No  one  may  be  consciously 
spiritual,  no  matter  how  much  he  abstracts  the  mind — until  he  has 
developed  his  faculties.  No  step  may  be  skipped.  Nature  goes  by 
degrees.  She  is,  also,  inexorable ;  and  the  rational  and  universal  mind 
is  satisfied  by  her  universal  methods  until  these  mental  conditions  are 
Satisfied — ^they  will  not  transcend ;  why  should  they  ? 

Satisfaction  is  the  final  freedom.  The  soul  is  then  released  by  the 
9u:ts  and  conclusions  of  mind,  its  delicate  instrument,  and  Being,  or 
the  /,  is  now  ready  to  pass  on  to  the  realm  of  Spirit  or  to  some  differ- 
ent realm  higher  than  thought,  but  which,  to  mortals,  must  translate 
in  the  terms  of  thought.  But  the  bustling  business  of  mind  is,  more 
or  less,  ended  at  the  attainment  of  freedom  of  soul. 

Life  is  freedom  to  live.     We  get  what  we  desire.     We  incarnate 


342  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

just  as  we  desire;  and  it  is  because  we  are  enterprising  that  we  create 
pain.  Pain  is  the  Mender — the  Healer,  and  shows  the  instant  rupture 
from  Truth.  Pain,  therefore,  is  good,  in  its  way,  to  admonish  the 
wanderer;  for  it  is  Nature's  observation  and  it  calls  a  halt.  It  belongs, 
as  an  accidental  condition,  to  striving  life — ^life  that  can  be  made  con- 
scious only  as  it  feels  a  comparison  of  conditions.  The  /  becomes 
conscious  of  the  difference,  by  reason  of  its  sensitiveness,  and  registers 
it  through  the  creation  of  mind.  Observation  is  the  absorption  of  dif- 
ferent conditions.  Realization  or  Consciousness,  is  the  result  of  com- 
parison of  these  differences. 

People  are  born  with  all  varieties  of  equipment.  Sometimes  the 
faculties  for  comparison  are  naturally  large,  without  the  equivalent 
faculty  for  observation,  sometimes  the  reverse.  Mental  culture  rec- 
tifies this.  Education  is  absolutely  necessary  in  some  form,  for  the 
facile  use  of  the  intellect.  Some  people  come  into  the  world  to  obtain 
food.  Some  are  digesting,  while  others  are  assimilating,  and  others 
casting  out  error.  Others  live  fast  and  do  all  three  processes  in  easy 
space.  But  the  growth  demands  new  food  and  the  winding  progress, 
until  Life  completes  itself. 

I  have  aimed  to  reply  to  a  few  of  your  difficult  questions,  Dear 
Comrade,  and  here  let  us  cry  a  **halt."  **The  spirit  is,  indeed,  will- 
ing, but  the  flesh  is  weak."    God  be  with  you. 

Mariok  Hunt. 


Have  you  never  met  humble  men  and  women  who  read  little,  who 
knew  little,  yet  who  had  a  certain  fascination  as  of  fineness  lurking 
about  them  ?  Know  them  and  you  are  likely  to  find  them  persons 
who  have  put  so  much  thought  and  honesty  and  conscientious  trying 
into  their  common  work — it  may  be  sweeping  rooms,  or  planing 
boards,  or  painting  walls — have  put  their  ideals  so  long,  so  constantly. 
so  lovingly,  into  that  common  work  of  theirs,  that  they  arc  fine-fibred 
within,  even  if  on  the  outside  the  rough  bark  clings. —  IVm.  C,  Ganmtl 

Keep  your  hope  in  bad  times.  We  have  the  same  sun  and  sky  and 
stars,  the  same  duty,  and  the  same  helper. — Dr,  GoodelL 

Thy  friend  has  a  friend,  and  thy  friend's  friend  a  friend.  Be  dis- 
creet.—  The  Talmud, 

Can  you  then  declare  to  us  in  what  manner  you  have  taken  thought 
for  your  soul  ?  for  it  is  not  likely  that  a  wise  man  like  yourself,  ainl  ooe 
of  repute  in  the  state,  would  overlook  the  best  thing  he  possesses,  and 
use  no  diligence  or  design  about  it. — Epictetus, 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  348 

NOT  FOR  OURSELVES. 

I  hear  in  whispers  on  the  summer  air, 

In  murmurings  from  the  leafy  bowers  of  June, 
From  Nature's  happy  voices  everywhere, 

Uniting  sweetest  harmony  and  tune, 
A  motto  born  of  peace,  not  selfish  strife. 

Engraved  on  human  hearts  and  not  on  stone, 
A  motto  fashioning  many  a  noble  life — 

**  I  live  for  others,  not  myself  alone." 

The  glory  of  the  sunshine  on  the  grass, 

The  beauty  of  the  newly  opened  rose. 
The  humming  of  the  honey-bees  that  pass. 

The  nodding  of  the  lowliest  flower  that  grows, 
The  merry  songs  of  warblers  in  the  tree, 

The  snowy  clouds  that  float  in  heaven's  blue. 
These  all  are  whispering  to  you  and  me — 

**  Not  for  ourselves,  but  for  the  world,  for  you." 

I  know  a  life  so  beautiful  and  good, 

A  richest  blessing  springs  from  its  deep  calm. 
Which  reaches  out  to  others'  solitude. 

And  sheds  on  other  weary  hearts  a  balm, 
A  noble  life,  apart  from  selfish  ways. 

And  one  that  stretches  out  a  helping  hand. 
Speaks  cheering  words  to  brighten  darksome  days, 

And  helps  a  weaker  one  to  firmly  stand. 

Of  many  lives  like  this  the  world  has  need. 

There's  room  for  busy  workers  everywhere. 
**  Not  for  ourselves,  for  others,"  is  the  creed, 

The  simple  standard  which  we  raise  in  air; 
The  brotherhood  of  man  our  high  ideal. 

For  this  we  strive  and  trust  that  thus  we  may 
By  helpful  lives  promote  the  common  weal. 

Help  make  the  morrow  better  than  to-day. 

Constance  Entwistle  Hoar,  in  New  York  Tribune, 


i'here  is  not  at  present  one  Christian  minister  who  can  do  anything 
brist  did.  But  if  any  one  who  is  not  a  man-made  minister  comes 
cures  the  sick  by  the  power  of  Christ  acting  through  him,  they 
him  a  sorcerer  and  a  child  of  the  devil,  and  are  willing  to  bum 
at  the  stake. — Paracelsus. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT. 


WITH  EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


PEACE   AND   PROSPERITY. 

Since  going  to  press  with  our  last  issue  the  news  that  the  war  has 
come  to  an  end — news  so  welcome  to  every  lover  of  peaceful  condi- 
tions— has  spread  over  the  land.  Already  the  natural  effect  of  the 
return  of  confidence  is  apparent  in  many  ways,  and  we  fully  bdicTC 
that  an  era  of  prosperity  such  as  has  not  been  realized  for  many  yean 
will  follow  this  change  of  views  and  conditions.  In  our  July-August 
number  we  announced  the  intention  to  issue  the  magazine  for  Septem* 
ber  and  October  as  one  number,  but  since  the  signing  of  the  Peace 
Protocol  we  have  decided  to  discount  the  advent  of  prosperity  by 
returning  at  once  to  the  regular  monthly  issue,  which  will  not  again  be 
interrupted. 

We  intend  that  The  Metaphysical  Magazine  shall  continue 
to  be  the  highest-class  publication  of  its  order  in  the  world,  and  we 
have  now  in  preparation  many  valuable  features  for  enlarging  its 
sphere  of  usefulness,  which  will  conduce  to  its  constant  advancement 
in  both  literary  and  metaphysical  affairs. 


THE  FAILURE  OF  MEDICAL  MONOPOLY. 

The  attempt  in  Rhode  Island  to  harry  practitioners  of  Mental 
Medicine,  Christian  Scientists,  and  other  healers  after  the  manner  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  has  not  been  successful.  A  prosecution  had  been 
instituted  against  two  of  these  offenders,  and  a  conviction  obtained 
The  matter  was  promptly  appealed  to  the  Superior  Court,  and  the 
point  distinctly  made,  which  so  many  eminent  jurists  have  all  along 
insisted  upon,  that  the  medical  law  was  unconstitutional.  The  case 
had  come  to  trial,  in  June,  and  the  Court  reversed  the  action  of  the 
lower  tribunal.  It  avoided  the  rendering  of  any  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  constitutionality  of  the  statute,  but  declared  that  the  defendants 

844 


THE   WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  846 

"were  not  physicians  within  the  provisions  of  the  statute,  and  therefore 
'were  not  liable  to  the  penalties. 

The  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  of  Massachusetts  met  with 
SL  signal  failure  in  their  endeavor  to  procure  a  special  act  from  the 
Xregislature  against  non-medicating  physicians.  But  to  show  their 
animus,  they  set  about  to  prosecute  and  persecute  under  the  statute  as 
it  exists.  Ethel  Hill  Nye,  of  Boston,  was  haled  before  the  Municipal 
Court  of  Boston  and  fined  $ioo.  She  promptly  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  Charles  S.  Dennis,  of  Salem,  was  also  sued.  Per- 
haps it  is  old  Boston  and  Salem  witchcraft  in  a  modern  guise.  As  in 
1692,  so  in  1898 — much  depends  on  the  judges.  It  was  Hathorne  and 
Sewell  then;  but  they  repented  and  confessed,  as  did  the  witnesses. 
We  shall  soon  know  whether  this  history  is  to  be  repeated. 


The  accounts  given  in  The  Metaphysical  Magazine  for  May, 
1898,  of  the  recent  attempt  in  Massachusetts  to  legislate  for  the 
punishment  of  any  one  practicing  the  healing  art  without  a  medical 
diploma  and  registration  before  a  medical  board,  proved  effective  in 
defeating  a  similar  movement  in  Louisiana.  After  the  bill  had  passed 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  a  Senator  who  was  a  subscriber  to 
The  Metaphysical  Magazine  took  his  copy  to  the  Governor  and 
called  his  attention  to  the  facts  outlined  by  Professor  William  James, 
of  Harvard  University.  After  looking  into  the  matter  carefully  the 
Governor  promptly  vetoed  the  bill. 

The  time  for  legislative  enforcement  of  poison  medication,  and  of 
prohibition  of  harmless  methods  of  relief  in  which  the  individual  has 
confidence,  is  rapidly  passing  away,  and  freedom  in  matters  of  health 
as  well  as  in  other  affairs  is  becoming  a  feature  of  American  life  and 
liberty. 

Even  among  Doctors  of  Medicine  there  are  men  manly  enough  to 
oppose  the  barbaric  medical  legislation  for  which  mediocres  are  so  hot. 
Dr.  J.  W.  Lockhart,  of  St.  John,  Washington,  has  written  vigorous 
protests  for  the  Medical  Briefs  and  prepared  efforts  for  its  repeal  and 
for  a  Defense  Fund  to  contest  suits,  even  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  Dr.  A.  M.  Stein,  of  Palatka,  Florida,  responding  to 
him,  declares  that  a  diploma  is  a  contract  which  medical  laws  attempt 
to  annul.  He  touches  upon  the  mediocrities  that  make  up  Examining 
Boards.  **The  g^eat  evils  of  State  Examining  Boards,"  he  declares, 
"arc,  that  the  men  who  are  appointed  as  Examiners  are  the  ones  that 


346  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

have  the  greatest  pull,  and  that  their  knowledge  of  medicine  is  a  sec- 
ondary consiileration. " 

True,  every  word !  Physicians  really  superior  are  never  ambitious 
to  be  on  an  Examining  Board,  and  often  refuse.  They  know  the 
examination  is  a  sham,  and  can  never  fairly  test  merit.  The  legisla- 
tion was  never  contemplated  for  any  worthy  purpose,  but  only  to 
impose  restrictions  upon  others,  right  or  wrong.  It  was  so  in  1832; 
it  is  so  in  1898.     It  is  fool  legislation,  at  best. 

Dr.  Stein  does  not  stop  with  criticism,  but  adds:  "Now,  Mr. 
Editor,  I  would  like  to  see  this  question  brought  before  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  and  I,  for  one,  am  willing  to  contribute  my 
share  toward  the  expense ;  I  trust  others  will  take  an  interest  in  the 
matter. " 

It  is  acquiescence  in  despotic  government  that  gives  despots 
power. 

The  Eclectic  State  Association  of  Maine,  at  its  annual  meeting  in 
May,  was  addressed  by  Dr.  Thomas  A.  Bland  on  Medical  Legislation. 
Dr.  S.  B.  Munn,  of  Waterbury,  Connecticut,  added  his  testimony.  The 
society  voted  unanimously  to  appoint  an  attorney,  and  to  do  its  fall 
share,  in  case  of  an  arrest,  to  carry  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

What  we  ask  futher  is,  that  the  contest  shall  not  be  that  of  one 
class  of  men  to  secure  protection  from  the  persecutions  of  another,  but 
for  the  fullest  freedom  of  opportunity  for  every  one  whom  God  and 
Nature  have  endowed  with  healing  skill  to  put  it  forth  honorably  with- 
out let  or  hindrance. 


THE   MYTHOLOGICAL   ORIGIN   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

In  his  **Sun  Myths"  Mr.  Morris  says  that  the  Aryans  lived  00 
the  highest  elevation  of  Central  Asia  and  worshiped  the  sun,  whose 
power  was  manifested  in  rain,  thunder,  vegetation,  production  of 
animal  life,  and  fertilization  of  the  earth.  They  called  him  the  Son  of  the 
Sky.  About  the  25  th  of  December  he  passes  through  the  constellatioD 
of  Virgo  or  the  Virgin.  Three  days  before  this  he  appears  to  have 
lost  all  his  power,  having  reached  the  southernmost  point,  the  constel- 
lation of  Capricornus.  This  solar  phenomenon  was  expressed  in  the 
popular  language  as  the  Son  of  Heaven,  bom  of  the  Virgin  and  cruci- 
fied for  the  welfare  of  mankind.  For  the  sun,  commencing  the  Aryan 
year  in  the  winter  solstice  and  directing  his  course  northward,  came 
out  of  the  Virgin.  All  the  time  that  he  is  north  of  the  equator  he  is 
engaged  in  showering  blessings  on  the  earth.    When  he  descends  below 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  347 

he  line  he  begins  to  sinks  gradually  till  he  reaches  the  winter  solstice, 
rhich  is,  poetically,  his  death. 

The  sun  is  called  Brahma  from  his  productive  power  manifest  in 
'cgctable  and  animal  life,  Vishnu  from  his  preservative  power  in  sus- 
aining  life,  and  Mahesh  from  his  destructive  power  in  scorching  rays, 
Irying  vegetation.  As  Vishnu  he  incarnates  on  the  earth.  Crishna  is 
n  incarnation  of  Vishnu.  He  was  born  about  the  25th  of  December 
t  midnight,  when  the  Hindu  year  formerly  commenced.  When  the 
Lryans  multiplied  they  colonized  different  countries.  Their  legends, 
bough  substantially  the  same,  gathered  other  events  round  them  ac- 
ording  to  local  circumstances.  It  is  exemplified  in  the  story  of 
'rishna  when  it  passed  to  the  west.  Mr.  Morris  shows  how  this  story 
as  been  the  basis  of  all  the  religions  of  the  west  and  east.  In  the 
ase  of  Christianity  the  story  has  many  similarities  to  its  Hindu  ver- 
lon.     A  few  likenesses  may  be  here  pointed  out. 

Kansa,  the  king  of  Mathura,  being  informed  by  a  voice  from  heaven  ' 
bat  the  last  son  of  his  sister  would  kill  him,  confined  her  and  her  hus- 
and.  All  the  sons  of  this  unfortunate  couple  were  put  to  death.  In 
heir  prison  Crishna  was  born  at  midnight.  The  fetters  of  his  parents 
t\\  off.  The  prison  doors  opened  miraculously.  His  father  Vasudeva 
arried  him  in  a  basket  to  Brindaban  to  the  west  of  Mathura  to  put 
im  under  the  care  of  Nanda  and  his  wife  Yashoda.  The  river  Jamna, 
''hich  was  in  flood)  gave  him  passage  when  touched  by  the  feet  of  the 
hild.  Here  he  remained  till  about  twelve  and  performed  many  miracles, 
uch  as  crushing  the  head  of  a  hydra  with  his  heels  in  dance,  lifting  a 
lountain  on  his  little  finger,  etc.,  described  at  length  in  Bhagwat. 

*  *  He  taught  Vedant,  that  is,  the  identity  of  the  Divine  and  the 
uman  mind.  The  latter  part  of  his  story  says  that  when  lying  asleep 
nder  a  tree  he  was  shot  in  the  leg  with  an  arrow  by  a  hunter,  who 
nagined  his  shining  legs  to  be  the  eyes  of  a  deer. 

Now,  Christ  was  born  at  midnight,  in  a  manger,  when  his  parents 
^cre  going  to  pay  tribute  to  the  king.  His  life  was  sought  by  King 
lerod,  who  slaughtered  the  children  at  Bethlehem.  He  was  carried 
way  to  Egypt  by  his  parents,  where  he  remained  till  the  king  was 
ead.  He  then  preached,  ''I  am  one  with  the  father  in  heaven;  I  am 
lie  path  " ;  and  the  like.  He  was  killed  by  the  Jews,  on  a  cross,  which 
'as  then  a  tree. 

"Crishna" and  ''Christ  *'  were  both  blaOk.  Though  desce;ided  from 
>yal  houses,  neither  ever  reigned.  Both  were  vegetarians.  Both 
elieved  in  Vedant.     Both  rejected  ceremonies. 

Mr.  Morris  has  tried  to  trace  all  the  stories  and  miracles  to  the 
tiranas.      It  is  a  matter  worth  considering.     The  Englishmen  call 


848  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

themselves  Aryan  by  race.  Their  religion,  namely,  Christianity, 
appears  to  be  a  western  version  of  the  incarnation  of  Crishna.  Will 
not  the  sensible  portion  of  the  English  people  have  it  declared  in 
England  that  the  Hindu  and  the  Christian  religion  are  the  same,  and 
that  they  have  come  home  to  India  like  a  prodigal  son  ? 

Some  quotations  here  may  prove  useful  to  our  readers.  They  are 
the  confessions  of  the  Englishmen. 

*'  The  first  glimpse  at  ancient  Egypt  reveals  Aryan  descendants  fishing  in 
willow  canoes."  "Almost  all  that  we  have  of  l^end  comes  to  us  from  oor 
Aryan  forefathers — sometimes  scarcely  changed,  sometimes  so  altered  that  the 
links  between  the  old  and  the  new  have  to  l^  puzzled  out;  but  all  these  myths 
and  traditions,  when  we  come  to  know  the  meaning  of  them,  take  us  back  to 
the  time  when  the  Aryans  dwelt  tc^ether  in  the  highlands  of  Central  Asia:  and 
they  all  mean  the  same  things — ^that  is,  the  relation  between  the  sun  and  the 
earth,  the  succession  of  day  and  night." 

''  The  opinion  that  the  Pagan  religions  were  corruptions  of  the  religion  of  the 
Old  Testament,  once  supposed  by  men  of  high  authority  and  great  learning,  is 
now  as  completely  surrendered,  as  are  the  attempts  of  explaining  Greek  and 
Latin  as  the  corruption  of  Hebrew." — Prof.  Max  Miiller. 

"  From  the  time  of  Moses  till  the  time  of  the  prophet  Hezekiah,  a  period  ci 
seven  hundred  years  or  more,  the  Hebrews  were  idolaters,  as  their  records 
show."  "They  worshiped  the  bull  Apis,  a  virgin  mother  and  chUd,  Baal 
Moloch  and  Chemosh." 

' '  The  Hebrews  began  to  abandon  their  gross  idolatries  only  after  their  east- 
ern captivity.  Then  also  they  began  to  collate  the  l^ends  they  had  acquired, 
and  write  what  they  term  history."  "Genesis  was  not  a  revelation  direct  froa 
God  to  the  Hebrews." 

As  far  as  we  can  judge,  Jesus  himself  did  not  assert  that  he  was 
equal  to,  or  a  part  of,  the  Supreme  God. 
St.  Augustine  says: 

*'  The  Christian  religion  really  was  known  to  the  ancients,  nor  was  wantiag 
at  any  time  from  the  beginning  of  the  human  race  until  the  time  when  Cbriit 
came  in  flesh,  from  whence  the  true  religion,  which  had  previously  existed, 
began  to  be  called  Christian  ;  and  this  in  our  days  is  the  Christian  religioo,  net 
as  having  been  wanting  in  former  times,  but  as  having  in  later  times  reoeiTed 
this  name." — Opera  August inea,  vol.  I.,  p.  12. 

Ammonius  Saccas  taught  that  Christianity  and  Paganism,  when 
rightly  understood,  differ  in  no  essential  points,  but  have  a  commoD 
origin,  and  are  really  one  and  the  same  religion. — ^Taylor  Diegesis,  p.  m> 

Celsus,  the  Epicurean  philosopher,  wrote  that  the  Christian  religion 
contains  nothing  but  what  Christians  hold  in  common  with  heathen; 
nothing  new. — ^Justin,  Apol.  2,  Bellamy's  trans.,  p.  49. 

Differences  between  Hinduism  and  Christianity  may  be  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  primitive  Christian  priests  added  to  the  old  faith 
from  the  imagination  so  as  to  make  it  a  new  religion. 

Gibbon  says: 

"The  gravest  of  the  ecclesiastical  historians,  Eusebius  himself,  indirectly 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  349 

confesses  that  he  has  related  what  might  redound  to  the  glory,  and  that  he  has 
suf^Mnessed  all  that  he  could  find  to  the  disgrace,  of  religion." 

Isaac  de  Casaubon,  the  great  ecclesiastical  scholar,  says : 

••  It  mightily  affects  me  to  see  how  many  there  were  in  the  earliest  times  of 
the  Church,  who  considered  it  as  a  capital  exploit  to  lend  to  heavenly  truth  the 
help  of  their  own  inventions,  in  order  that  the  new  doctrine  might  be  more 
easily  received  by  the  wise  among  the  Gentiles.  These  ofhcious  lies,  they  were 
wont  to  say,  were  devised  for  a  good  end." 

Faustus,  writing  to  St.  Augustine,  says: 

"Nothing  distinguishes  you  from  the  Pagans,  except  that  you  hold  your 
assemblies  apart  from  them." 

The  Harbinger^  India, 


THE  RECENT  SMALLPOX  EPIDEMIC  AT  GLOUCESTER. 

[From  the  Harbinger J\ 
To  the  Editor: 

Sir. — Referring  to  the  able  article  on  **Innoculation  Fads,"  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Collinson,  in  the  Harbinger  of  February  15th,  no  doubt 
many  of  your  readers  have  heard  of  this  epidemic,  and  how  it  was 
alleged  by  interested  vaccination-mongers  to  have  been  caused  by  non- 
vaccination,  and  held  up  in  the  Press  throughout  the  United  Kingdom 
by  anonymous  panic-mongers  as  an  object  lesson  and  warning  to  anti- 
vaccinists.  The  absurdity  of  these  dishonest  tactics  will  be  immedi- 
ately seen  by  those  who  consider  the  real  facts  of  the  outbreak,  and 
remember  that  very  little  is  said  by  the  Jennerites  regarding  well-vac- 
cinated places  like  Sheffield,  Willenhall,  etc.,  that  have  suffered  from 
smallpox  epidemics,  and  that  they  make  no  mention  of  Leicester,  that 
has  repeatedly  repelled  outbreaks  of  this  disease  by  isolation  and  sani- 
tation without  recourse  to  the  filthy  rite  of  vaccination. 

Smallpox  appeared  in  Gloucester  in  1893  with  three  cases,  all  vacci- 
nated; in  1894  there  were  seven  cases,  all  vaccinated;  in  1895  there 
were  twenty-nine  cases,  twenty-two  of  whom  were  vaccinated  and  two 
of  them  revaccinated.     It  began  again  with  the  vaccinated  on  May  15, 

1895,  and  six  vaccinated  persons  were  attacked  with  smallpox  before 
one  unvaccinated.  The  city  outbreak  began  in  the  Barton  district, 
which  for  years  had  been  the  dwelling  place  of  various  zymotic 
diseases,  such  as  epidemics  of  measles,  scarlet  fever,  diphtheria,  etc. 
The  epidemic  of  smallpox  among  the  children  commenced  in  February, 

1896,  at  the  Widdenstreet  Infant  School,  where  the  sanitary  conditions 
were  in  such  a  disgraceful  state  that  it  has  cost  ;;^85  since  to  put  them 
right.  The  first  to  be  attacked  was  a  vaccinated  school-teacher.  A 
doctor  having  mistaken  a  case  of  smallpox  for  measles,  a  child  coming 


850  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

from  that  hou$>e  appears  to  have  carried  the  infection.     Smallpox  then 
broke  out  in  the  St.  Luke's  Infant  School,  which  was  overcrowded  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.     All  the  public  boys'  and  girls'  schoob  at 
Gloucester  have  for  years  been  overcrowded,  lowering  the  vitality  of 
the  poor  children  and  predisposing  them  to  disease,  and  in  1894  the 
grant  of  ^841  was  withheld,  owing  to  the  want  of  accommodation,  (or 
the  space  of  three  months.     When  smallpox  attacked  these  schools  a 
hospital  containing  forty-eight  beds,  nearly  all  occupied,  was  alt  the 
authorities  were  provided  with,  and,  although  warned  of  the  epidemic, 
they  had  made  no  other  provision.     The  unfortunate  children  taken  at 
night — some  from  their  mothers'  breasts — were  crowded  into  this  hos- 
pital, and  placed  two,  three  and  four  in  a  bed — ^and  this  under  the  plea 
of  isolation.     They  were  not  washed,  no  oil  was  applied  to  their  faces, 
nor  antiseptic  lotion  to  their  eyes.     Dr.  Hadwen,  who  has  been  at  in- 
finite trouble  to  exhaustively  investigate  the  epidemic  and  its  causes, 
and  in  the  main  issues  is  corroborated  by  the  secretary  of  the  Jenncr 
Society,  F.  T.  Bond,  M.  D.,  says:     ** Nurses  and  patients  have  de- 
scribed to  me  the  horrible  sight  which  the  bleeding  faces  of  some  of 
the  little  sufferers  presented,"  their  hands  being  unconfined.    This  is 
corroborated  by  Mr.  J.  T.  Biggs,  J.  P.,  of  Leicester,  who,  in  a  letter 
addressed   to   the   citizens  of    Gloucester,    wrote:     "I   could,  had  I 
wished,  have  said  much  more  about  the  children  in  the  hospital,  some 
of  whom,  having  their  hands  unmufHed,   were   literally   tearing  the 
scabs  off  their  faces  and   staining  the  pillows  and  bedclothes  with 
blood. "    There  were  two  day-nurses  and  one  night-nurse  only,  the  for- 
mer working  sixteen  hours  at  a  stretch  and  the  latter  twelve  houa 
The  miserable,  neglected  children  died  like  "rotten  sheep,"  of  course, 
under  such  conditions.     At  last  Dr.  Brooke,  of  London,  took  charge, 
and  a  beneficial  change  took  place.     The  patients  now  had  warm  baths, 
a  matron  and  trained  nurses,  and  the  result  of  the  doctor's  enlightened 
treatment  was  that  the  mortality,  which  before  his  jurisdiction  had 
been  54.51  per  cent.,  fell  to  8.92  per  cent.     Mr.  Pickering  treated  over 
200  cases  outside  the  hospital  by  hydropathy,  with  an  average  death 
rate  of  10  per  cent.     Captain  Feilden,  of  Derby,  treated  600  cases  with 
medicated  oil,  with  an  average  fatality  rate  of  only  2  per  cent.,  whik 
the  average  hospital   death-rate  from  first  to  last  was  27.2  per  cent. 
Out  of  2,000  cases  of  smallpox  no  fewer  than  1,228  had  been  vacci- 
nated, and  there  were   114  vaccinated  smallpox  deaths  ofiicially  re- 
corded.    There  were  100  re  vaccinated  cases  of  smallpox,  fiity  of  whom 
had  been  revaccinated   within  from   two   to  ten  weeks   previous  to 
attack.    There  were  in  addition  200  cases  in  which  the  diseases,  induced 
by  vaccination  and  smallpox,  ran  their  courses  in  one  and  the  same  in- 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  851 

lal,  proving  that  there  is  no  relation  between  cowpox  and  small- 
No  fewer  than  9,000  un vaccinated  children  escaped  infection, 
:h  living  among  so  much  smallpox.  There  are  a  number  of  other 
to  show  that  vaccination  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  decline  of 
epidemic  that  was  mainly  confined  to  the  unsanitary  portion  of 
ity,  with  its  manholes  belching  forth  sewer  gas,  etc.  But  I  must 
respass  further  on  your  valuable  space.  In  my  humble  opinion 
ess  the  vaccination-mongers  and  their  supporters  say  about 
:ester  the  better,  especially  as  it  has  been  stated  in  the  Press, 
taking  everything  into  consideration,  that  city,  when  vaccinated 
the  hilt,  had  a  far  more  deadly  epidemic  in  1872.  Thanking  you 
illy  for  your  courtesy,  and  in  anticipation. 

Yours  faithfully,  Jas.  R.  Williamson. 

Stibbington  street,  London,  N.  W.,  England,  March  16,  1897. 


THE   COLOR  OF  A  NAME. 

n  the  December,  1897,  number  of  Intelligence  sl  very  interesting 
e  appeared,  entitled,  **The  Number  of  a  Name,"  upon  reading 
i  I  was  reminded  of  a  peculiarity,  or  a  power  of  my  own,  which  I 
d  be  glad  to  have  explained.  I  call  it  a  ''peculiarity,"  because 
e  heard  of  but  one  person  who  had  the  power.  I  cannot  recall 
ly  how  old  I  was  when  I  discovered  it,  but  probably  I  was  about 
ears  of  age.  It  became  known  to  me  in  this  way:  My  sister — 
was  nearly  three  years  older  than  myself — and  I  were  one  day 
ssing  the  name  of  a  certain  baby,  when  I  said,  ''I  do  not  like  it, 
;  such  a  faded  yellow  color. "  My  sister  looked  up  suddenly  from 
mbroidery,  and  with  a  face  expressive  of  surprise  and  amusement 
,  **What?"  To  which  I  rather  reluctantly  repeated,  **Why,  it 
luch  a  faded  yellow  color."  Whereupon  my  sister  burst  out 
ing,  saying,  **Why,  names  do  not  have  color!"  I  replied  meekly, 
;y  do  to  me;  don't  they  to  you?"  She  replied,  **No,  they  are 
ack  if  anything " ;  and  then  began  to  ask  me  the  color  of  every 
she  could  think  of,  to  which  I  immediately  gave  her  not  only 
color,  but  every  shade  of  color  that  presented  itself  to  me. 
\  a  very  sensitive  child,  and  my  sister  somewhat  of  a  tease,  she 
id  afterward  to  take  great  pleasure  in  saying  to  every  one  in  my 
nee,  **Oh,  do  you  know  E.  sees  the  names  of  people  in  color?" 
I  began  to  think  by  their  expressions  of  surprise  that  it  was  a 
of  weakness  or  a  lack  of  some  kind. 

think  I  never  afterward  spoke  of  it,  except  when  my  sister  would 
lie  color  of  some  name.     But  as  the  years  went  on  she  seemed  to 


362  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

forget  it,  and  I  must  have  tried  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  seeing  names 
in  ''black/'  as  she  had  said.  At  any  rate,  I  had  almost  forgotten  mj 
** weakness,"  when  one  day  after  coming  into  the  Mental  Science 
thought,  it  suddenly  came  into  my  mind,  and  I  found  that  it  required 
a  little  effort  to  recall  the  color  of  a  name,  though  I  knew  when  I  did 
that  it  was  the  same  that  came  to  me  in  my  childhood.  The  power 
was  only  sleeping,  and  it  was  soon  aroused  again. 

I  mentioned  the  fact  to  my  Mental  Science  teacher,  who  raised  her 
eyebrows,  and  said,  ** That's  significant,"  but  did  not  explain  the  sig- 
nificance, which  I  should  like  to  know. 

It  cannot  be  that  the  sound  and  color  are  connected  in  my  mind, 
as  names  that  have  the  pleasantest  sound  to  me  have  not  always  the 
most  agreeable  color ;  nor  has  the  color  anything  to  do  with  my  regard 
for  any  person  who  bears  a  certain  name.  True,  many  names  com- 
mencing with  the  same  letter,  have  the  same,  or  a  shade  of  the  same 
color.  Then,  again,  they  may  be  quite  different;  for  instance,  James 
is  a  deep  blue,  while  Julia  is  a  deep  green,  and  others  are  black. 
Many  names  appear  white. 

The  letters  of  the  alphabet,  taken  singly  or  together,  appear  to  me 
simply  as  they  look  when  printed.  But  the  name  of  a  person  when 
thought  of,  seems  to  stand  out  in  a  certain  color,  as  if  printed  in  space 
directly  before  me.     It  surely,  then,  must  be  seen  by  my  "mind's  eye." 

Names  have  form,  sound,  number,  and  why  not  color?" 

E.  S.  WiNSLOW. 


BOOK   REVIEWS. 


THE  ROAD  TO  IMMORTALITY.    By  Brother  Paul.     Paper,  75  pp. ;  price,  50 
cents.     Esoteric  Publishing  Co.,  Applegate,  California. 

DIE  VIERTE  DIMENSION.    Von  Dr.  Leopold  Pick.    Preis  M.  i.    Vcriagfon 
Arwed  Strauch  in  Leipzig. 

INDISCRETIONEN,  aus  der  Vierten  Dimension.  Antispiritisttsche  Studie  voa 
Ernst  Friedrichs.     Preis  1.20  M.     Verlag  von  Arwed  Strauch  in  Ldpog* 

ZODIACAL  INFLUENCES.     By  Chas.  H.  Mackay.    Paper.  26  pp.    T.  J.  Gil- 
more,  88  West  Jackson  St.,  Chicago,  III.     Price,  30  cents. 

EXCHANGES. 

THE  THEOSOPHICAL   REVIEW.      Monthly.      12.75  per  annum;  25  cenu 
single  copy.  The  Theosophical  Publishing  Co.,  65  Fifth  Avenue.  New  York. 

THE  DAWN.    Monthly.    $2.00  per  annum.    44  Lansdowne  Road.  Bhowanipore. 
Calcutta. 


rcJC'^ 


.N^ 


THE 


METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE 


^OL.  VIII.  OCTOBER,  1898.  No.  6. 


THE  DIFFERENT  PLANES  OF   CONSCIOUSNESS. 

Since  the  modem  world  of  Speculative  Philosophy  was  revolution-' 
ited  by  Kant's  "Critique  of  Pure  Reason,"  in  which  it  is  shown  that 
the  physical  senses  can  give  us  no  absolutely  correct  information  con- 
:eming  the  essential  nature  of  things,  but  that  the  objective  world 
ire  see  is  obliged  to  conform  in  appearance  to  certain  conditions  of 
perception  existing  a  priori  in  the  mind,  the  chief  concern  of  Phil- 
osophy has  centred  around  the  problem  of  consciousness.  We  are 
not  satisfied  merely  to  ascertain  what  is  in  the  world  we  see ;  but  we 
want  to  know  why  it  is  there.  What  can  we  know  of  Absolute 
Reality?  What  relation  do  phenomena,  appearances,  bear  to  the 
essential  nature  of  things,  and  why  do  they  bear  such  relations? 
These  are  questions  which  have  occupied  the  minds  of  the  profound- 
tst  thinkers  of  the  modern  world..  The  doctrine,  in  its  various  forms 
^  a  Deeper  Self,  is  the  natural  outcome  of  this  introspective  study. 

Ask  a  superficial  observer  of  life  his  definition  of  the  term  "self," 
<Qd  very  likely  he  will  be  surprised  to  think  that  its  meaning  should 
1^  open  to  question  from  any  one.  It  seems  to  him  too  obviously 
^lain  to  call  for  a  serious  attempt  at  defining.  Terms  of  such  univer- 
^  acceptance  as  "yourself,"  "myself,"  "itself,"  are  commonly 
Apposed  to  convey  exact  meanings,  permanently  established  beyond 
doubt ;  meanings  which  therefore  admit  of  no  question,  which  are 
nalterable,  the  same  for  all  people.  But  terms  are  supposed  to 
tand  for  real  things,  and  each  person  has  his  own  peculiar  concept 
ion  of  the  nature  of  Reality.     Hence,  no  two  p>ersons  use  any  given 

353 


864  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

term  to  designate  precisely  the  same  entity;  the  current  poj 
thought  determines  for  nearly  all  persons,  within  certain  del 
limits,  the  meaning  they  attach  to  any  term.  But,  aside  from 
general  agreement,  each  one  must  interpret  in  his  own  way 
Reality  for  which  the  term  stands. 

For  example,  the  thorough-going  materialist  supposes  his 
existence  to  depend  on  certain  definite  combinations  of  ma 
forces,  the  proper  relations  of  which  are  essential  to  consciou* 
while  the  idealist  conceives  the  visible  form  to  be  a  manifestati* 
a  transcendental,  spiritual  Ego,  whose  existence  is  independe 
finite  conditions.  Certainly  these  two  constructions  represent  ; 
agreement  broad  enough  to  lead  one  to  pause  and  investigat( 
subject  more  fully,  before  assuming  accurately  and  conclusive 
define  in  clumsy  figures  of  speech  a  Reality  susceptible  of  such  vi 
different  interpretations. 

Whenever  we  try  to  define  Self,  or  even  to  form  adequate 
lectual  conceptions  concerning  its  nature,  we  find  it  enshroud* 
the  deepest  mystery.  It  evades  the  grasp  of  our  understanding 
more  diligently  we  search  for  it,  the  further  we  seem  from  findii 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  apprehend  its  nature  objectively ;  we 
know  its  meaning  through  subjective  self-contemplation.  It  vai 
whenever  we  try  to  locate  it,  and  we  must  seek  it  elsewhere, 
recognize  its  presence  as  we  do  that  of  a  star  in  the  heavens,  tl: 
of  which  we  never  see,  simply  seeing  the  effulgence  it  sheds 
Indeed,  in  attempting  to  locate  the  faintest  fixed  stars  visible  t 
naked  eye,  it  is  necessary  to  look  aside  from  the  exact  positions 
are  known  to  occupy ;  for  when  we  look  directly  at  them,  they  bt 
imperceptible.  Quite  as  elusive  is  the  Self  in  its  inmost  nature 
we  try  to  find  it  in  an  outer  world.  It  is  not  "  Lo,  here!  '*  or 
there!  **  Therefore,  we  say,  It  must  be  within.  What,  then,  • 
mean  by  **  within  ?  " 

Take  for  illustration  a  rosebud.      Nothing  could  be  easier  to 
tify.     We   readily  recognize  it  by  external  features  of  form, 
odor.      But  whence  come  those  qualities  by  which  we  distingi 
from  other  objects?     What  of  their  ultimate  source?     At  first  y 
only  an  outer  envelope,  the  calyx.      The  visible  outer  form  w< 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  866 

tc  with  the  name  **  rosebud,"  then,  is  only  that  of  the  calyx.  And 
in  turn  we  seek  to  know,  in  the  same  manner,  what  the  calyx  itself 
we  are  bafiled  in  that  also ;  for  we  see  it  outside  alone.  Then  we 
ip  off  the  calyx,  and  find  numerous  layers  of  petals;  but  neither 
i  they,  more  than  the  calyx,  the  essence  of  the  thing  we  call  a  rose- 
id.  So  we  persevere  until  we  come  to  the  stamens  and  pistils ;  yet 
en  those  are  not  the  rosebud  itself.  But  nothing  else  is  left, 
here,  then,  is  the  inner  life  we  imagine  to  exist  there? 
Throughout  our  search  we  have  seen  simply  the  outer  aspect  of 
mething;  and  what. is  the  ** something'*?  No  amount  of  analyzing 
ings  us  any  nearer.  Reality  itself.  Definition  fails  to  acquaint  us 
th  it.  Is  its  essential  nature,  therefore,  unknowable?  We  search 
vain  for  life  within  the  bud.  In  fact  we  are  foiled  in  every  attempt 
find  an  absolute  inside.  Whenever  we  dissect  any  object  in  search 
the  inside  we  conceive  it  to  possess,  we  always  discover  more  out- 
es. 

We  recognize  the  outside  of  things  by  means  of  physical  senses, 
t  they  never  reveal  an  inside;  yet  we  are  just  as  positive  that  an 
ide  does  exist,  as  if  it  were  visible  to  the  eye.     Clearly  the  idea  of 
ernality  must  be  acquired  from  some  different  source.     Inasmuch 
an  inside  is  never  observed  by  the  senses,  the  knowledge  that  it 
tainly  does  exist  must  be  due  to  other  methods  of  perception. 
Here  is  the  paradox  of  matter :     We  cannot  conceive  of  an  out- 
e  without  an  inside,  yet  its  inside  is  never  visible.     Verily,  we  are 
und  to  confess,  matter  has  no  inside  corresponding  in  appearance 
its  outer  aspect.     Is  it  not  indeed,  then,  the  external  symbol  by 
ich  we  recognize  life;  our  interpretation  of  life  as  outward? 
The  more  we  study  our  objective  world,  the  world  we  imagine  to 
ist  distinctly  outside  of  us,  the  more  we  appropriate,  build  into  our 
>ught,  ideas  presented  to  us  objectively,  the  larger  our  conception 
life  grows,  and  the  more  we  realize  of  it  inwardly,  subjectively, 
d,  conversely,  the  more  we  think,  expand  mentally,  the  larger  and 
her  our  outer  world  seems  to  grow. 
We    find    such  an   intimate    correspondence    between   these   two 
•rids  that  it  is  at  once  evident  that  they  sustain  very  intimate  rcla- 
ns  to  each  other,  and  that  some  underlying  bond  connects  them. 


856  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

The  superficial  thinker  fancies  that  the  world  he  sees  as  external,  is 
independent  of  the  one  he  perceives  internally ;  but  the  moment  his 
thought  comes  into  a  vital  relation  with  the  outer,  he  feels  that  the 
two  are  united.  All  separating  distinctions  disappear,  and  the  two 
worlds  are  merged  in  one.  Each  one's  outer  world  reflects  his  thought 
and  images  the  self  he  knows  inwardly.  The  self  and  its  image  are 
one,  but  one  can  only  see  one's  self  outwardly  in  the  reflection.  Ii 
the  deeper  sense,  then,  one  perceives  nothing  entirely  apart  from 
one's  self.     The  Self  is  all  and  in  all. 

As  we  continue  to  study  our  outer  world,,  a  world  which  at  first 
seems  independent  of  the  self-life  we  know  inwardly,  it  gradually 
comes  to  be  included  within  this  self-life.     Its  apparent  variety  and 
differentiation  are  unified  in  the  life  of  one  self ;   and  that  is,  in  the 
profoundest  sense,  our  own.     As  our  deeper  thought  goes  out  aid 
comes  in  contact  with  a  world  of  symbols,  their  aspect  changes.   As 
they  are  embraced  in  our  thought,  their  significance  is  found  to  be 
internal  rather  than  external.     We  can  only  recognize  (re-cognize, 
know  again)  that  which  we  have  known,  however  remotely.    Efi* 
dently  this  process  may  be  continued  indefinitely.     As  long  as  any- 
thing in  our  world  appears  to  be  severed  from  vital  connection  with 
our  thought,  we  may  continue  to  merge  the  external  in  the  internal, 
to  include  the  objective  within  the  subjective,  by  enlarging  our  sphere 
of  self-consciousness.     In  the  last  analysis  then  we  know  what  b  fid 
through  self -consciousness.     The  stronger  and  deeper  this  consdoof- 
ness,  the  more  we  know  of  Reality ;  the  weaker  and  shallower,  the 
less  we  know  of  it.     On  the  inferior  planes  of  consciousness,  the 
world  seems  essentially  outer,  excluded  from  our  self-life,  a  gigantic 
mechanism,  the  motive  power  of  which  is  blind  force  devoid  of  intel- 
ligence and  lacking  soulful  qualities;  and  we  feel  impotent  before 
those   tremendously  powerful  external  forces.       But  as  we  slowly 
awaken  from  the  state  of  lethargy  which  furnishes  the  basis  for  such 
a  conception  of  self  and  makes  such  a  construction  of  life  possible;  as 
we  assert  our  deeper  selfhood  and  realize  its  fuller  proportions,  the 
sovereignty  of  things  external  begins  straightway  to  diminish. 

As  the  power  of  the  inner  waxes,  the  power  of  the  outer  wanes. 
The  supremacy  either  of  external  or  internal  forces  increases  and 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  357 

minishes  at  a  ratio  inverse  to  the  other.  While  spiritual  faculties  are 
>rmant,  our  world  seems  dead ;  but  when  they  awaken,  it  seems  alive. 

Visions  sometimes  appear  in  sleep,  suggesting  an  estimate  of 
Ifhood  far  inferior  to  the  lowest  standard  recognizable  during 
aking  moments.  Our  thought  wanders  aimlessly  in  feebly-defined, 
ntastic  moods,  picturing  scenes  in  which  we  appear  as  puppets  at  the 
icrcy  of  diabolical  powers  of  evil  and  chaotic  forces  of  a  weird,  inde- 
:ribable  character.  In  these  eccentric  dream-visions,  and  also  in 
jebly-defined  waking  states,  we  assume  no  stable  position,  no  central 
oint  of  observation.  Our  standpoint  is  not  long  enough  fixed  to 
ermit  us  to  recognize  any  definite  standard  of  selfhood  by  which  to 
lake  com^rison  and  so  discover  the  values  of  impressions.  There- 
ire,  in  these  aimless  thought-ramblings,  we  not  only  see  things  as 
ntirely  external,  but  often  in  the  form  of  a  passing  phantasmagoria 
r  evanescent,  ghost-like  panorama.  Such  experiences  are  generally 
he  echoing  and  re-echoing,  from  all  directions,  of  impressions 
eceived  in  more  normal,  more  definitely-centred  waking  states,  in 
rhich  we  recognize  our  selfhood  more  distinctly. 

Impressions  can  assume  an  orderly  significance  only  when  centred 
I  consciousness  around  the  idea  of  self.  Perfect  self-consciousness 
nplies  perfect  order  and  coherence ;  the  total  absence  of  self-con- 
dousness,  utter  chaos.  The  self-idea  is  the  magnet  around  which 
houghts  centre.  Our  world  seems  orderly  and  consistent  just  to  the 
xtent  that  we  realize  the  true  meaning  of  Self ;  so  that  its  aspect 
idicates  the  evolutionary  status  of  our  thought,  our  attainment  of 
elf-consciousness.  The  outer  spectacle  of  evolution  is  a  projection, 
n  extension  in  space,  of  an  inner  evolution  of  self-consciousness, 
elf -revelation.  When  in  some  moment  of  conceit  we  fancy  that  we 
ave  attained  to  a  standard  which  represents  the  full  proportions  of 
nr  selfhood,  there  arises  before  the  mind  the  vision  of  a  larger  self 
mbracing  the  former  ideal. 

Absolute  Reality  is  the  thought  of  the  Supreme  Being  whose 
ature  and  consciousness  we  all  share.  *'  In  Him  we  live  and  move 
nd  have  our  being."  There  is  no  life  outside  His  Life,  no  thought 
utside  His  Thought.  Every  finite  life  lies  within  the  Infinite 
mbrace;   every  finite  thought,  within  the  compass  of  the  Infinite 


868  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Mind.     In  our  deeper  nature  we,  who  seem  to  be  finite  and  mortal, 
are  united  with  the  Infinite  One. 

In  the  highest  sense  life  is  one,  not  many.  As  science  declares 
the  atoms,  of  which  all  bodies  are  formed,  to  be  centres  of  activity  in 
an  infinite  expanse  of  quivering  ether,  the  pulsations  of  which  we 
perceive  outwardly  as  light,  so  all  finite  thoughts  are  immersed  in, 
encompassed  by,  and  formed  from,  the  Infinite  Thought.  Conscious- 
ness is  the  light  in  which  the  soul  sees.  It  is  not  a  product,  it  does 
not  arise  out  of  finite  conditions,  but  it  is  of  the  transcendental,  eternal 
order.  The  view  we  obtain  of  our  Deeper  Self  depends  on  the  power 
of  our  vision  to  penetrate  the  dense  thought-atmosphere  in  which  it 
seems  enveloped,  and  to  discern  Reality  in  the  light  of  the  Eternal 
Consciousness. 

An  electrician  in  the  United  States,  another  in  Germany,  and 
another  in  Australia,  may  study  and  experiment,  each  in  his  respcctite 
locality,  with  absolute  certainty  that  his  observations  will  be  trust- 
worthy and  exactly  coincide  with  those  made  by  his  fellow-invcstip- 
tors  at  other  points,  because  all  electric  phenomena  manifest  one  omni- 
present force.  The  electric  lights  of  New  York,  San  Francisco  and 
London  manifest  the  same  sort  of  energy,  and  all  can  be  depended  upon 
to  disclose  objects  in  the  darkness  with  the  same  degree  of  certainty. 

With  equal  assurance,  every  individual  may  rely  upon  the  inner 
light  to  reveal  Absolute  Truth. 

But,  it  may  be  argued,  all  do  not  see  the  same  kind  of  world; 
there  are  many  notions  regarding  what  is  real.  Here  again  wc  find 
an  apt  illustration  in  the  case  of  electrical  illumination. 

While  the  light  shines  very  dimly,  we  sec  only  a  spectacle  of 
forms  and  shadows,  often  grotesque  and  unreal.  If  the  power  of  the 
light  be  increased,  we  shall  see  more  clearly  and  shall  then  be  aware 
that  we  have  obtained  a  more  correct  idea  of  things;  that  their  aspect 
is  more  real.  If  the  light  were  steadily  to  increase  until  equivalent 
to  broad  daylight,  we  should  know  that  what  we  had  seen  in  the 
dimmer  light  was  only  a  vague,  imperfect  suggestion  of  the  real. 

We  may  readily  distinguish  four  planes  of  consciousness.     Our 
world  appears  to  be  essentially  mechanical^  physical^  psychic^  or  spir- 


THE    DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  359 

according  to  the  quality  of  the  observer's  thought,  the  light  in 

he  sees  it.     This  discrepancy  arises  from  the  manner  in  which 

terpret  the  thought  of  the  Supreme  Being,  which  is  Absolute 

1  the  lowest  plane  of  consciousness  the  world  seems  to  be  a 
mechanism.  Its  activities  appear  in  the  guise  of  blind,  brute 
,  and  its  substance,  of  dead  matter.  Wind  plays  havoc,  fire 
mes,  frost  blights,  storms  rage,  lightning,  earthquakes  and  vol- 
eruptions  spread  desolation  and  destruction  over  the  face  of 
?,  and  ultimately  even  the  worlds  end  in  catastrophe  or 
ution. 

iture  seems  to  be  a  combination  of  unchecked,  ungoverned, 
forces,  prone  to  run  wild  and  to  accomplish  disastrous  results, 
purely  mechanical,  merely  phenomenal  world,  this  world  of 
ly  non-intelligent,  mechanical  forces  and  utterly  lifeless  bodies 
)uted  haphazard  through  space,  appears  real  as  long  as  one 
rets  Being  in  mechanical  terms  of  expression,  /.  ^.,  perceives 
inically.  While  such  elementary  thinking  persists,  this  type  of 
remains  in  evidence  and  is  endowed  with  omnipotence.  This 
retation  of  the  real  essence  of  things,  as  outside  one's  self, 
or,  changeable,  non-purposive,  suggests  the  incoherent  vision 
dreamer  beginning  to  exhibit  the  first  signs  of  awakening  to 
ousness. 

It,  as  self-consciousness  deepens,  the  aspect  of  things  changes, 
at  first  appeared  to  be  dead  matter,  assumes  vital  properties, 
►nly  knowledge  the  infant  has  of  himself  pertains  to  his  body, 
he  looks  upon  as  a  collection  of  mechanical  pieces  on  a  par 
lis  toys;  in  fact,  at  the  very  outset,  he  does  not  even  consider 
hese  bodily  organs  belong  to  himself  at  all.  But,  as  his  concep- 
>f  things  enlarges,  he  begins  to  treat  his  body  as  something 
:al  and  vital,  instead  of  a  lifeless  mechanism.  From  hammer- 
s  feet  with  his  rattle  or  blocks,  and  thumping  his  head  against 
ird  floor,  he  comes  to  regard  their  interests  and  welfare  as  iden- 
vith  his  own,  and  to  treat  them  not  alone  as  possessions,  but  as 
ic  parts  of  himself.  Later,  although  still  regarding  his  nature 
entially  of  the  bodily  order,  it  is  as  living,  growing,  developing 


860  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

body,  the  operations  of  which  certain  influences  tend  to  retard,  others 
to  accelerate.  He  discovers  functional  activities  associated  with  the 
various  organs,  operations  not  governed  by  caprice,  for  the  most  part 
orderly,  yet  subject  to  a  limited  amount  of  restraint  and  modification. 
Instances  of  arrested  development  are  common,  in  which  the  most 
rudimentary  conceptions  are  retained  in  later  years ;  conceptions  of 
the  world  as  essentially  blind,  capricious,  hard,  mechanical.  But 
when  the  evolution  of  thought  proceeds  normally  and  uninterrupt- 
edly, the  world  gradually  takes  on  a  more  vital  character.  It  seems 
more  than  mechanical,  more  than  capricious. 

Science  teaches  that  so-called  material  bodies  consist  of  minute 
atoms  or  centres  of  force ;  that  atoms  in  the  hardest  bodies,  such  as 
flint  or  diamond,  are  not  contiguous,  but  so  widely  distributed  that 
the  interspaces  exceed  by  hundreds  of  times  the  spaces  occupied  by 
the  atoms  in  their  bulk.     So  that,  were  it  possible  to  construct  i 
magnifying  glass  of  sufficient  power,  we  would  see  the  diamond  is 
possibly  no  more  solid  than  a  thick  cloud  of  dust.     Atoms  are  not 
stationary,  but   exceedingly  active,   displaying  a  variety  of  motive 
tendencies.     Under  certain  conditions  they  form  groups  or  atomic 
families,   molecules,  which  are  ever  ready  to  yield  to  the  superior, 
intelligently   directed   adjustment   and    formative   power  of  higher 
organic  influences.     Lord  Kelvin  has  estimated  that,  were  a  drop  of 
water  magnified  to  the  size  of  the  earth,  each  of  its  molecules  would 
appear  the  size  of  a  pea ;  also  that  the  quantity  of  such  molecules 
contained  in  a  cubic  inch  of  the  earth's  atmosphere,  under  ordinary 
conditions  of  humidity,  would  be  expressed  by  the  number  lo  raised 
to  the  twenty-third  power.     So  intensely  active  arc  those  molecules 
while  in  the  atmosphere,  that  Maxwell  calculated  that  each  one  must 
experience  about  eight  hundred  billion  collisions  in  a  single  second. 

Again,  on  a  vaster  scale,  worlds  are  organized  into  solar  systems, 
and  solar  systems  into  still  more  stupendous  groups.  And  all  this 
magnificent  exhibit  of  exterior  forms,  great  and  small,  declares  one 
Supreme  Law. 

What,  then,  becomes  of  our  world  of  dead  matter  and  blind  forces? 
Is  it  not  already  reduced,  by  thought,  to  one  of  intelligence  and  vital 
energy?     Whatever  notions  or  beliefs  thought  creates,  it  can  dispel. 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  361 

latever  we  think  into  existence,  we  can  think  out  of  existence, 
e  mechanical  conception  of  the  world,  being  a  creation  of  finite 
•ught,  must  give  place  to  higher  ones  and  vanish  like  mist  before 
sun's  rays,  when  the  more  powerful  light  and  heat  of  a  deeper 
isciousness  appear ;  it  is  only  a  vague,  shadowy  world  revealed  in 
:  dim  twilight  of  consciousness. 

Birth  and  death  have  their  places  in  this  physical  interpretation. 
e  appears  as  an  orderly,  organic  process,  passing  in  panoramic  re- 
w  before  the  mind.  Such  a  world  is  still  essentially  an  outer  dis- 
y,  an  exterior;  but  it  is  outer  growth,  outer  order,  outer  evolution. 
appears  real  as  long  as  one  interprets  Being  in  physical  terms  of 
pression.  While  this  quality  of  thinking  persists,  t\vt  physical  type 
world  remains  in  evidence.  This  interpretation  corresponds  to  the 
If-waking  vision  of  a  dreamer  beginning  to  be  dimly  aware  of  the 
f-idea.  Infinitely  numerous  selves,  external,  and  so  unknowable 
to  their  essential  nature,  appear  in  this  dream.  But,  withal,  a 
tain  tendency  toward  unity  and  coherence  of  expression  is  evident 
'oughout  their  activities.  While  the  self  appears  as  many,  the 
my  are  nevertheless  united  by  the  thread  of  LAW  which  runs 
'ough  all  series  and  groups  of  phenomena,  joining  the  entire  cosmos 
one  bond.  The  world  so  understood  may  be  said  not  to  exclude, 
t  rather  to  include,  the  elementary  world  of  the  mechanical  plane, 
•  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  former  crude  conception  is  lost 
the  superiority  of  the  latter.  It  is  not  destroyed  but  fulfilled, 
ed  out  with  richer  meaning. 

Physical  order  and  evolution  do  not  account  for  all  known  phe- 
mena.  Recognition  of  subtle  powers  of  thought,  a  mental  atmos- 
ere  all-pervasive  as  the  ether  of  the  physical  conception,  forces 
It  seem  to  stimulate  and  control  vital  processes  and  regulate  ex- 
:ssion  on  the  physical  plane,  marks  a  conception  superior  to  the 
ysical.  One  finds  that  one  may  communicate  with  friends  who, 
rording  to  the  testimony  of  the  physical  senses,  are  hundreds  of 
les  away.  One  may  feel  another's  presence,  regardless  of  limita- 
ns  pertaining  on  the  inferior  planes.  One's  thought  may  so  dom- 
;tc  another's  as  to  determine  how  he  shall  see,  think,  act.  The 
tensive  idea  of  space  does  not  properly  enter  into  this  conception 


862  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

of  the  world  as  psychic ;  extension  is  left  out  of  reckoning.    The 
conception  of  outwardly  related  atomic,  molecular  and  organic  centres 
of  force  is  exchanged  for  one  in  which  are  inwardly  related  centres 
of  psychic  energy,  separable  and  distinguishable  not  by  distance,  but 
by  ideal  affinities;  they  are  conceived  to  be  intensive,  not  extensive; 
interiors,  not  exteriors.     Quality  takes  the  place  of  quantity  in  esti- 
mating their  values.     The  essence  of  things  appears  no  longer  as 
**  Lo,  here!"  or  **  Lo,  there!"   for  it  is  inward.     This  psychic  world, 
essentially  of  internal  instead  of  external  importance,  seems  real  as 
long  as  one  interprets   Being  in  psychic  terms  of  expression.     It  is 
a  world  of  inner  forces;  of  sensation,  desire,  sentiment,  emotion,  vo- 
lition, thought.     This  interpretation  suggests  the  stage  of  awakening 
at  which  a  dreamer  passes  from  a  subconscious  to  a  partially  self* 
conscious  state,  beginning  to  be  aware  of  his  own  selfhood,  and  asso- 
ciating a  certain  degree  or  power  with  it ;   therefore  he  is  conscious  of 
realizing  personal  ends.     His  thoughts  and  purposes  are  in  a  measure 
self-defined,  self-determined.     He  recognizes  himself  as  creator  and 
builder  of  a  world  of  his  own.     He  is  able,  in  a  considerable  degree, 
to  choose  his  experience,  regulate  his  emotions,  control  and  direct  his 
thoughts,  and  realize  his  ideals.     He  is  no  longer  a  part  of  the  nu- 
chinery  of  his  world,  but,  in  a  sense,  its  engineer.     He  is  reasonably 
free,  within  certain  limits.      He  may  so  order  forces  that  his  under- 
takings will  be  crowned  with  success,  he  may  defy  pain  or  disease, 
and  largely  determine  the  attitude  of  his  fellows  toward  himself;  in 
fact,  he  enjoys  a  kind  of  charmed  existence  as  compared  with  things 
seen  on  the  lower  planes. 

Frank  H.  Sprague. 

{To  be  continued.) 


My  daily  task,  whatever  it  be,  that  is  what  mainly  educates  me, 
.  .  .  Yet,  fool  that  I  am,  this  pressure  of  my  daily  task  is  the  very 
thing  that  I  so  growl  at  as  my  **  Drudgery." — Wm.  C.  Gannett, 

Let  us  build  altars  to  the  blessed  unity  which  holds  nature  and  soul 
in  perfect  solution,  and  compels  every  atom  to  serve  an  universal  end. 
— Enter  son. 


IS   GRAVITY   IMMUTABLE? 

In  an  article  in  Intelligence  for  March  I  find  the  following  state- 
ment: 

In  causing  a  brass  globe  to  rise  in  an  exhausted  receiver  by  the  sounding  of 
a  musical  tone,  which  is  the  globe's  keynote,  Mr.  Keeley  explains  that  the  vibra- 
UoQs  interfere  with  or  make  void  the  earth's  magnetic  currents,  thus  overcoming 
the  earth's  gravity. 

Mr.  Keeley's  wonderful  result  appears  to  be  here  mentioned  as  a 

fact,  but  the  writer  continues: — 

This  latter  cannot  certainly  be  overcome,  being  a  universal  law  of  nature 
Which  nothing  can  nullify  or  render  powerless,  nor  can  even  an  iota  be  detracted 
^lom  its  force. 

This  gives  an  unqualified  negative  to  the  fact  that  appears  to  have 
l>eent  in  the  first  sentence,  admitted.  If  not  admitted,  the  question 
1)ecomes  one  of  fact,  rather  than  of  theory.  For,  let  us  once  be 
assured  of  Mr.  Keeley's  fact,  and  that  becomes  an  adamantine  wall 
against  which  every  opposing  hypothesis  must  shatter,  no  matter  how 
dogmatically  or  forcibly  put.  If  a  vibration  can  be  set  up  in  a  brass 
globe,  or  in  any  other  material,  that  will  cause  it  to  rise,  unsupported, 
all  denial  must  there  end.  Whether  this  result  was  obtained  by  Mr. 
Keeley  or  not,  we  surely  know  too  little  about  the  occult  force  we 
call  gravity  to  assume  any  very  positive  or  sweeping  theories  of  it.  , 
Its  manifestations  are  like  the  poor — they  are  always  with  us.  Ex- 
perimental science  has  revealed  some  of  its  laws,  but  of  the  power 
behind  the  manifestations  we  know  absolutely  nothing.  Are  we, 
then,  prepared  to  deny  that  the  action  of  this  mysterious  force  can 
be  modified  or  controlled  ?  We  have  in  the  electro-magnet  a  force 
just  as  mysterious ;  limited  in  the  materials  of  its  affinity,  but  vastly 
more  intense  in  its  power  of  attraction  than  the  earth.  Yet  this 
wonderful  force  is  wholly  and  easily  controlled.  Let  us  then  learn 
something  of  the  esoteric  nature  of  the  earth's  attraction  before  we 
indulge  too  freely  in  dogmatic  theories.  There  are  many  facts  that 
will  be  more  readily  explained  if  we  assume  that  another  mysterious 
principle,  which  we  call  **  life,*'  may  sometimes  be  able  to  modify  the 
force  of  gravity.     Almost  all  life  appears  to  possess  some  ability  to 

363 


864  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

move  against  the  current  of  the  earth's  attraction.  Trees  and  vege- 
tables grow  upward.  Do  they  surely  follow  the  line  of  greatest 
resistance  rather  than  that  of  least  ?  The  spider  spins  his  web  acros6 
chasms  to  points  that  no  rule  of  philosophy  will  permit  him  to  reach. 
All  feats  of  levitation,  said  to  be  common  in  the  Orient ;  the  old  tridc 
of  **  buzzing-up/'  where  four  persons  toss  up  a  fifth,  upon  the  tips  of 
their  fingers,  more  as  an  act  of  will  than  of  strength ;  many  athletic 
feats,  and  perhaps  feats  of  strength,  appear  to  point  to  the  same  solu- 
tion. 

But  perhaps  none  of  these  things  will  be  admitted  as  proving  the 
possible  control  of  the  earth's  attraction.  Mr.  Keeley's  most  con- 
vincing achievement,  even  though  it  be  substantiated,  may  not  be 
fully  accepted  as  proof.  But  it  must  not  be,  for  a  moment,  thought 
that  the  evidence  will  close  here.  No,  there  is  another  class  of  facts 
with  which  all  are,  or  may  be,  familiar.  These  are  facts  which  oed 
not  be  handled  tenderly;  they  will  not  break  or  tarnish.  Theyvi 
grow  stronger  and  brighter  as  the  test  is  made  more  severe.  It  is  is 
the  flight  of  birds,  bats  and  insects  that  these  facts  stand  out  with 
greatest  prominence. 

Of  the  flight  of  birds  of  the  sailing  varieties  we  have  not  a  shadov 
of  the  rationale  if  we  deny  their  power  over  gravity.  Birds  like  the 
albatross,  the  vulture,  the  crane,  maintain  a  continuous  flight,  often 
for  many  hours,  without  a  perceptible  movement  of  the  wings.  Thb 
is  a  common  method  of  flight,  even  for  birds  weighing  twenty  pounds 
or  more ;  but  this  is  not  possible  under  any  known  law  of  dynamics. 
Not  only  is  there  no  law  on  which  to  hang  a  theory  of  its  possibiKty, 
but  well-established  laws  demonstrate  its  utter  impossibility.  And 
yet  the  fact  confronts  us  with  a  brazen  audacity  that  will  not  down, 
nor  budge,  at  the  bidding  of  our  philosophy. 

Before  we  can  construct  a  theory  that  will  harmonize  the  facts  of 
aerial  flight  with  the  known  laws  of  physics,  we  are  compelled  to  con- 
fess that  easy-flying  birds  must  have  almost  complete  control  of  their 
own  gravity.  This  subject  has  not,  however,  yet  received  the  careful 
study  that  its  importance  deserves.  So  it  may  be  well  to  suspend 
judgment  until  investigation  is  pushed  farther. 

Man  has,  in  perhaps  all  ages,  coveted  the  power  of  flight.     From 


IS  GRAVITY   IMMUTABLE?  865 

irly  days  we  have  fables  of  its  sometime  attainment.  In  modern 
mes  men  have  given  much  thought  and  labor  in  an  effort  to  navigate 
le  air.  But  all  efforts  to  construct  flying-machines  have  been  Ynade 
nder  the  theory  that  the  flight  of  birds  is  wholly  mechanical.  The 
tiling  bird  has  not  been  taken  as  a  model.  So  clearly  impossible,  to 
le  mechanical  mind,  is  flight  on  motionless  wings,  that  few  attempts 
ave  been  made  on  that  line.  But  many  dreamers,  as  well  as  men  of 
lore  or  less  scientific  attainments,  have  turned  hopefully  to  the  other 
lethod.  These  have  taken  the  rapid  wing  of  the  humming-bird  and 
le  pigeon,  or  the  strong  strokes  of  the  migratory  goose,  as  their 
lodel.  Others  have  rejected  all  methods  of  living  flight  and  have 
onstructed  revolving  wings.  But  all  alike  have  failed.  The  clouds 
ave  furnished  the  only  successful  model.  The  balloon  is  the  only 
evice  that  has  ever  carried  man  long  above  the  earth.  And  it  is  safe 
3  say  that  the  more  we  know  of  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  to 
onstruct  flying-machines,  and  the  better  we  understand  the  laws 
f  mechanics,  the  more  easily  will  we  understand  the  complete 
nd  necessary  failure  of  all  such  devices.  The  sooner  investigators 
urn  their  search-lights  toward  the  occult  principle  that  enables  the 
Ibatross  to  maintain  his  tireless  flight,  the  sooner  the  goal  will  be 
cached,  or  the  pursuit  will  be  abandoned. 

From  the  time  of  Borelli  down  to  our  own  day  the  world  has 
ever  been  without  men  who  were  giving  the  best  of  their  lives  in  an 
ffort  to  win  for  mankind  the  power  of  flight.  The  impracticability 
f  the  balloon  is  very  generally  admitted ;  but  the  mechanical  flying- 
lachine  is  by  no  means  abandoned.  It  never  will  be  abandoned 
rhile  men  are  taught  that  the  flying  of  birds  is  purely  mechanical ; 
bat  they  support  their  entire  weight  by  beating  with  their  wings 
pen  the  air;  and  that  no  more  power  is  required  for  mechanical 
ight  than  the  bird  can  easily  furnish.  Just  so  long  as  the  fight  is 
ontinued  on  this  line,  just  so  long  will  the  art  of  flying  remain  prac- 
cally  where  Borelli  left  it  in  1670. 

If  we  were  wholly  ignorant  of  all  laws  of  dynamics,  if  we  had  no 
Kact  knowledge  of  the  elasticity  and  lightness  of  the  air,  and  no 
lies  for  determining  the  power  required  to  sustain  mechanical  flight, 
icperience  alone  should  long  ago  have  dispelled  the  delusion.    The 


366  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

experiments  of  Mr.  Stringfellow,  thirty  years  ago,  most  fully  proved 
the  utter  impracticability  of  any  mechanical  flying  device.  This  gen- 
tleman constructed  what  was  called  a  successful  flying  model,  in  1847. 
In  1 868  he  built  a  new  one,  which  was  shown  at  the  exhibition  of  the 
Aeronautical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  held  at  the  Crystal  Palace, 
London,  in  that  year.  His  knowledge  of  the  subject  was  thorough; 
his  skill  as  a  constructor,  marvelous ;  and  his  machine  a  model  of  per- 
fection. It  was  wonderfully  light  and  compact,  and  he  received  the 
$500  prize  of  the  society  for  the  engine,  which  the  report  says  "was 
the  lightest  and  most  powerful  ever  built." 

Here  was  a  machine  as  perfect  as  human  skill  could  make.    It 
greatly  surpassed  the  bird  in  the  proportion  of  motive  power,  as  its 
engine  developed  one-third  of  a  horse-power,  while  the  weight  was 
but  twelve  pounds.     This  is  a  motive  power  more  than  the  combined 
strength  of  two  strong  men,  and  is  perhaps  twenty  times  the  strengti    I 
of  a  twelve-pound  bird.     Yet  this  machine  failed;  failed  utterly  for 
want  of  power.     Nor  do  we  know  any  law  of  mechanics  or  pneumatics    I 
that  can  give  us  the  slightest  hope  of  better  results.     The  buojrancy 
of  the  air  is  so  small  that  it  hardly  enters  at  all,  as  a  factor,  into  cal- 
culation.    Its  elasticity  is  so  great  that  no  hold  can  be  obtained  on  it 
except  by  a  very  rapid  movement.     In  such  an  element  the  motive 
power  required  to  operate  an  automatic  machine  is  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  our  available  power  and  strength  of  materials.     If  we  could 
greatly  increase  the  proportion  of  wing  surface   the   requisite  power 
would  be  less ;  but  the  machine  would  become  too  frail  to  hold  itself 
together.     Perhaps  one  foot  of  wing  to  each  pound  is  as  large  a  pro- 
portion  as  could   well  be  used.      With   this  proportion  the  power 
required  to  support  a  twelve-pound  machine  would  be   15,000  foot- 
*  pounds  per  minute — almost  half  a  horse-power.     This  is  more  than 
the   working  force  of  three  strong  men.     It  is  just  the  amount  of 
force  that  a  man,  weighing  150  pounds,  would  exert  in  running  up  a 
flight  of  stairs  to  a  height  of  lOO  feet  in  one  minute. 

In  obtaining  these  figures  we  do  not  need  to  trouble  ourselves 
about  what  is  the  best  device  to  use,  but  only  to  determine  the  limi- 
tations of  the  perfect  machine.  This  we  can  easily  do.  Experimental 
science  has  ascertained  the  data  and  made  the  problem  very  simple 


IS  GRAVITY   IMMUTABLE?  867 

^e  find  that  when  the  wind  is  moving  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an 
>ury  it  impinges  against  a  plane  set  perpendicular  to  its  course,  with 
pressure  equal  to  half  a  pound  per  square  foot.  We  find  also  that 
le  pressure  increases  as  the  square  of  the  velocity  of  the  wind ;  and 
lat  the  effect  is  the  same,  whether  the  air  is  driven  against  the  plane 
'  the  plane  against  the  air. 

