v^"^*^^ 
 
 Self Unfoldment 
 
 CLASS LESSONS 
 
 /. How to Obtain Poise and Power 
 
 II. How to Develop One's Own Mediumship 
 
 III. How to Send Thought Messages 
 
 IV. How to Manage the Sub-Conscious Mind 
 
 V. How to Heal Ourselves and Others 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 VI. The Common Origin of Religions 
 
 VII. Spiritualism and the Poets 
 
 VIII. New Thought, Christian Science and Spiritualism 
 
 IX. The Practical Value of a Good Memory 
 
 B. F. AUSTIN, A. M., D. D. 
 
 The Austin Publishing Company 
 Los Angeles, California 
 
GIFT OF 
 
 
SELF^UNFOLDMENT 
 
 Class Lessons and 
 Lectures 
 
 B. F /AUSTIN, A.MLD.D. 
 
 Author of "RationarMemory Training," "Glimpses of the Unseen," 
 
 "Woman: Her Character, Culture and Calling," "The 
 
 Mystery of Ashton Hall," "What Converted 
 
 Me to Spiritualism." "Christianity 
 
 and Spirituulism, Etc 
 
 THE AUSTIN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
 
Copyright October, 1917 
 By B. F. AUSTIN 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 For sixteen years the substance of the 
 following Lessons and Lectures have been 
 given to my Classes in all the leading Cities 
 from New York to San Francisco and at 
 many Camps and Chautauquas. There have 
 been so many requests for their publication 
 in book form that I send out this first 
 series of them with Greetings to my many 
 thousands of students and a fervent Prayer 
 that they may prove helpful in the work 
 of Self Unfoldment. 
 
 B. F. AUSTIN 
 
 43325 
 
HOW TO OBTAIN POISE AND POWER 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Everyone has noted the difference between a machine 
 properly balanced, accurately adjusted and well oiled and 
 frictionless in its working and one loosely fitted, poorly 
 lubricated, creaking, groaning and wearing itself out in 
 its attempted service. Some lives seem frictionless, 
 harmonious, effective ; and other people in their attempts 
 at living wear themselves out body and mind and ac- 
 complish little. Some lives are a constant song and 
 some a constant discord. Why? 
 
 What a difference between the planet rolling forward 
 majestically in its own orbit, fulfilling its divine mis- 
 sion, and singing the praises of its Maker, and the erratic 
 shooting star. How beautifully the poised bird soars 
 above our heads on extended pinions and how painful the 
 efforts of the bird with broken wing. The airship under 
 perfect control is a thing of beauty, but unbalanced, dis- 
 abled and crashing to earth it becomes a painful vision. 
 
 Pass a needle through an orange some distance from 
 the center and holding the ends of the needle cause it to 
 revolve and you get an irregular, wobbling motion. Pass 
 the needle through the center and set it revolving and 
 you have poise and grace and beauty in every revolution. 
 
 So with the poised and unpoised characters of men. 
 Multitudes have never learned how to harmonize their 
 powers. They have not come into self-realization. They 
 have not come to the greatest discovery of life the find- 
 ing of one's Self. They have not found their centre. 
 They are building in thought and labor around a false 
 centre and can never know peace, harmony, poise and 
 power until they find themselves and make their think- 
 ing and life activities revolve around their real selves. 
 
 Man must find his centre and his orbit before he conies 
 into Peace, Poise and Power. The multitude go wobbling 
 through life erratic, uncertain, undependable. The few 
 
have -found themselves and life's true mission and are 
 stsa<ty it? tlieir' orbit as the planets in their course. They 
 shine and sing and attract the admiration of men, and 
 God and His angels can always find them and depend 
 upon them. Strength and power and beauty of Char- 
 acter belong to men and women who are poised and 
 moving on in their own life orbit. 
 
 Multitudes try to build their life activities with the 
 body as a centre. Like the savage and the animal they 
 regard the body as the important thing in life and bend 
 all their labors to gratification of the senses and appe- 
 tites. This gives a form of enjoyment to their lives for 
 a time but only a lower form of gratification and a very 
 temporary one. 
 
 As soon as the intellectual nature within them awak- 
 ens it begins to cry out for something akin to itself 
 for truth, beauty and a philosophy of life, for some 
 knowledge of life's mystery and its mission, and refuses 
 to find in bodily pleasure any answer to that divine urge 
 and hunger for truth that has become awakened. The 
 more the intellectual is unfolded the less satisfactory is 
 the life that centres its desires and activities in the 
 body. And as the intelligence is predestined to enlarge 
 and assert itself more and more, the life centered in the 
 body becomes of necessity, less and less satisfactory and 
 hence the centre around which it revolves must change. 
 Passion and appetite change and the intellect from its 
 very nature cannot always be subject to the body but is 
 destined sooner or later to rule it. 
 
 Many seek to make reason and the intellectual nature 
 the centre around which their lives are to revolve. It 
 must be admitted that this is far in advance of the sen- 
 sual life a higher life and nearer to the real centre of 
 human nature, and nearer to attainment of Poise and 
 Power. And many among them some New Thought 
 teachers and writers regard the mind as the true cen- 
 tre, the real man. So we have the teaching: "the mind 
 is the man"; we have "mind healing" advocated; we 
 have a "mental science" which professes to cover all the 
 contents of the human ego. 
 
 There is a mental science and the mind can and does 
 contribute its factor in all disease and healing, and it is 
 
almost impossible to overestimate the great importance 
 of right mental conditions and of right thinking. Yet as 
 a matter of fact the intellect is not the centre of our 
 being the mind is not the man, and mental healing in 
 and of itself is not a perfect and permanent healing. The 
 mind is a faculty of the soul an organ, an instrument 
 put forth by the ego for contacting the physical realm 
 and for guidance in our relations with nature. 
 
 To make the mind synonymous with the man is a con- 
 fusion of terms. To attempt to find in Reason a perma- 
 nent centre for life's activities is to build upon an ever- 
 changing foundation. To regard Mind as the sole avenue 
 of knowledge is a philosophical blunder. 
 
 Reason with all its acquired stores of knowledge and 
 its illuminating power is, after all, only a tiny taper on 
 the great ocean of life, and its teachings are uncertain 
 and vary with every stage of intellectual growth. It pos- 
 sesses in its waking consciousness only a few of the mil- 
 lions of human experiences most of our memories be- 
 ing hidden in the sub-conscious. Its judgments and dic- 
 tates, therefore, being based on faulty logic, imperfect 
 data and misinterpreted phenomena and life experiences, 
 are at best uncertain and variable. 
 
 Hence Reason the much boasted guide of humanity 
 has never been a perfect guide but has constantly been 
 compelled to change its teachings as humanity pro- 
 gressed. The Creeds of the past are useless rubbish in 
 the museum of theological curiosities today. The Creeds 
 of today will likewise go into deserved oblivion. "Knowl- 
 edge passeth away." 
 
 Much of the knowledge of past ages is useless intel- 
 lectual lumber today. Much of the knowledge of the 
 earth life will be useless to us hereafter. So the mind, 
 reason and so-called knowledge cannot furnish us a true 
 centre for life's activities. 
 
 For first as the intellectual in nature's order is to 
 supersede the animal stage of human existence, so in 
 order the spiritual nature of man is to evolve and become 
 and remain the true centre around which life and labor 
 and character building must evolve if Peace and Poise 
 and Power are to come into human life. Yet let us not 
 for one moment unduly depreciate the mind or the great 
 
value of knowledge. Knowledge is unspeakably valuable 
 not as a permanent centre for man's activities but 
 for its stimulating effect on human Desire. Every fact 
 gained, every bit of reasoning put forth, every new ex- 
 perience in life, tends to the awakening of Desire. And 
 Desire is the wind that fills life's sails and wafts us on. 
 Blessed is the man or woman of Desire for it shall be 
 gratified. It is a certain prophecy in the human soul, 
 sure to be fulfilled. "We build our futures by the shape 
 of our desires." Hence the great value of knowledge 
 and reasoning in awakening the soul to spiritual hun- 
 ger. Spiritual hunger is the standard of progress. 
 
 It is the soul's attitude that counts not its present 
 attainments. Give me the man at the base of the moun- 
 tain whose face is turned upward toward the summit 
 and the light of day rather than the man near the 
 summit whose face is toward the valley. 
 
 Man's spiritual being, with its psychic senses, and de- 
 veloped spirituality, is his real self and true centre. 
 
 The first thing for the student to do, the fundamental 
 necessity of every life, is the finding of one's self. This 
 is the most eventful happening in one's career between 
 the cradle and the grave the finding of your real centre. 
 
 Until you have accomplished this the highest progress 
 is impossible. 
 
 HOW SHALL WE FIND OURSELVES? 
 
 Climb up in thought, desire, purpose above the dust. 
 Learn to see the distinction between the passing, the 
 phenomenal, the transitory things of the material and 
 the real, abiding things of the spirit. Set your affec- 
 tions on things above. Rise above the plane of selfish- 
 ness into the heights of altruism. Say with the Brah- 
 mans : 
 
 "It is not blessedness to know that thou thyself art blest ; 
 
 True joy was never yet by one, not yet by two possesst ; 
 
 Not to many is it given, but only to the all ; 
 
 The joy that leaves one soul unblest, would be for mine 
 too small; 
 
 And he that has this ardent hope will strive with earn- 
 est soul, 
 
 8 
 
To work out his own proper good by working for the 
 whole." 
 
 Realize the great truth that only by unselfish devo- 
 tion to the common good can you rise into the Christ 
 life. 
 
 Learn to recognize each man no matter what his 
 station or character as a brother and each woman as 
 a sister. 
 
