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diff --git a/77318-0.txt b/77318-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3c2519 --- /dev/null +++ b/77318-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12424 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77318 *** + + + + + REINCARNATION + + + + + The weary pilgrim oft doth seek to know + How far he’s come, how far he has to go. + QUARLES. + + Ghosts! There are nigh a thousand million of them walking the earth + openly at noontide; some half hundred have vanished from it, some half + hundred have arisen in it, ere thy watch tick one. + + CARLYLE. + + Truth dwells in gulphs, whose deeps hide shades so rich + That Night sits muffled there in clouds of pitch, + More darke than Nature made her: and requires + (To cleare her tough mists) heaven’s great fire of fires + To wrestle with those heaven-strong mysteries. + GEORGE CHAPMAN. + + I am: how little more I know! + Whence came I? Whither do I go? + A central self which feels and is; + A cry between the silences; + A shadow-birth of clouds at strife + With sunshine on the hills of life; + A shaft from Nature’s quiver cast + Into the future from the past. + WHITTIER. + + Where wert thou, Soul, ere yet my body born + Became thy dwelling-place? Didst thou on earth + Or in the clouds, await this body’s birth, + Or by what chance upon that winter’s morn + Didst thou this body find, a babe forlorn? + Didst thou in sorrow enter, or in mirth? + Or for a jest, perchance, to try its worth + Thou tookest flesh, ne’er from it to be torn. + WADDINGTON. + + + + + REINCARNATION + A STUDY OF FORGOTTEN TRUTH + + + BY + + E. D. WALKER + + “_Ex oriente lux_” + +[Illustration: [Logo]] + + BOSTON AND NEW YORK + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY + =The Riverside Press, Cambridge= + 1888 + + + + + Copyright, 1888, + BY E. D. WALKER. + + _All rights reserved._ + + + _The Riverside Press, Cambridge_: + Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. + + + + + To + + THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH + + AND TO + + THAT EMBODIMENT OF TRUTH, NAMED + + ARIEL, + + THIS LITTLE VOLUME PROMPTED BY THEM + + =Is Dedicated,= + + WITH THE HOPE THAT THEY ARE NOT HERE DISHONORED + + BY THEIR DISCIPLE, + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + + Soul, dwelling oft in God’s infinitude + And sometimes seeming no more part of me— + This me, worms’ heritage—than that sun can be + Part of the earth he has with warmth imbued,— + Whence camest thou? Whither goest thou? I, subdued + With awe of mine own being thus sit still, + Dumb, on the summit of this lonely hill, + Whose dry November grasses dew-bestrewed + Mirror a million suns. That sun so bright, + Passes as thou must pass, Soul, into night. + Art thou afraid who solitary hast trod + A path I know not, from a source to a bourn + Both which I know not? Fearest thou to return + Alone, even as thou camest alone, to God? + + D. M. MULOCK. + + Insect and reptile, fish and bird and beast, + Cast their worn robes aside, fresh robes to don; + Tree, flower, and moss, put new year’s raiments on; + Each natural type, the greatest as the least, + Renews its vesture when its use hath ceased. + How should man’s spirit keep in unison + With the world’s law of outgrowth, save it won + New robes and ampler as its girth increased? + Quit shrunken creed, and dwarfed philosophy! + Let gently die an art’s decaying fire! + Work on the ancient lines, but yet be free + To leave and frame anew, if God inspire! + The planets change their surface as they roll: + The force that binds the spheres must bind the soul. + + HENRY G. HEWLETT. + + + + + PREFACE. + + +“The idea of a transmigration of souls has hitherto remained a dream of +the fancy, nor has any one yet succeeded in giving it a higher moral +significance for the order of the universe.” So writes Hermann Lotze, +the German philosopher, in his magnificent “Microcosm,” expressing the +common feeling of Christendom. If this little book achieves its purpose +it will show the strength and value of that dreamy idea. + +The present perplexity of all Christendom upon the deepest problems of +life, the sense of blind fate oppressing mankind, the despairing +restlessness of many leading poets, the absence of sublime ideals in +art, the prevalence of materialism and agnosticism (if not in +philosophy, in the most vital form of practical life), all feed a +flood-tide of dissatisfaction which Christianity tries in vain to +resist, and indicate that the West deeply needs some new truth. Not only +the wavering masses of men, but many of those uncompromising devotees of +truth who dare surrender themselves, like St. Christopher, to the +mightiest, are yearning after a larger revelation. A portion of this is +contained, we believe, in the doctrine variously termed as +Reincarnation, Metempsychosis, Transmigration. By this we do not mean +the theories concerning re-birth of men in brute bodies, which are +attributed to oriental religions and philosophies because popularly +accepted by their followers. These are crude caricatures of the true +conception. They represent the reality as absurdly as ordinary life in +Europe and America illustrates the teaching of Jesus. But we mean the +inner kernel of that husk, which in protean forms has irrepressibly +welled up in every great phase of thought, which is an open secret lying +all around us and not simply a foreign importation, and which +Christendom cannot afford to lose. + +For those who are content with the usual creeds this little work will +have no attraction. They may be pleased to regard it as a heathen +invasion of Christendom. But for truth-seekers it may prove useful, +though it claims only to be an earnest investigation of what seems an +undemonstrable proposition. Its doctrine was first met as the +declaration of the profoundest students of the mysteries enveloping +humanity—coming with authority but no proof of weight to most western +thinkers. Its violent antagonism to current ideas compelled the writer +to dispose of it by independent methods. If true, there must be some +confirmation of it such as will impress any candid mind. If false, +nothing can force it to live. This led to a careful study of the +subject, which was summarized in a brief essay read and published to a +small circle of Theosophists. A continuation of that study has resulted +in this volume. Some readers will regard it as a waste of energy, except +as a diverting curiosity, the truth or falsehood of reincarnation being +to them of little consequence. But a sincere motive underlies it. For +reincarnation illuminates the darkest passages in the murky road of +life, dispels many haunting enigmas and illusions, and reveals cardinal +principles which, if apprehended, will steady the shambling gait of +mankind. Virtue, kindliness, and spirituality may thus be seen in their +unveiled splendor as the only proper modes of action and thought. The +noblest life is discerned to be the only sensible kind, and not +abandoned to the accidental expression of impulse or sentiment. The +cause of all the evils of modern society, the parent of the revolutions +of Europe, the source of the labor disturbances aggravating America, is +the arch-enemy of the race—materialism. Reincarnation combats that foe +by a most subtle and deadly warfare. + +The sincere thanks of the writer are due to a number of kind friends, +whose assistance has largely facilitated the collection of materials for +this book, and also to the authors who have kindly permitted the use of +extracts from their writings, (in chapters iv and v.) + + E. D. W. + + + Of all the theories respecting the origin of the soul, it + (preëxistence) seems to me the most plausible and therefore the one + most likely to throw light on the question of a life to + come.—FREDERICK H. HEDGE. + + It would be curious if we should find science and philosophy taking up + again the old theory of metempsychosis, remodelling it to suit our + present modes of religious and scientific thought, and launching it + again on the wide ocean of human belief. But stranger things have + happened in the history of human opinion.—JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. + + If we could legitimately determine any question of belief by the + number of its adherents, the _quod semper_, _quod ubique_, _quod ab + omnibus_ would apply to metempsychosis more fitly than to any other. I + think it is quite as likely to be revived and to come to the front + again as any rival theory.—PROFESSOR WILLIAM KNIGHT. + + It seems to me, a firm and well-grounded faith in the doctrine of + Christian metempsychosis might help to regenerate the world. For it + would be a faith not hedged round with many of the difficulties and + objections which beset other forms of doctrine, and it offers distinct + and pungent motives for trying to lead a more Christian life, and for + loving and helping our brother-man.—PROFESSOR FRANCIS BOWEN. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION 3 + + I. + WHAT IS REINCARNATION? 9 + + II. + WESTERN EVIDENCES OF REINCARNATION 15 + 1. Immortality demands it; 2. Analogy suggests it; 3. Science + confirms it; 4. The nature of the soul requires it; 5. It + answers the theological question of “original sin” and “future + punishment;” 6. Many strange experiences are explained by it; + 7. The problems of life and of Nemesis are solved best by it. + + III. + WESTERN OBJECTIONS TO REINCARNATION 49 + 1. We have no memory of past lives; 2. It is unjust for us to + receive the results of forgotten deeds; 3. Heredity opposes + it; 4. It is an uncongenial doctrine. + + IV. + WESTERN AUTHORS UPON REINCARNATION 63 + Extracts: 1. Schopenhauer; 2. Lessing; 3. Fichte; 4. Herder; 5. + Henry More; 6. Sir Thomas Browne; 7. Chevalier Ramsay; 8. + Soame Jenyns; 9. Joseph Glanvil; 10. Dowden’s Shelley; 11. + Hume; 12. Southey; 13. William Blake; 14. William Knight; 15. + W. A. Butler; 16. Bulwer; 17. Pezzani; 18. Emerson; 19. James + Freeman Clarke; 20. William R. Alger; 21. Francis Bowen; 22. + Frederick A. Hedge. + + V. + WESTERN POETS UPON REINCARNATION 125 + I. American Poets: Hayne, Whittier, Taylor, Aldrich, Leland, + Thompson, Willis, Trowbridge, Longfellow, Lowell, Whitman, + Parsons. + II. British Poets: Wordsworth, Gosse, Alford, Milnes, Tennyson, + Rossetti, Addison, Bailey, Sharp, Tupper, Browning, Leyden, + Coleridge, Miss Tatham, Dr. Donne, Collins, Matthew Arnold. + III. Continental Poets: Boyesen, Hugo, Béranger, Goethe, + Schiller, Campanella. + IV. Platonic Poets: More, Milton, Anonymous, Shelley, Vaughan, + Emerson, Mrs. Rowe, Hymns. + + VI. + REINCARNATION AMONG THE ANCIENTS 193 + I. Brahmans; II. Egyptians; III. Pythagoras; IV. Plato; V. The + Jews. + + VII. + REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE 213 + + VIII. + REINCARNATION IN EARLY CHRISTENDOM 223 + I. The Gnostics; II. The Neo-Platonists; III. The Orthodox + Church Fathers. + + IX. + REINCARNATION IN THE EAST TO-DAY 239 + I. Brahmanism; II. Buddhism; III. Zoroastrianism and Sufism. + + X. + EASTERN POETRY OF REINCARNATION 249 + Extracts: 1. Kalidésa’s “Sakoontala;” 2. The Katha Upanishad; 3. + The Light of Asia; 4. A Persian Poem; 5. From Hafiz; 6. A Sufi + Poem. + + XI. + ESOTERIC ORIENTAL REINCARNATION 261 + + XII. + TRANSMIGRATION THROUGH ANIMALS 271 + + XIII. + DEATH, HEAVEN, AND HELL, WHAT THEN OF? 287 + + XIV. + KARMA, THE COMPANION TRUTH OF REINCARNATION 297 + + XV. + CONCLUSION 307 + + APPENDIX. + BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REINCARNATION 327 + + + + + By the sea, by the dreary darkening sea + There stands a youthful man, + His frame is throbbing with doubt’s agony, + His lips move sadly and wan. + + Oh, solve me Life’s enigma, ye waves, + The torturing riddle of old + With which the mind of humanity raves, + Whose answer is never told; + + The mystery hidden from hoary sage, + From soldier, saint, and king; + From wisest heads in every age, + Weary and languishing + + For light upon the misty road. + Tell me, what am I? + Whence came I, whither do I plod? + Who dwells in the blazing sky? + + The billows murmur ceaselessly, + The wind speaks night and day, + Calm and cold sing the stars on high, + But he knows not what they say. + HEINE. + + The doctrine of metempsychosis may almost claim to be a natural or + innate belief in the human mind, if we may judge from its wide + diffusion among the nations of the earth and its prevalence throughout + the historical ages.—PROFESSOR FRANCIS BOWEN. + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + + We sow the glebe, we reap the corn, + We build the house where we may rest, + And then, at moments, suddenly, + We look up to the great wide sky, + Enquiring wherefore we were born,— + For earnest, or for jest? + + The senses folding thick and dark + About the stifled soul within, + We guess diviner things beyond, + And yearn to them with yearning fond; + We strike out boldly to a mark + Believed in, but not seen. + + And sometimes horror chills our blood + To be so near such mystic things, + And we wrap round us, for defence, + Our purple manners, moods of sense,— + As angels, from the face of God, + Stand hidden in their wings. + MRS. BROWNING. + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + +Once the whole civilized world embraced reincarnation, and found therein +a complete answer to that riddle of man’s descent and destiny which the +inexorable sphinx Life propounds to every traveler along her way. But +the western branch of the race, in working out the material conquest of +the world, has acquired the compensating discontent of a material +philosophy. It has lost the old faith and drifted into a shadowy region, +where the eagerness for “practical” things rejects whatever cannot be +physically proven. Even God and immortality are for the most part +conjectures, believed only after demonstration, and not vitally then. +The realization of this condition is provoking throughout Christendom a +counter-current of spirituality. The growing freedom of thought and the +eastward look of many leading minds seem to herald a renaissance more +radical, although more subtle and gradual, than the reformations of +Columbus, Luther, and Guthenberg. As surely as the occupation and +development of the western Eldorado revived Europe into unprecedented +vigor, the exploration of Palestine, and beyond into India, for +treasures more precious than gold and dominion, shall revitalize the +West with an unparalleled growth of spiritual power. + +Strangely enough, too, just as the “New World” proved to be geologically +the oldest continent, so the “new truths” recently discovered are found +to be the most ancient. They are as universal as the ocean, always +waiting to be used. The latest philosophies and heterodoxies are only +fresh phrasings of early ideas. The most advanced conceptions of art, +education, and government are essentially identical with those of Greece +and Rome. The newest industries are approaching the lost arts of Egypt. +The modern sciences (as electricity and chemistry) are merely ingenious +applications of what the schoolmasters of the primitive races knew +better in some respects than Edison and Cooke. Geology has just dawned +upon us to reveal the sublime synopsis of earth’s history hidden for +over three thousand years in the first chapter of the Bible. The last +great thought of this era—Evolution—is as old as the hills in the East. +Professor Crookes’s wonderful experiment connected with the instability +of certain elements, psychic force, and the fourth dimension of matter +(so far in advance of present scientific culture that many physicists +deride them) are stumblings upon the outskirts of a domain long familiar +to oriental students. After many centuries of tedious jangling with +creeds and sects, we are slowly learning that primitive Christianity +will make earth a paradise. The permanent edifice of the world’s +complete education seems to patiently await the time when men shall tire +of fashioning useless building stuff from their crumbling theories and +revert to the basal granite of which the everlasting foundations are +laid, caring only to shape the superstructure by the Architect’s plan. + +Although commonly rejected throughout Europe and America, reincarnation +is unreservedly accepted by the majority of mankind at the present day, +as in all the past centuries. From the dawn of history it has prevailed +among the largest part of humanity with an unshaken intensity of +conviction. Over all the mightiest eastern nations it has held permanent +sway. The ancient civilization of Egypt, whose grandeur cannot be +overestimated, was built upon this as a fundamental truth, and taught it +as a precious secret to Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Virgil, and Ovid, +who scattered it through Greece and Italy. It is the keynote of Plato’s +philosophy, being stated or implied very frequently in his dialogues. +“Soul is older than body,” he says. “Souls are continually born over +again from Hades into this life.” In his view all knowledge is +reminiscence. To search and learn is simply to revive the images of what +the soul saw in its preëxistent state in the world of realities. It was +also widely spread in the Neo-platonism of Plotinus and Proclus. The +swarming millions of India have made this thought the foundation of +their enormous achievements in government, architecture, philosophy, and +poetry. It was a cardinal element in the religion of the Persian Magi. +Alexander the Great gazed in amazement on the self-immolation by fire to +which it inspired the Gymnosophists. Cæsar found its tenets propagated +among the Gauls. The circle of metempsychosis was an essential principle +of the Druid faith, and as such was impressed upon our forefathers the +Celts, the Gauls, and the Britons. It is claimed that the people held +this doctrine so vitally that they wept around the new-born infant and +smiled upon death; for the beginning and end of an earthly life were to +them the imprisonment and release of a soul, which must undergo repeated +probations to remove its degrading impurities for final ascent into a +succession of higher spheres. The Bardic triads of the Welsh are replete +with this thought, and a Welsh antiquary insists that an ancient +emigration from Wales to India conveyed it to the Brahmans. Among the +Arab philosophers it was a favorite idea, and it still may be noticed in +many Mohammedan writers. In the old civilizations of Peru and Mexico it +prevailed universally. The priestly rites of the Egyptian Isis, the +Eleusinian mysteries of Greece, the Bacchic processions of Rome, the +Druid ceremonies of Britain, and the Cabalic rituals of the Hebrews, all +expressed this great truth with peculiar force for their initiated +witnesses. The Jews generally adopted it after the Babylonian captivity +through the Pharisees, Philo of Alexandria, and the doctors. John the +Baptist was to them a second Elijah. Jesus was commonly thought to be a +reappearance of John the Baptist or of one of the old prophets. The +Talmud and the Cabala are full of the same teaching. Some of the late +Rabbins assert many entertaining things concerning the repeated births +of the most noted persons of their nation. Christianity is not an +exception to all the other great religions in promulgating the same +philosophy. Reincarnation played an important part in the thought of +Origen and several other leaders among the early Church Fathers. It was +a main portion of the creed of the Gnostics and Manichæans. In the +Middle Ages many scholastics and heretical sects advocated it. It has +cropped out spontaneously in many western theologians. The elder English +divines do not hesitate to inculcate preëxistence in their sermons. In +the seventeenth century Dr. Henry More and other Cambridge Platonists +gave it wide acceptance. The Roman Catholic Purgatory seems to be a +makeshift improvised to take its place. Sir Harry Vane is said by Burnet +to have maintained this doctrine. + +Many philosophers of metaphysical depth, like Scotus, Kant, Schelling, +Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, and the younger Fichte, have upheld +reincarnation. Geniuses of noble symmetry, like Giordano Bruno, Herder, +Lessing, and Goethe, have fathered it. Scientists like Flammarion, +Figuier, and Brewster have earnestly advocated it. Theological leaders +like Julius Müller, Dorner, Ernesti, Rückert, and Edward Beecher have +maintained it. In exalted intuitional natures like Boehme and Swedenborg +its hold is apparent. Most of the mystics bathe in it. Of course the +long line of Platonists from Socrates down to Emerson have no doubt of +it. Nearly all the poets profess it. + +Even amid the predominance of materialistic influences in Christendom it +has a considerable following. Traces of it are found among the +aborigines of North and South America, and in many barbaric tribes. At +this time it reigns without any sign of decrepitude over the Burman, +Chinese, Japanese, Tartar, Thibetan, and East Indian nations, including +at least 750,000,000 of mankind and nearly two thirds of the race. +Throughout the East it is the great central thought. It is no mere +superstition of the ignorant masses. It is the chief principle of Hindu +metaphysics,—the basis of all their inspired books. Such a hoary +philosophy, held by the venerable authority of ages, ruling from the +beginning of time the bulk of the world’s thought, cherished in some +form by the disciples of every great religion, is certainly worthy of +the profoundest respect and study. There must be some vital reality +inspiring so stupendous an existence. + +But the western fondness for democracy does not hold in the domain of +thought. The fact that the majority of the race has agreed upon +reincarnation is no argument for it to an occidental thinker. The +conceit of modern progress has no more respect for ancient ideas than +for the forgotten civilization of old, even though in many essentials +they anticipated or outstripped all that we boast of. Therefore we +propose to treat this subject largely from a western standpoint. + + + + + I. + WHAT IS REINCARNATION? + + + You cannot say of the soul, it shall be, or is about to be, or is to + be hereafter. It is a thing without birth.—BHAGAVAD GITA. + + As the inheritance of an illustrious name and pedigree quickens the + sense of duty in every noble nature, a belief in preëxistence may + enhance the glory of the present life and intensify the reverence with + which the deathless principle is regarded.—WILLIAM KNIGHT. + + If we except the belief of a future remuneration beyond this life for + suffering virtue and retribution for successful crimes, there is no + system so simple, and so little repugnant to our understanding, as + that of metempsychosis. The pains and pleasures of this life are by + this system considered as the recompense or the punishment of our + actions in another state.—ISAAC D’ISRAELI. + + The experiences gained in one life may not be remembered in their + details in the next, but the impressions which they produce will + remain. Again and again man passes through the wheel of + transformation, changing his lower energies into higher ones, until + matter attracts him no longer, and he becomes—what he is destined to + be—a god.—HARTMANN. + + As billows on the undulating main + That swelling fall, and falling swell again, + So on the tide of time incessant roll + The dying body and the deathless soul. + + + + + I. + WHAT IS REINCARNATION? + + +Reincarnation is an extremely simple doctrine rooted in the assurance of +the soul’s indestructibility. It explains at once the descent and the +destiny of the soul by so natural and forcible a method that it has not +only dominated the ingenuous minds of all the primitive races, but has +become the most widely spread and most permanently influential of all +philosophies. + +Reincarnation teaches that the soul enters this life, not as a fresh +creation, but after a long course of previous existences on this earth +and elsewhere, in which it acquired its present inhering peculiarities, +and that it is on the way to future transformations which the soul is +now shaping. It claims that infancy brings to earth, not a blank scroll +for the beginning of an earthly record, nor a mere cohesion of atomic +forces into a brief personality soon to dissolve again into the +elements, but that it is inscribed with ancestral histories, some like +the present scene, most of them unlike it and stretching back into the +remotest past. These inscriptions are generally undecipherable, save as +revealed in their moulding influence upon the new career; but like the +invisible photographic images made by the sun of all it sees, when they +are properly developed in the laboratory of consciousness they will be +distinctly displayed. The current phase of life will also be stored away +in the secret vaults of memory, for its unconscious effect upon the +ensuing lives. All the qualities we now possess, in body, mind and soul, +result from our use of ancient opportunities. We are indeed “the heirs +of all the ages,” and are alone responsible for our inheritances. For +these conditions accrue from distant causes engendered by our older +selves, and the future flows by the divine law of cause and effect from +the gathered momentum of our past impetuses. There is no favoritism in +the universe, but all have the same everlasting facilities for growth. +Those who are now elevated in worldly station may be sunk in humble +surroundings in the future. Only the inner traits of the soul are +permanent companions. The wealthy sluggard may be the beggar of the next +life; and the industrious worker of the present is sowing the seeds of +future greatness. Suffering bravely endured now will produce a treasure +of patience and fortitude in another life; hardships will give rise to +strength; self-denial must develop the will; tastes cultivated in this +existence will somehow bear fruit in coming ones; and acquired energies +will assert themselves whenever they can by the _lex parsimoniæ_ upon +which the principles of physics are based. _Vice versa_, the unconscious +habits, the uncontrollable impulses, the peculiar tendencies, the +favorite pursuits, and the soul-stirring friendships of the present +descend from far-reaching previous activities. + +Science explains the idiosyncrasies of plants and animals by the +environment of previous generations and calls instinct hereditary habit. +In the same way there is an evolution of individuality, by which the +child opens its new era with characteristics derived from anterior +lives, and adds the experience of a new personality to the sum total of +his treasured traits. In its passage through earthly personalities the +spiritual self, the essential _Ego_, accumulates a fund of individual +character which remains as the permanent thread stringing together the +separate lives. The soul is therefore an eternal water globule, which +sprang in the beginningless past from mother ocean, and is destined +after an unreckonable course of meanderings in cloud and rain, snow and +steam, spring and river, mud and vapor, to at last return with the +garnered experience of all lonely existences into the central Heart of +all. Or rather, it is the crystal stream running from a heavenly +fountain through one continuous current that often halts in favorite +corners, sunny pools, and shady nooks, muddy ponds and clearest lakes, +each delay shifting the direction and altering the complexion of the +next tide as it issues out by the path of least resistance. + +That we have forgotten the causes producing the present sequence of +pleasures and pains, talents and defects, successes and failures, is no +disproof of them, and does not disturb the justice of the scheme. For +temporary oblivion is the anodyne by which the kindly physician is +bringing us through the darker wards of sorrow into perfect health. + +We do not undertake to trace the details of our earlier stoppages +further than is indicated in the uncontrovertible principle, that as +long as the soul is governed by material desires it must find its homes +in physical realms, and when its inclination is purely spiritual it +certainly will inhabit the domain of spirit. The restless wandering of +all souls must at last conclude in the peace of God, but that will not +be possible until they have gone through all the rounds of experience +and learned that only in that Goal is satisfaction. That men ever dwell +in bodies of beasts, we deny as irrational, as such a retrogression +would contradict the fundamental maxims of nature. That philosophy is a +corruption of Reincarnation, in which the masses have coarsely masked +the truth. + +Granting the permanence of the human spirit amid every change, the +doctrine of re-birth is the only one yielding a metaphysical explanation +of the phenomena of life. It is already accepted in the physical plane +as evolution, and holds a firm ethical value in applying the law of +justice to human experience. In confirmation of it there stands the +strongest weight of evidence, argumentary, empirical, and historic. It +untangles the knotty problem of life simply and grandly. It meets the +severest requirements of enlightened reason, and is in deepest harmony +with the spirit of Christianity. + + + + + II. + WESTERN EVIDENCES OF REINCARNATION. + + + The house of life hath many chambers.—ROSSETTI. + + The soul is not born; it does not die; it was not produced from any + one; nor was any produced from it.—EMERSON. + + For men to tell how human life began + Is hard: for who himself beginning knew. + + MILTON. + + There is surely a piece of divinity in us,—something that was before + the elements and owes no homage unto the sun. + + Whatever hath no beginning may be confident of no end.—SIR THOMAS + BROWNE. + + For of the soul the body form doth take, + For soul is form and doth the body make. + + SPENSER. + + Secreted and hidden in the heart of the world and the heart of man is + the light which can illumine all life, the future and the past. + + THROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD. + + The soul, if immortal, existed before our birth. + + What is incorruptible must be ungenerable. + + Metempsychosis is the only system of immortality that Philosophy can + hearken to.—HUME. + + Nature is nothing less than the ladder of resurrection which, step by + step, leads upward,—or rather is carried from the abyss of eternal + death up to the apex of life.—SCHLEGEL. + + Look nature through; ’tis revolution all, + All change; no death. Day follows night, and night + The dying day; stars rise and set, and set and rise. + Earth takes the example. All to reflourish fades + As in a wheel: all sinks to reascend; + Emblems of man, who passes, not expires. + + YOUNG. + + The blending of mind and matter in the bodily structure of the + sentient and rational orders, we may be assured, is a method of + procedure which, if it be not absolutely indispensable to the final + purposes of the creation, subserves the most important ends and + carries with it consequences such as will make it the general, if not + the universal law of all finite natures, in all worlds.—ISAAC TAYLOR. + + + + + II. + WESTERN EVIDENCES OF REINCARNATION. + + +The old Saxon chronicler, Bede, records that at a banquet given by King +Edwin of Northumbria to his nobles, a discussion arose as to how they +should receive the Christian missionary Paulinus, who had just arrived +from the continent. Some urged the sufficiency of their own Druid and +Norse religions and advised the death of the invading heretic. Others +were in favor of hearing his message. At length the king asked the +opinion of his oldest counsellor. The sage arose and said: “O king and +lords. You all did remark the swallow which entered this festal hall to +escape the chilling winds without, fluttering near the fire for a few +moments and then vanishing through the opposite window. Such is the life +of man. Whence it came and whither it goes none can tell. Therefore if +this new religion brings light upon so great a mystery, it must be +diviner than ours and should be welcomed.” The old man’s advice was +adopted. + +We are in the position of those old ancestors of ours. The religion of +the churches, called Christianity, is to many earnest souls a dry husk. +The germinant kernel of truth as it came from the founder of +Christianity, when it is discovered under all its barren wrappings, is +indeed sufficient to feed us with the bread of life. It answers all the +practical needs of most people even with the husks. But it leaves some +vital questions unanswered which impel us to desire something more than +Jesus taught—not for mere curiosity, but as food for larger growth. The +divine law which promises to fill every vacuum, and to gratify at last +every aspiration, has not left us without means of grasping a portion of +these grander truths. + +The commonest idea of the soul throughout Christendom seems to be that +it is created specially for birth on this world, and after its lifetime +here it goes to a permanent spiritual realm of infinite continuance. +This is a very comfortable belief derived from the appearances of +things, and those holding it may very properly say, “My view agrees with +the phenomena, and if you think differently the burden of proof rests +upon you.” We accept this responsibility. But a careful observer knows +that the true explanation of facts is as a rule very different from the +appearance. Ptolemy thought he could account for all the heavenly +motions on his geocentric theory, and his teachings were at once +received by his contemporaries. But the deeper studies of Copernicus and +Galileo had to wait a century before they were accepted, although they +introduced an astronomy of immeasurably nobler scale. Is it not a relic +of the old confidence in appearances to consider the physical orbits of +human souls as limited to our little view of them? + +The theologian seeks to explain life, with its inequalities, its +miseries and injustices, by a future condition rewarding and punishing +men for the deeds of earth. He concedes that benevolence and justice +cannot be proven in God by what is seen of His earthly administration. +The final law of creation is said to be Love, but the sin and suffering +bequeathed to most of the race through no apparent fault of theirs +annuls that dictum in the world’s real thought, and compels men to +regard life as a ceaseless struggle for existence in which the strongest +wins and the weakest fails, and the devil takes the hindermost. But even +if the future life will straighten out this by a just judgment, fairness +demands that all shall have an even chance here,—which only +reincarnation assures. + +The materialist takes a more plausible ground. On the basis of the soul +beginning with the present existence, he regards all the developments of +life as results of blind natural forces. He says that the variety of +atomic qualities accounts for all the divergencies of life, physical, +mental, and moral. But he can give no reason why the same particles of +matter should accomplish such stupendous varieties. Moreover Science, +the materialist’s gospel, instead of disposing of psychic facts, is +studying and classifying them as a new branch of supersensuous +knowledge.[1] These investigations will ultimately initiate Science into +the surety of non-physical things. Already a strong advance in that +direction has been made by Isaac Taylor’s “Physical Theory of a Future +Life” and Stewart & Tait’s “Unseen Universe.” The conception of an +Infinite Personality overwhelms all the narrow groove-thinking of every +mechanical school, and rises supremely in the strongest scientific +philosophy of all time—that of Herbert Spencer. Strangest of all, +Evolution, the cornerstone of Spencerian philosophy, is merely a +paraphrase of reincarnation. + +There are seven arguments for Reincarnation which seem conclusive. + +1. That the idea of _immortality_ demands it. + +2. That _analogy_ makes it the most probable. + +3. That _science_ confirms it. + +4. That the _nature of the soul_ requires it. + +5. That it most completely _answers_ the _theological questions_ of +“original sin” and “future punishment.” + +6. That it _explains_ many _mysterious experiences_. + +7. That it alone _solves_ the problem of _injustice_ and _misery_ which +broods over our world. + + * * * * * + +1. Immortality demands it. + +Only the positivists and some allied schools of thought, comprising a +very small proportion of Christendom, doubt the immortality of the soul. +But a conscious existence after death has no better proof than a +pre-natal existence. It is an old declaration that what begins in time +must end in time. We have no right to say that the soul is eternal on +one side of its earthly period without being so on the other. Far more +rational is the view of certain scientists who, believing that the soul +originates with this life, also declare that it ends with this life. +That is the logical outcome of their premise. If the soul sprang into +existence specially for this life, why should it continue afterward? It +is precisely as probable from all the grounds of reason that death is +the conclusion of the soul as that birth is the beginning of it. As +Cudworth points out, it was this argument which had special weight with +the Greek philosophers, whose reasonings upon immortality have led all +later generations. They asserted the eternity of the soul in order to +vindicate its immortality. For, they held, as nothing which has being +can have originated from nothingness, or can vanish into nothingness, +and as they were certain of their existence, it was impossible that they +could have had a temporal beginning. The present life must be only one +stage of a vast number, stretching backward and forward. + +Our instinctive belief in immortality implies a subconscious acceptance +of this view. We are certain of a persevering life outlasting all the +changes of time and death. But birth, as well as death, is one of the +temporal shifts belonging to the transitory sphere which is foreign to +our spirits. It is only because our backs are toward the earlier change +and our faces to the later that we refuse to reason about one on the +principles used about the other. If we lived in the reversed world of +Fechner’s “Dr. Mises,” in which old things grow new and men begin life +by a reversed dying and end by a reversed birth, we would probably +devise arguments for preëxistence as zealously as we do now for future +existence, and that would lead to reincarnation. For all the indications +of immortality point as unfailingly to an eternity preceding this +existence: the love of prolonged life; the analogy of nature; the +prevailing belief of the most spiritual minds; the permanence of the ego +principle; the inconceivability of annihilation or of creation from +nothing; the promise of an extension of the present career; the +injustice of any other thought. + +The ordinary Christian idea of special creation at birth involves the +correlative of annihilation at death. What the origin of the soul may +have been does not affect this subject, further than that it long +antedates the present life. Whether it be a spark from God himself, or a +divine emanation, or a cluster of independent energies, its eternal +destiny compels the inference that it is uncreated and indestructible. +Moreover, it is unthinkable that from an infinite history it enters this +world for its first and only physical experience and then shoots off to +an endless spiritual existence. The deduction is rather that it assumed +many forms before it appeared as we now see it, and is bound to pass +through many coming lives before it will be rounded into the full orb of +perfection and reach its ultimate goal. + +2. Analogy is strongly in favor of reincarnation. Were Bishop Butler to +work out the problem of the career of the human soul in the light of +modern science, we doubt not that his masterpiece would advocate this +“pagan” thought. For many centuries the literature of nations has +discerned a standard simile of the soul’s deathlessness in the +transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly. But it is known +now that once all the caterpillars and butterflies were alike, and that +by repeated incarnations they have reached the bewildering differences. +When they started off from the procession of life on their own road from +one or a few similar species, the progeny scattered into various +circumstances, and the struggles and devices which they went through for +their own purposes, being repeated for thousands of years in millions of +lives, has developed the surprising heterogeneity of feather-winged +insects. And as each undergoes his rapid changes in rehearsal of his +long pedigree, we may trace the succession of his earlier lives. + +The violent energy of the present condition argues a previous stage +leading up to it. It is contended with great force of analogy that death +is but another and higher birth. This life is a groping embryo plane +implying a more exalted one. Mysterious intimations reach us from a +diviner sphere,— + + “Like hints and echoes of the world + To spirits folded in the womb.” + +But subtle indications rearward argue that birth is the death of an +earlier existence. Even the embryo life necessitates a preparatory one +preceding it. So complete a structure must have a foundation. So swift a +momentum must have traveled far. As Emerson observes: “We wake and find +ourselves on a stair. There are other stairs below us which we seem to +have ascended; there are stairs above us, many a one, which go upward +and out of sight.” + +The grand order of creation is everywhere proclaiming as the universal +word, “change.” Nothing is destroyed, but all is passing from one +existence to another. Not an atom but is dancing in lively march from +its present condition to a different form, running a ceaseless cycle +through mineral, vegetable, and animal existence, though never losing +its individuality, however diverse its apparent alterations. Not a +creature but is constantly progressing to something else. The tadpole +becomes a fish, the fish a frog, and some of the frogs have turned to +birds. It was the keen perception of this principle in nature which gave +their vital force to the Greek mythologies and other ancient stories +embodying the idea of transmutation of personality through many guises. +It was this which animated the metamorphoses of Ovid, whose philosophy +is contained in these lines from his poem on Pythagoras:— + + “Death, so called, is but old matter dressed + In some new form. And in a varied vest + From tenement to tenement, though tossed, + The soul is still the same, the figure only lost: + And, as the softened wax new seals receives, + This face assumes, and that impression leaves, + Now called by one, now by another name, + The form is only changed, the wax is still the same. + Then, to be born is to begin to be + Some other thing we were not formerly. + That forms are changed, I grant; that nothing can + Continue in the figure it began.”[2] + +Evolution has remoulded the thought of Christendom, expanding our +conception of physiology, astronomy and history. The more it is studied +the more universal is found its application. It seems to be the secret +of God’s life. Now that we know the evolution of the body, it is time +that we learned the evolution of the soul. The biologist shows that each +of us physically before birth runs through all the phases of animal +life—polyp, fish, reptile, dog, ape, and man—as a brief synopsis of how +the ages have prepared our tenements. The preponderance of special +animal traits in us is due, he says, to the emphasis of those particular +stages of our physical growth. So in infancy does the soul move through +an unconscious series of existences, recapitulating its long line of +descent, until it is fastened in maturity. And why is it not true that +our soul traits are the relics of former activities? Evolution proves +that the physical part of man is the product of a long series of +changes, in which each stage is both the effect of past influences and +the cause of succeeding issues. Does not the immaterial part of man +require a development equally vast? The fact of an intellectual and +moral evolution proceeding hand in hand with the physical can only be +explained under the economy of nature by a series of reincarnations. + +3. Furthermore, the idea that the soul is specially created for +introduction into this world combats all the principles of science. All +nature proceeds on the strictest economic methods. Nothing is either +lost or added. There is no creation or destruction. Whatever appears to +spring suddenly into existence is derived from some sufficient +cause—although as unseen as the vapor currents which feed the clouds. +There is a growing consensus of opinion among spiritualists and +materialists alike, that the quantity both of force and of matter +remains constant. The law of conservation of energy holds in the +spiritual realm as in physics. The uniform stock of energy in the +universe neither declines nor increases, but incessantly changes. The +marvelous developments shown in the protean organisms continually +entering the procession of life indicate that the new manifestations +descend from some patriarchal line, uncreated and immortal, coming +through the hidden regions of previous existences. Science allows no +such miracle as the theological special resurrection, which is contrary +to all experience. But it recognizes the universality of resurrection +throughout all nature, which is a matter of common observation. The idea +of the soul as a phœnix, eternally continuing through myriad +embodiments, is adapted to the whole spirit of modern science. + +Especially significant is the axiomatic law of cause and effect. There +is no other adequate explanation of the phenomena of life than the +purely scientific one, that causes similar to those now operating before +our eyes have produced the results we witness. The impelling +characteristics of each personality require some earlier experiences of +physical life to have generated them. All the sensuous proclivities of +human nature point to long earthly experience as their only origin. And +the unsatisfied physical inclinations of the soul necessitate a series +of material existences to work themselves out. The irrepressible +eagerness for all the range of experience seems to be a sufficient +reason for a course of incarnations which shall accomplish that result. + +Physiologists contend that the wondrous human organism could not have +grown up out of mere matter, but implies a preëxistent personal idea,[3] +which grouped around itself the organic conditions of physical existence +and constrained the material elements to follow its plan. This dynamic +agent—or the soul—must have existed independent of the body before the +receptacle was prepared. Bouiller and the German scientists Müller, +Hartmann, and Stahl, have especially demonstrated in physiology this +idea of a preëxistent soul monad, whose plastic power unconsciously +constructs its own corporeal organism. The Greeks coiled this idea into +the word σϲἡμα, and the younger Fichte and Lotze have developed it. The +doctrine of modern physiology, as presented by the animists, is +precisely the ground taken by upholders of reincarnation,—that as the +lower animals fashion ingenious nests with incredible skill, so the +unwitting soul blindly frames the fabric of its body in keeping with the +laws of its own adaptation. The unconscious agency of the mind or +instinct in repairing the body, healing its hurts and guiding its +growth, is recognized by most scientists. Plato but expresses the same +idea when he says, “The soul always weaves her garment anew.” This +thought is well worded by Giordano Bruno when he says, “The soul is not +in the body locally, but as its intrinsic form and extrinsic mould, as +that which makes the members and shapes the whole within and without. +The body, then, is in the soul, the soul in the mind (spirit). The +Intellect (Spirit) is God.” + +This conception gives the lie to the materialism which limits the forces +of the individual to the complications of a mechanism. A corollary of +this moulding power of the independent soul is Plato’s proposition that +“the soul has a natural strength which will hold out and be born many +times.” Since the ego is older than the body, the resident who builds +its dwelling according to its tastes and materials, and since the +purpose of its corporeal habitation cannot possibly be accomplished in a +single brief lifetime, it is necessary that it should repeat that +experience, always framing its receptacle to suit its growing character, +like the epochs of a lobster’s enlargement, until it has done with +physical life. The new apparitions of men upon the earth thus hail from +older scenes. + +Evolution may fairly be claimed as a spiritual truth applying to all the +methods of life. The gradual development of the soul, by the school of +experience, demands a vaster arena of action than one earthly life +affords. If it takes ages of time and thousands of lives to form one +kind of an animal from another, the expansion of human souls from lower +to higher natures surely needs many and many a life for that growth. + +Evolutionary science explains the instinctive acts of young animals as +inherited tendencies,—as past experiences transmitted into fresh forms. +Psychic science is learning that the earliest acts of human beings are +also derived from remote habits formed in anterior activities, and +stored away in the unconscious memory. Herbert Spencer, the philosopher +of evolution, speaks of a constant energy manifesting itself through all +transformations. This is the one life which runs eternally in protean +shapes. + +The measure of our acquisition of conceptions from the outer universe +resides in the senses. There is no evidence that these have always been +five. Nature, never taking a leap, must have put us through all the +lower stages before she placed us at our present position. And since +nature contains many substances and powers which are partially or wholly +beyond these senses, some of which powers are known to other animals, we +must assume that our present ascending development will introduce us to +higher levels in which the soul shall have as many senses as correspond +with the powers of nature.[4] + +4. A much more weighty argument is that the nature of the soul requires +reincarnation. The conscious soul cannot feel itself to have had any +beginning, any more than it can conceive of annihilation. The sense of +persistence overwhelms all the interruptions of forgetfulness and sleep, +and all the obstacles of matter. This incessant self-assurance suggests +the idea of the soul being independent of the changing body, its +temporary prison. Then follows the conception that, as the soul has once +appeared in human form, so it may reappear in many others. The eternity +of the soul, past and present, leads directly to an innumerable +succession of births and deaths, disembodiments and reembodiments. + +The identity of the soul surely does not consist in a remembrance of all +its past. We are always forgetting ourselves and waking again to +recognition. But the sense of individuality bridges all the gaps. In the +same way it seems as if our present existence were a somnambulent +condition into which we have drowsed from an earlier life, being +sleepily oblivious of that former activity, and from which we may after +a while be roused into wakefulness. + +The study of infant psychology confirms this. The nature and extent of +the mental furniture with which we begin life, apart from all experience +of this world, has obliged many thinkers to resort to preëxistence as +the necessary explanation. + +A careful examination of the rarer facts of life, noticeably those found +in dreams, trances, and analogous phenomena, demonstrates that our +complete life is largely independent of the body, and consists in a +perpetual transfer of the sensuous experiences of self-consciousness +into a supersensuous unconsciousness. But this higher storehouse of +character might more truly be called our real consciousness, although we +are not ordinarily cognizant of it, for it comprises our habits, +instincts, and tendencies. This is the essential character of the soul +and must persist after death. Now, unless all our earthly possibilities +are exhausted in one life, these inherent material qualities of our +spiritual nature will find expression in a plurality of earthly +existences. And if the purpose of life be the acquisition of experience, +it would be unreasonable to suppose a final transfer elsewhere before a +full knowledge of earth has been gained. It is apparent that one life +cannot accomplish this, even in the longest and most diverse career,—to +say nothing of the short average, and the curtailed allowance given to +the majority. If one earth life answers for all, what a tiny experience +suffices for the immense masses who prematurely die as children! Men are +willing enough to believe in an eternity of spiritual development after +this world; but is it consistent with the thought of Omnipotence to +consider that the Divine plan is achieved in preparing for that by a few +swift years in one body? In devoting eternity to our education, the +infinite Teacher surely will not put us into the highest grade of all +until we have well mastered the lessons of all the lower classes. + +The philosophy of “innate ideas” is an admission of earlier lives than +the present. The intuitionalists emphatically regard the concepts of +cause, substance, time, and space as existing in the mind independent of +experience. The sensationalists consider them entirely due to our +sensations. The Spencerian evolutionalists occupy a middle ground and +call them a mental heredity resulting from the experience of the race. +It has been well shown, as Edgar Fawcett says, by two impartial critics, +that this controversy cannot be solved by any agreement of Western +psychologists. Buckle inveighs against these discordant systems as +having “thrown the study of the mind into a confusion only to be +compared to that in which the study of religion has been thrown by the +controversies of the theologians.”[5] And George Henry Lewes, in his +“History of Philosophy,” deplores this perplexing condition of +metaphysics. The solution of the problem comes, along with +reincarnation, from the eastern students, who assert that a true +conception of the soul is discovered only by the culture of +supersensuous faculties. They concede a portion of truth to both extreme +schools, declaring that the _primary_ acquisition of such ideas was +gained by sensation, but that at present they are innate in the infant +mind. They are now the generalized experience of former existences +rising again into consciousness. + +The restlessness of our spirits points to ancient habits of varied +action. And a still more forcible indication is the diversity of +character in the same person. These wavering uncertainties and +contraries in each one of us, which strive for the mastery and are never +crushed even by the sternest fixity of habit—rendering the best of us +amenable to temptations, and making the strongest vacillate, may well +result from meanderings in numerous characters. The main trend of our +natures is still often distracted into old forgotten ways. + +5. Reincarnation provides a complete answer to the most perplexing +problem of theology,—original sin. Properly this point belongs to the +preceding section, but its importance justifies a separate mention. The +endless controversies centering upon this question show how Christian +metaphysics have vainly wrestled with a Gordian knot which cannot +possibly be untied from the standpoint considering this life the initial +and only earthly one,—a knot which reincarnation not simply cuts, but +reveals how it was made. Between the extreme dogmas of Pelagius, who +maintained that all men are born in a state of innocence and may +therefore live without sin, and of Augustine, who held the total +depravity of mankind, arising from their transgression in Adam and their +absolute bondage to the devil, there has raged a continual warfare, +which has divided Christendom into many sects of thought on this leading +doctrine. The modern church creeds still range themselves in conflicting +battalions, following the discussions during the Reformation between +Erasmus, who denied the power of hereditary sin over free will, and +Luther, who insisted that the race is completely in the devil’s power by +nature. By far the largest part of the Christian world professedly +adheres to the latter faith,—that men are born entirely corrupt. Even +the Arminians, Quakers, and liberal denominations who admit only a germ +of sin in humanity are at a loss to account it. The ordinary theological +explanation which derives our sin from the transgression of Adam, as +apparently taught by St. Paul, although tacitly held by most of the +churches and expressed in the majority of creeds, grates so severely on +the inner consciousness and common sense that it does not answer the +real difficulty. There is a general agreement among mankind, upon which +the codes of practical life are based, that Adam’s responsibility for +our sin is only a makeshift of the theologians: for every sensible man +knows that no one but the individual himself can be blamed for his +wrong-doing. Adam is accepted as a fable for our older selves. +Dismissing all the interminable arguments of theology, which only +obscure truth in a cloud of intellectual wranglings, the broad +foundation of ethics, grounded in our best instincts, attached sin +somehow, though inexplainably, to the sinner; and the only sufficient +explanation traces its beginning to earlier lives. + +The moral character of children, especially the occurrence of evil in +them long before it could have been implanted by this existence, has +forced acute observers to assume that the human spirit has made choice +of evil in a pre-natal sphere similar to this. Every one who knows +children rejects the Pelagian theory of their immaculate innocence. As +soon as they have the power to do wrong, without any teaching the wrong +is done as a natural proceeding. + +The germ of sin springs up from some old sowing. But the Augustinian +doctrine is equally untrue to human nature. The most incorrigible +tendency to evil in an uninfluenced child cannot conceal the good within +it, but merely indicates that former ill habits are working themselves +out. The depraved criminal at last sees his own folly when his course of +sin is run, and becomes so weary of it that the next lease of life must +be on a better plan. So evil is discovered to be good in the making, and +vice is virtue in the strengthening. + +Every person at some stage of growth awakens to the recognition of sin +within him, and is certain that it is so radical as to reach back of all +his present life, although it is surely foreign to his true nature. We +all feel ourselves to have bounded into life like a stag carrying a +panther which must be shaken off. Theology attempts to account for this +by Adam’s sin entailing a hereditary depravity. But our inmost +consciousness agrees with the common sense of mankind in holding us +alone responsible for our tendency to wrong. Remorse seizes us for the +inexplicable evil in us. The only solution is that of the parasite in +the butterfly. The insect allowed the pest to enter when it was a worm. +This blighted condition cannot be the original state of man. It must be +the result of the human will resisting the divine, and choosing wrong in +old existences beyond recollection. + +A masterly expression of this thought nourished the childhood of +Christianity in the teaching of Origen,[6] and flourished with wholesome +influence until it was forcibly crushed out of popularity by the Council +of Constantinople, to make room for the harsh dogmas which have since +darkened the rationale of Christianity. It never was intelligently met +and conquered, but was summarily ousted as incompatible with the weight +of prejudice. The same treatment of it appears in Dr. Hodge’s +“Systematic Theology” (under the section on Preëxistence). That it is in +harmony with Scripture has been shown by Henry More, Soame Jenyns, +Chevalier Ramsay, and Professor Bowen, from whom quotations are given in +chapter iv., and by other writers mentioned at the close of this book. +Julius Müller,[7] Lessing,[8] Edward Beecher,[9] Coleridge, and Kant[10] +also sustain it from a religio-philosophical ground. It is the only +rational explanation of the theological idea of sin. + +The same is true regarding the church’s dogma of future punishments and +rewards. A reasonable consideration fails to understand how the jump can +be made from this condition of things to an eternity of either suffering +or bliss—as ordinary theology demands. The Roman Catholics recognized +this difficulty sufficiently to provide Purgatory, and in that tenet +they meet the sense of humanity. Reincarnation simply says that there +are many purgatories, and one is earth. The more rational Protestants +get around the incongruity by permitting many grades of existence in +heaven and hell, which approaches the same solution. Reincarnation says +also, there are infinite degrees of heaven and hell, and many of them +slope down through this life. It is inconceivable how earthly natures +(and most of human souls are such) can find their penalties and their +rewards elsewhere than on some kind of earth. The scheme of the universe +presents everywhere a simple and sublime habit of keeping affinities +together, and it certainly seems as if the same economy could apply to +souls as to atoms. This idea meets better than any other the principles +that punishment for sin cannot continue longer than the sin continues, +and that the everlasting mercy of the Supreme will provide some final +release for his erring children. + +6. Reincarnation explains many curious experiences. Most of us have +known the touches of feeling and thought that seem to be reminders of +forgotten things. Sometimes as dim dreams of old scenes, sometimes as +vivid lightning flashes in the darkness recalling distant occurrences, +sometimes with unutterable depth of meaning. It appears as if nature’s +opiate which ushered us here had been so diluted that it did not quite +efface the old memories, and reason struggles to decipher the vestiges +of a former state. Almost every one has felt the sense of great age. +Thinking of some unwonted subject often an impression seizes us that +somewhere, long ago, we have had these reflections before. Learning a +fact, meeting a face for the first time, we are puzzled with an obscure +sense that it is familiar. Traveling newly in strange places we are +sometimes haunted with a consciousness of having been there already. +Music is specially apt to guide us into mystic depths, where we are +startled with the flashing reminiscences of unspeakable verities which +we have felt or seen ages since. Efforts of thought reveal the +half-obliterated inscriptions on the tablets of memory, passing before +the vision in a weird procession. Every one has some such experiences. +Most of them are blurred and obscure. But some are so remarkably +distinct that those who undergo them are convinced that their sensations +are actual recollections of events and places in former lives. It is +even possible for certain persons to trace thus quite fully and clearly +a part of their bygone history prior to this life. + +Sir Walter Scott was so impressed by these experiences that they led him +to a belief in preëxistence. In his diary was entered this circumstance, +February 17, 1828: “I cannot, I am sure, tell if it is worth marking +down, that yesterday, at dinner time, I was strangely haunted by what I +would call the sense of preëxistence, viz. a confused idea that nothing +that passed was said for the first time; that the same topics had been +discussed and the same persons had stated the same opinions on them.... +The sensation was so strong as to resemble what is called a _mirage_ in +the desert and a calenture on board ship.... It was very distressing +yesterday, and brought to my mind the fancies of Bishop Berkeley about +an ideal world. There was a vile sense of unreality in all I said or +did.”[11] That this was not due to the strain upon his later years is +evident from the fact that the same experience is referred to in one of +his earliest novels, where this “sentiment of preëxistence” was first +described. In “Guy Mannering,” Henry Bertram says: “Why is it that some +scenes awaken thoughts which belong, as it were, to dreams of early and +shadowy recollections, such as old Brahmin moonshine would have ascribed +to a state of previous existence. How often do we find ourselves in +society which we have never before met, and yet feel impressed with a +mysterious and ill-defined consciousness that neither the scene nor the +speakers nor the subject are entirely new; nay, feel as if we could +anticipate that part of the conversation which has not yet taken place.” + +Bulwer-Lytton describes it as “that strange kind of inner and spiritual +memory which often recalls to us places and persons we have never seen +before, and which Platonists would resolve to be the unquenched and +struggling consciousness of a former life.” Again, in “Godolphin” +(chapter xv.), he writes: “How strange is it that at times a feeling +comes over us as we gaze upon certain places, which associates the scene +either with some dim-remembered and dreamlike images of the Past, or +with a prophetic and fearful omen of the Future.... Every one has known +a similar strange and indistinct feeling at certain times and places, +and with a similar inability to trace the cause.” + +Edgar A. Poe writes (in “Eureka”): “We walk about, amid the destinies of +our world existence, accompanied by dim but ever present memories of a +Destiny more vast—very distant in the bygone time and infinitely +awful.... We live out a youth peculiarly haunted by such dreams, yet +never mistaking them for dreams. As _memories_ we know them. During our +youth the distinctness is too clear to deceive us even for a moment. But +the doubt of manhood dispels these feelings as illusions.” + +Explicit occurrences of this class are found in the narratives of +Hawthorne, Willis, Coleridge, De Quincey, and many other writers. A +striking instance appears in a little memoir of the late William Hone, +the Parodist, upon whom the experience made such a profound effect that +it roused him from thirty years of materialistic atheism to a conviction +of the soul’s independence of matter. Being called in business to a +house in a part of London entirely new to him, he kept noticing that he +had never been that way before. “I was shown,” he says, “into a room to +wait. On looking around, to my astonishment everything appeared +perfectly familiar to me: I seemed to _recognize_ every object. I said +to myself, what is this? I was never here before and yet I have seen all +this, and if so, there is a very peculiar knot in the shutter.” He +opened the shutter, and there was the knot. + +The experience of many persons supports this truth. The sacred Hindu +books contain many detailed histories of transmigration. Kapila is said +to have written out the Vedas from his recollection of them in a former +life. The Vishnu Purana furnishes some entertaining instances of memory +retained through successive lives. Pythagoras is related to have +remembered his former existences in the persons of a herald named +Æthalides, Euphorbus the Trojan, Hermotimus of Clazomenæ, and others. It +is stated that he pointed out in the temple of Juno, at Argos, the +shield with which, as Euphorbus, he attacked Patroclus in the Trojan +war. The life of Apollonius of Tyana gives some extraordinary examples +of his recognitions of persons he had known in preceding lives. All +these cases are considered fictions by most people, because they +trespass the limits of historical accuracy. But there are many facts in +our own time that point in the same direction. The Druses have no doubt +that this life follows many others. A Druse boy explained his terror at +the discharge of a gun by saying, “I was born murdered;” that is, the +soul of a man who had been shot entered into his body. A scholarly +friend of the writer is satisfied that he once lived among the mountains +before his present life, for, though born in a flat country destitute of +pines, his first young entrance to a wild pine-grown mountain district +roused the deepest sense of familiarity and homelikeness. And his last +life, he thinks, was as a woman, because of certain commanding feminine +traits which continually assert themselves. And this in spite of an +apparently strong masculine nature, which never excites a suspicion of +effeminacy. + +Another friend of the writer says that his only child, a little girl now +deceased, often referred to a younger sister of whom he knew nothing. +When corrected with the assurance that she had no sister, she would +reply, “Oh, yes, I have! I have a little baby sister in heaven!” The +same gentleman tells this anecdote of a neighbor’s family where the +subject of reincarnation is never mentioned. A group of children was +playing in the house at a counting game while their mother watched them. +When they reached one hundred they started again at one and climbed up +the numbers once more. The brightest boy commented on the proceeding: +“We count ten, twenty, thirty, and so on to a hundred. Then we get +through and begin all over. Mamma! That’s the way people do. They go on +and on till they come to the end, and then they begin over again. I hope +I’ll have you for a mamma again the next time I begin.” Lawrence +Oliphant gives in “Blackwood’s Magazine” for January, 1881, a remarkable +account of a child who remembered experiences of previous lives. + +A writer in “Notes and Queries,” second series, vol. iv. p. 157, says, +“A gentleman of high intellectual attainments, now deceased, once told +me that he had dreamed of being in a strange city, so vividly that he +remembered the streets, houses, and public buildings as distinctly as +those of any place he ever visited. A few weeks afterward he was induced +to visit a panorama in Leicester Square, when he was startled by seeing +the city of which he had dreamed. The likeness was perfect except that +one additional church appeared in the picture. He was so struck by the +circumstance that he spoke to the exhibitor, assuming for his purpose +the air of a traveler acquainted with the place. He was informed that +the additional church was a recent erection.” It is difficult to account +for such a fact by the hypothesis of the double structure of the brain, +or by clairvoyance. + +In Lord Lindsay’s description of the valley of Kadisha (“Letters,” p. +351, ed. 1847) he says: “We saw the river Kadisha descending from +Lebanon. The whole scene bore that strange and shadowy resemblance to +the wondrous landscape in ‘Kubla Khan’ that one so often feels in actual +life, when the whole scene around you appears to be reacting after a +long interval. Your friends seated in the same juxtaposition, the +subjects of conversation the same, and shifting with the same dreamlike +ease, that you remember at some remote and indefinite period of +preëxistence; you always know what will come next, and sit spellbound, +as it were, in a sort of calm expectancy.” + +Dickens, in his “Pictures from Italy,” mentions this instance, on his +first sight of Ferrara: “In the foreground was a group of silent peasant +girls, leaning over the parapet of the little bridge, looking now up at +the sky, now down into the water; in the distance a deep dell; the +shadow of an approaching night on everything. If I had been murdered +there in some former life I could not have seemed to remember the place +more thoroughly, or with more emphatic chilling of the blood; and the +real remembrance of it acquired in that minute is so strengthened by the +imaginary recollection that I hardly think I could forget it.” + +A passage in the story of “The Wool-gatherer” shows that James Hogg, the +author, shared the same feeling and attributed it to an earlier life on +earth. N. P. Willis wrote a story of himself as the reincarnation of an +Austrian artist, narrating how he discovered his previous personality, +in “Dashes at Life,” under the title “A Revelation of a Previous +Existence.” D. G. Rossetti does the same in his story “St. Agnes of +Intercession.” + +The well-known lecturer, Eugene Ashton, recently contributed to a +Cincinnati paper these two anecdotes:— + +“At a dinner party in New York, recently, a lady, who is one of New +York’s most gifted singers, said to one of the guests: ‘In some +reincarnation I hope to perfect my voice, which I feel is now only +partially developed. So long as I do not attain the highest of which my +soul is capable I shall be returned to the flesh to work out what nature +intended me to do.’ ‘But, madam, if you expect incarnations, have you +any evidence of past ones?’ ‘Of that I cannot speak positively. I can +recall dimly things which seem to have happened to me when I was in the +flesh before. Often I go to places which are new to the present +personality, but they are not new to my soul; I am sure that I have been +there before.’ + +“A Southern literary woman, who now lives in Brooklyn, speaking of her +former incarnations, says: ‘I am sure that I have lived in some past +time; for instance, when I was at Heidelberg, Germany, attending a +convention of Mystics, in company with some friends I paid my first +visit to the ruined Heidelberg Castle. As I approached it I was +impressed with the existence of a peculiar room in an inaccessible +portion of the building. A paper and pencil were provided me, and I drew +a diagram of the room even to its peculiar floor. My diagram and +description were perfect, when we afterwards visited the room. In some +way not yet clear to me I have been connected with that apartment. Still +another impression came to me with regard to a book, which I was made to +feel was in the old library of the Heidelberg University. I not only +knew what the book was, but even felt that a certain name of an old +German professor would be found written in it. Communicating this +feeling to one of the Mystics at the convention, a search was made for +the volume, but it was not found. Still the impression clung to me, and +another effort was made to find the book; this time we were rewarded for +our pains. Sure enough, there on the margin of one of the leaves was the +very name I had been given in such a strange manner. Other things at the +same time went to convince me that I was in possession of the soul of a +person who had known Heidelberg two or three centuries ago.’” + +The writer knows a gentleman who has repeatedly felt a vivid sense of +some one striking his skull with an axe, although nothing in his own +experience or in that of his family explains it. An extraordinary person +to whom he had never hinted the matter once surprised him by saying that +his previous life was closed by murder in that very way. Another +acquaintance is sure that some time ago he was a Hindu, and recollects +several remarkable incidents of that life. + +Objectors ascribe these enigmas to a jumble of associations producing a +blurred vision,—like the drunkard’s experience of seeing double, a +discordant remembrance, snatches of forgotten dreams,—or to the double +structure of the brain. In one of the lobes, they say, the thought +flashes a moment in advance of the other, and the second half of the +thinking machine regards the first impression as a memory of something +long distant.[12] But this explanation is unsatisfactory, as it fails to +account for the wonderful vividness of some of these impressions in +well-balanced minds, or the long trains of thought which come +independent of any companions, or the prophetic glimpses which +anticipate actual occurrences. Far more credible is it that each soul is +a palimpsest inscribed again and again with one story upon another, and +whenever the all-wise Author is ready to write a grander page on us He +washes off the old ink and pens his latest word. But some of us can +trace here and there letters of the former manuscript not yet effaced. + +A contributor to the “Penn Monthly,” of September, 1875, refers to the +hypothesis of double mental vision as supposed to account for most of +these instances, and then concludes: “Such would be my inference as +regards ordinary cases of this sort of reminiscence, especially when +they are observed to accompany any impaired health of the organs of +mental action. But there are more extraordinary instances of this mental +phenomenon, of which I can give no explanation. Three of these have +fallen within my own range of observation. A friend’s child of about +four years old was observed by her older sister to be talking to herself +about matters of which she could not be supposed to know anything. ‘Why, +W——,’ exclaimed the older sister, ‘what do you know about that? All that +happened before you were born!’ ‘I would have you know, L——, that I grew +old in heaven before I was born.’ I do not quote this as if it explained +what the child meant it to explain, but as a curious statement from the +mouth of one too young to have ever heard of preëxistence, or to have +inferred it from any ambiguous mental experiences of her own. The second +case is that of the presence of inexplicable reminiscences, or what seem +such in dreams. As everybody knows, the stuff which dreams are +ordinarily made of is the every-day experience of life, which we cast +into new and fantastic combinations, whose laws of arrangement and +succession are still unknown to us. In the list of my acquaintances is a +young married lady, a native of Philadelphia, who is repeatedly but not +habitually carried back in her dreams to English society of the +eighteenth century, seemingly of the times of George II., and to a +social circle somewhat above that in which she now lives. Her +acquaintance with literature is not such as to give her the least clue +to the matter, and the details she furnishes are not such as would be +gathered from books of any class. The dress, especially the lofty and +elaborate headdresses of the ladies, their slow and stately minuet +dancing, the deference of the servants to their superiors, the details +of the stiff, square brick houses, in one of which she was surprised to +find a family chapel with mural paintings and a fine organ—all these she +describes with the sort of detail possible to one who has actually seen +them, and not in the fashion in which book-makers write about them. Yet +another, a more wide-awake experience, is that of a friend, who +remembers having died in youth and in India. He sees the bronzed +attendants gathered about his cradle in their white dresses; they are +fanning him. And as they gaze he passes into unconsciousness. Much of +his description concerned points of which he knew nothing from any other +source, but all was true to the life, and enabled me to fix on India as +the scene which he recalled.” + +7. The strongest support of reincarnation is its happy solution of the +problem of moral inequality and injustice and evil which otherwise +overwhelms us as we survey the world. The seeming chaos is marvelously +set in order by the idea of soul-wandering. Many a sublime intellect has +been so oppressed with the topsy-turviness of things here as to cry out, +“There is no God. All is blind chance.” An exclusive view of the +miseries of mankind, the prosperity of wickedness, the struggles of the +deserving, the oppression of the masses, or, on the other hand, the +talents and successes and happiness of the fortunate few, compels one to +call the world a sham without any moral law. But that consideration +yields to a majestic satisfaction when one is assured that the present +life is only one of a grand series in which every individual is +gradually going the round of infinite experience for a glorious +outcome,—that the hedging ills of to-day are a consequence of what we +did yesterday and a step toward the great things of to-morrow. Thus the +tangled snarls of earthly phenomena are straightened out as a vast and +beautiful scheme, and the total experience of humanity forms a +magnificent tapestry of perfect poetic justice. + +The crucial test of any hypothesis is whether it meets all the facts +better than any other theory. No other view so admirably accounts for +the diversity of conditions on earth, and refutes the charge of +favoritism on the part of Providence. Hierocles said, and many a +philosopher before and since has agreed with him, “Without the doctrine +of metempsychosis it is not possible to justify the ways of God.” Some +of the theologians have found the idea of preëxistence necessary to a +reasonable explanation of the world, although it is considered foreign +to the Bible. Over thirty years ago, Dr. Edward Beecher published “The +Conflict of Ages,” in which the main argument is this thought. He +demonstrates that the facts of sin and depravity compel the acceptance +of this doctrine to exonerate God from the charge of maliciousness. His +book caused a lively controversy, and was soon followed by “The Concord +of Ages,” in which he answers the objections and strengthens his +position. The same truth is taught by Dr. Julius Müller, a German +theologian of prodigious influence among the clergy. Another prominent +leader of theological thought, Dr. Dorner, sustains it. + +We conclude, therefore, that reincarnation is necessitated by +immortality, that analogy teaches it, that science upholds it, that the +nature of the soul needs it, that many strange sensations support it, +and that it alone grandly solves the problem of life. The fullness of +its meaning is majestic beyond appreciation, for it shows that every +soul, from the lowest animal to the highest archangel, belongs to the +infinite family of God and is eternal in its conscious essence, +perishing only in its temporary disguises; that every act of every +creature is followed by infallible reactions which constitute a perfect +law of retribution; and that these souls are intricately interlaced with +mutual relationships. The bewildering maze thus becomes a divine +harmony. No individual stands alone, but trails with him the unfinished +sequels of an ancestral career, and is so bound up with his race that +each is responsible for all and all for each. No one can be wholly saved +until all are redeemed. Every suffering we endure apparently for faults +not our own assumes a holy light and a sublime dignity. This thought +removes the littleness of petty selfish affairs and confirms in us the +vastest hopes for mankind. + + + + + III. + OBJECTIONS TO REINCARNATION. + + + Man has an Eternal Father who sent him to reside and gain experience + in the animal principles.—PARACELSUS. + + God, who takes millions of years to form a soul that shall understand + Him, and be blessed; who never needs to be and never is, in haste; who + welcomes the simplest thought of truth or beauty as the return for + seed he has sown upon the old fallows of eternity.—GEORGE MACDONALD. + + It may be doubted whether the strangeness and improbability of this + hypothesis (preëxistence ) among ourselves arises after all from + grounds on which our philosophy has reason to congratulate itself. It + may be questioned whether, if we examine ourselves candidly, we shall + not discover that the feeling of extravagance with which it affects us + has its secret source in materialistic or semi-materialistic + prejudices.—PROFESSOR WILLIAM ARCHER BUTLER’S _Lectures on Platonic + Philosophy_. + + Might not the human memory be compared to a field of sepulture, + thickly stocked with the remains of many generations? But of these + thousands whose dust heaves the surface, a few only are saved from + immediate oblivion, upon tablets and urns; while the many are, at + present, utterly lost to knowledge. Nevertheless each of the dead has + left in that soul an imperishable germ; and all, without distinction, + shall another day start up, and claim their dues.—ISAAC TAYLOR. + + The absence of memory of any actions done in a previous state cannot + be a conclusive argument against our having lived through it. + Forgetfulness of the past may be one of the conditions of an entrance + upon a new stage of existence. The body which is the organ of + sense-perception may be quite as much a hindrance as a help to + remembrance. In that case casual gleams of memory, giving us sudden + abrupt and momentary revelations of the past, are precisely the + phenomena we would expect to meet with. If the soul has preëxisted, + what we would _a priori_ anticipate are only some faint traces of + recollection surviving in the crypts of memory.—PROFESSOR WILLIAM + KNIGHT. + + + + + III. + OBJECTIONS TO REINCARNATION. + + +There are four leading objections to the idea of re-births:— + +1. That we have no memory of past lives. + +2. That it is unjust for us to receive now the results of forgotten +deeds enacted long ago. + +3. That heredity confutes it. + +4. That it is an uncongenial doctrine. + +1. Why do we not remember something of our previous lives, if we have +really been through them? + +The reason why there is no universal conviction from this ground seems +to be that birth is so violent as to scatter all the details and leave +only the net spiritual result. As Plotinus said, “Body is the true river +of Lethe; for souls plunged into it forget all.” The real soul life is +so distinct from the material plane that we have difficulty in retaining +many experiences of this life. Who recalls all his childhood? And has +any one a memory of that most wonderful epoch—infancy? + +Nature sometimes shows us what may be the initial condition of a man’s +next life in depriving him of his life’s experience, and returning him +to a second childhood, with only the character acquired during life for +his inseparable fortune. The great and good prelate Frederick Christian +von Oetingen of Würtemberg (1702–1782) became in his old age a devout +and innocent child, after a long life of usefulness. Gradually speech +died away, until for three years he was dumb. Leaving his study, where +he had written many edifying books, and his library, whose volumes were +now sealed to him, he would go to the streets and join the children in +their plays, and spend all his time sharing their delights. The profound +scholar was stripped of his intellect and became a venerable boy, +lovable and kind as in all his busy life. He had bathed in the river of +Lethe before his time. Similar cases might be produced, where the +spirits of strong men have been divested of a lifetime’s memory in aged +infancy, seeming to be a foretaste of the next existence. They show that +the loss of a life’s details does not appear strange to nature, and that +the nepenthic waters of Styx, which the ancients represented as imbibed +by souls about to reënter earthly life to dispel recollection of former +experiences, are not wholly fabulous. + +“Memory of the details of the past is absolutely impossible. The power +of the conservative faculty though relatively great is extremely +limited. We forget the larger portion of experience soon after we have +passed through it, and we should be able to recall the particulars of +our past years, filling all the missing links of consciousness since we +entered on the present life, before we were in a position to remember +our ante-natal experience. Birth must necessarily be preceded by +crossing the river of oblivion, while the capacity for fresh acquisition +survives, and the garnered wealth of old experience determines the +amount and character of the new.”[13] + +But it has been shown that there are traces of former existences +lingering in some memories. These and other exceptional departures from +the general rule furnish substantial evidence that the obliteration of +previous lives from our consciousness is only apparent. Sleep, +somnambulism, trance, and similar conditions open up a world of +supersensuous reality to illustrate how erroneous are our common notions +of memory. Experimental evidence demonstrates that we actually forget +nothing, though for long lapses we are unable to recall what is stored +away in the chambers of our soul; and that the Orientals may be right in +affirming that as a man’s lives become purer he is able to look backward +upon previous stages, and at last will view the long vista of the æons +by which he has ascended to God. Many cases reveal that the reach and +clearness of memory are greatly increased during sleep and still more +greatly during somnambulent trance; so much so that the memory of some +sleepings and of most trances is sufficiently distinct from the memory +of the same individual in waking consciousness, to seem the faculty of a +different person. And, while the memory of sensuous consciousness does +not retain the facts of the trance condition, the memory of the trance +state retains and includes all the facts of the sensuous +consciousness—exemplifying the superior and unsuspected powers of our +unconscious selves. Instances are frequent illustrating how the higher +consciousness faithfully stores away experiences which are thought to be +long forgotten until some vivid touch brings them forth in accurate +order.[14] The higher recollection and the lower sometimes conduct us +through a double life. Dreams that vanish during the day are resumed at +night in an unbroken course. There is an interesting class of cases on +record in which the memory which links our successive dual states of +consciousness into a united whole is so completely wanting that in +observing only the difference between the two phases of the same person +we describe it as “alternating consciousness.” These go far toward an +empirical proof that one individual can become two distinct persons in +succession, making a practical demonstration of reincarnation. Baron Du +Prel’s “Philosophie der Mystik” cites a number of such authentic +instances, of which the following is one, given by Dr. Mitchell in +“Archiv für thierischen Magnetismus,” IV. + +“Miss R—— enjoyed naturally perfect health, and reached womanhood +without any serious illness. She was talented, and gifted with a +remarkably good memory, and learned with great ease. Without any +previous warning she fell one day into a deep sleep which lasted many +hours, and on awakening she had forgotten every bit of her former +knowledge, and her memory had become a complete _tabula rasa_. She again +learned to spell, read, write, and reckon, and made rapid progress. Some +few months afterward she again fell into a similarly prolonged slumber, +from which she awoke to her former consciousness, _i. e._, in the same +state as before her first long sleep, but without the faintest +recollection of the existence or events of the intervening period. This +double existence now continued, so that in a single subject there +occurred a regular alternation of two perfectly distinct personalities, +each being unconscious of the other, and possessing only the memories +and knowledge acquired in previous corresponding states.” + +More singular still are cases in which one individual becomes two +interchanging persons, of whom one is wholly unconnected with the known +history of that individual, like that narrated in Mr. Stevenson’s story +of “The Adventures of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde,” and Julian Hawthorne’s +story of “Archibald Malmaison.” The newspapers recently published an +account of a Boston clergyman, who strangely disappeared from his city, +leaving no trace of his destination. Just before going away he drew some +money from the bank, and for weeks his family and friends heard nothing +of him, though he had previously been most faithful. Soon after his +departure a stranger turned up in a Pennsylvania town and bought out a +certain store, which he conducted very industriously for some time. At +length a delirious illness seized him. One day he awoke from it and +asked his nurse, “Where am I?” “You are in ——,” she said. “How did I get +here? I belong in Boston.” “You have lived here for three months and own +Mr. ——’s store,” replied his attendant. “You are mistaken, madam; I am +the Rev. ——, pastor of the —— church in Boston.” Three months were an +absolute blank. He had no memory of anything since drawing the money at +his bank. Returning home, he there resumed the broken line of his +ministerial life and continued in that character without further +interruption. + +Numerous similar cases are recorded in the annals of psychological +medicine, and justify us in assuming, according to the law of +correspondences, that some such alternation of consciousness occurs +after the great change known as death. The attempt to explain them as +mental aberrations is wholly unsuccessful. Reincarnation shows them to +be exceptions proving the rule—the recall of former activities supposed +to be forgotten. In these examples of double identity the facts of each +state disappear when the other set come forward and are resumed again in +their turn. Where did they reside meanwhile? They must have been +preserved in a subtler organ than the brain, which is only the medium of +translation from that unconscious memory to the world of +sense-perception. This must be in the supersensuous part of the soul. +This provides that, as a slow and painful training leads to unconscious +habits of skill, so the experience of life is stored up in the higher +memory, and becomes, when assimilated, the reflex acts of the following +life,—those operations which we call instinctive and hereditary. + +2. The question is raised, is it just that a man should suffer for what +he is not conscious of having done? + +As just as that he should _enjoy_ the results of what he does not +remember causing. It is said that justice requires that the offender be +conscious of the fault for which he is punished. But the ideas of +justice between man and man cannot be applied to the all-wise operations +of the Infinite. In human attempts at justice that method is imperative +because of our liability to mistake. God’s justice is vindicated by the +undisturbed sway of the law of causation. If _I_ suffer it must be for +what _I_ have done. The faith in Providence demands this, and it is +because of unbelief in reincarnation that the seeming negligence on the +part of Providence has obliterated the idea of a Personal God from many +minds. Nature is the arena of infallible cause and effect, and there is +no such absurdity in the universe as an effect without a responsible +cause. A man may suffer from a disease in ignorance of the conditions +under which its germs were sown in his body, but the right sequence of +cause and effect is not imperiled by his ignorance. To doubt that the +experiences we now enjoy and endure properly belong to us by our own +choice is to abandon the idea of God. How and why they have come is +explained only by reincarnation. The universal Over-Soul makes no +mistakes. By veiling our memories the Mother Heart of all, mercifully +saves us the horror and burden of knowing all the myriad steps by which +we have become what we are. We would be staggered by the sight of all +our waywardness, and what we have done well is possessed more richly in +the grand total than would be possible in the infinite details. We are +in the hands of a generous omniscient banker, who says: “I will save you +all the trouble of the accounts. Whenever you are ready to start a new +folio, I will strike the balance and turn over your net proceeds with +all accrued interests. The itemized records of your deposits and +spendings are beyond your calculation.” + +3. It may be claimed that the facts of heredity bear against +reincarnation. As the physical, mental, and moral peculiarities of +children come from the parents, how can it be possible that a man is +what he makes himself—the offspring of his own previous lives? + +Science is certain of the tendency of every organism to transmit its own +qualities to its descendants, and the intricate web of ancestral +influences is assumed to account for all the aberrations of individual +life. But the forces producing this result are beyond the ken of +science. The mechanical theory of germ cells multiplying their kind is +inadequate: for the germs become more complex and energetic with growth, +and exceed the limitations of molecular physics. The facts of heredity +demand the existence in nature of supersensuous forces escaping our +observation and cognizable only through their effects on the plane of +sensuous consciousness. These forces residing in the inaccessible +regions of the soul mould all individual aptitudes and faculties and +character. Reincarnation includes the facts of heredity, by showing that +the tendency of every organism to reproduce its own likeness groups +together similar causes producing similar effects, in the same lines of +physical relation. Instead of being content with the statement that +heredity causes the resemblances of child to parent, reincarnation +teaches that a similarity of ante-natal development has brought about +the similarity of embodied characteristics. The individual soul seeking +another birth finds the path of least resistance in the channels best +adapted to its qualities. The Ego selects its material body by a choice +more wise than any voluntary selection, by the inherent tendencies of +its nature, in fitness for its need, not only in the particular physique +best suited for its purpose, but in the larger physical casements of +family and nationality. The relation of child and parent is required by +the similarity of organisms. This view accounts also for the differences +invariably accompanying the resemblances. Identity of character is +impossible, and the conditions which made it easy for an individual to +be born in a certain family, because of the adaptation of circumstances +there to the expression of portions of his nature, would not prevent a +strong contrast between him and his relatives in some respects. The +facts observed in the life history of twins show that two individuals +born under precisely identical conditions, and having exactly the same +heredity, sometimes differ completely in physique, in intellect, and in +character. The birth of geniuses in humble and commonplace circumstances +furnishes abundant evidence that the individual soul outstrips all the +trammels of physical birth; and the unremarkable children of great +parents exhibit the inefficiency of merely hereditary influences. These +conspicuous violations of the laws of heredity confirm reincarnation. + +4. At the first impression the idea of re-births is unwelcome, because— + +a. It is interlaced with the theory of transmigration through animals; + +b. It destroys the hope of recognizing friends in the coming existence; + +c. It seems a cold, irreligious notion. + +a. As will be fully shown in chapter xii., the conceit of a +transmigration of human souls through animal bodies, although it has +been and is cherished by most of the believers in reincarnation, is only +a gross metaphor of the germinal truth, and never was received by the +enlightened advocates of plural existences. + +b. The most thoughtful adherents of a future life agree that there must +be there some subtler mode of recognition between friends than physical +appearances, for these outer signs cannot endure in the world of spirit. +The conviction that “whether there be prophecies they shall fail, +whether there be tongues they shall cease, whether there be knowledge it +shall vanish away,” but “love never faileth,” and only character shall +remain as the means of identification, is precisely the view entertained +by believers in reincarnation. The most intimate ties of this life +cannot be explained otherwise than as renewals of old intimacies, drawn +together by the spiritual gravitation of love, and enjoying often the +sense of a previous similar experience. (A further reference to this +point will be found later. See page 295.) + +c. The strongest religious natures have been nourished from time +immemorial with the feeling that life is a pilgrimage through which we +tread our darkened way back to God. The Scriptures are full of it, and +the spiritual manhood of every age has found it a source of +invigoration. From Abraham, who reckoned his lifetime as “the days of +the years of his pilgrimage,” through all the phases of Christian +thought to the mightiest book of modern Christendom, “The Pilgrim’s +Progress,” this idea has been universally cherished. A typical +expression of it may be seen in the mediæval churchyard of St. Martin at +Canterbury, upon a stone over the remains of Dean Alford bearing these +words in Latin, which were inscribed by his own direction: “The inn of a +traveler journeying to Jerusalem.” Now this pilgrimage philosophy is +only a simpler phrasing of reincarnation. Our theory extends the journey +in just proportion to the supernal destination, providing many a station +by the way, wherein abiding a few days we may more profitably traverse +the upward road, gathering so much experience that there will be no +occasion to wander again. Instead of being a cold philosophic +hypothesis, reincarnation is a living unfoldment of that Christian germ, +enlarged to a fullness commensurate with the needs of men and the +character of God. It throbs with the warmth of deepest piety combined +with noblest intelligence, providing as no other supposition does, for +the grandest development of mankind. + + + + + IV. + WESTERN PROSE WRITERS ON REINCARNATION. + + + I seem often clearly to remember in my soul a presentiment which I + have not seen with my present, but with some other eye.—J. E. VON + SCHUBERT. + + I produced the golden key of preëxistence only at a dead lift, when no + other method could satisfy me touching the ways of God, that by this + hypothesis I might keep my heart from sinking.—HENRY MORE. + + The essences of our souls can never cease to be because they never + began to be, and nothing can live eternally but that which hath lived + from eternity. The essences of our souls were a breath in God before + they became living souls; they lived in God before they lived in the + created souls, and therefore the soul is a partaker of the eternity of + God.—WILLIAM LAW. + + If there be no reasons to suppose that we have existed before that + period at which our existence apparently commences, then there are no + grounds for supposing that we shall continue to exist after our + existence has apparently ceased.—SHELLEY. + + The ancient doctrine of transmigration seems the most rational and + most consistent with God’s wisdom and goodness; as by it all the + unequal dispensations of things so necessary in one life may be set + right in another, and all creatures serve the highest and lowest, the + most eligible and most burdensome offices of life by an equitable + rotation; by which means their rewards and punishments may not only be + proportioned to their behavior, but also carry on the business of the + universe, and thus at the same time answer the purposes both of + justice and utility.—SOAME JENYNS. + + + + + IV. + WESTERN PROSE WRITERS ON REINCARNATION. + + +There is a larger endorsement of reincarnation among western thinkers +than the world knows. In many of them it springs up spontaneously, while +others embrace it as a luminous ray from the East which is confirmed by +all the candid tests of philosophy. When Christianity first swept over +Europe the inner thought of its leaders was deeply tinctured with this +truth. The Church tried ineffectually to eradicate it, and in various +sects it kept sprouting forth beyond the time of Erigena and +Bonaventura, its mediæval advocates. Every great intuitional soul, as +Paracelsus, Boehme, and Swedenborg, has adhered to it. The Italian +luminaries, Giordano Bruno and Campanella, embraced it. The best of +German philosophy is enriched by it. In Schopenhauer, Lessing, Hegel, +Leibnitz, Herder, and Fichte the younger, it is earnestly advocated. The +anthropological systems of Kant and Schelling furnish points of contact +with it. The younger Helmont, in “De Revolutione Animarum,” adduces in +two hundred problems all the arguments which may be urged in favor of +the return of souls into human bodies, according to Jewish ideas. Of +English thinkers the Cambridge Platonists defended it with much learning +and acuteness, most conspicuously Henry More; and in Cudworth and Hume +it ranks as the most rational theory of immortality. Glanvil’s “Lux +Orientalis” devotes a curious treatise to it. It captivated the minds of +Fourier and Leroux. André Pezzani’s book on “The Plurality of the Soul’s +Lives” works out the system on the Roman Catholic idea of expiation. +Modern astronomy has furnished material for the elaborate speculations +of a reincarnation extending through many worlds, as published in +Fontenelle’s volume “The Plurality of Worlds,” Huygens’s “Cosmotheoros,” +Brewster’s “More Worlds than One; the Philosopher’s Faith and the +Christian’s Hope,” Jean Reynaud’s “Earth and Heaven,” Flammarion’s +“Stories of Infinity” and “The Plurality of Inhabited Worlds,” and +Figuier’s “The To-morrow of Death.” With various degrees of fancy and +probability these writers trace the soul’s progress among the heavenly +bodies. The astronomer Bode wrote that we start from the coldest planet +of our solar system and advance from planet to planet, nearer the sun, +where the most perfect beings, he thinks, will live. Emmanuel Kant, in +his “General History of Nature,” says that souls start imperfect from +the sun, and travel by planet stages, farther and farther away to a +paradise in the coldest and remotest star of our system. Between these +opposites many _savans_ have formulated other theories. In theology +reincarnation has retained a firm influence from the days of Origen and +Porphyry, through the scholastics, to the present day. In Soame Jenyns’s +works, which long thrived as the best published argument for +Christianity, it is noticeable. Chevalier Ramsay and William Law have +also written in its defense. Julius Müller warmly upholds it in his +profound work on “The Christian Doctrine of Sin,” as well as Dr. Dorner. +Another means of its dissemination through a good portion of the +ministry is Dr. Edward Beecher’s espousal of it, in the form of +preëxistence, in “The Conflict of Ages” and “The Concord of Ages.” +English and Irish bishops[15] have not hesitated to promulgate it. Henry +Ward Beecher and Phillips Brooks have dared to preach it. James Freeman +Clarke speaks strongly in its favor. Professor William Knight, the +Scotch metaphysician of St. Andrews, and Professor Francis Bowen of +Harvard University, clearly show the logical probabilities in which +reincarnation compares favorably with any other philosophy.[16] + +The following extracts from the most interesting of these and other +Western authors who refer to the matter may represent the unsuspected +prevalence of this thought in our own midst. + +1. Schopenhauer’s powerful philosophy includes reincarnation as one of +its main principles, as these extracts show, from his chapter on “Death” +in “The World as Will and Idea”:—[17] + +“What sleep is for the individual, death is for the will [character]. It +would not endure to continue the same actions and sufferings throughout +an eternity, without true gain, if memory and individuality remained to +it. It flings them off, and this is lethe; and through this sleep of +death it reappears refreshed and fitted out with another intellect, as a +new being—‘a new day tempts to new shores.’” + +“These constant new births, then, constitute the succession of the +life-dreams of a will which in itself is indestructible, until, +instructed and improved by so much and such various successive knowledge +in a constantly new form, it abolishes or abrogates itself”—[becomes in +perfect harmony with the Infinite]. + +“It must not be neglected that even empirical grounds support a +palingenesis of this kind. As a matter of fact, there does exist a +connection between the birth of the newly appearing beings and the death +of those that are worn out. It shows itself in the great fruitfulness of +the human race which appears as a consequence of devastating diseases. +When in the fourteenth century the Black Death had for the most part +depopulated the old world, a quite abnormal fruitfulness appeared among +the human race, and twin-births were very frequent. The circumstance was +also remarkable that none of the children born at this time obtained +their full number of teeth; thus nature, exerting itself to the utmost, +was niggardly in details. This is related by F. Schnurrer, ‘Chronik der +Seuchen,’ 1825. Casper also, ‘Ueber die Wahrscheinliche Lebensdauer des +Menschen,’ 1835, confirms the principle that the number of births in a +given population has the most decided influence upon the length of life +and mortality in it, as this always keeps pace with the mortality: so +that always and everywhere the deaths and the births increase and +decrease in like proportion; which he places beyond doubt by an +accumulation of evidence collected from many lands and their various +provinces. And yet it is impossible that there can be a _physical_ +causal connection between my early death and the fruitfulness of a +marriage with which I have nothing to do, or conversely. Thus here the +metaphysical appears undeniable and in a stupendous manner as the +immediate ground of explanation of the physical. Every new-born being +comes fresh and blithe into the new existence, and enjoys it as a free +gift: but there is, and can be, nothing freely given. Its fresh +existence is paid for by the old age and death of a worn-out existence +which has perished, but which contained the indestructible seed out of +which the new existence has arisen: they are _one_ being. To show the +bridge between the two would certainly be the solution of a great +riddle. + +“The great truth which is expressed here has never been entirely +unacknowledged, although it could not be reduced to the exact and +correct meaning, which is only possible through the doctrine of the +primary and metaphysical nature of the will, and the secondary, merely +organic nature of the intellect. We find the doctrine of metempsychosis, +springing from the earliest and noblest ages of the human race, always +spread abroad in the earth as the belief of the great majority of +mankind; nay, really as the teaching of all religions, with the +exception of that of the Jews and the two which have proceeded from it: +in the most subtle form however, and coming nearest to the truth in +Buddhism. Accordingly, while Christians console themselves with the +thought of meeting again in another world, in which one regains one’s +complete personality and knows one’s self at once, in those other +religions the meeting again is going on now, only incognito. In the +succession of births, and by virtue of metempsychosis or palingenesis, +the persons who now stand in close connection or contact with us will +also be born again with us at the next birth, and will have the same or +analogous relations and sentiments towards us as now, whether these are +of a friendly or a hostile description. Recognition is certainly here +limited to an obscure intimation,—a reminiscence, which cannot be +brought to distinct consciousness, and refers to an infinitely distant +time; with the exception, however, of Buddha himself, who has the +prerogative of distinctly knowing his own earlier births and those of +others,—as this is described in the ‘Jâtaka.’ But in fact, if at a +favorable moment one contemplates, in a purely objective manner, the +action of men in reality, the intuitive conviction is forced upon one +that it not only is and remains constantly the same, according to the +[Platonic] Idea, but also that the present generation, in its true inner +nature, is precisely and substantially identical with every generation +that has been before it. The question simply is, in what this true being +consists. The answer which my doctrine gives to this question is well +known. The intuitive conviction referred to may be conceived as arising +from the fact that the multiplying-glasses, time and space, lose for a +moment their effect. With reference to the universality of the belief in +metempsychosis, Obry says rightly in his excellent book ‘Du Nirvana +Indien,’ p. 13, ‘Cette vielle croyance a fait le tour du monde, et +tellement répandue dans la haute antiquité qu’un docte Anglican l’avait +jugée sans père, sans mère, et sans généalogie.’ Taught already in the +‘Vedas’ as in all the sacred books of India, metempsychosis is well +known to be the kernel of Brahmanism and Buddhism. It accordingly +prevails at the present day in the whole of non-Mohammedan Asia, thus +among more than half the whole human race, as the firmest conviction, +and with an incredibly strong practical influence. It was also the +belief of the Egyptians, from whom it was received with enthusiasm by +Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato. The Pythagoreans, however, specially +retained it. That it was also taught in the mysteries of the Greeks +undeniably follows from the ninth book of Plato’s Laws. The ‘Edda’ also, +especially in the ‘Voluspa,’ teaches metempsychosis. Not less was it the +foundation of the religion of the Druids. Even a Mohammedan sect in +Hindustan, the Bohrahs, of which Colebrooke gives a full account in the +‘Asiatic Researches,’ believes in metempsychosis, and accordingly +refrains from all animal food. Also among American Indians and negro +tribes, nay, even among the natives of Australia, traces of this belief +are found.... According to all this the belief in metempsychosis +presents itself as the natural conviction of man whenever he reflects at +all in an unprejudiced manner. It would really seem to be that which +Kant falsely asserts of his three pretended ideas of the reason, a +philosopheme natural to human reason, which proceeds from its forms; and +when it is not found it must have been displaced by positive religious +doctrines coming from a different source. I have also remarked that it +is at once obvious to every one who hears of it for the first time. Let +any one only observe how earnestly Lessing defends it in the last seven +paragraphs of his ‘Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts.’[18] Lichtenberg +also says in his ‘Selbstcharacteristik’: ‘I cannot get rid of the +thought that I died before I was born.’ Even the excessively empirical +Hume says in his skeptical essay on immortality, ‘The metempsychosis is +therefore the only system of this kind that philosophy can hearken to.’ +What resists this belief is Judaism, together with the two religions +which have sprung from it, because they teach the creation of man out of +nothing, and they have the hard task of linking on to this belief an +endless existence _a parte post_. They certainly have succeeded, with +fire and sword, in driving out of Europe and part of Asia that consoling +primitive belief of mankind; it is still doubtful for how long. Yet how +difficult this was is shown by the oldest church histories. Most of the +heretics were attached to this belief; for example, Simonists, +Basilidians, Valentinians, Marcionists, Gnostics, and Manicheans. The +Jews themselves have in part fallen into it, as Tertullian and Justinus +inform us. In the Talmud it is related that Abel’s soul passed into the +body of Seth, and then into that of Moses. Even the passage of the +Bible, Matt. xvi, 13–15, only obtains a rational meaning if we +understand it as spoken under the assumption of the dogma of +metempsychosis.... In Christianity, however, the doctrine of original +sin, _i. e._, the doctrine of punishment for the sins of another +individual, has taken the place of the transmigration of souls, and the +expiation in this way of all the sins committed in an earlier life. Both +identify the existing man with one who has existed before: the +transmigration of souls does so directly, original sin indirectly.” + +2. In the remarkable little treatise on “The Divine Education of the +Human Race,” by Lessing, the German philosopher, a book so sublimely +simple in its profound insight that it has had enormous influence and +was translated into English as a labor of love by the Rev. Frederick W. +Robertson, the author outlines the gradual instruction of mankind and +shows how the enlightenment is still progressing through many important +lessons. His thought mounts to a climax in suggesting the stupendous +programme by which God is developing the individual just as he has been +educating the race:— + +“The very same way by which the race reaches its perfection must every +individual man—one sooner, another later—have traveled over. Have +traveled over in one and the same life? Can he have been in one and the +selfsame life a sensual Jew and a spiritual Christian? Can he in the +selfsame life have overtaken both? + +“Surely not that: but why should not every individual man have existed +more than once upon this world? + +“Is this hypothesis so laughable merely because it is the oldest? +Because the human understanding, before the sophistries of the schools +had dissipated and debilitated it, lighted upon it at once? + +“Why may not even I have already performed those steps of my perfecting +which bring to men only temporal punishments and rewards? And once more, +why not another time all those steps to perform which, the views of +eternal rewards so powerfully assist us? + +“Why should I not come back as often as I am capable of acquiring fresh +knowledge, fresh expertness? Do I bring away so much from once that +there is nothing to repay the trouble of coming back? + +“Is this a reason against it? Or, because I forget that I have been here +already? Happy is it for me that I do forget. The recollection of my +former condition would permit me to make only a bad use of the present. +And that which even I must forget _now_, is that necessarily forgotten +forever? + +“Or is it a reason against the hypothesis that so much time would have +been lost to me? Lost? And how much then should I miss? Is not a whole +eternity mine?” + +3. “The Destiny of Man,” by J. G. Fichte, whose great thoughts still +heave the heart of Germany and grandly mould the world, contains these +paragraphs: + +“These two systems, the purely spiritual and the sensuous,—which last +may consist of an immeasurable series of particular lives,—exist in me +from the moment when my active reason is developed, and pursue their +parallel course. The former alone gives to the latter meaning and +purpose and value. I _am_ immortal, imperishable, eternal, so soon as I +form the resolution to obey the law of reason. After an existence of +myriad lives the supersensuous world cannot be more present than at this +moment. Other conditions of my sensuous existence are to come, but these +are no more the true life than the present condition is. + +“Man is not a product of the world of sense; and the end of his +existence can never be attained in that world. His destination lies +beyond time and space and all that pertains to sense. + +“Mine eye discerns this eternal life and motion in all the veins of +sensible and spiritual nature, through what seems to others a dead mass. +And it sees this life forever ascend and grow and transfigure itself +into a more spiritual expression of its own nature. The sun rises and +sets, the stars vanish and return again, and all the spheres hold their +cycle dance. But they never return precisely such as they disappeared; +and in the shining fountains of life there is also life and progress. + +“All death in nature is birth; and precisely in dying, the sublimation +of life appears most conspicuous. There is no death-bringing principle +in nature, for nature is only life, throughout. Not death kills, but the +more living life, which is hidden behind the old, begins and unfolds +itself. Death and birth are only the struggles of life with itself to +manifest itself in ever more transfigured form, more like itself. + +“Even because Nature puts me to death she must quicken me anew. It can +only be my higher life, unfolding itself in her, before which my present +life disappears; and that which mortals call death is the visible +appearing of another vivification.” + +4. Among the wealth of German geniuses, there is none more lofty and +broad than Herder, whom Jean Paul admiringly pronounced, “a Poem made by +some purest Deity,—combining the boldest freedom of philosophy +concerning nature and God with a most pious faith.” One of the most +suggestive of this master’s works is a series of “Dialogues on +Metempsychosis,” in which two friends discuss the theme together. As the +outcome of their colloquy is a stanch vindication of that hypothesis, it +is not unfair to group together a few of the paragraphs on one side of +the conversation:— + +“Do you not know great and rare men who cannot have become what they are +at once, in a single human existence? who must have often existed before +in order to have attained that purity of feeling, that instinctive +impulse for all that is true, beautiful, and good, in short, that +elevation and natural supremacy over all around them? + +“Do not these great characters appear, for the most part, all at once? +Like a cloud of celestial spirits, descended from on high; like men +risen from the dead born again, who brought back the old time? + +“Have you never had remembrances of a former state, which you could find +no place for in this life? In that beautiful period when the soul is yet +a half-closed bud, have you not seen persons, been in places, of which +you were ready to swear that you had seen those persons, or had been in +those places before? And yet it could not have been in this life? The +most blessed moments, the grandest thoughts, are from that source. In +our more ordinary seasons, we look back with astonishment on ourselves, +we do not comprehend ourselves. And such are _we_; we who, from a +hundred causes, have sunk so deep and are so wedded to matter, that but +few reminiscences of so pure a character remain to us. The nobler class +of men who, separated from wine and meat, lived in perfect simplicity +according to the order of nature, carried it further, no doubt, than +others, as we learn from the example of Pythagoras, of Iarchas, of +Apollonius, and others, who remembered distinctly what and how many +times they had been in the world before. If we are blind, or can see but +two steps beyond our noses, ought we therefore to deny that others may +see a hundred or a thousand degrees farther, even to the bottom of time, +into the deep, cool well of the foreworld, and there discern everything +plain and bright and clear?” + +To this last strain the listener responds: “I will freely confess to you +that those sweet dreams of memory are known to me also, among the +experiences of my childhood and youth. I have been in places and +circumstances of which I could have sworn that I had been in them +before. I have seen persons with whom I seemed to have lived before; +with whom I was, as it were, on the footing of an old acquaintance.” He +then attempts to explain them as returned dreams, which his interlocutor +answers with more wonderful impressions necessarily requiring a former +life. + +“Have you never observed that children will sometimes, on a sudden, give +utterance to ideas which make us wonder how they got possession of them; +which presuppose a long series of other ideas and secret +self-communings; which break forth like a full stream out of the earth, +an infallible sign that the stream was not produced in a moment from a +few raindrops, but had long been flowing concealed beneath the ground, +and, it may be, had broken through many a rock, and contracted many +defilements? + +“You know the law of economy which rules throughout nature. Is it not +probable that the Deity is guided by it in the propagation and progress +of human souls? He who has not become ripe in one form of humanity is +put into the experience again, and, some time or other, must be +perfected. + +“I am not ashamed of my half-brothers the brutes; on the contrary, as +far as they are concerned, I am a great advocate of metempsychosis. I +believe, for a certainty, that they will ascend to a higher grade of +being, and am unable to understand how any one can object to this +hypothesis, which seems to have the analogy of the whole creation in its +favor. + +“All the life of nature, all the tribes and species of animated +creation,—what are they but sparks of the Godhead, a harvest of +incarnate stars, among which the two human sexes stand forth like sun +and moon? We overshine, we dim the other figures, but, doubtless, we +lead them onward in a chorus invisible to ourselves. Oh, that an eye +were given us to trace the shining course of this divine spark; to see +how life flows to life, and ever refining, impelled through all the +veins of creation, wells up into a purer, higher life. + +“And yet Pythagoras, too, spoke of a Tartarus and an Elysium. When you +stand before the statue of a high-hearted Apollo, do you not feel what +you lack of being that form? Can you ever attain to it here below, +though you should return ten times? And yet that was only the idea of an +artist—a dream which our narrow breast also inclosed. Has the almighty +Father no nobler forms for us than those in which our heart now heaves +and groans? The soul lies captive in its dungeon, bound as with a +seven-fold chain, and only through a strong grating, and only through a +pair of light and air-holes, can it breathe and see, and always it sees +the world on one side only, while there are a million other sides before +us and in us, had we but more and other senses, and could we but +exchange this narrow hut of our body for a freer prospect. That restless +discontent shall some time finally release us from our repeated sojourns +on earth, through which the Father is training us for a complete divorce +from sense life. When even at the sweetest fountains of friendship and +love, we so often pine, thirsty and sick, seeking union and finding it +not, what noble soul does not lift itself up and despise tabernacles and +wanderings in the circle of earthly deserts. + +“Purification of the heart, the ennobling of the soul, with all its +propensities and cravings, this, it seems to me, is the true +palingenesis of this life, after which, I doubt not, a happy, more +exalted, but yet unknown metempsychosis awaits us.” + +5. Dr. Henry More, the learned and lovable Platonist of the seventeenth +century, wrote a charming treatise on the “Immortality of the Soul,” in +which (chapter xii.) he argues for preëxistence as follows:— + +“If it be good for the souls of men to be at all, the sooner they are, +the better. But we are most certain that the wisdom and goodness of God +will do that which is the best; and therefore if they can enjoy +themselves before they come to these terrestrial bodies, they must be +before they come into these bodies. For nothing hinders but that they +may live before they come into the body, as well as they may after going +out of it. Wherefore the preëxistence of souls is a necessary result of +the wisdom and goodness of God. + +“Again, the face of Providence in the work seems very much to suit with +this opinion, there being not any so natural and easy account to be +given of those things that seem the most harsh in the affairs of men, as +from this hypothesis: that these souls did once subsist in some other +state; where, in several manners and degrees, they forfeited the favor +of their Creator, and so, according to that just Nemesis that He has +interwoven in the constitution of the universe and of their own natures, +they undergo several calamities and asperities of fortune and sad +drudgeries of fate, as a punishment inflicted, or a disease contracted +from the several obliquities of their _apostasy_. Which key is not only +able to unlock that recondite mystery of some particular men’s almost +fatal averseness from all religion and virtue, their stupidity and +dullness and even invincible slowness to these things from their very +childhood, and their incorrigible propension to all manner of vice; but +also of that squalid forlornness and brutish barbarity that whole +nations for many ages have lain under, and many do still lie under at +this very day: which sad scene of things must needs exceedingly cloud +and obscure the ways of Divine Providence, and make them utterly +unintelligible; unless some light be let in from the present hypothesis. + +“And as this hypothesis is rational in itself, so has it also gained the +suffrage of all philosophers of all ages, of any note, that have held +the soul of man incorporeal and immortal. I shall add, for the better +countenance of the business, some few instances herein, as a pledge of +the truth of my general conclusion. Let us cast our eye, therefore, into +what corner of the world we will, that has been famous for wisdom and +literature, and the wisest of those nations you shall find the asserters +of this opinion. + +“In Egypt, that ancient nurse of all hidden sciences, that this opinion +was in vogue amongst the wisest men there, the fragments of Trismegist +do sufficiently witness: of which opinion, not only the Gymnosophists, +and other wise men of Egypt, were, but also the Brachmans of India, and +the Magi of Babylon and Persia. To these you may add the abstruse +philosophy of the Jews, which they call their Cabbala, of which the +soul’s preëxistence makes a considerable part, as all the learned of the +Jews do confess. + +“And if I should particularize in persons of this opinion, truly they +are such of so great fame for depth of understanding, and abstrusest +science, that their testimony alone might seem sufficient to bear down +any ordinary modest man into an assent to their doctrine. And, in the +first place, if we believe the Cabbala of the Jews, we must assign it to +Moses, the greatest philosopher certainly that ever was in the world; to +whom you may add Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Epicharmus, Cebes, Euripides, +Plato, Euclid, Philo, Virgil, Marcus Cicero, Plotinus, Iamblichus, +Proclus, Boethius, Pfellus, and several others, which it would be too +long to recite. And if it were fit to add fathers to philosophers, we +might enter into the same list Synesius and Origen; the latter of whom +was surely the greatest light and bulwark that ancient Christianity had. +But I have not yet ended my catalogue; that admirable physician Johannes +Fernelius is also of this persuasion, and is not to be so himself only, +but discovers those two grand-masters of medicine, Hippocrates and +Galen, to be so, too. Cardan, also, that famous philosopher of his age, +expressly concludes that the rational soul is both a distinct being from +the soul of the world, and that it does preexist before it comes into +the body; and lastly, Pomponatius, no friend to the soul’s immortality, +yet cannot but confess that the safest way to hold it is also therewith +to acknowledge her preëxistence. + +“And we shall evince that Aristotle, that has the luck to be believed +more than most authors, was of the same opinion, in his treatise ‘De +Anima,’ where he says, ‘for every art must use its proper instruments, +and every soul its body.’ He speaks something more plainly in his ‘De +Generatione Animæ.’ ‘There are generated,’ saith he, ‘in the earth, and +in the moisture thereof, plants and living creatures, and in the whole +universe an animal heat; insomuch that in a manner all places are full +of souls.’ We will add a third place still more clear, out of the same +treatise, where he starts that very question of the preëxistency of +souls, of the sensitive and rational especially, and he concludes thus: +‘It remains that the rational or intellectual soul only enters from +without, as being only of a nature purely divine; with whose actions the +actions of this gross body have no communication.’ Concerning which +point he concludes like an orthodox scholar of his excellent master +Plato; to whose footsteps the closer he keeps, the less he ever wanders +from the truth. For in this very place he does plainly profess what many +would not have him so apertly guilty of, that the soul of man is +immortal, and can perform her proper functions without the help of this +terrestrial body.” + +6. Sir Thomas Browne explains and defends his own heresies, by +suggesting the added heresy of reincarnation:— + +“For, indeed, heresies perish not with their authors: but like the river +Arethusa, though they lose their currents in one place, they rise up +again in another. One general council is not able to extirpate one +single heresy: it may be canceled for the present: but revolution of +time and the like aspects from heaven will restore it, when it will +flourish till it be condemned again. For, as though there were a +metempsychosis, and the soul of one man passed into another, opinions do +find, after certain revolutions, men and minds like those that first +begat them. To see ourselves again, we need not look for Plato’s year; +every man is not only himself: there have been many Diogeneses, and as +many Timons, though but few of that name; men are lived over again; the +world is now as it was in ages past; there was none then, but there hath +been some one since, that parallels him, and is, as it were, his revived +self.”[19] + +7. One of the rare volumes of the early eighteenth century is Chevalier +Ramsay’s remarkable work entitled “The Philosophical Principles of +Natural and Revealed Religion,” in which he elaborates the idea that +“the sacred mysteries of our holy faith are not new fictions unheard of +by the philosophers of all nations,” but that “on the contrary +Christianity is as old as the creation.” In this “History of the human +mind in all ages, nations, and religions, concerning the most divine +truths,” he shows that reincarnation is the common possession of +Christianity and of all the other great systems of sacred thought:— + +“The holy oracles always represent Paradise as our native country, and +our present life as an exile. How can we be said to have been banished +from a place in which we never were? This argument alone would suffice +to convince us of preëxistence, if the prejudice of infancy inspired by +the schoolmen had not accustomed us to look upon these expressions as +metaphorical, and to believe, contrary to Scripture and to reason, that +we were exiled from a happy state, only for the fault of our first +parents. Atrocious maxim that sullies all the conduct of Providence, and +that shocks the understandings of the most intelligent children of all +nations. The answers ordinarily made to them throw into their tender +minds the seeds of a lasting incredulity. + +“In Scripture, the wise man says, speaking of the eternal Logos, and his +preëxistent humanity: ‘The Lord possessed me from the beginning of his +ways, before his works of old; I was set up from everlasting, from the +beginning or ever the earth was!’ All this can be said only of the +eternal Logos. But what follows may be applied to the preëxistent +humanity of the Messiah: ‘When he prepared the heavens I was there, when +he encircled the force of the deep, when he established the clouds +above, when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by +him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing +always before him, rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my +delights were with the sons of men.’ It is visible that Solomon speaks +here of a time soon after the creation of the world, of a time when the +earth was inhabited only by a pure, innocent race. Can this be said +after the fall, when the earth was cursed? It is only a profound +ignorance of the ancient, primitive tradition of preëxistence that can +make men mistake the true sense of this sublime text. + +“Our Saviour seems to approve the doctrine of pre-existence in his +answer to his disciples when they interrogate him thus about the man +born blind: ‘Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was +born blind?’[20] It is clear that this question would have been +ridiculous and impertinent, if the disciples had not believed that the +man born blind had sinned before his corporeal birth, and, consequently, +that he had preëxisted in another state. Our Saviour’s answer is +remarkable: ‘Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the +works of God should be made manifest in him!’ Jesus Christ could not +mean that neither this man nor his parents had ever sinned, for this can +be said of no mortal; but the meaning is, that it was neither for the +sins committed by this man in a state of preëxistence, nor for those of +his parents, that he was born blind, but in order to manifest one day +the power of God. Our Lord, therefore, far from blaming and redressing +this error in his disciples, answers in a way that seems to confirm them +in the doctrine of preëxistence. If he had looked upon this opinion as a +capital error, would it have been compatible with his wisdom to pass it +over so slightly, and taciturnly authorize it? On the contrary, does not +his silence indicate that he looked upon this doctrine, which was a +received maxim of the Jewish church, as the true explication of original +sin? + +“St. Paul says, in speaking of the origin of mortal and physical evil, +‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and death +passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.’[21] If all have sinned, +then all have voluntarily coöperated with Adam in the breach of the +eternal law: for where there is no deliberate act of will, there can be +no sin. The Apostle does not say that Adam’s sin was imputed to all. The +doctrine of imputation, by which God attributes Adam’s sin to his +innocent posterity, cannot be the meaning of St. Paul, for, besides that +this doctrine is incompatible with the divine perfection, the Apostle +adds: ‘For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by +the obedience of one shall all be made righteous.’[22] Now it is certain +that men can only be made righteous by their personal, deliberate, and +voluntary coöperation with the spirit of grace, or the second Adam. The +Apostle assures us in the same passage that ‘all did not sin after the +similitude of Adam’s transgression.’ This sin was really committed in a +preëxistent state by the individuals of the present human race. The +meaning is that one pair gave the bad example, and all the human race +co-existent with them in Paradise soon imitated this crime of +disobedience against the eternal law, by the false love of natural +knowledge and sensible pleasure. St. Paul seems to confirm this when he +says: ‘For the children being not yet born, having neither done good nor +evil, it was said unto Rebecca, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I +hated.’ God’s love and hatred depend upon the moral dispositions of the +creature. Since God says that he loved Jacob and hated Esau ere they +were born, and before they had done good or evil in this mortal life, it +follows clearly that they must have preëxisted in another state. This +would have appeared to be the natural sense of the text, if prejudices +imbibed from our infancy, more or less, had not blinded the mind of +Christian doctors to the same degree as Judaical prejudices darkened +those of the ancient Pharisees. + +“If it be said that these texts are obscure; that preëxistence is only +drawn from them by induction, and that this opinion is not revealed in +Scripture by express words, I answer, that the doctrines of the +immortality of the soul are nowhere revealed expressly in the sacred +oracles of the Old or New Testament, but because all their morals and +doctrines are founded upon these great truths. We may say the same of +preëxistence. The doctrine is nowhere expressly revealed, but it is +evidently supposed, as without it original sin becomes not only +inexplicable, but absurd, repugnant, and impossible. + +“There is nothing in the fathers nor councils that contradicts this +doctrine; yea, while the fifth general council and all the fathers after +the sixth century condemn a false idea of preëxistence in which the +ancient tradition was adulterated by the Origenists and Priscillianists, +the true doctrine of preëxistence was not condemned by the church. This +supposes that all the individuals of the human species composed of soul +and body were created in Paradise, that they all coöperated in Adam’s +disobedience, partook of his crime, and so were justly punished. This +was the constant tradition of the Jewish church, and confirmed by the +Scriptures. This opinion of preëxistence was also very ancient in the +Christian church, ere the Origenists spoiled it with the Pythagorean and +Platonic fictions. + +“It is against the impious degradation of transmigration [through animal +bodies] that the fathers declaim, and not the true Scripture doctrine of +degraded [human] intelligences. This the schoolmen confound with the +false disguises—mixtures of the pagans. This great principle is the true +key by which we can understand the meaning of several passages of +Scripture, and the sense of many sublime articles of faith. Thus only +can we shelter Christianity from the railleries of the incredulous.” + +8. Among Soame Jenyns’s “Disquisitions on Several Subjects” is a +“Disquisition on a Præexistent State,” from which we quote the +following:— + +“That mankind had existed in some state previous to the present was the +opinion of the wisest sages of the most remote antiquity. It was held by +the Gymnosophists of Egypt, the Brachmans of India, the Magi of Persia, +and the greatest philosophers of Greece and Rome; it was likewise +adopted by the fathers of the Christian Church, and frequently enforced +by her primitive writers. Why it has been so little noticed, so much +overlooked rather than rejected, by the divines and metaphysicians of +later ages, I am at a loss to account for, as it is undoubtedly +confirmed by reason, by all the appearances of nature, and the doctrines +of revelation. + +“In the first place, then, it is confirmed by reason, which teaches us +that it is impossible that the conjunction of a male and female can +create, or bring into being, an immortal soul: they may prepare a +material habitation for it, but there must be an immaterial preëxistent +inhabitant ready to take possession. Reason assures us that an immortal +soul, which will eternally exist after the dissolution of the body, must +have eternally existed before the formation of it; for whatever has no +end can never have had any beginning, but must exist in some manner +which bears no relation to time, to us totally incomprehensible; if, +therefore, the soul will continue to exist in a future life, it must +have existed in a former. Reason likewise tells us that an omnipotent +and benevolent Creator would never have formed such a world as this, and +filled it with inhabitants, if the present was the only, or even the +first, state of their existence, a state which, if unconnected with the +past and the future, seems calculated for no one purpose intelligible to +our understandings; neither of good or evil, of happiness or misery, of +virtue or vice, of reward or punishment, but a confused jumble of them +all together, proceeding from no visible cause and tending to no end. +But, as we are certain that infinite power cannot be employed without +effect, nor infinite wisdom without design, we may rationally conclude +that this world could be designed as nothing more than a prison, in +which we are awhile confined to receive punishment for the offenses +committed in a former, and an opportunity of preparing ourselves for the +enjoyment of happiness in a future, life. + +“Secondly, these conclusions of reason are sufficiently confirmed by the +force of nature and the appearance of things. This world is evidently +formed for a place of punishment as well as probation,—a prison, or +house of correction, to which we are committed, some for a longer, and +some for a shorter time; some to the severest labor, others to more +indulgent tasks; and if we consider it under this character, we shall +perceive it admirably fitted for the end for which it was intended. It +is a spacious, beautiful, and durable structure; it contains many +various apartments, a few very comfortable, many tolerable, and some +extremely wretched; it is inclosed with a fence so impassable that none +can surmount it but with the loss of life. Its inhabitants likewise +exactly resemble those of other prisons: they come in with malignant +dispositions and unruly passions, from whence, like other confined +criminals, they receive great part of their punishment by abusing and +injuring each other. As we may suppose that they have not all been +equally guilty, so they are not all equally miserable; the majority are +permitted to procure a tolerable subsistence by their labor, and pass +through their confinement without any extraordinary penalties, except +from paying their fees at their discharge by death. Others, who perhaps +stand in need of more severe chastisement, receive it by a variety of +methods, some by the most tedious pains and diseases; some by +disappointments, and many by success in their favorite pursuits; some by +being condemned to situations peculiarly unfortunate, as to those of +extreme poverty or superabundant riches, of despicable manners or +painful preëminence, of galley-slaves in a despotic, or ministers in a +free, country. + +“Lastly, the opinion of preëxistence is no less confirmed by revelation +than by reason and the appearance of things; for although, perhaps, it +is nowhere in the New Testament explicitly enforced, yet throughout the +whole tenor of those writings it is everywhere implied. In them mankind +are constantly represented as coming into the world under a load of +guilt,—as condemned criminals, the children of wrath, and objects of +divine indignation, placed in it for a time by the mercies of God, to +give them an opportunity of expiating their guilt by sufferings, and +regaining by a pious and virtuous conduct their lost estate of happiness +and innocence; this is styled working out their salvation, not +preventing their condemnation, for that is already past, and their only +hope now is redemption, that is, being rescued from a state of captivity +and sin, in which they are universally involved. This is the very +essence of the Christian dispensation, and the grand principle in which +it differs from the religion of nature; in every other respect they are +nearly similar. They both enjoin the same moral duties and prohibit the +same vices; but Christianity acquaints us that we are admitted into this +life oppressed by guilt and depravity, which we must atone for by +suffering its usual calamities, and work off by acts of positive virtue, +before we can hope for happiness in another. Now, if by all this a +preëxistent state is not constantly supposed, in which this guilt was +incurred and this depravity contracted, there can be no meaning at all, +or such a meaning as contradicts every principle of common sense,—that +guilt can be contracted without acting, or that we can act without +existing. So undeniable is this inference that it renders any positive +assertion of a preëxistent state totally useless; as, if a man at the +moment of his entrance into a new country was declared a criminal, it +would surely be unnecessary to assert that he had lived in some other +before he came there. + +“In all our researches into abstruse subjects there is a certain clue, +without which, the further we proceed the more we are bewildered; but +which, being fortunately discovered, leads us at once through the whole +labyrinth, puts an end to our difficulties, and opens a system perfectly +clear, consistent, and intelligible. The doctrine of preëxistence, or +the acknowledgment of some past state of disobedience, I take to be this +very clue; which, if we constantly carry along with us, we shall proceed +unembarrassed through all the intricate mysteries both of nature and +revelation, and at last arrive at so clear a prospect of the wise and +just dispensations of our Creator, as cannot fail to afford complete +satisfaction to the most inquisitive skeptic. + +“Thus is a preëxistent state, I think, clearly demonstrated by the +principles of reason, the appearance of things, and the sense of +revelation; all which agree that this world is intended for a place of +punishment, as well as probation, and must therefore refer to some +former period. For as probation implies a future life, for which it is +preparatory, so punishment must imply a former state, in which offenses +were committed for which it is due; and indeed there is not a single +argument drawn from the justice of God, and the seemingly undeserved +sufferings of many in the present state, which can be urged in proof of +a future life, which proves not with superior force the existence of +another which is already past.” + +9. One of the chapters in Joseph Glanvil’s “Lux Orientalis,” a treatise +attempting to demonstrate the truth of Platonic preëxistence, and +strengthened by the elaborate annotations of Dr. Henry More, is an +extension of the following— + +“Seven Pillars on which the Hypothesis of Preëxistence stands. + +“1. All the divine designs and actions are carried on by pure and +infinite goodness. + +“2. There is an exact geometrical justice that runs through the +universe, and is interwoven in the contexture of things. + +“3. Things are carried to their proper place and state by the congruity +of their natures; where this fails we may suppose some arbitrary +management. + +“4. The souls of men are capable of living in other bodies besides +terrestrial; and never act but in some body or other. + +“5. The soul in every state hath such a body as is fittest to those +faculties and operations that it is most inclined to exercise. + +“6. The powers and faculties of the soul are either spiritual or +intellectual, or sensitive or plastic. + +“7. By the same degrees that the higher powers are invigorated, the +lower are abated, as to their proper exercise.” + +10. In Dowden’s “Life of Shelley” (vol. i. p. 80), the following +anecdote of the poet is quoted from his friend Hogg: “One morning we had +been reading Plato together so diligently that the usual hour of +exercise passed away unperceived. We sallied forth hastily to take the +air for half an hour before dinner. In the middle of Magdalen Bridge we +met a woman with a child in her arms. Shelley was more attentive at that +instant to our conduct in a life that was past or to come than to a +decorous regulation of his behavior according to the established usages +of society. With abrupt dexterity he caught hold of the child. The +mother, who well might fear that it was about to be thrown over the +parapet of the bridge into the sedgy waters below, held it fast by its +long train. ‘Will your baby tell us anything about preëxistence, madam?’ +he asked in a piercing voice and with a wistful look. The mother made no +answer, but perceiving that Shelley’s object was not murderous, but +altogether harmless, she dismissed her apprehension and relaxed her +hold. ‘Will your baby tell us anything about preëxistence, madam?’ he +repeated, with unabated earnestness. ‘He cannot speak, sir,’ said the +mother seriously. ‘Worse, worse,’ cried Shelley with an air of +disappointment, shaking his long hair most pathetically about his young +face. ‘But surely the babe can speak if he will, for he is only a few +weeks old. He may fancy that he cannot, but it is only a silly whim. He +cannot have forgotten the use of speech in so short a time. The thing is +absolutely impossible.’ ‘It is not for me to dispute with you, +gentlemen,’ the woman meekly replied, ‘but I can safely declare I never +heard him speak, nor any child of his age.’ It was a fine placid boy. So +far from being disturbed by the interruption, he looked up and smiled. +Shelley pressed his fat cheeks with his fingers. We commended his +healthy appearance and his equanimity, and the mother was allowed to +proceed, probably to her satisfaction, for she would doubtless prefer a +less speculative nurse. Shelley sighed as we walked on. ‘How provokingly +close are these new-born babes!’ he ejaculated; ‘but it is not the less +certain, notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal the truth, that +all knowledge is reminiscence. The doctrine is far more ancient than the +times of Plato, and as old as the venerable allegory that the muses are +the daughters of memory; not one of the muses was ever said to be the +child of invention.’” + +11. Hume’s skeptical essay on “The Immortality of the Soul” argues +thus:— + +“Reasoning from the common course of nature, and without supposing any +new interposition of the supreme cause, which ought always to be +excluded from philosophy, what is incorruptible must also be +ungenerable. The soul, therefore, if immortal, existed before our birth, +and if the former existence noways concerns us, neither will the +latter.... + +“The metempsychosis is, therefore, the only system of this kind that +philosophy can hearken to.” + +12. Southey says in his published “Letters”: “I have a strong and lively +faith in a state of continued consciousness from this stage of +existence, and that we shall recover the consciousness of some lower +stages through which we may previously have passed seems to me not +impossible.... + +“The system of progressive existence seems, of all others, the most +benevolent; and all that we do understand is so wise and so good, and +all we do or do not, so perfectly and overwhelmingly wonderful, that the +most benevolent system is the most probable.” + +13. From a letter written by that curious genius William Blake (the +artist) to his friend John Flaxman (the sculptor):[23]— + +“In my brain are studies and chambers filled with books and pictures of +old which I wrote and painted in ages of eternity before my mortal life; +and these works are the delight and study of archangels. + +“You, O dear Flaxman, are a sublime archangel, my friend and companion +from eternity. I look back into the regions of reminiscence and behold +our ancient days before this earth appeared and its vegetative mortality +to my mortal vegetated eyes. I see our houses of eternity which can +never be separated, though our mortal vehicles should stand at the +remotest corners of heaven from each other.” + +14. In the “Fortnightly Review” for September, 1878, Professor William +Knight writes: “It seems surprising that in the discussions of +contemporary philosophy on the origin and destiny of the soul there has +been no explicit revival of the doctrines of Pre-existence and +Metempsychosis. Whatever may be their intrinsic worth or evidential +value, their title to rank on the roll of philosophical hypotheses is +undoubted. They offer quite as remarkable a solution of the mystery +which all admit as the rival theories of Creation, Traduction, and +Extinction.” + +“If we reject the doctrine of Preëxistence, we must either believe in +non-existence or fall back in one or other of the two opposing theories +of Creation and Traduction; and as we reject Extinction, we may find +Preëxistence has fewer difficulties to face than the rival hypotheses. +Creation is the theory that every moment of time multitudes of souls are +simultaneously born,—not sent down from a celestial source, but freshly +made out of nothing and placed in bodies prepared for them by natural +growth. To the Platonist the theory of Traduction seemed even worse, as +it implied the derivation of the soul from at least two sources,—from +both parents,—and a substance thus derived was apparently composite and +quasi-material. + +“Stripped of all extravagance and expressed in the modest terms of +probability, the theory has immense speculative interest and great +ethical value. It is much to have the puzzle of the origin of evil +thrown back for an indefinite number of cycles of lives; to have a +workable explanation of _Nemesis_, and of what we are accustomed to call +the moral tragedies and the untoward birth of a multitude of men and +women. It is much also to have the doctrine of immortality lightened of +its difficulties; to have our immediate outlook relieved by the doctrine +that in the soul’s eternity its preëxistence and its future existence +are one. The retrospect may assuredly help the prospect.” + +“Whether we make use of it or not, we ought to realize its alternatives. +They are these. Either all life is extinguished and resolved through an +absorption and reassumption of the vital principle everywhere, or a +perpetual miracle goes on in the incessant and rapid increase in the +amount of spiritual existence within the universe; and while human life +survives, the intelligence and the affection of the lower animals perish +everlastingly.” + +15. Professor W. A. Butler’s celebrated lectures upon “The History of +Ancient Philosophy” lean strongly toward an endorsement of Plato’s +philosophy of reincarnation:— + +“It must be allowed that there is much in the hypothesis of preëxistence +(at least) which might attract a speculator busied with the endeavor to +reduce the moral system of the world under intelligible laws. The +solution which it at once furnishes of the state and fortunes of each +individual, as arising in some unknown but direct process from his own +voluntary acts, though it throws, of course, no light on the ultimate +question of the existence of moral evil (which it only removes a single +step), does yet contribute to satisfy the mind as to the equity of that +immediate manifestation of it, and of its physical attendants, which we +unhappily witness. There is internally no greater improbability that the +present may be the result of a former state now almost wholly forgotten, +than that the present should be followed by a future form of existence +in which, perhaps, or in some departments of which, the oblivion may be +as complete. And if to that future state there are already discernible +faint longings and impulses which to many men have seemed to involve a +direct proof of its reality, hopes that will not be bounded by the +grave, and desires that grasp eternity, others have found within them, +it would seem, faint intimations scarcely less impressive of the past, +as if the soul vibrated the echoes of a harmony not of this world. +Wordsworth has told us that such convictions seem to be a part, though a +neglected part, of the heritage of our race.” + +16. The novelist Bulwer thus expresses his opinion of this truth: +“Eternity may be but an endless series of those migrations which men +call deaths, abandonments of home after home, even to fairer scenes and +loftier heights. Age after age the spirit may shift its tent, fated not +to rest in the dull Elysium of the heathen, but carrying with it +evermore its two elements, activity and desire.”[24] + +17. Pezzani, the author of “The Plurality of the Soul’s Lives,”[25] +writes: “The earthly sojourn is only a new probation, as was said by +Dupont de Nemours, that great writer who, in the eighteenth century, +outstripped all modern thought. Now, if this be so, is it not plain that +the recollection of former lives would seriously hinder probations, by +removing most of their difficulties, and consequently of their deserts, +as well as of their spontaneity? We live in a world where free will is +all-powerful, the inviolable law of advancement and progress among men. +If past lives were remembered, the soul would know the significance and +import of the trials which are reserved for it here below: indolent and +careless, it would harden itself against the purposes of Providence, and +become paralyzed by the hopelessness of mastering them, or even, if of a +better quality and more manly, it would accept and work them out without +fail. Well, neither of these suppositions is necessary; the struggle +must be free, voluntary, safe from the influences of the past; the field +of combat must seem new, so that the athlete may exhibit and practice +his virtues upon it. The experience he has already acquired, the forces +he has learned how to conquer, serve him in the new strife; but in such +a manner that he does not suspect it, for the imperfect soul undergoes +reincarnations in order to develop the qualities that it has already +manifested, to free itself from the vices and faults which are in +opposition to the ascensional law. What would happen if all men +remembered their former lives? The order of the earth would be +overthrown; at least, it is not now established on such conditions. +Lethe, as well as free will, is a law of the actual world.” + +18. One of Emerson’s earliest essays (“The Method of Nature”) contains +this paragraph: “We cannot describe the natural history of the soul, but +we know that it is divine. I cannot tell if these wonderful qualities +which house to-day in this mortal frame shall ever reassemble in equal +activity in a similar frame, or whether they have before had a natural +history like that of this body you see before you; but this one thing I +know, that these qualities did not now begin to exist, cannot be sick +with my sickness nor buried in my grave; but that they circulate through +the universe: before the world was, they were. Nothing can bar them out, +or shut them in, but they penetrate the ocean and land, space and time, +form and essence, and hold the key to universal nature.” + +Again, in one of his latest works (on “Immortality”) he says: “The fable +of the Wandering Jew is agreeable to men, because they want more time +and land in which to execute their thoughts. But a higher poetic use +must be made of the legend. Take us as we are, with our experience, and +transfer us to a new planet, and let us digest for its inhabitants what +we can of the wisdom of this. After we have found our depth there, and +assimilated what we can of the new experience, transfer us to a new +scene. In each transfer we shall have acquired, by seeing them at a +distance, a new mastery of the old thoughts, in which we were too much +immersed.”[26] + +19. James Freeman Clarke writes (in “Ten Great Religions,” ii. 190): +“That man has come up to his present state of development by passing +through lower forms is the popular doctrine of science to-day. What is +called evolution teaches that we have reached our present state by a +very long and gradual ascent from the lowest animal organizations. It is +true that the Darwinian theory takes no notice of the evolution of the +soul, but only of the body. But it appears to me that a combination of +the two views would remove many difficulties which still attach to the +theory of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. If we are +to believe in evolution, let us have the assistance of the soul itself +in this development of new species. Thus science and philosophy will +coöperate, nor will poetry hesitate to lend her aid.” + +20. The noblest work of modern times, and probably of all time, upon +immortality, is a large volume by the Rev. William R. Alger, entitled “A +Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life.” It was published in +1860, and still remains the standard authority upon that topic +throughout Christendom. This little book is substantially indebted to +it. The author is a Unitarian minister, who devoted half his lifetime to +the work, undermining his health thereby. In the first edition (1860) +the writer characterizes reincarnation as a plausible delusion, unworthy +of credence. For fifteen years more he continued studying the subject, +and the last edition (1878) gives the final result of his ripest +investigations in heartily endorsing and advocating reincarnation. No +more striking argument for the doctrine could be advanced than this +fact. That a Christian clergyman, making the problem of the soul’s +destiny his life’s study, should become so overpowered by the force of +this pagan idea as to adopt it for the climax of his scholarship is +extremely significant. And the result is reached by such a sincere +course of reasoning that the seminaries in all denominations are +compelled to accept his book as the masterpiece. From one of the +supplemental chapters we quote the following by his permission:— + +“Besides the various distinctive arguments of its own, every reason for +the resurrection holds with at least equal force for transmigration. The +argument from analogy is especially strong. It is natural to argue from +the universal spectacle of incarnated life that this is the eternal +scheme everywhere, the variety of souls finding in the variety of worlds +an everlasting series of adventures in appropriate organisms; there +being, as Paul said, one kind of flesh of birds, another of beasts, +another of men, another of angels, and so on. Our present lack of +recollection of past lives is no disproof of their actuality. Every +night we lose all knowledge of the past, but every day we reawaken to a +memory of the whole series of days and nights. So in one life we may +forget or dream, and in another recover the whole thread of experience +from the beginning. + +“In every event, it must be confessed that of all the thoughtful and +refined forms of the belief in a future life none has had so extensive +and prolonged a prevalence as this. It has the vote of the majority, +having for ages on ages been held by half the human race with an +intensity of conviction almost without a parallel. Indeed, the most +striking fact about the doctrine of the repeated incarnations of the +soul, its form and experience in each successive embodiment being +determined by its merits and demerits in the preceding ones, is the +constant reappearance of that faith in all parts of the world, and its +permanent hold on certain great nations. + +“Another striking fact connected with this doctrine is that it seems to +be a native and ineradicable growth of the oriental world; but appears +in the western world only in scattered instances, and rather as an +exotic form of thought. In the growing freedom and liberality of +thought, which, no less than its doubt and denial, now characterize +Christendom, it seems as if the full time had come for a greater mental +and æsthetic hospitality on the part of Christians towards Hindus. The +advocates of the resurrection should not confine their attention to the +repellant or the ludicrous aspects of metempsychosis, but do justice to +its claim and its charm.” + +After reviewing and strengthening the evidences in favor of plural +births, Mr. Alger continues: “The above translation of the +ecclesiastical doctrine of the resurrection into a form scientifically +credible, and reconciled with the immemorial tenet of transmigration, +may seem to some a fanciful speculation, a mere intellectual toy. +Perhaps it is so. It is not propounded with the slightest dogmatic +animus. It is advanced solely as an illustration of what may possibly be +true, as suggested by the general evidence of the phenomena of history +and the facts of experience. The thoughts embodied in it are so +wonderful, the method of it so rational, the region of contemplation +into which it lifts the mind is so grand, the prospects it opens are of +such universal reach and import, that the study of it brings us into +full sympathy with the sublime scope of the idea of immortality, and of +a cosmopolitan vindication of Providence uncovered to every eye. It +takes us out of the littleness of petty themes and selfish affairs, and +makes it easier for us to believe in the vastest hopes mankind have ever +known. It causes the most magnificent conceptions of human destiny to +seem simply proportional to the native magnitude and beauty of the +powers of the mind which can conceive such things. After traversing the +grounds here set forth, we feel that if the view based on them be not +the truth, it must be because God has in reserve for us a sequel greater +and lovelier, not meaner, than our brightest dream hitherto.” + +21. In the “Princeton Review” for May, 1881, Professor Francis Bowen (of +Harvard University) publishes a very interesting article on “Christian +Metempsychosis,” in which he urges the Christian acceptance of +reincarnation. By his consent we quote a large portion of it, because it +is so able an appeal for the adoption of this truth, from both a +metaphysical and a Christian standpoint:— + +“Our life upon earth is rightly held to be a discipline and a +preparation for a higher and eternal life hereafter. But if limited to +the duration of a single mortal body, it is so brief as to seem hardly +sufficient for so grand a purpose. Threescore years and ten must surely +be an inadequate preparation for eternity. But what assurance have we +that the probation of the soul is confined within so narrow limits? Why +may it not be continued, or repeated, through a long series of +successive generations, the same personality animating one after another +an indefinite number of tenements of flesh, and carrying forward into +each the training it has received, the character it has formed, the +temper and dispositions it has indulged, in the stage of existence +immediately preceding? It need not remember its past history, even while +bearing the fruits and the consequences of that history deeply ingrained +into its present nature. How many long passages of any one life are now +completely lost to memory, though they may have contributed largely to +build up the heart and the intellect which distinguish one man from +another! Our responsibility surely is not lessened by such +forgetfulness. We are still accountable for the misuse of time, though +we have forgotten how or on what we wasted it. We are even now reaping +the bitter fruits, through enfeebled health and vitiated desires and +capacities, of many forgotten acts of self-indulgence, willfulness, and +sin—forgotten just because they were so numerous. Then a future life +even in another frail body upon this earth may well be a state of just +and fearful retribution. + +“Why should it be thought incredible that the same soul should inhabit +in succession an indefinite number of mortal bodies, and thus prolong +its experience and its probation till it has become in every sense ripe +for heaven or the final judgment? Even during this one life our bodies +are perpetually changing, though by a process of decay and restoration +which is so gradual that it escapes our notice. Every human being thus +dwells successively in many bodies, even daring one short life. This +physiological fact seems to have been known by Plato, as in a well-known +passage of the Phædo, a clear statement of it is put into the mouth of +Cebes, who argues, however, that this fact affords no sufficient proof +of the immortality of the soul. ‘You may say with reason,’ Cebes is made +to argue, ‘that the soul is lasting, and the body weak and short-lived +in comparison. And every soul may be said to wear out many bodies, +especially in the course of a long life. For if, while the man is alive, +the body deliquesces and decays, and yet the soul always weaves her +garment anew and repairs the waste, then of course, when the soul +perishes, she must have on her last garment, and this only will survive +her; but then, again, when the soul is dead, the body will at last show +its native weakness and soon pass into decay.’ And again: ‘Suppose we +admit also that, after death, the souls of some are existing still, and +will exist, and will be born and die again and again, and that there is +a natural strength in the soul which will hold out and be born many +times,—for all this, we may still be inclined to think that she will be +weary in the labors of successive births, and may at last succumb in one +of her deaths and utterly perish.’[27] + +“If every birth were an act of absolute creation, the introduction to +life of an entirely new creature, we might reasonably ask why different +souls are so variously constituted at the outset. We do not all start +fair in the race that is set before us, and therefore all cannot be +expected, at the close of one brief mortal pilgrimage, to reach the same +goal, and to be equally well fitted for the blessings or the penalties +of a fixed state hereafter. The commonest observation assures us that +one child is born with limited capacities and perhaps a wayward +disposition, strong passions, and a sullen temper; that he has +tendencies to evil which are almost sure to be soon developed. Another, +on the contrary, seems happily endowed from the start; he is not only +amiable, tractable, and kind, but quick-witted and precocious, a child +of many hopes. The one seems a perverse goblin, while the other has the +early promise of a Cowley or a Pascal. The differences of external +condition also are so vast and obvious that they seem to detract much +from the merit of a well-spent life and from the guilt of vice and +crime. One is so happily nurtured in a Christian home, and under so many +protecting influences, that the path of virtue lies straight and open +before him,—so plain, indeed, that even the blind could safely walk +therein; while another seems born to a heritage of misery, exposure, and +crime. The birthplace of one is in Central Africa, and of another in the +heart of civilized and Christian Europe. Where lingers eternal justice +then? How can such frightful inequalities be made to appear consistent +with the infinite wisdom and goodness of God? + +“If metempsychosis is included in the scheme of the divine government of +the world, this difficulty disappears altogether. Considered from this +point of view, every one is born into the state which he has fairly +earned by his own previous history. He carries with him from one stage +of existence to another the habits or tendencies which he has formed, +the dispositions which he has indulged, the passions which he has not +chastised, but has voluntarily allowed to lead him into vice and crime. +No active interference of retributive justice is needed, except in +selecting for the place of his new birth a home with appropriate +surroundings—perhaps such a home as through his evil passions he has +made for others. The doctrine of inherited sin and its consequences is a +hard lesson to be learned. We submit with enforced resignation to the +stern decree, corroborated as it is by every day’s observation of the +ordinary course of this world’s affairs, that the iniquity of the +fathers shall be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth +generation. But no one can complain of the dispositions and endowments +which he has inherited, so to speak, from himself; that is, from his +former self in a previous stage of existence. If, for instance, he has +neglected his opportunities and fostered his lower appetites in his +childhood, if he was then wayward and self-indulgent, indolent, +deceitful, and vicious, it is right and just that, in his manhood and +old age, he should experience the bitter consequences of his youthful +follies. If he has voluntarily made himself a brute, a brute he must +remain. The child is father of the man, who often inherits from him a +sad patrimony. There is an awful meaning, if we will but take it to +heart, in the solemn announcement of the angel in the apocalyptic +vision: ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is +filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be +righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still!’ And it +matters not, so far as the justice of the sentence is concerned, whether +the former self, from whom we receive this heritage, was the child who, +not many years ago, bore the same name with our present self, or one who +bore a different name, who was born in another age and perhaps another +hemisphere, and of whose sad history we have not now the faintest +remembrance. We know that our personal identity actually extends farther +back, and links together more passages of our life, than what is now +present to consciousness; though it is true that we have no direct +evidence of this continuity and sameness of being beyond what is +attested by memory. But we may have indirect evidence of it from the +testimony of others in the case of our own infancy, or from revelation, +or through reasoning from analogy and from the similarity of cases and +characters. The soul, said the Hindoos, is in the body like a bird in a +cage, or like a pilot who steers a ship, and seeks a new vessel when the +old one is worn out. + +“Nothing prevents us, however, from believing that the probation of any +one soul extends continuously through a long series of successive +existences upon earth, each successive act in the whole life history +being retributive for what went before. For this is the universal law of +being, whether of matter or mind; everything changes, nothing dies in +the sense of being annihilated. What we call death is only the +resolution of a complex body into its constituent parts, nothing that is +truly one and indivisible being lost or destroyed in the process. In +combustion or any other rapid chemical change, according to the +admission of the materialists themselves, not an atom of matter is ever +generated or ever ceases to be; it only escapes from one combination to +enter upon another. Then the human soul, which, as we know from +consciousness, is absolutely one and indivisible, only passes on after +the dissolution of what was once its home to animate another body. In +this sense we can easily accept the doctrine of the resurrection of the +body. Our future life is not, at any rate not while the present +administration of this world’s affairs continues, to be some +inconceivable form of merely spiritual being. It will be clothed again +with a body, which may or may not be in part the same with the one which +it has just left. Leibnitz held that the soul is never entirely divorced +from matter, but carries on some portion of what was its earthly +covering into a subsequent stage of existence.... We can easily imagine +and believe that every person now living is a _re_presentation of some +one who lived perhaps centuries ago under another name, in another +country, it may be not with the same line of ancestry, and yet one and +the same with him in his inmost being and essential character. His +surroundings are changed; the old house of flesh has been torn down and +rebuilt; but the tenant is still the same. He has come down from some +former generation, bringing with him what may be either a help or a +hindrance; namely, the character and tendencies which he there formed +and nurtured. And herein is retribution; he has entered upon a new stage +of probation, and in it he has now to learn what the character which he +there formed naturally leads to when tried upon a new and perhaps +broader theatre. If this be not so, tell me why men are born with +characters so unlike and with tendencies so depraved. In a sense far +more literal than was intended by the poet, it may be true of every +country churchyard, that + + ‘Some mute inglorious Milton there may rest, + Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.’ + +They bring with them no recollection of the incidents of their former +life, as such memory would unfit them for the new part which they have +to play. But they are still the same in the principles and modes of +conduct, in the inmost springs of action, which the forgotten incidents +of their former life have developed and strengthened. They are the same +in all the essential points which made them formerly a blessing or a +curse to all with whom they came immediately in contact, and through +which they will again become sources of weal or woe to their +environment. Of course, these inborn tendencies may be either +exaggerated or chastised by the lessons of a new experience, by the +exercise of reflection, and by habitually heeding or neglecting the +monitions of conscience. But they still exist as original tendencies, +and as such they must make either the upward or the downward path more +easy, more natural, and more likely to reach a goal so remote that it +would otherwise be unattainable. + +“To make this more clear, let me refer to the pregnant distinction so +admirably illustrated by Kant between what he calls the Intelligible +Character and the Empirical or acquired Character. The former is the +primitive foundation on which the latter, which directly determines our +conduct for the time being, is built. To a great extent, though not +entirely, we are what we are through the influence of what have been our +surroundings—through our education, our companions, our habits, and our +associations. But these influences must have had a primitive basis to +work upon, and can only modify the operation of the native germs, not +change their nature; and they will modify these more or less profoundly +according as they are more or less amenable to outside influences and +manifest more or less decidedly a bias in one direction or another. What +the future plant will be depends much more on the specific nature of the +seed which is sown than on the fertility or barrenness of the soil into +which it is cast. The latter only determine whether it shall be a +vigorous plant or a weak one, whether in fact it shall grow at all or +only rot in the ground; but they do not determine the specific direction +of its development, whether it shall be an oak, a willow, or an +ivy-bush. The Empirical or acquired Character, as it is open to +observation, is a phenomenon; it is what the man _appears_ to be, or +what he has become under the shaping influence of the circumstances to +which he has been exposed. But the Intelligible Character, the inmost +kernel of his real being, is a noumenon, and escapes external +observation; we can judge of its nature only indirectly from its +effects; that is to say, from the conduct which it has coöperated to +produce. A change taking place in any substance must be the joint result +of two factors; namely, its proper cause operating upon it from without, +and the thing’s own nature or internal constitution. Thus the same +degree of heat acts very differently upon different substances, say, on +wax, iron, water, clay, or powder. In like manner, a given motive, say, +the desire of wealth, when acting on different persons, though with the +same strength or intensity, may lead to very dissimilar results; it +makes one man a thief and another a miser, renders one envious and +another energetic and industrious. If frequently indulged, it forms a +fixed habit, and thus becomes an element in the acquired or empirical +character. + +“Now Kant, with the bias of a necessitarian, places our freedom and our +responsibility in the realm of noumena, attributing them exclusively to +our Intelligible Character. As to the acquired character when once +formed, he says we _must_ act in accordance with it, and therefore we +are not accountable for the particular act to which it led, since that +we could not help. After I have once formed a habit of lying or +stealing, should an opportunity and temptation recur, I _must_ repeat +the offense. But our inborn character, which expresses what we really +are, as a noumenon, lies outside of time, space, and causality, and +therefore cannot be led astray by temptation or external circumstances, +but is entirely free. Herein solely consists our merit or our guilt. +Hence Kant would make us responsible not for the particular crime, which +we could not help committing, but for being such a person as to be +capable of that crime. We are accountable not for what we do, but for +what we are. We are to be punished not for stealing this horse, but for +being a rogue, or thief in grain, for being naturally inclined to +stealing.... + +“I know not how it may seem to others, but to me there is something +inexpressibly consolatory and inspiring in the thought that the great +and good of other days have not finally accomplished their earthly +career, have not left us desolate, but that they are still with us, in +the flesh, though we know them not, and though in one sense they do not +really know themselves, because they have no remembrance of a former +life in which they were trained for the work which they are now doing. +But they are essentially the same beings, for they have the same +intellect and character as before, and sameness in these two respects is +all that constitutes our notion of personal identity. We are unwilling +to believe that their beneficent activity was limited to one short life +on earth, at the close of which there opened to them an eternity without +change, without farther trial or action, and seemingly having no other +purpose than unlimited enjoyment. Such a conception of immortality is +exposed to Schopenhauer’s sarcasm, that if effort and progress are +possible only in the present life, and no want or suffering can be +endured except as the penalties of sin, there remains for heaven only +the weariness of nothing to do. An eternity either of reward or +punishment would seem to be inadequately earned by one brief period of +probation. It is far more reasonable to believe that the future life +which we are taught to expect will be similar to the present one, and +will be spent in this world, though we shall carry forward to it the +burden or the blessing entailed upon us by our past career. Besides the +spiritual meaning of the doctrine of regeneration, besides the new birth +which is ‘of water and of the Spirit,’ there may be a literal meaning in +the solemn words of the Saviour, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot +see the kingdom of God.’... + +“I should be sorry to believe that that remarkable group of excellent +scholars, thinkers, and divines, the Port-Royalists, who upheld the +cause of Jansenism for three quarters of a century, have finally passed +away from earth. On the contrary, if anywhere in these later times the +model of a Christian scholar and historian could be found, we might well +say that the spirit of Tillemont lives again in him. If we could find +one who united in himself all the best qualities of a Christian teacher, +stainless in heart and life, we might well believe that it was Lancelot +in another earthly form. For either Pascal or Arnauld, it must be +admitted that we should not know where to look; if their spirits are yet +in this world, they must be in the obscurity of some lowly station.[28] + +“All this speculation, I repeat, is completely fanciful, and can serve +no other purpose than to show, even if the doctrine of metempsychosis +were true, that we should not be able to identify one person in any two +of his successive appearances upon earth. We surely could not know of +him in this respect any more than he knows of himself; and, as already +said, the total break in memory at the beginning of every successive +life must prevent the newly born from recognizing the oneness of his own +being with any former existence in an earthly shape. + +“Curiously enough this want of self-knowledge is confessed in the only +case in which we have a direct assertion in Scripture (if language is to +be interpreted in its ordinary literal meaning and not strained into a +figurative sense), that one of the heroes of the olden time had +reappeared upon earth under a new name, as the forerunner of a new +dispensation. At the time of the Saviour there appears to have been a +general expectation among the Jews that the coming of the Messiah was to +be heralded by the reappearance upon earth of the prophet Elijah, this +expectation being founded upon the text in Malachi: ‘Behold, I will send +you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day +of the Lord.’ Early in the public ministry of John the Baptist, we read +that the belief prevailed among his hearers that this prophecy was +fulfilled in him. But when directly asked, ‘Art thou Elias?’ he replied, +‘I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.’ He had no memory +of his former life under that name; and though he must have been aware +of the popular belief upon the subject, and of the many points of +similarity between his own career and that of the great restorer of the +worship of the true God at an earlier period, he was too honest to claim +an authority which he did not positively know to belong to him. + +“Yet we learn that our Lord subsequently twice declared, in very +distinct language, that Elijah and John the Baptist were really one and +the same person. Once, while John was still alive but in prison, Jesus +told the multitude who thronged around him, ‘Among them that are born of +women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist;’ and he +directly goes on to assert, ‘If ye will receive it, _this is Elias_, +which was for to come.’ (Matt. xi. 14.) And again, after John was +beheaded, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Elias is come already and they +knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed.’ ‘Then the +disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.’ +(Matt. xvii. 12, 13.) Still again, in the scene on the mount of +Transfiguration. ‘Behold there talked with him two men, which were Moses +and Elias;’ and it is said of the three disciples who were then in +company with Jesus that, ‘When they were awake, they saw his glory and +the two men that stood with him.’ (Luke ix. 30, 32.) That the +commentators have not been willing to receive, in their obvious and +literal meaning, assertions so direct and so frequently repeated as +these, but have attempted to explain them away in a non-natural and +metaphorical sense, is a fact which proves nothing but the existence of +an invincible prejudice against the doctrine of the transmigration of +souls.... + +“Assuming the doctrine to be well founded, it is for every person to +determine with what character he will leave the world at the close of +one stage of his earthly being, believing that with this same character +thus trained for weal or woe he is inevitably at once to begin a new +life, and thus either to rise or fall farther than ever. It seems to me +that the dogma of a future life, so prolonged through a countless +succession of other lives on earth until it becomes an immortality, is +thus brought home to one with a force, a vividness and certainty, of +which in no other form it is susceptible. It has been said that no +prudent man, if the election were offered to him, would choose to live +his present live over again; and as he whom the world calls _prudent_ +does not usually cherish any lofty aspirations, the saying is probably +true. We are all so conscious of the many errors and sins that we have +committed that the retrospect is a saddening one; and worldly wisdom +would probably whisper, ‘It is best to stop here, and not try such a +career over again.’ But every one would ardently desire a renewal of his +earthly experience if assured that he could enter upon it under better +auspices, if he believed that what we call death is not the end of all +things even here below, but that the soul is then standing upon the +threshold of a new stage of earthly existence, which is to be brighter +or darker than the one it is just quitting, according as there is +carried forward into it a higher or lower purpose.... + +“This doctrine also suggests, as it seems to me, a clearer and more +satisfactory explanation than would otherwise be possible of the fall of +man through disobedience and its consequences, as narrated in Genesis +and interpreted by St. Paul. Certainly the primeval man, the Adam of +each one of us, when he first through the inspiration of Deity ‘became a +living soul,’ was born into a paradise, an Eden, of entire purity and +innocence, and in that state he talked directly with God. There was also +given to him through his conscience the revelation of a divine law, an +absolute command, to preserve this blessed state through restraining his +appetites and lower impulses to action, and making the love of holiness +superior even to the love of knowledge. But man was tempted by his +appetites to transgress this law; he aspired after a knowledge of good +and evil, which can be attained only through experience of evil, and he +thereby fell from innocence into a state of sin, which necessarily +corrupted his whole future being. The habit of disobedience once formed, +sin in the same person has a self-continuing and self-multiplying power. +The stain carried down from a former life becomes darker and more +inveterate in the life that follows. We have no reason to complain of +the corruption of human nature, for the world is what we have made it to +be by our own act. The burden has not been transmitted to us by others, +but has been inherited from ourselves; that is, from our former selves. +Redemption from it by man’s own effort thus became impossible. This is +death, moral death, the only death of which a human soul is capable. + +“Thus far we have considered metempsychosis as a means of retribution; +that is, of awarding to each soul in the next future life upon which it +is entering that compensation either of weal or woe which it has earned +for itself,—has in fact necessarily entailed upon itself by its conduct +in the life which it has just completed. But the transmigration of souls +may be regarded also in another light, as that portion of the divine +government of this world’s affairs which maintains distributive justice, +since, through its agency, in the long run, all inequalities of +condition and favoring or unfavoring circumstances may be compensated, +and each person may have his or her equitable share of opportunities for +good and of the requisite means for discipline and improvement. If our +view be confined within the limits of a single earthly life, it must be +confessed that the inequality is glaring enough, so that it seems to +justify the honest doubts of the trembling inquirer, while it has +offered a broad mark for the scoffs and declamation of the confirmed +unbeliever. + +“This hypothesis—and I do not claim for it any other character than that +of a highly probable and consolatory hypothesis—also throws a new and +welcome light upon the deep and dark problem of the origin of evil. In +the first place, according to the views which have now been taken, the +sufferings which are the immediate consequence and punishment of sin are +properly left out of the account, since these evince the goodness of God +no less than the happiness resulting from virtue, the purpose in both +cases being to advance man’s highest interests by the improvement of his +moral character; just as the affectionate parent rewards the obedience +and punishes the faults of his child, love equally constraining him to +adopt either course. And how many of the evils borne both by individuals +and by communities are attributable directly to their own misconduct, to +their willful disregard of the monitions of conscience! The body which +is now languid from inaction through sloth, and enfeebled or racked by +disease, might have been active, vigorous, and sound, prompt to second +every wish of its owner, and ministering to his enjoyment through every +sense and limb. And could we know all, could we extend our vision over +the whole history of our former self, how would our estimate of this +purely retributive character of our present suffering be enlarged and +confirmed! It would then be evident that no portion of it is gratuitous +or purposeless. And the community which is now torn with civil +dissension, desolated by war, or prostrated in an unequal strife with +its rivals, might have been peaceful, affluent, and flourishing, if +rulers and ruled had heeded the stern calls of duty, instead of blindly +following their own tumultuous passions. And as nations, too, have a +continuous life, like that of a river, through a constant change of +their constituent parts, many of their woes are clearly attributable to +the misdeeds of their former selves. Once admit the great truth that +virtue, not happiness, is man’s highest interest, and most of the pains +of this life indicate the goodness and justice of God quite as much as +its pleasures. + +“But according to the theory which we are now considering, a still +larger deduction must be made from the amount of apparent evil at any +one time visible in the world. All the inequalities in the lot of +mankind, which have prompted what are perhaps the bitterest of all +complaints, and have served skeptics like Hume and J. S. Mill as a +reason for the darkest imputations upon divine justice in the government +of the world, disappear from the picture altogether. Excepting only what +we have just considered, the retributive consequences of more or less +sin, there are no inequalities. All start from the same point, and +journey through the same vicissitudes of existence, exhausting sooner or +later all varieties of condition. Prince and peasant, bond and free, +barbarian and cultured, all share alike whatever weal or woe there is in +the world, because all must at some future time change places with each +other. But after these two large deductions from the amount complained +of, what remains? Very little, certainly, which we cannot even now see +through; that is, which we cannot assign an adequate reason for; and to +the eye of faith nothing remains. The world becomes a mirror which +reflects without blot or shadow the infinite goodness of its Creator and +Governor. Death remains; but that is no evil, for what we call death is +only the introduction to another life on earth, and if this be not a +higher and better life than the one just ended, it is our own fault. Our +life is really continuous, and the fact that the subsequent stages of it +lie beyond our present range of immediate vision is of no more +importance, and no more an evil, than the corresponding fact that we do +not now remember our previous existence in antecedent ages. Death alone, +or in itself considered, apart from the antecedent dread of it which is +irrational, and apart from the injury to the feelings of the survivors, +which is a necessary consequence of that attachment to each other from +which, so much of our happiness springs, is not even an apparent evil; +it is mere change and development, like the passage from the embryonic +to the adult condition, from the blossom to the fruit.” + +22. In “Ways of the Spirit, and other Essays,” by Professor Frederick +Henry Hedge, the twelfth chapter, upon “The Human Soul,” strongly +advocates reincarnation. By the publishers’ consent we reprint the pages +referring to it:— + +“We reach back with our recollection and find no beginning of existence. +Who of us knows anything except by report of the first two years of +earthly life? No one remembers the time when he first said ‘I,’ or +thought ‘I.’ We began to exist for others before we began to exist for +ourselves. Our experience is not co-extensive with our being, and memory +does not comprehend it. We bear not the root, but the root us. + +“What is the root? We call it soul. _Our_ soul, we call it; properly +speaking, it is not ours, but we are its. It is not a part of us, but we +are a part of it. It is not one article in an inventory of articles +which together make up our individuality, but the root of that +individuality. It is larger than we are, and other than we are—that is, +than our conscious self. The conscious self does not begin until some +time after the birth of the individual. It is not aboriginal, but a +product,—as it were, the blossoming of an individuality. We may suppose +countless souls which never bear this product, which never blossom into +self. And the soul which does so blossom exists before that blossom +unfolds. + +“How long before, it is impossible to say; whether the birth, for +example, of a human individual is the soul’s beginning to be; whether a +new soul is furnished to each new body, or the body given to a +preexisting soul. It is a question on which theology throws no light, +and which psychology but faintly illustrates. But so far as that faint +illustration reaches it favors the supposition of preëxistence. That +supposition seems best to match the supposed continued existence of the +soul hereafter. Whatever had a beginning in time, it should seem must +end in time. The eternal destination which faith ascribes to the soul +presupposes an eternal origin. On the other hand, if the preëxistence of +the soul were assured it would carry the assurance of immortality. + +An obvious objection, and one often urged against this hypothesis, is +the absence of any recollection of a previous life. If the soul existed +before its union with this present organization, why does it never +recall any circumstance, scene, or experience of its former state? There +have been those who professed to remember a past existence; but without +regarding those pretended reminiscences, or regarding them only as +illusions, I answer that the previous existence may not have been a +conscious existence. In that case there would have been no recorded +experience, and consequently nothing to recall. But suppose a conscious +existence antecedent to the present, the soul could not preserve the +record of a former organization. The new organization with its new +entries must necessarily efface the record of the old. For memory +depends on the continuity of association. When the thread of that +continuity is broken, the knowledge of the past is gone. If, in a state +of unconsciousness, one were taken entirely out of his present +surroundings; if falling asleep in one set of circumstances, like +Christopher Sly in that play, he were to wake in another, were to wake +to entirely new conditions; especially if during that sleep his body +were to undergo a change,—he would lose on waking all knowledge of the +former life for want of a connecting link between it and the new. And +this, according to the supposition, is precisely what has happened to +the soul at birth. The birth into the present was the death of the +old,—‘a sleep and a forgetting.’ The soul went to sleep in one body, it +woke in a new. The sleep is a gulf of oblivion between the two. + +And a happy thing, if the soul preëxisted, it is for us that we remember +nothing of its former life. The memory of a past existence would be a +drag on the present, engrossing our attention much to the prejudice of +this life’s interests and claims. The backward-looking soul would dwell +in the past instead of the present, and miss the best uses of life. + +But though on the supposition of a former existence the soul would not +be likely to preserve the record of that existence, it would +nevertheless retain the effect. It would not, on assuming its present +conditions, be as though it had never before been. Its past experience +would essentially modify it; it would take a character from its former +state. If a moral and intellectual being, it would bring into the world +of its present destination certain tendencies and dispositions, the +growth of a previous life. And thus the moral law and the moral nature +of the soul would assert themselves with retributions transcending the +limits of a single existence, and reaching on from life to life of the +pilgrim soul. + +It is commonly conceded that there are native differences of character +in men,—different propensities, tempers, not wholly explained by +difference of circumstances or education. They show themselves where +circumstances and education have been the same; they seem to be innate. +These are sometimes ascribed to organization. But organization is not +final. That, again, requires to be explained. According to my thinking, +it is the soul that makes organization, not organization the soul. The +supposition of a previous existence would best explain these differences +as something carried over from life to life,—the harvest of seed that +was sown in other states, and whose fruit remains, although the sowing +is remembered no more. + +“This was the theory of the most learned and acute of the Christian +Fathers (Origen), and though never adopted and sanctioned by the church, +has been occasionally revived in later time. Of all the theories +respecting the origin of the soul it seems to me the most plausible, and +therefore the one most likely to throw light on the question of a life +to come.” + + + + + V. + THE POETRY OF REINCARNATION IN WESTERN LITERATURE. + + + Poets, the first instructors of mankind.—HORACE. + + Poets are the truest diviners of nature.—BULWER-LYTTON. + + Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves + understand.—PLATO. + + Poets should be lawgivers; that is, the boldest lyric inspiration + should not chide and insult, but should announce and lead.