We  have  here  the  rule,  and  a  few  figures  will  show  that  for  one 
juare  foot  of  wing  to  obtain  an  atmospheric  support  equal  to  a 
ound,  it  must  be  thrust  downward  with  a  constant  velocity  of  1,250 
ttt  per  minute.  The  measure  of  motive  power  required  to  make 
lis  thrust  is  the  sum  of  the  velocity  and  the  resistance.  And  for  a 
lachine,  or  a  bird,  weighing  twelve  pounds,  to  support  itself  in  air, 
y  the  mechanical  action  of  twelve  feet  of  wings,  it  must  develop 
,250x  12  "=-  15,000  F.  P.,  as  above  stated. 

This  is  the  measure  of  force  that  scientists  tell  us  the  wild  goose 
expends  in  every  minute  of  its  long  day's  flight.  It  is  too  much  for 
;he  combined  strength  of  three  men ;  but  the  goose,  with  only  one- 
twelfth  part  of  the  weight  of  one  man,  is  supposed  to  perform  it  as  a 
mere  pastime!  And  still,  we  have  not  here  a  full  statement.  The 
figures  given  represent  only  sufficient  power  to  hold  twelve  pounds 
[K)ised  in  air.  They  allow  nothing  for  loss  of  power  nor  for  power 
expended  in  horizontal  flight.  At  least  twenty-five  per  cent,  must 
be  added  to  make  the  machine  compete  with  the  bird.  Verily,  there 
is  no  mystery  about  the  failure  of  Mr.  Stringfellow's  splendid 
wachine!  Indeed,  it  appears  impossible  to  accept  the  mechanical 
theory  as  an  approach  to  a  solution  of  the  question  of  the  flight  of 
Wrds.  Yet  this  is  the  point  to  which  we  are  driven  when  we  deny 
tkcir  control  of  gravity. 

This  may  appear  discouraging,  but  it  is  the  best  that  is  attainable 

•  

"*  the  present  state  of  human  knowledge.  The  fact  of  aerial  flight 
*till  remains.  Birds  do  fly,  and  fly  with  ease ;  but  their  flight  must 
•^c  to  only  a  small  extent  mechanical.  They  hold  a  secret  most  pro- 
Ound ;  have  held  it  long,  but  it  may  yet  be  revealed.  The  expiring 
'^ntury  has  revealed  many  secrets  before  unknown  to  man — perhaps 
Qknown  to  angels  too.  The  coming  century  is  likely  to  reveal  many 
lore;   this  one  maybe  among  its  first.      Mr.  Keeley's  experiments 


f 

868  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

have,  at  least,  raised  a  presumption  that  the  earth's  firm  grasp  on  all 
things  material  may  be  relaxed  through  a  channel  dififering  from  that 
of  the  will-power  of  animal  organisms.  And  we  perhaps  know,  to*day, 
as  much  of  this  dark  mystery  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton  knew  of  elec- 
tricity, or  even  of  steam,  when  he  was  considered  the  wisest  man  of 
modern  times. 

But  there  is  another,  a  higher,  aspect  to  this  question,  which  we 
shall  do  well  to  ponder.  There  is  in  the  human  mind,  or  soul,  an 
impression,  very  deep  and  strong,  that  all  of  nature's  laws  aie 
embraced  in  one  universal,  intelligent  design ;  and  that  all  must  be 
subservient  to  this  great  principle,  so  as  to  accomplish  by  the  best 
method,  whatever  is  purposed.  Whether  this  impression  has  beet 
evolved  out  of  human  experience,  or  is  intuitive  in  the  life  of  tk 
soul,  need  not  be  here  discussed.  It  is  enough  that  this  impressiot 
exists;  that  it  has  existed  from  remote  ages;  and  that  it  is  now, 
perhaps,  the  central  thought  of  our  civilization.  At  any  rate  thii 
impression,  or  belief,  is  so  well  established  that  to  doubt  it  ii 
regarded,  by  many,  as  sinful ;  by  some,  as  blasphemous.  Accepting, 
then,  this  impression  as  a  great  truth,  does  it  not  follow  that  when* 
ever  the  attraction  of  the  earth  interferes  with  any  part  of  the  grot 
design,  that  attraction  must  yield?  No  fact  is  more  abundant^ 
proved  than  that  a  part  of  this  design  is  the  aerial  flight  of  a  Uig( 
proportion  of  the  earth's  inhabitants.  With  a  control  of  gravity  tUi 
becomes  as  easy  as  walking  on  a  level  surface.  Without  such  control, 
the  power  expended  in  flight  must  be  twenty-seven  times  as  great  ii 
that  used  in  walking.  Is  it  not  irreverent,  then,  to  impute  to  tbi 
Supreme  Intelligence  such  a  monstrous  blunder? 

E.    S.  WlCKUK.      I 


What  Heredity  has  to  do  for  us  is  determined  outside  oursehrei. 
No  man  can  select  his  own  parents,  but  every  man  to  some  extent  cai 
choose  his  own  Environment.  His  relation  to  it,  however  largely 
determined  by  Heredity  in  the  first  instance,  is  always  open  to  altera- 
tion, and  so  great  is  his  control  over  Environment,  and  so  radical  iti 
influence  over  him,  that  he  can  so  direct  it  as  either  to  undo,  modiff, 
perpetuate  or  intensify  the  earlier  hereditary  influences  within  certiii 
limits. — Henry  Druntmond. 


THE   PASSING   OF   DOGMA. 

The  dawn  of  a  new  Era  is  at  hand.  The  mind  of  man  is  disen- 
raled.  The  dense  ignorance  which  once  enclosed  him,  like  the 
com  of  primeval  forests,  is  scattered  by  the  shafts  of  light  which 
metrate  it.  Knowledge  is  now  the  compass  men  seek  to  guide  them 
TOSS  the  sea  of  discovery.  Faith  is  not  the  needle  men  now  trust 
•  guide  them  where  Reason  refuses  to  follow.  Authority  resides  no 
nger  in  a  creed,  a  revelation  or  a  priest. 

The  rational  man  submits  to  but  one  authority — the  Truth.  His 
ily  revelation  is  the  universe,  interpreted  in  the  terms  of  his 
ilightened  soul.  His  faith  is  a  postulate  of  science  resting  upon 
cperience  and  prophesying  still  other  undiscovered  experiences. 
he  fear  of  Hell  ceases  to  be  a  torture — having  vanished  like  the 
lusions  of  a  grewsome  nightmare.  The  priest,  standing  in  the 
lace  of  eternal  truth,  can  no  more  rescue  a  soul  from  damnation 
f  intercessory  prayer,  nor  can  a  crucified  Savior,  by  a  voluntary 
icariousness,  satisfy  the  demands  of  infinite  justice  and  by  the  shed- 
ii^  of  his  blood  cause  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  mankind.  Those 
Ijfths  of  theology  have  passed  away  with  the  Olympian  dreams  of 
lie  ancient  gods. 

But  having  cast  away  the  myths  of  olden  times  the  enlightened 
oul  has  found  substantial  substitutes  which  have  more  than  satisfied 
he  heart,  while  not  failing  to  fulfil  the  severest  demands  of  Reason. 
riic  rational  soul  demands  the  truth.  Error  can  never  be  a  lasting 
cinfort.  For  a  time  its  illusions  may  seem  to  please  the  uneducated 
enses  or  bring  a  feeling  of  ease  to  the  passive  heart.  But  when  at 
■St  the  Pandora  Box  of  mystery  is  opened  to  the  searching  mind  the 
fcock  of  pain  is  more  intense  than  even  the  delusions  of  bliss  which 
Bce  entranced  the  soul. 

Truth  is  the  eternal  principle   of  the  universe.     Without   truth 

•cre  were  no  universe.    Truth  is  the  comprehension  of  reality.     It  is 

'^  coincidence  of  the  idea  with  the  fact.      It  is  the  demonstration  to 

^r  consciousness  that  whatever  is  represented  to  the  mind  as  a  sub- 

^ve  state  finds  its  exact  counterpart  in  the  objective  world ;   that 

369 


S70  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

subjective  and  objective  perceptions  are  both  mental  states — 
tions;    that   such   abstractions   must   be   coincident,   the   su 
finding   its  exact   realization   in   the  objective,    that    truth 
demonstrated.     Truth  is  therefore  the  realization   of   the  u 
As  I  have  said,  without  truth  there  were  no  universe.     For 
there  were  the  exact  coincidence  of  the  subjective  and  the  o 
mental  states,  man  would  find  himself  in  a  world  of  chaos, 
the  insane  subject  who  revels  in  unrealizable  dreams  and  ever 
in  search  of  that  which  is  an  actuality  to  him  but  can  never 
plemented  in  the  common  experience  of  the  race. 

Truth  is  the  demonstration  of  unity.  To  understand  th 
to  comprehend  the  all.  The  unit  is  the  key.  This  ke 
unlocks  the  universe  of  knowledge.  The  unity  of  the  univer 
watchword  of  the  new  reformation,  the  touchstone  of  the  nev 
tion.  If  the  universe  is  a  unit  then  all  knowledge  must  be  co 
Reality  cannot  be  contradictory ;  what  is  truth  to  the  human  cc 
ness  must  be  truth  wherever  similar  experiences  are  known, 
truth  to  man  must  be  truth  to  all  existing  sentient  beings.  That 
truth  to  man  must  be  truth  to  God.  The  universe  is  one.  H 
is  one.  The  heart  of  man  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
Human  experiences  move  in  a  circle.  The  dead  past — a  t 
years  submerged — returns,  the  child  of  the  new-bom  day,  n 
but  not  new  created.  Like  the  myth  of  the  Jormungandr,  t 
earth  or  mid-sea  serpent,  with  his  tail  in  his  mouth  and  that 
ally  growing  into  his  body,  the  human  kind  has  ever  been  gr< 
upon  itself,  ever  self-revealing  and  re-revealing  age  unto  i 
experience  unto  experience. 

Thus  truly  as  the  prophet  hath  sung,  **  There  is  no  nc 
under  the  sun."  No  invention  in  this  mercurial  age  but  \ 
its  counterpart  in  the  remote  triumphs  of  antiquity.  There 
discovered  datum  of  science,  not  an  invention,  not  a  practical 
in  the  arts  but  proves  to  be  a  reawakening  of  the  all-wisdom 
far-off  mysterious  past.  We  have  a  Darwin  who  has  with  the 
ical  clearness  of  the  modern  practical  mind  stated  the  doc 
evolution  and  descent.  But  the  world  of  ancient  myths  s 
with  mystical  conceptions  in  exposition  of  the  identical  tea 


THE  PASSING  OF  DOGMA.  871 

loderns,  who  have  only  more  clearly  set  forth  what  the  less 
ical  minds  of  antiquity  engrossed  in  the  imagery  of  poetry  and 
Who  shall  say  that  our  philosophy  has  gone  one  whit  beyond 
and  Aristotle,  notwithstanding  our  Kants  and  Descartes?  A 
lyn  bridge  is  indeed  a  marvel  of  scientific  invention,  but  there 
ore  wonders  in  the  lost  arts  of  antiquity  than  can  be  equalled 
)dern  achievement. 

1  thought  is  old.  Every  discovery  is  but  the  restoration  of  a 
n  memory-image,  which  has  long  lain  dormant  in  the  mind  of 
ce.  All  inspiration  is  ancient :  the  bibles  of  the  world  are  all 
id  almost  read  like  mutual  imitations.  Religion  is  coeval  with 
rth  of  thought  and  consciousness.  All  religions  are  alike.  The 
ian  church  is  nothing  new. 

iristianity  is  as  old  as  man.  The  truths  which  have  been  from 
le  inherent  in  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal  have  by  slow  processes 
lated  through  the  human  mind.  It  is,  of  course,  not  intended 
to  insinuate  that  historical  Christianity  has  been  coexistent 
man.  That  were  a  palpable  untruth.  But  the  principles, 
pts,  ideals  and  inspirations  which  emanated  from  the  career  of 
and  triumphed  over  the  world,  are  the  same  as  the  wisest  of  all 
have  ever  inculcated.  However,  it  is  true  that  through  the 
rseness  of  the  human  heart  and  the  blindness  of  human  reason, 
truths  for  long  ages  had  been  forgotten,  yea,  had  relapsed  into 
on,  until  revived  in  the  age  of  Jesus. 

jt  religions,  like  all  else  human,  like  systems  of  philosophy  and 

/ernment,  like  the  monuments  of  genius  and  the  glories  of  civili- 

I,  have  risen  but  to   "blaze  and  pass  away."     Religions,  like 

is  and  the  race,  are  bom  but  to  die.     This  sad  fact  is  as  true  of 

tianity  as  of  all  else  human  and  earthly.     Though  great  and 

institutions  have  been  founded   in  the  name  of  exalted  ideals,. 

I  have  for  a  limited  period  gloriously  flourished,  nevertheless,. 

very  institutions  have  in  the  course  of  time  become  the  instru- 

ilities  which  have   themselves  demolished  and   obliterated    the 

for  which  they  once  stood. 

bus   the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,    whose  cornerstone   was  the 
^n  on  the  Mount,  the  keystone  of  whose  loftiest  arch  was  the 


872  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

last  injunction  of  Jesus,  "  Love  ye  one  another,"  becomes  in  time  the 
arsenal  from  which  fierce  contestants  seize  their  weapons  that  the 
earth  may  flow  with  human  blood  and  the  Shekinah  of  Truth  be  buried 
in  the  battle  smoke  of  ages!  The  church,  whose  arms  of  purity 
should  have  uplifted,  as  did  its  Founder,  the  gloomy  hearts  of  men 
above  the  deadly  miasmas  of  falsehood  and  deceit,  of  shame  and 
self-confusion,  became,  alas !  but  an  overshadowing  incubus  of  hon'or, 
whose  imperious  impudence  drove  mankind  deeper  into  the  slimy  bed 
of  spiritual  darkness. 

Although  these  statements  are  but  the  reiterations  of  the  commot* 
places  of  history,  the  curious  fact  remains  for  us  to  comprehend,  thit 
though  the  institutional  church  sank  to  such   infamous  depths  of 
corruption,  political   intrigue  and  social  deformity,  nevertheless  tk   i 
revolutions  of  time  have  not  yjet  razed  her  foundations;  she  still  lives 
despite  the  reactions  of  popular  disgust  and  resentful  exasperatioo. 
It  was  the  charm  of  Voltaire's  boast  which  so  conquered  the  dilettairt 
learning  of  his  day,  when  he  exclaimed    ''They  say  it  took  twelfc 
men  to  establish  the  Christian  religion,  but  I  am  eager  to  show  them 
that  it  takes  only  one  man  to  destroy  it."     Nevertheless  Voltaire  is 
silenced  and  the  church  still  thunders. 

How  shall  we  explain  this  curious  fact?  The  answer  is  simple 
The  church  is  not  yet  overthrown  because  despite  her  moral  malfor* 
mations  and  corroding  infamies,  her  masking  in  the  name  of  truth  aod 
smirching  heaven's  livery  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  nevertheless  her 
foundations  rest  on  eternal  principles,  incontrovertible  and  all-coo* 
quering,  which  must  ever  reassert  themselves  and  become  the  presid-  \ 
ing  divinities  of  Christendom. 

Despite  the  distortions  of  truth  which  the  church  has  foisted  01 
purblind  humanity,  it  nevertheless  remains  a  fact  of  history  that  she  |. 
is  the  living  offspring  of  a  Founder  whose  life,  as  pictured  in  sacrrf 
literature,  breathed  forth  an  atmosphere  of  unexampled  purity  tf'j- 
sublimcd,  by  its  spiritual  emanations,  the  lives  of  most  of  those  wi* 
were  encompassed  by  its  influence. 

But  some  may  challenge  this  statement;    may  interpose  thattk 
historical  verity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  sufficiently  certain  for  sudit|!: 
positive  assertion  as  I  have  made. 


THE   PASSING  OF  DOGMA.  373 

Be  he  what  he  may,  fact  or  fiction,  a  character  or  a  myth,  historic- 
y  construed ;  nevertheless,  who  shall  deny  that,  morally,  interpreted 
»m  the  point  of  social  progress  and  human  advancement,  the  story 
this  life  is  the  most  momentous  and  important  in  all  history?  It 
folly  and  waste  of  time  to  contend  for  the  historical  verity  of  Jesus, 
greater  verity  confronts  us :  a  social  certitude,  a  moral  emphasis. 
efer  to  those  influences,  age-pervading  and  irresistible,  which  have 
lanated  from  that  mysterious  or  mystic  personage ;  to  the  ideas  and 
inciples,  the  ideals  and  aspirations  which  have  become  the  heritage 

mankind  through  the  matchless  message  of  the  Gospels.  All 
nest  students  of  history  are  forced  to  agree  with  the  sceptic  Rous- 
au,  when  he  says:  **I  have  told  you  many  times  over,  nobody  in 
e  world  respects  the  Gospel  more  than  I ;  it  is,  to  my  taste,  the 
3st  sublime  of  all  books ;  when  all  others  tire  me  I  take  it  up  again 
th  always  new  pleasure;  and  when  all  human  consolations  have 
iled  me,  I  have  never  sought  those  which  it  gives  in  vain."    (Letter 

M.  Vernes  of  Geneva,  March  25th,  1758,  referred  to  in  Cairn's 
Unbelief  in  the  i8th  Century.") 

But  perhaps  Rousseau  goes  to  too  great  length  when  he  argues 
>m  the  internal  beauties  of  the  Gospels  that  they  must  have  had  a 
vine  origin.  What  matters  it  whether  they  be  infallibly  inspired  or 
>t?  whether  they  speak  the  actual  events  of  history  or  not?  say 
hat  you  will,  they  sing  the  song  of  universal  experience — realized  or 
)tential — which  they  incorporate  and  portray  in  an  ideal  life,  so 
»smopolitan,  so  comprehensive,  so  universal,  it  towers  far  above  the 
lane  of  humanity  and  moves  among  the  stars. 

The  story  of  the  ideal  life  which  the  Gospels  depict  may  not  be 
istorically  true  of  any  one  personage  who  may  have  existed  on  this 
lanet ;  nevertheless,  it  is  a  true  story,  for  it  portrays  human  life — 
5  experiences  and  its  solemn  possibilities ;  and  every  human  charac- 
T  which  has  been  patterned  after  that  ideal  has  certainly  and  safely 
und  the  narrow  path  that  leads  to  eternal  realization.  This  is 
lough.     We  need  no  more. 

Destroy  the  Jesus  of  history — you  cannot  destroy  the  Jesus  of 
:perience !  Obliterate  the  fact — you  cannot  obliterate  the  ideal ! 
sus  the  man  may  be  forgotten  in  ages  yet  to  be.     The  Gospels  may 


374  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

be  unknown  to  the  Martians  who  ages  hence  may  visit  this  planet, 
but  Jesus,  the  moral  fact,  can  never  be  forgotten.  The  gospel 
records,  cast  in  the  similitude  of  universal  human  experience,  which 
they  mystically  gathered  as  a  halo  around  the  head  of  only  one  indi- 
vidual, these — as  expressions  of  human  life  and  aspiration — can 
never  be  forgotten  or  blotted  out  of  human  history. ' 

In  order  to  present  this  fact  more  clearly,  namely,  that  the  moral 
fact  of  Jesus  has  pervaded  all  history  notwithstanding  the  innumer- 
able misconceptions  of  him  entertained  by  men,  I  will  refer  to  some 
illustrations.     And  first  of  art.  HENRY  Frank. 

{To  be  continued,^ 


PERTINENT   TRUTHS. 

True  worship  is  a  venerating  of  the  Right.  There  can  be  nothing 
really  learned,  nothing  really  known,  of  the  superior  truth,  except  the 
knowledge  be  reverently  sought  and  entertained. 

The  demand  of  the  age  is  for  liberty  and  opportunity.  Except  we 
have  these  in  the  exercise  of  the  Healing  Art,  there  will  be  but  its 
degradation.  No  more  a  profession,  it  becomes  a  mere  trade.  Indeed, 
so  little  is  the  confidence  of  medical  practitioners  in  their  own  skiD 
that  they  prefer  the  deadly  risks  of  operative  surgery  to  their  own 
efforts. 

Every  profession  is  in  arms  to  prevent  young  men  from  entering 
it.  The  skilled  vocations  are  organized  for  this  end,  yet  the  news- 
papers decry  the  strikes  and  excesses  of  the  unskilled  and  ignorant 
Men  are  castigated  for  not  working,  and  then  are  almost  forcibly  shot 
out  "from  all  kinds  of  profitable  industry.  The  very  children  are  bom 
trespassers  encumbering  the  ground.  Verily,  these  things  ought  not 
so  to  be ;  and  it  behooves  those  who  suffer  to  take  the  proper  remedy 
nto  their  own  hands  and  apply  it  resolutely. 

Religions  have  subordinated  moral  obligation  to  the  idea  of  salva- 
tion of  the  individual.  Comte,  on.  the  other  hand,  based  his  system 
upon  the  concept  of  the  duty  of  man  to  his  fellow-man.  The  error  of 
this  is  that  it  would  replace  God  by  Humanity.  It  is  a  Buddhism.  It 
subordinates  man's  personal  to  his  social  instincts.  The  true  thinker 
will  look  beyond,  not  neglecting  anything,  but  aspiring  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  a  superior  truth. — Alexander  Wilder^  M.  Z>. 


:  NEW  RENAISSANCE,  PLATONISM  AND  **  BEING." 

(XXVIII.) 

has  been  stated  in  the  former  papers  of  this  series,  that  the 
r  philosophical  development  of  mankind  repeats  itself  in  a  dimin- 
form  in  each  individual.  The  development  described  has  thus 
ached  the  early  stages  of  manhood,  and  Socrates  is  the  universal 
jentative  of  it.  We  saw  him  in  the  last  two  papers  as  an 
diment  of  mental  vigor  and  independence,  with  the  notion  of 
1  as  the  measure  of  all  things,"  with  an  idealism  characterized 
ith  in  his  daitnon^  and  that  daimon  simply  a  symbol  of  **the 
Ing  principle."  Socrates  did  not  have  a  complete  conception  of 
intent  of  '*the  thinking  principle";  it  was  to  him  mainly  mani- 
i  as  a  dialectic  process  or  as  a  power  of  inquiry.  The  merit  of 
tes  is  that  this  power  of  inquiry  was  directed  toward  the 
ow  thyself." 

ialectics  and  the  search  for  the  '*  Know  thvself  "  are  in  the  main 
[laracteristics  of  the  early  mental  stages  of  manhood.  They  are 
f  power,  promise  and  activity,  but  they  are  also  full  of  dangers, 
hey  are  not  beautiful.  These  stages  are  occupied  by  a  large 
rity  of  the  searchers  of  the  present-day  New  Renaissance, 
he  New  Renaissance  in  this  country  may  be  said  to  begin  with 
bolition  of  slavery  and  the  awakening  of  the  new  national  feeling 
culminated  in  the  Centennial  of  1876.  The  events  that  centred 
id  that  date  represent  a  realization  of  national  manhood, 
ediatcly  upon  the  review  of  a  century's  attainments,  the  fore- 
minds  of  the  country  started  out  in  a  double  direction.  One 
he  search  for  ancient  traditions,  teachings,  etc.,  for  examination 
their  real  value,  and  the  other  was  a  decided  stand  in  idealistic 
Sophies.  The  scientific  side,'  and  the  industrial,  social,  etc., 
ions  involved  in  the  new  development,  I  pass  by  for  the  present. 
Srst  movement,  just  referred  to,  found  one  way  for  its  energies 
le  direction  of  Orientalism,  and  was  directed  largely  by  the 
ophical  movement.     Later   it    has   been  supplemented  by  the 

375 


876  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

additional  influx  of  teachers  from  the  East,  coming  here  originally  to 
the  Parliament  of  Religions.     The  other  movement,  and  one  most 
original,  is  represented  by  all  those  schools  which  teach  the  preemi- 
nence of  mind  over  body,  especially  in  healing.     This  movement  is 
again  divided  in  the  main  in  two  directions.     One  is,  or  claims  to  be, 
Christian  in  particular,  the  other  is  clearly  scientific.     Why  the  one 
should   be  called  Christian  is  hard  to  see ;  it  is  very  dogmatic  and 
exclusive.     The  other  is  justly  entitled  to  the  claim  of  a  science, 
because  it  proceeds  on  the  basis  of  established  facts.     However,  botk 
directions  are  truly  American,  having  originated  here,  and  they  are 
here  finding  their  best  exponents.     Parallel,  or  perhaps  in  some  cases 
mixed  with  the  two  main  movements,  run   studies  of  modem  poets 
and  writers  of  idealistic  philosophic  essays,  etc.    I  think  that  it  would 
be  safe  to  say  that  Emerson  is  the  centre  of  all  these  studies  and  that 
he  or  his  genius  is  the  leader.     It  is  at  least  so  in  New  England,  aad 
it  is  easy  to  show  this  influence  in  that  literature  of  to-day  which 
represents  New  Renaissance.     In  this  short  sketch  I  have  purposdy 
passed  by  a  large  amount  of  literature  which  has  been  smuggled  in 
upon  the  market  with  the  stamp  of  advanced  thought,  though  it  b  a 
most  miserable  and  utterly  useless  copy  or  imitation  of  the  weakat 
and  most  worthless  products  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  impositioiis 
of  pseudo-initiates  of  the  last  century.    Nothing  but  misguidance  and 
injury  has  come  from  this  class  of  literature  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
no  more  will  appear.     The  publishers  have  found  to  their  cost  that 
the  real  students  have  no  use  for  it. 

I  have  already  defined  the  idea  of  the  New  Renaissance,  as  I  have 
called  it.  In  Socratic  terms,  it  is  (i)  dialectical;  viz.,  it  has  started 
in  this  country  the  discussion  of  the  deepest  life  problems,  and  this 
has  been  done  in  strata  of  society  which  in  former  days  did  not  con* 
cern  themselves  with  such  questions.  It  must,  however,  be  lamented 
that  general  ignorance  as  to  what  results  have  already  been  attained 
in  the  past  should  keep  so  many  tfiinds  engaged  needlessly.  (2)  The 
New  Renaissance  turns  its  dialectics  mainly  in  the  direction  of  the 
Socratic  **  Know  thyself.**  The  ego  is  by  the  most  influential  school 
defined  as  ''the  thinker";  another  school,  in  a  decided  minority, 
says  that  the  ego  is  **  Will." 


THE  NEW  RENAISSANCE,  PLATONISM  AND  -BEING."       377 

Going  back  to  historical  precedents  we  shall  expect  that  the  New 
Renaissance,  having  passed  or  now  passing  through  the  Socratic 
standpoint,  will  soon  come  to  the  Platonic  or  purely  idealistic.  Such 
a  step  would  be  only  the  logical  outcome  of  the  mental  evolution  of 
the  people.  From  this  law  and  from  my  discussion  of  it,  I,  of 
course,  except  individual  students  and  teachers,  who  have  not  only 
passed  these  two  degrees,  but  gone  beyond  them  and  their  symbolical 
l^uiguage,  and  are  now  centred  in  '*  Being.*'  I  am  only  speaking  of 
the  large  mass  of  the  people  who  are  the  representatives  of  the 
movement  I  have  called  the  New  Renaissance. 

What  is  Platonism  ? 

When  we  say  Calvinism  or  Augustinism,  we  have  a  definite 
idea  in  mind ;  we  mean  systems  derived  from  these  men  and  bearing 
their  characteristics  in  every  respect.  But  we  cannot  speak  of  Platon- 
ism in  such  a  sense.  It  is  not  bound  up  with  a  single  and  individual 
philosopher,  though  his  name  has  been  borrowed  for  certain  uses. 
Platonism  is  a  movement  of  the  human  mind.  It  is  universal.  That 
which  goes  by  that  name  is  as  old  as  Mind,  as  radical  as  Thought,  as 
fundamental  as  Intelligence  and  as  eternal  as  Being.  Platonism  is 
identical  with  originality,  synonymous  with  wisdom  and  universal  as 
light.  If  you  listen  with  your  soul,  you  are  a  Platonist,  and  if  your 
guiding  star  is  the  Idea,  you  are  a  member  of  the  Akadem6.  He  or 
she  has  attained  a  discipleship  from  **  the  broad-browed  ***  descendant 
of  Solon,  whose  mind  gives  to  itself  an  account  of  the  constitution  of 
the  world. 

Dialectics  is  the  art  of  discoursing,  viz.,  the  art  of  thinking,  and 
to  Plato  thinking  was  a  silent  discourse  of  the  soul,  it  was  not  speech. 
The  Platonist  is  not  a  babbler  or  vain  talker.  Eternal  truth  is  silent. 
The  sage  is  not  demonstrative ;  he  carries  on  teaching  without  words. 
Such  is  the  Socratic  precept. f  **  There  is  nothing  like  keeping  the 
inner  man,"  said  Lao-tsze.  Be  sparing  of  your  talk,  and  possess 
yourself.  A  violent  wind  will  not  outlast  the  morning. :J:  In  the 
silent  discourse  of  the  soul  we  return  to  **  Being,"  and  the  Idea  or 

*  Plato  means  **  broad-browed." 

f  Emerson  makes  Socrates  say:  *' All  mv  good  is  magnetic,  and  I  educate,  not 
by  lessons,  but  by  going  about  my  business. 

X  Tao-te-king  zxiii. 


378  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  pattern  of  the  Eternal  is  revealed.  It  is  to  this  that  the  modem 
Renaissance  man  or  woman  must  come.  They  must  learn  that  intel- 
ligence does  not  mean  display.  That  intelligence,  which  Plato  calls 
**king  of  heaven  and  earth,"  is  a  moral  force,  and  moral  forces  are 
silent.  **The  silent  is  the  ruler  of  the  moving.  He  that  makes, 
mars.  He  that  grasps,  loses."*  This  simplicity  of  "  Being"  is  not 
easily  read,  to  be  sure,  but  it  is  inexhaustible  wisdom. 

Plato  is  very  explicit  on  the  subject  of   Being  and  knowledge. 
We  can,  he  says,  have  knowledge  only  in  the  direction  of  the  color- 
less,   shapeless   and  immaterial    Essence.     If  we   are    to    have  any 
knowledge  at  all,  there  must  be  an   invariable  and  fixed  object  of 
knowledge;   only  the  Invariable  can  be  known ;   the  Variable  will,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  sweep  away  a  variable  factbr  of  knowledge,  suck 
as  mere  mind.     The  constantly  changing  has  no  permanent  quality. 
Knowledge,  according  to  Plato,   is  synonymous  with  wisdom,  as  I 
have  used  that  term  in  the  former  essays  of  this  series,  and  is  not  the 
same  as  perception,  comparison,  and  reasoning.      Knowledge,  in  the 
Academic  sense,  is  immediate,  and  not  acquired  through  some  inter- 
vening process.    The  Variable  is  the  Becoming,  the  sensible  to  Plato, 
though   the  end   of  the  Becoming  is  Being.      Being  is  always  self- 
identical,  but  the  other  is  passing  away  **  without  ever  really  being." 
In   the    Becoming,   which    is  a  copy,   is  revealed  the  prototype  of 
things,  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  pattern.     These  prototypes  are 
Ideas,  and   they   are   our  guides.       There  is   riot   an   object  in  the 
world  which  does  not  point  to  the  Idea ;   hence,  there  is  no  excuse 
for  us  if  we  follow  vanity ;   we  may  know  the  truth  if  we  be  willing 
to  see  it. 

The  Platonic  teaching  is  that  Ideasf  are  the  essence  of  all  true 
Existence  or  Being,  hence  our  knowledge  of  them,  or,   by  means  of 


*  Tao-te-king  xxvi ;  xxix. 

f  The  reader  will  understand  the  difference  between  Plato's  concept  and  the 
every-day  use  of  the  word  idea,  which  makes  the  word  merely  a  mental  picture  of 
sensations,  be  they  internal  or  external.  It  must  also  be  remembered,  tnat  Ideas 
with  Plato  do  not  mean  j^eneral  notions,  having  no  reality  apart  from  thought. 
Plato's  Ideas  are  real,  but  Kant's  are  not;  Kant's  are  simply  the  totality  of  our 
judgments  under  certain  general  points  of  view.  The  faculty  which  can  combine 
and  arrange  impressions  and  intuitions  is  the  highest  of  all  in  the  intellectual 
sphere  and  Kant  calls  it  Reason;  it  is  the  Nous  of  the  ancients  and  has  b<^n  defined 
in  former  papers  of  this  series. 


THE  NEW  RENAISSANCE.  PLATONISM  AND  -BEING."       379 

lem,  is  real  knowledge  or  knowledge  of  Being.  Ideas  are,  sub- 
ctively,  the  principles  of  knowing  which  cannot  be  derived  from 
cperience.  Objectively,  they  are  the  immutable  principles,  incor- 
>real  and  simple  unities,  which  remain  from  our  sifting  the  manifold, 
»e  one  in  the  many,  the  universal  in  the  particular,  the  constant  and 
)iding  in  the  ever  changing  flux  of  things.  The  doctrine  of  ideas 
:veals  to  us  an  inner  but  real  world  of  harmoniously  connected  intel- 
ctual  forces.  Prof.  Weber  summarizes  the  contents  of  the  Platonic 
)ncept  of  Ideas  under  three  heads,  and  says  the  Idea  means  (i) 
hat  modern  philosophy  calls  laws  of  thought,  morality  or  taste ;  (2) 
hat  Aristotle  calls  categories  or  the  general  forms  by  means  of  which 
e  conceive  things;  (3)  what  natural  science  calls  types,  species, 
•very  common  name  designates  an  Idea  as  every  proper  name  desig- 
ates  an  individual.  The  senses  reveal  particulars,  or  natural  objects; 
bstraction  and  generalization  give  us  Ideas. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  Ideas,  they  (i)  are  more  real  than  the 
bjects  of  sense ;  (2)  they  are  real  beings ;  (3)  they  are  the  only  true 
^alities;  objects  of  sense  borrow  their  existence  from  the  Ideas. 
rom  this  it  will  be  seen  how  completely  the  Platonic  Idea  expresses 
leing.  To  say  that  the  entire  sensible  world  is  nothing,  but  a  sym- 
ol,  an  allegory  of  the  Idea,  is  the  same  as  to  say  that  only  Being  IS. 

Plato  conceives  the  Ideas  as  living  existences.  Like  unto  the 
radation  of  beings  in  the  visible  world,  so  is  the  hierarchy  of  Ideas, 
n  the  intelligible  realm — the  spiritual  world,  as  we  also  say — the 
ieas  are  joined  together  in  higher  and  lower  orders;  the  highest  is 
le  most  powerful  Idea,  or  the  Good  (God).  It  contains,  compre- 
ends  and  summarizes  all  other  Ideas.  Ideas  of  the  lower  orders  are 
ot  substances,  but  only  modes  of  the  only  absolute  Idea. 

The  home  of  the   Ideas  is  sui  generis,     Plato  does  speak  of  the 

eayens    as  their  abode,   but   he  means   no   physical   place.      Their 

ome  is  an  ideal,  intelligible  place,  yet  not  a  place  of  dimensions ;    it 

Mind,  Nous.     An  Idea  has  no  place  outside  of  itself;    it  is  itself 

le  reality  and  is  unextended.     Sensation  does  not  produce  Ideas,  yet 

provokes  them.  Ideas  are  both  our  thoughts  and  the  eternal 
*ality  of  these  thoughts.  Platonism  is  thorough-going  idealism,  yet, 
lasmuch  as  the  Ideas  are   the  only  reality,   it   may  also  be  called 


880  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  most  realistic  system,  and  so  it  was  once.     The  name  realism  was 
given  to  mediaeval  Platonism. 

We  may  well  say  with  Windelband,  that  Plato's  doctrine  of  Ideas 
presents  itself  as  the  summit  of  Greek  philosophy.  In  it  are  com- 
bined all  the  different  lines  of  thought  which  had  been  directed 
toward  the  physical,  the  ethical  and  the  logical  first  principle.  The 
Platonic  Idea,  as  a  general  concept,  is  the  abiding  Being  in  the  e\'er- 
changing  whirl  of  phenomena;  it  is  the  object  of  knowledge  as 
opposed  to  the  changeableness  of  opinions ;  it  is  the  true  end  in  the 
changes  of  desire. 

I  am  not  here  engaged  in  writing  a  history  of  Idealism,  nor  eva 
attempting  an  exposition  of  it.     I  am  only  stating  Plato's  doctrine  of 
Ideas ;  but  as  that  is  the  fullest  and  most  original  definition  of  Ideal- 
ism,  it  behooves  our  New  Renaissance  people  to  pay  much  attention 
to  it.     They  need,  however,  to  remember  that  the  Greek  Idealism 
was  more  a  theory  of  existence  than  a  life.     It  is  the  ideal  life  that 
we  want.     Idealism  is  man's  striving  to  express  himself,  to  press  him- 
self out  of  himself  (^x-press).     The  consistent  idealist  realizes — ^vii., 
makes  real  or  actual — the  Self.    This  sentence  becomes  only  too  often 
an  excuse  for  a  consummate  egotism,  because  it  is  applied  only  tndi- 
vidually.    Most  of  us  regard  other  people,  excepting  perhaps  our  rela- 

m 

tives,  as  things  and  not  as  persons,  hence  not  Self,  but  self  is  brought 
into  existence.  The  ''illusion  of  selfishness"  destroys  us.  Let  the 
idealist  so-called  learn  to  appreciate  others  in  terms  of  self,  and  the 
real  idealism,  idealism  as  a  life,  shall  be  realization  of  the  Idea. 
Love  plays  the  same  part  in  the  world  of  persons  as  Reason  does  in 
the  world  of  things.  I  think  it  was  Emerson  who  quoted  a  Brah- 
minical  writing  as  saying,  that  from  the  poisonous  tree,  the  world, 
came  two  species  of  fruit,  sweet  as  the  waters  of  life:  Love,  or  the 
society  of  beautiful  souls,  and  Poetry,  whose  taste  is  like  the  immortal 
juice  of  Vishnu.  This  is  a  quotation  from  the  Gospel  of  Idealism 
and  ought  to  be  the  text  for  the  New  Renaissance. 

C.  H.  A.  fijERREGAARD. 


It   takes  more  self-control  to  use  leisure  well  than  work  days.— 
JVm,  C.  Gannett. 


tcVV^^ 


"r^ 
.^>^^ 


THOU  SHALT  NOT  KILL. 

To  write  its  decrees  in  blood  and  thrust  beings  into  eternity  long 
!fore  their  time  is  the  inexorable  right  claimed  by  organized  society. 
he  united  virtue  of  a  community  holds  moral  privileges  superior  to 
id  beyond  those  possessed  by  the  highest  unit  of  organism.  In 
lort,  the  body  politic  will  foreclose  a  first  mortgage,  as  it  were,  on 
Fe — that  liberty  which  is  dearest  to  the  individual  man.  Whence 
ime  this  independent  and  unlimited  power  of  government?  Is  it 
3t  a  product  of  that  Cimmerian  darkness  which  enveloped  those 
ws  and  customs  of  past  ages — emblems  befitting  medieval  times? 
*ut  of  ancient  darkness  into  the  light  of  modern  times  a  character- 
tic  of  despotism  appears  above  the  horizon  of  our  legal  day,  and 
ithin  the  circle  surrounding  it  life  is  so  dim  as  to  become  at  times 
itirely  erased  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  merely  the  selfish 
urposes  of  an  organized  community.  As  the  crowning  horroi'  of  the 
Dur,  this  barbarism  of  olden  times — this  despotism  of  preceding  ages 
imposed  on  our  struggling  civilization  and  stands  to  shock  the  sen- 
bilities  of  the  best  life.  Let  lawmakers  pause  and  consider  this 
lomentous  question.  The  time  has  fully  come  for  the  search-light 
f  modern  civilization  to  shed  its  beneficent  rays  on  the  criminal 
epartment  of  human  endeavor  and  illuminate,  one  by  one,  the 
icrets  of  Dame  Nature  here  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

In  dealing  with  criminals  the  good  of  those  who  transgress  the 
riminal  code  themselves  and  the  protection  of  society  are  the  highest 
nd  only  ends  to  be  sought  by  the  commonwealth.  Civilization, 
till  intermingled  with  barbaric  relics  and  retaining  a  connecting  link 
ith  savage  life,  yet  continues  to  deal  with  a  class  of  criminals  by 
ebbing  them  of  their  last  earthly  chance  to  reform.  With  no  thought 
f  improving  their  condition  or  benefiting  them,  a  State  provides  that 
enalties  shall  be  so  many  forms  of  destruction  instead  of  so  many 
>rms  of  help.  Cruel  liberty  of  civil  community,  from  what  source 
ame  thy  criminal  right?     Society,  organized  by  a  collection  of  indi- 

idual  units,  punishes  crime  with  crime.    What  does  she  hope  to  gain? 

381 


382  THE    METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Does  the  price  of  blood,  in  which  she  persists  in  holding  a  controlling 
interest  in  the  stock,  protect  the  family  of  man  the  more? 

Now,  what  says  history?  At  a  time  in  the  seventh  decade  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  Sir  William  Blackstone  had  published  bis 
celebrated  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England,  death  was  the 
penalty  for  about  150  different  offenses.  Under  these  conditions, 
too,  the  same  crimes  were  more  frequent  than  ever  before  or  since. 
For  thirty-three  crimes  the  Jewish  code  of  laws  made  the  extreme 
penalty  the  punishment. 

The  stroke  of  the  guillotine  or  the  noose  of  the  hangman  has 
found  no  place  in  Holland,  Roumania,  Portugal  and  Belgium  for  a 
period  of  nearly  three  decades.     The  veil  of  that  dreadful  dominioa 
over  the  souls  of  men  has  been  lifted  by  most  of  the  cantons  oi 
Switzerland.     Instead  of  depriving  criminals  guilty  of  murder  of  the 
first  and  highest  of  prime  rights,  Russia  deports  them  to  Siberia.    In 
the  past  decade  Austria  has  had  800  murders,  yet  but  twenty-three 
executions  have  taken  place.     Other  European  countries  are  dropping 
the  custom  by  legislation  or  imperial  decree.    Life  is  the  first  of  prime 
rights  proclaimed  by  our  forefathers  for  precept.     This  principle  has 
only  found  practice,  however,  in   Michigan,  Wisconsin,   Maine  and 
Rhode  Island.     Because  of  a  growing  disinclination  to  carry  out  sen- 
tences of  death,  no  legal  executions  have  taken  place  in  Kansas  for 
more  than  twenty  years  past,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  none 
ever  will  occur  in  this  State  in  the  future. 

The  experience  of  these  States  should  have  an  important  bearing 
upon  this  subject.     It  is  a  significant  fact  that  murder  is  less  frequent 
where  the  stigma  of  capital  punishment  has  been  removed  from  the 
fair  name  of  civil  society  than  elsewhere.     This  reproach  upon  civili- 
zation has  nowhere  been  returned  nor  an  attempt  made  to  again  place 
such  a  law  upon  the  Statutes  in  a  single  instance  where  it  has  at  any 
time  been  abandoned.     Not  a  single  cruelty  which  any  code  anciently 
sanctioned  would  society  bring  back  to  humanity.      Even  the  advo- 
cates of  capital  punishment  do  not  maintain  that  murder  has  increased 
where  the  law  has  been  blotted  out.    Then  what  but  a  spirit  of  revenge 
is  left  standing  behind  this  grim  apostle  of  death?    With  the  humani- 
ties of  our  times  such  a  motive  on  the  part  of  a  great  State  clashes. 


THOU  SHALT  NOT   KILL.  383 

What  is  law?  Is  it  a  huge  pair  of  jaws  for  the  destruction  of  the 
unfortunate  classes  or  an  agency  for  their  preservation,  their  disci- 
pline and  their  ultimate  restoration?  Men  were  not  created  for  the 
selfish  use  of  the  State.  For  the  happiness,  betterment  and  protec- 
tion of  men  it  was  that  the  State  was  constituted.  By  placing  life  at 
the  caprice  of  society  in  an  organized  state  the  most  sacred  of  human 
rights  is  trampled  upon.  In  seeking  a  refinement  of  this  cruelty, 
New  York  and  Ohio  have  adopted  electrocution.  For  the  year  1897, 
the  number  of  legal  hangings  in  the  United  States  were  128.  Use- 
less to  society  and  a  burden  to  community,  many  lives  thus  sacrificed 
may  have  been.  So  are  idiots  and  imbeciles,  the  chronic  insane,  the 
indigent,  many  of  the  maimed  and  numerous  of  the  aged  and  infirm. 
Shall  their  lives  be  sacrificed  for  the  same  reason?  The  precious  gift 
of  human  life  is  so  sacred  a  thing  that  under  all  circumstances  the 
State  should  consider  itself  bound  to  preserve  it. 

The  art  of  poisoning  was  taught  as  a  profession  in  the  two  great 
criminal  schools  which  flourished  in  Venice  and  Italy  from  the  fifteenth 
to  the  seventeenth  centuries.  The  States  of  Venice  gravely  consid- 
ered the  matter  and  formally  adopted  and  recognized  secret  assassin- 
ation by  poison.  The  notorious  Council  of  Ten  accepted  what  they 
characterized  a  patriotic  offer  from  John  of  Ragubo  to  kill  with  poison 
any  persons  they  might  desire  to  have  put  out  of  the  way.  Always 
society  has  concerned  itself  considerably  with  the  punishment  of  crime 
but  very  little  with  its  prevention.  The  magnitude  of  the  punishment 
has  not  had  much  power  as  a  deterrent  of  crime.  Never  can  crime 
be  arrested  by  killing  those  who  are  brought  under  its  spell. 

A  general  knowledge  of  the  constructive  processes  through  which 
criminals  are  made  would  be  of  vast  importance  to  legislators.  They 
come  not  by  chance.  Society  in  general  is  responsible  for  its  crim- 
inals. Having  no  voice  in  the  selection  of  their  ancestors,  many  of 
them  were  thrust  into  the  world  with  the  tendency  to  crime  as  a 
bundle  of  the  being.  Others  are  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  times  in  which  they  live.  Still  others  are  the  victims  of 
extraordinary  circumstances.  In  most  cases  murder  may  be  said  to 
be  the  logical  outcome  of  general  existing  conditions  in  the  whole 
land.     The  impure  circulation  of  the  body  politic  brings  them  forth 


884  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

as  eruptions  from  within,  not  detached  units  on  the  outside.  Just  as 
certain  suitable  periods  of  history  brought  forth  a  Plato,  a  Caesar,  a 
Shakspeare,  a  Columbus,  a  Luther,  a  Lincoln  and  an  Edison,  so  out 
of  the  general  lap  of  particular  states  of  society  the  criminal  blossoms 
as  the  natural  product  on  the  stem  of  vice.  The  cause  of  his  criminal 
tendencies  can  be  found  in  the  conditions  of  society  in  general.  In 
the  process  of  so-called  justice,  will  you  hang  him  by  the  neck  untfl 
dead  or  will  you  help  him?     Why  not  try  good  for  evil? 

In  the  pauseless  progress  of  our  times  the  weal  of  humanity  de- 
mands the  discontinuance  of  this  barbaric  spirit.  Why  so?  On  tbe 
public  conscience  its  effects  are  demoralizing.  As  a  deterrent  of 
crime  and  corrective  of  evil  the  practice  is  futile  and  inadequate.  It 
is  an  illogical  law,  unjust  to  justice  and  unfair  to  the  fair  fame  ol 
enlightened  government.  It  is  false  as  to  theory,  belief,  and  history, 
mingled  all  along  the  tapestry  of  time.  Lightly  has  human  life  been 
regarded  by  the  race  of  man.  This  is  a  strange  state  of  things,  in 
conflict  with  the  essential  spirit  of  the  first  articles  of  the  creed  of 
freedom  as  well  as  the  sacred  rights  of  the  individual.  Why  should 
the  State  place  such  a  low  estimate  on  life?  In  the  true  spirit  of 
civilization  should  there  not  be  a  deep  sense  of  the  sacredness  and  the 
value  of  the  life  of  man? 

As  the  sight  and  smell  of  blood  appeals  to  the  panther  so  the 
crime  of  murder  appeals  to  this  law  which  demands  the  death  penalty. 
Elements  which  shape  such  legislation  befit  lower  animalism.  Might 
not  a  rational  penal  system  work  some  reformations?  Of  those  charged 
with  murder  more  than  one-half  have  not  made  their  thirtieth  excur- 
sion around  the  sun  with  Old  Earth  in  her  orbit.  Four-fifths  of  them 
are  without  any  regular  occupation.  Between  want  and  crime  a  close 
relationship  exists.  So  frequently  are  criminal  impulses  generated 
by  enforced  idleness  that  attention  might  be  given  to  this  phase  of 
the  subject  by  lawmakers  with  advantage.  Unfounded  fears  from 
false  estimates  of  the  moral  principle  involved  cause  lawgivers  to 
hesitatelest  the  ends  of  justice  may  not  be  fully  satisfied.  Are  they 
fully  met  by  capital  punishment?  What,  in  this  way,  has  been  done 
for  the  victim?     Still  he  ceases  to  live. 

The  execution  of  criminals  for  capital  offenses  shows  our  meager 


THOU   SHALT   NOT   KILL.  385 

ice  along  the  line  of  enlightened  progress.  It  is  of  a  deeper  dye 
lit  than  that  human  destruction  which  results  from  the  urgency 
3sion  in  the  individual.  The  crowning  principle  of  nature  is 
ded  by  society  placing  subjects  beyond  the  power  to  benefit 

But  it  is  said  that  the  image  of  the  devil  is  stamped  on  his  . 

Is  that  so?  Without  possessing  criminal  tendencies  the  force 
traordinary  circumstances  has  frequently  caused  good  men  to  act 
ital  once  in  a  whole  lifetime.  It  was  under  these  conditions  that 
John  H.  Webster,  of  Harvard  College,  killed  Dr.  George  Park- 
of  the  same  institution.  The  very  moment  after  the  crime  this 
of  criminals  would  sacrifice  everything  in  the  world  to  recall  the 
lat  destroyed  the  life.  Are  these  unfortunates  enemies  to  the 
of  mankind?  Is  it  just,  humane  or  enlightened  to  destroy  a  life 
iling  but  for  a  moment?  Is  not  judicial  murder  which  defiles  the 
dness  of  statehood  with  blood  from  motives  of  the  basest  and 
st  revenge  appalling  in  the  lists  of  a  high  civilization  ? 
Fnder  an  uncontrollable  frenzy  an  infuriated  individual  in  the  heat 
ission  takes  a  life,  and,  of  course,  should  be  punished.  Without 
excuse  a  State  in  its  wisest  moods  and  calmest  deliberation  pro- 
s  to  spill  the  blood  of  the  one  who  gave  way  to  the  momentary 
station  to  violence.  Why  should  the  former  be  more  culpable  or 
pardonable  than  the  latter?  Victims  of  extraordinary  circum- 
:es  are  such  criminals.  The  criminal  tendencies  of  many  persons 
have  never  encountered  extreme  provocation  may  be  closer  to 
:ircle  of  murder  than  the  medial  aim  of  the  class  of  criminals  of 
stamp. 

The  legal  custom  of  public  hangings  was  formerly  thought  to 
t  a  salutary  effect  on  crime,  but  the  reverse  has  been  shown  to 
ue.  Time  and  again  public  executions  have  been  the  occasion 
ultiplied  crime.  They  not  only  stimulate  crime  and  render  it 
emic,  but  have  a  tendency  to  break  down  the  public  regard  for  the 
e  of  life  upon  which  consideration  its  safety  and  preservation 
:  forever  largely  depend.  Always  and  everywhere  this  custom 
ses  the  enthusiasm  and  invites  the  eagerness  of  the  worst  elements 
r  the  better  classes  shrink  with  horror  from  such  scenes.  Human 
are  under  the  influence  of  example  more  than  precept.     The 


I 
•  ■ 

i 


of  leading  criminologists  show  that  it  is  thus  stimulated 

true  then  the  State  holds  an  eye  single  to  revenge  in  pi 

j],  'g  "get  even"  method  of  so-called  justice.     It  is  in  the 

salutary  progress  to  urge  the  discontinuance  of  this  evil 
promote  national  advancement  and  civilization.  The  t( 
and  benevolent  sentiment  on  the  part  of  criminal  justi 
lifted  to  a  point  where  the  love  of  mercy  will  call  for  s( 
ferent  from  hatred  for  hatred,  revenge  for  revclige,  evil 
life  for  life.  Such  logic  is  inconsistent  with  all  philos 
fire  e?ttinguish  fire  or  cruelty  allay  cruelty? 

A  priceless  value  should  be  placed  on  the  first  and  fa 

right  of  the  individual  by  true  Government  and  pure  rel 

I  self-evident  that  the  greatest  wrong  a  State  can  commit 

i  of  its  citizens  is  to  take  his  life.     In  the  language  of  B 

'4  worst  use  that  can  be  made  of  a  man  is  to  hang  him.*'    £ 

;  are  enemies  to  society  and  the  death  penalty  is  necessai 

age  crime !     So  says  the  legislator.     The  exigencies  of 

4  demand  the  taking  of  life  in  order  to  deter  other  people 

'i,  life!     O,  Christian  civilization!     The  past  tells  us  what 

humanely  criminals  were  treated  the  more  crime  deem 

and  everywhere.     Never  did  cruel  and  extreme  punishn 

•r  transgressors  of  the  criminal  code.     The  time  has  fuih 


-  { 


i 


THOU   SHALT   NOT   KILL.  387 

ligion  founded.  To  mortal  life  a  priceless  value  should  be  assigned, 
they  stand  upon  a  secure  basis.  Man's  probation  must  end  with 
lesent  life.  If  the  character  of  his  eternity  depends  upon  his  own 
«  of  time  he  should  be  given  a  full  opportunity  to  work  out  his 
rn  probation.  Governments  should  be  inspired  by  this  great  truth 
>  guard  and  protect  life  instead  of  wasting  and  destroying  It.  True, 
le  law  and  custom  of  human  execution  is  said  to  have  religion  for 
B  breastwork.  So  did  burning  at  the  stake.  So  did  slavery.  So 
id  every  inhumanity  of  history  at  some  time  or  other.  So  did  every 
ruelty  of  man  to  man  in  time  past  have  the  Bible  quoted  in  its 
lefense. 

From  mankind  that  he  has  wronged,  one  who  has  taken  human 
Be  should  be  removed  for  years,  may  be  for  life.  For  what  pur- 
IKW?  Is  it  to  retaliate  or  satisfy  vengeance?  No,  not  for  such  a 
ttason,  but  to  benefit  him  and  teach  him  to  make  amends  for  the 
Banner  in  which  he  has  wronged  mankind  and  disrupted  a  com^ 
Qunity.  It  is  to  protect  society  as  well.  Let  us  segregate  him  and 
h>  all  that  can  be  done  to  undo  the  work  whidh  evil  has  wrought  in 
h  being.     Let  us  be  just,  not  vindictive. 

Shelby  Mumaugh,  M.  D. 


THE   CHRIST. 


The  Christ  is  not  the  man,  but  the  ideal ;  The  God-head  in  us 
Striving  after  truth,  the  goodness  in  us  crowded  out. 
Which  leaving  us,  has  left  a  starry  path  which  upward  leads^ 
And  which  each  strives  to  follow  as  he  can. 

Ruth  Ward  Kahn 


Character  grows  in  the  stream  of  the  world's  life.  That  chiefly  is 
here  men  are  to  learn  Love. — Henry  Drummond. 

A  noble  impulse  changed  into  a  motive  will  silence  the  clamorous 
rangling^  of  selfishness. — Wm.  C,  Gannett, 

There  is  nothing  corporeal  which  has  not  within  itself  a  spiritual 
ssence,  and  there  is  nothing  which  does  not  contain  a  life  hidden. 
ithin.  — Paracelsus. 


FREEDOM  AND  PROGRESS. 

Three  centuries  ago,  the  world  was  recovering  from  a  thraldom 
which  had  long  bound  all  nations. 

At  that  time,  in  England,  there  lived  a  man  of  noble,  almost  ideal 
appearance,  whose  face  bore  the  lofty  expression  of  sorrow  and 
sublimity — the  type  of  a  patriot,  a  prophet  and  a  saint.  Unsubdued 
by  cruelty,  blindness,  and  imprisonment,  this  poet  witnessed  the 
decreed  burning  of  his  own  books  and  the  public  defeat  of  principles 
which  he  represented — principles  of  lofty  dignity  of  purpose  and 
great  purity  of  sentiment.  From  him,  we  have  a  most  sublime 
pleading  in  favor  of  the  great  fundamental  principle  of  Freedom. 
And  thus,  above  the  seventeenth  century,  a  genius  in  defense  of 
truth  and  liberty,  towers  the  figure  of  John  Milton. 

It  has  been  said:  ''At  that  momentous  period,  as  in  the  long 
bright  nights  of  the  Arctic  Summer,  the  glow  of  the  setting  sun  melts 
imperceptibly  into  the  redness  of  the  dawning ;  so  do  the  last  brilliant 
splendors  of  the  fuedal  and  chivalric  institutions  transfuse  themselves 
into  the  glories  of  that  great  intellectual  movement,  which  has  resulted 
in  the  progress  of  modem  art,  letters  and  science." 

Civilization  has  steadily  pushed  the  world  onward.  Liberality  of 
thought,  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  and  the  rise  of  woman,  mark 
the  great  progress  of  freedom. 

Scarce  two  hundred  years  have  passed  since  the  fires  of  persecu- 
tion lit  up  the  whole  of  Europe.  To-day,  we  have  no  hanging  of 
witches,  no  whipping  of  slaves,  no  persecution  of  Quakers.  These 
superstitions  of  the  past  can  no  longer  affect  the  educated  mind 
The  time  of  omens  is  past. 

But,  with  all  of  the  freedom  and  progress  which  has  been  attained^ 
the  thought  suddenly  confronts  us,  is  true  freedom  yet  realized? 
Have  we  unfolded  to  our  real  selves,  and  do  we  stand  forth  in  the 
light  of  truth,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word?  "The  ideal,"  say 
Carlyle,  **  is  in  thyself;  the  impediment,  too,  is  in  thyself;  work  on 
thy  condition,  and  working,  believe,  live,  be  free." 

888 


FREEDOM   AND   PROGRESS.  389 

Already  has  nearly  every  country  of  America,  together  with 
ranee  and  Switzerland,  modelled  its  republic  after  that  of  the 
United  States.  Even  from  the  great  Pacific,  the  plea  for  liberty  has 
een  granted,  and  a  second  plea  comes  to  be  included  with  our  own 
ation.  Japan  and  China,  until  within  recent  times  countries  of 
nmovable  customs  and  institutions,  have  introduced  many  progres- 
ive  ideas.  Japan  has  adopted  American  educational  methods,  and, 
uring  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  has  become  the  most  enlightened 
f  Oriental  nations. 

England  is  not  yet  free,  although  since  her  victory  at  Waterloo 
be  has  gradually  progressed,  until  her  government  is  the  most  liberal 
I  any  existing  kingdom.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  all  of  her  laws 
ffecting  the  lower  classes,  have,  for  a  long  time,  tended  toward 
filightenment  and  freedom.  Could  she  have  numbered  among  her 
itizens  a  few  more,  similar  to  the  **  Grand  Old  Man"  with  his 
idvanced  ideas  of  liberty  and  justice,  she  would  now  be  the  Republic 
>(  England. 

The  example  of  Cuba,  determined  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  bond- 
ige,  has  never  been  excelled  since  the  dawn  of  history.  Not  content 
irith  being  offered  mere  autonomy,  with  deprivation  and  starvation 
Itaring  her  in  the  face,  she  has  continued  to  war  for  absolute  freedom. 
She  feels  that  she  should  be  independent  from  the  despot  ruling  of  a 
retrograding  people,  even  though  during  the  fifteenth  century  they 
constituted  the  leading,  most  advanced,  and  most  powerful  nation  of 
the  world. 

And  yet,  America,  our  worthy  model,  does  not  yet  possess 
Political  freedom.  With  all  the  rights  and  privileges  inherited  from 
Ur  very  constitution,  there  is  yet  a  higher  state  for  her  citizens  to 
ttain.  Our  Declaration  says  that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  but 
U  men  are  not  equal,  so  long  as  **  bosses"  have  the  control  of  leg- 
lation. 

So  long  as  the  chief  aim  of  capital  is  to  obtain  labor  as  cheap  as 
Ossible,  the  tendency  is  not  to  progress,  but  to  repress.  Whenever 
i'bor  is  receiving  a  fair  compensation,  and  capital  is  proceeding  on  a 
^und  and  profitable  basis,  then  is  social  freedom  realized. 

The  modern  pilgrim  to  Plymouth  finds  a  beautiful  town,  where 


390  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

nearly  three  centuries  since  floated  a  ship  freighted  with  human 
destiny.  These  people,  so  cruelly  persecuted,  driven  from  their  owb 
home,  and  not  able  to  live  in  Holland,  determined  to  settle  in  the 
new  world. 

Thousands  of  so-called  holy  deeds  are  recorded,  perpetrated  under 
the  cloak  of  the  church,  in  the  name  of  **The  Most  High"  and  in 
the  interests  of  religion.  Spain  is  a  Christian  nation.  She  is  said  to 
have  ''set  up  more  crosses  in  more  lands,  beneath  more  skies,  and 
under  them  butchered  more  people  than  all  the  nations  on  earth 
combined."     Is  this  true  religion?     Does  this  denote  freedom? 

A  few  years  since,  a  duly  elected  member  of  Parliament  was  not 
allowed  to  take  his  seat,  as  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  established 
church  of  England. 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  close  of  the  century  marks  the  greatest 
progress  in  religious  freedom.  The  world  is  gradually  realizing  that 
slavery  is  not  the  normal  condition  of  man — that  God  made  him  free  I 
and  in  His  own  image;  that  in  order  to  prosper,  the  state  must  be  | 
free  from  the  church;  and  that  true  religion  is  not  found  in  creeds, 
doctrines,  or  rituals,  but  consists  of  living  one's  highest  ideal  d 
goodness,  purity  and  love. 

To  Americans,  true  freedom  will  mean  independence  in  word,  act 
and  thought,  unrestrained  by  conventionality,  and  not  ruled  by 
destiny.  When  this  is  obtained,  all  fear  will  disappear,  and  neither 
laws  nor  walls  will  be  necessary  to  protect  mankind,  as  each  will  live 
the  one  life,  true  to  himself  and  true  to  his  country. 

To  America,  freedom  is  the  result  of  its  progress  in  g^randeur  and 
majesty,  resultant  from  an  ideal,  progressive,  and  enlightened  civilia* 
tion,  which  knows  no  classes  or  distinctions,  no  bondage  or  servitude. 
Such  a  government  will  be  worthy  of  being  adopted  by  ever>'  nation 
of  the  globe. 

No  man  can  bring  within  the  range  of  his  vision  the  windings  o( 
the  many  tributaries  of  a  mighty  river,  or  bear  record  of  its  explorers, 
or  what  lies  buried  within  its  depths.  And,  '*  in  the  dawn  of  the  day 
when  glory  was  foreseen  by  the  Fathers  of  our  Republic,**  wc  are 
unable  to  see  the  future  of  this  stream  of  American  freedom.  Wc 
can  merely  picture  the  development  of  the  resources  of  nature,  the 


FREEDOM   AND   PROGRESS.  391 

i  in  trade  and  art,  the  unification  of  religion,  and  the  enlighten- 
)f  the  people  which  has  never  yet  been  realized. 
i.ere  the  spirit  of  man  throws  off  its  last  fetters  and  is  free." 
the  philanthropist  goes  forth,  and,  in  the  fullness  of  his  heart, 
nes  all  mankind.  Here  the  tyrant  forgets  his  frown,  and  a 
of  gladness  lights  up  his  countenance.  Here  the  Monarch 
across  the  blue  waste  of  waters  and  fancies  that  his  throne 
es.  Here  aristocracy  in  all  its  forms,  views  with  a  discon- 
heart  the  progress  of  liberty.  The  whole  civilized  world  will 
come  educated,  and  participate  in  the  blessings  of  liberty.  It 
'ill  progress,  because  it  then  will  be  free. 

Veda  Elizabeth  Snyder. 


HYMN. 

Hail !  Light  of  Love.     Thy  glory  shines 

Wide  as  the  world's  domains. 
Writ  o'er  the  sky  in  silver  lines 

Each  star  thy  power  proclaims. 

Each  bursting  bud,  each  rippling  rill, 

Praises  e'er  sing  to  thee. 
The  universe  reveals  thy  skill 

In  star,  in  seed  or  sea. 

Through  all,  thy  throbs  reverberate. 

Pulsing  with  harmony. 
Hold  us  within  that  hallowed  state 

Where  naught  is  known  but  thee. 

Sweet  is  the  knowledge  of  thy  grace, 

Infinite  Power  benign. 
Children  of  Earth,  in  thy  embrace 

Our  lives  become  divine. 

Henry  Frank. 


I  a  guide  when  he  hath  found  one  straying  from  the  way,  leads 
to  the  proper  road,  and  does  not  revile  him  or  mock  him,  and 
o  away.  And  do  thou  show  such  a  man  the  truth,  and  thou 
ee  that  he  will  follow  it. — Epictetus, 


i\yjitii  i\j  yjujs.  js.t:ti\ut:tjs.o. 


^^4 


.•i! 


1 


I 


til 
■1 


'I 


■ 


In  this  department  we  will  give  space  to  carefully  written  commu 
merit,  on  any  of  the  practical  questions  of  everyday  life,  considen 
bearings  of  metaphysical  and  philosophical  thought,  which,  we  belii 
demonstrated  as  both  a  lever  and  a  balance  for  all  the  difficult  problen 

Happenings,  experiences,  and  developments  in  the  family  and  the 
results  of  thought,  study,  and  experiment ;  unusual  occurrences  when 
ticated ;  questions  on  vague  points  or  on  the  matter  of  practical  a| 
principles  and  ideas  to  daily  experience,  etc,  will  be  inserted  at  the  1 
cretion,  and  in  proportion  to  available  space.  Questions  asked  in  < 
may  be  answered  by  readers,  in  future  numbers,  or  may  be  the  subjeci 
explanation,  at  our  discretion.  It  is  hoped  that  the  earnest  hearts 
thinking  minds  of  the  world  will  combine  to  make  this  department  boti 
and  instructive  to  the  high  degree  to  which  the  subject  is  capable  of  d 


LOVE  VERSUS  PREJUDICE. 


The  mind  is  a  complex  entity,  capable  of  almost  infinil 
Yet  under  the  delusive  action  of  the  senses,  which  veil  the  1 

jj  easily  influenced  into  erroneous  paths,  where  it  develops  fals 

revels  in  a  fool's  paradise.     This  condition,  however,  is  not  i 
for  with  increasing  vision  the  veil  vanishes,  the  glamour  disa 
the  Godlike  qualities  which  are  man's  natural  inheritanc 
until  the  spiritual  being  becomes  manifest  and  the  soul 
clear-cut,  invulnerable  to  attack,  and  unconquerable  by  ten 

J  The  process  of  development,  however,  is  necessarily  slo^ 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  393 

ise,  to  prejudge  one's  brother  is  uncharitable  and  lacking  in  love. 
ve  one's  neighbor  as  oneself  does  not  mean  to  take  for  granted  at 
utset  that  he  is  not  to  be  trusted.  How  many  otherwise  good, 
and  broad-minded  people  allow  this  snake  of  distrust  to  nestle  in 
bosoms,  suffering  meanwhile  from  its  subtle  action  of  inharmony. 
,  the  great  benefic  quality  of  the  soul,  bids  us  feed  our  brother 

he  is  hungry,  clothe  and  comfort  him  when  in  trouble.     Preju- 

on  the  contrary,  says,  **Wait!  Investigate!  He  may  not  be 
!  He  does  not  think  as  I  do,  therefore  he  is  unworthy. "  There 
le  of  truth  and  still  less  of  love  in  this  attitude  toward  another  of 
i  creatures,  and  few  people  realize  how  corroding  to  the  heart  is 
ction  of  a  thought  of  this  kind.  It  shuts  the  door  upon  the  spirit 
e  beneficent  effulgence  if  allowed  encouragement  permeates  the 
5st  recesses,  softening  every  harsh  outline  and  uplifting  the  mind 
leart  into  God's  atmosphere  of  pure  love  for  everything  which 
hes. 

et  us  have  courage,  then,  for  Love  is  all  pervasive,  and  if  the  eye 
ipt  steadily  fixed  upon  the  white  star  of  unchanging  truth,  progress 

be  ever  upward  until  we  finally  attain  the  altitude  of  perfect 

the  home  and  heaven  of  the  Soul. 


A  PROMISED  DAY. 


ut  in  the  night,  where  she  stands  and  waits,  the  winds  are  bitter 
jtrong.  They  howl  about  her,  wrapping  the  folds  of  her  garments 
id  her  as  close  as  a  mummy's  shroud.     They  tear  at  her  hair  and 

cold  upon  her  shivering  form,  while  the  passers-by  look  and 
ler  as  they  hurry  on. 

ear  at  hand  lofty  buildings,  ablaze  with  light,  stand  row  upon  row 
n  the  long  avenues.     Shall  she  approach  them  again?     Shall  she 

rebuff  and  push  once  more  at  the  swinging  doors  that  separate 
rom  the  warmth  and  light  of  the  busy  world?  Would  they  let  her 
•  now?     Is  the  world  ready? 

scream  of  the  blast  answers  her;  like  a  loud  wail  of  derision  it 
Is  her,  and  she  cowers  as  before  a  blow. 
You?"  it  cries,  in  scorn.     **  You?" 
And  why  not  I?"  lifting  a  face  pale,  patient,  brave,  divine. 


394  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

**  You?"  cry  the  fierce  winds  again,  whipping  her  feet  with  the  hem 
of  her  gown,  and  blowing  the  loose  strands  of  shining  hair  until  her 
fair  head  seems  surrounded  by  a  self-made  halo. 

People  pass  continually.  Many  have  no  eyes  for  her;  some  there 
are  who  stare  at  her,  with  no  expression  upon  their  cold  faces  other 
than  that  of  curiosity,  wondering  only  why  this  public  thoroughfare 
must  needs  be  chosen  for  a  resting  place. 

**  Why  are  you  here? "  some  ask,  stopping  to  question  the  patient  one. 

**I  am  waiting." 

**  For  what?" 

**  Until  the  world  be  ready." 

**  Will  that  ever  be,  think  you?" 

**Yes." 

**When?" 

**  When  Love  outweighs  Gold. 

**And  you  think " 

^^Iknow"  comes  the  eager  interruption,  ''that  already  the  scales 
are  being  balanced." 

The  crowd  laughs  and  pushes  on.  From  a  cross  street  far  above 
emerges  a  splendid  youth ;  courage,  strength,  compassion  are  his  heri- 
tage. The  boy  strides  down  the  avenue,  looking  eagerly  to  this  side 
and  to  that,  stopping  at  times;  then,  each  fruitless  quest  over,  starting 
forward  again. 

Nearer  and  nearer  he  approaches  her,  whose  eyes,  fixed  as  stars, 
fasten  themselves  upon  his  radiant  face.  She  knows  that  he  is  not 
like  the  others — that  his  hand,  if  it  will,  may  open  the  doors  for  her. 

He  stops  before  her.  as  a  bar  of  steel  stops  before  a  magnet. 

**  I  have  sought  for  you  everywhere,"  he  breathes — **  everywhere!" 

**  And  I  have  waited  long,"  she  answers,  a  glad  light  leaping  to  her 
eyes. 

**  Come  with  me,"  he  says  to  her;  **  let  us  find  shelter." 

**  Is  the  world  ready?" 

**  Perhaps.     We  can  but  try. " 

**But  if  it  be  not?" 

**  You  are  immortal." 

**And  you?" 

**Icandie." 

He  leads  her  to  the  swinging  portals.  With  all  his  young  stren^h 
he  pushes  against  them ;  they  do  not  stir  beneath  his  hand.  Again  and 
again  he  tries,  but  only  the  loud  voices  from  within — ^the  chattering  of 
idle  tongues,  the  jests,  the  gibes,  the  ribaldry,  the  lewd  laughter  of  the 
world — drift  through  the  ruddy  aperture. 


