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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38134-8.txt b/38134-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c098b66 --- /dev/null +++ b/38134-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3215 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Beyond, by Henry Seward Hubbard + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Beyond + + +Author: Henry Seward Hubbard + + + +Release Date: November 25, 2011 [eBook #38134] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND*** + + +E-text prepared by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/beyondbe00hubbrich + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +BEYOND + +by + +HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Boston +Arena Publishing Company +Copley Square +1896 + +Copyrighted, 1896, +by +Henry Seward Hubbard. + +All Rights Reserved. + +Arena Press. + + + + +BEYOND + + + TO + LOVERS OF THE TRUTH, + WHATEVER + LAND MAY CLAIM THEM FOR ITS OWN, + TO THE + EARNEST MEN AND WOMEN + OF MY TIME, + THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY + DEDICATED. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +A word of explanation in reference to my title may be appropriately +given here. By Beyond, I mean what is sometimes called the unseen world, +but which might better be called the immaterial world, since that which +distinguishes it from the world proper is not merely that it is +invisible, but that it cannot be made visible to mortal eyes. + +However, I have not assumed to treat of all that the word might be made +to cover, but have confined myself mostly to that territory, with the +entrance to it, which may be said to adjoin the earth, and which +therefore is more immediately interesting and important to be acquainted +with, and have addressed myself especially to those who seem to be +constitutionally unable to perceive the reality of this other world, +although willing and anxious to be convinced. + +If there is any one thing more than another which I hope to convey, it +is that the truths which pertain to the superior life do not conflict +with common sense, however they may rise beyond the perfect grasp of +that power of the mind. + + HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, + +Greeting. + + +I had known for some time that I had a book to write, but not exactly +how I was going to set about it, when there fell under my notice the +following appeal, whose unique and touching eloquence, I venture to say, +is without a parallel in our literature. + +"There have always been those, and now they are more numerous than ever, +who maintain that the dead do return. + +"Far be it from me to dogmatically negative the assertions of honest, +earnest men engaged in the study of a subject so awful, so reverent, so +solemn, where the student stands with a foot on each side of the +boundary-line between two worlds. + +"We know a little of the hither, can we know aught of the thither +world?" 'How pure in heart, how sound in head, with what affections +bold,' should be the explorer on a voyage so sublime! Never from 'peak +of Darien' did the flag of exploration fly over the opening up of a +realm so mighty. + +"How stale and trite the fleet of a Magellan to the adventurous soul who +would circumnavigate the archipelagoes of the dead!" + +"How commonplace Pizarro to him who would launch forth on that black and +trackless Pacific across the expanse of which has ever lain the dread +and the hope of our race!" + +"They know little who are robed in university gowns. What know they who +are robed in shrouds? We gather but little from the platform; what can +we learn from the grave? The wisdom of the press is foolishness. Is +there no voice from the sepulchre? It is we, not you, who are in +darkness, O ye dead! The splendor of the iris of eternity has flashed on +your plane of vision; but our heavy eyelids droop in the shadow of the +nimbus of time. + +"Can you tell us naught? Can we never know your secret till, in the +dust, we lay down our bones with yours?" + +"We are here in the care, the poverty, the sin, and, above all, in the +darkness. Oh, if ye can, have mercy on us; shed a ray from your +shekinah-light athwart the darkness of our desolation. We are trodden +down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our fathers from the +dead."[A] + +How profoundly these words moved me cannot easily be told, for my entire +life, up to this point, seems to have been made up of the various stages +of a preparation enabling me to respond to just such an appeal as this, +echoed, as I know full well it is, from the hearts of thousands of my +fellow-beings. Yet one who should enter the rose-embowered cottage by +the sea where I sit writing, would never dream that I guard treasures of +knowledge gathered in the hidden realm that lies beyond the sense. + +For years have passed, and lonely life has changed to family life, and +there have been times when I have felt almost at home again within the +confines of the purely earthly realm of thoughts and things. Not quite, +however, for that would be impossible. And now, shall I branch out in a +tale of strange adventure? Shall I seek to convey to my readers what led +to those experiences which have so isolated me in thought? Shall I +describe their outward aspect, the channel through which they were +received, as for instance, a dream, a trance, a vision, or _other ways +less known_? + +To do so might amuse or entertain, but that is not my object. Besides, I +understand thoroughly that in these modern days it is the truth, and not +the truth-teller, that is wanted. If a man has anything to say, let him +say it, and if it bear the stamp of truth, if it will stand the test of +analysis the most severe, it will be accepted. If not, he may show a +ticket of his travels beyond the moon, but that will not avail him. + +All that I ask of my readers is that they will permit me to write of +that realm which is so hidden from mortals that many of them deny its +very existence, as though I knew all about it. Whether I do or not, no +mere statement, in the absence of other evidence, could in the least +decide. + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +BEYOND. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In the world of thought to-day, few things are more significant than the +extent to which the religious dogmas of the past are being questioned, +analyzed, and, in general, made to give account of themselves. + +People are discovering that it is lawful to use the mind as a crucible, +and to submit any and all statements, irrespective of their age, to the +electric current of modern fearlessness of thought, before accepting +them as truth. + +Scientific formulas, many of them, fare little better, and are made to +yield up the kernel of fact they contain, stripped of the husk of +theory in which it has long been buried. + +For the living truth is demanded such value as we obtain in our own +life-experiences, if possible; and whenever this can be obtained without +paying the price it costs us in life, of pain, or loss, or a mortgaged +future, then, indeed, the demand becomes imperious. + +And this has become especially true of late years in regard to things +occult. Formerly the boundaries of the earth-life marked the limit of +thought and aspiration, and those who seemed to have the widest +experience within those bounds were often the loudest in proclaiming +their utter failure to find any lasting satisfaction in all that life +could give. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, was echoed and re-echoed +until the gloomy thought spread like a cloud over the sky, chilling all +noble effort, and blighting the aspirations of the young and hopeful. +But a brighter day has dawned. These boundaries, which formerly seemed +like walls impenetrable, have grown thin and shadowy, and it is +astonishing to note how people everywhere are asking, as with open mind, +Is this future life we have heard of so long, an actual fact? If so, +what is the nature of it? What are its relations to present facts? and +how may I obtain a common-sense view of it? Just what are its relations +to me, and what are mine to a future life? Where can I obtain clear +light on the subject? + +This condition of things brings it to pass that a peculiar +responsibility rests upon one, like the writer, to whom has been given +extraordinary facilities for acquiring the knowledge now so greatly in +demand. To relate what those facilities were, how or why given, and what +price in the currency of the hidden realm was paid for so much of its +treasures as was brought away, might interest the curious, as I have +suggested, but it would not materially affect the value of what is to be +given. That must stand or fall by its intrinsic worth, not by the +circumstances associated with its acquirement. + +It may be imparted, however, that this knowledge was obtained at a +period separated from the present by an interval of fourteen years, that +so momentous were the personal experiences associated therewith, that +the few weeks during which they occurred, together with those +immediately preceding and following, seem to constitute, as it were, a +separate existence, whose length, if it were to be measured by such +events as leave their indelible impress on the soul, far exceeds the +entire remainder of my life. + +That I have kept this knowledge locked up so long has been due to +various causes beyond my control, and I am more than glad that I am at +last able to put on record some fragments of it, at least, whose value I +do not underestimate, although very rarely in the history of the world +has it been given out in this way. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Perhaps I cannot open my subject in any better way than by giving a few +reasons why a knowledge of The Beyond has remained a sealed book for +centuries. + +My first reason will not be a very satisfactory one, because I cannot +now enter into it as fully as I could wish; but it belongs first, and +cannot be omitted. A knowledge of The Beyond has remained hidden from +men, first, because those intelligences who were capable of imparting it +have refrained from doing so. Some of these intelligences were actuated +by selfish motives. They could more easily control those whom they hoped +to enslave, by keeping them ignorant. Others have remained silent out +of respect for an edict proceeding from a far height at a time when all +men were believers in a future state, and so many of them were absorbed +in speculating upon it, and holding communications with the departed, +that the earth was neglected, and in danger of going to waste. Hence the +edict, which was promulgated through the kings who were able themselves +to see the need of it. + +Another very important reason why this knowledge has remained hidden, is +because to embody it in a language appropriate to it, and, at the same +time, avoid obscurity, is exceedingly difficult. + +Why? Because it belongs to a different world, a world which has no +nearer relation to this one than thoughts have to things. To illustrate +what I mean by this, suppose you should wake up some night and find +yourself in silent darkness and unable to move a muscle. Suppose you +could not even feel the bed under you, being conscious only of being +supported in a horizontal position. So long as these avenues of sense +remained closed, the world of things would not exist to you, and you +could not say, of your own knowledge, that it continued to exist for +anyone else. + +While the situation would be a startling one without doubt, I am going +to assume that you would have a sufficient degree of self-control to +keep your mental balance. This would be the easier as you discovered +that your mental vision was as clear as ever, and that your real self, +which is back of all your senses, had received no shock or injury. You +would naturally wish to know just what had happened, and it would be apt +to disturb you somewhat to find that your reasoning powers failed to +respond when you called upon them to solve the problem, as naturally +they would, since the brain, with which they do their work, would share +the inaction of the body. Now, if the world of things had thus vanished, +what could remain? In the first place, memory. You would be able to call +up the pictures of the past, and live over again in your mind any scene +there depicted. But you would not be confined to living in the past. +Although unable to see or to hear, you would be able to assume the +mental attitude either of looking or listening, and as you sought to +penetrate the gloom of your surroundings, you would be conscious of +lifting eyelids which perhaps had never been raised before, and the +mystic light of another world would dawn upon you. Shadowy forms of +graceful outline would be seen, at first dimly, then with greater +clearness. You would not mistake them for mortals, and, having no +acquaintance with other-world intelligences, you might take them for +moving pictures, destitute of any kind of life. + +Presently you would become aware that connected thoughts were passing +through your mind, without conscious volition on your part, and assuming +the attitude of a listener you would discover that the inner world of +sound was opening to you. The subject treated of might not relate to you +personally, but you would hail with delight the opportunity to prove +yourself in communication with other minds. + +Presently some sentiment is expressed which you do not approve, and you +put forth an impulse of will-power in protest. Instantly comes a +thought-message directly to you. Who has arrested my current of thought? +The meaning of this is at once apparent. You are like a telegraph +operator who has been listening to a passing message, containing a +false statement, and has stopped it. You might now withdraw your protest +and allow the message to pass as something which did not concern you, or +you might assert your individuality and reply to the sharp question by +saying, "Because I allow nothing to pass through my mind which I do not +approve." If you adopted the first course, you might be let off with a +curse, and told to mind your own business hereafter; but if you should +manifest the temerity indicated by the second, a thundering "What?" +might fall upon your new sense, and you would discover that you had a +fight on your hands. It may be supposed that you would mentally assume +an upright position, which in that world corresponds to the act of +rising here, and brace yourself for the contest. But it is not necessary +to carry the illustration any farther at this time. I merely wished to +show how _thoughts_ may take the place of _things_ in the mind's arena +when, for any reason, things are shut out. + +A third reason why a knowledge of The Beyond is not more generally +disseminated, is that false ideas in regard to death are so predominant +that it has become a habit with the great majority to dismiss from the +mind all thoughts having, or that are supposed to have, any possible +connection with it, and therefore the avenue of approach to the minds of +such is kept closed by themselves. + +It may be asked why the solitary student is not able to attain to a +satisfactory solution of the great problem, although seeking it with +utmost earnestness. And I answer, first, because he probably seeks for +it in the same way that he would seek for earth-knowledge, which is an +error; and, secondly, because those who would otherwise gladly give it +to him are able to read his motives, and finding them purely selfish, +they turn away and leave him, while those spirits who have occult +knowledge to _sell_, demand pay in a coin which the student is seldom +willing to give, namely, a certain degree of control over him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Mathematicians have frequently discussed the possibility of what is +called a fourth dimension. + +They have shown by clear reasoning that if we could suppose a person to +be acquainted only with objects of two dimensions, that is, plane +surfaces, the possibility of a third would be as difficult to comprehend +as now are the speculations on a possible fourth. For instance, it would +be as mysterious an operation to transfer anything from one point to +another without moving it along the surface that lay between, as is now +the manipulation of solid objects, like the passage of matter through +matter, by the masters of occult science. + +This fine example of reasoning from the known to the unknown may be +compared to Leverrier's researches in one respect, and that the most +important one, namely, that the looked-for fact in all verity awaits +discovery, and that the scientist who shall first boldly declare that +the objective world about us, which seems to occupy and does occupy all +of space that we can reach by ordinary means of thought, is merely a +veil which hides a world just as real, and having just as real relations +to us, as the first is supposed to monopolize, and which, in its +essential nature, is independent of space, and its concomitant, +time,--whoever, I say, shall first boldly declare this, will fairly win +a crown of laurel. + +When I say that this world has real relations to us, I do not mean us as +mere aggregations of matter in a highly organized form; I mean us, the +creatures of hope and fear, of joy and depression, gay at heart or +careworn with responsibility; us to whom friendship, love, and purity +are realities and not mere names, and who cherish the firm belief that +loyalty to our ideals and devotion to truth are immortal in their +nature, and that it may be possible that we ourselves may yet become as +impassive to the assaults of time. + +Shall I say us, also, the creatures of doubt and despair, whose sky is +hopelessly clouded, and to whom anything resembling happiness has become +only a memory? The world of which I speak has the same direct relations +to us all. + +The idea is a common one that this invisible world is to be sought, if +at all, among the imponderable gases, that if it have objectivity, as it +is supposed it must have, the nature of it will resemble these forms of +matter; and that by traveling out in thought, so to speak, along this +line, we shall presently arrive at a sufficiently accurate concept of +what these invisible realities are like. + +It is this delusion, that the unseen is by so much the unreal, instead +of the contrary, that I hope to do something to destroy. + +Let me give an example of occult power of a scientific sort, as +exercised by free spirits. + +One wishes to speak to a friend. What does he do? He simply speaks the +name of that friend in his mind. Immediately, and without further effort +on his part, there appears before his mental vision a clear outline +representation of the form of that friend, ready to answer with perfect +distinctness any question that may be asked of him. It is telephone +communication without apparatus, and with the appearance of the friend. +Were the two in close sympathy, perhaps engaged in the same kind of +spiritual labor, so that the question would be of a kind not unexpected, +the rapidity of action common to spirits would make it possible to ask +the question and receive the answer in an infinitesimal fraction of a +second. + +I have called this occult power of a scientific sort. By this I mean to +indicate, what is sometimes forgotten, that The Beyond has its science +as well as religion, and that it is only because its science has been a +sealed book so long and the corruption of revealed religion has been so +great, that, as a result, the acceptance of occult science itself as +truth is called, by some, _religion_, although removed from it as by +infinity. It is true, however, that the devotee to occult science who +shall persistently declare its genuineness in the face of opposition, +scorn, or even persecution, is on the road to illumination, and he may +himself become a gateway between physical life and death, through which +may pass and repass the message, the tone, or even the phantom form +which testifies of a world beyond the grave. To such a one, his belief +becomes a sure and certain knowledge of a scientific fact, as verified +by sympathetic experience times without number; and the time is not far +distant when these attainments will receive the same recognition, as +belonging to the domain of reality, as those of physical science now +do. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Science, as such, is a knowledge of physical facts. Religion, as such, +is an apprehension of spiritual truths. + +The work of the scientist is to separate facts from delusions, and then +to arrange and classify his knowledge. The work of the religionist is to +separate truth from error, to make it effectual in practice, and give it +to the world. + +In their essence, science and religion are neither enemies nor friends. +They are not necessarily associates, but their respective domains are +included in the domain of thought, and thought is an attribute of the +ego. The ego in us, then, is in touch with both religion and science: +with science, primarily, through this material body, which, surcharged +with vital magnetism, moves at its will; and with religion through that +inner conscious self which so avoids expression through matter, that it +may remain contentedly under lock for more than half a lifetime, and +which, even when released, may need a special impulse to induce it to +express itself in words. + +The religious nature in man is, in fact, so hidden that it seems at +times impossible to draw it out in any manifestation whatever, which +fact causes many to deny its existence altogether; and there is to-day a +widely prevalent doctrine, world-wide I might say among scholars, that +all the facts observable which could possibly be grouped under the head +of religion may readily be distributed among mere physical phenomena on +the one hand, and scientific or intellectual on the other. + +The skepticism in regard to the verbal authority of the sacred writings +is intimately associated with the same doctrine, as is shown by the way +the errors and the truth of the Bible are made to seem one, and the +whole is rejected as error. + +It is taught, in effect, that all which goes by the name of religion is +unworthy the serious attention of the thoughtful, that it had its origin +in the barbarous stage of our development as a race, and ought to be +laid aside as a garment outgrown. The days of this particular form of +unbelief are numbered. + +Why? Because it is to be demonstrated that religion is something more +than moonlight vaporings of the credulous, something other than the +simple faith of children; that religion is not only a spiritual reality, +but that it has a body of its own. + +In order that the meaning of this statement may not be mistaken, let it +be remembered that some of the most powerful forms of matter, +electricity, for example, are entirely invisible. + +Therefore, when I say that religion has a body of its own, it is not +necessary to go delving for anything. That body itself may be +undiscoverable by any sense save feeling. Have you ever been in the +presence of a man who could fairly be said to _embody_ religion? Of +those who manifest its spirit so pure and unselfish, there are +comparatively few in the world, but of those who, to that spirit, add a +full manly or womanly strength, the number is brought so low that +multitudes of people may perhaps never have come in contact with any. +Such as these bear about with them a consciousness of power so great as +to utterly destroy every kind of fear save one, the fear of doing wrong. +The name of Savonarola will occur to many of my readers. + +It ought not to be necessary to add that I am using the word religion in +a different sense from that attaching to it in such a phrase as the +World's Parliament of Religions. + +If I should say, There are many sciences, yet science is one, I should +expect to be fairly well understood. + +I would make the parallel declaration, There are many religions, but +religion is one. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Is there any common ground on which science and religion meet? There is. +They meet in modern Spiritualism. + +But because modern Spiritualism consists of a body of facts and theories +on the one hand, and a countless number of soul-stirring experiences on +the other, it follows that it takes a great many different people to +fairly represent modern Spiritualism. + +Some have devoted themselves to it exclusively on the religious side, +others as exclusively on the scientific side. According to the bent of +their nature, and with an equal degree of courage, the earnest, devoted +students of science, on the one hand, and those of religion, on the +other, are approaching from opposite poles this forbidden ground. + +Disregarding the warnings of the older religious teachers, that evil, +and only evil, haunts the grewsome place, one wing of the army of +truth-seekers is making the discovery that if all the manifestations of +modern spiritualism are to be attributed to one source, and that an evil +one, then never was a house so divided against itself before. They are +prepared to show that some of its most astonishing phenomena begin and +end in good to all who witness them, and they declare that only a +culpable misuse of the powers of the mind would lead to any other +inference than that these good results come originally from good +sources, and are therefore worthy of that reverence which of right +belongs to the good, wherever it appears. + +The other wing of the army of truth-seekers also contains its heroes. +Have you not told us, they say to the great scientists who have laid +down the principles on which investigations of all kinds should be +conducted, that science claims the world for its field, and especially +the world of phenomena? + +Why, then, do so many of our captains and colonels, who should represent +the thought of the higher officers, so persistently endeavor to prevent +us from obtaining for ourselves the store of facts upon which, we are +told, the theories of spiritualism are based? + +Is it possible for us to have intelligent opinions even, to say nothing +of carefully-drawn conclusions on this matter, without following the +usual course, so strenuously insisted on in all other branches of +scientific research, that of personally observing the phenomena for +ourselves? And so when they get no answer to this, or no answer which +satisfies those who love the truth for its own sake, they proceed, +these scientific explorers, and with caution enter the unknown country, +avoiding, as far as possible, that portion which they recognize as +especially occupied by the other division of truth-seekers before +described. + +And they find no lack of material upon which to exercise the keenest +faculties of their minds, while their interest becomes so great that +they are soon ready to exclaim, Why was I kept away from here so long? + +All indications, say they, favor the idea that in this direction rather +than in any other is to be sought the solution of that profoundest of +mysteries, the problem of life, and, with faces aglow with interest, +they pursue their explorations, always ready, however, to declare that +they have not changed their course, they are still in the pursuit of +science and have not the slightest idea of joining hands with +religionists on any pretext whatever. + +All of which goes to show that the realm of the occult may be +conveniently divided into two grand divisions, one of which may be +called occult science, and the other occult religion; and that part of +both which has been recently brought to view is the domain known as +modern Spiritualism, where, as I have said, science and religion meet. I +wish it could be said that scientists, as such, and religious teachers, +as such, have also not only met, but shaken hands across the narrow line +which still divides them even here, on this which I have called a common +ground. + +But it is to be feared that there is all too little thought of any +possible terms of peace between the opposing forces. + +Let us hope that out from the cloudy mysteries of the debatable land +itself may come the gleam of a star whose brightness shall illumine all +who lift their eyes, and whose pure, sweet influence shall change foes +to friends, as heart shall answer heart beneath its shining. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +There are many, however, who have an invincible repugnance to this +method of research, and I would here say for the benefit of such, that +while I am on friendly terms with spiritualists generally, I am not +indebted to them for what I have to give. My observations of the +phenomena of spiritualism, although wide and varied, have all been made +since I came to know, independently, that there are intelligences above +man, and that there is a world distinctly different from this, where +they have their home. + +Spiritualistic phenomena, as observed through mediums, have, in a +general way, confirmed what I knew in regard to the other world, but I +find many of the prevalent ideas which are supposably based on these +phenomena to be erroneous in the extreme. For instance, it is taught as +a doctrine that there is no death, and those who teach it point +triumphantly to the demonstrations of the survival of those whose mortal +part has been laid in the grave, not realizing that in so doing they +prove themselves to be still in bondage to the old error, that death and +annihilation are one and the same, and that consequently whoever has +escaped the one, must necessarily have escaped the other. + +To prove that a man who has severed his connection with the mortal state +has not suffered annihilation, proves nothing whatever as to his +acquaintance with death. + +Even the passing from one world to the other, which is commonly +associated with death, is not the same thing, for many possess the +power of so passing while still tenants of the clay. + +If death, then, is not annihilation, nor the mere passing from one kind +of life into another, what is it? It is the severing of the magnetic +bonds which unite the body of the individual to the body of the race as +a whole. + +We do not often consider what an important element in our lives are +these magnetic currents which link us to our fellows. + +Silent and invisible as they are, they hold us with a tremendous power. +What our friends, our neighbors, our relatives think us capable of +doing, that we can do with comparative ease; but anything out of the +common, calling for the exercise of ability which they do not suppose us +to possess--how nearly impossible it is for us to do it, however +conscious we may be of the inherent power! + +As a part of the race we are bound to it by magnetic currents so long as +our mortal life continues, and the cutting off of these currents by +death may be to our consciousness the greatest misfortune or the +greatest happiness we have ever known. + +Now I am not preaching, I am simply stating that which I know to be +true. I know it in the same way that I know anything wherein experience +shuts out even the shadow of a doubt. + +To speak of the misfortune of death: suppose you were a clock which for +twenty-five years had been a part of the world's life, keeping good time +and always on duty. Then suppose you were suddenly laid away in the dark +and dusty attic of a warehouse until some estate should be settled that +would require an indefinite number of years. + +The comparison is not perfect. The clock is not only mostly automatic, +as we are, but entirely so. That in our nature which is essentially +free is not even touched by death, but the bodily activities and +associations may be our only field of action, and these are cut off +absolutely, while memory recalls every event of the life that is +finished, and especially every decision which has had the slightest +influence upon our destiny. The positive element in us which has found +constant vent in physical action is rendered helpless by the complete +paralysis of all the motor nerves. We cannot even think, for this +requires some movement of the brain. A consciousness of being left +behind while the world travels on, a feeling that this experience had +not been foreseen in the least, nor in any way provided against, spite +of warnings which now seem to echo and re-echo through the +darkness--these are what is left us in place of the sunlight, the +breezes of evening, the voices of children, the light of the stars. + +But death may be release, it may be happiness, it may be ecstasy beyond +the power of words to tell. We may have cast the long look ahead in +time. We may have decided that since bodily life is limited at best, it +shall not be first in our regards: its appetites, its demands, shall not +take precedence above those calls which find their answer in the depths +of being, calls to rise out of the mire of reckless self-indulgence, and +clothe ourselves in the garb of a true manhood and womanhood, taking for +our model those who count not their life dear unto them, but reach out +for eternal values. + +The pathway is not wide, and they who pursue it may find themselves at +close of life (I am not speaking especially of old age) almost alone. +The energies of the spirit have grown by constant exercise, and the +soul has grown strong, imparting its vibrations to the body, which has +so responded that, one after another, the magnetic links which have held +it to the slower progress of the race have snapped asunder. We are far +ahead, and the spirit longs for purer air than it can find on earth. We +have anticipated all the pains of death. We have endured them in our +struggle for the mastery of ourselves. Death now but sets the seal upon +our victory, gives us the freedom we have earned, ushers us into the +society for which we have prepared ourselves, crowns us heirs of +immortality. + +Now, whether death shall be this happiness or that misery, in either +case it will be remembered as a great fact of consciousness, the +greatest ever known, and the doctrine that there is no death will never +be able to find lodgment in the minds of those who have experienced it. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +It may be worth our while to inquire how this extremely modern doctrine +came into being, and if we can solve the problem, it may reflect light +upon the genesis of other doctrines very much older and equally +erroneous. + +There is something so startling, so unexpected, in the phrase, "There is +no death," that we are quite safe in assuming that it did not originate +in the mind of a mortal. In fact, one would be obliged first to disown +his mortality before he could utter it with any consciousness of +speaking the truth. If, then, the words have come from the Beyond, it +would appear that some super-mundane intelligence has been promulgating +error. But let us not be too hasty. Let us remember that in our +grandfather's time the great majority of people looked upon death as the +termination of existence. It was an impenetrable darkness. Those who +claimed to know anything different were so few, and their evidence was +so mysterious, as to have a scarcely perceptible effect on this portion +of our race. Death had come to mean annihilation, and when the +age-long dictum, shutting the two worlds apart, was removed, those +spirit-teachers who were commissioned to scatter the darkness were +obliged to use expedients. Laying aside their own understanding of the +word death, and taking up the erroneous meaning attached to it by those +whom they wished to reach, they sent out this incisive denial, There is +no death. The paraphrase would be, There is no such death as you believe +in, which was the truth, and had the effect of truth upon the minds of +those who heard it, lifting them out of the darkness, flashing upon +them, light. The word was a medicine of wonderful effect, but it was not +intended as a food, and spiritualists of to-day who make it a part of +their daily diet are most seriously injured thereby. Who that has ever +attended the average séance but can recall the careless trifling, the +insensate levity, of many while waiting for the hour. By their conduct +they seem to say, What is death more than a mere journey to another +country? Or a séance, what is it more than a telephone office? Most +startling will be the event to such as these. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +But it is time that we took a comprehensive view of this outer world +which lies beyond the domain of sense. + +What is the most striking difference between that world and this one? I +answer, the world we are now living in is a material world, which to +understand most thoroughly we must acquire a knowledge of the properties +of matter. This we begin to do in earliest childhood by the use of our +senses, and this we continue to do, to a greater or less extent, as long +as we live, calling into play the reason, highest sense of all, as soon +as it is developed; and by the use of this, the royal sense, with the +others as its servitors, we may arrive at a very thorough comprehension +of the world of matter, so far as its relation to our needs is +concerned. + +On the other hand, the world that lies before us is, above all else, an +immaterial world, using the phrase to denote an almost entire absence of +matter, but not in the least to indicate any absence of reality. No, for +this future life is a reality more positive in its character than the +foundations of the pyramids, and its manifestations, being neither more +nor less than the manifestations of living beings, can only be +understood when that fact is kept in mind. They do not lend themselves +to the inspection of the curious, these denizens of another life, but +when conditions favor, they take hold of human instrumentalities and +wield them with a power and skill that defy all resistance for the time, +and leave on all who are present an ineffaceable mark. + +It may be objected that this statement is incapable of proof, that, of +all who have crossed the line between life and death, none have returned +to bring positive evidence of the existence of such an unknown country, +inhabited in such a way. The contrary is asserted, and while facts do +not need the bolster of argument, whoever is in possession of a fact can +present arguments relating thereto tending to throw light upon it. It is +asserted by those who claim to know, of whom the writer is one, that an +inhabited domain is in immediate touch with the earth, although not +discoverable by any of the scientific instruments of investigation, such +as the telescope, the microscope, or the spectroscope, nor yet by the +surgeon's scalpel. + +The camera, however, which may be called an instrument of record, has, +at certain times, produced evidence which has excited a vast amount of +argument pro and con. + +This will not now be entered into, but attention is called to a very +important consideration bearing upon the whole subject. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +I hold in my hand a lens. This lens, in its shape, resembles a certain +other lens through which I look in examining it. It was, indeed, modeled +after the other, which is a part of my organ of vision. I place the +glass lens in a microscope, and a hitherto unknown world is revealed to +me. It was there before, but I could not see it. Do I see it now _with +the lens_? It is evident that the lens is merely an aid to vision, since +the lens in my eye is also necessary to convey the picture to my mind. + +But now another question: Do I see with the lens which is a part of my +eye? Is not that also merely an aid to vision? Let us consider. Since I +have two eyes, I may lose one of them without losing the power to see. +If I am so unfortunate as to lose one, then, if the eye is not merely an +aid to vision, but part of the vision itself, it would naturally follow +that I should see only half as well as before; but this, very evidently, +is not true. + +I can read as well as ever. For the examination of anything on a flat +surface, one eye is as good as two. + +Notice, also, that the lens of the eye and the glass lens are not only +alike in shape and transparency, but that both are composed of material +substances that can be analyzed, and that both are used to acquire +knowledge of such substances and the relations existing between them. +The glass lens is merely a supplement to the lens of the eye. It is one +step further removed from the vision, but even the lens of the eye +itself is not the seeing power. That lies back of all. + +Take now the ear-trumpet, a contrivance to concentrate sound to a given +point. It is intended as an aid to hearing, but it is not inseparably +associated with the power to hear. A person with normal senses does very +well without it. How about the ear itself? + +Does that constitute a part of the hearing power of a man? If it does, +what is the necessity of the auditory nerve? If the hearing and the ear +were one and the same, there would be no need of this connecting link +with the brain. The external and the internal ear, like the ear-trumpet, +are purely material, and by means of them we are able to cognize those +material emanations called sound. + +I speak of sound as a material emanation, because whatever sound comes +to us through the ear comes from some material source. The ear, being +material, is adapted to convey such emanations to the brain, through +which the mind becomes conscious of their existence. + +The sense of touch, also, is exclusively adapted to the acquainting of +its owner with still another aspect of things material. Hardness, +softness, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, and other attributes of +matter become known through this sense, and it may be considered a rule +without exception that when the sense of touch is excited, some material +object is responsible. The same thing is true of the senses of smell and +taste, but as their field of action is comparatively limited, I will +allow the first three named to represent the whole number. + +The organs of sight, hearing, and touch, then, are the three principal +avenues through which we obtain knowledge of matter, they themselves, +however highly organized, being also material. + +Now, I have said that there is an inhabited domain in immediate touch +with the earth, although not discoverable by any of the scientific +instruments of investigation. Sight, hearing, and touch do not sustain +this, and declare such a domain non-existent. If we bear in mind that +these organs deal with matter only, it may be freely admitted that they +speak the truth. The world whose existence we are asserting is an +immaterial world, and although it be immaterial, it can be shown that it +has, nevertheless, a claim upon our profound attention. + +Certainly, after what has been shown, it ought not to lose in interest +on that account. _For, if our bodily senses are, by their very +constitution, unable to bring us any reports save such as pertain to +matter, their silence in regard to the world we speak of counts for +nothing._ + +But it may be said that all entities are material. This is a specious +plea, but the generalization is too broad. Let us test it in a familiar +way. Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of +Independence, and attached his name to the immortal document in a clear +and legible manner. All this has to do with matter. Even the emotions +which he may be supposed to have experienced while affixing his name, +although not in themselves material, had a material effect upon his +frame. + +I say that those emotions were not in themselves material. I might take +my stand here, but prefer to go one step further, and put a question: +What were those emotions? and then add, This question is not in itself +material. + +It might be made a subject of thought. An essay might be written upon +it, which would be esteemed good, bad, or indifferent, according as the +author rightly apprehended the character of the man. + +The question may never have been put into language before, but it is now +a real entity, and our mental powers, acting freely, will have no +trouble in so regarding it. It will be seen that, while it may become +associated with things material, may be written so as to be seen, spoken +so as to be heard, or even stamped to reach the apprehension of the +blind, these material associations are no essential part of the +question, since it might arise in the mind without any such aid, and be +examined there without calling into play any one of the bodily senses, +or any combination of them. + +It may be said that this is an idle question, unworthy to take an +important place in an argument, but it cannot be said that it is a +foolish question; and it may well stand as a representative of other +questions, questions which might have been substituted; questions which +have arisen in many minds at the same time, and the answering of which +has involved the overthrow of kingdoms, thereby demonstrating, if +necessary, the reality of their existence. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +In order to make progress in the search for wisdom, it is necessary that +we should bind ourselves to follow where truth may lead. + +We cannot maintain our name as followers of the truth, if, whenever her +footsteps turn in some particular direction, we refuse to follow, or if, +whenever the path leads in the direction in which we have predetermined +not to travel, we begin to cast aspersions on the sincerity of our +leader. + +All who would attain the freedom which large possessions give, must +learn sometimes to lay aside prejudice of every kind, and follow +according to the general law which bids us proceed until some real +obstacle presents itself, or some real danger confronts us. + +My illustration has led us to the point where it appears that we are +able to say, Realities are not always material in their nature. In other +words, materiality and reality are not inseparably associated. They may +be separately considered, and dealt with as though not related. The +question, What were Franklin's emotions when signing the Declaration of +Independence? is a real question. In the world of mind it has a reason +for existence, and because the world of mind is associated with the +world of matter, and, in some ways at least, takes precedence, that +which is real in its domain may be asserted as real in the presence and +by use of some of the appliances of the latter. + +The converse of the truth, that realities may be devoid of materiality, +may be given here as an aid to the understanding. + +_Material_ things are not always _real_ in their nature. The scenery of +the stage, the portrait in oil, effigies in wax are familiar +illustrations, and it will be observed that none of these are intended +to deceive. They are merely examples of material things used in an +unreal way. + +In looking at them, we may, by the powers of mind which we possess, +endow them with a temporary reality, which will aid in producing mental +results, or we may refuse to so endow them, in which case they remain +barren of effect upon us. I have given examples of things real but not +material, and of things material but not real. Take another example of +the first of these: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals +rests upon a basis that is not material. It rests upon an idea. If the +idea that cruelty to animals is harmful, not only to them, but to those +who inflict it upon them, could be at some future time disproved, then +we should expect that the society would disappear. At present it is +sufficient to say that the society has a _real_ foundation which is in +no danger of being destroyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +It will readily be seen that to take firmly the position that realities +may be devoid of materiality involves a great deal, and those who +endeavor to prevent this thought from taking root in any particular mind +are apt to hold up before him examples of the immaterial which are not +real. Most dreams are of this nature. Their confused outlines make +temporary impressions on the memory and are then forgotten. But we have +not to do with such as these. We recognize that real things may be +material, such as certain houses, lands, or mountains, and that unreal +things may be immaterial, like passing dreams just spoken of; but the +immaterial which is none the less real is what we bring into view. And +if we are ready to admit, or to go further and declare, that reality and +materiality are not necessarily conjoined, we are then ready to give a +fair hearing to the statement that a real but immaterial world, +inhabited by real but immaterial beings, is in closest relations with +our own. + +These real but immaterial beings, because they _are_ real and +intelligent, are possessed of the primal attributes of all intelligent +beings: they have memory, feeling, emotion, will. + +In power they differ widely from each other, and in their essential +character there are as many shades of difference as with mortals. + +Let us speak first of their power. This is mostly exercised in their own +field, that of the immaterial, yet to suppose that it is any the less +real in its effects upon our lives is to forget how small a part our +senses directly play in influencing our motives. The end and object of +our efforts may be to obtain the means to gratify our senses or those of +our friends, but the process through which we are obliged to work is so +complicated, it involves the play of so many forces, it brings us into +relations with so many people, each with his own plans and purposes, +that we are continually making decisions based upon what we consider as +probable, rather than certain, results. This is the opportunity of the +spirits, and we often discover that all our efforts have simply tended +to the advancement of others, while we are left in the lurch. The man +who keeps his temper under such circumstances may be favored by the +receipt of a thought-message. It enters his mind as ideas do, with a +flash, and if he is wise he will carefully elaborate it into words. I +have been working for myself only, bending everything as far as +possible to my own enrichment. Others have been doing the same. What +right have I to complain if they have done with me, by their superior +power and foresight, what I have tried to do with them? None at all. + +Morally we are on the same level. Let this misfortune be a lesson to me. +Henceforth I will at least make an effort to do as I would be done by. + +As he makes this resolution, a warm glow suddenly pervades his being. He +feels at once lighter and stronger, and then perhaps he does a little +thinking for himself. "If I believed in angels, I should say that they +were near, and touched me then; I never felt anything like it." Little +does he suspect the truth, that the whole idea which he so carefully +elaborated in his mind had been flashed into it from without by an +angel-friend, and that when it had borne its natural fruit in a good +resolution, it became possible for the same friend to convey to him a +touch of her own delight. + +It may be objected that illustrations like these prove nothing as to the +source of the experience; that to deny that invisible intelligences so +play upon men is as rational, or more so, as to say they do. But we are +not limited to such comparatively indefinite evidence. For nearly fifty +years it has been permitted, or commanded, or both, that these invisible +beings should demonstrate the reality of continued existence, and they +have been doing so in a great variety of ways. For particulars, +reference is made to the periodical literature devoted to the subject, +and to the scores of books which have been written upon it. + +It is not my purpose, however, to enter into this field of evidence +with any approach to minutiæ, for it was not here that I acquired the +ability to say, The occult world is a real, inhabited domain. I know +whereof I speak. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In searching for truth in the fields of thought, we often run counter to +our own prejudices, and almost unconsciously call a halt. There are some +whose self-conceit is so great that they invariably do so the moment +that any of their prejudices is in the slightest danger of a shock. But +it is rather to the seeker who has in part divested himself from this +hampering load, which he had perhaps inherited like a humor of the +blood, that I now speak. + +What is to be done? How proceed in such a case? The remedy is simple. +Whenever you are dealing with abstract ideas, and find one that is +refractory, either in itself for want of further analysis, or because of +some special weakness of yours which incapacitates you from subduing +it, never give it up; if you do, you will find yourself under it like a +toad under a stone for an indefinite length of time. No, the right thing +to do is to pass at once from the abstract to the concrete, and find in +material things the counterpart of the truth under examination, and then +proceed. The effect is often wonderful. + +To illustrate. Suppose you are examining the abstract idea of the +expediency of doing right. You may have some particular case in mind, +probably will have, if the decision is to count for anything in your +life. You may call to mind the famous saying, It is better to be right, +than to be president. You will recognize the principle involved in this, +but is it of universal application? you may inquire. Is there not some +way by which I can take the free-and-easy course and yet incur no +penalty? A great many people appear to be able to, why should not I? +This is the point where you need to transfer the case from the abstract +to the concrete form, and ask yourself, Suppose I were mixing chemicals +according to a certain formula to produce a certain compound, and +suppose one of the ingredients were wanting. Should I go ahead and trust +to luck, and expect to get the compound just the same as though I +followed the directions? Surely not. What would the science of chemistry +amount to if such a thing were possible? How could anything new be +discovered if the governing principles could not be depended on, or, in +other words, if like causes did not _always_ produce like effects, and +unlike causes, unlike effects? + +The most intrepid explorer in the scientific field might well despair of +the prospect in such a case. But this is chemistry, and the laws of +conduct are not so rigid, you may say. That is just where you miss the +path. Until you attain to a belief in the unity pervading all things, +from the lowest to the highest, this unity differing in outward +appearance or manifestation only, and not in essential character, you +will find no peace nor rest. The laws of conduct less rigid than the +laws of chemistry? Say, rather, infinitely more so. For the higher the +plane of action, the less likelihood is there of any superior force +interposing to divert the current of events from its natural course; and +the laws of conduct, remember, pertain to the life of the soul, which +makes them higher than the laws of chemistry by two removes, for the +laws of health relating to the physical body come in between. + +But the laws of conduct are not well understood, you say. That, indeed, +is true. We have only a few keys opening into this realm of the soul, +and most people are content to take public opinion as a sufficient guide +rather than to take the trouble to explore for themselves. + +But it is the plane just below this, that of bodily life and death, +which we are attempting more especially to elucidate. There seems to be +no systematic teaching in regard to this that is worthy of the name of +science. + +The problem of life itself, what it is as a force differing from other +forces, how to deduce from the manifestations of vitality what vitality +is, remains unsolved. And why so? For a very simple reason. Because +those who attempt the problem are unwilling or unable to conform to the +conditions which they recognize as necessary in all other departments of +scientific research. They do not study life _objectively_. They may +think they do. They may think that to study life in other men or in +animals is a truly objective method, but this is a fallacy. + +The theory that life needs to be studied from an outside standpoint in +order to be comprehended, is all right, but the man who uses his own +life-force in studying that of other men or animals is not outside the +subject of his thought at all. The active currents of his own being +continually intervene to obscure the processes of thought and render his +conclusions valueless. + +It may be true that no other method which can be called objective is +immediately apparent, but it does not follow that there is no other; and +if we simply enlarge our ideas of what is possible, we shall find the +true method to be just what we ought rationally to expect, and that is +this: The student who wishes to solve this problem, either for his own +satisfaction or for the enlightenment of others, must eliminate from +the problem the one disturbing element, _his personal life-force_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Does it seem absurd to say that, in order to study life, a man must die? +For that is what this method amounts to in the last analysis. + +Now, I beg of you not to be unnecessarily alarmed. I have said nothing +about burial. If death were only another name for annihilation, then +death and burial would be inseparably associated, no doubt. But suppose +it should be true that it is an error to associate the thought of +annihilation with any man, is it not clear that whoever permits that +error to have any place in his mind is sure to give a meaning to the +word death which does not belong to it? Is it not evident that the +thought of death in that case must borrow blackness and mystery of a +kind that does not pertain to it? Most surely. But let it be said again, +that death is a reality; it is not a fiction, nor a mere seeming. A man +cannot possess bodily life and at the same time be dead. The two +conditions are incompatible. Otherwise there would be no advantage to be +gained toward the study of life by experiencing its opposite. + +Shall I try to tell you, from the standpoint of experience, what death +is? Perhaps it will be best to tell you first what it is not. It is not +a snuffing-out like a candle, unless we could suppose one where the +spark should remain quietly alive until the candle was relighted. + +It is not a going to sleep, unless we assume it possible for the +dream-life to be woven on to the daytime consciousness at both ends +without a break, so that the dreamer, however strange may have been his +dreams, and whatever the testimony of others may be, is able to say, +with conscious truthfulness, I have not slept at all. + +Death includes, without question, an entire suspension of bodily +sensations and activities. The consciousness of _being_, however, +remains, and with it, as a necessary consequence, the consciousness of +being alive, however shut in by the enclosing walls of a senseless +frame. + +What is to follow does not occur to the mind. A peace that is absolute +belongs to a death that is clean. Appetite of every kind is dead with +the body. Desire is not; resignation takes its place. What is this +resignation like? It includes a consciousness of a more potent yet +kindly will, and contentment with the result of the action of that will. + +The Giver has resumed His gift, the gift of life, for the benefit of him +who has parted with it. The resulting peace is permeated with +gratitude, not different in kind, although different in manifestation, +from that which the little child expresses in every motion of his happy +little body, when he seems to say continuously, I am glad to be alive. +The man is glad to be dead. + +Do you think it impossible that such an experience could come to any one +who should afterwards recover life to describe it? Very likely. But stop +for a moment and consider. When a man dies, the result may be said to +manifest in a twofold way. First: To the man himself, who is, to say the +the least, cut off from his customary outward activities. Second: To the +world at large, where the word is passed around, Such a one is dead; and +one acquaintance after another, as he hears the news, turns to a certain +part of his mental organism and marks it down in black where it is not +likely to be forgotten. Henceforth he will send out toward that friend, +now become a name or memory, a different kind of mental current. + +But wait: the word comes, Not dead after all--a false report. +Immediately the operation is reversed. The black marks are rubbed out, +the little switch is re-turned, and the friends all agree, to save +troublesome thought, that the man who was supposed to be dead was not +really so, and the old question asked by Job, If a man die, shall he +live again? is prevented once more from obtruding itself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +My aim is to make this book practical, that is, to clothe its thought in +such garb as to render it available for use, not to scholars merely, but +to all thoughtful minds. + +I shall endeavor in this chapter to gather up a few missing links in my +train of thought, and afterwards endeavor to give you a glimpse of the +Beyond. The question I seem called upon to answer is, How can a man be +alive and dead at the same time? and in order to answer it, it will be +necessary to analyze the thought called death, and separate it into its +various parts. + +The man is dead, says local report, and the consciousness of society +undergoes that natural change in regard to the man which I have +described. + +His name becomes associated with things that were, but no longer are. +Even those who theoretically believe that the man continues to live +either in happiness or misery, have, most of them, so little confidence +in the theory which they have subscribed to, that they never dream of +putting forth a mental current based on the theory. To all intents and +purposes, society consigns the average man to annihilation, with a +half-careless "Poor fellow, so he's gone. We'll see no more of him. +Well, no time to weep, seeing as he didn't leave me anything. What new +device for entrapping the elusive dollar shall I conjure up to-day?" + +I am dead, says the man himself as the shadows which have been gathering +upon his senses culminate in a rayless silence, and every thought of +motion becomes a recollection, a mere theory of fancy, that will not +even approach the dominion of the will. + +Death, as a state of consciousness, is a thing entirely new to him, but +he cannot reason on the subject. To reason is to live, to set the brain +in motion, to perform mental operations; this is no longer possible. + +What shall this state be compared to? It is like that of one isolated in +a secret cell of his own house, the key turned on him from the outside, +every avenue of communication cut off, dead to the world and all that it +contains. If a total loss of appetite can be associated with the state, +it might continue for an indefinite period; and if the power of +thought-transference comes in, a new kind of life has been begun. + +But science says that no man is really dead who still retains his +consciousness, by which statement science belies its name. Calling +itself knowledge, it spreads abroad its own ignorance. How many a +post-mortem has been held in the hope of finding the secret chamber +wherein that part of man which cannot die has gone to rest! How often +the sweet peace of death has become a conscious madness, by this means, +God only knows. Gentlemen, desist. + +To find a chamber whose occupant is invisible debars you forever from +obtaining the proof that you have found it. But perhaps it is not the +soul itself that is the object of this search, but rather some special +physical representative that might be found still quivering with life +and so betray its master. All folly. + +The soul when uncontaminated informs the whole outward body. It has its +pains and illnesses, more or less affecting the outer form, yet all +unrecognized in materia medica, and when its mortal brother is struck +with death, bends all its energies to make escape, lest it, too, take on +mortality. Failing in its effort to make a doorway for its exit, it +suffers for awhile through sympathy, till the final moment sets it free +from pain within its small dark house, no longer small, because made +clear, transparent, by the touch of death, when the dying has been +brave. No trace of foreign matter may remain to start a dissolution, in +which case the soul preserves the body from decay without more trouble +than a little watchful care. + +Sight, hearing, touch, through vibratory currents reach round the world +and even touch the clouds; the body has become, in fact, a mansion +perfectly adapted to the needs of its proprietor, who finds a new world +open to his delighted consciousness, and thanks God fervently for his +perfect victory over death, as well as for his comfort and protection +within the white, still walls which form, in fact, the first +abiding-place of the spirit. + +With this still form as passive aid, the soul, with little pain, is able +to make the mental transition which its change of circumstance requires. +No longer concerned directly with any thought based on material needs or +material changes, it finds itself in touch with the moral causes which +underlie these changes; and because moral force is most familiarly +manifest in and through people, these, and their relations to itself, +fill all the mental horizon. + +In this new field of perception, nothing impresses more than the +enormous differences in spiritual rank and attainment existing among +mortals who, judged by tape-line and scale, stood fairly equal, and whom +human law necessarily places on a plane of perfect equality, or +perhaps, through its deference to wealth, makes unequal in the wrong +way. + +The thoroughness with which past illusions are stripped away from the +mind tends to leave the spirit fairly aghast at its previous blindness. + +Frequently forgetting that the motor nerves of the physical form are no +longer responsive to its touch, it starts to rise, that it may go and +tell the world of these wonders just discovered, but finds itself in the +firm and quiet grasp of death, a touch that seems to speak and say: + +"Never mind; that is all right. You forget you are not free. Lie still +and learn your lesson." + +"But shall I not return?" + +"Possibly, but the mortal life is no concern of yours at present. You +are dead." + +All this as in a flash, for words do not belong to this state, ideas +rather, the spiritual essences of thought that seem to need no time +whatever to make their mark upon the mind. + +To some of these the mind is so receptive that they sink at once to the +very core of being, while others are held upon the surface. + +This last communication, You are dead, is sure to be so held. It seems +such an evident conclusion to respond, If I am dead, there is no death +but this seems such a contradiction to life's long lesson, namely, that +amidst a wilderness of uncertainties, death is the one thing certain. +And then the recollection of the shrinking of the soul at thought of +death, how to account for that, if there were no reality behind +appearances so countless? + +This in another flash of ideation that leaves a sense of mystery as of a +problem not worked out, and which may not be while death as a condition +rests upon the form. I say, may not be, but would not be understood to +mean that the hindrance is mechanical in this case. A pure soul, even in +death, has certain reserve forces which can be put in action if the need +is great enough, but the consciousness of being in a friend's control, +especially when that control is apparently absolute, will tend to check +all restless impulse in this region of the dark, till now all +unexplored. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +But if the soul might not take up and solve the problem for want of time +and space, we at this writing are not so limited. + +First, let us state it clearly. If death does not mean a loss of +consciousness necessarily, what is its distinguishing feature as +compared with life? And what, if anything, is there in it to dread? The +confusion of mind so general on these topics can be accounted for in a +very simple manner. + +The body has its life and its death, and the soul has its life and its +death, and we have but two words to describe the four conditions. This +makes it so nearly impossible to generalize on the subject and at the +same time maintain clearness. + +For while the student of natural history attributes life and death to +the body alone, and the idealist goes to the other extreme and makes +life and death purely subjective--attributes of mind, not matter--the +philosopher who would have his mind open on both sides, not only to +those thoughts which enter unheralded, but also to those which seem to +have their origin in physical vibrations and enter the sensorium through +the body,--the philosopher, I say, finds it necessary to discriminate +carefully in the use of these words, life and death, and to make it +clear which is meant, the body or the soul, whenever he attributes +either condition to man. + +I have said the two words cover four conditions. What are they? In the +first the body is alive, and the soul is alive. Beautiful condition of +ingenuous youth! In the second, the body is alive, and the soul dead. +The man who by a course of persistent indulgence in all manner of crime +and sensuality has stifled the voice of conscience, and finally reached +the point where he is ready to say, "Evil, be thou my good," attains to +a form of quiet. + +The soul dies, and its decaying powers are absorbed by the body, which +becomes henceforth an embodied poison, most dangerous and even deadly to +the contact of the sensitive. + +The third condition is that of the soul first described, in which the +body has either temporarily or permanently parted with its life, while +the soul remains intact. Still a part of the world's seething life, +because action and reaction of the powerful causative soul-currents +continue with such a soul, the interment of the body will decide whether +the temporary physical death shall become permanent or not. In those +exceptional cases where the body is preserved from the paroxysms of a +blind grief which, when they include contact, tend to snap the last +thread of vitality, or, still more important, from the embalmer's +ignorant knife, which slays unnumbered thousands--when the body is +preserved from both these dangers by a previous isolation, great +possibilities are in store. + +A forty-days' fast in the wilderness was the experience of one such +soul, after which he was able to say of his bodily life, No man taketh +it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, +and I have power to take it again. + +For his bodily life was restored to him, and death of the body had no +more terrors to the man who had attained superhuman powers. + +The fourth and last case, that where the death of the body follows that +of the soul, will not be enlarged on. + +There are such cases, but such can receive no lessons from a printed +page. The language of events alone can reach them, and even when the +soul is not dead, but rather entombed in the body, and rendered torpid +for want of air to breathe, the effect is the same, so far as reaching +them is concerned; the death of the body wakens such imprisoned spirits, +only to plunge them into an untold agony of despair as they discover +that life, with all its opportunities, has been worse than wasted, and a +bare existence alone remains, minus friends, minus hope, minus resource +of any kind even to conceal the abject poverty which is seen to be the +direct result of wilful and persistent wrongdoing all the way to the +bitter end. + +If we can suppose that such a soul, at this twelfth hour, under the +tremendous pressure of this awakening, should suddenly resolve to +accept the situation, and to brace every nerve to endure the horrors of +the event without complaint, while it would not be possible to say +_when_ there would be any change for the better for such a one, the +reason would be because time is not to such a soul; while it still +remains true that mercy is as truly an attribute of infinite power, as +justice must always be. + +If, on the other hand, we suppose that such a soul breaks out into rage +at the discovery of its loss, hurling anathemas at the author of its +being, it will thereby plunge itself into darker depths, parting with +one after another of its faculties, until final extinction of the +individuality closes the scene. + +I have now shown the four conditions which our dual constitution in +relation to life and death makes possible. Some enlarging on these +topics, which concern us all, may not be unprofitable. We all enter +life in the first described condition, with body and soul both alive, +the body visible and tangible, the soul more or less so, according as +its environments since conception have favored its growth. + +Comparatively few of us ever reach the second condition I have +described, in which the body remains alive while the soul is utterly +dead. The protests of this, which is called the immortal part of us, +because the death of the body in itself does not impair its vigor, +usually prevent so great a calamity from occurring. + +Some kind of a compromise is entered into, by which the soul is allowed +a certain amount of freedom, on condition that the body shall remain +undisturbed in its favorite pleasures. Sometimes one day in the week is +selected, in which the soul is permitted to rule. + +Sometimes a single department of life's activities is placed under its +charge, and to meet the man on the favored day, or to have dealings with +him in this favored department, gives you a very exalted idea of the +individual. Sometimes in his business relations a man will be found +conscientious in the extreme, while in his family he acts the tyrant and +the brute. Sometimes his family almost worship him, while thousands +speak his name with detestation. In either case the body, not the soul, +the outer and visible, not the inner invisible self, is the leading +factor in the man, and the court of last resort. + +The man is still in slavery to the mortal; he has no knowledge of any +life except the earth-life; the faith-knowledge which he might have, +were his soul given its freedom and permitted to use its higher powers, +is shut out by the disorder of his condition, wherein a servant in +rank, the body, rules over the prince entitled to the throne. + +This is the prevailing condition of the human family to-day, the +difference between most people in this respect being merely one of +degree, some giving the prince more, and some less of freedom. A few +millions at most have given the nominal power into his hands, retaining +the real for bodily uses. To curry favor with these, tens of millions +profess to have done the same. In thousands only is the soul truly +regnant, and these are widely scattered, and more or less hidden, lest +they be driven out of life. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +When I say that I have been outside and have returned, I speak the +truth, and yet my words seem to express an untruth. It is because, as I +have said before, that other kind of existence is so different from this +that it uses a different language to express even a simple idea, a +language which the kind we know as figurative most nearly resembles, +although that is far enough from being the same. I should therefore use +figurative language to embody what I have to say in regard to that other +life, if literary considerations were alone to be regarded; but my aim +is to benefit, and I decline to use a form of speech which has been so +often sold as merchandise that many people no longer believe there is +any truth attached to it. I use instead the plain, everyday speech, and +say without qualification that I have been away, that I am acquainted +with the conditions that follow after death, that I lean on no man's +theories, not even on those which I might make, if I were given to +theorizing, which I am not. No, I rest on facts, plain, cold facts, +which are none the less so because they are registered in the mind of +one man instead of many; facts of consciousness not to be gainsaid, +although, in order to express them so as to make them most useful here, +it is necessary to translate them into a language so far from the +original, that only those who keep the fact of the translation in mind +can hope to receive the truth in something like its purity. + +I am well aware that I can scarcely hope to convince my reader that it +could be possible under any circumstances for one to enter the kingdom +of the dead, to take on the powers and conditions belonging to that +realm, to become a component part of that world of mystery to the extent +of dismissing all care in regard to the possibility of return, and even +to transmit such a thought-message as this. The responsibility for my +being out of place rests upon you all; I was compelled to undergo the +pain of the passage at your will; and now that you repent and ask me to +return, I will take my time and think about it. I am well housed in a +good body on this side. I do not know that I would go back if I could. + +That, after all this, and after a succession of spiritual events which, +measured by their effect on one's consciousness, should correspond to a +period of centuries on earth, one should actually make his way back and +take up again the broken threads of his earthly life, and weave them +into something resembling an orderly design once more,--to convince my +readers of the possibility of this is so nearly impossible that I shall +not seriously attempt it, although it is true. + +It will be said that even though I suppose that this is actually true of +myself, it does not follow that I am not suffering from an +hallucination. + +It will be argued very naturally that in so far as I am now a tangible, +actual human being, just so far is it impossible that I should ever have +been actually dead; and as to becoming habituated to the kind of life +which may remain after the body loses its animation, for any one now +living to make such a claim is the height of absurdity. + +Any one who shall take this stand will need to be reminded that bodily +consciousness is one thing, and soul-consciousness another, and that +there may be _spiritual_ existence beyond that. Comparatively few +mortals have not at some time in their lives awakened at least +momentarily to soul-consciousness, and can remember, if they care to +try, how suddenly and completely the bodily consciousness retired into +the background at its coming. + +Thousands can testify that this soul-consciousness in them so dominates +that of the body as to render bodily pains powerless to disturb the +regnant soul. + +These may be able to understand that in the world toward which they +hasten, another advance will become possible, wherein the +soul-consciousness shall become subordinate to the higher life of the +spirit. + +To make this a little clearer let me say that what you are now conscious +of as your soul, the sensitive inner nature, that feels a slight as +though it were a blow, that spurs the organism to years of anxious toil +in the hope of gaining independence, that scorns to beg, yet in the hour +of danger sometimes feels to pray--this inner self is to be your body +when death shall come to break the tie that holds you captive in the +dust. Every consideration to which your soul is now sensitive shall +become, as it were, the laws of nature then. You will suddenly discover +that ill-will, for instance, is a current actually tangible, as much so +as an electric current was to your physical body. You will learn +experimentally that kindliness of spirit, good-will, and gratitude are +equally tangible to your new and finer senses. You will perceive that a +generous spirit diffuses light, and a selfish one dwells in his own +darkness, and this kind of light and darkness you will be astonished to +discover has taken the place of what you formerly knew by those names. +You will soon perceive that a deceiving spirit knows how to wear a +false light as he pretends to a genuine interest in your welfare, and +that a truly friendly one will sometimes hide his light, if thereby he +can obtain advantage for your benefit. + +If your life has been little more than a revolution around yourself, +measuring everything by its relation to your personal advantage as you +saw it, you will be surprised to find how small and dark a space will +bound your being; and it may be a long time before you cease to dwell +upon the memories of the world left behind, or cease to hope that in +some way you can return to make a better use of its opportunities. And +when you shall fairly come to understand that you have been living in +the generous air and sunshine of the spirit of God, and that, instead of +seeking to imitate Him by making your life a blessing to those less +favored than yourself, you have employed your brief span in the effort +to appropriate to your private use everything that could be lawfully +seized on, you will wonder why the certainty that earth-life is limited +had not impressed you more; and when you perceive, through the +soul-consciousness which has taken the place of the bodily, that you +have no data whatever upon which to base even a surmise as to how long +your new kind of life is to continue, such measureless despair may fall +upon you as shall even make tears impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +On the other hand, if anywhere along your life-journey you have +scattered any seeds of kindness, they will every one of them bear fruit +in the Beyond. + +From the moment when you perceive and acknowledge to yourself that you +are not in every way fitted to enter the courts of heaven and become +associated with those to whom selfish thoughts have become simply +memories, you are likely to have experiences tending to refine and +purify your nature. No longer active in the outward, you must bear what +influences come upon you from without as best you may. An infant in the +cradle is not more helpless than the great majority of those who enter +the Beyond; and the invisible nurse that may have you in charge will +not ask you what kind of medicine is most agreeable, but will administer +what is best for you. + +Picture to your mind, if possible, what it would be like to lie +physically helpless, with your outward consciousness telling you that +you no longer appear as a man, or as a woman, but only as an infant to +any eyes able to see you, while at the same time your mental vision is +perfectly clear and takes in all your past life in every aspect of its +relation to other lives, and especially in its relations to the great +all-pervading life which seems now to be somehow lost out of all +possible reach. + +Suppose that while those reactions called pain and pleasure are more +vitally potent than ever, because of a vastly heightened sensitiveness, +mental as well as physical exertion has become impossible, a succession +of states of consciousness taking their place; and then suppose a +master hand, with all the resources of mesmerism at his command, should +begin playing upon your organism, proving to you by every touch that not +a line of all your past history but is an open book to him, and his only +aim is to bring you to a willingness to confess your weaknesses +and follies, your neglect of duties, as well as your open +transgressions--one thing at least would surely result: you would +discover, and never forget, that spiritual things are not less, but +immensely _more_ real than any physical entities with which you ever +came in contact. + +It is such a great mistake to suppose that because you have nothing in +your experience corresponding to such a condition as that which I have +just described, therefore you never will have. + +What kind of reasoning can be weaker than this? Have you not two kinds +of consciousness, one of the world and all it contains, and one of +personal existence in its various relations? Do you not perceive that +your body, vitally active as it is, and swayed by every thought you send +out, belongs properly to the first of these fields of consciousness, +while that which makes up your character--your preferences, your +predilections, your faults, your foibles, your beliefs, and your +prejudices--belongs to the second? + +Can you not see that a suspension of the outward consciousness, in other +words, a suspension of your power to sense the material world through +your material senses, has no necessary connection with any suspension of +your inner consciousness by which you might be able to say, I cannot +move; I cannot see, hear, or feel anything, but I am still a white man, +ready to swear by the flag and by my right to my personal liberty, and +if any one takes the trouble to hunt me out he will find me the same man +I always was? + +Hundreds of thousands thus lie in their graves, thankful if they know +its location, and waiting as only the dead can for the time of their +deliverance. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Accept another glimpse of the Beyond. One of the most distinctive +characteristics of this country or state of being is activity of mind. +Let me explain why I say country or state of being. It is either the one +or the other to the consciousness according to the point of view. Looked +at externally, it is seen to be a new environment, a different kind of +life; but when its atmosphere becomes yours, the effect upon your mental +organism will be so great that you will rightly regard it as a state of +being to which earth-life bears the relation of a pre-natal one. This +comparison, however, has one defect, for while we of the earth have no +conscious memory of our pre-natal life, they of the Beyond recall every +leading event of earth-life as clearly as though no time had intervened. + +The change of state brings on the mental activity spoken of, the effect +of which on the material side manifests as heat or magnetism, or both. + +The lifting off of the weight of dead matter causes a feeling of +buoyancy, and the vibrations of the particles of the gaseous body may be +so great that it will seem to expand until one seems everywhere present +over a vast territory in the same way that we are now present in all +parts of our physical bodies. + +The first event of prime importance to you will be the demonstrating and +establishing of your spiritual rank. Just where do you belong? In the +society of what people, or what class of people, are you content? Does +any accusation lie against you? If so, what have you to say in regard to +it? + +Are there any special credits that you claim which seem never to have +been acknowledged? Is there anything you wish to confess? To what +concealment do you claim a right? + +The answering of these questions may be a very simple matter, or may +involve the welfare of nations. While the friends left behind will +contribute their quota of evidence, those with whom you have been +associated who have preceded you to the unknown country will be the most +actively interested in your case. You will find some waiting for your +testimony on some point involving their own status, and when you come to +speak of the matter you may have to struggle against a tumult of voices +before you succeed in testifying. Where questions of fact are involved, +of sufficient importance to justify it, most wonderful agencies can be +set in motion to determine them correctly in the region of the Beyond. + +That precise point in the ether where the event occurred, and which has +long since been left behind by the passage of the solar system through +space, can be visited and made to yield up its record as by kinetograph; +or the surroundings may be reproduced as on a stage, and the one who +persists in falsifying is suddenly placed there and told to act his part +again according to his own story. He will find it very difficult to play +a false part in the presence of those who know the truth. + +It may be noted that this picture of a soul on trial is quite different +from that given before, where it is held as the prisoner of death; but +it is only necessary to bear in mind that events may succeed each other +even in a country where time is not, and that such succession marks the +stages of one's growth. + +If any of your faculties are in a dull or torpid state because the +circumstances of your life have been such that they never have been +given a field of action, the invisible actors of the Beyond who may have +you in charge will know how to awaken, stimulate, and call these +faculties into an active state before the final decision is rendered, to +the end that no injustice may be done you on their account. Should the +verdict of the lower court be such that you are not willing to abide by +it, you may take an appeal to a higher court. + +At the last you may even appeal from the judgment of angels altogether, +and demand a trial by the great Spirit of the universe, but you will not +do this recklessly when you know that it involves a trial by ordeal, or +a contest of sheer will-power, sustained by conscious innocence alone, +with planetary forces. + +Not brief nor trifling is a contest such as this; not once in a +thousand years does such a thing occur; but the fact that the way to it +is always open in the Beyond proves with what infinite tenderness the +individual is guarded against injustice. + +But it is impossible that I should know of what I am speaking, some +reader says. I grant you that it seems so, but would discussion settle +it? Is it not time the door was opened? Is there no need? + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +An illustration of the difficulty of generalizing when speaking of +matters on the spirit-side just now occurs to me. + +Suppose that you as a mortal were permitted to witness a combat between +a soul on its way upward and a foul spirit seeking to gain control. The +spirit may be able to take on any form it pleases, and approaches in the +guise of a friend. But the soul receives a warning touch and speaks out +sharply: "Stand; keep your distance. Who are you? and what do you want?" +With every smooth and crafty method of tone and word the spirit seeks to +convince that he is what he claims to be, a friend, and entitled to +approach. The soul, with its senses sharpened by fear, uses every +effort to discern the character of the stranger, weighs and analyzes +instantly every expression of the wily foe, and before the answer is +completed, decides positively and prepares to strike. The spirit +perceives the motion and shifts his footing in time to escape the +blow--a thought-impulse, weighted to kill. Does the spirit respond in +anger? Oh, no; his object is not to injure, but to gain control, so he +remonstrates, with pretended grief, that one whom he loves should so +mistake him. But the soul is not to be deceived, and gathers up its +strength for another blow. The spirit pours out a perfect stream of +flattering words, intended to lull his intended victim into a momentary +lack of vigilance, and ventures a little nearer, hoping to touch the +aura and disappear from view, only to become manifest as an invisible +power within the soul, an active agent in undermining its powers until +the opportunity shall present to seize the very throne itself and revel +in the possessions of its victim. + +But the soul is cautious, and in virtue strong, and so, conscious of +invisible protection, suddenly fixes the demon with his eye, and before +he can escape launches at him a bolt that leaves him helpless and +writhing, dead as a spirit can be. "I killed him," says the exulting +soul, as it passes on its way. + +You would be apt to say, "He did not kill him at all; he only disabled +him." + +Now, while it is true that what I have described corresponds in +appearance to what we should here call disablement merely, its full +meaning cannot be understood without entering the consciousness of the +spirit who was struck down. + +To such a one activity, or the ability to act, constitutes life; +inactivity, or the inability to act, constitutes death, not death as we +know it, but a living death, in which the fierce vibrations of a life +that knows no end, being confined as though by a broken wheel in its +carriage,--being confined, I say, to the gaseous envelope, the +propulsion of which has absorbed half its fire, soon heats the envelope +to a torturing degree. + +Illustrating in another way, the evil spirit, being disabled from +continuing his customary activity, is forced to reflect, to look back +over his course, and face the evils he has done. Horrors take hold of +him. The most poignant dread of being overtaken by those whom he has +despoiled of all that made life dear, until in despair they have +committed suicide, and started out to find their tormentor, takes hold +of the miserable wreck, who has not even the consolation of looking +forward to some certain end to his sufferings, because neither time nor +the last sleep are known in the region of the dead. + +Is this experience, do you think, any less to be dreaded by a selfish +spirit than is death by a mortal who is consciously not ready? It is +therefore properly called death in the language of the spirit, made up, +as that language is, of ideas only. + +But in calling it death on the earth-plane we are using a word that has +a much different meaning here. + +When we say, "The man is dead," a funeral, or at least a burial is +suggested. Not so there. + +In this we have an example of the difficulty of conveying information in +regard to the conditions of the Beyond, without using words that are +liable to be misunderstood. + +Only those who have attained to the ability to converse in the light, +eye to eye, without words, are entirely free from these obstructions to +mental intercourse. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Astronomy teaches us that our earth, together with the other members of +the solar system, is traveling through space, at the rate of eight miles +per second, around a distant center, in an orbit requiring many +thousands of years to complete. + +We learn from this that we are constantly changing our place in the +universe, and are entering new etherean fields, not only every year, but +every day and hour. Since we are unconscious of this motion, it may seem +to have no vital relation to us, yet, by a knowledge of the fact, we may +gain an insight into the wonderful resources of this great machine for +recording events. + +Every thought and feeling of which we are conscious makes its mark, not +only upon our bodies, both the outer and the inner, but also upon the +ether through which we are passing. I am alluding not to the words in +which we clothe or perhaps conceal our thoughts or feelings when +communicating with one another, but to the thought-current itself at the +point of origin. + +This would be the same in the minds of all men of equal intelligence, +without regard to nationality; and those beings who are able to read the +marks left by these currents would find them written in unmistakable +characters, and of a size proportionate to our rate of travel, on the +fair ethereal page. + +In one respect we are at an enormous disadvantage in our relations, +conscious or unconscious, with the denizens of the Beyond. + +Our thought-motions compared with theirs are like an ox-team to a +locomotive. It is a fact, and there is no use in quarreling with it. On +the other hand, through our association with matter we are able, without +permanent injury, to bear oppressions of the spirit which would be death +itself to them; and those among them who would take delight in insulting +us are deterred from doing so by our insensibility to the stinging +thought-current. We ourselves would not insult a post for being one. + +These oppressions of spirit, or depressions, as we blindly call them, +are a part of the system by and through which we are made to manifest +what manner of person we are; and our blindness as to the real meaning +of the life we have come into possession of, our persistent mistaking it +for an end, instead of a means to an end, brings it to pass that the +tests we undergo as to our fitness for this or that position in the +real though hidden life that awaits us all, are real and genuine tests, +which they could not be, to their full extent, if we clearly understood +at the time just what was being done. Every thoughtful man and woman +looking back over life can discern how this or that decision has been a +turning-point leading on to unexpected success or paving the way to +disaster or defeat. When the test is complete, some inkling of its +meaning often dawns upon us, and we resolve to be on guard next time, +and then perhaps we start off on some rainbow chase, only to discover +that we are the prey of delusion once more. Then, perhaps, we get angry +and curse the whole machine as the product of some stupid blunderer, +thereby avoiding the confession of any mental obliquity on our own part. + +Not all of the delusions of mortality are of a kind that lead to such a +result. Some have been imposed upon us by our risen brothers of the +other sphere, and have held sway over our minds, as they did over our +fathers' minds, and over their fathers' before them, none of us living +long enough on the mortal side, or obtaining sufficiently clear +independent light, to enable us to become free. The shaking off of the +fetters of this mental bondage is a special characteristic of our own +day; and those who have listened to the torrents of eloquence poured +from the lips of the young mediums upon this subject, know that this +work, the necessity for which, as I have indicated, is largely due to +other-world intelligences, is now being forwarded from the same quarter +with tremendous power. Verily, there must have been a revolution in the +heavens, or this would not be. And such, indeed, is the case. The +tremendous power of an organized hierarchy under the controlling +influence of a single mind so prominently in evidence here, is without +a counterpart on the other side to-day, although the sins against +humanity which have been charged against the priesthood of past ages +should more properly be laid at the door of their invisible inspirers, +then in the height of that power which is no longer theirs. To-day the +enemies of racial progress are to be sought for on earth, where the +intoxicating dreams of power without responsibility have found lodgment +and worked their corrupting influence in the minds of not a few of our +brothers, who seem to forget that they are still members of the race +they are seeking to enslave, and that their responsibility for misusing +the power entrusted to them will be accounted all the greater in +consequence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The range of subjects coming within the scope of my title is so great +that I cannot undertake an exhaustive treatment of any within reasonable +limits, but I hope to supply a few keys by the use of which reverent +minds of any and every school of thought may be able to enter upon +successful explorations. + +The amount of evidence necessary to convince a sincere inquirer that +this earth-life, important as it is, is but the threshold of existence, +is not very great, but it must needs be adapted to the individual mind. + +To obtain this evidence is worth more to any man or woman than any other +purely mental acquirement can be. + +For it is a mental acquisition, the possession of which is related to, +and has a natural influence over, every other we can call our own. Yet +it has not, in itself, any transforming effect upon the life and +character. + +When such a result follows, other influences share in the work. He who +has lost friends that were a part of his life, the mother whose children +have fainted away into the world of mystery, the philosopher who has +given the strength of his years to the search for truth, are all +profoundly affected by the discovery; while those in whom the affections +are less strongly developed, or whose mental powers give them no +adequate perception of the profound and far-reaching relations of this +great truth, may hold it as lightly as they do their dreams, and receive +from it no more benefit than they do from them. + +Whoever is capable of analyzing a thought or the expression of a +thought, can find evidence of the world beyond strewn along his path on +every hand. + +All figurative expressions are merely unconscious devices to give to +thought somewhat of the objective reality it possesses to dwellers in +the Beyond. For instance: + +"There are names which carry with them something of a charm. We have but +to say 'Athens,' and all the great deeds of antiquity break upon our +hearts like a sudden gleam of sunshine; 'Florence,' and the magnificence +and passionate agitation of Italy's prime send forth their fragrance +towards us like blossom-laden boughs, from whose dusky shadows we catch +whispers of the beautiful tongue." + +Is it doubted that the Athens of which the author speaks will be found +embodied in forms real and tangible in that other world which takes to +itself all that attains to immortality in this one? + +Why do authors speak of a _cold_ greeting, of _walls_ of reserve, +_rivers_ of kindness, or the _sunshine_ of love? + +They may not be able fully to explain, but expressions like these point +to features of the landscape in that world where the inner becomes the +outer and takes on those garments of reality which belong to it by +right. + +The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen +are eternal, and when we have broken connection with our temporal +bodies, or attained a true and perfect control over them, we may enter +into this knowledge, to find it truly a heavenly inheritance. + +But it is not alone through figurative and poetic language that we may +discover evidence of the existence of an immaterial world. + +The broad fields of philosophy and literary criticism receive their +light, their water, and their air, outside the world of sense almost +entirely. Scarce anything in these domains has any causative relation +with the world of matter. + +For instance, take this passage from one of the magazines: + +"But what does the work of higher criticism really mean? It means, +briefly, as applied to the Old Testament, the revision of certain +traditions concerning the structure, the date, the authorship of the +books--traditions which had their origin in the fanciful and uncritical +circles of Judaism just before, or soon after, the Christian era."[B] + +A careful analysis of the meaning of this will show that it begins and +ends in the domain of abstract thought. To use a figurative expression, +it does not touch the ground anywhere. If our bodies and their needs, if +the earth and its products which minister to those needs, if, in brief, +the material universe really comprised the _all that is_, such a thought +as is contained in the passage quoted could never have come into being. +For it has no practical relation to things as such. + +Yet there is nothing especially obscure about it. It was written for men +and women of ordinary intelligence, who are supposed to take an interest +not merely in sacred truths, which, indeed, are not dealt with in the +article from which I quote, but the structural forms containing those +truths. + +All of which, rightly interpreted, points to another phase of existence, +which is either near to or far from us according to the stage of our +development, a phase which may become measurably real to us even before +we enter fully upon it, and which has the strongest possible claims upon +our attention. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +There is no more fruitful source of error to the student of occult +philosophy than the assumption which he continually makes, that the race +and the individual may be treated as one when their relations to a +higher power are being considered. + +It appears that the study of the laws of chemistry may be partly +responsible for this. A molecule of any substance, having in itself all +the properties of that substance, may be reasoned upon and regarded as +though it were, as it is, an epitome of the mass. In the same way it is +assumed that man, the individual, is an epitome of the race, and that, +in endeavoring to obtain a philosophical view of him, we may pass in +review before the mind what we know of the race, and what we know of the +individual in a general way, without drawing any line of distinction +between what is true of the one and what is true of the other. + +Now, while this mental process may have a certain value when both are +considered externally, those who attempt to solve the deeper problems of +the race or the man, by means of it, are sure to fall into error. + +It is not borne in mind that our race is scarcely conscious of itself as +a unit, and if it were, it would in the present state of knowledge +regard itself as alone in the universe, flying through space on a +revolving globe with enormous velocity, along an unknown orbit. There +may be other inhabited worlds peopled by other races of beings, but as a +race we do not know this to be true; and only a dim perception of the +survival of a few of its own members that have lived their little lives +and passed away since time began, relieves the sense of isolation with +which the race looks out into the surrounding darkness. + +The student of history contemplates the rise and fall of nations and +traces the causes which have led to their overthrow. He observes the +same influences at work to-day as in the olden time, and when the +premonition of like disasters comes home to him, he is ready to exclaim, +"There is no hope! There is no God!" And in so speaking he gives +utterance to the soul of our race, which is still groping in the +darkness for light and a place of rest. + +How much of this is true of man as an individual? Very little, +comparatively, as we shall see. In the first place, as individuals, we +are conscious of companionship. We look around us and out over the world +and see great numbers of our fellows whose life and surroundings are +comparable with our own. Such differences as we perceive in each other +only give evidence that our fellow-beings are real, not simply +reflections of ourselves; are objective entities, not elusive shadows. +And by as much as we are conscious of an individuality apart from that +of our race, by so much may we hope to separate the thread of our +destiny from the tangled mass. Examples of such a separation are to be +found among the great names of the earth; and a study of their lives +will teach us how best to shape our own. It will also teach us that +race-life and individual life are not necessarily the same, that the +individual may absorb light for which the race is not yet ready, and set +his standards of thought and action far beyond what is yet possible to +the race as a whole. + +If, now, we form our conceptions of the character of the power +overruling us, by an exclusive study of those events which affect great +numbers, we are liable to serious error. If the sound of thunders +intended for the ear of the race be concentrated so as to fall upon our +individual hearing, they will certainly deafen us completely. + +On the other hand, those whose narrower vision sees only the play of +events as they affect the lives of individuals are also liable to error +in forming their estimate of the character of the overruling power. + +Here tragedy visible and invisible plays its part, and sometimes +injustice in the extreme appears to triumph. There is no possibility of +avoiding error in judgment from this point of view, without constantly +bearing in mind at least three things: first, that outward disaster is +sometimes an inevitable result of long-hidden crime; second, that to the +innocent, death is a release from prison, a promotion from a lower to a +higher sphere of action, and that those who are able to look beyond the +instruments used to break their fetters, to the kindness that sets them +free, can mount on the wings of delight to a diviner air; and third, +that the dwarfing of the faculties of a soul during the short space of +earth-life will turn out to be a far less serious matter to the soul +than to the one responsible for it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The question may be asked, Wherein lies the difference between man the +unit, and the race which is an aggregation of these units? What +philosophical difference is possible? In answer, I would say that while +the individual and the race alike possess body and soul, the individual +at times manifests a power of becoming greater in every respect than the +influence of heredity or surroundings can at all account for. Such +individuals tell us of some powerful influence descending upon them, as +it were, from a higher sphere, and to this they attribute the changes in +their life and powers which make all their friends to marvel. No such +stimulating and transforming influence has ever manifested itself on so +broad a scale as to affect our entire race at once, and we must conclude +that the time has not come for such an event. As a race, our eyes are +not lifted above the earth. We care little about our origin, and still +less about our destiny. The love of war and bloodshed, delight in the +flowing bowl and all its attendant revelry, are still characteristic of +our race, and the heavy clouds that are gathering in our sky are not yet +black enough with impending evil to arrest us in our downward course. + +Ah! well for us it is that we are not to be left alone to rush headlong +to destruction in our blind folly. Terrible as are the forces we have +invoked against ourselves, those which shall save us from death by all +manner of intoxication are infinitely greater. + +The wasting fever of war undoubtedly must come, such war as the world +has never seen before, but when the coveted excitement, changed to agony +untold, is at last over, when our physical forces are entirely +exhausted, the loving Parent whose outstretched hand we have always +refused, will show a pitying face. A draught of infinite peace will be +imparted to our spirit, and we shall rise in newness of life to enjoy +the forgotten delights of obedient childhood, and make this old world +over into one entirely new. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +I had not thought to touch this strain when I began to write of the +Beyond, but some things almost write themselves, and I have not +forgotten the closing words of the appeal with which this book opens. +"We are trodden down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our +fathers from the dead." + +Ah! if the wire which carries this petition outward can bear the +strength of the return current, it may possibly convey such tidings as +words are not able to express, for is it not true that the sweetest +strains are cradled within a silence which speaks more profoundly to the +soul than does the music to the ear? Let us hearken. + +"Do you wish to know what stands in the way of our coming to the rescue? +Nothing but your unbelief in the possibility of our coming. Thank God +that unbelief is growing weak. Could you know what exhausting labor is +ours in our efforts to reach you, you would pray rather for light to +enable you to do your part. Believe, oh, believe that we have not +forgotten. In agony of spirit we are striving to awaken you from +slumber, to instil into your minds the supreme truth, that no good thing +that can be named is impossible of occurrence. You are ready to believe +it for the material, why not accept it in the spiritual? + +"Religious liberty is your priceless privilege. Can you possibly gain it +by setting foot on religion itself? Be sane. Learn to discriminate. +Throw away the chaff, but keep the wheat. Death is a magician, not a +murderer. The pain all comes beforehand. The passage itself is not +painful. Death merely turns the key in a door you never saw before, and +you step out into such a freedom as you never dreamed of. 'Be thou +faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,' suggests a +great truth. Try to get hold of it. No man, and no body of men, no +spirit, nor any combination of them, can prevent you from making your +life a success. There are prizes to be won. Why not try for them? + +"But you say you are trying. Sword in hand, you are battling for the +right. Yes, we know, and sometimes you are wounded, and help seems never +to come. Hold fast. We are building a road. + +"It is already finished, and the cars are on the track. You shall not +die of wounds like these. Help is near. Your prayer is heard. We knew +it would be. From the heights beyond the heights has come the order, +'Descend in power. Earth's children are ready to receive you.' And we +are not few nor weak. Our phalanx moves in a light which nothing can +withstand. Believe it, and stand upon your feet. We are already here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +There is another grand division of my subject, but the difficulty of +presenting it through the medium of written language is even greater +than that already dealt with, and only a slight attempt will now be +made. Not only do thoughts take the place of timings in the Beyond, but +_emotions take the place of forces_. By emotions in this connection I +mean those currents of energy which have their rise in, and are more or +less under the control of individualized intelligence, as love and hate, +joy and sorrow, hope and fear, happiness and distress; and by forces I +mean those which are sometimes called blind forces, such as attraction +in its various forms, heat, electric vibration, and the like. As these +last pertain especially to matter, we should expect them to retire into +the background in a world where mind-realities, or facts of +consciousness, absolutely dominate. And so they do. And here may be a +good place to indicate what part matter really plays in this immaterial +world. Let me call attention to the world of art. Let us recall its +great names, and the masterpieces which have given them fame, the +wonderful poems, the paintings, the sculpture, and the musical creations +that will never die, and then pause and consider how slight are the +demands made by this wonder-world on the lower world of matter. The poet +and the musician call for writing materials, the sculptor needs some +clay and a few modeling tools, the painter some pigments and brushes, +and a bit of canvas. With these slight aids the noble conceptions of +genius are materialized for the delight of future generations. + +Take another illustration. When a ship goes out of the harbor, it is to +be assumed that she takes her anchor with her, and carefully guards it +against possible loss. + +It is likewise true that within the scope of the great and splendid +activities of a free spirit, a material anchor is somewhere safely cared +for, yet such an anchor has no more prominent relation to the activities +of the spirit than the anchor of a ship has to the ship's power to cross +the sea. If we could think of a ship with nothing else to do but to lie +around the harbor, the relative importance of the anchor would increase +very much; and if it had no anchor of its own, it might attempt to tie +up to some other vessel that had one. And so with earth-bound spirits +whose testimony is sometimes quoted to the effect that spirit-life is +as dependent on matter as any other. Most of them are blissfully +ignorant of their own poverty, and move about the earth, that is to say +in the lower or earthly strata of thoughts and feelings, because they +have no desires above them. + +They remember this life as a lost heaven, and are continually bemoaning +that loss in secret, while their activities take the form of influencing +mortals to this or that kind of sensual indulgence, which they wish to +share through sympathy. Every impulse and desire is bent upon a possible +recovery of the earth-life, and they are so ignorant of, and indifferent +to, any higher form of life, that it remains without existence to them. + +I would not say they are insensible to the enlargement of their powers +consequent upon their release from the confinement of an earthly body. +They could not be. Their discovery that death does not destroy the +inner consciousness was a great surprise to them, but the novelty of the +discovery soon wore away. What seemed so strange at first, became a +truism, a simple scientific fact, previously unknown, and unable in +itself to supply any stimulus to their higher powers. + +It is evident that the testimony of these upon the subject is worthless, +while those who have battled for and won the prize of recognition in a +higher sphere give abundant evidence of their freedom from the bondage +of matter, and the desires that have material things for their object. + +Resuming my subject, not only matter, but those forces which are +inseparably associated with it, retire into the background, nay, almost +disappear, in the Beyond. Emotions take their place. + +The atmosphere, or that which corresponds to what we know by the term, +seems charged with some powerful element, resembling electricity in its +effects, but differing from it in that it seems to be sensitive to +thought, and to be capable of responding to it with dynamic force. A +shock from this element is in every respect as real to the consciousness +as an electric shock is to us. It comes from without and expends its +force upon the gaseous body. Being sensitive to thought, it does not +impress one as being capricious in its nature, but as though acting +according to some law which it is of the highest importance to discover, +if possible. + +With the perceptive and intuitional faculties wrought up to the highest +state of activity, it is presently discovered that it is not thought in +the abstract, but thought surcharged with feeling or with devotion to a +principle, some cherished sentiment of the soul, which has the power to +excite this hitherto unknown element; and gradually it dawns on the mind +that this element corresponds to public opinion on earth, that it +emanates from the inhabitants of that part of the spirit-realm, and that +if your mind does not happen to be in accord with theirs, you must +either get away or do battle for your life. By life, I mean your power +and freedom of expression, the very breath of the spirit, what a +printing-press is to a newspaper, cut off from which, the paper is dead. + +Manifestations of emotion, both in kind and degree, depend upon two +things, our spiritual state or condition, and the nature of our +surroundings. Passing over the first of these, it is evident that +earth-surroundings greatly limit the expression of emotion; and when we +observe the effect of a powerful current of this kind upon the physical +tissues of the body, weakening and consuming them as by a flame, we see +that the length of our stay here is involved in our ability to control +our emotions. + +Not so in the Beyond, where our stay is without assignable limits, and +where the pent-up emotions of a lifetime at last find vent, and pour +themselves out as by flood-gates to the sea. + +And it is here that music plays its part in that wonder-world. For as +ideas have each their appropriate form, so every emotion has a musical +strain peculiar to it. + +And who can describe the healing power of music under a master's hand? +Reading the mind and soul as an open book, and informing every tone with +the vibrations of a perfect sympathy born of knowledge, he administers +to the soul whose life has been a tragedy long-drawn-out, such throbbing +waves of strength and consolation, himself remaining hidden, as seem to +issue from the very stars, and drown the memory of that age-long pain in +an ocean of oblivion. + +Ah! believe me, it is another world, where the powers of this one do not +rule. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +And yet, as I have indicated, it is possible to live so far below one's +moral and spiritual possibilities, that the loss of life will seem the +loss of heaven, and the men of power on earth whom one has envied will +come to seem very gods, worthy of being worshipped. Such a delusion as +this is in part due to the absence of a common time-element. + +Duration is measured only by the succession of various states of +consciousness, and these change so rapidly under the influence of the +vibratory intensity of the new life, that the events of a day lengthen +it out until it seems like a year upon earth; and day and night being +one in the Beyond, so far as activity is concerned, although they differ +somewhat in magnetic conditions, when one of these year-long days is +past, the spirit, glancing across into earth-life, at some money king, +with thirty years of active life before him, can scarcely avoid endowing +him with a kind of immortality, and may devote the fiery energies of the +soul to building up the fortunes of such a one, with no higher object +than that of keeping the mental balance and avoiding reflection. + +This necessity for keeping the balance supplies motive for a great deal +that is done by spirits in the lower strata of life in the Beyond. It is +not, strictly speaking, mental balance, but organic, affecting the whole +being. A spirit possessed of any conscious individuality whatever must +generate a certain interior force to maintain it. This keeps his body in +a state of equilibrium between the inner and outer pressure, and the +body of a spirit is naturally as valuable to him as ours is to us. It +protects him against currents of thought and emotion that are not +adapted to his needs, and when evenly balanced he is able to put forth +effective will-power along the plane of his development and below. + +Any one who has not learned what soul-action is will have it to learn +soon after the exchange of worlds. No other form of activity is possible +there. No spirit strikes another with his hand, nor presents him with a +visible token of wealth, yet battles are fought and presents given. As a +suggestion: when you say to your friend, "Good-bye and good-luck to +you," you are making him a spiritual present, although you may not be +aware of it. + +Whenever you launch a curse, if only in thought, you strike a blow, +against which conscious rectitude is an actual armor, and the only one. + +The very slightest impulse of ill-will directed toward any one is an +action of the soul that may do real harm, and certainly makes a record. + +These statements will commend themselves as true to most of my readers, +many of whom, however, would not be able to explain why they are so sure +of what they have learned from no teacher, and cannot recall from the +pages of experience. Let me suggest. + +From six to nine hours' sleep is an essential part of our daily lives. +We suppose ourselves to actually sleep, not only in body but in mind and +soul as well. Perhaps some who have very little mind and even less +spirit, do sleep when their body sleeps, but there are very large +numbers of people who, the moment the brain becomes quiescent, enter at +once on the most active part of their daily existence. + +This is especially true of such as during their waking hours have +attained some knowledge of spiritual values, and have taken their stand +on this or that platform of principles, religious, moral, or even +political, and who would be ready to contend in argument, or even, if +necessary, take up arms, in defense of their positions; in other words, +who have a conscious location in some field of thought or fortress of +belief. + +The extent to which we influence others, or are influenced by them, +during our sleeping hours, very few realize, because unable to recall, +when waking, the experiences of the night just passed; but be sure that +no reform can ever make much progress until the agitation for it becomes +sufficiently powerful to link the day to the night, and engage the +activities of partially freed spirits while their bodily consciousness +is lost in slumber. + +It is here that lessons are learned and impressions made, the recalling +of the results of which may surprise us as to the extent, and puzzle us +as to the origin, of our knowledge. + +Readers of Emerson will find this a key to some of his mysterious yet +delightful sayings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Those who have never entered into any kind of associate life where they +might learn to think and act for others as well as for themselves, will +have a particularly hard time on the other side. + +For no one can go through life without becoming responsible for +innumerable acts, even if he does nothing more than make room for +himself, and defend his own footing; and if he persists in living for +himself, it follows that his motives will never rise above the care of +himself, and, possibly, of those who contribute to his comfort. + +If such a man, by speculation or otherwise, becomes able to surround +himself with the tokens of wealth, there will not be wanting those who +will bow low to him; and when he is called out of life, with perhaps no +particularly heavy weight on his conscience, he will strut into another +world carrying with him a very large sense of his own importance. + +Now, there is no need to enlarge upon the emotions he will arouse, the +intense though secret hilarity with which he will be taken in hand, and +the endless variety of hazing operations to which he will be subjected; +but he will be sure to make the unexpected discovery that death is a +lost friend, long before the last spark of self-conceit is extinguished +within him. + +It is scarcely possible to convey an idea of how small a part individual +egotism is allowed to play in the world beyond. + +In this world our race, as a race, is under protection. We are all more +or less conscious of this in our own person. + +Even the most stolid, when suddenly reduced to the extremity of +distress, find themselves calling upon God, almost without conscious +volition. + +If it were not so, if this protection were withdrawn, our race would +shortly cease to be. + +In the spirit-world, or in that part of it which adjoins this, +figuratively speaking, which we enter as individuals, this sense of a +general protection disappears. We find we are to stand or fall on our +own individual record. We cannot lose ourselves in the mass. There is no +mass. Time and space no longer exist for us. They are gone with the +bodily senses and mathematical reasoning to which they were a prime +necessity. + +Sight, hearing, and touch of the soul have awakened, however, and how to +use these new senses whose field of action is so immensely greater than +the senses we have parted with, engages our attention. + +Their first reports are so different from anything we have known that we +discredit them entirely, are sure we must be dreaming, and put forth +strong efforts to wake up. Failing in this, we look about us and +endeavor to get our bearings. + +Although time and space have left us, eternity and infinity have taken +their place, and a feeling of awe steals over us at the realization, a +feeling that extends in part to ourselves as we discover a certain +element within us which now for the first time recognizes its home. + +Then, in a flash, we perceive as never before, the essential narrowness +of the limits of earth-life, and our mental vision shows us that +whatever may have raised that phase of existence above the merely +sensual or animal, had its home in the Beyond, and was only a visitor on +earth. + +We find ourselves ushered into the domain of causes, and a thousand +perplexities of memory disappear in a magical way, as we become sensible +of the tremendous force of the activities at work in this heretofore +hidden realm. + +A spirit sometimes finds himself as if on a stage, and the pressure of a +powerful will bids him to act out his own character. He consents, for +why should he not? Scene follows scene; men and women from every walk of +life, those whom he has known, and those of whom he has read, appear and +act their part; kings and courtiers come and go, prophets and peasants, +soldiers and merchants; and he finds some link connecting him with them +all. Perhaps a plot is formed to destroy his reputation; thread by +thread the web is wound about him. How shall he get free? Is it not all +a dream? But he is made to feel that he must not insist upon knowing. +Something like an electric shock answers his thought, and bids him to +consider his surroundings real, whether they are or not, and forbids him +to think of such a thing as applying a test. And, indeed, there is small +leisure for anything of that kind. He finds himself obliged to put forth +energies he never dreamed of possessing, to keep from going distracted. +The stage widens until it becomes the floor of a world. The audience +swells to millions. He reaches out for their sympathy, but they do not +respond. They do not pretend to know whether he is a true man or a +scoundrel. If he cries, "I am true," they answer, "Prove it." What can I +do to prove it? But they turn away unconcerned, while another strand of +falsehood is thrown around him and he is brought to his knees, where he +is made the target for scorn and contempt, which come like arrows to +pierce his form. In the depth of his despair, he sends out a piercing +cry to the spheres above him for help. + +Just then he discovers that he is clothed in armor, with a good sword at +his side. He did not know it before, he could not possibly say how or +whence it came, but it is not a time for curious questions. He seizes +the blade and with one sweep severs the cords that bound him, stands +upon his feet, and then, in a voice that startles himself, he calls upon +his enemies to show themselves. Instead of that he hears their +retreating feet, the clouds lift, the applause of the audience gives him +back his lost strength, and he is ready for the next ordeal. + +Now it may not be supposed that during such a scene as this, it would be +possible for the spirit to receive and answer thought-messages from his +friends on earth, but it is even so. A spirit with a heart will at least +make the effort to respond to every demand made upon it, but if among +the circle of his friends one sends out the message, "Come now, if you +care anything about me, I wish you would help me find this gold-mine. +What do you have to do anyhow?" the spirit may be excused if he fails to +respond, and does not immediately proceed to explain just what he has to +do. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: Editor _The Agnostic Journal_, London, England.] + +[Footnote B: _The Arena_, January, 1894, "The Higher Criticism."] + + + + +Vision of Thyrza: + +THE GIFT OF THE HILLS. + +By IRIS. + + +The author is convinced that war, strife, poverty, misery, disease, and +death are the result of man's reckless self-indulgence; and that so long +as he shall be actuated by greed and selfishness in his tillage of the +soil, in the various industrial pursuits, and in the marts of trade, he +will "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." + +But the lamentable state of things will not continue forever. The +author, with "prophetic mind," perceives that the time will come when +man will live in harmony with Nature, and yield himself to the guidance +of "Divine Love." So guided and inspired, he will refine, purify, and +ennoble the life of his fellow-men. Then agriculture will be "restored +to right uses" and held in its pristine honor; and the earth will yield +its fruits abundantly. A noble simplicity and wholesomeness will +characterize the life of man, and universal peace will gladden his +heart. The whole world will rejoice in the return of the Golden Age. + + Cloth, 75 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + +His Perpetual Adoration; + +--OR,-- + +THE CHAPLAIN'S OLD DIARY. + +BY REV. JOSEPH F. FLINT. + + +This is an extremely interesting and realistic war story, told in the +form of a diary left at his death by a veteran who had been a captain in +the Northern army, and with Grant at Vicksburg and Sherman on his march +to the sea. Two or three of the great events of the war are told in +stirring fashion, but the narrative deals mainly with the inside life of +the soldier in war time, and its physical and moral difficulties. A fine +love story runs throughout, the hero having plighted his troth before +setting out for the front. Being wounded in Georgia, he is cared for in +the home of a Southerner, who is at the front with Lee's army, but who +has in some way earned the bitter hatred of the wife whom he has left at +home. She falls desperately in love with her wounded guest, and to him +there comes the sorest temptation of his life. How he comes out of the +ordeal must be left to the reader of the story to discover. + + Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Co., + + COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + +THE LAND OF NADA. + +BY BONNIE SCOTLAND. + + +The Land of Nada, the scene of this charming fairy story, is an +enchanted country, ruled over by King Whitcombo and the beautiful Queen +Haywarda. Prince Trueheart and his blue-eyed baby sister, Princess +Dorothy, and their wonderful adventures; the enchanted cows and +chickens, the wonderful lemon tree whose trunk yields three different +kinds of beverages, are some of the wonders of this delightful land; as +are, also, the doings of fairies, genii, goblins, and enchanted hawks. +How the blind prince recovers his sight, how the baby princess is +spirited away, cared for, and finally restored to her home, and how the +wicked goblin and the two hawks that spirited her away are punished, may +be read in this delightful fairy story, which teems with graceful +conceits and charming fancies, and which can be read, not only by +children of tender years, but by those of larger growth. + +The style in which the book is gotten up makes it very suitable for a +Christmas present. + + Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +NICODEMUS: A POEM. + +By Grace Shaw Duff. + + +In this fine blank-verse poem, written by the well-known New York +authoress, Mrs. Grace Shaw Duff, is given, in autobiographic form as +from the lips of Nicodemus himself, a poetic account of the two episodes +between that ruler of the Jews and Jesus, as related in the third and +seventh chapters of John's gospel. The poem is full of local color, and +opens with a striking description of sunrise on the morning of the last +day of the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Then follows a picture of +the unusual stir in the city due to the crowds attending the feast, +after which there is a fine word painting of the scene in the temple, +with its motley throngs of maimed and halt, of venders of unsavory +wares, of idlers, and of graver men. + +The description of the midnight visit of Nicodemus to Jesus may be +quoted in full as a typical specimen of the tone, manner, and fine +musical versification of the whole poem:-- + + "One night from sleepless bed I rose, and went + To where He lodged, and bade the porter say + One Nicodemus--ruler--came, and speech + Would have with Him. There was no moon, but hosts + Of stars, and soft, pale glow from shaded lamps + Made silver light. The air was still, with just + Enough of light to waft at times a faint + Sweet oleander scent, and gently float + Some loosened petals down. I heard no sound + But sudden knew another presence near, + And turned to where He stood; one hand held back + The curtain's fold; the other clasped a roll. + No King could gently bear a prouder mien; + And when I gracious rose to offer meet + Respect to one whose words had won for Him + Regard, I strangely felt like loyal slave, + And almost 'Master!' trembled on my lips. + A deep, brave look shone in his eyes, as if + He saw the whole of mankind's needs, yet dared + To bid him hope; and when he spoke, his words + And voice seemed fitted parts of some great psalm." + +The book is beautifully printed on first-class paper, and is finely +illustrated with numerous half-tones, after sepia-wash drawings by that +excellent artist Fredrick C. Gordon; and each section of the poem has a +charmingly artistic vignette for the initial capital letter. The binding +is in keeping with the general get-up, and the book would make an +admirable Christmas present. + + CLOTH, 75 CENTS. + + The Arena Publishing Co., Copley Sq., Boston, Mass. + + + + +The Woman-Suffrage Movement + +IN THE UNITED STATES. + +By A LAWYER. + + +The author of this book believes that the Bible is the inspired word of +God, and that those who accept its teachings as authoritative must be +opposed to the woman-suffrage movement. Though he bases his arguments +mainly on the teachings of Holy Scripture, he does not overlook the +lessons of history. But history only confirms him in his contention that +marriage is something more than a civil contract terminable at the +pleasure of the partners. From the true point of view marriage is an +ordinance of God. Should it ever become the general belief that it is +other than a sacrament, there would be "no protection, no honorable or +elevated position, no high social plane or place for woman." And if +marriage is a sacrament, there is but one valid cause for divorce--the +one laid down in the Word of God. The husband is the head of the +household, and his commands should be respected and obeyed, for +obedience and protection are correlative terms; the interests of husband +and wife should be identical. + +The various "cries" of the advocates of woman suffrage, as "taxation +without representation," "liberty, fraternity, and equality," are +considered and declared to be without force, and this declaration is +supported by cogent reasons. The author is confident that if woman +suffrage were enacted into law it would not only harden women but work +irreparable injury to man, for those now opposed to the movement would +then "reconcile the principle and its effects upon their environment +with the Bible by throwing the Bible away." Thus, the "attack strikes at +the root of all moral and religious training." + +The book merits a wide circulation. Candid advocates of the movement +will desire to know what can be said against it; and its opponents will +be glad to have at hand reasons so forcible and illustrations so apt in +condemnation of woman suffrage. + +We cheerfully say so much for the book, though, as is well known, we are +strongly in favor of the movement towards a larger liberty of action for +woman; and we are looking earnestly and expectantly for the coming of +the day when woman emancipated and enfranchised shall work out her +destiny in perfect freedom. + + 154 pp. Cloth, 75 cents; Paper, 25 cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +The Heart of Old Hickory. + +By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE. + + +Eight charming and popular stories by this gifted young Tennessee writer +are collected in this beautiful volume. Each of these stories is a study +that reveals a different phase of human character, and each study is a +work of art. Several show the author's subtle skill in dialect-writing, +and all reveal the hand of a master in delineating character. Here we +have inimitable humor, gleeful fun, delightful sallies of wit, and +genuine pathos, all combined with extraordinary descriptive powers. +Raciness, strength, vividness, and felicity of expression characterize +the author's style. He is to be pitied who can read these stories +without being widened in his sympathies, elevated in thought, quickened +in conscience, and ennobled in soul. The stories are the work of a +literary genius, and go far to justify an admirer of her writings, who +has himself no mean fame as editor, author, and critic, in calling Will +Allen Dromgoole the "Charles Dickens of the New South." + + Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +WHICH WAY, SIRS, THE BETTER? + +A Story of Our Toilers. + +By JAMES M. MARTIN. + + +This is the story of a labor strike, its causes and consequences. The +chief character, Robert Belden, is a self-made man, who, from being +office-boy in the Duncan Iron Works at Beldendale, Pa., had risen, by +dint of intelligence, hard work, and attention to business, to be +partner and business manager of the concern. + +A temporary depression in the iron trade makes it necessary for him to +give notice of a reduction of ten per cent in the wages of his +employees. The latter are dissatisfied, and, after calling a meeting of +their union, demand from him an inspection of the books of concern by a +committee on their behalf, so that they may have the assurance that the +reduction is necessary. As the disclosure would injure the business, the +manager refuses to comply with this demand, and the workmen go out on +strike. Thereupon the manager, in order to fill his contracts, employs +laborers from a distance, and hires a band of fifty guards from a +detective agency to protect them and his works. A dreadful riot ensues, +with bloodshed and loss of life, and the works are closed. + +After a time the manager proposes a new arrangement with his former +workmen, whereby, under the system of profit-sharing, they shall receive +a share of the profits in addition to their wages. The plan works +admirably. In a comparatively brief period the workmen become well-to-do +and contented, many owning their own homes, and Beldendale becomes the +model of a prosperous and happy manufacturing town. + +The story has evidently been suggested by the terrible strikes and riots +in the coke fields of Pennsylvania, and the later ones at Homestead and +Buffalo, and the author's object is to show the uselessness and the evil +results of strikes, and to propose "a better way for the solution of the +perennial conflict between capital and labor." His admirable story does +this most effectively. It is written in that unassuming, straightforward +style which is so impressive when dealing with "the short and simple +annals of the poor," and it should be read and pondered over and taken +to heart by every capitalist and employer of labor in the country, on +the one hand, and by every workingman, on the other. + +Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents. + +The Arena Publishing Company, + +COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND*** + + +******* This file should be named 38134-8.txt or 38134-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/1/3/38134 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Beyond</p> +<p>Author: Henry Seward Hubbard</p> +<p>Release Date: November 25, 2011 [eBook #38134]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4 class="center">E-text prepared by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/American Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/beyondbe00hubbrich"> + http://www.archive.org/details/beyondbe00hubbrich</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/hcover.jpg" alt="" /></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">BEYOND</span></p> + +<p class="center">BY</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/t_page.png" alt="" /></div> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">BOSTON</span><br/> +<span class="huge">ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY</span><br/> +<span class="smcap">Copley Square</span><br/> +1896</p> + +<p> </p> + + + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyrighted</span>, 1896,<br /> +BY<br /> +<span class="big">HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>All Rights Reserved.</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Arena Press.</span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">BEYOND</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="center"> +TO<br /> +LOVERS OF THE TRUTH,<br /> +WHATEVER<br /> +LAND MAY CLAIM THEM FOR ITS OWN,<br /> +TO THE<br /> +EARNEST MEN AND WOMEN<br /> +OF MY TIME,<br /> +THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY<br /> +DEDICATED.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">PREFACE.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A word of explanation in reference to my title may be appropriately +given here. By Beyond, I mean what is sometimes called the unseen world, +but which might better be called the immaterial world, since that which +distinguishes it from the world proper is not merely that it is +invisible, but that it cannot be made visible to mortal eyes.</p> + +<p>However, I have not assumed to treat of all that the word might be made +to cover, but have confined myself mostly to that territory, with the +entrance to it, which may be said to adjoin the earth, and which +therefore is more immediately interesting and important to be acquainted +with, and have addressed myself especially to those who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> seem to be +constitutionally unable to perceive the reality of this other world, +although willing and anxious to be convinced.</p> + +<p>If there is any one thing more than another which I hope to convey, it +is that the truths which pertain to the superior life do not conflict +with common sense, however they may rise beyond the perfect grasp of +that power of the mind.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Henry Seward Hubbard.</span></p> + + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">INTRODUCTION.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">To my Brothers and Sisters</span>,</p> +<p class="center">Greeting.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>I had known for some time that I had a book to write, but not exactly +how I was going to set about it, when there fell under my notice the +following appeal, whose unique and touching eloquence, I venture to say, +is without a parallel in our literature.</p> + +<p>"There have always been those, and now they are more numerous than ever, +who maintain that the dead do return.</p> + +<p>"Far be it from me to dogmatically negative the assertions of honest, +earnest men engaged in the study of a subject so awful, so reverent, so +solemn, where the student stands with a foot on each side of the +boundary-line between two worlds.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>"We know a little of the hither, can we know aught of the thither +world?" 'How pure in heart, how sound in head, with what affections +bold,' should be the explorer on a voyage so sublime! Never from 'peak +of Darien' did the flag of exploration fly over the opening up of a +realm so mighty.</p> + +<p>"How stale and trite the fleet of a Magellan to the adventurous soul who +would circumnavigate the archipelagoes of the dead!"</p> + +<p>"How commonplace Pizarro to him who would launch forth on that black and +trackless Pacific across the expanse of which has ever lain the dread +and the hope of our race!"</p> + +<p>"They know little who are robed in university gowns. What know they who +are robed in shrouds? We gather but little from the platform; what can +we learn from the grave? The wisdom of the press is foolishness. Is +there no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> voice from the sepulchre? It is we, not you, who are in +darkness, O ye dead! The splendor of the iris of eternity has flashed on +your plane of vision; but our heavy eyelids droop in the shadow of the +nimbus of time.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell us naught? Can we never know your secret till, in the +dust, we lay down our bones with yours?"</p> + +<p>"We are here in the care, the poverty, the sin, and, above all, in the +darkness. Oh, if ye can, have mercy on us; shed a ray from your +shekinah-light athwart the darkness of our desolation. We are trodden +down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our fathers from the +dead."<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p> + +<p>How profoundly these words moved me cannot easily be told, for my entire +life, up to this point, seems to have been made up of the various stages +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> a preparation enabling me to respond to just such an appeal as this, +echoed, as I know full well it is, from the hearts of thousands of my +fellow-beings. Yet one who should enter the rose-embowered cottage by +the sea where I sit writing, would never dream that I guard treasures of +knowledge gathered in the hidden realm that lies beyond the sense.</p> + +<p>For years have passed, and lonely life has changed to family life, and +there have been times when I have felt almost at home again within the +confines of the purely earthly realm of thoughts and things. Not quite, +however, for that would be impossible. And now, shall I branch out in a +tale of strange adventure? Shall I seek to convey to my readers what led +to those experiences which have so isolated me in thought? Shall I +describe their outward aspect, the channel through which they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +received, as for instance, a dream, a trance, a vision, or <i>other ways +less known</i>?</p> + +<p>To do so might amuse or entertain, but that is not my object. Besides, I +understand thoroughly that in these modern days it is the truth, and not +the truth-teller, that is wanted. If a man has anything to say, let him +say it, and if it bear the stamp of truth, if it will stand the test of +analysis the most severe, it will be accepted. If not, he may show a +ticket of his travels beyond the moon, but that will not avail him.</p> + +<p>All that I ask of my readers is that they will permit me to write of +that realm which is so hidden from mortals that many of them deny its +very existence, as though I knew all about it. Whether I do or not, no +mere statement, in the absence of other evidence, could in the least +decide.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">The Author.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">BEYOND.</span></p> +<p> </p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER I.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the world of thought to-day, few things are more significant than the +extent to which the religious dogmas of the past are being questioned, +analyzed, and, in general, made to give account of themselves.</p> + +<p>People are discovering that it is lawful to use the mind as a crucible, +and to submit any and all statements, irrespective of their age, to the +electric current of modern fearlessness of thought, before accepting +them as truth.</p> + +<p>Scientific formulas, many of them, fare little better, and are made to +yield up the kernel of fact they contain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> stripped of the husk of +theory in which it has long been buried.</p> + +<p>For the living truth is demanded such value as we obtain in our own +life-experiences, if possible; and whenever this can be obtained without +paying the price it costs us in life, of pain, or loss, or a mortgaged +future, then, indeed, the demand becomes imperious.</p> + +<p>And this has become especially true of late years in regard to things +occult. Formerly the boundaries of the earth-life marked the limit of +thought and aspiration, and those who seemed to have the widest +experience within those bounds were often the loudest in proclaiming +their utter failure to find any lasting satisfaction in all that life +could give. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, was echoed and re-echoed +until the gloomy thought spread like a cloud over the sky, chilling all +noble effort, and blighting the aspirations of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> young and hopeful. +But a brighter day has dawned. These boundaries, which formerly seemed +like walls impenetrable, have grown thin and shadowy, and it is +astonishing to note how people everywhere are asking, as with open mind, +Is this future life we have heard of so long, an actual fact? If so, +what is the nature of it? What are its relations to present facts? and +how may I obtain a common-sense view of it? Just what are its relations +to me, and what are mine to a future life? Where can I obtain clear +light on the subject?</p> + +<p>This condition of things brings it to pass that a peculiar +responsibility rests upon one, like the writer, to whom has been given +extraordinary facilities for acquiring the knowledge now so greatly in +demand. To relate what those facilities were, how or why given, and what +price in the currency of the hidden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> realm was paid for so much of its +treasures as was brought away, might interest the curious, as I have +suggested, but it would not materially affect the value of what is to be +given. That must stand or fall by its intrinsic worth, not by the +circumstances associated with its acquirement.</p> + +<p>It may be imparted, however, that this knowledge was obtained at a +period separated from the present by an interval of fourteen years, that +so momentous were the personal experiences associated therewith, that +the few weeks during which they occurred, together with those +immediately preceding and following, seem to constitute, as it were, a +separate existence, whose length, if it were to be measured by such +events as leave their indelible impress on the soul, far exceeds the +entire remainder of my life.</p> + +<p>That I have kept this knowledge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> locked up so long has been due to +various causes beyond my control, and I am more than glad that I am at +last able to put on record some fragments of it, at least, whose value I +do not underestimate, although very rarely in the history of the world +has it been given out in this way.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER II.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Perhaps</span> I cannot open my subject in any better way than by giving a few +reasons why a knowledge of The Beyond has remained a sealed book for +centuries.</p> + +<p>My first reason will not be a very satisfactory one, because I cannot +now enter into it as fully as I could wish; but it belongs first, and +cannot be omitted. A knowledge of The Beyond has remained hidden from +men, first, because those intelligences who were capable of imparting it +have refrained from doing so. Some of these intelligences were actuated +by selfish motives. They could more easily control those whom they hoped +to enslave, by keeping them ignorant. Others have remained silent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> out +of respect for an edict proceeding from a far height at a time when all +men were believers in a future state, and so many of them were absorbed +in speculating upon it, and holding communications with the departed, +that the earth was neglected, and in danger of going to waste. Hence the +edict, which was promulgated through the kings who were able themselves +to see the need of it.</p> + +<p>Another very important reason why this knowledge has remained hidden, is +because to embody it in a language appropriate to it, and, at the same +time, avoid obscurity, is exceedingly difficult.</p> + +<p>Why? Because it belongs to a different world, a world which has no +nearer relation to this one than thoughts have to things. To illustrate +what I mean by this, suppose you should wake up some night and find +yourself in silent darkness and unable to move a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> muscle. Suppose you +could not even feel the bed under you, being conscious only of being +supported in a horizontal position. So long as these avenues of sense +remained closed, the world of things would not exist to you, and you +could not say, of your own knowledge, that it continued to exist for +anyone else.</p> + +<p>While the situation would be a startling one without doubt, I am going +to assume that you would have a sufficient degree of self-control to +keep your mental balance. This would be the easier as you discovered +that your mental vision was as clear as ever, and that your real self, +which is back of all your senses, had received no shock or injury. You +would naturally wish to know just what had happened, and it would be apt +to disturb you somewhat to find that your reasoning powers failed to +respond when you called upon them to solve the problem, as naturally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +they would, since the brain, with which they do their work, would share +the inaction of the body. Now, if the world of things had thus vanished, +what could remain? In the first place, memory. You would be able to call +up the pictures of the past, and live over again in your mind any scene +there depicted. But you would not be confined to living in the past. +Although unable to see or to hear, you would be able to assume the +mental attitude either of looking or listening, and as you sought to +penetrate the gloom of your surroundings, you would be conscious of +lifting eyelids which perhaps had never been raised before, and the +mystic light of another world would dawn upon you. Shadowy forms of +graceful outline would be seen, at first dimly, then with greater +clearness. You would not mistake them for mortals, and, having no +acquaintance with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> other-world intelligences, you might take them for +moving pictures, destitute of any kind of life.</p> + +<p>Presently you would become aware that connected thoughts were passing +through your mind, without conscious volition on your part, and assuming +the attitude of a listener you would discover that the inner world of +sound was opening to you. The subject treated of might not relate to you +personally, but you would hail with delight the opportunity to prove +yourself in communication with other minds.</p> + +<p>Presently some sentiment is expressed which you do not approve, and you +put forth an impulse of will-power in protest. Instantly comes a +thought-message directly to you. Who has arrested my current of thought? +The meaning of this is at once apparent. You are like a telegraph +operator who has been listening to a passing message,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> containing a +false statement, and has stopped it. You might now withdraw your protest +and allow the message to pass as something which did not concern you, or +you might assert your individuality and reply to the sharp question by +saying, "Because I allow nothing to pass through my mind which I do not +approve." If you adopted the first course, you might be let off with a +curse, and told to mind your own business hereafter; but if you should +manifest the temerity indicated by the second, a thundering "What?" +might fall upon your new sense, and you would discover that you had a +fight on your hands. It may be supposed that you would mentally assume +an upright position, which in that world corresponds to the act of +rising here, and brace yourself for the contest. But it is not necessary +to carry the illustration any farther at this time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> I merely wished to +show how <i>thoughts</i> may take the place of <i>things</i> in the mind's arena +when, for any reason, things are shut out.</p> + +<p>A third reason why a knowledge of The Beyond is not more generally +disseminated, is that false ideas in regard to death are so predominant +that it has become a habit with the great majority to dismiss from the +mind all thoughts having, or that are supposed to have, any possible +connection with it, and therefore the avenue of approach to the minds of +such is kept closed by themselves.</p> + +<p>It may be asked why the solitary student is not able to attain to a +satisfactory solution of the great problem, although seeking it with +utmost earnestness. And I answer, first, because he probably seeks for +it in the same way that he would seek for earth-knowledge, which is an +error; and, secondly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> because those who would otherwise gladly give it +to him are able to read his motives, and finding them purely selfish, +they turn away and leave him, while those spirits who have occult +knowledge to <i>sell</i>, demand pay in a coin which the student is seldom +willing to give, namely, a certain degree of control over him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER III.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mathematicians</span> have frequently discussed the possibility of what is +called a fourth dimension.</p> + +<p>They have shown by clear reasoning that if we could suppose a person to +be acquainted only with objects of two dimensions, that is, plane +surfaces, the possibility of a third would be as difficult to comprehend +as now are the speculations on a possible fourth. For instance, it would +be as mysterious an operation to transfer anything from one point to +another without moving it along the surface that lay between, as is now +the manipulation of solid objects, like the passage of matter through +matter, by the masters of occult science.</p> + +<p>This fine example of reasoning from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> the known to the unknown may be +compared to Leverrier's researches in one respect, and that the most +important one, namely, that the looked-for fact in all verity awaits +discovery, and that the scientist who shall first boldly declare that +the objective world about us, which seems to occupy and does occupy all +of space that we can reach by ordinary means of thought, is merely a +veil which hides a world just as real, and having just as real relations +to us, as the first is supposed to monopolize, and which, in its +essential nature, is independent of space, and its concomitant, +time,—whoever, I say, shall first boldly declare this, will fairly win +a crown of laurel.</p> + +<p>When I say that this world has real relations to us, I do not mean us as +mere aggregations of matter in a highly organized form; I mean us, the +creatures of hope and fear, of joy and depression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> gay at heart or +careworn with responsibility; us to whom friendship, love, and purity +are realities and not mere names, and who cherish the firm belief that +loyalty to our ideals and devotion to truth are immortal in their +nature, and that it may be possible that we ourselves may yet become as +impassive to the assaults of time.</p> + +<p>Shall I say us, also, the creatures of doubt and despair, whose sky is +hopelessly clouded, and to whom anything resembling happiness has become +only a memory? The world of which I speak has the same direct relations +to us all.</p> + +<p>The idea is a common one that this invisible world is to be sought, if +at all, among the imponderable gases, that if it have objectivity, as it +is supposed it must have, the nature of it will resemble these forms of +matter; and that by traveling out in thought, so to speak,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> along this +line, we shall presently arrive at a sufficiently accurate concept of +what these invisible realities are like.</p> + +<p>It is this delusion, that the unseen is by so much the unreal, instead +of the contrary, that I hope to do something to destroy.</p> + +<p>Let me give an example of occult power of a scientific sort, as +exercised by free spirits.</p> + +<p>One wishes to speak to a friend. What does he do? He simply speaks the +name of that friend in his mind. Immediately, and without further effort +on his part, there appears before his mental vision a clear outline +representation of the form of that friend, ready to answer with perfect +distinctness any question that may be asked of him. It is telephone +communication without apparatus, and with the appearance of the friend. +Were the two in close sympathy, perhaps engaged in the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> kind of +spiritual labor, so that the question would be of a kind not unexpected, +the rapidity of action common to spirits would make it possible to ask +the question and receive the answer in an infinitesimal fraction of a +second.</p> + +<p>I have called this occult power of a scientific sort. By this I mean to +indicate, what is sometimes forgotten, that The Beyond has its science +as well as religion, and that it is only because its science has been a +sealed book so long and the corruption of revealed religion has been so +great, that, as a result, the acceptance of occult science itself as +truth is called, by some, <i>religion</i>, although removed from it as by +infinity. It is true, however, that the devotee to occult science who +shall persistently declare its genuineness in the face of opposition, +scorn, or even persecution, is on the road to illumination, and he may +himself become a gateway between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> physical life and death, through which +may pass and repass the message, the tone, or even the phantom form +which testifies of a world beyond the grave. To such a one, his belief +becomes a sure and certain knowledge of a scientific fact, as verified +by sympathetic experience times without number; and the time is not far +distant when these attainments will receive the same recognition, as +belonging to the domain of reality, as those of physical science now +do.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IV.