—EMERSON. + + We call those poets who are first to mark + Through earth’s dull mist the coming of the dawn, + Who see in twilight’s gloom the first pale spark + While others only note that day is gone. + HOLMES. + + O brave poets, keep back nothing, + Nor mix falsehood with the whole. + Look up Godward! Speak the truth in + Worthy song from earnest soul! + Hold, in high poetic duty + Truest Truth, the fairest beauty. + MRS. BROWNING. + + The spirit of the Poets came at morn + To Sinai, summoned by the Lord’s command, + Singers and Seers; those born and those unborn + The chosen souls of men, a solemn band. + + The noble army ranged, in viewless might + Around that mountain peak which pierces heaven; + Greater and lesser teachers, sons of light, + Their number was ten thousand score and seven. + + Then Allah took a covenant with his own, + Saying, “My wisdom and my word receive. + Speak of me unto men, known or unknown, + Heard or unheard: bid such as will believe.” + + “Bear witness then,” spake Allah, “souls most dear, + I am your Lord, and ye heralds of mine.” + Thenceforward through all lands his Poets bear + The message of the mystery divine. + EDWIN ARNOLD. + + + + + V. + THE POETRY OF REINCARNATION IN WESTERN LITERATURE. + + +The poets are the seers of the race. Their best work comes from the +intuitional heights where they dwell, conveying truths beyond reason, +not understood even by themselves, but merely transmitted through them. +They are the few tall pines towering above the common forest to an +extraordinary exaltation, where they catch the earliest and latest +sunbeams which prolong their day far beyond the limits below, and +penetrating into the rare upper currents whose whisperings seldom +descend to the crowd. + +However diverse the forms of their expression, the heart of it is +thoroughly harmonious. They are always prophets voicing a divine message +received in the mount, and in these modern days they are almost the only +prophets we have. Therefore it is not a mere pleasantry to collect their +testimony upon an unusual theme. When it is found that, though working +independently, they are in deep accord upon reincarnation, the +inevitable conclusion is that their common inspiration means +something—namely, that their gospel is worth receiving. + +It may be objected that these poems are merely dreamy effusions along +the same line of lunacy, with no real attachment to the solid +foundations upon which all wholesome poetry is based; that they are +kinks in the intellects of genius displaying the weakness of men +otherwise strong. But so universal a feeling cannot be disposed of in +that way, especially when it is found to contribute to the solution of +life’s mystery. All the poets believe in immortality, though unaided +reason and observation cannot demonstrate it. Some inexperienced people +deride the fact that nearly all poetry centres upon the theme of +Love—the most illogical and airy of sentiments. But the deepest sense of +the world is nourished by the certainty of these “vague” truths. So the +presence of reincarnation in the creed of the poets may give us courage +to confide in our own impressions, for “all men are poets at heart.” +What they have dared publish we may venture to believe and will find a +source of strength. + +It is well known that the idea of reincarnation abounds in oriental +poetry. But as our purpose is to demonstrate the prevalence of the same +thought among our own poets, most of whom are wholly independent of +eastern influence, we shall here confine our attention to the +spontaneous utterances of American and European poets. We shall find +that the great majority of the highest occidental poets lean toward this +thought, and many of them unhesitatingly avow it. For convenience we +divide our study into four parts, comprising forty-two authors. + + Part I. American Poets, (twelve.) + + II. British Poets, (seventeen.) + + III. Continental Poets, (six.) + + IV. Platonic Poets, (seven.) + + + + + PART I. AMERICAN POETRY. + + + PREËXISTENCE. + + BY PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE. + + While sauntering through the crowded street + Some half-remembered face I meet, + Albeit upon no mortal shore + That face, methinks, hath smiled before. + Lost in a gay and festal throng + I tremble at some tender song + Set to an air whose golden bars + I must have heard in other stars. + In sacred aisles I pause to share + The blessing of a priestly prayer, + When the whole scene which greets mine eyes + In some strange mode I recognize, + As one whose every mystic part + I feel prefigured in my heart. + At sunset as I calmly stand + A stranger on an alien strand + Familiar as my childhood’s home + Seems the long stretch of wave and foam. + A ship sails toward me o’er the bay + And what she comes to do and say + I can foretell. A prescient lore + Springs from some life outlived of yore. + O swift, instructive, startling gleams + Of deep soul-knowledge: not as dreams + For aye ye vaguely dawn and die, + But oft with lightning certainty + Pierce through the dark oblivious brain + To make old thoughts and memories plain: + Thoughts which perchance must travel back + Across the wild bewildering track + Of countless æons; memories far + High reaching as yon pallid star, + Unknown, scarce seen, whose flickering grace + Faints on the outmost rings of space. + + + A MYSTERY. + + BY J. G. WHITTIER. + + The river hemmed with leaving trees + Wound through the meadows green, + A low blue line of mountain showed + The open pines between. + + One sharp tall peak above them all + Clear into sunlight sprang, + I saw the river of my dreams, + The mountain that I sang. + + No clue of memory led me on, + But well the ways I knew, + A feeling of familiar things + With every footstep grew. + + Yet ne’er before that river’s rim + Was pressed by feet of mine, + Never before mine eyes had crossed + That broken mountain line. + + A presence strange at once and known + Walked with me as my guide, + The skirts of some forgotten life + Trailed noiseless at my side. + + Was it a dim-remembered dream + Or glimpse through æons old? + The secret which the mountains kept + The river never told. + + + THE METEMPSYCHOSIS OF THE PINE. + + BY BAYARD TAYLOR. + + As when the haze of some wan moonlight makes + Familiar fields a land of mystery, + Where, chill and strange, a ghostly presence wakes + In flower or bush or tree, + + Another life, the life of day o’erwhelms, + The past from present consciousness takes hue + As we remember vast and cloudy realms + Our feet have wandered through: + + So, oft, some moonlight of the mind makes dumb + The stir of outer thought: wide open seems + The gate where through strange sympathies have come + The secret of our dreams: + + The source of fine impressions, shooting deep + Below the falling plummet of the sense + Which strike beyond all Time and backward sweep + Through all intelligence. + + We touch the lower life of beast and clod + And the long progress of the ages see + From blind old Chaos, ere the breath of God + Moved it to harmony. + + All outward vision yields to that within + Whereof nor creed nor canon holds the key; + We only feel that we have ever been + And evermore shall be. + + And thus I know, by memories unfurled + In rarer moods, and many a nameless sign + That once in Time and somewhere in the world + I was a towering pine. + + Rooted upon a cape that once o’erhung + The entrance to a mountain gorge + The wintry shadow of a peak was flung + Long after rise of sun. + + There did I clutch the granite with firm feet, + There shake my boughs above the roaring gulf, + When mountain whirlwinds through the passes beat + And howled the mountain wolf. + + · · · · · + + Some blind harmonic instinct pierced the rind + Of that slow life which made me straight and high, + And I became a harp for every wind, + A voice for every sky. + + And thus for centuries my rhythmic chant + Rolled down the gorge or surged about the hill, + Gentle or stern or sad or jubilant, + At every season’s will. + + No longer memory whispers whence arose + The doom that tore me from my place of pride, + Whether by storms that load the peak with snows, + Or hands of men I died. + + All sense departed with the boughs I wore, + And though I moved with mighty gales at strife + A mast upon the seas, I sang no more, + And music was my life. + + Yet still that life awakens, brings again + Its airy anthems, resonant and long, + Till earth and sky transfigured fill my brain + With rhythmic sweeps of song. + + Thence am I made a poet; thence are sprung + Those shadowy motions of the soul that reach + Beyond all grasp of art,—for which the soul + Is ignorant of speech. + + And if some wild full-gathered harmony + Rolls its unbroken music through my line, + There lives and murmurs, faintly though it be, + The spirit of the pine. + + + THE POET IN THE EAST. + + BY BAYARD TAYLOR. + + The poet came to the land of the East + When spring was in the air, + The East was dressed for a wedding feast + So young she seemed and fair, + And the poet knew the land of the East + His soul was native there. + + All things to him were the visible forms + Of early and precious dreams, + Familiar visions that mocked his quest + Beside the western streams, + Or gleamed in the gold of the clouds unrolled + In the sunset’s dying beams. + + + THE METEMPSYCHOSIS. + + BY T. B. ALDRICH. + + I know my own creation was divine. + Strewn on the breezy continents I see + The veinéd shells and burnished scales which once + Enclosed my being,—husks that had their use; + I brood on all the shapes I must attain + Before I reach the Perfect, which is God, + And dream my dream, and let the rabble go; + For I am of the mountains and the sea, + The deserts, and the caverns in the earth, + The catacombs and fragments of old worlds. + I was a spirit on the mountain-tops, + A perfume in the valleys, a simoom + On arid deserts, a nomadic wind + Roaming the universe, a tireless Voice. + I was ere Romulus and Remus were; + I was ere Nineveh and Babylon; + I was, and am, and evermore shall be, + Progressing, never reaching to the end. + A hundred years I trembled in the grass, + The delicate trefoil that muffled warm + A slope on Ida; for a hundred years + Moved in the purple gyre of those dark flowers + The Grecian women strew upon the dead. + Under the earth, in fragrant glooms, I dwelt; + Then in the veins and sinews of a pine + On a lone isle, where, from the Cyclades, + A mighty wind, like a leviathan, + Ploughed through the brine, and from those solitudes + Sent Silence, frightened. To and fro I swayed, + Drawing the sunshine from the stooping clouds. + Suns came and went, and many a mystic moon, + Orbing and waning, and fierce meteors, + Leaving their lurid ghosts to haunt the night. + I heard loud voices by the sounding shore, + The stormy sea-gods, and from fluted conchs + Wild music, and strange shadows floated by, + Some moaning and some singing. So the years + Clustered about me, till the hand of God + Let down the lightning from a sultry sky, + Splintered the pine and split the iron rock; + And from my odorous prison-house a bird, + I in its bosom, darted: so we flew, + Turning the brittle edge of one high wave, + Island and tree and sea-gods left behind! + Free as the air from zone to zone I flew, + Far from the tumult to the quiet gates + Of daybreak; and beneath me I beheld + Vineyards, and rivers that like silver threads + Ran through the green and gold of pasture-lands, + And here and there a hamlet, a white rose, + And here and there a city, whose slim spires + And palace-roofs and swollen domes uprose + Like scintillant stalagmites in the sun; + I saw huge navies battling with a storm + By ragged reefs along the desolate coasts,— + And lazy merchantmen, that crawled, like flies, + Over the blue enamel of the sea + To India or the icy Labradors. + A century was as a single day. + What is a day to an immortal soul? + A breath, no more. And yet I hold one hour + Beyond all price,—that hour when from the sky + I circled near and nearer to the earth, + Nearer and nearer, till I brushed my wings + Against the pointed chestnuts, where a stream, + That foamed and chattered over pebbly shoals, + Fled through the briony, and with a shout + Leapt headlong down a precipice; and there, + Gathering wild-flowers in the cool ravine, + Wandered a woman more divinely shaped + Than any of the creatures of the air, + Or river-goddesses, or restless shades + Of noble matrons marvellous in their time + For beauty and great suffering; and I sung, + I charmed her thought, I gave her dreams, and then + Down from the dewy atmosphere I stole + And nestled in her bosom. There I slept + From moon to moon, while in her eyes a thought + Grew sweet and sweeter, deepening like the dawn— + A mystical forewarning! When the stream, + Breaking through leafless brambles and dead leaves, + Piped shriller treble, and from chestnut-boughs + The fruit dropt noiseless through the autumn night, + I gave a quick, low cry, as infants do: + We weep when we are born, not when we die! + So was it destined; and thus came I here, + To walk the earth and wear the form of Man, + To suffer bravely as becomes my state, + One step, one grade, one cycle nearer God. + + + IDENTITY. + + BY T. B. ALDRICH. + + Somewhere—in desolate wind-swept space— + In twilight-land,—in no-man’s land, + Two hurrying shapes met face to face + And bade each other stand. + + “And who are you?” cried one agape, + Shuddering in the gloaming light. + “I know not,” said the other shape, + “I only died last night.” + + + ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO. + + BY CHARLES G. LELAND. + + Thou and I in spirit land + One thousand years ago, + Watched the waves beat on the strand, + Ceaseless ebb and flow, + Vowed to love and ever love, + One thousand years ago. + + Thou and I in greenwood shade + Nine hundred years ago + Heard the wild dove in the glade + Murmuring soft and low, + Vowed to love for evermore + Nine hundred years ago. + + Thou and I in yonder star + Eight hundred years ago + Saw strange forms of light afar + In wildest beauty glow. + All things change, but love endures + Now as long ago. + + Thou and I in Norman halls + Seven hundred years ago + Heard the warden on the walls + Loud his trumpets blow, + “Ton amors sera tojors,” + Seven hundred years ago. + + Thou and I in Germany, + Six hundred years ago. + Then I bound the red cross on, + “True love, I must go, + But we part to meet again + In the endless flow.” + + Thou and I in Syrian plains + Five hundred years ago + Felt the wild fire in our veins + To a fever glow. + All things die, but love lives on + Now as long ago. + + Thou and I in shadow land + Four hundred years ago + Saw strange flowers bloom on the strand, + Heard strange breezes blow. + In the ideal, love is real, + This alone I know. + + Thou and I in Italy + Three hundred years ago + Lived in faith and died for God, + Felt the fagots glow, + Ever new and ever true, + Three hundred years ago. + + Thou and I on Southern seas + Two hundred years ago + Felt the perfumed even-breeze, + Spoke in Spanish by the trees, + Had no care or woe. + Life went dreamily in song, + Two hundred years ago. + + Thou and I ’mid Northern snows + One hundred years ago + Led an iron silent life + And were glad to flow + Onward into changing death, + One hundred years ago. + + Thou and I but yesterday + Met in fashion’s show. + Love, did you remember me, + Love of long ago? + Yes: we kept the fond oath sworn + One thousand years ago. + + + THE FINAL THOUGHT. + + BY MAURICE THOMPSON. + + What is the grandest thought + Toward which the soul has wrought? + Has it the spirit form, + And the power of a storm? + Comes it of prophecy + (That borrows light of uncreated fires) + Or of transmitted strains of memory + Sent down through countless sires? + + · · · · · + + Which way are my feet set? + Through infinite changes yet + Shall I go on, + Nearer and nearer drawn + To thee, + God of eternity? + How shall the Human grow, + By changes fine and slow, + To thy perfection from the life-dawn sought? + What is the highest thought? + + Ah! these dim memories, + Of when thy voice spake lovingly to me, + Under the Eden trees, + Saying, “Lord of all creation thou shalt be,”— + How they haunt me and elude— + How they hover, how they brood + On the horizon, fading yet dying not! + What is the final thought? + + What if I once did dwell + In the lowest dust germ-cell, + A faint fore-hint of life called forth of God, + Waxing and struggling on, + Through the long flickering dawn, + The awful while His feet earth’s bosom trod? + What if He shaped me so, + And caused my life to blow + Into the full soul-flower in Eden-air? + Lo! now I am not good, + And I stand in solitude, + Calling to Him (and yet He answers not): + What is the final thought? + + What myriads of years up from the germ! + What countless ages back from man to worm! + And yet from man to God,—oh, help me now! + A cold despair is beading on my brow! + I may see Him, and seeing know Him not! + What is the highest thought? + + · · · · · + + So comes, at last, + The answer from the Vast.... + Not so, there is a rush of wings— + Earth feels the presence of invisible things, + Closer and closer drawn + In rosy mists of dawn! + One dies to conquer Death + And to burst the awful tomb— + Lo, with his dying breath + He blows love into bloom! + Love! Faith is born of it! + Death is the scorn of it! + It fills the earth and thrills the heavens above: + And God is love, + And life is love, and, though we heed it not, + Love is the final thought. + + + FROM “A POEM READ AT BROWN UNIVERSITY.” + + BY N. P. WILLIS. + + But what a mystery this erring mind? + It wakes within a frame of various powers + A stranger in a new and wondrous world. + It brings an instinct from some other sphere, + For its fine senses are familiar all, + And with the unconscious habit of a dream + It calls and they obey. The priceless sight + Springs to its curious organ, and the ear + Learns strangely to detect the articulate air + In its unseen divisions, and the tongue + Gets its miraculous lesson with the rest, + And in the midst of an obedient throng + Of well trained ministers, the mind goes forth + To search the secrets of its new found home. + + + FROM “BEYOND.” + + BY J. T. TROWBRIDGE. + + From her own fair dominions + Long since, with shorn pinions + My spirit was banished. + But above her still hover in vigils and dreams + Ethereal visitants, voices and gleams + That forever remind her + Of something behind her + Long vanished. + Through the listening night + With mysterious flight + Pass winged intimations; + Like stars shot from heaven, their still voices call to me— + Far and departing they signal and call to me, + Strangely beseeching me, + Chiding yet teaching me + Patience. + + + FROM “RAIN IN SUMMER.” + + BY H. W. LONGFELLOW. + + Thus the seer, with vision clear, + Sees forms appear and disappear + In the perpetual round of strange + Mysterious change + From birth to death, from death to birth, + From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth, + Till glimpses more sublime + Of things unseen before + Unto his wondering eyes reveal + The universe, as an immeasurable wheel + Turning for evermore + In the rapid rushing river of time. + + + FROM “THE TWILIGHT.” + + BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. + + Sometimes a breath floats by me, + And odor from Dreamland sent, + Which makes the ghost seem nigh me + Of a something that came and went, + Of a life lived somewhere, I know not + In what diviner sphere: + Of mem’ries that come not and go not; + Like music once heard by an ear + That cannot forget or reclaim it; + A something so shy, it would shame it + To make it a show. + A something too vague, could I name it, + For others to know: + As though I had lived it and dreamed it, + As though I had acted and schemed it + Long ago. + + And yet, could I live it over, + This Life which stirs in my brain; + Could I be both maiden and lover, + Moon and tide, bee and clover, + As I seem to have been, once again,— + Could I but speak and show it, + This pleasure more sharp than pain, + Which baffles and lures me so,— + The world would not lack a poet, + Such as it had + In the ages glad, + Long ago. + + + FROM “FACING WEST FROM CALIFORNIA’S SHORES.” + + BY WALT WHITMAN. + + Facing west from California’s shores, + Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound, + I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the + land of migrations, look afar, + Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost circled: + For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere, + + From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the hero, + From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands, + Long having wander’d since, round the earth having wander’d, + Now I face home again, very pleas’d and joyous. + (But where is what I started for so long ago? + And why is it yet unfound?) + + + FROM “LEAVES OF GRASS.” + + BY WALT WHITMAN. + + I know I am deathless. + I know that this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter’s compass; + And whether I come to my own to-day, or in ten thousand or ten million + years, + I can cheerfully take it now or with equal cheerfulness I can wait. + + · · · · · + + As to you, Life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths. + No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before. + + · · · · · + + Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years. + + · · · · · + + Births have brought us richness and variety, and other births have + brought us richness and variety. + + + STANZAS. + + BY THOMAS W. PARSONS. + + “_We are such stuff as dreams are made of._” + + We have forgot what we have been, + And what we are we little know; + We fancy new events begin, + But all has happened long ago. + + Through many a verse life’s poem flows, + But still, though seldom marked by men, + At times returns the constant close, + Still the old chorus comes again. + + The childish grief—the boyish fear— + The hope in manhood’s breast that burns; + The doubt—the transport, and the tear— + Each mood, each impulse, oft returns. + + Before mine infant eyes had hailed + The new-born glory of the day, + When the first wondrous morn unveiled + The breathing world that round me lay; + + The same strange darkness o’er my brain + Folded its close mysterious wings, + The ignorance of joy or pain, + That each recurring midnight brings. + + Full oft my feelings make me start, + Like footprints on a desert shore, + As if the chambers of my heart + Had heard their shadowy step before. + + So looking into thy fond eyes, + Strange memories come to me, as though + Somewhere—perchance in Paradise— + I had adored thee long ago. + + + + + PART II. BRITISH POETRY. + + + FROM “INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY.” + + BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. + + Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; + The soul that rises with us, our life’s star, + Hath had elsewhere its setting, + And cometh from afar. + Not in entire forgetfulness + And not in utter nakedness + But trailing clouds of glory do we come + From God who is our home. + Heaven lies about us in our infancy; + Shades of the prison house begin to close + Upon the growing boy; + But he beholds the light, and whence it flows + He sees it in his joy. + The youth who daily farther from the East + Must travel, still is nature’s priest, + And by the vision splendid + Is on his way attended. + At length the man perceives it die away + And fade into the light of common day. + +Edmund W. Gosse treats the idea of Wordsworth’s “Intimations” in a way +directly opposite to the older poet, acknowledging the previous life, +but rejoicing in the speedy forgetting of it, in these verses:— + + + TO MY DAUGHTER. + + BY EDMUND W. GOSSE. + + Thou hast the colors of the Spring, + The gold of king cups triumphing, + The blue of wood-bells wild; + But winter thoughts thy spirit fill, + And thou art wandering from us still, + Too young to be our child. + + Yet have thy fleeting smiles confessed, + Thou dear and much desired guest, + That home is near at hand. + Long lost in high mysterious lands, + Close by our door thy spirit stands, + In journey wellnigh past. + + Oh, sweet bewildered soul, I watch + The fountains of thine eyes, to catch + New fancies bubbling there; + To feel one common light, and lose + The flood of strange ethereal hues + Too dire for us to share! + + Fade, cold immortal lights, and make + This creature human for my sake, + Since I am nought but clay; + An angel is too fine a thing + To sit behind my chair and sing + And cheer my passing day. + + I smile, who could not smile, unless + The air of rapt unconsciousness + Passed with the fading hours; + I joy in every childish sign + That proves the stranger less divine + And much more meekly ours. + + + A REMEMBRANCE. + + BY DEAN ALFORD. + + Methinks I can remember when a shade + All soft and flowery was my couch, and I + A little naked child, with fair white flesh + And wings all gold bedropt, and o’er my head + Bright fruits were hanging and tall balmy shrines + Shed odorous gums around me, and I lay + Sleeping and waking in that wondrous air + Which seemed infused with glory, and each breeze + Bore as it wandered by, sweet melodies; + But whence, I knew not. One delight was there, + Whether of feeling or of sight or touch + I know not now—which is not in this earth, + Something all-glorious and all-beautiful, + Of which our language speaketh not, and which + Flies from the eager grasping of my thought + As doth the shade of a forgotten dream. + All knowledge had I, but I cared not then + To search into my soul and draw it thence. + The blessed creatures that around me played + I knew them all, and where their resting was, + And all their hidden symmetry I knew, + And how the form is linked into the soul,— + I knew it all, but thought not on it then, + I was so happy. + + And once upon a time + I saw an army of bright beaming shapes + Fair-faced and rosy-cinctured and gold-winged + Approach upon the air. They came to me + And from a crystal chalice silver brimmed + Put sparkling potion to my lips and stood + All around me, in the many blooming shades, + Shedding into the centre where I lay + A mingling of soft light; and then they sang + Songs of the land they dwelt in; and the last + Lingereth even till now upon mine ear: + + Holy and blest + Be the calm of thy rest, + For thy chamber of sleep + Shall be dark and deep; + They shall dig thee a tomb + In the dark deep womb, + In the warm dark womb. + Spread ye, spread the dewy mist around him, + Spread ye, spread till the thick dark night surround him, + Till the dark long night has bound him + Which bindeth all before their birth + Down upon the nether earth. + The first cloud is beaming and bright, + The next cloud is mellowed in light, + The third cloud is dim to sight, + And it stretches away into gloomy night. + Twine ye, twine the mystic threads around him, + Twine ye, twine, till the fast firm fate surround him, + Till the firm cold fate hath bound him + Which bindeth all before their birth + Down upon the nether earth. + The first thread is beaming and bright, + The next thread is mellowed in light, + The third thread is dim to sight, + And it stretches away into gloomy night. + Sing ye, sing the fairy songs around him, + Sing ye, sing, till the dull warm sleep surround him, + Till the warm damp sleep hath bound him + Which bindeth all before their birth + Down upon the nether earth. + The first dream is beaming and bright, + The next dream is mellowed in light, + The third dream is dim to sight, + And it stretches away into gloomy night. + + Then dimness passed upon me, and that song + Was sounding o’er me when I woke + To be a pilgrim on the nether earth. + + + RETURNING DREAMS. + + BY R. M. MILNES (LORD HOUGHTON). + + As in that world of Dream whose mystic shades + Are cast by still more mystic substances, + We ofttimes have an unreflecting sense, + A silent consciousness of some things past, + So clear that we can wholly comprehend + Others of which they are a part, and even + Continue them in action, though no stress + Of after memory can recognize + That we have had experience of those things + Or sleeping or awake: + Thus in the dream, + Our universal Dream, of Mortal Life, + The incidents of an anterior dream, + Or it may be, Existence, noiselessly intrude + Into the daily flow of earthly things, + Instincts of good—immediate sympathies, + Places come at by chance, that claim at once + An old acquaintance—single random looks + That bare a stranger’s bosom to our eyes; + We _know_ these things are so, we ask not why, + But act and follow as the Dream goes on. + + + FROM “DE PROFUNDIS.” + BIRTH. + + BY ALFRED TENNYSON. + + Out of the deep, my child, out of the deep, + Where all that was to be, in all that was, + Whirled for a million æons thro’ the vast + Waste dawn of multitudinous eddying light— + Out of the deep, my child, out of the deep, + Thro’ all this changing world of changeless law, + And every phase of ever heightening life, + And nine long months of ante-natal gloom, + Thou comest. + +Tennyson also writes in “The Two Voices”:— + + For how should I for certain hold + Because my memory is so cold, + That I _first_ was in human mould? + + It may be that no life is found + Which only to one engine bound + Falls off, but cycles always round. + + But, if I lapsed from nobler place, + Some legend of a fallen race + Alone might hint of my disgrace. + + Or, if through lower lives I came came— + Tho’ all experience past became + Consolidate in mind and frame— + + I might forget my weaker lot; + For is not our first year forgot? + The haunts of memory echo not. + + Some draughts of Lethe doth await, + As old mythologies relate, + The slipping through from state to state. + + Moreover, something is or seems, + That touches me with mystic gleams, + Like glimpses of forgotten dreams— + + Of something felt, like something here; + Of something done, I know not where; + Such as no language may declare. + +More interesting still, from Tennyson, is an early sonnet which has been +omitted from the later editions of his collected poetry:— + + As when with downcast eyes we muse and brood + And ebb into a former life, or seem + To lapse far back in a confused dream + To states of mystical similitude, + If one but speaks or hems or stirs a chair + Ever the wonder waxeth more and more, + So that we say, all this hath been before, + All this _hath_ been, I know not when or where; + So, friend, when first I looked upon your face + Our thoughts gave answer each to each, so true, + Opposed mirrors each reflecting each— + Although I knew not in what time or place, + Methought that I had often met with you, + And each had lived in other’s mind and speech. + + + SUDDEN LIGHT. + + BY D. G. ROSSETTI. + + ‘I have been here before, + But when or how I cannot tell; + I know the grass beyond the door, + The sweet keen smell, + The sighing sound, the lights around the shore. + + You have been mine before,— + How long ago I may not know: + But just when at that swallow’s soar + Your neck turned so, + Some veil did fall,—I knew it all of yore. + + Then, now, perchance again! + O round mine eyes your tresses shake! + Shall we not lie as we have lain + Thus for Love’s sake, + And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?’ + + + FROM “CATO’S SOLILOQUY ON THE SOUL.” + + BY JOSEPH ADDISON. + + Eternity—thou pleasing, dreadful thought, + Through what variety of untried being, + Through what new scenes and dangers must we pass? + The wide, th’ unbounded prospect lies before me, + But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it. + + + FROM “THE MYSTIC.” + + BY PHILIP JAMES BAILEY. + + Who dreams not life more yearful than the hours + Since first into this world he wept his way + Erreth much, may be. Called of God, man’s soul + In patriarchal periods, comet-like, + Ranges, perchance, all spheres successive, and in each + With nobler powers endowed and senses new + Set season bideth. + + + FROM “A RECORD.” + + BY WILLIAM SHARP. + + None sees the slow and upward sweep + By which the soul from life-depths deep + Ascends,—unless, mayhap, when free, + With each new death we backward see + The long perspective of our race + Our multitudinous past lives trace. + +The following occurs in Tupper’s “Proverbial Philosophy”:— + + + OF MEMORY. + + Be ye my judges, imaginative minds, full-fledged to soar into the sun, + Whose grosser natural thoughts the chemistry of wisdom hath sublimed, + Have ye not confessed to a feeling, a consciousness strange and vague, + That ye have gone this way before, and walk again your daily life, + Tracking an old routine, and on some foreign strand, + Where bodily ye have never stood, finding your own footsteps? + Hath not at times some recent friend looked out an old familiar, + Some newest circumstance or place teemed as with ancient memories? + A startling sudden flash lighteth up all for an instant, + And then it is quenched, as in darkness, and leaveth the cold spirit + trembling. + +Throughout Browning the truth of reincarnation finds frequent utterance, +though not always so distinctly as in these three extracts. + + + FROM “PARACELSUS.” + + At times I almost dream + I too have spent a life the sages’ way, + And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance + I perished in an arrogant self-reliance + An age ago; and in that act, a prayer + For one more chance went up so earnest, so + Instinct with better light let in by Death, + That life was blotted out—not so completely + But scattered wrecks enough of it remain, + Dim memories; as now, when seems once more + The goal in sight again. + + + FROM “ONE WORD MORE.” + + I shall never, in the years remaining, + Paint you pictures, no, nor carve you statues. + This of verse alone one life allows me; + Other heights in other lives, God willing. + + + FROM “CHRISTINA.” + + There are flashes struck from midnights, there are fireflames noondays + kindle, + Whereby piled-up honors perish, whereby swollen ambitions dwindle; + While just this or that poor impulse which for once had play unstifled, + Seems the sole work of a lifetime that away the rest have trifled. + + Doubt you if, in some such moment, as she fixed me, she felt clearly, + Ages past the soul existed, here an age ’tis resting merely, + And hence fleets again for ages; while the true end, sole and single, + It stops here for is, this lone way, with some other soul to mingle. + +In Dr. Leyden’s beautiful “Ode to Scottish Music” is this stanza:— + + Ah, sure, as Hindoo legends tell, + When music’s tones the bosom swell + The scenes of former life return, + Ere sunk beneath the morning star, + We left our parent climes afar, + Immured in mortal forms to mourn. + +Coleridge confesses his fondness for the same idea in the sonnet which +he composed “On a homeward journey upon hearing of the birth of a son”:— + + Oft in my brain does that strange fancy roll + Which makes the present (while the flash does last) + Seem a mere semblance of some unknown past, + Mixed with such feelings as perplex the soul + Self-questioned in her sleep: and some have said + We lived, ere yet this robe of flesh we wore. + O my sweet baby! when I reach my door + If heavy looks should tell me thou art dead + (As sometimes through excess of hope I fear), + I think that I should struggle to believe + Thou wert a spirit, to this nether sphere + Sentenced for some more venial crime to grieve; + Didst scream, then spring to meet Heaven’s quick reprieve, + While we wept idly o’er thy little bier. + +The following poem has a peculiar history. Though one of the most +beautiful of the entire group, it is the work of a seventeen-year-old +girl. In 1846 this child, Emma Tatham, attracted the attention of a +London clergyman as a poetic genius, and she read to him, at his +frequent visits, her phenomenal compositions, with playful frankness +devoid of all affectation or consciousness of brilliancy. She was very +delicate, but of ruddy countenance, and her bright winning simplicity +carried no suggestion of a sickly prodigy. But she was an intimate +friend of the best poets through their books, and her critical judgment +of their works was surprisingly mature and keen. From the age of sixteen +to that of seventeen and a half, she rapidly wrote an abundance of +exquisite poems. Her extreme modesty would not permit their publication +until 1854—seven years later. Issued in the quietest way by a provincial +publisher, they met with a singular unanimity of applause, though the +extreme youth of their author was unknown. Her rich religious experience +directed most of them into the vein of lofty piety, but the general +press, and even “The Athenæum,” that severest censor of new writers, +spoke commendingly of them. The first edition sold in a few weeks. An +exceptionally brilliant career was predicted for the young poet, but in +less than a year from the announcement of her book, she died. + +“The Dream of Pythagoras,” the initial poem of the volume, from which +the collection is named, is given here entire (from the fifth edition, +1872), as it is familiar to few Americans. + + + THE DREAM OF PYTHAGORAS. + + BY EMMA TATHAM. + + “The soul was not then imprisoned in a gross mortal body, as it is + now: it was united to a luminous, heavenly, ethereal body, which + served it as a vehicle to fly through the air, rise to the stars, and + wander over all the regions of immensity.” + + PYTHAGORAS, in _Travels of Cyrus_. + + Pythagoras, amidst Crotona’s groves, + One summer eve, sat; whilst the sacred few + And favour’d at his feet reclin’d, entranc’d, + List’ning to his great teachings. O’er their heads + A lofty oak spread out his hundred hands + Umbrageous, and a thousand slant sunbeams + Play’d o’er them; but beneath all was obscure + And solemn, save that, as the sun went down, + One pale and tremulous sunbeam, stealing in + Through the unconscious leaves her silent way, + Fell on the forehead of Pythagoras + Like spiritual radiance; all else wrapt + In gloom delicious; while the murmuring wind, + Oft moving through the forest as in dreams, + Made melancholy music. Then the sage + Thus spoke: “My children, listen; let the soul + Hear her mysterious origin, and trace + Her backward path to heaven. ’Twas but a dream; + And yet from shadows may we learn the shape + And substance of undying truth. Methought + In vision I beheld the first beginning + And after-changes of my soul. O joy! + She is of no mean origin, but sprang + From loftier source than stars or sunbeams know. + Yea, like a small and feeble rill that bursts + From everlasting mountain’s coronet, + And, winding through a thousand labyrinths + Of darkness, deserts, and drear solitudes, + Yet never dies, but, gaining depth and power, + Leaps forth at last with uncontrollable might + Into immortal sunshine and the breast + Of boundless ocean,—so is this my soul. + I felt myself spring like a sunbeam out + From the Eternal, and my first abode + Was a pure particle of light, wherein, + Shrined like a beam in crystal, I did ride + Gloriously through the firmament on wings + Of floating flowers, ethereal gems, and wreaths + Of vernal rainbows. I did paint a rose + With blush of day-dawn, and a lily-bell + With mine own essence; every morn I dipt + My robe in the full sun, then all day long + Shook out its dew on earth, and was content + To be unmark’d, unworshipp’d, and unknown, + And only lov’d of heaven. Thus did my soul + Live spotless like her Source. ’Twas mine to illume + The palaces of nature, and explore + Her hidden cabinets, and, raptur’d, read + Her joyous secrets. O return, thou life + Of purity! I flew from mountain-top + To mountain, building rainbow-bridges up— + From hill to hill, and over boundless seas: + Ecstasy was such life, and on the verge + Of ripe perfection. But, alas! I saw + And envied the bold lightning, who could blind + And startle nations, and I long’d to be + A conqueror and destroyer, like to him. + Methought it was a glorious joy, indeed, + To shut and open heaven as he did, + And have the thunders for my retinue, + And tear the clouds, and blacken palaces, + And in a moment whiten sky, and sea, + And earth: therefore I murmur’d at my lot, + Beautiful as it was, and that one murmur + Despoil’d me of my glory. I became + A dark and tyrant cloud driven by the storm, + Too earthly to be bright, too hard of heart + To drop in mercy on the thirsty land; + And so no creature lov’d me. I was felt + A blot where’er I came. Fair Summer scorn’d + And spurn’d me from her blueness, for, she said, + I would not wear her golden fringe, and so + She could not rank me in her sparkling train. + Soft spring refused me, for she could not paint + Her rainbows on a nature cold as mine, + Incapable of tears. Autumn despised + One who could do no good. Dark Winter frown’d, + And number’d me among his ruffian host + Of racers. Then unceasingly I fled + Despairing through the murky firmament, + Like a lone wreck athwart a midnight sea, + Chased by the howling spirits of the storm, + And without rest. At last, one day I saw + In my continual flight, a desert blank + And broad beneath me, where no water was; + And there I mark’d a weary antelope, + Dying for thirst, all stretched out on the sand, + With her poor trembling lips in agony + Press’d to a scorch’d-up spring; then, then, at last + My hard heart broke, and I could weep. At once + My terrible race was stopp’d, and I did melt + Into the desert’s heart, and with my tears + I quench’d the thirst of the poor antelope. + So having pour’d myself into the dry + And desolate waste, I sprang up a wild flower + In solitary beauty. There I grew + Alone and feverish, for the hot sun burn’d + And parch’d my tender leaves, and not a sigh + Came from the winds. I seem’d to breathe an air + Of fire, and had resign’d myself to death, + When lo! a solitary dewdrop fell + Into my burning bosom; then, for joy, + My spirit rush’d into my lovely guest, + And I became a dewdrop. Then, once more, + My life was joyous, for the kingly sun + Carried me up into the firmament, + And hung me in a rainbow, and my soul + Was robed in seven bright colors, and became + A jewel in the sky. So did I learn + The first great lessons; mark ye them, my sons. + Obedience is nobility; and meek + Humility is glory; self alone + Is base; and pride is pain; patience is power; + Beneficence is bliss. And now first brought + To know myself and feel my littleness, + I was to learn what greatness is prepar’d + For virtuous souls, what mighty war they wage, + What vast impossibilities o’ercome, + What kingdoms, and infinitude of love, + And harmony, and never-ending joy, + And converse, and communion with the great + And glorious Mind unknown,—are given to high + And godlike souls. + + “Therefore the winds arose, + And shook me from the rainbow where I hung, + Into the depths of ocean; then I dived + Down to the coral citadels, and roved + Through crystal mazes, among pearls and gems, + And lovely buried creatures, who had sunk + To find the jewel of eternal life. + Sweet babes I saw clasp’d in their mothers’ arms; + Kings of the north, each with his oozy crown; + Pale maidens, with their golden streaming hair + Floating in solemn beauty, calm and still, + In the deep, silent, tideless wave; I saw + Young beauteous boys wash’d down from reeling masts + By sudden storm; and brothers sleeping soft, + Lock’d in each other’s arms; and countless wealth, + And curling weed, and treasur’d knots of hair, + And mouldering masts, and giant hulls that sank + With thunder sobbing; and blue palaces + Where moonbeams, hand in hand, did dance with me + To the soft music of the surging shells, + Where all else was at rest. Calm, calm, and hush’d, + And stormless, were those hidden deeps, and clear + And pure as crystal. There I wander’d long + In speechless dreamings, and wellnigh forgot + My corporal nature, for it seem’d + Melting into the silent infinite + Around me, and I peacefully began + To feel the mighty universe commune + And converse with me; and my soul became + One note in nature’s harmony. So sweet + And soothing was that dream-like ecstasy, + I could have slept into a wave, and roll’d + Away through the blue mysteries forever, + Dreaming my soul to nothing; I could well + Have drown’d my spark of immortality + In drunkenness of peace; I knew not yet + The warrior life of virtue, and the high + And honourable strife and storm that cleanse + And exercise her pinions. I was now + To learn the rapture of the struggle made + For immortality and truth; therefore + The ocean toss’d me to his mountain chains, + Bidding me front the tempest; fires of heaven + Were dancing o’er his cataracts, and scared + His sounding billows; glorious thunders roll’d + Beneath, above, around; the strong winds fought, + Lifting up pyramids of tortur’d waves, + Then dashing them to foam. I saw great ships + As feathers on the opening sepulchres + And starting monuments, + And the gaunt waves leap’d up like fountains fierce, + And snatch’d down frighten’d clouds, then shouting—fell, + And rose again. I, whirling on their tops, + Dizzy flew over masts of staggering ships, + Then plunged into black night. My soul grew mad + Ravish’d with the intense magnificence + Of the harmonious chaos, for I heard + Music amidst the thunders, and I saw + Measure in all the madness of the waves + And whirlpools; yea, I lifted up my voice + In praise of the Eternal, for I felt + Rock’d in His hand, as in a cradling couch; + Rejoicing in His strength; yea, I found rest + In the unbounded roar, and fearless sang + Glad echo to the thunder, and flash’d back + The bright look of the lightning, and did fly + On the dark pinions of the hurricane spirit + In rapturous repose; till suddenly + My soul expanded, and I sprang aloft + Into the lightning flame, leaping for joy + From cloud to cloud. Then, first I felt my wings + Wave into immortality, and flew + Across the ocean with a shouting host + Of thunders at my heels, and lit up heaven, + And earth and sea, with one quick lamp, and crown’d + The mountains with a momentary gold, + Then cover’d them with blackness. Then I glanced + Upon the mighty city in her sleep, + Pierced all her mysteries with one swift look, + Then bade my thunders shout. The city trembled; + And charm’d with the sublime outcry, I paus’d + And listen’d. Yet had I to rise and learn + A loftier lesson. I was lifted high + Into the heavens, and there became a star, + And on my new-form’d orb two angels sat. + The one thus spoke: ‘O spirit, young and pure! + Say, wilt thou be my shrine? I am of old, + The first of all things, and of all the greatest; + I am the Sovereign Majesty, to whom + The universe is given, though for a while + I war with rebels strong; my name is Truth. + I am the Spirit of wisdom, love, and power, + And come to claim thee; and if thou obey + My guiding, I will give thee thy desire, + Even eternal life.’ He ceas’d, and then + The second angel spoke. ‘Ask not, O soul! + My name; I bid thee free thyself, and know + Thou hast the fount of life in thy own breast, + And need’st no guiding: be a child no longer; + Throw off thy fetters, and with me enjoy + Thy native independence, and assert + Thy innate majesty; Truth binds not me, + And yet I am immortal; be thou, too, + A god unto thyself.’ + “But I had learn’d + My own deep insufficiency, and gazed + Indignant on th’ unholy angel’s face, + And pierced its false refulgence, knowing well + Obedience only is true liberty + For spirits form’d to obey; so best they reign. + Straight the base rebel fled, and, ruled by Truth, + I roll’d unerring on my shining road + Around a glorious centre; free, though bound, + Because love bound me, and my law became + My life and nature; and my lustrous orb + Pure spirits visited: I wore a light + That shone across infinitude, and serv’d + To guide returning wanderers. I sang + With all my starry sisters, and we danced + Around the throne of Time, and wash’d the base + Of high Eternity like golden sands. + There first my soul drank music, and was taught + That melody is part of heaven, and lives + In every heaven-born spirit like her breath; + There did I learn, that music without end + Breathes, murmurs, swells, echoes, and floats, and peals, + And thunders through creation, and in truth + Is the celestial language, and the voice + Of love; and now my soul began to speak + The speech of immortality. But yet + I was to learn a lesson more severe— + To shine alone in darkness, and the deeps + Of sordid earth. So did I fall from heaven + Far into night, beneath the mountains’ roots, + There, as a diamond burning amidst things + Too base for utterance. Then, alas! I felt + The stirrings of impatience, pining sore + For freedom, and communion with the fires + And majesties of heaven, with whom erewhile + I walk’d, their equal. I had not yet learn’d + That our appointed place is loftiest, + However lowly. I was made to feel + The dignity of suffering. O, my sons! + Sorrow and joy are but the spirit’s life; + Without these she is scarcely animate; + Anguish and bliss ennoble: either proves + The greatness of its subject, and expands + Her nature into power; her every pulse + Beats into new-born force, urging her on + To conquering energy.—Then was I cast + Into hot fires and flaming furnaces, + Deep in the hollow globe; there did I burn + Deathless in agony, without murmur, + Longing to die, until my patient soul + Fainted into perfection: at that hour, + Being victorious, I was snatch’d away + To yet another lesson. I became + A date-tree in the desert, to pour out + My life in dumb benevolence, and full + Obedience to each wind of heaven that blew. + The traveller came—I gave him all my shade, + Asking for no reward; the lost bird flew + For shelter to my branches, and I hid + Her nest among my leaves; the sunbeams ask’d + To rest their hot and weary feet awhile + On me, and I spread out my every arm + T’ embrace them, fanning them with all my plumes. + Beneath my shade the dying pilgrim fell + Praying for water; I cool dewdrops caught + And shook them on his lip; I gave my fruit + To strengthen the faint stranger, and I sang + Soft echoes to the winds, living in nought + For self; but in all things for others’ good. + The storm arose, and patiently I bore + And yielded to his tyranny; I bow’d + My tenderest foliage to his angry blast, + And suffer’d him to tear it without sigh, + And scatter on the waste my all of wealth. + The billowing sands o’erwhelm’d me, yet I stood + Silent beneath them; so they roll’d away, + And rending up my roots, left me a wreck + Upon the wilderness. + “’Twas thus, my sons, + I dream’d my spirit wander’d, till at length, + As desolate I mourn’d my helpless woe, + My guardian angel took me to his heart, + And thus he said: ‘Spirit, well tried and true! + Conqueror I have made thee, and prepar’d + For human life; behold! I wave the palm + Of immortality before thine eyes: + ’Tis thine; it shall be thine, if thou aright + Acquit thee of the part which yet remains, + And teach what thou hast learn’d.’ + “This said, he smil’d, + And gently laid me in my mother’s arms. + Thus far the vision brought me—then it fled, + And all was silence. Ah! ’twas but a dream; + This soul in vain struggles for purity; + This self-tormenting essence may exist + For ever; but what joy can being give + Without perfection! vainly do I seek + That bliss for which I languish. Surely yet + The Day-spring of our nature is to come; + Mournful we wait that dawning; until then + We grovel in the dust—in midnight grope, + For ever seeking, never satisfied.” + + Thus spake the solemn seer, then pausing, sigh’d, + For all was darkness. + +Dr. Donne, in a long poem called “The Progress of the Soul,” traces the +Pythagorean course of an immortal being through an apple (by which Eve +was tempted), a plant, a sparrow, a fish, a mouse (which climbed an +elephant’s proboscis to the brain, + + “the soul’s bedchamber, + And gnawed the life-cords there like a whole town + Till, undermined, the slain beast tumbled down; + With him the murderer dies, whom envy sent to kill.” + +Then the soul enters a wolf, an ape, and at last a woman—Themech, the +sister and wife of Cain. + +Mortimer Collins’s poem, “The Inn of Strange Meetings,” is an +interesting expression of reincarnation, but it is too long to reprint +here. Similar glimpses of this thought occur in Byron, Pope, Southey, +Swinburne, and others, but it is difficult to select from them a +distinct and continuous wording of it. + + * * * * * + +Though not necessarily meaning reincarnation, the following poem upon +the great Rugby educator, by his son, so aptly fits the idea that it may +well conclude this section:— + + + DR. ARNOLD. + + BY MATTHEW ARNOLD. + + O strong soul, by what shore + Tarriest thou now? For that force, + Surely, has not been left in vain; + Somewhere, surely, afar, + In the sounding labor-house vast + Of being, is practised that strength, + Zealous, beneficent, firm! + + Yes, in some far-shining sphere, + Conscious or not of the past, + Still thou performest the word + Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live, + Prompt, unwearied, as here! + Still thou upraisest with zeal + The humble good from the ground. + + + + + PART III. CONTINENTAL POETRY. + + +Ever since the time of Virgil, whose sixth Æneid (verses 724-) contains +a sublime version of reincarnation, and of Ovid, whose Metamorphoses +beautifully present the old Greek mythologies of metempsychosis, this +theme has attracted many European poets beside those of England. While +the Latin poets obtained their inspiration from the East, through +Pythagoras and Plato, the Northern singers seem to express it +independently, unless it came to them with the Teutonic migration from +the Aryan cradle of the race, and shifted its form with all their +people’s wanderings so that it has lost all traces of connection with +its Indian source. The old Norse legends teem with many guises of +soul-journeying. In sublime and lovely stories, ballads, and epics, +these vikings and their kindred perpetuated their belief that the human +individuality travels through a great series of embodiments, which +physically reveal the spiritual character. The Icelandic Sagas also +delight in these fables of transmigration, and still fire the heart of +Scandinavia and Denmark. It permeated the Welsh triads, and among the +early Saxons this thought animated their Druid ceremonies and their +noblest literature. The scriptures of those magnificent races whom +Tacitus found in the German forests, whose intrepid manliness conquered +the mistress of the world, and from whom are descended the modern ruling +race, were inspired with this same doctrine. The treasures of these +ancient writings are buried away from our sight, but a suggestion of +their grandeur is found in the heroic qualities of the nations who were +bred upon them. A beautiful German version of Giordano Bruno’s +Pythagorean Latin verses on the relation of the soul to the body is +contained in Professor Carrière’s Weltanschauung (p. 452). Björnsen has +written a superb Danish poem on transmigration called “Salme,” but it +has never been translated. The following selections are representative +of the chief branches of Continental Europeans. Boyesen, although an +American citizen, is really a modernized Norwegian. Goethe stands for +the Teutonic race, and Schiller keeps him good company. Victor Hugo and +Béranger speak for France, and Campanella represents Italy. + + + TRANSMIGRATION. + + BY HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN. + + My spirit wrestles in anguish + With fancies that will not depart; + A ghost who borrowed my semblance + Has hid in the depth of my heart. + + A dim, resistless possession + Impels me forever to do + The phantom deeds of this phantom + That lived ages ago. + + The thoughts that I think seem hoary + And laden with dust and gloom; + My voice sounds strange, as if echoed + From centuries long in the tomb. + + Methinks that e’en through my laughter + Oft trembles a strain of dread; + A shivering ghost of laughter + That is loth to rise from the dead. + + My tear has its fount in dead ages, + And choked with their dust is my sigh; + I weep for the pale, dead sorrows + Of the wraith that once was I. + + Ah, Earth! thou art old and weary, + With weight of centuries bent; + Thy pristine creative gladness + In youthful æons was spent. + + Perchance, in the distant ages, + My soul, from Nirvana’s frost, + Will gather its scattered life-germs + And quicken the life I lost. + + And then, like a song forgotten + That haunts, yet eludes the ear, + Or cry that chills the darkness + With a vague, swift breath of fear, + + A faint remembrance shall visit + That sun of earth and sky + In whom the flame shall rekindle + Of the soul which once was I. + +From Victor Hugo’s poem, “À celle qui est voilée.” + + + “TO THE INVISIBLE ONE.” + + I am the drift of a thousand tides, + The captive of destiny; + The weight of all darkness upon me abides, + But it cannot bury me. + + My spirit endures like a rocky isle + Amid the ocean of fate, + The thunderstorm is my domicile, + The hurricane is my mate. + + I am the fugitive who far + From home has taken flight; + Along with the owl and evening star + I moan the song of night. + + Art thou not, too, like unto me + A torch to light earth’s gloom, + A soul, therefore a mystery, + A wanderer bound to roam? + + Seek for me in the sea bird’s home, + Descend to my release! + My depths of cavernous shadows dumb + Illume, angel of peace! + + As night brings forth the rosy morn, + Perhaps ’tis heaven’s law + That from thy mystic smile is born + A glory I ne’er saw. + + In this dark world where now I stay + I scarce can see myself; + Thy radiant soul shines on my way + As my fair guiding elf. + + With loving tones and beckoning hand + Thou say’st, “Beyond the night + I catch a glimpse upon the strand + Of thy mansion gleaming bright.” + + Before I came upon this earth + I know I lived in gladness + For ages as an angel. Birth + Has caused my present sadness. + + My soul was once a heavenly dove. + Do thou, in heaven’s domains, + Let fall a pinion from above + Upon this bird’s remains! + + Yes, ’tis my dire misfortune now + To hang between two ties, + To hold within my furrowed brow + The earth’s clay, and the skies. + + Alas the pain of being man, + Of dreaming o’er my fall, + Of finding heaven within my span, + Yet being but a pall; + + Of toiling like a galley slave, + Of carrying the load + Of human burdens, while I rave + To fly unto my God; + + Of trailing garments black with rust, + I, son of heaven above! + Of being only graveyard dust, + E’en though my name is—Love. + + + THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. + (LA MÉTEMPSYCOSE.) + + BY BÉRANGER. + + In philosophic mood, last night, as idly I was lying, + That souls may transmigrate, methought there could be no denying: + + So, just to know to what I owe propensities so strong, + I drew my soul into a chat—our gossip lasted long. + “A votive offering,” she observed, “well might I claim from thee; + For thou in being hadst remained a cipher, but for me: + Yet not a virgin soul was I when first in thee enshrined.”— + Ah! I suspected, little soul, thus much that I should find! + + “Yes,” she continued, “yes, of old—I recollect it now— + In humble ivy was I wreathed round many a joyous brow. + More subtle next the essence was that I essayed to warm, + A bird’s, that could salute the skies, a little bird’s my form: + Where thickets made a pleasant shade, where shepherdesses strolled, + I fluttered round, hopped on the ground, my simple lays I trolled; + My pinions grew whilst still I flew in freedom on the wind.”— + Ah! I suspected, little soul, thus much that I should find! + + “Médor, my name, I next became a dog of wondrous tact, + The guardian of a poor blind man, his sole support in fact; + The trick of holding in my mouth a wooden bowl I knew— + I led my master through the streets, and begged his living too. + Devoted to the poor, to please the wealthy was my care, + Gleaning, as sustenance for one, what others well could spare; + Thus good I did, since to good deeds so many I inclined.”— + Ah! I suspected, little soul, thus much that I should find! + + “Next, to breathe life into her charms, in a young girl I dwelt; + There, in soft prison, snugly housed, what happiness I felt! + Till to my hiding-place a swarm of Cupids entrance gained, + And after pillaging it well, in garrison remained. + Like old campaigners, there the rogues all sorts of mischief did: + And night and day, whilst still I lay in little corner hid, + How oft I saw the house on fire I scarce can call to mind.”— + Ah! I suspected, little soul, thus much that I should find. + + “Some light on thy propensities may now upon thee break; + But prithee hark! one more remark I still,” says she, “would make. + ’Tis this—that having dared one day with Heaven to make too free, + God for my punishment resolved to shut me up in thee: + And what with sittings up at night, with work and woman’s art, + Tears and despair—for I forbear some secrets to impart— + A poet is a very hell for soul thereto consigned!” + Ah! I suspected, little soul, thus much that I should find. + + + THE SONG OF THE EARTH SPIRITS. + IN GOETHE’S “FAUST.” + + The soul of man + Is like the water: + From heaven it cometh, + To heaven it mounteth, + And thence at once + It must back to earth, + Forever changing. + + + THE SECRET OF REMINISCENCE. + + FROM SCHILLER. + + What unveils to me the yearning glow + Fix’d forever to thy lips to grow? + What the longing wish thy breath to drink,— + In thy Being blest, in death to sink + When thy look steals o’er me? + + As when Slaves without resistance yield + To the Victor in the battle-field, + So my Senses in the moment fly + O’er the bridge of Life tumultuously + When thou stand’st before me! + + Speak! Why should they from their Master roam? + Do my Senses yonder seek their home? + Or do sever’d brethren meet again, + Casting off the Body’s heavy chain, + Where thy foot hath lighted? + + Were our Beings once together twin’d? + Was it therefore that our bosoms pin’d? + Were we in the light of suns now dead, + In the days of rapture long since fled, + Into One united? + + Aye, we were so!—thou wert link’d with me + In Æone that has ceas’d to be; + On the mournful page of vanish’d time, + By my Muse were read these words sublime: + Nought thy love can sever! + + And in Being closely twin’d and fair, + I too wondering saw it written there,— + We were then a Life, a Deity,— + And the world seem’d order’d then to lie + ’Neath our sway forever. + + And, to meet us, nectar-fountains still + Pour’d forever forth their blissful rill; + Forcibly we broke the seal of Things, + And to Truth’s bright sunny hills our wings + Joyously were soaring. + + Laura, weep!—this Deity hath flown,— + Thou and I his ruins are alone; + By a thirst unquenchable we’re driven + Our lost Being to embrace;—tow’rd Heaven + Turns our gaze imploring. + + Therefore, Laura, is this yearning glow + Fix’d forever to thy lips to grow, + And the longing wish thy breath to drink, + In thy Being blest, in death to sink + When thy look steals o’er me! + + And as Slaves without resistance yield + To the Victor in the battle-field, + Therefore do my ravish’d Senses fly + O’er the bridge of Life tumultuously, + When thou stand’st before me! + + Therefore do they from their Master roam! + Therefore do my Senses seek their home! + Casting off the Body’s heavy chain, + Those long-sever’d brethren kiss again, + Hush’d is all their sighing! + + And thou, too—when on me fell thine eye, + What disclos’d thy cheek’s deep-purple dye? + Tow’rd each other, like relations dear, + As an exile to his home draws near, + Were we not then flying? + + + A SONNET ON CAUCASUS. + + BY T. CAMPANELLA. + + I fear that by my death the human race + Would gain no vantage. Thus I do not die. + So wide is this vast cage of misery + That flight and change lead to no happier place. + Shifting our pains, we risk a sorrier case: + All worlds, like ours, are sunk in agony: + Go where we will, we feel; and this my cry + I may forget like many an old disgrace. + Who knows what doom is mine? The Omnipotent + Keeps silence; nay, I know not whether strife + Or peace was with me in some earlier life. + Philip in a worse prison we hath pent + These three days past—but not without God’s will. + Stay we as God decrees: God doth no ill. + + + + + PART IV. PLATONIC POETS. + + +The largest inspiration of all western thought is nourished by the +Academe. Not only idealism, but the provinces of philosophy and +literature hostile to Plato are really indebted to him. The noble +loftiness, the ethereal subtlety, the poetic beauty of that teaching has +captivated most of the fine intellects of mediæval and modern times, and +it is impossible to trace the invisible course of exalted thought which +has radiated from this greatest Greek, the king of a nation of +philosophers. + +Adopting Emerson’s words, “Out of Plato come all things that are still +written and debated among men of thought. Great havoc makes he among our +originalities. We have reached the mountain from which all these drift +boulders were detached. The Bible of the learned for twenty-two +centuries, every brisk young man who says fine things to each reluctant +generation, is some reader of Plato translating into the vernacular his +good things.... How many great men nature is incessantly sending up out +of the night to be _his men_—Platonists! the Alexandrians, a +constellation of genius; the Elizabethans, not less; Sir Thomas More, +Henry More, John Hales, John Smith, Lord Bacon, Jeremy Taylor, Ralph +Cudworth, Sydenham, Thomas Taylor. Calvinism is in his Phædro. +Christianity is in it. Mahometanism draws all its philosophy, in its +handbook of morals, the Akhlak-y-Jalaly, from him. Mysticism finds in +Plato all its texts.” We know not how much of the world’s later poetry +is due to the suggestion and nurture of the poet-philosopher. But in +closing our studies of the poetry of reincarnation it may be of interest +to group together the avowed Platonic poets. + +Most illustrious of all the English disciples of this master, in the +brilliant coterie of “Cambridge Platonists,” was Dr. Henry More, whom +Dr. Johnson esteemed “one of our greatest divines and philosophers and +no mean poet.” Hobbes said of him that if his own philosophy was not +true he knew none that he should sooner adopt than Henry More’s of +Cambridge; and Hoadley styles him “one of the first men of this or any +other country.” Coleridge wrote that his philosophical works “contain +more enlarged and elevated views of the Christian dispensation than I +have met with in any other single volume; for More had both the +philosophical and poetic genius supported by immense erudition.” He was +a devout student of Plato. In the heat of rebellion he was spared by the +fanatics. They pardoned his refusal to take their covenant and left him +to continue the philosophic occupations which had rendered him famous as +a lovable and absorbed scholar. He wove together in many poems a quaint +texture of Gothic fancy and Greek thought. His “Psychozoia” or “Life of +the Soul,” from which the following verses are taken, is a long Platonic +poem tracing the course of the soul through ancient existences down into +the earthly realm. Campbell said of this work that it “is like a curious +grotto, whose labyrinths we might explore for its strange and mystic +associations.” Dr. More was an intimate friend of Addison and long a +correspondent of Descartes. + +From Henry More’s “Philosophical Poems” (“Psychozoia”). + + I would sing the preëxistency + Of human souls and live once o’er again + By recollection and quick memory + All that is passed since first we all began. + But all too shallow be my wits to scan + So deep a point and mind too dull to climb + So dark a matter. But thou more than man + Aread, thou sacred soul of Plotin dear, + Tell me what mortals are. Tell what of old they were. + + A spark or ray of divinity + Clouded with earthly fogs, and clad in clay, + A precious drop sunk from eternity + Spilt on the ground, or rather slunk away. + For then we fell when we ‘gan first t’ essay + By stealth of our own selves something to been + Uncentering ourselves from our one great stay, + Which rupture we new liberty did ween, + And from that prank right jolly wits ourselves did deem. + + Show fitly how the preëxisting soul + Enacts and enters bodies here below + And then entire unhurt can leave this moul, + In which by sense and motion they may know + Better than we what things transacted be + Upon the earth, and when they best may show + Themselves to friend or foe, their phantasmy + Moulding their airy arc to gross consistency. + +Milton imbibed from his college friend Henry More an early fondness for +the study of Plato, whose philosophy nourished most of the fine spirits +of that day, and he expresses the Greek sage’s opinion of the soul in +his “Comus”:— + + The soul grows clotted by oblivion, + Imbodies and embrutes till she quite lose + The divine property of her first being; + Such as those thick and gloomy shadows damp + Oft seen in charnel vaults and sepulchres + Lingering and setting by a new made grave + As loth to leave the body that it loved. + +Milton’s Platonic proclivities are also shown in his poem “On the Death +of a Fair Infant”:— + + Wert thou that just maid, who once before + Forsook the hated earth, O tell me sooth, + And cam’st again to visit us once more? + Or wert thou that sweet smiling youth? + Or any other of that heavenly brood + Let down in cloudy throne to do the world some good? + Or wert thou of the golden-winged host, + Who, having clad thyself in human weed, + To earth from thy prefixed seat didst post, + And after short abode fly back with speed + As if to show what creatures heaven doth breed; + Thereby to set the hearts of men on fire, + To scorn the sordid world and unto heaven aspire. + +In the old library of poetry known as “Dodsley’s Collection,” is a +Miltonic poem by an anonymous Platonist which is very interesting, and +as it is difficult of access we quote the best part of it. + + + PREËXISTENCE. + IN IMITATION OF MILTON. + + Now had th’ archangel trumpet, raised sublime + Above the walls of heaven, begun to sound; + All æther took the blast and fell beneath + Shook with celestial noise; th’ almighty host, + Hot with pursuit, and reeking with the blood + Of guilty cherubs smeared in sulphurous dust, + Pause at the known command of sounding gold. + At first they close the wide Tartarean gates, + Th’ impenetrable folds on brazen hinge + Roll creaking horrible; the din beneath + O’ercomes the war of flames, and deafens hell. + Then through the solid gloom with nimble wing + They cut their shining traces up to light; + Returned upon the edge of heavenly day, + Where thinnest beams play round the vast obscure + And with eternal gleam drives back the night. + They find the troops less stubborn, less involved + In crime and ruin, barr’d the realms of peace, + Yet uncondemned to baleful beats of woe, + Doubtful and suppliant; all the plumes of light + Moult from their shuddering wings, and sickly fear + Shades every face with horror; conscious guilt + Rolls in the livid eyeball, and each breast + Shakes with the dread of future doom unknown. + ’Tis here the wide circumference of heaven + Opens in two vast gates, that inward turn + Voluminous, on jasper columns hung + By geometry divine: they ever glow + With living sculptures; they arise by turns + To imboss the shining leaves, by turns they set + To give succeeding argument their place; + In holy hieroglyphics on they move, + The gaze of journeying angels, as they pass + Oft looking back, and held in deep surprise. + Here stood the troops distinct; the cherub guard + Unbarred the splendid gates, and in they roll + Harmonious; for a vocal spirit sits + Within each hinge, and as they onward drive, + In just divisions breaks the numerous jars + With symphony melodious, such as spheres + Involved in tenfold wreaths are said to sound. + Out flows a blaze of glory: for on high + Towering advanced the moving throne of God. + + · · · · · + + Above the throne, th’ ideas heavenly bright + Of past, of present, and of coming time, + Fixed their immoved abode, and there present + An endless landscape of created things + To sight celestial, where angelic eyes + Are lost in prospect; for the shiny range + Boundless and various in its bosom bears + Millions of full proportioned worlds, beheld + With steadfast eyes, till more arise to view, + And further inward scenes start up unknown. + + · · · · · + + A vocal thunder rolled the voice of God. + “Servants of God! and virtues great in arms, + We approve your faithful works, and you return + Blessed from the dire pursuits of rebel foes; + Resolved, obdurant, they have tried the force + Of this right hand, and known almighty power; + Transfixed with lightning, down they sunk and fell + Into the fiery gulf, and deep they plunge + Below the burning waves, to hide their heads. + + · · · · · + + “For you, ye guilty throng that lately joined + In this sedition, since seduced from good, + And caught in trains of guile, by sprites malign + Superior in their order; you accept, + Trembling, my heavenly clemency and grace. + When the long era once has filled its orb, + You shall emerge to light and humbly here + Again shall bow before his favoring throne, + If your own virtue second my decree: + But all must have their races first below. + See, where below in chaos wondrous deep + A speck of light dawns forth, and thence throughout + The shades, in many a wreath, my forming power + There swiftly turns the burning eddy round, + Absorbing all crude matter near its brink; + Which next, with subtle motions, takes the form + I please to stamp, the seed of embryo worlds + All now in embryo, but ere long shall rise + Variously scattered in this vast expanse, + Involved in winding orbs, until the brims + Of outward circles brush the heavenly gates. + The middle point a globe of curling fire + Shall hold, which round it sheds its genial heat; + Where’er I kindle life the motion grows, + In all the endless orbs, from this machine; + And infinite vicissitudes that roll + About the restless centre; for I rear + In those meanders turned, a dusty ball, + Deformed all o’er with woods, whose shaggy tops + Inclose eternal mists, and deadly damps + Hover within their boughs, to cloak the light; + Impervious scenes of horror, till reformed + To fields and grassy dells and flowery meads + By your continual pains.... Here Silence sits + In folds of wreathy mantling sunk obscure, + And in dark fumes bending his drowsy head; + An urn he holds, from whence a lake proceeds + Wide, flowing gently, smooth and Lethe named; + Hither compelled, each soul must drink long draughts + Of those forgetful streams, till forms within + And all the great ideas fade and die: + For if vast thought should play about a mind + Inclosed in flesh, and dragging cumbrous life, + Fluttering and beating in the mournful cage, + It soon would break its gates and wing away: + ’Tis therefore my decree, the soul return + Naked from off this beach, and perfect blank + To visit the new world; and wait to feel + Itself in crude consistence closely shut, + The dreadful monument of just revenge; + Immured by heaven’s own hand, and placed erect + On fleeting matter all imprisoned round + With walls of clay; the ethereal mould shall bear + The chain of members, deafened with an ear, + Blinded by eyes, and trammeled by hands. + Here anger, vast ambition and disdain, + And all the haughty movements rise and fall, + As storms of neighboring atoms tear the soul, + And hope and love and all the calmer turns + Of easy hours, in their gay gilded shapes, + With sudden run, skim o’er deluded minds, + As matter leads the dance; but one desire + Unsatisfied, shall mar ten thousand joys. + “The rank of beings, that shall first advance, + Drink deep of human life, and long shall stay + On this great scene of cares. From all the rest, + That longer for the destined body wait, + Less penance I expect, and short abode + In those pale dreamy kingdoms will content; + Each has his lamentable lot, and all + On different rocks abide the pains of life. + “The pensive spirit takes the lonely grove; + Nightly he visits all the sylvan scenes, + Where far remote, a melancholy moon + Raising her head, serene and shorn of beams, + Throws here and there her glimmerings through the trees. + The sage shall haunt this solitary ground + And view the dismal landscape limned within + In horrid shades, mixed with imperfect light. + Here Judgment, blinded by delusive sense, + Contracted through the cranny of an eye, + Shoots up faint languid beams to that dark seat, + Wherein the soul, bereaved of native fire, + Sets intricate, in misty clouds obscured. + + · · · · · + + “Hence far removed, a different being race + In cities full and frequent take their seat, + Where honor’s crushed, and gratitude oppressed + With swelling hopes of gain, that raise within + A tempest, and driven onward by success, + Can find no bounds. For creatures of a day + Stretch their wide cares to ages; full increase + Starves their penurious soul, while empty sound + Fills the ambitious; _that_ shall ever shrink, + Pining with endless cares, while _this_ shall swell + To tympany enormous. Bright in arms + Here shines the hero, out he fiercely leads + A martial throng, his instruments of rage, + To fill the world with death, and thin mankind. + + · · · · · + + “There savage nature in one common lies + And feels its share of hunger, care, and pain, + Cheated by flying prey; and now they tear + Their panting flesh; and deeply, darkly quaff + Of human woe, even when they rudely sip + The flowing stream, or draw the savory pulp + Of nature’s freshest viands; fragrant fruits + Enjoyed with trembling, and in danger sought. + “But where the appointed limits of a law + Fences the general safety of the world, + No greater quiet reigns: the blended loads + Of punishment and crime deform the world, + And give no rest to man; with pangs and throes + He enters on the stage; prophetic tears + And infant cries prelude his future woes; + And all is one continual scene of gulf + Till the sad sable curtain falls in death. + + · · · · · + + “Then the gay glories of the living world + Shall cast their empty varnish and retire + Out of his feeble views; the shapeless root + Of wild imagination dance and play + Before his eyes obscure; till all in death + Shall vanish, and the prisoner enlarged, + Regains the flaming borders of the sky.” + He ended. Peals of thunder rend the heavens, + And chaos, from the bottom turned, resounds. + The mighty clangor; all the heavenly host + Approve the high decree, and loud they sing + Eternal justice; while the guilty troops, + Sad with their doom, but sad without despair, + Fall fluttering down to Lethe’s lake, and there + For penance, and the destined body wait. + +Shelley’s Platonic leanings are well known.