THE  HOME  CIRCLE.  395 

**0h,  try  again,  brave  heart!"  she  cries,  and  at  her  cry  two  strong 
nds  push  valiantly  against  the  baize. 

"Is  there  no  one  there  upon  the  other  side  to  help — not  one?"  she 
lispers,  as  the  defeated  hands  cease  their  efforts. 

"Stand  aside! "  cries  a  bold  voice;  **  I  would  enter." 

"But  the  place  is  full  of  such  as  you,"  dares  the  youth,  impetu- 
sly,  as  his  companion  shrinks  from  contact  with  the  coarse  j&gure  clad 
its  glittering  draperies.     **  You  are  not  needed." 

A  sneer  is  his  only  answer.  A  touch  of  a  hard  hand  sends  the  doors 
inging  back  upon  their  noiseless  hinges.  The  figure  enters,  the 
•rtals  close;  and  as  they  sway  tremblingly  together,  settling  into 
ace,  a  voice  floats  through  the  baize:  **So  long  as  men  and  women 
ek  me  I  am  needed.  So  long  as  gold  is  offered  for  my  nefarious 
ares  will  1  trade  in  things  unclean.  So  long  as  mortals  keep  to  their 
thy  ditches  and,  swine-like,  feed  their  perverted  senses  with  the  food 

iniquity,  so  long  shall  I  provide  them  with  most  unhallowed  proven- 
T.  That  with  which  I  regale  their  poor  corrupted  minds  excites  in 
em  an  abnormal  appetite,  and  their  unappeased  hunger,  like  the 
mac  which  grows  by  what  it  feeds  upon,  enriches  me.  Not  needed? 
a,  ha!  Can  you  enter  in?  Fetch  Purity,  who  stands  beside  you 
ere,  my  youthful  scribe,  and  let  her  try  to  help  you  force  an 
itrance. " 

"The  Masters  have  promised  me  a  day  in  which  to  be  heard." 

"  Oh,  come  away ! "  wails  Purity. 

"Not  so,  my  soul!  You  are  immortal,  as  I  have  said,  and  if  the 
omise  be  not  kept  I — can  die." 

Another  flaunting  form  has  passed  them,  has  touched  the  doors  and 
tered ;  and  yet  another,  clad  in  tinsel  that  hath  no  lustre  in  its  heavy 
ds — one  with  small  greedy  eyes,  large  lips  that  hang  from  fangs  and 
;ath  of  deadly  poison. 

Is  this  a  human  thing?  Will  the  great  world,  the  insatiate  throng 
:hin,  welcome  this  monstrous  creature?  Will  it  shower  its  wealth 
Dn  it  and  enfold  it  in  its  arms?  Surely  that  cannot  be.  There  is  no 
nblance  to  any  human  thing  in  its  foul  parts,  its  bestial  form  crawls 
its  swaddling  garb  of  tawdry  gold,  its  hair  bristles  and  its  hands  are 
ws.  Yet  see !  the  doors  swing  wide  before  it  touches  them,  and  as 
lisappears  it  sends  a  hideous  leer  into  the  wide,  horror-stricken  eyes 
t  watch  it. 

**  Oh,  let  me  go! "  wails  Purity. 
**  Stay ! "  commands  the  youth. 

At  this  the  doors  part  slightly ;  a  face,  seductive,  smiling,  insolent, 
rs  through  the  aperture. 


896  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

**  Let  her  go,  Fool ! "  laughs  the  temptress,  softly — "  let  her  go,  and 
come  you  into  the  world's  warmth  and  cheer.  Dip  your  pen  deep  into 
the  black  pool  that  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  fountain  of  Worldly  Ambi- 
tion, and  write  at  my  dictation  upon  the  leaves  of  cupidity.  Let  her 
go,  for  with  her  you  must  suffer  the  heartbreak  of  disappointment,  the 
agony  of  a  jeering  world's  ingratitude,  the  throes  of  starvation.  To 
stay  is  certain  death.     Will  you  come?" 

**  I  will  die,"  answers  the  youth. 

Hours  pass.  One  after  another,  in  pernicious  procession,  stalk 
those  who  publicly  revile  the  patient  two  at  the  threshold — a  baneful 
host,  which  passes  the  swinging  portals  without  a  challenge. 

Days  pass.  Time  and  again,  possessing  themselves  of  divine, 
deathless  hope,  they  push  with  united  strength  against  the  swaying 
doors,  but  these  are  motionless  as  walls  of  granite  beaten  with  flower 
stalks  of  little  children. 

Months  pass.  And  once  the  temptress  looks  out  and  laughs  them 
both  to  scorn.  The  stern  eyes  of  maturity  now  meet  her  own,  and 
Purity  creeps  closer  to  her  comrade's  side. 

Years  pass.  The  dark  locks  whiten,  the  straight  form  bends,  the 
great  serious  eyes  sink  deep  in  their  dark  hollows;  and  now  the  tempt- 
ress looks  out  once  again  upon  the  lonely  pair,  opening  wide  the  door 
that  leads  into  the  glittering  world. 

**  There  is  yet  time,  Fool,"  she  says,  **if  you  will  hasten.  Despite 
your  years  you  should  be  able  to  write  for  the  still  clamoring  world 
that  which  will  astound  it.  Come,  enter,  and  I'll  conduct  you  to  the 
pool  I  told  you  of  so  long  ago.     It  is  blacker  now  than  ever. " 

**  Blacker  than  ever!"  moans  Purity. 

**For  what  did  you  hope?"  asks  the  temptress.  "For  what  have 
you  been  waiting?" 

**  For  Love  to  outweigh  Gold." 

**And  you  have  made  a  martyr  of  this  man  for  that?" 

**  He  chose  his  martyrdom." 

**  I  chose  it,"  said  the  scribe. 

**0  Fool!" 

**  Hundreds  of  years  I  have  waited.  The  world  is  not  yet  ready;  I 
shall  wait  hundreds  of  years  more " 

**0  Fool!" 

**And  while  I  wait  I  shall  declare,  as  I  have  done  through  ages 
past,  that  a  day  has  been  promised  me  when  Purity  shall  reign  through- 
out the  realm  of  art.  I  thought  to  die ;  I  find  I  am  immortaL  Youth 
shall  renew  itself  in  me,  and  throughout  all  my  lives  to  come  I  shall 
stand  here — here  at  the  threshold — until  the  world  be  ready." 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  397 

"OFool!" 

"Shut  the  doors  close;  the  jargon  of  a  mad  world  disturbs  this 
uter  silence.  To-day  I  would  not  enter  if  I  could,  for  until  the  foun- 
iin  of  Ambition  be  cleared  by  the  violet  tides  of  Love  no  pen  of  mine 
iall  defile  itself  in  the  noisome  pool  below.     Shut  the  doors  close. " 

"  O  Fool !"    And  it  is  dark  again. 

The  wise  man,  smiling,  sighs. 

**  O  brave,  O  faithful,  tender  heart! "  cries  Purity.  **  Life  is  eternal, 
ad  our  day  must  come.  Write  at  my  dictation,  gentle  soul,  for  all 
le  words  I  give  you  are  divine.  Dip  your  bright  pen  into  the  waters 
I  Love,  and  upon  the  fair  white  pages  of  Compassion  write  golden 
niths — write!" 

The  old  man  obeys,  and  the  fair  leaves,  filled  with  shining  words, 
Dat  to  the  doors  so  long  barred  against  them  and  are  drawn  in  across 
le  gleaming  threshold;  and  those  within,  attracted  by  the  shining 
lings,  lift  them  and  read  the  little  scrolls. 

Each  heart  of  hearts  knows  them  to  be  true,  and  from  the  fingers 
utching  at  the  Real  are  dropped  the  Unrealities  that  so  long  have 
andered  to  man's  lower  nature. 

And  the  doors  at  last  tremble  upon  their  hinges,  the  lights  within 
ie  down,  the  discordant  mouthings  cease,  and  those  who  have  read  the 
ttle  leaves  that  fluttered  to  their  feet  push  outward  across  the  threshold 
>  where  a  glorious  being  stands  beside  a  noble  soul  young  with  the 
outh  of  immortality. 

And  as  within  the  lamps  die  down,  outside  the  clear  dawn  climbs  its 
idder  of  light  until  the  paling  zenith  is  white  with  glory.  The  sun  of 
rogression  sends  athwart  the  low-lying  purple  mists,  one  great  gleam 
f  gold,  and  the  whole  world,  beguiled  from  darkness  and  delusion  by  the 
hining  leaves  that  seem  glorious  reflexes  of  the  living  splendor  glowing 
1  the  east,  comes  slowly  out  into  the  sweet  light  of  a  promised  day ! 

Eva  Best. 


Our  lives  are  fragments  of  the  perfect  Whole ;  if  we  invert  or  per- 
ert  them,  we  mar  the  whole  pattern. — Jenken  Z.  Jones. 

Become  pure  in  heart.  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God.  Here, 
[len,  is  one  opening  for  soul-culture,  the  avenue  through  purity  of 
eart  to  the  spiritual  seeing  of  God. — Henry  Drummond, 

If  we  avoid  to  do  evil  on  account  of  the  evil  consequences  which  it 
'ould  cause  to  ourselves,  we  act  naturally;  but  if  we  avoid  it  on 
ccount  of  an  inherent  love  for  the  good,  we  act  in  the  wisdom  of 
kxi. — Paracelsus. 


398  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

TWO   FLOWERS. 

A   80NG. 
(dedicated   to    MRS.    B.    L.    KNIGHT.) 

It  happened  once 
When  I  was  out  a-walking, 
I  heard  some  flowers  talking: 
**When  I  am  one  with  humankind," 

A  P6ony  gay  cried, 
**I'll  flaunt  my  beauties  to  the  world, 

Not  one  shall  be  denied ! 
And  I  will  love  no  other  soul — 

No  jot  of  sweetness  give — 
rU  be  too  busy  with  myself — 

For  self  alone  I'll  live ! 
A  glorious  Woman  will  I  be. 
And  all  the  world  shall  worship  me ! " 

**When  I  have  reached  the  human  plane, 

I'll  be  a  woman,  too," 
It  was  a  pure  White  Rose  that  spoke ; 

**But  I'll  not  be  like  you! 
T  would  me  content  to  know  the  earth 

Is  sweeter  made  by  me — 
That  those  who  gaze  into  my  face. 

Remember  purity. 
And  if  a  helpless  creature  creep 

Into  my  heart,  I  hope  't  will  sleep. " 
And  as  it  spoke,  the  dainty  Rose 
Its  petals  opened  to  disclose 
Upon  its  soft  and  yellow  breast 
A  tiny  baby  bee  at  rest. 


'T  was  long  SLgo — 
I  say  not  just  how  long — 
You  guess,  who  hear  my  song. 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  399 

I  saw  two  women  yesterday : 

One  was  a  thing  to  rave  about — 
Such  glowing  eyes  and  crimson  lips, 

And  form  to  bring  one's  conscience  rout. 
Men  cursed  her  as  a  vain  coquette — 

Declared  she  had  no  heart  at  all ! 
But  when  their  curses  died  away 

They  hastened  breathless,  at  her  call ! 
The  other  woman  had  a  face 

Of  tenderness  and  brooding  care, 
That  made  me,  as  I  gazed  at  her, 

Remember  God  and  say  a  prayer. 
Upon  her  maiden-breast  she  held 

A  sleeping  child— a  little  thing 
Needing  her  sweetness  and  her  love, 

A  baby  bee  with  tired  wing. 

**You  are  the  Rose,"  I  whispered  low, 

"That  loving  Rose  of  long  ago— 
And  yonder  beauteous  one,  is  she 

Whom  I  once  knew  as  P6ony ! " 
And  for  a  moment  they  both  knew 

That  what  I  had  just  said  was  true — 
Then  P6ony  grew  still  more  red, 

And  Rose — she  kissed  the  baby's  bead. 

M.  G.  T.  Stempel. 


The  spiritual  life  is  the  gift  of  the  Living  Spirit.  The  Spiritual  man 
o  mere  development  of  the  Natural  man.  He  is  a  New  Creation 
i  from  above. — Henry  Drummond, 

The  crying  need  of  the  world  is  that  all  should  recognize  that  they 
indissolubly  linked  together,  and  that  none  can  help  or  injure 
:her  without  doing  as  much  for  himself. — Burcham  Harding. 

t  is  not  sufficient  that  we  should  have  a  theory  of  the  truth,  but 
ihoiild  know  the  truth  in  ourselves. — De  Peste. 


\ 


In  the  province  of  Leterslide; 
That  tired  feeling  is  native  there, 
It  is  the  home  of  the  reckless  Idon'tcare, 

Where  the  Giveitups  abide. 

It  stands  at  the  bottom  of  Lazyhill, 

And  is  easy  to  reach,  I  declare ; 
You've  only  to  fold  up  your  hands  and  glide 
Down  the  slope  of  Weakwill'd  toboggan  slide. 
To  be  landed  quickly  there. 

The  town  is  as  good  as  the  human  race, 
And  it  grows  with  the  flight  of  years. 
It  is  wrapped  in  the  fog  of  idler's  dreams, 
Its  streets  arc  paved  with  discarded  schemes 
•  *  And  sprinkled  with  useless  tears. 

■•^ 

*\ 

]  The  Collegcbrcdfool  and  the  Richman's  heir 

Are  plentiful  there,  no  doubt. 
The  rest  of  its  crowd  are  a  motley  crew. 
With  every  class  except  one  in  view — 

i  The  foolkillcr  is  barred  out. 

I 


..  ii 


The  town  of  Nogood  is  all  hedged  about 

By  the  mountains  of  Despair, 
No  sentinel  stands  on  its  gloomy  walls, 
No  trumpet  to  battle  and  triumoh  calls* 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  I  401 

FINDINGS  IN  THE  SCIENCE  OF  LIFE. 

LETTER  II. 

**The  Wilderness," 

August  20,  1897. 

Dear  Comrade. — I  will  begin  where  I  left  off  last  time.  I  am  so 
id  that  you  will  listen  as  I  speak  my  thoughts  openly.  This  is  a 
jssing  to  me. 

You  ask  me  in  regard  to  experimenting. 

I  would  say,  experiment  wisely.  It  is  the  way  to  learn ;  but  take 
re  to  lose  not  your  footing  in  all  valuable  achievement,  and  also  equip 
urself  tor  the  battle.  Experience  means  toil  for  the  sake  of  knowl- 
ge.  Nothing  precious  may  be  had  without  toil.  It  is  a  pathway 
rough  which  all  must  pass.  Fight  with  purpose,  I  reverence  man, 
cause  he  is  a  sufferer.  I  pity  every  fibre,  for  it  holds  in  its  sensitive- 
ss  the  possibility  of  pain — not  inj&nite,  however,  for  there  is  Safety 

the  Universe!  There  is  nothing  too  stained  to  be  rescued,  if  the  I 
eld  to  the  Nature  of  Things;  and  stains  will  pass,  after  the  era  of 
>c,  for  they  belong  to  the  world  of  struggle — the  mental  world  that 
is  created  by  man  and  must  die,  for  there  is  nothing  eternal  in  any 
the  conditions  we  know.  All  sin  must  die.  It  does  not  belong  to 
e  Universe. 

I  note  that  you  inquire  further  about  intellectuality,  having  been 
ught  that  you  might  give  too  much  attention  to  mind-culture.  A 
tie  child  **is  spiritual,"  you  say,  and  yet  not  intellectual. 

A  little  child  is  untainted  by  this  incarnation.     But  does  it  know  f 
it  conscious?    For  what  purpose  was  it  born  with  a  mind? 

Now,  the  highest  control  for  the  body  is  mind-control.  The  highest 
►ntrol  for  the  mind  is  Grasp,  which  is  accomplished  through  a  firm 
>ld  of  each  separate  faculty — and  this,  in  turn,  is  achieved  through 
:>ncentration.  Concentration  may  be  attained  by  directing  the  will 
*  a  simple  thought.  There  must  be  a  single-minded  purpose  and  a 
tfined  aim.     These  two  factors  will  create  intensity. 

In  regard  to  the  problem  of  Grasp.  This  comes  by  penetrating 
to  the  Design  of  Creation. 

When  the  condition  of  Grasp  is  reached,  there  is  great  power.  I 
ilieve  that  this  condition  requires  the  temperament  of  intensity,  so 
lat  the  thought  is  clear,  intense  and  easily  directed.  There  is  a  pen- 
i^rative  vision  necessary  for  this  accomplishment  in  knowledge,  and  a 
Ickground  of  wisdom,  of  achieved  life.  With  a  great  purpose,  a  great 
im  and  a  firm  control  or  use  of  mind  and  body,  much  knowledge  may 


402  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

be  had.     Purpose  keeps  the  Being  safe  in  its  travels  through  space. 
Believe  me,  you  are  safe  with  God. 

In  regard  to  Culture.  You  cannot  gather  too  great  a  will.  Will  has 
the  effect  of  a  lever. 

Aspiration  is  an  angel  of  comfort.  Aspiration  leads  the  soul  to 
inspire,  or  breathe  in  spirit.  The  human  being  looks  in  two  directions 
— ^to  spirit  and  to  matter.  He  individualizes  in  spirit,  to  become  con- 
scious of  matter.  But  spirit  is  all  about  us.  We  cannot  get  away  from 
our  Whole^  we  are  a  part  of  It.  This  eternal  fragment  will  never 
content  itself  away  from  its  home.  How  safe,  then,  is  the  creature 
that  plods  on  earth !  The  eternal  principles  of  Home  and  Safety  are 
founded  on  a  Rock. 

We  live  life,  just  so  far  as  we  feel  the  invisible  reason,  for  the  sake 
of  Understanding  and  Being.  But  there  should  be  a  different  reason, 
too,  of  which  I  see  nothing  but  the  void.  Voids,  however,  always  indi- 
cate something  to  a  scientist,  and  in  moral  or  spiritual  science  it  is  the 
same — all  comparison  is  by  analogy.  1 

You  also  have  the  conj&dence,  dear  comrade,  to  question  me  as  to 
the  difference  of  abstraction,  absorption  and  concentration. 

In  abstraction,  both  the  mind  and  body  are  dismissed  to  breathe  in 
the  Spirit.  In  absorption,  the  body  is  dismissed.  In  concentration, 
the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  actively  centred  on  an  idea  which  it 
observes  and  dissects  after  the  fashion  of  a  surgeon.  Concentration, 
absorption  and  abstraction  all  require  a  sincerity  and  singleness  of 
purpose  rarely  met  with,  but  concentration  demands  aim  as  well  as 
these  other  qualities. 

Next,  you  take  up  the  subject  of  vital  Magnetisms. 

Magnetism  is  a  chemic  concentration,  a  current  in  the  Vital  Ocean. 
Electricity  is  also  a  current  in  the  same  Vital  Ocean,  but  in  an  opposite 
direction,  being  centrifugal  in  character.  Like  opposite  kinds  of  elec- 
tricity of  the  coarser  etheric  plane  the  opposite  currents  of  the  Titil 
Ocean  attract  each  other.  Like  ocean  currents  and  wind  currents 
they  are  caused  by  conditions  of  the  fine  matter  through  which  they 
travel.  These  currents  balance  each  other,  but  for  the  economy  ^ 
Nature  they  do  more. 

Now,  human  beings  absorb  from  the  ocean  of  Vitality  through  the 
nerves  (as  do  all  animals).  Vitality  feeds  the  nerves,  giving  their 
peculiarity. 

When  the  currents  which  flow  througfh  Vitality  touch  the  nerve- 
life  we  feel  strange  thrills  penetrating  the  whole  system.  But  this  i$ 
only  chemic  and  physical,  and  if  the  mind  controls  the  body  no  great 
danger  is  wrought. 


r- 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  403 

You  further  ask  as  to  the  meaning  of  Hypnotism.     It  is  suggestion 

carried  to  the  degree  of  mind  picture-making.     It  belongs  to  the 

X'^ahn  of  Thought^  and  consists  in  replacing  one  image  with  another 
through  concentration.  It  often  produces  clairvoyance  in  a  subject, 
and,  if  the  mind  is  unbalanced,  this  is  a  great  evil. 

You  ask  again  in  regard  to  the  two  personalities  in  one  being — or 

-the  separate  Consciousness.     This  is  hard  to  treat  in  an  exact  manner. 

I  will  say  this,  however,  that  Disease  is  always  the  basis.     But  as  to 

-the  two  personalities — it  may  be  that  a  past  life  is  brought  back ;  but  it 

is,  I  think,  much  more  likely  to  be  the  imperfect  action  of  the  nutrient 

inerves,  which,  perhaps,  nourish  only  a  part  of  th6  brain  at  one  time. 

Nutrition,  certainly,  has  the  most  severe  effect  on  the  nerve-life. 

There  is  a  peculiar,  and  to  me,  a  most  inexplicable  thing  about 

senre-life.      You  may  be  looking  directly  at  an  object,  and  yet  not  see 

it   The  eyes  are  as  good  as  ever.     The  same  with  the  sense  of  hearing 

and  of  touch — even  of  taste  or  smell.     The  senses  are  all  there,  but 

^hcre  are  you  ?    And  how  is  it  you  can  throw  off  the  appreciation  and 

^^consciousness  of  objects  when  the  organs  are  in  perfect  readiness? 

f^t  know  this^  by  observation  of  sound  which  is  registered  ready  for 

fr  trmslation,  where  the  mind  is  ready  to  attend.) 

Now,  there  is  something  important  underlying  all  this,  for  Nature 
never  makes  show  without  cause.  But  what  can  it  be  that  shuts  off 
.Jlind  states?  Can  it  be  that  a  concentration  on  certain  images,  or 
Ading  after  a  consciousness,  will  exclude  all  other  images?  Let  us 
feck  further.  What  is  a  characteristic  of  the  absorbed  mind  ?  It  is 
fer  away,  yet  the  body  is  present. 
\  The  far-away  look  is  a  keynote,  I  think,  to  the  discovery.     That 

%.  Pftrt  of  being  which  notes  impression  is  kept  busy,  or  else  is  excluded 
lOy  an  unseen  working  of  the  I  on  other  planes.  The  sense  impress  is 
^iDUule,  but  it  is  not  noted.     Occasionally,  it  is  noted  afterward. 

What  a  lesson  in  freedom  is  illustrated  by  this  ?  The  Will  can  so 
^^mtrol  the  lower  or  sense-mind  that,  by  concentration,  it  may  free 
itself  of  any  thought,  or  penetrate  anywhere,  afar.  Nothing  on  the 
-^^nse-side  has  yet  been  discovered  by  the  sharp-eyed  scientists,  to 
Explain  the  above  case ;  and  the  fact  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
Cause  is  not  on  the  side  of  body.  Power  lies  in  the  exact  explanation, 
^or,  if  I  am  right,  there  is  much  more  to  be  grasped  in  connection  with  it. 
But  here  is  a  different  and  more  home-like  question.  You  ask  me 
^bout  my  method  of  teaching. 

First  of  all,  I  make  an  incision  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  pupil. 
TPhis,  however,  requires  study,  of  his  strength,  his  weakness,  of  all  his 
prejudice.     It  is  well,  nay,  it  is  necessary,  to  study  the  race,  t\v^  m\\fcx« 


404  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

itance  and  the  childhood.  It  is  necessary  to  know  the  general  equip- 
ment of  the  personality.  Then  I  seize  the  most  salient  and  vulnerable 
or  approachable  points  with  metaphor,  suggestion,  symbolism,  syllo- 
gism, synopsis,  anything  or  everything — so  I  achieve  a  result;  but 
always  excepting  what  will  take  away  from  the  freedom. 

The  relation  of  student  and  master  is  very  close  and  sweet  because 
it  is  silent  and  confidential,  and  requires,  on  the  one  hand,  courage,  for 
the  student  is  always  sensitive  under  the  eye  of  scrutiny ;   and,  on  the 
other  hand,  courage,  for  the  master  may  be  weak  at  some  untried  point, 
there  being  no  perfection  possible  in  a  world  of  such  varied  vibration. 
The  affirmative  method  is  right,  but  it  is  incomplete.     It  is  suggestive 
in  character  and  suggestion  is  the  mental  seed.    To  teach  by  affirmation 
is  to  plant  seed  in  the  mind.     But  this  seed  may  go  on  stony  ground 
I  always  try,  therefore,  to  plough  up  the  spot  before  I  sow  the  seed, » 
that  I  may  not  only  see  a  crop,  but  that  my  labor  is  not  wasted.   I, 
therefore,  seize  the  place  of  least  resistance  and  sow  my  seed  with  mod 
purpose  and  aim.     I  compassionate  both  teacher  and  pupil,  for  their 
work  is  earnest. 

Here  I  will  end  for  to-day,  dear  friend. 

To-morrow  I  will  take  my  pick  and  go  gold-hunting  in  the  Glorious 
Mountains  again.     This  is  a  privilege.     You  are  a  blessing  to  me. 

With  gratitude, 

Marion  Hunt. 


A  WOMAN'S  HAND. 

A  woman's  hand !  so  weak  to  see. 
So  strong  in  guiding  power  to  be. 

So  light,  so  delicately  planned, 

That  you  can  hardly  understand 
The  strength  in  its  fair  symmetry. 

A  hand  to  set  a  nation  free, 
Or  curb  a  strong  man's  tyranny 
By  simple  gesture  of  command — 
A  woman's  hand. 

O,  man,  upon  life's  troubled  sea. 
When  tempest-tossed  by  fate's  decree. 
Though  fortune  hold  thee  contraband, 
Hope  on !  for  thou  shalt  win  to  land 
If  somewhere  is  stretched  out  to  thee 
A  woman's  hand. 

—  lV£simimst€r  GmstiU. 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  405 

RESPONSIVE  READING  AND  MEDITATION.* 

Responsive  Reading. 

Minister — Who  loveth  instruction,  loveth  knowledge. 
Congregation — He  that  hateth  reproof  is  brutish. 
Minister — The  thoughts  of  the  righteous  are  right. 
Congregation — But  the  counsels  of  the  wicked  are  deceit. 
Minister — Deceit  is  in  the  heart  of  them  that  imagine  evil. 
Congregation — But  to  the  counsellors  of  peace  is  joy. 

I 

Minister — The  wise  man  needs  much,  but  wants  nothing. 
Congregation — The  fool  needs  nothing,  but  wants  everything. 
Minister — ^What  we  bear  is  not  so  important  as  how  we  bear  it. 
Congregation — ^We  become  happy  by  not  needing  happiness. 
Minister — He  is  free  who  arises  above  all  injuries. 
Congregation — And  j&nds  all  his  joys  within  himself. 
Minister — Wisdom  shows  her  strength  by  her  peace  amid  trouble, 
like  an  army  encamped  in  safety  in  a  hostile  land. 

(Selections  from  the  Proverbs  and  Seneca's  Sayings.     Compiled,) 

Meditation. 

Infinite  and  Supernal  Presence,  by  whose  power  we  are  sustained, 
"hose  light  is  our  illumination,  we  desire  to  know  and  be  quickened  by 
by  warning  influence,  in  every  thought  and  impulse  of  our  natures. 
Hiat  Thou  art  we  cannot  know  save  as  we  realize  thy  presence  in  our 
onsciousness.  We  desire  to  learn  and  be  upheld  by  thy  spirit  of  har- 
lony,  of  peacefulness  and  love.  We  desire  to  dwell  in  the  conscious 
nity  of  spritual  brotherhood.  We  desire  to  know  no  evil  in  our  neigh- 
ors;  to  free  ourselves  from  all  suspicion,  envy,  misinterpretation  or 
nkind  insinuation.  We  desire  to  recognize  only  good  in  all.  We 
esire  most  of  all  to  hold  steadfast  in  our  spiritual  discernment  the 
ivine  reality  which  constitutes  the  real  being  of  each  of  us ;  knowing 
hich  we  are  freed  from  the  illusions  of  temporal  experience — ^as  the 
in  knows  not  the  shadow  that  falls  beneath  its  ray.  We  would  live 
tx)ve  the  cloud,  above  contention  and  distress.  We  would  know  the 
lexhaustible  resources  of  sweet  and  holy  science.     Amen. 


Three  possibilities  of  life,  according  to  Science,  are  open  to  all 
ving  organisms  —  Evolution,  Balance  and  Degeneration. — Henry 
>rummond. 


♦  From  Service  of  the  Metropolitan  Independent  Church,  19  West  44th  Street, 
cw  York  City. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT. 


WITH  EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   INSPIRATION. 

In  another  column  we  give  an  account  of  an  experience  in  thought 
transference  between  H.  B.  Tierney  and  Charles  Gemmer,  which,  as  a 
psychic  experience,  is  interesting  in  itself,  but  which  possesses  a  stl 
greater  value  as  an  illustration  of  both  the  imaging  faculty  and  the 
symbolizing  tendency  of  the  mind. 

The  experience  recounted  by  the  sensitive  receiver  of  a  message  sent 
in  picture  by  the  mind  of  another,  is  vivid  and  realistic  as  regards 
what  was  seen  in  the  picture,  and  shows  accuracy  of  detail  in  rcj«- 
sentation  of  the  thought  of  the  sender.  The  mind  of  the  rccciYcr, 
however,  was  not  content  with  just  what  was  given  him  by  the  other 
mind,  but  proceeded  to  elaborate  upon  all  the  details  according  to  his 
own  emotional  nature,  and  to  weave  into  it  every  addititonal  beantj 
and  excess  of  brilliancy  that  sentiment  could  suggest.  Not  the  least 
noticeable  fact  about  it  is  that  every  detail  of  extra  embellishment  con- 
ceived by  the  receiving  mind,  was  as  distinctly  seen  in  the  picture  as 
though  it  had  been  placed  there  by  the  sender,  and  no  suspicion 
entered  the  conscious  thought  of  the  receiver  that  he  was  adding  any- 
thing, or,  in  fact,  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the  transaction 
other  than  as  an  observer. 

Next,  he  formed  the  conclusion  that  he  had  seen  a  vision  caused 
by  other  than  worldly  activities.  It  is  but  a  step  from  this  to  claims  of 
direct  inspiration ;  and  it  is  a  ground  of  mental  action  where  great 
caution  and  a  fine  discrin^ination  are  necessary  to  determine  between 
inspiration  of  truth  from  above,  and  psychic  impingement  of  thought 
developed  by  living  persons  here.  The  imagery  is  the  same  in  cither 
event,  and  the  subtile  action  of  the  mind  in  symbolizing  its  thoughts, 
both  conscious  and  subconscious,  is  almost  beyond  the  comprehension 

406 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  407 

of  the  inexperienced.  Mind  images  all  its  thought-action  and  symbol- 
izes all  its  ideas  and  conceptions  of  principles.  Judgment  rendered 
entirely  on  the  psychic  sensations,  therefore,  is  certain  to  be  erroneous. 


THE  TRUE  EDUCATION. 

In  the  rush  for  wealth  that  characterizes  this  age,  we  are  apt  to 
overlook  the  value  of,  and  the  necessity  for,  education.  The  greatest 
desire  is  to  become  rich,  with  the  result  that  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  is  neglected.  This  eager  striving  after  wealth 
necessarily  produces  men  and  women  who  cannot  understand  nor 
]  appreciate  the  arts  and  sciences,  literature  and  sociology  of  the  past 
I      and  present. 

The   greatest  evil   is  ignorance.     Man  is  not  properly  educated. 
Men  and  women  are  equipped  with  no  more  knowledge  than  is  neces- 
sary to  enable  them  to  conduct  the  very  ordinary  and  simple  affairs  of 
fife,  and  generally  imperfect  at  that.     Most  of  these  men  and  women 
tre  graduates  of  our  public  schools,  and  many  of  them  of  our  colleges. 
They  compose  the  mass  of   the  citizens.     They  are  called  upon  to 
decide  by  their  votes  questions  of  great  importance,  for  they  elect 
legislatures  and  congresses  to  enact  laws  for  the  welfare  of  all  the 
people.     While  having  a  voice  in  the  government  of  the  nation  they 
bave  not  prepared  themselves  for  their  duties.     They  know  nothing 
^bout  the  questions  that  come  up  for  solution  upon  which  depend  their 
prosperity  and  happiness.     The  result  is  they  are  led  by  unscrupulous 
men,  and  our  political  life  is  tainted  with  corruption.     If  the  people 
^ere  properly  educated  this  would  not  be. 

To  prepare  the  individual  for  life,  to  acquaint  him  with  the  laws  of 
nature,  "under  which  name,"  said  Professor  Huxley,  **I  include  not 
merely  things  and  their  forces,  but  men  and  their  ways,**  to  make 
known  the  principles  of  morality,  justice,  liberty  and  government ;  to 
broaden  the  aspirations,  to  deepen  the  sympathies,  to  ennoble  the 
passions,  to  cultivate  the  intellect — this  is  the  purpose  of  education. 

The  growth  of  man  through  the  ages  has  left  us  in  possession  of 
more  knowledge  than  the  world  had  at  any  other  period  of  time.  We 
are  in  a  position  to  know  the  why  and  wherefore  of  things,  to  explain 
what  has  long  been  considered  mysteries  beyond  solution.  The  whole 
round  of  thought  and  action  has  been  changed.  We  have  a  basis  for 
government,  and  for  all  the  other  affairs  of  life,  and  this  basis  is 
natural.  In  every  sphere  of  life  law  reigns.  All  that  is  done  is  in 
conformity  with  law,  has  adequate  causes.     Nothing  happens  by  itself. 


408  THE   METAPHYSICAL    MAGAZINE. 

Everything  is  dependent  upon  other  things,  upon  that  which  precedes 
it  and  that  which  surrounds  it.  For  thousands  of  years  the  people 
have  been  taught  otherwise,  and  they  have  remained  in  a  state  of 
ignorance. 

Whatever  progress  this  world  has  made  is  due  to  education.  Time 
has  been,  and  is  the  great  teacher  of  humanity.  Experience  develops 
the  heart  and  brain.  Every  fact  that  is  added  to  the  store  of  knowl- 
edge, every  invention  or  discovery  that  has  increased  the  comforts  and 
happiness  of  life,  every  thought  or  action,  possesses  an  educational 
value. 

The  time  has  arrived  for  a  new  system  of  education,  a  system  that 
is  in  accord  with  the  science  of  the  age.  Instead  of  adapting  tlie 
individual  to  the  curriculum,  the  curriculum  must  be  adapted  to  tk 
needs  of  the  individual.  The  knowledge  that  is  most  necessary  for  ^ 
preservation  of  existence,  and  for  the  mental  and  moral  expansion  d 
man ;  that  will  conduce  to  right  living,  to  a  happier,  more  beneficent 
social  state,  is  the  knowledge  that  education  should  impart,  should 
train  the  mind  to  acquire  all  through  life.  Education  is  the  means  to 
a  higher  condition  of  thought  and  life,  which  means  the  production  of 
a  higher  type  of  man. 

The  true  basis  of  education  is  science.  Yet  science  is  neglected  in 
the  ordinary  instruction  of  the  individual.  Truth  is  the  daughter  d 
science.  Yet,  for  ages,  down  to  to-day,  the  human  race  has  been 
taught  that  truth  comes  from  some  supernatural  source,  of  which,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  no  one  knows  anything,  since  it  does  not  exist 
This  is  one  of  the  wrongs  of  our  present  education — it  teaches  as  truth 
the  fancies  and  dreams  of  ignorant  men. 

The  new  education  will  tell  you  how  to  live.  The  observance  of  the 
laws  of  hygiene  is  necessary  to  the  living  of  a  clean,  healthful  and 
vigorous  life.  These  laws  every  human  being  should  know.  Hence, 
instruction  in  anatomy,  physiology  and  sanitary  science  is  a  part  of 
education.  Without  a  clean  and  healthy  body  it  is  impossible  to  have 
a  good  and  healthy  brain — it  is  impossible  for  the  intellect  to  reach  its 
best  possible  development. 

We  should  understand  the  nature  of  the  things  around  us  and  our 
own  organisms.  We  should  know  the  properties  of  matter,  the 
ingredients  of  the  food  we  eat,  the  composition  of  our  bodies  and  of  all 
the  things  with  which  we  have  to  do.  We  should  know  why  things  arc 
what  they  are — why  wood  is  wood,  and  why  it  bursts  into  flame  and  is 
consumed  when  fire  is  applied  to  it.  And  here  the  knowledge  of 
chemistry  is  indispensable. 

We   should   know  something  about  biology.      It  is  important  to 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  409 

understand  under  what  conditions  life  can  or  cannot  be  maintained. 
We  should  know  something  about  physics,  for  a  knowledge  of  heat, 
'electricity  and  light  is  essential  in  a  practical  life.  We  should  know 
something  about  botany  and  geology,  for  nothing  better  cultivates  the 
mind  and  refines  the  emotions  than  an  understanding  of  the  phenomena 
and  an  appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  nature.  Unless  we  have  a 
knowledge  of  ethics  we  do  not  know  how  to  act  toward  our  fellow- 
men  ;  we  are  incapable  of  right  conduct.  Unless  we  are  acquainted 
with  biology  and  psychology  we  cannot  understand  sociology;  it  is 
impossible  to  comprehend  the  growth  of  nations,  and  to  understand 
the  meaning  of  that  mass  of  literature  labelled  history. 

The  true  education  is  the  scientific  one.     The  scientific  method 
alone  gives  us  accurate  knowledge.     It  alone  furnishes  safe  guides  for 
conduct.     The  education  of  man  is  incomplete  without  the  study  of 
the  sciences.     A  knowledge  of  our  position  in  nature  is  of  great  assist- 
ance in  the  preservation  of  life,  in  the  gaining  of  a  livelihood,  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  and  bearing  of  the  responsibilities  of  manhood 
.and  womanhood;  it  is  essential  to  good  parentage  and  citizenship. 
The   knowledge   most   necessary  to   the  welfare  of  the  individual  is 
.largely  left  untaught  in  our  public  schools,  and  receives  insufficient 
attention  in  our  colleges.     There  is  a  great  need  for  reform  in  our 
present  educational  system.*  *  * — The  Harbinger^  India. 


Two  places  I  know — both  are  quite  near  at  hand — 
Called  Busyman's  Country  and  Lazyman's  Land ; 
And  you're  given  each  morning  a  chance  to  decide 
In  the  first  one  to  walk,  in  the  other  to  ride. 

In  Busyman's  Country  the  day  seems  quite  short. 
And  they  have  not  much  time  there  to  frolic  or  sport. 
But  yet,  if  you'll  notice,  when  evening  comes  round, 
A  happier  country  could  hardly  be  found. 

In  Lazyman's  Land  how  the  hours  drag  by! 
There's  nothing  to  do  there  except  yawn  and  sigh ; 
And  when  nightfall  comes,  in  the  whole  of  the  place 
You'll  find  scarce  a  smile  or  a  satisfied  face. 

Secular  Thought. 


Such  as  are  thy  habitual  thoughts,  such  also  will  be  the  character 
of  thy  mind — for  the  soul  is  dyed  by  the  thoughts. — Marcus  Aurelius, 


410  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

VACCINATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

William  Tebb,  the  champion  of  Anti-Vaccination  in  England, 
writing  to  Dr.  Alexander  Wilder,  on  the  21st  of  July,  1898,  gives  this 
gratifying  intelligence : 

**My  Dear  Dr.  Wilder. — You  will,  I  am  sure,  share  with  me  the 
satisfaction  which  our  friends  have  experienced  by  the  abolition  of  the 
Compulsory  Clause  of  the  Vaccination  Law  in  England  and  Wales— 
thus  practically  putting  an  end  to  the  vaccination  tyranny,  after  oor 
long  and  arduous  struggle.  In  future,  the  opponents  of  the  Jennerian 
superstition  will  be  able  to  escape  prosecution,  by  making  a  declaratioo 
to  the  eiffect  that  they  are  conscientiously  opposed  to  vaccination. 
You  will  have  received  copies  of  the  Daily  Chronicle  and  the  Daiij 
News^  giving  full  particulars  of  the  victory  which  has  been  achieved,  aal 
which  will  encourage  those  who,  like  yourself,  are  still  in  the  midst  d 
the  fight.  What  has  taken  place  here  will  make  it  easier  for  the  advo- 
cates of  parental  freedom  in  all  parts  of  the  world. " 

The  contest  which  Mr.  Tebb  mentions  came  off  on  the  19th  of  July, 
and  was  prolonged  to  the  20th.  Th^  Royal  Commission  had  recom- 
mended  the  abolition  of  compulsory  vaccination,  but  the  Government, 
which  is  Conservative,  had  introduced  a  bill  evading  this  propositioo. 
Mr.  Henry  Chaplin,  Chairman  of  the  Local  Government  Board,  w» 
the  author  and  champion  of  the  measure.  The  attempt  was  met  with 
decision,  and  a  warm  debate  was  held. 

Mr.  Pickersgill  declared  that  the  bill  was  a  covert  attempt  to  rein- 
state compulsory  vaccination,  and  set  criminal  proceedings  in  fuD 
operation  against  those  who  were  opposed.  Times  had  changed. 
**  Vaccination  now,  in  the  opinion  of  the  most  eminent  authorities,  was 
no  more  worthy  of  support  by  force  and  fine  than  a  doctor's  ordinary 
prescription. " 

Mr.  Channing  said  that  such  a  bill  wanted  far  greater  scientific  and 
medical  justification  than  the  evidence  at  present  accessible  provided. 

Sir  Henry  Fowler  repeated  the  modern  argument  about  vaccina- 
tion imperfectly  performed.  He  admitted,  however,  that  compulsicm 
was  absolutely  at  an  end.  It  had  ceased  to  be  a  question  of  principle 
and  had  become  purely  a  question  of  expediency. 

Mr.  Chaplin  remarked  that  compulsion  was  the  law  now,  but  that 
this  bill  mitigated  it.  He  insisted  that  the  intelligence  of  the  country 
fully  supported  the  Ministry  in  this  matter.  **The  whole  agitation 
against  vaccination  was  the  result  of  widespread  ignorance  in  regard 
to  it." 

Mr.  Labouchere  said  that  whether  the  Government  liked  to  pass  the 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  411 

r  not,  he  would  guarantee  that  the  people  of  Northampton  would 
e  vaccinated,  and  that  they  would  refuse  to  pay,  either  directly 
directly,  any  fines  imposed  for  non-vaccination.  As  far  as  he 
rstood  it,  immunity  from  smallpox  disappeared  seven  years  after 
nation.  In  that  case  they  would  all  have  to  be  re-vaccinated, 
he  bill  then  being  taken  up  in  due  form.  Sir  William  Foster  moved 
nendment  to  the  effect  that  within  four  months  from  the  birth  of 
Id  the  parent  or  person  having  custody  may  make  a  statutory 
ration  before  not  less  than  two  magistrates  in  petty  sessions,  of 
ientious  objection  to  the  vaccination  of  such  child,  which  must  be 
tered  with  the  vaccination  officers  for  the  district  where  the  child 
is,as  no  prosecution  shall  be  had  for  non- vaccination.  He  referred 
e  fact  that  the  most  loathsome  diseases  had  been  imparted  by 
nation.  Since  1872  there  had  been  a  steady  decline  in  the  number 
lildren  vaccinated  and  at  the  present  time,  quite  one-third  of  the 
ren  born  escaped  vaccination  altogether.  A  law  leading  to  such 
on  was  not  worth  keeping  on  the  statute  book. 
T.  Chaplin  made  a  sad  plea  for  his  bill.  It  was  not  conscience 
produced  neglect  of  vaccination ;  it  was  negligence  and  careless- 
Since  the  Royal  Commission  was  appointed,  there  had  been  no 
jst  attempt  to  enforce  the  law.  The  annual  birth-rate  was 
t  922,000.  In  1893  there  were  150,000  unvaccinated ;  in  1897, 
00;  and  now  it  may  be  put  down  at  300,000.  He  threatened  a 
rence  of  fearful  small-pox  epidemics. 

hen  the  Conservatives  rallied  to  help  their  colleague.  Long, 
curt  and  Priestley  came  valiantly  to  the  rescue.  It  only  provoked 
ond  sweeping  of  the  tide.  The  Foster  amendment,  it  was  insisted, 
d  tend  to  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order. 

[r.  Broadhurst  asked  what  Mr.  Chaplin,  as  chairman  of  the  Local 
rnment  Board,  intended  to  do  in  Leicester,  where  almost  the  entire 
lation  were  against  compulsory  vaccination.  He  believed  that  if 
:entleman  did  not  abandon  his  vexatious,  despotic  and  un-English 
^sal,  he  would  find  many  unions,  townships  and  cities  in  open 
t. 

[r.  Llewellyn  regarded  the  Government  bill  as  unworkable. 
[r.  Steadman  objected  to  coercion  in  any  form.  Vaccination  had 
lished  during  the  last  five  years,  but  so  also  had  smallpox.  In 
ase  of  a  man  who  performed  an  illegal  operation,  the  law  sentenced 
to  f)enal  servitude;  but  if  a  child  died  through  being  vaccinated, 
aw  did  not  pass  any  sentence  on  the  medical  practitioner  who  per- 
ed  the  operation.  **Yet,"  he  added  significantly,  **if  I  regarded 
question  from  a  party  point  of  view,  I  should  like  to  see  this  bill 


1 


412  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

passed,  because  it  would  lose  to  the  Conservatives  thousands  of  votes 
at  the  next  election." 

Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour  made  a  speech  to  conciliate  all  parties.  He 
eulogized  vaccination  and  said  that  anti-vaccinators  were  but  a  small 
minority.  Yet  there  had  been  changes  among  doctors  themsclvei 
Since  the  Act  of  1854,  and  that  of  1874,  the  difficulty  to  enforce  vac- 
cination had  increased.  Even  members  of  the  medical  profession  do 
not  speak  of  vaccination  in  the  same  dogmatic  way  as  they  did  twenty 
or  twenty-five  years  ago. 

Sir  Charles  Dilke  moved  to  strike  out  the  clause  empowering  local 
authorities  to  spend  money  for  diffusion  of  literature  and  information 
as  to  advantages  of  vaccination. 

Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour  remarked  that  it  was  perfectly  possible  to  coucfc 
arguments  for  vaccination  in  such  terms  as  to  drive  any  one  from  it 
He  offered  to  write  such  a  pamphlet. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Chaplin  the  of)eration  of  the  Act  was  limited  to 
January  i,  1904. 

The  bill  then  went  to  a  third  reading. 

Mr.  Tebb  has  richly  earned  his  title  to  feel  elated.  Ever  since  Dr. 
W.  J.  Collins  convinced  him,  refusing  to  vaccinate  his  daughter,  he 
has  been  a  strenuous  opposer  of  vaccination.  He  was  prosecuted  and 
fined,  time  and  again,  till  very  shame  compelled  his  prosecutors  to 
desist.  He  has  spent  a  fortune  in  this  holy  crusade.  His  co-laborers 
number  among  the  most  intellectual  men  of  England.  Such  men  as 
Gladstone,  Bright,  F.  W.  Newman,  Herbert  Spencer,  Dr.  Crieghton, 
D.  J.  J.  G.  Wilkinson,  A.  R.  Wallace  stood  with  him  and  share  his 
triumph. 

As  he  says  in  his  letter,  this  will  make  it  easier  for  the  friends  of 
parental  freedom  elsewhere.  With  one  such  man  in  the  United  States, 
it  would  not  be  many  years  before  America  would  stand  with  England 
and  Switzerland  for  personal  freedom  from  bodily  contamination. 


RESULTS  OF  VACCINATION. 
Contention  That  a  Permanent  Morbid  Condition  Follows. 

To  THE  Editor  of   The  Press: 

Sir. — For  your  manliness  in  admitting  to  your  columns  communia- 
tions  differing  in  sentiment  from  your  own  views  I  thank  you  heartily. 
Approving  of  what  the  several  writers  have  said  in  relation  to  vaccina- 
tion and  the  evils  resulting  from  it  to  the  soldiers,  I  beg  leave  also  to 
add  a  word. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  413 

Sir  James  Paget,  of  London,  is  one  who  stands  above  others  in  the 
ranks  of  orthodox  medicine.  His  works  are  regarded  as  superior 
authority.  In  his  treatise  on  surgery  he  explains  the  supposed  utility 
of  vaccination.  He  declares  that  it  produces  a  permanent  morbid 
condition  of  the  blood,  and  that  this  morbid  condition  while  it  con- 
tinues is  a  safeguard  against  smallpox. 

Accepting  these  statements,  the  former  of  which  is  undoubtedly 
true,  it  seems  to  be  certain  that  the  vaccinated  volunteers  in  the  war 
ivith  Spain  were  placed  in  a  permanent  state  of  disease  by  being  vac- 
cinated and  so  were  made  directly  liable  to  every  morbific  influence 
existing  wherever  they  went.  It  can  be  no  wonder  that  so  many  suc- 
cumbed. It  is  the  flrst  step  that  costs;  the  others  are  natural  conse- 
quences. 

Alexander  Wilder,  M.  t). 

Newark,  N.  J.,  Sept.  21,  1898. 

— From  The  New  York  Press, 


A   PSYCHIC   EXPERIENCE. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  August  24,  1898. 

DsAR  Editor. — The  enclosed  experience  in  itself  is  remarkable  and 
worthy  of  most  careful  study  and  examination.  I,  the  impressor,  sent 
to  Chas.  G.  (whose  statement  is  enclosed),  from  Atchison,  Kansas, 
twenty-two  miles  from  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  the  following  thought  image — 
which  I  now  copy  verbatim  from  the  notebook  in  which  I  wrote  it, 
June  3oth,  the  day  I  sent  the  impression,  at  5  :o8  P.  M. 

Atchison,  Kansas.,  6 — 20,  '98. 

Impressed  C.  G.  this  eve;  very  clear  scene.  Vapory,  transient 
cloud,  obscuring  bright  star — star  in  the  East.  Cloud  changes  colors 
— very  beautiful.  Star  shines  through  it.  Cloud  gradually  disappears, 
revealing  piercing  star.     Very  strong.     Time  three  minutes. 

H.  B.  T. 

I  well  remember  how  strong  was  the  impression,  and  after  I  had 
sent  it  I  was  confident  he  (C.  G.)  had  received  the  picture  perfectly. 
There  was  that  same  feeling  of  certainty.  We  had  had  these  experi- 
ments very  often  before,  but  this  is  by  far  the  most  impressive  and 
realistic.  C.  G.  has  not  stopped  talking  about  it  yet;  he  calls  it  a 
wonder.    You  are  at  liberty  to  publish  this,  as  I  deem  it  a  duty  to  give 


414  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

the  public  and  advance  thinkers  the  privilege  of  examining  so  impor- 
tant and  so  perfect  an  experiment.  H.  B.  Tiernby. 

DATUM   OP   EXPERIMENT. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  June  20,  1898. 
Time  5:10  P.  M. 

I  had  not  for  two  weeks  received  any  impression  from  H.  B.  T.  On 
the  evening  of  June  20  I  took  a  stroll  in  the  East  End,  to  Wyatt  Park. 
I  walked  leisurely  along  enjoying  the  varied  scenes  of  activity  on  the 
broad  street.  Gradually  my  mind  became  more  composed  and  I  with- 
drew my  thoughts  to  things  interior  and  presently  was  absorbed  in 
thought.  While  thus  walking  along,  suddenly  the  most  remarkable 
thing  occurred !  Now,  I  am  not  superstitious,  nor  do  I  believe  in  the 
5«/^r-natural — believing  that  nothing  can  be  above  Nature,  and  that 
all  things,  however  strange  they  may  appear  to  our  weakly  intellect, 
are  only  manifestations  of  an  immutable  law,  their  strangeness  existing 
only  relatively  to  our  ignorance  of  their  cause  and  actions.  The  weak- 
ness is  all  on  our  side.  But  I  can  accept  as  Truth  that  which  I  know 
to  be  truth.  This  ** wonderful  experience"  I  have  recently  passed 
through  has  very  strongly  impressed  me. 

I  had  been  in  a  certain  train  of  thought  for  some  few  moments  and 
the  vision  that  appeared  before  me  I  certainly  witnessed  with  other 
than  bodily  eyes,  or  beheld  with  some  inner  Being.  It  would  be  very 
difficult  to  describe  the  vividness  and  acute  strength  of  the  vision.  It 
pierced  my  very  being.  I  shall  never  be  able  to  forget  it.  ♦  •  ♦  I 
saw  a  clear  azure  heaven,  in  the  midst  of  which  shone  forth  a  single 
shining  star.  Its  golden  brilliancy  was  blinding.  I  could  catch  but 
imperfect  glimpses  of  it  as  there  now  arose  a  bright  tinted,  gently 
rolling  cloud  which  nearly  obscured  the  shining  star.  The  beautiful 
rose-tinted  cloud  gently  moved  from  south  to  north  (the  vision  was  in 
the  east  and  I  was  walking  west). 

Its  brightness  dazzled  the  eye  and  filled  the  spirit.     Now,  it  scenicd 
to  fill  with  flowing  flame.     It  now  seemed  to  extend  to  the  far-most 
boundaries  of  the  deep  azure  dome.    From  the  bosom  of  this  mysterious 
golden  cloud  shone  forth  the  highly  luminous  star.     It  gleamed  from 
afar  with  glorious  splendor.     It  seemed  the  emblem  of  the  power  of 
man.     The  cloud  slowly  passed  on  like  a  subtle  veil  before  the  gem  of 
concentrated  light,  which  breathed  forth  light  and  music.     Its  beams 
were  like  the  light  of  Aurora,  and  were  as  sweet  waters  and  lifted  my 
soul  into  Infinity.     All  the  music  that  is  in  the  earth  of  man,  or  in  the 
stellar  orbs,  equalled  not  the  harmony  of  that  silent  rhythm  of  Infini- 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT,  415 

tude.  Each  moment  the  evolving  veil  changed  its  delicate  tints.  Now 
clothed  in  rose  lustre,  white  and  emerald,  blue  and  fiery  sparkling. 
*Mike  the  flame  pillars  of  Paradise."  But  ever  behind  this  thin,  vapory 
cloud- veil,  the  star  shone  through  like  light  condensed,  like  solid  sun- 
beams, or  like  the  burnished  foam  of  waters. 

Slowly  the  cloud  passed  by  and  the  lone  star  suddenly  shone  forth 
in  terrible  splendor.  The  veil  had  passed  away  and  now  melted  into 
the  azure  ether  of  the  calm,  deep  sky.  The  vision  overcame  me.  The 
splendor  of  the  star  pierced  me.  Suddenly  all  vanished.  I  stood  on 
the  street,  amazed,  bewildered,  full  of  deepest  awe.  I  was  deeply  and 
most  reverently  impressed.  It  is  impossible  to  convey  in  words  the 
vividness  of  the  vision,  for  this  I  naturally  concluded  my  remarkable 
experience  to  be  at  the  time  until  I  had  learned  that  H.  B.  T.  had  so 
impressed  me. 

June  22,  1898. 
Above  is  my  feeble  attempt  to  describe  a  wonderfully  impressive 
phenomenon. 

[Signed.]  Chas.  Gbmmbr,  Involuntary  Recipient, 

and 
H.  B.  TiERNEY,  Impressor  and  Writer. 
August  23,  1898. 


NO   TERRORS   FOR   GEORGIE. 

Next  Door  Neighbor — You  are  welcome  to  all  the  turkey  dressing 
rou  want,  Georgie,  but  aren't  you  afraid  you'll  eat  too  much  and  be 
ick  ? 

Visiting  Boy — No'm.  We're  faith  cure  people  over  to  our  house, 
'd  like  some  more  dressing. — Chicago  Tribune, 


BOOK    REVIEWS. 


HE  GROUNDWORK  OF  SCIENCE.  A  Study  of  Epistemology.  By 
St.  George  Mivart,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  Cloth,  321  pp.,  $1.75. 
New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.     London,  Bliss,  Sands  &  Co. 

The  present  volume  is  devoted  to  an  attempt  to  **  satisfy  the  desire  of  the 
itional  mind  to  know  what  is  the  basis  of  his  own  knowledge  and  the  ultimate 
roundworkof  all  science,  which  calls  for  a  science  of  science" — Epistemology — 
id  '*  cannot  rest  satisfied  without  a  study  of  the  grounds  of  all  the  learning  the 
lind  of  Man  can  acquire. " 

The  Author  has  produced  a  very  comprehensive  work,  searching  into  the 


416  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

problems  of  science  with  skill,  perception  and  probity  to  the  depths  for  true 
knowledge.  In  brief,  a  scientific  work  which  appeals  to  the  reason,  and  whid 
the  philosophical  mind  will  peruse  with  pleasure,  and  the  student  find  a 
valuable  aid  to  the  elucidation  of  the  facts  of  life. 

THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT.  By  Annie  Rix  Militz.  Qoth.  loi  pp. 
F.  M.  Harley  Publishing  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

In  analyzing  **The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  the  Author  of  the  book  before 
us  reaches  the  depth  of  its  meaning  through  pure  metaphysical  reasoning  tad 
thus  throws  the  clear  light  of  Truth  where  much  darkness  has  prevailed.  A 
careful  reading  of  this  little  volume  will  bring  comfort  to  the  faithful  heart,  tad 
guidance  to  the  earnest  seeker  after  Truth.  Works  of  this  class  are  modi 
needed  and  serve  a  noble  purpose,  while  penetrating  to  the  wondrous  beaoticf 
of  the  New  Testament,  in  thus  giving,  through  metaphysical  philosophy,  tbe 
true  interpretation  of  its  writings. 

HELPS  TO  RIGHT  LIVING.  By  Katharine  H.  Newcomb.  Qoth.  171  PP^. 
$1.25.     Geo.  H.  Ellis,  141  Franklin  Street,  Boston. 

This  book  is  a  series  of  metaphysical  lessons  containing  "the  same  troth ii 
different  dresses,  so  that  it  may  appeal  to  many  minds."  It  is  written  with  as 
earnest  desire  to  help  those  who  are  striving  to  live  rightly.  The  Author  1^ 
in  her  Preface:  "If  the  reader  will  take  one  lesson  at  a  time,  try  to  get  the 
spirit  of  it,  and  live  it  for  a  week,  he  will,  perhaps,  derive  more  benefit  thao  bf 
any  other  method,"  and  truly  the  reader  will  find  much  food  for  thought  ii 
each  one  of  these  practical,  vibrating  essays.  To  teach  people  to  apply  metar 
physical  principles  to  daily  living,  is  to  extricate  them  from  the  bondage  of 
selfhood.     Such  teaching  opens  the  way  to  freedom  through  self-knowledge. 

OTHER   PUBLICATIONS   RECEIVED. 

PSYCHOLOGY,  HYPNOTISM,  PERSONAL  MAGNETISM,  AND  CUIRr 
VOYANCE.    Illustrated.    By  William  A.  Barnes.    Paper,  Sa  pp.   Price. 

25  cents.     Published  by  the  Author. 

IS  FLESH-EATING  MORALLY  DEFENSIBLE?  By  Sidney  H.  Beaid. 
Paper,  29  pp.  Published  by  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Age.  The  Beacon, 
Ilfracombe,  England. 

EXCHANGES. 

THE  BRAHMAVADIN.  Monthly.  $2.00  per  annum;  15  cents  single  copf. 
Triplicane,  Madras,  India.     T.  E.  Comba,  65  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

NEUE  METAPHYSISCHE  RUNDSCHAU.  Monatiechrift.  jShrlidi  » 
Mark.  Einzelne  Hefte  i. — Mark.  (Inland)  14. — Mark  (i.3o)  (Attii»4)» 
Paul  Zillmann,  2^hlendorf  (Berlin). 


TH 

METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

^OL.  VIII.  NOVEMBER,  1898.  No.  7. 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 

"The  maddest  yet  the  greatest  language  in  the  world." 

One  of  the  characteristic  utterances  which  Mr.  Dickens  put  into 
he  mouth  of  Samuel  Weller,  is  the  comparison  of  **  addin'  insult  to 
njury,  as  the  parrot  said,  ven  they  not  only  took  him  from  his  native 
»nd,  but  made  him  talk  the  English  langwidge  arterwards." 

Foreigners,  and  even  countrymen  of  our  own,  who  are  ambitious 
>  pass  for  scholars,  sometimes  make  it  a  point  to  rail  at  our  ver- 
^cular  as  being  ill-constructed  and  barbarous.  I  once  heard  a 
crman  describe  it  as  a  **yargon,"  and  some  years  ago,  a  **  Contrib- 
tor"  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  made  use  of  the  phrase,  **  English 
^ause  it  is  nothing  else." 

When  we  hear  these  gibes  there  comes  up  sometimes  a  tempta- 
^n  to  reply  to  them  after  the  manner  of  Mrs.  Poyser,  by  admitting 
e  imputation  without  disputing,  and  then  pleading  in  its  behalf  that 
e  principal  purpose  of  the  faults  of  the  language  is  to  counter- 
glance  somt  notorious  infirmity  of  the  native  or  favorite  dialect  of 
e  individual  who  is  scoffing.  It  is  indeed  very  true  that  our  English 
rigue  abounds  with  defects,  and  is  not  well  suited  in  many  respects 
t"  the  niceties  of  philologic  dilettanteism.  It  has  been  faulted  for 
Regularities  in  orthography,  the  unfortunate  uncertainty  which  often 
^ists  in  regard  to  the  pronouncing  of  words,  and  for  the  confusion 
bich  is  incident  to  the  forming  of  a  part  of  the  vocabulary  some- 
bat  promiscuously  from  several  diverse  languages. 

It  may  be  pleaded,  however,  as  a  reply  to  these  strictures,  that 

417 


418  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

there  is  not  a  language  in  existence  among  the  civilized  nations  which 
is  not  made  up  in  similar  ways  from  other  dialects.  Even  the  Latin 
and  Greek  have  variations  in  orthography,  and  many  words  that  are 
foreign  and  barbarous ;  and  the  Hebrew,  as  we  find  it  in  the  original 
text  of  the  Bible,  contains  names  and  phrases  that  were  borrowed 
\  from  elsewhere.  Perhaps  the  only  language  extant  that  can  be  com- 
mended as  having  no  foreign  additions  is  the  Esquimault.  This  has 
been  intimated  in  several  public  journals.  Whether,  indeed,  it  would 
be  desirable  to  expurgate  our  English  speech  from  external  commix- 
ture may  be  answered  intelligently  when  we  take  into  consideration 
that  it  would  also  be  divested  thereby  of  all  scientific  and  literaiy 
contributions  and  reduced  to  a  condition  denoting  ignorance  and 
savagery  on  the  part  of  our  people. 

In  fact,  a  writer  in  the  Contributors'  pages  of  the  Atlantic  aptl)r 
denominates  it  ''  the  maddest  yet  the  greatest  language  in  the  worM." 
This  delineation  is  the  fittest  of  any.  It  must  in  candor  be  acknowl- 
edged that  the  English  language  possesses  the  merit  which  few  otben 
have,  of  expressing  clearly  and  forcefully  the  thoughts,  wishes  and 
purposes  of  sincere,  energetic  and  right-minded  thinkers.  It  penniti 
the  speaker  and  writer  to  arrange  the  construction  of  sentences  ii 
such  a  manner  as  to  place  the  most  significant  clauses  where  thcf 
will  be  the  most  effective.  Its  vocabulary  is  so  extensive  that  it 
enables  them  to  avoid  tautology,  and  at  the  same  time  to  voice  4e 
sentiment  correctly  and  without  any  abating  of  the  strength  of  the 
utterance. 

In  these  respects  it  actually  excels  other  languages.  The  Frcock 
abounds  with  idioms  which  confuse  the  learner,  and  there  is  a  needles 
assortment  of  verbs  and  pronouns  which  embarrass  the  effort  to  mate 
use  of  them  correctly.  The  German,  in  its  turn,  is  loaded  down  witi 
a  redundance  of  clauses  in  almost  every  sentence,  which  obscure  tkc 
sense  and  displease  the  reader  by  the  clumsiness  of  the  cxpressioi. 
I  have  repeatedly,  after  a  sentence  or  page  had  been  translated 
literally  into  English,  taken  the  pains  to  write  it  over  anew  forth 
purpose  of  condensing  the  various  clauses,  and  I  succeeded  inth 
way  in  giving  the  true  meaning  in  far  briefer  space.  A  friend* 
mine,  a  native  of  Saxe-Altenburg,  a  man  of  superior  intelUgeoc 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  419 

nee  told  me  that  he  himself  always  made  use  of  English  in  writing, 
^hen  this  was  practicable,  because  of  its  superior  conciseness. 

The  late  Dr.  John  Weiss6  began  a  study  of  the  English  language, 
ull  of  prejudice  against  it  because  of  its  irregularities,  but  changed 
lis  views  and  became  an  admirer.  He  found  it  comparatively  free 
rom  the  defects  of  most  of  the  European  tongues,  and  at  the  same 
ime  capable  of  improvements  which  would  remedy  the  incidental 
aults.  He  wrote  a  treatise  setting  forth  his  views  and  observations, 
irhich  he  summarized  by  the  proposition  to  establish  a  system  of  or- 
h(^aphy  in  which  all  words  shall  be  spelled  as  they  are  sounded  or 
ounded  as  they  are  spelled. 

Indeed,  much  of  the  criticism  which  is  bestowed  upon  our  language 
elates  to  the  faults  of  the  vocabulary.  Many  of  the  letters  have 
liffcrent  sounds  for  reasons  which  are  not  directly  apparent,  and  are 
rftcn  retained  in  words  after  they  have  long  become  silent.  The 
tudent  is  obliged  to  consult  a  dictionary  in  order  to  know  how  to 
Pronounce  the  simplest  terms,  and  even  then  is  liable  to  be  con- 
ounded  by  the  fact  that  there  are  a  score  or  thereabouts  of  English 
dictionaries  in  use,  each  having  its  partisans,  and  that  in  important 
^stances  they  often  disagree.  For  example,  Worcester  clashes  with 
'Webster  upon  the  term  arbutus^  and  we  are  left  in  uncertainty  about 
renouncing  the  word  deaf.  Pope  made  tea  rhyme  with  obey,  as 
*deed  many  an  Irishman  and  Britishman  would  now.  We  are  liable 
^  fall  into  the  use  of  provincial  expressions  by  reason  of  such 
screpancies.  A  resident  of  the  Southern  American  States  finds  out 
nian  to  be  from  the  North,  and  a  **  Westerner"  knows  the  citizen 
the  East,  by  the  use  and  sounding  of  words.  We  realize  the  strait 
ivhich  the  Apostle  Peter  was  involved  when  he  was  exposed  in  the 
deavor  to  conceal  his  relations  to  his  Master — **They  that  stood 
'  came  and  said  to  Peter:  *0f  a  truth  thou  art  of  them,  for  thy 
^cch  betrayeth  thee.* " 

We  may  plead,  therefore,  in  regard  to  the  eccentricities  of  the 

"^glish  langus^e,  that  they  are  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is 

oken  by  populations  of  different  origins,  latitudes  and  conditions. 

lias  been  computed  that  the  number  exceeds  a  hundred  and  twenty 

iliions,  and  that  they  are  distributed  over  all  regions  of  the  globe. 


420  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

The  twentieth  century,  now  close  at  hand,  is  certain  to  exhibit  an 
immense  augmenting  of  that  number.  No  other  dialect  now  in  use 
is  becoming  thus  general ;  and  literature  will  operate  to  render  it 
permanent  as  well  as  universal. 

The  fact  that  the  English  language  is  spoken  by  peoples  so  diverse 
will  account  for  the  peculiarity  that  many  words  that  are  obsolete  in 
one  region,  or  that  have  acquired  another  sound  and  meaning,  are 
retained  jelsewhere  in  their  older  forms  and  sense.  The  same  pecul- 
iarity exists,  however,  in  other  countries.  The  French  language  of 
Paris  is  quite  different  from  that  of  Brittany  or  Languedoc;  the 
Spanish  of  Catalonia  is  barbarous  to  the  ear  of  the  Castilian  d 
Madrid,  and  German  speech  varies  in  many  respects  in  the  several 
States  of  the  Fatherland.  It  is  by  no  means  wonderful  that  the  New 
Englander  ''guesses"  like  John  Milton,  while  the  Southerner 
**  reckons"  as  in  the  diction  employed  in  the  English  version  of  the 
Epistle  of  Paul  to  believers  at  Rome;  or  that,  as  Mr.  Clcraew 
('*  Mark  Twain  ")  has  shown  in  his  inimitable  volumes,  there  occurs  a 
change  of  dialect  or  rustic  speech  with  the  various  populations  aloif 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  same  fact  is  noticeable  io 
Great  Britain,  in  Kent,  Cornwall,  the  counties  of  Wales,  Lancashire, 
Yorkshire,  Cumberland  and  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland.  There  is  no 
good  reason  in  this  matter  for  the  pot  to  taunt  the  kettle  for  its 
blackness. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  little  just  cause  for  us  to  bate  a  word  d 
blame  in  respect  to  the  vices  of  pronouncing.  It  is  true  that  the 
matter  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  result,  to  a  great 
extent,  from  the  practice  of  adopting  terms  from  other  languages 
without  any  changing  of  the  sound  or  spelling.  The  person  who  has 
received  only  the  instruction  which  is  given  in  public  schools  is  often 
perplexed  with  such  words  as  d^but^  ennuis  brochure^  savant,  pat^ 
canon,  or  with  proper  names  like  Faure,  Faust,  Czech,  Schcuren, 
Schley,  Joaquin,  Vallejo,  Joao,  Juan,  Skrzynecki.  There  is  objection 
often  made  to  the  teachings  of  foreign  languages  to  pupils  in  ihci 
public  schools,  and  yet  they  are  certain  to  find  difficulty  from  tlrii 
cause  in  the  reading  of  books  and  newspapers.  The  complications vi 
the  United  States  with  European  countries,  and  especially  the  conii 


I 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE,  421 

ith  Spain,  will  result  in  the  overloading  of  the  newspapers  and 
terature  with  names  and  terms  which  the  unwary  reader  is  almost 
rrtain  to  mispronounce.  Indeed,  it  is  hardly  possible  for  an  artless 
erson  to  read  aloud  in  a  social  or  public  gathering  without  incurring 
le  risk  of  an  experience  which  may  not  be  remembered  without  a 
«ling  of  mortification. 

This  is  an  evil  which  ought  to  be  summarily  put  out  of  the  way. 
lie  need  for  such  a  reform  is  becoming  daily  more  urgent.  Scientists 
id  other  specialists  are  multiplying  new  words,  and  the  students  of 
xhaic  literature  are  introducing  new  names  from  the  Sanskrit,  Old 
ersian,  Chinese,  Assyrian,  Hittite  and  Egyptian,  which  few  know 
Dw  to  pronounce  correctly.  One  result  of  this  is  that  the  English 
Aguage  is  becoming  in  a  fair  way  to  repeat  the  experience  recorded 
F  the  city  and  tower  of  Bab-El,  where  their  language  was  confounded 
I  order  that  they  might  not  understand  one  another's  speech  {Genesis 
L).  The  various  terminologies  and  barbarous  phrases  are  brought 
ito  use  for  privileged  classes  of  individuals,  in  addition  to  the 
emacular  speech  which  is  the  only  language  that  the  ' '  plain 
eople"  understand.  It  reminds  us  of  the  condition  of  literary 
utters  in  ancient  Egypt,  where  the  hieroglyphic  or  symbolic  and 
ic  hieratic  modes  of  writing  were  in  use  for  the  higher  classes — the 
ricsts,  scribes  of  the  temple-schools  and  other  lettered  persons — and 
le  demotic  or  epistolographic  was  for  the  others.  It  is  hardly  in 
Dcord  with  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  to  have  such  distinctions, 
''Uch  seem  to  fence  apart  an  oligarchic  professional  class  and  a 
kbeian  laity.  Aristotle  counselled  wisely  to  think  with  the  wise 
nd  cultured,  but  to  discourse  in  the  language  of  the  many.  Few, 
omparatively,  are  sufHciently  learned  and  scholarly,  however,  to 
peak  thus  simply,  and  there  are  those  who  affect  superior  knowledge, 
bough  the  attainments  of  such  are  often  only  superficial.  Neverthe- 
5»s,  so  far  as  diversities  are  incident  to  culture  or  natural  genius, 
«cy  will  manifest  themselves  almost  spontaneously. 