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Science</span>, as such, is a knowledge of physical facts. Religion, as such, +is an apprehension of spiritual truths.</p> + +<p>The work of the scientist is to separate facts from delusions, and then +to arrange and classify his knowledge. The work of the religionist is to +separate truth from error, to make it effectual in practice, and give it +to the world.</p> + +<p>In their essence, science and religion are neither enemies nor friends. +They are not necessarily associates, but their respective domains are +included in the domain of thought, and thought is an attribute of the +ego. The ego in us, then, is in touch with both religion and science: +with science, primarily, through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> this material body, which, surcharged +with vital magnetism, moves at its will; and with religion through that +inner conscious self which so avoids expression through matter, that it +may remain contentedly under lock for more than half a lifetime, and +which, even when released, may need a special impulse to induce it to +express itself in words.</p> + +<p>The religious nature in man is, in fact, so hidden that it seems at +times impossible to draw it out in any manifestation whatever, which +fact causes many to deny its existence altogether; and there is to-day a +widely prevalent doctrine, world-wide I might say among scholars, that +all the facts observable which could possibly be grouped under the head +of religion may readily be distributed among mere physical phenomena on +the one hand, and scientific or intellectual on the other.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>The skepticism in regard to the verbal authority of the sacred writings +is intimately associated with the same doctrine, as is shown by the way +the errors and the truth of the Bible are made to seem one, and the +whole is rejected as error.</p> + +<p>It is taught, in effect, that all which goes by the name of religion is +unworthy the serious attention of the thoughtful, that it had its origin +in the barbarous stage of our development as a race, and ought to be +laid aside as a garment outgrown. The days of this particular form of +unbelief are numbered.</p> + +<p>Why? Because it is to be demonstrated that religion is something more +than moonlight vaporings of the credulous, something other than the +simple faith of children; that religion is not only a spiritual reality, +but that it has a body of its own.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>In order that the meaning of this statement may not be mistaken, let it +be remembered that some of the most powerful forms of matter, +electricity, for example, are entirely invisible.</p> + +<p>Therefore, when I say that religion has a body of its own, it is not +necessary to go delving for anything. That body itself may be +undiscoverable by any sense save feeling. Have you ever been in the +presence of a man who could fairly be said to <i>embody</i> religion? Of +those who manifest its spirit so pure and unselfish, there are +comparatively few in the world, but of those who, to that spirit, add a +full manly or womanly strength, the number is brought so low that +multitudes of people may perhaps never have come in contact with any. +Such as these bear about with them a consciousness of power so great as +to utterly destroy every kind of fear save one, the fear of doing wrong. +The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> name of Savonarola will occur to many of my readers.</p> + +<p>It ought not to be necessary to add that I am using the word religion in +a different sense from that attaching to it in such a phrase as the +World's Parliament of Religions.</p> + +<p>If I should say, There are many sciences, yet science is one, I should +expect to be fairly well understood.</p> + +<p>I would make the parallel declaration, There are many religions, but +religion is one.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER V.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Is</span> there any common ground on which science and religion meet? There is. +They meet in modern Spiritualism.</p> + +<p>But because modern Spiritualism consists of a body of facts and theories +on the one hand, and a countless number of soul-stirring experiences on +the other, it follows that it takes a great many different people to +fairly represent modern Spiritualism.</p> + +<p>Some have devoted themselves to it exclusively on the religious side, +others as exclusively on the scientific side. According to the bent of +their nature, and with an equal degree of courage, the earnest, devoted +students of science, on the one hand, and those of religion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> on the +other, are approaching from opposite poles this forbidden ground.</p> + +<p>Disregarding the warnings of the older religious teachers, that evil, +and only evil, haunts the grewsome place, one wing of the army of +truth-seekers is making the discovery that if all the manifestations of +modern spiritualism are to be attributed to one source, and that an evil +one, then never was a house so divided against itself before. They are +prepared to show that some of its most astonishing phenomena begin and +end in good to all who witness them, and they declare that only a +culpable misuse of the powers of the mind would lead to any other +inference than that these good results come originally from good +sources, and are therefore worthy of that reverence which of right +belongs to the good, wherever it appears.</p> + +<p>The other wing of the army of truth-seekers also contains its heroes. +Have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> you not told us, they say to the great scientists who have laid +down the principles on which investigations of all kinds should be +conducted, that science claims the world for its field, and especially +the world of phenomena?</p> + +<p>Why, then, do so many of our captains and colonels, who should represent +the thought of the higher officers, so persistently endeavor to prevent +us from obtaining for ourselves the store of facts upon which, we are +told, the theories of spiritualism are based?</p> + +<p>Is it possible for us to have intelligent opinions even, to say nothing +of carefully-drawn conclusions on this matter, without following the +usual course, so strenuously insisted on in all other branches of +scientific research, that of personally observing the phenomena for +ourselves? And so when they get no answer to this, or no answer which +satisfies those who love the truth for its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> own sake, they proceed, +these scientific explorers, and with caution enter the unknown country, +avoiding, as far as possible, that portion which they recognize as +especially occupied by the other division of truth-seekers before +described.</p> + +<p>And they find no lack of material upon which to exercise the keenest +faculties of their minds, while their interest becomes so great that +they are soon ready to exclaim, Why was I kept away from here so long?</p> + +<p>All indications, say they, favor the idea that in this direction rather +than in any other is to be sought the solution of that profoundest of +mysteries, the problem of life, and, with faces aglow with interest, +they pursue their explorations, always ready, however, to declare that +they have not changed their course, they are still in the pursuit of +science and have not the slightest idea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> of joining hands with +religionists on any pretext whatever.</p> + +<p>All of which goes to show that the realm of the occult may be +conveniently divided into two grand divisions, one of which may be +called occult science, and the other occult religion; and that part of +both which has been recently brought to view is the domain known as +modern Spiritualism, where, as I have said, science and religion meet. I +wish it could be said that scientists, as such, and religious teachers, +as such, have also not only met, but shaken hands across the narrow line +which still divides them even here, on this which I have called a common +ground.</p> + +<p>But it is to be feared that there is all too little thought of any +possible terms of peace between the opposing forces.</p> + +<p>Let us hope that out from the cloudy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> mysteries of the debatable land +itself may come the gleam of a star whose brightness shall illumine all +who lift their eyes, and whose pure, sweet influence shall change foes +to friends, as heart shall answer heart beneath its shining.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VI.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are many, however, who have an invincible repugnance to this +method of research, and I would here say for the benefit of such, that +while I am on friendly terms with spiritualists generally, I am not +indebted to them for what I have to give. My observations of the +phenomena of spiritualism, although wide and varied, have all been made +since I came to know, independently, that there are intelligences above +man, and that there is a world distinctly different from this, where +they have their home.</p> + +<p>Spiritualistic phenomena, as observed through mediums, have, in a +general way, confirmed what I knew in regard to the other world, but I +find many of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> the prevalent ideas which are supposably based on these +phenomena to be erroneous in the extreme. For instance, it is taught as +a doctrine that there is no death, and those who teach it point +triumphantly to the demonstrations of the survival of those whose mortal +part has been laid in the grave, not realizing that in so doing they +prove themselves to be still in bondage to the old error, that death and +annihilation are one and the same, and that consequently whoever has +escaped the one, must necessarily have escaped the other.</p> + +<p>To prove that a man who has severed his connection with the mortal state +has not suffered annihilation, proves nothing whatever as to his +acquaintance with death.</p> + +<p>Even the passing from one world to the other, which is commonly +associated with death, is not the same thing, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> many possess the +power of so passing while still tenants of the clay.</p> + +<p>If death, then, is not annihilation, nor the mere passing from one kind +of life into another, what is it? It is the severing of the magnetic +bonds which unite the body of the individual to the body of the race as +a whole.</p> + +<p>We do not often consider what an important element in our lives are +these magnetic currents which link us to our fellows.</p> + +<p>Silent and invisible as they are, they hold us with a tremendous power. +What our friends, our neighbors, our relatives think us capable of +doing, that we can do with comparative ease; but anything out of the +common, calling for the exercise of ability which they do not suppose us +to possess—how nearly impossible it is for us to do it, however +conscious we may be of the inherent power!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>As a part of the race we are bound to it by magnetic currents so long as +our mortal life continues, and the cutting off of these currents by +death may be to our consciousness the greatest misfortune or the +greatest happiness we have ever known.</p> + +<p>Now I am not preaching, I am simply stating that which I know to be +true. I know it in the same way that I know anything wherein experience +shuts out even the shadow of a doubt.</p> + +<p>To speak of the misfortune of death: suppose you were a clock which for +twenty-five years had been a part of the world's life, keeping good time +and always on duty. Then suppose you were suddenly laid away in the dark +and dusty attic of a warehouse until some estate should be settled that +would require an indefinite number of years.</p> + +<p>The comparison is not perfect. The clock is not only mostly automatic, +as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> we are, but entirely so. That in our nature which is essentially +free is not even touched by death, but the bodily activities and +associations may be our only field of action, and these are cut off +absolutely, while memory recalls every event of the life that is +finished, and especially every decision which has had the slightest +influence upon our destiny. The positive element in us which has found +constant vent in physical action is rendered helpless by the complete +paralysis of all the motor nerves. We cannot even think, for this +requires some movement of the brain. A consciousness of being left +behind while the world travels on, a feeling that this experience had +not been foreseen in the least, nor in any way provided against, spite +of warnings which now seem to echo and re-echo through the +darkness—these are what is left us in place of the sunlight, the +breezes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> of evening, the voices of children, the light of the stars.</p> + +<p>But death may be release, it may be happiness, it may be ecstasy beyond +the power of words to tell. We may have cast the long look ahead in +time. We may have decided that since bodily life is limited at best, it +shall not be first in our regards: its appetites, its demands, shall not +take precedence above those calls which find their answer in the depths +of being, calls to rise out of the mire of reckless self-indulgence, and +clothe ourselves in the garb of a true manhood and womanhood, taking for +our model those who count not their life dear unto them, but reach out +for eternal values.</p> + +<p>The pathway is not wide, and they who pursue it may find themselves at +close of life (I am not speaking especially of old age) almost alone. +The energies of the spirit have grown by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> constant exercise, and the +soul has grown strong, imparting its vibrations to the body, which has +so responded that, one after another, the magnetic links which have held +it to the slower progress of the race have snapped asunder. We are far +ahead, and the spirit longs for purer air than it can find on earth. We +have anticipated all the pains of death. We have endured them in our +struggle for the mastery of ourselves. Death now but sets the seal upon +our victory, gives us the freedom we have earned, ushers us into the +society for which we have prepared ourselves, crowns us heirs of +immortality.</p> + +<p>Now, whether death shall be this happiness or that misery, in either +case it will be remembered as a great fact of consciousness, the +greatest ever known, and the doctrine that there is no death will never +be able to find lodgment in the minds of those who have experienced it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> may be worth our while to inquire how this extremely modern doctrine +came into being, and if we can solve the problem, it may reflect light +upon the genesis of other doctrines very much older and equally +erroneous.</p> + +<p>There is something so startling, so unexpected, in the phrase, "There is +no death," that we are quite safe in assuming that it did not originate +in the mind of a mortal. In fact, one would be obliged first to disown +his mortality before he could utter it with any consciousness of +speaking the truth. If, then, the words have come from the Beyond, it +would appear that some super-mundane intelligence has been promulgating +error. But let us not be too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> hasty. Let us remember that in our +grandfather's time the great majority of people looked upon death as the +termination of existence. It was an impenetrable darkness. Those who +claimed to know anything different were so few, and their evidence was +so mysterious, as to have a scarcely perceptible effect on this portion +of our race. Death had come to mean annihilation, and when the age-long +dictum, shutting the two worlds apart, was removed, those +spirit-teachers who were commissioned to scatter the darkness were +obliged to use expedients. Laying aside their own understanding of the +word death, and taking up the erroneous meaning attached to it by those +whom they wished to reach, they sent out this incisive denial, There is +no death. The paraphrase would be, There is no such death as you believe +in, which was the truth, and had the effect of truth upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> minds of +those who heard it, lifting them out of the darkness, flashing upon +them, light. The word was a medicine of wonderful effect, but it was not +intended as a food, and spiritualists of to-day who make it a part of +their daily diet are most seriously injured thereby. Who that has ever +attended the average séance but can recall the careless trifling, the +insensate levity, of many while waiting for the hour. By their conduct +they seem to say, What is death more than a mere journey to another +country? Or a séance, what is it more than a telephone office? Most +startling will be the event to such as these.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VIII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">But</span> it is time that we took a comprehensive view of this outer world +which lies beyond the domain of sense.</p> + +<p>What is the most striking difference between that world and this one? I +answer, the world we are now living in is a material world, which to +understand most thoroughly we must acquire a knowledge of the properties +of matter. This we begin to do in earliest childhood by the use of our +senses, and this we continue to do, to a greater or less extent, as long +as we live, calling into play the reason, highest sense of all, as soon +as it is developed; and by the use of this, the royal sense, with the +others as its servitors, we may arrive at a very thorough comprehension +of the world of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> matter, so far as its relation to our needs is +concerned.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the world that lies before us is, above all else, an +immaterial world, using the phrase to denote an almost entire absence of +matter, but not in the least to indicate any absence of reality. No, for +this future life is a reality more positive in its character than the +foundations of the pyramids, and its manifestations, being neither more +nor less than the manifestations of living beings, can only be +understood when that fact is kept in mind. They do not lend themselves +to the inspection of the curious, these denizens of another life, but +when conditions favor, they take hold of human instrumentalities and +wield them with a power and skill that defy all resistance for the time, +and leave on all who are present an ineffaceable mark.</p> + +<p>It may be objected that this statement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> is incapable of proof, that, of +all who have crossed the line between life and death, none have returned +to bring positive evidence of the existence of such an unknown country, +inhabited in such a way. The contrary is asserted, and while facts do +not need the bolster of argument, whoever is in possession of a fact can +present arguments relating thereto tending to throw light upon it. It is +asserted by those who claim to know, of whom the writer is one, that an +inhabited domain is in immediate touch with the earth, although not +discoverable by any of the scientific instruments of investigation, such +as the telescope, the microscope, or the spectroscope, nor yet by the +surgeon's scalpel.</p> + +<p>The camera, however, which may be called an instrument of record, has, +at certain times, produced evidence which has excited a vast amount of +argument pro and con.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>This will not now be entered into, but attention is called to a very +important consideration bearing upon the whole subject.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IX.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">I hold</span> in my hand a lens. This lens, in its shape, resembles a certain +other lens through which I look in examining it. It was, indeed, modeled +after the other, which is a part of my organ of vision. I place the +glass lens in a microscope, and a hitherto unknown world is revealed to +me. It was there before, but I could not see it. Do I see it now <i>with +the lens</i>? It is evident that the lens is merely an aid to vision, since +the lens in my eye is also necessary to convey the picture to my mind.</p> + +<p>But now another question: Do I see with the lens which is a part of my +eye? Is not that also merely an aid to vision? Let us consider. Since I +have two eyes, I may lose one of them without losing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> the power to see. +If I am so unfortunate as to lose one, then, if the eye is not merely an +aid to vision, but part of the vision itself, it would naturally follow +that I should see only half as well as before; but this, very evidently, +is not true.</p> + +<p>I can read as well as ever. For the examination of anything on a flat +surface, one eye is as good as two.</p> + +<p>Notice, also, that the lens of the eye and the glass lens are not only +alike in shape and transparency, but that both are composed of material +substances that can be analyzed, and that both are used to acquire +knowledge of such substances and the relations existing between them. +The glass lens is merely a supplement to the lens of the eye. It is one +step further removed from the vision, but even the lens of the eye +itself is not the seeing power. That lies back of all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>Take now the ear-trumpet, a contrivance to concentrate sound to a given +point. It is intended as an aid to hearing, but it is not inseparably +associated with the power to hear. A person with normal senses does very +well without it. How about the ear itself?</p> + +<p>Does that constitute a part of the hearing power of a man? If it does, +what is the necessity of the auditory nerve? If the hearing and the ear +were one and the same, there would be no need of this connecting link +with the brain. The external and the internal ear, like the ear-trumpet, +are purely material, and by means of them we are able to cognize those +material emanations called sound.</p> + +<p>I speak of sound as a material emanation, because whatever sound comes +to us through the ear comes from some material source. The ear, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +material, is adapted to convey such emanations to the brain, through +which the mind becomes conscious of their existence.</p> + +<p>The sense of touch, also, is exclusively adapted to the acquainting of +its owner with still another aspect of things material. Hardness, +softness, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, and other attributes of +matter become known through this sense, and it may be considered a rule +without exception that when the sense of touch is excited, some material +object is responsible. The same thing is true of the senses of smell and +taste, but as their field of action is comparatively limited, I will +allow the first three named to represent the whole number.</p> + +<p>The organs of sight, hearing, and touch, then, are the three principal +avenues through which we obtain knowledge of matter, they themselves,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +however highly organized, being also material.</p> + +<p>Now, I have said that there is an inhabited domain in immediate touch +with the earth, although not discoverable by any of the scientific +instruments of investigation. Sight, hearing, and touch do not sustain +this, and declare such a domain non-existent. If we bear in mind that +these organs deal with matter only, it may be freely admitted that they +speak the truth. The world whose existence we are asserting is an +immaterial world, and although it be immaterial, it can be shown that it +has, nevertheless, a claim upon our profound attention.</p> + +<p>Certainly, after what has been shown, it ought not to lose in interest +on that account. <i>For, if our bodily senses are, by their very +constitution, unable to bring us any reports save such as pertain to +matter, their silence in regard</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> <i>to the world we speak of counts for +nothing.</i></p> + +<p>But it may be said that all entities are material. This is a specious +plea, but the generalization is too broad. Let us test it in a familiar +way. Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of +Independence, and attached his name to the immortal document in a clear +and legible manner. All this has to do with matter. Even the emotions +which he may be supposed to have experienced while affixing his name, +although not in themselves material, had a material effect upon his +frame.</p> + +<p>I say that those emotions were not in themselves material. I might take +my stand here, but prefer to go one step further, and put a question: +What were those emotions? and then add, This question is not in itself +material.</p> + +<p>It might be made a subject of thought.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> An essay might be written upon +it, which would be esteemed good, bad, or indifferent, according as the +author rightly apprehended the character of the man.</p> + +<p>The question may never have been put into language before, but it is now +a real entity, and our mental powers, acting freely, will have no +trouble in so regarding it. It will be seen that, while it may become +associated with things material, may be written so as to be seen, spoken +so as to be heard, or even stamped to reach the apprehension of the +blind, these material associations are no essential part of the +question, since it might arise in the mind without any such aid, and be +examined there without calling into play any one of the bodily senses, +or any combination of them.</p> + +<p>It may be said that this is an idle question, unworthy to take an +important<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> place in an argument, but it cannot be said that it is a +foolish question; and it may well stand as a representative of other +questions, questions which might have been substituted; questions which +have arisen in many minds at the same time, and the answering of which +has involved the overthrow of kingdoms, thereby demonstrating, if +necessary, the reality of their existence.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER X.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> order to make progress in the search for wisdom, it is necessary that +we should bind ourselves to follow where truth may lead.</p> + +<p>We cannot maintain our name as followers of the truth, if, whenever her +footsteps turn in some particular direction, we refuse to follow, or if, +whenever the path leads in the direction in which we have predetermined +not to travel, we begin to cast aspersions on the sincerity of our +leader.</p> + +<p>All who would attain the freedom which large possessions give, must +learn sometimes to lay aside prejudice of every kind, and follow +according to the general law which bids us proceed until some real +obstacle presents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> itself, or some real danger confronts us.</p> + +<p>My illustration has led us to the point where it appears that we are +able to say, Realities are not always material in their nature. In other +words, materiality and reality are not inseparably associated. They may +be separately considered, and dealt with as though not related. The +question, What were Franklin's emotions when signing the Declaration of +Independence? is a real question. In the world of mind it has a reason +for existence, and because the world of mind is associated with the +world of matter, and, in some ways at least, takes precedence, that +which is real in its domain may be asserted as real in the presence and +by use of some of the appliances of the latter.</p> + +<p>The converse of the truth, that realities may be devoid of materiality, +may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> be given here as an aid to the understanding.</p> + +<p><i>Material</i> things are not always <i>real</i> in their nature. The scenery of +the stage, the portrait in oil, effigies in wax are familiar +illustrations, and it will be observed that none of these are intended +to deceive. They are merely examples of material things used in an +unreal way.</p> + +<p>In looking at them, we may, by the powers of mind which we possess, +endow them with a temporary reality, which will aid in producing mental +results, or we may refuse to so endow them, in which case they remain +barren of effect upon us. I have given examples of things real but not +material, and of things material but not real. Take another example of +the first of these: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals +rests upon a basis that is not material. It rests upon an idea. If<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> the +idea that cruelty to animals is harmful, not only to them, but to those +who inflict it upon them, could be at some future time disproved, then +we should expect that the society would disappear. At present it is +sufficient to say that the society has a <i>real</i> foundation which is in +no danger of being destroyed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XI.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> will readily be seen that to take firmly the position that realities +may be devoid of materiality involves a great deal, and those who +endeavor to prevent this thought from taking root in any particular mind +are apt to hold up before him examples of the immaterial which are not +real. Most dreams are of this nature. Their confused outlines make +temporary impressions on the memory and are then forgotten. But we have +not to do with such as these. We recognize that real things may be +material, such as certain houses, lands, or mountains, and that unreal +things may be immaterial, like passing dreams just spoken of; but the +immaterial which is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> none the less real is what we bring into view. And +if we are ready to admit, or to go further and declare, that reality and +materiality are not necessarily conjoined, we are then ready to give a +fair hearing to the statement that a real but immaterial world, +inhabited by real but immaterial beings, is in closest relations with +our own.</p> + +<p>These real but immaterial beings, because they <i>are</i> real and +intelligent, are possessed of the primal attributes of all intelligent +beings: they have memory, feeling, emotion, will.</p> + +<p>In power they differ widely from each other, and in their essential +character there are as many shades of difference as with mortals.</p> + +<p>Let us speak first of their power. This is mostly exercised in their own +field, that of the immaterial, yet to suppose that it is any the less +real in its effects upon our lives is to forget how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> small a part our +senses directly play in influencing our motives. The end and object of +our efforts may be to obtain the means to gratify our senses or those of +our friends, but the process through which we are obliged to work is so +complicated, it involves the play of so many forces, it brings us into +relations with so many people, each with his own plans and purposes, +that we are continually making decisions based upon what we consider as +probable, rather than certain, results. This is the opportunity of the +spirits, and we often discover that all our efforts have simply tended +to the advancement of others, while we are left in the lurch. The man +who keeps his temper under such circumstances may be favored by the +receipt of a thought-message. It enters his mind as ideas do, with a +flash, and if he is wise he will carefully elaborate it into words. I +have been working for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> myself only, bending everything as far as +possible to my own enrichment. Others have been doing the same. What +right have I to complain if they have done with me, by their superior +power and foresight, what I have tried to do with them? None at all.</p> + +<p>Morally we are on the same level. Let this misfortune be a lesson to me. +Henceforth I will at least make an effort to do as I would be done by.</p> + +<p>As he makes this resolution, a warm glow suddenly pervades his being. He +feels at once lighter and stronger, and then perhaps he does a little +thinking for himself. "If I believed in angels, I should say that they +were near, and touched me then; I never felt anything like it." Little +does he suspect the truth, that the whole idea which he so carefully +elaborated in his mind had been flashed into it from without by an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +angel-friend, and that when it had borne its natural fruit in a good +resolution, it became possible for the same friend to convey to him a +touch of her own delight.</p> + +<p>It may be objected that illustrations like these prove nothing as to the +source of the experience; that to deny that invisible intelligences so +play upon men is as rational, or more so, as to say they do. But we are +not limited to such comparatively indefinite evidence. For nearly fifty +years it has been permitted, or commanded, or both, that these invisible +beings should demonstrate the reality of continued existence, and they +have been doing so in a great variety of ways. For particulars, +reference is made to the periodical literature devoted to the subject, +and to the scores of books which have been written upon it.</p> + +<p>It is not my purpose, however, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> enter into this field of evidence +with any approach to minutiæ, for it was not here that I acquired the +ability to say, The occult world is a real, inhabited domain. I know +whereof I speak.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> searching for truth in the fields of thought, we often run counter to +our own prejudices, and almost unconsciously call a halt. There are some +whose self-conceit is so great that they invariably do so the moment +that any of their prejudices is in the slightest danger of a shock. But +it is rather to the seeker who has in part divested himself from this +hampering load, which he had perhaps inherited like a humor of the +blood, that I now speak.</p> + +<p>What is to be done? How proceed in such a case? The remedy is simple. +Whenever you are dealing with abstract ideas, and find one that is +refractory, either in itself for want of further analysis, or because of +some special weakness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> of yours which incapacitates you from subduing +it, never give it up; if you do, you will find yourself under it like a +toad under a stone for an indefinite length of time. No, the right thing +to do is to pass at once from the abstract to the concrete, and find in +material things the counterpart of the truth under examination, and then +proceed. The effect is often wonderful.</p> + +<p>To illustrate. Suppose you are examining the abstract idea of the +expediency of doing right. You may have some particular case in mind, +probably will have, if the decision is to count for anything in your +life. You may call to mind the famous saying, It is better to be right, +than to be president. You will recognize the principle involved in this, +but is it of universal application? you may inquire. Is there not some +way by which I can take the free-and-easy course and yet incur no +penalty? A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> great many people appear to be able to, why should not I? +This is the point where you need to transfer the case from the abstract +to the concrete form, and ask yourself, Suppose I were mixing chemicals +according to a certain formula to produce a certain compound, and +suppose one of the ingredients were wanting. Should I go ahead and trust +to luck, and expect to get the compound just the same as though I +followed the directions? Surely not. What would the science of chemistry +amount to if such a thing were possible? How could anything new be +discovered if the governing principles could not be depended on, or, in +other words, if like causes did not <i>always</i> produce like effects, and +unlike causes, unlike effects?</p> + +<p>The most intrepid explorer in the scientific field might well despair of +the prospect in such a case. But this is chemistry, and the laws of +conduct are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> not so rigid, you may say. That is just where you miss the +path. Until you attain to a belief in the unity pervading all things, +from the lowest to the highest, this unity differing in outward +appearance or manifestation only, and not in essential character, you +will find no peace nor rest. The laws of conduct less rigid than the +laws of chemistry? Say, rather, infinitely more so. For the higher the +plane of action, the less likelihood is there of any superior force +interposing to divert the current of events from its natural course; and +the laws of conduct, remember, pertain to the life of the soul, which +makes them higher than the laws of chemistry by two removes, for the +laws of health relating to the physical body come in between.</p> + +<p>But the laws of conduct are not well understood, you say. That, indeed, +is true. We have only a few keys opening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> into this realm of the soul, +and most people are content to take public opinion as a sufficient guide +rather than to take the trouble to explore for themselves.</p> + +<p>But it is the plane just below this, that of bodily life and death, +which we are attempting more especially to elucidate. There seems to be +no systematic teaching in regard to this that is worthy of the name of +science.</p> + +<p>The problem of life itself, what it is as a force differing from other +forces, how to deduce from the manifestations of vitality what vitality +is, remains unsolved. And why so? For a very simple reason. Because +those who attempt the problem are unwilling or unable to conform to the +conditions which they recognize as necessary in all other departments of +scientific research. They do not study life <i>objectively</i>. They may +think they do. They may think that to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> study life in other men or in +animals is a truly objective method, but this is a fallacy.</p> + +<p>The theory that life needs to be studied from an outside standpoint in +order to be comprehended, is all right, but the man who uses his own +life-force in studying that of other men or animals is not outside the +subject of his thought at all. The active currents of his own being +continually intervene to obscure the processes of thought and render his +conclusions valueless.</p> + +<p>It may be true that no other method which can be called objective is +immediately apparent, but it does not follow that there is no other; and +if we simply enlarge our ideas of what is possible, we shall find the +true method to be just what we ought rationally to expect, and that is +this: The student who wishes to solve this problem, either for his own +satisfaction or for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> enlightenment of others, must eliminate from +the problem the one disturbing element, <i>his personal life-force</i>.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Does</span> it seem absurd to say that, in order to study life, a man must die? +For that is what this method amounts to in the last analysis.</p> + +<p>Now, I beg of you not to be unnecessarily alarmed. I have said nothing +about burial. If death were only another name for annihilation, then +death and burial would be inseparably associated, no doubt. But suppose +it should be true that it is an error to associate the thought of +annihilation with any man, is it not clear that whoever permits that +error to have any place in his mind is sure to give a meaning to the +word death which does not belong to it? Is it not evident that the +thought of death in that case must borrow blackness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> and mystery of a +kind that does not pertain to it? Most surely. But let it be said again, +that death is a reality; it is not a fiction, nor a mere seeming. A man +cannot possess bodily life and at the same time be dead. The two +conditions are incompatible. Otherwise there would be no advantage to be +gained toward the study of life by experiencing its opposite.</p> + +<p>Shall I try to tell you, from the standpoint of experience, what death +is? Perhaps it will be best to tell you first what it is not. It is not +a snuffing-out like a candle, unless we could suppose one where the +spark should remain quietly alive until the candle was relighted.</p> + +<p>It is not a going to sleep, unless we assume it possible for the +dream-life to be woven on to the daytime consciousness at both ends +without a break, so that the dreamer, however strange may have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> his +dreams, and whatever the testimony of others may be, is able to say, +with conscious truthfulness, I have not slept at all.</p> + +<p>Death includes, without question, an entire suspension of bodily +sensations and activities. The consciousness of <i>being</i>, however, +remains, and with it, as a necessary consequence, the consciousness of +being alive, however shut in by the enclosing walls of a senseless +frame.</p> + +<p>What is to follow does not occur to the mind. A peace that is absolute +belongs to a death that is clean. Appetite of every kind is dead with +the body. Desire is not; resignation takes its place. What is this +resignation like? It includes a consciousness of a more potent yet +kindly will, and contentment with the result of the action of that will.</p> + +<p>The Giver has resumed His gift, the gift of life, for the benefit of him +who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> has parted with it. The resulting peace is permeated with +gratitude, not different in kind, although different in manifestation, +from that which the little child expresses in every motion of his happy +little body, when he seems to say continuously, I am glad to be alive. +The man is glad to be dead.</p> + +<p>Do you think it impossible that such an experience could come to any one +who should afterwards recover life to describe it? Very likely. But stop +for a moment and consider. When a man dies, the result may be said to +manifest in a twofold way. First: To the man himself, who is, to say the +the least, cut off from his customary outward activities. Second: To the +world at large, where the word is passed around, Such a one is dead; and +one acquaintance after another, as he hears the news, turns to a certain +part of his mental organism and marks it down in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> black where it is not +likely to be forgotten. Henceforth he will send out toward that friend, +now become a name or memory, a different kind of mental current.</p> + +<p>But wait: the word comes, Not dead after all—a false report. +Immediately the operation is reversed. The black marks are rubbed out, +the little switch is re-turned, and the friends all agree, to save +troublesome thought, that the man who was supposed to be dead was not +really so, and the old question asked by Job, If a man die, shall he +live again? is prevented once more from obtruding itself.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIV.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">My</span> aim is to make this book practical, that is, to clothe its thought in +such garb as to render it available for use, not to scholars merely, but +to all thoughtful minds.</p> + +<p>I shall endeavor in this chapter to gather up a few missing links in my +train of thought, and afterwards endeavor to give you a glimpse of the +Beyond. The question I seem called upon to answer is, How can a man be +alive and dead at the same time? and in order to answer it, it will be +necessary to analyze the thought called death, and separate it into its +various parts.</p> + +<p>The man is dead, says local report, and the consciousness of society +undergoes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> that natural change in regard to the man which I have +described.</p> + +<p>His name becomes associated with things that were, but no longer are. +Even those who theoretically believe that the man continues to live +either in happiness or misery, have, most of them, so little confidence +in the theory which they have subscribed to, that they never dream of +putting forth a mental current based on the theory. To all intents and +purposes, society consigns the average man to annihilation, with a +half-careless "Poor fellow, so he's gone. We'll see no more of him. +Well, no time to weep, seeing as he didn't leave me anything. What new +device for entrapping the elusive dollar shall I conjure up to-day?"</p> + +<p>I am dead, says the man himself as the shadows which have been gathering +upon his senses culminate in a rayless silence, and every thought of +motion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> becomes a recollection, a mere theory of fancy, that will not +even approach the dominion of the will.</p> + +<p>Death, as a state of consciousness, is a thing entirely new to him, but +he cannot reason on the subject. To reason is to live, to set the brain +in motion, to perform mental operations; this is no longer possible.</p> + +<p>What shall this state be compared to? It is like that of one isolated in +a secret cell of his own house, the key turned on him from the outside, +every avenue of communication cut off, dead to the world and all that it +contains. If a total loss of appetite can be associated with the state, +it might continue for an indefinite period; and if the power of +thought-transference comes in, a new kind of life has been begun.</p> + +<p>But science says that no man is really dead who still retains his +consciousness, by which statement science belies its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> name. Calling +itself knowledge, it spreads abroad its own ignorance. How many a +post-mortem has been held in the hope of finding the secret chamber +wherein that part of man which cannot die has gone to rest! How often +the sweet peace of death has become a conscious madness, by this means, +God only knows. Gentlemen, desist.</p> + +<p>To find a chamber whose occupant is invisible debars you forever from +obtaining the proof that you have found it. But perhaps it is not the +soul itself that is the object of this search, but rather some special +physical representative that might be found still quivering with life +and so betray its master. All folly.</p> + +<p>The soul when uncontaminated informs the whole outward body. It has its +pains and illnesses, more or less affecting the outer form, yet all +unrecognized in materia medica, and when its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> mortal brother is struck +with death, bends all its energies to make escape, lest it, too, take on +mortality. Failing in its effort to make a doorway for its exit, it +suffers for awhile through sympathy, till the final moment sets it free +from pain within its small dark house, no longer small, because made +clear, transparent, by the touch of death, when the dying has been +brave. No trace of foreign matter may remain to start a dissolution, in +which case the soul preserves the body from decay without more trouble +than a little watchful care.</p> + +<p>Sight, hearing, touch, through vibratory currents reach round the world +and even touch the clouds; the body has become, in fact, a mansion +perfectly adapted to the needs of its proprietor, who finds a new world +open to his delighted consciousness, and thanks God fervently for his +perfect victory over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> death, as well as for his comfort and protection +within the white, still walls which form, in fact, the first +abiding-place of the spirit.</p> + +<p>With this still form as passive aid, the soul, with little pain, is able +to make the mental transition which its change of circumstance requires. +No longer concerned directly with any thought based on material needs or +material changes, it finds itself in touch with the moral causes which +underlie these changes; and because moral force is most familiarly +manifest in and through people, these, and their relations to itself, +fill all the mental horizon.</p> + +<p>In this new field of perception, nothing impresses more than the +enormous differences in spiritual rank and attainment existing among +mortals who, judged by tape-line and scale, stood fairly equal, and whom +human law necessarily places on a plane of perfect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> equality, or +perhaps, through its deference to wealth, makes unequal in the wrong +way.</p> + +<p>The thoroughness with which past illusions are stripped away from the +mind tends to leave the spirit fairly aghast at its previous blindness.</p> + +<p>Frequently forgetting that the motor nerves of the physical form are no +longer responsive to its touch, it starts to rise, that it may go and +tell the world of these wonders just discovered, but finds itself in the +firm and quiet grasp of death, a touch that seems to speak and say:</p> + +<p>"Never mind; that is all right. You forget you are not free. Lie still +and learn your lesson."</p> + +<p>"But shall I not return?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly, but the mortal life is no concern of yours at present. You +are dead."</p> + +<p>All this as in a flash, for words do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> not belong to this state, ideas +rather, the spiritual essences of thought that seem to need no time +whatever to make their mark upon the mind.</p> + +<p>To some of these the mind is so receptive that they sink at once to the +very core of being, while others are held upon the surface.</p> + +<p>This last communication, You are dead, is sure to be so held. It seems +such an evident conclusion to respond, If I am dead, there is no death +but this seems such a contradiction to life's long lesson, namely, that +amidst a wilderness of uncertainties, death is the one thing certain. +And then the recollection of the shrinking of the soul at thought of +death, how to account for that, if there were no reality behind +appearances so countless?</p> + +<p>This in another flash of ideation that leaves a sense of mystery as of a +problem not worked out, and which may not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> while death as a condition +rests upon the form. I say, may not be, but would not be understood to +mean that the hindrance is mechanical in this case. A pure soul, even in +death, has certain reserve forces which can be put in action if the need +is great enough, but the consciousness of being in a friend's control, +especially when that control is apparently absolute, will tend to check +all restless impulse in this region of the dark, till now all +unexplored.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XV.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">But</span> if the soul might not take up and solve the problem for want of time +and space, we at this writing are not so limited.</p> + +<p>First, let us state it clearly. If death does not mean a loss of +consciousness necessarily, what is its distinguishing feature as +compared with life? And what, if anything, is there in it to dread? The +confusion of mind so general on these topics can be accounted for in a +very simple manner.</p> + +<p>The body has its life and its death, and the soul has its life and its +death, and we have but two words to describe the four conditions. This +makes it so nearly impossible to generalize on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> subject and at the +same time maintain clearness.</p> + +<p>For while the student of natural history attributes life and death to +the body alone, and the idealist goes to the other extreme and makes +life and death purely subjective—attributes of mind, not matter—the +philosopher who would have his mind open on both sides, not only to +those thoughts which enter unheralded, but also to those which seem to +have their origin in physical vibrations and enter the sensorium through +the body,—the philosopher, I say, finds it necessary to discriminate +carefully in the use of these words, life and death, and to make it +clear which is meant, the body or the soul, whenever he attributes +either condition to man.</p> + +<p>I have said the two words cover four conditions. What are they? In the +first the body is alive, and the soul is alive. Beautiful condition of +ingenuous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> youth! In the second, the body is alive, and the soul dead. +The man who by a course of persistent indulgence in all manner of crime +and sensuality has stifled the voice of conscience, and finally reached +the point where he is ready to say, "Evil, be thou my good," attains to +a form of quiet.</p> + +<p>The soul dies, and its decaying powers are absorbed by the body, which +becomes henceforth an embodied poison, most dangerous and even deadly to +the contact of the sensitive.</p> + +<p>The third condition is that of the soul first described, in which the +body has either temporarily or permanently parted with its life, while +the soul remains intact. Still a part of the world's seething life, +because action and reaction of the powerful causative soul-currents +continue with such a soul, the interment of the body will decide whether +the temporary physical death shall become<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> permanent or not. In those +exceptional cases where the body is preserved from the paroxysms of a +blind grief which, when they include contact, tend to snap the last +thread of vitality, or, still more important, from the embalmer's +ignorant knife, which slays unnumbered thousands—when the body is +preserved from both these dangers by a previous isolation, great +possibilities are in store.</p> + +<p>A forty-days' fast in the wilderness was the experience of one such +soul, after which he was able to say of his bodily life, No man taketh +it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, +and I have power to take it again.</p> + +<p>For his bodily life was restored to him, and death of the body had no +more terrors to the man who had attained superhuman powers.</p> + +<p>The fourth and last case, that where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> the death of the body follows that +of the soul, will not be enlarged on.