 "Roll the stone of self away, and let the Christ 
 within thee rise." 
 
 Go into the Solitude and the Silence and get face to 
 face with your own soul. Enter into the "Secret Place 
 of the Most High" and Meditate, Pray and Resolve to 
 reach the heights. Then begin and build by thought, 
 labor and sacrifice around thy real Self, the Spiritual. 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF POISE. 
 
 To the man whose powers are harmonized and whose 
 character is poised, come all the blessings promised to 
 "him that overcometh." The man who rules and regu- 
 lates with wisdom himself and brings his life into "tune 
 with the Infinite" overcomes not only the lower nature 
 within him but becomes victor over the world. As man's 
 nature is a microcism representing the material, the 
 intellectual and the spiritual universe overcoming self 
 is in reality overcoming the world. 
 
 Conquering self he comes into a recognition of himself 
 as spirit and thus comes into the knowledge of God and 
 of his union with God and so naturally comes to recog- 
 nize all the attributes of God as existing in himself and 
 begins to sense his heirship to all Power, Wisdom, Truth, 
 Beauty and Goodness. Possessing all these attributes he 
 feels himself divinely sufficient for all life's endeavors, 
 divinely guarded and in a silent partnership with God, 
 angels and men for Righteousness and Truth. Hence 
 comes unto his nature thus purified and elevated, by 
 natural inflow, unflinching courage, unwavering faith, 
 unfaltering trust, and an invincible power. The nature 
 being harmonized God's peace abides within and ex- 
 presses itself in every act and word and in his coun- 
 
tenance. He has reached a state of Poise, and by divine 
 ordination Power accompanies Poise, he becomes mighty 
 and his life effective for good. The silent eloquence of 
 his character and the charm of its expression in life 
 appeals to all human hearts, but especially to those 
 whose good opinion is worth having. 
 
 Nothing can move him from his fixed orbit or disturb 
 more than the surface waters of his being. Like the 
 ocean rock he stands with the breaking waves dashing 
 against him into harmless spray. 
 
 As Jesus stood before Pilate giving the most elo- 
 quent example of perfect poise in human history so he 
 stands amid attack and persecution from his foes. 
 
 Falsely accused, malignantly hated, most foully slan- 
 dered, with his blessed life work apparently destroyed, 
 Jesus stood silent amidst the Babel voices of an infuri- 
 ated mob silent when Pilate in royal robe and surround- 
 ings questioned him majestically silent when most men 
 would have denied with bitter indignation the false ac- 
 cusations silent when most men would have pleaded 
 extenuation silent when he might have sought Mercy 
 poised, serene, peaceful, triumphant and silent, waiting 
 the judgment of the centuries. 
 
 So the poised man who is like Jesus also a Soldier of 
 Truth, a Warrior for Righteousness, stands unmoved 
 amidst the storms of human hate and passion, realizing 
 in himself Victory. 
 
 Every one who possesses this self-Mastery and Poise 
 wins the silent admiration of the world especially of all 
 whose minds are open to perceive truth and beauty. 
 
 Admiration is the first step toward Worship and Wor- 
 ship implies imitation either conscious or unconscious. 
 
 So men become like the Gods they worship and men 
 imitate those they have learned to admire. Silently it 
 may be, but most surely if you attain this Conquest of 
 Self, this mental and spiritual harmony, this Poise, you 
 must win the respect and compel the admiration of all 
 who have learned to value truth and beauty. And just 
 as surely your unconscious influence will become a 
 mighty wave of effective uplift for good in the lives 
 of men. 
 
 10 
 
HOW TO DEVELOP ONE'S OWN 
 MEDIUMSHIP 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 IS MEDIUMSHIP NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL? 
 
 There are not a few among our authors, teachers and 
 psychologists today who unsparingly denounce all medi- 
 umship as a perversion of nature and something in- 
 variably inimical to its possessor. They assert that it 
 weakens the will power and the personality of its sub- 
 ject, deranges the nervous system, leads to obsession 
 and subversion of the moral sense and is ever and 
 always to be avoided. 
 
 The answer to these asesrtions is found in the fact 
 that mediumship has been found among all nations, civ- 
 ilized and uncultured, that it develops often in children 
 that it comes to many who are ignorant of its laws 
 and manifestations and utterly averse to all spiritualistic 
 teaching and that from consensus of opinion among 
 students of humanity it now appears the race is grow- 
 ing sensitive, which is another name for mediumistic. 
 To charge, therefore, all these evils on Mediumship 
 seems like finding fault with nature and that Supreme 
 intelligence that manifests in Nature. 
 
 Surely there must be a legitimate function and use 
 for what is evidently an inherent part of developed hu- 
 manity. 
 
 WHY IS MEDIUMSHIP DENOUNCED? 
 
 Because its critics have judged it by its abuse and not 
 by its proper use. There is much it must be admitted 
 about that coarse and crude phase of mediumship 
 which seeks the lime-light and flaunts itself in the face 
 of an offended public, to excite both disgust and derision. 
 
 11 
 
The best mediumship does not cry aloud in the market 
 place, advertise in the public prints, make extravagant 
 promises of worldly gain, or promise miracles and prodi- 
 gies. It hides itself from public gaze it ministers in 
 the privacy and sanctity of the home circle it serves 
 oft without any reward, bringing light, joy, comfort and 
 inspiration wherever it manifests. Its mission is spir- 
 itual and divine and it is appreciated by the favored few 
 who enjoy its ministrations of helpfulness. 
 
 IS FULL CONTROL ADVISABLE? 
 
 Among those who know the truth of genuine medium- 
 ship and appreciate the blessings of it, there is a diver- 
 sion of opinion as to whether what is known as "full 
 control" that is the absolute domination by a discarnate 
 intelligence is advisable or not. Many mediums admit 
 the value of the inspiration and help given by spirit 
 guides but shrink before full control. They believe like 
 the late Bro. Colville in a co-operation between the mor- 
 tal and the spirit agencies and that in this way there is 
 an enjoyment of nearly every advantage which medium- 
 ship imparts and a minimum of disadvantage and dan- 
 gers. 
 
 Some teachers in the mortal and some from the spirit 
 side assert that "full control" is dangerous and often 
 weakens the will power, and opens a path to obsession. 
 And they point to a large number of mediums who have 
 yielded to full control and have lost health, happiness 
 and moral principle. 
 
 Of one thing the public may be assured: It is ex- 
 tremely dangerous to rush into mediumistic development 
 without knowledge of the laws that govern it and a 
 Personal Preparation, intellectual, moral and spiritual, 
 for the exercise of its lofty functions. 
 
 Some years ago in Plymouth Church, Rochester, we 
 had a class for several years studying this topic, Medi- 
 umship. We reached certain general conclusions and 
 the membership of that class seemed dominated by a 
 desire for the better understanding of this very impor- 
 tant theme. During this period we were visited by a 
 gentleman from a distant city who joined in our discus- 
 
 12 
 
sions and seemed very well qualified, indeed, to give us 
 needed instruction. We were curious to know the source 
 of his teaching but he told us very little of himself and 
 of the origin of the lessons he gave us, merely claiming 
 he was "One of the Brotherhood." At our request he 
 wrote us a Summary of his teachings which I published 
 in "Reason," and which I give here as 
 
 THE BEST PREPARATION FOR MEDIUMSHIP. 
 Hints to Those Seeking Mediumship 
 
 First, seriously ask yourself this question: Why do I 
 desire to become a medium? 
 
 Take no equivocal answer. Unless you can honestly 
 say, I wish to become a medium that I may be able to, 
 unselfishly, do the utmost possible good for humanity, 
 let it alone. No other object is worth the trouble. Know 
 this. Attainment of ocult powers for an unworthy or 
 selfish motive may lead to ages of terrible suffering. 
 Those who have ears to hear let them hear. This is no 
 child-play. As you sow so must you reap. If you de- 
 cide you do desire to develop yourself solely to benefit 
 your fellow men then keep that one object in view and 
 develop 
 
 First Single-Mindedness 
 
 If thine eye be single (to thy good) thy whole being 
 will be full of light. Know, that through the flashes of 
 colors in your aura, you invite or attract influences like 
 to your own conditions of mind, consequently, (if your 
 whole attention is fixed upon the one object, that of 
 benefitting humanity) you will much sooner attract 
 those influences that are unselfish and beneficial than 
 you otherwise would do. Do all you can in sending out 
 thoughts of health, joy, love, wisdom and peace to those 
 you know who need help. No effort of this kind is ever 
 wasted and this very trying to help, without selfish mo- 
 tive and also without letting anyone know of your ef- 
 forts, will surely bring you a long way on your path to 
 attainment. Do not think for a moment that you are 
 fit to become the agent of the higher forces until you 
 have learned to control yourself. If you cannot control 
 
 13 
 
yourself then surely will you attract influences to your- 
 self that will be very undesirable. For instance, the red 
 flashes on black background of your aura, caused by 
 anger, will immediately bring an influence like to itself 
 and many murders have been caused by thus doubling 
 the angry impulse. 
 Develop in yourself 
 
 Second Self-Control 
 
 Learn to overcome evil with good. As soon as you be- 
 gin to vibrate with anger calm yourself with thoughts 
 of love and peace. Say to yourself I am not angry, I am 
 filled with love and peace. If I were in that person's 
 place, with his disposition and environment, I would have 
 done just as he did. I have nothing to make me angry 
 but myself. I am perfectly loving and free. 
 
 What I have said in regard to anger also applies to all 
 other of the lower passions and appetites. No one is fit 
 to be a medium until he has learned to govern himself 
 until he is perfect master over his own lower nature, 
 especially his sex nature, for there are very many temp- 
 tations that may be brought to bear upon him and there 
 is no safety for one who has not learned to be steadfast 
 in his moral conduct and thought. Self-control brings 
 to us 
 
 Third Calmness! 
 