The  attempt  has  been  made  in  several  countries  to  revise  the 
Celling  of  words,  in  order  to  do  away  with  the  difficulties  of  the 
^er.  In  Spain  and  Italy  the  letters  which  were  esteemed  super- 
(ous,  as  being  without  sound,  were  taken  away ;  and  those  which 


422  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

remain  have  very  generally,  though  not  in  all  cases,  only  a  single 
sound.  The  French  Academy  made  a  similar  expurgation,  but  it  is 
by  no  means  so  complete.  Silent  letters  occur  so  numerously  at  the 
end  of  words,  and  as  the  last  syllable  of  certain  verbs,  as  to  be  a 
source  of  annoyance  to  pupils.  The  work  needs  to  be  vigorously 
repeated.  The  Russian  literary  authorities  have  been  thorough, 
adding  new  letters  to  their  alphabet  to  meet  the  requirement  to 
express  each  distinct  sound  definitely. 

These  partial  reforms  have  increased  the  difHculties  which  arc  so 
flagrant  in  the  English  vocabulary.     A  better  way  would  be  for  the 
nations  to  agree  on  a  uniform  system  of  sounding  and  pronoundog 
the  letters.     A  few  representative  literates  from  each  country  can 
devise  such  a  plan.     After  this  shall  have  been  effected  the  orthog- 
raphy  and    pronunciation   can    be    arranged    anew   in   the  several 
languages,  so  that  the  spelling  of  every  word  shall  be  determined  bjr 
its  sound  and  its  sound  by  the  way  that  it  is  spelled.     This  would 
save  the  millions  of  pupils  many  years  each,  which  are  now  employed 
in  the  committing  of  spelling  lessons  to  memory  at  an  age  when  the 
time  and  effort  should  be  devoted  to  other  purposes. 

It  is  true  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  are  many.  Few  countries 
in  Christendom  have  a  homogeneous  population.  Every  district  ii 
characterized  by  a  provincial  language  of  its  own ;  and  even  in  the 
United  States  there  are  the  crude  jargons  of  pioneer  populationsi 
the  various  modes  of  expression  of  partly  assimilated  Europeans,  the 
mongrel  dialects  of  the  colored  inhabitants  with  the  corrupt  lingo « 
neighboring  whites.  Mark  Twain,  Charles  Egbert  Craddock,  W 
Harte  and  Joaquin  Miller  appear  to  be  perpetuating  these  in  otf 
literature.  There  is  likewise  a  *'  pigeon  English  "  spoken  by  Chinese; 
and  slang  terms  and  phrases,  often  invented  and  adopted  (n* 
gipsies,  criminals  and  the  vilest  of  the  population,  are  constaotlf 
intruded  into  familiar  speech. 

It   may  seem,    upon  a  superficial  view,   as  though  a  poliqf  « 
careful  and  thorough  general  instruction  might  be  made  to  obriiiK 
all  these  difficulties.     There  exists,  nevertheless,  a  more  formidibki 
impediment  in  the  publishing  houses.     Millions  of  dollars  have  bee 
invested  in  enterprises  which  a  sweeping  reformation  would  impcfl 


I 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  423 

le  dictionaries,  of  which  many  millions  of  volumes  have  been  sold, 
►erate  to  fix  orthography  and  pronunciation  in  the  forms  now 
opted,  and  the  libraries  and  other  collections  of  books  would  be 
iven  out  of  use  with  the  dictionaries,  and  their  commercial  value 
us  destroyed.  It  is  hardly  probable,  therefore,  that  any  con- 
lerable  reform  in  English  spelling  will  be  obtained,  except  such 
may  be  incident  to  the  constant  using  of  words.  Perhaps,  how- 
ler, the  necessities  of  the  telegraphic  system  will  aid  to  expedite  the 
^eded  change. 

If,  however,  we  compare  the  orthography  of  words  as  presently 
nployed,  with  the  way  that  they  were  spelled  some  centuries  ago,  it 
lay  be  that  we  will  find  some  encouragement.  The  Faerie  Queene 
\  Spenser,  the  Canterbury  Tales  of  Chaucer,  and  the  translation  of 
lie  New  Testament  by  Wickliff  afford  some  favorable  evidence  of 
rhat  may  be  possible.  Words  are  spelled  in  them  in  forms  which 
low  seem  utterly  barbarous.  The  fact  is,  that  many  words  which  we 
K)w  profess  to  derive  from  the  Latin,  actually  came  into  the  English 
anguage  from  the  Norman-French,  and  appear  in  those  works  in  their 
"ranch  form  as  modified  by  the  usage  of  the  time.  As  examples  of 
he  mode  of  spelling  them  employed,  we  may  mention  such  words  as 
^haly  litelle^  sodaine^  girdelle^  const ablerie^  extcncion^  anguishous.  It 
'as  not  considered  very  important,  however,  in  former  times,  to  be 
niform  or  particular  about  spelling.  Mary,  the  queen  and  consort 
f  William  III.,  has  left  a  memorandum  of  her  ^^crawnation''  and 
liters  who  were  esteemed  as  classic,  often  spelled  the  same  word  in 
afferent  ways.  Even  General  Washington,  in  our  later  period,  halted 
k  his  orthography. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  early  Norman  masters  of  England  for 
lany  of  the  deformities  existing  in  our  modes  of  spelling.  Other 
>nquered  peoples,  of  those  of  France,  Spain  and  Italy,  forgot  their 
jvn  language  and  adopted  the  Latin  from  their  conquerors.  The 
ixons  and  Danes  of  England  were  too  robust  in  character,  and  com- 
plied their  lords  to  come  to  them.  The  Saxon  English  was  modelled 
iginally  after  the  Dutch  and  Danish  orthography.  When  the  Nor- 
in  clergy  consented  to  adopt  the  language,  they  changed  the  letters 
words  so  that  they  might  be  themselves  better  able  to  give  the 


424  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

proper  sounds.  In  this  way  words  like  haus  became  house ^  and  brece 
was  transformed  into  breach.  The  dialect  of  the  Scotch  Lowlands 
preserves  many  of  these  old  forms,  like  kirk  for  church,  syne  for  since. 
The  ou  in  such  words  as  honor ^  favor ^  error ^  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  these  words  were  adopted  from  the  French,  and  the  last  syllable 
was  sounded  distinctly  in  that  language.  In  English  usage,  the  pro- 
nunciation of  many  words  has  been  changed  by  the  caprice  of  the 
**best  speakers." 

The  adoption  of  the  terminal  letters  ed  in  the  preterit  and  par- 
ticiples of  verbs,  where  the  sound  is  that  of  /,  is  credited  to  Joseph 
Ritson,  the  antiquary.  It  was  done  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
**  regularity "  in  derivations.  Dr.  James  A.  H.  Murray,  editor  of 
the  great  Dictionary  of  Oxford  University,  pleads  for  a  return  to  the 
former  usage.  *'  Let  us,"  he  says,  'Met  us  recommend  the  restora- 
tion of  the  historical  '  t '  after  breath-consonants,  which  printers 
during  the  past  century  have  industriously  perverted  to  *  ed,'  writing 
fetcht,  blusht,  prickt,  drest,  winkt,  like  Shakespere,  Herbert,  Milton 
and  Addison,  and  as  we  ourselves  actually  do  in  lost^  left ^  felt ,  meanU 
burnt ^  blest,  taught.  Laughs'//  for  laugh/  is  not  a  whit  less  monstrous 
than  taughtedy  soughted  vroxxXA  be  lot  taught,  sought;  nor  is  worked 
for  workt  less  odious  than  wroughted  for  wrought.** 

It  is  true,  as  here  remarked,  that  we  continue  to  retain  some  cl 
the  older  forms  of  preterits  and  participles.  They  are  classed  in  the 
grammars  as  irregular,  and  in  some  instances  are  passing  from  coflH 
mon  use.  Abode  is  still  the  preterit  and  participle  of  abide;  baden 
the  preterit  of  bid,  held  of  hold,  ran  of  run,  drove  of  drive,  drank  vtH 
drunk  of  drink.  The  participles  occasionally  have  the  primitive 
Saxon  terminal  syllable  en,  as  bidden,  hidden,  ridden,  driven.  This 
terminal  was  also  used  to  form  plural  nouns,  as  brethren  for  brothers. 
Housen  for  houses  was  used  in  the  last  years  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, and  we  have  the  example  of  *'  hosen"  for  hose  or  trousers  tt 
the  English  version  of  the  Book  of  Daniel.  "  His"  is  the  genitive 
of  it  in  every  instance  but  one  in  the  Common  Version.  A  study  o( 
the  languages  from  which  ours  was  formed  will  show  that  all  these 
apparent  eccentricities  of  speech  were  as  perfectly  normal  and  legiti- 
mate as  the  latter  usage. 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  425 

Some  other  peculiarities  deserve  attention.  The  pronunciations 
ven  to  buryy  busy^  business^  colonel^  women  are  not  to  be  excused. 
ideed,  the  etymology  of  these  words  indicates  that  they  ought  to  be 
>elled  differently.  Bury  is  derived  from  beorgan^  busy  from  bysig, 
lonel  from  coronel^  and  women  from  wyfmen.  Indeed  the  common 
ode  of  pronouncing  these  words  reminds  us  of  a  current  witticism, 
lat  in  the  Basque  language  a  word  is  spelled  as  Solofpion^  but  pro- 
Dunced  Nebuchadnezzar. 

In  this  connection  we  will  remark  that  English  speakers  have 
:quired  the  habit  peculiar  to  the  French,  of  curtailing  syllables,  and 
lat  proper  names  are  often  spelled  by  sound  accordingly.  In  fact, 
lere  are  often  two  modes,  one  of  which  may  be  regarded  as  patrician 
nd  the  other  as  plebeian ;  as  in  such  examples  as  Beauchamp  and 
teecham,  Cockburn  and  Coburn,  Colquhon  and  Calhoun  or  Cahoon, 
*holmondeley  and  Chumley,  Farquhar  and  Forker,  Marjoribank  and 
ifillbank,  Strachan  and  Strason,  Taill6fer  or  Taliafero  and  Tolliver, 
/auxhall  and  Vholes.  A  multitude  of  names  in  the  British  Islands 
lave  been  thus  transformed.  Those  of  Keltic  origin  are  more 
:hanged  than  the  others. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  English  language  is  the  fact  that  it  is 
Imost  absolutely  without  a  grammar.  Except  in  the  possessive 
?tter  s  in  nouns,  a  few  cases  of  pronouns,  the  degrees  of  comparison 
I  adjectives  and  adverbs,  and  the  tenses,  persons  and  numbers  of 
irbs,  English  words  have  each  but  one  form.  Jack  Cade,  when  he 
Uiged  the  schoolmaster  for  corrupting  the  youth  by  teaching  gram- 
ar,  was  not  altogether  without  reasonable  pretext.  Chaucer, 
>cnser,  Philip  Sidney,  Bacon  and  the  translators  of  the  Bible 
ceived  no  such  instruction,  except  what  some  of  them  may  have 
ixned  in  Latin  and  Greek.  We  are  not  without  warrant  in  eonsid- 
ing  that  the  elaborate  treatises  on  English  Grammar  which  are 
^w  extant  are  really  not  necessary  for  a  finished  education. 

There  seems  to  be  a  remarkable  number  of  words  which  are  alike 

orthography  but  diverse  in  meaning.      This  is  due  to  the  fact  that 

«y  have  a  different  root.     The  similarity  is  accidental.     The  diction- 

ies  very  properly  place  them  apart  as  separate  terms.     Thus,  box  is 

«  designation  of  a  certain  tree,  a  blow  on  the  ear,  a  chest  or  recep- 


426  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

tacle,  a  tube  in  a  pump  or  in  the  wheel  of  a  railway  car,  a  small 
house,  or  a  certain  prescribed  place  in  a  theatre  or  public  building. 

Let  is  now  used  entirely  in  the  sense  of  granting  permission.  Yet 
Francis  Bacon  employed  it  to  denote  forbearing.  We  find  it  in  the 
common  version  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  signifying  to  restrain,  with- 
hold or  hold  fast.  I  remember  how  my  ignorance  of  this  perplexed 
me  in  earlier  years.  This  sentence  sadly  puzzled  me:  **  I  puqx)sed 
to  come  unto  you,  but  was  let  hitherto."  It  seemed  strange  that  he 
should  be  permitted  to  carry  out  a  purpose  and  yet  did  not  do  so. 
Again  the  apostle  writes  to  the  Thessalonikans,  as  we  read  it:  **Ye 
know  what  withholdeth  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time;  for  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work,  only  he  who  now  Uttetk  will 
let  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way."  This  text  seemed  like  non- 
sense till  I  had  learned  to  read  it  in  the  original  in  the  Greek 
Testament,  where  the  sense  is  plain  as  daylight.  The  wonb 
"letteth"  and  "withholdeth"  are  exactly  the  same  there,  and  the 
Greek  word  signifies  restrain.  The  term  occurs  likewise  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  the  sentence,  **  Who  kM 
the  truth  in  unrighteousness."  The  signification  is  simply  that  unjust 
men  detain  and  hold  down  the  truth. 

In  the  **  Lord's  Prayer"  there  occurs  an  analogous  example  of  a 
word  in  the  Greek  text  which  comes  alike  from  two  different  origins. 
It  requires  one  who  knows  for  the  solution.  With  one  origin  it  nuy 
mean  daily  or  for  the  coming  day ;  in  the  other  case  it  would  signify 
super-essential^  of  a  superior  substance.  Pierre  Abelard  and  the 
translators  of  the  Douai  version  have  rendered  the  clause  in  which  it 
appears:   ''Give  us  this  day  our  super-substantial  bread." 

The  term  "religion"  is  itself  likewise  somewhat  indefinite  in  it^ 
etymology.  It  may  be  derived  from  reUgere,  to  read  or  consider 
again ;  or  from  religare,  to  bind  or  fasten.  The  former  b  the  more 
probable.  In  such  case  it  would  signify  veneration,  combined  with 
philosophic  contemplation ;  whereas,  otherwise,  it  might  mean  « 
binding  fast,  as  by  a  creed  or  cult.     Latin  writers  take  both  views. 

The  kindred  concept,  **  superstition,"  has  fallen  into  worse  condi- 
tions. Like  its  Greek  synonym,  iniarrffiff  (epist£m£),  it  originally 
meant    that    intellection    or   intuitive   knowing   which  is  above  the 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  427 

:ommon   reasoning  powers,  but  the  word   is  now   used  entirely  to 
lenote  false  religion  or  excessive  and  slavish  religious  scrupulousness. 

In  this  digression  I  will  remark  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
the  term  Logos  in  the  Greek  text  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  Gospel 
iscribed  to  John,  which  is  translated  "Word,**  is  a  Hellenized  form 
af  the  Aryan  term  log  or  lah^  signifying  light.  This  is  in  accordance 
with  the  Oriental  theosophy,  which  cognises  Light  as  the  head  and 
source  of  the  Creation. 

The  terms  *'sin'*  and  "hell"  have  also  acquired  meanings  to 
which  they  were  not  originally  entitled.  In  the  Skandinavian 
mythology  Sigyn  or  Sin  was  the  consort  of  Loki,  who  was  the  genius 
of  evil  and  a  veritable  Mephistopheles.  One  of  their  progeny  was  the 
Serpent,  which  binds  the  Earth  in  its  coils;  another  was  Hela  or  Hel, 
the  mistress  of  the  world  of  the  dead.  The  adoption  of  this  concept 
by  Milton  in  Paradise  Lost  is  readily  perceivable.  The  term  used  in 
the  Greek  Testament,  ajuapZia  (hamartia),  generally  signified  the 
failure  of  a  purpose ;  a  coming  short,  or  missing  of  the  way.  The 
definition  of  moral  turpitude  was  rather  a  straining  of  the  meaning. 

"Conjure"  has  two  etymologies  and  two  significations.  As 
derived  from  the  Latin  verb  conjuro,  it  means  to  entreat ;  but  when 
it  comes  from  the  Hindustanic  term  conjura  it  signifies  to  entrance  or 
bewitch.  The  Gipsies  seem  to  have  brought  the  word  from  India 
into  Europe. 

"  Punch"  has  a  variety  of  meanings  which  are  due  to  the  numer- 
ous origins  from  which  it  has  been  derived.  As  formed  from  the 
Hindustani  numeral /««;ii,  five,  it  is  used  to  name  a  well-known  bev- 
erage compounded  of  five  ingredients.  It  is  also  derived  from  the 
Latin  verb  pungo,  signifying  to  pierce  or  perforate,  and  designates  a 
familiar  instrument  used  for  perforating.  It  is  likewise  formed  from 
punto^  to  punish,  beat  or  bruise,  and  is  employed  as  a  verb  to  denote 
a  violent  assaulting.  It  seems  also  to  be  sometimes  the  same  as 
bunch.  When  the  term  is  used  as  the  designation  of  the  puppet  in 
the  show,  it  is  a  contracted  form  of  the  Italian  diminutive  Pulcinello^ 
a  chicken,  a  buffoon. 

"  Imp  "  originally  denoted  a  child,  and  also  the  branch  of  a  plant ; 
and  its  diminutive,  ifnpjlingy  has  become  the  designation  in  German 


428  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

of  a  child  that  has  not  been  vaccinated.  The  original  term  has  now 
become  so  degraded  in  common  usage  as  generally  to  signify  a  young 
devil,  or  a  child  of  an  evil  temper,  *'  Hire"  seems  also  to  have  de- 
noted an  idea  of  something  held  in  low  estimation.  It  signified  to 
do  for  pay  what  would  be  made  worthy  if  done  from  love  or  a  sense 
of  duty.  Hence  the  term  hireling  is  used  to  describe  a  mercenary 
character;  and  the  former  preterit  hore  became  the  designation  of  a 
lawyer,  a  paid  physician,  or  any  one  receiving  hire. 

Many  expressive  words  have  been  lost  from  the  English  language 
by  reason  of  having  become  obsolete.  This  is  often  to  be  regretted, 
as  the  new  terms  are  too  frequently  less  significant.  It  is  due  in  a 
great  degree  to  a  vanity  for  adopting  high-sounding  words  from  some 
other  language  fancied  to  be  more  noble  or  worthy.  Chaucer  in  this 
way  introduced  a  profusion  of  terms  from  the  Norman-French  that 
were  entirely  unintelligible  to  plain  English-speaking  persons.  He 
was  followed  by  Milton  and  others,  till  the  practice  became  general 
in  our  literature.  As  a  result  of  this  neologism  the  Scots  have  almost 
alone  distinguished  themselves  creditably  by  keeping  alive  a  large 
vocabulary  of  good  old  words,  which  we  have  often  forgotten,  bat 
which  are  forceful  and  expressive  beyond  those  which  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  them.  Such  are  douce,  bonny,  greet,  dour,  dool,  fash, 
cuddle,  cairn,  strath,  crag,  bog,  raff,  crom,  yowl,  waft,  wame,  wry, 
wrack,  sooth,  chuff,  laze,  glen,  burn,  etc.  These  are  genuine  words 
with  an  origin  in  the  dialects  from  which  our  language  was  formed. 

Change  of  religion,  whether  by  conversion  or  conquest,  efleets 
radical    modifications   of   the  terms    used    in   familiar  speech.    The 
Supreme  Divinity  of  one  people,  faith  or  period  is  thus  made  the 
Evil  Potency  of  another.     This  has  been  illustrated  in  the  career  of 
the  Brahman  and  Eranian  septs  of  the  Aryan  peoples.     A  deva  is  a 
deity  in  India  and  a  devil  with  the   Parsis.     We  have  adopted  both 
these  terms  with  their  distinctive  meanings.     A  bhaga  or  god  in  India 
is  also  a  bog  or  divinity  with  the  Slavonians,  but  has  been  transformed 
into  a  bogy  or  hobgoblin  among  ourselves. 

We  may  note  corresponding  changes  in  other  parts  of  Asia.  Such 
titles  as  molokh  or  king.  El,  and  perhaps  Ram-ana,  were  applied  to 
divinities  of  every  cult.     But  Seth  or  Sutekh,  the  divinity  once  wor- 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  429 

liped  in  Egypt  and  Kheta-land,  became  the  malignant  Typhon  of 
le  Nile,  and  the  Satan  of  Palestine.  The  term  "yazda,"  which  in 
srsian  denoted  an  angel  that  presided  over  a  certain  month  and 
oup  of  stars,  is  now  used  to  designate  a  people  that  is  denounced 
;  devil-worshipers.  They  show  their  relationships  in  various  ways 
)  the  men  of  other  faiths.  Their  chief  symbol  is  a  bird,  represent- 
ig  the  Simorg  of  Persia,  the  Garuda  of  India,  and  the  Rokh  or 
fis-rokh  of  ancient  Assyria. 

•*  Magic,"  an  old  Aryan  term,  formerly  signified  holy  rites  and 
naming,  but  with  the  subversion  of  the  Mithraic  worship  in  Europe, 
t  was  changed  in  meaning  to  designate  sorcery  and  forbidden  knowl- 
edge. Philosophers  and  students  of  physical  science  often  incurred 
he  peril  of  pursuing  magic  arts.  A  '*  witch"  was,  as  the  term  liter- 
illy  signifies,  a  person  of  superior  art  and  skill,  and  ** witchcraft"  or 
Krisdom-craft  properly  denoted  the  art  or  technique  of  Superior 
Wisdom. 

Astrology  likewise  made  its  contributions  to  the  English  as  well 
IS  to  other  languages.  In  former  times  it  comprehended  all  seien- 
ific  learning  within  its  purview.  The  knowing  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
heir  phenomena  and  attributes,  was  a  prominent  feature  in  the 
natter,  as  these  were  regarded  as  significant  of  events  and  peculiar 
physical  conditions.  Physicians  and  priests  were  astrologers,  and 
he  medicinal  plants  had  each  its  guardian  star  and  genius.  Every 
Janet  and  constellation  was  believed  to  be  the  '*  house"  of  a  divinity. 
he  Assyrians  and  the  Akkadians  before  them,  appear  to  have 
Assessed  lenses  and  other  instruments  with  which  to  observe  the  sky. 
he  plot  of  ground  which  was  set  apart  for  this  and  other  religious 
Urposes  was  denominated  sacred,  a  **temenos,"  **tempulum"  or 
^mple.  Thus,  we  now  have  the  words  conte^nplate^  which  signified 
^  watch  the  sky,  and  consider^  to  study  the  stars  and  portents.* 

Other  familiar  expressions  indicate  an  origin  from  the  same  source. 
i^e  speak  of  the  fortune  of  a  prosperous  person  as  being  **in  the 
scendant."  The  days  of  the  week  are  named  from  the  planets,  or 
ither   from  the  divinities  to  whom  they  are  set  apart.     Thus  we 


*In  Gefusis  i.,  14,  the  stars  are  described  as  set  in  the  expanse  of  the  heavens 
auiotk^  emblems,  or  tokens. 


430  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

have  the  Sun-day,   the  Moon-day,  Tiu's  day,  Woden's  day,  Thor's 
day,  Freyja-day,  Seator-day.     The  last  of  the  days  in  this  septenaiy 
cycle  was  regarded  by  the  archaic  Assyrians  as  sacred  to  the  divinity 
of  the  outermost  planet,  the  *'Sun  of  the  World  of  Night,"  and  set 
apart  for  doing  nothing. 

The  Romans  also  named  the  days  of  the  week  after  the  Sun, 
Moon,  Mercury,  Venus,  Mars,  Jupiter  and  Saturn.  The  qualities 
which  were  attributed  to  the  planets  or  to  their  guardians  are  repre- 
sented by  the  adjectives  sultry y  sun-struck y  lunatic y  tncrcurialy  vinertal, 
martialy  jovialy  saturnine.  Friday,  the  day  of  Venus  and  its  patron 
goddess,  were  regarded  as  harbingers  of  good  fortune;  Saturn  and 
the  Moon,  of  evil.  To  this  day  mental  alienation  is  termed  lunacj, 
and  the  catarrhal  complaint  which  has  been  so  common  and  trouble- 
some for  several  years  past,  bears  the  name  of  influenza^  as  being 
considered  the  effect  of  the  noxious  influence  of  the  moon.  A 
calamity  is  described  as  a  disaster y  or  the  baleful  action  of  a  star. 

The  mystic  element  which  is  inherent  and  inseparable  from  our 
nature,  is  represented  by  a  class  of  terms  relating  to  mental  and 
spiritual  illumination.  The  condition  designated  ecstasyy  trance  or 
transport,  rapture,  implies  an  absence  or  parting  of  the  conscioBi 
selfhood  from  the  body  to  such  an  extent  that  the  physical  senses  are 
closed,  while  the  individual  may  be  able  to  perceive  facts  and  objecti 
without  their  aid  by  means  of  an  inner  superior  faculty.  The  terms 
entheasm,  enthusiasnty  fanaticism  also  come  within  the  cat^orjr. 
They  have  now  no  exalted  meaning  in  our  language,  but  their 
former  significance  is  demonstrated  by  their  etymologic  sense,  a 
condition  in  which  the  person  is  infilled,  possessed  and  inspired  bf 
divinity.  The  prophets,  sybils  and  ministrants  at  the  oracles  were 
subject  at  certain  times  to  frenzy  which  was  attributed  to  such  a 
source,  and  their  utterances  were  regarded  as  divine.  At  the  preseit 
time,  however,  any  person  is  styled  "enthusiastic"  who  is  much  to 
earnest,  and  a  ''  fanatic*'  is  one  who  is  beside  himself  in  zeal. 

The  Moslem  rulers  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  eager  and  diligent  to 
preserve  whatever  of  Philosophy  and  scientific  learning  had  not 
already  perished;  and  their  efforts  are  commemorated  in  various 
words  of  Arabian  origin  which  are  still  in  use.     Through  them  the 


J 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  431 

numeral  figures,  the  ten  digits,  were  introduced  into  Christendom, 
and  algebra  or  al  jabara^  became  a  branch  of  mathematic  study. 
Little  recesses  in  public  libraries  are  called  alcoves^  or  the  caves. 
Alcohol^  the  kohl  or  powder  used  by  women  to  paint  their  eye-brows, 
has  become  the  designation  of  rectified  spirit.  The  familiar  term 
almanac  is  formed  from  al  manakhy  a  measuring ;  azure  lajarra,  the 
lazuli-stone.     Chemise  is  also  an  Arabic  term. 

The  designations  alchemy  and  chemistry  have  generally  been  re- 
ferred to  the  Greek,  ^////eiflr  (chemeia)  or  .^-t^/n'rir  (chumia),  which  came 
in  their  turn  from  Egypt,  the  **land  of  V{dLm'\{Psalm  cvi.,  22.)  The 
term  Ham  or  Cham  signifies  fire,  and  chemistry  is  appropriately  named 
f  som  the  employing  of  fire  in  its  manipulations.  The  alembic  and  alkali, 
both  Arabian  designations,  are  easily  found  in  the  same  category. 
But  alkahest  or  all-geist,  the  alchemic  appellation  of  the  universal 
solvent,  **  which  no  vessel  contains,"  cannot  be  included  with  them. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  there  are  many  words  in  the  English  lan- 
whtch  have  been    introduced   from  foreign  tongues,  yet    had 

earlier  origin  from  sources  more  directly  cognate  with  our  own. 
For  example,  civily  with  all  its  derivatives,  was  adopted  from  the 
Xatin;  but  the  radical  term  is  the  Keltic  preposition  kyf  ox  kyv^  sig- 
nifying together.  The  words  prehensile^  apprehend,  comprehend,  are 
primarily  from  the  German  term  hand^  also  in  common  use  with  our- 
selves. Nobody,  however,  seems  to  remember  that  ennui  is  from  the 
*3me  root  as  annoy^  and  that  both  words  are  from  the  Latin  phrase 
'^'^ire  adio. 

Many  words  have  lost  their  primitive  meaning  and  acquired 
^'Jother  which  is  often  entirely  foreign  to  the  etymologic  sense. 
^07gm  is  the  Keltic  term  gunny  and  7iice  is  from  the  Latin  adjective 
*^*«W,  ignorant.  Whisky  is  from  the  Gaelic  and  Kymroic  word 
*<jr^  or  guis-qe^  signifying  water,  and  the  former  name,  us-quebagh,  is 
^om  the  Irish,  uisqe  and  beatha,  and  means  water  of  life.  Knave 
^Hce  meant  a  half-grown  boy ;  rascal^  a  person  of  low  rank  and  char- 
^ter;  villain^  an  individual  in  vile  or  servile  condition,  /V]^  originally 
^^ified  a  girl,  and  I  have  heard  it  used  in  that  sense  where  nothing 
opprobrious  was  meant.  Perhaps  the  beauty  and  agreeableness  of 
he  young  swine  led  to  this  applying  of  the  name  to  them. 


432  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Can  is  from  the  same  original  as  know,  thus  indicating  that  to 
know  means  ability  to  do.     Ken  and  cunning  have  likewise  the  same 
derivation.     Noble,  though  borrowed  from  the  Latin,  belongs  to  the 
same  group ;   and  is,  indeed,  a  contracted  form  of  noteUnlis,  wUck 
originally  signified  the  possessing  of  superior  knowledge.     Kingofoot 
denoted  the  son  or  chosen  one  of  the  tribe.      Queen  was  the  desigiuh 
tion  of  a  companion,  and  afterward  of  a  woman  and  consort.    Its 
counterpart,   quean,   was   formerly   the   same   word,    but   has  beea 
changed    in   sense  and   orthography  by  later  usage.      Wife,  iriuch, 
curiously  enough,  was  in   the  neuter  gender,  meant  only  a  woinaii, 
and  it  is  still  found  in  compound  words  in  that  sense ;  as  housewife, 
fishwife,   midwife.      English  use  has  exalted  it  to  mean  a  wedded 
conripanion.     Home  is  peculiarly   English   in   its  meaning.     U^  if 
from  ug  to  feel  disgust.     Stark  once  meant  strong,  but  now  only  sig* 
nifies  utterly.     Subtle  and  subtil  are  examples  of  an  artificial  distinc- 
tion, having  the  same  origin,  and  yet  the  latter  is  now  used  to  denote 
fineness,  and  the  former,  slyness,  deceptiveness. 

The  terms  holy,  hale,  hallow,  heal  and  whole  are  all  from  one  oripn 
and  imply  soundness,  integrity,  completeness.  Cure,  from  the  Latii 
cura,  signified  simply  care ;  but  later  usage  gave  it  the  medical  roeao- 
ing,  to  heal.  Will  properly  denotes  desire  or  choosing,  but  it  is  now 
employed  with  its  adjective  wilful  in  the  sense  of  obstinacy.  Charitj 
is  from  carus,  dear,  and  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  English  version  d 
the  New  Testament,  it  means  altruism  or  neighborly  regard,  and 
never  a  dole  or  almsgiving. 

It  may  be  observed  that  many  words  which  have  been  derived 
from  the  Latin  have  unfortunately  become  much  changed  in  sense. 
Prevent,  which  originally  signified  to  come  before,  as  in  the  EngliA 
Bible,  now  means  to  hinder  or  intercept.  Virtue,  taken  by  its  ety- 
mology, denotes  virility,  masculine  quality,  manly  excellence,  co«r- 
age,  strength.  It  is  now  used  to  mean  goodness,  womanly  chastity, 
general  excellence,  in  manifest  violence  to  the  legitimate  import  of 
the  term.  Temperance  primarily  indicates  a  proper  regulating,* 
keeping  of  the  appetites  and  emotions  in  wholesome  moderation,  0 
set  forth  in  the  Pythagoric  maxim :   **  Nothing  in  excess." 

Intellect,  and  its  congeners,  intelligible,  iutelligent,  intelligence,  arc 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  433 

trees  of  perplexity.     As  employed  in  common  speech  and  in  philo- 

>hic  discourse,  the  meanings  are  as  diverse  as  though  they  were  in 

Ferent  languages.     In  popular  language,  the  term  intellect  is  synon- 

lous  with  understanding  and  reasoning  faculties ;  but  philosoph- 

Uy  it  denotes  that  part  or  faculty  of  the  soul  which  transcends 

»e,  and  is  capable  of  knowing  intuitively.     Intellection  is  accord- 

;ly  intuition  or  immediate  cognizing  of  actual  truth,  beyond  sensu- 

s  perceiving.     Intelligence  in  this  sense  is  the  capacity  for  knowing 

perior  truth  apperceptively.     Intelligible^  which  commonly  denotes 

|>abie  of  being  understood,  denotes  in  philosophic  discourse,  per- 

>tive  of  what  is  recondite  or  behind  the  apparent  sense  or  import. 

rhaps  the  adoption  of  the  terms  710'etic  and  dianoetic  would  help  out 

the  difficulty.      The  Standard  Dictionary  attempts  to  meet  it  by 

t  new  word  intellectory. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  Divine  Comedy  of  Dante  served  to 

the  language  of  his  people  in  a  permanent  form.     It  may  be  said 

equal  justice  that  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  in  like 

inner  determined  our  English  vernacular  speech.     It  certainly  owes 

ich  of  its  favor  with  the  **  plain  people"  to  the  simple  words  used 

the  translation.     They  are  far  more  easy  to  understand  than  the 

issic  utterances  of  Milton,  Tennyson  or  Browning. 

Lord  Brougham  praised  Charles  James  Fox  because  ''  in  his  choice 

words  he  justly  shunned  foreign  idioms  or  words  borrowed,  whether 

)m  the  ancient  or  modern  languages,  and  affected  the  pure  Saxon 

ngue,  the  resources  of  which  are  unknown  to  so  many  who  use  it, 

>th  in  speaking  and  writing."    The  same  praise  is  due  to  most  parts 

the  English   Bible.      In  the  **  Lord's  Prayer"  there  are  but  five 

>rds  that  are  not  of  Saxon  or  cognate  dialects,  and  some  of  these 

ly  be  changed  for  others  with  advantage. 

True,  there  are  many  inaccuracies  in  the  translation  which  disguise 
^  genuine  meaning.  Besides  this,  some  of  the  expressions  are 
K>lescent,  and  many  words  have  acquired  new  definitions  and  thus 
KTure  the  sense.  **  Conversation "  no  longer  signifies  a  person's 
leral  conduct,  but  familiar  discourse.  Prevent  no  longer  means  to 
or  come  before.  To  hold  now  means  to  retain,  and  not  to  restrain. 
;  with  all  the  faults  the  rhythm  is  generally  so  admirable  and  the 


434  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

language  so  plain  that  the  Common  Version  actually  seems,  and  in 
fact  has  been,  imagined  by  unlettered  individuals  to  have  been 
written  originally  in  English.  The  various  revisions  and  new  trans- 
lations have  fallen  behind  in  this  respect ;  and  this  fact  alone  has  been 
sufficient  to  make  them  unacceptable  except  as  specimens  of  literuy 
work.  ' 

A  language  is  much  more  than  the  words  which  it  may  contain.. 
There  is  to  each  of  them  a  history  of  its  own,  and,  indeed,  theyaicj 
themselves  souvenirs  of   history.     The  sources  from  which  theyaiej 
derived,  the  modifications  which  they  undergo,  and  the  relations  wi 
they   sustain,   reflect  the  conditions  and   experiences  of  the 
employing  them.      •*  The  winged  word  cleaves  its  way  through  tne] 
as  well   as  space,"  as  Mr.   Hubert  Bancroft  eloquently  affirms.   Kj 
serves  as  the  messenger  of  thought  to  convey  the  motions  of  one 
to  the  perception  and  consciousness  of  others.      It  is  thus  the  vehide] 
of  inspiration  by  which  the  many  receive  and  are  animated  by 
aspirations,  the   ideas,  and  purpose   of  the   leaders  of  thought 
action.     It  not  only  sets  us  in  a  place  apart  from  the  animal  tril 
but  it  also  indicates  distinctly  the  people  to  which  we  belong, 
peculiar  culture  which  we  have  received,  and  in  some  degree,  t\ 
the  events  which  have  marked  the  career  of  our  predecessors. 

The  words  which  come  familiarly  to  our  lips  not  only  voice 
thoughts  which  we  would  utter,  but  they  likewise  shadow  forth 
own  sources  and  vicissitudes.     They  have  fulfilled  similar  offices  fc 
ages.     If  we   undertake  to  question   them  we  shall  learn  that  thqfl 
have  been   diversified  in   form,   and   sometimes    even    disguised 
changes  of  dialect.     Such  alterations  indicate  important  modificatic 
in   the  character  of  a  people,   and  afford   clews  to  curious  facts 
which  a  world  of  instruction  is  comprehended. 

We  do  wisely  to  ponder  the  importance  of  such  study.     We  U 
thereby  the  words  to  choose  in  order  to  give  the  exact  sense  whi( 
we  arc   endeavoring  to  convey.     We  are  not   only  instructed, 
exalted.     A  more  vivid  conception  is  gained   of  the  sacredness 
speech.     There  will  be  clearly  indicated  the  inhering  profaneness 
slang  utterance.      Pure   speech   is  every  whit  as  estimable  as 
literature. 


A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  435 

our  English  language  the  praise  is  due  of  possessing  a  copious 

lary,  adaptability  to  the  requirements  of  science,  business  and 

itercourse,  and  a  conciseness  which  is  hardly  excelled.     There 

tural  significance  to  every  sound,  enabling  the  masters  of  speech 

riminate  their  words  judiciously,  and  to  give  their  utterances 

npletest  rhythm  and  the  intensest  force.     That  words  are  repre- 

ve    symbols  we  all   know,   but    our   language   also   excels   in 

ies  and  symbolisms  of  sound  which  the  skillful  know  how  to 

is  faults  and  imperfections  are  superficial  and  may  be  obviated. 

been  a  theme  of  wonder  that  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin 

ges  were  spoken   at   first   by  obscure   tribes  that  were  few  in 

r,  and  yet  became  in  turn  the  current  speech  of  the  civilized 

It  now  seems  even  more  probable  that  our  English  tongue, 

td  and  enriched  from  every  source,  will  be  in  due  time  simplified 

rtter  adaptation  and  extend  its  sphere  till  it  shall  become  the 

;al  speech  of  the  human  race. 

Alexander  Wilder,  M.  D. 


;  spirit  is  the  master,  imagination  the  tool,  and  the  body  the 
material.  Imagination  is  the  power  by  which  the  will  forms 
l1  entities  out  of  thoughts.  Imagination  is  not  fancy ^  which 
is  the  cornerstone  of  superstition  and  foolishness.  The  imagina- 
f  man  becomes  pregnant  through  desire,  and  gives  birth  to 
— Paracelsus. 

ether  the  universe  is  a  concourse  of  atoms  or  nature  is  a 
I,  let  this  first  be  established,  that  I  am  part  of  the  whole  which 
imed  by  nature;  next  I  am  in  a  manner  intimately  related  to  the 
rhich  are  of  the  same  kind  with  myself.  For  remembering  this, 
ich  as  I  am  a  part,  I  shall  be  discontented  with  none  of  the 
which  are  assigned  to  me  out  of  the  whole;  for  nothing  is  in- 
,  to  the  part  if  it  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  whole. — Marcus 
us, 

I  Divine  Life  going  on  and  causing  evolution  returns  to  unity, 
erything  which  harmonizes  with  its  mighty  course  is  carried 
Is  without  waste  of  energy.  Whereas,  everything  which  sets 
gainst  it  and  causes  friction  and  retardation  wears  itself  out  by 
y  friction  which  it  causes. — Annie  Bcsant. 


THE  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  THE  POET. 

In  that  estimate  of  poetry  wherein  we  regard  it,  not  uniu 
as  the  flower  of  literature,  we  are  apt  to  do  scant  justice  to  th« 
faculty  itself,  which  is  not  to  be  classed  as  a  product  of 
evolution,  but  as  an  innate  quality  of  the  mind.  It  is,  as 
the  mind*s  premonition  of  the  soul;  and  its  expression  is 
much  an  outgrowth  of  literary  forms  as  it  is  rather  that  soi 
inherent  which  both  preceded  and  subsequently  fostered  them 
we  may  say  of  poetry  that  it  is  not  the  cumulative  result  of  su 
refining  influences, — it  is  not  the  culmination,  but  the  very  ess 
prose,  the  leaven  of  all  literature ;  and  the  Vedic  hymns,  the 
barata  and  the  Ramayana,  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey,  while  s 
preeminent,  are  yet  in  point  of  time  almost  the  beginnings  o 
ture.  It  is  in  view  of  this,  the  exalted  and  prophetic  characte 
poetic  faculty,  that  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  correspondingly  hi{ 
of  the  poet. 

In  intimating  the  transcendent   nature  of   this  oflice,  w 
nevertheless  observe  that  the  mission  of  the  poet  is  twofold : 
communicate  things  human  as  things  Divine;  he  may  speak 
or  he  may  speak  from  God.     And  while  many  sing  of  the  y 
sorrows  of  humanity,  there  are  few  who  become-  the  mouth] 
God. 

In  the  first  we  recognize  the  descendant  of  Troubadour,  B 

Minstrel;    the   gentle   advocate   of   sentiment  and   emotion, 

mission  it  is  to  cheer  and  enliven,  to  sing  of  love,  and  to  soi 

praises  of  the  hero.     His  mind  is  attuned  to  sweet  influences 

is  sharp  for  the  finer  melodies,  his  eye  keen  for  the  subtler  t 

His  speech  is  metrical  and  lyrical,  and  his  verse  a  perennial  s 

youth  and  beauty,   love  and  joy.     A  dweller  on    Pamassui 

ages,    he  waves   for   use  the  magic  wand   of   Poesy;    he  * 

sluggish  blood,  excites  the  torpid  imagination,  and  embelH< 

homely  sentiment;    he  gives  new  meaning  to   tree   and  flc 

cloud  and  sky ;   he  spreads  the  mantle  of  romance  upon  th 

486 


THE  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  THE  POET.  437 

d  every  age  is  an  age  of  chivalry,  and  all  are  men  and  women — 
nights  and  Ladies ;  and  he  so  weaves  his  subtle  enchantment  that 
e  16  invested  anew  with  the  simple  delight  of  childhood  and  the 
'•eet  glamour  of  youth. 

But,  he  who,  falling  short  of  the  mission  of  Love,  foregoes  his 
■e  calling  to  become  a  portrayer  of  false  sentiment — a  panderer  to 
feaound  emotion ;  who  forsakes  Pegasus  to  ride  a  broomstick,  and 
■ays  to  illumine  mankind  with  the  glare  of  his  sickly  imagination,  is 
Enbbler — an  eyesore  to  the  wise.  Alas,  that  ignorance  should  foist 
ftoo  us  this  cant  in  the  name  of  love,  this  wail  and  woe  of  a  self- 
■ttred  mind,  this  foolish  lament  of  death.  The  true  poet  knows  no 
■tthy  knows  no  lament ;  is  no  love-sick  moon  pining  for  Endymion, 
■t  a  genial  sun  whose  kindly  rays  give  warmth  and  life.  He  glories 
f-tiic  majesty  of  Day ;  sees  in  every  day  the  first  day  of  the  world — 
tmging  no  past,  pointing  to  infinite  possibilities;  he  holds  life 
itfed,  every  moment  real — and  would  have  every  thought  true. 
■  The  mind,  and  its  reflection,  the  world,  is  evolving — is  becoming; 
it  the  Soul  is.  Ever  has  it  gleamed  in  the  prophetic  and  poetic 
bion ;  ever  has  it  been  the  high  office  of  the  seer  and  poet  to  record 
|tte  gleams  and  to  lead  men  back  to  the  soul.  Taught  by  the 
Pvine  he  instructs  the  human ;  what  he  hears  on  the  mountain  he 
JKldaims  in  the  city.  He  shall  interpret  dreams  and  read  the  writing 
ll  the  wall.  The  poet,  indeed,  is  one  with  the  seer,  and  it  is  for  him 
I  be  a  channel  to  the  Truth,  which  is  the  highest  poetry ;  to  be  a 
lOphet  of  God,  which  is  the  highest  calling.  He  is  not  a  maker  of 
Ifmes,  but  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness.  Always  a 
liner  of  mankind,  yet  because  of  the  Truth  must  he  walk  alone ;  living 
k  the  eternal  present,  there  is  yet  little  that  is  contemporary  with 
IId.  He  anticipates  the  ages.  In  silence  does  he  commune  with 
le  Spirit ;  in  ecstasy  does  he  behold  the  sublimity  of  the  Soul ;  and 
^tmed  to  the  Divinity  within  him,  his  life  flows  onward  like  some 
jlneat  river — serenely !  profoundly ! 

[  We  are  here  led  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  genius.  Now,  genius 
Illotto  be  confounded  with  talent,  which  is  a  mere  quality  of  the 

tUect:    but  as  talent  is  an  intellectual,  so  is  genius  a   spiritual 
tude,  and  it  forever  confutes  the  dictum   of  talent  that  art   is 


[ 


438  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

something  of  itself,  for  it  sees  it  purely  as  an  aspect  of  Being,  and 
beholds  in  God  the  alpha  and  omega  of  all  beauty  whatsoever.  Talent 
is  often  but  an  imperfect  glass  which,  held  to  the  eye,  shows  all 
objects  in  the  light  of  chromatic  and  spherical  aberration ;  genius  is  an 
inner  vision,  a  transcendent  clear-sightedness  that  requires  neither 
glass  nor  eye.  It  is  a  susceptibility  to  inspiration,  which  is  the  voia 
of  the  Spirit ;  it  is  the  quality  of  being  a  good  conductor  to  the 
Divine  current,  and  the  highest  genius  lies  in  a  profound  perception 
of  Truth.  And  to  those  influences  which  make  for  art  and  culture, 
the  poet  is  not  only  receptive,  but  he  perceives  their  significance;  he 
sees  in  them  but  the  garments  of  the  Soul,  and  is  concerned  with  the 
Source  whence  they  come.  We  read  that  Socrates,  being  admonished 
in  dreams  to  study  music,  bethought  himself  that  surely  he  already 
did  so,  for  was  not  philosophy  the  highest  music? 

It  is  but  a  popular  fallacy  that  men  are  necessarily  born  geniuses, 
for  genius  is  an  influx  of  the  Spirit  and  will  flow  in  whatever  direction 
is  open  to  it.     To  be  sensible  of  the  indwelling  Presence  is  to  open 
the  door  to  the  Infinite.     And  we  may  say  of  the  genius,  of  the 
prophetic  mind,  that  it  is  the  awakening,  the  new  birth,  and  he  to 
whom   it  comes  is  twice  born  and  wears  the  true   Brahman's  card. 
Old  things  have  passed  away  and  have  given  place  to  the  new.    The 
life  that  was  barren  becomes  fruitful.     He  stands  upon  the  threshold 
of  a  new  world  that  fills  him  with  glad  surprise.      He  observes  that 
the  senses  are  not  final,  and  the  external  life  but  a  state  through 
which  we  pass, — that  it  is  not  the  substance  but  the  shadow.    He 
regards  the  life  of  sense,  of  intellect,  of  strife  for  possession,  as  one 
would  the  illusions  of  childhood,  remembering  how  as  the  child  grows 
and  matures,  one  by  one  the  bogies  disappear  and  the  little  dreads 
and  fears  vanish;   how  top  and  ball  give  place  to  rod  and  gun;  how 
the  college  days  are  left  behind  for  the  life  of  society  and  the  club; 
how  these  in  turn  give  way  for  the  cares  of  family  and  of  business. 
And  then,  one  day,  comes  sorrow  and  in  one  moment  all  that  gilded 
world  has  turned  to  ashes;  the  worldly  experience  and  the  accumula- 
tion of  a  lifetime  afford  not  one  grain  of  consolation,  and  there  is  left 
only  the  yearning  for  Spiritual  things.     But  the  intimations  of  his 
genius  shall  serve  the  poet  in  lieu  of  experience,  for  wisdom  is  the 


THE  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  THE  POET.  439 

nsummation  of  all  action  and  experience  is  but  the  means  towards 
e  one  end  of  life,  which  is  union  with  the  Spirit. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  working  of  the  poet's  mind,  we  find 
at  herein  does  he  differ  from  common  men,  that  he  seeks  the 
bstance  of  things  nor  would  be  content  with  less;  he  would  get 
low  the  surface.     And  to  him  the  glory  of  life  is  the  consciousness 

the  Divinity  within  him ;  to  him  the  verities  of  Being  and  Love 
e  the  facts  of  life  and  all  else  is  incidental  and  passing.  There  is 
at  Reality  of  which  the  Spirit  admonishes  him,  which  the  world 
:nies,  but  stand  for  it  he  must. 

Genius  is  an  effluence  of  the  Soul, — not  a  personal  trait.  Take 
r  instance  the  violin :  a  bit  of  maple,  a  bit  of  pine.  The  genius  of 
:radivarius  fashions  and  shapes  and  puts  them  together;  the  genius 

Beethoven  records  the  rapture  that  floods  his  being;  the  genius  of 
le  Bull  awakens  the  imprisoned  voice,  and,  vibrating,  impassioned, 
naming,  that  glorious  voice  sways  multitudes,  touches  the  heart- 
rings  and  brings  the  tears.  They  see  the  blossoming  maple  and 
sar  the  soughing  of  the  pine.  In  the  little  violin  are  awakened 
emories  of  a  sunny  land  where  the  air  is  balmy  and  the  sky  so 
ue,  and  the  soft  mantle  of  the  olive  lies  over  the  hills.  It  sings  of 
le  old  maple  whose  soul  it  is;  it  tells  how  it  blossomed,  how  the 
irds  sang  their  love  songs  in  its  branches,  how  dark-eyed  lovers  sat 
meath  it,  long  ago,  and  whispered  their  soft  Italian  phrases.  But 
le  Spirit  that  breathed  upon  the  maple  breathes  through  the  genius 
■  maker  and  composer,  and  speaks  again  at  the  touch  of  the  virtuoso. 
he  Soul  is  the  genius  that  makes,  that  writes,  that  performs,  that 
>tens. 

**Art  for  art's  sake"  is  short-sightedness,  and  worse;  it  is  art 
ithout  a  basis;  it  is  a  body  whence  the  soul  has  fled.  What  a 
tiful  spectacle  do  some  men  present  under  the  delusion  of  so-called 
t ;  it  is  in  fact  the  penalty  of  those  who  forego  the  worship  of  the 
ivine  Principle,  and,  fascinated  by  the  expression  of  beauty,  would 
irtray  it  as  something  of  themselves.  And  so  for  every  true  poet, 
tist  or  musician,  we  have  a  motley  host  of  hobby  riders, — valiant 
ampions  of  school  and  method, — fierce  denunciators  of  one  another. 
It  genius  is  its  own  school,  and  a  law  unto  itself. 


440  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

It  follows  that  whoso  is  receptive  in  any  considerable  or 
transcendent  degree  to  the  influx  of  the  Spirit  becomes  the 
servant  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  thereafter  appear  to  the  world  as  a 
mystic  whose  teaching  shall  be  loved  by  succeeding  generations 
rather  than  by  his  own,  which,  failing  to  square  his  truths  with 
existing  dogma,  turn  a  deaf  ear.  But,  for  whomsoever  the  world 
stones  to  death  it  builds  a  monument.  He  shall  be  considered 
dangerous  to  society, — who  brings  a  message  of  love ;  and  in  truth 
he  is  inimical  to  the  self-interest  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  He 
is  a  pioneer  in  thought,  a  liberal,  a  radical ;  he  brings  truth  to  a 
world  that  maintains  error;  he  flings  no  roses  upon  the  beaten  track, 
but  sternly  points  to  the  new.  To  him,  the  seen  is  but  a  slender 
strip  of  territory  across  which  we  flit  as  we  emci^e  from  the  vast 
unseen  on  one  border,  to  vanish,  after  an  hour,  into  the  vast  unseen 
upon  the  other.  Possessed  by  the  memory  of  his  divine  origin, 
upholding  the  dignity  of  man,  having  all  faith  in  himself  as  the 
medium  of  the  Spirit,  he  is  a  very  bulwark  of  strength.  He  is  the 
Parsifal  before  whose  serene  consciousness  the  castle  of  Klingsor  sbaO 
fall, — the  King  of  the  Grail.     He  declares  with  Walt  Whitman: 

*'  Immense  have  been  the  preparations  for  me, 
Faithful  and  friendly  the  arms  which  have  helped  me. 

'*  Cycles  have  ferried  my  cradle,  rowing  and  rowing  like  cheerful  boatmen. 
For  me  stars  kept  aside  in  their  rings ; 
They  sent  influences  to  look  after  what  was  to  hold  me. 

1»E  1»E  *  *  «  * 

'*  All  forces  have  been  steadily  employed  to  complete  me; 
Now  on  this  point  I  stand  with  my  robust  Soul." 

Under  the  blue  sky  heaves  and  throbs  a  bluer  sea,  bordered  by  i 
rippling,  dashing  line  of  gleaming  white ;  the  deep  blue  throbbing  sea 
— symbol  of  that  Sea  of  Truth  to  which  every  soul  is  an  inlet, — « 
the  border  of  which  every  man  stands.  Its  rhythmic  throb  fills  tb 
Universe  and  we  may  not  close  our  ears.  Deep  within  the  soul  it  i 
heard,  and  ever  and  forever  the  memory  of  it  goes  with  us  in  thi 
One  Life, — now  a  distant  and  subdued  murmur,  now  the  majesti 
harmony  of  the  spheres. 

There  can  be  no  mediocrity  to  the  mind  ever  open  to  the  intima 
tions  of  its  genius.    We  are  not  cast  adrift  without  rudder  and  withoir 


THE  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  THE  POET.  441 

chart  to  read  our  fate  in  the  skies.  Faithless  have  we  become  if-  the 
intuition  no  longer  instructs,  no  longer  suffices ;  shallow  indeed  if  we 
relegate  religion  to  priests  and  Truth  to  poets,  for  the  Soul  bids  every 
man  seek  Truth  for  himself  and  make  his  own  prayers.  It  is  for  us 
to  treasure  every  phrase  of  gentle  import,  every  noble  thought,  every 
sweet  strain,  every  scene  of  grandeur  and  of  delicate  beauty ;  for  it  is 
the  Soul  that  has  spoken,  and  these  memories  shall  ever  redeem  us, 
— shall  softly  fan  the  flame  of  aspiration.  Not  one  vision  but  has 
come  for  a  purpose — has  brought  its  message  from  the  Divine  Worlds. 
Let  us  not  forget  thine  eternal  presence  thou  sweet  indwelling  Spirit. 

We  communicate  our  characters;  we  disseminate  them  as  do 
flowers  their  fragrance.  No  sooner  is  our  stand  taken  upon  one  or 
another  principle  than  there  comes  rushing  to  us  some  brother  or 
sister  asking  the  way.  We  cannot  live  to  ourselves  alone ;  all  eyes 
are  upon  us. 

Always  the  master-intellect  imposes  its  belief  upon  lesser  minds ; 
great  then  is  its  responsibility.  How  long  shall  Milton  cast  the 
gloom  of  his  Calvinism  over  the  Western  world ;  how  long  befool  the 
unthinking  with  man  fallen — who  is  but  now  rising,  with  a  Paradise 
lost  which  is  not  yet  found?  How  long  shall  the  weak  tremble  at 
the  horrid  hells  of  Dante's  mind?  Not  always.  The  laurel  shall  fade 
upon  the  head  of  him  who  misleads,  be  his  verse  never  so  majestic. 

Wearily,  wearily  we  support  the  burden  of  tradition.  But  it  is 
the  noble  office  of  the  poet — and  of  the  poetic  faculty  in  every  man 
— to  help  form  a  new  tradition,  a  tradition  for  Posterity  which  shall 
be  based  on  Truth,  and  which  shall  be  to  them,  not  a  millstone  about 
the  neck,  but  a  lamp  unto  their  feet. 

Stanton  Kirkham  Davis. 


See  how  timid  a  little  child  is;  see  how  he  sees,  even  in  a  strange 
face,  an  object  which  terrifies  him.  How  shall  that  child  lose  that 
timidity  .  .  .  Not  by  shutting  him  in  a  room,  where  he  will 
never  see  anybody.  .  .  .  Fear  is  generated  by  letting  him  face 
unknown  objects,  and  presently  he  begins  to  understand  them,  until 
out  of  constant  experience  fear  is  eliminated,  and  strength  and  courage 
take  its  place. — Annie  Besant, 


A   STUDY   FROM    FAUST. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  Faust  legend  was  a  literary  theme 
time-worn  and  hackneyed  when  Goethe  took  it  up  and  wove  from  it 
the  greatest  soul-history  ever  written.  Unlike  most  of  the  records 
of  spiritual  development  known  to  literature,  this  story  of  Faust  has 
nothing  of  an  episodic  character,  as,  for  instance,  the  spiritual  conflict 
of  Job,  but  in  it  the  soul  is  followed  through  a  complete  cycle  of 
experience,  by  which  it  is  clothed  upon  with  a  comprehensive  and 
harmonious  culture. 

It  is  this  comprehensiveness  and  harmony  which  make  the  great 
drama  an  inexhaustible  study  and  which  repeatedly  bring  back  to  its 
pages  even  the  most  constant  reader  to  enjoy  some  passage  which 
shines  with  new  meaning  as  the  conception  of  the  whole  has  gained 
in  clearness.  No  commentator  or  biographer  undertakes  to  deter- 
mine for  the  reader  the  exact  character  of  the  symbolism  of  Faust  or 
to  declare  the  fullness  of  the  spiritual  significance  of  any  particular 
scene.  Each  mind  must  lay  hold  for  itself  upon  the  vital  principle 
of  the  great  organism  presented  to  it,  and  in  the  strength  of  this 
must  interpret  and  appropriate  the  truth  of  its  parts. 

The  first  portion  offers  a  comparatively  clear  path  to  interpreta- 
tion, but  the  second,  being  on  a  loftier  plane  and  dealing  with 
abstract  truths  and  moral  forces,  is  more  difficult  of  comprehension. 
It  is  therefore  often  entirely  neglected  or  only  hastily  perused.  This 
is  the  more  unfortunate,  inasmuch  as  even  the  first  part  cannot  be 
perfectly  understood  without  the  knowledge  of  its  relation  to  the 
second.  As  has  been  said,  it  is  only  part  of  an  organism,  the  full 
comprehension  of  which  is  essential  to  explain  each  member. 

A  great  variety  of  opinions  regarding  the  different  acts  of  the 
second  part  is  advanced  by  the  critics,  but  to  the  English  reader,  at 
least,  there  is  one  relating  to  the  meaning  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  acts 
which,  I  think,  has  not  been  presented. 

It   will  be  remembered   that   Faust,  after  the  overthrow   of  the 

world  of  personal  interest  and  passion  through  which  he  had  first 

442 


A   STUDY   FROM    FAUST.  443 

been  led,  apparently  passes  through  a  Lethean  stream  and  wakes  in 
a  new  world  in  which  the  larger  forces  play.  He  now  pants  for  the 
higher  life  and  yearns  to  know  its  source. 

In  the  course  of  the  first  three  acts,  he  sees  in  open  vision  all 
social  forces,  retrograde  and  progressive ;  he  is  conducted  to  the  very 
fount  of  creative  life,  and  rises  thence  with  vision  clarified  and 
prepared  to  behold  Ideal  Beauty.  To  this  he  is  joined  in  spiritual 
union  and  then  is  reconducted  to  his  own  particular  earthly  sphere 
to  live  out  the  remainder  of  his  days  and  to  discover  there  his 
app>ointed  work. 

We  now  enter  upon  the  fourth  act  and  undertake  an  interpreta- 
tion of  what  follows,  different  from  any  which  appears  to  have  been 
given  by  the  critics. 

The  act  opens  with  Faust  gazing  after  the  vanishing  form  of  the 
highest  and  most  complete  beauty  of  his  own  nature;  that  which  has 
been  revealed  to  him  a,s  he  passed  through  the  world  of  pure  spirit 
and  looked  with  eyes  of  love  upon  the  Ideal  Good.  But  though  the 
vision  has  been  his  he  cannot  hold  it.  It  floats  aloft  and  **from 
his  inner  being  bears  the  best  away.**  Yet  a  soul  regenerated  by 
baptism  into  beauty  and  truth  is  left  behind  to  work  in  the  world  as 
a  purifying  and  uplifting  energy. 

Mephistopheles  now  appears  and  asks  in  what  field  Faust  would 
choose  to  spend  his  efforts.  He  suggests  several  kinds  of  labour,  but 
none  meets  Faust's  ideal  of  service.  Mephistopheles  then  asks  him 
to  declare  his  wish,  and  Faust  answers  thus : 

"Mine  eye  was  drawn  to  view  the  open  Ocean; 
It  swelled  aloft,  self-heav'd  and  over-vaulting, 
And  then  withdrew,  and  shook  its  waves  in  motion. 
Again  the  breadth  of  level  sand  assaulting. 
Then  I  was  vexed,  since  arrogance  can  spite 
The  spirit  free,  which  values  every  right, 
And  through  excited  passion  of  the  blood 
Discomfort  it,  as  did  the  haughty  flood. 
I  thought  it  chance,  my  vision  did  I  strain ; 
The  billow  paused,  then  thundered  back  again,  * 

Retiring  from  the  goal  so  proudly  won : 
The  hour  returns,  the  sport's  once  more  begun/ 


444  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

'*The  sea  sweeps  on,  in  thousand  quarters  flowing. 
Itself  unfruitful,  barrenness  bestowing ; 
It  breaks,  and  swells,  and  rolls,  and  overwhelms 
The  desert  stretch  of  desolated  realms. 
Then  endless  waves  hold  sway,  in  strength  erected 
And  then  withdrawn, — and  nothing  is  effected. 
If  aught  could  drive  me  to  despair,  'twere,  truly. 
The  aimless  force  of  elements  unruly. 
Then  dared  my  mind  its  dreams  to  over-soar; 
Here  would  I  fight, — subdue  this  fierce  uproar! 
And  possible  'tis ! — Howe'er  the  tides  may  fill. 
They  gently  fawn  around  the  steadfast  hill : 
A  moderate  height  resists  and  drives  asunder, 
A  moderate  depth  allures  and  leads  them  on. 
So,  swiftly  plans  within  my  mind  were  drawn ; 
Let  that  high  joy  be  mine  forever  more, 
To  shut  the  lordly  Ocean  from  the  shore, 
The  watery  waste  to  limit  and  to  bar. 
And  push  it  back  upon  itself  afar ! 
From  step  to  step  I  settled  how  to  fight  it : 
Such  is  my  wish ;  dare  thou  to  expedite  it  ?  " 

This  passage  is  interpreted  as  follows : 

Nothing  of  all  that  Faust  has  realized  of  the  true  nature  of  the 
forces  at  work  in  the  world  has  fully  satisfied  the  cravings  of  his  na- 
ture, and  the  Ideal  could  not  be  permanently  possessed.  He,  there- 
fore, determines  to  oppose  the  power  of  mind  to  the  great  destructive 
natural  forces  and  to  subdue  them  to  order  and  usefulness  for  the  serv- 
ice of  mankind.  This  interpretation  undoubtedly  bears  upon  its 
face  the  evidence  of  truth,  and  yet,  is  it  not  allowable  to  conceive 
that  its  truth  is  only  partial  ? 

The  main  objection  to  admitting  its  completeness  appears  to  me 
to  be  this :  that  it  entirely  shifts  the  scene  of  Faust's  experience  to 
a  stage  of  merely  practical  endeavors  and  therefore  moves  away  from 
the  esoteric  of  the  drama.  Is  it  conceivable  that  Goethe  should  lead 
his  hero  through  the  very  depths  of  spiritual  struggle,  should  reveal 
to  him  the  principle  of  energy  or  life,  should  unite. him  to  the  Ideal 
and  then  bring  him  back  to  earth  to  apply  the  results  of  his  enlighten- 
ment, merely  to  improve  the  material  conditions  of  society?  Has  the 
soul  triumphant  no  higher  mission  than  this  ? 

I  think  that  we  can  hardly  confine  the  spiritual  conquests  of  a  life 


A   STUDY   FROM    FAUST.  446 

pursued  through  the  depths  and  heights  of  human  experience  to  so 
x^arrow  a  sphere.  Will  not  even  everyday  experience  reveal  to  us  a 
deeper  meaning  in  Faust's  desire  ? 

With  longing,  sorrowing  eyes  Faust  has  beheld  the  ideal  form  of 
his  perfect  being  float  away  into  the  distant  heaven,  leaving  him 
^mong  the  familiar  scenes  of  earth.  From  the  land  of  pure  spirit  he 
has  returned  to  the  cramped,  often  debasing  conditions  of  the  mun- 
-dane  life.  What  now  must  his  task  be?  To  maintain  himself  as 
nearly  as  possible  upon  the  spiritual  plane  he  had  reached,  to  en- 
deavor to  comprehend  the  laws  of  this  higher  world,  and  to  apply  its 
great  principle  of  progress  and  order  to  his  whole  future  conduct. 

Faust  has  beheld  something  more  than  the  subjective  vision.  He 
has  discovered  the  workings  of  Spirit,  of  the  principle  of  Life  in  hu- 
man society.  The  height  which  has  been  attained  has  been  reached 
by  successive  steps,  and  its  present  level  must  be  but  a  stepping 
stone  to  a  higher  plane. 

But,  constantly  threatening  this  great  realm  of  spiritual  dominion, 
are  the  unordered,  undirected  elements  of  nature,  both  human  and 
inanimate.  Against  their  encroachments  not  only  is  eternal  vigilance 
the  only  price  of  safety,  but  an  active  co-operation  of  the  individual 
will  with  the  Power  which  is  making  for  righteousness  is  necessary 
to  a  maintenance  of  the  ground  already  reclaimed  from  chaos  and 
vanity.  What  was  true  of  the  individual  soul  is  true  of  Humanity, 
and  the  safety  of  the  soul  of  the  individual  is  insured  only  by  an  iden- 
tification of  its  interests  with  the  interests  of  its  fellow-men,  and  by  a 
seeking  after  self-realization  in  a  world  order  of  things  where  all  rela- 
tions shall  be  perfect. 

These  moral  truths  are  typified  by  the  Ocean  and  its  destructive 
effects  upon  the  intelligent  work  of  men's  hands.  These  are  con- 
stantly endangered  by  the  return  of  its  waves  upon  the  dry  land 
which  has  been  wrested  from  its  grasp. 

**  If  aught  could  drive  me  to  despair  'twere,  truly 
The  aimless  force  of  elements  unruly, " 

says  Faust.  And  mark  how  the  possibility  of  the  task  is  conceived. 
.Moral  steadfastness  conquers  the  fierceness  of  the  onslaught  of  the 
elements.      Even  a  quiet  spiritual  progress   drives   them   asunder; 


446  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

while  the  fact  that  the  least  decline  from  the  height  secured  leads 
them  on,  gives  to  man  a  field  of  activity  in  the  strenghtening  of  the 
weak. 

The  first  incident  narrated  in  Act  V.  gives  additional  force  to  this 
interpretation  from  the  fact  that  it  is  scarcely  intelligible  upon  any 
other  ground. 

An  old  couple  are  introduced,  Philemon  and  Baucis,  who  discuss 
the  extent  and  nature  of  Faust's  improvement  of  the  land  and  who    ' 
show  great  resentment  at  the  innovations  which  have  disturbed  the 
old  order  of  things.  They  evidently  represent  the  conservative  element 
of  society,  and  as  such  they  are  the  cause  of  perpetual  imitation  to 
Faust.     Their  moldy  old  cottage  and  the  adjoining  chapel  occupy 
a  height  which  Faust  wishes  to  possess  that  he  may  erect  upon  it  a 
scaffold  whence  he  can  view  his  entire  domain  upbroken  by  any  alien 
possession.     He  would  survey  the  work  of  his  hands, 

"  unconfined; 
The  masterpiece  of  human  mind." 

But  the  old  people  are  obdurate,  and  the  chiming  bell  of  the  ob- 
noxious  chapel  which  they  attend  still  continues  to  cause  Faust  to 
rave  at  the  sense  of  impotence  it  raises  within  him. 

At  length,  unable  longer  to  endure  the  sight  of  objects  which  not 
only  mar  the  perfection  of  the  work  he  has  accomplished,  but  which 
also  seem  injurious  to  the  old  couple  themselves,  he  bids  Mephis- 
topheles  remove  Philemon  and  Baucis  to  a  finer  and  more  healthful 
residence  belonging  to  him,  and  instructs  him  to  bring  their  posses- 
sions into  harmony  with  the  system  prevailing  throughout  his  own 
great  domain. 

But  the  attempted  removal  is  strenuously  resisted  by  the  old 
people  and  the  struggle  to  retain  their  own  costs  them  their  lives. 
Then  Faust  repents  of  his  hasty  deed  and  realizes  that  he  has  over- 
stepped his  rights. 

Now,  if  this  were  nothing  but  a  repetition  of  the  story  of  Naboth's 
vineyard,  as  the  given  interpretation  suggests,  how  much  dignity  it 
would  detract  from  the  labors  of  Faust ! 

But  if  we  see  in  his  feeling  and  in  the  act  which  this  inspires  a 
representation  of  the  enlightened  mind  which  recognizes  the  impedi- 


A   STUDY    FROM    FAUST.  447 

ment  of  tradition  and  feels  a  great  impatience  at  the  obstacles  it  offers 
to  higher  conditions  of  life,  we  have  an  incident  which  is  in  entire 
keeping  with  the  whole  scheme  of  the  drama.     The  death  of  the  aged 
pair  suggests  the  truth  that  to  forcibly  overthrow  conditions  which 
have  been  the  only  life  of  those  who  have  helped  to  form  them  and 
who  have  found  existence  in  them,  is  not  to  build  anew  but  to  des- 
troy, and  that  such  an  attempt  is  an  invasion  by  intellectual  pride  of 
a  spot  possessing  a  sacredness  of  its  own.     The  repentance  of  Faust 
was  the  remembrance  of  the  truth  he  had  already  learned :   that  all 
social  order  has  been  a  spiritual  construction  and  that  development  to 
be  real  must  be  orderly  and  from  within.     Indeed,  this  very  principle 
was  almost  the  mainspring  of  Goethe's  own  desire :  that  was,  to  realize 
in  the  soul  an  orderly  harmonious  development. 

Before  Faust's  death  he  is  blinded  by  the  Gray  woman.  Care. 
Perhaps  we  may  say,  in  short,  that  Care  represents  all  those  anxieties 
which  are  a  component  part  of  human  life.  Faust  has,  unmistakably, 
been  somewhat  darkened  in  spirit  by  his  life  of  practical  endeavor. 
Success  in  determinate  undertakings  is  ever  limiting  to  the  intellectual 
vision.  Yet,  though  partially  obscured,  above  all  the  Ideal  still  re- 
mains, and  the  friction  of  life,  its  uncertainties,  the  impotence  which 
deepens  self-distrust,  all  tend  to  keep  the  eyes  of  the  soul  open  for  a 
purer  vision. 

These  influences,  incarnated  in  Care,  finally  close  the  eyes  of 
Faust  to  the  joys  of  the  earthly  life  and  restore  to  him  the  form  of 
the  Ideal  which  dissolved  in  the  air  above  him  before  his  career 
of  service  began.      He  says: 

"The  night  seems  deep>er  now  to  press  around  me, 
But  in  my  inmost  spirit  all  is  light." 

His  desire  now  is  to  put  upon  his  work  the  crowning  touch,  which, 
restored  connection  with  the  spiritual  world  has  given  him  the  power 
to  do.  ''The  Master's  word,"  the  great  Idea,  **  alone  bestows  the 
Might."  And  this  Idea,  this  supreme  Truth,  given  by  impress  of  the 
One  mind,  in  the  work  of  bringing  its  influence  to  bear  upon  the 
world,  "  suffices  for  a  thousand  hands." 

When  the  soul  in  loving  service  of  its  fellow-men  has  impressed 
upon  them  its  highest  ideal,  the  truth  of  its  inmost  being,  and  has 


448  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

aroused  them  by  its  gift  to  earnest  spiritual  endeavor,  then  can  it 
look  upon  life  as  a  ^^  perfect  gift"  and  realize  its  continued  being  in 
the  higher  conditions  of  whose  making  it  has  been  the  instrument. 
The  lawless  elements  which  have  been  brought  under  the  control  of 
intelligent  purpose,  the  freedom  gained  by  other  souls,  the  zeal  for 
''high  emprise"  aroused  in  the  breasts  of  men,  all  bear  witness  to 
the  reality  and  permanent  significance  of  the  earthly  life  and  fill  the 
soul's  cup  of  satisfaction  to  the  full. 