[29] The favorite Greek +conceit of preëxistence in many earlier lives may frequently be found in +his poems. The title over one of his songs of unrest, “The World’s +Wanderer,” evidently alludes to himself, as do the lines in it + + “Like the world’s rejected guest.” + +The song of the spirits in “Prometheus Unbound” pictures vividly the +human soul’s descent into the gloom of the material world:— + + To the deep, to the deep, + Down, down! + Through the shade of sleep, + Through the cloudy strife + Of Death and of Life, + Through the veil and the bar + Of things which seem and are, + Even to the steps of the remotest throne, + Down, down! + + While the sound whirls around, + Down, down! + As the fawn draws the hound, + As the lightning the vapor, + As a weak moth, the taper; + Death, despair; love, sorrow; + Time both; to-day, to-morrow; + As steel obeys the spirit of the stone, + Down, down! + + In the depth of the deep, + Down, down! + Like the veiled lightning asleep, + Like the spark nursed in embers, + The last look Love remembers, + Like a diamond which shines + On the dark wealth of mines, + A spell is treasured but for thee alone, + Down, down! + +The last stanza of “The Cloud” is Shelley’s Platonic symbol of human +life:— + + I am the daughter of earth and water + And the nursling of the sky, + I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores, + I change, but I cannot die. + For after the rain when with never a stain + The pavilion of heaven is bare, + And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams + Build up the blue dome of air, + I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, + And out of the caverns of rain, + Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, + I arise and unbuild it again. + +Another poem, entitled “A Fragment,” certainly refers to preëxistence:— + + Ye gentle visitants of calm thought, + Moods like the memories of happier earth + Which come arrayed in thoughts of little worth + Like stars in clouds by weak winds enwrought. + + + THE RETREAT. + + BY HENRY VAUGHAN. + + Happy those early days when I + Shined in my angel-infancy, + Before I understood this place + Appointed for my second race, + Or taught my soul to fancy aught + But a white celestial thought; + When yet I had not walked above + A mile or two from my first love, + And, looking back, at that short space, + Could see a glimpse of his bright face; + When on some gilded cloud or flower + My gazing soul would dwell an hour, + And in those weaker glories spy + Some shadows of eternity; + Before I taught my tongue to wound + My conscience with a sinful sound; + Or had the black art to dispense + A several sin to every sense, + But felt through all this flashy dress + Bright shoots of everlastingness. + + Oh, how I long to travel back + And tread again that ancient track! + That I might once more reach that plain + Where first I left my glorious train; + From whence the enlightened spirit sees + That shady city of palm-trees. + But ah! my soul with too much stay + Is drunk and staggers in the way. + Some men a forward motion love, + But I by backward steps would move, + And when this dust falls to the urn, + In that state I came, return. + +In Emerson, the Plato of the nineteenth century, the whole feeling of +the Greek seems reflected in its most glorious development. Many of his +poems clearly suggest the influence of his Greek teacher, as his +“Threnody” upon the death of his young son, and “The Sphinx” in which +these two stanzas appear:— + + To vision profounder + Man’s spirit must dive; + His aye-rolling orb + At no goal will arrive; + The heavens that now draw him + With sweetness untold, + Once found for new heavens + He spurneth the old. + + Eterne alteration + Now follows, now flies, + And under pain, pleasure— + Under pleasure, pain lies. + Love works at the centre, + Heart-heaving alway; + Forth speed the strong pulses + To the borders of day. + +Mrs. Elizabeth Rowe, the friend of Bishop Ken and of Dr. Isaac Watts, +has left this allusion to preëxistence in + + + A HYMN ON HEAVEN. + + Ye starry mansions, hail! my native skies! + Here in my happy, preëxistent state + (A spotless mind) I led the life of Gods, + But passing, I salute you, and advance + To yonder brighter realms, allowed access. + Hail, splendid city of the almighty king, + Celestial salem, situate above, etc. + +Some of the common church hymns glow with the enthusiasm of Platonic +preëxistence, and are fondly sung by Christians without any thought +that, while their idea is of Biblical origin, it has been nourished and +perpetuated by the Greek sage, and directly implies reincarnation. For +instance:— + + “I’m but a stranger, here, heaven is my home. + Heaven is my fatherland, heaven is my home.” + + “My Ain Countrie.” + + “This world where grief and sin abideth, + Is not the Christian’s native clime.” + + “The home-land, blessed home-land.” + + “Jerusalem, my happy home.” + + + + + VI. + REINCARNATION AMONG THE ANCIENTS. + + + The ancient theologists and priests testify that the soul is conjoined + to the body through a certain punishment, and that it is buried in + this body as in a sepulchre.—PHILOLAUS, (a Pythagorean.) + + Search thou the path of the soul, whence she came, or what way, after + serving the body, by joining work with sacred speed, thou shalt raise + her again to the same state whence she fell.—ZOROASTER. + + Death has no power th’ immortal soul to slay, + That, when its present body turns to clay, + Seeks a fresh home, and with unlessened might + Inspires another frame with life and light. + So I myself (well I the past recall), + When the fierce Greeks begirt Troy’s holy wall, + Was brave Euphorbus: and in conflict drear + Poured forth my blood beneath Atrides’ spear. + The shield this arm did bear I lately saw + In Juno’s shrine, a trophy of that war. + PYTHAGORAS, in DRYDEN’S _Ovid_. + + He [Plato] spoke of Him + The lone, eternal One, who dwells above, + And of the soul’s untraceable descent + From that high fount of spirit, through all the grades + Of intellectual being, till it mix + With atoms vague, corruptible and dark. + Nor yet ev’n thus, though sunk in earthly dross, + Corrupted all, nor its ethereal touch + Quite lost, but tasting of the fountain still + As some bright river, which has rolled along + Through meads of flowery light and mines of gold + When poured at length into the dusky deep + Disdains to take at once its briny taint, + But keeps unchanged awhile the lustrous tinge + Or balmy freshness of the scenes it left. + MOORE. + + + + + VI. + REINCARNATION AMONG THE ANCIENTS. + + +The origin of the philosophy of reincarnation is prehistoric. It +antedates the remotest antiquity all over the world, and appears to be +cognate with mankind, springing up spontaneously as a necessary +corollary of the immortality of the soul; for its undiminished sway has +been wellnigh universal outside of Christendom. In the earliest dawn of +Mother India it was firmly established. The infancy of Egypt found it +dominant on the Nile. It was at home in Greece long before Pythagoras. +The most ancient beginnings of Mexico and Peru knew it as the faith of +their fathers. + +I. In sketching the course of this thought among the men of old, the +first attention belongs to India. Brahmanism, the most primitive form of +this faith, has gone through vast changes during the four thousand years +of history. The initial form of it, dating back into the remotest mists +of antiquity and descending to the first chapters of authentic +chronology, was an ideally simple nature-worship. The Rig Veda and the +oldest sacred hymns display the beauty of this adoration for every phase +of nature, centering with especial fondness upon light as the supreme +power, and upon the cow as the favorite animal. Professor Wilson’s and +Max Müller’s translations have opened to the English race the charming +thought of this primordial people, whose great child-souls found objects +of reverence in all things. There were no distinct gods, but everything +was divine, and through all they saw the flow of ever-changing life. +Gradually an ecclesiastical system climbed up around this religion, +clothing, stifling, and at last burying the vital organism, until Sakya +Muni’s reaction started Buddhism into vigorous growth as the beautiful +protest against the disfigured and decayed form. About Buddhism, too, +there has arisen a heavy weight of lifeless ritual, but every breath of +life with which the slumbering mother and daughter continue their +existence is perfumed with the roseattar of reincarnation. How they have +since continued to disseminate the idea of reincarnation is suggested in +chapter IX, for the East of to-day is essentially a sculptured picture +of what has been monotonously enduring for twenty centuries. + +Of the ancient Indians we learn through Pliny, Strabo, Megasthenes, +Plutarch, and Herodotus, who describe the Gymnosophists and Brachmans as +ascetic philosophers who made a study of spiritual things, living singly +or in celibate communities much like the later Pythagoreans. Porphyry +says of them: “They live without either clothes, riches or wives. They +are held in so great veneration by the rest of their countrymen that the +king himself often visits them to ask their advice. Such are their views +of death that with reluctance they endure life as a piece of necessary +bondage to nature, and haste to set the soul at liberty from the body. +Nay, often, when in good health, and no evil to disturb them, they +depart life, advertising it beforehand. No man hinders them, but all +reckon them happy, and send commissions along with them to their dead +friends. So strong and firm is their belief of a future life for the +soul, where they shall enjoy one another, after receiving all their +commands, they deliver themselves to the fire, that they may separate +the soul as pure as possible from the body, and expire singing hymns. +Their old friends attend them to death with more ease than other men +their fellow-citizens to a long journey. They deplore their own state +for surviving them and deem them happy in their immortality.” When +Alexander the Great first penetrated their country he could not persuade +them to appear before him, and had to gratify his curiosity about their +life and philosophy by proxy, though he afterward witnessed them +surrender themselves to the flames. + +II. Herodotus asserts that the doctrine of metempsychosis originated in +Egypt. “The Egyptians are the first who propounded the theory that the +human soul is imperishable, and that where the body of any one dies it +enters into some other creature that may be ready to receive it, and +that when it has gone the round of all created forms on land, in water +and in air, then it once more enters a human body born for it; and that +this cycle of existence for the soul takes place in three thousand +years.”[30] He continues, “Some of the Greeks adopted this opinion, some +earlier, others later, as if it were their own.” + +The Egyptians held that the human race began after the pure gods and +spirits had left earth, when the demons who were sinfully inclined had +revolted and introduced guilt. The gods then created human bodies for +these demons to inhabit, as a means of expiating their sin, and these +fallen spirits are the present men and women, whose earthly life is a +course of purification. All the Egyptian precepts and religious codes +are to this end. The judgment after death decides whether the soul has +attained purity or not. If not, the soul must return to earth in renewal +of its expiation either in the body of a man, or animal or plant. As the +spirit was believed to maintain its connection with the material form as +long as this remained, the practice of embalming was designed to arrest +the passage of the soul into other forms. The custom of embalming is +also connected with their opinion that after three thousand years away +from the body the soul would return to its former body provided it be +preserved from destruction.[31] If it is not preserved, the soul would +enter the most convenient habitation, which might be a wretched +creature. They maintained, too, that the gods frequently inhabited the +bodies of animals, and therefore they worshiped animals as incarnations +of special divinities. The sacred bodies of these godly visitants were +also embalmed as a mark of respect to their particular class of deities. +For they placed certain gods in certain animals, the Egyptian Apollo +choosing the hawk, Mercury the ibis, Mars the fish, Diana the cat, +Bacchus the goat, Hercules the colt, Vulcan the ox, etc. This conceit +was but a specialization of their general tenet of pantheism, insisting +that all life is divine, that every living thing must be venerated, and +that the highest creatures should be most devoutly worshiped. + +The Egyptian conception of reincarnation as shaped by the priesthood is +displayed in their classic, “Ritual of the Dead,” which is one of their +chief sacred books and describes the course of the soul after death. A +copy of it was deposited in each mummy case. It opens with a sublime +dialogue between the soul and the God of Hades, Osiris, to whose realm +he asks admission. Finally Osiris says, “Fear nothing, but cross the +threshold.” As the soul enters he is dazzled with the glory of light. He +sings a hymn to the sun and goes on taking the food of knowledge. After +frightful dangers are passed, rest and refreshment come. Continuing his +journey he reaches at last heaven’s gate, where he is instructed in +profound mysteries. Within the gate he is transformed into different +animals and plants. After this the soul is reunited to the body for +which careful embalming was so important. A critical examination tests +his right to cross the subterranean river to Elysium. He is conducted by +Anubis through a labyrinth to the judgment hall of Osiris, where +forty-two judges question him upon his whole past life. If the decisive +judgment approves him he enters heaven. If not, he is sentenced to pass +through lower forms of existence according to his sins, or, if a +reprobate, is given over to the powers of darkness for purgation. After +three thousand years of this he is again consigned to a human probation. + +III. Of the old Persian faith, it is difficult to obtain a trustworthy +statement, except what is derived from its present form among the +Parsees. The Magi, Zoroaster’s followers, believed that the immortal +soul descended from on high for a short period of lives in a mortal body +to gain experience, and to then return again. When the soul is above it +has several abodes, one luminous, another dark, and some filled with a +mixture of light and darkness. Sometimes it sinks into the body from the +luminous abode and after a virtuous life returns above; but if coming +from the dark region, it passes an evil life and enters a worse place in +proportion to her conduct until purified. The dualism of these +fire-worshipers gave reincarnation a briefer period of operation than +the other oriental religions. + +IV. Pythagoras is mentioned by a Greek tradition as one of the Greeks +who visited India before the age of Alexander. It is almost certain that +he went to Egypt and received there the doctrine of transmigration which +he taught in the Greek cities of lower Italy (B. C. 529). Jamblichus +says: “He spent twelve years at Babylon, freely conversing with the +Magi, was instructed in everything venerable among them, and learned the +most perfect worship of the gods.” He is said to have represented the +human soul as an emanation of the world soul, partaking of the divine +nature. At death it leaves one body to take another and so goes through +the circle of appointed forms. Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” contains a long +description of the Pythagorean idea, from which these verses are taken, +as translated by Dryden:— + + “Souls cannot die. They leave a former home, + And in new bodies dwell, and from them roam. + Nothing can perish, all things change below, + For spirits through all forms may come and go. + Good beasts shall rise to human forms, and men, + If bad, shall backward turn to beasts again. + Thus, through a thousand shapes, the soul shall go + And thus fulfill its destiny below.” + +But it is very difficult to determine exactly what the views of +Pythagoras were. Aristotle, Plato, and Diogenes Laertius say he taught +that the soul when released by death must pass through a grand circle of +living forms before reaching the human again. From Pythagoras himself we +have only some aphorisms of practical wisdom and symbolic sentences; +from his disciples a few fragments—all devoid of the grotesque +hypothesis generally ascribed to him. Although his name is synonymous +with the transmigration of human souls through animal bodies, the strong +probabilities are that if this doctrine came from him it was entirely +exoteric, concealing the inner truth of reincarnation. Some of his later +disciples, especially the author of the work which is attributed to +Timæus the Locian, denied that he taught it in any literal sense, and +said that by it he meant merely to emphasize the fact that men are +assimilated in their vices to the beasts. (See Chapter XII.) + +V. Plato is called by Emerson the synthesis of Europe and Asia, and a +decidedly oriental element pervades his philosophy, giving it a sunrise +color. He had traveled in Egypt and Asia Minor and among the +Pythagoreans of Italy. As he died (B. C. 348) twenty years before +Alexander’s invasion of India he missed that opportunity of learning the +Hindu ideas. + +In the great “myth,” or allegory, of Phædrus, the classic description of +the relation of the soul to the material world, what he says of the +judgment upon mankind and their subsequent return to human or animal +bodies coincides substantially with the Egyptian and Hindu religions. +But his theory of pre-existence and of absolute knowledge seems to be +original. It grows out of his cardinal doctrine (and that of his master +Socrates) concerning the reality and validity of truth, in opposition to +the skepticism of contemporary sophists, who claimed that truth is mere +subjective opinion—what each man troweth. + +The Phædrus myth is evidently suggested by the splendid religious +procession which closed the Athenian festival. With gorgeous ceremony +nearly the whole city’s population participated in this crowning glory +of their most sacred holiday. The procession wound through the finest +streets of the city and then up the steep ascent of the Acropolis, whose +precipitous incline kept the horses struggling for a foothold. That +elevated site commanded a view of the busy city, the plains beyond, and +the distant mountains and sea under the deep blue canopy of the Greek +sky, presenting to the worshipers’ sight a panorama of the changing +aspects of human life and a type of heaven’s repose. From this picture +the poet-philosopher conjures up a sublimer procession marshalled by the +king of gods and men, moving through the heavenly orbits of the soul’s +progress, until they ascend the celestial dome itself, whence the soul +may gaze upon the unspeakable glories of spiritual Truth.[32] + +The Socrates of the dialogue first likens the soul to “a winged team and +their charioteer. In the case of the gods both horses and charioteer are +all good and of good breed; those of the rest are mixed. And first of +all, our charioteer drives a pair; in the next place, the one is good +and noble in itself and by breed, while the other is the opposite in +both regards. And so the management of the chariot must needs be +difficult and harassing. Just how the living being which is immortal is +distinguished from that which is mortal, I must endeavor to tell you. +All that is soul has the charge of that which is soulless, and traverses +the whole heaven, appearing now in one form, now in another. When +perfect and possessed of wings, she moves in mid air and controls the +whole world (_kosmos_). But if she lose her feathers, she is borne +hither and thither until she lays hold of something that is fixed and +solid, and there making her home, and taking to herself an earthly body, +which seems to be self-moved by reason of the force she furnishes, soul +and body are fastened together and come to be called mortal.... But let +us take up the reason of that stripping off the feathers by which the +soul is brought to its fall. It is as follows: The power of the wing is +designed to bear up that which is heavy through mid air, where the race +of the gods dwells, and of all that is corporeal this has most in common +with the divine; for the divine is the beautiful, the wise, the good, +and everything of the sort, and by these the wing of the soul is +nourished and groweth especially. But by what is base and evil, and +whatever else is the opposite of divine, it wastes away and is +destroyed. + +“Now Zeus, the great Leader in heaven, leads the van, driving a winged +chariot, the marshal and guardian of all. And he is followed by the host +of the gods and demons marshalled in eleven bands, for Hestia alone +remaineth in the house of the gods, and those of the rest who belong to +the number of The Twelve [Great Gods] lead on as captains of their +companies, each in the order to which he has been assigned. Now there +are within heaven many and blessed views and ways of passage in which +the race of the happy gods pass to and fro, each of them doing his own +work, and whoever can and will follows, for envy stands aloof from the +choir of the gods. + +“But whenever they go to banquet and to feast, then they proceed all +together up towards the lofty vault of heaven. Now the chariots of the +gods, being well balanced and obedient to the rein, proceed easily, but +the rest with difficulty. For the horse that partakes of evil slips +downward, sinking and gravitating towards the earth, if he has not been +properly broken in by the charioteer. Then it is that toil and extremest +conflict press hard upon the soul. But those souls which are called +immortal, when they reach the summit, go forth and stand upon the back +[the convex] of the heaven, and as they stand the revolution [of the +sphere] carries them around with it, and they behold the things which +are outside of the heaven. + +“Now the place which is above the heaven no earthly poet has ever +praised as it deserves, nor ever will: but it is thus. For I must dare +to tell the truth, especially when I am talking about Truth. The +colorless, formless, and intangible Being which is Being, is visible +only to the Reason (_nous_), which is the governor of the soul. Round +about this [pure Being] is located the true sort of knowledge. Since +then the intelligence of God—like that of every soul in so far as it is +to receive what best befits it—is nourished on Reason and pure +Knowledge, in beholding at last the Being it loves it, and in +contemplating the Truth is nourished and gladdened, until the revolution +[of the sphere] brings it round again to its starting-place. And in this +circuit it beholds Righteousness itself, beholds Temperance itself, +beholds Knowledge—not that which has origin, nor that which differs in +the different things to which we ascribe existence, but Knowledge which +has a real being in that which is Being indeed. And other equally real +existences she beholds and is feasted upon, and then reëntering the +heaven she returns homeward. And when she has come thither, the +charioteer, staying his horses at their stall, fodders them with +ambrosia, and waters them with nectar. And this is the life of the gods. + +“But as to the other souls, that which best follows God and is most like +Him lifts up the head of the charioteer to the place outside the heaven, +and is carried around the revolution with Him, disturbed indeed by the +horses, and beholding the things which have true being with difficulty. +Another lifts up the head at times, at others draws it in because +compelled by the horses, and therefore beholds some and not others; the +rest one and all desire and follow that which is above, but not being +able to reach it, they are carried around submerged beneath the heaven, +they tread and fall upon each other, each trying to get precedence of +the other. Noise, and rivalry, and sweat to the last degree ensue, +whereupon many are maimed in their wings by the fault of their +charioteers. And all of them, after long toil, depart uninitiated into +the vision of Being, and when they have gone are fed on the food of +opinion. Whence then that great desire of theirs to behold the plain of +Truth? Is it not because the pasturage which befits what is best in the +soul happens to grow in that meadow, and the growth of the wing by which +the soul soars is nourished with this? + +“And this is this law of Adrastea [or Nemesis, the inevitable Order]: +whatsoever soul has shared with God, in beholding any of those things +that are true and real, is unharmed until the next period, and if she is +always able to do this, is always unhurt. But should it happen that she +cannot follow on to know, and by any mischance grows heavy through being +filled with forgetfulness and faultiness, and through that heaviness +loses her feathers and falls to the earth, then the law is that this +soul shall not take upon her the nature of any beast in the first +generation [or birth], but the soul that has seen most shall come to the +birth of a man who is to be a philosopher, or an artist, or of some +musician and lover; and the second, [to the birth] of a lawful king, or +warrior and ruler; the third, of a statesman, or of some financier, or +man of affairs; the fourth, of a toil-loving gymnast, or of some one who +is to be a physician; the fifth, the life of a soothsayer, or some +hierophantic function; to the sixth, the life of a poet, or of some +other sort of mimic, will be suitable; to the seventh, that of an +artisan or a husbandman; to the eighth, that of a sophist or a +demagogue; to the ninth, that of a tyrant. And whoever in any of these +positions conducts himself rightly receives a better lot; but whoever +behaves otherwise, a worse. + +“No soul arrives at that place from whence it came for ten thousand +years, except it be that one who is honestly a philosopher, or a lover +who has a share of philosophy. These in the third period of a thousand +years, if thrice successively they have chosen this manner of life, and +have thus received their wings, depart thither in the three thousandth +year. But the rest, when they have finished the first life assigned +them, undergo a judgment. And after the judgment, some of them proceed +to the prison-house under the earth and receive punishment; and the +others, having been raised by the judgment to a place in the heaven, +pass their time in a manner worthy of the life they lived in human form. + +“And when, in the thousandth year, they come to a casting of lots and a +choice of their second life, each chooses whichever she wishes. And +thereupon a human soul comes to the life of a beast; and one that has +been a man becomes from a beast a man again. + +“But that soul which has never beheld the Truth will never come into +this [human] form; the understanding of general truth collected from +many perceptions into unity by rational thought is an essential of +humanity. And this is the recollection of those things which our soul +has once seen when accompanying God, and disdaining those things which +we now speak of as being, and lifting up our heads to behold true Being. +Wherefore it is just that the intelligence of the philosopher alone +receives wings; for he is ever with all his might busied with the +recollections of these things, occupation with which makes God what he +is. And only the man who makes right use of such recollections, and thus +continually attains initiation into perfect mysteries, becomes truly +perfect; and for giving up human pursuits and becoming enwrapt in the +divine, he is esteemed by the many as beside himself, for they fail to +see that he is God-possessed. + +... “As has been said, every human soul is by nature a beholder of +Being, else she would not have entered into this form of life. But it is +not easy for every soul to awaken those recollections which she brought +from thence, or they may then have had but scant vision of what was +there, or since they have fallen thence they may have had the mischance +to be diverted by bad associations to that which is unjust, and to fall +into forgetfulness of the holy things which they then beheld. A few are +left, who retain enough of the recollection; but whenever they behold +any resemblance of what is there, they are struck with astonishment, and +are no longer masters of themselves; but they know not why they are thus +affected, because they have no adequate perception. But there is no +brilliancy in those earthly likenesses of justice and temperance, and +whatever else is precious to the soul; for through obscure instruments, +it is given with difficulty and to but few to draw near to those images +and behold what manner of thing it is that they represent. But then it +was permitted to behold Beauty in all its splendor, when along with the +blessed chorus, we [philosophers] following Zeus, others some other of +the gods, we shared in the beatific vision and contemplation, and were +initiated into mysteries which it is just to call the most perfect of +all, and whose rapturous feast we kept in innocence, and while still +inexpert of those evils which were awaiting us in a time still future. +And we beheld visions innocent and simple and peaceful and happy, as if +spectators at the mysteries, in pure array, ourselves pure, and without +a sign upon us of this which we now carry about with us and call a body, +and are bound thereto like an oyster to his shell. Let us indulge in +these memories, whereby we are led to speak the longer from desire of +the things which we then saw.”[33] + +We penetrate into the inmost secret of Plato’s thought in the +super-celestial plain, the dwelling-place of substantial ideas, the +essential Truth, the absolute knowledge, in which the pure Being holds +the supreme place which we assign to God, the Hindu to Brahm, and the +Egyptian to Osiris, but which the polytheist could not ascribe to his +gods. Plato, like the initiated priests of India and Egypt, to whom the +highest deity was nameless, knew the objects of common worship were but +exalted men, above whom was One whose nature was undisclosed to men, and +of whom it was audacious childishness to assert human attributes. The +Highest was the centre of those Realities dimly shadowed in earthly +appearance, and Plato’s pictorial representation of his thought is only +a parable cloaking the essential principle that during the eternal past +we have strayed from the real Truth through repeated lives into the +present. + +Of Plato’s philosophy of preëxistence, Professor W. A. Butler says in +his masterly lectures on Ancient Philosophy: “It is certain that with +Plato the conviction was associated with a vast and pervading principle, +which extended through every department of nature and thought. This +principle was the priority of mind to body, both in order of dignity and +in order of time; a principle which with him was not satisfied by the +single admission of a _divine_ preëxistence, but extended through every +instance in which these natures could be compared. A very striking +example of the manner in which he thus generalized the principle of +priority of mind to body is to be found in the well-known passage in the +tenth book of his ‘Laws,’ in which he proves the existence of divine +energy. The argument employed really applies to every case of motion and +equally proves that every separate corporeal system is but a mechanism +moved by a spiritual essence anterior to itself. The universe is full of +gods, and the human soul is, as it were, the god or demon of the human +body.” + +VI. The Jews had the best parallel of Plato’s Phædrus in the third +chapter of Genesis, describing the fall of Adam and Eve. The theological +comments upon that popular summary of the origin of sin have always +groped after reincarnation, by making all Adam’s descendants responsible +in him for that act. Many Jewish scholars undertook to fuse Greek +philosophy with their national religion. The Septuagint translation, +made in the third century before Christ, gives evidence of such a +purpose in suppressing the strong anthropomorphic terms by which the Old +Testament mentioned God. Aristobulus, a Jewish-Greek poet of the second +century, writes of Hebrew ideas in Platonic phrases. Similar passages +are found in Aristeas and in the second book of the Maccabees. +Pythagoreanism was blended with Judaism in the beliefs and practices of +the Jewish Therapeutæ of Egypt, and their brethren the Essenes of +Palestine. + +Of the Essenes, Josephus writes: “The opinion obtains among them that +bodies indeed are corrupted, and the matter of them not permanent, but +that souls continue exempt from death forever; and that emanating from +the most subtle ether they are unfolded in bodies as prisons to which +they are drawn by some natural spell. But when loosed from the bonds of +flesh, as if released from a long captivity, they rejoice and are borne +upward.” + +The most prominent Jewish writer upon this subject is Philo of +Alexandria, who lived in the time of Christ, and adapted a popular +version of Platonic ideas to the religion of his own people. He turned +the Hebrew stories into remarkably deft Platonic allegories. His theory +of preëxistence and re-births is practically that of his master Plato, +as is shown in this extract: “The company of disembodied souls is +distributed in various orders. The law of some of them is to enter +mortal bodies and after certain prescribed periods be again set free. +But those possessed of a diviner structure are absolved from all local +bonds of earth. Some of these souls choose confinement in mortal bodies +because they are earthly and corporeally inclined. Others depart, being +released again according to supernaturally determined times and seasons. +Therefore, all such as are wise, like Moses, are living abroad from +home. For the souls of such formerly chose this expatriation from +heaven, and through curiosity and the desire of acquiring knowledge they +came to dwell abroad in earthly nature, and while they dwell in the body +they look down on things visible and mortal around them, and urge their +way thitherward again whence they came originally: and call that +heavenly region in which they live their citizenship, fatherland, but +this earthly in which they live, foreign.” In choosing between the +Mosaic and the Platonic account of the Fall, as to which best expressed +the essential truth, although a Jew, he decided for Plato. He considers +men as fallen spirits attracted by material desires and thus brought +into the body’s prison, yet of kin to God and the ideal world. The +philosophic life is the means of escape, with the aid of the divine +Logos, or Spirit, to the blessed fellowship from which they have fallen. +Regeneration is a purification from matter. Philo renounced the creed of +his fathers in order to reform it, and his influence was profoundly felt +for centuries. + +The origin of the Jewish Cabala is involved in endless dispute. Jewish +scholars claim that it is prehistoric. Although a portion of it is held +to have been composed in the Middle Ages, it is certain that its +teachings had been handed down by tradition from very early times, and +that some parts come from the Jewish philosophers of Alexandria and +others from the later Neo-Platonists and Gnostics. Preëxistence and +reincarnation appear here, not in Philo’s speculative form of it, but in +a much simpler and more matter-of-fact character,—affirming that human +spirits are again and again born into the world, after long intervals, +and in entire forgetfulness of their previous experiences. This is not a +curse, as in Plato’s religions, but a blessing, being the process of +purification by repeated probations. “All the souls,” says the Zohar, or +Book of Light, “are subject to the trials of transmigration; and men do +not know which are the ways of the Most High in their regard. They do +not know how many transformations and mysterious trials they must +undergo; how many souls and spirits come to this world without returning +to the palace of the divine king. The souls must reënter the absolute +substance whence they have emerged. But to accomplish this end they must +develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and +if they have not fulfilled this condition during one life, they must +commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have acquired the +condition which fits them for reunion with God.” + + + + + VII. + REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE. + + + Out from the heart of nature rolled + The burdens of the Bible old. + EMERSON. + + The more diligently the student works this mine (the Bible), the + richer and more abundant he finds the ore; new light continually beams + from this source of heavenly knowledge to direct and illustrate the + work of God and the ways of men.—SIR WALTER SCOTT. + + The divine oracles are not so silent in this matter as is imagined. + But truly I have so tender a sense of the sacred authority of that + holy volume that I dare not be so bold with it as to force it to speak + what I think it intends not. Wherefore I would not willingly urge + Scripture as a proof of anything, but what I am sure by the whole + tenor of it is therein contained. Would I take the liberty to fetch in + everything for a Scripture evidence that with a little industry a man + might make serviceable to his design, I doubt not but I should be able + to fill my margent with quotations which should be as much to purpose + as have been cited in general Catechisms and Confessions of Faith.... + And yet I must needs say that there is very fair probability for + Pre-existence in the written word of God, as there is in that which is + engraved upon our rational natures.—GLANVIL, in _Lux Orientalis_. + + + + + VII. + REINCARNATION IN THE BIBLE. + + +The vitality of the doctrine of Reincarnation does not in the least +depend upon a scriptural endorsement of it, but the fact that it is +surprisingly conspicuous here is certainly interesting and confirmatory. +Every candid Christian student must acknowledge that the revelation of +truth is no more confined to the central book of Christendom than +sunshine is limited to the Orient. There must be great principles of +philosophy, like that of evolution, outside of the Bible; and yet the +most skeptical thinker has to concede that this volume is the richest +treasury of wisdom,—the best of which is still unlearned. + +Although most Christians are unaware of it, reincarnation is strongly +present in the Bible, chiefly in the form of preëxistence. It is not +inculcated as a doctrine essential to redemption. Neither is +immortality. But it is taken for granted, cropping out here and there as +a fundamental rock. Some scholars consider it an unimportant oriental +speculation which is accidentally entangled into the texture. But the +uniform strength and beauty of its hold seem to rank it with the other +essential threads of the warp upon which is woven the noblest fabric of +religious thought. + +A sufficient evidence of the Biblical support of pre-existence, and of +the consequent wide-spread belief in it among the Jews, is found in +Solomon’s long reference to it among his Proverbs. The wise king wrote +of himself: “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before +the works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or +ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when +there were no foundations abounding with water. Before the mountains +were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had +not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of +the world. When he prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a +compass upon the face of the depth: when he established the clouds +above: when he strengthened the foundations of the deep: when he gave to +the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: +when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as +one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always +before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth; and my +delights were with the sons of men.”[34] This passage disposes of the +theory of Delitzsch that preëxistence in the Bible means simply an +existence in the foreknowledge of the creator. Such a mere foreknowledge +would not place him previous to the parts of creation which preceded his +earthly appearance. And the last two clauses clearly express a prior +physical life. The prophets, too, are assured of their pre-natal +antiquity. Jeremiah hears Jehovah tell him, “Before I formed thee in the +belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I +sanctified thee.”[35] + +Skipping passages of disputed interpretation in Job and the Psalms which +suggest this idea, there is good evidence for it all through the Old +Testament, which is universally conceded by commentators, and was always +claimed by the Jewish rabbis. The translators have distinguished the +revealed form of Deity, as successively recorded in the Hebrew +Scriptures, by the word LORD, in capitals, separating this use of the +word from other forms, as the preëxistent Christ. “The angel of the +Lord” and “the angel of Jehovah” are other expressions for the same +manifestation of the Highest, which modern theology regards as the +second person of the Trinity. Wherever God is said to have appeared as +man, to Abraham at Mamre, to Jacob at Peniel, to Joshua at Gilgal, to +the three captives in the Babylonian furnace as “a fourth, like to the +Son of God,” etc., Christian scholarship has maintained this to be the +same person who afterward became the son of Mary. The Jews also consider +these various appearances to be their promised Christ. After the +captivity they held the same view concerning all persons. The apocryphal +“Wisdom of Solomon” teaches unmistakably the preëxistence of human souls +in Platonic form, although it probably is older than Philo, as when it +says (ix. 15), “I was an ingenuous child, and received a good soul; nay, +more, being good, I came into a body undefiled;” and “the corruptible +body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down +the mind that museth upon many things.” Glimpses of it appear also in +“Ecclesiasticus.” + +The assertion of Josephus that this idea was common among the Pharisees +is proven in the Gospels, where members of the Sanhedrin cast the retort +at Jesus, “Thou wast altogether born in sins.”[36] The prevalence of +this feeling in the judgments of daily life is seen in the question put +to Jesus by his disciples, “Which did sin, this man or his parents, that +he was born blind?”[37] referring to the two contending popular +theories, that of Moses, who taught that the sins of the fathers would +descend on the children to the third and fourth generation, and that of +reincarnation, subsequently adopted, by which a man’s discomforts +resulted from his former misconduct. Jesus’ reply, “Neither,” is no +denial of the truth of reincarnation, for in other passages he +definitely affirms it of himself, but merely an indication that he +thought this truth had better not be given those listeners then, just as +he withheld other verities until the ripe time for utterance. This very +expression of preëxistence used by the disciples he employs toward the +man whom he healed at Bethesda’s pool after thirty-eight years of +paralysis: “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”[38] +Repeatedly he confirms the popular impression that John the Baptist was +a reincarnation of Elijah. To the throng around him he said: “Among them +that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the +Baptist.” “If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to +come.”[39] That John the Baptist denied his former personality as Elijah +is not strange, for no one remembers distinctly his earlier life. Often +Jesus refers to his descent from heaven, as when he says, “I came down +from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent +me;”[40] and what he means by heaven is shown by his words to Nicodemus, +“No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, +even the Son of man _which is in heaven_.”[41] The inference is that the +heaven in which he formerly lived was similar to the heaven of that +moment, namely earth. Again, Jesus asked his disciples, “Whom say men +that I am?” And his disciples state the popular thought in answering, +“Some say Elijah, others Jeremiah, and others one of the old prophets.” +“But whom say ye that I am?” Peter, the spokesman, replies, “Thou art +the Christ, the Son of God,” and so expresses another phase of the same +prevailing idea, for the Christ was also an Old Testament personage. And +Jesus approves this response. After Herod had decapitated John the +Baptist, the appearance of Jesus, also preaching and baptizing, roused +in him the apprehension that the prophet he killed had come again in a +second life. + +Preëxistence, the premise necessarily leading to reincarnation, is the +keynote of the most spiritual of the Gospels. The initial sentence +sounds it, the body of the book often repeats it, and the final climax +is strengthened by it. From the proem, “In the beginning was the word, +and the word was with God,” all through the story occur frequent +allusions to it: “The word was made flesh” (John i. 14); “I am the +living bread which came down from Heaven” (vi. 51); “Ye shall see the +Son of man ascend up where he was before” (vi. 62); “Before Abraham was, +I am” (viii. 58); and finally, “Glorify thou me with the glory which I +had with thee before the world was” (xvii. 5); “For thou lovedst me +before the foundation of the world” (xvii. 24). It is always phrased in +such a form as might be asserted by any one, though the speaker says it +only of himself. + +What the fourth Gospel dwells upon so fondly, and what is echoed in +other New Testament books,—as in Philippians ii. 7, “He took on him the +form of a servant,” in 2 Cor. viii. 9, “Though he was rich, yet for your +sakes he became poor,” and in 1 John i. 2, “That eternal Life which was +with the Father, and was manifested unto us,”—is a thought not limited +to the Christ. Precisely the same occurs in the mention of the +prophet-baptizer John: “There was a man sent from God” (John i. 6). The +obvious sense of this verse to the Christians nearest its publication +appears in the comments upon it by Origen, who says that it implies the +existence of John the Baptist’s soul previous to his terrestrial body, +and hints at the universal belief in preëxistence by adding, “And if the +_Catholic opinion_ hold good concerning the soul, as not propagated with +the body, but existing previously and for various reasons clothed in +flesh and blood, this expression, ‘sent from God,’ will no longer seem +extraordinary as applied to John.” No words could more exactly suit the +aspirations of an oriental believer in reincarnation than these in the +Apocalypse: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of +my God, _and he shall go no more out_” (Rev. iii. 12). + +More important than any separate quotations is the general tone of the +Scriptures, which points directly toward reincarnation. They represent +the earthly life as a pilgrimage to the heavenly country of spiritual +union with God. It is our conceit and ignorance alone which deems a +single earthly life sufficient to accomplish that purpose. They teach +the sinful nature of all men and their responsibility for their sin, +which certainly demands previous lives for the acquisition of that +condition, as shown well by Chevalier Ramsay. (See pages 83–87.) St. +Paul’s idea of the Fall and of God are precisely those of Philo and +Origen. The Bible also treats Paradise as the ancient abode of man and +his future home, which requires a series of reincarnations as the +connecting chain. + + + + + VIII. + REINCARNATION IN EARLY CHRISTENDOM. + + + Our soul having lost its heavenly mansion came down into the earthly + body as a strange place.—PHILO. + + The soul leaving the body becomes that power which it has most + developed. Let us fly, then, from here below, and rise to the + intellectual world, that we may not fall into a purely sensible life, + by allowing ourselves to follow sensible images; or into a vegetative + life, by abandoning ourselves to the pleasures of physical love and + gluttony: let us rise, I say, to the intellectual world, to + intelligence, to God himself.—PLOTINUS. + + The order of things is regulated by the providential government of the + whole world; some powers falling down from a loftier position, others + gradually sinking to earth: some falling voluntarily, others being + cast down against their will: some undertaking of their own accord the + service of stretching out the hand to those who fall, others being + compelled to persevere for a long time in the duty which they have + undertaken.—JEROME. + + All that flesh doth cover + Souls by source sublime + Are but slaves sold over + To the master Time, + To work out their ransom + For the ancient crime. + + + + + VIII. + REINCARNATION IN EARLY CHRISTENDOM. + + +The first centuries of Christianity found reincarnation still the +prevailing creed, as in all the previous ages, but with various shades +of interpretation. What these different phases of the same central +thought were may be gathered from Jerome’s catalogue, after the strife +between Eastern and Western ideas had been working for some centuries +and the present tendency of Europe had asserted itself. Jerome writes: +“As to the origin of the soul, I remember the question of the whole +church: whether it be fallen from heaven, as Pythagoras and the +Platonists and Origen believe; or be of the proper substance of God, as +the Stoics, Manichæans and Priscillian heretics of Spain believe; or +whether they are kept in a repository formerly built by God, as some +ecclesiastics foolishly believe; or whether they are daily made by God +and sent into bodies according to that which is written in the Gospel: +‘My Father worketh hitherto and I work;’ or whether by traduction, as +Tertullian, Apollinarius, and the greater part of the Westerns believe, +_i. e._, that as body from body so the soul is derived from the soul, +subsisting by the same condition with animals.” + +In the form of Gnosticism it so strongly pervaded the early church that +the fourth Gospel was specially directed against it; but this Gospel +according to John attacked it only by advocating a broader rendering of +the same faith. We have seen that Origen refers to preëxistence as the +general opinion. Clemens Alexandrinus (Origen’s master) taught it as a +divine tradition authorized by St. Paul himself in Romans v. 12, 14, 19. +Ruffinus in his letter to Anastasius says that “This opinion was common +among the primitive fathers.” Later, Jerome relates that the doctrine of +transmigration was taught as an esoteric one communicated to only a +select few. But Nemesius emphatically declared that all the Greeks who +believed in immortality believed also in metempsychosis. Delitzsch says, +“It had its advocates as well in the synagogues as in the church.” + +The Gnostics and Manichæans received it, with much else, from +Zoroastrian predecessors. The Neo-Platonists derived it chiefly from a +blending of Plato and the Orient. The Church Fathers drew it not only +from these sources, but from the Jews and the pioneers of Christianity. +Several of them condemn the Persian and Platonic philosophies and yet +hold to reincarnation in other guises. Aside from all authority, the +doctrine seems to have been rooted among the inaugurators of our era in +its adaptation to their mental needs, as the best explanation of the +ways of God and the nature of men. + +I. The Gnostics were a school of eclectics which became conspicuous amid +the chaotic vortex of all religions in Alexandria, during the first +century. They sought to furnish the young Christian church with a +philosophic creed, and ranked themselves as the only initiates into a +mystical system of Christian truth which was too exalted for the masses. +Their thought was an elaborate structure of Greek ideas built upon +Parsee Dualism, maintaining that the world was created by some fallen +spirit or principle, and that the spirits of men were enticed from a +preëxistent higher stage by the Creator into the slavery of material +bodies. The evils and sins of life belong only to the degraded +prison-house of the spirit. The world is only an object of contempt. +Virtue consists in severest asceticism. To combat their theory that +Jesus was one of a vast number of beings between man and God, the fourth +Gospel was written. They spread widely through the first and second +centuries in many branches of belief. But most of their strength was +absorbed into Manichæism, which was a more logical union of Persian with +Christian and Greek ideas. In this simple faith the world is a creation +not of a fallen spirit, but of the primary evil principle, while the +spirit of man is the creation of God, and the conflict between flesh and +spirit is that between the powers of light and darkness. The Gnostic and +Manichæan notions of preëxistence perpetuated themselves in many of the +medieval sects, especially the Bogomiles, Paulicians, and Priscillians. +Seven adherents of the Priscillian heresy were put to death in Spain A. +D. 385, as the first instance of the death penalty visited by a +Christian magistrate for erroneous belief. The Italian Cathari were +another sect holding this form of reincarnation, against whom the +Albigensian Crusade of the elder De Montfort was sent, and the +inquisition devised by St. Dominic. Still they thrived in secret and +possessed a disguised hierarchy which long survived their violent +persecution. Similar sects descended from them still exist among the +Russian dissenters. + +II. Contemporary with the Alexandrian Gnostics arose the philosophical +school of the Neo-Platonists which gathered into one the doctrines of +Pythagoras, Plato, and Buddhism,[42] and constructed a theology which +might make headway against Christianity by satisfying in a rational way +the longings which the new religion addressed. They too disclosed the +reality and nearness of a spiritual world, a reconciliation with God, +and the pathway for returning to Him. The distinguishing principle of +Neo-Platonism is _emanation_, which took the place of creation. From the +eternal Intelligence proceeds the multiplicity of souls which comprise +the intelligible world, and of which the worldsoul is the highest and +all-embracing source. They insisted upon the distinct individuality of +each soul, and earnestly combated the charge of Pantheism. Souls who +have descended into the delusion of matter did so from pride and a +desire of false independence. They now forget their former estate and +the Father whom they have deserted. The mission of men, in the dying +words of Plotinus, is “to bring the divine within them into harmony with +that which is divine in the universe.” The Neo-Platonists fought +Gnosticism as fiercely as Christianity. Plotinus, by far the best of +their writers, as well as the oldest whose works are preserved, devotes +a whole book of his Enneads to the refutation of the doctrines of +Valentinus, the brightest of the Gnostics. Contrary to the latter’s +thought, that men are fallen into the miry pit of matter which is wholly +bad, Plotinus claims that the world of matter, although the least divine +part of the universe because remotest from the One, is still good and +the best place for man’s development. From its former life he insists +the soul has not fallen and cannot, but has descended into the lower +stage of existence through innate weakness of intellect in order to be +prepared for a higher exaltation. + +The most important of this group of thinkers were Ammonius Saccas, +Plotinus, and Porphyry in the third century, Jamblichus in the fourth, +Hierocles and Proclus in the fifth, and Damascius in the sixth. It +flourished with energy for over three hundred years, and as its ideas +were largely appropriated by Christian theologians and philosophers, +beginning with Origen, it has never ceased to be felt through +Christendom. Giordano Bruno, the martyr of the Italian reformation, +popularized it, and handed it over to later philosophers. The philosophy +of Emerson is substantially a revival of Plotinus. Coleridge is also +strongly influenced by him. + +As Plotinus is in some respects the most interesting of all the older +writers, and taught reincarnation in a form thoroughly rational and +supremely helpful, meeting Western needs in this regard more directly +than any other philosopher, we quote at some length from his scarce +essay on “The Descent of the Soul.” + +“When any particular soul acts in discord from the One, flying from the +whole and apostasizing from thence by a certain disagreement, no longer +beholding an intelligible nature, from its partial blindness, in this +case it becomes deserted and solitary, impotent and distracted with +care; for it now directs its mental eye to a part, and by a separation +from that which is universal, attaches itself as a slave to one +particular nature. It thus degenerates from the whole and governs +particulars with anxiety and fatigue, assiduously cultivating externals +and becoming not only present with body, but profoundly entering into +its dark abodes. Hence, too, by such conduct the wings of the soul are +said to suffer a defluxion and she becomes fettered with the bonds of +body, after deserting the safe and innoxious habit of governing a better +nature which flourishes with universal soul. The soul, therefore, +falling from on high, suffers captivity, is loaded with fetters, and +employs the energies of sense; because in this case her intellectual +longing is impeded from the first. She is reported also to be buried and +to be concealed in a cave; but when she converts herself to intelligence +she then breaks her fetters and ascends on high, receiving first of all +from reminiscence the ability of contemplating real beings; at the same +time possessing something supereminent and ever abiding in the +intelligible world. Souls therefore are necessarily of an amphibious +nature, and alternately experience a superior and inferior condition of +being; such as are able to enjoy a more intimate converse with Intellect +abiding for a longer period in the higher world, and such to whom the +contrary happens, either through nature or fortune, continuing longer +connected with these inferior concerns.”... + +“Thus, the soul, though of divine origin, and proceeding from the +regions on high, becomes merged in the dark receptacle of the body, and +being naturally a posterior god, it descends hither through a certain +voluntary inclination, for the sake of power and of adorning inferior +concerns. By this means it receives a knowledge of its latent powers, +and exhibits a variety of operations peculiar to its nature, which by +perpetually abiding in an incorporeal habit, and never proceeding into +energy, would have been bestowed in vain. Besides the soul would have +been ignorant of what she possessed, her powers always remaining dormant +and concealed: since energy everywhere exhibits capacity, which would +otherwise be entirely occult and obscure, and without existence, because +not endued with one substantial and true. But now indeed every one +admires the intellectual powers of the soul, through the variety of her +external effects.”