 Learn to be free from worry and anxiety. Learn to 
 overcome depression. If you are full of anxious and de- 
 pressing thought you will be sure to attract that kind of 
 an influence. What you want is the higher forces which 
 always make for peace and joy for these are the quali- 
 ties by which to uplift the sorrowing and disquieted 
 dwellers on earth. By all means develop calmness. Now 
 as no message is of any account unless it is trustworthy 
 or true and as we attract influences to us like to our 
 own states of mind, develop 
 
 Fourth Truthfulness 
 
 This is one of the most important of all the different 
 qualities which should go to make up the true medium's 
 nature. If the medium is not truthful himself he will 
 
 14 
 
surely be deceived. No message can be trusted that does 
 not come through a perfectly honest medium. Even then, 
 if the one to whom the message is addressed is not hon- 
 est and earnest he might be deceived might not be able 
 to receive a true message, although the medium was 
 working in all good faith. Deceive and you will be de- 
 ceived. It is the law. What we are qualifies what we 
 get. Deception draws deception honesty invites hon- 
 esty. We draw to ourselves our conditions. We are the 
 product of what we have thought. So think honest 
 thoughts, speak honest words, and let all your acts be 
 those of sincerity and honesty. Now in the development 
 of the foregoing qualities we will fit ourselves for the 
 next great step in mediumship, which is 
 
 Fifth Knowledge 
 
 Knowledge of truth brings freedom. Ye shall know 
 the truth and the truth shall make you free. Knowledge 
 of truth is very necessary to every medium for without 
 it he is worthless simply a puppet, as it were, for in- 
 fluences of which he knows absolutely nothing. Claim 
 from your own higher nature, Divine Intelligence. Tell 
 your subjective mind before going to sleep to be alive, 
 awake, and to bring to you divine intelligence and knowl- 
 edge that knowledge which you should have regarding 
 the hidden laws of our nature. I have put knowledge as 
 one of the last acquirements, as you will notice. Knowl- 
 edge, just to gratify curiosity or just for the purpose of 
 knowing without a high motive for its acquisition and 
 before the moral attributes and determination to turn all 
 our faculties towards benefitting, to the utmost of our 
 ability, our fellow man, may be of infinitely more harm 
 to ourselves than we can think. I know that many may 
 differ from me and think knowledge and power are al- 
 ways good, but knowledge and power bring great re- 
 sponsibilities to their possessor, and if they are abused 
 may bring untold suffering. Only desire knowledge and 
 power for the highest good for all. This is the only safe 
 way. But if your whole being is filled with an earnest 
 desire to be a true, unselfish worker for humanity and 
 for the whole of humanity, then get all the knowledge, 
 yes, and power, too, that you can wisely use, for they 
 
 15 
 
are very necessary and of the greatest importance. I 
 wish to impress upon you the importance of unselfish- 
 ness in this work; for if you allow yourselves to be 
 governed by selfish motives, you cannot be a true helper 
 to humanity, and may draw to yourselves much trouble. 
 So be sure to develop unselfishness. 
 
 Unselfishness 
 
 You can best do this by trying to help those who need 
 without letting them or any one else know that you are 
 trying to do so. Try to take pleasure in quietly and se- 
 cretly helping others any who need help. Think what 
 they need and earnestly try to help them not by domi- 
 nating their mind or trying to make them do some par- 
 ticular thing or act but by sending thoughts of love, 
 wisdom and peace to their minds so that they may see 
 and know what to do themselves. In this way you may 
 develop unselfishness. But there is one more quality of 
 mind or soul, or rather spirit, which contains all the 
 others and is the most important of all. With all thy 
 gettings be sure to develop 
 
 Love 
 
 That love which casteth out all fear and by which 
 alone the whole law is fulfilled. When your whole soul 
 is filled with love, when you feel that every atom of your 
 whole being is love itself and is pouring out love to every 
 creature just as the sun pours out its light and heat, 
 yes and its very many other influences, also, upon all 
 alike, then you will have nothing to fear for such love 
 needs no other protection. No Devil, demon or other 
 influences of darkness can then trouble you, for when 
 the light has come, the darkness is gone. Then you can 
 become a true medium and influenced by your own 
 higher nature, the nature which is of God which is 
 God, you can give out messages of truth and power and 
 be a medium in the highest sense of the word. The love 
 of which I speak brings peace, the peace that passeth 
 understanding. I wonder if any of you know what it is 
 to get perfectly still, so still that you can see your own 
 mentality, as it were, without one ripple of thought, yet 
 intensely conscious. Did any of you ever come into 
 
 16 
 
touch with the Great Cosmic Consciousness when you 
 knew that you had no separate life yourself, but were 
 just living in the One Life One with every being in the 
 universe? Were any of you ever away out on the Great 
 Ocean in a little boat when it was perfectly calm when 
 not one ripple disturbed the whole surface of the water 
 but it lay like one vast mirror reflecting all above it? 
 Now let your own consciousness become perfectly still, 
 let no ripple of self no thought from the intellect not 
 one vibration disturb your own mirror of consciousness, 
 that consciousness which is so much more conscious than 
 ever before that it cannot be expressed in words and can 
 perfectly mirror forth or reflect the Super-Conscious 
 mind, can become a true medium by which may be shown 
 the truth, from on high, from the Super-Conscious re- 
 gions of the universe. There is a Super-Conscious region 
 or part of the mind, just as there is a sub-conscious. But 
 in order to give a true reflection the consciousness has to 
 get still. "Be still and know that I am God." It has to 
 be still and then be lighted by the Great Universal Love 
 love for all just as the surface of the ocean has to 
 be illumined by the Great Sun. 
 
 Have I put the standard of mediumship too high? Is 
 it higher than truth and safety demands? I feel the 
 minds of the Great Brotherhood with whom I am asso- 
 ciated say, No, and no one should know better than they 
 the misery, crime and degradation that has come through 
 allowing the personality to be governed dominated by 
 forces of which nothing is known. Know this: No one 
 has the right to let the Temple of the Living God be be- 
 fouled by hellish influences. Know, also, that no influ- 
 ence which will forcibly dominate another person even if 
 it claims to be an angel of light, can be trusted. No 
 pure, high influence will do so great a wrong to any one. 
 I speak this fearlessly, knowing the great responsibility 
 which the true guides to humanity incur. And not one 
 of them would think of doing so great an injury to their 
 younger brothers and sisters. So may the higher power 
 help me to speak the truth regarding this matter. 
 
 ONE OF THE BROTHERHOOD. 
 The term "sensitive" is more expressive and applicable 
 
 17 
 
to those who are in touch with the unseen realms than 
 "medium." The word "Psychic" implies all that is meant 
 by "medium" or "sensitive" and more the development 
 and use of our own powers rather than becoming a mere 
 medium or channel for the reception and transmission 
 of the thoughts of others. A Psychic acts of his own 
 volition; a medium is acted upon. 
 
 In discussing our theme we shall assume: 1. That all 
 men possess a measure of sensitiveness or mediumship. 
 
 2. That the development of mediumship is a process of 
 evolutionary unfoldment which the race is undergoing. 
 
 3. That it is possible to hasten or retard this develop- 
 ment. 4. That from the nature of the case our own 
 mediumship (when developed) must be more satisfac- 
 tory and useful to us than the mediumship of another 
 can be being more evidential, always at hand costing 
 less in time or money and enlarging our own sphere 
 of usefulness to a greater extent. . 
 
 There are some phases of mediumship open and read- 
 ily available to all men, e. g., the Impressional. 
 
 In our mental and spiritual life we are constantly com- 
 ing into contact with currents of thought vibrations. We 
 are like sailors in a choppy sea buffeting waves from 
 every quarter and variable gusts of wind. Our mental 
 life is constantly changing. Our thoughts wander from 
 subject to subject and our moods change. Now while it 
 would be a serious error to attribute all these changes to 
 outside impression many of them being the outcome of 
 that constant activity of the subconscious mind sending 
 up to the realm of consciousness diverse thoughts and 
 emotions from the depths of our mental life as the sea 
 tosses up from its depths the various articles swept 
 about in its internal currents yet doubtless many of our 
 changes of thought and emotion are clearly traceable to 
 the thought vibrations from other minds. 
 
 Now by careful study of these changes of thought and 
 mood we do two things: we learn to distinguish those 
 which are foreign to our customary lines of thinking and 
 feeling; we also render ourselves more sensitive to these 
 vibrations from without. Doubtless these thought vi- 
 brations which are wafted to us are not all from the 
 mortal realm, but friends, kindred and those who are in 
 
 18 
 
spiritual attraction to us from the over-lying and en- 
 compassing spirit spheres often turn their thoughts to 
 us and we feel their force and our current of thought is 
 changed. It will not take very long for the careful stu- 
 dent and observer to convince himself through intro- 
 spection that the changes in his thoughts and moods are 
 not all from within himself. Often the train of thought 
 in which he is indulging he will find suddenly broken in 
 upon sometimes thoughts entirely beyond his own range 
 or ability will flow in upon him sometimes impressions 
 quite contrary to his own ordinary convictions will come 
 sometimes instruction will be given sometimes a deep 
 conviction of the truth of some statement or proposition 
 will press itself upon him without any logical thought 
 leading up to such a conclusion sometimes he will get 
 a monition of danger sometimes he will find himself 
 unaccountably cheerful or sad as the case may be and 
 so on, to the end of the chapter. 
 