The  last  words  of  Faust  embody  these  thoughts : 

"To  many  millions  let  me  furnish  soil, 
Though  not  secure,  yet  free  to  active  toil ; 
Green,  fertile  fields,  where  men  and  herds  go  forth 
At  once,  with  comfort,  on  the  newest  earth. 
And  swiftly  settled  on  the  hill's  firm  base. 
Created  by  the  bold,  industrious  race, 
A  land  like  Paradise  here,  round  about : 
Up  to  the  brink  the  tide  may  roar  without. 
And  though  it  gnaw,  to  burst  with  force  the  limit, 
By  common  impulse  all  unite  to  hem  it. 
Yes !  to  this  thought  I  hold  with  firm  persistence ; 
The  last  result  of  wisdom  stamps  it  true : 
He  only  earns  his  freedom  and  existence. 
Who  daily  conquers  them  anew. 
Thus  here,  by  dangers  girt,  shall  glide  away 
Of  childhood,  manhood,  sage,  the  vigorous  day : 
And  such  a  throng  I  fain  would  see 
Stand  on  free  soil  among  a  people  free ! 
Then  dared  I  hail  the  moment  fleeing  : 
*  Ah,  still  delay — thou  art  so  fair! ' 
The  traces  cannot  of  mine  earthly  being, 
In  aeons  perish — they  are  there! 
In  proud  fore-feeling  of  such  lofty  bliss, 
I  now  enjoy  the  highest  moment — this ! "  ♦ 

Unnumbered  are  the  human  lives  in  which  the  true  self  is  realized; 
but  only  to  the  few  is  given  the  supreme  joy  of  clothing  their  inmost 
being  with  a  glorious  Form.  But  in  the  occasional  perfected  life  can 
mankind  learn  the  truth,  that  every  grandly-won,  self-poised  person- 
ality, abides  in  the  world  as  an  active  force  compelling  unordered 
elements  to  submission  to  a  higher  control. 

Emily  S.  Hamblen. 

'^Translation:  Bayard  Taylor. 


THE  PASSING  OF  DOGMA. 

II. 

Art  has  ever  been  the  index  of  each  age's  deepest,  truest  thought, 
^e  are  reminded  of  this  whether  we  study  architecture,  sculpture, 
usic,  literature  or  painting.     If  an  age  is  full  of  wit  and  wisdom  it 
evidenced  in  its  achievements  in  the  arts.      In  this  regard   the  age 
'  Pericles  has  no  equal  in  history.      If  an  age  is  full  of  fancy  and 
tificiality  it  soon  manifests  itself  in  its  literature,  its  music  or  its 
chitecture.     Speaking  of  the  times  of  Chaucer,  M.  Taine  remarks: 
When  you  look  at  a  cathedral  of  that  time  you  feel  a  sort  of  fear. 
Libstance  is  wanting ;   the  walls  are  hollowed  out  to  make  room  for 
indows,  the  elaborate  work  of  the  porches — support  has  been  with- 
"awn  to  give  way   to  ornament.     The  dazzling  centre-rose  of  the 
3rtal  and  the  painted  glass  throw  a  diapered  light  on  the  carved 
alls  of  the  choir,  the  gold  work  of  the  altar — and  amid  this  violet 
jht,  this  quivering  purple,  amid  these  arrows  of  gold  which  pierce 
ic  gloom,  the  building  is  like  the  tail  of  a  peacock.'*     All  this  is  but 
1  evidence  of  the  thought  and  manners  of  the  age.     What  else  could 
:>u  expect  from  a  time  when  the  court  manners  justified  such  luxury 
F  personal  adornment  as  **  doublets  of  scarlet  satin;   cloaks  of  sable, 
>sting  a  thousand  ducats ;   velvet  shoes,  embroidered  with  gold  and 
Iver;   boots  with  falling  tops,  from  whence  hung  a  cloud  of  lace, 
riibroidered  with  figures  of  birds,  animals,  constellations,  flowers  in 
Iver  and  gold,  or  precious  stones"?     In  the  age  when  the  popular 
inception  of  womankind  was  most  pure  and  exalted,  it  was  possible 
>r  a  Raphael  and  an  Angelo  to  exist  and  transform  the  canvas  into 
^e  breathing  visions  of  beauty  which  inhabited  their  souls.     But  as 
^edixval  Christianity,  through  the  ideal  of  womanhood  exhibited  in 
^e  ennobling  conceptions  of  Mother  Mary,  exalted  all  womankind 
vid  thus  lifted  her  to  a  plane  she  had  not  before  occupied  in  the 
world's  history,  so,  by  similar  influences,  strange  to  say,  the   once 
imple  and  tender  conceptions  of  Jesus  were  transformed  into  those 

{  cruelty,  which  were  exhibited  in  the  prevailing  art. 

449 


450  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

The  canvas  and  the  palette  of  the  first  twelve  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  reveal  to  us  a  surprising  fact  concerning  the  popular 
conception  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  earlier  ages  of  the  church  the 
artists  were  wont  to  picture  Jesus  ais  the  tender-hearted  Good  Shep- 
herd, after  the  parable  which  he  himself  proclaimed  to  the  listening 
disciples  in  Galilee.  He  was  seen  with  long,  manly  locks,  flowing  to 
the  breeze,  with  unsandalled  feet  and  loosely  gathered  robe  thrown 
from  his  shoulders,  holding  in  his  arms  a  little  lamb  that  had  wandered 
from  the  fold,  which  his  eyes  behold  with  sympathetic  sadness  while 
his  lips  faintly  smile,  as  if  in  satisfaction  of  a  noble  work  tenderly 
executed.  When  the  Master  was  thus  represented  he  must  have 
awakened  in  the  minds  of  his  adoring  devotees  noble  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  exalted  tenderness;  yea,  aspirations  in  their  souls  to  become 
as  was  he — gentle,  kindly,  loving  and  forgiving. 

But  ere  long  these  artistic  conceptions  of  the  Great  Teacher  were 
altered.  The  ecclesiastic  teaching  had  changed  and  with  it  the  artistic. 
From  the  gentle  shepherd  and  the  tender  guide  he  becomes  the  austere 
commander  and  relentless  judge.  Then  art  altered  its  exalted  ideak. 
'*  In  the  eleventh  century — the  Good  Shepherd  entirely  disappeared, 
the  miracles  of  mercy  became  less  frequent  and  were  replaced  by  the 
details  of  the  Passion  and  the  Terrors  of  the  Last  Judgment.  The 
countenance  of  Christ  became  sterner,  older  and  more  mournful. 
About  the  twelth  century  this  change  became  almost  universal.  From 
this  period,  writes  one  of  the  most  learned  of  modem  archaeologists, 
'  Christ  appears  more  and  more  melancholy,  and  often  truly  terrible. 
It  is,  indeed,  the  rex  tremendae  majestatis  of  our  Dies  Irae.  It  is 
almost  the  God  of  the  Jews  making  fear  the  beginning  of  wisdom.**" 
And  yet  he  said  of  himself,  **  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  into  the 
world  to  condemn  the  world  but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be 
saved."  **  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me  for  I  am  meek 
and  lowly  ;  my  yoke  is  easy  and  my  burden  is  light."  But  now,  how 
changed !  He  that  was  the  gentle  Shepherd  has  become  the  hardened 
and  heartless  Judge.  And  yet  had  the  people  forgotten  the  "meek 
and  lowly  "  Guide,  or  had  only  the  ecclesiastics  sought  to  transform 
that  once  tender  countenance  into  austerity  and  sternness? 
♦(Lccky's  ''History  of  Rationalism/'  Vol.  i,  p.  74), 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  451 

The  question  affords  us  an  opportunity  of  discerning  the  historical 
luses  of  conflict  between  the  church  authorities  and  the  trend  of 
le  popular  thought. 

The  people  arc  ever  near  to  nature's  heart.  The  spiritual  autocrat, 
s  well  as  the  social  aristocrat,  love  to  live  aloof  from  the  common 
lerd,  that  they  may  hold  undisturbed  communion  with  their  selfish 
iurposes  and  deep-laid  schemes.  The  people  are  ever  natural ;  they 
cei  naught  but  the  throb  of  the  common  pulse:  their  instinctive 
<q>onse  is  to  the  cry  for  help  and  to  the  groan  of  pain.  But  they 
rto  sit  in  places  of  power,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastic,  are  ever  bent 
ifon  silent  intrigue;  unaffected  by  the  popular  condition,  they  seek 
*ot  to  sustain  their  artificial  dignity  and  to  enhance  their  acquirement 
'  glory. 

The  people,  unoppressed  by  deceptive  authority,  seek  but  the 
nth  at  whatever  hazard ;  they  yearn  for  the  common  peace  even 
ider  the  necessity  of  individual  sacrifice.  But  pompous  rulers 
rive  only  after  riches,  power  and  self-aggrandizement. 

There  are  but  few  men  who,  lifted  above  the  common  level  and 
a^lted  to  a  lofty  altitude  of  social  prominence,  have  the  mental 
lance  or  the  moral  fortitude  to  resist  the  temptation  of  overruling 
cir  benefactors  and  assuming  prerogatives   which  are  usurpations 

unwarranted  power.  History  is  replete  with  exhaustless  illus- 
ttions  of  this  grim  fact,  no  less  in  the  annals  of  the  church  than  of 
K  state.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty  in  religion  as  in 
litics.  Hence  the  gradual  separation  between  the  people  and  the 
date,  the  ecclesiastic  and  the  proletarian,  which  in  our  day  has  grown 
9uch  aggravating  prominence  as  to  be  regarded  as  a  grievance  by 
^  clergy  who  would,  if  possible,  determine  the  cause  of  the  rabble's 
fearegard  for  them.  But  in  the  age  which  we  are  now  contemplating, 
&  rabble,  that  is  the  masses, 'had  not  yet  wholly  wandered  from  the 
Sored  walls  of  the  church.  It  had  not  yet  been  found  necessary  to 
i^Ct  the  curious  query  into  a  clerical  conclave,  which  is  so  common 
^Hir  day,  **  What  can  we  do  to  draw  the  masses  into  our  religious 
Actings?"     Says  one  of  the  present  age,  "When  optimists  point 

to  the  thousands  of  pounds  annually  spent  on  church  buildings, 
■^  to  the  great  activity  among  all  church  workers,  as  a  proof  that 


4U 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MA 


skepticism  is  not  on  the  increase,  we  cao 
more  and  grander  buildings  for  worship  tha 
our  history,  but  that  these  costly  temples 
and  outside  all  churches  we  find  the  largest 
This,  coining  from  a  strictly  orthodox  auth< 
But  in  the  far-away  times  of  which  we  are 
beginnings  of  this  anomalous  religious  condi 
then  begun  to  agitate  the  popular  mind 
shackles,  the  age  began  to  tear  them  asu 
with  the  first  rude  outbursts  of  free  speech. 

Reason,  like  a  coarse,  crude  carpenter, 
and  sullen  auger  through  and  through  thi 
times,  that  she  might  anew  erect  a  structu 
onslaughts  of  polemic  storms  in  the  ensuin 
Orestes,  too  long  pursued  by  the  furies  ■ 
and  fear,  fled  at  length  to  the  temple  of  tru 
and  conquest  which  come  alone  through 
began  to  realize  his  godship.  It  was,  Jndee 
the  renaissance.  The  study  of  the  Greek  a 
philo.sophies  and  pseudo-sciences — opened  i 
student,  and  soon  thrilled  his  age  with 
whose  awakening  has  not  abated  even  at  thi 

But  would  not  the  revival  of  these 
authority  of  the  church  ?  Would  it  not  shal 
of  the  ecclesiastics  who  preferred  to  bolstei 
concealing  from  the  people  the  sources  i 
whilst  they  pretended  to  receive  their  spiriti 
direct  communication  with  the  Divine  Thr 
Ansclm  could  never  agree  with  the  age  of  O 
noble  philosophy  of  the  Greeks  which  ha 
champions  of  spiritual  truth  to  the  church, 
annihilated  else  the  bubble  of  papal  auth< 
of  ccclesiasticism  become  worm-eaten  and  a 
relentless  grasp  of  examination  and  expc 
fate  they  feared  befell  them.  At  last  tf 
bombast    burst   in  the   heroic   grasp  of  M 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  463 

thority  vanished  before  the  searchlight  of  the  scholars  of  the 
Kteenth  century.  They  scorned  the  barbarous  faith  of  mere 
ithority,  and,  in  the  face  of  obloquy,  scorn  and  persecution, 
lattered  the  towering  strength  of  ecclesiastical  usurpation,  till  each 
{ these  giant  reformers  reminds  us  of  Tennyson's  hero  who 

"  Fought  his  doubts  and  gathered  strength; 
He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind. 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind, 
And  laid  them :  thus  he  came  at  length 
To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own." 

The  established  church — the  church  of  autocracy  and  vested 
Mthority — fell  back,  basely  defeated  before  the  hosts  of  enlighten- 
ment and  reason.  For  some  years  a  spirit  of  freedom  and  investigation 
ifevailed  throughout  Christendom.  But  the  mysterious  authority  of 
fcc  Divine  Presence  was  merely  transposed  from  Romanism  to 
Votestantism — from  the  Vatican's  incensed  Holy  of  Holies  to  the 
iperstitious  chancels  of  revolting  chapels. 

Hence,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  smouldering  fires  of 
fe  Reformation,  long  since  subsided,  were  again  roused  to  activity, 
tee  more  the  church  was  enwrapt  in  a  consuming  conflagration. 

A  new  school  of  antagonists  arose  who  were  denounced  by  the 
^ices  of  authority  as  Deists  and  Atheists.  This  school  of  thinkers 
^Idly  attacked  the  very  foundations  of  faith.  Their  minds  were 
trolly  freed  from  sympathy  with  the  conventional  indoctrination. 
Kcmingly  their  effort  was  to  destroy  the  church  utterly,  and  the  Bible 
i-  which  it  rested,  leaving,  if  possible,  not  a  vestige  of  its  existence 
9  the  recognition  of  future  generations. 

But,  in  fact,  this  was  not  the  true  motive  that  inspired  the  Deistic 
fctagonism  to  church  and  state  a  century  ago.  The  real  object  of 
ja  widespread  movement  was  to  expose  the  futility  of  the  prelate's 
Port,  the  hollowness  of  his  vapid  claim  in  glorifying  the  Holy  Bible 
^  an  infallible  book. 

In  our  dispassioned  review  of  that  age  we  need  not  be  shocked 
dcause  the  leaders  of  the  intellectual  renaissance,  which  was  honey- 
Mubing  the  pillars  of  ecclesiastical  support,  were  denounced  as  Deists 


464  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

or  Atheists ;  let  us  not  forget  that  the  best  and  purest  souls  of  eartb 
have  been  thus  denounced  by  those  who  understood  them  not. 

Abraham  was  one  of  the  first  Atheists  of  recorded  history.  He 
fearlessly  denied  the  gods  of  his  father's  country,  and,  ostracized 
therefor,  went  forth  to  seek  *'a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose 
maker  and  builder  is  God." 

Buddha,  who  lovingly  reformed  one  of  the  basest  systems  of 
ecclesiastical  corruption,  and,  personally,  was  possessed  of  a  most 
exalted  character,  was  likewise  pronounced  an  Atheist,  because  be 
denied  the  alleged  divine  authority  of  the  Brahmins  and  rejected  tk 
asceticism  of  the  Rishis. 

Socrates,  who  cheerfully  drank  the  deadly  hemlock,  and  welcoaied 
death  with  a  philosopher's  wisdom ;  even  Socrates,  from  whose  sacnd 
prison  cell  the  breath  of  inspiration  has  ever  since  aroused  the  ffliods 
of  men — even  this  noble  Socrates  was  declared  to  be  an  Atheist  and 
a  corrupter  of  youth  because  he  denied  the  gods  of  the  Areopagtf 
and  the  authority  of  the  Delphic  oracle. 

Spinoza,  whose  native  spirit  was  so  inwoven  in  the  Eternal  that 
it  has  been  said  of  him  he  was  **  God-intoxicated  "  ; — Spinoza,  whose 
consciousness  of  God  was  so  supreme  and  omnipresent,  he  saw  on^ 
Him  in  everything,  even  he  was  bitterly  denounced  as  an  Atheisli 
driven  from  the  temple  in  Amsterdam  and  ostracized  in  his  oatife 
city. 

Even  Jesus  himself,  whom  all  the  world  to-day  exalts  as  thesul^ 
limest  personage  of  time,  was  cursed  by  the  coarse- visaged  of  his  dqf 
as  an  Atheist  and  a  blasphemer,  a  wine-bibber  and  a  glutton. 

The  history  of  persecution  has  long  since  demonstrated  that  those 
whom  the  powers  in  authority  condemn  are  wiser  than  their  gcnen* 
tion,  and  them  the  future  ages  are  sure  to  honor.  Constantly  the 
investigations  of  history  are  reinforcing  this  conviction. 

As  says  Max  Miiller: 

**To  quote  only  one  case  which  has  lately  been  more  carcfulf 
reexamined,  Vanini  was  condemned  to  have  his  tongue  torn  outaoi 
to  be  burnt  alive  (A.  D.  1 619)  because,  as  his  own  judge  dcdareii 
though  many  declared  him  a  heresiarch  only,  he  condemned  him  • 
an  Atheist.     *     *     *     It  is  but  right  that  we  should  hear  what  till 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  455 

aid:  *  You  ask  me  what  God  is?  If  I  knew  it  I  should  be 
no  one  knows  God  but  God  himself.  Let  us  say  he  is  the 
jood,  the  first  Being,  the  whole,  just,  compassionate,  blessed, 
I  father,  King,  ruler,  rewarder;  the  author,  life-giver,  the 
providence,  benefactor.  He  alone  is  all  in  all.*"  (Origin 
)n,  p.  295.) 

we  beheld  a  profound  philosopher  whose  wisdom  was  far 
lis  age,  ground  beneath  the  wheels  of  a  persecuting  age, 
tcause  it  could  not  comprehend  him,  concluded  it  could  only 

IS  not  be  scared  off  from  the  study  of  a  world-reformer, 
he  churchly  powers  that  be  condemn  him  as  an  Atheist, 
let  us  examine  the  work  of  the  so-called  Deists  and  Atheists 
iteenth  century  and  seek  the  direct  object  of  their  reformation, 
sought  merely  to  restore  the  old  ideas  about  God  and  the 
ich  prevailed  among  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  of  the 

century.  In  so  far  as  they  resuscitated  those  long-buried 
ns  they  were  successful,  and  the  church  never,  in  a  single 
defeated  them.  What  was  the  gist  of  that  old  conception  ? 
his :  That  we  must  expect  to  find  only  such  a  God  revealed 
:>le  as  has  already  in  all  human  experience  revealed  himself 
nsciousness  and  understanding  of  mankind.  In  short,  the 
evealed  religion  must  be  consistent  and  identical  with  the 
itural  religion.  That  there  can  be  no  conflict  between  reve- 
1  discovery,  between  inspiration  and  reason.  That  the  laws 
the  processes  of  ratiocination,  must  be  the  same  in  God  as 
Hence,  what  man's  reason  compels  him  to  accept  as  a 
ist  likewise  be  a  truth  with  God.  That  these  principles  are 
tible,  eternal  and  universal.  They  are  principles  begotten  in 
in  mind  by  God  himself,  and  if  their  efficacy  is  denied  in 

must  also  be  denied  in  God.  If  there  be  any  revelation  it 
elivered  only  through  and  because  of  man's  reason ;  and  to 
I  the  right  to  judge  of  that  revelation  by  his  reason,  is  to 
oth  him  and  the  revelator.  Man  will  only  rightly  apprehend 
,  when  he  trusts  his  divine  reason — trusting  it  as  the  hand- 
his  conscience,  and  that  these  two  voices  alike  reveal  the 


456  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

presence  of  the  indwelling  God,  ever  pleading  with  the  froward  and 
rebellious  heart  of  man. 

This  was  the  real  and  simple  purpose  of  the  Deists.  They  sought 
to  emphasize  the  knowledge  of  the  indwelling  Deity,  whose  existence 
the  early  fathers  and  reformers  so  ardently  proclaimed.  But  tk 
consciousness  of  the  indwelling  God  the  church  had,  by  her  unnatural 
and  repulsive  doctrine  of  total  depravity,  almost  wholly  annihilated 
in  her  blind  followers. 

Dr.  Cairns,  referring  to  Tindal,  one  of  the  leading  Deists  of  that 
age,  says:  '* Tindal  argued  against  the  necessity  or  even  admissi- 
bility of  revelation,  because  the  law  of  nature  grounded  in  the  Being 
of  God  and  his  relations  to  his  creatures,  could  not  be  superseded, 
but  must,  from  the  perfection  of  God  and  his  love  to  his  creatures, 
be  as  perfect  at  any  one  time  as  another.**  Further,  the  same  author 
comments:  **  Nothing  can  be  more  admirable  than  the  reasoning  of 
Dr.  Conybeare  in  reply  to  Tindal.  He  shows  that  he  has  confounded 
the  law  of  nature,  which  is  without  man,  with  the  light  of  nature 
which  is  within  him,  and  which  alone  can  be  called  '  natural  religion'; 
that  this  being  in  man  does  not  partake  of  the  immutabilitv  whidi 
belongs  to  God,  and  can  only  be  perfect  in  a  relative  sense."* 

The  fact  that  Dr.  Cairns,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  corroborates 
the  reasoning  of  Dr.  Conybeare  in  the  eighteenth,  shows  how  long  it 
takes  for  the  conviction  of  the  truth  to  seize  the  human  mind,  how- 
ever intelligent.  TindaPs  contention  is  that  Nature  is  one — and  if 
there  be  any  laws  in  nature  they  are  universal  and  under  fixed 
conditions  will  always  manifest  themselves.  Therefore  there  is  no 
**law  of  nature  which  is  without  man"  to  be  contradistinguished 
from  **the  light  of  nature  which  is  within  man."  Here  was  the 
gross  and  crucial  error  of  the  philosophy  which  the  church  then  and 
even  in  our  day  enunciated.  If  Nature  is  one,  the  **  light  within" 
must  correspond  with  the  **law  without.**  There  is  no  *Maw 
without "  that  can  shadow  forth  the  condemnation  of  a  malignant 
deity,  while  the  ''light  within**  gives  peace  to  the  silent  soul.  If 
the  soul  is  condemned   by  the  **  light  within,**  the  "law  without" 

•('•Unbelief  in  the   i8th  Century,"  by  Dr.  John  Cairns;    Franklin  Squire 
Library,  pp.  i6,  17.) 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  457 

must  likewise  condemn,  and  vice  versa.  This  effort  to  postulate  a 
dual  God,  who  manifests  himself  outwardly  in  a  permanent  law  and 
inwardly  as  a  special  saviour,  is  manifestly  false.  For  it  would 
contravene  every  possibility  of  law  and  annihilate  the  moral  order  of 
the  universe.  To-day  we  have  learned  that  because  of  this  very 
moral  order  the  stability  of  mankind  is  preserved  as  is  the  stability 
of  the  universe.  You  can  no  more  contravene  or  reverse  the  moral 
order  in  the  treatment  of  mankind,  with  impunity  to  the  race,  than 
you  can  annihilate  the  force  of  gravity  and  preserve  the  integrity  of 
the  universe.  This  proposition  is  so  clear  to  this  scientific  age  that 
we  marvel  it  was  ever  questioned.  But  this  was  all  that  Tindal  was 
contending  for,  who,  nevertheless,  was  so  severely  censured. 

The  virulence  of  the  church  party  against  the  Voltaireans  in 
France  really  accomplished  the  ends  of  infidelity  far  more  effectively 
than  did  all  their  attacks  upon  the  Christian  system.  But  had  the 
church  of  his  day  been  able  to  perceive  and  grasp  the  spiritual 
finesse  of  Voltaire's  argument  it  would  have  saved  itself  a  century  of 
conflicts  and  defeats. 

For  as  Motley  asserts,  '*  It  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  that  the 
Christianity  which  Voltaire  assailed  was  not  that  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  for  there  was  not  a  man  then  alive  more  keenly  sensible 
than  he  was  of  the  generous  humanity,  which  is  there  enjoined  with 
a  force  that  so  strongly  touches  the  heart,  nor  one  who  was  on  the 
whole,  in  spite  of  constitutional  infirmities  and  words  which  were  far 
worse  than  his  deeds,  more  ardent  and  persevering  in  practice.  Still 
less  was  he  the  enemy  of  a  form  of  Christianity  which  now  fascinates 
many  fine  and  subtle  minds,  and  which  starting  from  the  assumption 
that  there  are  certain  inborn  cravings  in  the  human  heart,  constant, 
profound  and  inextinguishable,  discerns  in  the  long  religious  tradition 
an  adequate  proof  that  the  mystic  faith  in  the  incarnation,  and  in  the 
spiritual  facts  which  pour  like  rays  from  that  awful  centre,  are  the 
highest  satisfaction  which  a  divine  will  has  as  yet  been  pleased  to 
establish  for  all  these  yearnings  of  the  race  of  men."  ('*  Voltaire," 
John  Motley,  p.  i6o.) 

From  all  this  it  is  very  evident  that  the  true  contention  of  the 
so-called  Deists  or  Atheists  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  for  a  more 


458  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

exalted  standard  of  life,  and  for  a  provable,  rational  and  adaptable 
deity,  whose  existence  need  not  be  apologized  for  in  the  presence  of 
thinkers. 

Rousseau,  at  one  time  overcome  by  a  profound  religious  passion^ 
thus  bursts  out  in  admiration  of  the  Christian's  deity,  thinking  he 
at  last  discerns  in  him  a  complete  satisfaction  for  the  rationale  of 
existence :     "The  first  and  the  most  common  view  is  the  most  simple 
and  reasonable.     Imagine  all  your  philosophers,  ancient  and  modem, 
to  have  first  exhausted  their  eccentric  systems  of  forces,  of  chance,  of 
fatality,  of  necessity,   of  atoms,   of  an  animated  world,  of  a  living 
matter,  of  materialism   of  every  kind ;  and  that,  after  them  .all,  the 
illustrious   Clarke    enlightens   the  world  by  announcing  finally  the 
Being  of   Beings  and  the  Disposer  of  events;    with  what  universal 
admiration  would  not  this  new  system  have  been  received, — so  grand, 
so  consoling,  so  sublime,  so  fitted  to  exalt  the  soul,  to  give  a  basis  to 
virtue,  and  at  the  same  time  so  striking,  so  luminous,  so  simple,  and, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  offering  fewer  things   incomprehensible  to  the 
human  mind  than  one  finds  of  absurdities  in  every  other  system.    I 
said  to  myself,  *  The  insoluble  objections  are  common  to  all  because 
the  human  mind  is  too  limited  to  explain  them.     Ought  not  therefore 
that  scheme  alone  to  be  preferred  which  explains  everything  and  has 
no  more  difficulty  than  the  rest.*"*     This  remarkable  passage  from 
Rousseau  is  only  valuable  to-day  in  that  it  proves  the  deep  yearning 
of  the  skeptical  souls  of  that  age  for  a  rational  system  of  faith  that 
would  at  once  quicken  and  inspire  the  heart  and  soul  without  shocking 
and  offending  the  logical  mind.     But,  after  all,  the  passage  is  simply 
a  curiosity  of  literature  showing  how  even  the  keenest  of  intellects 
can  at  times  be  overclouded  by  an  uprising  of  profound  emotion.    It 
is  no  wonder  that  Voltaire    revolted  against   his  unscientific  senti- 
mentalism  and  complained  that  he  was  merely  a  writer  of  **  extra\'a- 
gant  ideas  and  contradictory  paradoxes." 

But  I  have  examined,  at  this  length,  the  trend  of  thought  among 
the  so-called  infidels  or  Deists  of  that  day  merely  to  prove  that  the 
great  deep  yearning  of  their  minds  was  for  some  expression  of  soul, 


•Oeuvres,  *•  Emile."  Vol.  ix..  p.  20.    Quoted  in  Dr.  Cainis*8  "  Unbelief  in  Eigli- 
teenth  Century/*  p.  28  (Franklin  Sq.  Ed.). 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  459 

e  illumination  of  genius,  that  would  at  once  satisfy  the  demands 
leir  severe  reason  and  the  spiritual  awakening  of  their  profound 
ts.  For  they  were  so  intensly  religious  that  they  could  not  afford 
e  Christians;  their  worship  of  God  was  so  pure  and  sincere  they 
d  not  offend  their  ideal  by  bowing  even  to  a  mental  idol, 
y  sought  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill  the  demands  of  the  spiritual 

and,  like  Jesus,  they  could  honestly  have  proclaimed:  *'Not 
jot  or  title  of  the  law  shall  pass  away."  For  they  knew,  as  he 
MT,  that  the  true  law  is  imperishable ;  it  is  stamped  on  every  atom 
le  universe  and  in  every  impulse  of  the  human  heart. 
The  discernment  of  the  law  and  its  declaration  to  the  world  was 
supreme  effort  of  Jesus,  as  it  was  that  of  the  antagonists  of 
;ma  one  hundred  years  ago,   who  were  willing  to  be  maligned 

traduced  if  they  could  but  be  consistent  with  their  convictions, 
leave  to  mankind  the  heritage  of  a  rational  system  of  religious 

I.  Henry  Frank. 

{To  be  continued.) 


RECOGNITION. 


When  thou  shalt  float  upon  the  viewless  sea 
Which  ebbs  from  Time  to  far  Eternity ; 
Send  thou  an  echo  thro'  the  mystic  veil : 
And  I  will  hear  thy  hail. 

When  thou  shalt  lose  a  part  to  gain  the  whole, 
And  touch  the  Shore  where  soul  speaks  clear  to  soul ; 
Cast  but  a  thought  upon  its  atmosphere : 
And  I  shall  feel  thee  near. 

When  thou  shalt  stand  upon  that  Farther  Shore, 
And  we  shall  miss  thy  presence  evermore; 
Cast  but  thy  love  upon  the  Great  Deep's  swell ; 
And  I  will  know  thee  well. 

George  Wentz. 


?he  crying  need  of  the  world  is  that  all  should  recognize  that  they 
indissolubly  linked  together,  and  that  none  can  help  or  injure 
:her  without  doing  as  much  for  himself. — Burcham  Harding. 


THE  DIFFERENT  PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

II. 

Natural  evolution,  so  called,  is  an  interpretation  belonging  to  the 
physical  and  psychic  planes.  Regarded  in  this  way,  "Being  is 
becoming,"  infinitely  extended  in  time  and  space,  gradually  unfolding 
by  slow,  scarcely  perceptible  gradations.  Each  human  life  forms  a 
part  of  this  scheme  of  interminable  evolution,  in  which  the  Self  seems 
not  one,  but  many ;  as  white  light  is  resolved  into  rays  by  the  refract- 
ing power  of  the  prism.  One  seeks  in  vain  for  anything  permanent 
in  the  physical  and  psychic  conceptions.  Nothing  in  them  is  change- 
less but  the  fact  of  perpetual  change.  Life  rests  in  its  own  restless- 
ness. It  is  like  an  endless  chain,  the  links  of  which  are  birth  and 
death,  beginning  and  ending;  yet  not  ending,  for  every  end,  in  turn, 
marks  another  beginning.  The  three  views  of  what  is  real  in  life, 
thus  far  considered,  are  merely  interpretative. 

We  find  in  them  no  positive  knowledge,  no  absolute  certainty 
that  the  world  we  see  in  any  of  those  ways  is  real,  changeless  in  its 
nature  or  quality,  EternaL  Neither  do  they  give  assurance  that  any 
world  exists  otherwise  than  it  appears,  that  anything  has  a  basis  of 
existence  other  than  the  shifting  one  with  which  finite  thought  endows 
it ;  for  with  every  change  of  thought,  our  world  seems  to  change. 
Quite  naturally,  then,  we  might  begin  to  question  whether  there  were, 
after  all,  an  Absolute  Reality,  or,  if  there  were,  whether  its  nature 
were  knowable.  As  one  approaches  the  heart  of  Reality  from  any 
standpoint  on  the  outer  shell  of  life,  the  purely  mechanical  realm, 
one's  interpretations  steadily  assume  a  profounder  significance.  It  is 
comparatively  easy  to  furnish  accurate  descriptions  and  technically 
exact  definitions  of  facts  we  assign  to  the  mechanical  plane ;  but  those 
means  of  estimation  utterly  fail  to  give  satisfactory  or  even  intelligible 
representations  of  experience  on  the  spiritual,  or  often  on  the  psychic 
planes.  So,  as  we  pass  above  the  psychic  plane  of  interpretation,  if 
we  attempt  at  all  to  define  experience,  we  are  obliged  to  use  terms 
only  vaguely  suggestive  in  intent.  Terms  and  figures  of  representa- 
tion are  hopelessly  inadequate   to   express   the   full  value   of  such 

460 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  461 

ience,  or  to  convey  to  others  a  satisfactory  idea  of  what  we  then 
id  know  interiorly.  On  the  psychic  plane  we  may,  with  some 
e  of  intelligibility,  define  pain  as  sharp  or  dull,  sensibilities  as 
sh,  friendship  as  warm,  sentiments  as  sweet,  hatred  as  bitter, 
)ns  as  narrow,  etc.  But  how  futile  to  try  to  describe  the  rapt- 
vakened  by  a  sunset,  the  satisfaction  arising  from  the  perform- 
of  some  duty,  the  infinite  sense  of  exaltation  enjoyed  while 
ing  to  a  great  symphony !  On  that  plane  of  consciousness  we 
something  of  Reality  as  it  is,  and  not  through  an  interpretation  ; 
hen  we  attempt  to  express  our  knowledge  of  it  in  terms  com- 
nsible  from  any  finite  standpoint,  we  can  only  define  it  as  Pure 
3r  Spiritual  Principle. 

echanical,  physical  and  even  psychic  conceptions  contain  only 
:,  shadowy  images  suggesting  a  real  world.  On  the  lower 
s,  in  the  dim  light,  we  see  as  in  a  glass  darkly;  on  the  spiritual 
,  in  the  broad  daylight,  face  to  face. 

^c  find  then,  in  the  evolution  of  human  thought,  four  reasonably 
ct  views  of  what  is  real,  due  to  four  ways  of  perceiving, 
s  the  essential  nature  of  Reality  is  revealed  more  and  more 
ctly  in  the  increasing  light  of  consciousness,  its  inferior  aspects 
linger  in  the  mind  and  give  color  to  thought.  Therefore, 
ding  to  the  generally  accepted  view,  Being  seems  to  be  com- 
?,  endowed  with  at  least  a  dual  nature. 

here  seems  to  be  certainly  two  sorts  of  substance  in  our  world, 
er  and  Mind.  Now,  that  there  is  but  one  Ultimate  Reality, 
that  all  distinctions  are  due  to  interpretations  of  its  essential 
e,  varying  according  to  the  light  in  which  it  is  seen,  it  is  our 
)se  to  try  to  indicate  somewhat  more  fully.  If  such  a  Reality 
exist,  so-called  miracles,  instead  of  being  attributed  to  the  sus- 
on  of  laws,  must  be  regarded  as  nothing  more  than  superior 
Testations  of  a  Reality  which  transcends  all  interpretations ;  for 
I  physical  type  of  world  is  only  apparent,  not  ultimately  real,  its 
have  no  absolute  basis  of  existence,  but  are  only  our  modes  of 
)reting  some  ulterior  principle. 

verything  has  inner  and  outer  aspects,  interior  and  exterior 
icance.     Mechanical,    physical,   psychic  and  spiritual   views   of 


462  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

Reality  denote  a  steady  progression  from  a  conception  of  pure  ext( 
nality  to  one  of  pure  internality;  from  one  of  matter  and  force 
one  of  mind  and  thought ;  from  one  of  extensive  to  one  of  intensi^ 
values.  We  cannot  study  the  world  exteriorly  without  expanding, 
a  corresponding  degree,  interiorly,  although  we  may  not  always  I: 
immediately  aware  of  the  change.  The  necessity  and  even  the  pa 
sibility  of  interpretation  constantly  decreases  as  realization  increases 
This  gives  us  a  hint  that  the  essence  of  Reality  is  not  unknowable 
but  knowable.  While  our  thought  is  occupied  with  appearances 
phenomena,  the  knowledge  of  Reality  is  excluded. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  assumption  that  the  real  world  is  outer,  o 
1  the  physical  order.     As  we  seek  to  comprehend  its  significance  ou 

5  thought  travels  out  into  space,  and  tries  to  follow  world-forms  in  ai 

ascending  scale.     First  the  earth  appears,  a  complete  unit  in  itself 
J  But  this  unit  represents  only  a  fraction  of  a  larger  unit,  the  sola 

system.  Again,  the  solar  system  becomes  a  fraction  of  a  still  greate 
unit  or  system.  We  may  gain  the  very  faintest  sort  of  appreciatior 
of  the  distances  involved  in  these  calculations  by  considering  the  faci 
that  light,  travelling  at  the  approximate  rate  of  i90,ocx)  miles  pei 
second,  requires  over  three  years  to  reach  the  earth  from  the  membci 
of  this  system  nearest  our  own  sun.  Even  these  figures  are  uttcrh 
incomprehensible ;  yet  the  most  powerful  telescopes  reveal  the  exist- 
ence of  at  least  millions  of  similar  solar  units  organized  into  systems 
extending  out,  out,  out  into  an  infinity  of  space,  and  finally  disap- 
pearing beyond  the  range  of  any  mechanical  device  yet  invented  to 
aid  the  eye  in  its  search.  Supposing  it  were  possible  to  continue 
increasing  the  power  of  our  telescopes  indefinitely,  how  much  nearer. 
in  all  probability,  would  we  be  to  a  final  solution  of  the  problem  o( 
this  material  universe? 

It  is  far  more  difficult  to  conceive  that  an  ultimate  boundary  to  it 
exists  in  space,  than  to  simply  imagine  its  extent  to  be  infinite.  An 
attempt  to  encompass  the  material  universe  with  our  thought,  or 
even  estimate  its  magnitude,  then,  gives  us,  at  the  very  outset,  a 
hint  of  the  existence  of  an  unlimited  number  of  worlds.  And.  after 
all,  is  it  more  difficult  to  account  for  such  a  universe  than  it.  is  to 
account  for  the  existence  of  any  universe  at  all? 


THE  DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  463 

The  microscope  reveals  a  world  of  life  in  every  drop  of  stagnant 
:r.  Could  we  exchange  our  powers  of  sense  for  those  of  the  tini- 
mimalcule  thus  brought  to  our  notice,  the  outer  world  we  now 
V  would  totally  disappear  from  view,  and  a  new  one  beyond  the 
h  of  our  imagination  or  power  of  description  would  open  to  view, 
would  find  no  trees,  birds,  rocks,  mountains.  The  bodies  that 
appear  to  us  in  such  guises  would  be  resolved  into  vast,  unex- 
ed  worlds  of  hitherto  unperceived  forms. 

Now  let  us  turn  from  these  outer  demonstrations,  in  which  we 
;rve  concrete  units  multiplied  and  divided  far  beyond  our  com- 
lension,  to  the  inner  realm  of  pure  mathematics.  If  we  multiply 
unit  until  we  have  ten,  we  consider  that  a  unit  in  the  ten  column ; 
wise  ten  tens  give  us  a  unit  in  the  hundred  column.  Evidently 
may  continue  multiplying  units  and  groups  of  units  until  we  are 
i  of  the  process,  without  reaching  the  limit  of  notation.  The 
iber  of  available  units  is  only  limited  by  our  thought ;  it  is  purely 
il,  and  as  long  as  we  hold  the  infinite  conception  regarding  num- 
,  the  demonstration  may  be  continued  ad  infinitum. 
Few  people  have  ever  actually  counted  even  one  million,  yet 
ry  child  is  absolutely  certain  that  figures  would  be  forthcoming  fn 
ch  he  might  express  his  enumeration  of  as  many  units,  should  he 
ire  to  do  so.  The  supposition  that  this  would  be  possible  rests  on 
urely  rational  basis.  Long  before  we  reach  a  million,  by  actual 
nt  of  units,  we  are  satisfied  that  the  process  may  be  continued  as 
J  as  we  wish ;  in  other  words,  that  the  supply  of  ideal  units  can 
er  be  exhausted.  But  if  we  find  it  wearisome  to  count  a  million, 
can  easily  estimate  much  greater  numbers,  under  favorable  cir- 
stances,  by  resorting  to  processes  of  reasoning.  By  exercising 
rational  faculty  we  become  aware  of  the  meaning  of  infinity  as 
ciated  with  number. 

Now  let  us  again  assume  our  original  starting  point ;  but  instead 
scending  the  Scale,  let  us  descend  it ;  instead  of  multiplying  con- 
e  units,  let  us  divide  them.  We  know  that  molecules,  like  solar 
ems,  are  compound  bodies ;  that  every  molecular  unit  is  divisible 
►  lesser  atomic  units.  Science  has  to  deal  with  an  "ultimate 
Ti.**     But  in  what  sense  does  the  atomic  form  indicate  the  ulti- 


464 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZIi 


mate  limit  of  divisibility  in  matter?  Probably  oi 
the  limit  of  our  ability  to  register  the  phenomer 
or  5ub<tivision  of  material  units.  Scientific  inves 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  material  phenomena  ar 
and  that  matter  itself  is  reducible  to  energy,  i 
force  appear  to  be  essentially  different  in  nature 
entific  experiments  indicate  that,  after  all,  matte 
various  forms  of  manifestation.  The  atomic  1 
Kelvin,  according  to  which  atoms  are  merely  vorte 
would  reduce  matter  as  well  as  the  imponderabl 
and  electricity  to  forms  of  ethereal  activity.  Ar 
to  be  proved  that  even  the  ether  itself  is  compos 
minute  particles.  We  must  then  suppose  that  so 
medium  fills  the  interspaces  between  the  particles 

Where  then  is  the  end  of  this  subdividing 
suppose  it  to  be  capable  of  endless  continuance? 
space  to  be  limitless,  coextensive  with  our  thou 
know  that  worlds  are  organized  into  systems,  and 
a  yet  more  stupendous  scale,  until  it  seems  well-i 
of  an  ultimate  boundary  to  the  world  of  matter, 
blank,  unoccupied  space  extends.  Here  the  trar 
of  Kant  relieves  us  of  our  dilemma  by  showing  t 
subjective  value,  is  a  mental  conditioning  of  the 
outwardly,  not  an  objective  reality.  Now,  if  ma 
the  ether,  if  the  ether  is  limitless,  coextensive  wi 
is  subjective  in  its  origin,  we  arrive  at  the  (ollowi: 

first.  That  the  unit  of  matter  is  purely  ideal, 
furnishes  the  basis  of  computation  in  pure  matl: 
is  therefore  no  absolutely  definite  limit  either 
extent  of  material  bodies;  that  the  same  difficult 
in  attempting  to  deal  mathematically  with  concre 
as  with  abstract  numbers. 

Si'cottii.  That  the  material  universe  is  the  i 
mind;  thought  seen  on  the  outside,  externalizec 
protcd  in  terms  of  outer  significance,  as  it  must  a 
conception  of  Being. 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  466 

The  idea  of  the  relative  value  of  size  must  have  already  occurred 
us  in  following  this  discussion.  We  have  no  absolute  standard  of 
:c.  A  line  is  either  long  or  short,  according  to  the  length  of  our 
easuring  rule.  If  we  measure  with  an  inch  rule,  a  yard  seems  long; 
with  a  lO-foot  pole,  it  seems  short.  Riding  in  an  express  train,  a 
ile seems  short;  to  the  creeping  infant,  long.     In  conceiving  space 

be  infinite,  we  imply  that  our  standard  of  measurement  is  finite. 
3  the  animalcule  sporting  in  a  drop  of  water,  the  ocean  would 
em  boundless,  were  the  animalcular  mind  capable  of  such  a  thought ; 
It  to  the  astronomer,  the  ocean  represents  a  very  small  fragment  of 
I  insignificant  planet,  itself  like  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  seashore, 
^e  commonly  estimate  space  according  to  the  standard  of  the  human 
xly,  and  judge  objects  to  be  large  or  small  by  comparison  with  it. 
et  how  absurd  to  claim  that  a  finite,  changeable  conception,  a  tran- 
snt,  thought-created  phenomenon  can  have  any  value  as  an  absolute 
andard  of  measurement;  still,  we  have  no  better  one.  Whenever 
e  attempt  to  gauge  the  dimensions  of  space  or  any  of  its  contents, 
must  be  with  this  unstable,  imaginary  unit  of  measure.  But,  aside 
5m  the  question  of  convenience,  is  there  any  more  reason  for  adopt- 
g  the  human  body  as  our  standard,  than  the  atom  or  one  of  the 
evenly  bodies?  Is  it  not  altogether  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
ere  are  beings  to  whom  the  compass  of  the  universe  lying  within 
e  limits  of  human  vision  appears  as  the  point  of  a  needle  in  size? 
id  is  it  not  easy  then  to  infer,  by  analogy,  that  to  such  vision  there 
pear  in  regions  altogether  inapproachable  to  human  sight,  objective 
dies,  the  forms  and  peculiar  individual  characteristics  of  which  are 
ite  incomprehensible  from  our  finite  point  of  view? 

Let  us  next  turn  from  considering  the  extent  of  the  physical 
verse  to  the  question  of  number  in  relation  to  it.  No  doubt  it 
netimes  seems  to  the  prosaic,  matter-of-fact  materialist  that  the 
Hber  of  solar  systems  or  suns  must  be  limited,  because  they  are 
fe  enough  to  be  readily  appreciable  to  human  vision,  and  therefore 
fht  be  counted,  could  we  only  sp^e  them  all.  But,  as  we  have  just 
mated,  an  absolute  standard  of  size  is  unthinkable.  The  atom 
ms  small  because  we  compare  it  with  a  body  of  the  human  type. 


466  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

NoWy  according  to  the  physical  interpretation  of  things,  every  body 
that  comes  within  the  range  of  our  perceptive  powers  may  be  resoh'cd 
into  lesser  organic  units,  still  of  relatively  important  values ;  and  eveiy 
body,  too,  forms  part  of  some  larger  body,  or  community  of  bodies. 
Every  body  of  which  we  have  any  definite  knowledge  occupies  a  place 
in  the  midst  of  the  scale  in  regard  to  size,  being  neither,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  the  largest  nor  the  smallest  in  existence. 

We  may  be  able  to  determine  the  exact  number  of  units  of  a 
certain  sort  in  any  particular  body,  or  at  least  we  may  form  some 
kind  of  an  estimate  of  their  number;  at  all  events,  we  are  sure  that 
an  exact  number  of  such  units  does  exist  in  that  particular  body. 
But  it  is  only  by  taking  some  distinct  kind  of  unit  as  the  basis  of 
computation  that  we  are  able  to  declare  the  number  of  units  in  any 
body  to  be  limited.  We  must  assume  some  definitely  recognizable 
unit  as  our  starting  point  before  we  can  proceed  to  multiply  it  in 
higher  forms  or  divide  it  in  lower  ones. 

The  basic  unit  of  Being  is  the  Self.  Whenever  one  thinks  of  a 
finite  self  (/.  e. ,  a  self  which  is  a  fragment  or  fraction  of  somethinjj, 
one  must  look  for  the  complement  of  its  finitude  or  deficiency  out- 
side it. 

According  to  the  degree  one  supposes  one's  self  to  be  finite,  in 
proportion  to  the  insignificance  of  the  fraction  of  Being  one  feels 
one's  self  to  represent,  must  the  complement  of  Being  in  one's 
thought  seem  infinite  and  incomprehensible.  When  one  conceives 
of  one's  self  after  the  fashion  of  a  human  body,  the  number  of  atoms 
of  which  it  is  composed  exceeds  one's  power  of  reckoning;  but  one 
then  thinks  of  them  as  parts  of  one's  self.  As  one's  idea  of  self 
expands  and  becomes  more  inclusive;  as  the  thought  of  human 
limitation  and  separateness  vanishes  and  the  narrower,  materialistic 
thought  of  self  is  embraced  in  the  unity  of  a  larger  conception,  the 
significance  of  number,  in  relation  to  Being,  disappears.  In  realit)*, 
there  is  but  one  Self,  but  it  admits  of  infinite  multiplication  or  di\'i- 
sion  in  thought,  like  the  abstract  unit  of  number. 

The  Supreme  Being  alone  can  know  the  full  significance  of  the 
complete  unity  of  life.  To  finite  view  the  world  must  appear  in  a 
manifold  aspect  (i.  e.,  as  composed  of  separate  parts  or  selves). 


THE   DIFFERENT   PLANES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  467 

In  the  Infinite  consciousness  there  can  be  no  distinction  of  I  and 
?hou,  self  and  non-self;  all  is  unity.  Only  as  thought  enters  the 
inite  realm  does  unity  begin  to  be  multiplied  and  divided.  Let 
hese  processes  of  multiplication  and  division  of  the  Self  in  thought 
mce  be  entered  upon,  and  they  may  be  indefinitely  extended.  But 
•uch  numerical  distinctions  are  not  absolutely  real.  Neither  space 
or  number,  in  the  abstract,  possess  for  us  any  actual  significance ; 
nly  in  the  concrete,  when  associated  with  things,  objects,  bodies, 
icts,  are  they  meaningful.  Whenever  we  attempt  to  estimate  dimen- 
ions  appreciatively,  we  must  assume  at  least  two  bodies,  or  two 
ositions  supposed  to  be  within  one  body.  Every  appreciable  esti- 
mate of  spatial  relations,  then,  is  possible  because  we  conceive  of 
odies,  things.  But  as  we  have  already  pointed  out  bodily  distinc- 
ons  have  only  apparent  values ;  we  have  no  absolute  standard  by 
^hich  to  estimate  matter,  either  in  regard  to  its  dimensions  or  the 
timber  of  units  it  expresses.  Both  considerations  depend  on  the 
bserver's  standpoint.  Therefore  bodies  can  have  no  absolute  numer- 
revalue.  The  absolute  significance  of  number  is  expressed  in  the 
tiit  (the  basis  of  enumeration)  and  infinity.  Two  lines  may  diverge 
"om  one  point,  but  that  point  may  be  conceived  to  exist  anywhere. 
o  with  the  conception  matter.  Material  units  seem  to  diverge  in 
ndless  numbers  from  any  appreciable  point  in  our  altogether  arbi- 
rary  scale  we  choose  to  designate. 

The  value  of  any  given  number  is  derived  from  the  basis  of  num- 
ber, the  unit.  But  with  a  variable  unit,  it  can  have  no  absolute  value. 
Hierefore  we  are  led  to  conclude  that,  as  there  is  no  absolutely  fixed 
>nit  of  matter,  there  can  be  no  absolutely  fixed  number  of  material 
*<Hiies.  If  space,  the  unit  of  matter  and  the  number  of  its  units,  are 
'1  purely  ideal,  the  outer  order  we  know  as  physical  cannot  be  abso- 
'tely  real,  but  must  be  only  apparent. 

Frank  H.  Sprague. 


It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  amazing  successions  of  revela- 
^Us  in  the  domain  of  Nature,  during  the  last  few  centuries,  at  which 
'^  world  has  all  but  grown  tired  wondering,  are  to  yield  nothing  for 
'^  higher  life. — Henry  Drummond, 


THE  NEW  LEARNING. 

A  culture  movement  started  in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century,  aoc 
Europe  at  that  time  received  impulses  from  Greece  and  Rome, 
which  caused  what  has  been  called  the  Renaissance.  It  was  a  rebird 
after  classical  models  and  an  opening  up  of  new  continents;  it  readid 
the  core  of  existence,  for  it  brought  humanity  back  to  nature,  and  ii 
that  return  to  the  original  foundations  some  new  elements,  hitherto 
unknown,  came  to  light.  The  rebirth,  in  other  words,  contained  two 
factors — a  restoration  of  natural  conditions  and  the  creation  of  sonw- 
thing  new.  The  occult  student  knows  that  similar  events  take  place 
every  five  hundred  years.  He  is  therefore  not  surprised  to  sec  a 
repetition  in  our  own  day.  Everywhere  the  cry  is  for  facts,  die 
positive,  the  real,  the  natural;  it  is  so  in  science,  art  and  literature, 
and  the  enormous  industrial  progress  of  to-day  has  its  cause  in  a 
closer  relationship  to  nature.  In  philosophy  and  morals  the  rebirtk 
is  as  clearly  discernible ;  dog^mas  and  systems  are  dead,  and  we  laugk 
at  any  man  or  woman  who  offers  us  a  formula  that  claims  to  answer 
all  questions  and  solve  all  problems.  We  do  not  follow  in  the  leading 
strings  of  any  claimant  to  an  exclusive  divine  ministry. 

The  Renaissance  proper  was  preceded  by  what  has  been  called  tk 
**  New  Learning."  Greek  writings  were  brought  to  Italy  and  Greek 
modes  of  thought,  together  with  Greek  art  ideas,  revolutionized  the 
leading  peoples  and  started  a  new  culture.  The  kernel  of  the  Greek 
ideas  was  a  metaphysical  reconstruction  of  thought,  and  a  new  interpre- 
tation of  human  passions,  according  to  which  their  my sterious  powefs 
are  divine  incarnations.  The  Greek  interpreted  nature  by  the  idei 
of  an  activity  identical  with  one  in  himself.  His  life  was  simple  and 
happy,  and  the  beauty  that  flows  from  freedom  made  him  a  master. 
Beauty  was  to  him  a  science  of  life  and  the  mediator  between  th 
subjective  and  objective.  In  Rome  the  Greek  view  of  life  assumed* 
practical  character  and  jurisprudence  took  precedence  over  beauty,  brt 
even  that  was  based  and  constructed  closely  upon  natural  foundatioai 
and  developments. 

The  Renaissance  of  to-day  is  manifest  in  the  New  Learning.  T^ 
New  Learning  is  old  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term,  viz.,  it  is  originJ 

468 


THE   NEW   LEARNING.  469 

;oes  to  the  bottom.  To  be  sure,  we  have  among  us  many 
tators  of  Eastern  methods  and  many  who  vainly  strive  to  return 
an  Eastern  mode  of  life.  They  receive  their  reward.  Nature 
[is  against  them,  for  they  act  unnaturally  and  their  wiser  fellowmen 
gh  at  them.     While  the  New  Learning  is  by  necessity  a  return  to 

old  wells,  it  demands  an  original  adaptation  and  new  use,  in  the 
le  way  as  in  any  practical  science.  An  inventor,  for  instance, 
dies  carefully  all  previous  endeavors  in  order  to  learn  what  has  been 
le  and  to  find  where  the  failures  occurred.  He  could  claim  no 
ent  otherwise.  A  modern  imitator  of  the  East,  who  does  not 
e  us  Orientalism  in  an  Americanized  form,  does  not  confer  any 
lefit  upon  us.  If  he  thinks  we  need  light  that  illuminated  the 
5t  some  thousand  years  ago,  let  him  not  forget  the  results  of  the 
ervening  time  and  the  progress  made  upon  the  lines  of  civilization ; 
him  combine  the  two,  and,  if  he  can,  he  can  claim  a  New  Learning 
i  the  world  will  be  better  for  the  synthesis. 

The  New  Learning  of  to-day  has  offered  the  western  world  a 
laissancf,  which  is  no  imitation,  but  a  new  product,  as  new  as  it  is 
ssible  to  make  it.  **  Nothing  new  under  the  sun  **  is  and  remains 
le  now  as  of  old.  Each  age  faces  the  same  problems  as  its  prede- 
ssor,  and  if  it  has  any  spiritual  value  it  solves  the  problems  in  an 
dividual  manner,  and  that  manner  is  its  justification  for  existing. 

The  main  characteristic  of  the  New  Learning  of  to-day  is  its 
ychological  basis.  Psychology  is  the  root  and  introduction  to  all 
•owlcdge.  Man  is  the  key  to  the  universe.  By  this  is  not  meant 
U  a  simple  Idealism  rules.  It  means  that  we  cannot  judge  the 
fcure  of  that  which  is  outside  ourselves ;  we  must  therefore  in  all  our 
est  for  knowledge  begin  with  our  own  consciousness.  The  new 
^chology  starting  from  facts  of  consciousness  has  advanced  this 
^rem,  ''the  essentially  human  is  identical  with  the  Divine,"  and 
>ti  that  it  has  reached  far  enough  to  found  a  new  culture.  A  new 
'  is  being  built  upon  the  recognition  that  man  is  himself  an  embodi- 
Ht  of  Law,  Order,  Form,  Method;  character  is  moral  order  seen 
ough  individual  existences.  The  New  Age  man  does  not  follow 
•  logic  of  a  philosophical,  theological  or  even  scientific  system ;  his 
de  is  himself;  the  two  are  identical.     The  end  is  the  cause.     The 


470  THE    METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 

lover,  love  and  the  beloved  are  one.  Illogica 
cares  for  no  intellectual  objections.  Life  is  too 
to  be  crammed  into  a  formula.  Living  life  is 
guide.  In  the  "ground  of  the  soul"  the  Ne« 
and  rediscovered  "the  synthetic  faculty,"  wh 
from  Universals  and  in  freedom  rises  above  the 
so-called  faculties  of  soul.  The  New  Man 
Seneca's  pilot,  who  said,  "  O  Neptune,  you  maj 
you  may  sink  me,  if  you  will,  but  whatever  hap 
rudder  true."  The  ordinary  observer  sees  the 
but  he  sees  the  Whole  and  knows  that  the  Whol 
In  personality  he  is  nothing  more  than  an  agg 
but  the  element  that  binds  these  forces  is  t 
thousand-fold  forms  of  life  and  death,  is  but 
inward  force.  The  world  is  man  and  man  is 
know  the  human.  The  Man  of  Psalms  utters  h 
and  finds  rest  by  the  utterance.  All  utteranc 
creation  is  rest.  In  holy  books  man  records  1 
this  record  finds  himself;  sometimes  he  even  t; 
objective  fact.  In  creeds  he  formulates  his  inm 
is  the  same  which,  as  sunbeams,  calls  animal; 
being  and  which  creates  the  moral  law  in  our  h 
a  Human  Mind  and  a  Human  Heart." 

The  new  psychology  teaches  that  all  the  w 
is  the  Truth,  so  it  is  also  the  Way.  If  we  are 
with  the  Divine,  so  our  science  of  life,  our  et 
stant  identification,  and,  in  this  identification,  bd 
we  find  Being. 

The  teaching  that  the  human  is  essentiall 
divine  is  radical ;  more  so  than  appears  at  firsi 
and  sickness  and  destroys  all  the  falsity  there  is 

The  New  Learning  goes  further.  In  distinj 
essentially  human  and  that  which  is  not  essei 
human  personality  has  been  raised — and  solved, 
the  vehicle  of  the  ego,  is  a  momentary  organiza 
a  concentration  of  the  vis  viva,  hence  it  parta 


THE   NEW   LEARNING.  471 

teristics  of  that  energy,  it  is  its  own  cause  and  effect,  is  both  subject 
and  object;  in  it  lies  the  highest  forms  or  patterns  according  to 
which  life  evolves;,  in  it  lies  also  the  failures  and  miscarriages  of 
evolution.  It  may  be  said  to  be  both  good  and  bad,  rich  and  poor, 
etc.  Whatever  it  be,  it  is  our  house,  our  tool,  and  we  cannot  do 
v^ithout  it.  It  would  be  a  grave  mistake  to  undervalue  it  or  to 
throw  it  away.  Even  in  case  we  attain  to  nothing  by  it  but  what  we 
call  evil,  it  is  to  us  our  symbol  of  existence,  its  quality  and  quantity 
is  "ordered  by  weight  and  measure,"  and  thus  it  is  a  perfect  index 
to  our  present  conditions  and  earthly  prospects. 

Questions  which  the  past  has  attempted  to  answer  and  has 
answered  after  a  fashion,  have  again  come  up  in  our  day,  and  received 
a  new  solution.  In  connection  with  the  subject  of  personality  comes 
always  the  question  of  evil.  To  that  also  the  New  Learning  has 
given  a  new  solution. 

Evil  is  not  flatly  denied.  The  hard  facts  of  life  are  frankly 
recognized.  We  kill  to  live.  Even  the  pious  monk  who  has  reduced 
life  to  a  minimum  of  a  handful  of  rice  a  day,  destroys  life.  We  kill 
and  are  being  killed.  Religion  says  **  Except  ye  die,  ye  cannot  live." 
Siva,  the  goddess  of  destruction,  is  a  part  of  the  Hindu  Trinity  and 
bloody  sacrifices  have  been  the  attempt  to  cure  evil  with  evil. 
Physical  and  moral  pain  cries  aloud  everywhere.  The  teaching  now 
IS,  that  the  sphere  of  evil  lies  below  freedom.  A  self-conscious  and 
^If-centred  free  being  lives  beyond  evil.  It  does  not  control  him. 
^t  cannot  reach  him.  While  he  lives  in  a  personality  he  remains 
subject  to  the  "eternal"  swing  of  the  pendulum  between  the  two 
*3ctremes  of  the  astral  matter  of  which  that  personality  is  built.  But, 
^  he  rules  his  personality,  he  can  control  the  swing  of  the  pendulum. 
"e  can  either  check  it,  as  does  the  Orientalist,  or  he  can  throw  him- 
'^If  into  it,  so  that  he  fills  it  entirely.  He  can  humanize  it.  That  is 
'he  Western  method.  If  he  humanizes  his  personality,  he  does  not 
'^ar  it  any  longer  and  he  grows  in  it  as  does  the  lily  in  the  mud. 
^€  incarnates  himself  dind  enters  the  list  as  a  Disciple.  Henceforth 
"^is  life  is  no  more  undulations,  but  /r^;f.flations. 

These  three  points:  the  essence  of  man,  personality,  and  evil, 
Ue  the  oiost  prominent  metaphysical  questions  of  the  New  Learning. 

C.    H.    A.    BjERREGAARD. 


A  CONFESSION  OF  FAI 

I. 
I  have  no  creed. 
The  Universe  wheels  on, 
I  am  but  as  an  atom  'mid  the  worlds; 
And  yet  I  feel  the  spirit  of  God  within 
And  I  am  satisfied. 

II. 
I  have  no  creed. 
Creeds  are  but  words. 
Love  is  reality. 
Love  fills  the  heart 
With  charity,  with  peace, 
With  faith,  with  hope,  with  heaven; 
Love  to  the  Father, 
Love  to  the  Christ, 
Love  to  our  fellows — 
This  I  feel  within 
And  it  shall  guide  me. 
He  who  is  ruled  by  love — 
By  spirit-love,  not  lust, 
By  love  divine — 
He  who  is  ruled  by  love 
Will  not  go  wrong. 

lit. 
I  have  no  creed. 
Good  is  the  only  rule. 
For  what  else  live  we  ? 
Fame  ? 

It  turns  to  ashes  in  the  grasp. 
Riches  ? 
They  are  wrung  from  the  heart's  blooc 

478 


A  CONFESSION   OF   FAITH.  473 

Knowledge  ? 

It  is  but  a  babble  of  words. 

But  Good — Love — Truth — Beauty — 

These  are  the  verities ; 

These  are  eternal. 

IV. 

I  have  no  creed ; 

And  yet  I  fear  not  death. 

Death  is  a  shadow. 

Wrong — Hate — Error — 

All  are  but  shadows. 

But  I  am  eternal. 

Why  should  I  fear  the  things  that  only  seem  ? 

I  seek  for  the  eternals ; 

And  I  will  make  my  heart 

A  precious  storehouse  for  them, 

So  that  they  may  abide  with  me  forever. 

v. 

I  have  no  creed ; 

But  I  have  in  me  that  surpassing  words ; 

A  faith  in  God  as  boundless  as  the  sea ; 

A  love  that  takes  in  all  the  human  race. 

I  see  good  in  all  creeds, 

Good  in  all  religions. 

Good  in  all  men. 

Good  in  all  living  things. 

The  only  sin,  to  me,  is  selfishness ; 

The  only  happiness,  the  good  we  do. 

O,  let  us  drop  these  empty  sounds  and  forms, 

The  letter  that  divides  in  warring  sects ; 

And  let  us  fill  our  hearts  with  love  to  men. 

O,  build  a  church  as  wide  as  human  needs ; 

Imbue  it  with  the  spirit,  not  the  husk ; 

And  henceforth  leave  the  race  unfettered,  free. 


474  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

To  follow  out  Its  impulses  divine. 

For  God  is  in  us  and  will  lead  us  on, 

If  we  but  leave  our  hates  and  follow  Him. 

VI. 

I  have  no  creed ; 

Or,  if  a  creed,  but  this: 

I  love  humanity. 

My  life  and  all  I  am  I  freely  give 

To  better  make  the  world,  to  help  mankind. 

My  only  creed  is  love — I  know  no  more — 

The  Fatherhood  of  God, 

The  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

J.  A.  Edgerton. 

ALMOST  HUMAN. 

**  Close  to  my  window,  as  I  write  this,  I  see  a  wren's  nest    Three 
years  ago  I  drove  some  nails  in  a  sheltered  comer;  a  pair  of  wrens 
built  their  nest  there.     The  old  birds  often  come  into  my  office  and 
sing.     One  of  them  has  repeatedly  alighted  on  my  desk  as  I  have  been 
writing,  saying  plainly  by  his  actions,  *  You  won't  hurt  me,'    *We  arc 
friends.  *     A  few  years  since,  in  a  knothole  in  a  dead  tree,  near  a  path 
from  my  office  to  my  house,  lived  a  family  of  wrens,  with  whom  I  had 
formed  a  very  intimate  acquaintance.     One  day  while  I  was  passing 
in  a  hurry  I  heard  the  two  old  birds  uttering  cries  of  fear  and  anger, 
and  as  I  got  past  the  tree  one  of  the  wrens  followed  me,  and  by  its 
peculiar  motions  and  cries  induced  me  to  turn  back.     I  examined  the 
nest   and   found   the   young   birds  all   right,    looked   into  the  tree's 
branches,  but  saw   no  enemies  there  and  started  away.     Both  birds 
then  followed  me  with  renewed  cries  and  when  I  was  a  few  yards  away 
they  flew  in  front  of  me,  fluttered  a  moment,  and  then  darted  back  to 
the  tree.     Then  one  of  them  came  back  to  me  fluttering  and  crying, 
then  darted  from  me  near  to  the  ground  under  the  tree.     I  looked, 
and  there  lay  a  rattlesnake  coiled  ready  to  strike.     I  secured  a  stick 
and  killed  him,  the  wrens  looking  on  from  the  tree;  and  the  moment  I 
did  so  they  changed  their  song  to  a  lively,  happy  one,  seeming  to  say, 
'Thank  you!'  in  every  note." — Montreal  Herald, 


A  man  comes  into  possession  of  creative  power  by  uniting  his  own 
mind  with  the  Universal  mind. — Paracelsus. 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE. 


Conducted  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Francis  Stephenson. 


NOTE  TO  OUR  READERS. 


In  this  department  we  will  give  space  to  carefully  written  communications  of 
erit,  on  any  of  the  practical  questions  of  everyday  life,  considered  from  the 
tarings  of  metaphysical  and  philosophical  thought,  which,  we  believe,  may  be 
^nionstrated  as  both  a  lever  and  a  balance  for  all  the  difficult  problems  of  life. 

Happenings,  experiences,  and  developments  in  the  family  and  the  community ; 
^ults  of  thought,  study,  and  experiment ;  unusual  occurrences  when  well  authen- 
cated ;  questions  on  vague  points  or  on  the  matter  of  practical  application  of 
^nciples  and  ideas  to  daily  experience,  etc.,  will  be  inserted  at  the  Editor's  dis- 
'etion,  and  in  proportion  to  available  space.  Questions  asked  in  one  number, 
^y  be  answered  by  readers,  in  future  numbers,  or  may  be  the  subject  of  editorial 
cplanation,  at  our  discretion.  It  is  hoped  that  the  earnest  hearts  and  careful 
linking  minds  of  the  world  will  combine  to  make  this  department  both  interesting 
cid  instructive  to  the  high  degree  to  which  the  subject  is  capable  of  development. 


THE   HARMONY   OF   LIFE. 

Harmony  is  the  keynote  of  the  Universe,  to  which  are  attuned  all 
ving  energies.  There  is  no  discord  in  Nature;  her  unswerving,  im- 
putable laws  form  the  basis  of  the  one  grand  symphony  in  which  all 
hases  of  life,  from  the  constellation  to  the  tiniest  insect,  play  their 
arts  in  tuneful  accord.  The  conscious  Soul  never  fails  to  hear  these 
elestial  harmonies,  and  becomes  the  interpreter  whereby  the  mind 
lay  comprehend  their  full  meaning  From  the  majestic  roar  of  the 
^mpest  to  the  sweet  lullaby  of  the  blossoming  flowers — all  is  harmony. 

The  mind  of  man,  alone,  seems  to  create  discord ;  when  exercised 

1  its  undeveloped  state  he  does  not  perceive  the  wonderful  beauty 

or  hear  the  heavenly  strains  of  the  Universe  surrounding  him.     As 

e  obtains  possession  of  the  faculties  of  his  soul  all  this  becomes  clear 

nd  he  is  lifted  to  the  higher  plane  of  consciousness,  where  he  weaves 

ito  his  life  the  all-pervasive  power  of  Love,  whose  activities  are  the 

cry  essence  of  Being. 

The  Soul,  like  a  caged  bird,  struggles  for  its  freedom,  but  in  order 

476 


I 

I 


I 


476  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

to  attain  it,  must  work  out  its  salvation  on  the  different  planes  of  its 
being.  If  the  avenues  are  unobstructed,  how  wondrous  is  its  influence 
upon  human  life  in  the  world,  where  man,  God-like,  moves  among  his 
fellow-beings,  breathing  beneficence — his  very  presence  a  benediction 
and  an  inspiration.  The  soul-power  he  has  now  developed  enables 
him  to  uplift  humanity  to  his  own  level,  whence  the  path  is  ever 
upward  and  onward  in  spiritual  progress. 


THE  BEAUTIFUL   THOUGHT. 


-4  Once  upon  a  time  there  lived  a  beautiful  little  thought  which  had 

been  sent  out  from  its  birthplace  to  seek  its  fortune. 

It  was  as  sweet  as  a  flower,  and  bright  as  the  yellowest  sunshine 
1'  that  ever  turned  a  cold,  dark  place  into  warmth  and  light.    But  for  all 

its  loveliness  it  could  find  no  place   to  lodge,  and  wandered,  homeless, 
^  about  the  wide  world. 

Although  it  had  just  been  born  again,  it  was  not  weak;  for  it  had 
lived  for  ages  and  ages,  and  was  strong  with  the  strength  of  all  things 
which  are  true.  Nor  was  it  afraid  that  it  would  die,  although  no  one 
cared  for  it  nor  took  it  into  his  heart ;  for  it  knew  that  it  could  never 
become  a  nothing,  since  it  was  alive  with  the  life  of  all  things  whicb 
are  eternal. 
,  It  was  as  sweet  as  a  flower,  this  beautiful  thought,  and  it  wanted  tc 

bloom  in  the  Garden  of  Souls — to  expand  its  bright  petals  in  the  living 
light  which  shone  from  the  Sun  of  Wisdom. 

But  in  the  Garden  of  Souls — although  it  found  many  places  when 
it  might  have  clung  and  rested — there  was  always  a  cold  to  chill  it,  o\ 
a  selfishness  to  hurt  it,  or  an  indifference  to  keep  it  from  blossoming 
into  fuller  beauty. 

In  the  Garden  of  Souls  grew  the  children  of  earth — ^all  sorts  of  chil 
dren — tall,  short,  old,  young,  haughty,  humble,  dull,  bright,  glad 
sorry,  foolish,  scornful — and  they  were  all  in  blossom.  But  the  flower 
they  bore  were  none  of  them  as  lovely  as  the  little  thought  that  floatcc 
unnoticed  through  the  place. 