</p> + +<p>There are such cases, but such can receive no lessons from a printed +page. The language of events alone can reach them, and even when the +soul is not dead, but rather entombed in the body, and rendered torpid +for want of air to breathe, the effect is the same, so far as reaching +them is concerned; the death of the body wakens such imprisoned spirits, +only to plunge them into an untold agony of despair as they discover +that life, with all its opportunities, has been worse than wasted, and a +bare existence alone remains, minus friends, minus hope, minus resource +of any kind even to conceal the abject poverty which is seen to be the +direct result of wilful and persistent wrongdoing all the way to the +bitter end.</p> + +<p>If we can suppose that such a soul, at this twelfth hour, under the +tremendous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> pressure of this awakening, should suddenly resolve to +accept the situation, and to brace every nerve to endure the horrors of +the event without complaint, while it would not be possible to say +<i>when</i> there would be any change for the better for such a one, the +reason would be because time is not to such a soul; while it still +remains true that mercy is as truly an attribute of infinite power, as +justice must always be.</p> + +<p>If, on the other hand, we suppose that such a soul breaks out into rage +at the discovery of its loss, hurling anathemas at the author of its +being, it will thereby plunge itself into darker depths, parting with +one after another of its faculties, until final extinction of the +individuality closes the scene.</p> + +<p>I have now shown the four conditions which our dual constitution in +relation to life and death makes possible. Some enlarging on these +topics, which concern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> us all, may not be unprofitable. We all enter +life in the first described condition, with body and soul both alive, +the body visible and tangible, the soul more or less so, according as +its environments since conception have favored its growth.</p> + +<p>Comparatively few of us ever reach the second condition I have +described, in which the body remains alive while the soul is utterly +dead. The protests of this, which is called the immortal part of us, +because the death of the body in itself does not impair its vigor, +usually prevent so great a calamity from occurring.</p> + +<p>Some kind of a compromise is entered into, by which the soul is allowed +a certain amount of freedom, on condition that the body shall remain +undisturbed in its favorite pleasures. Sometimes one day in the week is +selected, in which the soul is permitted to rule.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>Sometimes a single department of life's activities is placed under its +charge, and to meet the man on the favored day, or to have dealings with +him in this favored department, gives you a very exalted idea of the +individual. Sometimes in his business relations a man will be found +conscientious in the extreme, while in his family he acts the tyrant and +the brute. Sometimes his family almost worship him, while thousands +speak his name with detestation. In either case the body, not the soul, +the outer and visible, not the inner invisible self, is the leading +factor in the man, and the court of last resort.</p> + +<p>The man is still in slavery to the mortal; he has no knowledge of any +life except the earth-life; the faith-knowledge which he might have, +were his soul given its freedom and permitted to use its higher powers, +is shut out by the disorder of his condition,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> wherein a servant in +rank, the body, rules over the prince entitled to the throne.</p> + +<p>This is the prevailing condition of the human family to-day, the +difference between most people in this respect being merely one of +degree, some giving the prince more, and some less of freedom. A few +millions at most have given the nominal power into his hands, retaining +the real for bodily uses. To curry favor with these, tens of millions +profess to have done the same. In thousands only is the soul truly +regnant, and these are widely scattered, and more or less hidden, lest +they be driven out of life.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVI.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">When</span> I say that I have been outside and have returned, I speak the +truth, and yet my words seem to express an untruth. It is because, as I +have said before, that other kind of existence is so different from this +that it uses a different language to express even a simple idea, a +language which the kind we know as figurative most nearly resembles, +although that is far enough from being the same. I should therefore use +figurative language to embody what I have to say in regard to that other +life, if literary considerations were alone to be regarded; but my aim +is to benefit, and I decline to use a form of speech which has been so +often sold as merchandise that many people no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> longer believe there is +any truth attached to it. I use instead the plain, everyday speech, and +say without qualification that I have been away, that I am acquainted +with the conditions that follow after death, that I lean on no man's +theories, not even on those which I might make, if I were given to +theorizing, which I am not. No, I rest on facts, plain, cold facts, +which are none the less so because they are registered in the mind of +one man instead of many; facts of consciousness not to be gainsaid, +although, in order to express them so as to make them most useful here, +it is necessary to translate them into a language so far from the +original, that only those who keep the fact of the translation in mind +can hope to receive the truth in something like its purity.</p> + +<p>I am well aware that I can scarcely hope to convince my reader that it +could be possible under any circumstances for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> one to enter the kingdom +of the dead, to take on the powers and conditions belonging to that +realm, to become a component part of that world of mystery to the extent +of dismissing all care in regard to the possibility of return, and even +to transmit such a thought-message as this. The responsibility for my +being out of place rests upon you all; I was compelled to undergo the +pain of the passage at your will; and now that you repent and ask me to +return, I will take my time and think about it. I am well housed in a +good body on this side. I do not know that I would go back if I could.</p> + +<p>That, after all this, and after a succession of spiritual events which, +measured by their effect on one's consciousness, should correspond to a +period of centuries on earth, one should actually make his way back and +take up again the broken threads of his earthly life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> and weave them +into something resembling an orderly design once more,—to convince my +readers of the possibility of this is so nearly impossible that I shall +not seriously attempt it, although it is true.</p> + +<p>It will be said that even though I suppose that this is actually true of +myself, it does not follow that I am not suffering from an +hallucination.</p> + +<p>It will be argued very naturally that in so far as I am now a tangible, +actual human being, just so far is it impossible that I should ever have +been actually dead; and as to becoming habituated to the kind of life +which may remain after the body loses its animation, for any one now +living to make such a claim is the height of absurdity.</p> + +<p>Any one who shall take this stand will need to be reminded that bodily +consciousness is one thing, and soul-consciousness another, and that +there may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> be <i>spiritual</i> existence beyond that. Comparatively few +mortals have not at some time in their lives awakened at least +momentarily to soul-consciousness, and can remember, if they care to +try, how suddenly and completely the bodily consciousness retired into +the background at its coming.</p> + +<p>Thousands can testify that this soul-consciousness in them so dominates +that of the body as to render bodily pains powerless to disturb the +regnant soul.</p> + +<p>These may be able to understand that in the world toward which they +hasten, another advance will become possible, wherein the +soul-consciousness shall become subordinate to the higher life of the +spirit.</p> + +<p>To make this a little clearer let me say that what you are now conscious +of as your soul, the sensitive inner nature, that feels a slight as +though it were a blow, that spurs the organism to years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> of anxious toil +in the hope of gaining independence, that scorns to beg, yet in the hour +of danger sometimes feels to pray—this inner self is to be your body +when death shall come to break the tie that holds you captive in the +dust. Every consideration to which your soul is now sensitive shall +become, as it were, the laws of nature then. You will suddenly discover +that ill-will, for instance, is a current actually tangible, as much so +as an electric current was to your physical body. You will learn +experimentally that kindliness of spirit, good-will, and gratitude are +equally tangible to your new and finer senses. You will perceive that a +generous spirit diffuses light, and a selfish one dwells in his own +darkness, and this kind of light and darkness you will be astonished to +discover has taken the place of what you formerly knew by those names. +You will soon perceive that a deceiving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> spirit knows how to wear a +false light as he pretends to a genuine interest in your welfare, and +that a truly friendly one will sometimes hide his light, if thereby he +can obtain advantage for your benefit.</p> + +<p>If your life has been little more than a revolution around yourself, +measuring everything by its relation to your personal advantage as you +saw it, you will be surprised to find how small and dark a space will +bound your being; and it may be a long time before you cease to dwell +upon the memories of the world left behind, or cease to hope that in +some way you can return to make a better use of its opportunities. And +when you shall fairly come to understand that you have been living in +the generous air and sunshine of the spirit of God, and that, instead of +seeking to imitate Him by making your life a blessing to those less +favored than yourself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> you have employed your brief span in the effort +to appropriate to your private use everything that could be lawfully +seized on, you will wonder why the certainty that earth-life is limited +had not impressed you more; and when you perceive, through the +soul-consciousness which has taken the place of the bodily, that you +have no data whatever upon which to base even a surmise as to how long +your new kind of life is to continue, such measureless despair may fall +upon you as shall even make tears impossible.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the other hand, if anywhere along your life-journey you have +scattered any seeds of kindness, they will every one of them bear fruit +in the Beyond.</p> + +<p>From the moment when you perceive and acknowledge to yourself that you +are not in every way fitted to enter the courts of heaven and become +associated with those to whom selfish thoughts have become simply +memories, you are likely to have experiences tending to refine and +purify your nature. No longer active in the outward, you must bear what +influences come upon you from without as best you may. An infant in the +cradle is not more helpless than the great majority of those who enter +the Beyond; and the invisible nurse that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> may have you in charge will +not ask you what kind of medicine is most agreeable, but will administer +what is best for you.</p> + +<p>Picture to your mind, if possible, what it would be like to lie +physically helpless, with your outward consciousness telling you that +you no longer appear as a man, or as a woman, but only as an infant to +any eyes able to see you, while at the same time your mental vision is +perfectly clear and takes in all your past life in every aspect of its +relation to other lives, and especially in its relations to the great +all-pervading life which seems now to be somehow lost out of all +possible reach.</p> + +<p>Suppose that while those reactions called pain and pleasure are more +vitally potent than ever, because of a vastly heightened sensitiveness, +mental as well as physical exertion has become impossible, a succession +of states of consciousness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> taking their place; and then suppose a +master hand, with all the resources of mesmerism at his command, should +begin playing upon your organism, proving to you by every touch that not +a line of all your past history but is an open book to him, and his only +aim is to bring you to a willingness to confess your weaknesses +and follies, your neglect of duties, as well as your open +transgressions—one thing at least would surely result: you would +discover, and never forget, that spiritual things are not less, but +immensely <i>more</i> real than any physical entities with which you ever +came in contact.</p> + +<p>It is such a great mistake to suppose that because you have nothing in +your experience corresponding to such a condition as that which I have +just described, therefore you never will have.</p> + +<p>What kind of reasoning can be weaker than this? Have you not two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> kinds +of consciousness, one of the world and all it contains, and one of +personal existence in its various relations? Do you not perceive that +your body, vitally active as it is, and swayed by every thought you send +out, belongs properly to the first of these fields of consciousness, +while that which makes up your character—your preferences, your +predilections, your faults, your foibles, your beliefs, and your +prejudices—belongs to the second?</p> + +<p>Can you not see that a suspension of the outward consciousness, in other +words, a suspension of your power to sense the material world through +your material senses, has no necessary connection with any suspension of +your inner consciousness by which you might be able to say, I cannot +move; I cannot see, hear, or feel anything, but I am still a white man, +ready to swear by the flag and by my right to my personal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> liberty, and +if any one takes the trouble to hunt me out he will find me the same man +I always was?</p> + +<p>Hundreds of thousands thus lie in their graves, thankful if they know +its location, and waiting as only the dead can for the time of their +deliverance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVIII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Accept</span> another glimpse of the Beyond. One of the most distinctive +characteristics of this country or state of being is activity of mind. +Let me explain why I say country or state of being. It is either the one +or the other to the consciousness according to the point of view. Looked +at externally, it is seen to be a new environment, a different kind of +life; but when its atmosphere becomes yours, the effect upon your mental +organism will be so great that you will rightly regard it as a state of +being to which earth-life bears the relation of a pre-natal one. This +comparison, however, has one defect, for while we of the earth have no +conscious memory of our pre-natal life, they of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> the Beyond recall every +leading event of earth-life as clearly as though no time had intervened.</p> + +<p>The change of state brings on the mental activity spoken of, the effect +of which on the material side manifests as heat or magnetism, or both.</p> + +<p>The lifting off of the weight of dead matter causes a feeling of +buoyancy, and the vibrations of the particles of the gaseous body may be +so great that it will seem to expand until one seems everywhere present +over a vast territory in the same way that we are now present in all +parts of our physical bodies.</p> + +<p>The first event of prime importance to you will be the demonstrating and +establishing of your spiritual rank. Just where do you belong? In the +society of what people, or what class of people, are you content? Does +any accusation lie against you? If so, what have you to say in regard to +it?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>Are there any special credits that you claim which seem never to have +been acknowledged? Is there anything you wish to confess? To what +concealment do you claim a right?</p> + +<p>The answering of these questions may be a very simple matter, or may +involve the welfare of nations. While the friends left behind will +contribute their quota of evidence, those with whom you have been +associated who have preceded you to the unknown country will be the most +actively interested in your case. You will find some waiting for your +testimony on some point involving their own status, and when you come to +speak of the matter you may have to struggle against a tumult of voices +before you succeed in testifying. Where questions of fact are involved, +of sufficient importance to justify it, most wonderful agencies can be +set in motion to determine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> them correctly in the region of the Beyond.</p> + +<p>That precise point in the ether where the event occurred, and which has +long since been left behind by the passage of the solar system through +space, can be visited and made to yield up its record as by kinetograph; +or the surroundings may be reproduced as on a stage, and the one who +persists in falsifying is suddenly placed there and told to act his part +again according to his own story. He will find it very difficult to play +a false part in the presence of those who know the truth.</p> + +<p>It may be noted that this picture of a soul on trial is quite different +from that given before, where it is held as the prisoner of death; but +it is only necessary to bear in mind that events may succeed each other +even in a country where time is not, and that such succession marks the +stages of one's growth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>If any of your faculties are in a dull or torpid state because the +circumstances of your life have been such that they never have been +given a field of action, the invisible actors of the Beyond who may have +you in charge will know how to awaken, stimulate, and call these +faculties into an active state before the final decision is rendered, to +the end that no injustice may be done you on their account. Should the +verdict of the lower court be such that you are not willing to abide by +it, you may take an appeal to a higher court.</p> + +<p>At the last you may even appeal from the judgment of angels altogether, +and demand a trial by the great Spirit of the universe, but you will not +do this recklessly when you know that it involves a trial by ordeal, or +a contest of sheer will-power, sustained by conscious innocence alone, +with planetary forces.</p> + +<p>Not brief nor trifling is a contest such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> as this; not once in a +thousand years does such a thing occur; but the fact that the way to it +is always open in the Beyond proves with what infinite tenderness the +individual is guarded against injustice.</p> + +<p>But it is impossible that I should know of what I am speaking, some +reader says. I grant you that it seems so, but would discussion settle +it? Is it not time the door was opened? Is there no need?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIX.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">An</span> illustration of the difficulty of generalizing when speaking of +matters on the spirit-side just now occurs to me.</p> + +<p>Suppose that you as a mortal were permitted to witness a combat between +a soul on its way upward and a foul spirit seeking to gain control. The +spirit may be able to take on any form it pleases, and approaches in the +guise of a friend. But the soul receives a warning touch and speaks out +sharply: "Stand; keep your distance. Who are you? and what do you want?" +With every smooth and crafty method of tone and word the spirit seeks to +convince that he is what he claims to be, a friend, and entitled to +approach. The soul, with its senses sharpened by fear, uses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> every +effort to discern the character of the stranger, weighs and analyzes +instantly every expression of the wily foe, and before the answer is +completed, decides positively and prepares to strike. The spirit +perceives the motion and shifts his footing in time to escape the +blow—a thought-impulse, weighted to kill. Does the spirit respond in +anger? Oh, no; his object is not to injure, but to gain control, so he +remonstrates, with pretended grief, that one whom he loves should so +mistake him. But the soul is not to be deceived, and gathers up its +strength for another blow. The spirit pours out a perfect stream of +flattering words, intended to lull his intended victim into a momentary +lack of vigilance, and ventures a little nearer, hoping to touch the +aura and disappear from view, only to become manifest as an invisible +power within the soul, an active agent in undermining its powers until +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> opportunity shall present to seize the very throne itself and revel +in the possessions of its victim.</p> + +<p>But the soul is cautious, and in virtue strong, and so, conscious of +invisible protection, suddenly fixes the demon with his eye, and before +he can escape launches at him a bolt that leaves him helpless and +writhing, dead as a spirit can be. "I killed him," says the exulting +soul, as it passes on its way.</p> + +<p>You would be apt to say, "He did not kill him at all; he only disabled +him."</p> + +<p>Now, while it is true that what I have described corresponds in +appearance to what we should here call disablement merely, its full +meaning cannot be understood without entering the consciousness of the +spirit who was struck down.</p> + +<p>To such a one activity, or the ability to act, constitutes life; +inactivity, or the inability to act, constitutes death, not death as we +know it, but a living<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> death, in which the fierce vibrations of a life +that knows no end, being confined as though by a broken wheel in its +carriage,—being confined, I say, to the gaseous envelope, the +propulsion of which has absorbed half its fire, soon heats the envelope +to a torturing degree.</p> + +<p>Illustrating in another way, the evil spirit, being disabled from +continuing his customary activity, is forced to reflect, to look back +over his course, and face the evils he has done. Horrors take hold of +him. The most poignant dread of being overtaken by those whom he has +despoiled of all that made life dear, until in despair they have +committed suicide, and started out to find their tormentor, takes hold +of the miserable wreck, who has not even the consolation of looking +forward to some certain end to his sufferings, because neither time nor +the last sleep are known in the region of the dead.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>Is this experience, do you think, any less to be dreaded by a selfish +spirit than is death by a mortal who is consciously not ready? It is +therefore properly called death in the language of the spirit, made up, +as that language is, of ideas only.</p> + +<p>But in calling it death on the earth-plane we are using a word that has +a much different meaning here.</p> + +<p>When we say, "The man is dead," a funeral, or at least a burial is +suggested. Not so there.</p> + +<p>In this we have an example of the difficulty of conveying information in +regard to the conditions of the Beyond, without using words that are +liable to be misunderstood.</p> + +<p>Only those who have attained to the ability to converse in the light, +eye to eye, without words, are entirely free from these obstructions to +mental intercourse.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XX.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Astronomy</span> teaches us that our earth, together with the other members of +the solar system, is traveling through space, at the rate of eight miles +per second, around a distant center, in an orbit requiring many +thousands of years to complete.</p> + +<p>We learn from this that we are constantly changing our place in the +universe, and are entering new etherean fields, not only every year, but +every day and hour. Since we are unconscious of this motion, it may seem +to have no vital relation to us, yet, by a knowledge of the fact, we may +gain an insight into the wonderful resources of this great machine for +recording events.</p> + +<p>Every thought and feeling of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> we are conscious makes its mark, not +only upon our bodies, both the outer and the inner, but also upon the +ether through which we are passing. I am alluding not to the words in +which we clothe or perhaps conceal our thoughts or feelings when +communicating with one another, but to the thought-current itself at the +point of origin.</p> + +<p>This would be the same in the minds of all men of equal intelligence, +without regard to nationality; and those beings who are able to read the +marks left by these currents would find them written in unmistakable +characters, and of a size proportionate to our rate of travel, on the +fair ethereal page.</p> + +<p>In one respect we are at an enormous disadvantage in our relations, +conscious or unconscious, with the denizens of the Beyond.</p> + +<p>Our thought-motions compared with theirs are like an ox-team to a +locomotive.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> It is a fact, and there is no use in quarreling with it. On +the other hand, through our association with matter we are able, without +permanent injury, to bear oppressions of the spirit which would be death +itself to them; and those among them who would take delight in insulting +us are deterred from doing so by our insensibility to the stinging +thought-current. We ourselves would not insult a post for being one.</p> + +<p>These oppressions of spirit, or depressions, as we blindly call them, +are a part of the system by and through which we are made to manifest +what manner of person we are; and our blindness as to the real meaning +of the life we have come into possession of, our persistent mistaking it +for an end, instead of a means to an end, brings it to pass that the +tests we undergo as to our fitness for this or that position in the +real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> though hidden life that awaits us all, are real and genuine tests, +which they could not be, to their full extent, if we clearly understood +at the time just what was being done. Every thoughtful man and woman +looking back over life can discern how this or that decision has been a +turning-point leading on to unexpected success or paving the way to +disaster or defeat. When the test is complete, some inkling of its +meaning often dawns upon us, and we resolve to be on guard next time, +and then perhaps we start off on some rainbow chase, only to discover +that we are the prey of delusion once more. Then, perhaps, we get angry +and curse the whole machine as the product of some stupid blunderer, +thereby avoiding the confession of any mental obliquity on our own part.</p> + +<p>Not all of the delusions of mortality are of a kind that lead to such a +result. Some have been imposed upon us by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> our risen brothers of the +other sphere, and have held sway over our minds, as they did over our +fathers' minds, and over their fathers' before them, none of us living +long enough on the mortal side, or obtaining sufficiently clear +independent light, to enable us to become free. The shaking off of the +fetters of this mental bondage is a special characteristic of our own +day; and those who have listened to the torrents of eloquence poured +from the lips of the young mediums upon this subject, know that this +work, the necessity for which, as I have indicated, is largely due to +other-world intelligences, is now being forwarded from the same quarter +with tremendous power. Verily, there must have been a revolution in the +heavens, or this would not be. And such, indeed, is the case. The +tremendous power of an organized hierarchy under the controlling +influence of a single<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> mind so prominently in evidence here, is without +a counterpart on the other side to-day, although the sins against +humanity which have been charged against the priesthood of past ages +should more properly be laid at the door of their invisible inspirers, +then in the height of that power which is no longer theirs. To-day the +enemies of racial progress are to be sought for on earth, where the +intoxicating dreams of power without responsibility have found lodgment +and worked their corrupting influence in the minds of not a few of our +brothers, who seem to forget that they are still members of the race +they are seeking to enslave, and that their responsibility for misusing +the power entrusted to them will be accounted all the greater in +consequence.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXI.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> range of subjects coming within the scope of my title is so great +that I cannot undertake an exhaustive treatment of any within reasonable +limits, but I hope to supply a few keys by the use of which reverent +minds of any and every school of thought may be able to enter upon +successful explorations.</p> + +<p>The amount of evidence necessary to convince a sincere inquirer that +this earth-life, important as it is, is but the threshold of existence, +is not very great, but it must needs be adapted to the individual mind.</p> + +<p>To obtain this evidence is worth more to any man or woman than any other +purely mental acquirement can be.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>For it is a mental acquisition, the possession of which is related to, +and has a natural influence over, every other we can call our own. Yet +it has not, in itself, any transforming effect upon the life and +character.</p> + +<p>When such a result follows, other influences share in the work. He who +has lost friends that were a part of his life, the mother whose children +have fainted away into the world of mystery, the philosopher who has +given the strength of his years to the search for truth, are all +profoundly affected by the discovery; while those in whom the affections +are less strongly developed, or whose mental powers give them no +adequate perception of the profound and far-reaching relations of this +great truth, may hold it as lightly as they do their dreams, and receive +from it no more benefit than they do from them.</p> + +<p>Whoever is capable of analyzing a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> thought or the expression of a +thought, can find evidence of the world beyond strewn along his path on +every hand.</p> + +<p>All figurative expressions are merely unconscious devices to give to +thought somewhat of the objective reality it possesses to dwellers in +the Beyond. For instance:</p> + +<p>"There are names which carry with them something of a charm. We have but +to say 'Athens,' and all the great deeds of antiquity break upon our +hearts like a sudden gleam of sunshine; 'Florence,' and the magnificence +and passionate agitation of Italy's prime send forth their fragrance +towards us like blossom-laden boughs, from whose dusky shadows we catch +whispers of the beautiful tongue."</p> + +<p>Is it doubted that the Athens of which the author speaks will be found +embodied in forms real and tangible in that other world which takes to +itself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> all that attains to immortality in this one?</p> + +<p>Why do authors speak of a <i>cold</i> greeting, of <i>walls</i> of reserve, +<i>rivers</i> of kindness, or the <i>sunshine</i> of love?</p> + +<p>They may not be able fully to explain, but expressions like these point +to features of the landscape in that world where the inner becomes the +outer and takes on those garments of reality which belong to it by +right.</p> + +<p>The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen +are eternal, and when we have broken connection with our temporal +bodies, or attained a true and perfect control over them, we may enter +into this knowledge, to find it truly a heavenly inheritance.</p> + +<p>But it is not alone through figurative and poetic language that we may +discover evidence of the existence of an immaterial world.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>The broad fields of philosophy and literary criticism receive their +light, their water, and their air, outside the world of sense almost +entirely. Scarce anything in these domains has any causative relation +with the world of matter.</p> + +<p>For instance, take this passage from one of the magazines:</p> + +<p>"But what does the work of higher criticism really mean? It means, +briefly, as applied to the Old Testament, the revision of certain +traditions concerning the structure, the date, the authorship of the +books—traditions which had their origin in the fanciful and uncritical +circles of Judaism just before, or soon after, the Christian era."<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<p>A careful analysis of the meaning of this will show that it begins and +ends in the domain of abstract thought. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> use a figurative expression, +it does not touch the ground anywhere. If our bodies and their needs, if +the earth and its products which minister to those needs, if, in brief, +the material universe really comprised the <i>all that is</i>, such a thought +as is contained in the passage quoted could never have come into being. +For it has no practical relation to things as such.</p> + +<p>Yet there is nothing especially obscure about it. It was written for men +and women of ordinary intelligence, who are supposed to take an interest +not merely in sacred truths, which, indeed, are not dealt with in the +article from which I quote, but the structural forms containing those +truths.</p> + +<p>All of which, rightly interpreted, points to another phase of existence, +which is either near to or far from us according to the stage of our +development, a phase which may become measurably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> real to us even before +we enter fully upon it, and which has the strongest possible claims upon +our attention.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is no more fruitful source of error to the student of occult +philosophy than the assumption which he continually makes, that the race +and the individual may be treated as one when their relations to a +higher power are being considered.</p> + +<p>It appears that the study of the laws of chemistry may be partly +responsible for this. A molecule of any substance, having in itself all +the properties of that substance, may be reasoned upon and regarded as +though it were, as it is, an epitome of the mass. In the same way it is +assumed that man, the individual, is an epitome of the race, and that, +in endeavoring to obtain a philosophical view of him, we may pass in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +review before the mind what we know of the race, and what we know of the +individual in a general way, without drawing any line of distinction +between what is true of the one and what is true of the other.</p> + +<p>Now, while this mental process may have a certain value when both are +considered externally, those who attempt to solve the deeper problems of +the race or the man, by means of it, are sure to fall into error.</p> + +<p>It is not borne in mind that our race is scarcely conscious of itself as +a unit, and if it were, it would in the present state of knowledge +regard itself as alone in the universe, flying through space on a +revolving globe with enormous velocity, along an unknown orbit. There +may be other inhabited worlds peopled by other races of beings, but as a +race we do not know this to be true; and only a dim perception of the +survival of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> a few of its own members that have lived their little lives +and passed away since time began, relieves the sense of isolation with +which the race looks out into the surrounding darkness.</p> + +<p>The student of history contemplates the rise and fall of nations and +traces the causes which have led to their overthrow. He observes the +same influences at work to-day as in the olden time, and when the +premonition of like disasters comes home to him, he is ready to exclaim, +"There is no hope! There is no God!" And in so speaking he gives +utterance to the soul of our race, which is still groping in the +darkness for light and a place of rest.</p> + +<p>How much of this is true of man as an individual? Very little, +comparatively, as we shall see. In the first place, as individuals, we +are conscious of companionship. We look around us and out over the world +and see great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> numbers of our fellows whose life and surroundings are +comparable with our own. Such differences as we perceive in each other +only give evidence that our fellow-beings are real, not simply +reflections of ourselves; are objective entities, not elusive shadows. +And by as much as we are conscious of an individuality apart from that +of our race, by so much may we hope to separate the thread of our +destiny from the tangled mass. Examples of such a separation are to be +found among the great names of the earth; and a study of their lives +will teach us how best to shape our own. It will also teach us that +race-life and individual life are not necessarily the same, that the +individual may absorb light for which the race is not yet ready, and set +his standards of thought and action far beyond what is yet possible to +the race as a whole.</p> + +<p>If, now, we form our conceptions of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> the character of the power +overruling us, by an exclusive study of those events which affect great +numbers, we are liable to serious error. If the sound of thunders +intended for the ear of the race be concentrated so as to fall upon our +individual hearing, they will certainly deafen us completely.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, those whose narrower vision sees only the play of +events as they affect the lives of individuals are also liable to error +in forming their estimate of the character of the overruling power.</p> + +<p>Here tragedy visible and invisible plays its part, and sometimes +injustice in the extreme appears to triumph. There is no possibility of +avoiding error in judgment from this point of view, without constantly +bearing in mind at least three things: first, that outward disaster is +sometimes an inevitable result of long-hidden crime; second, that to the +innocent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> death is a release from prison, a promotion from a lower to a +higher sphere of action, and that those who are able to look beyond the +instruments used to break their fetters, to the kindness that sets them +free, can mount on the wings of delight to a diviner air; and third, +that the dwarfing of the faculties of a soul during the short space of +earth-life will turn out to be a far less serious matter to the soul +than to the one responsible for it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXIII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> question may be asked, Wherein lies the difference between man the +unit, and the race which is an aggregation of these units? What +philosophical difference is possible? In answer, I would say that while +the individual and the race alike possess body and soul, the individual +at times manifests a power of becoming greater in every respect than the +influence of heredity or surroundings can at all account for. Such +individuals tell us of some powerful influence descending upon them, as +it were, from a higher sphere, and to this they attribute the changes in +their life and powers which make all their friends to marvel. No such +stimulating and transforming influence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> has ever manifested itself on so +broad a scale as to affect our entire race at once, and we must conclude +that the time has not come for such an event. As a race, our eyes are +not lifted above the earth. We care little about our origin, and still +less about our destiny. The love of war and bloodshed, delight in the +flowing bowl and all its attendant revelry, are still characteristic of +our race, and the heavy clouds that are gathering in our sky are not yet +black enough with impending evil to arrest us in our downward course.</p> + +<p>Ah! well for us it is that we are not to be left alone to rush headlong +to destruction in our blind folly. Terrible as are the forces we have +invoked against ourselves, those which shall save us from death by all +manner of intoxication are infinitely greater.</p> + +<p>The wasting fever of war undoubtedly must come, such war as the world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +has never seen before, but when the coveted excitement, changed to agony +untold, is at last over, when our physical forces are entirely +exhausted, the loving Parent whose outstretched hand we have always +refused, will show a pitying face. A draught of infinite peace will be +imparted to our spirit, and we shall rise in newness of life to enjoy +the forgotten delights of obedient childhood, and make this old world +over into one entirely new.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXIV.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">I had</span> not thought to touch this strain when I began to write of the +Beyond, but some things almost write themselves, and I have not +forgotten the closing words of the appeal with which this book opens. +"We are trodden down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our +fathers from the dead."</p> + +<p>Ah! if the wire which carries this petition outward can bear the +strength of the return current, it may possibly convey such tidings as +words are not able to express, for is it not true that the sweetest +strains are cradled within a silence which speaks more profoundly to the +soul than does the music to the ear? Let us hearken.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>"Do you wish to know what stands in the way of our coming to the rescue? +Nothing but your unbelief in the possibility of our coming. Thank God +that unbelief is growing weak. Could you know what exhausting labor is +ours in our efforts to reach you, you would pray rather for light to +enable you to do your part. Believe, oh, believe that we have not +forgotten. In agony of spirit we are striving to awaken you from +slumber, to instil into your minds the supreme truth, that no good thing +that can be named is impossible of occurrence. You are ready to believe +it for the material, why not accept it in the spiritual?</p> + +<p>"Religious liberty is your priceless privilege. Can you possibly gain it +by setting foot on religion itself? Be sane. Learn to discriminate. +Throw away the chaff, but keep the wheat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> Death is a magician, not a +murderer. The pain all comes beforehand. The passage itself is not +painful. Death merely turns the key in a door you never saw before, and +you step out into such a freedom as you never dreamed of. 'Be thou +faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,' suggests a +great truth. Try to get hold of it. No man, and no body of men, no +spirit, nor any combination of them, can prevent you from making your +life a success. There are prizes to be won. Why not try for them?</p> + +<p>"But you say you are trying. Sword in hand, you are battling for the +right. Yes, we know, and sometimes you are wounded, and help seems never +to come. Hold fast. We are building a road.</p> + +<p>"It is already finished, and the cars are on the track. You shall not +die of wounds like these. Help is near.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> Your prayer is heard. We knew +it would be. From the heights beyond the heights has come the order, +'Descend in power. Earth's children are ready to receive you.' And we +are not few nor weak. Our phalanx moves in a light which nothing can +withstand. Believe it, and stand upon your feet. We are already here."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXV.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is another grand division of my subject, but the difficulty of +presenting it through the medium of written language is even greater +than that already dealt with, and only a slight attempt will now be +made. Not only do thoughts take the place of timings in the Beyond, but +<i>emotions take the place of forces</i>. By emotions in this connection I +mean those currents of energy which have their rise in, and are more or +less under the control of individualized intelligence, as love and hate, +joy and sorrow, hope and fear, happiness and distress; and by forces I +mean those which are sometimes called blind forces, such as attraction +in its various forms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> heat, electric vibration, and the like. As these +last pertain especially to matter, we should expect them to retire into +the background in a world where mind-realities, or facts of +consciousness, absolutely dominate. And so they do. And here may be a +good place to indicate what part matter really plays in this immaterial +world. Let me call attention to the world of art. Let us recall its +great names, and the masterpieces which have given them fame, the +wonderful poems, the paintings, the sculpture, and the musical creations +that will never die, and then pause and consider how slight are the +demands made by this wonder-world on the lower world of matter. The poet +and the musician call for writing materials, the sculptor needs some +clay and a few modeling tools, the painter some pigments and brushes, +and a bit of canvas. With these slight aids the noble conceptions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> of +genius are materialized for the delight of future generations.</p> + +<p>Take another illustration. When a ship goes out of the harbor, it is to +be assumed that she takes her anchor with her, and carefully guards it +against possible loss.</p> + +<p>It is likewise true that within the scope of the great and splendid +activities of a free spirit, a material anchor is somewhere safely cared +for, yet such an anchor has no more prominent relation to the activities +of the spirit than the anchor of a ship has to the ship's power to cross +the sea. If we could think of a ship with nothing else to do but to lie +around the harbor, the relative importance of the anchor would increase +very much; and if it had no anchor of its own, it might attempt to tie +up to some other vessel that had one. And so with earth-bound spirits +whose testimony is sometimes quoted to the effect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> that spirit-life is +as dependent on matter as any other. Most of them are blissfully +ignorant of their own poverty, and move about the earth, that is to say +in the lower or earthly strata of thoughts and feelings, because they +have no desires above them.</p> + +<p>They remember this life as a lost heaven, and are continually bemoaning +that loss in secret, while their activities take the form of influencing +mortals to this or that kind of sensual indulgence, which they wish to +share through sympathy. Every impulse and desire is bent upon a possible +recovery of the earth-life, and they are so ignorant of, and indifferent +to, any higher form of life, that it remains without existence to them.</p> + +<p>I would not say they are insensible to the enlargement of their powers +consequent upon their release from the confinement of an earthly body. +They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> could not be. Their discovery that death does not destroy the +inner consciousness was a great surprise to them, but the novelty of the +discovery soon wore away. What seemed so strange at first, became a +truism, a simple scientific fact, previously unknown, and unable in +itself to supply any stimulus to their higher powers.</p> + +<p>It is evident that the testimony of these upon the subject is worthless, +while those who have battled for and won the prize of recognition in a +higher sphere give abundant evidence of their freedom from the bondage +of matter, and the desires that have material things for their object.</p> + +<p>Resuming my subject, not only matter, but those forces which are +inseparably associated with it, retire into the background, nay, almost +disappear, in the Beyond. Emotions take their place.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>The atmosphere, or that which corresponds to what we know by the term, +seems charged with some powerful element, resembling electricity in its +effects, but differing from it in that it seems to be sensitive to +thought, and to be capable of responding to it with dynamic force. A +shock from this element is in every respect as real to the consciousness +as an electric shock is to us. It comes from without and expends its +force upon the gaseous body. Being sensitive to thought, it does not +impress one as being capricious in its nature, but as though acting +according to some law which it is of the highest importance to discover, +if possible.</p> + +<p>With the perceptive and intuitional faculties wrought up to the highest +state of activity, it is presently discovered that it is not thought in +the abstract, but thought surcharged with feeling or with devotion to a +principle, some cherished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> sentiment of the soul, which has the power to +excite this hitherto unknown element; and gradually it dawns on the mind +that this element corresponds to public opinion on earth, that it +emanates from the inhabitants of that part of the spirit-realm, and that +if your mind does not happen to be in accord with theirs, you must +either get away or do battle for your life. By life, I mean your power +and freedom of expression, the very breath of the spirit, what a +printing-press is to a newspaper, cut off from which, the paper is dead.</p> + +<p>Manifestations of emotion, both in kind and degree, depend upon two +things, our spiritual state or condition, and the nature of our +surroundings. Passing over the first of these, it is evident that +earth-surroundings greatly limit the expression of emotion; and when we +observe the effect of a powerful current of this kind upon the physical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +tissues of the body, weakening and consuming them as by a flame, we see +that the length of our stay here is involved in our ability to control +our emotions.</p> + +<p>Not so in the Beyond, where our stay is without assignable limits, and +where the pent-up emotions of a lifetime at last find vent, and pour +themselves out as by flood-gates to the sea.</p> + +<p>And it is here that music plays its part in that wonder-world. For as +ideas have each their appropriate form, so every emotion has a musical +strain peculiar to it.</p> + +<p>And who can describe the healing power of music under a master's hand? +Reading the mind and soul as an open book, and informing every tone with +the vibrations of a perfect sympathy born of knowledge, he administers +to the soul whose life has been a tragedy long-drawn-out, such throbbing +waves of strength and consolation, himself remaining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> hidden, as seem to +issue from the very stars, and drown the memory of that age-long pain in +an ocean of oblivion.</p> + +<p>Ah! believe me, it is another world, where the powers of this one do not +rule.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXVI.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">And</span> yet, as I have indicated, it is possible to live so far below one's +moral and spiritual possibilities, that the loss of life will seem the +loss of heaven, and the men of power on earth whom one has envied will +come to seem very gods, worthy of being worshipped. Such a delusion as +this is in part due to the absence of a common time-element.</p> + +<p>Duration is measured only by the succession of various states of +consciousness, and these change so rapidly under the influence of the +vibratory intensity of the new life, that the events of a day lengthen +it out until it seems like a year upon earth; and day and night being +one in the Beyond, so far as activity is concerned, although they differ +somewhat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> in magnetic conditions, when one of these year-long days is +past, the spirit, glancing across into earth-life, at some money king, +with thirty years of active life before him, can scarcely avoid endowing +him with a kind of immortality, and may devote the fiery energies of the +soul to building up the fortunes of such a one, with no higher object +than that of keeping the mental balance and avoiding reflection.</p> + +<p>This necessity for keeping the balance supplies motive for a great deal +that is done by spirits in the lower strata of life in the Beyond. It is +not, strictly speaking, mental balance, but organic, affecting the whole +being. A spirit possessed of any conscious individuality whatever must +generate a certain interior force to maintain it. This keeps his body in +a state of equilibrium between the inner and outer pressure, and the +body of a spirit is naturally as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> valuable to him as ours is to us. It +protects him against currents of thought and emotion that are not +adapted to his needs, and when evenly balanced he is able to put forth +effective will-power along the plane of his development and below.</p> + +<p>Any one who has not learned what soul-action is will have it to learn +soon after the exchange of worlds. No other form of activity is possible +there. No spirit strikes another with his hand, nor presents him with a +visible token of wealth, yet battles are fought and presents given. As a +suggestion: when you say to your friend, "Good-bye and good-luck to +you," you are making him a spiritual present, although you may not be +aware of it.