 Now what do we require for the development of this 
 phase of mediumship? How can we set about it? In 
 many cases we require only to give attention to these 
 changes to watch the outcome to study ourselves to 
 act upon impressions and test their truth. Often these 
 unaccountable impressions are of great value to us. 
 
 Another thing we should do: sit in the silence a few 
 moments daily, free our senses from contact with ma- 
 terial things and our minds from care, worry or any 
 absorbing thought, pivoting our attention lightly upon 
 some thought in concentration and becoming passive, to 
 give our spirit friends an opportunity to impress us, and 
 also an opportunity to our own subconscious mind to 
 speak to us. 
 
 To illustrate the value of this impressional medium- 
 ship even in one who has no claim to superior medium- 
 istic powers let me relate a little circumstance. 
 
 In the summer of '08 I had been engaged to speak at 
 the Madison Camp, Me., and having a few days free from 
 engagement prior to the dates at Madison, I sought an 
 engagement at the neighboring Etna Camp. Their 
 dates were full, so I had a Sunday and part of a week 
 free. I determined to leave Boston Saturday morning 
 and to visit some friends in Augusta over Sunday and 
 
 19 
 
the first part of the week. When Saturday morning ar- 
 rived and before purchasing my ticket for Augusta a 
 deep impression not put in verbal or prepositional form 
 but just of the single fact itself was made upon my 
 mind. If I were to express it in words it would be about 
 as follows: "You are needed at Etna, go to Etna, do 
 not fail them." 
 
 Now all this in the face of a recent positive assurance 
 from Etna that I was not needed. So deep and powerful 
 the impression I did not hesitate at all. I went to Etna 
 to find the genial secretary at the station to meet me, 
 and overjoyed that I had come. Brother Barrett was 
 ill ; could not come. 
 
 "Did you get my telegram?" the secretary asked. 
 "No, I got no telegram." "We did not know where to 
 find you, but have telegraphed to various points," she 
 said. 
 
 "How did you know we needed you?" she asked in 
 amazement. 
 
 "Oh, I knew," I answered, and so I did. 
 
 Did I catch the telegram by wireless? Did I get it 
 from her own mentality? Or did some friendly spirit 
 impress me? I do not know. I know I got the message, 
 that is all. 
 
 In answer to the question, "How shall I develop my 
 own Mediumship?" I would say: 
 
 1. Make a thorough study of Mediumship in the lit- 
 erature of Modern Spiritualism. Read, study, learn and 
 inwardly digest Andrew Jackson Davis* Harmonial Phil- 
 osophy, particularly "The Seer," "Philosophy of Spir- 
 itual Intercourse." "Death and the After Life," "The 
 Magic Staff." Read Colville's Lectures on Mediumship 
 published in "Reason" Magazine from September, 1915, 
 to September, 1917, now in book form. Also Hudson 
 Tuttle's "Laws of Mediumship," and Wallace's Essays 
 on Mediumship. 
 
 2. Build up your mental and moral faculties by care- 
 ful study and the most rigid training being assured 
 that the spirit world can use a cultured mind and a de- 
 veloped brain to greater advantage than an ignorant 
 mind and a sluggish brain. Everything that improves 
 you will benefit your mediumship. 
 
 20 
 
3. Give careful, prayerful attention to "the Prepara- 
 tion for Mediumship" laid down above by "One of the 
 Brotherhood." 
 
 4. Cultivate Aspiration for the best and highest. Let 
 your soul go out in intensest desire for Truth and Love 
 without which all seeking is vain. Your growth spir- 
 itually will be measured by your Desires. Your Desires 
 will grow with your knowledge. Therefore seek knowl- 
 edge diligently. 
 
 5. "Wait on the Lord." What David called waiting on 
 the Lord, you may call sitting for development, if with 
 high and holy purpose you look to the Spirit World for 
 guidance and help. Be regular and faithful in secret 
 prayer. 
 
 6. Keep the worldly desires curbed the mind calm 
 and serene the body healthy and your whole nature 
 in expectant, hopeful attitude. 
 
 7. Breathe in by faith the finer forces of the Universe 
 for your spiritual nature while you breathe the pure air 
 to purify the blood and body. "Whosoever will, let him 
 take of the water of life freely." Spiritually apprehend, 
 appropriate and use the finer spirit forces encompassing 
 you as you lay hold of the vital air. 
 
 8. Call on Wisdom Teachers to come into your life. 
 Study the lives of the great Workers for humanity and 
 enter into sympathy with their life work. Thus you will 
 attract to you those noble souls of whom "the world was 
 not worthy." 
 
 9. Harmonize your thoughts and your life, and build 
 your character on Nature's plane as indicated in the 
 brain: the faculties we have in common with the beast 
 having their organs in the lower part of the brain; the 
 intellectual faculties having organs in front and near the 
 top of the brain; the spiritual faculties having organs 
 dominant over all others, coronal, and destined, there- 
 fore, to rulership in the life. 
 
 21 
 
HOW TO SEND THOUGHT MESSAGES 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 The "impossibilities" of past days are among the easy 
 achievements of today. This is the real age of miracles. 
 We are just on the border of more stupendous accom- 
 plishments than the world has ever known. And the 
 most wonderful of all present or prospective achieve- 
 ments are among the exercise of our Thought Forces. 
 
 No discovery of our age ranks higher in intrinsic 
 value than Telepathy, the general recognition of which 
 among scientific investigators is a distinguishing mark 
 of our era. 
 
 Of course Telepathy is not new, as men have ever 
 practiced it unconsciously, and a few Eastern Adepts 
 have long consciously used the power of thought trans- 
 mission. It is only in apprehension of the truth, in the 
 discovery of some of the conditions under which it takes 
 place, and in the conscious application of our thought 
 forces that it may be styled a discovery. Thought power 
 is one form a primal one probably of the one great 
 Force that creates and moves the worlds. Its study is 
 the most practically important of all branches of human 
 investigation. 
 
 Before we touch the question practically, it needs to 
 be said that all careful study and investigation that 
 deepens the conviction in the mind of the student that 
 Telepathy is a fact and that, in Thought Transmission, 
 there is an open channel through which he can reach his 
 distant friends and influence them for good, is of great 
 practical value as a preparation for the work. We need 
 confidence not only in the ability of the specialist and 
 the adept to transmit thought, but we should come to a 
 clear recognition of the fact that this is not a special 
 gift to the few, but the privilege and the power of the 
 many. The old Scripture: "Have faith in God," needs 
 
 22 
 
to be amended to: "Have faith in yourself," and this is, 
 in effect, its true meaning. 
 
 By study, experiment and success, we must translate 
 our faith in Telepathy into knowledge as the strong 
 conviction of our ability to reach our distant friends is, 
 other things being equal, largely the measure of our 
 success in thought transmission. 
 
 To assist the reader, therefore, to this stronger con- 
 viction, let us take a brief preliminary glance at the 
 evidence on which our faith in Telepathy rests. 
 
 Large numbers of people have noted that it is very 
 common for a person ,busily engaged in other things, to 
 suddenly think of some person who is about to call upon 
 him. This very common fact is most easily explained by 
 the secret action of mind upon mind. 
 
 In a great many cases where correspondence between 
 distant friends has been neglected for years a sudden 
 desire to communicate on the part of one of the parties 
 seems to secretly awaken the same desire on the part of 
 the other, and the letters of the new correspondence 
 cross each other. Sensitives like Mollie Fancher and 
 others are able to tell when their friends are about to 
 call upon themeven to describe their location from 
 time to time while upon the way. 
 
 In a multitude of instances in the social circle, two 
 persons start at the same time to say the same thing. In 
 time of difficulty and danger, when the brain vibrations 
 of an individual are raised far above the normal, it is 
 quite common for the near relative or friend at a dis- 
 tance to get a clear impression of the danger to the ab- 
 sent friends sometimes, indeed, the whole scene is 
 flashed along those invisible lines of electro-magnetic 
 vibration that connect the brains of relatives and affini- 
 tized persons, and the distant friends sees the endan- 
 gered one in the water, or wounded in battle, or falling 
 from some height. Such a multitude of narratives, well 
 authenticated, attest these experiences that no candid 
 mind who has studied them can remain in doubt of their 
 truth. 
 
 In the actual experiments of the Society for Psychical 
 Research and in private experimentation, it has been 
 clearly demonstrated that success attends the conscious 
 
efforts of the mind to reach other minds through other 
 than the sensory channels, in a much larger proportion 
 of cases than can be accounted for by coincidence or 
 chance. For example, in one class of experiments con- 
 ducted by a committee of this society, an effort was 
 made to transmit numbers of two digits. As there 
 would be 90 possible combinations, by the law of proba- 
 bilities, the chances for success were only as 1 to 90. 
 Yet out of 664 cases, 131 were successful. The success 
 of the experiments in transmitting arbitrary designs 
 and geometrical figures was most marked sometimes 
 attended by perfect success, sometimes only partially 
 successful, yet leaving in all cases the clear conviction 
 that more perfect conditions and fuller knowledge and 
 skill in the art would have achieved complete success. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPERIMENTERS 
 
 1. Make a systematic study of the literature of this 
 question. Make a special study of the conditions under 
 which telepathy takes place. Settle the great fact with 
 yourself, that the power to telepath thought to others 
 is a natural endowment of the race therefore, it be- 
 longs to you, and is not a special gift to the few. 
 
 2. Select for experimentation some relative for we 
 are told that fine lines of electro-magnetic vibration con- 
 nect the brains of those between whom there are ties 
 of blood or some past associate with whose magnetism 
 you have come into touch, or some one engaged in sim- 
 ilar studies to your own or cherishing like objects in life, 
 or working for the same reforms, and hence upon simi- 
 lar lines of thought vibration. 
 