Indeed,  there  were  few  of  the  blossoms  lovely  at  all,  for  the  most 
of  them  were  spoiled  by  the  withering  touch  of  selfishness.  Sohk 
might  have  been  quite  pleasant  to  look  upon  had  not  the  fierce  fingen 
of  greed  torn  and  bruised  the  soft  petals  until  their  pretty  colors  fadc(i 
and  each  bright,  fresh  blossom  wilted  into  a  shapeless  mass. 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  477 

Others  could  never  have  been  pretty  at  all,  for  they  were  dark  with 
error  and  ugly  with  hatred.  Yet  they  were  flowers — and  thought 
flowers,  too— and  bloomed  in  the  Garden  of  Souls,  where  beautiful 
blossoms  might  have  grown  in  their  stead. 

**I  am  not  tired — no,  I  can  never  tire,"  whispered  the  little  thought 
to  itself  as  it  floated  about  amidst  the  weeds  and  briers.  **  But  why 
may  /  not  find  a  lodging  place  as  easily  as  have  these  others  ?  I  am 
come  to  make  the  place  about  me  bright  and  beautiful,  yet  no  one 
gives  me  a  welcome ! " 

Like  a  little  cloud  kissed  by  the  sun  at  its  setting,  the  pretty  wan- 
derer gleamed  amidst  its  dull  surroundings.  Clear  and  radiant  and 
purely  bright,  it  made  its  way  through  the  ugly  tangle  that  too  often 
stifles  true  soul-growth  in  the  Garden  of  Souls,  seeking,  seeking,  seek- 
ing a  place  of  rest. 

Here,  there,  everywhere  was  Selfishness — could  Love,  then,  ever 
enter  in? 

The  cool,  dewy  winds  blew  fresh  from  the  great  Stream  of  Life, 
and  the  plants  of  the  garden  breathed  of  them  eagerly.  To  gasp  for 
breath  and  keep  on  living  seemed  to  be  all  that  the  ugly  blossoms  of 
greed  and  strife  knew.  Their  senses  were  blinded  by  the  dust  of 
deceit,  and  they  were  satisfied  that  they  were,  by  far,  the  brightest 
flowers  that  ever  grew  in  any  garden  of  the  Universe. 

Longer  than  I  can  tell  you  the  little  thought  wandered  about  the 
world.  It  could  do  no  real  good  unless  it  were  allowed  to  settle  some- 
where and  expand  into  a  thing  of  use  and  beauty. 

"Take  me!"  it  cried  piteously  to  the  tangles,  **and  let  me  help  you 
chase  away  the  murky  shadows  that  rot  the  soil." 

But  the  low  growth  hugged  itself  together  and  shut  out  every  par- 
ticle of  light  from  above. 

**Take  me!"  it  cried  to  the  taller  weeds;  **let  me  stay  with  you 
and  help  to  brighten  your  day.  My  mission  is  to  purify  the  world,  and 
if  you  will  allow  me " 

**You  disturb  us,"  growled  the  weeds.  **If  we  make  room  for  you 
we  must  rid  ourselves  of  our  own  blossoms — and  that  we  will  never  do! 
Why,  our  parents  handed  down  these  blossoms  to  us,  and  it  would  be  a 
shameful  thing  to  do  away  with  them  just  to  make  room  for  a  thought 
which  seems  to  us  very  strange  and  very  bold.  No,  there  is  no  room 
for  you  here;  pass  on!" 

"Take  me!  "  cried  the  beautiful  thought  to  the  briers.  But  they 
laughed  mockingly,  as  they  waved  their  bristling  arms  forbiddingly  at 
the  speaker. 

*  *  Take  j^ou  f  *'  they  cried  scornfully — **take  you  and  do  without  our 


*J 


478  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

thorns  f     If  we  lost  our  sharp  daggers  how,  then,  could  we  fight 
world's  battles? " 

**!£  you  will  take  me  you  will  not  need  to  fight.  I  will  help  you 
kill  out  hatred " 

**Ho!  ho!  *Kill  out  hatred'?  Why,  that's  what  we  live  upoi 
we  briers!  Would  you  take  away  from  us  our  one  excuse  for  livi 
and  striving  ?     Go  your  ways — this  is  no  place  for  you !  " 

In  a  corner,  close  down  by  a  hedge,  some  tender  leaves  gleam 
out  with  an  odd  little  light  of  their  own  making.     Toward  these  t 
beautiful  thought  was  wafted,  and  softly  it  drifted  down,  as  if  sure, 
^  last,  of  a  resting  place. 

^  **Take  me!"  it  whispered  softly — **Oh,  take  me,  good  souls,  a 

let  me  perform  the  mission  set  me  by  the  Master.     Take  me  into  yo 
hearts " 

**Oh!  "  shuddered  the  leaves,  **  we  dare  not!     There  are  so  few 
us,  so  very  few,  and  we  are  not  strong.  We  dare  do  nothing  ourselvc 
for  we  are  the    weakest  ones  in  the  Garden  of  Souls.     The  tangl 
would  choke  us,  and  the  briers  would  stab  us,  and  the  weeds " 

**But  be  brave!"  cried  the  thought.  **A  few  of  you  would  suffe 
doubtless,  but  what  matters  that?  By  the  time  I  shall  have  taken  ni 
place  among  you  the  light  I  shall  be  able  to  make  will  so  strength* 
and  aid  you  that  your  enemies  will  fear  to  molest  you." 

**You  are  very,  very  beautiful,"  sighed  the  bright  souls  hedged i 
by  the  tall  thorn  bushes,  **but  we  dare  not  keep  you  with  us! " 

**  How  is  it  that  ^^«  are  not  in  blossom? "  asked  the  thought. 

**  We  do  not  like  the  flowers  our  fathers  gave  us  to  bear,  so  we  liv 
without  blossoming,"  was  the  bright  souls'  reply. 

**  And  yet,  though  you  call  me  beautiful,  you  will  not  allow  met 
settle  amongst  you  ? " 

**We  dare  not!" 

The  Garden  of  Souls  was  not  a  great  place;  and  the  wanderer,  ii 
time,  had  traversed  the  whole  of  it.     But  nowhere  did  it  find  a  home 

**Of  what  good  am  I,  deathless  and  true  though  I  be,  if  I  mar  no 
help  to  lift  the  heavy  burdens  of  the  world  ? "  cried  the  beaulifti 
thought,  as  it  rose  above  the  rank  leafage. 

It  spoke  in  the  voice  of  the  silence,  and  he  to  whom  it  owed  it 
latest  birth  heard  and  heeded. 

The  Thinker  looked  on  from  afar,  and  saw  that  the  bcautih 
thought  he  had  given  to  the  world  was  still  going  on  its  journey,  war 
dering  here  and  wandering  there,  although  years  upon  years  ha 
passed  since  he  had  given  it  form. 

Those  to  whom  he  had  left  it  had  neglected,  and,  at  last,  forgolU 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  479 

and  he  knew  that  it  was  time  to  return  and  help  it  himself ;  for  the 
sds,  alas,  were  growing  ever  thicker  in  the  Garden  of  Souls,  the 
ssoms  duller  and  more  unpleasant  to  look  upon,  until  they  seemed 
bave  lost  the  right  to  be  called  flowers  at  all,  and  the  briers  were 
ching  out  their  thorny  arms  and  hurting  one  another  sadly. 
So  the  Thinker  came  himself  into  the  Garden  of  Souls,  and  once 
lin  took  his  place  among  the  children  of  earth;  for  he  had  been 
;re  before,  and  had  been  hurt  by  the  briers  and  choked  by  the  weeds 
til  the  day  had  ended,  and  the  growing  things  had  all  fallen  asleep. 

Then  he,  too,  had  closed  his  eyes,  and,  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
ited  for  slumber. 

It  had  been  then,  just  before  the  deep  blackness  came  upon  him. 
It  this  beautiful  thought  had  been  born  again — just  then  that  it  had 
peared  to  his  fading  earth-senses — just  then  that  he  had  seen  it  in 
;  starry  light.  Perceiving  its  beauty  and  its  wisdom,  he  had  gladly 
aped  it  into  the  form  of  a  deathless  flower,  which  he  felt  must  grow 
d  flourish  in  the  Garden  of  Souls  f orevermore ! 

Then  the  Thinker  had  fallen  asleep,  and  the  beautiful  thought  was 
t  to  find  a  home  for  good  among  the  earth  children  who,  at  dawn, 
gan  to  refill  the  Garden  of  Souls. 

But  it  could  not  grow  upon  the  same  stalk  with  Selfishness,  nor 
nld  it  thrive  in  the  shadow  cast  by  Greed ;  it  was  not  able  to  thrust 
elf  amidst  the  thorns  of  Hatred,  and  so,  as  I  have  said,  it  roamed 
•  ages  and  ages,  homeless,  neglected,  forgotten. 

As  soon  as  he  had  fully  reawakened,  the  beautiful  thought  drifted 
wn  from  its  sunny  heights  and  touched  the  Thinker  with  the  finger 

Memory. 

Here  was  its  real  home,  and  here  it  grew  apace,  nourished  by  the 
antain  of  love  in  the  heart  below,  until  it  shone  a  radiant  thing  that 
ve  out  light  more  splendid  than  the  light  of  the  sun  itself ! 

The  dull  flowers  about  it  caught  its  reflection  in  their  hearts,  and 
sre  at  first  dazzled  by  what  they  supposed  their  own  splendor ;  but 
>wly  they  began  to  realize  that  it  was  but  a  reflected  glory  which 
^med  from  their  leaves,  and  they,  at  length,  aspired  to  shed  their 
streless  flowers  and  deck  themselves  with  self-radiant  blossoms. 

The  briers,  too,  unclasped  their  savage  arms,  and  the  dark  tangles 
11  back  before  the  spreading  light. 

And  still  the  beautiful  thought  grew  in  purity  and  purpose ;  still 
e  Thinker  upheld  its  shining  disk  as  he  taught  the  earth  children 
w  to  possess  themselves  of  the  wonderful  flower  that  had  so  long 
d  so  patiently  tried  to  make  itself  a  home  among  them. 

All  through  the  long,  long  day   the  Thinker  taught,  and  when  the 


480  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

twilight  approached,  and  the  time  for  sleeping  came  again,  the  beauti- 
ful thought  shone  like  a  radiant  star,  and  the  way  through  the  blad 
valley  to  the  Land  of  Dreams  was  not  dismal  nor  drear,  but  a  peaceful 
passage  through  quiet  shadow-lands  into  the  far,  fair  Country  of  the 
Dawn!  Eva  Bbst. 


Would  that  the  little  flowers  were  bom  to  live, 
Conscious  of  half  the  pleasure  that  they  give ! 
That  to  this  mountain  daisy's  self  were  known 
The  beauty  of  its  star-shaped  shadow  thrown 
On  the  smooth  surface  of  this  polished  stone. 

—  Wordsworth. 


FINDINGS  IN  THE  SCIENCE  OF  LIFE. 

LETTER  III.  . 

**The  Wilderness," 

August  23,  1897. 

Dear  Comrade. — I  have  been  considering  your  extraordinary  inter- 
rogations about  the  ways  of  Nature,  and  what  follows  makes  up  the 
result,  so  far  as  I  can  determine. 

Your  first  question  is  in  regard  to  the  habit  of  eating  animals. 
Animals  have  a  spiritual  nature,  in  proportion  as  they  have  achieved 
Universal  principle  through  matter  and  mind.  Is  faith  in  the  dog  less 
than  faith  ?  Is  love  in  the  bird  less  than  love  ?  Can  love  be  less  than 
love  ?  Is  not  energy  in  the  ant,  energy — a  Universal  Principle  ?  All 
the  inferior  animals  are  concentrating  in  their  small  way,  and  all  the 
superior  and  domestic  ones  are  absorbing  from  humanity  and  are  very 
gifted.  They  are  quick  to  discern  and  to  gather  thought.  I  have 
absolute  proof  from  ten  years'  study  that  some  animals  can  reason.  If 
you  misconstrue  Nature  you  will  suffer  from  it.  All  life  reacts.  All 
cannibalism  must  be  paid  for  out  of  the  heart's  blood — bitter  is  all  debt 
Justice  is  a  principle  of  Spirit.     No  one  is  able  to  make  a  myth  of  fact 

Like  birds  that  are  beaten  about  by  the  tempest — so  all  inferior 
races  pass;  and  abundant  brute-life  is  a  thing  of  tradition.  Animals 
have  no  space,  except  when  domesticated.  Great  is  humanity  and 
much  is  demanded  of  the  Great. 

But  to  return.  What  may  be  the  reason  for  the  brain  in  the  animal? 
Is  it  grown  for  you,  or  for  me  ?  The  animal  race  does  not  live  for  any- 
thing but  itself,  just  as  you  live  for  the  sake  of  yourself^^  to  grow.  You 
may  take  a  getvt\e  s^eivVc^  m  Tetxirn  for  your  uplifting  influence,  but 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  481 

you  may  not  steal  away  chances  for  a  successful  development.  If 
rational,  you  will  aid  this  growth  in  animals.  There  are  three  great 
crimes  connected  with  the  murder  of  these  innocents — the  crimes  of 
stealth,  of  killing  and  of  hate.  Animals  themselves  do  all  this,  but,  if 
you  note,  the  justice  of  Nature  is  inexorable,  and  the  slayers  are  slain. 
To  tamper  with  Nature  is  dangerous.  Forsake  the  irrational !  There 
is  no  safety — outside  the  principles  of  Nature. 

The  moral  idea  of  Progress  is  well  set  in  all  life,  and  is  well  devel- 
oped at  the  stage  of  brute  life. 

It  is  the  law  of  all  life  to  progress;  to  grow,  to  bud  and  come  to 
fruition. 

Life  is  safe — you  cannot  kill  it.  You  cannot  kill  Vitality.  It  will 
go  back  to  the  ocean  of  Vital  life.  You  cannot  kill  matter,  for  it  will 
go  back  to  the  world  of  atoms;  nor  soul,  for  it  is  spiritual.  You  cannot 
Icill  spirit,  for  it  is  something  that  is  Perfect  and  unapproachable.  You 
cannot  kill  the  I — for  it  will  grow  in  spite  of  you.  I  thank  God  that 
there  is  safety  in  the  Universe !  He  has  so  built  it  that  ignorant  hands 
can  do  no  more  than  spoil  a  little  of  their  own  work.  Perfect  safety, 
but  perfect  freedom,  also.  The  world  is  well  founded.  Even  in 
thought-life  there  seems  to  be  protection;  and  proof  of  this  seems  to 
be  contained  in  the  following  fact:  There  are  those  who  are  clear- 
seeing  and  yet  are  barred  from  seeing  anything  except  what  relates  to 
their  own  type  of  thoughts.  If  they  are  materially  inclined,  the  dis- 
course from  end  to  end  concerns  objects.  But  those  who  have  clear 
sight  regarding  Universal  issues,  rarely  see  objects.  This  is  a  very 
curious  fact,  and,  if  you  notice,  everything  in  Nature  is  worth  a  long, 
long  study  to  get  to  the  root  in  Principle.  Everything  is  significant. 
But  let  us  try  to  find  a  principle  for  such  a  protection  in  the 
Thought-World. 

If  the  principle  of  gravity  (rest,  similar  vibratidVi,  harmony  with 
its  Whole)  applies  to  all  kinds  of  matter  besides  the  planetary  matter 
we  know,  then  this  principle  gives  the  easiest  explanation.  Gases  of 
different  densities  sink  to  different  levels.  May  not  thoughts  gravitate 
to  their  own  vibrations  or  levels?  The  principles  of  Freedom  and 
Harmony  accentuate  this  idea ;  nay,  the  principle  of  Growth  requires 
it.  We  are  never  very  much  disturbed  by  our  rational  neighbors,  and 
there  is  some  reason  for  this  in  natural  law.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us 
to  absorb  material  that  we  do  not  want,  for  our  bodies,  then  why 
should  we  be  less  free  on  the  plane  of  Thought  ? 

The  Thought-World  is  an  Ocean  of  Reflection — in  its  appearance  of 
fact.  It  is  a  Reflector,  because  thoughts  are  of  the  nature  of  moving 
reflections.     It  is  living,  because  it  draws  life  from  Vital  Life. 


482  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Exaltation  has  nothing  to  do  with  thoughts,  but  is  spiritual  in 
Origin. 

Ami  back  of  Thoughts  is  the  resistless  energy  of  the  /  which  has 
accumulated  intelligence  through  its  feeling  and  sensitive  power,  and 
which  notes,  directs  and  compares. 

Thoughts  of  hate  have  a  worse  influence  on  the  plane  of  thought 
than  the  Desires  of  the  incarnating  Ego,  which  sum  up  the  former 
lives.     That  there  is  such  an  Ego  I  have  reason  to  think,  from  obser- 
vation of  the  Desires  which  are  born  in  the  natures  of  quite  little 
children  who  are  even  destitute  of  the  common  mechanism  to  work 
them  out.     Yet  I  have  seen  the  most  astonishing  attempts  in  this  line, 
and  wondered  why  those  of  more  complete  mechanism  did  not  also  try 
with  such   specialized    Desire.      So   I   felt  then,   that  there  must  be 
specialized  Desire  before  birth  which  works  its  way  to  achievement  in 
spite  of  a  disadvantage.     There  then,  must  be  left,  after  death  of  body 
and  mind,  as  a  legacy,  a  Desiring  Ego,  neither  the  true  I,  nor  the  souL 
I  have  seen  a  great  Desire  to  work  out  some  one  principle,  either  a 
World  principle  or  a  Universal  principle.     Some  people  I  know,  desire 
to  feel  the  principle  of  Order ;  others,  to  feel  the  principle  of  Individu- 
ality ;  others,  to  become  conscious  of  Cause  and  Effect ;  others,  to  feel 
the  Beautiful ;  others,  to  become  Concentrated.     I  know  examples  of 
all  these ;  but  in  every  case,  no  matter  what  the  talent  for  such  pro- 
cedure— all  the  gifts  are  used  in  eccentric  fashion ;  as  for  instance,  I, 
seeking   for   the  Harmonies,   use  all  my  powers  for  the  Cause,  tho' 
naturally  deficient  in  the  valuable  mechanism  of  reason.    It  is  interest- 
ing to  look  among  people  and  see  the  different  key-notes  and  also  the 
planes  to  which  they  naturally  gravitate.     No  matter  how  diseased,  all 
life  is  gravitating  to  some  Central  Idea,  and  it  is  useful  and  saving  to 
know  what  that  Idea  is. 

Where  will  your  courage  lead  you  to,  dear  Comrade  ? 

Good-by.     Peace  be  with  you. 

Marion  Hunt. 


Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side; 
Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  oflFering  each  the  bloom  or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the  right;— 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever,  'twixi  that  darkness  and  that  light. 

—James  Russell  Lowell. 

Our  lives  are  fragments  of  the  perfect  Whole;  if  we  invert  or  per- 
vert them,  we  mar  the  whole  psLtteTn.—/enken  L.  Jones. 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  483 

A    BIT    OF   PHILOSOPHY. 

What's  the  use  o'  lyin' — 

Cryin* — sighin'  ? 
What's  the  sense  o*  fussin' — 

Mussin' — cussin'  ? 
Does  the  savages'  complainin' 
Stop  the  rattle  o'  the  rainin'  ? 
Does  the  tormentin'  an'  teasin' 
Make  the  winter  quit  a-freezin'  ? 

Quit  a-blowin'  ? 

Quit  a-snowin'  ? 
Does  the  grumblin'  an'  the  groanin*  ? 
Do  a  bit  toward  atonin' 
For  the  miserable  moanin' 

Thro'  the  trees  ? 
Does  the  scowlin'  an'  the  growlin* 
Stop  the  prowlin'  an'  the  howlin' 

O'  the  breeze  ? 
Won't  the  sunlight  be  the  brighter 
If  we  keep  our  faces  lighter  ? 
Don't  the  dreary  day  seem  longer, 
And  the  wailing  wind  seem  stronger, 

If  one  frets  ? 

Make  the  best  o'  all  the  weather ! 

Sing  an'  smile  an'  hope  together! 

Won't  you?     Let's! 

— A^.   v.  Herald. 


HORSE  INTELLIGENCE. 
Enterprise  : 

ilieve  the  following  instance  of  equine  intelligence  to  be  worthy 
rd :  Old  Bonnie,  with  her  week-old  colt,  is  kept  on  the  barn  floor, 
;hey  are  both  left  loose.  A  stairway  leading  to  the  basement  is 
i  by  a  trap-door,  but  last  night  I  forgot  to  close  this  door,  and 
the  night  the  colt  tumbled  down  the  stairs  into  the  cattle  barn, 
midnight  we  were  awakened  by  a  horse  whinnying  around  the 
nd  then  running  back  towards  the  barn.  In  a  moment  this  was 
d,  and  wife  says,  "That  sounds  like  Old  Bonnie."  Going  out 
stigate,  I  met  the  anxious  mother  on  her  way  to  the  house 
md  found  that  in  order  to  get  help  she  had  managed  to  open 
^e  bam  door.  After  rescuing  the  colt  I  returned  to  bed  with 
ippreciation  of  the  brute  creation. 

ch  27,  1898.  H.  B.  Greeley. 

— From Mapleton  (Minn,)  Enterprise, 


THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGA 
A   SONG   TO   LILITH, 
Just  like  the  seed 
That  bravely  goes 
Down  in  the  dark, 
That  never  knows 
Aught  of  its  skies — 
If  black  or  blue — 
Thus,  Soul-incarnate, 
Must  you  do. 
Just  like  the  seed 
Your  heart  must  swell 
With  the  messages 
You're  here  to  tell — 
Just  like  the  seed 
Yourself  sent  out 
In  timid  roots 
To  feel  about; 
Just  like  the  seed 
To  find  your  way 
Out  of  the  dark 
Into  the  day. 

And  in  God's  time 

You'll  be  a  Tree ! 

Dear,  Upward  Soul! 

Ungrudgingly 

You'll  give  the  earth 

Your  she  It' ring  care, 

Helping  mankind 

Its  cross  to  bear. 

As  the  Weary  and  Oppres 

Each  become  your  wetcon; 

And  so,  have  faith, 
Nor  ask  to  know — 
Just  be  content 
That  you  may  grow. 

1 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  485 

A  PARABLE. 

The  Winter  wheat  is  sown, 

The  little  blades  have  grown 
Tender  and  green  and  fresh,  o'er  hill  and  dale. 

Then  comes  the  glittering  frost, 

And  then  the  wheat  is  lost 
Beneath  the  snow,  drifted  by  Winter's  gale. 

Deep,  and  still  deeper,  fall 

The  crystals  of  its  pall ; 
How  will  it  ever  come  to  life  again  ? 

Frozen  in  its  fair  youth  ? 

Buried  alive  ?     In  truth, 
It  waiteth  only  for  the  waim  Spring  rain. 

But  why  this  hard  ordeal  ? 

Is  the  gain,  then,  so  real  ? 
Ask  yonder  farmer,  he  will  tell  thee  true, 
**The  Winter  wheat's  the  best, 

Worth  double  all  the  rest ; 
'Tis  firmer,  whiter,  and  keeps  longer,  too." 

If,  then,  within  thy  life, 

Sorrow  and  care  and  strife 
Cover  thee  in,  and  freeze  thy  tender  youth. 

The  rain  will  surely  fall, 

And  melt  away  thy  pall. 
In  chilling  Winter,  thou  hast  made  thy  growth. 

Thy  resurrection  morn 

Shall  come.  Thou  shalt  be  bom 
Into  the  love  that  shall  forever  grow. 

The  love  which  shall  transcend 

All  thou  hast  known,  dear  friend. 
As  Summer's  warmth  transcends  October's  glow. 

The  promised  dawn's  begun ! 

The  glory  of  the  sun 
Edges  the  gray  clouds  with  its  rosy  light. 

The  mists  dissolve  away 

Before  the  coming  day. 
That  which  seemed  cold  and  dark,  is  all  made  right. 

Clara  J.  L.  Pierce. 


THE  WORLD  OF  TH( 


WITH  EDITORIAL  COMMENT 


METAPHYSICS   IN  PROGRE 


The  present  age  seems  destined  to  take  its 
defined  during  the  past  centuries  as  ages  of  espe 
particular  lines,  distinctly  as  an  age  of  mental 
alone  in  cranial  expansion,  or  in  mere  intellect 
matters  pertaining  to  physical  life  on  the  animal 
increase  of  such  powers  of  the  mind  as  pertain  to 
another  for  selfish  purposes;  but  more  particula 
development,  growth  and  cultivation  of  the  power: 
logical  form  and  mathematical  processes  of  cons 
the  thinking  faculties  for  exact  work  and  bring 
qualities  of  the  true  mind  of  the  God-made  man. 
opment  has  been  gradually  forcing  its  way,  at 
ceptibly,  among  all  classes  who  think  at  all,  ai 
those  who  think  for  a  purpose  in  the  various  lines 
and  in  educational  channels,  in  the  pulpit,  in  th 
professor's  chair,  and  at  the  editor's  table,  with  th( 
of  the  chief  aims  in  life,  in  religious  and  educati 
and  political  problems,  and  even  in  amusements  ai 
a  more  serious  and  thoughtful  attitude  is  apparent 
tion  to  think  out  the  problem  and  determine  its  \ 
and  with  a  powerful  movement  in  the  direction  o) 
course  may  be  found  not  thoroughly  productive  oi 
dition,  with  this  class  of  minds,  counts  for  less  tha 
ago.  The  cause,  the  reason,  and  the  remedy,  se 
determined  action  of  the  earnest  member  of  soci< 
century  nears  its  close,  and  this  tendency  can  sc< 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  487 

results  valuable  to  the  succeeding  generations,  as  by  it  many  errors  of 
former  belief  are  being  eliminated  and  truths  possessing  greater 
power  are  being  discovered  and  embodied  in  the  rules,  laws  and 
methods  of  human  life. 

In  all  this  we  see  the  beginning  of  the  formation  of  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  which  has  been  developing  from  the  metaphysical  seed  of  spiritual 
truth  sown  by  the  philosophers  of  the  earlier  centuries,  and  which  has 
been  gradually  working  its  way  up  into  the  light  of  human  under- 
standing— the  divine  truth  germinating  in  human  soil.  Its  universal 
application  and  mighty  force  are  perceptible  in  mechanics  as  well  as  in 
the  higher  and  finer  forces  of  nature,  which  are  gradually  being 
brought  into  useful  operation  as  man  gives  rein  to  his  thought  powers 
and  looks  out  into  the  vast  space  of  infinite  activity  always  wide  open 
to  the  trustful  gaze,  but  which  the  narrower  teaching  of  the  bigoted 
beliefs  of  the  recent  centuries  had  rendered  as  unapproachable  and  out 
of  reach. 

In  this  reopening  of  the  avenues  of  intelligent  investigation  into 
the  mysteries  of  universal  truth,  we  see  the  greatest  possibilities  for 
mankind,  and  we  rejoice  at  every  progressive  step  taken  by  any  inves- 
tigator in  any  field  of  operation.     Too  much  stress  cannot  be  placed 
upon  the  importance  of  developing  the  higher  metaphysical  truths  in 
connection  with  this  progressive  action,  as  that  is  the  real  foundation 
of  the  kind  of  thought  which  has  given  birth  to  every  valuable  dis- 
covery, invention,  and   idea  of   better   conditions   of  life,  which  has 
appeared  upon  the  horizon  of  nineteenth-century   progress.      Meta- 
physics is  the  Science  of  Being,  and  Being  includes  everything  that 
really  is;  therefore,  to  learn  a  new  truth  of  any  sort  is  to  gain  knowl- 
edge of  that  which  transcends  physics  in  some  degree,  and  conscious- 
ness of  its  activities  opens  up  new  pages  in  the  book  of  inexhaustible 
reality,  where  new  laws  of  the  operation  of  spiritual  truths  force  recog- 
tiition,  and  invention  follows  the  discovery.     As  the  mind  opens  to  the 
truths  of  spiritual  activities  finer  material  forces  present  themselves 
l>efore  the  vision  and  more  powerful  laws  are  discovered.     And  the 
end  is  not  yet.     The  quiet  earnestness  of  unselfish,  thinking  minds,  will 
disclose  still  finer  forces  in  nature,  and  the  world  will  continue  to  grow 
brighter  with  every  discovery. 


488  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZI 

TELEPATHY. 
The  fundamental  law  that  thoughts  and  image 
from  one  mind  to  another  without  the  agency  of  tl 
of  sense,  is  henceforth  open  to  science  to  transcei 
we  know  of  matter,  and  to  gain  new  glimpses  of  < 
of  cosmic  law.  Instead  of  seeing  in  matter  the 
of  all  terrestrial  life,  I  prefer  to  say  that  in  Life 
potency  of  all  forms  of  matter. 


"The  intimations  of  the  night  are  divine,  mi 
meet  in  the  morning  and  report  the  news  of  th 
suggestions  have  been  made  to  them.  I  find  that 
the  day  often  some  such  hint  derived  from  the 
to  purity,  to  heroism,  to  literary  effort,  even,  as 
.     .     .     I  rejoice  when  in  a  dream  I  have  loved  vi 

"With  a  certain  wariness,  but  not  without  a 
danger  oftentimes,  I  perceive  how  near  I  had  co 
my  mind  the  details  of  some  trivial  affair,  as  a  ca: 
astonished  to  observe  how  willing  men  are  to  lunr 
such  rubbish,  to  permit  idle  rumors,  tales,  incider 
nificant  kind,  to  intrude  upon  what  should  be  t 
the  thoughts.  Shall  the  temple  of  our  thoughi 
where  the  most  trivial  affair  of  the  market  an' 
tea-table  is  discussed,  a  dusty,  noisy,  trivial  pla 
quarter  of  the  heavens  itself,  consecrated  to  the 
a  hypaDthral  temple?  I  find  it  so  difficult  to  dis| 
which  to  me  are  significant,  that  I  hesitate  to  t: 
the  most  insignificant,  which  only  a  divine  mind  cj 
Think  of  admitting  the  details  of  a  single  case 
into  the  mind  to  stalk  profanely  through  its  vcr; 
for  an  hour — aye,  for  many  hours;  to  make  a  v 
mind's  inmost  apartment,  as  if  for  a  moment  tl 
had  occupied  you — aye,  the  very  street  itself,  wi 
poured  through  your  very  mind  of  minds,  yo 
with  all  its -filth  and  bustle.  Would  it  not  be  ai 
By  all  manner  of  boards  and  traps  threatening  tl 
the  divine  law,  excluding  trespassers  from  these 
us  to  preserve  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  the  m 
forget  what  it  is  worse  than  useless  to  remembe 
inspiration,  the  divine  gossip  which  comes  to  the 
the  courts  of  heaven,  there  is  the  profane  and  si 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  489 

arroom  and  the  police  court.  The  same  ear  is  fitted  to  receive  both 
ommunications.  Only  the  character  of  the  individual  determines  to 
rhich  source  chiefly  it  shall  be  open,  and  to  which  closed.  I  believe 
hat  the  mind  can  be  profaned  by  the  habit  of  attending  to  trivial 
hings,  so  that  all  our  thoughts  shall  be  tinged  with  triviality.  They 
hall  be  dusty  as  stones  in  the  street.  ...  I  think  we  should 
reat  our  minds  as  innocent  and  ingenuous  children  whose  guardians 
re  are,  and  be  careful  what  objects  and  what  subjects  are  thrust  on 
heir  attention.  .  .  .  Every  thought  which  passes  through  the  mind 
lelps  to  wear  and  tear  it,  and  to  deepen  the  ruts,  which,  as  in  the 
itreets  of  Pompeii,  evince  how  much  it  has  been  used.  How  many 
hings  there  are  concerning  which  we  might  well  deliberate  whether 
irc  had  better  know  them.  Routine,  conventionality,  manners,  etc. ; 
tiow  insensibly  an  undue  attention  to  these  dissipates  and  impoverishes 
the  mind,  robs  it  of  its  simplicity  and  strength,  emasculates  it.*' — 
Thareau. 


THE  NUMBER    TEN. 


After  the  perusal  of  the  highly  interesting  article  by  Mr.  Hazelrigg, 
**  The  Number  of  a  Name, "  in  Intelligence,  the  idea  was  suggested  to 
-he  mind  of  the  reader  of  the  possibility  of  the  number  ten  being  the 
>asis,  so  to  say,  not  only  of  **  calculus"  (using  the  latter  word  in  its 
>road  sense),  but  also  of  all  our  ** sacred  "  numbers.     For  example: 

(a).  Four,  Deity — 1+243-1-4=  10. 

(b).  Seven  1-1-2-1-3444-5+6-1-7=28  and  2  and  8=  10. 
(c).  Ten  14.243444546-1-748-1-9410=55  and  5+5=io. 
(d).  Trinity  (a)4(b)4(c)=3o=  3x10. 

(c).  Five  =  io-»-2. 

(f).  Nine;  material.  Not  equal  to  Deity,  perfection  or  ten,  though  but  little 
clow.     But  what  is  not  spiritual  is  material. 

V.  L.  Perry,  M.  D. 

THOUGHTS  ABOUT  LEARNING. 

By  learning  Science  comes,  but  only  by  the  learning  of  learning 
oes  Wisdom  come. 

The  learning  of  learning  is  the  scholarship  of  all,  the  tutorship 
£aU. 

Let  us  learn  with  the  wise,  let  us  learn  with  the  ignorant;  with  the 
^ise  we  may  learn  what  is  not,  through  that  which  is;  with  the 
^orant  that  which  is,  through  what  is  not. 

D.  Joseph  Fonseca,  LL.D. 


490  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

METAPHYSICAL  HEALING— PHILOSOPHY.^ 

All  Truth  is  one :  therefore,  there  can  be  but  one  ultimate  Prin- 
ciple of  truth  to  comprehend.  The  manifestations  of  this  one  essen- 
tial principle,  throughout  the  universe,  are  countless,  and  within  its 
own  element  each  manifestation  becomes  a  Principle  of  Action.  Each 
investigator  does  his  best  to  comprehend  the  principle  recognized 
The  name  that  he  gives  to  it  is  necessarily  limited  by  the  degree  of  his 
comprehension  of  the  subject. 

The  working  laws  which  proceed  from  the  active  Principle  of  this 
living  Essence  of  eternal  Truth  are  the  only  avenues  of  a  true  healing 
power.  It  is  through  the  natural  working  of  some  one  of  these  laws, 
either  realized  consciously  or  stumbled  upon  accidentally — thereby 
calling  it  into  action  without  conscious  recognition — ^that  every  mental 
healer  produces  results. 

The  true  laws  of  Being  are  spiritual  laws;  they  reflect  in  mental 
action.  All  so-called  physical  laws  are  results,  on  the  material  plane, 
of  the  natural  activity  of  spiritual  laws,  from  which  they  reflect 
through  the  mental  mechanism,  as  does  an  image  from  its  substance. 
The  physical  laws  are  copies  of  the  spiritual,  and  depend  absolutely 
upon  spiritual  activity  for  existence.  The  spiritual,  therefore,  is  the 
REAL,  while  the  material  only  seems  to  be  real.  It  does  not  stand  the 
test  of  actual^  selj -existent  Reality. 

These  laws,  being  infinite  in  number  and  variety,  and  eternal  in 
operation,  are  so  subtile  that  they  are  frequently  called  into  action  by 
the  individual  without  conscious  knowledge  of  the  fact,  either  on  his 
own  part  or  that  of  the  recipient  of  the  power.  This  is  liable  to  occtir 
with  any  operator,  unless  he  becomes  thoroughly  versed  in  spiritual 
law ;  and  he  may  be  led  to  suppose  that  the  result  produced  is  brought 
about  by  some  particular  action,  apparent  to  him,  but  which  in  reality 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  This  common  error  has  led  to  much  con- 
fusion of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  power  which  heals.  It  is  the 
origin  of  more  than  one  material  method  of  cure  and  more  than  one 
fanatical  belief. 

Mental  or  spiritual  healing  is  rightly  effected  by  either  consciously 
or  super-consciously  calling  into  action  some  law  of  Being,  and  bring- 
ing the  recipient  into  harmony  with  that  law;  consequently,  mental 
HEALING  is  a  natural  result  of  the  harmonious  action  of  the  true  laws 
of  Being. 

The   laws  of   Being  are  all   clearly  established  and  definite  laws 


♦  Extract  from  Lesson  2,  of  Course  I.,  given  by  The  American  School  d 
Metaphysics,  New  York,  N.  Y.     Copyright,  1898,  by  L.  E.  Whipple. 


THE  WORLD   OF  THOUGHT.  491 

• 

-unchanging  facts  of  the  universe.  They  admit  neither  of  belief  nor 
isbelief,  every  act  producing  its  corresponding  results. 

All  that  avails  in  the  act  of  healing  through  any  particular  method, 
the  degree  of  Truth  which  that  method  contains.  Opinion  or  belief 
mtrary  to  fact  only  hinders  the  work,  in  this  as  in  any  scientific 
ivestigation. 

The  laws  of  Being  are  a  Unit  of  law,  alike  in  character  and  qual- 
y,  and  one  in  kind.  These  laws  are  always  exact,  certain,  true, 
ochanging,  eternal,  perfect,  whole,  good,  therefore  harmonious  and 
eal.     They  represent  spiritual  principles. 

Undemonstrated  opinion  is  of  no  permanent  use  to  any  one.  The 
ctual  demonstrable  truth  is  all  that  is  of  avail  in  progress.  A  belief 
I  useful  during  investigation,  as  is  the  assumed  number;  but  when  a 
xmclusion  is  justly  reached,  fact  takes  the  place  of  opinion,  becoming 
uiowLBDGB,  at  which  point  opinion  or  blind  belief  disappears  and  a 
mth  becomes  permanently  established. 

A  Belief  may  be  right ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  wrong. 
The  fact  that  there  are  so  many  conflicting  opinions  with  regard  to 
my  of  the  important  problems  of  Life,  each  upheld  as  firmly  as  the 
*ther,  makes  it  absolutely  essential  that  a  clear  demonstration  be 
Bade.  The  self-evident  fact  that  two  entirely  different  theories  can- 
ot  in  any  event  both  be  true,  suggests  that  either  may  be  the  false 
tte.  The  only  way,  then,  to  know  what  is  true,  is  to  test  each  theory 
I  life  and  learn  the  results  to  mankind  of  living  that  theory.  Opinion 
I  advance  of  demonstration  is  worthless;  and  for  Opinion  to  override 
'inonstration  is  a  crime,  alike  against  the  perpetrator  and  the  public. 

The  object  of  Metaphysical  Healing  is  to  establish  health  for  the 
dividual,  the  nation,  and  the  race ;  indeed,  for  mankind,  in  each  and 
''^ry  degree,  and  in  all  phases  of  existence — in  body,  mind,  soul  and 
►irit.  Nothing. short  of  this  could  rightly  be  called  ** Metaphysical" 
baling. 

BEING  is  life — living  reality.  In  its  complete  sense,  it  includes 
^life;  ALL  REALITY.  Everything  that  really  is,  therefore,  is  some 
^rt  of  Being. 

Man  is  the  name  used  to  denote  the  highest  known,  most  full  and 
^anplete  manifestation  of  Being. 

A  perfectly  healthy  man  is  one  who  is  in  harmony  with  all  true 
Ws  of  real  Being.  The  healing  act,  therefore,  is  the  restoring  of 
Mural  conditions;  or,  leading  one  who  is  suffering  the  consequences 
-   unnatural  actions,  back  into  the  harmony  of  his  own  being. 

In  order  that  this  may  be  accomplished  through  our  ministrations, 
^  must  understand  man  himself  in  all  the  details  of  his  manifested 


492  THE    METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 

being,  together  with  the  true  relation  of  each  to  e 
of  Being.  If  you  rightly  and  sufficiently  study 
remains  for  investigation,  for  in  him  is  epitomizd 
law  and  every  principle  of  the  universe.  The 
a  part  of  the  material  universe,  dwells  within 
essence  of  all  material  elements.  The  soul  rep 
of  the  spiritual  universe,  and  dwells  in  spirit 
spiritual  in  nature. 

Studying  Man  as  the  manifest  law,  carries  or 
sion,  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  pure  I 
springs.  As  manifested  Being,  man  includes  all 
in  both  the  material  and  the  spiritual  universe. 
cosm  of  the  spiritual  universe,  containing  the  m: 
principle ;  his  body  is  a  microcosm  of  the  material 
the  action  of  all  its  laws.  Even  seeming  laws 
modes  of  action. 

The  laws  of  action  of  the  material  universe 
activities  of  the  spiritual  Universe,  and  appeal 
nature.  Proceeding  from  the  spiritual,  through 
become  inverted  in  the  process  of  reflection  and  a 
sensation.  The  action  of  the  five  senses,  th 
ACTION,  through  which  no  real  information  can 
consequently  a  clear  exercise  of  the  spiritual  facu 
necessary  in  the  working  of  every  problem  in  re. 

The  reasoning  faculties  having  been  exercis 
under  the  evidence  of  the  five  senses  (which  are  « 
some  material  evidence  of  an  idea  is  usually  dt 
sequently,  man's  studies  of  Being  usually  begin 
they  are  limited  to  the  plane  of  reflected  and 
confined  here,  inverted  and  erroneous  reasoning: 
elusion  that  the  material  is  real  and  in  some  ii 
nothing  real  but  the  material  or  physical. 

In  metaphysical  philosophy  all  reality  is  c( 
We  hold  that  Being  is  Spirit;  therefore,  that 
spiritual;  that  the  true  and  only  real  Universe  i 
of  Principles  and  Ideas,  of  which  this  material  ui 
and  incomplete  copy — an  inverted  reflection, 
to  the  five  senses  only  and  is  recognized  only 
and  inverted  action.  Everything  in  nature,  bey 
power  of  action,  escapes  notice,  passing  unrecogi 

The  material  universe  is  known  only  throi 
this  material  life;  hence,  it  is  a  manifestation  it 


THE   WOJ^LD   OF   THOUGHT.  493 

AxiFESTATioN.  It  is  incomplete,  because  when  all  of  the  spiritual 
aat  can  reflect  in  shadow  on  the  sense  plane  alone  has  become 
pparent,  there  is  still  a  residue  of  Reality  that  will  not  manifest  to 
ense;  hence,  the  physical  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  complete  mani- 
estation,  but,  instead,  an  incomplete  reflection.  The  underlying  spir- 
TUAL  PRINCIPLE  is  not  scen  or  recognized  in  any  phase  of  sense  action. 
?his  is  the  reason  that  it  is  denied  existence  by  the  one  who  relies 
ntirely  upon  his  senses  for  evidence ; — he  cannot  recognize  it. 

This  universe  exists,  in  its  present  form,  for  the  sake  of  the  soul's 
xperience  and  ultimate  enlightenment.  It  has  been  rightly  called  the 
schoolroom  of  the  soul."  It  is  also  2^ graded sohooX  and  each  depart- 
ment demands  its  own  degree  of  completeness.  It  is  necessary  to 
lan  now  because  of  his  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  higher,  which  makes 
:  necessary  for  him  to  gain  knowledge  by  experience. 

The  SPIRITUAL  UNIVERSE  cxists  directly  from  Being,  as  a  true 
ystem  of  unlimited,  living  activities,  not  as  a  world  filled  with  limited 
personalities.     Spirit  is  limitless  reality  ;  matter  limited  appearance. 

We  may  properly  study  the  life  of  Being  to  such  extent  as  we  can, 
hrough  its  manifestations  here,  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that 
nateriality  only  manifests  the  real,  but  of  itself  is  not  the  real;  and 
liat  it  is  limited  and  confined  to  the  evidence  of  the  five  lower  or 
mimal  senses.  In  this  attitude,  while  necessarily  dealing  with  mate- 
"iality,  yet  we  refuse  to  clip  the  wings  of  our  spiritual  faculties  and  are 
5ver  ready  to  mount  upward  in  understanding  as  we  succeed  in  grasp- 
ag  the  higher  truths  of  Life. 

Exercising  reason  with  regard  to  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  we 
fliscover  on  every  hand,  in  Universe,  Solar  System,  Planet,  Continent, 
Rock,  Ocean,  Stream  or  Plant;  in  Animal,  Vegetable  or  Mineral;  in 
lact,  in  every  minute  part  of  everything  recognized — a  clear  evidence 
of  movement,  motion,  action.  This  active  movement  invariably 
assumes  some  definite  mode  or  method,  which  suggests  a  well-defined 
purpose  to  be  attained.  Such  purpose  necessitates  an  intelligent 
power  greater  than  the  action  of  earthly  things,  to  determine  the 
pQrpose,  establish  the  method  of  movement,  and  cause  it  to  continue  in 
operation. 

This  activity  and  purpose  may  be  observed  in  the  form,  structure, 
^lor  and  perfume  of  every  blossom ;  in  the  definite  shape  and  char- 
cter  of  each  leaf  and  twig  and  every  part  of  the  plant ;  in  the  flavor 
f  the  fruit;  in  the  wavelike  grain  of  the  growing  tree;  in  both  the 
ippling  song  of  the  wave  and  the  harmonious  rhythm  of  the  tide  upon 
lie  seashore ;  in  the  sombre  harmony  of  the  mighty  planets  compris- 
^g  our  solar  system,  as  well  as  in  the  lightly  tripping  melody  of  the 


494 


THE  METAPHYSICAL. MAGAZ 


most  distant  stars  of  this  vast  Universe,  It  may 
the  form,  structure,  growth  and  movement  of  n 
animal  bodies  to  a  scarcely  less  marvelous  degrei 
structure  of  man  himself- 

The  entire  material  universe  demonstrates  ic 
every  atom,  molecule,  and  part,  the  existence  of 
iNTeLLiGHMT  PURPOSE,  and  constantly  moving  f< 
that  purpose — an  incessant  movement,  motion,  : 
where,  always  manifest  in  a  multitude  of  forms, 
recognized  by  the  individual. 

The  Emotionalist  limits  this  activity  to  his 
of  powers  and  laws;  his  next  step  is  to  personil 
impulse  of  his  emotional  nature)  and  to  attribute 
scious  purpose  to  the  personality  thus  imaginaril; 
prove  the  false  ground  of  his  feeble  argument, 
blind  belief  in  his  theories,  frequently  attemptii 
position  by  asserted  Inspiration, 

The  Materialist  denies  the  spirituality  of  inf 
so  far  as  he  recognizes  the  activity,  he  calls 
"  latent  energy,"  This  theory,  however,  fails  to 
for  much  of  the  highest  and  most  important  pi 
every  living  organism.  The  true  Scientist  h 
views,  recognizing  material  action  as  the  object 
ACTIVITY  OP  iNTet-LiGENCK;  the  intelligence  of 
wardly  in  materiality;  the  spiritual  life  of  Being, 
plane,  to  be  observed  through  sensation;  the  m 
objective  action,  of  the  intelligent  purpose  of  suBji 

This  theory  of  the  nature  and  source  of  univ; 
only. one  which  accounts  for  all  the  modes  of  at 
various  phenomena  which  man  is  forced  to  t 
theory  stands  the  test  of  both  philosophy  and  scii 
Every  theory  based  entirely  upon  materialitj 
vacuum,  and  leaves  the  investigator  vainly 
nothingness.  Even  nature  abhors  a  vacuum, 
empty  nor  vacant.  On  investigation  Spirit  alwa 
and  ever  present.  Lbanobr 


Even  the  materialist  Condillac,  perhaps  the  m 
of  materialism,  was  constrained  to  say:  "Thoug 
the  heavens,  though  we  should  sink  into  the  abysf 
ourselves;  it  is  always  our  own  thought  that  we  ] 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  495 

THOUGHT  TRANSFERENCE  IN  A  DREAM. 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Editor  The  Metaphysical  Magazine. 

Dear  Sir: — I  have  thought  that  the  readers  of  the  Metaphysical 
Kagazinb  might  be  interested  in  a  dream  I  had  two  nights  ago. 

The  dream  was  in  connection  with  a  lady  whom  I  meet  occasionally, 
I  person,  I  should  imagine,  who  would  not  be  in  the  least  in  harmony 
rith  me.  In  my  dream  she  came  to  my  house,  bringing  a  large,  heavy 
ind  very  ancient  volume,  with  a  highly  polished  brass  or  gold  case 
iround  it;  the  case  looked  like  gold  bars.  She  remarked  that  she 
mew  I  would  be  interested  to  see  so  rare  a  treasure.  We  opened  the 
K)ok  and  found  it  written  in  a  language  we  neither  of  us  understood, 
wt  I  suggested  it  might  be  Sanskrit.  Every  lew  pages  we  came  to 
me  that  was  illustrated,  which  looked  very  much  like  the  finest  Chinese 
tainting  on  a  kind  of  rice  paper. 

The  dream  was  so  vivid  that  I  can  now  see  that  old  relic  of  antiq- 
lity  and  those  exquisite  little  Chinese  miniatures  on  the  rice  paper  as 
dearly  as  though  they  were  physically  present. 

This  morning  I  met  the  lady  and  informed  her  of  my  dream.  She 
isked  me  on  what  night  I  dreamed  it,  and  informed  me  that  on  the 
same  evening  she  attended  a  lecture,  delivered  by  an  Assyrian,  whose 
wbject  was  the  Copts,  their  language,  their  Monastry,  and  their  won- 
lerful  books,  centuries  and  centuries  old.  He  spoke  of  one  in  particu- 
ar  which  is  kept  in  a  heavy  silver  case.  It  is  written  in  the  Coptic 
^guage,  in  which  the  Greek  alphabet  is  used  with  some  few  additions. 
5e  spoke  of  some  chambers  in  a  Palace,  the  floor  of  which  was  covered 
o  a  foot  in  depth  with  tablets  of  clay  covered  with  cuneiform  charac- 
^rs.  In  many  cases  these  characters  were  so  small  as  to  require  a 
'Ugnifying  glass  to  read  them.  These  tablets,  consisting  of  some  ten 
housand  distinct  works,  formed  the  library  of  some  great  Monarch. 
Tou  see  her  lecture  and  my  dream  were  on  the  same  subject. 

There  seems  to  be  some  occult  connection  with  the  evening  lecture 
Hd  my  dream  on  the  same  night.  In  this  connection  I  wish  Prof. 
*•  H.  A.  Bjerregaard  would  give  us  an  article  on  the  subject  of 
reams.  Theresa  F.  Cogswell. 


Bishop  Lardner  adduced  nine  reasons  to  show  that  the  only  and 
4itary  proof  that  Jesus  was  an  actual  living  man,  known  in  his  day  to 
^oplc,  was  a  clumsy  forgery  by  Eusebius,  who  forged  the  writing  of 
^>8ephus. — Lucifer,  Sept.,  1889,  p.  72. 


THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZ! 


BOOK  REVIEWS. 
SONGS  OF  DESTINY.  By  Julia  P.  Dabney.  Clotl 
pp.  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co..  New  York. 
A  most  fascinating  book  of  poems,  written  in  the  I 
ideal,  and  which  deserves  a  foremost  place  in  this  class  c 
of  the  verses  is  an  increasing  delight  from  first  to  last ;  I 
essence  of  poetr>',  and  beneath  this  there  lies  a  true 
There  are  so  few  verses  written  from  this  standpoint 
these  with  satisfaaion  and  pleasure.  The  dainty  bindi 
an  added  a 


HER    BUNGALOW.      An   Atlantian    Memory.      By  ! 

Cloth,  234  pp.,  $1.25.     Hermetic  Publishing  Co., 

Chicago. 
Those  who  are  interested  in  soul-study  will  find  in  t 
ume  some  idealistic  experiences  set  forth  in  most  origina 
Throughout  the  book,  its  theme,  "Come  Up  Higher," 
the  reader.  Full  of  a  graceful  and  poetic  imagery,  its  ps 
istic,  as  well  as  idealistic,  thought.  The  first  part  is 
second  is  a  vivid  description  of  the  last  days  and  de: 
Atlantis,  skillfully  portrayed. 

THE  GREATEST  THING  EVER  KNOWN.  By  Ral] 
SS  PP'  35  cents.  Thomas  V.  Crowell  &  Co.,  New  1 
All  who  have  found  pleasure  in  and  have  derived  t 
works  will  give  an  appreciative  welcome  to  this  little  vi 
the  Author's  usual  clear  and  simple  style,  and  intende 
some  of  whom  its  central  theme,  "the  essential  oneness 
the  Divine,  "  may  come  like  a  revelation.  The  reader  i: 
a  realization  of  this  great  truth.  Mr.  Trine  gives  an  i 
and  mission  of  Jesus  along  metaphysical  lines,  which 
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THE 


METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 


Vol  VIII.  DECEMBER,  1898.  No.  8. 


A  DEFINITION   OF  WEALTH. 

There  are  two  standards  of  value,  one  real  and  the  other  fictitious ; 
>nc  permanent  and  the  other  shifting.  It  is  a  propensity  of  the 
luman  mind  to  forego  the  idea  and  deal  with  the  symbol,  and,  as 
money  is  the  symbol  of  wealth,  to  invest  the  material  world,  organic 
uid  inorganic,  with  a  material  value,  and  to  write  dollars  and  cents 
>vcr  the  face  of  God's  fair  Earth ;  and  so  it  comes  that  society  is  well 
ttigh  submerged  in  the  stream  of  opulence  that  flows  from  the  human 
mind,  that  symbolic  stream  which  quenches  not  the  inner  thirst,  that 
^ords  **  not  any  drop  to  drink." 

There  is  perhaps  no  subject  which  labors  under  a  more  general 
misapprehension  than  that  of  wealth.  While  economists  have  dimly 
predicted  an  inward  as  well  as  an  outward  wealth,  they  have  preferred 
^0  treat  it  directly  as  that  which  has  an  exchange  value  and  to  class 
't  as  a  species  of  utility,  but  of  a  base  order,  having  reference  only  to 
Ae  material  welfare  of  man.  And  herein  lies  the  fallacy  of  the 
Worldly  concept  of  life,  that  it  would  deal  with  material  issues  as 
"^parate  from  spiritual,  whereas  in  fact  the  material  is  but  the  reflex 
>f  the  spiritual,  and  can  no  more  be  rightly  considered  as  a  separate 
ntity  than  a  corpse  may  be  regarded  as  a  man ;  and  though  political 
conomy  may  admit  that  man  has  a  soul,  it  nevertheless  does  not 
(cognize  it  as  an  asset. 

It  is  a  shallow  sophism  that  money  will  buy  everything ;  it  will 
uy  everything  but  happiness,  everything  but  peace,  everything  but 
ruth,  Wisdom,  Love.     It  will  buy  servile  allegiance  but  not  respect ; 

497 


496 


THE    METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 


it  will  buy  a  book  but  not  the  ability  to  read  it ; 
but  not  nobility  of  character.      In  short  it  will 
not  the  substance  of  things. 

To  inherit  money  may  or  may  not  prove  bei 
the  conviction  that  money  constitutes  wealth 
There  is  this  difference,  moreover,  between  eami 
ing  it,  that  the  one  contributes  to  character  e 
character  to  withstand  it.  Two  payments  are 
work ;  the  first  is  in  money  and  is  counted,  the  : 
in  dexterity,  in  tact,  experience  and  courage  and 

An  adequate  cultivation  of  the  mind  renders 
fluous;  a  real  contentment  needs  but  few  dollai 
ken  Virgil  and  Horace  for  the  applied  sciences,  t 
none  the  less,  augment  the  wealth  of  imagery  a 
ture  forever  protests  that  money  is  not  wealth,  bu 
that  ' '  money  will  not  buy  a  single  necessity  a 
Spiritual  mind  exhorts  us  to  seek  first  the  Kingc 
for  that  in  hfe  which  shall  endure.  And  it  is  n 
Adam  Smith,  it  is  not  to  political  but  ratherto  s 
we  shall  look  for  a  right  understanding  of  wealth 

From  the  world's  view  of  wealth  readily  folio 
cess.  Money  is  to-day  largely  the  measure  o 
which  is  profitable;  a  profession  which  is  lucra 
perspective  of  history  reveals  success  to  lie  only 
work  and  thus  is  assigned  a  truer  value  to  a  u 
ode  of  Pindar  than  to  contemporary  art  or  life, 
in  garrets;  there  are  monuments  of  literature  ■ 
sums  to  their  authors;  prophets  have  been  stoni 
tor  then  less  rich  in  ideas;  was  the  author  les 
had  the  prophet  any  the  less  an  ownership  inTri 
standard  of  success  that  is  measured  by  gold 
bearing,  a  lofty  brow,  a  kindly  smile,  a  self  contrt 
clear  eye  bespeak  a  success  which  is  more  rea 
worth  making  is  the  victory  over  one's  self;  t 
lies  in  the  development  of  character  and  insight; 
seeking  Is  the  soul;   the  only  thing  worth  pos! 


A   DEFINITION   OF  WEALTH.  499 

he  only  thing  worth  living  for  is  Love,  And  this  is  the  greatest 
access — to  have  ennobled  your  environment,  to  have  done  good,  to 
ave  given  happiness,  to  be  happy ;  for  Virtue  alone  wears  a  serene 
uile,  and  Wisdom  only  is  truly  happy. 

It  shall  become  apparent  to  every  thoughtful  mind  that  despite 
le  fetishism  of  the  dollar,  it  is  not  money  but  love  that  rules  the 
orld.  Prince  Sidartha  renounced  a  throne,  and  in  the  garb  of  a 
lendicant  went  forth  to  enlighten  men  and  to  teach  the  supreme 
octrine  of  Love  and  of  renunciation.  Jesus,  in  the  name  of  Love 
ealed  the  sick,  raised  the  dead,  gave  sight  to  the  blind — and  his 
fe  was  a  giving  and  a  doing  for  others;  a  torrent  of  beneficence 
id  kindly  deeds.  Yet,  He  who  is  called  the  Light  of  the  World 
as  a  penniless  wanderer  in  Palestine.  Think  you  the  world  of 
nnas  and  Caiaphas  esteemed  the  life  of  this  man  a  successful  one? 
'0  we  esteem  any  one  successful  to-day  who  has  not  a  house  over 
is  head,  be  his  preaching  ever  so  eloquent?  But  these  lives  are 
lomentous  facts  that  somehow  subvert  all  our  standards  of  success. 
Jid  though  in  the  growth  of  civilization  the  examples  are  no  longer 
Jpiicable  to  present  needs,  the  Principles  and  Ideas  are  none  the 
ss  so,  a  fact  to  which  the  world  offers  tacit  recognition,  for  with  all 
s  getting  and  all  its  self-seeking  it  is  still  lead  by  inspired  mendi- 
mts,  whose  sole  possession  is  Wisdom.  What  of  the  Pharaohs, 
le  Caesars,  the  kings — is  their  memory  grateful  to  mankind?  What 
the  great  names  of  science — have  their  discoveries  on  the  whole 
•ntributed  to  make  life  happier  or  nobler?  How  is  it  that  the 
imes  of  simple  men  outweigh  the  influence  of  empires  and  of 
^nasties? 

It  fatigues  to  be  constantly  reminded  of  the  so-called  wealth  of 
en — that  man  should  so  universally  be  judged  according  to  the 
rnbol.  Wealth  is  capacity ^  not  money;  the  capacity  to  love,  the 
pacity  to  appreciate  the  beautiful,  the  capacity — above  all — to  hear 
d  apprehend  the  monitions  of  the  Spirit.  He  who  possesses  the 
i^bol  merely,  not  knowing  the  thing  symbolized,  is  often  the 
•orest  of  men.  It  is  said  the  inventor  is  always  poor;  so  he  may 
in  money,  but  so  is  Croesus  poor  in  invention.  Poverty  is  relative, 
e  who  is  rich  in  equipages  is  often  poor  in  health — in  sinew  and 


BOO  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGA^ 

vigor  to  climb  the  mountains.  Must  we  be  tai 
poverty  to  the  Soul.  We  have  wealth  to  the  e 
hend  the  principles  of  Being.  It  is  no  appraii 
indeed,  to  say  he  has  certain  stocks  and  bonds, 
Heaven  and  Hell. 

I  repeat  that  wealth  is  Capacity ;  capacity 
for  doing  good,  capacity  for  entering  into 
Egotism  is  a  kind  of  pauperism;  to  see  ever] 
personal  standpoint  is  to  be  incarcerated  with 
self-made  prison  and  to  exclude  a  wealth  of  hum: 
Incapacity  to  grasp  the  true  meaning  of  life ;  inc 
the  good  that  is  in  us ;  incapacity  for  recognizir 
others — such  is  poverty.  To  be  poor  in  love,  t 
is  to  be  poor  indeed.  What  avails  a  vast  estate 
to  what  end  a  private  observatory  if  we  dwell 
being ;  of  what  use  broad  acres  to  a  narrow  mir 

The  only  real  wealth  lies  within,  and  no  i 
gainsay  an  inner  poverty.  The  richer  the  inn 
outer  simplicity.  There  are  men  who  never 
they  lose  their  money :  there  are  beauties  that  n 
until  the  purse  is  empty.  When  we  have  I 
can  be  added  to  or  taken  from  us  7  We  shall  < 
silence  and  leave  the  trappings  of  the  world — th 
It  is  expedient  to  have  our  possessions  within,  c 
that  we  may  be  in  good  marching  order  and  sh: 
the  journey.     Better  internal  forces  than  extern 

Ah!  To  live  free  from  perturbation,  tranqu 
we  call  ourselves  men — who  are  driven  by  care, 
a  calling  to  the  end  that  the  vanity  may  be  pa 
appeased.  Fear,  toiling  to  lay  up  against  a  ' 
while  forcing  chains.  But  to  the  serene  min 
days.  Real  necessity  requires  only  the  work  of 
of  slaves.  Surely  there  is  a  high  price  paid  f 
would  lift  a  burden  from  the  shoulders.  Reflt 
quintessence  of  things  may  never  be  bought, 
according  to  our  capacity ;  we  read  in  the  booL 


A   DEFINITION   OF  WEALTH.  601 

our  own  enlightenment ;  we  see  in  the  work  of  art  only  the  degree  to 
which  we  are  receptive  to  the  Beautiful,  and  conversant  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  art.  Nor  can  there  be  obtained  the  full  significance  of  that 
to  which  somewhat  is  not  contributed — the  work  of  mind  or  hands : 
the  artist,  the  artificer,  the  craftsman  retains  always  an  interest  in 
what  is  bought  of  him.  The  gardener  laying  out  a  flower  bed  will 
abstract  a  share  of  its  meaning  and  its  beauty.  What  are  these  things 
sought  after?  Are  they  worth  the  best  part  of  human  life  ?  Is  the 
diamond  more  beautiful  than  the  raindrop  on  the  barberry  leaf ;  or 
ruby,  than  the  cardinal  flower  as  it  gleams  solitary  from  amidst  the 
low  alders;  is  there  woven  fabric  more  delicate  than  the  spider's  web? 
Is  there  aught  more  precious  to  a  thoughtful  man  than  leisure ;  leisure 
to  reflect,  to  meditate,  to  worship?  What  a  commentary  upon  society 
that  men  have  not  time  to  observe  nature — nor  time  to  reflect  upon 
what  they  are,  nor  why  they  may  be  here ! 

Values  are  not  always  apparent,    and  a  hasty  judgment  would 

often  overlook  that  which  is  best.     There  are  delicate  lovely  blossoms 

so  fragile  they  may  not  be  plucked  from  the  grassy  meadow  in  which 

they  grow:  so  is  it  with  our  fairest  visions,  expressed  in  words  they 

Can  never  be,  for  their  subtle  and  ethereal  quality  escapes  us.     The 

Sand  dunes  and  the  desert  have  been  made  to  burst  in  bloom,  and 

where   once   was   a   dreary   waste   the  Gold  of   Ophir    now   twines 

about  the  branches  of  the  pepper  trees,  the  heliotrope  and  the  lemon 

Verbenas  stand  high  in  air,  the  Cherokee  runs  riot  and  the  Mar^chal 

Niel  hangs  its  heavy  head.     And  this  much  will  love  do  for  the  barren 

life :   no  desert  but  shall  be  bright  with  flowers :  no  Sierra  but  shall 

have  its  snowplant.     There  are  kind  hearts  under  rough  coats :   there 

is  a  vision  of  Truth  in  lowly  minds.     All  that  glitters  is  not  gold  and 

there  is  a  gold  that  does  not  glitter. 

We  hear  of  men  to-day  in  India  who  can  neither  read  nor  write 
and  are  yet  profoundly  versed  in  the  science  of  Being ;  men  who  have 
never  owned  a  single  piece  of  gold,  but  are  rich  in  the  Soul's  realiza- 
tion of  freedom,  and  who  rejoice  in  the  wealth  and  power  of  self- 
control  and  self-union.  There  are  men  who  wander  from  village  to 
village  along  the  dusty  Indian  roads,  calling  practically  nothing  their 
own,  in  whose  eyes  shines  the  light  of  peace,  on  whose  brows  is  the 


502  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

stamp  of  wisdom.  Men  of  remote  and  inadequate  ways  of  life  these, 
as  judged  by  Western  standards;  yet  must  we  bow  to  the  superiority 
which  lies  in  a  serene  Consciousness,  though  housed  in  a  barren 
exterior,  for  a  true  sagacity  perfects  always  the  inner  life  and  dwells 
within  the  sanctuary.  And  what  shall  we  say,  we  of  rich  externals, 
but  no  serenity,  no  self-trust? 

Every  man  comes  into  the  world  with  a  title  to  all  that  is;  it 
remains  for  him  to  prove  it  through  capacity.  There  is  a  prior  title 
to  this  lake,  this  forest,  these  mountains,  than  any  that  is  on  record. 
All  recorded  titles  may  prove  defective,  for  like  people's  names  they 
seldom  fit  their  owners.  Such  an  one  has  a  deed  to  the  shore  of  a 
lake,  but  its  beauty  eludes  him  and  he  foolishly  cherislies  the  posses- 
sion of  so  much  muck  and  mire,  and  is  weighed  down  with  his  cubic 
yards  of  earth.  Another  is  ravished  with  the  beauty  of  this  same 
fair  lake ;  it  is  to  him  a  consolation  and  an  inspiration,  and  he  springs 
aloft  in  the  joy  of  his  spiritual  possessions.  Have  done  with  this  cry 
of  poverty,  and  reflect  that  for  you  have  been  painted  and  chiseled 
the  masterpiece,  for  you  has  been  garnered  all  wisdom,  for  you  races 
have  lived  and  wrought ;  that  in  the  dim  Past  poets  wrote  for  you — 
looked  over  the  heads  of  their  unheeding  fellows  and  said,  **  I  salute 
you,  you  who  in  ages  to  come  shall  commune  with  me — for  you  I 
write.**  Ponder  this,  and  consider  how  august  a  personage  you  are 
and  never  more  belittle  yourself  or  live  other  than  nobly.  And  how 
marvelous  the  working  of  the  divine  laws  that  a  little  book  should 
live  through  the  ages — to  come  in  at  your  window  and  open  before 
you  its  message  at  the  appointed  time ;  that  seers  should  prophesy 
and  philosophers  meditate  and  historians  write  for  you.  You  whose 
inheritance  of  Beauty  is  as  wide  as  the  Cosmos,  and  as  deep;  whose 
estate  of  Wisdom  is  as  great  as  your  own  Soul ;  whose  property  in 
Love  is  as  large  as  your  own  heart. 

There  is  a  storehouse  of  undreamed-of  wealth  to  which  every  soul 
may  have  access :  knock  and  the  door  shall  be  opened  to  you.  Is 
not  Truth  an  adequate  legacy?  Is  not  the  kingdom  of  God  a  suffi- 
cient inheritance?  For  what  bauble  shall  we  remove  them  and  pre- 
serve a  semblance  of  reason?  It  is  not  currency  reform — neither  a 
gold  standard  uor  the  free  coinage  of  silver ;   it  is  neither  protection 


A   DEFINITION   OF  WEALTH.  503 

nor  free  trade  that  shall  bring  the  •'  good  times"  we  so  eagerly  await. 
But  it  is  spiritual-mindedness,  right  living  and  right  thinking :  it  is 
Love  in  the  world — more  cooperation  and  less  competition.  The 
perfection  of  the  credit  system  is  one  indication  of  the  degree  of  civ- 
ilization, but  trust  in  God  is  a  greater.  There  is  a  spiritual  as  well  as 
a  business  acumen.  We  soon  pass  judgment  on  the  banker  who  fails 
to  note  the  proper  value  of  securities,  or  neglects  the  world  of  affairs : 
but  here  are  we  all  foolish  bankers  who  pay  no  heed  to  spiritual  val- 
ues, which  alone  are  enduring. 

In  this  plea  for  a  right  understanding  of  what  constitutes  wealth,  I 
would  not  be  thought  foolishly  to  disparage  the  good  offices  of 
money.  Manifold  are  its  beneficent  uses.  But  whenever  that  which 
is  ordained  a  means  is  falsely,  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  an  end,  a 
goal  in  life,  the  perversion  worketh  woe.  Money  as  a  means  is  an 
agent  of  love ;  as  an  end  it  is  a  cause  of  sorrow^  a  breeder  of  strife, 
and  only  when  returned  to  its  proper  place  does  it  fulfil  its  benefi- 
cent function.  Not  until  the  gold  of  the  Nieblung  is  restored  to  the 
Rhine  does  peace  prevail.  Let  us  acquire  money,  and  let  us  spend  it 
if  in  so  doing  we  may  quicken  the  generous  impulse  and  expand  the 
heart,  and  not  come  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  wealth  that  lies  within. 
A  wise  man  regulates  his  expenditure  by  what  is  fitting,  and  not  by 
what  he  can  afford ;  no  man  can  afford  to  spend  upon  himself  more 
than  is  needful ;  none  can  afford  luxuries  where  others  lack  necessi- 
ties. He  is  the  richer  who  is  content  with  less,  not  he  who,  having 
much,  needs  more.  But  prudence  lies  not  in  spending  little,  but  in 
spending  wisely,  and  it  is  a  poor  economy  that  saves  money  and  lets 
go  generosity.  Would  that  we  knew  more  of  the  beauty  of  simplic- 
ity and  of  the  value  of  a  stern  and  frugal  way  of  life,  for  high  living 
ever  discourages  high  thinking,  and  when  most  lavish  to  the  body 
we  are  penurious  to  the  soul. 

Stanton  Kirkham  Davis. 


Moral  philosophy,  morality,  ethics,  casuistry,  natural  law,  mean  all 
the  same  thing,  namely — that  science  which  teaches  men  their  duty 
and  the  reasons  of  it. — Paley. 


• 

I 


t 
^ 


INVOLUTION  AND  EVOLUTION 

Now  that  the  theory  of  evolution  is  generally  accepted  as  tn 

both  by  science  and  theology,  we  learn  that  this  theory  of  creation 

'I  not   new   and  modern,  but  one  that  was  believed  in  by  the  Sai 

cens,  Alexandrians,  Chaldeans  and  Ancient  Hindoos.     It  was  tau{ 
as  part  of  religion,  as  far  back  as  we  can  trace  the  records  of  tin 
1  Lost  to  the  western  world,  possibly  through  a  misinterpretation 

\  Genesis,  as  meaning  special  creation  in  six  days,  in  place  of  natu 

fi  creation  by  evolution  in  six  long  periods  of  time,  it  has  been  red 

^  covered  by  modern  scientists,  by  their  patient  research  into  Natur 

'\  methods,  aided  by  their  own  rational  methods  of  thought. 

Modern  scientists  have  formulated  this  theory  by  means  of  t 
inductive  method  of  reasoning.  Ancients  received  it  through  the  d 
ductive  method,  as  it  was  taught  them  by  their  great  religious  teadie 
and  incorporated  in  their  Scriptures.  One  who  enjoys  both  methoi 
of  thought,  finds  much  interest  in  noting  the  relations  between  d 
two,  the  ancient  and  the  modern. 

The  modern  evolutionist  with  microscope,  telescope,  photograph; 
^  etc.,  traces  the  phenomena  of  form-building,  in  logical  steps,  fra 

gaseous,  nebulous  matter,  to  mineral  and  on  to  man ;  from  the  simp 
cell,  to  the  complex  form.  The  ancients  add  to  this  external  vici 
an  internal  one  of  sequential  growth  of  life,  the  two  acting  an 
reacting  upon  each  other,  in  every  form  and  life,  but  with  the  inm 
the  cause  and  substance  of  the  outer,  the  outer  revealing  the  metbc 
of  the  inner. 