</p> + +<p>Whenever you launch a curse, if only in thought, you strike a blow, +against which conscious rectitude is an actual armor, and the only one.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>The very slightest impulse of ill-will directed toward any one is an +action of the soul that may do real harm, and certainly makes a record.</p> + +<p>These statements will commend themselves as true to most of my readers, +many of whom, however, would not be able to explain why they are so sure +of what they have learned from no teacher, and cannot recall from the +pages of experience. Let me suggest.</p> + +<p>From six to nine hours' sleep is an essential part of our daily lives. +We suppose ourselves to actually sleep, not only in body but in mind and +soul as well. Perhaps some who have very little mind and even less +spirit, do sleep when their body sleeps, but there are very large +numbers of people who, the moment the brain becomes quiescent, enter at +once on the most active part of their daily existence.</p> + +<p>This is especially true of such as during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> their waking hours have +attained some knowledge of spiritual values, and have taken their stand +on this or that platform of principles, religious, moral, or even +political, and who would be ready to contend in argument, or even, if +necessary, take up arms, in defense of their positions; in other words, +who have a conscious location in some field of thought or fortress of +belief.</p> + +<p>The extent to which we influence others, or are influenced by them, +during our sleeping hours, very few realize, because unable to recall, +when waking, the experiences of the night just passed; but be sure that +no reform can ever make much progress until the agitation for it becomes +sufficiently powerful to link the day to the night, and engage the +activities of partially freed spirits while their bodily consciousness +is lost in slumber.</p> + +<p>It is here that lessons are learned and impressions made, the recalling +of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> results of which may surprise us as to the extent, and puzzle us +as to the origin, of our knowledge.</p> + +<p>Readers of Emerson will find this a key to some of his mysterious yet +delightful sayings.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XXVII.</span></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Those</span> who have never entered into any kind of associate life where they +might learn to think and act for others as well as for themselves, will +have a particularly hard time on the other side.</p> + +<p>For no one can go through life without becoming responsible for +innumerable acts, even if he does nothing more than make room for +himself, and defend his own footing; and if he persists in living for +himself, it follows that his motives will never rise above the care of +himself, and, possibly, of those who contribute to his comfort.</p> + +<p>If such a man, by speculation or otherwise, becomes able to surround +himself with the tokens of wealth, there will not be wanting those who +will bow low to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> him; and when he is called out of life, with perhaps no +particularly heavy weight on his conscience, he will strut into another +world carrying with him a very large sense of his own importance.</p> + +<p>Now, there is no need to enlarge upon the emotions he will arouse, the +intense though secret hilarity with which he will be taken in hand, and +the endless variety of hazing operations to which he will be subjected; +but he will be sure to make the unexpected discovery that death is a +lost friend, long before the last spark of self-conceit is extinguished +within him.</p> + +<p>It is scarcely possible to convey an idea of how small a part individual +egotism is allowed to play in the world beyond.</p> + +<p>In this world our race, as a race, is under protection. We are all more +or less conscious of this in our own person.</p> + +<p>Even the most stolid, when suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> reduced to the extremity of +distress, find themselves calling upon God, almost without conscious +volition.</p> + +<p>If it were not so, if this protection were withdrawn, our race would +shortly cease to be.</p> + +<p>In the spirit-world, or in that part of it which adjoins this, +figuratively speaking, which we enter as individuals, this sense of a +general protection disappears. We find we are to stand or fall on our +own individual record. We cannot lose ourselves in the mass. There is no +mass. Time and space no longer exist for us. They are gone with the +bodily senses and mathematical reasoning to which they were a prime +necessity.</p> + +<p>Sight, hearing, and touch of the soul have awakened, however, and how to +use these new senses whose field of action is so immensely greater than +the senses we have parted with, engages our attention.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>Their first reports are so different from anything we have known that we +discredit them entirely, are sure we must be dreaming, and put forth +strong efforts to wake up. Failing in this, we look about us and +endeavor to get our bearings.</p> + +<p>Although time and space have left us, eternity and infinity have taken +their place, and a feeling of awe steals over us at the realization, a +feeling that extends in part to ourselves as we discover a certain +element within us which now for the first time recognizes its home.</p> + +<p>Then, in a flash, we perceive as never before, the essential narrowness +of the limits of earth-life, and our mental vision shows us that +whatever may have raised that phase of existence above the merely +sensual or animal, had its home in the Beyond, and was only a visitor on +earth.</p> + +<p>We find ourselves ushered into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> domain of causes, and a thousand +perplexities of memory disappear in a magical way, as we become sensible +of the tremendous force of the activities at work in this heretofore +hidden realm.</p> + +<p>A spirit sometimes finds himself as if on a stage, and the pressure of a +powerful will bids him to act out his own character. He consents, for +why should he not? Scene follows scene; men and women from every walk of +life, those whom he has known, and those of whom he has read, appear and +act their part; kings and courtiers come and go, prophets and peasants, +soldiers and merchants; and he finds some link connecting him with them +all. Perhaps a plot is formed to destroy his reputation; thread by +thread the web is wound about him. How shall he get free? Is it not all +a dream? But he is made to feel that he must not insist upon knowing. +Something like an electric<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> shock answers his thought, and bids him to +consider his surroundings real, whether they are or not, and forbids him +to think of such a thing as applying a test. And, indeed, there is small +leisure for anything of that kind. He finds himself obliged to put forth +energies he never dreamed of possessing, to keep from going distracted. +The stage widens until it becomes the floor of a world. The audience +swells to millions. He reaches out for their sympathy, but they do not +respond. They do not pretend to know whether he is a true man or a +scoundrel. If he cries, "I am true," they answer, "Prove it." What can I +do to prove it? But they turn away unconcerned, while another strand of +falsehood is thrown around him and he is brought to his knees, where he +is made the target for scorn and contempt, which come like arrows to +pierce his form. In the depth of his despair, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> sends out a piercing +cry to the spheres above him for help.</p> + +<p>Just then he discovers that he is clothed in armor, with a good sword at +his side. He did not know it before, he could not possibly say how or +whence it came, but it is not a time for curious questions. He seizes +the blade and with one sweep severs the cords that bound him, stands +upon his feet, and then, in a voice that startles himself, he calls upon +his enemies to show themselves. Instead of that he hears their +retreating feet, the clouds lift, the applause of the audience gives him +back his lost strength, and he is ready for the next ordeal.</p> + +<p>Now it may not be supposed that during such a scene as this, it would be +possible for the spirit to receive and answer thought-messages from his +friends on earth, but it is even so. A spirit with a heart will at least +make the effort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> to respond to every demand made upon it, but if among +the circle of his friends one sends out the message, "Come now, if you +care anything about me, I wish you would help me find this gold-mine. +What do you have to do anyhow?" the spirit may be excused if he fails to +respond, and does not immediately proceed to explain just what he has to +do.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">THE END.</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">FOOTNOTES:</span></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Editor <i>The Agnostic Journal</i>, London, England.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> <i>The Arena</i>, January, 1894, "The Higher Criticism."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Vision of Thyrza:</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">THE GIFT OF THE HILLS.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">By IRIS.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The author is convinced that war, strife, poverty, misery, disease, and +death are the result of man's reckless self-indulgence; and that so long +as he shall be actuated by greed and selfishness in his tillage of the +soil, in the various industrial pursuits, and in the marts of trade, he +will "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind."</p> + +<p>But the lamentable state of things will not continue forever. The +author, with "prophetic mind," perceives that the time will come when +man will live in harmony with Nature, and yield himself to the guidance +of "Divine Love." So guided and inspired, he will refine, purify, and +ennoble the life of his fellow-men. Then agriculture will be "restored +to right uses" and held in its pristine honor; and the earth will yield +its fruits abundantly. A noble simplicity and wholesomeness will +characterize the life of man, and universal peace will gladden his +heart. The whole world will rejoice in the return of the Golden Age.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Cloth, 75 Cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Company,</span><br /> + +COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">His Perpetual Adoration;</span></p> + +<p class="center">—OR,—</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">THE CHAPLAIN'S OLD DIARY.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">BY REV. JOSEPH F. FLINT.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>This is an extremely interesting and realistic war story, told in the +form of a diary left at his death by a veteran who had been a captain in +the Northern army, and with Grant at Vicksburg and Sherman on his march +to the sea. Two or three of the great events of the war are told in +stirring fashion, but the narrative deals mainly with the inside life of +the soldier in war time, and its physical and moral difficulties. A fine +love story runs throughout, the hero having plighted his troth before +setting out for the front. Being wounded in Georgia, he is cared for in +the home of a Southerner, who is at the front with Lee's army, but who +has in some way earned the bitter hatred of the wife whom he has left at +home. She falls desperately in love with her wounded guest, and to him +there comes the sorest temptation of his life. How he comes out of the +ordeal must be left to the reader of the story to discover.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Co.,</span><br /> + +COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">THE LAND OF NADA.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">BY BONNIE SCOTLAND.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The Land of Nada, the scene of this charming fairy story, is an +enchanted country, ruled over by King Whitcombo and the beautiful Queen +Haywarda. Prince Trueheart and his blue-eyed baby sister, Princess +Dorothy, and their wonderful adventures; the enchanted cows and +chickens, the wonderful lemon tree whose trunk yields three different +kinds of beverages, are some of the wonders of this delightful land; as +are, also, the doings of fairies, genii, goblins, and enchanted hawks. +How the blind prince recovers his sight, how the baby princess is +spirited away, cared for, and finally restored to her home, and how the +wicked goblin and the two hawks that spirited her away are punished, may +be read in this delightful fairy story, which teems with graceful +conceits and charming fancies, and which can be read, not only by +children of tender years, but by those of larger growth.</p> + +<p>The style in which the book is gotten up makes it very suitable for a +Christmas present.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Company,</span><br /> + +Copley Square, Boston, Mass.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">NICODEMUS: A POEM.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">By Grace Shaw Duff.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>In this fine blank-verse poem, written by the well-known New York +authoress, Mrs. Grace Shaw Duff, is given, in autobiographic form as +from the lips of Nicodemus himself, a poetic account of the two episodes +between that ruler of the Jews and Jesus, as related in the third and +seventh chapters of John's gospel. The poem is full of local color, and +opens with a striking description of sunrise on the morning of the last +day of the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Then follows a picture of +the unusual stir in the city due to the crowds attending the feast, +after which there is a fine word painting of the scene in the temple, +with its motley throngs of maimed and halt, of venders of unsavory +wares, of idlers, and of graver men.</p> + +<p>The description of the midnight visit of Nicodemus to Jesus may be +quoted in full as a typical specimen of the tone, manner, and fine +musical versification of the whole poem:—</p> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" summary="table"> +<tr><td> +"One night from sleepless bed I rose, and went<br /> +To where He lodged, and bade the porter say<br /> +One Nicodemus—ruler—came, and speech<br /> +Would have with Him. There was no moon, but hosts<br /> +Of stars, and soft, pale glow from shaded lamps<br /> +Made silver light. The air was still, with just<br /> +Enough of light to waft at times a faint<br /> +Sweet oleander scent, and gently float<br /> +Some loosened petals down. I heard no sound<br /> +But sudden knew another presence near,<br /> +And turned to where He stood; one hand held back<br /> +The curtain's fold; the other clasped a roll.<br /> +No King could gently bear a prouder mien;<br /> +And when I gracious rose to offer meet<br /> +Respect to one whose words had won for Him<br /> +Regard, I strangely felt like loyal slave,<br /> +And almost 'Master!' trembled on my lips.<br /> +A deep, brave look shone in his eyes, as if<br /> +He saw the whole of mankind's needs, yet dared<br /> +To bid him hope; and when he spoke, his words<br /> +And voice seemed fitted parts of some great psalm."</td></tr></table> + +<p>The book is beautifully printed on first-class paper, and is finely +illustrated with numerous half-tones, after sepia-wash drawings by that +excellent artist Fredrick C. Gordon; and each section of the poem has a +charmingly artistic vignette for the initial capital letter. The binding +is in keeping with the general get-up, and the book would make an +admirable Christmas present.</p> + +<p class="center"> +CLOTH, 75 CENTS.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Co., Copley Sq., Boston, Mass.</span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Woman-Suffrage Movement</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">IN THE UNITED STATES.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">By A LAWYER.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The author of this book believes that the Bible is the inspired word of +God, and that those who accept its teachings as authoritative must be +opposed to the woman-suffrage movement. Though he bases his arguments +mainly on the teachings of Holy Scripture, he does not overlook the +lessons of history. But history only confirms him in his contention that +marriage is something more than a civil contract terminable at the +pleasure of the partners. From the true point of view marriage is an +ordinance of God. Should it ever become the general belief that it is +other than a sacrament, there would be "no protection, no honorable or +elevated position, no high social plane or place for woman." And if +marriage is a sacrament, there is but one valid cause for divorce—the +one laid down in the Word of God. The husband is the head of the +household, and his commands should be respected and obeyed, for +obedience and protection are correlative terms; the interests of husband +and wife should be identical.</p> + +<p>The various "cries" of the advocates of woman suffrage, as "taxation +without representation," "liberty, fraternity, and equality," are +considered and declared to be without force, and this declaration is +supported by cogent reasons. The author is confident that if woman +suffrage were enacted into law it would not only harden women but work +irreparable injury to man, for those now opposed to the movement would +then "reconcile the principle and its effects upon their environment +with the Bible by throwing the Bible away." Thus, the "attack strikes at +the root of all moral and religious training."</p> + +<p>The book merits a wide circulation. Candid advocates of the movement +will desire to know what can be said against it; and its opponents will +be glad to have at hand reasons so forcible and illustrations so apt in +condemnation of woman suffrage.</p> + +<p>We cheerfully say so much for the book, though, as is well known, we are +strongly in favor of the movement towards a larger liberty of action for +woman; and we are looking earnestly and expectantly for the coming of +the day when woman emancipated and enfranchised shall work out her +destiny in perfect freedom.</p> + +<p class="center"> +154 pp. Cloth, 75 cents; Paper, 25 cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Company,</span><br /> + +Copley Square, Boston, Mass.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Heart of Old Hickory.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE.</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Eight charming and popular stories by this gifted young Tennessee writer +are collected in this beautiful volume. Each of these stories is a study +that reveals a different phase of human character, and each study is a +work of art. Several show the author's subtle skill in dialect-writing, +and all reveal the hand of a master in delineating character. Here we +have inimitable humor, gleeful fun, delightful sallies of wit, and +genuine pathos, all combined with extraordinary descriptive powers. +Raciness, strength, vividness, and felicity of expression characterize +the author's style. He is to be pitied who can read these stories +without being widened in his sympathies, elevated in thought, quickened +in conscience, and ennobled in soul. The stories are the work of a +literary genius, and go far to justify an admirer of her writings, who +has himself no mean fame as editor, author, and critic, in calling Will +Allen Dromgoole the "Charles Dickens of the New South."</p> + +<p class="center"> +Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Company,</span><br /> + +Copley Square, Boston, Mass.</p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">WHICH WAY, SIRS, THE BETTER?</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">A Story of Our Toilers.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="big">By JAMES M. MARTIN.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p>This is the story of a labor strike, its causes and consequences. The +chief character, Robert Belden, is a self-made man, who, from being +office-boy in the Duncan Iron Works at Beldendale, Pa., had risen, by +dint of intelligence, hard work, and attention to business, to be +partner and business manager of the concern.</p> + +<p>A temporary depression in the iron trade makes it necessary for him to +give notice of a reduction of ten per cent in the wages of his +employees. The latter are dissatisfied, and, after calling a meeting of +their union, demand from him an inspection of the books of concern by a +committee on their behalf, so that they may have the assurance that the +reduction is necessary. As the disclosure would injure the business, the +manager refuses to comply with this demand, and the workmen go out on +strike. Thereupon the manager, in order to fill his contracts, employs +laborers from a distance, and hires a band of fifty guards from a +detective agency to protect them and his works. A dreadful riot ensues, +with bloodshed and loss of life, and the works are closed.</p> + +<p>After a time the manager proposes a new arrangement with his former +workmen, whereby, under the system of profit-sharing, they shall receive +a share of the profits in addition to their wages. The plan works +admirably. In a comparatively brief period the workmen become well-to-do +and contented, many owning their own homes, and Beldendale becomes the +model of a prosperous and happy manufacturing town.</p> + +<p>The story has evidently been suggested by the terrible strikes and riots +in the coke fields of Pennsylvania, and the later ones at Homestead and +Buffalo, and the author's object is to show the uselessness and the evil +results of strikes, and to propose "a better way for the solution of the +perennial conflict between capital and labor." His admirable story does +this most effectively. It is written in that unassuming, straightforward +style which is so impressive when dealing with "the short and simple +annals of the poor," and it should be read and pondered over and taken +to heart by every capitalist and employer of labor in the country, on +the one hand, and by every workingman, on the other.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents.<br /> + +<span class="big">The Arena Publishing Company,</span><br /> + +COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38134-h.txt or 38134-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/1/3/38134">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/1/3/38134</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Beyond + + +Author: Henry Seward Hubbard + + + +Release Date: November 25, 2011 [eBook #38134] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND*** + + +E-text prepared by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/beyondbe00hubbrich + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +BEYOND + +by + +HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Boston +Arena Publishing Company +Copley Square +1896 + +Copyrighted, 1896, +by +Henry Seward Hubbard. + +All Rights Reserved. + +Arena Press. + + + + +BEYOND + + + TO + LOVERS OF THE TRUTH, + WHATEVER + LAND MAY CLAIM THEM FOR ITS OWN, + TO THE + EARNEST MEN AND WOMEN + OF MY TIME, + THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY + DEDICATED. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +A word of explanation in reference to my title may be appropriately +given here. By Beyond, I mean what is sometimes called the unseen world, +but which might better be called the immaterial world, since that which +distinguishes it from the world proper is not merely that it is +invisible, but that it cannot be made visible to mortal eyes. + +However, I have not assumed to treat of all that the word might be made +to cover, but have confined myself mostly to that territory, with the +entrance to it, which may be said to adjoin the earth, and which +therefore is more immediately interesting and important to be acquainted +with, and have addressed myself especially to those who seem to be +constitutionally unable to perceive the reality of this other world, +although willing and anxious to be convinced. + +If there is any one thing more than another which I hope to convey, it +is that the truths which pertain to the superior life do not conflict +with common sense, however they may rise beyond the perfect grasp of +that power of the mind. + + HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, + +Greeting. + + +I had known for some time that I had a book to write, but not exactly +how I was going to set about it, when there fell under my notice the +following appeal, whose unique and touching eloquence, I venture to say, +is without a parallel in our literature. + +"There have always been those, and now they are more numerous than ever, +who maintain that the dead do return. + +"Far be it from me to dogmatically negative the assertions of honest, +earnest men engaged in the study of a subject so awful, so reverent, so +solemn, where the student stands with a foot on each side of the +boundary-line between two worlds. + +"We know a little of the hither, can we know aught of the thither +world?" 'How pure in heart, how sound in head, with what affections +bold,' should be the explorer on a voyage so sublime! Never from 'peak +of Darien' did the flag of exploration fly over the opening up of a +realm so mighty. + +"How stale and trite the fleet of a Magellan to the adventurous soul who +would circumnavigate the archipelagoes of the dead!" + +"How commonplace Pizarro to him who would launch forth on that black and +trackless Pacific across the expanse of which has ever lain the dread +and the hope of our race!" + +"They know little who are robed in university gowns. What know they who +are robed in shrouds? We gather but little from the platform; what can +we learn from the grave? The wisdom of the press is foolishness. Is +there no voice from the sepulchre? It is we, not you, who are in +darkness, O ye dead! The splendor of the iris of eternity has flashed on +your plane of vision; but our heavy eyelids droop in the shadow of the +nimbus of time. + +"Can you tell us naught? Can we never know your secret till, in the +dust, we lay down our bones with yours?" + +"We are here in the care, the poverty, the sin, and, above all, in the +darkness. Oh, if ye can, have mercy on us; shed a ray from your +shekinah-light athwart the darkness of our desolation. We are trodden +down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our fathers from the +dead."[A] + +How profoundly these words moved me cannot easily be told, for my entire +life, up to this point, seems to have been made up of the various stages +of a preparation enabling me to respond to just such an appeal as this, +echoed, as I know full well it is, from the hearts of thousands of my +fellow-beings. Yet one who should enter the rose-embowered cottage by +the sea where I sit writing, would never dream that I guard treasures of +knowledge gathered in the hidden realm that lies beyond the sense. + +For years have passed, and lonely life has changed to family life, and +there have been times when I have felt almost at home again within the +confines of the purely earthly realm of thoughts and things. Not quite, +however, for that would be impossible. And now, shall I branch out in a +tale of strange adventure? Shall I seek to convey to my readers what led +to those experiences which have so isolated me in thought? Shall I +describe their outward aspect, the channel through which they were +received, as for instance, a dream, a trance, a vision, or _other ways +less known_? + +To do so might amuse or entertain, but that is not my object. Besides, I +understand thoroughly that in these modern days it is the truth, and not +the truth-teller, that is wanted. If a man has anything to say, let him +say it, and if it bear the stamp of truth, if it will stand the test of +analysis the most severe, it will be accepted. If not, he may show a +ticket of his travels beyond the moon, but that will not avail him. + +All that I ask of my readers is that they will permit me to write of +that realm which is so hidden from mortals that many of them deny its +very existence, as though I knew all about it. Whether I do or not, no +mere statement, in the absence of other evidence, could in the least +decide. + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +BEYOND. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In the world of thought to-day, few things are more significant than the +extent to which the religious dogmas of the past are being questioned, +analyzed, and, in general, made to give account of themselves. + +People are discovering that it is lawful to use the mind as a crucible, +and to submit any and all statements, irrespective of their age, to the +electric current of modern fearlessness of thought, before accepting +them as truth. + +Scientific formulas, many of them, fare little better, and are made to +yield up the kernel of fact they contain, stripped of the husk of +theory in which it has long been buried. + +For the living truth is demanded such value as we obtain in our own +life-experiences, if possible; and whenever this can be obtained without +paying the price it costs us in life, of pain, or loss, or a mortgaged +future, then, indeed, the demand becomes imperious. + +And this has become especially true of late years in regard to things +occult. Formerly the boundaries of the earth-life marked the limit of +thought and aspiration, and those who seemed to have the widest +experience within those bounds were often the loudest in proclaiming +their utter failure to find any lasting satisfaction in all that life +could give. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, was echoed and re-echoed +until the gloomy thought spread like a cloud over the sky, chilling all +noble effort, and blighting the aspirations of the young and hopeful. +But a brighter day has dawned. These boundaries, which formerly seemed +like walls impenetrable, have grown thin and shadowy, and it is +astonishing to note how people everywhere are asking, as with open mind, +Is this future life we have heard of so long, an actual fact? If so, +what is the nature of it? What are its relations to present facts? and +how may I obtain a common-sense view of it? Just what are its relations +to me, and what are mine to a future life? Where can I obtain clear +light on the subject? + +This condition of things brings it to pass that a peculiar +responsibility rests upon one, like the writer, to whom has been given +extraordinary facilities for acquiring the knowledge now so greatly in +demand. To relate what those facilities were, how or why given, and what +price in the currency of the hidden realm was paid for so much of its +treasures as was brought away, might interest the curious, as I have +suggested, but it would not materially affect the value of what is to be +given. That must stand or fall by its intrinsic worth, not by the +circumstances associated with its acquirement. + +It may be imparted, however, that this knowledge was obtained at a +period separated from the present by an interval of fourteen years, that +so momentous were the personal experiences associated therewith, that +the few weeks during which they occurred, together with those +immediately preceding and following, seem to constitute, as it were, a +separate existence, whose length, if it were to be measured by such +events as leave their indelible impress on the soul, far exceeds the +entire remainder of my life. + +That I have kept this knowledge locked up so long has been due to +various causes beyond my control, and I am more than glad that I am at +last able to put on record some fragments of it, at least, whose value I +do not underestimate, although very rarely in the history of the world +has it been given out in this way. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Perhaps I cannot open my subject in any better way than by giving a few +reasons why a knowledge of The Beyond has remained a sealed book for +centuries. + +My first reason will not be a very satisfactory one, because I cannot +now enter into it as fully as I could wish; but it belongs first, and +cannot be omitted. A knowledge of The Beyond has remained hidden from +men, first, because those intelligences who were capable of imparting it +have refrained from doing so. Some of these intelligences were actuated +by selfish motives. They could more easily control those whom they hoped +to enslave, by keeping them ignorant. Others have remained silent out +of respect for an edict proceeding from a far height at a time when all +men were believers in a future state, and so many of them were absorbed +in speculating upon it, and holding communications with the departed, +that the earth was neglected, and in danger of going to waste. Hence the +edict, which was promulgated through the kings who were able themselves +to see the need of it. + +Another very important reason why this knowledge has remained hidden, is +because to embody it in a language appropriate to it, and, at the same +time, avoid obscurity, is exceedingly difficult. + +Why? Because it belongs to a different world, a world which has no +nearer relation to this one than thoughts have to things. To illustrate +what I mean by this, suppose you should wake up some night and find +yourself in silent darkness and unable to move a muscle. Suppose you +could not even feel the bed under you, being conscious only of being +supported in a horizontal position. So long as these avenues of sense +remained closed, the world of things would not exist to you, and you +could not say, of your own knowledge, that it continued to exist for +anyone else. + +While the situation would be a startling one without doubt, I am going +to assume that you would have a sufficient degree of self-control to +keep your mental balance. This would be the easier as you discovered +that your mental vision was as clear as ever, and that your real self, +which is back of all your senses, had received no shock or injury. You +would naturally wish to know just what had happened, and it would be apt +to disturb you somewhat to find that your reasoning powers failed to +respond when you called upon them to solve the problem, as naturally +they would, since the brain, with which they do their work, would share +the inaction of the body. Now, if the world of things had thus vanished, +what could remain? In the first place, memory. You would be able to call +up the pictures of the past, and live over again in your mind any scene +there depicted. But you would not be confined to living in the past. +Although unable to see or to hear, you would be able to assume the +mental attitude either of looking or listening, and as you sought to +penetrate the gloom of your surroundings, you would be conscious of +lifting eyelids which perhaps had never been raised before, and the +mystic light of another world would dawn upon you. Shadowy forms of +graceful outline would be seen, at first dimly, then with greater +clearness. You would not mistake them for mortals, and, having no +acquaintance with other-world intelligences, you might take them for +moving pictures, destitute of any kind of life. + +Presently you would become aware that connected thoughts were passing +through your mind, without conscious volition on your part, and assuming +the attitude of a listener you would discover that the inner world of +sound was opening to you. The subject treated of might not relate to you +personally, but you would hail with delight the opportunity to prove +yourself in communication with other minds. + +Presently some sentiment is expressed which you do not approve, and you +put forth an impulse of will-power in protest. Instantly comes a +thought-message directly to you. Who has arrested my current of thought? +The meaning of this is at once apparent. You are like a telegraph +operator who has been listening to a passing message, containing a +false statement, and has stopped it. You might now withdraw your protest +and allow the message to pass as something which did not concern you, or +you might assert your individuality and reply to the sharp question by +saying, "Because I allow nothing to pass through my mind which I do not +approve." If you adopted the first course, you might be let off with a +curse, and told to mind your own business hereafter; but if you should +manifest the temerity indicated by the second, a thundering "What?" +might fall upon your new sense, and you would discover that you had a +fight on your hands. It may be supposed that you would mentally assume +an upright position, which in that world corresponds to the act of +rising here, and brace yourself for the contest. But it is not necessary +to carry the illustration any farther at this time. I merely wished to +show how _thoughts_ may take the place of _things_ in the mind's arena +when, for any reason, things are shut out. + +A third reason why a knowledge of The Beyond is not more generally +disseminated, is that false ideas in regard to death are so predominant +that it has become a habit with the great majority to dismiss from the +mind all thoughts having, or that are supposed to have, any possible +connection with it, and therefore the avenue of approach to the minds of +such is kept closed by themselves. + +It may be asked why the solitary student is not able to attain to a +satisfactory solution of the great problem, although seeking it with +utmost earnestness. And I answer, first, because he probably seeks for +it in the same way that he would seek for earth-knowledge, which is an +error; and, secondly, because those who would otherwise gladly give it +to him are able to read his motives, and finding them purely selfish, +they turn away and leave him, while those spirits who have occult +knowledge to _sell_, demand pay in a coin which the student is seldom +willing to give, namely, a certain degree of control over him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Mathematicians have frequently discussed the possibility of what is +called a fourth dimension. + +They have shown by clear reasoning that if we could suppose a person to +be acquainted only with objects of two dimensions, that is, plane +surfaces, the possibility of a third would be as difficult to comprehend +as now are the speculations on a possible fourth. For instance, it would +be as mysterious an operation to transfer anything from one point to +another without moving it along the surface that lay between, as is now +the manipulation of solid objects, like the passage of matter through +matter, by the masters of occult science. + +This fine example of reasoning from the known to the unknown may be +compared to Leverrier's researches in one respect, and that the most +important one, namely, that the looked-for fact in all verity awaits +discovery, and that the scientist who shall first boldly declare that +the objective world about us, which seems to occupy and does occupy all +of space that we can reach by ordinary means of thought, is merely a +veil which hides a world just as real, and having just as real relations +to us, as the first is supposed to monopolize, and which, in its +essential nature, is independent of space, and its concomitant, +time,--whoever, I say, shall first boldly declare this, will fairly win +a crown of laurel. + +When I say that this world has real relations to us, I do not mean us as +mere aggregations of matter in a highly organized form; I mean us, the +creatures of hope and fear, of joy and depression, gay at heart or +careworn with responsibility; us to whom friendship, love, and purity +are realities and not mere names, and who cherish the firm belief that +loyalty to our ideals and devotion to truth are immortal in their +nature, and that it may be possible that we ourselves may yet become as +impassive to the assaults of time. + +Shall I say us, also, the creatures of doubt and despair, whose sky is +hopelessly clouded, and to whom anything resembling happiness has become +only a memory? The world of which I speak has the same direct relations +to us all. + +The idea is a common one that this invisible world is to be sought, if +at all, among the imponderable gases, that if it have objectivity, as it +is supposed it must have, the nature of it will resemble these forms of +matter; and that by traveling out in thought, so to speak, along this +line, we shall presently arrive at a sufficiently accurate concept of +what these invisible realities are like. + +It is this delusion, that the unseen is by so much the unreal, instead +of the contrary, that I hope to do something to destroy. + +Let me give an example of occult power of a scientific sort, as +exercised by free spirits. + +One wishes to speak to a friend. What does he do? He simply speaks the +name of that friend in his mind. Immediately, and without further effort +on his part, there appears before his mental vision a clear outline +representation of the form of that friend, ready to answer with perfect +distinctness any question that may be asked of him. It is telephone +communication without apparatus, and with the appearance of the friend. +Were the two in close sympathy, perhaps engaged in the same kind of +spiritual labor, so that the question would be of a kind not unexpected, +the rapidity of action common to spirits would make it possible to ask +the question and receive the answer in an infinitesimal fraction of a +second. + +I have called this occult power of a scientific sort. By this I mean to +indicate, what is sometimes forgotten, that The Beyond has its science +as well as religion, and that it is only because its science has been a +sealed book so long and the corruption of revealed religion has been so +great, that, as a result, the acceptance of occult science itself as +truth is called, by some, _religion_, although removed from it as by +infinity. It is true, however, that the devotee to occult science who +shall persistently declare its genuineness in the face of opposition, +scorn, or even persecution, is on the road to illumination, and he may +himself become a gateway between physical life and death, through which +may pass and repass the message, the tone, or even the phantom form +which testifies of a world beyond the grave. To such a one, his belief +becomes a sure and certain knowledge of a scientific fact, as verified +by sympathetic experience times without number; and the time is not far +distant when these attainments will receive the same recognition, as +belonging to the domain of reality, as those of physical science now +do. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Science, as such, is a knowledge of physical facts. Religion, as such, +is an apprehension of spiritual truths. + +The work of the scientist is to separate facts from delusions, and then +to arrange and classify his knowledge. The work of the religionist is to +separate truth from error, to make it effectual in practice, and give it +to the world. + +In their essence, science and religion are neither enemies nor friends. +They are not necessarily associates, but their respective domains are +included in the domain of thought, and thought is an attribute of the +ego. The ego in us, then, is in touch with both religion and science: +with science, primarily, through this material body, which, surcharged +with vital magnetism, moves at its will; and with religion through that +inner conscious self which so avoids expression through matter, that it +may remain contentedly under lock for more than half a lifetime, and +which, even when released, may need a special impulse to induce it to +express itself in words. + +The religious nature in man is, in fact, so hidden that it seems at +times impossible to draw it out in any manifestation whatever, which +fact causes many to deny its existence altogether; and there is to-day a +widely prevalent doctrine, world-wide I might say among scholars, that +all the facts observable which could possibly be grouped under the head +of religion may readily be distributed among mere physical phenomena on +the one hand, and scientific or intellectual on the other. + +The skepticism in regard to the verbal authority of the sacred writings +is intimately associated with the same doctrine, as is shown by the way +the errors and the truth of the Bible are made to seem one, and the +whole is rejected as error. + +It is taught, in effect, that all which goes by the name of religion is +unworthy the serious attention of the thoughtful, that it had its origin +in the barbarous stage of our development as a race, and ought to be +laid aside as a garment outgrown. The days of this particular form of +unbelief are numbered. + +Why? Because it is to be demonstrated that religion is something more +than moonlight vaporings of the credulous, something other than the +simple faith of children; that religion is not only a spiritual reality, +but that it has a body of its own. + +In order that the meaning of this statement may not be mistaken, let it +be remembered that some of the most powerful forms of matter, +electricity, for example, are entirely invisible. + +Therefore, when I say that religion has a body of its own, it is not +necessary to go delving for anything. That body itself may be +undiscoverable by any sense save feeling. Have you ever been in the +presence of a man who could fairly be said to _embody_ religion? Of +those who manifest its spirit so pure and unselfish, there are +comparatively few in the world, but of those who, to that spirit, add a +full manly or womanly strength, the number is brought so low that +multitudes of people may perhaps never have come in contact with any. +Such as these bear about with them a consciousness of power so great as +to utterly destroy every kind of fear save one, the fear of doing wrong. +The name of Savonarola will occur to many of my readers. + +It ought not to be necessary to add that I am using the word religion in +a different sense from that attaching to it in such a phrase as the +World's Parliament of Religions. + +If I should say, There are many sciences, yet science is one, I should +expect to be fairly well understood. + +I would make the parallel declaration, There are many religions, but +religion is one. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Is there any common ground on which science and religion meet? There is. +They meet in modern Spiritualism. + +But because modern Spiritualism consists of a body of facts and theories +on the one hand, and a countless number of soul-stirring experiences on +the other, it follows that it takes a great many different people to +fairly represent modern Spiritualism. + +Some have devoted themselves to it exclusively on the religious side, +others as exclusively on the scientific side. According to the bent of +their nature, and with an equal degree of courage, the earnest, devoted +students of science, on the one hand, and those of religion, on the +other, are approaching from opposite poles this forbidden ground. + +Disregarding the warnings of the older religious teachers, that evil, +and only evil, haunts the grewsome place, one wing of the army of +truth-seekers is making the discovery that if all the manifestations of +modern spiritualism are to be attributed to one source, and that an evil +one, then never was a house so divided against itself before. They are +prepared to show that some of its most astonishing phenomena begin and +end in good to all who witness them, and they declare that only a +culpable misuse of the powers of the mind would lead to any other +inference than that these good results come originally from good +sources, and are therefore worthy of that reverence which of right +belongs to the good, wherever it appears. + +The other wing of the army of truth-seekers also contains its heroes. +Have you not told us, they say to the great scientists who have laid +down the principles on which investigations of all kinds should be +conducted, that science claims the world for its field, and especially +the world of phenomena? + +Why, then, do so many of our captains and colonels, who should represent +the thought of the higher officers, so persistently endeavor to prevent +us from obtaining for ourselves the store of facts upon which, we are +told, the theories of spiritualism are based? + +Is it possible for us to have intelligent opinions even, to say nothing +of carefully-drawn conclusions on this matter, without following the +usual course, so strenuously insisted on in all other branches of +scientific research, that of personally observing the phenomena for +ourselves? And so when they get no answer to this, or no answer which +satisfies those who love the truth for its own sake, they proceed, +these scientific explorers, and with caution enter the unknown country, +avoiding, as far as possible, that portion which they recognize as +especially occupied by the other division of truth-seekers before +described. + +And they find no lack of material upon which to exercise the keenest +faculties of their minds, while their interest becomes so great that +they are soon ready to exclaim, Why was I kept away from here so long? + +All indications, say they, favor the idea that in this direction rather +than in any other is to be sought the solution of that profoundest of +mysteries, the problem of life, and, with faces aglow with interest, +they pursue their explorations, always ready, however, to declare that +they have not changed their course, they are still in the pursuit of +science and have not the slightest idea of joining hands with +religionists on any pretext whatever. + +All of which goes to show that the realm of the occult may be +conveniently divided into two grand divisions, one of which may be +called occult science, and the other occult religion; and that part of +both which has been recently brought to view is the domain known as +modern Spiritualism, where, as I have said, science and religion meet. I +wish it could be said that scientists, as such, and religious teachers, +as such, have also not only met, but shaken hands across the narrow line +which still divides them even here, on this which I have called a common +ground. + +But it is to be feared that there is all too little thought of any +possible terms of peace between the opposing forces. + +Let us hope that out from the cloudy mysteries of the debatable land +itself may come the gleam of a star whose brightness shall illumine all +who lift their eyes, and whose pure, sweet influence shall change foes +to friends, as heart shall answer heart beneath its shining. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +There are many, however, who have an invincible repugnance to this +method of research, and I would here say for the benefit of such, that +while I am on friendly terms with spiritualists generally, I am not +indebted to them for what I have to give. My observations of the +phenomena of spiritualism, although wide and varied, have all been made +since I came to know, independently, that there are intelligences above +man, and that there is a world distinctly different from this, where +they have their home. + +Spiritualistic phenomena, as observed through mediums, have, in a +general way, confirmed what I knew in regard to the other world, but I +find many of the prevalent ideas which are supposably based on these +phenomena to be erroneous in the extreme. For instance, it is taught as +a doctrine that there is no death, and those who teach it point +triumphantly to the demonstrations of the survival of those whose mortal +part has been laid in the grave, not realizing that in so doing they +prove themselves to be still in bondage to the old error, that death and +annihilation are one and the same, and that consequently whoever has +escaped the one, must necessarily have escaped the other. + +To prove that a man who has severed his connection with the mortal state +has not suffered annihilation, proves nothing whatever as to his +acquaintance with death. + +Even the passing from one world to the other, which is commonly +associated with death, is not the same thing, for many possess the +power of so passing while still tenants of the clay. + +If death, then, is not annihilation, nor the mere passing from one kind +of life into another, what is it? It is the severing of the magnetic +bonds which unite the body of the individual to the body of the race as +a whole. + +We do not often consider what an important element in our lives are +these magnetic currents which link us to our fellows. + +Silent and invisible as they are, they hold us with a tremendous power. +What our friends, our neighbors, our relatives think us capable of +doing, that we can do with comparative ease; but anything out of the +common, calling for the exercise of ability which they do not suppose us +to possess--how nearly impossible it is for us to do it, however +conscious we may be of the inherent power! + +As a part of the race we are bound to it by magnetic currents so long as +our mortal life continues, and the cutting off of these currents by +death may be to our consciousness the greatest misfortune or the +greatest happiness we have ever known. + +Now I am not preaching, I am simply stating that which I know to be +true. I know it in the same way that I know anything wherein experience +shuts out even the shadow of a doubt. + +To speak of the misfortune of death: suppose you were a clock which for +twenty-five years had been a part of the world's life, keeping good time +and always on duty. Then suppose you were suddenly laid away in the dark +and dusty attic of a warehouse until some estate should be settled that +would require an indefinite number of years. + +The comparison is not perfect. The clock is not only mostly automatic, +as we are, but entirely so. That in our nature which is essentially +free is not even touched by death, but the bodily activities and +associations may be our only field of action, and these are cut off +absolutely, while memory recalls every event of the life that is +finished, and especially every decision which has had the slightest +influence upon our destiny. The positive element in us which has found +constant vent in physical action is rendered helpless by the complete +paralysis of all the motor nerves. We cannot even think, for this +requires some movement of the brain. A consciousness of being left +behind while the world travels on, a feeling that this experience had +not been foreseen in the least, nor in any way provided against, spite +of warnings which now seem to echo and re-echo through the +darkness--these are what is left us in place of the sunlight, the +breezes of evening, the voices of children, the light of the stars. + +But death may be release, it may be happiness, it may be ecstasy beyond +the power of words to tell. We may have cast the long look ahead in +time. We may have decided that since bodily life is limited at best, it +shall not be first in our regards: its appetites, its demands, shall not +take precedence above those calls which find their answer in the depths +of being, calls to rise out of the mire of reckless self-indulgence, and +clothe ourselves in the garb of a true manhood and womanhood, taking for +our model those who count not their life dear unto them, but reach out +for eternal values. + +The pathway is not wide, and they who pursue it may find themselves at +close of life (I am not speaking especially of old age) almost alone. +The energies of the spirit have grown by constant exercise, and the +soul has grown strong, imparting its vibrations to the body, which has +so responded that, one after another, the magnetic links which have held +it to the slower progress of the race have snapped asunder. We are far +ahead, and the spirit longs for purer air than it can find on earth. We +have anticipated all the pains of death. We have endured them in our +struggle for the mastery of ourselves. Death now but sets the seal upon +our victory, gives us the freedom we have earned, ushers us into the +society for which we have prepared ourselves, crowns us heirs of +immortality. + +Now, whether death shall be this happiness or that misery, in either +case it will be remembered as a great fact of consciousness, the +greatest ever known, and the doctrine that there is no death will never +be able to find lodgment in the minds of those who have experienced it. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +It may be worth our while to inquire how this extremely modern doctrine +came into being, and if we can solve the problem, it may reflect light +upon the genesis of other doctrines very much older and equally +erroneous. + +There is something so startling, so unexpected, in the phrase, "There is +no death," that we are quite safe in assuming that it did not originate +in the mind of a mortal. In fact, one would be obliged first to disown +his mortality before he could utter it with any consciousness of +speaking the truth. If, then, the words have come from the Beyond, it +would appear that some super-mundane intelligence has been promulgating +error. But let us not be too hasty. Let us remember that in our +grandfather's time the great majority of people looked upon death as the +termination of existence. It was an impenetrable darkness. Those who +claimed to know anything different were so few, and their evidence was +so mysterious, as to have a scarcely perceptible effect on this portion +of our race. Death had come to mean annihilation, and when the +age-long dictum, shutting the two worlds apart, was removed, those +spirit-teachers who were commissioned to scatter the darkness were +obliged to use expedients. Laying aside their own understanding of the +word death, and taking up the erroneous meaning attached to it by those +whom they wished to reach, they sent out this incisive denial, There is +no death. The paraphrase would be, There is no such death as you believe +in, which was the truth, and had the effect of truth upon the minds of +those who heard it, lifting them out of the darkness, flashing upon +them, light. The word was a medicine of wonderful effect, but it was not +intended as a food, and spiritualists of to-day who make it a part of +their daily diet are most seriously injured thereby. Who that has ever +attended the average seance but can recall the careless trifling, the +insensate levity, of many while waiting for the hour. By their conduct +they seem to say, What is death more than a mere journey to another +country? Or a seance, what is it more than a telephone office? Most +startling will be the event to such as these. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +But it is time that we took a comprehensive view of this outer world +which lies beyond the domain of sense. + +What is the most striking difference between that world and this one? I +answer, the world we are now living in is a material world, which to +understand most thoroughly we must acquire a knowledge of the properties +of matter. This we begin to do in earliest childhood by the use of our +senses, and this we continue to do, to a greater or less extent, as long +as we live, calling into play the reason, highest sense of all, as soon +as it is developed; and by the use of this, the royal sense, with the +others as its servitors, we may arrive at a very thorough comprehension +of the world of matter, so far as its relation to our needs is +concerned. + +On the other hand, the world that lies before us is, above all else, an +immaterial world, using the phrase to denote an almost entire absence of +matter, but not in the least to indicate any absence of reality. No, for +this future life is a reality more positive in its character than the +foundations of the pyramids, and its manifestations, being neither more +nor less than the manifestations of living beings, can only be +understood when that fact is kept in mind. They do not lend themselves +to the inspection of the curious, these denizens of another life, but +when conditions favor, they take hold of human instrumentalities and +wield them with a power and skill that defy all resistance for the time, +and leave on all who are present an ineffaceable mark. + +It may be objected that this statement is incapable of proof, that, of +all who have crossed the line between life and death, none have returned +to bring positive evidence of the existence of such an unknown country, +inhabited in such a way. The contrary is asserted, and while facts do +not need the bolster of argument, whoever is in possession of a fact can +present arguments relating thereto tending to throw light upon it. It is +asserted by those who claim to know, of whom the writer is one, that an +inhabited domain is in immediate touch with the earth, although not +discoverable by any of the scientific instruments of investigation, such +as the telescope, the microscope, or the spectroscope, nor yet by the +surgeon's scalpel. + +The camera, however, which may be called an instrument of record, has, +at certain times, produced evidence which has excited a vast amount of +argument pro and con. + +This will not now be entered into, but attention is called to a very +important consideration bearing upon the whole subject. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +I hold in my hand a lens. This lens, in its shape, resembles a certain +other lens through which I look in examining it. It was, indeed, modeled +after the other, which is a part of my organ of vision. I place the +glass lens in a microscope, and a hitherto unknown world is revealed to +me. It was there before, but I could not see it. Do I see it now _with +the lens_? It is evident that the lens is merely an aid to vision, since +the lens in my eye is also necessary to convey the picture to my mind. + +But now another question: Do I see with the lens which is a part of my +eye? Is not that also merely an aid to vision? Let us consider. Since I +have two eyes, I may lose one of them without losing the power to see. +If I am so unfortunate as to lose one, then, if the eye is not merely an +aid to vision, but part of the vision itself, it would naturally follow +that I should see only half as well as before; but this, very evidently, +is not true. + +I can read as well as ever. For the examination of anything on a flat +surface, one eye is as good as two. + +Notice, also, that the lens of the eye and the glass lens are not only +alike in shape and transparency, but that both are composed of material +substances that can be analyzed, and that both are used to acquire +knowledge of such substances and the relations existing between them. +The glass lens is merely a supplement to the lens of the eye. It is one +step further removed from the vision, but even the lens of the eye +itself is not the seeing power. That lies back of all. + +Take now the ear-trumpet, a contrivance to concentrate sound to a given +point. It is intended as an aid to hearing, but it is not inseparably +associated with the power to hear. A person with normal senses does very +well without it. How about the ear itself? + +Does that constitute a part of the hearing power of a man? If it does, +what is the necessity of the auditory nerve? If the hearing and the ear +were one and the same, there would be no need of this connecting link +with the brain. The external and the internal ear, like the ear-trumpet, +are purely material, and by means of them we are able to cognize those +material emanations called sound. + +I speak of sound as a material emanation, because whatever sound comes +to us through the ear comes from some material source. The ear, being +material, is adapted to convey such emanations to the brain, through +which the mind becomes conscious of their existence. + +The sense of touch, also, is exclusively adapted to the acquainting of +its owner with still another aspect of things material. Hardness, +softness, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, and other attributes of +matter become known through this sense, and it may be considered a rule +without exception that when the sense of touch is excited, some material +object is responsible. The same thing is true of the senses of smell and +taste, but as their field of action is comparatively limited, I will +allow the first three named to represent the whole number. + +The organs of sight, hearing, and touch, then, are the three principal +avenues through which we obtain knowledge of matter, they themselves, +however highly organized, being also material. + +Now, I have said that there is an inhabited domain in immediate touch +with the earth, although not discoverable by any of the scientific +instruments of investigation. Sight, hearing, and touch do not sustain +this, and declare such a domain non-existent. If we bear in mind that +these organs deal with matter only, it may be freely admitted that they +speak the truth. The world whose existence we are asserting is an +immaterial world, and although it be immaterial, it can be shown that it +has, nevertheless, a claim upon our profound attention. + +Certainly, after what has been shown, it ought not to lose in interest +on that account. _For, if our bodily senses are, by their very +constitution, unable to bring us any reports save such as pertain to +matter, their silence in regard to the world we speak of counts for +nothing._ + +But it may be said that all entities are material. This is a specious +plea, but the generalization is too broad. Let us test it in a familiar +way. Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of +Independence, and attached his name to the immortal document in a clear +and legible manner. All this has to do with matter. Even the emotions +which he may be supposed to have experienced while affixing his name, +although not in themselves material, had a material effect upon his +frame. + +I say that those emotions were not in themselves material. I might take +my stand here, but prefer to go one step further, and put a question: +What were those emotions? and then add, This question is not in itself +material. + +It might be made a subject of thought. An essay might be written upon +it, which would be esteemed good, bad, or indifferent, according as the +author rightly apprehended the character of the man. + +The question may never have been put into language before, but it is now +a real entity, and our mental powers, acting freely, will have no +trouble in so regarding it. It will be seen that, while it may become +associated with things material, may be written so as to be seen, spoken +so as to be heard, or even stamped to reach the apprehension of the +blind, these material associations are no essential part of the +question, since it might arise in the mind without any such aid, and be +examined there without calling into play any one of the bodily senses, +or any combination of them. + +It may be said that this is an idle question, unworthy to take an +important place in an argument, but it cannot be said that it is a +foolish question; and it may well stand as a representative of other +questions, questions which might have been substituted; questions which +have arisen in many minds at the same time, and the answering of which +has involved the overthrow of kingdoms, thereby demonstrating, if +necessary, the reality of their existence. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +In order to make progress in the search for wisdom, it is necessary that +we should bind ourselves to follow where truth may lead. + +We cannot maintain our name as followers of the truth, if, whenever her +footsteps turn in some particular direction, we refuse to follow, or if, +whenever the path leads in the direction in which we have predetermined +not to travel, we begin to cast aspersions on the sincerity of our +leader. + +All who would attain the freedom which large possessions give, must +learn sometimes to lay aside prejudice of every kind, and follow +according to the general law which bids us proceed until some real +obstacle presents itself, or some real danger confronts us. + +My illustration has led us to the point where it appears that we are +able to say, Realities are not always material in their nature. In other +words, materiality and reality are not inseparably associated. They may +be separately considered, and dealt with as though not related. The +question, What were Franklin's emotions when signing the Declaration of +Independence? is a real question. In the world of mind it has a reason +for existence, and because the world of mind is associated with the +world of matter, and, in some ways at least, takes precedence, that +which is real in its domain may be asserted as real in the presence and +by use of some of the appliances of the latter. + +The converse of the truth, that realities may be devoid of materiality, +may be given here as an aid to the understanding. + +_Material_ things are not always _real_ in their nature. The scenery of +the stage, the portrait in oil, effigies in wax are familiar +illustrations, and it will be observed that none of these are intended +to deceive. They are merely examples of material things used in an +unreal way. + +In looking at them, we may, by the powers of mind which we possess, +endow them with a temporary reality, which will aid in producing mental +results, or we may refuse to so endow them, in which case they remain +barren of effect upon us. I have given examples of things real but not +material, and of things material but not real. Take another example of +the first of these: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals +rests upon a basis that is not material. It rests upon an idea. If the +idea that cruelty to animals is harmful, not only to them, but to those +who inflict it upon them, could be at some future time disproved, then +we should expect that the society would disappear. At present it is +sufficient to say that the society has a _real_ foundation which is in +no danger of being destroyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +It will readily be seen that to take firmly the position that realities +may be devoid of materiality involves a great deal, and those who +endeavor to prevent this thought from taking root in any particular mind +are apt to hold up before him examples of the immaterial which are not +real. Most dreams are of this nature. Their confused outlines make +temporary impressions on the memory and are then forgotten. But we have +not to do with such as these. We recognize that real things may be +material, such as certain houses, lands, or mountains, and that unreal +things may be immaterial, like passing dreams just spoken of; but the +immaterial which is none the less real is what we bring into view. And +if we are ready to admit, or to go further and declare, that reality and +materiality are not necessarily conjoined, we are then ready to give a +fair hearing to the statement that a real but immaterial world, +inhabited by real but immaterial beings, is in closest relations with +our own. + +These real but immaterial beings, because they _are_ real and +intelligent, are possessed of the primal attributes of all intelligent +beings: they have memory, feeling, emotion, will. + +In power they differ widely from each other, and in their essential +character there are as many shades of difference as with mortals. + +Let us speak first of their power. This is mostly exercised in their own +field, that of the immaterial, yet to suppose that it is any the less +real in its effects upon our lives is to forget how small a part our +senses directly play in influencing our motives. The end and object of +our efforts may be to obtain the means to gratify our senses or those of +our friends, but the process through which we are obliged to work is so +complicated, it involves the play of so many forces, it brings us into +relations with so many people, each with his own plans and purposes, +that we are continually making decisions based upon what we consider as +probable, rather than certain, results. This is the opportunity of the +spirits, and we often discover that all our efforts have simply tended +to the advancement of others, while we are left in the lurch. The man +who keeps his temper under such circumstances may be favored by the +receipt of a thought-message. It enters his mind as ideas do, with a +flash, and if he is wise he will carefully elaborate it into words. I +have been working for myself only, bending everything as far as +possible to my own enrichment. Others have been doing the same. What +right have I to complain if they have done with me, by their superior +power and foresight, what I have tried to do with them? None at all. + +Morally we are on the same level. Let this misfortune be a lesson to me. +Henceforth I will at least make an effort to do as I would be done by. + +As he makes this resolution, a warm glow suddenly pervades his being. He +feels at once lighter and stronger, and then perhaps he does a little +thinking for himself. "If I believed in angels, I should say that they +were near, and touched me then; I never felt anything like it." Little +does he suspect the truth, that the whole idea which he so carefully +elaborated in his mind had been flashed into it from without by an +angel-friend, and that when it had borne its natural fruit in a good +resolution, it became possible for the same friend to convey to him a +touch of her own delight. + +It may be objected that illustrations like these prove nothing as to the +source of the experience; that to deny that invisible intelligences so +play upon men is as rational, or more so, as to say they do. But we are +not limited to such comparatively indefinite evidence. For nearly fifty +years it has been permitted, or commanded, or both, that these invisible +beings should demonstrate the reality of continued existence, and they +have been doing so in a great variety of ways. For particulars, +reference is made to the periodical literature devoted to the subject, +and to the scores of books which have been written upon it. + +It is not my purpose, however, to enter into this field of evidence +with any approach to minutiae, for it was not here that I acquired the +ability to say, The occult world is a real, inhabited domain. I know +whereof I speak. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In searching for truth in the fields of thought, we often run counter to +our own prejudices, and almost unconsciously call a halt. There are some +whose self-conceit is so great that they invariably do so the moment +that any of their prejudices is in the slightest danger of a shock. But +it is rather to the seeker who has in part divested himself from this +hampering load, which he had perhaps inherited like a humor of the +blood, that I now speak. + +What is to be done? How proceed in such a case? The remedy is simple. +Whenever you are dealing with abstract ideas, and find one that is +refractory, either in itself for want of further analysis, or because of +some special weakness of yours which incapacitates you from subduing +it, never give it up; if you do, you will find yourself under it like a +toad under a stone for an indefinite length of time. No, the right thing +to do is to pass at once from the abstract to the concrete, and find in +material things the counterpart of the truth under examination, and then +proceed. The effect is often wonderful. + +To illustrate. Suppose you are examining the abstract idea of the +expediency of doing right. You may have some particular case in mind, +probably will have, if the decision is to count for anything in your +life. You may call to mind the famous saying, It is better to be right, +than to be president. You will recognize the principle involved in this, +but is it of universal application? you may inquire. Is there not some +way by which I can take the free-and-easy course and yet incur no +penalty? A great many people appear to be able to, why should not I? +This is the point where you need to transfer the case from the abstract +to the concrete form, and ask yourself, Suppose I were mixing chemicals +according to a certain formula to produce a certain compound, and +suppose one of the ingredients were wanting. Should I go ahead and trust +to luck, and expect to get the compound just the same as though I +followed the directions? Surely not. What would the science of chemistry +amount to if such a thing were possible? How could anything new be +discovered if the governing principles could not be depended on, or, in +other words, if like causes did not _always_ produce like effects, and +unlike causes, unlike effects? + +The most intrepid explorer in the scientific field might well despair of +the prospect in such a case. But this is chemistry, and the laws of +conduct are not so rigid, you may say. That is just where you miss the +path. Until you attain to a belief in the unity pervading all things, +from the lowest to the highest, this unity differing in outward +appearance or manifestation only, and not in essential character, you +will find no peace nor rest. The laws of conduct less rigid than the +laws of chemistry? Say, rather, infinitely more so. For the higher the +plane of action, the less likelihood is there of any superior force +interposing to divert the current of events from its natural course; and +the laws of conduct, remember, pertain to the life of the soul, which +makes them higher than the laws of chemistry by two removes, for the +laws of health relating to the physical body come in between. + +But the laws of conduct are not well understood, you say. That, indeed, +is true. We have only a few keys opening into this realm of the soul, +and most people are content to take public opinion as a sufficient guide +rather than to take the trouble to explore for themselves. + +But it is the plane just below this, that of bodily life and death, +which we are attempting more especially to elucidate. There seems to be +no systematic teaching in regard to this that is worthy of the name of +science. + +The problem of life itself, what it is as a force differing from other +forces, how to deduce from the manifestations of vitality what vitality +is, remains unsolved. And why so? For a very simple reason. Because +those who attempt the problem are unwilling or unable to conform to the +conditions which they recognize as necessary in all other departments of +scientific research. They do not study life _objectively_. They may +think they do. They may think that to study life in other men or in +animals is a truly objective method, but this is a fallacy. + +The theory that life needs to be studied from an outside standpoint in +order to be comprehended, is all right, but the man who uses his own +life-force in studying that of other men or animals is not outside the +subject of his thought at all. The active currents of his own being +continually intervene to obscure the processes of thought and render his +conclusions valueless. + +It may be true that no other method which can be called objective is +immediately apparent, but it does not follow that there is no other; and +if we simply enlarge our ideas of what is possible, we shall find the +true method to be just what we ought rationally to expect, and that is +this: The student who wishes to solve this problem, either for his own +satisfaction or for the enlightenment of others, must eliminate from +the problem the one disturbing element, _his personal life-force_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Does it seem absurd to say that, in order to study life, a man must die? +For that is what this method amounts to in the last analysis. + +Now, I beg of you not to be unnecessarily alarmed. I have said nothing +about burial. If death were only another name for annihilation, then +death and burial would be inseparably associated, no doubt. But suppose +it should be true that it is an error to associate the thought of +annihilation with any man, is it not clear that whoever permits that +error to have any place in his mind is sure to give a meaning to the +word death which does not belong to it? Is it not evident that the +thought of death in that case must borrow blackness and mystery of a +kind that does not pertain to it? Most surely. But let it be said again, +that death is a reality; it is not a fiction, nor a mere seeming. A man +cannot possess bodily life and at the same time be dead. The two +conditions are incompatible. Otherwise there would be no advantage to be +gained toward the study of life by experiencing its opposite. + +Shall I try to tell you, from the standpoint of experience, what death +is? Perhaps it will be best to tell you first what it is not. It is not +a snuffing-out like a candle, unless we could suppose one where the +spark should remain quietly alive until the candle was relighted. + +It is not a going to sleep, unless we assume it possible for the +dream-life to be woven on to the daytime consciousness at both ends +without a break, so that the dreamer, however strange may have been his +dreams, and whatever the testimony of others may be, is able to say, +with conscious truthfulness, I have not slept at all. + +Death includes, without question, an entire suspension of bodily +sensations and activities. The consciousness of _being_, however, +remains, and with it, as a necessary consequence, the consciousness of +being alive, however shut in by the enclosing walls of a senseless +frame. + +What is to follow does not occur to the mind. A peace that is absolute +belongs to a death that is clean. Appetite of every kind is dead with +the body. Desire is not; resignation takes its place. What is this +resignation like? It includes a consciousness of a more potent yet +kindly will, and contentment with the result of the action of that will. + +The Giver has resumed His gift, the gift of life, for the benefit of him +who has parted with it. The resulting peace is permeated with +gratitude, not different in kind, although different in manifestation, +from that which the little child expresses in every motion of his happy +little body, when he seems to say continuously, I am glad to be alive. +The man is glad to be dead. + +Do you think it impossible that such an experience could come to any one +who should afterwards recover life to describe it? Very likely. But stop +for a moment and consider. When a man dies, the result may be said to +manifest in a twofold way. First: To the man himself, who is, to say the +the least, cut off from his customary outward activities. Second: To the +world at large, where the word is passed around, Such a one is dead; and +one acquaintance after another, as he hears the news, turns to a certain +part of his mental organism and marks it down in black where it is not +likely to be forgotten. Henceforth he will send out toward that friend, +now become a name or memory, a different kind of mental current. + +But wait: the word comes, Not dead after all--a false report. +Immediately the operation is reversed. The black marks are rubbed out, +the little switch is re-turned, and the friends all agree, to save +troublesome thought, that the man who was supposed to be dead was not +really so, and the old question asked by Job, If a man die, shall he +live again? is prevented once more from obtruding itself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +My aim is to make this book practical, that is, to clothe its thought in +such garb as to render it available for use, not to scholars merely, but +to all thoughtful minds. + +I shall endeavor in this chapter to gather up a few missing links in my +train of thought, and afterwards endeavor to give you a glimpse of the +Beyond. The question I seem called upon to answer is, How can a man be +alive and dead at the same time? and in order to answer it, it will be +necessary to analyze the thought called death, and separate it into its +various parts. + +The man is dead, says local report, and the consciousness of society +undergoes that natural change in regard to the man which I have +described. + +His name becomes associated with things that were, but no longer are. +Even those who theoretically believe that the man continues to live +either in happiness or misery, have, most of them, so little confidence +in the theory which they have subscribed to, that they never dream of +putting forth a mental current based on the theory. To all intents and +purposes, society consigns the average man to annihilation, with a +half-careless "Poor fellow, so he's gone. We'll see no more of him. +Well, no time to weep, seeing as he didn't leave me anything. What new +device for entrapping the elusive dollar shall I conjure up to-day?" + +I am dead, says the man himself as the shadows which have been gathering +upon his senses culminate in a rayless silence, and every thought of +motion becomes a recollection, a mere theory of fancy, that will not +even approach the dominion of the will. + +Death, as a state of consciousness, is a thing entirely new to him, but +he cannot reason on the subject. To reason is to live, to set the brain +in motion, to perform mental operations; this is no longer possible. + +What shall this state be compared to? It is like that of one isolated in +a secret cell of his own house, the key turned on him from the outside, +every avenue of communication cut off, dead to the world and all that it +contains. If a total loss of appetite can be associated with the state, +it might continue for an indefinite period; and if the power of +thought-transference comes in, a new kind of life has been begun. + +But science says that no man is really dead who still retains his +consciousness, by which statement science belies its name. Calling +itself knowledge, it spreads abroad its own ignorance. How many a +post-mortem has been held in the hope of finding the secret chamber +wherein that part of man which cannot die has gone to rest! How often +the sweet peace of death has become a conscious madness, by this means, +God only knows. Gentlemen, desist. + +To find a chamber whose occupant is invisible debars you forever from +obtaining the proof that you have found it. But perhaps it is not the +soul itself that is the object of this search, but rather some special +physical representative that might be found still quivering with life +and so betray its master. All folly. + +The soul when uncontaminated informs the whole outward body. It has its +pains and illnesses, more or less affecting the outer form, yet all +unrecognized in materia medica, and when its mortal brother is struck +with death, bends all its energies to make escape, lest it, too, take on +mortality. Failing in its effort to make a doorway for its exit, it +suffers for awhile through sympathy, till the final moment sets it free +from pain within its small dark house, no longer small, because made +clear, transparent, by the touch of death, when the dying has been +brave. No trace of foreign matter may remain to start a dissolution, in +which case the soul preserves the body from decay without more trouble +than a little watchful care. + +Sight, hearing, touch, through vibratory currents reach round the world +and even touch the clouds; the body has become, in fact, a mansion +perfectly adapted to the needs of its proprietor, who finds a new world +open to his delighted consciousness, and thanks God fervently for his +perfect victory over death, as well as for his comfort and protection +within the white, still walls which form, in fact, the first +abiding-place of the spirit. + +With this still form as passive aid, the soul, with little pain, is able +to make the mental transition which its change of circumstance requires. +No longer concerned directly with any thought based on material needs or +material changes, it finds itself in touch with the moral causes which +underlie these changes; and because moral force is most familiarly +manifest in and through people, these, and their relations to itself, +fill all the mental horizon. + +In this new field of perception, nothing impresses more than the +enormous differences in spiritual rank and attainment existing among +mortals who, judged by tape-line and scale, stood fairly equal, and whom +human law necessarily places on a plane of perfect equality, or +perhaps, through its deference to wealth, makes unequal in the wrong +way. + +The thoroughness with which past illusions are stripped away from the +mind tends to leave the spirit fairly aghast at its previous blindness. + +Frequently forgetting that the motor nerves of the physical form are no +longer responsive to its touch, it starts to rise, that it may go and +tell the world of these wonders just discovered, but finds itself in the +firm and quiet grasp of death, a touch that seems to speak and say: + +"Never mind; that is all right. You forget you are not free. Lie still +and learn your lesson." + +"But shall I not return?" + +"Possibly, but the mortal life is no concern of yours at present. You +are dead." + +All this as in a flash, for words do not belong to this state, ideas +rather, the spiritual essences of thought that seem to need no time +whatever to make their mark upon the mind. + +To some of these the mind is so receptive that they sink at once to the +very core of being, while others are held upon the surface. + +This last communication, You are dead, is sure to be so held. It seems +such an evident conclusion to respond, If I am dead, there is no death +but this seems such a contradiction to life's long lesson, namely, that +amidst a wilderness of uncertainties, death is the one thing certain. +And then the recollection of the shrinking of the soul at thought of +death, how to account for that, if there were no reality behind +appearances so countless? + +This in another flash of ideation that leaves a sense of mystery as of a +problem not worked out, and which may not be while death as a condition +rests upon the form. I say, may not be, but would not be understood to +mean that the hindrance is mechanical in this case. A pure soul, even in +death, has certain reserve forces which can be put in action if the need +is great enough, but the consciousness of being in a friend's control, +especially when that control is apparently absolute, will tend to check +all restless impulse in this region of the dark, till now all +unexplored. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +But if the soul might not take up and solve the problem for want of time +and space, we at this writing are not so limited. + +First, let us state it clearly. If death does not mean a loss of +consciousness necessarily, what is its distinguishing feature as +compared with life? And what, if anything, is there in it to dread? The +confusion of mind so general on these topics can be accounted for in a +very simple manner. + +The body has its life and its death, and the soul has its life and its +death, and we have but two words to describe the four conditions. This +makes it so nearly impossible to generalize on the subject and at the +same time maintain clearness. + +For while the student of natural history attributes life and death to +the body alone, and the idealist goes to the other extreme and makes +life and death purely subjective--attributes of mind, not matter--the +philosopher who would have his mind open on both sides, not only to +those thoughts which enter unheralded, but also to those which seem to +have their origin in physical vibrations and enter the sensorium through +the body,--the philosopher, I say, finds it necessary to discriminate +carefully in the use of these words, life and death, and to make it +clear which is meant, the body or the soul, whenever he attributes +either condition to man. + +I have said the two words cover four conditions. What are they? In the +first the body is alive, and the soul is alive. Beautiful condition of +ingenuous youth! In the second, the body is alive, and the soul dead. +The man who by a course of persistent indulgence in all manner of crime +and sensuality has stifled the voice of conscience, and finally reached +the point where he is ready to say, "Evil, be thou my good," attains to +a form of quiet. + +The soul dies, and its decaying powers are absorbed by the body, which +becomes henceforth an embodied poison, most dangerous and even deadly to +the contact of the sensitive. + +The third condition is that of the soul first described, in which the +body has either temporarily or permanently parted with its life, while +the soul remains intact. Still a part of the world's seething life, +because action and reaction of the powerful causative soul-currents +continue with such a soul, the interment of the body will decide whether +the temporary physical death shall become permanent or not. In those +exceptional cases where the body is preserved from the paroxysms of a +blind grief which, when they include contact, tend to snap the last +thread of vitality, or, still more important, from the embalmer's +ignorant knife, which slays unnumbered thousands--when the body is +preserved from both these dangers by a previous isolation, great +possibilities are in store. + +A forty-days' fast in the wilderness was the experience of one such +soul, after which he was able to say of his bodily life, No man taketh +it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, +and I have power to take it again. + +For his bodily life was restored to him, and death of the body had no +more terrors to the man who had attained superhuman powers. + +The fourth and last case, that where the death of the body follows that +of the soul, will not be enlarged on. + +There are such cases, but such can receive no lessons from a printed +page. The language of events alone can reach them, and even when the +soul is not dead, but rather entombed in the body, and rendered torpid +for want of air to breathe, the effect is the same, so far as reaching +them is concerned; the death of the body wakens such imprisoned spirits, +only to plunge them into an untold agony of despair as they discover +that life, with all its opportunities, has been worse than wasted, and a +bare existence alone remains, minus friends, minus hope, minus resource +of any kind even to conceal the abject poverty which is seen to be the +direct result of wilful and persistent wrongdoing all the way to the +bitter end. + +If we can suppose that such a soul, at this twelfth hour, under the +tremendous pressure of this awakening, should suddenly resolve to +accept the situation, and to brace every nerve to endure the horrors of +the event without complaint, while it would not be possible to say +_when_ there would be any change for the better for such a one, the +reason would be because time is not to such a soul; while it still +remains true that mercy is as truly an attribute of infinite power, as +justice must always be. + +If, on the other hand, we suppose that such a soul breaks out into rage +at the discovery of its loss, hurling anathemas at the author of its +being, it will thereby plunge itself into darker depths, parting with +one after another of its faculties, until final extinction of the +individuality closes the scene. + +I have now shown the four conditions which our dual constitution in +relation to life and death makes possible. Some enlarging on these +topics, which concern us all, may not be unprofitable. We all enter +life in the first described condition, with body and soul both alive, +the body visible and tangible, the soul more or less so, according as +its environments since conception have favored its growth. + +Comparatively few of us ever reach the second condition I have +described, in which the body remains alive while the soul is utterly +dead. The protests of this, which is called the immortal part of us, +because the death of the body in itself does not impair its vigor, +usually prevent so great a calamity from occurring. + +Some kind of a compromise is entered into, by which the soul is allowed +a certain amount of freedom, on condition that the body shall remain +undisturbed in its favorite pleasures. Sometimes one day in the week is +selected, in which the soul is permitted to rule. + +Sometimes a single department of life's activities is placed under its +charge, and to meet the man on the favored day, or to have dealings with +him in this favored department, gives you a very exalted idea of the +individual. Sometimes in his business relations a man will be found +conscientious in the extreme, while in his family he acts the tyrant and +the brute. Sometimes his family almost worship him, while thousands +speak his name with detestation. In either case the body, not the soul, +the outer and visible, not the inner invisible self, is the leading +factor in the man, and the court of last resort. + +The man is still in slavery to the mortal; he has no knowledge of any +life except the earth-life; the faith-knowledge which he might have, +were his soul given its freedom and permitted to use its higher powers, +is shut out by the disorder of his condition, wherein a servant in +rank, the body, rules over the prince entitled to the throne. + +This is the prevailing condition of the human family to-day, the +difference between most people in this respect being merely one of +degree, some giving the prince more, and some less of freedom. A few +millions at most have given the nominal power into his hands, retaining +the real for bodily uses. To curry favor with these, tens of millions +profess to have done the same. In thousands only is the soul truly +regnant, and these are widely scattered, and more or less hidden, lest +they be driven out of life. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +When I say that I have been outside and have returned, I speak the +truth, and yet my words seem to express an untruth. It is because, as I +have said before, that other kind of existence is so different from this +that it uses a different language to express even a simple idea, a +language which the kind we know as figurative most nearly resembles, +although that is far enough from being the same. I should therefore use +figurative language to embody what I have to say in regard to that other +life, if literary considerations were alone to be regarded; but my aim +is to benefit, and I decline to use a form of speech which has been so +often sold as merchandise that many people no longer believe there is +any truth attached to it. I use instead the plain, everyday speech, and +say without qualification that I have been away, that I am acquainted +with the conditions that follow after death, that I lean on no man's +theories, not even on those which I might make, if I were given to +theorizing, which I am not. No, I rest on facts, plain, cold facts, +which are none the less so because they are registered in the mind of +one man instead of many; facts of consciousness not to be gainsaid, +although, in order to express them so as to make them most useful here, +it is necessary to translate them into a language so far from the +original, that only those who keep the fact of the translation in mind +can hope to receive the truth in something like its purity. + +I am well aware that I can scarcely hope to convince my reader that it +could be possible under any circumstances for one to enter the kingdom +of the dead, to take on the powers and conditions belonging to that +realm, to become a component part of that world of mystery to the extent +of dismissing all care in regard to the possibility of return, and even +to transmit such a thought-message as this. The responsibility for my +being out of place rests upon you all; I was compelled to undergo the +pain of the passage at your will; and now that you repent and ask me to +return, I will take my time and think about it. I am well housed in a +good body on this side. I do not know that I would go back if I could. + +That, after all this, and after a succession of spiritual events which, +measured by their effect on one's consciousness, should correspond to a +period of centuries on earth, one should actually make his way back and +take up again the broken threads of his earthly life, and weave them +into something resembling an orderly design once more,--to convince my +readers of the possibility of this is so nearly impossible that I shall +not seriously attempt it, although it is true. + +It will be said that even though I suppose that this is actually true of +myself, it does not follow that I am not suffering from an +hallucination. + +It will be argued very naturally that in so far as I am now a tangible, +actual human being, just so far is it impossible that I should ever have +been actually dead; and as to becoming habituated to the kind of life +which may remain after the body loses its animation, for any one now +living to make such a claim is the height of absurdity. + +Any one who shall take this stand will need to be reminded that bodily +consciousness is one thing, and soul-consciousness another, and that +there may be _spiritual_ existence beyond that. Comparatively few +mortals have not at some time in their lives awakened at least +momentarily to soul-consciousness, and can remember, if they care to +try, how suddenly and completely the bodily consciousness retired into +the background at its coming. + +Thousands can testify that this soul-consciousness in them so dominates +that of the body as to render bodily pains powerless to disturb the +regnant soul. + +These may be able to understand that in the world toward which they +hasten, another advance will become possible, wherein the +soul-consciousness shall become subordinate to the higher life of the +spirit. + +To make this a little clearer let me say that what you are now conscious +of as your soul, the sensitive inner nature, that feels a slight as +though it were a blow, that spurs the organism to years of anxious toil +in the hope of gaining independence, that scorns to beg, yet in the hour +of danger sometimes feels to pray--this inner self is to be your body +when death shall come to break the tie that holds you captive in the +dust. Every consideration to which your soul is now sensitive shall +become, as it were, the laws of nature then. You will suddenly discover +that ill-will, for instance, is a current actually tangible, as much so +as an electric current was to your physical body. You will learn +experimentally that kindliness of spirit, good-will, and gratitude are +equally tangible to your new and finer senses. You will perceive that a +generous spirit diffuses light, and a selfish one dwells in his own +darkness, and this kind of light and darkness you will be astonished to +discover has taken the place of what you formerly knew by those names. +You will soon perceive that a deceiving spirit knows how to wear a +false light as he pretends to a genuine interest in your welfare, and +that a truly friendly one will sometimes hide his light, if thereby he +can obtain advantage for your benefit. + +If your life has been little more than a revolution around yourself, +measuring everything by its relation to your personal advantage as you +saw it, you will be surprised to find how small and dark a space will +bound your being; and it may be a long time before you cease to dwell +upon the memories of the world left behind, or cease to hope that in +some way you can return to make a better use of its opportunities. And +when you shall fairly come to understand that you have been living in +the generous air and sunshine of the spirit of God, and that, instead of +seeking to imitate Him by making your life a blessing to those less +favored than yourself, you have employed your brief span in the effort +to appropriate to your private use everything that could be lawfully +seized on, you will wonder why the certainty that earth-life is limited +had not impressed you more; and when you perceive, through the +soul-consciousness which has taken the place of the bodily, that you +have no data whatever upon which to base even a surmise as to how long +your new kind of life is to continue, such measureless despair may fall +upon you as shall even make tears impossible. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +On the other hand, if anywhere along your life-journey you have +scattered any seeds of kindness, they will every one of them bear fruit +in the Beyond. + +From the moment when you perceive and acknowledge to yourself that you +are not in every way fitted to enter the courts of heaven and become +associated with those to whom selfish thoughts have become simply +memories, you are likely to have experiences tending to refine and +purify your nature. No longer active in the outward, you must bear what +influences come upon you from without as best you may. An infant in the +cradle is not more helpless than the great majority of those who enter +the Beyond; and the invisible nurse that may have you in charge will +not ask you what kind of medicine is most agreeable, but will administer +what is best for you. + +Picture to your mind, if possible, what it would be like to lie +physically helpless, with your outward consciousness telling you that +you no longer appear as a man, or as a woman, but only as an infant to +any eyes able to see you, while at the same time your mental vision is +perfectly clear and takes in all your past life in every aspect of its +relation to other lives, and especially in its relations to the great +all-pervading life which seems now to be somehow lost out of all +possible reach. + +Suppose that while those reactions called pain and pleasure are more +vitally potent than ever, because of a vastly heightened sensitiveness, +mental as well as physical exertion has become impossible, a succession +of states of consciousness taking their place; and then suppose a +master hand, with all the resources of mesmerism at his command, should +begin playing upon your organism, proving to you by every touch that not +a line of all your past history but is an open book to him, and his only +aim is to bring you to a willingness to confess your weaknesses +and follies, your neglect of duties, as well as your open +transgressions--one thing at least would surely result: you would +discover, and never forget, that spiritual things are not less, but +immensely _more_ real than any physical entities with which you ever +came in contact. + +It is such a great mistake to suppose that because you have nothing in +your experience corresponding to such a condition as that which I have +just described, therefore you never will have. + +What kind of reasoning can be weaker than this? Have you not two kinds +of consciousness, one of the world and all it contains, and one of +personal existence in its various relations? Do you not perceive that +your body, vitally active as it is, and swayed by every thought you send +out, belongs properly to the first of these fields of consciousness, +while that which makes up your character--your preferences, your +predilections, your faults, your foibles, your beliefs, and your +prejudices--belongs to the second? + +Can you not see that a suspension of the outward consciousness, in other +words, a suspension of your power to sense the material world through +your material senses, has no necessary connection with any suspension of +your inner consciousness by which you might be able to say, I cannot +move; I cannot see, hear, or feel anything, but I am still a white man, +ready to swear by the flag and by my right to my personal liberty, and +if any one takes the trouble to hunt me out he will find me the same man +I always was? + +Hundreds of thousands thus lie in their graves, thankful if they know +its location, and waiting as only the dead can for the time of their +deliverance. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Accept another glimpse of the Beyond. One of the most distinctive +characteristics of this country or state of being is activity of mind. +Let me explain why I say country or state of being. It is either the one +or the other to the consciousness according to the point of view. Looked +at externally, it is seen to be a new environment, a different kind of +life; but when its atmosphere becomes yours, the effect upon your mental +organism will be so great that you will rightly regard it as a state of +being to which earth-life bears the relation of a pre-natal one. This +comparison, however, has one defect, for while we of the earth have no +conscious memory of our pre-natal life, they of the Beyond recall every +leading event of earth-life as clearly as though no time had intervened. + +The change of state brings on the mental activity spoken of, the effect +of which on the material side manifests as heat or magnetism, or both. + +The lifting off of the weight of dead matter causes a feeling of +buoyancy, and the vibrations of the particles of the gaseous body may be +so great that it will seem to expand until one seems everywhere present +over a vast territory in the same way that we are now present in all +parts of our physical bodies. + +The first event of prime importance to you will be the demonstrating and +establishing of your spiritual rank. Just where do you belong? In the +society of what people, or what class of people, are you content? Does +any accusation lie against you? If so, what have you to say in regard to +it? + +Are there any special credits that you claim which seem never to have +been acknowledged? Is there anything you wish to confess? To what +concealment do you claim a right? + +The answering of these questions may be a very simple matter, or may +involve the welfare of nations. While the friends left behind will +contribute their quota of evidence, those with whom you have been +associated who have preceded you to the unknown country will be the most +actively interested in your case. You will find some waiting for your +testimony on some point involving their own status, and when you come to +speak of the matter you may have to struggle against a tumult of voices +before you succeed in testifying. Where questions of fact are involved, +of sufficient importance to justify it, most wonderful agencies can be +set in motion to determine them correctly in the region of the Beyond. + +That precise point in the ether where the event occurred, and which has +long since been left behind by the passage of the solar system through +space, can be visited and made to yield up its record as by kinetograph; +or the surroundings may be reproduced as on a stage, and the one who +persists in falsifying is suddenly placed there and told to act his part +again according to his own story. He will find it very difficult to play +a false part in the presence of those who know the truth. + +It may be noted that this picture of a soul on trial is quite different +from that given before, where it is held as the prisoner of death; but +it is only necessary to bear in mind that events may succeed each other +even in a country where time is not, and that such succession marks the +stages of one's growth. + +If any of your faculties are in a dull or torpid state because the +circumstances of your life have been such that they never have been +given a field of action, the invisible actors of the Beyond who may have +you in charge will know how to awaken, stimulate, and call these +faculties into an active state before the final decision is rendered, to +the end that no injustice may be done you on their account. Should the +verdict of the lower court be such that you are not willing to abide by +it, you may take an appeal to a higher court. + +At the last you may even appeal from the judgment of angels altogether, +and demand a trial by the great Spirit of the universe, but you will not +do this recklessly when you know that it involves a trial by ordeal, or +a contest of sheer will-power, sustained by conscious innocence alone, +with planetary forces. + +Not brief nor trifling is a contest such as this; not once in a +thousand years does such a thing occur; but the fact that the way to it +is always open in the Beyond proves with what infinite tenderness the +individual is guarded against injustice. + +But it is impossible that I should know of what I am speaking, some +reader says. I grant you that it seems so, but would discussion settle +it? Is it not time the door was opened? Is there no need? + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +An illustration of the difficulty of generalizing when speaking of +matters on the spirit-side just now occurs to me. + +Suppose that you as a mortal were permitted to witness a combat between +a soul on its way upward and a foul spirit seeking to gain control. The +spirit may be able to take on any form it pleases, and approaches in the +guise of a friend. But the soul receives a warning touch and speaks out +sharply: "Stand; keep your distance. Who are you? and what do you want?" +With every smooth and crafty method of tone and word the spirit seeks to +convince that he is what he claims to be, a friend, and entitled to +approach. The soul, with its senses sharpened by fear, uses every +effort to discern the character of the stranger, weighs and analyzes +instantly every expression of the wily foe, and before the answer is +completed, decides positively and prepares to strike. The spirit +perceives the motion and shifts his footing in time to escape the +blow--a thought-impulse, weighted to kill. Does the spirit respond in +anger? Oh, no; his object is not to injure, but to gain control, so he +remonstrates, with pretended grief, that one whom he loves should so +mistake him. But the soul is not to be deceived, and gathers up its +strength for another blow. The spirit pours out a perfect stream of +flattering words, intended to lull his intended victim into a momentary +lack of vigilance, and ventures a little nearer, hoping to touch the +aura and disappear from view, only to become manifest as an invisible +power within the soul, an active agent in undermining its powers until +the opportunity shall present to seize the very throne itself and revel +in the possessions of its victim. + +But the soul is cautious, and in virtue strong, and so, conscious of +invisible protection, suddenly fixes the demon with his eye, and before +he can escape launches at him a bolt that leaves him helpless and +writhing, dead as a spirit can be. "I killed him," says the exulting +soul, as it passes on its way. + +You would be apt to say, "He did not kill him at all; he only disabled +him." + +Now, while it is true that what I have described corresponds in +appearance to what we should here call disablement merely, its full +meaning cannot be understood without entering the consciousness of the +spirit who was struck down. + +To such a one activity, or the ability to act, constitutes life; +inactivity, or the inability to act, constitutes death, not death as we +know it, but a living death, in which the fierce vibrations of a life +that knows no end, being confined as though by a broken wheel in its +carriage,--being confined, I say, to the gaseous envelope, the +propulsion of which has absorbed half its fire, soon heats the envelope +to a torturing degree. + +Illustrating in another way, the evil spirit, being disabled from +continuing his customary activity, is forced to reflect, to look back +over his course, and face the evils he has done. Horrors take hold of +him. The most poignant dread of being overtaken by those whom he has +despoiled of all that made life dear, until in despair they have +committed suicide, and started out to find their tormentor, takes hold +of the miserable wreck, who has not even the consolation of looking +forward to some certain end to his sufferings, because neither time nor +the last sleep are known in the region of the dead. + +Is this experience, do you think, any less to be dreaded by a selfish +spirit than is death by a mortal who is consciously not ready? It is +therefore properly called death in the language of the spirit, made up, +as that language is, of ideas only. + +But in calling it death on the earth-plane we are using a word that has +a much different meaning here. + +When we say, "The man is dead," a funeral, or at least a burial is +suggested. Not so there. + +In this we have an example of the difficulty of conveying information in +regard to the conditions of the Beyond, without using words that are +liable to be misunderstood. + +Only those who have attained to the ability to converse in the light, +eye to eye, without words, are entirely free from these obstructions to +mental intercourse. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Astronomy teaches us that our earth, together with the other members of +the solar system, is traveling through space, at the rate of eight miles +per second, around a distant center, in an orbit requiring many +thousands of years to complete. + +We learn from this that we are constantly changing our place in the +universe, and are entering new etherean fields, not only every year, but +every day and hour. Since we are unconscious of this motion, it may seem +to have no vital relation to us, yet, by a knowledge of the fact, we may +gain an insight into the wonderful resources of this great machine for +recording events. + +Every thought and feeling of which we are conscious makes its mark, not +only upon our bodies, both the outer and the inner, but also upon the +ether through which we are passing. I am alluding not to the words in +which we clothe or perhaps conceal our thoughts or feelings when +communicating with one another, but to the thought-current itself at the +point of origin. + +This would be the same in the minds of all men of equal intelligence, +without regard to nationality; and those beings who are able to read the +marks left by these currents would find them written in unmistakable +characters, and of a size proportionate to our rate of travel, on the +fair ethereal page. + +In one respect we are at an enormous disadvantage in our relations, +conscious or unconscious, with the denizens of the Beyond. + +Our thought-motions compared with theirs are like an ox-team to a +locomotive. It is a fact, and there is no use in quarreling with it. On +the other hand, through our association with matter we are able, without +permanent injury, to bear oppressions of the spirit which would be death +itself to them; and those among them who would take delight in insulting +us are deterred from doing so by our insensibility to the stinging +thought-current. We ourselves would not insult a post for being one. + +These oppressions of spirit, or depressions, as we blindly call them, +are a part of the system by and through which we are made to manifest +what manner of person we are; and our blindness as to the real meaning +of the life we have come into possession of, our persistent mistaking it +for an end, instead of a means to an end, brings it to pass that the +tests we undergo as to our fitness for this or that position in the +real though hidden life that awaits us all, are real and genuine tests, +which they could not be, to their full extent, if we clearly understood +at the time just what was being done. Every thoughtful man and woman +looking back over life can discern how this or that decision has been a +turning-point leading on to unexpected success or paving the way to +disaster or defeat. When the test is complete, some inkling of its +meaning often dawns upon us, and we resolve to be on guard next time, +and then perhaps we start off on some rainbow chase, only to discover +that we are the prey of delusion once more. Then, perhaps, we get angry +and curse the whole machine as the product of some stupid blunderer, +thereby avoiding the confession of any mental obliquity on our own part. + +Not all of the delusions of mortality are of a kind that lead to such a +result. Some have been imposed upon us by our risen brothers of the +other sphere, and have held sway over our minds, as they did over our +fathers' minds, and over their fathers' before them, none of us living +long enough on the mortal side, or obtaining sufficiently clear +independent light, to enable us to become free. The shaking off of the +fetters of this mental bondage is a special characteristic of our own +day; and those who have listened to the torrents of eloquence poured +from the lips of the young mediums upon this subject, know that this +work, the necessity for which, as I have indicated, is largely due to +other-world intelligences, is now being forwarded from the same quarter +with tremendous power. Verily, there must have been a revolution in the +heavens, or this would not be. And such, indeed, is the case. The +tremendous power of an organized hierarchy under the controlling +influence of a single mind so prominently in evidence here, is without +a counterpart on the other side to-day, although the sins against +humanity which have been charged against the priesthood of past ages +should more properly be laid at the door of their invisible inspirers, +then in the height of that power which is no longer theirs. To-day the +enemies of racial progress are to be sought for on earth, where the +intoxicating dreams of power without responsibility have found lodgment +and worked their corrupting influence in the minds of not a few of our +brothers, who seem to forget that they are still members of the race +they are seeking to enslave, and that their responsibility for misusing +the power entrusted to them will be accounted all the greater in +consequence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +The range of subjects coming within the scope of my title is so great +that I cannot undertake an exhaustive treatment of any within reasonable +limits, but I hope to supply a few keys by the use of which reverent +minds of any and every school of thought may be able to enter upon +successful explorations. + +The amount of evidence necessary to convince a sincere inquirer that +this earth-life, important as it is, is but the threshold of existence, +is not very great, but it must needs be adapted to the individual mind. + +To obtain this evidence is worth more to any man or woman than any other +purely mental acquirement can be. + +For it is a mental acquisition, the possession of which is related to, +and has a natural influence over, every other we can call our own. Yet +it has not, in itself, any transforming effect upon the life and +character. + +When such a result follows, other influences share in the work. He who +has lost friends that were a part of his life, the mother whose children +have fainted away into the world of mystery, the philosopher who has +given the strength of his years to the search for truth, are all +profoundly affected by the discovery; while those in whom the affections +are less strongly developed, or whose mental powers give them no +adequate perception of the profound and far-reaching relations of this +great truth, may hold it as lightly as they do their dreams, and receive +from it no more benefit than they do from them. + +Whoever is capable of analyzing a thought or the expression of a +thought, can find evidence of the world beyond strewn along his path on +every hand. + +All figurative expressions are merely unconscious devices to give to +thought somewhat of the objective reality it possesses to dwellers in +the Beyond. For instance: + +"There are names which carry with them something of a charm. We have but +to say 'Athens,' and all the great deeds of antiquity break upon our +hearts like a sudden gleam of sunshine; 'Florence,' and the magnificence +and passionate agitation of Italy's prime send forth their fragrance +towards us like blossom-laden boughs, from whose dusky shadows we catch +whispers of the beautiful tongue." + +Is it doubted that the Athens of which the author speaks will be found +embodied in forms real and tangible in that other world which takes to +itself all that attains to immortality in this one? + +Why do authors speak of a _cold_ greeting, of _walls_ of reserve, +_rivers_ of kindness, or the _sunshine_ of love? + +They may not be able fully to explain, but expressions like these point +to features of the landscape in that world where the inner becomes the +outer and takes on those garments of reality which belong to it by +right. + +The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen +are eternal, and when we have broken connection with our temporal +bodies, or attained a true and perfect control over them, we may enter +into this knowledge, to find it truly a heavenly inheritance. + +But it is not alone through figurative and poetic language that we may +discover evidence of the existence of an immaterial world. + +The broad fields of philosophy and literary criticism receive their +light, their water, and their air, outside the world of sense almost +entirely. Scarce anything in these domains has any causative relation +with the world of matter. + +For instance, take this passage from one of the magazines: + +"But what does the work of higher criticism really mean? It means, +briefly, as applied to the Old Testament, the revision of certain +traditions concerning the structure, the date, the authorship of the +books--traditions which had their origin in the fanciful and uncritical +circles of Judaism just before, or soon after, the Christian era."[B] + +A careful analysis of the meaning of this will show that it begins and +ends in the domain of abstract thought. To use a figurative expression, +it does not touch the ground anywhere. If our bodies and their needs, if +the earth and its products which minister to those needs, if, in brief, +the material universe really comprised the _all that is_, such a thought +as is contained in the passage quoted could never have come into being. +For it has no practical relation to things as such. + +Yet there is nothing especially obscure about it. It was written for men +and women of ordinary intelligence, who are supposed to take an interest +not merely in sacred truths, which, indeed, are not dealt with in the +article from which I quote, but the structural forms containing those +truths. + +All of which, rightly interpreted, points to another phase of existence, +which is either near to or far from us according to the stage of our +development, a phase which may become measurably real to us even before +we enter fully upon it, and which has the strongest possible claims upon +our attention. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +There is no more fruitful source of error to the student of occult +philosophy than the assumption which he continually makes, that the race +and the individual may be treated as one when their relations to a +higher power are being considered. + +It appears that the study of the laws of chemistry may be partly +responsible for this. A molecule of any substance, having in itself all +the properties of that substance, may be reasoned upon and regarded as +though it were, as it is, an epitome of the mass. In the same way it is +assumed that man, the individual, is an epitome of the race, and that, +in endeavoring to obtain a philosophical view of him, we may pass in +review before the mind what we know of the race, and what we know of the +individual in a general way, without drawing any line of distinction +between what is true of the one and what is true of the other. + +Now, while this mental process may have a certain value when both are +considered externally, those who attempt to solve the deeper problems of +the race or the man, by means of it, are sure to fall into error. + +It is not borne in mind that our race is scarcely conscious of itself as +a unit, and if it were, it would in the present state of knowledge +regard itself as alone in the universe, flying through space on a +revolving globe with enormous velocity, along an unknown orbit. There +may be other inhabited worlds peopled by other races of beings, but as a +race we do not know this to be true; and only a dim perception of the +survival of a few of its own members that have lived their little lives +and passed away since time began, relieves the sense of isolation with +which the race looks out into the surrounding darkness. + +The student of history contemplates the rise and fall of nations and +traces the causes which have led to their overthrow. He observes the +same influences at work to-day as in the olden time, and when the +premonition of like disasters comes home to him, he is ready to exclaim, +"There is no hope! There is no God!" And in so speaking he gives +utterance to the soul of our race, which is still groping in the +darkness for light and a place of rest. + +How much of this is true of man as an individual? Very little, +comparatively, as we shall see. In the first place, as individuals, we +are conscious of companionship. We look around us and out over the world +and see great numbers of our fellows whose life and surroundings are +comparable with our own. Such differences as we perceive in each other +only give evidence that our fellow-beings are real, not simply +reflections of ourselves; are objective entities, not elusive shadows. +And by as much as we are conscious of an individuality apart from that +of our race, by so much may we hope to separate the thread of our +destiny from the tangled mass. Examples of such a separation are to be +found among the great names of the earth; and a study of their lives +will teach us how best to shape our own. It will also teach us that +race-life and individual life are not necessarily the same, that the +individual may absorb light for which the race is not yet ready, and set +his standards of thought and action far beyond what is yet possible to +the race as a whole. + +If, now, we form our conceptions of the character of the power +overruling us, by an exclusive study of those events which affect great +numbers, we are liable to serious error. If the sound of thunders +intended for the ear of the race be concentrated so as to fall upon our +individual hearing, they will certainly deafen us completely. + +On the other hand, those whose narrower vision sees only the play of +events as they affect the lives of individuals are also liable to error +in forming their estimate of the character of the overruling power. + +Here tragedy visible and invisible plays its part, and sometimes +injustice in the extreme appears to triumph. There is no possibility of +avoiding error in judgment from this point of view, without constantly +bearing in mind at least three things: first, that outward disaster is +sometimes an inevitable result of long-hidden crime; second, that to the +innocent, death is a release from prison, a promotion from a lower to a +higher sphere of action, and that those who are able to look beyond the +instruments used to break their fetters, to the kindness that sets them +free, can mount on the wings of delight to a diviner air; and third, +that the dwarfing of the faculties of a soul during the short space of +earth-life will turn out to be a far less serious matter to the soul +than to the one responsible for it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The question may be asked, Wherein lies the difference between man the +unit, and the race which is an aggregation of these units? What +philosophical difference is possible? In answer, I would say that while +the individual and the race alike possess body and soul, the individual +at times manifests a power of becoming greater in every respect than the +influence of heredity or surroundings can at all account for. Such +individuals tell us of some powerful influence descending upon them, as +it were, from a higher sphere, and to this they attribute the changes in +their life and powers which make all their friends to marvel. No such +stimulating and transforming influence has ever manifested itself on so +broad a scale as to affect our entire race at once, and we must conclude +that the time has not come for such an event. As a race, our eyes are +not lifted above the earth. We care little about our origin, and still +less about our destiny. The love of war and bloodshed, delight in the +flowing bowl and all its attendant revelry, are still characteristic of +our race, and the heavy clouds that are gathering in our sky are not yet +black enough with impending evil to arrest us in our downward course. + +Ah! well for us it is that we are not to be left alone to rush headlong +to destruction in our blind folly. Terrible as are the forces we have +invoked against ourselves, those which shall save us from death by all +manner of intoxication are infinitely greater. + +The wasting fever of war undoubtedly must come, such war as the world +has never seen before, but when the coveted excitement, changed to agony +untold, is at last over, when our physical forces are entirely +exhausted, the loving Parent whose outstretched hand we have always +refused, will show a pitying face. A draught of infinite peace will be +imparted to our spirit, and we shall rise in newness of life to enjoy +the forgotten delights of obedient childhood, and make this old world +over into one entirely new. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +I had not thought to touch this strain when I began to write of the +Beyond, but some things almost write themselves, and I have not +forgotten the closing words of the appeal with which this book opens. +"We are trodden down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our +fathers from the dead." + +Ah! if the wire which carries this petition outward can bear the +strength of the return current, it may possibly convey such tidings as +words are not able to express, for is it not true that the sweetest +strains are cradled within a silence which speaks more profoundly to the +soul than does the music to the ear? Let us hearken. + +"Do you wish to know what stands in the way of our coming to the rescue? +Nothing but your unbelief in the possibility of our coming. Thank God +that unbelief is growing weak. Could you know what exhausting labor is +ours in our efforts to reach you, you would pray rather for light to +enable you to do your part. Believe, oh, believe that we have not +forgotten. In agony of spirit we are striving to awaken you from +slumber, to instil into your minds the supreme truth, that no good thing +that can be named is impossible of occurrence. You are ready to believe +it for the material, why not accept it in the spiritual? + +"Religious liberty is your priceless privilege. Can you possibly gain it +by setting foot on religion itself? Be sane. Learn to discriminate. +Throw away the chaff, but keep the wheat. Death is a magician, not a +murderer. The pain all comes beforehand. The passage itself is not +painful. Death merely turns the key in a door you never saw before, and +you step out into such a freedom as you never dreamed of. 'Be thou +faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,' suggests a +great truth. Try to get hold of it. No man, and no body of men, no +spirit, nor any combination of them, can prevent you from making your +life a success. There are prizes to be won. Why not try for them? + +"But you say you are trying. Sword in hand, you are battling for the +right. Yes, we know, and sometimes you are wounded, and help seems never +to come. Hold fast. We are building a road. + +"It is already finished, and the cars are on the track. You shall not +die of wounds like these. Help is near. Your prayer is heard. We knew +it would be. From the heights beyond the heights has come the order, +'Descend in power. Earth's children are ready to receive you.' And we +are not few nor weak. Our phalanx moves in a light which nothing can +withstand. Believe it, and stand upon your feet. We are already here." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +There is another grand division of my subject, but the difficulty of +presenting it through the medium of written language is even greater +than that already dealt with, and only a slight attempt will now be +made. Not only do thoughts take the place of timings in the Beyond, but +_emotions take the place of forces_. By emotions in this connection I +mean those currents of energy which have their rise in, and are more or +less under the control of individualized intelligence, as love and hate, +joy and sorrow, hope and fear, happiness and distress; and by forces I +mean those which are sometimes called blind forces, such as attraction +in its various forms, heat, electric vibration, and the like. As these +last pertain especially to matter, we should expect them to retire into +the background in a world where mind-realities, or facts of +consciousness, absolutely dominate. And so they do. And here may be a +good place to indicate what part matter really plays in this immaterial +world. Let me call attention to the world of art. Let us recall its +great names, and the masterpieces which have given them fame, the +wonderful poems, the paintings, the sculpture, and the musical creations +that will never die, and then pause and consider how slight are the +demands made by this wonder-world on the lower world of matter. The poet +and the musician call for writing materials, the sculptor needs some +clay and a few modeling tools, the painter some pigments and brushes, +and a bit of canvas. With these slight aids the noble conceptions of +genius are materialized for the delight of future generations. + +Take another illustration. When a ship goes out of the harbor, it is to +be assumed that she takes her anchor with her, and carefully guards it +against possible loss. + +It is likewise true that within the scope of the great and splendid +activities of a free spirit, a material anchor is somewhere safely cared +for, yet such an anchor has no more prominent relation to the activities +of the spirit than the anchor of a ship has to the ship's power to cross +the sea. If we could think of a ship with nothing else to do but to lie +around the harbor, the relative importance of the anchor would increase +very much; and if it had no anchor of its own, it might attempt to tie +up to some other vessel that had one. And so with earth-bound spirits +whose testimony is sometimes quoted to the effect that spirit-life is +as dependent on matter as any other. Most of them are blissfully +ignorant of their own poverty, and move about the earth, that is to say +in the lower or earthly strata of thoughts and feelings, because they +have no desires above them. + +They remember this life as a lost heaven, and are continually bemoaning +that loss in secret, while their activities take the form of influencing +mortals to this or that kind of sensual indulgence, which they wish to +share through sympathy. Every impulse and desire is bent upon a possible +recovery of the earth-life, and they are so ignorant of, and indifferent +to, any higher form of life, that it remains without existence to them. + +I would not say they are insensible to the enlargement of their powers +consequent upon their release from the confinement of an earthly body. +They could not be. Their discovery that death does not destroy the +inner consciousness was a great surprise to them, but the novelty of the +discovery soon wore away. What seemed so strange at first, became a +truism, a simple scientific fact, previously unknown, and unable in +itself to supply any stimulus to their higher powers. + +It is evident that the testimony of these upon the subject is worthless, +while those who have battled for and won the prize of recognition in a +higher sphere give abundant evidence of their freedom from the bondage +of matter, and the desires that have material things for their object. + +Resuming my subject, not only matter, but those forces which are +inseparably associated with it, retire into the background, nay, almost +disappear, in the Beyond. Emotions take their place. + +The atmosphere, or that which corresponds to what we know by the term, +seems charged with some powerful element, resembling electricity in its +effects, but differing from it in that it seems to be sensitive to +thought, and to be capable of responding to it with dynamic force. A +shock from this element is in every respect as real to the consciousness +as an electric shock is to us. It comes from without and expends its +force upon the gaseous body. Being sensitive to thought, it does not +impress one as being capricious in its nature, but as though acting +according to some law which it is of the highest importance to discover, +if possible. + +With the perceptive and intuitional faculties wrought up to the highest +state of activity, it is presently discovered that it is not thought in +the abstract, but thought surcharged with feeling or with devotion to a +principle, some cherished sentiment of the soul, which has the power to +excite this hitherto unknown element; and gradually it dawns on the mind +that this element corresponds to public opinion on earth, that it +emanates from the inhabitants of that part of the spirit-realm, and that +if your mind does not happen to be in accord with theirs, you must +either get away or do battle for your life. By life, I mean your power +and freedom of expression, the very breath of the spirit, what a +printing-press is to a newspaper, cut off from which, the paper is dead. + +Manifestations of emotion, both in kind and degree, depend upon two +things, our spiritual state or condition, and the nature of our +surroundings. Passing over the first of these, it is evident that +earth-surroundings greatly limit the expression of emotion; and when we +observe the effect of a powerful current of this kind upon the physical +tissues of the body, weakening and consuming them as by a flame, we see +that the length of our stay here is involved in our ability to control +our emotions. + +Not so in the Beyond, where our stay is without assignable limits, and +where the pent-up emotions of a lifetime at last find vent, and pour +themselves out as by flood-gates to the sea. + +And it is here that music plays its part in that wonder-world. For as +ideas have each their appropriate form, so every emotion has a musical +strain peculiar to it. + +And who can describe the healing power of music under a master's hand? +Reading the mind and soul as an open book, and informing every tone with +the vibrations of a perfect sympathy born of knowledge, he administers +to the soul whose life has been a tragedy long-drawn-out, such throbbing +waves of strength and consolation, himself remaining hidden, as seem to +issue from the very stars, and drown the memory of that age-long pain in +an ocean of oblivion. + +Ah! believe me, it is another world, where the powers of this one do not +rule. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +And yet, as I have indicated, it is possible to live so far below one's +moral and spiritual possibilities, that the loss of life will seem the +loss of heaven, and the men of power on earth whom one has envied will +come to seem very gods, worthy of being worshipped. Such a delusion as +this is in part due to the absence of a common time-element. + +Duration is measured only by the succession of various states of +consciousness, and these change so rapidly under the influence of the +vibratory intensity of the new life, that the events of a day lengthen +it out until it seems like a year upon earth; and day and night being +one in the Beyond, so far as activity is concerned, although they differ +somewhat in magnetic conditions, when one of these year-long days is +past, the spirit, glancing across into earth-life, at some money king, +with thirty years of active life before him, can scarcely avoid endowing +him with a kind of immortality, and may devote the fiery energies of the +soul to building up the fortunes of such a one, with no higher object +than that of keeping the mental balance and avoiding reflection. + +This necessity for keeping the balance supplies motive for a great deal +that is done by spirits in the lower strata of life in the Beyond. It is +not, strictly speaking, mental balance, but organic, affecting the whole +being. A spirit possessed of any conscious individuality whatever must +generate a certain interior force to maintain it. This keeps his body in +a state of equilibrium between the inner and outer pressure, and the +body of a spirit is naturally as valuable to him as ours is to us. It +protects him against currents of thought and emotion that are not +adapted to his needs, and when evenly balanced he is able to put forth +effective will-power along the plane of his development and below. + +Any one who has not learned what soul-action is will have it to learn +soon after the exchange of worlds. No other form of activity is possible +there. No spirit strikes another with his hand, nor presents him with a +visible token of wealth, yet battles are fought and presents given. As a +suggestion: when you say to your friend, "Good-bye and good-luck to +you," you are making him a spiritual present, although you may not be +aware of it. + +Whenever you launch a curse, if only in thought, you strike a blow, +against which conscious rectitude is an actual armor, and the only one. + +The very slightest impulse of ill-will directed toward any one is an +action of the soul that may do real harm, and certainly makes a record. + +These statements will commend themselves as true to most of my readers, +many of whom, however, would not be able to explain why they are so sure +of what they have learned from no teacher, and cannot recall from the +pages of experience. Let me suggest. + +From six to nine hours' sleep is an essential part of our daily lives. +We suppose ourselves to actually sleep, not only in body but in mind and +soul as well. Perhaps some who have very little mind and even less +spirit, do sleep when their body sleeps, but there are very large +numbers of people who, the moment the brain becomes quiescent, enter at +once on the most active part of their daily existence. + +This is especially true of such as during their waking hours have +attained some knowledge of spiritual values, and have taken their stand +on this or that platform of principles, religious, moral, or even +political, and who would be ready to contend in argument, or even, if +necessary, take up arms, in defense of their positions; in other words, +who have a conscious location in some field of thought or fortress of +belief. + +The extent to which we influence others, or are influenced by them, +during our sleeping hours, very few realize, because unable to recall, +when waking, the experiences of the night just passed; but be sure that +no reform can ever make much progress until the agitation for it becomes +sufficiently powerful to link the day to the night, and engage the +activities of partially freed spirits while their bodily consciousness +is lost in slumber. + +It is here that lessons are learned and impressions made, the recalling +of the results of which may surprise us as to the extent, and puzzle us +as to the origin, of our knowledge. + +Readers of Emerson will find this a key to some of his mysterious yet +delightful sayings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Those who have never entered into any kind of associate life where they +might learn to think and act for others as well as for themselves, will +have a particularly hard time on the other side. + +For no one can go through life without becoming responsible for +innumerable acts, even if he does nothing more than make room for +himself, and defend his own footing; and if he persists in living for +himself, it follows that his motives will never rise above the care of +himself, and, possibly, of those who contribute to his comfort. + +If such a man, by speculation or otherwise, becomes able to surround +himself with the tokens of wealth, there will not be wanting those who +will bow low to him; and when he is called out of life, with perhaps no +particularly heavy weight on his conscience, he will strut into another +world carrying with him a very large sense of his own importance. + +Now, there is no need to enlarge upon the emotions he will arouse, the +intense though secret hilarity with which he will be taken in hand, and +the endless variety of hazing operations to which he will be subjected; +but he will be sure to make the unexpected discovery that death is a +lost friend, long before the last spark of self-conceit is extinguished +within him. + +It is scarcely possible to convey an idea of how small a part individual +egotism is allowed to play in the world beyond. + +In this world our race, as a race, is under protection. We are all more +or less conscious of this in our own person. + +Even the most stolid, when suddenly reduced to the extremity of +distress, find themselves calling upon God, almost without conscious +volition. + +If it were not so, if this protection were withdrawn, our race would +shortly cease to be. + +In the spirit-world, or in that part of it which adjoins this, +figuratively speaking, which we enter as individuals, this sense of a +general protection disappears. We find we are to stand or fall on our +own individual record. We cannot lose ourselves in the mass. There is no +mass. Time and space no longer exist for us. They are gone with the +bodily senses and mathematical reasoning to which they were a prime +necessity. + +Sight, hearing, and touch of the soul have awakened, however, and how to +use these new senses whose field of action is so immensely greater than +the senses we have parted with, engages our attention. + +Their first reports are so different from anything we have known that we +discredit them entirely, are sure we must be dreaming, and put forth +strong efforts to wake up. Failing in this, we look about us and +endeavor to get our bearings. + +Although time and space have left us, eternity and infinity have taken +their place, and a feeling of awe steals over us at the realization, a +feeling that extends in part to ourselves as we discover a certain +element within us which now for the first time recognizes its home. + +Then, in a flash, we perceive as never before, the essential narrowness +of the limits of earth-life, and our mental vision shows us that +whatever may have raised that phase of existence above the merely +sensual or animal, had its home in the Beyond, and was only a visitor on +earth. + +We find ourselves ushered into the domain of causes, and a thousand +perplexities of memory disappear in a magical way, as we become sensible +of the tremendous force of the activities at work in this heretofore +hidden realm. + +A spirit sometimes finds himself as if on a stage, and the pressure of a +powerful will bids him to act out his own character. He consents, for +why should he not? Scene follows scene; men and women from every walk of +life, those whom he has known, and those of whom he has read, appear and +act their part; kings and courtiers come and go, prophets and peasants, +soldiers and merchants; and he finds some link connecting him with them +all. Perhaps a plot is formed to destroy his reputation; thread by +thread the web is wound about him. How shall he get free? Is it not all +a dream? But he is made to feel that he must not insist upon knowing. +Something like an electric shock answers his thought, and bids him to +consider his surroundings real, whether they are or not, and forbids him +to think of such a thing as applying a test. And, indeed, there is small +leisure for anything of that kind. He finds himself obliged to put forth +energies he never dreamed of possessing, to keep from going distracted. +The stage widens until it becomes the floor of a world. The audience +swells to millions. He reaches out for their sympathy, but they do not +respond. They do not pretend to know whether he is a true man or a +scoundrel. If he cries, "I am true," they answer, "Prove it." What can I +do to prove it? But they turn away unconcerned, while another strand of +falsehood is thrown around him and he is brought to his knees, where he +is made the target for scorn and contempt, which come like arrows to +pierce his form. In the depth of his despair, he sends out a piercing +cry to the spheres above him for help. + +Just then he discovers that he is clothed in armor, with a good sword at +his side. He did not know it before, he could not possibly say how or +whence it came, but it is not a time for curious questions. He seizes +the blade and with one sweep severs the cords that bound him, stands +upon his feet, and then, in a voice that startles himself, he calls upon +his enemies to show themselves. Instead of that he hears their +retreating feet, the clouds lift, the applause of the audience gives him +back his lost strength, and he is ready for the next ordeal. + +Now it may not be supposed that during such a scene as this, it would be +possible for the spirit to receive and answer thought-messages from his +friends on earth, but it is even so. A spirit with a heart will at least +make the effort to respond to every demand made upon it, but if among +the circle of his friends one sends out the message, "Come now, if you +care anything about me, I wish you would help me find this gold-mine. +What do you have to do anyhow?" the spirit may be excused if he fails to +respond, and does not immediately proceed to explain just what he has to +do. + + +THE END. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: Editor _The Agnostic Journal_, London, England.] + +[Footnote B: _The Arena_, January, 1894, "The Higher Criticism."] + + + + +Vision of Thyrza: + +THE GIFT OF THE HILLS. + +By IRIS. + + +The author is convinced that war, strife, poverty, misery, disease, and +death are the result of man's reckless self-indulgence; and that so long +as he shall be actuated by greed and selfishness in his tillage of the +soil, in the various industrial pursuits, and in the marts of trade, he +will "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." + +But the lamentable state of things will not continue forever. The +author, with "prophetic mind," perceives that the time will come when +man will live in harmony with Nature, and yield himself to the guidance +of "Divine Love." So guided and inspired, he will refine, purify, and +ennoble the life of his fellow-men. Then agriculture will be "restored +to right uses" and held in its pristine honor; and the earth will yield +its fruits abundantly. A noble simplicity and wholesomeness will +characterize the life of man, and universal peace will gladden his +heart. The whole world will rejoice in the return of the Golden Age. + + Cloth, 75 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + +His Perpetual Adoration; + +--OR,-- + +THE CHAPLAIN'S OLD DIARY. + +BY REV. JOSEPH F. FLINT. + + +This is an extremely interesting and realistic war story, told in the +form of a diary left at his death by a veteran who had been a captain in +the Northern army, and with Grant at Vicksburg and Sherman on his march +to the sea. Two or three of the great events of the war are told in +stirring fashion, but the narrative deals mainly with the inside life of +the soldier in war time, and its physical and moral difficulties. A fine +love story runs throughout, the hero having plighted his troth before +setting out for the front. Being wounded in Georgia, he is cared for in +the home of a Southerner, who is at the front with Lee's army, but who +has in some way earned the bitter hatred of the wife whom he has left at +home. She falls desperately in love with her wounded guest, and to him +there comes the sorest temptation of his life. How he comes out of the +ordeal must be left to the reader of the story to discover. + + Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Co., + + COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + +THE LAND OF NADA. + +BY BONNIE SCOTLAND. + + +The Land of Nada, the scene of this charming fairy story, is an +enchanted country, ruled over by King Whitcombo and the beautiful Queen +Haywarda. Prince Trueheart and his blue-eyed baby sister, Princess +Dorothy, and their wonderful adventures; the enchanted cows and +chickens, the wonderful lemon tree whose trunk yields three different +kinds of beverages, are some of the wonders of this delightful land; as +are, also, the doings of fairies, genii, goblins, and enchanted hawks. +How the blind prince recovers his sight, how the baby princess is +spirited away, cared for, and finally restored to her home, and how the +wicked goblin and the two hawks that spirited her away are punished, may +be read in this delightful fairy story, which teems with graceful +conceits and charming fancies, and which can be read, not only by +children of tender years, but by those of larger growth. + +The style in which the book is gotten up makes it very suitable for a +Christmas present. + + Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +NICODEMUS: A POEM. + +By Grace Shaw Duff. + + +In this fine blank-verse poem, written by the well-known New York +authoress, Mrs. Grace Shaw Duff, is given, in autobiographic form as +from the lips of Nicodemus himself, a poetic account of the two episodes +between that ruler of the Jews and Jesus, as related in the third and +seventh chapters of John's gospel. The poem is full of local color, and +opens with a striking description of sunrise on the morning of the last +day of the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Then follows a picture of +the unusual stir in the city due to the crowds attending the feast, +after which there is a fine word painting of the scene in the temple, +with its motley throngs of maimed and halt, of venders of unsavory +wares, of idlers, and of graver men. + +The description of the midnight visit of Nicodemus to Jesus may be +quoted in full as a typical specimen of the tone, manner, and fine +musical versification of the whole poem:-- + + "One night from sleepless bed I rose, and went + To where He lodged, and bade the porter say + One Nicodemus--ruler--came, and speech + Would have with Him. There was no moon, but hosts + Of stars, and soft, pale glow from shaded lamps + Made silver light. The air was still, with just + Enough of light to waft at times a faint + Sweet oleander scent, and gently float + Some loosened petals down. I heard no sound + But sudden knew another presence near, + And turned to where He stood; one hand held back + The curtain's fold; the other clasped a roll. + No King could gently bear a prouder mien; + And when I gracious rose to offer meet + Respect to one whose words had won for Him + Regard, I strangely felt like loyal slave, + And almost 'Master!' trembled on my lips. + A deep, brave look shone in his eyes, as if + He saw the whole of mankind's needs, yet dared + To bid him hope; and when he spoke, his words + And voice seemed fitted parts of some great psalm." + +The book is beautifully printed on first-class paper, and is finely +illustrated with numerous half-tones, after sepia-wash drawings by that +excellent artist Fredrick C. Gordon; and each section of the poem has a +charmingly artistic vignette for the initial capital letter. The binding +is in keeping with the general get-up, and the book would make an +admirable Christmas present. + + CLOTH, 75 CENTS. + + The Arena Publishing Co., Copley Sq., Boston, Mass. + + + + +The Woman-Suffrage Movement + +IN THE UNITED STATES. + +By A LAWYER. + + +The author of this book believes that the Bible is the inspired word of +God, and that those who accept its teachings as authoritative must be +opposed to the woman-suffrage movement. Though he bases his arguments +mainly on the teachings of Holy Scripture, he does not overlook the +lessons of history. But history only confirms him in his contention that +marriage is something more than a civil contract terminable at the +pleasure of the partners. From the true point of view marriage is an +ordinance of God. Should it ever become the general belief that it is +other than a sacrament, there would be "no protection, no honorable or +elevated position, no high social plane or place for woman." And if +marriage is a sacrament, there is but one valid cause for divorce--the +one laid down in the Word of God. The husband is the head of the +household, and his commands should be respected and obeyed, for +obedience and protection are correlative terms; the interests of husband +and wife should be identical. + +The various "cries" of the advocates of woman suffrage, as "taxation +without representation," "liberty, fraternity, and equality," are +considered and declared to be without force, and this declaration is +supported by cogent reasons. The author is confident that if woman +suffrage were enacted into law it would not only harden women but work +irreparable injury to man, for those now opposed to the movement would +then "reconcile the principle and its effects upon their environment +with the Bible by throwing the Bible away." Thus, the "attack strikes at +the root of all moral and religious training." + +The book merits a wide circulation. Candid advocates of the movement +will desire to know what can be said against it; and its opponents will +be glad to have at hand reasons so forcible and illustrations so apt in +condemnation of woman suffrage. + +We cheerfully say so much for the book, though, as is well known, we are +strongly in favor of the movement towards a larger liberty of action for +woman; and we are looking earnestly and expectantly for the coming of +the day when woman emancipated and enfranchised shall work out her +destiny in perfect freedom. + + 154 pp. Cloth, 75 cents; Paper, 25 cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +The Heart of Old Hickory. + +By WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE. + + +Eight charming and popular stories by this gifted young Tennessee writer +are collected in this beautiful volume. Each of these stories is a study +that reveals a different phase of human character, and each study is a +work of art. Several show the author's subtle skill in dialect-writing, +and all reveal the hand of a master in delineating character. Here we +have inimitable humor, gleeful fun, delightful sallies of wit, and +genuine pathos, all combined with extraordinary descriptive powers. +Raciness, strength, vividness, and felicity of expression characterize +the author's style. He is to be pitied who can read these stories +without being widened in his sympathies, elevated in thought, quickened +in conscience, and ennobled in soul. The stories are the work of a +literary genius, and go far to justify an admirer of her writings, who +has himself no mean fame as editor, author, and critic, in calling Will +Allen Dromgoole the "Charles Dickens of the New South." + + Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents. + + The Arena Publishing Company, + + Copley Square, Boston, Mass. + + + + +WHICH WAY, SIRS, THE BETTER? + +A Story of Our Toilers. + +By JAMES M. MARTIN. + + +This is the story of a labor strike, its causes and consequences. The +chief character, Robert Belden, is a self-made man, who, from being +office-boy in the Duncan Iron Works at Beldendale, Pa., had risen, by +dint of intelligence, hard work, and attention to business, to be +partner and business manager of the concern. + +A temporary depression in the iron trade makes it necessary for him to +give notice of a reduction of ten per cent in the wages of his +employees. The latter are dissatisfied, and, after calling a meeting of +their union, demand from him an inspection of the books of concern by a +committee on their behalf, so that they may have the assurance that the +reduction is necessary. As the disclosure would injure the business, the +manager refuses to comply with this demand, and the workmen go out on +strike. Thereupon the manager, in order to fill his contracts, employs +laborers from a distance, and hires a band of fifty guards from a +detective agency to protect them and his works. A dreadful riot ensues, +with bloodshed and loss of life, and the works are closed. + +After a time the manager proposes a new arrangement with his former +workmen, whereby, under the system of profit-sharing, they shall receive +a share of the profits in addition to their wages. The plan works +admirably. In a comparatively brief period the workmen become well-to-do +and contented, many owning their own homes, and Beldendale becomes the +model of a prosperous and happy manufacturing town. + +The story has evidently been suggested by the terrible strikes and riots +in the coke fields of Pennsylvania, and the later ones at Homestead and +Buffalo, and the author's object is to show the uselessness and the evil +results of strikes, and to propose "a better way for the solution of the +perennial conflict between capital and labor." His admirable story does +this most effectively. It is written in that unassuming, straightforward +style which is so impressive when dealing with "the short and simple +annals of the poor," and it should be read and pondered over and taken +to heart by every capitalist and employer of labor in the country, on +the one hand, and by every workingman, on the other. + +Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents. + +The Arena Publishing Company, + +COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + + Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEYOND*** + + +******* This file should be named 38134.txt or 38134.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/1/3/38134 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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