 3. Select as the most favored hour for experiments 
 two o'clock in the morning. The hour is inconvenient, 
 it is true, but there are good reasons for choosing it. At 
 that hour the disturbing vibrations caused by the roar 
 and hum of traffic, the clang and rattle of machinery, 
 and the mingled thought vibrations of the multitude 
 all of which render the finer etherial currents of brain 
 vibration more liable to interruption are then at their 
 lowest intensity. There is another reason: Your subject 
 will then generally be enrapt in slumber. Slumber of 
 
 24 
 
course will prevent the conscious reception of your mes- 
 sage, but it will not interfere with its real reception. In- 
 deed, it will enter more deeply into the nature of your 
 sleeping subject than it possibly could in his waking 
 moments. If, therefore, you wish to convey a suggestion 
 of health, hope, happiness, success, or a suggestion that 
 shall amend his conduct or conditions in some direction, 
 you can not do better than to transmit your message to 
 your friend while he is asleep. 
 
 4. In the act of thought transmission, you must cul- 
 tivate strongly the thought that your friend is near you. 
 not afar off, as, indeed, he is near you spiritually. Dis- 
 tance applies only to the separated bodies; it is practi- 
 cally annihilated in the realm of mind and spirit. Sense 
 this fact, that your friend is in the room with you: 
 visualize him as perfectly as possible: and put your sug- 
 gestions into words. Speak the thought, the determi- 
 nation, the hope, the assurance for him as though he 
 himself were uttering it. Either let it be: "I am recov- 
 ering, surely, quickly recovering my wonted health," or 
 "I shall never touch intoxicants again. I have the power 
 to quit drinking. I use the power: I am free!" or "I am 
 going to win great success. I am capable of success: it 
 is mine!" 
 
 It is the transfer of these thought vibrations to his 
 mentality that is desired. Hence, speak for him and 
 even use his name to deepen the impact of the message. 
 
 5. Give more heed to reaching the subject in sleep or 
 in hypnosis than in the waking hours, as the message is 
 much more effective that is directed to the subjective 
 mind in sleep or in hypnosis than that which reaches the 
 objective mind. While it may be in a sense more satis- 
 factory to have your friend intelligently grasp a mes- 
 sage, yet remember that so far as effect of a sugges- 
 tion is concerned, it is always greater when made to the 
 subjective mind. 
 
 6. Repeat! Repeat!! Repeat!!! To reach a distant 
 mind with a message is a great accomplishment. Re- 
 member how many cross-currents and interblending vi- 
 brations there are to be encountered on the way. It is 
 the constant dropping of water that wears away the 
 stone. It is the constant injection and propulsion of 
 
 26 
 
your little thought current into the vast realm of your 
 friend's subjective mind that will, by and by, produce a 
 current of thought therein, powerful enough to awaken 
 his objective mind to action, and he will act upon this 
 injected suggestion as his own. 
 
 7. Speak with authority in sending the thought mes- 
 sage especially to the sleeping friend. The subjective 
 mind acts on suggestion. It is accustomed to obey. It 
 likes a Master. 
 
 8. Concentrate all your mental and spiritual forces 
 on the messages, shutting out the sense-world, shutting 
 out selfish considerations, transforming yourself for the 
 time being into the personality of your subject. 
 
 The way to transmit thought-messages is to transmit 
 them. 
 
 TWO REMARKABLE ILLUSTRATIONS OF SUB- 
 CONSCIOUS TELEPATHY 
 
 1. At the time of the Boer War in South Africa I 
 was living in Parkdale, Toronto, Canada. Large contin- 
 gents of Canadians had joined the British forces in this 
 war upon the Boers. Out of the home of a neighbor's 
 
 family in Parkdale had gone a young man, George , 
 
 along with the Canadian soldier boys and the company 
 had been heard from by dispatch as having reached the 
 Modder river. Some time afterwards the Canadian 
 troops saw active service. One day the sister of George 
 in her usual home duties suddenly threw up her hands 
 in great excitement and alarmed the family with the 
 emphatic statement: "George is shot." The family en- 
 deavored but in vain to relieve her agitation and per- 
 suade her that she had no good reason for believing 
 that her brother had been injured. She only grew more 
 emphatic in her statement and unconsolable in her grief. 
 When questioned for her reason for such an astounding 
 statement, she said: "I saw him and the troops. They 
 were riding across the veldt. He was shot in the shoul- 
 der and fell from his horse." 
 
 Some time later a telegram announced this fact to the 
 family and later in due course of mail a full description 
 of the incident came, confirming in every detail the sis- 
 ter's statement. When allowance was made for the dif- 
 
 26 
 
f erence in the time, it was discovered that the vision and 
 the wounding of her brother occurred at the same hour. 
 
 2. Some years ago while Principal of the Alma (Meth- 
 odist) College in Canada a prominent Methodist minis- 
 ter related to me an experience of a similar character 
 which his sister passed through in Midland, Ontario. 
 This incident was published in my book "Glimpses of the 
 Unseen," under the clergyman's signature. This sister, 
 
 Mrs. P , had had several similar experiences of 
 
 veridical vision of events at a distance, in one case wit- 
 nessing from her Ontario home the drowning of a man 
 in a lake in Michigan. The incident was as follows: 
 
 Mrs. P was at her home in Midland and sitting 
 
 quietly in her chair, and her daughters were engaged in 
 household duties, when she became very much excited 
 and called out in alarm: "John is drowning." John was 
 
 an adopted son engaged with Mr. P in lumber 
 
 business upon Georgian Bay. Mr. P had several 
 
 boats engaged in the lumber-carrying trade upon the 
 Bay. The daughters endeavored to calm the mother's 
 agitation but in vain as she kept crying out at brief in- 
 tervals amid her sobs : "I saw him fall from the boat . . 
 there he has gone down .... now he has sunk the second 
 time .... Oh, John is drowned." 
 
 They brought in Mr. P from his office and he 
 
 assured his wife that John was not near the Bay for he 
 had left him in Toronto. John, however, had gone down 
 
 to the Bay without Mr. P 's knowledge and was 
 
 drowned about the hour of Mrs. P 's vision, since 
 
 his watch found on his body had stopped at the time. 
 
 Now these are two very good illustrations of that un- 
 conscious telepathy that occurs in many great crises in 
 life and often at death, when the brain is stirred to a 
 higher vibration by imminent danger or death and the 
 thought vibrations go out with a terrific force to some 
 loved relative or friend. Both these young men instinc- 
 tively turned their thoughts, one to a loved foster moth- 
 er, and the other to a favorite sister, and the rapidity 
 and strength of their brain vibrations not only carried 
 the dominant thought of their minds but swept up and 
 carried along with these thoughts the vibrations of the 
 environment,- so that in addition to the drowning boy, 
 
 27 
 
the boat, the water, etc., were seen (in a flash), and, in 
 the other case, the troopers and veldt of the battlefield. 
 Such unconscious and powerful transmission of thought 
 and vision comes only through intensity of emotion and 
 a high rate of brain vibration. Most thought transmis- 
 sions are unconscious upon the part of the sender and 
 unconsciously received. 
 
 Yet let not the pupil imagine for a moment that be- 
 cause ideas, suggestions, thoughts, moods, emotions are 
 unconsciously received by the subjective mind that they 
 are powerless and without effect on the conduct and 
 character. 
 
 On the contrary they are often more effective than 
 messages that are received with sufficient impact to 
 awaken consciousness to their reception and source. 
 Most people resent the intrusion of another's efforts to 
 dominate their thinking. When they find that another 
 mentality is endeavoring to direct their thinking and 
 their conduct by thought messages, their natural com- 
 bativeness is aroused and they become positive and re- 
 pellant to such advances. 
 
 The persistent sending of silent suggestions to another 
 mind is cumulative in its effects. It starts in the sub- 
 conscious mind a current of mentation that in time be- 
 comes forceful enough to awaken consciousness, and the 
 thought suggested then seems a product of one's own 
 reasoning and is often graciously received as men are 
 proud of their mental offspring and acted upon with 
 alacrity. Many instances of this kind have come to the 
 knowledge of the teacher. 
 
 How far, you may ask, is one justified in entering the 
 mental domain of another with thoughts and sugges- 
 tions? Only so far as those thoughts and suggestions 
 would be held justifiable and correct if put into the lan- 
 guage of speech. 
 
 Never is one justified in entering the mental domain 
 of another with suggestions for a purely selfish purpose 
 or suggestions that would detract from the health, hap- 
 piness and prosperity of another. 
 
 There is a great power for good or ill in thought mes- 
 sages and great responsibility on the sender of such 
 messages. 
 
 28 
 
HOW TO MANAGE THE SUB- CONSCIOUS 
 
 MIND 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 I. 
 
 The Hudsonian Theory is usually looked upon as the 
 theory of two minds, although Mr. Hudson did not so 
 teach. What he emphasized was that the mind had two 
 planes of operation, as distinct and different as though 
 there were two minds. There is no more argument or 
 logic for two minds than for twenty minds. Yet all who 
 are accustomed to observe and reflect upon their obser- 
 vations can see how different are the mental operations 
 during waking hours from those in sleep or trance or 
 hypnosis. Every individual has one mind and only one 
 yet it is quite true there is an arena of subconscious 
 mentations, and that, as Hudson points out, the results 
 at times are such as might appear the product of two 
 minds. 
 
 II. 
 