Moderns  follow  the  sequential  form-building  by  a  thread  of  ce 
transmission,  heredity,  atavism,  etc.  Ancients  connect  the  scquenti 
inner  lines  in  their  various  phases  of  activity,  from  kingdom  to  kuH 
dom,  by  a  thread  of  invisible  heredity,  each  life  linked  to  and  boi 
upon  its  own  life  in  the  form  of  the  past,  the  connection  carried  ovi 
by  virtue  of  the  law  of  conservation  of  energy  and  correlation  < 
forces.  They  claim  that  there  are  laws  of  Dynamics,  of  static  ai 
kinetic  energy  immanent  on  spiritual  and  psychic  planes  of  nature 

504 


INVOLUTION   AND   EVOLUTION.  606 

physical  planes.  Thus  according  to  spiritual  atavism,  we 
Dwn  remote  ancestors  in  their  various  stages  of  race  devel- 

5  the  true  reason  why  History  repeats  itself.  '  Moderns  claim 
e  force  exists  there  is  matter ;  and  vice  versa,  there  is  no 
tout  matter,  no  matter  without  force.  Ancients  claim  that 
ce  and  matter  exist,  no  matter  how  simple  and  invisible  its 
man's  physical  eyes  or  microscope,  no  matter  how  narrow 
of  activity,  there  at  that  centre  of  activity  is  life,  a  feeling 
a  species  of  consciousness.  In  other  words,  there  is  no 
y  as  dead  matter.     Life  is  at  every  point  of  space  and  time. 

1  matter,  as  two  extreme  ends  of  the  same  pole  of  substance, 
ual  aspect  of  that  underlying  formless  something  we  call 
)rce  and  Form  exist  in  indissoluble  marriage  relation,  as  a 

life  or  consciousness,  or  the  manifestation  of  a  centre  of 
i'his  marriage  is  for  the  purpose  of  the  gradual  evolution  or 
I,  of  each  centre  of  consciousness,  into  final  expansion 
knowledge  and  love,  into  the  life  of  the  whole — the  all 
;ness.  To  the  ancients,  everything  is  alive  and  divine  in  a 
igree,  in  exact  accord  as  it  can  respond  to  this  Universal 

Omnipresent  Life,   in  which  "it  lives,  moves  and  has  its 

^ife  manifesting    in  this    Universe,   that    which    man    calls 

2  Logos,  The  Oversoul,  is  one  aspect  only  of  that  One 
►solute  Existence,  which  Spencer  names  the  Unknowable, 
ncients  call  "That.**  As  this  manifested  Universe  grows 
ies,  from  that    Great  Unknown  will  the  eternal  substance  of 

evolved  into  a  new  and  higher  universe.  And  the  mind  of 
^ers  and  faints  as  it  tries  to  conceive  of  the  possibilities  of 
"  without  beginning  or  end." 

hase  or  aspect  of  the  Great  Unknown,  manifesting  as  the 
is  present  creation,  is  an  All-conscious  Loving  Intelligence, 
le  Self  of  that  Life,  eternal  in  itself,  changing  in  his  various 
tions,  to  suit  the  needs  of  his  creatures,  is  the  Father  in 
f  each  and  all.  In  every  one,  and  even  in  the  atom,  is  a  latent 
)ark  of  that  Divine  Eternal  Self.     This  divine  fire  within, 


S06 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZI 


called  life,  is  the  secret  of  its  future  evolution, 
this  fire  is  consciousness.  To  name  this  does  nol 
in  its  emanations  or  vibrations  the  creative  cause 
rates  of  vibration  we  know  as  energy,  matter,  and 
key  unlocking  a  new  door  into  the  mysteries  ■ 
Potency,  the  Divine  Storehouse  of  Ceaseless  Lift 

At  every  centre  of  being,  fire  burns,  fed,  nou 
by  the  Omnipresence  of  the  One  Divine,  Living, 
Consciousness.  Because  of  its  increase  or  expan: 
within  each  form,  does  evolution  proceed.  I: 
crystalline  forms  is  manifest  life  in  its  lowest  sta 
in  its  slowest  rate  of  vibration.  It  is  the  tiniest 
to  keep  alive.  It  is  life  locked  in  its  most  rigid  t 
rowest  range  of  activity  possible  on  earth  at  the  ; 

This  postulation  of  Omnipresent  life  or  cons( 
one  of  the  vital  differences  between  the  Ancient 
Ancients  claim  that  no  matter  how  "dead"  sor 
to  man,  to  God  it  is  not  dead,  but  having  a  plac 
ence  and  purpose  of  evolution.  Nothing  is  ; 
Everything  changes,  evolves.  Minerals  evolve, 
ations  will  turn  to  the  sun  as  a  place  where  such  > 
be  studied."  * 

Other  modern  corroborations  of  Ancient  the 
the  front  among  the  foremost  scientists  of  the  da 
realize  what  it  means  to  strike  "dead  matter"  (t 
ation's  drama.  Prof,  Roberts-Austen,  in  his  t< 
lurgy,  and  Prof,  von  Schroen,  in  Italy,  in  his  Jnv 
in  stones,"  "  vital  sparks  in  crystals,"  are  announi 
as  proving  that  minerals  and  metals  are  alive, 
reviewing  the  late  metallurgic  discoveries,  says  ir 
of  February,  1 897:  "It  becomes  more  and  more  ; 
mass  of  metal  is  by  no  means  an  inert  body,  bu 
own  inner  life;  its  molecules  are  not  dead  speck< 
never  cease  to  move  about,  to  change  places  an' 
combinations."     It  is  further  claimed  that  allo] 

"  Prof.  Robertft-Auaten,  lecturer  to  the  English  Royal 


INVOLUTION   AND   EVOLUTION.  507 

most  as  complicated  as  an  organic  cell/'  which  should  be  studied 
;**  living  organisms,"  in  which  the  three  states  of  matter,  solid, 
quid,  and  gaseous,  can  at  any  time  be  found  existing  together, 
lough  unseen  by  our  eyes.  Prof,  von  Schroen*s  discoveries  of  *'  vital 
)arks"  in  crystals,  are  spoken  of  in  the  scientific  press  as  **  one  of  the 
ost  astonishing  demonstrations  of  modern  times,  and  to  be  classed 
ily  on  a  par  with  the  great  discovery  of  Darwin,"  which  revolution- 
ed  previous  scientific  theories.  See  Marques  "Scientific  Corrob- 
ations  of  Theosophy.")  Seeing  life  in  every  kingdom  but  the 
ineral.  Moderns  are  here  on  the  verge  of  viewing  this  also  as 
e  Ancients  do.  Ancients  see  Life  everywhere,  and  God  as  the  One 
ife.  He  dwells  in  the  Universe  as  Man  does  in  his  body,  sustain- 
g  and  controlling  it,  but  far  nobler  and  grander  than  his  physical 
cpression,  and  conscious  both  within  and  without  it ;  the  source, 
istainer  and  regenerator  of  every  individual  cell  in  that  body,  impel- 
ig  from  within  its  further  evolution  into  larger  and  larger  lives. 

What  the  amount  or  quality  is,  of  the  state  of  consciousness  of  an 
om,  in  its  gaseous,  liquid  or  solid  state  (apparently,  for  even  Mod- 
ns  admit  that  hardness  is  only  a  quality,  representing  a  certain  rate 
;  vibration),  is  as  inconceivable  to  the  human  mind  as  is  the  size  of 
:oms  or  microbes,  so  small  that  thousands  can  find  room  at  the  same 
me  on  the  point  of  the  finest  cambric  needle.  Both  are  inconceiv- 
dIc,  one  is  no  more  impossible  than  the  other.  While  moderns  teach 
le  infinite  divisibility  of  matter,  ancients  hold  to  the  infinite  divisi- 
ility  of  states  or  degrees  of  life  or  consciousness  in  these  inconceiv- 
bly  small  atoms  or  tiny  beings.  Moderns  define  an  atom  as  a  centre 
r  vortex  of  whirling  motion  of  inconceivable  rapidity,  within  an 
omogeneous  substance  which  they  call  Ether.  Is  not  the  postulation 
f  activity  without  consciousness  or  a  feeling  of  being  or  life,  an 
bsurdity? 

Crooke's  chemistry  also  admits  that  all  atoms  issue  from  one 
ingle  basis,  called  **  Protyle."  Ancients  claim  that  an  atom  is  a  cen- 
*e  of  life,  revealing  through  its  vibration  a  phase  of  consciousness, 
urther,  it  is  the  vibration  of  this  consciousness  which  emanates,  pro- 
^ccs,  creates  and  evolves  what  we  know  as  energy  and  matter, 
uilding  forms  after  divine  patterns  stored  up  in  mind  of  the  All  Con- 


608  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZ: 

sciousness.  Each  centre  of  Life,  in  every  form 
animal  or  human,  receives  from  this  Universal 
and  form,  in  exact  accord  with  what  it  can  rece 
of  evolution.  An  atom  is  a  soul,  and  the  fo 
molecules,  are  the  vestment  or  body  of  the  / 
complicated  bodies  are  the  vestments  of  our  sc 
form  having  its  own  life  distinct,  but  lower  an< 
life  in  the  whole  form. 

The  ancient  theory  claims  that  the  purpos 
form-building,  but  expansion  of  consciousness  bj 
less  and  repeated  form-building.  This  is  virtu 
sciousness,  by  means  of  experiences  gained  in 
forms  of  mineral,  vegetable,  animal,  and  human 
Evolution  is  God's  method  of  creation  of  that  it 
call  consciousness,  and  later  of  Individual  Spiri 
share  more  and  more  of  his  All-Consciousness, 
expansion  are,  of  course,  as  inconceivable  as 
the  inconceivably  small.  In  every  atom  is  hidt 
its  centre,  the  latent  and  future  activities  of  Go 
bility  of  becoming  "perfect  even  as  the  Father  i 
"  Every  Atom  in  the  universe  has  the  potential] 
ness  in  it  and  is  like  the  Monads  of  Leibnitz,  a 
for  itself.  It  is  an  atom  and  an  angel."  Tl 
Divine  potentiality  is  the  secret  of  the  creation  i 
thereby  of  the  evolution  of  this  Universe  c 
Because  of  this  Divine  Invisible  Involution,  is  po: 
lution  of  forms  and  activity,  resulting  again  in  Ii 
in  more  and  more  subtle  matter.  While  Moder 
to  matter,  in  seeking  causes,  ancients  perceive  ca 
the  spirit  or  invisible  end  of  life  as  both  the  sou 
forces,  substances  and  forms  involved  into  each 

The  descent  of  the  Spirit  of  Life,  of  this  Di 
sciousness  into  matter  requiring  long  periods  of  t 
eral,  is  half  the  process  of  creation;  the  evolutio 
sciousnesses  "  from  mineral,  atomic  lives  to  hum 
half.     The  ceaseless  involution  of  potential  life 


INVOLUTION   AND   EVOLUTION.  609 

the  gradual  slowing  down  into  lower  and  lower  rates  of  vibration,  pro- 
duces denser  and  denser  conditions  of  matter,  until  in  the  mineral 
kingdom  the  turning  point  is  reached  in  the  lowest  limit  of  conscious- 
ness. The  evolution  of  this  involution,  infolding  through  gradual 
increase  of  active  consciousness,  results  in  higher  and  higher  states  of 
consciousness  differentiations  into  individual  beings,  in  subtler  and 
more  ethereal  forms. 

This  involution  accounts  for  the  constant  existence  of  elemental 
and  simple  organisms ;  they  are  the  ceaseless,  endless  operations  of 
life.  This  is  creation  without  beginning  or  end.  It  is  the  secret  of 
the  law  of  continuity,  the  continual  improving  of  life,  the  continual 
descent  or  involution  of  spirit  into  matter.  If  physical,  organic 
evolution  alone  accounted  for  this  universe  of  forms,  the  simple  cell- 
like organisms  would  long  ago  have  disappeared  from  our  earth. 
Darwin  tries  to  explain  this  standing  still  of  simple  forms,  but  utterly 
fails.  Ancients  see  in  the  "apparent"  standing  still  of  these  simple 
forms,  the  new  life  ever  pushing  forward  in  a  continual  spirit  descent 
into  matter.  With  each  cell  division  a  new  life  comes  in  and  the 
old  passes  on  into  higher  forms.  (See  Weismann's  Somatic  and  germ- 
cell  Theory  for  the  source  of  scientific  muddle  of  organic  evolution.) 

If  "something"  had  not  been  involved,  nothing  could  have  been 
evolved.  Something  never  comes  from  nothing.  Involution  precedes 
evolution  and  the  two  work  hand  in  hand  to  produce  the  gradual 
evolution  of  this  something  we  call  Consciousness. 

"The  ancient  teachers  of  evolution,  less  exact  in  detail  in  follow- 
ing the  evolution-  of  form,  were  more  accurate  in  fact  in  postulating 
a  something  which  alone  could  make  the  external  evolution  of  form 
of  any  intelligible  purpose."  * 

It  is  this  seed  of  Perfection,  this  Divine  inherent  potency  stored 
within,  which  makes  for  evolution  on  physical  planes,  for  righteous- 
ness on  mental  and  moral  planes,  for  Individualization  and  Union 
with  the  Divine  self  on  spiritual  planes.  Thus  the  Divine  Spirit  in 
Nature,  God  brooding  over  every  step  of  the  long  travail,  "  Himself 
cribbed,  cabined  and  confined,"  in  his  creation,  bursts  one  fetter  after 
another  for  the  expanding  consciousness  within  each  form,  by  a  gift 

♦G.  R.  S.  Mead,  in  ••Simon  Magus.'* 


MO  THE    METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZI 

of  free  inpouring  of  his  own  life  and  consciou 
sharing  the  self  sacrificing  of  God  in  manifest, 
"slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  1 
temporarily  in  creation  of  each  form,  that,  in  t) 
with  his  offspring,  each  a  spark  of  his  Eternal  Sc 
or  end,  his  Divine  knowledge,  powers  and  bl 
reveals  a  supreme  law  of  that  existence:   love  ani 

To  the  Ancients  this  Involution  and  Evolut 
This  Divine  Omnipresent  Life,  is  ever  quicker 
more  life  each  centre  of  consciousness,  vegetabl 
as  fast  as  that  centre  can  receive  and  make  u! 
phase  of  activity  be  form-building,  character-l 
sou]  building.  With  each  inpouring  or  awaken 
life  awakes  another  degree.  One  more  kind  of 
becomes  active  and  therefore  conscious.  This 
use  of  powers,  increasing  step  by  step,  is  the  oi 
of  creation  of  consciousness,  say  the  ancients, 
certain  properties  or  powers,  cannot  spring  into 
at  physical  birth.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  sp 
realm  of  nature,  and  consciousness  is  not  an  ei 
■"By  no  possibility  can  thought  and  feeling  h 
products  of  matter.  Nothing  could  be  more  gro; 
the  famous  remark  of  Cabanis  that  the  brain  sec 
liver  secretes  bile."*  So  with  the  materialisti 
as  the  result  of  matter,  repudiated  by  modern  pi 
on  this  point  in  the  West  seem  to  be  in  a  tr. 
we  are  forced  to  drop  old  theories  before  new 
When  modern  science  extends  her  rational  ideas 
as  the  method  of  creation  on  invisible  as  well 
nature,  she  may  see  that  each  life  is  born  from 
itual  past,  as  well  as  each  form  from  a  physical  p 

Ancients  claim  that  any  being,  whether  const 
ical  activity,  vegetal  life,  animal  sentiency  or  hum 
die  to  one  form  and  phase  of  life,  disappear  foi 
bility,   before   it   can   be  born   into   another  life 

•  John  Fiak,  "The  Destiny  of  Man."  pane  109. 


INVOLUTION   AND   EVOLUTION.  511 

appropriate  properties  and  potences,  in  which  further  evolution  can 
take  place.  Likewise  every  such  birth  indicates  past  lives  in  past 
forms,  up  to  the  stage  of  present  form  and  consciousness,  or  powers  of 
expression  in  that  form.  **An  entire  history  of  anything  must 
include  its  appearance  out  of  the  imperceptible  and  its  disappearance 
into  the  imperceptible.  Be  it  a  single  object  or  the  whole  universe, 
any  account  which  begins  with  it  in  a  concrete  form  or  leaves  off  with 
it  in  a  concrete  form,  is  incomplete.*** 

This  law  of  ceaseless  round  from  invisible  into  visible  and  back 
again  to  the  invisible,  the  Ancients  call  the  cycle  of  necessity.  It 
is  only  through  this  repeated  form-building  that  evolution  can  pro- 
ceed. This  is  true  of  man,  the  earth  and  the  universe  itself.  This 
is  because  the  real  causes  of  evolution  are  on  the  invisible  planes  of 
nature,  ever  pushing  at  each  centre  down,  out  and  up.  In  each 
form  in  the  ascending  scale  is  awakened  more  and  more  of  this 
Divine  something,  which  we  may  name  Life,  Intelligence  or  Con- 
sciousness. Each  being  comes  into  birth  from  the  invisible,  in  the 
form  which  fits  the  amount  of  consciousness — that  consciousness  a 
conservation  of  past  energies,  **plussed"  at  every  step  by  Divine 
Influx  of  Latency.  Its  use  of  that  form  constitutes  the  phase  of 
activity  belonging  to  that  form  and  life.  The  exact  correspondence 
between  the  inner  life  and  outer  form  is  unceasingly  preserved  by 
the  law  of  vibration  of  its  consciousness,  the  process  of  building 
unknown  to  itself,  but  conscious  to  the  universal  sentiency  or  Spirit 
of  God.  He  thus  holds  before  each  being  an  exact  picture  of  the 
inner  state  of  consciousness  as  reflected  in  form  and  environment. 
As  a  result  of  activity  in  this  form,  an  inner  awakening  is  evolved,  an 
increase  of  powers,  bringing  growth  and  expansion  of  consciousness. 
It  outgrows  its  present  form  by  this  inner  expansion,  and  bursts  its 
fetters  in  death, f  as  the  vibrations  within  grow  too  rapid  for  the 
quality  of    matter   in  the  form  (the    matter  itself  a  certain  rule  of 

*  Herbert  Spencer.  **  First  Principles." 

f  This  explains  the  God  of  the  Ancients  as  a  Trinity — Creator,  Preserver  and 
Destroyer  (or  Regenerator).  The  law  of  destruction,  or  what  we  call  death,  is  as 
necessary  a  law  of  growth'  as  birth.  Increased  powers  of  life  must  have  higher 
and  higher  forms  to  manifest  in,  in  order  to  evolve  higher  and  higher  conscious 
beings. 


n»  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZI 

vibration).  Ttie  inner  being,  consciousness,  soi 
please,  escapes  from  its  form  into  the  invisibi 
ethereal  substance,  with  all  its  acquired  propen 
served  at  its  own  centre  of  being,  to  await  a  r 
form.  Here  we  see  kinetic  enei^,  stored  up  ii 
until  time  for  its  kinetic  expression,  in  more 
form  and  powers,  which  are  possible  becau 
Involution. 

It  is  Divine  additions  during  life's  activiti 
worked  up  into  new  faculties  during  the  static  si 
is  the  real  cause  of  evolution.  After  each  re; 
being  is  ready  for  more  complex,  subtle  and  del 
its  last  one.  This  causes  progression,  and  its 
seen  in  such  secondary  causes  as  Variation,  Natu 

Where  Modems  see  in  the  lower  phases  of  at 
servatism  and  correlation  of  energy  and  forces,  . 
expression  of  differentiation  of  consciousness,  ai 
of  life  from  one  substance  or  form  into  anothei 
with  an  imperceptible  (to  the  physical  eye),  di 
invisible  transfer  of  consciousness.  We  see  tb 
properties  or  activities,  with  its  inner  transmigr. 
tion  of  life,  taking  place  as  chemical  action  in  thi 
elements.  Gradually  in  higher  types  of  Hfe  and  i 
there  appears  the  element  of  time,  necessary  fo: 
from  visible  into  invisible  and  back  to  visible 
This  makes  the  process  of  gestation  in  seed,  e| 
sary.  Various  phases  of  this  law  of  transformati< 
seen  in  Metensomatosis,  Metamorphosis,  and  Me 
in  human  life  in  the  law  of  Reincarnation  with 
rest  between  lives,  in  heaven  of  good  memorie: 
short  or  long  duration  in  just  accord  with  indiv 
life.  For  man  alone  has  free  will.  This  cycle 
in  incarnation,  rest  in  invisible  state  between  ir 
regard  as  the  only  possible  method  of  creation 
individualization  in  man,  and  future  expansion 
refined  forms.      Continuity  of  law  gives  the  p 


INVOLUTION   AND   EVOLUTION.  513 

in  future  lives  towards  perfection.  Salvation  or  perfection  of  the 
spiritual  individual  and  his  appropriate  vesture,  can  only  be  obtained 
here  on  this  earth,  where  the  past  has  been  accomplished.  What 
beaven  this  earth  will  be,  when  all  have  finished  this  spiritual  evolu- 
tion, man  in  his  present,  limited,  animal  consciousness  cannot  con- 
ceive.    The  earth  herself  will  change  as  its  inhabitants  do. 

Modems  in  their  comparative  anatomy,  show  that  man  has  his 
bodily  substance,  organs  and  functions,  in  common  with  the  animals 
below  him,  and  that  the  same  forces  of  chemical,  vital,  sentient  and 
even  mental  activities  go  on  within  his  organism. 

Ancients  claim  that  man  has  his  life  and  consciousness  from  a 
common  source  with  that  of  the  lower  kingdoms ;  that  the  same  under- 
lying substance.  Life,  Spirit,  Consciousness,  or  Intelligence,  call  it 
what  you  will,  is  the  Divine  Essence  in  and  through  all.  The  Sen- 
tiency  or  Consciousness  in  all,  is  One  in  Essence,  diflfering  only  in 
degfrees,  in  stages  of  evolution  or  expansion.  As  far  as  the  animal 
consciousness  is  evolved,  it  experiences  the  same  sentient,  passional, 
emotional  and  even  mental  states  of  being  that  man  does ;  and  further 
without  this  subtile,  active,  substance  we  call  animal  consciousness,  as 
soil  for  germinal  development,  the  human  and  self-conscious  indi- 
vidual soul  could  never  be  born,  evolved,  created.  In  other  words, 
it  is  this  animal  consciousness,  plus  the  awakening  of  the  Divine  Invo- 
lution or  Birth  from  above  that  results  in  the  evolution,  creation  of 
the  individual  human  soul.  The  Below  must  meet  the  Above,  at 
every  Involution  and  Evolution. 

Helen  I.  Dennis. 

{To  be  contintied.) 


Nature  never  did  betray  the  heart  that  loved  her!  'Tis  her  privi- 
lege, through  all  the  years  of  this  our  life  to  lead  from  joy  to  joy ;  for 
she  can  so  inform  the  mind  that  is  within  us — so  impress  with  quiet- 
ness and  beauty,  and  so  feed  with  lofty  thoughts,  that  neither  evil 
tongues,  rash  judgments,  nor  the  sneers  of  selfish  men,  nor  greetings 
where  no  kindness  is,  nor  all  the  dreary  intercourse  of  daily  life,  shall 
e'er  prevail  against  us. — Wordsworth, 


MY  ASTRAL  GUARDIAN. 


i  My  life   seemed  exceptionally  desolate  and  dreary.     No  ray 

j-  light  pierced  the  clouds  that  darkened  around  me,  and  often  I  p 

I  dered  gloomily  on  my  dismal  prospects.     Having  lost»  through 

\  changing  fortune  of  politics,  a  position  I  had  long  held,  and  wh 

^'  constituted  my  only  means  of  support,  I  was  alone,  in  what  seen 

'>  a  cold,  selfish  world,  dependent  for  subsistence  upon  the  small  amou 

occasionally  derived  from  contributions  to  the  newspapers  or  jounu 
This  avenue,  however,  like  all  others,  being  overstocked,  rende 
this  means  of  existence  most  precarious  and  I  never  knew  one  w< 
that  I  should  have  bread  and  butter  the  next. 

Many  weary  days  and  sleepless  nights  were  spent  in  the  pain 

I 

endeavor  to  solve  the  problem  of  how  it  would  end.  Soon  lines 
care  and  anxiety  traced  themselves  upon  face  and  brow ;  violent  hci 
aches,  from  overwrought  nerves  and  nights  of  tearful  agony,  brouf 
deep  circles  under  the  eyes  and  many  gray  hairs  before  their  time. 

Under  such  conditions  is  it  surprising  that  I  was  well-nigh  fore 
to  the  brink  of  suicide?  I  seemed  a  bark  adrift  upon  a  stormy  ocea 
with  no  kindly  hand  extended  to  save  me  from  being  dashed  to  piec 
by  the  relentless  waves.  There  seemed  no  place  for  me  in  aU  tl 
wide  world,  and  I  determined  to  leave  it  as  soon  as  possible.  But- 
what  then  ?  After  the  grave  what  awaited  me  ?  Annibilatioi 
probably — but  if  NOT?  As  Shakespeare  says,  "  There's  the  nibi 
and,  like  Hamlet,  I  felt  almost  inclined  to  bear  the  ills  I  had,  tlu 
fly  to  others  I  knew  not  of ;  still,  existence  here  was  unbcarabli 
Could  I  only  know!  In  this  age  of  skepticism  there  is  such  a  proiK 
ness  to  doubt  even  the  Deity,  and  to  think  this  life  is  all ;  that  tk 
soul  dies  with  the  body,  and  the  grave,  in  closing  over  the  nwftJ 
remains,  swallows  up  forever  all  there  is  of  life.  Yet,  I  could  « 
quite  believe,  something  within  seemed  to  say  that  life  would  indec 
be  a  farce,  if  this  were  all.  Oh,  to  be  able  to  explore  the  mystcrK 
of  the  beyond ! 

I   once  read  of   a  man  who,   in  his  sleep,  was  lifted  out  of  h 

514 


MY   ASTRAL  GUARDIAN.  515 

hysical  body  and  in  astral  form  traversed  this  world  in  company 
rith  the  shade  of  a  departed  comrade,  learning  many  a  dark  secret 
idden  from  mortal  ken ;  and  mingling  with  the  spirits  detained  here 
elow,  waiting  until  their  poor  physical  frames  should  have  withered 
nd  turned  to  dust  before  they  could  be  released,  he  gained  an  im- 
ortant  lesson,  and,  returning  to  mortal  consciousness,  proclaimed  to 
le  world  that  all  must  be  cremated  at  death,  who  would  be  free 
'om  the  miserable  semi-existence  of  hovering  in  astral  form  around 
le  grave  for  periods  of  months  or  years. 

Oh,  for  the  power  to  shake  off,  for  a  time,  this  mortal  coil,  and, 
azing  into  the  mysteries  of  the  tomb,  learn  whether  eternal  rest  can 
iiere  be  found!  I  have  it!  I  had  heard  of  an  adept,  learned  in 
lie  science  of  occultism,  who  claimed  to  be  able  to  leave  his  body  at 
rill,  and  commune  with  the  invisible  spirits  of  the  air.  He  was 
ccredited  with  wonderful  hypnotic  or  supernatural  powers,  and,  at 
he  age  of  one  hundred  years  still  preserved  the  appearance  of  youth, 
laving  seemingly  discovered  the  '^  fabled  fountain,"  for  which, 
through  all  ages,  so  many  have  sought  in  vain. 

To  him  I  resolved  to  go  and  learn  if  for  me  could  be  lifted  the 
veil  that  hides  from  mortal  view  the  future  state.  On  preferring  my 
request,  and  the  reason  for  it,  to  this  learned  man,  he  looked  steadily 
into  my  face  for  some  moments,  as  though  penetrating  to  the  depth 
of  my  soul.  At  length  he  said :  **  So,  my  young  friend,  you  desire 
to  know  the  secrets  of  the  *  charnel-house '  ?  Your  motive,  though 
natural,  is  unworthy,  and  did  not  your  face  reveal  more  than  your 
words  betray  I  should  say,  what  you  ask  is  impossible;  but  from 
'•'hat  I  can  see  in  a  brief  glance,  I  conclude  that  yours  is  a  spirit 
w^orth  saving. 

**You  are  possessed  of  possibilities  little  dreamed  of  by  yourself, 
^o  enable  you  to  discover  which,  I  will  put  you  into  a  condition 
■'^here,  if  endowed  with  the  qualities  I  seem  to  see  in  you,  you  will 
^nd  revealed  all  that  you  desire  to  know,  and,  I  need  not  add,  when 
^''ou  return,  your  suicidal  intent  will  have  vanished." 

He  took  my  hands  and,  bidding  me  fix  my  eyes  upon  his,  gazed 
'pon  me  with  orbs  that  seemed  to  grow  in  size  and  brilliancy  till  they 
'^sembled  coals  of  fire :  gradually  a  mist   gathered  before  me,  and  I 


B16  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGA3 

saw  only  those  eyes,  like  two  stars  illuminating 
ness  that  each  instant  grew  denser  and  blacke 
the  numbness  creeping  upon  me,  I  felt  myself  s 
suddenly  1  seemed  lifted  up  and  carried  througl 
which  pervaded  and  passed  through  me  as  1  floi 

Gazing  around  me  I  became  aware  of  th< 
surrounding  and  illuminating  myriads  of  airy  I 
one.  As  I  floated  dreamily  onward  I  founc 
whose  majesty  of  form  and  mien  proclaimed  hii 
the  atmosphere.  His  starry  eyes  and  noble 
with  a  beauty  none  in  mortal  form  has  ever  beh 
familiar ;'  and  as  I  felt  the  soft  clasp  of  his  hand 
of  his  eyes  1  experienced  a  delicious  sensation  of 
never  known  before.  Yet  there  appeared  not> 
it  all.  I  seemed  always  to  have  been  in  the  ei 
this  glorious  being,  and  when  he  spoke  the  mus 
strangely  on  my  ears, 

"Thou  troubled  and  weary  spirit,"  he  saic 
to  me  to  guide  through  the  aerial  regions  of  lii 
A  Supreme  and  All-Pervading  Intelligence  ha 
longing  may  be  satisfied,  thy  hunger  to  taste  c 
edge  be  appeased.  Know,  beloved  of  my  so 
granted  this  glimpse  into  things  eternal  save 
part  worked  out  their  salvation  in  the  past,  by 
fice,  have  through  some  error  of  mind  darkened 
gence,  and  so  obliterated  the  path  to  develop 
given  to  have  their  shadowed  pathway  ilium: 
divine  intelligence,  the  effulgence  of  which  will 
of  heaven." 

As  he  ceased,  a  picture  seemed  to  unfold  it 
looking  intently,  I  saw  the  world — not  as  it  n< 
have  been  long  ages  since, 

A  great  city  is  swept  by  a  scourge  and  many 
from  it.  Dead-wagons  halt  at  door  after  do< 
grief-stricken  inmates  the  loved  remains  not  yet 


MY   ASTRAL  GUARDIAN.  617 

tal  is  filled  with  the  dead  and  dying ;  in  their  midst  move  from  bed 
bed  a  few  noble  men  and  women,  who,  alone,  of  all  in  that  plague- 
ricken  place,  remain  to  administer  to  the  suflferers.  Among  these 
irses  I  see  myself,  not  with  the  stamp  of  unhappiness  and  discon- 
nt,  now  so  painfully  visible,  but  with  a  countenance  upon  which 
e  light  of  a  noble  purpose  shines  with  gentle  radiance. 

With  me  was  the  imperfect  expression  of  the  divine  creature  now 
:side  me.  Imperfect  though  that  physical  representation  was,  I  rec- 
;nized  it  and  turned  my  wondering  gaze  upon  my  guide.  Regard- 
g  me  with  a  look  of  gentle  reproach,  he  said :  **  Knowest  not,  I  am 
y  astral  husband?  that  through  all  the  ages  we  two  have  been  one, 
id  that  but  for  thy  one  fault,  which  necessitated  thy  reincarnation 
>on  earth,  to  work  out  the  law  of  thy  being,  thou  wouldst  now  be 
ith  me  in  eternal  bliss?  It  is  not  for  thee  to  know  the  nature  of 
lat  sin — thou  wast  tempted — and  in  an  evil  hour  resisted  not.  For 
^hich  both  thou  and  I  separated  for  a  period  must  be — I  to  roam  the 
erial  fields  of  life  unfettered,  save  by  thy  erring  soul,  dear  to  me  as 
ny  own,  for  in  truth  thy  soul  is  mine  and  mine  is  thine.  Thou  must 
iccomplish  thy  salvation  now,  or,  failing,  return  to  earth  again  and 
gain  till  thy  fault  is  expiated,  unless,  having  purified  thyself  in  part, 
hou  incarnate  on  the  planet  which  I  shall  show  thee.** 

Placing  each  an  arm  around  the  other,  we  glided  on  amid  endless 
umbers  of  spirits,  till  descending  through  a  denser  atmosphere,  we 
)und  ourselves  on  the  planet  Mars.  Here,  people  very  similar  to 
*c  inhabitants  of  earth,  were  going  about  attending  to  their  pursuits. 
could  see  but  little  difference  between  them  and  those  of  my  own 
^here.  ''These,'*  said  my  companion,  ''though  seemingly  not 
'Perior  to  the  people  of  earth,  are  in  reality  a  degree  removed  above 
^iti,  having  attained  a  consciousness  of  their  divine  relation  to  a 
'*^at  Intelligence,  they  have  greater  spiritual  discernment  and  know 
^  object  of  their  existence  here.  They  strive  to  overcome  the 
•^nal  tendencies  that  cramped  their  spiritual  development  on  earth, 
*^  by  lives  of  righteousness  and  unselfishness,  to  free  themselves 
^m  physical  embodiment  and  dwell  in  spirit  only. 

"  Many  accomplish  this  here,  but  many  others  are  obliged  to  incar- 
atein  other  spheres  before  reaching  the  state  of  perfection  which 


518  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

will  enable  them  to  throw  off  forever  the  mortal  shell.  .  Furthci 
cannot  take  thee,  thou  hast  taken  the  flight  thou  so  desired,  a 
penetrating  into  things  invisible  hast  learned  all  thou  hast  need  < 
it  only  remains  that  thou  act  out  the  little  drama,  yet  to  be  p 
formed  by  thee,  in  thy  short  earthly  career,  so  that  further  prepa 
tion  may  not  be  required  ere  thy  entrance  upon  the  real  stage  ofU 

**Now,  dear  one,  ere  thy  return  to  the  sphere  where  forabr 
season  thou  must  remain  imprisoned,  learn  well  the  lesson  I  gi 
thee — that  they  who  seek  to  alter  the  plan  of  the  Divine  Mind,  I 
thrusting  oflf  the  physical  envelope  ere  their  work  through  th 
medium  is  done,  must  undergo  many  transmigrations  before  reachii 
even  that  state  from  which  they  have  fallen.  Farewell,  I  may  a 
keep  thee  longer.  I  will  be  with  thee  often,  as  before,  but  henc 
forth  visible  to  thy  mental  perception,  I  shall  be  able  to  strengths 
and  aid  thee.'* 

As  he  finished,  I  felt  myself  moving  from  him  as  though  draw 
by  some  unseen  hand,  and  looking  back,  I  saw  his  shadowy  fon 
more  and  more  dimly  through  the  widening  distance.  I  strctche 
out  my  arms  toward  him,  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  linger  longer  ii 
that  bright  presence,  but,  with  a  loving  smile  he  vanished  from  nr 
gaze,  and  in  another  instant  I  found  myself  returned  to  my  physica 
body  and  to  the  world. 

Glancing  around  in  a  bewildered  way,  I  saw  the  adept,  with  eye 
fixed  on  me  as  before.  **Art  satisfied,  my  friend?"  said  he,  smiling 
**  More  than  satisfied,**  I  cried;  **  You  have  done  more  for  me  thai 
had  you  given  me  all  the  riches  this  world  contains.  I  know  noi 
why  I  live.  Things  which  before,  were  meaningless,  now  have  th 
deepest  significance.  I  rejoice  where  before  I  was  sad;  and  ever] 
seeming  misfortune,  henceforth  I  shall  regard  but  as  a  link  in  th 
chain  of  events,  sent  by  a  Divine  Hand  to  raise  me  higher  on  th 
ladder  of  progression.** 

**  *Tis  well,*'  said  the  adept,  **  I  did  not  send  you  hence  in\'ain 
*Tis  useless  to  admonish  you  not  to  forget — you  cannot  forget, 
know  enough  of  your  experience  in  the  invisible  world  for  that." 

Returning  to  my  boarding  place,  along  a  crowded  thoroughfare, 
observed  a  peculiar  expression  on  the  faces  of  many  whom  I  pas§<< 


MY   ASTRAL   GUARDIAN.  619 

and  correctly  guessed  it  was  due  to  the  great  joy  beaming  from  my 
face.  Yes,  this  joy  of  a  new-found  love,  a  new-found  life,  thrills  me, 
fills  me  with  an  ecstasy  never  before  known.  What  care  I  for  poverty, 
privation,  or  the  thing  the  world  calls  pain !  Never  again  will  they 
have  power  to  make  me  suflfer !  I  know  they  are  but  shadows  formed 
in  the  astral  world  by  our  ignorance,  and  materialized  by  our  wrong- 
doing. For  did  I  not  learn  the  lesson  of  life  while  on  that  psychic 
voyage,  projected  thither  by  the  learned  adept  and  guided  through 
realms  of  light  by  my  beloved  twin  soul,  my  other  self? 

Reaching  my  room  a  surprise  awaited  me.  On  catching  a  glimpse 
of  myself  in  the  glass,  in  place  of  the  pale  and  careworn  face  of  the 
few  hours  before,  I  saw  one  flushed  and  radiant;  eyes  that  shone 
with  brightness  reflecting  the  peace  within  and  cheeks  glowing  with 
perfect  health.  Not  a  line  or  wrinkle  remained  to  mar  the  effect, 
and  my  hair,  once  so  gray,  had  returned  to  its  proper  shade.  Was  I 
glad?  Yes,  earthly  vanity  had  not  departed,  and  I  could  rejoice  in 
rounded  and  rosy  cheeks,  bright  eyes  and  brown  locks.  And  since, 
I  have  had  no  solicitude  over  finances ;  my  journalistic  career  has 
been  most  successful. 

The  secret  of  it  all  is,  trust.  Knowing  that  a  Divine  Providence 
shapes  our  end,  we  have  but  to  recognize  His  work  in  all  things,  and 
ere  we  express  a  desire,  behold  it  is  ours ! 

••  A  glorious  song  of  rejoicing  in  my  innermost  spirit  I  feel, 
And  it  sounds  like  heavenly  voices  in  a  chorus  divine  and  clear. 

Oh.  the  glory  and  joy  of  living!     Oh,  the  grand  inspiration  I  feel! 
Like  the  halo  of  love  they  surround  me  with  new-bom  rapture  and  zeal ! 

I  gaze  through  the  dawn  of  morning — I  dream  'neath  the  stars  of  night: 
And  I  bow  my  head  to  the  blessing  of  this  wonderful  gift  of  light." 

Emma  Louise  Turner. 


Thou  canst  remove  out  of  the  way  many  useless  things  among 
those  which  disturb  thee,  for  they  lie  entirely  in  thy  opinion. — Marcus 
Aurelius, 

m 

Distrust  authorized  unfaithfulness ;  often  our  fear  of  being  deceived 
teaches  others  to  deceive. — Seneca, 


THE  PASSING  OF  DOOM 

{Concluded. ) 

The  next  great  phase  of  antagonism  to  cc 
made  its  appearance  soon  after  the  fierce  conflic 
the  Deists  had  spent  itself.  Since  the  days  o 
had  been  the  especial  business  of  papal  encyclic 
councils  to  denounce  in  bitter  terms  each  succt 
secular  sciences.  The  Church  had  extinguished 
consuming  in  flame  his  martyred  body,  and  siler 
the  fury  of  relentless  denunciation. 

But  the  truths  which  those  champions  of  learni 
never  be  obliterated,  even  though  their  bodies  ' 
the  juggernaut  of  persecution.  What,  then,  w 
last  conflict  in  which  ecclesiasticism  engaged,  on 
ignominious  defeat?  As  we  have  seen,  the  real 
between  the  Deists  and  the  theologians  was  t 
interpretation  of  the  relation  between  God  a 
authority  insisted  on  locating  Deity  wholly  v 
humanity,  refusing  to  recognize  a  basis  of  unity ; 
of  the  immanent  or  indwelling  Deity — the  ident 
in  the  universe  it  may  be  discerned.  God  was  s 
from  man  as  to  appear  to  be  the  exact  opposite. 
God  in  man  was  virulently  denounced  as  blaspht 

Had  the  authorized  teachers  of  Christendom 
whom  they  professed  to  worship  they  would  ha 
tradiction  in  terms  of  their  definition  of  Deity 
understanding.  They  conceived  of  God  as  om 
and  external.  If  he  be  possessed  of  these  qua 
he  is  all-inclusive  and  there  can  be  nothing  in  th 
Therefore  man,  "the  earth  and  all  that  is  t 
universe,  is  but  the  manifestation  of  God,  and 
All.      For  God  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  am 


THE   PASSING   OF   DOGMA.  521 

lent  principle  and  inexhaustible  essence  of  Being;   He  is  that 
t  which  nothing  is  and  from  which  all  that  is  proceeds, 
d  cannot  be  one  thing  in   Himself  and  another  thing  in  man. 
inot  be  one  kind  of  a  God  in  the  Bible  and  another  kind  of 

I  Nature.  Truth  is  universal  and  forever  identical.  If  there 
ht  in  the  world  that  can  be  recognized  as  God  it  is  Truth.  Aid 
s  Truth?  It  is  the  correspondence  of  the  conception  with  the 
ition,  of  the  subject  with  the  object,  of  the  idea  with  the  reality. 
Fore  that  can  be  the  only  real  and  true  world  whose  manifesta- 
j  in  accord  with  the  Divine  Icjea,  and  that  Divine  Idea  must  be 
/here  expressed  in  the  universe  or  there  can  be  no  criterion 
ith  and  the  cosmos  would  be  unrealizable.  Unless  God  dwelt 
n  and  realized  his  full  and  perfect  idea  of  himself  in  so-called 
m,   no   possible  just   or  trustworthy  relations  could  be  estab- 

between  Deity  and  man  or  the  universe.  The  God  in  man  is 
rfect  God — the  All-God — or  there  is  no  God  of  whom  man  can 
e  cognizant.  For  God  is  a  unit,  perfect,  complete,  whole, 
this  or  nothing.  But  if  he  is  perfect  he  must  be  without  flaw 
It ;  if  he  is  whole  he  is  indivisible ;  if  he  is  complete  he  cannot 
ttered  into  parts ;  if  he  is  a  unit  he  is  ever  the  same,  for  a  unit 
.^ntially  permanent  and  unvariable.  To  condemn  man  as  wholly 
t  from  God — his  exact  opposite  as  night  is  of  day — is,  in  truth, 

that  man  has  no  existence.  For  if  Deity  is  all,  then  there 
e  no  opposite  except  the  opposite  of  all — which  is  nothing. 
,  then,  that  man,  whom  theology  persists  in  describing,  can 
10  existence  or  its  God  can  have  no  existence.  For  **  nothing" 
exclusive — where  there  is  nothing  there  cannot  be  anything. 
'  all  **  is  all-inclusive — for  where  all  is  ^'^^^r^thing  there  is  no 
For  nothing. 

e  old  theologian  is,  therefore,  logically  driven  to  the  conclusion 
fod   is  all  that  is  and  there  can  be  no  opposite — hence,  man  is 

II  and  perfect  expression  of  God;  or  that  man,  being  the 
te  of  God,  limits  His  universality,  and  He  is  not,  therefore, 
t,  infinite  and  complete. 

^o  complete  and  infinite  opposites  cannot  coexist.  Therefore 
iverse  is  either  complete,  infinite  and  coextensive  with  God  or 


622  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

God  is  not  complete  and  infinite.     For  if  the  universe  is  infinite  i 
yet  is  not  coextensive  with  God,  then  there  is  no  room  for  God ; 
I  hence  He  does  not  exist.     Contra,  if  God  is  infinite  and  yet 

coextensive  with  the  universe,  then  there  is  no  room  for  the  unive 


.  j  and  hence  it  does  not  exist.     Therefore  we  must  conclude  that 

'\  universe  and  God  are  coextensive  and  coexistent,  hence  coincid 

''  and    identical,   infinite  and  entire.      Therefore   to  study  man  is 

study  God.    Anthropology  becomes  theology.    Also  to  study  Nat 
is  to  study  God.     Science  becomes  religion. 

From  such  reasoning  we  can  fully  realize  the  illogical  and  absi 
attitude  of  those  unlettered  dogmatists  who  hurled  anathemas  at 
progress  of  scientific  research  and    involved  the   pure   and   exal 
religion  of  Jesus  in  needless  and  humiliating  defeat. 

Absurd,  indeed,  to  imagine  that  the  Wisdom  of  Deity  would 
limited  to  the  confines  of  one  of  the  smallest  books  of   earth,  subj 
to  the  exigencies  of  time,  and  the  deterioration  of  usage,  and 
could  not  be  discovered  in  the  marvels  of  Nature  or  the  endless  r 
elations  of  the  universe. 

With  ludicrous  inconsistency  these  dark  counsellors  of  ignora 
ceaselessly  chanted  this  refrain,  which  their  book  of  revelation  p 
claimed :  **  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmam 
showeth  his  handiwork ;  day  unto  day  uttereth  speech  and  night  u 
night  showeth  knowledge." 

Limited  by  the  abortive  theory  that  the  Bible  was  the  scieni 
text-book  of  Nature,  every  extra  biblical  effort  to  study  natural  p 
nomena  was  denounced  as  not  only  useless,  but  sacrilegious. 

St.  Augustine  insisted  that  insomuch  as  the  earth  would  soon  < 
appear  from  creation  according  to  the  prophetic  utterances  of 
Bible,  all  effort  to  study  its  nature  and  the  phenomena  of  the  heav 
was  a  worthless  waste  of  time.  Man  should  study  the  Bible  oi 
Nature  could  teach  him  nothing  concerning  which  his  soul  should  i 
any  interest. 

When  Copernicus  startled  the  world  by  his  revolutionary  as 
nomical  discoveries,  Martin  Luther  thus  referred  to  him:  **P« 
give  ear  to  an  upstart  astrologer  who  strove  to  show  that  the  e 
revolves,  not  the  heavens  or  the  firmament,  the  sun  and  the  mc 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  528 

Whoever  wishes  to  appear  clever  must  devise  some  new  system, 
which  of  all  systems  is  of  course  the  very  best.  This  fool  wishes  to 
reverse  the  entire  science  of  astronomy ;  but  Sacred  Scripture  tells  us 
that  Joshua  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still,  and  not  the  earth.** 

Certainly  this  argument  was  incontrovertible  when  the  Bible  was 
avowedly  the  infallible  and  plenary  expression  of  the  Divine  Will. 

Here  is  the  fearful  pronunciamento  of  the  Holy  Inquisition 
against  the  discoveries  and  consequent  astronomical  theories  of 
Galileo : 

**The  first  proposition,  that  the  sun  is  the  centre  and  does  not 
revolve  around  the  earth,  is  foolish,  absurd,  false  in  theology,  and 
heretical,  because  expressly  contrary  to  Holy  Scripture ;  and  the  sec- 
ond proposition,  that  the  earth  is  not  the  centre,  but  revolves  about 
the  sun,  is  absurd,  false  in  philosophy,  and  from  a  theological  point 
of  view  opposed  to  the  true  faith,**  * 

Throughout  the  entire  struggle  of  the  human  mind  to  free  itself 
from  the  trammels  of  ecclesiastical  ignorance  and  apprehend  the  dis- 
coverable facts  of  Nature  there  ever  hung  suspended  the  Damocles 
sword  of  the  inquisitorial  anathema  and  the  tyranny  of  Biblical 
authority. 

All  this  may  sound  like  very  ancient  history  and  seem  out  of  place 
in  a  modern  discussion.  Nevertheless  it  is  well  to  recall  these  remind- 
ers of  the  retrogressive  tendencies  of  ecclesiasticism,  for  the  age  has 
not  yet  wholly  escaped  from  these  entangling  hindrances. 

Says  Dr.  Andrew  White  in  **  Warfare  of  Science  and  Theology  " : 
•' Doubtless  this  has  a  far-off  sound;  yet  its  echo  comes  very  near 
modern  protestantism  in  the  expulsion  of  Dr.  Woodrow  by  the  Pres- 
byterian authorities  in  South  Carolina ;  the  expulsion  of  Dr.  Win- 
chell  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  authorities  in  Tennessee ;  the  expul- 
sion of  Prof.  Toy  by  Baptist  authorities  in  Kentucky ;  the  expulsion 
of  the  professors  at  Beyrout  under  authority  of  American  Protestant 
divines — all  for  holding  the  doctrines  of  modern  science,  and  in  the 
last  years  of  the  nineteenth  century."     (Vol.  I.,  p.  lig.) 

Thus  we  see  how  very  slowly  Christian  authorities  came  to  realize 
the  tremendous  importance,  even  for  religion's  own  sake,  of   a   pro- 

♦  Sec  White's  *•  Warfare  Between  Science  and  Theology,**  Vol.  I.,  p.  137, 


524  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

found  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  universe  which,  if  there  be 
God-,  must  be  his  expression  and  fulness.   Nevertheless  not  until  rec< 
ly  has  it  become  apparent  to  them  that  the  exact  students  of  Nat 
*^  were  far  more  truly  the  discoverers  of  the  Being  and  Will  of  God  tl 

ii  ever  could  be  found  in  the  confines  of  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

r  When  Copernicus,  Galileo,    Newton  and  La   Place  scoured 

,,:  heavens  to  search   for  new  worlds;    when  Avagadro  and  Lavoii 

*  penetrated  through  infinitesimal   forms  to  unlock   the  mysteries 

H  chemical  aiiinities  and  the  strange  force  that  held  matter  in  fixed  2 

'I  mathematical  relations ;   the  Church,  unfortunately,  could  not  und 

stand  that  instead  of  seeking  to  dethrone  Deity  they  were  constni 
ing  the  only  rational  pedestal  upon  which  an  acceptable  and  consi 
ent  Deity  could  be  established. 

When,  however,  the  encyclicals  of  the  Vatican  and  the  bold  r 

olutions  of  synods  and  councils  denounced    the    discoveries  of  t 

'  world's  greatest  scientists  as  false  because  unscriptural  and  unsd( 

tific  because  heretical  in  theology,  they  but  stultifyingly  insisted  tl 
the  God  who  had  revealed  Himself  in  the  Bible  had  not  likewi 
revealed  Himself  in  Nature.  That  the  Bible's  God  is  sui generis  i. 
Nature  can  neither  voice  his  purpose  nor  express  his  will. 

If  '*the  firmament  showeth  the  handiwork  of  God" — itisol 
God  wholly  contradistinguished  from  the  Bible-God;  and,  though! 
existence  is  manifestly  revealed  in  Nature's  laws,  nevertheless  co 
cerning  Him  the  Bible  has  no  revelation. 

It  is  strange  that  the  old  theologians  did  not  perceive  the  dr 
of  their  logic  and  the  ironical  upshot  of  their  syllogisms. 

By  insisting  that  the  scientific  discovery  of  Nature's  laws  we 
untrue  because  anti-Biblical,  they  either  force  their  Deity  to  pcrsoni 
a  lie  (which  Jesus  says  is  the  exclusive  perogative  of  the  Devil— **tl 
father  of  lies");  or  that  Nature's  laws  are  the  true  expression  of  tl 
Divine  Mind  and  therefore  the  Bible  is  false  and  cannot  consequent 
be  the  *'  word  "  of  an  honest  God. 

But  logic,  of  course,   was  not   the   especial   equipment  of  the 

ancient  warriors,  whose  purpose  was  simply  to  maintain  the  supctf 

authority  of  ecclesiastical  dogma  in  every  conflict  that  might  aris 

la  the  great  battle  which  the  church  waged  against  profane scic» 


THE   PASSING   OF   DOGMA.  525 

lin  suffered  humiliating  defeat,  simply  because  she  misconstrued 
>tive  and  purpose  of  her  antagonist  and  could  not  possibly  be- 
ti  his  honesty  or  sincerity. 

t  at  the  present  hour  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  are  engaged 
tnflict  which  is  the  fiercest  of  all  the  ages,  because  upon  its 
tepends  the  very  continuance  of  the  church's  existence  and  the 
ity  of  the  teaching  of  those  scriptures  which  are  her  **  rule  of 
The  church  fought  against  the  Deists,  denying  that  God  dwelt 
lan  reason  and  conscience.  She  suffered  an  inglorious  defeat, 
hurch  engaged  in  conflict  against  the  scientists  declaring  that 
id  not  dwell  in  his  own  creation  and  therefore  could  not  be 
ered  within  its  confines.  Again  she  suffered  an  irreparable 
And  now  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  conflict  which  we  may  call 
ittle  of  the  Documents, 
tien  some  years  since  a  mere  boy,  having  scarcely  attained  ma- 

but  a  profound  scholar  and  erudite  Christian,  wrote  a  book  on 
hristian   "evidences,"  purporting  to  overthrow  all  the  estab- 

convictions  of  tradition,  it  sent  a  shock  throughout  the  con- 
f  dogmatic  Christendom  which  has  not  yet  abated, 
was  useless  for  autocratic  dogmatists  to  scout  and  ridicule  the 
of  Dr.  David  Friedrich  Strauss,  for  his  work  was  of  such  stu- 
as  importance  in  the  world  of  scholarship  that  it  could  not  be 
d  aside  or  treated  as  a  jest.  It  was  not  an  effusion  of  flippancy 
the  lifework  of  a  mighty  soul  whose  earnestness  was  as  intense 
erudition  was  broad. 

e  battle  inaugurated  by  that  coterie  of  scholars  called,  by  way 
:sion,  Rationalists  (just  as  the  expositors  of  the  Upanishads  were 
in  the  later  reforms  of  the  Vedic  religion),  is  still  continuing, 
'ery  thinking  man  is  forced  to  buckle  on  his  armor  and  engage 
t  side  or  the  other. 

is  now  nearly  seventy  years  since  Dr.  Strauss  uttered  this  startling 
ce:  "It  appeared  to  the  author  of  the  work,  that  it  was  time  to 
:ute  a  new  mode  of  considering  the  life  of  Jesus,  in  the  place  of 
tiquated  systems  of  supernaturalism  and  naturalism.  ♦  ♦  * 
ew  point  of  view  which  must  take  the  place  of  the  above  is 
^hical.    *    *    *    It  is  not  by  any  means  meant  that  the  whole 


526  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

history  of  Jesus  is  to  be  represented  as  mythical,  but  only  that  ev 
part  of  it  is  to  be  subjected  to  a  critical  examination,  to  ascert 
whether  it  has  not  some  admixture  of  the  mythical.  The  exegeui 
the  ancient  Church  set  out  from  the  double  presupposition :  6rst,  ti 
the  Gospels  contained  a  history,  and,  second,  that  the  history  wa 
supernatural  one.  Rationalism  rejected  the  latter  of  these  presi 
positions,  but  only  to  cling  the  more  tenaciously  to  the  fonn 
maintaining  that  these  books  represent  unadulterated,  though  oi 
natural,  history.  Science  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  this  half  measiu 
the  other  presupposition  also  must  be  relinquished,  and  the  enqu 
must  first  be  made  whether  in  fact,  and  to  what  extent,  the  groc 
on  which  we  stand  in  the  gospel  is  historical.  This  is  the  natc 
course  of  things,  and  thus  far  the  appearance  of  a  work  like 
present  is  not  only  justifiable  but  even  necessary." 

In  1835,  when  these  words  were  written,  Dr.  Strauss  was  simj 
making  an  academical  declaration,  intended  only  for  students  2 
investigators,  little  dreaming  that  the  masses  would  ever  heed 
remarks.  But  when  a  few  years  later  a  second  edition  was  demanc 
of  his  ''  Life  of  Jesus,"  he  rewrote  it  in  popular  style  for  the  gene 
reader,  so  sudden  had  been  the  revolution  in  popular  interest. 

There  is  even  a  still  more  startling  illustration  of  the  rapid  re\'ers 
of  popular  opinion  to  the  authority  of  dogma  and  creed  in  the  life  a 
writings  of  Matthew  Arnold. 

In  1862,  Dr.  Colenso,  Bishop  of  Natal,  wrote  his  famous  **laqui 
Into  the  Pentateuch."  Of  the  convincing  quality  of  this  critical  vo 
W.  R.  Greg  (**  Creed  of  Christendom,"  p.  1 1)  says:  *'  It  is,  I  think,; 
but  impossible  now  for  any  one  who  has  really  followed  the 
researches,  to  retain  the  common  belief  in  the  five  books  of  the  0 
Testament,  as  either  accurate,  strictly  historical,  or  Mosaic— qoi 
impossible  after  perusing  *  The  Speaker's  Commentary'  on  the 
same  books." 

But  the  year  following  the  publication  of  Colenso's  great  woi 
Matthew  Arnold,  who  afterwards  (10  years  later)  wrote  "Literati 
and  Dogma" — a  work  even  more  advanced  than  Colenso's — bittc 
denounced  him  for  his  daring  and  inconsiderateness. 

Says  Greg  (**  Creed  of  Christendom,"  p.  20) :  '*  If  we  wish  to  mc 


THE   PASSING  OF   DOGMA.  527 

lire  the  progress  made  in  the  last  few  years  by  the  general  mind  of 
England  in  reference  to  this  class  of  questions,  we  could  not  do  better 
than  compare  what  Matthew  Arnold  has  written  in  1873  with  what  he 
'wrote  ten  years  earlier.  In  1863  he  published  in  Macmillan  s  Magazine 
two  attacks,  singularly  unmeasured  and  unfair,  upon  the  Bishop  of 
Hatal,  condemning  that  dignitary  with  the  utmost  harshness  and 
severity  for  having  blurted  out  to  the  common  world  his  discoveries 
that  the  Pentateuch  is  often  inaccurate,  and  therefore  as  a  whole 
could  not  possibly  be  inspired ;  that  much  of  it  was  obviously  unhis- 
torical,  legendary  and  almost  certainly  not  Mosaic. 

'*He  did  not,  indeed,  affect  to  question  Dr.  Colenso's  conclusion, 
but  he  intimated  that  such  dangerous  truths  ought  to  be  reserved  for 
esoteric  circles,  not  laid  bare  before  such  babes  and  sucklings  as  the 
mass  of  men  consist  of.     *     *     *     And  now  the  critic  himself  comes 
forward  to  do  precisely  the  same  thing  in  a  far  more  sweeping  fashion, 
ftnd  in  a  far  less  tentative  and  modest  temper.     He  avows  that  the 
general  belief  in  Scripture  as  a  truthful  narrative  and  an   inspired 
record — as  anything,  in  short,  that  can  in  any  distant  sense  be  called 
*  The  Word  of  God' — is  quite  erroneous;    that  the   old  ground  on 
^hich  the  Bible  was  cherished  having  been  cut  from  under  us,  those 
Vrho  value  and  reverence  its  teaching  as  Mr.  Arnold  does,  must  set 
to  work  to  build  up  on  some  fresh  foundation  in  the  minds  of  men." 
It  is  quite  manifest  that  since  Dr.  Strauss  wrote  his  epochal  work 
in  '35,  a  complete  revolution  has  taken  place  in  the  world  of  scholar- 
ship and  criticism,  and  to-day  scarcely  any  one  can  be  found  who 
lays  any  claim  to  a  critical  understanding  of  the  Bible  who  believes  in 
the  old  conception  of  its  origin  and  preservation. 

The  Battle  of  the  Documents  is  therefore  the  last  battle  in  which 
Christian  dogmatism  fought  stubbornly  and  blindly,  only  to  sink 
again  in  inglorious  defeat. 

The  age  of  dogmatism  and  mental  slavery  has  passed ;  the  age  of 
freedom  and  individual  exaltation  has  come. 

VVe  are  experiencing  in  our  age  the  spiritual  Renaissance  like  to 
the  intellectual  Renaissance  of  the  14th  and  15th  centuries.  Those 
centuries  witnessed  the  resuscitation  of  the  literature,  art  and  phi- 
losophy of  ancient  Greece.  We  are  to-day  witnessing  the  resuscitation 


•  _■* 


I 

■It 


628  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 


of  the  spiritual  freedom  which  was  the  characteristic  of  the  fi 
centuries  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  Greek  theology  was  founded  in  the  freedom  of  the  individi 
and  the  authority  of  the  conscience  and  reason. 

The   Roman  theology  was   founded  in   the   debasement  of  tl 

human  reason  and  the  autocratic  sway  of  papal  authority.     Since  tl 

fourth  or  fifth  century  the  Roman  theology  has  been  all  powcrf 

throughout  Christendom. 

'«  Even  the  Reformation,  although  it  revolted  from  the  authoril 

and  dogmatism  of  the  Roman  Church,  instituted,  after  its  own  csUl 
lishment,  a  theological  autocracy  quite  as  dictatorial  and  enslaving; 
that  of  Rome. 

But  to-day  we  are  hearing  the  returning  notes  of  freedom  whic 
once  rung  true  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity. 

**  Christian  theology  was  the  fruit  of  Greek  genius  and  had  ii 
origin  in  the  Greek  city  of  Alexandria.  ♦  ♦  ♦  Alexandria  ha 
become  more  thoroughly  Greek  than  Athens  in  the  days  of  its  renowr 
For  the  first  time  in  history  thought  was  absolutely  free.  *  * 
In  such  an  atmosphere  it  was  inevitable  that  the  largest  hearin 
should  be  accorded  to  him  who  spoke  most  directly  and  powerful! 
to  the  heart,  the  conscience  and  the  reason  of  the  age.  *  * 
The  Christian  thinkers  in  Alexandria  gave  the  outlines  of  a  theoloj 
which  for  spirituality  and  catholicity  could  never  be  rivaled,  till  i 
an  age  like  our  own,  the  same  condition  which  made  its  first  appea 
ance  possible,  should  make  its  reproduction  a  necessity."* 

Every  doctrine  of  that  theology  would  be  condemned  by  tl 
dogmatism  of  to-day  as  the  rankest  heresy.  That  theology  enabh 
Justin  to  declare  that  there  were  many  Christians  in  the  world  bcfo 
ever  Jesus  lived.  Just  as  Toland  in  the  i8th  century  insisted  th 
*' Christianity  was  as  old  as  man."  Justin  declared  that  Socrati 
Heraclitus  and  all  good  men  of  whatever  faith  or  nationality  bcf< 
the  advent  of  Jesus  were  as  truly  Christian  as  were  any  of  his  ( 
*  lowers.     That  the  Christ  was  a  spiritual  principle  in  Nature  wh 

found  its  expression  in  all  human  beings  to  the  extent  to  which  tl 
conscience  was  clarified  and  their  reason  enlightened. 

*  "  Continuity  of  Christian  Thought/  Allen,  pp.  33,  34. 


THE   PASSING   OF   DOGMA.  629 

And  so  to-day  all  Christendom  is  awaking  to  the  consciousness 
t  God,  who  is  everywhere,  indwells  in  all  the  thoughts  and  aspi- 
ons  of  the  human  soul,  whether  that  soul  be  found  in  a  Greek,  a 
1^,  a  Hottentot  or  a  Malayan. 

Intelligent  people  now  discern  the  fact  that  it  is  better,  truer, 
er,  to  promulgate  the  doctrine  of  the  indwelling  presence  of  Deity 
humanity  than  that  they  should  stand  in  defense  of  any  partial  and 
torted  definition  of  inspiration. 

Even  though  it  could  be  proved  that  the  Bible  is  a  book  whose 
try  word  and  syllable  actually  descended  from  the  lips  of  God  (as 
riently  the  superstitious  believed),  what  would  that  avail  for  me  if 
i  truth  were  not  likewise  in  my  soul  a  revelation  which  I  could 
ilize  and  apply  in  practical  life? 

••Though  Christ  a  thousand  times  in  Bethlehem  be  born, 
But  not  within  thyself,  thy  soul  will  be  forlorn ; 
The  Cross  of  Golgotha  thou  lookest  to  in  vain, 
Unless  within  thyself  it  be  set  up  again." 

Inspiration  is  worthless,  however  sublime  and  poetic,  unless  it 
jses  the  resonance  of  its  utterance  to  echo  in  one's  own  heart,  and 
comes  transmuted  into  spiritual  energy  in  one's  own  being. 

Here,  then,  is  the  great,  the  immortal,  truth  which  has  been  in 
try  age  the  pivot  around  which  all  other  truths  have  revolved, 
lich  has  sustained  every  intellectual  and  spiritual  renaissanee  of  his- 
•y,  namely,  that  God  is  in  us  all,  in  our  inmost  consciousness,  in 
r  thoughts,  our  dreams,  our  hopes,  our  pains ;  yea,  that  he  is  in  all 
turc,  in  all  we  see  and  feel,  in  every  spear  of  grass  and  every  swing- 
{ star;  in  every  grain  of  sand  and  every  ray  of  light ; — and  that  the 
)founder  be  our  penetration  into  the  dark  abyss  of  Nature  or  the 
Tcd  arcana  of  our  beings  the  nearer  we  come  to  Him  and  know 
It  He  is,  as  Paul  says,  ''in  and  above  and  through  us  all,"  and 
it  in  Him  we  "  live  and  move  and  have  our  being." 

Such  a  conception  of  Deity  is  not  only  not  anthropomorphic,  but 
leiiies  man  and  Nature,  and  thrills  the  universe  with  a  sense  of  the 
ine  consciousness  which  makes  its  every  atom  and  feature  sacred 
t  is  beautiful. 

Henry  Frank. 


NATURE'S    ENCHAN' 

I  had  arranged  my  fishing  rods,  rifle,  an 
necessary  for  a  summer's  outing,  satisfactoi 
myself  into  my  seat  with  a  sigh  of  relief  a 
the  Central  Depot.  No  regrets  entered  i 
crowded  city,  which  had  already  become  t< 
fort,  though  the  season  was  not  far  advanci 

As  the  day  grew  and  waned,  I  wearied 
interest  myself  in  my  fellow  passengers;  th' 
community,  for  I  was  sure  that  I  was  abou 
who  had  boarded  the  train  at  C. ;  as  I  conti 
ever,  I  was  compelled  to  make  one  except: 
lady  whom  I  was  certain  I  had  seen  at  t1 
speculated  as  to  her  destination  as  I  studie 
the  only  view  which  providence  permitte* 
most  interesting  back,  and  worthy  an  artis 
auburn  hair,  with  little  stray  locks  gently  Ci 
ears;  and  crowned  with  a  stylish  hat,  wh 
hats  usually,  did  not  offend  my  sense  of  th 
Once  she  put  up  an  ungloved  hand  to  h' 
hand,  and  on  it  sparkled  a  single  costly  gen 

Twilight  was  just  deepening  into  darkn 
nation  and  began  to  gather  up  my  belong 
the  young  lady  did  the  same,  and  1  felt  aln 
sibility  occurred  to  me  of  having  my  san 
butterfly  of  fashion,  for  such  I  supposed  he 

I  had  spent  several  summers  in  this  qui 
ing  and  fishing,  but  more  than  all  else,  wan 
in  search  of  the  always  new  botanical  specir 
varying  aspects  of  Nature. 

The  last  I  saw  of  the  fair  intruder  was  j 
old-fashioned  carriage  and  was  driven  awa 


NATURE'S   ENCHANTRESS.  531 

^s  passed  and  I  saw  no  more  of  her  that  my  petty  fears  had  been 
>undless — even  regretting  that  they  had  been,  for  I  could  not  for- 
:  the  charming  and  stylish  back  which  had  occupied  my  attention 
pleasantly  during  a  part  of  my  journey. 

Subsequent  events,  however,  tended  to  banish  from  my  memory 
s  ever-recurring  vision,  until  it  passed  completely  out  of  my  mind. 

One  day  I  had  taken  a  longer  tramp  than  usual  into  the  forest, 
d  weary  and  warm,  threw  myself  upon  a  mossy  knoll  to  rest;  the 
t  murmur  of  the  leaves  overhead,  the  twittering  of  the  birds,  the 
>I  greenness,  all  contributed  to  lull  me  into  a  condition  closely 
rdering  upon  slumber;  and  I  lay  there,  half  dreaming,  with  an  in- 
scribable,  delicious  languor  creeping  over  me ;  I  had  never  before 
t  so  at  one  with  Nature,  and  it  seemed  as  if  some  wood-sprite  must 
ve  cast  a  spell  over  me,  so  thoroughly  had  I  lost  myself;  when 
ddenly  Ifelt  impelled  to  look  around  me,  and  dreamily  cast  my 
es  here  and  there,  seeing  nothing,  however,  but  the  vistas  of  green 
!es  stretching  out  in  every  direction,  and  above,  the  patches  of  blue 
y  peeping  through  the  leaves.  Then  mechanically  I  raised  the 
ild-glass  which  I  always  carried  with  me.  Surely  I  must  be  dream- 
g!  but  no,  the  mind  was  on  the  alert,  keener  than  it  had  ever  been 
rfore,  only  the  body  had  no*  impulse  to  move. 

But  what  was  this  that  had  opened  before  me?  A  magician's 
uid  must  have  been  cast  over  my  senses  to  create  such  a  picture  of 
/eliness ! 

There  was  a  glade  formed  by  Nature's  own  hand,  with  arching 
ughs  overhead  and  climbing  vines  which  festooned  themselves  from 
Inch  to  trunk  and  from  trunk  to  branch  again.  Graceful  ferns  were 
!Te  nodding  in  the  gentle  breezes;  peeping  violets  raised  their 
Klest  eyes  to  the  heavens,  and  the  merry  brook  dashed  over  the 
^nes  and  glinted  in  an  occasional  beam  of  sunshine. 

But  this  beauty  of  Nature  was  not  what  held  me  enrapt,  though 
lad  never  before  found  so  perfect  a  spot  in  all  the  forest ;  there 
s  a  higher  beauty  there;  just  as  I  raised  my  glass,  a  nymph,  a 
ry,  an  angel — what  word  can  describe  her? — floated  down  the  vista 
trees  and  stopped  in  the  fairy  glade.  She  seemed  not  to  touch 
;  earth,  so  effortless  was  her  motion,  and  as  she  came  I  saw  that 


5S8  THE   METAPHYSICAL  UAGA 

her  feet  were  bare — such  dainty,  perfectly  U 
flowing  robe,  caught  round  the  waist  with  an  i 
perfect  form ;  her  arms  and  throat  were  ban 
floating,  wavy,  auburn  tresses  in  which  the  s 
nestled  with  warm  caress.  The  face  puzzled 
no  one  could  question  that,  but  it  was  not  an  < 
the  features  and  coloring  were  perfect,  the  e; 
whose  like  I  had  never  before  seen,  and  this  e 
I  continued  to  watch  her. 

The  first  thing  she  did  upon  entering  thegl 
the  brook,  dip  her  hands  into  the  cool  water  a: 
she  caressed  the  drooping  ferns,  kissed  the 
taking  a  position  near  the  edge  of  the  brook, 
the  soft  mosses,  and  began  a  series  of  motions 
to  me,  and  produced  magical  results.  Her 
heaven;  her  lips  moved  with  the  leaves,  her 
branches ;  she  seemed  an  intense  vibration  of 
odd  things  began  to  happen,  A  bird  flew  do 
tree,  then  another  and  another,  until  she  seei 
winged  creatures.  They  alighted  on  her  fing 
head ;  they  seemed  to  trill  messages  into  hei 
wild  creatures — squirrels,  chipmunks — came  fi 
the  minnows  in  the  brook  formed  a  shoal  a 
streaked  snake  coiled  himself  up  cosily  on  a 
side. 

I  was  spellbound ;  I  could  not  move  and  w 
continued  to  watch  the  fair  enchantress  whi 
played  around  her,  ever  becoming  bolder  and  t 
to  caress  her — snake  and  all. 

After  a  while  the  motions  ceased,  and  th 
death;  then  the  maiden  turned,  and  slowly  va 
the  birds  flew  to  their  nests,  the  squirrels  ai 
to  their  haunts  and  the  snake  to  his  hole. 

The  spell  was  lifted;  I  laid  down  my  field- 
with  a  yawn  and  took  out  my  watch.  I  ha 
hours  without  moving;   no  wonder  my  muscle 


NATURE'S   ENCHANTRESS.  533 

e  lengthening,  and  I  perceived  that  I  must  hasten  before  darkness 
ght  me  in  the  wood. 