... + +“Through an abundance of desire the soul becomes profoundly merged into +matter, and no longer totally abides with the universal soul. Yet our +souls are able alternately to rise from hence carrying back with them an +experience of what they have known and suffered in their fallen state; +from whence they will learn how blessed it is to abide in the +intelligible world, and by a comparison, as it were, of contraries, will +more plainly perceive the excellence of a superior state. For the +experience of evil produces a clearer knowledge of good. This is +accomplished in our souls according to the circulations of time, in +which a conversion takes place from subordinate to more exalted natures. + +“Indeed, if it were proper to speak clearly what appears to me to be the +truth, contrary to the opinions of others, the whole of our soul also +does not enter into the body, but something belonging to it always +abides in the intelligible, and something different from this in the +sensible world: and that which abides in the sensible world, if it +conquers, or rather if it is vanquished and disturbed, does not permit +us to perceive that which the supreme part of the soul contemplates; for +that which is understood then arrives at our nature when it descends +within the limits of sensible inspection. For every soul possesses +something which inclines downwards to body, and something which tends +upwards toward intellect; and the soul, indeed, which is universal and +of the universe, by its part which is inclined towards body, governs the +whole without labor and fatigue, transcending that which it governs. + +“But souls which are particular and of a part are too much occupied by +sense, and by a perception of many things happening contrary to nature +are surrounded by a multitude of foreign concerns. It is likewise +subject to a variety of affections, and is ensnared by the allurements +of pleasure. But the superior part of the soul is never influenced by +fraudulent delights, and lives a life always uniform and divine.” + +III. Many of the orthodox Church Fathers welcomed reincarnation as a +ready explanation of the fall of man and the mystery of life, and +distinctly preached it as the only means of reconciling the existence of +suffering with a merciful God. It was an essential part of the church +philosophy for many centuries in the rank and file of Christian thought, +being stamped with the authority of the leading thinkers of Christendom, +and then gradually was frowned upon as the Western influences +predominated, until it became heresy and at length survived only in a +few scattered sects. + +Justin Martyr expressly speaks of the soul inhabiting more than once the +human body, and denies that on taking a second time the embodied form it +can remember previous experiences. Afterwards, he says, souls which have +become unworthy to see God in human guise, are joined to the bodies of +wild beasts. Thus he openly defends the grosser phase of metempsychosis. + +Clemens Alexandrinus is declared by a contemporary to have written +“wonderful stories about metempsychosis and many worlds before Adam.” + +Arnobius, also, is known to have frankly avowed this doctrine. + +Noblest of all the church advocates of this opinion was Origen. He +regarded the earthly history of the human race as one epoch in an +historical series of changeful decay and restoration, extending backward +and forward into æons; and our temporal human body as the place of +purification for our spirits exiled from a happier existence on account +of sin. He taught that souls were all originally created by God _minds_ +of the same kind and condition, that is of the same essence as the +infinite Mind, and that they exercised their freedom of will, some +wisely and well, others with abuse in different degrees, producing the +divergences now apparent in mankind. From that old experience some souls +have retained more than others of the pristine condition. The lapsed +souls God clothed with bodies and sent into this world, both to expiate +their temerity and to prepare themselves for a better future. The +variety of their offenses caused the diversity of their terrestrial +conditions. In these bodies, each enjoys that lot which most exactly +suited his previous habits. On these the whole earthly circumstances of +man, internal and external, even his whole life from birth, depend. In +this way alone he thought the justice of God could be defended. But when +men keep themselves free from contagion in bodily existence and restrain +the turbulent movements of sense and imagination, being gradually +purified from the body they ascend on high and are at last changed into +_minds_, of which the earthly souls are corruptions. In his own words, +“Here is the cause of the diversing among rational creatures, not in the +will or decision of the creature, but in the freedom of individual +liberty. For God justly disposing of his creatures according to their +desert united the diversities of minds in one congruous world, that he +might, as it were, adorn his mansion (in which ought to be not only +vases of gold and silver, but of wood also and clay, and some to honor +and some to dishonor) with these diverse vases, minds, or souls. To +these causes the world owes its diversity, while Divine Providence +disposes each according to his tendency, mind, and disposition.” + +“If from unknown reasons the soul be already not exactly worthy of being +born in an irrational body, nor yet exactly in one purely rational, it +is furnished with a monstrous body, so that reason cannot be fully +developed by one thus born, the nature of the body being fashioned +either of a higher or lower body according to the scope of the reason.” + +“I think this is a question how it happens that the human mind is +influenced now by the good now by the evil. The causes of this I suspect +to be more ancient than this corporeal birth.” + +“If our course be not marked out according to our works before this +life, how is it true that it is not unjust in God that the elder should +serve the younger and be hated, before he had done things deserving of +servitude and of hatred.” + +“By the fall and by the cooling from a life of the Spirit came that +which is now the soul, which is also capable of a return to her original +condition, of which I think the prophet speaks in this: ‘Return unto thy +rest, O my soul.’ So that the whole is this—how the mind becomes a soul +and how the soul rectified becomes a mind.” + +Concerning preëxistence in the Bible, Origen writes, in his “De +Principiis”: “The Holy Scriptures have called the creation of the world +by a new and peculiar name, terming it καταβολή, which has been very +improperly translated into Latin by ‘constitutio’; for in Greek +καταβολή; signifies rather ‘dejicere,’ _i. e._, to cast downwards,—a +word which has been improperly translated into Latin by the phrase +‘constitutio mundi,’ as where the Saviour says, ‘And there will be +tribulation in those days, such as was not since the beginning of the +world;’[43] in which passage καταβολή is rendered by beginning +(constitutio). The Apostle also has employed the language, saying, ‘Who +hath chosen us before the foundation of the world;’[44] and this +foundation he calls καταβολή, to be understood in the same sense as +before. It seems worth while, then, to inquire what is meant by this new +term; and I am, indeed, of the opinion that as the end and consummation +of the saints will be in those (ages) which are not seen, and are +eternal, we must conclude that rational creatures had also a similar +beginning. And if they had a beginning such as the end for which they +hope, they existed undoubtedly from the very beginning in those (ages) +which are not seen, and are eternal. And if this is so, then there has +been a descent from a higher to a lower condition, on the part not only +of those souls who have deserved the change by the variety of their +movements, but also on that of those who, in order to serve the whole +world, were brought down from those higher and invisible spheres to +these lower and visible ones, although against their will. From this it +follows that by the use of the word καταβολή, a descent from a higher to +a lower condition, shared by all in common, would seem to be pointed +out. The hope of freedom is entertained by the whole of creation—of +being liberated from the corruption of slavery—when the sons of God, who +either fell away or were scattered abroad, shall be gathered into one, +and when they shall have fulfilled their duties in this world.” + +Many contemporaneous and subsequent writers censured Origen for this +opinion, but his doctrine was maintained by a large number of strong +followers and independent thinkers. + +Even in Jerome and Augustine certain passages indicate that they held +this theory in part. In his Epistle to Avitus, Jerome agrees with Origen +as to the interpretation of the passage above mentioned by Origen, “Who +hath chosen us before the foundation of the world.” He says “a divine +habitation, and a true rest above, I think, is to be understood, where +rational creatures dwelt, and where, before their descent to a lower +position, and removal from invisible to visible (worlds), and fall to +earth, and need of gross bodies, they enjoyed a former blessedness. +Whence God the Creator made for them bodies suitable to their humble +position, and created this visible world and sent into the world +ministers for their salvation.” + +The Latin Fathers Nemesius, Synesius, and Hilarius boldly defend +preëxistence, though taking exception to Origen’s form of it. Of +Synesius, most familiar to English readers as the convent patriarch in +“Hypatia,” it is known that when the citizens of Ptolemais invited him +to their bishopric, he declined that dignity for the reason that he +cherished certain opinions which they might not approve, as after mature +reflection they had struck deep roots in his mind. Foremost among these +he mentioned the doctrine of preëxistence. Vestiges of this belief are +discerned in his writings; for example, in the Greek hymn paraphrased as +follows:— + + Eternal Mind, thy seedling spark + Through this thin vase of clay + Athwart the waves of chaos dark + Emits a timorous ray! + + This mind-enfolding soul is sown + Incarnate germ in earth. + In pity, blessed Lord, then own + What claims in Thee its birth. + + Far forth from Thee, Thou central fire, + To earth’s sad bondage cast, + Let not the trembling spark expire, + Absorb Thine own at last. + +Another of this group, Prudentius, entertained nearly the same idea as +that of Origen concerning the soul’s descent from higher seats to earth, +as appears in one of his hymns:— + + O Saviour, bid my soul, thy trembling spouse, + Return at last to Thee believing. + Bind, bind anew those all unearthly vows + She broke on high and wandered grieving. + +Although Origen’s teaching was condemned by the Council of +Constantinople in 551, it permanently colored the stream of Christian +theology, not only in many scholastics and medieval heterodoxies, but +through all the later course of religious thought, in many isolated +individuals and groups. + + + + + IX. + REINCARNATION IN THE EAST TO-DAY. + + + A man may travel from one end of the kingdom to the other without + money, feeding and lodging as well as the people. + + A MISSIONARY IN BURMAH. + + Buddhism has not deceived, and it has not persecuted. In this + respect it can teach Christians a lesson. The unconditioned command, + “Thou shalt not kill,” which applies to all living creatures, has + had great influence in softening the manners of the Monguls. This + command is connected with the doctrine of transmigration of souls, + which is one of the essential doctrines of this system as well as of + Brahmanism. Buddhism also inculcates a positive humanity consisting + of good actions.—JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. + + He lived musing the woes of man, + The ways of fate, the doctrines of the books, + The secrets of the silence whence all come, + The secrets of the gloom whereto all go, + The life that lies between like that arch flung + From cloud to cloud across the sky, which hath + Mists for its masonry and vapory piers. + THE LIGHT OF ASIA. + + + + + IX. + REINCARNATION IN THE EAST TO-DAY. + + + The religious philosophy of the Orient, like everything else there, + remains now substantially the same as in the earliest times. History + cannot say when Brahmanism did not flourish among the multitudes of + India. Buddhism, the later Protestant phase of the old faith, which + abolished its abuses of priesthood and caste and spread its + reformation broadcast through Asia, did not alter the original + teaching of re-birth, but rather confirmed and popularized the truth + that has lain at the heart of India from remotest ages. Reincarnation + is the sap-root of eastern religion and permeates the Veda scriptures. + + While it is claimed by the West that the religion of Sakya Muni is + below that of Jesus, as inspiring an exalted selfishness in + distinction to the generous sacrifice taught by Christianity; while it + is true that the best Buddhists lead a passive, submissive life which + made them easy spoil for conquering races and has not accomplished any + result in civilization since the first ancient subjugation; while + Buddhism with its mortification and self-centred goodness is even more + distasteful to the western race than the meditative dreamy asceticism + of Brahmanism: it is equally certain that these eastern religions are + far more really lived by their followers than Christianity is with us; + it must be admitted that a spiritual selfishness, which is so + thoroughly practiced as to bear all the fruits of generous love, is + preferable to a noble sacrifice, which is so largely precept as to + appear to the naked eye a civilized barbarism; and it is worth + considering whether Christendom may not gain as much by learning the + secret of Eastern superiority to materialism, as the Orient is gaining + by the infusion of Western activity. Travelers agree that in many + parts of inner China, Thibet, Central India, and Ceylon the daily life + of Buddhism is so like the realization of Christianity, as to give + strong support to the theory of the Indian origin of our religion. + There is a practical demonstration of what reincarnation will do for a + race, and a hint of the grander result which would accrue from + grafting that principle into the real life of the stronger Saxon, + Teutonic, and Celtic stock. Knowing the indestructibility of the soul, + the evanescence of the body, and the permanence of spiritual traits as + formed by thought, word, and deed, the whole energy of life is focused + upon purity of self and charity to others. To love one’s enemies, to + abstain from even defensive warfare, to govern the soul, to obey one’s + superiors, to venerate age, to provide food and shelter, to tolerate + all differences of opinion and religion, are guiding maxims of actual + life. They are as vitally and generally translated into flesh and + blood as in primitive Christianity or in Count Tolstoi’s flock. + Honesty, modesty, and simplicity prevail in these sections. Women are + held in the same esteem as in the ancient Sanskrit epoch, and children + are treated more beautifully than in many Christian homes. A lady + traveler, known to the writer, who witnessed this, said that if her + lot were that of a friendless woman, she knew no place on earth where + she would labor and dwell more happily than in Ceylon. As the + peasantry receive reincarnation in the simplest and extremest form of + human re-births in animal bodies, every living creature is regarded by + them as a possible relative. Gentleness to the animal creation abounds + as nowhere else in the world. It is a sin to kill any beast. It is a + virtue to offer one’s life for a distressed animal, as the popular + tradition holds that Buddha did in one life by throwing himself to a + famished tigress. Death is no object of dread, but a welcome + benefactor, transferring them forward in their progress to the goal of + rest. To die for any good purpose, as under the sacred Brahman car of + Juggernaut, or in some one’s behalf, is the common aspiration; so much + so that it is difficult for the missionaries to gain any feeling for + the death on the cross, as they think any one would easily suffer + that. + + The Brahmans have for ages studied the problems of ontology and the + soul’s future, by severest introspection and acutest thought, to build + their system, which is a vast elaboration of religious metaphysics, + upon a theistic basis. Reincarnation is the cornerstone of this + structure. Many of the higher Brahmans are believed to have penetrated + the veils concealing past existences. It is related, for instance, + that when Apollonius of Tyana visited India, the Brahman Iarchus told + him that “the truth concerning the soul is as Pythagoras taught you + and as we taught the Egyptians,” and mentioned that he (Apollonius) in + a previous incarnation was an Egyptian steersman, and had refused the + inducements offered him by pirates to guide his vessel into their + hands. The common people of India are sure that certain of the + Brahmans and Buddhists are still able to verify by their finer senses + the reality of reincarnation. And many educated natives and resident + foreigners in India have witnessed evidences of this keen power of + insight associated with other extraordinary qualities which compelled + them to believe in it. + + Brahmanism and Buddhism are practically agreed upon the philosophy of + reincarnation, as the great Buddhist revolt against priestcraft only + emphasized this doctrine. Every branch of these systems aims at the + means of winning escape from the necessity of repeated births. The + ardent and final desire of all is expressed by the words of the sage + Bharata:— + + “And may the purple self-existent god (Siva), + Whose vital energy pervades all space, + From future transmigrations save my soul.” + + There are, however, great differences in these two faiths as to the + means and the result. Both contend that all forms are the penance of + nature. They regard personal existence as an empty delusion and the + exemption from it as true salvation. The Brahman seeks Nirvana, which + is absorption in Brahm, as the reality at the heart of things; the + Buddhist considers this also unreal, and finds no reality but in the + silence and peace attained beyond Nirvana. In the Brahman’s paradise, + one is so free from desire that no need remains for perpetuating his + individual existence. But after that comes Pan-Nirvana, which is utter + inaction and disappearance, a condition so difficult for a Western + mind to comprehend that it persists in falsely calling it and Nirvana + alike—annihilation. The Buddhist’s one duty of life and the means of + attaining his goal is mortification, the extinction of affection and + desire. But the Brahman’s work is contemplation, illumination, + communion with Brahm, religious study, and asceticism. The creed of + Buddhism is universal; that of Brahmanism is exclusive. The Buddhist + saint may come from any class, for the _raison d’être_ of his faith is + the abolition of caste. But only the wearer of the sacred Brahman + thread can aspire to direct union with Brahm; the lower castes must + undergo painful fakir penances until they attain the Brahman estate. + + Northern Buddhism has been defined as almost identical with + Gnosticism. It has spun a dense fabric of legend and speculation about + this central thought of the soul’s gradual evolution from the natural + to the spiritual. The Hindus believe that human souls emanated from + the Supreme Being, and became gradually immersed in matter, forgetting + their divine origin, and straying in bewildered condition back to him + through many lives, after a protracted round of births in partial + reparation. Having become contaminated with sin, we must work out our + release through earthly lives in the delusive arena of sense until the + reality of spiritual existence is attained. So long as the soul is not + pure enough for re-mergence into Brahm, we must be born again + repeatedly, and the degree of our impurity determines what these + births shall be. So closely is the account of the soul’s misdeeds kept + that it may pass through thousands of years in one or another of the + heavens in reward for good deeds, and yet be obliged later to descend + to earth for certain ancient sins. The Laws of Manu give a standard by + which the moral consequences of various human actions are measured + with great detail.[45] A more general doctrine is based on the + assumption of three Cosmic qualities—goodness, passion, and + darkness—in the human soul. On this ground Manu and other writers + built an intricate theory, providing that souls of the first quality + become deities, those of the second, men, and those of the third, + beasts. + + The Hindu conception of reincarnation embraces all existence—gods, + men, animals, plants, minerals. It is believed that everything + migrates, from Buddha down to inert matter. Hardy tells us that Buddha + himself was born an ascetic eighty-three times, a monarch fifty-eight + times, as the soul of a tree forty-three times, and many other times + as ape, deer, lion, snipe, chicken, eagle, serpent, pig, frog, etc., + amounting to four hundred times in all. A Chinese authority represents + Buddha as saying, “The number of my births and deaths can only be + compared to those of all the plants in the universe.” Birth is the + gate which opens into every state, and merit determines into which it + shall open. Earth and human life are an intermediary stage, resulting + from many previous places and forms and introducing many more. There + are multitudes of inhabited worlds upon which the same person is + successively born according to his attractions. To the earthly life he + may return again and again, dropping the memory of past experiences, + and carrying, like an embryonic germ, the concisest summary of former + lives into each coming one. Every act bears upon the resultant which + shall steer the soul into its next habitation, not only on earth, but + in the more exalted or debased regions of “Heaven” and “Hell.” Thus + “the chain of the law” binds all existences, and the only escape is by + the final absorption into Brahm. + + While the Hindus generally hold that the same soul appears at + different births, the heretical Southern Buddhists teach that the + succession of existences is a succession of souls, bred from one + another, like the sprouting of new generations from plants and + animals, and like the new light kindled from an old lamp, the result, + but not the identity of the former. Another curious aspect of these + Indian speculations is the view of certain Northern Buddhists, who + divide eternity into gigantic cycles which shall at length bring + around again a precise repetition of earlier events. This is similar + to the grand periodic year of the Stoics and of the Epicurean + Atomists, and to the continual metempsychosis of Pythagoras, which + provided that the identical Plato would again and again, at certain + tremendous intervals staggering any one but a Greek or Hindu + metaphysician, appear at the same Academy and deliver the same + lectures, etc. + + Zoroastrians and Sufi Mohamedans, with their usual antipathy to Indian + thought, limit their conceptions of reincarnation to a few repeated + lives on earth, which some of the Persian and Arabian mystics stretch + out to a larger number, but soon disappearing either back into the + original source or into darker scenes. + + + + + X. + EASTERN POETS UPON REINCARNATION. + + + Here shalt thou pluck from the most ancient shells + The whitest pearls of wisdom’s treasury. + EDWIN ARNOLD. + + Young and enterprising is the West, + Old and meditative is the East. + Turn, O youth! with intellectual zest + Where the sage invites thee to his feast. + + Eastward roll the orbs of heaven, + Westward tend the thoughts of men. + Let the poet, nature-driven, + Wander eastward now and then. + MILNES. + + + + + X. + EASTERN POETS UPON REINCARNATION. + + + All Eastern poetry finds a favorite theme in metempsychosis, and the + literature of India is thoroughly saturated with it. The fervent + passion, the subtle thought, the luxuriant imagery which permeate + Asiatic life are centred upon this common philosophy. But the best + portion of this enormous wealth of fantasy is withheld from us, simply + because of its revelry in this very thought which is generally + unattractive to the West. What oriental poetry enters our language is + chiefly erotic or epic, and the most characteristic of all is left for + the few educated natives to enjoy. We can therefore only select a few + representative gems from this unworked mine, illustrating the Muses of + India, Persia, and Arabia. Among the ancient Sanskrit epics are + discovered beautiful renderings of the thought of many births. The + delicacy and tenderness of Persian poetry furnish charming expressions + of the Zoroastrian aspirations for release from earthly bondages to + reascend homeward. The Arabian mysticism of the Sufis directs their + intense subjectivity into ecstatic phrasings of the same idea. + + In the wonderful ancient Sanskrit drama “Sakoontala” by Kalidésa, + translated by Monier Williams, occur these passages:— + + This peerless maid is like a fragrant flower + Whose perfumed breath has never been diffused. + A gem of priceless water, just released + Pure and unblemished from its glittering bed. + Or rather is she like the mellowed fruit + Of virtuous actions in some former birth + Now brought to full perfection. + + That song has filled me with a most peculiar sweetness. + I seem to yearn after some long forgotten love. + Not seldom in our happy hours of ease + When thought is still, the sight of some fair form, + Or mournful fall of music breathing low + Will stir strange fancies thrilling all the soul + With a mysterious sadness and a sense + Of vague yet earnest longing. Can it be + That the dim memory of events long passed, + Or friendships formed in other states of being + Flits like a passing shadow o’er the spirit? + + The Sanskrit “Katha Upanishad,” in Edwin Arnold’s rendering as “The + Secret of Death,” contains a full explanation of the Eastern doctrine. + + For his noble sacrifice Yama (Death) grants to Nachikêtas the + privilege of asking three boons. After naming and receiving the first + two Nachikêtas says:— + + “Thou dost give peace—is that peace nothingness? + Some say that after death the soul still lives, + Personal, conscious; some say, nay, it ends: + Fain would I know which of these twain be true, + By the enlightened. Be my third boon this.” + Then Yama answered, “This was asked of old, + Even by the gods! This is a subtle thing, + Not to be told, hard to be understood: + Ask me some other boon: I may not grant.” + + Nachikêtas insists upon this, and will not accept the wealths, powers, + and pleasures which Death offers as a substitute. + + Then Yama yielded, granting the great boon, + And spake: “Know, first of all, that what is Good + And what is Pleasant—these be separate! + By many ways, in diverse instances + Pleasure and Good lay hold upon each man! + Blessed is he who, choosing high, lets go + Pleasure for Good. The Pleasure-seekers lose + Life’s end, so lived. The Pleasant and the Good + Solicit men: the sage, distinguishing + By understanding, followeth the Good, + Being more excellent. The foolish man + Cleaveth to Pleasure, seeking still to have, + To keep, enjoy. The foolish ones who live + In ignorance, holding themselves as wise + And well instructed, tread the round of change + With erring steps, deluded, like the blind + Led by the blind. The necessary road + Which brings to life unchanging is not seen + By such: wealth dazzles heedless hearts: deceived + With shows of sense, they deem their world is real + And the unseen is naught; so, constantly, + Fall they beneath my stroke. To reach to Being + Beyond all seeming Being, to know true life— + This is not gained by many; seeing that few + So much as hear of it, and of those few + The more part understandeth not. + “The uttermost true soul is ill-perceived + By him who, unenlightened, sayeth: I + Am I: thou, thou; and the life divided: He + That knoweth life undifferenced, declares + The spirit, what it is, One with the All. + And this is Truth. But nowise shall the truth + Be compassed, if thou speak of small and great. + “Excellent youth! the knowledge thou didst crave + Comes not with speech: words are the false world’s signs. + By insight surely comes it if one hears. + Lo! thou hast loved the Truth, and striven for it. + I would that others, Nachikêtas, strove! + “Only the wise who patiently do sever + Their thought from shows and fix it upon truths, + See HIM, the Perfect and Unspeakable, + Hard to be seen, retreating, ever hid + Deeper and deeper in the uttermost; + Whose house was never entered, who abides + Now and before and always; and so seeing + Are freed from griefs and pleasures.” + “Make it known to me,” he saith, + “Who is HE? what? whom thou hast knowledge of.” + Then Yama spake: + “The answer whereunto all vedas lead; + The answer whereunto as penance strives; + The answer whereunto those strive that live + As seekers after God—hear this from me. + Who knoweth the word Om (which meaneth God) + With all its purports; what his heart would have + His heart possesseth. This of spoken speech + Is wisest, deepest, best, supremest. He + That speaketh it, and wotteth what he speaks + Is worshiped in the place of Brahm, with Brahm! + Also, the soul which knoweth thus itself + It is not born. It doth not die. It sprang + From none, and it begetteth none. Unmade, + Immortal, changeless, primal. I can break + The body, but that soul I cannot harm.” + “If he that slayeth thinks ‘I slay’; if he + Whom he doth slay thinks ‘I am slain,’ then both + Know not aright. That which was life in each + Cannot be slain nor slay. The untouched soul, + Greater than all the worlds (because the worlds + By it subsist); smaller than subtleties + Of things minutest; last of ultimates, + Sits in the hollow heart of all that lives! + Whoso hath laid aside desire and fear, + His senses mastered and his spirit still, + Sees in the quiet light of verity + Eternal, safe, majestical—his soul: + Resting it ranges everywhere: asleep + It roams the world, unsleeping: who, save I, + Know that divinest spirit as it is, + Glad beyond joy, existing outside life? + Beholding it in bodies bodiless, + Amid impermanency permanent, + Embracing all things, yet in the midst of all + The mind enlightened casts its grief away: + It is not to be known by knowledge: man + Wotteth it not by wisdom: learning vast + Halts short of it: only by soul itself + Is soul perceived—when the Soul wills it so + There shines no light save its own light to show + Itself unto itself: none compasseth + Its joy who is not wholly ceased from sin, + Who dwells not self-controlled, self-centred, calm, + Lord of himself. It is not gotten else. + Brahm hath it not to give. + “The man unwise, unmindful, evil-lived + Comes not to that fixed place of peace; he falls + Back to the region of sense life again. + The wise and mindful one, heart purified, + Attaineth to the changeless Place, wherefrom + Never again shall births renew for him. + Then hath he freedom over all worlds + And, if it wills the region of the Past, + The fathers and the mothers of the Past + Come to receive it; and that soul is glad: + And if it wills the regions of the Homes, + The Brothers and the Sisters of the Homes + Come to receive it; and that soul is glad: + And if it wills the region of the Friends, + The well-beloved come to welcome it + With love undying; and that soul is glad. + And if it wills a world of grace and peace + Where garlands are and perfumes and delights + Of delicate meats and drinks, music and song, + Lo! fragrances and blossoms and delights + Of dainty banquets and the streams of song + Come to it; and that soul is glad. + Whoso once perceiveth HIM that is + Without a name, Unseen, Impalpable, + Bodiless, Timeless, such an one is saved, + Death hath not power upon him.” + + Although not an Asiatic poem in the ordinary sense, we do not hesitate + to place in this cluster Edwin Arnold’s “Light of Asia.” After the + festival scene in which the prince distributed prizes to the maiden + victors in the sports, and his love had centred upon Yasôdhara, the + last of the contestants, follow these lines:— + + Long after, when enlightenment was full, + Lord Buddha, being prayed why thus his heart + Took fire at first glance of the Sâkya girl, + Answered: “We were not strangers as to us + And all it seemed; in ages long gone by + A hunter’s son, playing with forest girls + By Yamun’s springs, where Nandadevi stands + Sate umpire while they raced beneath the firs + Like hares at eve that run their playful rings; + One with flower-like stars crowned he, one with long plumes, + Plucked from the pheasant and the jungle cock, + One with fir apples; but who ran the last + Came first for him, and unto her the boy + Gave a tame fawn and his heart’s love beside. + And in the wood they lived many glad years, + And in the wood they undivided died. + Lo! as hid seed shoots after rainless years, + So good and evil, pains and pleasures, hates + And loves, and all dead deeds come forth again + Bearing bright leaves or dark, sweet fruit or sour. + Thus was I he and she Yasôdhara; + And while the wheel of birth and death turns round + That which hath been must be between us two.” + + In other passages of the same poem Buddha tells how his athletic + triumph over the suitors for Yasôdhara, in which she wore a black and + gold veil, was but a new version of an ancient forest battle, when as + a tiger he conquered all the rival claimants for the black and + gold-striped tigress Yasôdhara; how ages before in time of famine, + when he was a Brahman, he compassionately threw himself to a starving + tigress; and how his final salvation of Yasôdhara by the enlightened + doctrine repeated a transaction centuries old, when he was a pearl + merchant and sacrificed the priceless gem containing all his fortune + to rescue this same wife Yasôdhara from hunger. + + * * * * * + + A typical expression of the Zoroastrian phase of reincarnation is + found in this poem:— + + + FROM THE PERSIAN. + + BY ARCHBISHOP R. C. TRENCH. + + Happy are you, starry brethren, who from heaven do not roam, + In the eternal Father’s mansion from the first have dwelt at home. + + Round the Father’s throne forever standing in his countenance, + Sunning you, you see the seven circling heavens around you dance. + + Me he has cast out to exile in a distant land to learn + How I should love Him the Father, how for that true country yearn. + + I lie here, a star of heaven, fallen upon this gloomy place, + Scarce remembering what bright courses I was once allowed to trace. + + Still in dreams it comes upon me, that I once on wings did soar; + But or e’er my flight commences this my dream must all be o’er. + + When the lark is climbing upward in the sunbeam, then I feel + Even as though my spirit also hidden pinions could reveal. + + I a rosebud to this lower soil of earth am fastly bound, + And with heavenly dew besprinkled still am rooted to the ground. + + Yet the life is struggling upward, stirring still with all their + might, + Yearning buds that cry to open to the warmth and heavenly light. + + From its stalk released, my flower soars not yet a butterfly, + But meanwhile my fragrant incense evermore I breathe on high. + + By my Gardener to his garden I shall once transplanted be, + There where I have been already written from eternity. + + Oh, my brothers blooming yonder, unto Him the ancient—pray + That the hour of my transplanting He will not for long delay. + + Hafiz, the prince of Persian poets, figures the soul as the phœnix + alighting on Tuba, the Tree of Life:— + + My phœnix long ago secured + His nest in the sky-vault’s cope; + In the body’s cage immured + He was weary of life’s hope. + + Round and round this heap of ashes + Now flies the bird amain, + But in that odorous niche of heaven + Nestles the bird again. + + Once flies he upward he will perch + On Tuba’s golden bough; + His home is on that fruited arch + Which cools the blest below. + + If over this sad world of ours + His wings my phœnix spread, + How gracious falls on land and sea + The soul-refreshing shade! + + Either world inhabits he, + Sees oft below him planets roll; + His body is all of air compact, + Of Allah’s love, his soul. + + The following Sufi poem will illustrate the passionate phase of + reincarnation which appears in the spiritual absorption of the + Mohammedan mystics. It is not surprising that the intensity of their + rapturous piety has drawn among their ranks of meditative devotees the + most distinguished religionists, philosophers, and poets of the whole + Persian and Arabian Orient: + + + THE SUCCESSFUL SEARCH. + + I was ere a name had been named upon earth,— + Ere one trace yet existed of aught that has birth,— + When the locks of the Loved One streamed forth for a sign, + And being was none save the Presence Divine! + Ere the veil of the flesh for Messiah was wrought + To the Godhead I bowed in prostration of thought. + I measured intensely, I pondered with heed + (But ah! fruitless my labor) the Cross and its creed. + To the Pagod I rushed, and the Magian’s shrine, + But my eye caught no glimpse of a glory divine: + The reins of research to the Caaba I bent, + Whither hopefully thronging the old and young went; + Candasai and Herát searched I wistfully through, + Nor above nor beneath came the Loved One to view! + I toiled to the summit, wild, pathless and lone, + Of the globe-girding Kâf, but the Phœnix had flown. + The seventh earth I traversed, the seventh heaven explored, + But in neither discerned I the Court of the Lord. + I questioned the Pen and the Tablet of Fate, + But they whispered not where He pavilions his state. + My vision I strained, but my God-scanning eye + No trace that to Godhead belongs could descry. + But when I my glance turned within my own breast, + Lo! the vainly sought Loved One, the Godhead confessed. + In the whirl of its transport my spirit was tossed + Till each atom of separate being I lost: + And the bright sun of Tanniz a madder than me + Or a wilder, hath never yet seen, nor shall see. + + + + + XI. + ESOTERIC ORIENTAL REINCARNATION. + + + Life’s thirst quenches itself + With draughts which double thirst, but who is wise + Tears from his soul this Trishna, feeds his sense + No longer on false shows, files his mind + To seek not, strive not, wrong not; bearing meek + All ills which flow from foregone wrongfulness, + And so constraining passions that they die. + Thus grows he sinless: either never more + Needing to find a body and a place, + Or so informing what freer frame it takes + In new existence that the new toils prove + Lighter and lighter not to be at all, + Thus “finishing the path”; free from earth’s cheats; + Released from all the skandhas of the flesh; + Broken from ties—from Upâdân—saved + From whirling on the wheel; aroused and sane + As is a man wakened from hateful dreams. + Till aching craze to live ends, and life glides + Lifeless—to nameless quiet, nameless joy, + Blessed NIRVANA—sinless, stirless rest— + That change which never changes. + THE LIGHT OF ASIA. + + + + + XI. + ESOTERIC ORIENTAL REINCARNATION. + + + Throughout the East to-day, as in all past time, the higher priesthood + controls a spiritual science which has been accumulated by long ages + of severest study, and is concealed from the vulgar world. This is no + mere elaboration of fanciful philosophy, as is much of eastern + metaphysics, patiently spun from secluded speculation like the + mediæval scholasticism of Europe. It is a purely rational development + of psychology by the aid of scientific inquiry. Through protracted + investigation and crucial tests repeatedly applied to actual + experience and through retrospective and prophetic insight they have + probed many of the secrets of the soul. The falsity of materialism and + the all-commanding power of spirit are proven beyond a cavil. How the + soul is independent of the physical body, sometimes leaving and + returning to it, and moulding it to suit its needs; how all nature is + but a vast family embodied in physical clothing and inextricably + interlaced in living brotherhood, from lowest atom to sublimest + archangel; how the gradual evolution of all races proceeds through + revolving cycles in a constantly ascending order of things;—these and + many other stupendous spiritual facts are to them familiarly known. + These masters of human mystery hold themselves apart from the populace + and seldom appear to any but their special disciples, but they are + universally believed in by the natives of India, as the miraculous + evidences of their penetration into nature’s heart have been seen of + many. Moreover, ocular demonstration of the existence and phenomenal + capacities of these Mahatmas has frequently been given to well-known + officials and reputable foreigners, whose testimony is on record. + + Although these highest adepts keep most of their discoveries secret, + preferring to enlighten mankind indirectly and by a wholesome gradual + uplifting, occasional expressions have been given of the occult + philosophy derived from their funds of science, and from these we + abridge what they are said to teach concerning reincarnation. Even in + the books containing their doctrine, as “Man,” “Esoteric Buddhism,” + “Light on the Path,” and “Through the Gates of Gold,”[46] we surmise + that portions relating to specific details are more or less arbitrary + and exoteric. Therefore we confine our attention to a synopsis of + their central principles of the subject. + + These masters tell us that man is composed of seven principles + intricately interwoven so as to constitute a unit and yet capable of + partial separation. This septenary division is only a finer analysis + of the common triple distinctions, body, soul, and spirit, and runs + through the entire universe. The development of man is in the order of + these divisions, from body to spirit and from spirit to body, in a + continual round of incarnations. The progress may be best illustrated + by a seven-coiled spiral which sweeps with a wider curve at every + ascent. The spiral is not a steady upward incline, but at one side + sags down into materiality and at the other side rises into + spirituality,—the material portion of each ring being the lowest side + of its curve, but always higher than the corresponding previous + descent. Furthermore, each ring of the spiral is itself a seven-fold + spiral, and each of these again is a seven-fold spiral, and so on to + an indefinite number of subdivisions. + + The evolutionary process requires for its complete unfoldment a number + of planets[47] corresponding to the seven principles. On each of these + planets a long series of lives is necessary before one can advance to + the next. After a full circuit is made the course must be repeated + again on a higher plane, until many successive series of the planetary + rotations, each involving hundreds of separate lives, has developed + the individual into the perfect fullness of experience. Some of these + planets are unknown to astronomy, being of too fine a materiality for + our present perceptions, and on them man is very unlike his + terrestrial appearance. + + Since the first human souls began their career through these cycles + they have moved along the entire planetary chain three times, and now, + for the fourth time, we have reached the fourth planet—Earth. We are + therefore, roughly speaking, about half developed, physically. During + the previous series of earthly inhabitations we were exceedingly + different from our present form, and during the later ones we shall + enter upon still more marvelous stages. With each grand series (or + round) a dimension is added to man’s conception of space. The fourth + dimension will be a common fact of consciousness before we complete + the present set of earthly lives. Before reaching the perfection + attainable here at each round every soul must pass through many minor + circuits. We are said to be in the middle of the fifth circuit (or + race) of our fourth round, and the evolution of this fifth race began + about a million years ago. Each race is subdivided, and each of these + divisions again dissected, making the total number of lives allotted + to each round very large. No human being can escape the earth’s + attraction until these are accomplished, with only rare exceptions + among those who by special merit have outstripped the others: for + although all began alike, the contrasted uses of the universal + opportunities have produced all the variations now existing in the + human race. The geometrical progression of characteristics selected by + each soul has resulted in vast divergences. + + Long before the twilight of our birth into the present life we passed + through an era of immense duration on this planet as spiritual beings, + gradually descending into matter to enter the bodies which were + developed up from the highest animal type for our reception. Our + evolution therefore is a double one—on the spiritual side from + ethereal races of infinite pedigree, and on the physical side from the + lower animals. + + In the first earthly circuit of the last great series (or round) we + passed through seven ethereal sub-races. Each of these developed one + astral sense, until the seventh sub-race had seven senses. What the + sixth and seventh were we cannot imagine, but in time we shall know, + as we are at present tracing over again that path more perfectly, and + have reached only the fifth of the seven stages on this circuit. The + first of these seven sub-races slowly acquired the sense of physical + sight. All the other parts of the sensuous nature were in shadowy + latency. They had no notion of distance, solidity, sound, or smell. + Even colors were hidden from the earliest men, all being white at + first. Each incarnation in this race developed more of the prismatic + hues in their rainbow order, beginning with red. But the one sense of + sight was so spiritual that it amounted to clairvoyancy. The second + sub-race inherited sight and developed newly touch. Through the + repeated lives in this rank the sense of feeling became wonderfully + delicate and acute, possessing the psychometric quality and revealing + the inner as well as the outer nature of the things to which it was + applied. The third sub-race attained hearing, and its spiritual + development of this sense was so keen that the most subtle sounds, as + the budding leaf and the motion of the heavenly bodies, was clearly + perceived. The fourth sub-race added smell to the other three senses, + and the fifth entered into taste. The sixth and seventh unfolded the + remaining senses, which are beyond our present ken. + + In the second circuit (or race) the soul began once more with a single + sense and passed through another course of sub-races, rehearsing the + scale of the senses with a larger control of them, though less + spiritual. But even in the third circuit the repeated unfoldments of + the senses toward their physical destiny had still retained a large + degree of spiritual quality, as the men themselves were still + ethereal. + + Our first terrestrial appearance in the present circuit (the fifth + race) was in spiritual form, having only astral bodies. This primitive + ethereal race occupied the earth long before it was geologically + prepared for the historical human races. The development of the + physical senses in their present form marks the stages of our + reincarnation in the present race, which is called the descent into + matter. Each turn in this circuit has carried forward the evolution of + the senses in a fixed order, until now we have a firmer hold than ever + before upon those five which indicate the extent of our progress in + the present stage. Our repeated re-births have obscured the long vista + of the ages through which we have traveled to this point, running + through the seven-toned gamut over and over again, first in broad + rough outline, then finishing the details more carefully at each + iteration. Their early spiritual forms have gradually given way to the + modern physical forms, but some persons still retain a portion of + those old guises that once were universal, in certain peculiarly + delicate senses known as second sight, psychometry, clairaudence, + tasting through the fingers, and smelling like a hound. In our present + era the sense of taste has become the last and most fully developed + and the characteristic sense. At first the body did not require food; + then becoming grosser it inhaled it with the air, and as the condition + approached which now prevails, man became an eating animal and is + grown to an epicure. When we shall have completed the full number of + rounds on this earth we shall have not only the other two senses, but + shall govern all seven in a triple form as physical, astral, and + spiritual. + + The most important fact in our evolution, and the cause of the present + phase of existence, with its blinding encasements of matter and evil, + is the growth of a personal will. This is the forbidden fruit of the + Bible Paradise. It originated many cycles back and gradually + flourished, until its impress was stamped upon all our + fellow-creatures. At first starting as selfish desires, then urging + motives for rivalry, it resulted in fierce contest between man and + man. The concentration of the soul in selfish energy clouded the inner + spiritual nature, destroyed the trace of ethereal descent, and buried + us deep in the material world. But this “fall into matter” is really + but a necessary curve of the spiral, and is the dawn of a brighter day + such as humanity has never seen. + + Death marks the origin of the turn which human evolution is at present + describing. The earlier races had no sense of age and did not die. + Like Enoch, they “walked with God” into the next period of their life. + At present when a man dies his _ego_ holds the impetus of his earthly + desires until they are purged away from that higher self, which then + passes into a spiritual state, where all the psychic and spiritual + forces it has generated during the earthly life are unfolded. It + progresses on these planes until the dormant physical impulses assert + themselves and curve the soul around to another incarnation, whose + form is the resultant of the earlier lives. + + The successive appearances of the soul upon one or many earths are a + series of personalities which are the various masks assumed by one + individuality, the numerous parts played by one actor. In each birth + the personality differs from the prior and later existence, but the + one line of individual continuity runs unbroken through all the + countless forms; and as the soul enters into its highest development + it gradually comprehends the whole course of forgotten paths which + have led to the summit. + + The time spent by each soul in physical life is only a small fraction + of the whole period elapsing before the next incarnation. The larger + part of the time is passed in the spiritual existence following death, + in which the physical desires and spiritual qualities derived from the + earthly life determine the condition of being, until the impetus of + unconscious character brings the individual into another earthly life. + + + + + XII. + TRANSMIGRATION THROUGH ANIMALS. + + + All things are but altered, nothing dies, + And here and there th’ unbodied spirit flies + By time and force or sickness dispossessed + And lodges where it lights in man or beast. + PYTHAGORAS, in DRYDEN’S _Ovid_. + + What is the opinion of Pythagoras concerning wild-fowl? + That the soul of our grandam might haply inhabit a bird. + What thinkest thou of his opinion? + I think nobly of the soul, and no way approve of his opinion. + SHAKESPEARE. + + Whoever leaves off being virtuous ceases to be human; and since he + cannot attain to a divine nature he is turned into a beast.—BOETHIUS. + + Be not under any brutal metempsychosis while thou livest and walkest + about erectly under the form of man. Leave it not disputed at last how + thou hast predominantly passed thy days.—SIR THOMAS BROWNE. + + That which has saved India and Egypt through so many misfortunes and + preserved their fertility is neither the Nile nor the Ganges; it is + the respect for animal life by the mild and gentle heart of + man.—MICHELET. + + Oh! the beautiful time will, must come when the beast-loving Brahmin + shall dwell in the cold north and make it warm, when man who now + honors humanity shall also begin to spare and finally to protect the + animated ascending and descending scale of living creatures.—RICHTER. + + As many hairs as grow on the beast, so many similar deaths shall the + man who slays that beast for his own satisfaction in this world pass + through in the next from birth to birth.—LAWS OF MANU. + + + + + XII. + TRANSMIGRATION THROUGH ANIMALS. + + + The idea of reincarnation is so intimately connected and so generally + identified with the notion that human souls sometimes descend into + lower animals, that it is necessary for us to thoroughly understand + the exoteric and gross nature of this grotesque phrasing of a solemn + and beautiful truth. + + All the philosophies and religions teaching reincarnation seem to + teach also the wandering of human souls through brute forms. It was + the common belief in Egypt and still is in Asia. All animals were + sacred to the Egyptians as the masks of fallen gods, and therefore + worshiped. The same reverence for all creatures still reigns in the + East. The Hindu regards everything in the vast tropical jungle of + illusion as a human soul in disguise. The Laws of Manu state: “For + sinful acts mostly corporeal, a man shall assume after death a + vegetable or mineral form; for such acts mostly verbal, the form of a + bird or beast; for acts mostly mental, the lowest of human + conditions.” + + “A priest who has drunk spirituous liquors shall migrate into the form + of a smaller or larger worm or insect, of a moth or some ravenous + animal. + + “If a man steal grain in the husk he shall be born a rat; if a + yellow-mixed metal, a gander; if water, a plava or diver; if honey, a + great stinging gnat; if milk, a crow; if expressed juice, a dog; if + clarified butter, an ichneumon weasel. + + “A Brahman killer enters the body of a dog, a bear, an ass, a tiger, + or a serpent.” + + Not only does this conception permeate the domains of Brahmanism and + Buddhism; it prevailed in Persia before the time of Zoroaster as + since. Pythagoras is said to have obtained it in Babylon from the + Magi, and through him it scattered widely through Greece and Italy. + More closely than with any other teacher, this false doctrine is + associated with the sage of Crotona, who is said to have recognized + the voice of a deceased friend in the howling of a beaten dog. Plato + seems to endorse it also. Plotinus says: “Those who have exercised + human faculties are born again men. Those who have used only their + senses go into the bodies of brutes, and especially into those of + ferocious beasts, if they have yielded to bursts of anger; so that + even in this case, the difference between the bodies that they animate + conforms to the difference of their propensities. Those who have + sought only to gratify their lust and appetite pass into the bodies of + lascivious and gluttonous animals. Finally, those who have degraded + their senses by disuse are compelled to vegetate in the plants. Those + who have loved music to excess and yet have lived pure lives, go into + the bodies of melodious birds. Those who have ruled tyrannically + become eagles. Those who have spoken lightly of heavenly things, + keeping their eyes always turned toward heaven, are changed into birds + which always fly toward the upper air. He who has acquired civic + virtues becomes a man; if he has not these virtues he is transformed + into a domestic animal, like the bee.” + + Some of the church fathers also believed it. Proclus and Syrianus + argued that the brute kept its own soul, but that the human soul which + passed into the brute body was bound within the animal soul. Nearly + all mythology contains this view of transmigration in some form. In + the old Norse and German religions the soul is poetically represented + as entering certain lower forms, as a rose, a pigeon, etc., for a + short period before assuming the divine abode. The Druids of old Gaul + also taught it. The Welsh bards tell us that the souls of men + transmigrate into the bodies of those animals whose habits and + characters they most resemble, till, after a circuit of such + penitential miseries, they are purified for the celestial presence. + They mention three circles of existence: the circle of the + all-inclosing circle which holds nothing alive or dead but God; the + second circle, that of felicity, in which men travel after they have + meritoriously passed through their terrestrial changes; the circle of + evil, in which human nature passes through the varying stages of + existence which it must undergo before it is qualified to inhabit the + circle of felicity, and this includes the three infelicities of + necessity, oblivion, and death, with frequent trials of the lower + animal lives.[48] “Sir Paul Rycant gives us an account of several + well-disposed Mohammedans that purchase the freedom of any little bird + they see confined to a cage, and think they merit as much by it as we + should do here by ransoming any of our countrymen from their captivity + at Algiers. The reason is because they consider every animal as a + brother or sister in disguise, and therefore think themselves obliged + to extend their charity to them, though under such mean circumstances. + They tell you that the soul of a man, when he dies, immediately passes + into the body of another man, or some brute which he resembled in his + humor, or his fortune, when he was one of us.”[49] Pythagorean + transmigration is apparent also in the natives of Mexico, who think + that the souls of persons of rank after death inhabit the bodies of + beautiful, sweet singing birds and the nobler quadrupeds, while the + souls of inferior persons pass into weasels, beetles, and other low + creatures. Among the negroes, the Sandwich Islanders, the Tasmanians, + in short, among nearly all the world outside of Christendom, this + faith rules unquestioned. + + The lowest forms of this belief are found among the tribes of Africa + and America, which think that the soul immediately after death must + seek out a new tenement, and, if need be, enter the body of an animal. + Some of the Africans assume that the soul will choose the body of a + person of similar rank to its former one, and therefore bury the dead + near the houses of their relatives, enabling the unbodied souls to + occupy their new-born children. Sometimes holes are dug in the grave + to facilitate the soul’s egress, and the house-doors are left open for + its admission. The Druses hold firmly to the theory of transmigration. + The folk-lore of all nations has various ways of telling how the soul + of a man can inhabit an animal’s body, in stories of wehr-wolves, + swan-maidens, mermaids, etc. In many parts of Europe the belief in the + man-wolf still flourishes in connection with a crazy person, or a + monomaniac, who is said to be transformed into the brute nature. + Northern Europe receives this superstition as the man-bear. In India + it is the man-tiger; in Abyssinia, the man-hyena; in South Africa, the + man-lion; each country associating the depraved human nature, which + sometimes runs riot as an epidemic mania, with the animal most + dreaded. + + But it is all a coarse symbol caricaturing the inner vital truth of + reincarnation, and springing from the striking resemblance between men + and animals, in feature and disposition, in voice and mien. The + intelligence and kindness of the beasts approaching near to human + character, and the brutality of some men, would seem to indicate that + both races were closely enough related to exchange souls. As an + English writer says: “A judicious critic or observant reader will + scarce allow that more than four or five in the long catalogue of + Roman emperors had any humanity; and although they might perhaps have + a just claim to be styled Lords of the Earth, they had no right to the + title of Man. There is an excellent dissertation in Erasmus on the + princely qualities of the eagle and the lion; wherein that great + author has demonstrated that emperors and kings are very justly + represented by those animals, or that there must be a similarity in + their souls, as all their actions are similar and correspondent.”[50] + Emerson has a paragraph upon this in his essay on Demonology: “Animals + have been called ‘the dreams of nature.’ Perhaps for a conception of + their consciousness we may go to our own dreams. In a dream we have + the instinctive obedience, the same torpidity of the highest power, + the same unsurprised assent to the monstrous, as these metamorphosed + men exhibit. Our thoughts in a stable or in a menagerie, on the other + hand, may well remind us of our dreams. What comparison do these + imprisoning forms awaken! You may catch the glance of a dog sometimes + which lays a kind of claim to sympathy and brotherhood. What! somewhat + of me down there? Does he know it? Can he, too, as I, go out of + himself, see himself, perceive relations? We fear lest the poor brute + should gain one dreadful glimpse of his condition. It was in this + glance that Ovid got the hint of his metamorphoses; Calidasa, of his + transmigration of souls. For these fables are our own thoughts carried + out. What keeps these wild tales in circulation for thousands of + years? What but the wild fact to which they suggest some approximation + of theory? Nor is the fact quite solitary, for in varieties of our own + species where organization seems to predominate over the genius of + man, in Kalmuck or Malay or Flathead Indian, we are sometimes pained + by the same feeling; and sometimes, too, the sharp-witted prosperous + white man awakens it. In a mixed assembly we have chanced to see not + only a glance of Abdiel, so grand and keen, but also in other faces + the features of the mink, of the bull, of the rat, and the barn-door + fowl. You think, could the man overlook his own condition, he could + not be restrained from suicide.” + + The remarkable mental cleverness of the highest animals, the cunning + of the fox, the tiger’s fierceness, the serpent’s meanness, the dog’s + fidelity, seem to be human traits in other forms, and the animal + qualities are striking enough in many men for them to be fitly + described as a fox, a hog, a snake, etc. The characteristics of + animals are accurately termed in expressions first applied to mankind, + and the community of disposition between the erect and the debased + animal creation has furnished words for human qualities from the lower + orders of life,—as leonine, canine, vulpine, etc. Briefly, “the rare + humanity of some animals and the notorious animality of some men” + first suggested the idea of interchanging their souls among the + primitive peoples, and has nourished it ever since among the oldest + portion of the race as a vulgar illustration of a vital reality. + + As the fruits of this idea are beneficial, it was firmly held by the + priests and philosophers as a moral fable, through which they + popularly taught not only reincarnation, but respect for virtue and + for life. It wrought a poetic love of nature in the masses such as has + never been seen under any other influence—and which Christianity has + strangely failed to establish. Lecky candidly says in his “European + Morals”: “In the inculcation of humanity to animals on a wide scale + the Mohammedans and the Brahmins have considerably surpassed the + Christians.” + + To the eastern mind life is a stream flowing through endless + transformations, and everything containing it is divine, from the + commonest onion to the crowned king; and as all living things are the + possible casements of human souls, it is the height of impiety to + abuse anything. The kindness of the Orient toward the brute creation + is a beautiful comment upon the genuineness of this faith. The mercy + due from man to his friends the lower animals is a noble bequest which + has there been treasured for the world. As the wholesome lesson of + transmigration, Asia has thoroughly learned that + + He prayeth best who loveth best + All things both great and small, + For the dear Lord who loveth us + He made and loveth all. + + But the intelligent leaders of oriental thought were far from + believing transmigration literally. The occult theory of the priests + of Isis, like that of the Brahmans, Buddhists, and Chaldeans, never + really held that human souls inhabit animals, or that animal souls + occupy men, although many orientalists have not penetrated beyond this + outer court of eastern doctrine. It was simply an allegorical gospel + for the masses with a double purpose,—to picture the inner truth which + acute thinkers would reach and which the crowds need not know, and to + instill respect for all life. The Egyptian priesthood adopted three + styles of teaching all doctrine. The vulgar religion of the populace + was a crude shaping of the priestly thought. The priests of the outer + temple received the half-veiled tenets of initiates. But only the + hierophants of the inner temple, after final initiation, were allowed + to know the pure truth. The same triple shaping of the central + thought, adapted to the audience, was followed by Pythagoras, Plato, + and all the great masters. Although the name of Pythagoras is + synonymous with the idea of soul-wandering through animals, a careful + perusal of the fragments of his writings, and of his disciples’ books, + shows that he tremendously realized the fact that souls must always, + by all the forces of the universe, find an adequate expression of + their strongest nature, and that it would be as impossible for a + gallon to be contained in a pint measure, as for a human spirit to + inhabit an animal body. That the teaching of Pythagoras on this point + was purely allegorical is proven by the abridgment of his philosophy + given by his disciple Hierocles: “The man who has separated himself + from a brutal life by the right use of reason, purified himself as + much as is possible from excess of passions, and by this become a man + from a wild beast, shall become a God from a man, as far as it is + possible for a man to become a God.... We can only cure our tendency + downwards by the power that leads upwards, by a ready submission to + God, by a total conversion to the divine law. The end of the + Pythagorean doctrine is to be all wings for the reception of divine + good, that when the time of death comes we may leave behind us upon + earth the mortal body, and be ready girt for our heavenly journey. + Then we are restored to our primitive state. This is the most + beautiful end.” + + Hierocles also comments on the Golden Verses of Pythagoras: “If + through a shameful ignorance of the immortality annexed to our soul, a + man should persuade himself that his soul dies with his body, he + expects what can never happen; in like manner he who expects that + after his death he shall put on the body of a beast, and become an + animal without reason, because of his vices, or a plant because of his + dullness and stupidity,—such a man, I say, acting quite contrary to + those who transform the essence of man into one of the superior + beings, is infinitely deceived, and absolutely ignorant of the + essential form of the soul, which can never change; for being and + continuing always man, it is only said to become God or beast by + virtue or vice, though it cannot be either the one or the other.”[51] + The early Neo-Platonists of Alexandria limited the range of human + metempsychosis to human bodies and denied that the souls of men ever + passed downwards into brutal states. Even the apparent endorsement of + that conceit by Plotinus, quoted above, was merely a simile. Porphyry, + Jamblichus, and Hierocles forcibly emphasized this distinction. + Wilkinson shows that the initiated priests taught that “dissolution is + only the cause of reproduction. Nothing perishes which has once + existed. Things which appear to be destroyed only change their natures + and pass into another form.” But Ebers demonstrates that the inner + circle of the temple held this truth in a form wholly above the system + of embalming, animal worship, and transmigration ingeniously devised + by them for the people. Like the ruling priestcraft in all times and + countries, they considered it necessary to disguise their sacred + secrets for the crowd. The symbols of reincarnation which everywhere + have typified the same doctrine,—in Egyptian architecture by the + flying globe, in Chinese pagodas and Indian temples by the intricate + unfoldments of germinant designs ascending through successive stories + to culminate in a gilded ball, in the Grecian friezes of religious + processions, in the Druidical cromlechs and cairns of Wales and the + circular stone heaps of Britain,—all expressed a threefold + significance, telling the masses of their transition through all + living conditions, reminding the common priesthood of an exalted + series of transformations, and picturing for the initiates the hidden + principles of immortal progress. For all alike these emblems + reiterated, the solemn and vital reality of universal brotherhood + throughout Nature; but the keenest students, who guided the bulk of + religious thought, read in them simply the eternal law of cause and + effect divinely ruling the soul through incessant changes. It would be + as unjust to construe literally the poetic statements of the human + soul wandering through animals, etc., by which metaphor the noblest + leaders of western thought convey the idea of spiritual evolution (see + chapter v.), as to call this lowest phase of the philosophy the real + belief of those who shaped it. + + And yet there is a sense in which the most intelligent orientals + adhere to this, and in which western science endorses it,—namely in + the axiomatic truth that human atoms and emanations traverse the + entire round of lower natures. When the Laws of Manu speak of the + transmigration of men through all animal stages, these eastern + authorities say that they mean not souls, but men’s physical selves. + When the Laws assert that “a Brahman killer enters the body of a dog, + bear, ass, etc.,” they do not mean that the murderer of a priest + becomes a dog, bear, ass, etc. The inner meaning of the Law is that he + who kills and extinguishes the Brahman or divine nature, condemns his + soul to lower human circumstances, and the downward affinity of his + passions carries every particle of his body by magnetic relations into + more degraded ranks of existence. The Brahmans have distorted the + inward purpose of this Law in their own interest by insisting upon its + outward meaning. So the various accounts of the descent of human into + animal or vegetative nature, whether given by Hindu, Pythagorean, + Platonist, Egyptian, Norse, or Barbarian, are actual facts as far as + the migration of the composing atoms and emanations of the outer + individual are concerned. For these atoms obey the directing impulses + of degrading passion or ascending principle. The imponderable force of + these atomic changes is proven by the psychometric evidence of + sensitives, who perceive the various unexpressed moods of a person by + the kinds of lambent particles flowing from him, and trace the + permanent course of these particles after they have lodged on objects + widely separated from him. The tell-tale characteristics of these + scattered atoms remain a long while as stamped by their source, and + guide them to what is most congenial. This scientific fact, confirmed + by many experiments,[52] but generally ignored, shaped the old atomic + hypotheses in which Pythagoras, Epicurus, Zeno, and all the old + philosophers down to Plato found delight, and Plato himself simply + spiritualized it into a more enduring form. + + The attitude of the dominant disciples of reincarnation upon this + point may be gathered from the following statement of a Brahman to the + writer: “The whole question of re-births rests upon the right + understanding of what it is that is born again. Obviously not the + body, nor is it the ego, which is the same whether in a man or in a + worm. The ego is colorless of all attributes of which we have any + knowledge in practice. The only thing that can be said to be re-born + is the character of a being, through spiritual blindness confounded + with the ego, in the same way as light is commonly confounded with the + objects illuminated and said to be red, blue, or any other color. The + essential characteristic of humanity cannot possibly exist in an + animal form, for otherwise it cannot be essential to humanity. + Whenever in a human being the ego is identified in the above manner + with what is essentially human, birth in an animal form is as certain + as any relative truth can be not to take place.” + + “Atoms enter into organic combinations according to their affinities, + and when released from one individual system they retain a tendency to + be attracted by other systems, not necessarily human, with similar + characteristics. The assimilation of atoms by organisms takes place in + accordance with the law of affinities. It may be hastily contended + that the relation between the mental characteristics of an individual + and the atoms of his body ceases when the atoms no longer constitute + the body. But the fact that certain atoms are drawn into a man’s body + shows that there was some affinity between the atoms and the body + before they were so drawn together. Consequently there is no reason to + suppose that the affinity ceases at parting. And it is well known that + psychometers can detect the antecedent life history of any substance + by being brought into contact with it. It must be insisted that the + true human ego in no sense migrates from a human body to an animal + body, although those principles which lie below the plane of + self-consciousness may do so. And in this sense alone is + transmigration accepted by Esoteric Science.” + + + + + XIII. + WHAT THEN OF DEATH, HEAVEN, AND HELL? + + + When we die, we shall find that we have not lost our dreams; but + that we have only lost our sleep.