 The sub-conscious mind is a vast store-house in which 
 are hidden from our conscious intelligence nearly all the 
 memories of our past life. It is a store-house also of all 
 those mental habits and processes which we have grown 
 so accustomed to that we need not focus our attention 
 upon them in order to secure their activity all we need 
 to do is to consciously start the mental habit or process 
 and the subconscious automatically carries on the oper- 
 ation. A boy in learning to write must concentrate at- 
 tention on his copy and his work or fail. But after ten 
 years' experience he can conceive a thought to be ex- 
 pressed in writing, summon the sub-conscious into oper- 
 ation, and write out the sentence while at the same time 
 he converses with you on some interesting topic. The 
 sub-conscious works, therefore, on suggestions we may 
 
 29 
 
say automatically or mechanically, directing sub-con- 
 sciously the nerves and muscles of the hand and arm in 
 the hundreds of movements requisite in writing the sen- 
 tence while the main attention is fixed upon something 
 else. 
 
 Similarly, the girl who while learning music had to put 
 her whole attention on her fingers and the keys, can now, 
 as an accomplished musician, talk to you interestingly 
 while with her hands upon the piano she renders a 
 sonata. 
 
 The objective mind is the waking consciousness; the 
 subjective mind rules in sleep, hypnosis, trance, etc. The 
 objective mind is limited; the subjective seems to be an 
 ocean in the infinite sea of life and practically unlimited 
 in its possibilities and powers. The objective mind reas- 
 ons inductively and deductively; the subjective mind if 
 it can be said to reason at all, only does so by deduction. 
 The objective mind acts on its own initiative ; the subjec- 
 tive mind on suggestion. The first commands; the sec- 
 ond obeys. 
 
 III. 
 
 It will readily be seen on reflection that as the sub- 
 conscious mind is ever active (both in sleep and waking) 
 and inasmuch as it holds all the memories of the past 
 (not an experience of the life being lost) and the con- 
 scious mind only holds a small part of life's memories, 
 and inasmuch as the sub-conscious is the channel through 
 which messages from other minds (mortal and spirit) 
 are received, and the one passage-way for communion 
 with universal mind, that the sub-conscious mind does 
 most of our thinking; is relatively much the larger 
 realm of mentation ; is more closely allied with the men- 
 tal and spiritual world; and its operations are (in some 
 ways) more directly associated with the health, happi- 
 ness and success of the individual than the objective 
 mind. Reason, after all, is only a tiny taper on the great 
 ocean of man's mentality. Its rays do not shine afar 
 and its operations, while intensely important, are only 
 efficient and powerful as they are followed and com- 
 pleted by the action of the sub-conscious. 
 
 The sub-conscious presides over and directs all the 
 
vital processes of the body. It builds the body ; it builds 
 character; it solves the unsolved problems of the con- 
 scious mind; it uses its vast store of memories and men- 
 tal aptitudes and habits, and it can and does contact 
 with other minds for instruction and help. 
 
 And so it will readily be seen that its field of oper- 
 ations is much more extensive than that of pur conscious 
 mental life. Indeed, if we liken the objective mind and 
 reason to the image of the sun or the ocean's surface we 
 may regard the vast ocean beneath with its great depth 
 and countless currents and upheavals as the sub-con- 
 scious mind. 
 
 The proper relationship of these two realms of men- 
 tality should engage the serious attention of all who seek 
 efficiency and success in life. He who ignores the sub- 
 conscious loses immeasurably in regard to health, hap- 
 piness and success. He who gives loose rein to the sub- 
 conscious and allows it to become the directive force in 
 his life becomes mad. He is the wise man who balances 
 the operations of these two realms of thought, keeping 
 each in its proper sphere, and thus secures the maximum 
 in health and life's achievements. 
 
 IV. 
 
 HOW TO SET THE SUB-CONSCIOUS TO WORK IN 
 SOLVING PROBLEMS, SURMOUNTING DIFFI- 
 CULTIES AND FINDING A WAY OUT OF 
 TROUBLE 
 
 One of the greatest discoveries of the age is the 
 mighty power of suggestion. Through it mothers now 
 educate and form the character of their sleeping chil- 
 dren; by its silent power our lives and conduct are pow- 
 erfully influenced ; through it the sick are healed of dis- 
 eases and the slaves of drink and drug are relieved; 
 through it men receive from other minds the inspiration, 
 the courage, the strength to begin life anew and to ut- 
 terly transform their characteer. 
 
 This power of suggestion, recognized as one of the 
 mightiest forces we can use in shaping the life of an- 
 other, can be turned upon ourselves through the sub- 
 si 
 
conscious and a man can build himself over into a new 
 type of manhood. 
 
 The best time to practice this auto-suggestion is just 
 before sleep at night. For fifteen minutes before going 
 to sleep (by far the most important quarter hour in the 
 day) we should assiduously devote ourselves to Mental 
 Housecleaning. That is, the elimination of all inhar- 
 monious thought, feeling and volition. We must get rid 
 of all destructive thought such as Fear, Worry, Envy, 
 Suspicion ,Hate, Revenge opening the channels of the 
 mind to the sunlight of truth and harmonious thought 
 such as Faith, Hope, Love, Peace, Joy, Brotherhood, 
 Kindness and Friendship. Spend a few moments count- 
 ing the blessings of your life, reflecting on the advan- 
 tages and privileges which have crowned you individual- 
 ly, and the love and care of the angels, and the divine 
 wisdom manifest in causing all things to work together 
 for good, and upon the great fact of "eternal progres- 
 sion." Then with mind purified, with grateful heart and 
 optimistic spirit, take up the Unsolved Problem the one 
 which your reason has failed upon and demand that 
 the sub-conscious mind solve the problem. Thus you 
 "commit your burden" unto the Lord as the scripture 
 expresses it. You are now free and go on your way 
 gladly just as though the unsolved problem had never 
 been, or as though it were already solved. Serene you 
 fold your hands and wait, never taking up this burden 
 again till there comes to you by distinct promptings of 
 the sub-conscious an intimation that the problem is 
 solved, or that its solution is to come through a certain 
 line of activity on your part. Then hasten to follow this 
 intuition as the hour of your redemption draweth nigh. 
 Act, then, swiftly and earnestly as though everything 
 depended on yourself. 
 
 The sub-conscious mind is a vast storehouse of the 
 products of the conscious mind a great ocean with its 
 hidden currents of mental activity and thought life, and 
 in its effects on health, happiness, success, and charac- 
 ter, no whit less important than the conscious mentality. 
 If we represent the mind by the ocean we may call all 
 of it the sub-conscious save the surface. Many thought 
 
 32 
 
activities, like the hidden ocean currents, do not mani- 
 fest on the surface of consciousness. 
 
 The objective mind is the waking consciousness; the 
 subjective mind rules in sleep, hypnosis, trance, etc. The 
 objective mind is limited; the subjective seems to be an 
 ocean in the infinite sea of life and practically unlimited 
 in it spossibilities and powers. The objective mind reas- 
 ons inductively and deductively; the subjective mind if 
 it can be said to reason at all, only does so by deduction. 
 The objective mind acts on its own initiative; the sub- 
 jective mind on suggestion. The first commands; the 
 second obeys, rules; the sub-conscious obeys the con- 
 scious mind. 
 
 Inasmuch as the individuality itself embracing the 
 physical, mental and spiritual forces of every individual 
 is the result of the workings of this sub-conscious 
 mind, and as this sub-conscious realm is directed by and 
 obedient to the conscious, the proper treatment of the 
 "sub-conscious" becomes a matter of supreme impor- 
 tance to every one wishing to reach health, happiness, 
 success and spirituality. To learn how to direct, develop, 
 and manage these two realms of his mentality is to learn 
 the true secret of human success and greatness. 
 
 Here then is the relative work and relationship of the 
 two spheres of mental activity: The conscious mind 
 rules, the sub-conscious obeys; the conscious mind sug- 
 gests the line along which the energies of the sub-con- 
 scious mind operate. The sub-conscious mind receives 
 the impression or suggestion, puts it into the current of 
 its own activities, enlarges, modifies and ennobles it, and 
 in turn pours it back into the conscious mind again with 
 increased power and energy to bring the thought or sug- 
 gestion into actuality. 
 
 To properly impress the sub-conscious mind with the 
 right thought and in the right way means a vast in- 
 crease of mental strength and power to attain one's de- 
 sires in life. 
 
 The rule for impressing the sub-conscious mind is to 
 think clearly, persistently and with the strongest possi- 
 ble hope of the good thing desired, or the problem to be 
 solved, or the difficulty to be overcome and to command 
 the sub-conscious mind to realize these desires in the life. 
 
 33 
 
It is a good rule at all times to think only of the 
 things we desire to realize in our lives since all thought 
 has a tendency to photograph itself upon the sub-con- 
 scious mind and the sub-conscious mind reproduces in 
 the life -often with vastly increased volume the good 
 or the evil suggestion received. 
 
 In making a suggestion to the sub-conscious mind of 
 the good desired we must be extremely careful not to 
 hold the good to be obtained and evil to be avoided in our 
 minds in contrast, since the sub-conscious mind acts 
 automatically and without any bias toward good or evil. 
 Focus the desires and the thought on the good to be ob- 
 tained, since the sub-conscious reproduces the evil as 
 readily as the good. It grinds the grist we give it; it 
 brings forth the harvest of wheat or tares from our 
 sowing (suggestions) and good soil we know produces 
 weeds as readily as flowers. 
 
 Another thing essential is to see clearly just what we 
 want, to mentally visualize it in all its parts and sur- 
 roundings, to be deeply impressed ourselves, as we try to 
 impress and dominate the sub-conscious mind, with the 
 value of the suggestion made or the thing desired. 
 
 Deep feeling is a prime requisite in impressing the 
 sub-conscious mind. 
 
 And whatever we properly impress on the sub-con- 
 scious mind is taken up, acted upon, returned to the con- 
 scious mind with either definite plans for its fulfillment, 
 or with strong inclinations the following out of which 
 will lead to realization. 
 