I  wandered  about  for  some  time  before  I  found  my  way  out  of 
forest,  and  thus  lost  all  trace  of  the  wonderful  glade,  which  I  had 
)lved  to  visit  again  in  the  near  future.  For  days  I  searched  for 
magic  spot,  but  always  in  vain,  and  I  finally  concluded  that  I  had 
n  the  victim  of  a  beautiful  dream. 

Fate  did  not  destine  me  to  settle  the  matter  in  this  way,  however, 
I  saw  the  fair  nymph  again  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  wander- 
by  the  lake's  edge.  This  time  she  seemed  a  veritable  water- 
te  as  she  walked  along  the  sands,  dipping  her  feet  in  the  clear 
er  and  peering  into  its  blue  depths.  After  a  time  she  entered  a 
e  skiff  nearby  and  pulled  out  a  little  distance  from  shore ;  leaving 
rower's  bench  she  leaned  far  out  over  the  stern,  reaching  her  arms 
vn  into  the  water,  seemingly  oblivious  of  all  the  world,  and  of  me 
[  stood  on  the  bank  ready  to  save  her  when  she  should  fall  in,  as  I 
i  sure  she  would.  But  I  was  disappointed ;  she  did  not  fall  over- 
ird,  and  my  disappointment  was  lost  in  amazement  as  I  saw  the 
it  surrounded  by  fishes,  vying  with  one  another  as  to  which  should 
>roach  the  nearest  to  her  down-stretched  hands.  While  I  stood 
re  she  resumed  her  seat  and  rowed  away  out  of  sight  beyond  a 
jecting  point  of  land. 

For  days  I  wandered  by  the  lake  side,  but  did  not  behold  again 
witch  who  haunted  me  continually.      I  was  determined  to  solve 
mystery  and  discover  who  she  was  and  where  she  dwelt,  but  I 
I  baffled  at  every  attempt. 

At  last  the  time  had  come  for  me  to  return  to  the  city,  and  I 
ided  to  devote  my  last  day  to  hunting  partridges  in  the  forest. 
The  summer  had  nearly  passed  and  I  had  accomplished  nothing, 
ad  spent  my  time  chasing  a  phantom  and  without  a  hint  of  suc- 
5;  I  was  chagrined,  but  resolved  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
As  I  made  my  way  carefully  through  the  wood,  gun  in  hand,  I 
med  suddenly  to  come  into  a  familiar  atmosphere,  and  joyously 
agnized  the  vicinity  of  the  magic  glade.  I  fought  off  the  delicious 
Ttior  that  began  to  creep  over  me,  and  raised  my  field-glasses  to 
:>nnoitre.     Yes,  there  she  was,  only  this  time  surrounded  by  more 


* 


•       1^ 


634  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

and  a  greater  variety  of  earth's  creatures  than  before.  I  saw  that 
partridges  flocked  to  her  in  quantities  and  the  fingers  holding  my  rifle 
tingled;  but  horrors!  what  was  that  around  her  waist  this  time,  its 
head  trailing  on  the  ground?  It  was  a  black  snake  and  my  blood  ran 
cold. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  whirr  of  partridges  close  to  me ;  I  raised  my 
gun,  turned  and  fired.  As  the  report  died  away  there  died  away  with 
it  a  despairing  shriek;  I  turned  again;  my  eyes  seemed  omnipotent! 
What  had  I  done?  My  beautiful  enchantress  was  there — but,  oh! 
heavens !  Her  wild  consorts  had  all  fled — all  but  one ;  for  there, 
with  fangs  extended  and  flaming  eyes,  within  two  feet  of  her  face, 
was  that  loathsome  serpent;  my  blood  froze  in  my  veins.  The 
girl's  face  was  blanched,  her  eyes  dilated  with  fear.  A  strange,  cool 
decision  took  possession  of  me.  I  raised  my  gun,  took  deliberate  aim 
and  fired  again.  I  had  hit  the  mark;  the  serpent's  head  was  shat- 
tered into  a  thousands  atoms;  the  girl  fell — had  I  killed  her?  1 
dashed  forward,  picked  her  up  in  my  arms  and  bore  her  away  from 
the  disenchanted  glade,  now  lashed  by  the  writhing  body  of  the  head- 
less serpent.  I  knelt  with  her  beside  the  shady  brook,  and  dipped 
the  cool  water  upon  her  deathlike  brow  and  upon  the  slender  wrists. 
Long  she  lay — a  broken  reed  in  my  arms — and  as  I  bathed  her  head 
and  forced  my  own  life-breath  between  her  colorless  lips  I  could  not 
but  note  her  rare  and  perfect  beauty.  What  had  her  strange  behavior 
meant?  and  was  I  to  blame  for  this  dreadful  denouement? 

Slowly  the  color  crept  back  into  her  cheeks ;  the  white  eyelids 
fluttered  open,  and  she  looked  up,  startled,  into  my  eyes.  Gradu- 
ally the  memory  of  it  all  came  back  to  her,  and  convulsive  sobs 
shook  her  frame.  I  comforted  her  as  best  I  could.  She  seemed  sudi 
a  child  that  I  soothed  and  quieted  her  almost  as  I  would  a  babe. 

I  dared  not  question  her — the  frail  white  lily ;  but  she  allowed 
me  to  assist  her  home  and  said  that  I  might  call  in  the  moming> 
when  she  would  be  more  fit  to  express  her  gratitude  for  my  kindness. 
Eagerly  I  accepted.  I  postponed  my  journey  until  the  late  after- 
noon train,  and  went  as  early  as  propriety  would  allow  to  call  upon 
the  sweet,  guileless  child — for  she  was  little  more  than  a  child.  I  was 
ushered  into  the  old-fashioned  parlor  by  a  sweet-faced  old  lady,  who 


NATURE'S   ENCHANTRESS.  536 

said,  as  she  opened  the  door,  **  Here,  dearie,  is  the  gentleman.**  I 
looked  around  for  the  child;  she  was  not  there;  but  standing  before 
the  window  at  the  farther  end  of  the  room  was  a  strangely  familiar 
figure;  very  stylish,  with  a  mass  of  auburn  hair  whose  escaping  ring- 
lets caressed  the  pink  ear  shells. 

She  turned  as  I  was  announced  and  came  forward  with  out- 
stretched hands;  I  was  confused,  embarrassed.  Could  this  be — yes, 
it  was  the  same ;  the  wood-nymph,  the  water-sprite,  the  fair  enchant- 
ress, my  one-time  traveling  companion  and  this  peerless  woman  were 
one.  Embarrassment  wore  away  after  a  time,  and  before  the  morn- 
ing visit  ended  I  had  learned  the  solution  of  the  mystery. 

**  I  have  always  been  interested  in  occultism,**  she  said  ;  **  and  out 
of  this  grew  my  ideas — peculiar,  perhaps,  to  you.  I  had  learned 
much  of  the  development  of  the  intuition  and  longed  to  come  into 
that  oneness  with  Nature  which  would  enable  me  to  commune  with 
her  and  understand  her  various  language ;  fortunately,  my  old  auntie 
wished  me  to  spend  the  summer  with  her,  and  the  seclusion  of  her 
fcome,  with  its  surroundings  of  wood,  hill  and  lake,  offered  me  the 
Opportunity  of  putting  many  of  my  theories  to  the  test.  The  intui- 
tion, you  understand,  is  pure  instinct,  and  I  knew  that  this,  properly 
leveloped,  would  draw  all  animals  to  me  through  their  instinct.  I 
[Placed  myself  as  near  to  Nature's  heart  as  I  could ;  I  nestled  my  bare 
feet  against  her  brown  bosom ;  I  removed  all  restrictions  of  fashion — 
let  my  hair  float  in  pristine  simplicity.  I  bowed  before  my  subjective 
self  and  besought  it  to  come  forth  and  teach  me ;  it  obeyed.  You 
say  you  watched  me  at  times;  then  you  know  to  what  degree  of 
success  I  attained.  Yesterday  was  my  last  day  in  the  forest,  for  I 
return  to  the  city  to-day.  I  was  taking  a  loving  farewell  of  my  forest 
friends,  when  a  loud  concussion  disturbed  us  all.  A  few  seconds 
before  this  a  foreign  element  had  intruded  itself,  as  of  a  person  not 
in  sympathy  with  us;  I  felt  it,  but  could  not  explain  it;  then  came 
the  crash.  It  was  a  rude  awakening;  it  not  only  scattered  my  friends 
but  aroused  myself  to  objectivity  and  fear.  As  my  normal  objective 
self  took  the  ascendency  my  creatures  became  afraid  of  me  and  saw 
in  me  the  enemy  which  had  burst  upon  them ;  they  all  fled  but  the 
serpent,  which    could    not    escape    so  easily,  owing  to   its  position 


586  THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

around  my  body ;  *  before  he  had  extricated  himself  I  had  sent  forth 
vibrations  of  fear  and  loathing  which  he  resented  and  would  have 
revenged.  You  say  that  you.  slew  him.  I  knew  no  more  until  you 
awakened  me ;  you  say  you  thought  me  a  child ;  I  was  at  those 
times,  and  always  look  much  younger  than  I  really  am,  owing  to  my 
subjective  recreations.  Behold  in  me,  however,  a  woman  of  not 
tender  years  and  a  woman  of  the  world.** 

I  expressed  surprise  at  what  she  told  me  and  regret  that  I 
should  have  been  the  unwitting  cause  of  the  calamity  from  which  I 
had  fortunately  rescued  her,  but  she  silenced  me  tactfully,  remarking 
that  I  must  always  be  en  rapport  with  the  witch  as  on  the  first  two 
occasions,  and  then  no  counter  vibrations  would  disturb  the  unfold- 
ment  and  completion  of  the  action. 

Need  I  say  that  many  times  since  then  I  have  been  en  rappcrt 
with  my  fair  enchantress,  and  that  now,  in  our  own  home,  I  often 
experience  that  sweet  languor  and  restfulness  of  being  subjectively 
one  with  her? 

We  traveled  home  together  that  day  and  have  traveled  together 

ever  since. 

Winifred  E.  Heston. 


RAPTURES. 


O,  heart  of  mine,  when  thy  throbs  beat,  beat 
With  a  thousand  joys  and  wishes  sweet. 
And  when  hope  and  gladness  in  thee  meet. 
How  thou  canst  love ! 

O,  soul  of  mine,  when  thy  calm,  pure  eye 
Doth  search  throughout  infinity, 
For  the  shining  light  of  the  great  To  Be, 
How  thou  canst  see! 

O,  mind  of  mine,  when  a  mighty  truth. 
Sage  in  might,  but  fresh  with  youth, 
Teaches  thee  wisdom,  then  forsooth. 
How  thou  canst  think ! 

Il.LVRIA   TURMIt 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE. 


Conducted  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Francis  Stephenson. 


NOTE  TO  OUR  READERS. 


In  this  department  we  will  give  space  to  carefully  written  communications  of 
merit,  on  any  of  the  practical  questions  of  everyday  life,  considered  from  the 
b6arings  of  metaphysical  and  philosophical  thought,  which,  we  believe,  may  be 
demonstrated  as  both  a  lever  and  a  balance  for  all  the  difficult  problems  of  life. 

Happenings,  experiences,  and  developments  in  the  family  and  the  community ; 
results  of  thought,  study,  and  experiment ;  unusual  occurrences  when  well  authen- 
ticated; questions  on  vague  points  or  on  the  matter  of  practical  application  of 
principles  and  ideas  to  daily  experience,  etc.,  will  be  inserted  at  the  Editor's  dis- 
cietion,  and  in  proportion  to  available  space.  Questions  asked  in  one  number, 
may  be  answered  by  readers,  in  future  numbers,  or  may  be  the  subject  of  editorial 
explanation,  at  our  discretion.  It  is  hoped  that  the  earnest  hearts  and  careful 
thinking  minds  of  the  world  will  combine  to  make  this  department  both  interesting 
and  instructive  to  the  high  degree  to  which  the  subject  is  capable  of  development. 


SELF-DEVELOPMENT. 


To  emancipate  oneself  from  the  slavery  of  selfhood,  through  the 
development  of  the  soul-power,  which,  alone,  releases  the  divinity 
within,  so  often  imprisoned  by  that  predominating  element — Self,  is 
the  one  and  only  path  that  leads  to  the  shining  heights  of  the  Spirit. 
In  this  way  it  is  possible,  even  amid  the  turmoil  and  conflict  of  earthly 
life,  to  attain  to  that  state  of  peace  and  eternal  calmness  which  shall 
enable  one  to  overcome  the  influences  of  the  world  sufficiently  to  pass 
unscathed  along  Life's  journey. 

Self-love — so  easily  wounded,  is  at  the  foundation  of  most  of  the 

troubles  of  life.    The  personal  self  is  continually  on  the  alert  to  parry 

attacks  which  are  more  or  less  imaginary ;  whereas,  the  more  highly 

developed  self — the  real  individual — preserves  a  serenity  that  cannot 

be  disturbed.     The  circumstances  which  shatter  the  personal  self  can 

have  no  power  to  touch  the  soul,  and  the  higher  the  development  on 

537 


538  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

this  plane,  the  more  impervious  one  becomes  to  the  influence  of  sense, 
illusion.  There  is  nothing  so  desirable  as  to  possess  that  divine 
equanimity  which  gives  clear  vision,  perfect  self-control  and  a  poise 
that  all  the  thunders  of  the  ages  cannot  shake. 

The  cultivation  of  one's  highest  ideals  and  the  endeavor  to  live 
according  to  them,  is  one  step  in  the  march  of  spiritual  progress.  To 
attain  to  this  is  not  easy,  but  there  is  little  value  in  easy  acquire- 
ments; in  proportion  to  the  difficulty  is  the  worth  of  anything.  A 
man's  ideals  are  like  a  hand  outstretched  to  lift  him  higher,  to  ignore 
which  leaves  him  in  bondage  to  sense.  No  other  slavery  is  so  fatally 
demoralizing. 

Material  prosperity — the  possession  of  wealth — tends  to  encourage 
every  sense  propensity,  and  the  facility  with  which  the  mind  withdraws 
itself  from  higher  things  to  become  steeped  in  sensation,  proves  the 
importance  of  a  firm  grasp  upon  one's  faculties,  ever  striving  to  keep  a 
steady  foothold  amid  the  whirling  waters  of  Life's  troubled  stream. 

Let  the  timid  heart  be  comforted!  Love  casteth  out  fear,  and 
guides  the  wandering  soul  back  to  its  heavenly  home. 


THOU  ART. 


Thou  wast,  thou  shalt  be,  and  thou  art 

A  life  spark  from  the  First  Great  Cause — 
A  flame  propelled  forever  on 

By  Truth's  unalterable  laws. 
A  little  flame,  so  pure,  so  bright. 

So  certain  of  its  Sacred  Source, 
Fanned  by  the  breath  of  God  it  takes 

Through  grief  and  pain  its  onward  course. 

For  thee  Progression's  ladder  rungs 

Are  fashioned  by  thy  hand  alone 
From  fragments  of  the  mighty  truths 

Thy  Real  Self  hath  made  its  own. 
On  these  thou  climbest  lofty  heights. 

And  with  each  higher  step  doth  see 
Life's  grander  possibilities, 

And  vi\v2l\.  eT\^\.tTve^  Tcv^^Tv^  for  thee ! 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  589 

Truth  fills  the  measure  of  the  life 

Thou  leadest  in  this  house  of  clay, 
While  through  the  windows  of  the  soul 

Love's  sunshine  filters,  day  by  day. 
And  whilst  thou  art,  life  without  end, 

Thy  Higher  Mind — the  God  in  thee — 
Doth  move  thy  lower  self  to  acts 

Of  justice,  love  and  charity. 

The  Silence  holdeth  endless  store 

For  thee,  when  thou  hast  understood 
That  all  therein  is  thine  to  take. 

And  use  for  common  human  good. 
Since  it  is  thine,  reach  thou  and  take. 

Nor  fqr  Life's  treasures  beg  nor  plead ; 
Take  thou — nor  fear  the  vast  supply 

Will  fail  thy  real,  unselfish  need. 

Upon  thy  thirsty,  yearning  soul. 

Truth  falleth  as  the  gentle  dews; 
No  fact  is  there  thou  mayst  not  grasp, 

No  law  profound  thou  mayst  not  use ; 
Know  thou  the  Law — then  stoop  and  take 

A  blessing  from  a  seeming  curse — 
The  Law  that  sees  the  tiny  flower, 

That  holds  the  mighty  universe! 

Thou  shouldst  not  cry  **  How  long?   How  long?  " 

For  time  doth  not  exist  for  thee ; 
Thy  mortal  life  span  is  a  drop 

Of  dew  lost  in  a  boundless  sea! 
And  in  the  light  of  ages  past 

Thou'st  proved  that  earth  life's  but  a  breath — 
Had  slept  and  waked,  and  waked  and  slept, 

And  called  the  passing  slumber  **  death." 

The  gift  of  gifts  is  thine — Thou  art — 

And  life's  sweet  mystery  and  plan 
Its  holy  purpose  hath  revealed, 

In  man's  relationship  to  man. 
Thou  art !    When  sun  and  moon  and  stars 

Shall  pale,  thy  Real  Self  still  shall  be ; 
Thou  art — a  ray  of  Light  Divine — 

Heir  unto  immortality.  Eva  Best. 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 

THE  GOLDEN    AGE. 
Transformed  is  human  life 
From  sin  to  goodness  grown. 
From  weakness  to  the  height 
Of  Christ — God  doth  enthrone 
In  man  His  wondrous  self. 

Unfolding  in  His  light 
Soul  smiles,  and  sheds  its  pcac 
Like  fragrance  on  the  air 
Till  righteousness  increase 
And  freedom  is  proclaimed. 

'Tis  now  the  reign  of  love 
Shall  lift  the  doubting  heart. 
Nor  crown  nor  cross  betiay 
Aught  but  the  spirit's  past 
Of  Truth's  triumphant  power. 

The  Omnipresent  Good 
In  glory  shines  o'er  all. 
While  love's  creative  word 
With  visions  bright  enthral 
And  worlds  anew  are  bom. 

Clara  E 


FINDINGS   IN   THE   SCIENCE   C 
LETTER   IV. 

"Thk  Wii 


Dbar  Cohradb. — I  am  delighted  by  yoursym 
force  for  the  battle  of  ideas. 

We    left    off    last    time    at    your   question 
"Watch,  lest  a  thief  come." 

You  have  to  watch  on  each  plane  in  two  way 
physical  or  sense  thought — then  the  physical  w( 
again  in  its  ascent  to  a  higher  plane;  and  again 
ment.  Next,  observation  of  the  soul  in  its  brea 
It  is  only  by  observing  that  anything  is  learned,  ; 
by  what  we  learn.  To  watch,  is  of  absolute  imp< 
subjective  and  objective. 

You  ask,  "'WVva.t  \^  ?cac«  V     By  peace,  I  mes 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  641 

To  others  it  means — absorption  in  the  Infinite.  There  are  those  who 
practice  to  absorb  the  conditions  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  result  is  a 
transcendant  tranquillity  and  purity  of  desire.  But  no  consciousness 
is  achieved  save  the  consciousness  of  Peace,  unless  in  those  rare  souls 
who  have  conquered  and  eliminated  all  worldly  desires,  and  who  have 
become  perfectly  conscious  of  the  nature  of  the  Universe,  through  the 
facile  use  and  absolute  control  of  the  intellect. 

It  is  consciousness  that  we  must  achieve,  even  in  the  Spritual  life. 
The  spiritual  side  of  life  is  different  in  its  workings  from  the  experi- 
mental life. 

In  regard  to  hate.  You  say  you  cannot  help  but  hate.  You  say, 
too,  that  it  hurts  you,  both  in  mind  and  body.  This,  then,  is  the  best 
reason  why  you  must  stop  hating.  No  one  is  obliged  to  do  that  which 
he  does  not  wish  to  do.  You  do  not  wish  to,  therefore  you  are  not 
compelled  to  hate.  What  good  did  hate  ever  do  you  ?  Well,  then,  are 
you  not  wasting  yourself  ?  Leave  Justice  to  Nature.  This  is  espe- 
cially hard  for  the  just  mind  that  does  not  understand;  as  in  a  strong 
sense  of  justice  there  is  always  a  spice  of  revenge  or  retribution. 

And  here  I  turn  over  your  pages  and  find  a  new  inquiry,  **  What 
is  sleep  ? " 

The  physical  sleep  is  rest  for  the  body.  What  does  the  body  in 
sleep  ?  It  absorbs  and  does  not  spend  its  strength.  What  does  the 
mind  in  sleep  ?  It  rests.  Every  image  is  quiescent.  Rest,  on  the 
lower  planes,  is  the  period  of  reaction. 

The  regularity  of  the  sleep  period  is  brought  about  by  the  effect  of 
the  night  period  when  in  the  old  days  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to 
sleep.  Some  animals,  however,  who  have  not  sense  to  notice  the 
night,  do  not  take  note  of  the  sleep  period,  but  rest  when  they  feel 
tired.  With  the  soul  there  can  be  no  sleep,  for  sleep  is  not  needed. 
The  nature  of  activity  is  to  absorb.  Time,  toil,  pain,  sleep,  death  and 
change  exist  only  on  the  lower  planes.  I  think  I  notice  a  more  spir- 
itual power  in  the  majority  of  people  in  the  morning.  Perhaps  the 
soul  has  a  better  chance  to  impress  its  pure  influence  on  the  fresh, 
responsive  mind. 

You  ask  me,  ambitious  soul !  as  to  when  you  can  teach.  When  you 
know.  No  one  can  give  till  he  has  received.  He  may  try  to  hasten 
his  hour — ^it  cannot  be  hastened.  Nearly  always,  the  student  is  in  too 
great  a  hurry  to  give — from  a  feeling  that  it  is  expected  of  him.  This 
is  a  tradition,  and  the  cause  of  much  sorrow  and  failure.  Better  not 
teach  till  the  nature  becomes /«//  and  overflows. 

You  say  again,  that  you  lack  reason.  This  can  be  developed  by 
cultivation  on  the  lower  planes,  through  books  of  criticism  and  science 


H3  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 

and  by  hard  interrogation.  Question  evcrythinj 
famous  puzzle — and  be  assured  that  the  answer  i 
Every  result  carries  its  cause  with  it.  Every  f 
vated,  then  grasped ;  when  all  of  the  mind  is  m: 
and  is  grasped  in  the  Whole — then  soul  is  free  t 
work.  But  the  mind  cannot  be  grasped  till  it  is 
response,  and  this  must  not  be  until  after  much 
fore  this  state  is  achieved,  great  nuggets  of  T: 
mighty  effort — but  they  are  in  the  rough  and  not 
trustworthy. 

Keep  clear  of  the  dead  past!  It  belongs  to  t 
emotional  life.  It  is  the  graveyard  of  the  mind, 
till  past  interferes  with  the  I  which  has  nothing  t 
cept  to  carry  on  its  debt  and  to  dismiss  it.  Men 
to  phenomena  and  is  useful  on  the  mental  plane — 
rial  plane  as  habit. 

You  are  troubled,  you  say,  by  not  understa 
mood  which  comes  over  you.  This  is  reaction — t 
Laugh  by  all  means — why  not  ?  It  is  a  slipping  < 
ever  see  harm  in  it  ?  There  is  no  nation  that  laug 
and  there  are  no  such  workers. 

There  is,  however,  a  class  of  people  that  seer 
without  cares.  They  have  such  royal  good  fellov 
that  no  one  action  seems  better  than  another.  T 
meni  of  particularity  or  sensitive  discrimination, 
theless,  an  unconscious  action  in  the  desires  th 
earnestness  some  time,  and  penetrate  to  the  mind 
of  journeys  over  the  mountain — but  in  the  end  a 
ing  land.  Nobody  need  live  according  to  rules  se 
human  beings,  and  even  animals,  are  ahead  of  ti 
ways,  I  have  known  cats  that  would  not  eat  n 
and  birds  that  would  not  eat  worms,  and  were  w 
admit  that  these  did  better  than  their  forms  wan 
in  human  beings  I  have  witnessed  brave  and  pi 
rassed  bodies. 

In  regard  to  growth,  once  more.  To  grow,  i 
life.  But  in  order  to  add,  energy  must  be  spent, 
sensitiveness  and  labor,  and  gains  power  and  co 
true  in  regard  to  all  vital  growth. 

But  soul,  on  the  other  hand,  opens  to  the  Spii 
for  the  sake  of  this  perfect  response,  the  soul  nee 
which  can  be  gvveTv  b'j  Ocve,  \o"«tT  «^^TVmK.n.tAl  i 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  543 

soul  until  it  is  created  by  the  aspiration  and  workings  of  the  I.  Aspi- 
ration is  the  rudiment  of  soul.  One  soul  is  more  perfect  than  others, 
because  it  is  reinforced  by  more  knowledge,  and  through  a  conscious- 
ness of  this  it  finds  a  way  to  realize  the  Perfect  Life.  It  has  the  advan- 
tage of  belonging  to  the  Perfect  Life,  and  thus  is  in  its  own  country. 

Growth,  on  the  lower  planes,  demands  death.  To  be,  we  must  cast 
off,  or  eliminate.  When- the  mind  is  dead  to  an  idea,  it  is  unresponsive, 
no  matter  what  the  temptation.  The  idea  is  at  once  cast  out  as  a  dead 
thing  in  which  lies  no  use.  It  is  astonishing  to  think  that  we  are 
makers  of  ourselves,  and  in  so  far,  creators. 

But  more  than  this,  we  have,  through  time,  created  many  of  the 
phases  of  life  which,  to  us,  are  of  the  nature  of  principles,  but  which 
are  not  principles,  although  they  are  controlled  by  laws  that  seem  Uni- 
versal. The  special  laws  that  control  body  and  mind  are  not  the  laws 
that  penetrate  into  all  conditions,  material  and  spiritual.  But  the 
principles  which  control  the  Universe  are  such  as  those;  love,  faith, 
hope,  harmony,  inspiration  (or  constitutional  food),  achievement,  as- 
piration (or  growth),  reason,  observation,  individuality,  power,  will, 
sincerity,  sensitiveness  (or  responsiveness),  knowledge,  sense  of  the 
beautiful,  of  reverence  (or  obedience),  etc.,  etc. 

But  such  principles  as  death,  as  waste,  as  change,  excitability  or 
sleep,  etc.,  are  World  Principles  and  not  applicable  to  the  Spritual 
realm.  And  you  will  know  this  is  true  through  your  reason.  It  might 
be  put  in  the  form  of  a  syllogism  thus:  Spirit  and  Matter  are  opposed. 

Matter  contains  phenomena  that  die.  Spirit,  therefore,  cannot 
contain  phenomena  that  will  die. 

Now  death,  waste,  change,  excitability,  sleep  and  the  like,  all  per- 
tain to  phenomena,  therefore  they  cannot  be  spiritual  principles. 

Speaking  of  your  experiences  with  diseased  minds,  you  say — 
**  Should  I  refuse  the  shelter  of  my  fig  tree  to  a  wanderer  in  the 
Wilderness?" 

It  is  always  in  the  hospitable  heart  to  say,  **rest,  and  refresh  your- 
self " ;  but  I  say,  it  depends  on  who  it  is  that  rests  under  your  fig  tree. 
Abuse  is  very  common,  and  perhaps  the  more  precious  fruit  had  better 
be  withheld  until  it  is  demanded  by  the  true  and  grateful  traveler. 
Pearls  should  not  be  cast  before  swine.  True  courage  will  fight  hard 
for  a  prize ;  therefore,  abuse  not  your  tenderness  or  simplicity  by  the 
sin  of  waste. 

Good-by,  for  this  time,  dear  comrade.  I  must  take  a  breath  of  air 
from  the  laughing  hillside.  The  ** outer  man"  is  crying  for  suste- 
nance.    With  all  good  wishes, 

Your  friend,  Marion  Hunt. 


THE   METAPHYSICAL  MAGA2 

JUST  DO  YOUR  BEST. 

The  signs  are  bad  when  folks  comin 
A-finding  fault  with  Providence, 
And  baikin'  'cause  the  eanh  don't  s 
At  eveiy  prancin'  step  they  take. 
No  man  is  great  till  he  can  see 
How  less  than  little  he  would  be 
Ef  stripped  to  self,  and  stark  and  bi 
He  hung  his  sign  out  anTwhere. 

My  doctem  is  to  lay  aside 
Contentions,  and  be  satisfied ; 
Jest  do  your  best,  and  praise  or  blai 
That  toilers  that  counts  jest  the  sal 
I've  alius  noticed  great  success 
Is  mixed  with  troubles,  more  or  les! 
And  it's  the  man  who  does  the  besi 
That  gits  more  kicks  than  all  the  rt 
James 


THE   TWO   LITTLE   STOCKIN 

Two  little  stockings  hung  side  by  side. 
Close  to  the  fireplace  broad  and  wide. 

"Two?"  said  Saint  Nick,  as  down  he  ca 
Loaded  with  toys  and  many  a  game. 

"Ho,  ho!"  said  he  with  a  laugh  of  fun, 

"  I'll  have  no  cheating,  my  pretty  one; 
[  know  who  dwells  in  this  house,  my  deal 
There's  only  one  little  girl  lives  here." 
So  he  crept  up  close  to  the  chimney  place 
And  measured  a  sock  with  a  sober  face. 
)ust  then  a  little  note  fell  out 

\nd  fluttered  low  like  a  bird  about. 

"Aha!  what's  this?"  said  he,  in  surprisi 
As  he  pushed  his  specs  up  close  to  his  ey 
And  read  the  address  in  a  child's  rough  p 

"Dear  Saint  Nicholas,"  so  it  began, 

"  The  other  stocking  you  see  on  the  wall 
1  have  hung  for  a  poor  girl  named  Clara  ! 
She's  a  poor  little  girl,  but  very  good. 
So  I  thought,  perhaps,  you  kindly  would 
Fill  up  her  stocking,  too,  to-night. 

And  hfi\v  xo  'm»V.ft\iw  OvT^«t.TDa&  bright. 


THE   HOME   CIRCLE.  646 

If  you've  not  enough  for  both  stockings  there, 
Please  put  all  in  Clara's — I  shall  not  care. " 
Saint  Nicholas  brushed  a  tear  from  his  eye, 
And,  **God  bless  you,  darling,"  he  said  with  a  sigh. 
Then  softly  he  blew  through  the  chimney  high, 
A  note  like  a  bird's,  as  it  soars  on  high. 
When  down  came  two  of  the  funniest  mortals 
That  ever  were  seen  this  side  earth's  portals. 
*•  Hurry  up,"  said  Saint  Nick,  "and  nicely  prepare 
All  a  little  girl  wants  where  money  is  rare." 
Then,  oh,  what  a  scene  there  was  in  that  room ! 
Away  went  the  elves,  but  down  from  the  gl6bm 
Of  the  sooty  old  chimney  came  tumbling  low 
A  child's  whole  wardrobe,  from  head  to  toe. 
How  Santa  Claus  laughed  as  he  gathered  them  in, 
And  fastened  each  one  to  the  sock  with  a  pin. 
Right  to  the  toe  he  hung  a  blue  dress — < 
••She'll  think  it  came  from  the  sky,  I  guess," 
Said  Saint  Nicholas,  smoothing  the  folds  of  blue, 
And  tying  the  hood  to  the  stocking,  too. 
When  all  the  warm  clothes  were  fastened  on, 
And  both  little  socks  were  filled  and  done. 
Then  Santa  Claus  tucked  a  toy  here  and  there, 
And  hurried  away  to  the  frosty  air. 
Saying,  • '  God  pity  the  poor  and  bless  the  dear  child 
Who  pities  them,  too,  on  this  night  so  wild." 
The  wind  caught  the  words  and  bore  them  on  high 
Till  they  died  away  in  the  midnight  sky. 
While  Saint  Nicholas  flew  through  the  icy  air, 
Bringing  ••peace  and  goodwill "  with  him  everywhere. 

— A^.   Y.  Tribune. 


LIFE'S   HOROSCOPE. 

I  launched  my  bark  upon  life's  sea, 
The  morn  was  bright ; 

I  hoped  to  anchor  in  the  lee 
Ere  it  was  night. 

A  favoring  breeze  shouldered  my  sail 

To  speed  me  on ; 
It  swelled  and  blew  a  mighty  gale 

And  hid  the  sun. 


1 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MA( 

The  tempest  rageit ;  the  sea  r« 
My  heart  grew  faint : 

All  forces  came  my  soul  to  tr; 
Sinner  and  saint. 

The  daylight  fled — darkness  ca 
My  deck  was  swept, 

My  rudder  gone,  my  sky  did  I 
I  sat  and  wept. 

Plying  before  the  winds  of  fat 
I  hoped  no  more; 

Contented  to  be  small  or  grea 
I  reached  the  shore. 

My  bark  lay  stilt — in  other  lig 

I  read  it  then 
That  those  who'd  sail  life's  se: 

Must  sail  again. 

Rkv.  I 


HOW   GLADLY   FALL   THE 

"  How  like  decaying  life  they  se< 

And  yet  no  second  spring  have 

But  where  they  fall,  forgotten  to 

Is  all  their  portion  and  they  ask 


How  gladly  fall  the  leaves 

To  rest  on  the  soft  bosom  of  the  ea 

Warmed  by  the  tempered  fires 

Of  the  autumnal  sun. 

What  joy  to  feel  the  tender  fingers 

Of  the  grasses  close  around  them  1 

To  nestle  close  and  closer,  in  some  s 

To  those  of  kindred  fibre. 

And  then  to  thrill  through  every  ti: 

At  the  melting  touch  of  sun  and  ra 

To  bWnd  \.\vft\t  ^Mvces  and  sink  in  ec 


THE   HOME  CIRCLE.  647 

Into  the  fruitful  body  of  the  earth, 

To  rise  again  mayhap  to  some  glad  riot 

Through  the  rich  arteries  of  the  rose. 

Or  pulse  with  solemn  joy 

Through  the  cool  lily's  veins, 

And  at  its  petaled  heart  be  turned  to  wine ; 

Decanted  thence  by  dainty  bees 

In  rhythmic  molds  of  golden  beauty, 

Perchance  to  pass  the  loving  lips 

Of  some  fair  woman  or  some  strong  man 

And  mingle  with  their  lives. 

Chas.  a.  Winston. 


RESPONSIVE  READING  AND  MEDITATION.* 

RESPONSIVE     READINGS. 

isTER — I  am  a  man  and  nothing  that  concerns  human  beings  is 
ent  to  me. 

GREGATiON — We  are  made  for  co-operation ;  to  act  against  one 
is  contrary  to  nature. 

-Thou  shalt  not  say  I  will  love  the  wise  and  hate  the  unwise; 
alt  love  all  mankind. — Roman  and  Jewish  Sayings, 
A  new   commandment    I   give   unto   you,    that   ye   love   one 
. — Christian  Bible. 

-I  will  look  upon  the  whole  world  as  my  country  and  upon  all 
my  brothers. — Roman  and  Jewish  Sayings, 

MEDITATION. 

achievement  of  individuality  is  the  highest  triumph  in  nature, 
le  transformation  of  chaos  into  order,  confusion  into  harmony, 
■entiates  the  crowning  corolla  from  the  in-bosomed  sunbeams, 
ons  the  figures  of  the  stars  and  defines  their  orbital  processions, 
^es  all  creatures  from  monera  to  vertebrate,  from  microscopic 
:ule  to  majestic  man.  It  creates  the  manifold  distinctions 
1  nature's  myriad  features,  which  make  knowledge  possible  and 
preme  because  of  this  knowledge.  It  registers  in  humanity  the 
Lisness  which  centres  in  self,  and  transforms  a  muttering  animal 
intelligent  being.     To  know  this  self  is  the  secret  of  success. 

>m  services  of  The  Metropolitan  Independent  Church,  19  West  44th  street, 
kCity;  Rev.  Henry  Frank,  Pastor. 


548  THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGAZINE. 

Be  not  as  others,  but  as  thyself  must  be.  Work  out  your  own  salva- 
tion and  evolution  by  dint  of  penetration  and  inward  scrutiny.  Lead 
thyself  above  thyself  into  the  mystic  realm  of  the  Undiscovered 
Know  thou  art  better  than  at  any  moment  thou  knowest  thyself  to  be; 
for  as  one  mountain  peak  succeeds  another,  so  ever  does  thy  towering 
unconscious  self  ascend  above  thyself  discovered.  Enter  the  realm 
unconscious — the  kingdom  deific!  Ascend,  ascend,  till  thou  art 
crowned  a  king — a  god !  The  potent  forces  of  nature  are  pushing  thee 
on^-on  to  the  revelation  of  thyself  diabolic  or  thyself  deific.  Look  at 
thyself  fearlessly,  without  disguise.  Art  thou  a  monster?  Behold, 
above  thee  hovers  an  angel — image  of  thyself,  but  thyself  not  yet 
Seize  the  image  and  be  clothed  in  its  beauty.  Art  thou  a  saint?  At 
thy  feet  crawls  the  serpent  of  self-deception ;  from  thy  shoulders,  as 
from  Zohak's,  leap  the  horrible  monsters  that  would  devour  thee.  Be 
on  thy  guard ;  contemplate  but  thy  better  self — invisible  embodiment 
of  goodness,  purity,  patience,  love  and  truthfulness;  and  as  the  morn- 
ing mists  dissolve  in  the  golden  light  of  day,  thou  shalt  become  that 
which  thou  dost  behold.  Trust  thyself;  nevertheless,  yearn  for  thyself 
yet  unrevealed.  No  other  can  be  thy  god — ^thy  savior.  The  responsi- 
bility of  being  is  on  thee.  There  is  no  vicarious  redemption.  Rise 
thou  through  the  mists  of  doubt  and  fear  and  self-delusion  to  the 
sunlit  summit  of  thy  ascending  consciousness.  Ascend  till  thou  shalt 
learn  the  universal  consciousness,  and,  beyond  limitation,  know  that 
thou  art  one  with  the  Infinite.     Amen. 


LOVE  AND   SINGING. 


The  association  of  singing  and  sensibility  is  so  intime  in  the  neces- 
sity of  things,  that  women  have  never  been  good  singers  without  a 
fervent  propensity  to  love ;  as  expression  cannot  be  acquired  nor  imi- 
tated, love  being  the  sole  teacher  of  it.  The  influx  of  love  and  singing 
is  mutual,  and  if,  perhaps,  they  sometimes  sing  because  they  love,  it  is 
proved  that  of tener  they  love  because  they  sing ;  love  is  the  affair  of 
dancers,  the  dream  of  artists  and  the  life  of  singers.  Lbmontby. 


A  MAN  OF  RESOURCES. 

**I  don't  know  that  I  need  any  work  done  about  the  house.  What 
can  you  do,  my  good  fellow  ?  ** 

**Sir,  in  my  day  I've  been  a  carpenter,  a  barber  and  a  school 
teacher.  I  can  shingle  your  house,  your  hair  or  your  boy." — Ex' 
change. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THOUGHT. 

WITH   EDITORIAL  COMMENT. 


CALMNESS  AND  POWER. 

The  metaphysical  aspects  of  a  calm  state  of  mind,  with  regard  to 
such  affairs  of  life  as  ordinarily  would  result  in  agitated  thought,  fear, 
and  perhaps  ultimate  distress,  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The 
idea  that  power  is  active,  seems  to  carry  with  it  in  some  minds  the 
notion  that  there  must  be  vigorous  action,  mentally  as  well  as  physi- 
cally, or  little  power  will  be  produced.  This  fallacy  leads  one  into  the 
habit  of  indulging  in  agitated  modes  of  thought,  that  develop  vibrating 
action,  which  disintegrates  the  body  and  undermines  mental  forces,  thus 
thwarting  the  original  purpose  of  the  thinker. 

On  the  physical  plane  it  is  in  a  measure  true  that  movement  and 
action  are  associated  with  demonstrations  of  strength  and  power;  yet 
even  here  the  greatest  degree  of  power  shows  the  least  of  agitated 
movement — a  fact  which  speaks  strongly  for  the  idea  that  power  and 
calm  are  kindred  elements. 

On  the  mental  plane  this  becomes  still  more  apparent,  and  very 
little  observation  is  necessary  to  show  that  he  who  is  mentally  calm  is 
keenest  in  observation,  thinks  clearly  and  consequently  develops  more 
power  for  action  on  a  given  subject  than  one  who,  in  anxiety  about 
results,  indulges  in  agitation  and  vibratory  thought  action. 

On  the  spiritual  plane  of  actual  consciousness,  where  the  being  deals 
with  real  principles  and  laws,  the  rule  holds  absolutely  true  in  all 
respects  and  in  every  particular,  that  power  rests  in  calmness  ;  for 
all  spiritual  activity  is  silent,  harmonious,  and  correspondingly  powerful 
in  its  perfect  operations.  The  Spirit  is  never  perturbed,  but  calmly 
recognizes  the  perfect  and  changeless  harmony  of  the  always  powerful 
Principles  of  Reality.  The  Soul,  when  dealing  with  the  Truths  of 
Being,  finds  no  occasion  for  agitation,  anxiety,  distrust  or  the  vacil- 
lating vibration  of  doubt,  but  quietly  observes  and  calmly  adjusts  its 

549 


SW  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZ 

operations  to  the  quiet  purpose  of  Spiritual  Trutt 
shines  forth  in  the  soul  of  man  in  just  proporti 
The  Hind,  when  not  absorbed  in  selfhood,  know: 
gently  with  any  subject  it  must  remain  calm,  < 
and  receptive  to  the  truth  of  that  subject,  or  its 
no  powerful  action  whatever  ;  and  if  agitation  b 
place  of  calmness  its  act  ends  in  impotence  an 
itself  in  the  noisy  demonstrations  of  worldly  o 
pumps  the  air  in  frantic  efforts  to  prove  itself  pes 
In  all  affairs  of  life  the  greatest  power  result: 
co-operation  with  the  higher  principles  of  realit 
active,  yet  perpetually  harmonious,  consequentl; 
peaceful.  It  is  not  impossible  to  realize  such  a 
this,  at  least  to  an  appreciative  degree,  even  in  tl 
ing  surroundings  of  an  every-day  business  life, 
some  time  and  effort  to  change  a  habit  which  has 
It  can  be  accomplished,  and  the  reward  in  realiz; 
worth  the  effort. 


THE    MATHEMATICAL   VALUE    OF   MAI 

In  lifting  the  veil  that  hides  front  our  view 
philosophic  thought  wended  its  majestic  way  fron 
our  civilization  up  to  the  present  day,  we  ars 
graphic  and  most  striking  facts: 

First,  that  the  metaphysical  conception  and  e 
lations  between  man  and  nature  are,  in  general,  tr 
the  advanced  thought  of  our  present  age;  and  se 
along  which  this  thought  travelled  to  arrive  at 
sions  was  not  exactly  the  universal  line,  but  of  a 
calculated  to  serve  the  ends  of  certain  persons,  in 
ments  were  of  such  a  transcendental  nature  as  oi 
who  were  gifted  with  a  more  or  less  developed  int 
leaving  the  greater  part  of  mankind  in  the  dark, 
fact  that  this  very  part  of  the  human  race  posses 
which  it  has  been,  and  is,  possible  to  convey  m< 
channel  perfectly  in  accordance  with  the  line  of 
the  great  majority. 

This  line,  wh\c\v\i-5  \\j&  waXtttc\%'o.-WLN<sra».\.,  vs  t 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  551 

mathematical  line  of  argument  reduced  to  its  simplest  form, — a  line 
into  which  the  majority  of  mankind  should  be  compelled,  nay,  forced 
unwillingly  perhaps  to  enter,  and  entering,  never  to  be  abandoned,  by 
virtue  of  the  inherent  and  powerful  attraction  of  Truth. 

By  every  lover  of  Truth  it  is  known  that  true  philosophy  is  easy  to 
be  grasped,  by  virtue  of  its  natural  simplicity ;  and  that  although  it 
takes  a  long  time  and  much  toil  to  climb  the  heights  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  wise^  still  he,  the  lover,  when  nearing  the  awful  border  of  light, 
feels  and  grasps  intuitively  the  unutterable  simplicity  and  innocent 
finesse  of  the  little  truths  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  line  that  sepa- 
rates the  twenty-six  or  more  poor,  worn  out  letters  of  the  human 
alphabet,  from  the  deep  overthoughts  of  the  gods  so  sublime  in  their 
immortal  grandeur. 

So,  let  us  take  the  simple  truths  we  have  learned  in  the  simple  garb 
in  which  we  found  them  and  tenderly  let  us  lay  them  down  at  the  feet 
of  human  reason  on  the  line  mentioned  above,  so  that  we  may  be  sure 
of  touching  the  heart  of  the  greater  man. 

1.  Man  is  a  part  of  Nature  — M. 

2.  Objective  world  — W. 

3.  Algebraic  formula  of  Nature :  N.  =M.  -h  W. 
That  is  Nature  equals  man  4-  the  objective  world. 

4.  Therefore,  in  order  to  realize  Nature,  man  is  forced  to  join  his 
own  self  to  that  of  the  objective  world,  wholly  as  shown  in  the  formula 
N.=M.+W. 

5.  If  N.  =M. -l-W.,  therefore  M.  =N.— W.,  or  in  other  words  that 
Man  as  he  is  now  equals  Nature  shorn  of  a  great  part  of  herself,  i.  e. 
W,y  or  better  still,  in  order  to  produce  Man  as  he  is  now.  Nature  was 
compelled  to  break  herself  in  two, — one  part  constituting  Man  and 
the  other  the  World;  now,  the  great,  most  important  and  tremendous 
question  arises  within  the  breast  of  the  human  mind: — where  does 
Nature  come  in  ?  For,  if  Nature  exists  at  present  as  two  parts,  where 
is  she  as  the  whole  ?  Where  is  Nature  ?  Why  do  we  print  the  word 
Nature  when  really  there  is  no  such  thing  extant  ? 

You  have  never  touched,  smelt,  tasted,  seen  or  listened  to  Nature, 
but  instead,  have  loved  the  golden  ox,  the  broken  nightmare,  the  part 
of  nature — not  Nature !  Nature  cannot  be  seen  by  mortal  eyes,  the 
part  cannot  measure  the  whole.  There  must  be  effected  a  chemical 
combination  between  M.  and  W.  so  as  to  produce  N. 

Therefore,  taking  the  above  into  consideration,  let  us  try  our  best 
to  perfectly  understand,  or  rather  to  realize  the  above  formula  in  our 
minds,  and  perhaps  we  shall  then  be  able  to  draw  lightning  from 
heaven  by  striking  the  centre  of  Truth.  Maurice  Slovontsky. 


THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGA2 
THE  TONGUE. 

"The  boneless  tongue,  so  small  and  wc 
Can  crush  and  kill,"  declares  the  Ore 

"The  tongue  destroys  a  greater  horde,' 
The  Turks  assert.  ' '  than  does  the  sw< 
The  Persian  proverb  wisely  saith. 

"A  lengthy  tongue  an  early  death;" 
Or  sometimes  takes  this  form  instead 

"  Don't  let  your  tongue  cut  of!  your  he: 

"  The  tongue  can  speak  a  word  whose  . 
Says  the  Chinese,  "outstrips  the  stee 
While  Arab  sages  this  impart ; 

"  The  tongue's  great  storehouse  is  the 
From  Hebrew  wit  this  saying  sprung 

■■  Though  feet  should  slip  ne'er  let  the 
The  sacred  writer  crowns  the  whole  i 

"  Who  keeps  his  tongue  doth  keep  his 


TELEPATHY. 


In  the  domain  of  Psychology,  we  meet  wit 
mysteries  that  bafBe  the  most  penetrating  invesi 
persistent  efforts  of  the  closest  students  of  scier 
manifold  operations,  is  but  a  bundle  of  mysteri< 
thought  is  a  complex  act,  indescribable  and  inei 
Cometh  and  whither  it  goeth  there  is  not  a  li 
Scientific  appliances  may  render  us  some  assista 
enable  us  to  examine  the  mind  while  in  a  thinkii 
to  photograph  our  thoughts;  but  this,  doubtless 
in  effect  as  the  creation  of  the  thought  itself, 
would  seem,  Edison,  the  great  electrician  and 
age,  it  is  said,  has  actually  succeeded  in  photog 
means  of  Roentgen  rays.  How  impossible  it  si 
and  yet  how  true!  But  if  the  fact  of  being  able 
another  at  close  range  through  the  mechanism 
Roentgen  rays  is  wonderful,  still  more  wonde 
faculty  of  reading  another's  thoughts  at  practica 
without  the  intervention  of  any  kind  of  mechani 

Such  a  feat  seems  well  nigh  impossible,  bu 
attested  cases  on  tecoti,    Cint  ^^V  ^iv*  tRcat.  r< 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  553 

telepathy  with  which  I  have  ever  met,  was  recently  brought  to  my 
notice  through  the  columns  of  one  of  the  great  Canadian  daily  papers, 
the  Toronto  Mail  of  September  8th.  According  to  this  story,  which 
was  sent  out  from  Rome,  September  2d,  a  young  man  named  Livio 
Cibrario,  belonging  to  one  of  the  most  ancient  families  of  Turin,  while 
attempting  to  climb  the  peak  of  Rocciamelone,  in  the  Maritime  Alps, 
lost  his  way,  and  on  the  following  morning  a  search  party  found  his 
body,  terribly  crushed  and  bruised,  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  crevasse. 
Count  Cibrario,  the  unfortunate  young  man's  father,  who  was  at 
Turin,  and  knew  nothing  of  his  son's  expedition  to  the  Rocciamelone, 
on  the  night  of  the  accident  aroused  the  family,  announcing  with  tears 
that  Livio  was  dead.  He  had  seen  him  distinctly,  he  said,  with  blood 
flowing  from  his  battered  head,  and  had  heard  these  words  spoken  in 
a  voice  of  terrible  anguish : — 

**  Father,  I  slipped  down  a  precipice  and  broke  my  head,  and  I  am 
dying." 

The  other  members  of  the  family  tried,  in  vain,  to  persuade  the 
poor  Count  that  the  ghastly  vision  was  nothing  but  a  nightmare;  the 
bereaved  father,  however,  continued  in  a  state  of  anxiety  .bordering 
upon  distraction,  till  the  morning,  when  the  official  confirmation  of  the 
terrible  accident  reached  him. 

This  case  of  telepathy,  or  whatever  name  may  be  given  to  similar 
phenomena,  is  considered  all  the  more  remarkable,  as  Count  Cibrario 
is  a  very  quiet,  matter  of  fact  person,  and  has  never  suffered  from 
disorders  of  the  nervous  system  or  **  dabbled  in  spiritualism." 

Only  two  cases  of  telepathy  have  come  under  my  own  immediate 
observation,  and  these  have,  in  a  measure,  tended  to  dispel  any  doubts 
in  my  own  mind  as  to  the  mere  existence  of  such  a  faculty. 

About  the  last  of  September  of  the  present  year,  1898,  the  writer's 
brother  and  sister  drove  in  a  buggy  to  church,  five  miles  distant  from 
their  home.  On  their  return  trip,  a  young  man  who  was  riding  a 
vicious  horse  accidentally  rode  against  the  buggy  and  broke  one  of 
the  hind  wheels  so  badly  that  the  young  people  were  compelled  to 
make  the  remainder  of  their  journey  on  foot.  The  writer  saw  the 
whole  affair  depicted  in  a  dream,  at  the  exact  time  it  happened,  as 
plainly  and  unmistakably  as  if  actually  present.  The  accident  took 
place  when  they  were  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  home,  and  about 
10  o'clock  at  night,  and  they  awoke  the  writer,  then  fast  asleep,  on 
their  return  a  few  moments  later. 

Several  years  ago  there  was  a  large  and  destructive  fire  in  Colum- 
bia, Missouri,  which  originated  in  Joseph  Sterne's  livery  stable,  and 
thence  spreading  to  the  heart  of  the  city,  destroyed  several  of  the 


SS4  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGA2 

leading  business  blocks  on  Broadway,  the  princip 
the  night  of  the  fire,  the  late  Judge  William  Vict 
from  Columbia,  had  a  dream  in  which  he  saw  evi 
of  the  occurrence  as  plainly  and  distinctly  as  if 
ent.  The  next  morning  at  breakfast  he  told  hi 
dreamed  he  saw  a  man  in  a  blue  calico  shirt 
match  and  set  fire  to  the  hay  in  Sterne's  livery  st 
spreading  from  this  point  had  destroyed  some 
blocks  in  Columbia.  Judge  Victor  traced  th 
accurately,  and  even  mentioned  the  names  of  thi 
burned  out.  Later,  he  was  very  much  surprised 
had  dreamed  was  a  grim  reality.  Judge  Victor  w 
accurate  description  of  the  fiend  who  had  star 
attempt  was  ever  made  to  follow  this  clue,  and 
might  have  been  apprehended,  went  scot  free 
friend  of  Judge  Victor's,  in  another  part  of  the  o 
same  dream  and  was  equally  as  much  surprised  a 
ing  of  its  being  a  fact  instead  of  a  wild  flight  of  t 

Rev.  R.  B.  F.  Elrington,  Vicar  of  Lower  Bri 
England,  reports  a  case  equally  as  remarkabl 
statement,  a  Mrs.  Barnes,  of  Devonshire,  whose 
fishing,  dreamed  that  his  fishing  vessel  was  run  J 
rendered  unseaworthy.  Mrs.  Barnes  was  very 
the  safety  of  her  husband  and  her  son,  who  happ 
sel,  and  called  out  in  her  dream,  "Save  the 
moment  another  son,  who  was  sleeping  in  a 
mother's,  awoke  suddenly  and  called  out  "Wl 
being  asked  what  he  meant,  the  young  man  si 
father  come  up  stairs  and  kick  against  the  door  i 
of  doing  on  returning  home  at  night.  Mrs.  B: 
over  the  occurrence  that  she  reported  her  fears  t 
morning.  News,  a  few  days  later,  completely 
ticular  of  her  dream. 

Another  remarkable  instance  is  related  bj 
Auburndale,  Mass.  On  March  17,  1890,  his  i 
slipped  and  fell  in  front  of  an  electric  car  goin 
was  dragged  some  distance,  and  was  so  severely 
time  his  life  was  despaired  of,  but  he  subsequent 
loss  of  only  a  foot.  His  mother  heard  of  the  ac 
noon,  and  was  quite  restless  and  wakeful  Tuesd: 
of  the  young  man  was  in  Gainesville,  Fla.,  al 
night  he  went  to  bed  in  a  perfectly  calm  state  ol 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  555 

• 
soundly.     About  midnight  he  heard  his  wife  call   his  name  in  a  tone 

plainly  indicating  that  she  was  in  great  distress.  Imagining  that  pos- 
sibly some  evil  had  befallen  her,  or  some  member  of  the  family,  he 
became  uneasy  and  sent  a  telegram  asking  if  any  one  of  the  family  was 
dangerously  ill  and  whether  his  presence  was  needed  at  home,  but  no 
reply  was  ever  received,  as  the  telegraph  operator  at  the  other  end  of 
the  line  failed  to.  have  the  message  delivered.  This  circumstance 
weighed  so  heavily  on  his  mind  that  subsequently  he  returned  home 
and  learned  that  his  fears  had  been  well  grounded. 

Prof.  Charles  Newcomb  relates  a  strange  story  of  a  man  in  Chicago 
who,  giving  way  to  an  inclination  to  yield  his  arm  to  automatic  writing, 
addressed  a  letter  to  himself  over  the  signature  of  a  friend  who  was  in 
California.  Five  days  later  he  received  a  letter  from  his  friend  in  San 
Francisco  which  was  an  exact  duplicate  of  the  one  he  had  written  him- 
self. 

In  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  there  lives  a  young  lady  known  as  Miss  Mollie 
Fancher   who   has   given   many   wonderful   exhibitions  of   telepathy. 
These  strange  feats  are  vouched  for  by  a  leading  jurist  of  that  place 
and  her  kind  benefactor,  Mr.  Sargent,  who  also  resides  there.     On  one 
occasion  Miss  Fancher  told  her  attendants  that  Mr.  Sargent  was  in 
Chicago   on    very   important    business,    and   actually  gave  an   exact 
description   of   the   man   with   whom   he   was    talking.     Mr.  Sargent 
had  previously  left  Brooklyn  very  suddenly,  and    Miss  Fancher  had 
not  the  slightest  information  of  any  of  his  movements.     On  returning 
to  Brooklyn,  and  learning  what  Miss  Fancher  had  divined,  Mr.  Sargent 
induced  his  Western  friend  to  visit  Brooklyn,  and  in  company  with 
him  called  on  Miss  Fancher  unannounced.     The  moment  they  entered 
the  room  she  spoke  to  Mr.  Sargent  and,  without  waiting  for  an  intro- 
duction, called  the  other  gentleman  by  name  and  greeted  him  as  if  an 
old  friend.     It  is  needless  to  add  that  it  was  a  surprise  to  both. 

On  another  occasion  Miss  Fancher's  attendant  was  hanging  some 
pictures  for  her  in  several  rooms  of  her  house.  The  attendant  was 
greatly  disturbed  and  annoyed  in  his  work  by  some  strange  spirit 
influence,  which  seemed  to  criticise  his  taste  in  arranging  and  group- 
ing the  pictures.  When  he  returned  to  her  room,  Miss  Fancher  told 
him  exactly  how  he  had  hung  the  pictures,  in  what  way  he  had  grouped 
them  and  in  what  rooms  he  had  placed  them.  Apparently  her  mind  or 
soul  had  detached  itself  in  a  measure  from  her  body  and  had  followed 
the  attendant  in  his  work.  Miss  Fancher,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  a 
helpless  blind  invalid  who  has  been  confined  to  her  bed  for  many  years, 
and  she  could  not  have  been  made  aware  of  any  of  her  attendant's 
actions  through  the  ordinary  channels  of  sense. 


566  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGA2 

Many  other  examples  of  spontaneous  or  involi 
nomena  might  be  mentioned,  but  those  already 
cient  for  the  purpose  of  illustration. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  only  cases  of 
in  which  the  actions  of  the  agent  and  the  i 
untary  and  unpremeditated,  but  there  are  mat 
which  telepathic  phenomena  were  entirely  volu: 
experiment.  Regarding  telepathy  from  this  poii 
that  it  is  a  kind  of  circulation  of  mind  in  a  unive 
Every  human  being  is  thus  a  nerve  centre  of  hu 
the  universal  body,  and  sensitive  to  all  the  vibrat 
tem.  As  the  brain  receives  and  telegraphs  impi 
parts  of  the  body,  so  mind  may  communicate  v 
versal  system. 

If  two  violins  are  tuned  to  the  same  key,  ai 
side  on  a  table,  and  a  bow  is  drawn  across  one  o 
instantly  responds  and  vibrates  in  unison.  If  th< 
«rly  only  discordant  beats  will  result.  As  ham 
the  first  condition  of  response,  so  it  is  in  all 
thought  projection.  In  order  that  there  may  b 
thought  the  subject  and  operator  must  be  in  tho: 
less  you  have  noticed  that  persons  in  close  sym 
same  thought  almost  simultaneously  and  it  is  n< 
whom  the  idea  originated.  How  far  the  currei 
may  facilitate  or  hinder  thought  projection,  is  f 
tion.     The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  electricity 

A  few  years  ago  two  persons — one  in  Chicag 
— conducted  with  each  other  a  series  of  experini 
certain  hour,  mutually  agreed  upon  beforehar 
opening  the  experiments.  Each  party  acted  for 
nately  as  receiver  and  sender.  In  order  to  assis 
trating  itself,  each  operator  had  a  photograph  of 
and  in  order  to  establish  magnetic  relations  ea 
other's  hair  in  his  hand.  A  record  was  made  of 
received,  and  in  every  case  they  were  found  tc 
quently  the  experiments  were  repeated  by  the  s 
Boston  and  Philadelphia  by  appointment  at  a  cer 
the  use  of  the  photograph  and  lock  of  hair.  The 
fully  as  successful  as  before.  Later,  the  experim 
each  operator  in  turn  without  special  appointn 
satisfactory  results.  But  in  this  last  case  the  opi 
a  long  series  of  hypnotic  experiments  preceding  1 


THE   WORLD  OF  THOUGHT.  667 

ough  accord  and  sympathy.     Prof.  Charles  Newcomb  vouches  for  the 
truth  of  the  reports  of  the  experimenters. 

In  1883,  Mr.  Malcolm  Guthrie,  a  gentleman  of  high  rank  in  Liver- 
pool, Eng.,  and  Mr.  James  Birchall,  Honorary  Secretary  of  the 
Liverpool  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  conducted  an  extensive 
series  of  experiments  in  telepathy  similar  to  those  just  given,  which 
were  very  successful.  Many  other  wonderful  cases  are  on  record  which 
are  as  strongly  vouched  for  as  those  already  given,  but  we  have  not 
space  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  them  here. 

In  all  the  instances  mentioned  the  telepathic  action  has  been 
between  minds  of  living  persons,  but  Hodgson  says  telepathic  trans- 
fer may  take  place  just  before  or  exactly  at  the  moment  of  death. 
Myers  thinks  that  telepathy  exists  both  between  embodied  and  disem- 
bodied spirits.  I  regret  very  much  that  I  am  unable  to  bear  out  this 
assumption  with  any  recent  examples  of  unquestioned  genuineness, 
but  a  patient  and  painstaking  search  might  bring  to  light  such 
instances.  However,  it  is  my  purpose  to  investigate  this  phase  of 
the  subject  more  fully,  and  the  result  of  my  labors  will  be  given  in  a 
subsequent  paper  at  no  very  distant  date. 

John  W.  Wilkinson,  Ph.D. 


MENTAL  IMPRESSION. 

The  effect  of  mind  on  matter  is  curiously  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
young  Joseph  Hardin,  who  resided  in  Wellington,  Kansas. 

For  some  alleged  offense  he  was  captured  by  four  masked  men, 
whose  purpose  was  to  frighten  him.  They  informed  him  that  he  was 
about  to  be  shot  to  death.  Seating  him  on  a  box,  which  he  had  every 
reason  to  suppose  was  his  coffin,  and  with  his  back  to  the  riflemen,  they 
blindfolded  him  and  told  him  to  prepare  to  meet  his  fate. 

His  condition  can  perhaps  be  imagined,  but  it  cannot  be  described. 
He  had  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  the  victim  of  a  practical  joke, 
and  really  felt  that  his  last  moment  had  come. 

At  a  given  signal  a  shot  was  fired  by  one  of  the  party,  but  fired  in 
the  air,  of  course.  At  the  same  instant  another  man  gave  him  a  tap 
on  the  back  of  the  head. 

The  poor  fellow  fell  forward  at  the  impact  and  the  jokers  concluded 
that  he  had  fainted.  They  tried  to  resuscitate  him  by  the  usual  appli- 
cations, but  their  efforts  were  of  no  avail.  He  was  stone  dead,  the 
cause  being  heart  failure. 

It  wasn't  a  bullet  that  killed  him,  but  the  idea  of  a  bullet.  He  died 
from  the  effects  of  an  impression.     And  now  certain  people  are  begin- 


558  THE   METAPHYSICAL   MAGAZINE. 

ning  to  ask  this  rather  tough  question :  If  a  man  can  be  killed  by  the 
idea  that  he  is  going  to  be  killed,  why  can't  he  be  cured  by  the  idea 
that  he  can  be  cured? — New  York  Herald. 


PASTEUR'S  VACCINES. 

Sir. — The  Prince  of  Wales's  Hospital  Fund  and  his  recent  state- 
ment in  regard  to  vivisection  have  been  the  means  of  reviving  the 
anti-vivisection  controversy,  and  have  given  to  it  an  impulse  it  would 
not  otherwise  have  had  at  the  present  moment.  There  is  no  argument 
upon  which  the  vivisectionists  have  relied  so  confidently  as  showing  the 
success  of  the  experimental  method  of  investigating  disease  as  the 
inoculations  of  M.  Pasteur  and  his  school.  In  view  of  the  attitude  of 
the  Prince  in  defending  that  ** science,"  I  think  a  good  many  of  your 
readers  may  be  interested  in  some  general  observations  on  the  subject 
of  Pasteur's  vaccines ;  and  it  is  all  the  more  urgent  that  a  little  more 
light  should  be  thrown  upon  this  question,  as  it  is  intended  to  set  up 
Pasteur  Institutes  both  in  England  and  India. 

From  reliable  statistics  as  to  the  average  mortality  from  hydro- 
phobia, both  in  France  and  England,  the  disease  in  man  is  proved  to 
be  very  rare.  Pasteur  himself  has  admitted  that  80  per  cent,  of  the 
persons  bitten  by  dogs  presumably  mad  suffer  no  evil  effects,  and  as, 
on  the  authority  of  an  expert — Dr.  Charles  Dulles,  of  Philadelphia— 
**the  anti-rabic  vaccine  has  undoubtedly  increased  the  number  of 
deaths  from  hydrophobia,"  it  is  difficult  to  discover  where  the  benefits 
of  the  Pasteur  method  come  in.  No  less  than  300  people  have  now 
succumbed  to  hydrophobia,  or  some  similar  disorder,  after  undergoing 
preventive  treatment;  and  there  seems  some  ground  for  believing  that 
the  rabies  scare,  which  has  for  so  long  been  terrorizing  the  public,  is 
the  outcome  of  the  exploitation  of  the  Institut  Pasteur. 

The  Prince  of  Wales  generously  extended  a  helping  hand  to  all  that 
is  really  bad  in  connection  with  the  healing  art.  Vaccination  and 
vivisection  were  alike  favored,  and  so  were  the  various  new  anti-toxin 
serums  and  lymphs  which  are  now  being  used  and  experimented  with. 
All  such  practices  have  their  origin  in  uncleanliness,  and  bear  no  more 
relationship  to  sanitation  and  hygiene  than  does  cheese  to  the  moon. 
But  evidently  to  the  Prince  vaccination  is  **Jenner*s  immortal  dis- 
covery." Has  he,  I  wonder,  heard  of  the  fiasco  of  Koch's  tuberculin? 
Why  is  the  anthrax  vaccine  no  longer  used  in  England?  Who  is  it 
that  has  benefited  from  the  use  of  the  serum  anti-toxin?  And  what  is 
the  result  of  the  rinderpest  inoculations  in  South  Africa? 

The  process  ol  Iotcaw^  \.\\^  V^od^j  v^xto  febrile  states  is  vain  and 


THE   WORLD   OF   THOUGHT.  559 

culpably  erroneous.  No  good  ever  came  of  inoculation,  and  no  good 
ever  can.  The  only  perfectly  clear  and  intelligible  course  is  to  teach 
that  zymotic  diseases  are  preventable  by  cleanliness  alone,  if  at  all. 
The  sanitation  and  cleanliness  which  banished  the  plagues  of  the  past 
will  do  the  same  with  smallpox,  cholera,  diphtheria  and  all  other  forms 
of  infectious  disease.  And  yet,  though  it  cannot  be  shown  that 
inoculation  has  been  of  any  permanent  use,  it  is  now  proposed  to 
inoculate  and  re-inoculate  with  animal  poisons  for  all  such  zymotics. 

Recurring  to  the  treatment  of  hydrophobia :  in  addition  to  the  fact 
that  the  Pasteur  mode  does  not  prevent  hydrophobia,  his  practice  is 
also  declared  by  men  of  the  standing  of  the  late  Professor  Peter,  the 
great  French  clinical,  to  have  given  a  fatal  form  of  hydrophobia  in 
cases  where  the  patieftt  ran  no  danger  from  the  bite.  It  is  clearly 
absurd  to  waste  money  and  endanger  people's  lives  by  submitting  them 
to  this  treatment,  when  there  is  the  Buisson  remedy,  which  has  fre- 
quently been  used,  and  always  with  the  best  results.  M.  Victor 
Meunier,  in  the  Paris  Rappel^  gives  the  details  of  several  cases  in  which 
it  has  been  successfully  used  by  others;  Dr.  Dujardin-Beaumetz  used 
it  as  a  preventive  measure  on  several  persons  bitten  by  a  rabid  dog. 
The  cases  which  redound  to  Dr.  Buisson 's  credit  are  numerous,  one  of 
which  is  that  of  a  little  girl  patient  who  was  rejected  by  Pasteur  as 
past  treatment.  May  I  add  that  literature  dealing  with  the  Buisson 
method  may  be  had  gratis  and  post  free  from  Captain  Pirkis,  R.  N., 
The  High  Elms,  Nutfield,  Surrey,  England  ? 

I  am,  yours  faithfully, 

Joseph  Collinson. 
79A  Great  Queen  Street,  London,  W.  C. 


BOOK    REVIEWS. 


VOICES  OF  THE   MORNING.     By  James  Arthur  Edgerton.    Cloth,  121  pp., 
75  cents.     Charles  H.  Kerr  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

This  is  a  book  of  short  poems,  many  of  which  voice  the  longings  and  aspi- 
rations of  the  toiling  masses.  There  is  much  poetic  talent  in  the  collection,  and 
through  it  all  there  runs  a  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  a  higher  humanity  and  a 
brighter  day  near  at  hand.  To  those  minds  that  think  deeply  on  the  problems 
of  the  working  classes  and  the  present  social  conditions,  these  verses  will 
specially  appeal. 

A   MOTHER'S   IDEALS.       By   Andrea   Hofer   Proudfoot.      Cloth.    270   pp. 
Published  by  the  Author,  1400  Auditorium,  Chicago,  111. 

^  ^  A  book  of  practical,  everyday  help  and  full  of  valuable  suggestions  and  ad- 
vice to  parents  and  teachers  everywhere.     The  writer  says:    ''In  these  pages  I 


680 


THE  METAPHYSICAL  MAGA! 


It  to  lay  (TOwn  a 


shall  not  attempt  to  lay  oown  a  law  for  mothers,  but  shi 
speak  as  to  make  the  doing  of  whatever  your  hands  fine 
definite  in  its  purpose  toward  ideU  life." 

The  book  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  Froet 
of  education  are  in  harmony  with  metaphysical  princip 
it  to  commend  it  to  the  general  reader. 

VOICES    OF    HOPE  AND    OTHER    MESSAGES 

By  Horatio  W.  Dresser.     Cloth,  213  pp.,  $r.50. 

Franklin  Street,  Boston. 

To  those  who  are  looking  in  metaphysical  lines  for  5 

we  would  commend  this  "Series  of  E^ys  on  the  Pr 

and  the  Christ."     They  are  written  in  the  author's  u 

and  will  serve  to  many  as  a  spiritual  stimulant  to  arouse 

fresh  hope,  courage  and  good  will. 

Concerning  Spiritual  evolution  the  Author  says : . 
mind  we  may  know  that  the  conditions  favorable  for  its 
moment  we  are  ready— never  before ;  for  we  c.in  om 
And  again,  "The  most  hopeful  reformation  that  can 
mind  is  the  escape  from  bondage  to  dogma  or  authoi 
the  rich  possibilities  of  a  broad  and  unhampered  philos 

THE  DOCTOR'S  WINDOW.      Edited  by  Ina  Ru 

Cloth,  »2.so.     Full  Morocco,  tjoo.     Charles  Well 

An   artistically  gotten-up  collection   of  poems  th 

doctors  and  to  those  who  have  anything  to  do  with  doc 

"Too  Progressive  for  Him"  will,  we  think,  appeal  to  1 


OTHER   PUBLICATIONS   REC 

ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  REGE 
SONIAN  INSTITUTION.     Cloth,  687  pp.     Was 

HOW  TO  SEE  THE  POINT  AND  PLACE  IT.  Pi 
of  Grammar.  By  John  G.  Scott.  Paper,  40  pp.. 
Street,  New  York. 


AMONG  OUR  EXCHANG 

THE  REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS.     Monthly.     8s.  6d. 

London,  England. 
THE   HUMANITARIAN.     Monthly.     17  Hyde  Par 

England,  and  at  Brentano's.  31  Union  Square,  Ne< 
THE  FORUM.     Monthly.     $3,004  year,  35  cenU  a 

Co.,  Ill  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 
"DIE  UEBERSINNLICHE   WELT."     Mittheilungt 

Okkultismus.     Herausgegeben  und  redigin  von  I 

4.isMk.     Einzelne  Hefte,  80  Pf.     Berlin  N..  Eb