—RICHTER. + + Life is a kind of sleep. Old men sleep longest. They never begin to + wake but when they are to die.—DE LA BRUYERE. + + There is no death: what seems so is transition. + This life of mortal breath + Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, + Whose portal we call Death. + LONGFELLOW. + + We can hardly do otherwise than assume that the future being must be + so involved in our present constitution as to be therein + discernible. + + ISAAC TAYLOR. + + When I leave this rabble rout and defilement of the world, I leave + it as an inn, and not as a place of abode. For nature has given us + our bodies as an inn, and not to dwell in.—CATO. + + He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but + he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life + everlasting. + + ST. PAUL. + + But all lost things are in the angels’ keeping, Love. + No past is dead for us, but only sleeping, Love. + The years of heaven will all earth’s little pain make good. + Together there we can begin again in babyhood. + HELEN HUNT. + + Death is another life. We bow our heads + At going out, we think, and enter straight + Another chamber of the king’s, + Larger than this we leave and lovelier. + BAILEY. + + The deep conviction of the indestructibleness of our nature through + death, which everyone carries at the bottom of his heart, depends + altogether upon the consciousness of the original and eternal nature + of our being.—SCHOPENHAUER. + + + + + XIII. + WHAT THEN OF DEATH, HEAVEN, AND HELL? + + + The latest developments of science agree with the occultists and poets + that there is no death, and that nothing is dead. What seems to be + extinction is only a change of existence. What appears to have no + vitality has only a lower order of the life principle. Everything is + pulsing with energy, stones and dirt as well as animals and trees. The + same force which animates the human body, the beasts, birds, and + reptiles in their brief periods, also vitalizes the oaks and vines in + a smaller degree with longer lives, and individualizes the mineral + world into crystals on a still lower plane but with lifetimes reckoned + by thousands of years. And below crystal-life, in the constituent + atoms of shapeless matter, is a tremendous thrill of undiminished + activity. Life, the occultists say, is the eternal uncreated energy. + The physicists grasp at the same thing in their Law of Continuity, and + modern science concedes that “energy has as much claim to be regarded + as an objective reality as matter itself.”[53] This life is the one + essential energy acting under protean forms. It always inheres in + every particle of matter, and makes no distinction between organic and + inorganic, except one of grade, the former containing life-energy + actively and the latter in dormant form. Because the scientist is + unable to awaken into activity the latent life of inorganic matter, he + insists, by the law of biogenesis, that life can only come from life. + But that only marks the limit of his knowledge. The world’s + development has bridged all the gaps now yawning between the different + kingdoms of nature, though nothing remains now to show how it was + done, and science has to confess its ignorance. There is nothing to + contradict and much to enforce the occult axiom that the same life + animates man, plant, and rock simply in different states of the one + indestructible force,—the Universal Soul,—making all nature what + Goethe terms “the living visible garment of God.” + + It is impossible for a person to cease to exist. When the tenant of + the body moves out, the forces binding together the dwelling scatter + to the nearest uses awaiting them. The positivists would have it that + the individual soul also dissolves into an impersonal fund of being—a + sort of immediate chilling Nirvana, out-freezing any eastern + conception of remotest destiny. This melancholy result of western + materialism is boldly confronted by reincarnation with a proven + hypothesis, which illuminates the mystery of death and the future, and + shows the unimpeachable reality of immortality. Reincarnation + demonstrates that the personal ego, which permanently maintains its + identity amid the constant changes of the bodily casement and the + mental consciousness, must continue its individuality. In addition to + the evidences already adduced for the genuineness of this truth, there + stands the honest reliable testimony of spiritualism (a small core of + veritable fact around which is gathered an enormous concretion of + deceptions, mischievously intentional or pathetically unconscious), + and the actual experience of some orientals whose intense devotion to + pure invisible realities has pushed them into the perception of + ultra-mortal things. + + It is the strong attachment to physical existence which makes death + the king of terrors. Those who have learned the lesson of life find + him the blessed angel who ushers them through the golden gates. There + shall at length come to every ascending soul the experience of those + whose departure from this life cannot be called death, as Jesus, + Elijah, or Enoch, who “walked with God and he was not, for God took + him.” They became so buoyed with spiritual forces that a slight touch + shifted the equipoise and translated them into the invisible. The + clarified spirit greets death with a welcome, and sings his praise as + did Paul Hamilton Hayne in his dying song:— + + Sad mortal! couldst thou but know + What truly it means to die, + The wings of thy soul would glow, + And the hopes of thy heart beat high; + Thou wouldst turn from the Pyrrhonist schools, + And laugh their jargon to scorn, + As the babbling of midnight fools + Ere the morning of Truth be born: + But I, earth’s madness above, + In a kingdom of stormless breath,— + I gaze on the glory of love + In the unveiled face of Death. + + I tell thee his face is fair + As the moon-bow’s amber rings, + And the gleam in his unbound hair + Like the flash of a thousand springs; + His smile is the fathomless beam + Of the star-shine’s sacred light, + When the summers of Southland dream + In the lap of the holy Night: + For I, earth’s blindness above, + In a kingdom of halcyon breath,— + I gaze on the marvel of love + In the unveiled face of Death. + + When death severs the soul from its mortal shell, the ruling + tendencies of the soul carry it to its strongest affinities. If these + still dwell on earth, the soul hovers affectionately among the old + scenes and insensibly mingles with its heart-friends, ministering and + being ministered to, with no essential difference from the former + condition.[54] Many veritable experiences, apart from all possibility + of delusion, confirm this, although the darkness of matter blinds most + of us to the psychic life. At length, as shifting time unties the + bonds of earth, the soul moves on with its strongest allies to the + realms of its choice. There the soul lives out an era of its true + life, an expression of its deepest nature, as much more full and more + real than the late physical life, as the waking state exceeds the + dreaming. For the escape from material confinement allows the freest + activity, in which the dominant desires, unconsciously nourished in + the spirit, have the mastery. This liberty rouses the spirit from the + earthly lethargy into its permanent individuality. The startling bound + of the spirit into its own sphere must transfer the self-consciousness + from its terrestrial form to a far higher vividness; but, as the + wakefulness of day includes the somnambulence of night and knows + itself superior to that dumb life, so the burst of unconstrained + spiritual existence does not annul, but transcends the material phase. + + The condition of the period intervening between death and birth, like + all other epochs, is framed by the individual. The inner character + makes a Paradise, a Purgatory, or an Inferno of any place. As Jesus + said he was in heaven while talking with his followers, as Dante found + all the material for hell in what his eyes witnessed, so in the + environments beyond death, where the subjective states of the soul are + supreme, the appearance of the universe and the feelings of self are + created, well or ill, by the central individual. There must be as many + heavens and hells as there are good and bad beings. All the attempts + to describe the future are inadequate and erroneous, and must + necessarily be so. Plato, in the last book of the Republic, quotes the + narrative of the Pamphylian Er, who had been killed in battle but came + to life again on his funeral pyre, and declared that he was returned + to earth to disclose the nature of the coming life. He found things + about as Plato’s allegory pictures them: the good and the wicked who + had just died being assigned their places in heaven or under the + earth. A number of souls whose thousand years of one or the other + experience had expired were made to cast lots for a choice out of a + large number of human and animal lives, and to drink of the River of + Indifference, and to traverse the Plain of Forgetfulness before + entering the world again. As with all the visions of after death, this + simply reflected the opinions of the Platonic thinker. St. John’s + Revelation paints the scene by colors obtained from his Jewish + training, on the canvas of his Patmos imprisonment. Bunyan’s + description shows a simple imagination saturated with the Apocalypse. + Protestant visionaries always discover a Protestant heaven and hell. + Catholic ecstatics always add purgatory. Swedenborg found the gardens + of heaven laid out in the Dutch fashion of his time. English + clairvoyants and mediums are properly orthodox and evangelical. + American spirits talk broad theology with ridiculous details. The + divergence in all these alleged liftings of the veil betrays their + subjectiveness. + + It is impossible in the nature of things that one should permanently + leave the physical condition until the business of that existence is + accomplished in transferring the affections from material to spiritual + things. While the ruling attraction to a soul remains in this world, + all the forces of the universe conspire to continue the association of + the two in repeated lives. On the other hand, a person dominated by + spiritual proclivities finds infinite magnetisms drawing him away from + temporal surroundings to the inscrutable glories of the eternal. In + Swedenborg’s phrase, “a man’s loves make his home.” The residual + impulses coming from the momentums of past lives determine what and + when shall be the next embodiment. The time and manner of + reincarnation vary with each individual according to the impetus + engendered by his lives. Between these lives the spiritual effect of + the earth life is absorbed from the personal soul manifested on earth + into the immortal and unmanifested ego. This process may require days, + years, centuries, or millenniums, depending upon the intensity of the + mundane aspirations which draw the spirit to earth and hinder its + liberation into pure spiritual life. But as in dreams a whole life’s + history is sometimes condensed into a few seconds, time has no + existence to the disembodied spirit. Whether the interval be long or + short, the entire spiritual effect of the last life must be + assimilated and shaped into a form that will spring up in coming + lives. The instances of alternate consciousness indicate that some + such marked difference from the previous incarnation appears in each + earthly life, losing all remembrance of the previous chapter, and + working out the tendencies which embodied that particular life in a + career that will achieve redemption or condemnation. + + At the first thought reincarnation carries the unwelcome inference + that death and re-births separate us from the dearest present ties and + introduce us as strangers into new phases of activity where + everything—friends, knowledge, and occupations—must be found afresh. + This is a mistake. The unnoticed habits of thought and action derived + from the alliance of cherished comrades strengthen into ungovernable + steeds whose course directs the soul on every journey toward those + favorite companions. Among the thousands of acquaintances made in a + lifetime, the rare friends whose intimacy strikes down into the inmost + depths of the soul must continue as irresistible attractions in the + next life. Orpheus could not fail to discover Eurydice in the spirit + realm. In this earthly existence, which is the Heaven, or Purgatory, + or Hell of the last one, we go straying among unfamiliar forms, + frequently mistaking them for true friends, until suddenly we meet a + soul with which there comes so intense and permanent an affection that + every other person is forgotten. Such a fusion of spirits must hail + from the shores of long distant loves, and its new unrecognized + mastery develops a mightier union than would be possible in one + uninterrupted flow. The poets like to symbolize this as the blending + of two hemispheres long since separated into their original perfect + whole. The most probable explanation of such intimacies rests in the + idea that they are repetitions of previous attachments. A sense of + ancient familiarity grows upon these closest ties, notwithstanding the + absence of memory’s confirmation. The powerful attractions residing in + families and kinships may well be the result of ancestral affinities + which have bound together in many earlier combinations, like a turning + kaleidoscope, the same individuals. + + + + + XIV. + KARMA, THE COMPANION TRUTH OF REINCARNATION. + + + We are our own children.—PYTHAGORAS. + + Nothing can work me damage but myself.—ST. BERNARD. + + Our acts our angels are, or good or ill + Our fatal shadows that walk with us still. + BEAUMONT & FLETCHER. + + The kingdom of heaven is within you.—JESUS. + + We make our fortunes and we call them fate.—B. DISRAELI. + + Men must reap the things they sow. + Force from force must ever flow. + SHELLEY. + + The soul contains in itself the event that shall presently befall + it, or the event is only the actualizing of its thoughts.—EMERSON. + + Seldom went such grotesqueness with such pain; + I never saw a brute I hated so. + He must be wicked to deserve such pain. + BROWNING. + + Not from birth does one become a slave; not from birth does one + become a saint; but by conduct alone.—GAUTAMA. + + We sleep, but the loom of life never stops; and the pattern which + was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up + to-morrow.—BEECHER. + + Then spake he of that answer all must give + For all things done amiss or wrongfully, + Alone, each for himself, reckoning with that + The fixed arithmetic of the universe, + Which meteth good for good, ill for ill, + Measure for measure unto deeds, words, thoughts, + Making all futures fruits of all the pasts. + THE LIGHT OF ASIA. + + + + + XIV. + KARMA, THE COMPANION TRUTH OF REINCARNATION. + + + Karma is the eastern word for what the West knows as the Law of + Causation, applied to personal experience. In Christendom the full + recognition of this great principle, like that of its mate, + reincarnation, lies dormant; but it is merely an extension into the + spiritual domain of the fundamental premise of all science, the + substratum of common sense, the cardinal axiom of every + philosophy,—that each effect has an adequate cause, and each cause + works infinite consequences. Briefly, the doctrine of karma is that we + have made ourselves what we are by former actions, and are building + our future eternity by present actions. There is no destiny but what + we ourselves determine. There is no salvation or condemnation except + what we ourselves bring about. God places all the powers of the + universe at our disposal, and the handle by which we use them to + construct our fate has been and is and always shall be our own + individual will. Action (karma) of the spirit, whether in the inner + consciousness alone, or by vocal expression, or in outward act, is the + secret force which directs our journeys through infinity, driving us + down into the gloomy regions of evil, of matter, and of selfishness, + or up toward the luminous fields of good, of spirit, and of love. + + The most adamantine of facts is that of an infinite all-comprehending + power of which nature is the pulsing body, an eternal reality shaping + the shadowy appearances of time, and variously named Force, Fate, + Justice, Righteousness, Love, Mind, The Over-Soul, God. The most + essential attribute of this unfathomable Being is that of Almighty + Equity. Confronting this fact is the puzzling fact of our spiritual + personality enveloped in matter. The thought always associated with + this, never practically forsaken, though sometimes theoretically + denied, is individual responsibility. “Two things fill me with + wonder,” said Kant, “the starry heavens and the sense of moral + responsibility in man.” When Daniel Webster was asked what was the + greatest thought that ever stirred his soul, he replied, “The thought + of my personal accountability to God.” Every balanced mind agrees with + these intellectual giants on this point. The inevitable outcome of + grouping these two actualities (God and responsibility) is the + conception that the Universal Sustainer is giving every creature the + best thing for it, and that each soul is in some way accountable for + its condition. Single observations seem to contradict this idea, but + the long trend of life’s experience verifies it. Because it offers no + shelter for culpable actions and necessitates a sterling manliness, it + is less welcome to weak natures than the easy religious tenets of + vicarious atonement, intercession, forgiveness, and death-bed + conversions. But it rings through the inner soul-world as the + fundamental harmonic tone, setting the key for all wholesome poetry, + philosophy, religion, and art, and inspiring the magnificent sweep of + progress which is rationalizing modern Christendom. For it is + identical with the essence of Bible truth, as these representative + sentences will suggest:— + + “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of + life.” (Solomon.) + + “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee.” (Jesus.) + + “Work out your own salvation. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he + also reap.” (St. Paul.) + + The embryos of all animals are at the earliest stage indistinguishable + from one another. The biologist who has lost his labels cannot tell + which would become a fish, which a cat, and which a man; but nature + knows the past records and therefore the future possibility of each. + So within souls apparently similar there hide unsuspected germs of + vast difference, resulting from the forgotten pasts, which may develop + into corresponding divergent futures. The ancient behaviors of every + soul have accumulated a grand heritage of influences from which our + present bequest is derived. Using another figure, as each piece of + “new” soil contains through all its depth a multitude of various seeds + sown in past ages, which patiently bide their time to be brought to + light and bear fruit, so the kernels of remote conducts shall + eventually all have their unfoldment in the revolution of our lives, + until at last, if we refuse weeds and harbor only worthy germs, we + shall bear a continual harvest of good. + + The “bonds of action” include the whole range of material for + character,—not only the recognized habits of the soul, but, of more + consequence still, the unconscious inner thought whence the outward + manifestations spring. Whatever impulses are secretly cherished, these + feed the acts of life, and mould all our environments to fit them. The + nurtured thought of killing produces a thousand unseen murders and + must continue wreaking crimes in immensely larger degree than hangable + horrors. Our favorite inclinations show what we have been doing in + ancient ages. Within the germ of to-day’s conduct are coiled + interminable consequences of good and evil. + + The relentless hand which metes out our fortunes with the stern + justice most vividly portrayed by the Greek dramatists in their + Nemesis, Fates, and Furies, takes from our own savings the gifts + bestowed on us. “Alas! we sow what we reap; the hand that smites us is + our own.” In the domain of eternal justice, the offense and the + punishment are inseparably connected as the same event, because there + is no real distinction between the action and its outcome. He who + injures another in fact only wrongs himself. To adopt Schopenhauer’s + figure, he is a wild beast who fastens his fangs in his own flesh. But + linked with the awful fact of our undivided responsibility for what we + now are, goes the inspiring assurance that we have in our control the + remedy of evil and the increase of good. We can, and we alone can, + extricate ourselves from the existing limitations, by the all-curing + powers of purity, love, spirituality. In eastern phraseology, the + purpose of life is to work out our bad karma (action) and to stow away + good karma. As surely as the harvest of to-day grows from the + seed-time of yesterday, so shall every kernel of thought and feeling, + speech and performance, bring its crop of reward or rebuke. The + inherent result of every quiver of the human will continually tolls + the Day of Judgment, and affords immeasurable opportunities for + amelioration. + + The worthy soul straitened with misfortune is shifting off the chains + of old wrong-doing. The vicious soul enjoying comforts is reaping the + benefits of old virtues. So intricately are all situations connected + with untraceable lineages that only the Omniscient can penetrate below + appearances in the real natures of men. The world is like a garden in + which is newly planted a huge assortment of unknown plants. To the + common observer the fresh sprouts are only deceptive, for the most + promising stalk may prove to be a weak, fragile thing, and the + uninviting leaflets may introduce a sturdy growth. But the all-wise + Gardener knows each seed, and that it will ultimately show its + ancestry. The stupendous issues of conduct endure through all changes. + After one has climbed to high summits of character the surprising + reappearance of some forgotten sin may stay his progress and require + all his forces to conquer the viper whose egg he long ago nested in + his bosom. The man plunged into the abyss of degradation may be a + saint much farther advanced than those exalted persons who despise + him. + + It is karma, or our old acts, that draws us back into earthly life. + The spirit’s abode changes according to its karma, and this karma + forbids any long continuance in one condition, because _it_ is always + changing. So long as action is governed by material and selfish + motives, just so long must the effect of that action be manifested in + physical re-births. Only the perfectly selfless man can elude the + gravitation of material life. Few have attained this; but it is the + goal of mankind. Some have reached it and have voluntarily returned as + saviors of the race. + + An illustrious explanation of karma appears at the close of “The Light + of Asia”: + + KARMA—all that total of a soul + Which is the things it did, the thoughts it had, + The “self” it wove with woof of viewless time + Crossed on the warp invisible of acts. + + · · · · · + + What hath been bringeth what shall be, and is, + Worse—better—last for first and first for last; + The angels in the heavens of gladness reap + Fruits of a holy past. + + The devils in the underworlds wear out + Deeds that were wicked in an age gone by. + Nothing endures: fair virtues waste with time, + Foul sins grow purged thereby. + + Who toiled a slave may come anew a prince + For gentle worthiness and merit won; + Who ruled a king may wander earth in rags + For things done and undone. + + Before beginning, and without an end, + As space eternal and as surety sure, + Is fixed a Power divine which moves to good, + Only its laws endure. + + It will not be contemned of any one: + Who thwarts it loses, and who serves it gains; + The hidden good it pays with peace and bliss, + The hidden ill with pains. + + It seeth everywhere and marketh all: + Do right—it recompenseth! do one wrong— + The equal retribution must be made, + Though DHARMA[55] tarry long. + + It knows not wrath nor pardon; utter-true + Its measures mete, its faultless balance weighs; + Times are as naught, to-morrow it will judge, + Or after many days. + + By this the slayer’s knife did stab himself; + The unjust judge hath lost his own defender; + The false tongue dooms its lie; the creeping thief + And spoiler rob, to render. + + Such is the law which moves to righteousness, + Which none at last can turn aside or stay; + The heart of it is love, the end of it + Is peace and consummation sweet. Obey! + + · · · · · + + The books say well, my brothers! each man’s life + The outcome of his former living is; + The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes, + The bygone right breeds bliss. + + That which ye sow ye reap. See yonder fields! + The sesamum was sesamum, the corn + Was corn. The silence and the darkness knew; + So is a man’s fate born. + + He cometh, reaper of the things he sowed, + Sesamum, corn, so much cast in past birth; + And so much weed and poison-stuff, which mar + Him and the aching earth. + + If he shall labor rightly, rooting these, + And planting wholesome seedlings where they grew, + Fruitful and fair and clean the ground shall be, + And rich the harvest due. + + If he who liveth, learning whence woe springs, + Endureth patiently, striving to pay + His utmost debt for ancient evils done + In love and truth alway; + + If making none to lack, he throughly purge + The lie and lust of self forth from his blood; + Suffering all meekly, rendering for offence + Nothing but grace and good: + + If he shall day by day dwell merciful, + Holy and just and kind and true; and rend + Desire from where it clings with bleeding roots, + Till love of life have end: + + He—dying—leaveth as the sum of him + A life-count closed, whose ills are dead and quit, + Whose good is quick and mighty, far and near, + So that fruits follow it. + + No need hath such to live as ye name life; + That which began in him when he began + Is finished: he hath wrought the purpose through + Of what did make him man. + + Never shall yearnings torture him, nor sins + Stain him, nor ache of earthly joys and woes + Invade his safe eternal peace; nor deaths + And lives recur. He goes + + Unto NIRVÂNA. He is one with Life + Yet lives not. He is blest, ceasing to be. + OM, MANI PADME, OM! the dewdrop slips + Into the shining sea! + + · · · · · + + This is the doctrine of the KARMA. Learn! + Only when all the dross of sin is quit, + Only when life dies like a white flame spent, + Death dies along with it. + + + + + XV. + CONCLUSION. + + + The glories of the Possible are ours.—BAYARD TAYLOR. + + The majesty and beauty of the world are latent in any iota of the + world.—WALT WHITMAN. + + There is no life of a man, but is a heroic poem of its sort, rhymed + or unrhymed.—Would’st thou plant for eternity: then plant into the + deep infinite faculties of man.—CARLYLE. + + Life is a mission. Every other definition of life is false, and + leads all who accept it astray. Religion, Science, Philosophy, + though still at variance upon many points, all agree in this, that + every existence is an aim.—MAZZINI. + + A sacred burden is this life ye bear. + Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly; + Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly; + Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin; + But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. + FRANCES A. KEMBLE. + + Know that this world is one stage of eternity. For those who are + journeying in the right way, it is the road of religion. It is a + market opened in the wilderness where those who are travelling on + their way to God may collect and prepare provisions for their + journey. + + AL GAZZALI. + + Life is but a means unto an end—that end, + Beginning, mean, and end of all things—God. + We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; + In feelings, not in figures on a dial. + We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives + Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. + BAILEY. + + + + + XV. + CONCLUSION. + + + We are lotus-eaters, so engrossed with the ignoble attractions around + us as to have forgotten the places through which we have long strayed + away from home, and to heed not the necessity of many more perilous + journeys before we can reach our glorious destination. It is only by + rousing ourselves to the important fact of the past pilgrimage by + which we have traveled hither, and to the still more vital reality of + the incalculable sequences of our present route, that we can attain + the best progress. Our repugnance to the idea of a cycle of lives, + with myriad meanderings through varied forms, is the cry of Tennyson’s + Lotus-Eaters: + + While all things else have rest from weariness, + All things have rest, why should we toil alone? + + · · · · · + + Nor ever fold our wings + And cease our wanderings. + Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things? + + This is virtually the longing for Nirvâna, and the cause of the + irrational belief in an eternal Heaven immediately following this + life. But it is neither wise nor religious to ignore the necessity of + continuing our ascent at the present pace, until we have journeyed all + the way to that distant goal. The restlessness of our nature comes + from the established habit of straying about in temporal realms, and + has developed a love of adventure in which the occidental world finds + profounder delight than in the oriental yearning for inactivity, and + which shall have abundant exercise before it disappears. The only path + to that perfect satisfaction which is found in complete oneness with + the Supreme winds through the ascending planes of material embodiment. + + Still must I climb if I would rest: + The bird soars upward to his nest; + The young leaf on the tree-top high + Cradles itself within the sky. + + I cannot in the valley stay; + The great horizons stretch away! + The very cliffs that wall me round + Are ladders into higher ground. + + And heaven draws near as I ascend; + The breeze invites, the stars befriend. + All things are beckoning to the Best; + I climb to Thee, my God, for rest![56] + + In which one of its various guises we shall receive reincarnation + depends upon the individual. Whether it shall be in the crude form of + transmigration through animals as received by most of the world; or in + the Persian and Sufi faith as the unjust banishment from our proper + home by the powers of evil; or, following Egypt, Pythagoras, Plato, + Origen, and the Druids, as a purgatorial punishment for pre-natal + sins; or, in the form of some Christian teaching, as a probationary + stage testing our right to higher existence and ushering us into a + permanent spiritual condition; or, as maintained alike by the acutest + Eastern philosophy and the soundest Western thought, as a wholesome + development of germinal soul-forces;—through all these phrasings the + same central truth abides, furnishing what Henry More called “the + golden key” for the problem of life, and explaining the plot of this + “drama whose prologue and catastrophe are both alike wanting.” But the + broadest intelligence leads us directly into the evolutionary aspect + of reincarnation, and finds the others inadequate to the full measure + of human nature. In this view the present life is one grade of a + stupendous school, in which we are being educated for a destiny so far + beyond our comprehension that some call it a kind of deity. The + experiences through which we have come were needful for our + strengthening. Even though we have descended below former altitudes, + the only path to the absolute lies through the sensuous earthly vale. + Sin itself, after we have escaped it, will lead to a mightier result + than would be possible without it, or it would not be permitted. The + richest trees of all the forest world spring from the unclean miasmic + fens. The severest present disciplines, coming from our earlier + errors, are training us for a loftier growth than we ever knew. Our + physical schooling, through all the grades necessary to our best + unfoldment, will build a character as much sublimer than our primitive + condition as virtue overtowers innocence, and when the race finally + emerges from the jangling turmoil of self-will into complete harmony + with the Perfect One, as it must at last, the multitudes of our lives + will not seem too enormous a course of experience for the + establishment of that consummation. The victorious march of Evolution + through all the provinces of thought will at length be followed by the + triumphal procession of Reincarnation. + + There is a spirit in all things that live + Which hints of patient change from kind to kind; + And yet no words its mystic sense can give, + Strange as a dream of radiance to the blind. + + And as in time unspeakably remote + Vague frenzies in inferior brains set free + Presaged a power no language could denote, + So dreams the mortal of the God to be.[57] + + The Father’s purpose with us seems to be to educate us as His children + so that we shall be in complete sympathy with the divine mind. The + only method of accomplishing this glorious result is for us to enter + with Him into all the phases of His being. Our long series of physical + lives will finally give us a thorough knowledge of the grosser nature + with which He cloaks Himself. We penetrate the animal existence in + human form more successfully than would be possible if we + transmigrated into all the species of zoölogy; for here we carry + sufficient intelligence, along with the material condition, to + comprehend these creatures around us which cannot understand + themselves. We cannot expect to permanently leave this department of + God’s house until we have essentially grasped the secret of all + earthly life. The highest individuals of mankind, the saviors of the + race, the true prophets and poets, attain this intimate communion with + nature, this mastery over the lower creation, which demonstrates their + fitness for introduction to a higher stage. + + It is difficult to account for the great geniuses except by the + consideration that they are the result of many noble lives. Emerson + arrives at this conclusion in his essay on Swedenborg. “In common + parlance, what one man is said to learn by experience, a man of + extraordinary sagacity is said, without experience, to divine. The + Arabians say that Abul Khain, the mystic, and Abu Ali Scena, the + philosopher, conferred together; and on parting the philosopher said, + ‘All that he sees, I know;’ and the mystic said, ‘All that he knows, I + see.’ If one should ask the reason of this intuition, the solution + would lead us into that property which Plato denoted as reminiscence, + and which is implied by the Brahmans in the tenet of transmigration. + The soul having been often born, or, as the Hindoos say, ‘traveling + the path of existence through thousands of births,’ having beheld the + things which are here, those which are in heaven, and those which are + beneath, there is nothing of which she has not gained the knowledge: + no wonder that she is able to recollect, in regard to one thing, what + formerly she knew. For all things in nature being linked and related, + and the soul having heretofore known all, nothing hinders but that any + man who has recalled to mind, or, according to the common phrase, has + learned one thing only, should of himself recover all his ancient + knowledge, and find out again all the rest, if he have but courage, + and faint not in the midst of his researches. For inquiry and learning + is reminiscence all. How much more, if he that inquires be a holy, + godlike soul! For by being assimilated to the original soul, by whom, + and after whom, all things subsist, the soul of man does then easily + flow into all things, and all things flow into it: they mix; and he is + present and sympathetic with their structure and law.” + + A recent instance of the glaring facts inexplicable by any other + theory than reincarnation appears in the little musical prodigy Josef + Hofmann, whose phenomenal genius holds complete mastery of the piano, + and charms vast audiences with his exquisite rendering of most + difficult concertos, and particularly with his marvelous + improvisations upon themes suggested at a moment’s notice. He presents + the uncanny phenomenon of a child of ten who has little more to learn + in the most difficult of arts. The natural explanation occurring to + any candid mind is thus suggested by the _Boston Herald_ in its report + of a Hofmann concert: “It almost seems as if the spirit of some great + composer had been put into this boy by nature, waiting to be developed + in accordance with our modern art to shine forth again in all its + glory in his work.” What if he actually were the reappearance of + Mozart hastening to fill out the life that was cut sadly short? There + may be means of verifying such a presumption by the character of his + later compositions, when he gets the full expression of his natural + bent. An art so independent of time and place, as music, might fairly + be traced through two historic individuals, when literature and + painting would not permit it. At any rate it is significant that the + young prodigies in any particular kind of skill do not come until that + skill has been well established on the earth. Guido followed + generations of great painters, Pascal was preceded by a long course of + mathematicians. Pope “lisped in numbers” after a vast procession of + poets. And Mozart waited until the new era of musical harmony had been + well inaugurated. The colossal characters who stand out from the race, + with no predecessors equal to them, like Homer, Plato, Jesus, Raphael, + Shakespeare, Beethoven, all reach their maturity later than other + prodigies, after infancy and youth have fastened the Lethean gates + upon the prehistoric scenes from which they seem to hail. But the + unfathomable vagaries of the soul, as it works out successively its + dominant impulses, easily disguise the individual in different + personalities, so long as the physical realm is most attractive to it. + Yet it is noticeable that the great minds of history come together in + galaxies, when the fullness of time for their capacities draws them + together. Witness the Sanskrit sages, the Greek poets and + philosophers, the Augustan writers and generals, the Italian artists + of the Renaissance, the German masters of music, the Elizabethan + authors, the nineteenth-century scientists. The traits of the + commonest child, however, as much as the miracles of a genius, have no + satisfactory explanation outside of the philosophy of re-births. + + Evolution of the physical nature and of material strength attaches our + future to body and matter. But the attachment hastens toward a release + by at length proving these to be low steps in the ascent of life. As + in the geological programme of animal development each era carried its + type to gigantic dimensions and then was surmounted by a higher order + of creatures, which in turn grew monstrous as tyrants of their age and + then succumbed to a still higher rank: so the soul’s progress from the + earthly domain lies through the mastery of physical things to mental, + thence to psychic, and at last to spiritual. And the passion for + material achievement animating our side of the planet should not be + underestimated, since it governs an important epoch in the world’s + growth. But the danger lies in esteeming it a finality. It is chiefly + valuable as the foundation upon which we may build skyward, in an + evolution of character. When the structure is made high enough, the + buoyancy of the upper stories will conquer the weight of the base and + float away our abode to ethereal climes. Only the education of the + spiritual in us, of sacrifice, nobility, and divinity, can divorce us + from these uneasy earthly affinities to the permanent rest of union + with God. While we must not abandon the glories of physical beauty, + power and pleasure, we must not forget that the true business of life + is to wean our affections from the visible to the invisible, to + transfer the preponderance of our magnetisms from shadows to + substances. For we bridge the two kingdoms of matter and spirit, and + we have the choice between them more freely than we know. + + The mechanical transmigration which was fancifully told in Grecian + mythology, gathered and beautifully rendered by Ovid, which was taught + in the Egyptian and Pythagorean dogmas and still floats broadcast + throughout the vast realms of Brahmanism, Buddhism, and barbarism, + which fascinates the thought of our poets, and which is daily enacted + by a myriad object-lessons in nature, is merely the objective + expression of a subjective truth, discerned by all the mystics, seers, + and philosophers, and most elaborately stated by Swedenborg. It means + that the infinite progress of the soul conveys it through countless + epochs, moving in perfect succession by the dynamic laws of its own + being. During this development, the universe arranges itself + peculiarly to each individual according to his thought and character. + We shape the outer world by our inner nature, and we say just how long + our stay shall be among dust and mortality. + + The true and wholesome aspect of the earthly life, under the religious + philosophy of reincarnation, transforms the spectacle from a trivial + show, or a gloomy arena of despair, to a majestic stage in the + ascending series of human sojournings on the way to the Absolute. In + the words of the old martyr-philosopher Giordano Bruno, the father of + Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibnitz, the cherisher of that thought, + “being present in the body, is yet, as by an indissoluble oath, bound + and united to divine things, so that he is not sensible either of love + or hatred for mortal things, knowing he is greater than these, and + that he must not be the slave of his body, which is to be regarded as + no other than the prison of his liberty, a snare for his wings, a + chain upon his limbs, and a veil impeding his sight.” His life flows + beauteously in aspiration for the invisible kingdom of permanence, as + this same Bruno, the Nolan, phrased it in verse:— + + While that the sun upon his round doth burn + And to their source the roving planets flee, + Things of the earth do to the earth return + And parted waters hasten to the sea: + So shall my spirit to the high gods turn + And heaven-born thought to Heaven shall carry me. + + Instead of being a cold pagan philosophy as it is frequently + considered, reincarnation throbs with the most vital spirit of + Christianity. It is no more Buddhism, than kindliness is Christianity. + It is the hidden core of the gospel of Jesus as of all other great + religions and philosophies. This is what has preserved them in spite + of their degrading excrescences. It is “the religion of all sensible + men” who refuse the weak sentiment and bigoted dogmas that obscure the + light of Christianity in the churches: for it clearly unfolds what + they unconsciously believe, in the laws of cause and effect. It spurns + the despairing doctrine of total depravity, but shows the cause of + partial depravity. It teaches salvation as Jesus did, not by heaping + our sins upon him, but by recognizing the Fatherhood of the Supreme, + entering the new birth into spiritual life, and watchfully growing + Godward. It revolts against the thought of everlasting punishment for + brief errors, but provides infinite opportunities for restoration and + advancement, while emphasizing most vigorously the unescapable results + of all action. It is therefore a corrective of modern Christianity + holding fast to the strength and beauty of what the Nazarene taught + and lived, but including those very principles which breed religious + skepticism in the extreme advocates of science and evolution. It + enlarges Christianity to a grander capacity than it has hitherto + known, and so furnishes at once an inspiring religion for the loftiest + spiritual aspiration, a most satisfactory philosophy for the + intellect, and the strongest basis for practical nobility of conduct. + There is no reason why reincarnation and Christianity should not grasp + hands and magnificently advance together, each keeping the other + steadfastly true. Only in this union can Christianity escape its + present downward sag. Since western religion fails to spiritually + sustain us and has largely gone over to the enemy,—materialism, it is + time for another oriental tide to sweep over the West. Having already + a partial possession here, reincarnation promises to flow in freely to + revitalize Christianity, to spiritualize science. As Christianity has + degenerated in the West, so has reincarnation in the East, and the + hope of the race lies in an exalted marriage of them. They need each + other, as husband and wife, allied in purest devotion, supplementing + the defects and strengths of each other, and regenerating their lower + unassociated tendencies. The religion of Jesus tends to sink into an + irrational sentimentality which is commonly relegated to women and + effeminate men. The spiritual philosophy of India declines into + passionless fatalism or an ungenerous self-absorption. Superstition + darkens both alike. But reincarnation keeps Christianity thoroughly + rational, and Christianity will sustain reincarnation in vigorous + unselfishness. This alliance of the best truths of both hemispheres + will teach a reverential submission to the divine will without its + sequel of stagnation, a heroic self-reliance without its danger of + atheism, a regenerative communion with the Highest without the + sacrilegious folly of selfish prayer. + + Reincarnation unites all the family of man into a universal + brotherhood more effectively than the prevailing humanity. It promotes + the solidarity of mankind by destroying the barriers that conceit and + circumstances have raised between individuals, groups, nations, and + races. All are alike favored with perfect poetic justice. The children + of God are not ordained some to honor and others to abasement. There + are no special gifts. Physical blessings, mental talents, and moral + successes are the laborious result of long merit. Sorrows, defects, + and failures proceed from negligence. The upward road to the glories + of spiritual perfection is always at our feet, with perpetual + invitations and aids to travel higher. The downward way into sensual + wreckage is but the other direction of the same way. We cannot despise + those who are tending down, for who knows but we have journeyed that + way ourselves? It is impossible for us to scramble up alone, for our + destiny is included in that of humanity, and only by helping others + along can we ascend ourselves. The despondent sadness of the world + which dims the lustre of every joy, chanting the minor key of nature, + haunting us in unaccountable ways, cropping out in all literature and + art, making the grandest of poetry tragic and the sublimest music + sombre, is the unconscious voice of mankind, humming its keynote of + life. While we continue to dwell in the murky realm of sense, that + must prevail. But the bright rifts illuminating the advance guard + herald the approach of day, and assure us that the trend of restless + human gyrations is away from that condition. + + Contrary to the common opinion of eastern thought, reincarnation is + optimistic. The law of causation is not a blind meting of eye for eye + and tooth for tooth. It opens out into a scheme of beneficent + progress. Science recognizes this in the _vis medicatrix remedia + naturæ_, the healing power of nature. What was once denied in the + creed of the alchemists concerning the ascending impulse of all things + is now preached by science, which declares in Tyndall’s words that + “matter contains within it the promise and potency of all life.” All + minerals have the rudimentary possibility of plants and animals. + Crystals strive after a higher life by assuming arborescent and mossy + shapes. Plants display the embryonic qualities of low animals. No + naturalist can mark infallibly the boundaries of the three kingdoms, + so closely are they interlinked. A zoölogist does not doubt the + possibility of minerals becoming plants and these mounting into + animals. The movement of vital energy is manward, and the cry of + mankind is “excelsior,” towards God. Poetry cherishes the same + conviction + + that somehow good + Shall be the final goal of ill, + For pangs of nature, sins of will, + Defects of doubt and taints of blood; + + That nothing walks with aimless feet; + That not one life shall be destroyed + Or cast as useless to the void + When God shall make this pile complete. + + Behold! we know not anything. + We can but trust that good shall fall + At last, far off, at last, to all, + And every winter turn to spring. + + And Tennyson’s uncertain faith is an undoubted verity in the Orient, + thus phrased by Edwin Arnold:— + + Ye are not bound! the soul of things is sweet, + The heart of being is celestial rest; + Stronger than woe is will: that which was good + Doth pass to better—best. + + Acknowledging that the forces of evil are terrific and multiply + themselves prodigiously, there can be no question that the predominant + powers are infinitely good. And the supremacy of good in the universe + diminishes the full force of evil, makes the higher attractions outvie + the lower, and hastens the final disappearance of darkness. This + insures the amelioration of all life by the benign process of + re-birth; for + + The Heart of all is a boundless Love + Pulsing through every part + In streams that thrill the hosts above + And make the atoms dart. + + The strongest objection to reincarnation, our ignorance of past lives, + is met by the fact permeating all nature and experience, that progress + depends upon forgetfulness. Every great stage of advancement is + accompanied by the mental loss of earlier epochs. One of Montaigne’s + best essays shows the blessedness of defective memory. All deep + philosophy agrees that after an experience is absorbed into the soul, + its purpose is accomplished, and the only chance of improvement + consists in “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching + forth unto those things which are before.” It would be intellectually + impossible for the memory to grasp anything new, if it clung to all it + had known. One of the grandest discourses of that greatest English + preacher of the last generation, Frederick W. Robertson, is upon the + theme of “Christian Progress by Oblivion of the Past.” The experience + of the race affords no sufficient endorsement of the continuation of + our mortal memories. It is impossible to escape the liberal scientific + teaching that the mind is only an instrument of the soul, and when it + decays with the body, the soul retains of its earthly possessions only + what has sunk down into the character. The logician of the Scriptures + expresses this in saying, “Whether there be knowledge it shall vanish + away.” But the everlastingness of character insures the permanence of + our identity and of our dearest ties. And as the scale of being on + earth shows a gradual development of memory from the lowest protozoön + to man, so in man the unconscious memory shall become more and more + conspicuous, until it reveals the course of our complete career. + + The glorious unfoldment of our dormant powers in repeated lives + presents a spectacle magnificent beyond appreciation, and approaches + more grandly than any other conception to the sublimity of human + development. Addison wrote: “There is not, in my opinion, a more + pleasing consideration than that of the perpetual progress which the + soul makes towards the perfection of its nature, without ever arriving + at a period in it. To look upon the soul as going on from strength to + strength, to consider that she is to shine forever with new accessions + of glory and brighten to all eternity; that she will be still adding + virtue to virtue and knowledge to knowledge, carries in it something + wonderfully agreeable to that ambition which is natural to the mind of + man. Nay, it must be a prospect pleasing to God himself, to see his + creatures forever beautifying in his eyes, and drawing nearer to Him + by greater degrees of resemblance.” Reincarnation shows the programme + by which this stupendous scheme is being worked out, step by step, in + the gradual method of all God’s doings, and glorifies the present + cycle as a specimen of eternity which shall ever grow brighter until + the full brilliancy of the Highest shall radiate from every life. + + The practical application of this truth not only dispels the haunting + enigmas of life, but incites us to the strongest habits of virtuous + conduct in ourselves, and of generous helpfulness toward others. It + inspires us to nurture all the means of developing noble traits, since + the promise of all good, and the only highway out of the bogs of + physical life into the mountain heights of spirituality, is character. + It reminds us most forcibly that + + Every thought of purity, + Every deed of right, + Conquers sin’s obscurity, + Speeds the reign of light; + Moves with might supernal + Toward rest and home, + Leads to life eternal, + Prays, “Thy kingdom come.” + + It is not strange, therefore, that one of the leading writers of Great + Britain says of reincarnation: “The ethical leverage of the doctrine + is immense. Its motive power is great. It reveals as magnificent a + background to the present life, with its contradictions and disasters, + as the prospect of immortality opens up an illimitable foreground, + lengthening out the horizon of hope. It binds together the past and + the present and the future in one ethical series of causes and + effects, the inner thread of which is both personal to the individual + and impersonal, connecting him with two eternities, one behind and the + other before. With peculiar emphasis it proclaims the survival of + moral individuality and personal identity along with the final + adjustment of external conditions to the internal state of the + agent.”[58] + + Alongside of the Scotch professor’s words we place these sentences + from an eastern teacher, that the wisdom of the antipodes may grasp + hands in one common brotherhood for the instruction of the world:— + + “There is in each incarnation but one birth, one life, one death. It + is folly to duplicate these by persistent regrets for the past, by + present cowardice, or fear of the future. There is no Time. It is + Eternity’s now that man mistakes for past, present, and future. + + “The forging of earthly chains is the occupation of the indifferent; + the awful duty of unloosing them through the sorrows of the heart is + also their occupation. + + “Liberate thyself from evil actions by good actions.”[59] + + Emerson, who unites in one personality the sublimest intuitions of the + Orient with the broadest observations of the West, may well represent + a noble harmony of these distant kinships when he says: “We must infer + our destiny from the preparation. We are driven by instinct to hive + innumerable experiences which are of no visible value, and we may + revolve through many lives before we shall assimilate or exhaust them. + Now there is nothing in nature capricious, or whimsical, or + accidental, or unsupported. Nature never moves by jumps, but always in + steady and supported advances.... If there is the desire to live, and + in larger sphere, with more knowledge and power, it is because life + and knowledge and power are good for us, and we are the natural + depositaries of these gifts. The love of life is out of all proportion + to the value set on a single day, and seems to indicate a conviction + of immense resources and possibilities proper to us, on which we have + never drawn. All the comfort I have found teaches me to confide that I + shall not have less in times and places than I do not yet know.” + + We conclude, therefore, with the conviction that all the best teachers + of mankind—religion, philosophy, science, and poetry—urge the soul to + + Be worthy of death; and so learn to live + That every incarnation of thy soul + In varied realms, and worlds, and firmaments + Shall be more pure and high. + + + + + APPENDIX. + + + Where a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble and + courageous feelings, seek for no other rule to judge the event by: it + is good and made by a good workman.—DE LA BRUYÈRE. + + * * * * * + + You despise books: you whose whole lives are absorbed in the vanities + of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure, or in indolence; but remember + that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed + by books.—VOLTAIRE. + + * * * * * + + Within their silent chambers treasures lie + Preserved from age to age; more precious far + Than that accumulated store of gold + And orient gems, which for a day of need + The Sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs; + These hoards of truth you can unlock at will. + WORDSWORTH. + + * * * * * + + I not only commend the study of this literature (the eastern), but + wish our sources of supply and comparison vastly enlarged. American + students may well derive from all former lands—all the older + literatures and all the newer ones—bearing ourselves always courteous, + always deferential, indebted beyond measure to the motherworld, to all + its nations dead, as all its nations living. + + WALT WHITMAN. + + * * * * * + + In books lies the _soul_ of the whole Past Time—the articulate, + audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it + has altogether vanished like a dream. No magic _Rune_ is stranger than + a book. All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been, is lying + in magic preservation in the pages of books. Do not books still + accomplish _miracles_ as _Runes_ were fabled to do? They persuade + men.—CARLYLE. + + + + + APPENDIX. + + + BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REINCARNATION. + + + I. LATIN. + + Schilling, Wolfg. Heinrich. De Metempsychosi Dissertatio. Lipsiæ, + 1679. + + Henrici, Heinrich. De Animarum Transmigratione. 1699. + + Haffner, Gotthard. Dissertatio de Transmigratione Animarum, quatenus + ex Lumine Rationis cognosci potest. 1746. + + Osiander, Johann Adam. Dissertatio de Transmigratione Animarum + Humanarum ex suis Corporibus in alia Corpora. Tubingae, 1749. + + Heusse, M. De Metempsychosi sive Animarum per plura Corpora + Revolutione. 1757. + + Haeggroth, Nic. De Metempsychosi. London, 1793. + + Helmont, Franciscus Mercurius van. Seder Olam sive Ordo Seculorum. + Holland, 1693. + + Keil. De Pre-existentia Animarum. (In _Opuscula_.) + + Huygens, Christian. Cosmotheoros, sive de Terris Celestibus earumque + Ornatu Conjecturæ. Paris, 1698. + + Iamblichus. De Pythagorica Vita. Didot, 1862. + + Porphyrius. De Vita Pythagoræ. Didot, 1862. + + Barrow, Isaac. Animæ Humanæ Corporibus non præexistunt. (In opposition + to Henry More.) (In his _Opuscula_, vol. iv. of his works.) London, + 1687. + + Sibbern, Fred. C. De Præexistentia, Genesi et Immortalitate Animæ. + Havniæ, 1823. + + Doppert, Joh. De vetusto Metempsycheos Commento. Schneebergæ, 1716. + + Irhove, Willem. De Palingenesia Veterum seu Metempsychosi sic dicta + Pythagorica Libri III. Amstelodami, 1733. + + Wernsdorf, Gottlieb. Disputatio de Metempsychosi Veterum non figurate + sed proprie intelligenda. Vitembergæ, 1741. + + Vangerow, W. G. von. Dissertatio historico-philosophica Metempsychosin + veterum sistens. Halle, 1765. + + Sedermark, Pet. De Metempsychosi Veterum. Pars I-III. Upsalæ, 1807. + + Wendel, Joh. And. De Metempsychosi nuper Denuo defensa. Coburgi, 1828. + + Sai an Sinsin sive Liber Metempsychosis veterum Ægyptiorum. E duabus + Papyris funebribus hieraticis Signis exaratis nunc primum edidit + Latine vertit Notas adjecit Henricus Brugsch. Berolini, 1851. + + Haupt, Eberh. Dav. De Metempsychosi sive Pythagoræa Animarum + Transmigratione brevis Disquisition. Ulmæ, 1724. + + Bruno, Giordano. De Triplice minimo et mensura ad trium speculatinarum + scientiarum et multarum actinarum artium principia. Francofurti, 1591. + + + II. GERMAN. + + Bertram, J. F. Bescheidene Prüfung der Meynung von der Präexistenz, + oder dem Vorherseyn menschlicher Seelen in organischen Leibern, sammt + einer Historia Præexistentianorum. Bremen, 1741. + + Schubert, Johann E. von. Wandelung der Seele nach dem Tode. Jena, + 1746. + + Trinius, Joh. Anton. Abhandlung von der Seelenwanderung. Frankfurt und + Leipzig, 1760. + + Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts. + Berlin, 1780. Translated by Rev. Frederick W. Robertson. “The + Education of the Human Race.” London, 1855. + + Schlosser, Joh. Georg. Ueber die Seelenwanderung. Basel, 1781. + + Beiträge zur Lehre der Seelenwanderung. Leipzig, 1785. + + Wasseljew, W. Der Buddhismus, seine Dogmen, Geschichte und Literatur. + St. Petersburg, 1860. + + Koeppen, Carl Friedrich. Die Religion des Buddha und ihre Entstehung. + Berlin, 1857. Die Lamaische Hierarchie und Kirche. Berlin, 1857. + + Herder, Joh. Gottfried von. Das Land der Seelen—Palingenesis—Ueber die + Seelenwanderung. (Three Dialogues.) 1785. (The Dialogue on + Transmigration is translated by F. H. Hedge in his “Prose Writers of + Germany.” Philadelphia, 1848.) + + Bruch, J. Fr. Die Lehre von der Präexistenz der menschlichen Seelen + historisch-kritisch dargestellt. Strassburg, 1859. + + Conzius, C. P. Schicksale der Seelenwanderungshypothese under + verschiedenen Völkern und in verschiedenen Zeiten. Königsberg, 1781. + + Leibnitz, G. W. Monadologie. + + Müller, Joh. T. Ueber die Seelenwanderung. Einige prüfende Gedanken. + Friedrichsstadt, 1785. + + Ungern-Sternberg, Chrn. F., Baron von. Blick auf die moralische und + politische Welt, was sie war, was sie ist, was sie seyn wird. Bremen, + 1785. + + Grosse, Carl. Helim, oder über die Seelenwanderung. Zittau, 1789. + + Wedekind, Georg, Baron von. Ueber die Bestimmung des Menschen und die + Erziehung der Menschheit, oder: wer, wo, wozu, bin ich, war ich, und + werde ich sein. Giessen, 1828. + + Ritgen, Ferd. Aug. von. Die höchsten Angelegenheiten der Seele, nach + dem Gesetze des Fortschrittes betrachtet. Darmstadt, 1835. + + Krug, Wilhelm Traugott. Der neue Pythagoras, oder Geschichte eines + dreimal gebornen Erdenbürgers. Leipzig, 1836. + + Meyer, Jürgen Bona. Die Idee der Seelenwanderung. Hamburg, 1861. A + French translation, “De la migration des âmes,” is in the Revue + Germanique, Nov. 30, 1861, XVIII. 239–259. + + Klewitz, A. W. von. Ueber Fortdauer und Præexistenz. Magdeburg, 1789. + + Fichte, Joh. Gottlieb. Ideen über Gott und Unsterblichkeit, als + Nachtrag zu seinen “Sämmtlichen Werken.” 1853. + + Nürnberger, Jos. C. E. Still-Leben, oder über die Unsterblichkeit der + Seele. Kempten, 1839. + + Meyer, Joh. Friedrich von. Prüfung der Lehre von der Seelenwanderung. + (In his Blätter für höhere Wahrheit. Neue Folge, 1830, I. 244–299.) + + Fichte, Imman. Herm. Die Idee der Persönlichkeit und der individuellen + Fortdauer. Leipzig, 1855. + + Schubert, G. H. Die Geschichte der Seele. Stuttgart, 1833. + + Bastian, Adolf. Der Mensch in der Geschichte. See Vol. II. Psychologie + und Mythologie. Leipzig, 1860. Die Vorstellungen von der Seele. + Berlin, 1875. Der Mensch in der Geschichte, 3 vols. Leipzig, 1866. + Beiträge zur vergleichenden Psychologie. Berlin, 1868. Weltauffassung + der Buddhisten. Berlin, 1870. Der Buddhismus in seiner Psychologie. + Berlin, 1882. + + Müller. Lehre von der Sünde. Augsburg, 1854. See Vol. II. 495 et seq. + + Froschammer, J. Ueber den Ursprung der menschlichen Seelen. München, + 1854. + + Marcus, Joh. Vorstellungen über den Ursprung der menschlichen Seelen + in den ersten Jahren der Kirche. 1854. + + Schopenhauer, Arthur. Sämmtliche Werke. Die Welt als Wille und + Vorstellung. Leipzig, 1873. + + Fechner, Gustav Theodor. Ueber die Seelenfrage; ein Gang durch die + sichtbare Welt, um die unsichtbare zu finden. Leipzig, 1861. + + Philo. Versuch eines systematischen Entwurfs des Lehrbegriffs Philo’s + von Alexandrien. E. H. Stahl. Eichhorn’s Allgem. Bibl. 1792. (IV. + 767–890.) + + Seelenwanderung. Zeitschrift der Morgenländ. Gesellschaft. VI., IX., + XXVII., XXIX. + + Kern. Der Buddhismus. Leipzig, 1882. + + Spiesz, E. Entwicklungsgeschichte der Vorstellungen vom Zustande nach + dem Tode. Jena, 1877. (Contains a bibliography at the end of each + chapter.) + + Müller, J. G. Geschichte der Amerikanischen Urreligion. Basel, 1867. + + Simrock, K. Handbuch der Deutschen Mythologie. Bonn, 1878. + + Pfleiderer, O. Religions-Philosophie. Berlin, 1878. + + Döllinger, J. J. I. Heidenthum und Judenthum. Regensburg, 1857. + + Karsten, S. Verhandeling over Palingenesie en Metempsychosis. + Amsterdam, 1846. + + Weber. Indische Studien. + + Twesten, C. Die religiösen, politischen und socialen Ideen der + asiatischen Culturvölker. 