 It is Health not sickness; Abundance not poverty; 
 Success not failure, we must persistently hold in 
 thought clearly seeing and feeling the conditions we 
 would realize and never allowing the opposite condi- 
 tions to enter the mind especially when we are impress- 
 ing or commanding the "subconscious." 
 
 When you have some goal to attain and do not see 
 the way, picture the goal graphically to the mind, 
 dwell on the advantages to be gained till the flame of 
 desire mounts heavenward within your breast, then or- 
 der the sub-conscious mind to find the way and furnish 
 the power. It will be done. 
 
 Leave your orders especially over night with the 
 
 34 
 
larger subjective mind and see how it will operate to 
 impart the strength necessary or suggest intuitively the 
 way of attainment. 
 
 Remember the sub-conscious mind is in touch with or 
 a part of the infinite mind and its power is only limited 
 by the material you furnish it. 
 
 Demand perfection in quality and "no limit" in quan- 
 tity for yourself and suggest constant increase of power 
 and insist on it. If your thoughts are clear enough and 
 your desires deep enough to impress the sub-conscious, 
 you will find wonderful results accruing. 
 
 If we cultivate within our minds the knowledge of the 
 great and mighty realm within us and persistently try 
 to present our ideals to the sub-conscious mind, and as 
 new power and clearer views of life's possibilities unfold 
 before us, continue to present still loftier and nobler 
 ideals to the sub-conscious, we shall develop a power and 
 genius that will astonish the world. 
 
 When the sub-conscious mind has utilized our sug- 
 gestions and is ready to make response at the time ap- 
 pointed, or needed, the will must be quiescent for a time 
 that we may catch the full import of that response. Use 
 the will only in appealing to the sub-conscious keep it 
 quiet and inactive when the sub-conscious reports. 
 
 Many have an erroneous idea of the power of the will. 
 Men cannot accomplish the aims of life by mere willing. 
 The will is to be used in suggestion and command of the 
 sub-conscious mind. 
 
 Aside from this use of the will it is powerless and the 
 attempt to accomplish by mere willing is like trying to 
 lift one's self over the mountain by one's boot straps. 
 
 There is a way of making the will omnipotent. It real- 
 ly becomes all powerful when we come into conscious 
 attunement with Nature and with God. When through 
 knowledge and soul culture and altruism the human will 
 aligns with the divine it becomes all powerful. 
 
 We may become what we would become. 
 
 A good rule is never to think of our weakness, our 
 sickness, our limitations for to the real man there can 
 be no weakness, no sickness, no limitations, and to think 
 of these only offers the wrong seed to the soil of the 
 
 35 
 
sub-conscious mind to be reproduced in wrong life and 
 character. 
 
 Some hold that all art, music, invention, genius, dis- 
 covery, inspiration come from the subjective mind. Pos- 
 sibly it would be nearer truth to say through the sub- 
 conscious mind. 
 
 When some problem too deep for your present mental 
 strength presents itself, question the subjective mind. 
 
 It is a good thing to "sleep over" an undecided ques- 
 tion. Present it fully and strongly before sleeping. Ask 
 and demand its solution at a given time. 
 
 Undertake no great enterprise without questioning 
 this larger mind upon the subject. 
 
 Orators, preachers, singers, writers, ought always to 
 summon the subjective mind to aid them when the 
 crucial hour of performance arrives. 
 
 If we hold the thought of perfect health and deeply 
 impress it on the subjective mind no external power can 
 bring us disease. 
 
 If diseased, we do the same, the sub-conscious will set 
 forces at once to work toward recovery. 
 
 It is exceedingly important to clear the mind of all 
 thoughts of worry, annoyance, dread or malevolence, be- 
 fore going to sleep as these if carried into the subjective 
 mind will bring us a harvest of ill. 
 
 To go to sleep properly, i. e., holding the thoughts of 
 health, hope, happiness, and love for all, and committing 
 all unsolved problems with confidence to the subjective 
 mind for solution, is to awake refreshed, and with forces 
 and suggestions within the mind that will lead on to suc- 
 cess and happiness. 
 
HOW TO HEAL OURSELVES AND OTHERS 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Healing the sick has ever been considered an essential 
 part of all true religion. All the great religions have 
 taught and practiced healing. Jesus owed much of His 
 popularity to the marvelous power of healing He mani- 
 fested. He, it is said, "healed all manner of sickness and 
 all manner of diseases." From this, some have errone- 
 ously inferred that Jesus was not limited in His healing 
 power that He healed every patient, everywhere and 
 under every condition. We know, however, from the 
 Scriptural record that this was not true. We find him 
 very zealously making conditions for the success of his 
 healing work as for example when He shut the rabble 
 out, and took His three favorite apostles, Peter, James 
 and John, and the father and mother of the sick child, 
 a thoroughly magnetic and harmonious company, into 
 the presence of the girl to be healed. Doubtless where 
 proper conditions could not be made Jesus did not at- 
 tempt the healing. If He did attempt it under certain 
 conditions He evidently failed as we read that in Caper- 
 naum He did not many mighty works because of their 
 unbelief. Evidently the mental and spiritual attitude 
 of the people placed limitations on the healing power 
 of Jesus as we know they do on the power and work of 
 healers today. Jesus healed entirely on the drugless 
 system employing the time-honored method of laying 
 on of hands and the exercise of mental and spiritual 
 forces. 
 
 Jesus claimed, however, no monopoly of the healing or 
 other miraculous powers, but commissioned His follow- 
 ers to go forth and heal the sick. Indeed His command 
 to heal the sick is as clear and emphatic and binding 
 upon all His followers as is His command to preach His 
 gospel to the world. 
 
 37 
 
Clergymen have no more right to ignore this command 
 or neglect this duty than they have to cancel His di- 
 vine commission to preach the gospel. All followers of 
 Jesus are to be healers of the sick. 
 
 Jesus, then, ranks with the metaphysical healers, the 
 drugless practitioners, the faith healers, the magnetic 
 healers, the spiritual healers, and not with the medical 
 profession, which relies largely on drug ministration and 
 surgery. 
 
 Inasmuch as all possess the mental and spiritual forces 
 within themselves on the exercise of which health and 
 healing depends, all are healers. All healthy people vi- 
 brate health and life force wherever they go hence all 
 can impart of this health power to their neighbors. 
 Strictly speaking, however, no one really heals either 
 himself or his neighbor, as all true healing is by the 
 vis medicatrix naturae, the healing power of nature, or 
 in briefer language it is God that heals and God only. 
 
 "I dressed the wound," says the motto over the Great 
 School of Medicine in Paris, "but God healed it." 
 
 The utmost the healer can do for himself is to bring 
 himself into harmony with the laws of health and give 
 nature an opportunity to undo the mischief wrought by 
 violation of nature's laws. Until the mental and spiritual 
 nature of man is brought into attunement with the laws 
 that govern man's inner life, and until man through 
 knowledge of the laws of health and obedience thereto 
 has learned to live naturally, there can be no permanent 
 cure of disease. Quite true, one may be relieved of pain 
 and saved from some of the effects of sickness by a va- 
 riety of methods in vogue, but no real healing is done 
 until man is brought into harmony with nature and in- 
 filled with that divine and universal life that flows 
 through all men fitted to receive it. 
 
 I. 
 
 The first thing to do in healing one's self or another 
 person is, therefore, to "cease to do evil and learn to do 
 well"; that is, to find out and correct mistakes and 
 transgressions of the life and to put the whole interior 
 life into complete harmony with the course of nature. 
 
 38 
 
In short, to get into tune with the Infinite and into the 
 current of Nature's finer forces. 
 
 II. 
 
 We must recognize the fact that we are endogens and 
 not exogens: we grow from within. If, therefore, we 
 keep the fountain of our life our Thought Forces, our 
 Emotions, our Will, under control and pure, all the 
 streams of life's activities will be pure. A pure and 
 healthy mind, a lofty sentiment, and a strong and vig- 
 orous will, re-act upon the body and furnish it with the 
 constructive vibrations that make for health and 
 strength. 
 
 III. 
 
 Lofty as our conceptions may be of this power and 
 value of right thinking, willing, and feeling, we must not 
 ignore those great factors in body building and physical 
 strengthening of our powers found in abundance of pure 
 air, sunshine, healthful exercise, nourishing food and 
 bathing. 
 
 IV. 
 
 We may very properly in hours of exhaustion and suf- 
 fering call in the aid of the magnetic healer, the mental 
 healer, the Suggestive Therapeutist and others, if we 
 keep in mind the great fact that such aid is only tem- 
 porary and of the nature of an expedient until we can 
 reopen the true fountain of health within our own nature. 
 
 V. 
 
 We must ever keep in mind the radical difference be- 
 tween cure or the removal of the effects of disease (in 
 whole or in part) and healing, which implies the destruc- 
 tion of disease itself and the complete restoration of the 
 body and soul to natural, i. e., healthy condition. Heal- 
 ing is wholeness; health, holiness; and the man who is 
 healthy in body, mind and spirit is the holy man and he 
 only is the holy man. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Perfect and permanent healing is, therefore, full align- 
 ment of our nature with truth and a natural result of a 
 conscious union with God. Men and women, weakened, 
 
 39 
 
diseased and suffering, have given way to a sense of 
 separation from the Divine. God is far away from their 
 consciousness. They are like engines without steam, like 
 ships without a wafting breeze, like cars cut off from the 
 power house, like wires dead because the current is off. 
 An hour's meditation daily on the ancient Scripture: 
 "In God we live and move and have our being," is not 
 only a mental and spiritual tonic, it is a vitalizer and 
 strengthener of the whole physical organism as well. 
 