2 vols. Berlin, 1872. + + Vierteljahrschrift für die Seelenlehre. + + Delitzsch, Franz. System der Biblischen Psychologie. Leipzig, 1855. + + + III. FRENCH. + + Olivier, Jean. La Metempsychose, discours prononcé par Pythagore dans + l’école de Crotone. Amsterdam et Paris, 1760. + + Duguet, Charles. Pythagore, ou Precis de philosophie ancienne et + moderne dans ses rapports avec les metamorphoses de la nature ou la + metempsychose. Paris, 1841. + + Reynaud, Jean. Philosophie Religieuse du Tierre et Ciel. Paris, 1854. + + Bouchet, Père. Lettre sur la metempsychose. In Picart’s Ceremonies. + Paris, 1867. + + Erckmann-Chatrian. Le Docteur Malthéus. Paris, 1859. + + Linner, Jean R. Essai sur les Dogmes de la Metempsychose et du + Purgatoire enseigne par les Bramins de l’Indostan. Berne, 1771. + + Leroux, Pierre. De l’Humanité. Paris. (See Fortnightly Review, V. 17, + 1872, p. 324–333.) + + Beausobre, Isaac de. Histoire du Manichéisme. Paris. + + Bonnet, Charles. La Palingenesis Philosophique, ou Idées sur l’état + passé et sur l’état futur des êtres vivans. Geneve, 1769. + + Pezzani, André. La Pluralité des Existences de l’Âme. Paris, 1865. + + Fontenelle, Bernard Le Bouyer de. Entretiens sur la Pluralité des + Mondes. Paris, 1686. Bibliothèque National. Paris, 1871. + + Flammarion, Camille. La Pluralité des Mondes Habitués. Paris, 1864. + Histoires d’Infinité. Paris, 1867. Les Mondes Imaginaires, et les + Mondes Réel. Paris, 1865. (Contains a list and analysis of all the + works on the plurality of worlds.) + + Fourier, F. Charles Marie. La Fausse Industrie Morcelée, et + l’Antidote, l’Industrie Naturelle, combinée. Paris, 1835–36. + + Picart, Bernard. Céremonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les + peuples du monde: 12 tom. Paris, 1807. + + Franck, Ad. Dictionnaire des Sciences Philosophiques. Paris, 1875. See + the article “Metempsychose.” + + Bibliothèque Orientale. Chef-d’œuvre Littéraires de l’Inde, de la + Perse, de l’Égypte et de la Chine. Tomes 4. Paris, 1872–78. Vol. I. + Rig Veda. II. Hymnes Sanscrit, Persans, Egyptiens, Assyriens et + Chinois. III. Burnouf, E. Introduction à l’Histoire du Buddhisme + Indien. IV. Le Koran Analysé. + + Bibliothèque Orientale Elzévirienne. Tomes 30. Paris, 1873–1880. (A + vast collection of valuable works upon the religions, literatures, and + peoples of the East.) + + Plotinus. Les Ennéades de Plotin. Traduits pour la première fois en + français, accompagnée de sommaires, de notes—par M. N. Bouillet. Tomes + 3. Paris, 1858–61. (With fragments from Porphyry, Iamblichus, and + other Neo-Platonists.) + + Regnaud, P. Materiaux pour servir à l’histoire de la philosophie de + l’Inde. Paris, 1876. + + Draward, L. La Science Occulte. Paris. + + Burnouf, E. Introduction à l’histoire du Buddhisme Indien. Paris, + 1844. Le Lotus de la Bonne Loi. Traduit du Sanscrit, accompagnée d’un + Commentaire. Paris, 1852. + + + IV. ENGLISH. + + Cudworth, Ralph. The True Intellectual System of the Universe. London, + 1678. (“A storehouse of learning on the ancient opinions of the + nature, origin, pre-existence, transmigration, and future of the + soul.”) + + More, Henry. Philosophical Poems. “A Platonick Song of the Soul; + treating of the Life of the Soul, her Immortality, the Sleep of the + Soul, the Unitie of Souls, and Memorie after Death.” Cambridge, 1647. + (See page 18, above.) + + More, Henry. The Immortality of the Soul, so farre as it is + demonstrable from the knowledge of Nature and the Light of Reason. + London, 1659. (See Book II, chapter xvi.) + + Glanvil, Joseph (Rector of Bath). Lux Orientalis; or an Inquiry into + the opinions of the Eastern sages concerning the Præ-existence of + Souls. Being a key to unlock the Grand Mysteries of Providence in + Relation to man’s sin and misery. London, 1662. Republished with + annotations by Dr. Henry More. 1682. + + Dunton, John. The Visions of the Soul before it comes into the Body. + In several Dialogues. London, 1692. (Satirical.) + + Helmont, F. M. Two Hundred Queries moderately Propounded concerning + the Doctrine of the Revolution of Human Souls. London, 1684. + + Parker, Samuel (Bishop). A Free and Impartial Censure of the Platonick + Philosophie; with an account of the Origenian Hypothesis, concerning + the Pre-existence of Souls. London, 1666. + + Evidence (An) for Immortality, and for Transmigration. To which is + added a Treatise concerning those who sleep in the Dust of the Earth. + London, 1732. + + Mede. The Mystery of Godliness. London, 1708. (Chapter III upholds + “the reasonable doctrine” of pre-existence as “a key for some of the + main mysteries of Providence, which no other can so handsomely + unlock.”) + + Warren, Edward. No Pre-Existence; or a brief Dissertation against the + Hypothesis of Humane Souls living in a state antecedaneous to this. + London, 1667. + + Addison, Joseph. The Spectator. London. See Nos. 211 and 343. + + Newcomb, Thomas. Pre-existence and Transmigration. A Poem. London, + 1743. + + Pre-existence. A Poem. Bath, 1763. (In Dodsley’s Collection, I. pp. + 158–172.) (See pp. 181–187, above.) + + Berrow, Capel, Rector of Rossington. A Lapse of Human Souls in a State + of Pre-existence, the only Original Sin, and the Groundwork of the + Gospel Dispensation. London, 1766. + + (He considers that men are apostate angels, and that the brute + creation labors under a severer stroke of divine justice than the + human race because it was guiltier than mankind in æons past.) + + Jenyns, Soame. Disquisitions on Several Subjects. London, 1782. Disq. + III, pp. 27–46. (See page 88, above.) + + Preëxistence of Souls and Universal Restoration. From the Minutes and + Correspondence of the Burnam Society. Taunton, 1798. + + Ramsay, Chevalier. Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed + Religion unfolded in a Geometrical Order. Edinburgh, 1748. + + Brocklesby, Richard. An Explication of Gospel Theism and the Divinity + of the Christian Religion, containing the true account of the System + of the Universe. 1706. + + (Maintains preëxistence.) + + Goodwin, John. Works. London, 1652. + + (Defends preëxistence.) + + Bulstrode, Whitelocke. An Essay on Transmigration, in Defence of + Pythagoras. London, 1692. + + Wheeler, J. T. History of India. London, 1874. (For Hindu + Transmigration, see pp. 72–76.) + + Garrett, J. Classical Dictionary of India. 1871. (See + “Transmigration,” on pp. 637–642.) + + Tulloch, John, D.D. Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy in + England in the 17th Century. Edinburgh and London, 1872. (Vol. II: The + Cambridge Platonists.) + + Wilkinson, Sir John Gardiner. A second series of the Manners and + Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, including their Religion, etc. 3 + vols. London, 1878. (Vol. II. chap, xvi., pp. 440–451, relate to + transmigration.) + + Bunsen, Christian Carl J. Egypt’s Place in Universal History. 5 vols. + London, 1848–1860. (Vol. IV. pp. 638–653, treat of animal worship and + metempsychosis.) + + Ginsburg, Dr. The Kabbala: its Doctrines, Development and Literature. + London. + + Taylor, Isaac. Physical Theory of Another Life. London and New York, + 1836. + + Hume, David. Essay on Immortality. In his Essays, moral, political and + literary. Edited by T. H. Green and T. H. Gosse. London, 1875. (See p. + 94, above.) + + Cox, Edward W. What am I? A Popular Introduction to Mental Philosophy + and Psychology. 2 vols. London, 1871. Vol. I., chap. 42, + “Pre-existence.” + + Hudson, C. F. Debt and Grace, as related to the Doctrine of a Future + Life. Boston, 1858. (See p. 111.) + + Timbs, John. The Mysteries of Life, Death and Futurity. London, 1880. + (See the chapters on Pre-existence of Souls, pp. 43 and 262.) + + Butler, Wm. Archer. Lectures on the History of Ancient Philosophy, + edited by William Hepworth Thompson. London, 1856. (See Vol. II., + Lecture IV., pp. 240–264, Psychology of Plato.) + + Mozley, J. B., D.D. (Canon of Christ Church). Essays, Historical and + Theological. London, 1878. (Vol. II. pp. 317 sq., “Indian Conversion,” + severely attacks the Brahmanical doctrine.) + + Liddon, H. P., D.D. (Canon of St. Paul’s). Some Elements of Religion. + Lent Lectures. London, 1870. (Lecture II. pp. 95–106, is devoted to a + refutation of Preëxistence.) + + Jennings, H. The Rosecrucians. Their Rites and Mysteries. London, + 1870. (References to transmigration occur on pages 94, 97, 101, 106.) + + Davies, Edward. Mythology and Rites of the British Druids. London, + 1809. + + Mosheim, Joh. L. von. Commentaries on the Affairs of the Christians in + the First Three Centuries. London and New York. (See Sections 27–29 + for Origen.) + + Beecher, Edward. The Conflict of Ages; or the Great Debate on the + Moral Relations of God and Man. Boston, 1853. The Concord of Ages. New + York, 1860. + + Alger, Wm. R. A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life. + Philadelphia, 1860. (See p. 100, above.) + + Clarke, James Freeman. Ten Great Religions. Boston, 1871. (Vol. I. + chapter iii. Brahmanism; chap. iv. Buddhism; chap. vi. The Religion of + Egypt. Vol. II. chap. vi. The Soul and its Transmigrations in all + Religions.) + + Johnson, Samuel. Oriental Races and Religions. India. Boston, 1875. + + Channing, Wm. Henry. Lectures on Eastern Religions. London. + + Haldred. An Account of the Hindoo Land. + + D’Israeli, Isaac. Curiosities of Literature. London. (Vol. II. + contains a short section on “Metempsychosis.”) + + Hardy, R. Spence. A Manual of Buddhism, in its Modern Development. + London, 1853. New York, 1886. + + Wilson, Prof. H. H. Lectures on the Religious Opinions of the Hindus. + + Upham, Edward. The History and Doctrine of Buddhism, popularly + illustrated. London, 1829. (Transmigration occupies pp. 25–43.) + + Lillie, Arthur. Buddha and Early Buddhism. + + Brewster, David. More Worlds than One: the Philosopher’s Faith and the + Christian’s Hope. London. + + Man: Fragments of Forgotten History. By Two Chelas. London, 1885. + + Hartmann, Franz, M.D. Magic, White and Black; or the Science of the + Finite and Infinite Life. London, 1886. + + Sinnet, A. P. Esoteric Buddhism. Boston, 1884. Five Years of + Theosophy. London, 1885. + + Arnold, Edwin. The Light of Asia. Boston, 1879. Pearls of the Faith. + Boston, 1883. + + Collins, Mabel. Light on the Path. Boston, 1885. Through the Gates of + Gold. A Fragment of Thought. Boston, 1887. + + Tredwell, Daniel N. Apollonius of Tyana. New York, 1886. + + Chasseaud, Geo. Washington. The Druses of the Lebanon: their Manners, + Customs, and History. With a translation of their Religious Code. + London, 1855. + + Fleming’s Vocabulary of Philosophy. London, 1886. (See under + Metempsychosis, etc.) + + Hedge, Frederick Henry. Ways of the Spirit and other Essays. Boston, + 1877. (See above, page 120.) + + Tyler, E. B. Primitive Culture. New York, 1876. + + Myers, F. W. H. Modern Essays. (See page 55.) + + Poe, Edgar Allan. Eureka. In his Complete Works. New York. + + Smedley. The Occult Sciences. London, 1855. Dreamland and Ghostland. 3 + vols. London, 1887. + + Hodson, B. H. Essays on the Language, Literature and Religion of Nepal + and Tibet. London, 1874. + + King, C. W. The Gnostics and their Remains, Ancient and Medieval. + London and New York, 1864 and 1887. + + McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and + Ecclesiastical Literature. New York, 1867–1877. (See Gnostics, + Metempsychosis, Pre-existence, Origen, etc.) + + Blavatsky, H. P. Isis Unveiled: A Master Key to the Mysteries of + Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. New York, 1877. (See + references in index to Metempsychosis, Reincarnation and + Transmigration.) + + Frith, J. Life of Giordano Bruno, the Nolan. London and Boston, 1887. + + Meyer, Isaac. Qabbalah. The Philosophical Writings of Solomon Ben + Yehudah Ibn Gebirol or Avicebron, and their connection with the Hebrew + Qabbalah and Sepher haz-Zohar, etc. Philadelphia, 1888. + + + V. ENGLISH. (TRANSLATIONS.) + + Manu, The Institutes of. The Twelfth Book treats of Transmigration. + Trans. by Sir Wm. Jones. Vol. VIII. of his Works. 1807. + + Rig Veda. Vishnu Purana. Translated by Prof. H. H. Wilson. London, + 1840. + + Sacred Books of the East. Translated or edited by Max Müller. Oxford. + See especially Upanishads, Vol. I.; Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Vol. + II.; Bhagavadgita, Vol. VIII. + + Picart, Bernard. Ceremonies and Religious Customs of all the People of + the World. 6 vols. London, 1733–37. Vol. IV. Part II. pp. 159–187, + describe Hindu Transmigration. See also Vol. I. Part II. p. 23 seq.; + Vol. II. Part I. p. 157 seq. + + Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm. Monadology. Trans. by F. H. Hedge. In the + Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Vol. I. pp. 129. New York, 1867. + + Hafiz. Persian Lyrics. London, 1800. + + Bibliothèque Orientale. London, 1692. (See the essay on + Transmigration.) + + Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. The Education of the Race. Trans, by Rev. + F. W. Robertson. London, 1855. + + Fichte, J. G. The Destiny of Man. In Dr. Hedge’s “Prose Writers of + Germany.” Philadelphia, 1848. New York, 1856. (See pages 58–59, + above.) + + Helmont, F. M. von. Seder Olam: or the Order of All the Ages of the + Whole World; also the Hypothesis of the Pre-existency and Revolution + of Human Souls. Translated by J. Clark, M.D. London, 1694. + + Herder, John. Dialogues on Transmigration. Translated by F. H. Hedge + in his “Prose Writers of Germany” (pp. 248 et seq.). Philadelphia, + 1848. New York, 1856. (See pp. 59–63, above.) + + Plotinus. Select Works. Translated by Thomas Taylor. London, 1817. + Five Books. (See especially “The Descent of the Soul.”) Translated by + Thomas Taylor. London, 1794. + + Virgil. Eneid. Translated by William Morris. Boston, 1876. Trans. by + C. P. Cranch. Boston, 1872. (See latter part of the sixth Eneid.) + + Ovid. Metamorphoses. Pythagorean Philosophy. Translated by Dryden. + London and New York. + + Plato. Phædro. Translated by B. Jowett. New York, 1871. Also in Bohn’s + Classical Library. + + Plutarch. Essay on the Delay of Heavenly Justice. In his Miscellaneous + Essays. London and New York. + + Origen, The Writings of. Translated by Rev. Frederick Crombie. 2 vols. + Edinburgh, 1869. In Clark’s Ante-Nicene Christian Library. + + Richter, Jean Paul. Levana. London, 1848. (p. 346.) + + Israel, Manasseh Ben. Conciliata. Translated by Dr. Linde. (A rich + mine of information concerning the Kabala, and Jewish preëxistence.) + + Fourier, Charles. Passions of the Human Soul. Translated by Hugh + Dougherty. London, 1851. (For Fourier’s ideas on immortality see + Introduction, pp. xiv-xviii.) + + Herodotus. Book II. cap. 123. + + Timæus, the Locrian. (A Pythagorean.) + + Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Idea. Translated by R. B. + Haldane and I. Kemp. 3 vols. London, 1883–86. (See Vol. III. p. 468.) + Essay on Death and Immortality. Translated by C. L. Bernays in the + Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Vol. I. 1867. + + Talmud, The. J. Barclay. 1878. Selections from the Talmud. H. Polano. + 1848. + + Figuer, Louis. The To-morrow of Death. Translated by S. R. Crocker. + Boston, 1872. + + Bonnet, Charles. Philosophic Palingenesis. Paris. + + Hen, Llywarch. Heroic Elegies. Translated by Owen. (Welsh Poems of + Druidism.) + + Diogenes Laertius. Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers of + Antiquity. Translated by C. D. Yonge. In Bohn’s Standard Library. + London, 1853. (See Plato, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Hierocles.) + + Dacier, A. Life of Pythagoras, with his Symbols and Golden Verses. + From the French. London, 1797. Hierocles, upon the Golden Verses of + the Pythagoreans. Trans, by J. Moor. Glasgow, 1756. Life of + Pythagoras, with his Symbols and Golden Verses, together with the Life + of Hierocles and his Commentaries upon the Verses. From the French. + London, 1721. + + Müller, Julius. Christian Doctrine of Sin. Trans. by Wm. Pulsford. In + Clark’s Foreign Theological Library. Edinburgh. + + Hagenbach, Karl R. History of Doctrine. Trans. by Carl W. Buch. In + Clark’s Foreign Theological Library. Edinburgh. (For Patristic + Preëxistence see pp. 143-, 285-.) New York, 1863. + + Schlegel, W. F. von. Æsthetics and Miscellaneous Works. In Bohn’s + Library. 1849. (See p. 468.) + + Kuenen, A. National Religions and Universal Religions. (Hibbert + Lectures, 1882.) Trans. by Rev. P. H. Wicksteed. New York, 1882. + (Lecture V. is upon Buddhism.) + + Renouf, P. Le Page. The Religion of Ancient Egypt. (Hibbert Lectures + for 1879.) New York, 1879. + + Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology. See the article on Transmigration, Vol. + II. pp. 655, 826. + + Oldenberg, Hermann. Buddha, his Life, his Doctrine, his Order. + Translated by William Hoey. London, 1882. + + Buddhist Birth Stories. Edited by Faurboël. Translated by Rhys David. + + + VI. FICTION. + + Rossetti, D. G. St. Agnes of Intercession. An autobiographical story. + In Rossetti’s Collected Works. London. (Vol. I. p. 399.) + + Willis, N. P. A Revelation of a Previous Life. An autobiographical + sketch. In his “Dashes at Life.” New York, 1841. + + Macnish, R. The Metempsychosis by a Modern Pythagorean. In Tales, + Essays, and Sketches. London, 1844. Also in Blackwood’s Magazine, XIX. + 496; Littell, LVII. p. 500; Tales from Blackwood, Vol. II.; Good + Stories, Part II. + + Confessions of a Metempsychosian. Fraser’s Magazine, XII. 496. + + Cooke, Rose Terry. Metempsychosis. Atlantic Monthly, II. 59. + + Fielding, Henry. A Journey from this World to the Next. In his + Complete Works. London. + + Sinnet, A. P. Karma. Boston, 1886. + + Hogg, James. The Wool Gatherer. In his Winter Evening Tales. Glasgow. + + Stevenson, R. L. The Adventures of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. New York, + 1887. + + Hawthorne, Julian. Archibald Malmaison. New York, 1885. + + Flammarion, Camille. Stories of Infinity. Trans. by S. R. Crocker. + Boston, 1873. + + Duchess, Emilia. Boston, 1887. + + Hunt, Mrs. E. B. The Wards of Plotinus. London and New York, 1881. (In + this historical novel Plotinus and the Neo-Platonists of his time are + the principal figures, though not much of their philosophy of + preëxistence appears.) + + Balzac, Honoré de. Peau de Chagrin. Paris, 1839. + + Erckman, E., and Chatrian, A. L’Illustre Docteur Mathéus. Paris, 1859. + + Fechner, Gustav T. Dr. Mises. Leipzig. + + (These stories of doubles may also be added, as showing more or less + the impersonation of the higher and lower self in separate + embodiments:) + + Fouqué. Sintram and his Companion. + + Andersen, Hans C. The Shadow. + + Browning, Mrs. E. B. The Romaunt of Margret. + + Gautier. Le Chevalier Double. + + Hale, E. E. My Double and How he undid me. + + Poe, E. A. William Wilson. + + + VII. ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS, PAMPHLETS, ETC. + + Bowen, Prof. Francis. Christian Metempsychosis. Princeton Review, New + Series, VII. 315. (May, 1881.) + + Alger, Wm. R. The Transmigration of Souls. North American Review, + LXXX. 58. (January, 1855.) + + Glanvil, Joseph, wrote a long letter full of curious learning to + Richard Baxter, in defense of the soul’s preëxistence, which is among + the Baxter MSS. in the Red-Cross Street Library, Cripplegate. + + Sentiment of Pre-existence. Chamber’s Journal. (May 17, and Oct. 11, + 1845.) + + Doctrine of Pre-existence. The Radical, III. 517. + + Pre-existence of Souls. American Presbyterian Review, II. 546. (March, + 1854.) + + Knight, Prof. William. Doctrine of Metempsychosis. Fortnightly Review, + XXX. 422. (See p. 96, above.) + + Pontius, J. W. Transmigration of Souls. Reformed Quarterly Review, + XXVIII. 625. + + Pre-existence of Souls. Bibliotheca Sacra, XII. (Jan., 1855.) From + Keil’s Opuscula Acad. + + Pre-existence. Methodist Review, Oct., 1853. + + Concerning Preëxistence. Penn Monthly, VIII. 655. Sept., 1877. + + Rust, Dr. Bishop of Dromore. A Letter of Resolutions concerning Origen + and the Chief of his Opinions. Republished in the collection of Tracts + called the Phœnix. + + Oliphant, Lawrence. The Land of Gilead. A Remarkable Narrative of a + Child who remembered previous Lives. Blackwood’s Magazine, Vol. CXXIX. + Jan., 1881. + + Pythagoras. University Magazine. Sept., 1879. + + Preëxistence. Notes and Queries. Second Series, Vol. II. 453, 517; + III. 50–52, 132; IV. 157, 234, 298; V. 303; VII. 319; XI. 341–343. + + Transactions of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society, No. 5. A + paper on Reincarnation by Miss Anundale, with comments by Mohini M. + Chatterji. London, 1886. + + Sense of Preëxistence. Littell’s Living Age, LIV. 222. + + Metempsychose chez les Babis. Journal Asiatique, VIII. 488. + + Metempsychose chez les Tibétains. Journal Asiatique, XIV. 409. + + + VIII. PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEOSOPHICAL MAGAZINES. + + The Path. Edited by W. Q. Judge. New York. + + The Theosophist. Ed. by H. P. Blavatsky. Adyar, India. + + Lucifer. Ed. by Mabel Collins and H. P. Blavatsky. London. + + The Occult World. Ed. by Mrs. J. W. Cables. Rochester, N. Y. + + The Religio-Philosophical Journal. Chicago, Ill. + + The Journal of Speculative Philosophy. New York. + + Journal des Savants. Paris. + + La Revue Philosophique. Paris. + + Journal Asiatique. Paris. + + Revue de l’Histoire des Religions. Edited by Jean Reville. Paris. + + Le Lotus. Ed. by K. Gaboriaux. Paris. + + Les Jours Nouveaux. Ed. by Duchess de Poma. Paris. + + L’Aurore. Paris. + + Die Sphinx. Hübbe-Schleden. Münich. + + Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik. Dr. Krohn und + Rich. Falckenberg. Halle. + + Jamai-ul-Uloom. Urdu. India. + + Arya Magazine. Lahore, India. + + The Occult Magazine. Glasgow. + + + + + INDEX. + + + [Including authors in the Appendix.] + + Addison, Joseph, 153, 276, 322, 335. + + Adept, quotation from an, 324. + + Adepts, 264. + + African transmigration, 276. + + Aldrich, T. B., poems by, 134, 136. + + Alexander the Great, 5, 197. + + Alford, Dean, poem by, 148. + + Alger, Wm. R., 100, 337, 342. + + Alternate consciousness, 54. + + American poets, 129–145. + + Ammonius Saccas, 229. + + Analogy favoring reincarnation, 22. + + Andersen, Hans C., 342. + + Anecdotes, 36–46. + + Anonymous quotations, 10, 23, 224, 321, 323, 325. + + Apollonius of Tyana, 39, 76, 243, 338. + + Appendix, 329–343. + + Arguments for reincarnation, 20–48, 88, 103. + + Aristobulus, 210. + + Aristotle, 81. + + Arnobius, 223. + + Arnold, Edwin, 126, 240, 250, 252, 256, 262, 298, 303, 321, 337. + + Arnold, Matthew, 168. + + Ashton, Eugene, 42. + + Astronomical reincarnation, 66. + + Atomic hypothesis, 247, 284. + + Atoms, transmigration of, 284, 285. + + Augustine, 236. + + Augustinian original sin, 32. + + + Bacchic processions, 6. + + Bailey, Philip T., 153, 288, 308. + + Balzac, H., 341. + + Barrow, Isaac, 329. + + Basilidians, 72. + + Bastian, A., 331. + + Beaumont and Fletcher, 298. + + Beausobre, I., 333. + + Bede, 17. + + Beecher, Edward, 7, 35, 47, 67, 337. + + Beecher, Henry Ward, 67, 298. + + Borrow, Capel, 335. + + Bertram, J. F., 330. + + Beyond, poem by J. T. Trowbridge, 141. + + Bhagavadgita, 10, 339. + + Bible, The, and reincarnation, 34, 72, 83, 113, 114, 214–221. + + Bibliography of reincarnation, 329–343. + + Bibliothèque Orientale, 334. + + Björnsen’s poem “Salme,” 169. + + Blake, Wm., 94. + + Blavatsky, H. P., 338, 343. + + Bode, 66. + + Boehme, Jacob, 7, 65. + + Boethius, 81, 272. + + Bogomiles, 227. + + Bonaventura, 65. + + Bonds of action, 301. + + Bonnet, Charles, 333, 340. + + Boullier, 27. + + Bowen, Prof. Francis X., 34, 42, 67, 102. + + Boyesen, H. H., 170. + + Brahman, a, upon transmigration, 284. + + Brahman reincarnation, 195, 241, 243–245, 274. + + Brahmans, the, 6, 80, 87. + + Brewster, David, 7, 66, 337. + + British poets, 146–168. + + Brocklesby, Richard, 335. + + Brodie’s psychological inquiries, 54. + + Brooks, Phillips, 67. + + Browne, Sir Thomas, 16, 67, 82, 272. + + Browning, E. B., 126, 342. + + Browning, Robert, 155, 298. + + Bruno, Giordano, 7, 65, 169, 229, 330, 338; + quoted, 27, 317. + + Bruch, J. F., 331. + + Bruyère, De la, 288, 328. + + Buckle’s History of Civilization, 31. + + Buddhism, 69, 70, 196, 242–247, 274. + + Bulstrode, W., 335. + + Bulwer-Lytton, 37, 97, 126. + + Bunsen, C. J., 336. + + Burnouf, E., 334. + + Butler, Wm. Archer, 50, 96, 209, 336. + + + Cabala, 6, 80, 211, 336, 338, 340. + + Cæsar, Julius, 5. + + Cardan, 81. + + Cambridge Platonists, 6, 65, 179. + + Campanella, T., 65, 177. + + Carlyle, T., ii, 308, 328. + + Carpenter’s Mental Physiology, 54. + + Cathari, 227. + + Cato, 228. + + Cebes, 81, 104. + + Channing, W. H., 337. + + Chapman, George, ii. + + Chasseaud, G. W., 338. + + Children, 33, 40, 77. + + Christian metempsychosis (Prof. F. Bowen), 103. + + Christianity teaching reincarnation, 72, 225, 227. + + Christianity married to reincarnation, 317. + + Christina (Robert Browning), 155. + + Church fathers, 6, 86, 87, 226, 232, 275. + + Cicero, 81. + + Clarke, James Freeman, x, 67, 97, 240, 337. + + Clemens Alexandrinus, 226, 232. + + Coleridge, S. T., 35, 54, 156, 229. + + Collins, Mabel, 338. + + Concord of Ages (Dr. Beecher), 47, 67. + + Conflict of Ages (Dr. Beecher), 47, 67. + + Continental poets, 168–177. + + Conzius, C. P., 331. + + Cooke, Rose T., 341. + + Cox, E. W., 336. + + Crookes, Prof., 4. + + Cudworth, Ralph, 20, 65, 334. + + + Dacier’s Life of Pythagoras, 282, 340. + + Damascius, 229. + + Davies, E., 337. + + De Profundis (Tennyson), 151. + + Death, 289–296. + + Death in Esoteric Oriental thought, 269. + + Death, Prof. Bowen on, 116. + + Death, Schopenhauer on, 67. + + Death, The Secret of (Sanskrit poem), 252. + + Delitzsch, 216, 226, 332. + + Denton’s Soul of Things, 284. + + Descent of the Soul (Plotinus), 229. + + Destiny of Man (Fichte), 74. + + Disraeli, Benjamin, 298. + + D’Israeli, Isaac, 10, 337. + + Dialogues on Metempsychosis (Herder), 75. + + Dickens, Charles, 41. + + Diogenes Laertius, 340. + + Disquisition on a Præexistent State (Jenyns), 87. + + Döllinger, J. J. I., 332. + + Doppert, J., 329. + + Dorner, Dr., 7, 47, 66. + + Dowden’s Life of Shelley, 92. + + Dravard, L., 334. + + Dream of Pythagoras (E. Tatham), 156. + + Druids, 5, 6, 71, 275, 337. + + Druses, 39, 276. + + Duchess, The, 341. + + Duguet, C., 333. + + Dunton, John, 334. + + Dupont de Nemours, 97. + + Du Prel, Baron, 54. + + + Eastern poetry, 251–260. + + Eastern reincarnation, 7, 240. + + Ebers, George, 282. + + Edda, 71. + + Education of the Human Race (Lessing), 72. + + Egypt, 5, 80, 197. + + Eleusinian mysteries, 6. + + Emerson, R. W., 7, 16, 23, 98, 126, 178, 190, 214, 229, 277, 298, 312, + 324. + + Empedocles, 5. + + English divines, 6, 67. + + English books upon reincarnation, 334–338. + + Enoch, 269, 291. + + Erckmann-Chatrian, 333, 341. + + Erigena, 65. + + Ernesti, 7. + + Esoteric Oriental reincarnation, 263–270. + + Essenes, 210. + + Euclid, 81. + + Euripides, 81. + + Evidences of reincarnation, 15–48, 88, 103. + + Evil, origin of, 32, 85, 116. + + Evolution, 4, 19, 24. + + Experiences requiring reincarnation, 36–46. + + + Facing Westward (W. Whitman), 143. + + Fawcett, Edgar, 31. + + Fechner, G. T., 21, 332, 342. + + Fernelius, J., 81. + + Fichte, I. H., 65, 74, 331. + + Fichte, J. G., 331, 339. + + Fielding, H., 341. + + Fiquier, Louis, 7, 340. + + Final Thought, The (M. Thompson), 139. + + Flammarion, C., 7, 66, 341. + + Fleury, 338. + + Folk-lore, 276. + + Fontenelle, 66. + + Fouqué, 342. + + Fourier, 66, 340. + + French books upon reincarnation, 333. + + Frith, J., 338. + + Froschammer, J., 26, 332. + + Future punishments, 35. + + + Galen, 81. + + Garrett, J., 336. + + Gauls, 5. + + Gates Between, The (E. B. Phelps), 292. + + Gautama, 298. + + Gautier, 342. + + Gazzali, 308. + + Genius explained by reincarnation, 59, 314. + + German books upon reincarnation, 330–332. + + Ginsburg, Dr., 336. + + Glanvil, Joseph, 66, 91, 214, 334, 342. + + Gnostics, 6, 72, 226, 227. + + Goethe, 7, 175. + + Golden verses of Pythagoras, 281. + + Goodwin, J., 335. + + Gosse, Edmund W., 146. + + Greek philosophers, 20, 200, 201, 226. + + Grimm, 341. + + Grosse, C., 331. + + Gymnosophists, 5, 80, 87, 196. + + + Haeggroth, Nic., 329. + + Haffner, G., 329. + + Hafiz, 259, 339. + + Hagenbach, K. A., 340. + + Haldred, 337. + + Hale, E. E., 342. + + Hardy, R. S., 246, 337. + + Hartmann, F., 10, 337. + + Haupt, E. D., 330. + + Hawthorne, Julian, 55, 341. + + Hayne, Paul H., 129, 291. + + Heaven and Hell, 288. + + Hedge, F. H., x, 120, 331, 338, 339. + + Hegel, 65. + + Helmont, F. M., 65, 329, 334, 339. + + Hen, L., 340. + + Henrici, H., 329. + + Herder, J. G., 7, 65, 75, 330, 339. + + Heredity, 58. + + Heretics advocating reincarnation, 72, 225. + + Herodotus, 197, 340. + + Heusse, M., 329. + + Hewlett, H. G. (Sonnet), vi. + + Hierocles, 46, 229, 281. + + Hilarius, 236. + + Hindu reincarnation, 7, 39, 246. See _Brahmanism_ and _Buddhism_. + + Hippocrates, 81. + + Hodge, Dr., 34. + + Hodson, B. H., 338. + + Hofmann, Josef, 313. + + Hogg, James, 41, 92, 341. + + Holmes, O. W., 126. + + Hone, William, 38. + + Horace, 126. + + Houghton, Lord, 150. + + Hudson, C. F., 336. + + Hugo, Victor, 171. + + Hume, David, 16, 65, 71, 94, 336. + + Hunt, E. B., 341. + + Hunt, Helen, 288. + + Huygens, C., 66, 329. + + Hymns, 190, 191. + + + Iarchas, 76. + + Identity (T. B. Aldrich), 136. + + Identity of the soul, 29, 113. + + Immortality and reincarnation, 20, 226. + + Immortality, Emerson on, 325. + + Immortality, Hume on, 94. + + Immortality, Schopenhauer, 65. + + Immortality of the Soul (Dr. More), 67. + + Innate ideas, 31. + + India, 5, 240. + + Injustice of reincarnation, 57. + + Intimations of Immortality (Wordsworth), 146. + + Introduction, 3. + + Irhove, Wm., 329. + + Isis, rites of, 6. + + Israel, M. B., 340. + + + Jamblichus, 81, 229, 282, 329. + + Jennings, H., 336. + + Jenyns, Soame, 34, 64, 66, 87, 335. + + Jerome, 224, 225, 236. + + Jesus, 6, 18, 84, 112, 218. + + Jewish preëxistence, 210, 340. + + Jews, 6, 72. + + John the Baptist, 6, 114, 218. + + Johnson, Samuel, 337. + + Jones, Sir W., 338. + + Josephus, 210, 217. + + Judgment day, 302. + + Justin Martyr, 232. + + + Kabala. See _Cabala_. + + Kalidésa, 251, 278. + + Kant, Em., 7, 35, 65, 66, 109, 300. + + Karma, 299. + + Karsten, S., 332. + + Katha Upanishad, 252. + + Keil, C. A. G., 329, 342. + + Kemble, Frances A., 308. + + Kern, 332. + + Kindness of the Orient toward animals, 279. + + King, C. W., 338. + + King, Dr. William, 277. + + Klewitz, A. W., 331. + + Knight, William X., 10, 50, 52, 67, 95, 323, 342. + + Koeppen, C. F., 330. + + Krug, W. T., 331. + + Kuenen, A., 340. + + + Lancaster, A. E., 312. + + Larcom, Lucy, 310. + + Later books on reincarnation, 329, 330. + + Law, William, 64, 66. + + Law of Causation, 299. + + Laws of Manu, 245, 272, 273, 275, 338. + + Leaves of Grass (W. Whitman), 144. + + Lecky’s European Morals, 279. + + Leibnitz, 7, 54, 65, 108, 331, 339. + + Leland, C. G., 137. + + Leroux, P., 66, 333. + + Lessing, 7, 35, 72, 65, 71, 72, 330, 339. + + Lewes, George Henry, 31. + + Leyden, Dr., 156. + + Lichtenberg, 71. + + Liddon, H. P., 336. + + Light of Asia, 126, 240, 256, 262, 298, 303, 339. + + Light on the Path (Collins), 264, 338. + + Lillie, A., 337. + + Lindsay, Lord, 41. + + Linner, J. R., 333. + + Longfellow, H. W., 142, 288. + + Lotze, Hermann, vii, 26. + + Lowell, J. R., 142. + + Lux Orientalis (Glanvil), 91, 334. + + + Macdonald, George, 50. + + Macnish, R., 341. + + Magazines, philosophical and theosophical, 343. + + Magi, 5, 80, 87. + + Mahatmas, 264. + + Man: Fragments of Forgotten History, 264, 337. + + Manichæans, 6, 72, 225, 226, 227. + + Manu, laws of, 245, 272, 273, 275, 338. + + Marcionists, 72. + + Marcus, J., 332. + + Materialism, ix, 19. + + Mazzini, 308. + + McClintock and Strong, 338. + + Mede, 335. + + Memory of past lives, 51. + + Memory, On (Tupper), 154. + + Metempsychosis. See _Reincarnation_. + + Metempsychosis, Dialogues on (Herder), 75. + + Metempsychosis of the Pine (Bayard Taylor), 131. + + Metempsychosis, The (T. B. Aldrich), 134. + + Mexico, 6, 276. + + Meyer, I., 338. + + Meyer, J. B., 331. + + Meyer, J. F., 331. + + Michelet, 272. + + Miller, J. G., 332. + + Milnes, R. M., 150, 250. + + Milton, 16, 180, 181. + + Mohammedan reincarnation, 6, 71, 247. + + Montaigne, 321. + + Moore, Thomas, 194. + + More, Dr. Henry, 6, 34, 64, 65, 78, 179, 180, 334, 340. + + Mosheim, J. L., 337. + + Mozley, J. B., 336. + + Mulford, Elisha, 26. + + Müller, 332. + + Müller, Julius, 7, 35, 47, 66. + + Müller, J. T., 331. + + Müller, Max, 339. + + Mulock, D. M., vi. + + Myers, F. W. H., 338. + + Mysteries, Eleusinian, 6. + + Mystic, The (P. J. Bailey), 153. + + + Nature of the soul requires reincarnation, 29, 120. + + Nemesis, 302. + + Nemesius, 226, 236. + + Neo-Platonism, 5, 226, 228, 282. + + New truths the oldest, 4. + + Newcomb, Th., 335. + + Nirvana, 244, 306, 309. + + Notes and Queries, 40, 343. + + Novalis, 26. + + Nürnberger, J. C. S., 331. + + + Objections to reincarnation, 51–61. + + Oetingen, F. C. von, 52. + + Oldenberg, H., 341. + + Oliphant, Lawrence, 40, 342. + + Olivier, J., 332. + + One Thousand Years Ago (C. G. Leland), 137. + + One Word More (Robert Browning), 155. + + Origen, 6, 34, 66, 81, 86, 123, 226, 233, 339. + + Original sin, 32, 85, 116. + + Orpheus and Eurydice, 295. + + Osiander, J. A., 329. + + Ovid, 5, 23, 168, 194, 200, 272, 278, 339. + + + Paracelsus, 50, 65. + + Paradise, 83, 221. + + Parker, S., 334. + + Parsons, Thomas W., 145. + + Paul, Jean, 75, 272, 288. + + Paul, St., 85, 116, 221. + + Paulicians, 227. + + Paulinus, 17. + + Pelagian sin, 32. + + Periodic year, 82, 247. + + Persian Magi, 5, 80, 87. + + Persian poem, 257. + + Persian reincarnation, 199, 247, 274. + + Personality, 26. + + Peru, 6. + + Pezzani, A., 66, 97, 333. + + Pfellus, 81. + + Phædrus of Plato, 201. + + Phelps, E. S., 292. + + Philo, 6, 81, 210, 224, 332. + + Philolaus, 194. + + Picart, B., 333, 339. + + Pilgrimage philosophy, 60, 61. + + Plato, 5, 27, 71, 81, 104, 126, 201, 280, 339. + + Platonic poets, 178. + + Platonists, 7, 178. + + Platonists, Cambridge, 6, 65, 179. + + Plato’s year, 82, 247. + + Plotinus, 5, 51, 81, 224, 228, 229, 274, 334, 339. + + Plurality of the Soul’s Lives (Pezzani), 97. + + Plurality of worlds, 66. + + Plutarch, 339. + + Poe, Edgar A., 38, 338, 342. + + Poetry of Reincarnation: + American, 129–145; + British, 146–168; + Continental, 168–177; + Eastern, 251–260; + Platonic, 178–191. + + Pomponatius, 81. + + Pontius, J. W., 342. + + Porphyry, 66, 196, 229, 282, 329. + + Preëxistence. Argued by F. H. Hedge, 120; + argued by Prof. Knight, 95; + articles upon, 342; + books upon, 329–343; + Disquisition on (Jenyns), 87; + Dr. Hodge on, 34; + experiences of, 36–47; + Hayne’s (Paul H.) poem on, 129; + in the Bible, 215–221; + Milton’s poem on, 181, 335; + Plato’s, 96, 201, 209; + seven pillars of, 92. + See _Reincarnation_. + + Prevalence of reincarnation, 4–7, 65, 70. + + Priesthood, 280. + + Priestly rites, 6. + + Priscillians, 225, 227. + + Proclus, 5, 81, 229, 275. + + Prodigies, 313. + + Prose writers upon reincarnation, 65–123; Appendix. + + Prudentius, 237. + + Psychical research, 19. + + Psychological proofs of reincarnation, 29–31, 120. + + Psychometry, 284. + + Ptolemy, 18. + + Pythagoras, 5, 39, 71, 76, 78, 80, 194, 200, 274, 280, 298. + + Pythagoras, Dream of (poem), 158. + + Pythagoras, Life of, 282, 340. + + + Quarles, ii. + + + Rabbins, 6. + + Rain in Summer (Longfellow), 142. + + Ramsay, Chevalier, 34, 66, 83, 335. + + Recognition of friends in the future, 60, 292, 295. + + Record, A (W. Sharp), 154. + + Regnaud, P., 334. + + Reincarnation, ancient, 195–212; + answers problems of original sin, 32; + curious experiences, 36–46; + evil, 46, 116; + nature of the soul, 29, 120; + arguments for, 20; + Biblical, 25–221; + Christian, 225–237, 317, 318; + Eastern, 241–247; + Eastern poets on, 251–260; + Esoteric, 263–270; + objections to, 51–61; + optimistic, 320; + prevalence of, 3–7, 70; + probability of, 117; + science confirming it, 19; + summary, 309–325; + transmigration through animals, 273; + Western evidences, 11; + Western authors upon, poetic, 127–191, + prose, 65–123; + What is it?, 11. + + Religio Medici, 67, 82, 272. + + Remembrance, A (Dean Alford), 148. + + Renouf, P. L., 341. + + Repulsiveness of reincarnation, 59–61. + + Retreat, The (Henry Vaughan), 189. + + Returning Dreams (Milnes), 150. + + Reynaud, Jean, 66, 333. + + Richter, Jean Paul, 75, 272, 288, 340. + + Rig Veda, 338. + + Ritgen, F., 331. + + Robertson, F. W., 72, 322, 339. + + Roman Catholic Purgatory, 6, 35. + + Rossetti, D. G., 16, 42, 153, 341. + + Rowe, Mrs. Elizabeth, 190. + + Rückert, 7. + + Ruffinus, 226. + + Rust, Dr., 342. + + + Sagas of Iceland, 169. + + Sakoontala, 251. + + Sanskrit books, 338, 339. + + Sanskrit poetry, 251–256. + + Schelling, 7, 26, 65. + + Schiller, 175. + + Schilling, W. H., 329. + + Schlegel, 16, 340. + + Schlosser, J. G., 330. + + Schopenhauer, 7, 65, 67, 288, 332, 340. + + Schubert, G. H., 331. + + Schubert, J. E. von, 64, 330. + + Science, 7, 19, 25, 27. + + Scott, Sir W., 36, 214. + + Scott’s Christian Life, 67. + + Scotus, 7. + + Scriptural Reincarnation. See _Biblical_. + + Secret of Death (Sanskrit), 252. + + Secret of Reminiscence (Schiller), 175. + + Sedermark, P., 330. + + Senses, seven, 267. + + Separation from friends, 60, 292, 295. + + Seven in Oriental philosophy, 265. + + Shakespeare, 272. + + Sharp, William, 154. + + Shelley, P. B., 64, 298; + anecdote of, 92; + poetry of, 187, 188. + + Sibbern, F. C., 329. + + Simonists, 72. + + Simrock, K., 332. + + Sin, original, 32, 85, 116. + + Sinnet, A. P., 337, 341. + + Smedley, 338. + + Socrates, 7. + + Solomon, 84, 216. + + Song of the Earth Spirits (Goethe), 175. + + Soul, immortality of the, 20, 94. + + Soul, nature of the, 29, 120. + + Soul of Things (Denton), 284. + + Southey, 94. + + Spencer, Herbert, 19, 28. + + Spenser, 16. + + Spiesz, E., 332. + + Stahl, G. E., 26, 27. + + Stanzas (T. W. Parsons), 145. + + St. Bernard, 298. + + Stevenson, R. L., 55, 341. + + Stewart and Tait’s Unseen Universe, 17, 289. + + Stories of reincarnation, 41, 42, 55, 341. + + Successful Search (Poem), 260. + + Sudden Light (D. G. Rossetti), 153. + + Sufis, 247, 251, 259. + + Swedenborg, 7, 65. + + Symbols of reincarnation, 282. + + Synesius, 81, 236. + + Syrianus, 275. + + + Talmud, 6, 72, 340. + + Tatham, Emma, 158. + + Taylor, Bayard, 131, 133, 308. + + Taylor, Isaac, 16, 50, 288. + + Taylor’s (Isaac) Physical Theory of a Future Life, 19, 29, 336. + + Tennyson, A., 151, 152, 309, 320. + + Theologians, 6, 7, 18, 32, 47, 66, 86. + + Thompson, Maurice, 139. + + Through the Gates of Gold, 16, 264, 338. + + Timæus, 201, 340. + + Timbs, John, 336. + + To my Daughter (E. W. Gosse), 147. + + Translations into English, 338. + + Transmigration (H. H. Boyesen), 170. + + Transmigration of Souls (Béranger), 173. + + Transmigration through animals, 77, 87, 273–285. + + Tredwell, D. N., 338. + + Trench, R. C., 257. + + Trinius, J. A., 330. + + Trismegist, 80. + + Triple form of teaching by the priesthood, 280, 282. + + Trowbridge, J. T., 141. + + Tulloch, John, 336. + + Tupper, 154. + + Twesten, C., 332. + + Twilight (J. R. Lowell), 142. + + Two Voices (Tennyson), 151. + + Tyler, E. B., 338. + + + Ungern-Sternberg, C. F., 331. + + Upham, E., 337. + + + Valentinians, 72. + + Valentinus, 228. + + Vane, Sir Harry, 7. + + Vangerow, W. G., 330. + + Vaughan, Henry, 189. + + Virgil, 5, 81, 168. + + Voltaire, 328. + + + Waddington, ii. + + Warren, E., 335. + + Wasseljew, W., 330. + + Ways of the Spirit (F. H. Hedge), 120. + + Weber, 332. + + Webster, D., 300. + + Wedekind, G., 331. + + Welsh Triads, 6, 169, 275. + + Wendel, Z. A., 330. + + Wernsdorf, G., 330. + + Western writers upon Reincarnation: + prose, 65–123 and Appendix; + poetical, 127–191. + + What is Reincarnation?, 11. + + Wheeler, J. T., 336. + + Whitman, Walt, 143, 144, 308, 328. + + Whittier, J. G., ii, 130. + + Wigan’s (Dr.) Duality of the Mind, 44. + + Wilkinson, Sir J. G., 282, 336. + + Willis, N. P., 41, 141, 341. + + Wilson, H. H., 337, 338. + + Wordsworth, W., 146, 328. + + World as Will and Idea, The, 67. + + + Young, Thomas, 16. + + + Zohar, the, 212. + + Zoroaster, 80, 194, 199, 247, 274. + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + See the publications of the Society of Psychical Research of London + and Boston and New York. + +Footnote 2: + + Dryden’s Translation. + +Footnote 3: + + We purposely use the term _Personal_ in preference to spiritual, for + the word should be rescued from its confusion of meanings to the old + classical one, in connection with the soul. As Hermann Lotze + beautifully unfolds, “Personality is the key to existence,” using + the word in its first sense from _persona_, a mask, parallel to the + Hebrew analogy which calls man the image of Jehovah. Mulford also + presents the thought grandly in _The Republic of God_ and _The + Nation_, drawing his suggestion from the Germans Stahl and + Froschammer. In this sense humanity is the shadow of Deity, the veil + through which the Absolute tries to reveal Himself, casting about in + the multiplicity of natural forms after an expression through + physical means of His own nature. In this sublime conception God is + the life of the universe, who, in Schelling’s phrase, “sleeps in the + stone, breathes in the plant, moves in the animal, and wakes up to + consciousness in man.” It is this thought which makes Novalis so + reverent to a human being as a Microdeus, and elevates the dignity + of the soul above all else. For as the purpose of nature is to + personify the Invisible, human souls are the Persons (or masks) by + which the leading parts are here acted with many changes of scenery. + +Footnote 4: + + This idea is grandly stated in Isaac Taylor’s _Physical Theory of a + Future Life_. In demonstrating the assurance that the future + existence is in material bodies, and showing the glorious extensions + to which the coming bodily powers will probably be developed, the + author approaches strangely near the philosophy of reincarnation. + +Footnote 5: + + H. T. Buckle, _History of Civilization_, vol. i. p. 166. + +Footnote 6: + + See pages 233 _et seq._ + +Footnote 7: + + See page 66. + +Footnote 8: + + See page 72. + +Footnote 9: + + See page 67. + +Footnote 10: + + Kant’s distinction between the Intelligible character and the + Empirical or acquired character, which is a metaphysical form of the + reincarnation view concerning the eternal Individuality and the + temporal Personality, is shown by Professor Bowen on pp. 102 _et + seq._ + +Footnote 11: + + Lockhart’s _Life of Scott_ (first edition, vol. vii. p. 114). + +Footnote 12: + + As a physiological explanation of these instances, Dr. Wigan + published in 1844 a curious book entitled, “The Duality of the Mind” + (London), which excited animated discussions and called forth a + number of circumstances which the double structure of the brain + could not explain. + +Footnote 13: + + Professor William Knight, in the _Fortnightly Review_, 1878. See p. + 95. + +Footnote 14: + + Leibnitz first directed attention to these singular phenomena. Sir + William Hamilton has collected a number of instances of such + wonderful revival of memory. Carpenter’s _Mental Physiology_, pp. + 430 et seq., and Brodie’s _Psychological Inquiries_, Second Series, + p. 55, mention several cases. Coleridge cited from the German a + remarkable illustration, and commented upon it in his _Biographia + Literaria_, chapter vi.:— + + “This fact (and it would not be difficult to adduce several of the + same kind) contributes to make it even probable that all thoughts + are in themselves imperishable; and that, if the intelligent faculty + should be rendered more comprehensive, it would require only a + different and apportioned organization, _the body celestial_ instead + of _the body terrestrial_, to bring before every human soul the + collective experience of its whole past existence. And this—this, + perchance, is the dread Book of Judgment, in whose mysterious + hieroglyphics every idle word is recorded! Yea, in the very nature + of a living spirit, it may be more possible that heaven and earth + should pass away than that a single act, a single thought, should be + loosened or lost from that living chain of causes to all whose + links, conscious or unconscious, the free will, our only absolute + Self, is co-extensive and co-present.” + +Footnote 15: + + A noble passage from one of the greatest of these may be found in + Scott’s _Christian Life_, chapter iii. section i. See also Dr. Henry + More’s _Immortality of the Soul_, Book II. chapter xvi., and Sir + Kenelm Digby’s remarks on Sir Thomas Browne’s _Religio Medici_. + +Footnote 16: + + A full list of the principal western writers on this subject is + given in the Appendix. + +Footnote 17: + + Haldane and Kemp’s Translation, vol. iii. pp. 299–306. + +Footnote 18: + + Translated in section 2 of this chapter. + +Footnote 19: + + _Religio Medici_, section vi. Professor Francis Bowen inclines to + this same view. See page 108 _et seq._ + +Footnote 20: + + Gospel of John ix. 2. + +Footnote 21: + + Romans v. 12. + +Footnote 22: + + Ibid. v. 19. + +Footnote 23: + + See Scoones’s _English Letters_, p. 361. + +Footnote 24: + + Other extracts from Bulwer appear on page 37. + +Footnote 25: + + Paris, 1865, third edition, p. 405. + +Footnote 26: + + Other quotations from Emerson are on pages 23, 277. + +Footnote 27: + + _Jowett’s translation_, Am. ed. vol. i. p. 416. + +Footnote 28: + + See Matthew Arnold’s poem upon his father, Dr. Arnold, page 168. + +Footnote 29: + + See Dowden’s _Life of Shelley_, from which a suggestive incident is + quoted above, on page 93. + +Footnote 30: + + It will be noticed later that Plato reduced this term to one + thousand years. + +Footnote 31: + + Egyptologists disagree as to the real intent of embalming. We select + the explanations best adapted to the theological doctrines of the + Egyptians. + +Footnote 32: + + See the article on “Pre-existence,” in the _Penn Monthly_, + September, 1877. + +Footnote 33: + + From Jowett’s translation. + +Footnote 34: + + Proverbs viii. 22–31. + +Footnote 35: + + Jeremiah i. 5. + +Footnote 36: + + John ix. 34. + +Footnote 37: + + John ix. 2. + +Footnote 38: + + John v. 14. + +Footnote 39: + + Matt. xi. 14; also, Matt. xvii. 12, 13. See Professor Bowen’s + remarks upon these texts, page 115. + +Footnote 40: + + John vi. 38. + +Footnote 41: + + John iii. 13. + +Footnote 42: + + The close parallelism between Buddhism and Platonism peculiarly + facilitated this. + +Footnote 43: + + Matt. xxiv. 21. + +Footnote 44: + + Ephesians i. 4. + +Footnote 45: + + See page 273. + +Footnote 46: + + Beside these recent English books the Appendix gives many older + ones. + +Footnote 47: + + In the explicit phrasing from which this section is derived, there + are mentioned _seven_ planets, through each of which the soul makes + _seven_ rounds, each round including _seven_ races, and each race + _seven_ sub-races, and these again containing _seven_ branches, + multiplying the whole number of lives into a compound of seven. + Everywhere the sacred number appears, but contrary to the strict + interpretation of many students of oriental thought, we are certain + that these figures are only symbols. Just as the spectrum might be + split into only three essential components, or into a much larger + number than seven, so the dissection of these courses of the soul + into any one number seems to be an arbitrary mathematical + representation of the fact that each division must include such + components as will fit together in one indissoluble entirety. + +Footnote 48: + + This corresponds to the Hindu triple existence mentioned in the Laws + of Manu: “Souls endued with goodness attain always the state of + deities; those filled with ambitious passions, the condition of men; + and those immersed in darkness, the nature of beasts. This is the + threefold order of transmigration.” + +Footnote 49: + + From Addison’s _Spectator_. + +Footnote 50: + + Dr. William King, in the _Dreamer_, a series of satirical dreams, + which humorously illustrate the alleged doctrine of Pythagoras and + Plato, as well as the abuses of religion, etc. + +Footnote 51: + + From Dacier’s _Life of Pythagoras, with his Symbols and Golden + Verses, together with the Life of Hierocles, and his Commentaries + upon the Verses_, p. 335. London, 1721. + +Footnote 52: + + See the psychometric investigations recorded in Professor Denton’s + book _The Soul of Things_. + +Footnote 53: + + Stewart and Tait, in _The Unseen Universe_. + +Footnote 54: + + See _The Gates Between_, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. + +Footnote 55: + + Perfect Justice. + +Footnote 56: + + From Lucy Larcom. + +Footnote 57: + + From A. E. Lancaster. + +Footnote 58: + + Professor William Knight. + +Footnote 59: + + An adept of India. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + =Standard and Popular Library Books= + + SELECTED FROM THE CATALOGUE OF + + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. + + =A Club of One.= An Anonymous Volume, 16mo, $1.25. + + =Brooks Adams.= The Emancipation of Massachusetts, crown 8vo, $1.50. + + =John Adams and Abigail Adams.= Familiar Letters of, during the + Revolution, 12mo, $2.00. + + =Oscar Fay Adams.= Handbook of English Authors, 16mo, 75 cents; + Handbook of American Authors, 16mo, 75 cents. + + =Louis Agassiz.= Methods of Study in Natural History, Illustrated, + 12mo, $1.50; Geological Sketches, Series I. and II., 12mo, each, + $1.50; A Journey in Brazil, Illustrated, 12mo, $2.50; Life and + Letters, edited by his wife, 2 vols. 12mo, $4.00; Life and Works, + 6 vols. $10.00. + + =Alexander Agassiz.= Three Cruises of the Blake. 2 vols, 8vo. + + =Anne A. 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Fields.= Yesterdays with Authors, 12mo, $2.00; 8vo, Illustrated, +$3.00; Underbrush, 18mo, $1.25; Ballads and other Verses, 16mo, $1.00; +The Family Library of British Poetry, royal 8vo, $5.00; Memoirs and +Correspondence, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=John Fiske.= Myths and Mythmakers, 12mo, $2.00; Outlines of Cosmic +Philosophy, 2 vols. 8vo, $6.00; The Unseen World, and other Essays, +12mo, $2.00; Excursions of an Evolutionist, 12mo, $2.00; The Destiny of +Man, 16mo, $1.00; The Idea of God, 16mo, $1.00; Darwinism, and Other +Essays, New Edition, enlarged, 12mo, $2.00. + +=Edward Fitzgerald.= Works. 2 vols. 8vo, $10.00. + +=O. B. Frothingham.= Life of W. H. Channing. Cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=William H. Furness.= Verses, 16mo, vellum, $1.25. + +=Gentleman’s Magazine Library.= 14 vols. 8vo, each $2.50; Roxburgh, $3.50; +_Large-Paper Edition_, $6.00. I. Manners and Customs. II. Dialect, +Proverbs, and Word-Lore. III. Popular Superstitions and Traditions. IV. +English Traditions and Foreign Customs. V., VI. Archaeology. VII. +Romano-British Remains: Part I. (_Last two styles sold only in sets._) + +=John F. Genung.= Tennyson’s In Memoriam, cr. 8vo, $1.25. + +=Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.= Faust, Part First, Translated by C. T. +Brooks, 16mo, $1.25; Faust, Translated by Bayard Taylor, cr. 8vo, $2.50; +2 vols, royal 8vo, $9.00; 2 vols. 12mo, $4.00; Correspondence with a +Child, 12mo, $1.50; Wilhelm Meister, Translated by Carlyle, 2 vols. +12mo, $3.00. Life, by Lewes, together with the above five 12mo vols., +the set, $9.00. + +=Oliver Goldsmith.= The Vicar of Wakefield, 32mo, $1.00. + +=Charles George Gordon.= Diaries and Letters, 8vo, $2.00. + +=George H. Gordon.= Brook Farm to Cedar Mountain, 1861–2. 8vo, $3.00. +Campaign of Army of Virginia, 1862. 8vo, $4.00. A War Diary, 1863–5. +8vo, $3.00. + +=George Zabriskie Gray.= The Children’s Crusade, 12mo, $1.50; Husband and +Wife, 16mo, $1.00. + +=F. W. Gunsaulus.= The Transfiguration of Christ. 16mo, $1.25. + +=Anna Davis Hallowell.= James and Lucretia Mott, $2.00. + +=R. P. Hallowell.= Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts, revised, $1.25. The +Pioneer Quakers, 16mo, $1.00. + +=Arthur Sherburne Hardy.= But Yet a Woman, 16mo, $1.25; The Wind of +Destiny, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Bret Harte.= Works, 6 vols. cr. 8vo, each $2.00; Poems, _Household +Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; cr. 8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Red-Line +Edition_, small 4to, $2.50; _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; In the Carquinez +Woods, 18mo, $1.00; Flip, and Found at Blazing Star, 18mo, $1.00; On the +Frontier, 18mo, $1.00; By Shore and Sedge, 18mo, $1.00; Maruja, 18mo, +$1.00; Snow-Bound at Eagle’s, 18mo, $1.00; The Queen of the Pirate Isle, +Illustrated, small 4to, $1.50; A Millionaire, etc., 18mo, $1.00; The +Crusade of the Excelsior, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Nathaniel Hawthorne.= Works, _“Little Classic” Edition_, Illustrated, 25 +vols. 18mo, each $1.00; the set $25.00; _New Riverside Edition_, +Introductions by G. P. Lathrop, 11 Etchings and Portrait, 12 vols. cr. +8vo, each $2.00; _Wayside Edition_, with Introductions, Etchings, etc., +24 vols. 12mo, $36.00; _Fireside Edition_, 6 vols. 12mo, $10.00; The +Scarlet Letter, 12mo, $1.00. + +=John Hay.= Pike County Ballads, 12mo, $1.50; Castilian Days, 16mo, $2.00. + +=Caroline Hazard.= Memoir of J. L. Diman. Cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=Franklin H. Head.= Shakespeare’s Insomnia. 16mo, parchment paper, 75 +cents. + +=The Heart of the Weed.= Anonymous Poems. 16mo, $1.00. + +=S. E. Herrick.= Some Heretics of Yesterday. Cr. 8vo, $1.50. + +=S. J. Higginson.= A Princess of Java. 12mo, $1.50. + +=George S. Hillard.= Six Months in Italy. 12mo, $2.00. + +=Oliver Wendell Holmes.= Poems, _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, +$1.75; cr. 8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Illustrated Library Edition_, 8vo, +$3.50; _Handy-Volume Edition_, 2 vols. 32mo, $2.50; The Autocrat of the +Breakfast-Table, cr. 8vo, $2.00; _Handy-Volume Edition_, 32mo, $1.25; +The Professor at the Breakfast-Table, cr. 8vo, $2.00; The Poet at the +Breakfast-Table, cr. 8vo, $2.00; Elsie Venner, cr. 8vo, $2.00; The +Guardian Angel, cr. 8vo, $2.00; Medical Essays, cr. 8vo, $2.00; Pages +from an Old Volume of Life, cr. 8vo, $2.00; John Lothrop Motley, A +Memoir, 16mo, $1.50; Illustrated Poems, 8vo, $4.00; A Mortal Antipathy, +cr. 8vo, $1.50; The Last Leaf, Illustrated, 4to, $10.00; Our Hundred +Days in Europe, cr. 8vo, $1.50. + +=Nathaniel Holmes.= The Authorship of Shakespeare. New Edition. 2 vols. +$4.00. + +=Blanche Willis Howard.= One Summer, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.25; One Year +Abroad, 18mo, $1.25. + +=William D. Howells.= Venetian Life, 12mo, $1.50; Italian Journeys, 12mo, +$1.50; Their Wedding Journey, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.50; 18mo, $1.25; +Suburban Sketches, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.50; A Chance Acquaintance, +Illustrated, 12mo, $1.50; 18mo, $1.25; A Foregone Conclusion, 12mo, +$1.50; The Lady of the Aroostook, 12mo, $1.50; The Undiscovered Country, +12mo, $1.50. + +=Thomas Hughes.= Tom Brown’s School-Days at Rugby, 16mo, $1.00; Tom Brown +at Oxford, 16mo, $1.25; The Manliness of Christ, 16mo, $1.00; paper, 25 +cents. + +=William Morris Hunt.= Talks on Art, 2 Series, each $1.00. + +=A. Parlett Lloyd.= The Law of Divorce, cloth, $2.00; sheep, $2.50. + +=Henry James.= A Passionate Pilgrim and other Tales, 12mo, $2.00; +Transatlantic Sketches, 12mo, $2.00; Roderick Hudson, 12mo, $2.00; The +American, 12mo, $2.00; Watch and Ward, 18mo, $1.25; The Europeans, 12mo, +$1.50; Confidence, 12mo, $1.50; The Portrait of a Lady, 12mo, $2.00. + +=Anna Jameson.= Writings upon Art Subjects. New Edition, 10 vols. 16mo, +the set, $12.50. + +=Sarah Orne Jewett.= Deephaven, 18mo, $1.25; Old Friends and New, 18mo, +$1.25; Country By-Ways, 18mo, $1.25; Play-Days, Stories for Children, +square 16mo, $1.50; The Mate of the Daylight, 18mo, $1.25; A Country +Doctor, 16mo, $1.25; A Marsh Island, 16mo, $1.25; A White Heron, 18mo, +$1.25. + +=Rossiter Johnson.= Little Classics, 18 vols. 18mo, each $1.00; the set, +$18.00. + +=Samuel Johnson.= Oriental Religions: India, 8vo, $5.00; China, 8vo, +$5.00; Persia, 8vo, $5.00; Lectures, Essays, and Sermons, cr. 8vo, +$1.75. + +=Charles C. Jones, Jr.= History of Georgia, 2 vols. 8vo, $10.00. + +=Malcolm Kerr.= The Far Interior. 2 vols. 8vo, $9.00. + +=Omar Khayyam.= Rubáiyát, _Red-Line Edition_, square 16mo, $1.00; the +same, with 56 Illustrations by Vedder, folio, $25.00; The Same, +_Phototype Edition_. 4to, $12.50. + +=T. Starr King.= Christianity and Humanity, with Portrait, 12mo, $1.50; +Substance and Show, 12mo, $1.50. + +=Charles and Mary Lamb.= Tales from Shakespeare. _Handy-Volume Edition_, +32mo, $1.00. + +=Henry Lansdell.= Russian Central Asia. 2 vols. $10.00. + +=Lucy Larcom.= Poems, 16mo, $1.25; An Idyl of Work, 16mo, $1.25; Wild +Roses of Cape Ann and other Poems, 16mo, $1.25; Breathings of the Better +Life, 18mo, $1.25; Poems, _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; +full gilt, $2.25; Beckonings for Every Day, 16mo, $1.00. + +=George Parsons Lathrop.= A Study of Hawthorne, 18mo, $1.25. + +=Henry C. Lea.= Sacerdotal Celibacy, 8vo, $4.50. + +=Sophia and Harriet Lee.= Canterbury Tales. New Edition. 3 vols. 12mo, +$3.75. + +=Charles G. Leland.= The Gypsies, cr. 8vo, $2.00; Algonquin Legends of New +England, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=George Henry Lewes.= The Story of Goethe’s Life, Portrait, 12mo, $1.50; +Problems of Life and Mind, 5 vols. 8vo, $14.00. + +=J. G. Lockhart.= Life of Sir W. Scott, 3 vols. 12mo, $4.50. + +=Henry Cabot Lodge.= Studies in History, cr. 8vo, $1.50. + +=Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.= Complete Poetical and Prose Works, +_Riverside Edition_, 11 vols. cr. 8vo, $16.50; Poetical Works, +_Riverside Edition_, 6 vols. cr. 8vo, $9.00; _Cambridge Edition_, 4 +vols. 12mo, $7.00; Poems, _Octavo Edition_, Portrait and 300 +Illustrations, $7.50; _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; cr. +8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Red-Line Edition_, Portrait and 12 +Illustrations, small 4to, $2.50; _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; _Library +Edition_, Portrait and 32 Illustrations, 8vo, $3.50; Christus, +_Household Edition_, $1.75; cr. 8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Cabinet +Edition_, $1.00; Prose Works, _Riverside Edition_, 2 vols. cr. 8vo, +$3.00; Hyperion, 16mo, $1.50; Kavanagh, 16mo, $1.50; Outre-Mer, 16mo, +$1.50; In the Harbor, 16mo, $1.00; Michael Angelo: a Drama, Illustrated, +folio, $5.00; Twenty Poems, Illustrated, small 4to, $2.50; Translation +of the Divina Commedia of Dante, _Riverside Edition_, 3 vols. cr. 8vo, +$4.50; I vol. cr. 8vo, $2.50; 3 vols, royal 8vo, $13.50; cr. 8vo, $4.50; +Poets and Poetry of Europe, royal 8vo, $5.00; Poems of Places, 31 vols, +each $1.00; the set, $25.00. + +=James Russell Lowell.= Poems, _Red-Line Edition_, Portrait, Illustrated, +small 4to, $2.50; _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; cr. +8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Library Edition_, Portrait and 32 Illustrations, +8vo, $3.50; _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; Fireside Travels, 12mo, $1.50; +Among my Books, Series I. and II., 12mo, each $2.00; My Study Windows, +12mo, $2.00; Democracy and other Addresses, 16mo, $1.25; Uncollected +Poems. + +=Thomas Babington Macaulay.= Works, 16 vols. 12mo, $20.00. + +=Mrs. Madison.= Memoirs and Letters of Dolly Madison, 16mo. $1.25. + +=Clements R. Markham.= The Fighting Veres. + +=Harriet Martineau.= Autobiography, New Edition, 2 vols. 12mo, $4.00; +Household Education, 18mo, $1.25. + +=H. B. McClellan.= The Life and Campaigns of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart. +With Portrait and Maps, 8vo, $3.00. + +=G. W. Melville.= In the Lena Delta, Maps and Illustrations, 8vo, $2.50. + +=T. C. Mendenhall.= A Century of Electricity. 16mo, $1.25. + +=Owen Meredith.= Poems, _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; cr. +8vo, full gilt, $2.25; _Library Edition_, Portrait and 32 Illustrations, +8vo, $3.50; Lucile, _Red-Line Edition_, 8 Illustrations, small 4to, +$2.50; _Cabinet Edition_, 8 Illustrations, $1.00. + +=Olive Thorne Miller.= Bird-Ways, 16mo, $1.25. + +=John Milton.= Paradise Lost. _Handy-Volume Edition_, 32mo, $1.00. +_Riverside Classic Edition_, 16mo, Illustrated, $1.00. + +=F. A. Mitchel.= Ormsby Macknight Mitchel, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=S. Weir Mitchell.= In War Time, 16mo, $1.25; Roland Blake, 16mo, $1.25; A +Masque and other Poems. + +=J. W. Mollett.= Illustrated Dictionary of Words used in Art and +Archæology, small 4to, $5.00. + +=Montaigne.= Complete Works, Portrait, 4 vols. 12mo, $7.50. + +=William Mountford.= Euthanasy, 12mo, $2.00. + +=T. Mozley.= Reminiscences of Oriel College, etc., 2 vols. 16mo, $3.00. + +=Elisha Mulford.= The Nation, 8vo, $2.50; The Republic of God, 8vo, $2.00. + +=T. T. Munger.= On the Threshold, 16mo, $1.00; The Freedom of Faith, 16mo, +$1.50; Lamps and Paths, 16mo, $1.00; The Appeal to Life, 16mo, $1.50. + +=J. A. W. Neander.= History of the Christian Religion and Church, with +Index volume, 6 vols. 8vo, $20.00; Index, $3.00. + +=Joseph Neilson.= Memories of Rufus Choate, 8vo, $5.00. + +=Charles Eliot Norton.= Notes of Travel in Italy, 16mo, $1.25; Translation +of Dante’s New Life, royal 8vo, $3.00. + +=Wm. D. O’Connor.= Hamlet’s Note-Book, 16mo, $1.00. + +=G. H. Palmer.= Trans. of Homer’s Odyssey, 1–12, 8vo, $2.50. + +=Leighton Parks.= His Star in the East. Cr. 8vo. $1.50. + +=James Parton.= Life of Benjamin Franklin, 2 vols. 8vo, $5.00; Life of +Thomas Jefferson, 8vo, $2.50; Life of Aaron Burr, 2 vols. 8vo, $5.00; +Life of Andrew Jackson, 3 vols. 8vo, $7.50; Life of Horace Greeley, 8vo, +$2.50; General Butler in New Orleans, 8vo, $2.50; Humorous Poetry of the +English Language, 12mo, $1.75; full gilt, $2.25; Famous Americans of +Recent Times, 8vo, $2.50; Life of Voltaire, 2 vols. 8vo, $6.00; The +French Parnassus, 12mo, $1.75; crown 8vo, $3.50; Captains of Industry, +16mo, $1.25. + +=Blaise Pascal.= Thoughts, 12mo, $2.25; Letters, 12mo, $2.25. + +=Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.= The Gates Ajar, 16mo, $1.50; Beyond the Gates, +16mo, $1.25; Men, Women, and Ghosts, 16mo, $1.50; Hedged In, 16mo, +$1.50; The Silent Partner, 16mo, $1.50; The Story of Avis, 16mo, $1.50; +Sealed Orders, and other Stories, 16mo, $1.50; Friends: A Duet, 16mo, +$1.25; Doctor Zay, 16mo, $1.25; Songs of the Silent World, 16mo, gilt +top, $1.25; An Old Maid’s Paradise, and Burglars in Paradise, 16mo, +$1.25; Madonna of the Tubs, cr. 8vo, Illustrated, $1.50; Jack the +Fisherman, sq. 12mo, 50 cents; The Gates Between, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Phillips Exeter Lectures=: Delivered before the Students of Phillips +Exeter Academy, 1885–6. By E. E. HALE, PHILLIPS BROOKS, Presidents +MCCOSH, PORTER, and others. 12mo, $1.50. + +=Mrs. S. M. B. Piatt.= Selected Poems, 16mo, $1.50. + +=Carl Ploetz.= Epitome of Universal History, 12mo, $3.00. + +=Antonin Lefevre Pontalis.= The Life of John DeWitt, Grand Pensionary of +Holland, 2 vols. 8vo, $9.00. + +=Margaret J. Preston.= Colonial Ballads, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Adelaide A. Procter.= Poems, _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; _Red-Line +Edition_, small 4to, $2.50. + +=Progressive Orthodoxy.= 16mo, $1.00. + +=Sampson Reed.= Growth of the Mind, 16mo, $1.00. + +=C. F. Richardson.= Primer of American Literature, 18mo, $.30. + +=Riverside Aldine Series.= Each volume, 16mo, $1.00. First edition, $ +1.50. 1. Marjorie Daw, etc., by T. B. ALDRICH; 2. My Summer in a Garden, +by C. D. WARNER; 3. Fireside Travels, by J. R. LOWELL; 4. The Luck of +Roaring Camp, etc., by BRET HARTE; 5, 6. Venetian Life, 2 vols., by W. +D. HOWELLS; 7. Wake Robin, by JOHN BURROUGHS; 8, 9. The Biglow Papers, 2 +vols., by J. R. LOWELL; 10. Backlog Studies, by C. D. WARNER. + +=Henry Crabb Robinson.= Diary, Reminiscences, etc. cr. 8vo, $2.50. + +=John C. Ropes.= The First Napoleon, with Maps, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=Josiah Royce.= Religious Aspect of Philosophy, 12mo, $2.00; Feud of +Oakfield Creek, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Edgar Evertson Saltus.= Balzac, cr. 8vo, $1.25; The Philosophy of +Disenchantment, cr. 8vo, $1.25. + +=John Godfrey Saxe.= Poems, _Red-Line Edition_, Illustrated, small 4to, +$2.50; _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, +$1.75; full gilt, cr. 8vo, $2.25. + +=Sir Walter Scott.= Waverley Novels, _Illustrated Library Edition_, 25 +vols. 12mo, each $1.00; the set, $25.00; Tales of a Grandfather, 3 vols. +12mo, $4.50; Poems, _Red-Line Edition_, Illustrated, small 4to, $2.50; +_Cabinet Edition_, $1.00. + +=W. H. Seward.= Works, 5 vols. 8vo, $15.00; Diplomatic History of the +Civil War, 8vo, $3.00. + +=John Campbell Shairp.= Culture and Religion, 16mo, $1.25; Poetic +Interpretation of Nature, 16mo, $1.25; Studies in Poetry and Philosophy, +16mo, $1.50; Aspects of Poetry, 16mo, $1.50. + +=William Shakespeare.= Works, edited by R. G. White, _Riverside Edition_, +3 vols. cr. 8vo, $7.50; The Same, 6 vols., cr. 8vo, $10.00; The +Blackfriar Shakespeare, per vol. $2.50, _net_. (_In Press._) + +=A. P. Sinnett.= Esoteric Buddhism, 16mo, $1.25; The Occult World, 16mo, +$1.25. + +=M. C. D. Silsbee.= A Half Century in Salem. 16mo, $1.00. + +=Dr. William Smith.= Bible Dictionary, _American Edition_, 4 vols. 8vo, +$20.00. + +=Edmund Clarence Stedman.= Poems, _Farringford Edition_, Portrait, 16mo, +$2.00; _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; full gilt, cr. +8vo, $2.25; Victorian Poets, 12mo, $2.25; Poets of America, 12mo, $2.25. +The set, 3 vols., uniform, 12mo, $6.00; Edgar Allan Poe, an Essay, +vellum, 18mo, $1.00. + +=W. J. Stillman.= On the Track of Ulysses, royal 8vo, $4.00. + +=W. W. Story.= Poems, 2 vols. 16mo, $2.50; Fiammetta: A Novel, 16mo, +$1.25. Roba di Roma, 2 vols. 16mo, $2.50. + +=Harriet Beecher Stowe.= Novels and Stories, 10 vols. 12mo, uniform, each +$1.50; A Dog’s Mission, Little Pussy Willow, Queer Little People, +Illustrated, small 4to, each $1.25; Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 100 +Illustrations, 8vo, $3.00; _Library Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $2.00; +_Popular Edition_, 12mo, $1.00. + +=Jonathan Swift.= Works, _Edition de Luxe_, 19 vols. 8vo, the set, $76.00. + +=T. P. Taswell-Langmead.= English Constitutional History. New Edition, +revised, 8vo, $7.50. + +=Bayard Taylor.= Poetical Works, _Household Edition_, 12mo, $1.75; cr. +8vo, full gilt, $2.25; Melodies of Verse, 18mo, vellum, $1.00; Life and +Letters, 2 vols. 12mo, $4.00; Dramatic Poems, 12mo, $2.25; _Household +Edition_, 12mo, $1.75; Life and Poetical Works, 6 vols. uniform. +Including Life, 2 vols.; Faust, 2 vols.; Poems, 1 vol.; Dramatic Poems, +1 vol. The set, cr. 8vo, $12.00. + +=Alfred Tennyson.= Poems, _Household Edition_, Portrait and Illustrations, +12mo, $1.75; full gilt, cr. 8vo, $2.25; _Illustrated Crown Edition_, 2 +vols. 8vo, $5.00; _Library Edition_, Portrait and 60 Illustrations, 8vo, +$3.50; _Red-Line Edition_, Portrait and Illustrations, small 4to, $2.50; +_Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; Complete Works, _Riverside Edition_, 6 vols. +cr. 8vo, $6.00. + +=Celia Thaxter.= Among the Isles of Shoals, 18mo, $1.25; Poems, small 4to, +$1.50; Drift-Weed, 18mo, $1.50; Poems for Children, Illustrated, small +4to, $1.50; Cruise of the Mystery, Poems, 16mo, $1.00. + +=Edith M. Thomas.= A New Year’s Masque and other Poems, 16mo, $1.50; The +Round Year, 16mo, $1.25; Lyrics and Sonnets, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Joseph P. Thompson.= American Comments on European Questions, 8vo, $3.00. + +=Henry D. Thoreau.= Works, 10 vols. 12mo, each $1.50; the set, $15.00. + +=George Ticknor.= History of Spanish Literature, 3 vols. 8vo, $10.00; +Life, Letters, and Journals, Portraits, 2 vols. 12mo, $4.00. + +=Bradford Torrey.= Birds in the Bush, 16mo, $1.25. + +=Sophus Tromholt.= Under the Rays of the Aurora Borealis, Illustrated, 2 +vols. $7.50. + +=Herbert Tuttle.= History of Prussia. Vol. I. To the Accession of +Frederick the Great. Vols. II. and III. During the Reign of Frederick +the Great. Cr. 8vo, per vol. $2.25. + +=Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer.= H. H. Richardson and his Works. + +=Jones Very.= Essays and Poems, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=Annie Wall.= Sordello’s Story, retold in Prose, 16mo, $1.00. + +=Charles Dudley Warner.= My Summer in a Garden, _Riverside Aldine +Edition_, 16mo, $1.00; _Illustrated Edition_, square 16mo, $1.50; +Saunterings, 18mo, $1.25; Backlog Studies, Illustrated, square 16mo, +$1.50; _Riverside Aldine Edition_, 16mo, $1.00; Baddeck, and that Sort +of Thing, 18mo, $1.00; My Winter on the Nile, cr. 8vo, $2.00; In the +Levant, cr. 8vo, $2.00; Being a Boy, Illustrated, square 16mo, $1.50; In +the Wilderness, 18mo, 75 cents; A Roundabout Journey, 12mo, $1.50. + +=William F. Warren, LL. D.= Paradise Found, cr. 8vo, $2.00. + +=William A. Wheeler.= Dictionary of Noted Names of Fiction, 12mo, $2.00. + +=Edwin P. Whipple.= Essays, 6 vols. cr. 8vo, each $1.50. + +=Richard Grant White.= Every-Day English, 12mo, $2.00; Words and their +Uses, 12mo, $2.00; England Without and Within, 12mo, $2.00; The Fate of +Mansfield Humphreys, 16mo, $1.25; Studies in Shakespeare, 12mo, $1.75. + +=Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney.= Stories, 12 vols. 12mo, each $1.50; Mother Goose +for Grown Folks, 12mo, $1.50; Pansies, 16mo, $1.25; Daffodils, 16mo, +$1.25; Just How, 16mo, $1.00; Bonnyborough, 12mo, $1.50; Holy Tides, +16mo, 75 cents; Homespun Yarns, 12mo, $1.50.; Bird-Talk, sq. 12mo, +$1.00. + +=John Greenleaf Whittier.= Poems, _Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, +$1.75; full gilt, cr. 8vo, $2.25; _Cambridge Edition_, Portrait, 3 vols. +12mo, $5.25; _Red-Line Edition_, Portrait, Illustrated, small 4to, +$2.50; _Cabinet Edition_, $1.00; _Library Edition_, Portrait, 32 +Illustrations, 8vo, $3.50; Prose Works, _Cambridge Edition_, 2 vols. +12mo, $3.50; The Bay of Seven Islands, Portrait, 16mo, $1.00; John +Woolman’s Journal, Introduction by Whittier, $1.50; Child Life in +Poetry, selected by Whittier, Illustrated, 12mo, $2.00; Child Life in +Prose, 12mo, $2.00; Songs of Three Centuries, selected by Whittier: +_Household Edition_, Illustrated, 12mo, $1.75; full gilt, cr. 8vo, +$2.25; _Library Edition_, 32 Illustrations, 8vo, $3.50; Text and Verse, +18mo, 75 cents; Poems of Nature, 4to, Illustrated, $6.00; St. Gregory’s +Guest, etc., 16mo, vellum, $1.00. + +=Woodrow Wilson.= Congressional Government, 16mo, $1.25. + +=J. A. Wilstach.= Translation of Virgil’s Works, 2 vols. cr. 8vo, $5.00. + +=Justin Winsor.= Reader’s Handbook of American Revolution, 16mo, $1.25. + +=W. B. Wright.= Ancient Cities from the Dawn to the Day light, 16mo, +$1.25; The World to Come, 16mo, $1.25. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● Enclosed bold or blackletter font in =equals=. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77318 *** |