 Those who have this consciousness of unison with the 
 divine can consciously breathe in the abundant life of 
 God and become possessed of such superabundant vitali- 
 ty that it will exude from their personality, radiate in 
 their thought and speech upon their associates and may 
 be transmitted to the sick at a distance in healing 
 energy. 
 
 Those who cultivate this God consciousness seriously 
 call for and receive such essences and elixirs, ethers and 
 chemicals, out of the unseen as are required for perfect 
 bodily health for the whole pharmacopea of drugs and 
 medicines in the material realm, exist in subtler forms 
 in the spiritual and thus cure the ills that flesh is heir 
 to in themselves and in others. 
 
 In addition to the ideas and methods already present- 
 ed for healing ourselves and others, I desire to call the 
 student's attention to: 
 
 1. "THE DIRIGATION OF THE THOUGHT FORCES" 
 
 By turning the attention to any particular part or or- 
 gan of the body, and concentrating attention thereon, we 
 cause a current of "animal spirits," "ode," "magnetism," 
 or "vital force," (as we may choose to name that par- 
 ticular fluid which permeates the psychic or spiritual 
 body and serves the same purpose therein which blood 
 does in the physical form) to flow to the particular point 
 or organ. This current is immediately followed by an 
 increased flow of blood to the same part. Attending this 
 increased flow of blood is, of course, increased nutrition, 
 vitality and strength. In this way we may strengthen 
 any weak organ or part, increase the size of any part of 
 the system, raise the temperature, and overcome largely, 
 
 40 
 
or wholly, the effects of inherited weakness or disease. 
 We may, in fact, build ourselves over, particularly if at 
 the same time we are able to persist daily in this thought 
 dirigation and practice suitable exercises to aid elimi- 
 nation. 
 
 The effect of this direction of the thought forces is 
 much increased if we are able at the time of such con- 
 centration to form a clear conception to visualize the 
 effect to be produced. In this as in every other line of 
 human activity, "practice makes perfect." 
 
 2. MAKE A PROPER USE OF DRESS, FOOD, COLOR, 
 AIR, SUNLIGHT, WATER, MAGNETISM AND 
 ELECTRICITY 
 
 All of these affect our physical and mental conditions. 
 All of these are mediums through which the finer forces 
 of nature reach and permeate our being. All of these 
 contribute to our physical comfort and our mental and 
 spiritual harmony. These mediums make up our life 
 conditions and the flow of the vital forces of Nature into 
 our being is largely helped or hindered by suitable food, 
 appropriate dress, the right color, systematic and deep 
 breathing especially breathing "with intent" abundant 
 sunlight, a free use of water both internally and as an 
 exterior agent and magnetism and electricity in their 
 various forms and agencies. 
 
 The springs of health are all about us the main 
 fountain is within us and if we can only dismiss our 
 fears and learn and practice the secret of uncapping 
 these springs and allowing the healing waters to flow 
 through us, we may have the "more abundant life." 
 
 In a great variety of ways we may utilize Nature's 
 finer forces through bathing, sun baths, the color treat- 
 ment of Dr. Babbitt, the Yogi health breathing, mag- 
 netic treatment, massage, and particularly by cultivating 
 our consciousness of union with the one Source of all 
 Life and Health God. 
 
 41 
 
3. DISCARD DRUGS AND COME INTO CONSCIOUS 
 HARMONY WITH THE MAGNETIC AND SPIR- 
 ITUALIZING OPERATIONS OF NATURE 
 
 Dr. Andrew Jackson Davis, in Volume I of The Great 
 Harmonia, declares: 
 
 I know that one-half of the chronic diseases prevalent 
 in the civilized portions of the earth are caused by the 
 use of various unnaturally compounded and administered 
 remedies which disturb permanently the spiritual prin- 
 ciple. I deem unnatural almost every human prepara- 
 tion which is designed to cure diseases; for whatever 
 man requires when diseased, is already manufactured 
 for him in the innumerable laboratories and ascending 
 kingdoms of Nature. Science and skill were given to 
 mankind as means whereby to familiarize themselves 
 with the nature and principles of the Divine Essence, 
 and with the proper position and use of all things which 
 this essence has unfolded in the immeasurable Universe. 
 Hence the concentration of chemistry, skill, talent and 
 wealth upon the well meaning but unnatural effort to 
 prepare medicines for human diseases, I cannot but re- 
 gard as a most unrighteous prostitution of human en- 
 dowments and possessions. The era of unity, health and 
 harmony is approaching; but I am persuaded that medi- 
 cines can no more produce physical harmony, than dun- 
 geons can produce social harmony; because these means 
 are unnatural and arbitrary. The individual must be- 
 come healthy and harmonious by placing himself under 
 the magnetic and spiritualizing operations of Nature. 
 Man must become natural; for the more natural he be- 
 comes, the more is he healthy and like an angel. And 
 disease in individuals, as in society, will be overcome and 
 extirpated through the mediums of intellectual or spir- 
 itual development and hereditary descent or predisposi- 
 tion to goodness. 
 
 4. PRACTICE AUTO-SUGGESTION 
 
 One of the most wonderful discoveries of our age is 
 the knowledge of the great potency in suggestion. To 
 minds in a passive state, or receptive as we say, espe- 
 
 42 
 
cially to those under partial or full hypnosis, suggestion 
 becomes an almost absolute law and powerfully affects 
 health, happiness, character and success. 
 
 The public seem to be better acquainted with the 
 power of suggestion in its application to others than 
 with the subject of auto-suggestion or the treatment of 
 one's self. Yet the same principle applies and through 
 this mighty agency a man may treat himself success- 
 fully for recovery of health, and may, indeed, transform 
 his character into quite another type and reconstruct 
 both the bodily and mental life. 
 
 Astounding as the fact may seem, it is true that we 
 can make ourselves over as the carpenter refashions a 
 house or a ship, as the tailor refashions a garment. And 
 in this transformation of character to higher and 'nobler 
 type the most powerful agency is suggestion. 
 
 The method of successful self-suggestion, stripped of 
 all technicalities, is along this line: 
 
 1. Form clear and definite ideas of what we would 
 be, the heights we would attain, the objects we would 
 secure, or, if sick, the changes desired in our condition. 
 We must mentally see, and see with clearness, the quali- 
 ties and characteristics we would reach or the objects we 
 would win, as these photograph themselves upon the sub- 
 conscious mind and set the hidden forces of our nature 
 at work to secure their realization. To take a good pho- 
 tograph we require a good light and as the plate must 
 catch reflections from all parts of the object photo- 
 graphed, so our sub-conscious activities must be im- 
 pressed with the full and clear outline of our soul desires. 
 
 2. We must cultivate earnest desire for the objects 
 aimed at. The measure of desire is the measure of im- 
 pression we make on the sub-conscious mind. Herein is 
 the value of knowledge, reading, study these show us 
 the advantages to be gained and excite the desires of the 
 soul. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst," said 
 the great Nazarene. Study and meditate until the soul 
 is ablaze with desire. 
 
 3. Have faith in yourself. Most people have faith 
 in the ability of others, but lack of faith in themselves. 
 We must realize, if possible, our own worth, power and 
 talent and cultivate faith in the hidden resources of our 
 
 43 
 
being. The sub-conscious mind is connected with the in- 
 finite mind and can draw upon the divine resources with- 
 out restraint, except the limitations put upon this out- 
 flow by our heredity or our lack of faith. 
 
 This same principle may be applied to others, especial- 
 ly those linked to us by ties of blood or mental or spir- 
 itual affinity. 
 
 Thompson Jay Hudson in his "Law of Psychic Phe- 
 nomena" gives the result of many experiments in treat- 
 ing the sick by suggestion all unknown to the patients 
 by absent treatment and in the night season. About 
 seventy per cent, of his silent treatments were suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 When under sleep or hypnosis the sub-conscious mind 
 is more accessible and more deeply influenced. 
 
 By repeatedly throwing out the thought of recovery 
 to the sick in the night season, we start a current in the 
 sub-conscious mentation of the patient which in turn 
 reaches the consciousness and the thought of recovery is 
 born within his objective mind. This optimistic thought 
 rouses the soul forces to higher vibration and assists the 
 organism to throw off the lower vibrations of disease 
 and aids nature in restoring normal health conditions. 
 
 44 
 
THE COMMON ORIGIN OF RELIGION 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Whence come the nearly two hundred religions that 
 are found in America and the innumerable religions of 
 other lands? Each of them claiming a divine authority, 
 each professing to be the one genuine and simon-pure 
 religion and superior to all others in the field. All of 
 them proclaiming some helpful truths and very much the 
 same moral teaching, and yet nearly all of them helping 
 to hold their followers in mental slavery and more or 
 less sectarian narrowness? 
 
 There are two great theories as to the origin of re- 
 ligions, viz: That all religions are human in origin, falli- 
 ble in their teaching and without authority, save one, 
 and this one is of God, and true and authoritative. All 
 were man-made but one ;this one religion was fash- 
 ioned of God and handed down through chosen channels 
 to mankind. Nearly every religion subscribes to this 
 view and differs only from all the other religions in re- 
 gard to which one of the multitude of religions is the 
 divine one, with authority and with saving grace. Each 
 religion modestly claims this honor for itself. 
 
 The other view that of Liberals in general and of 
 Spiritualists in particular is that all religions, without 
 any exception whatever, are human, fallible, possessed 
 of no authority except the authority of the truth they 
 proclaim much or little as the case may be for truth 
 is alway authoritative. Whether in the revered bibles 
 of past days, or in some divine publication of today, 
 truth is everywhere and always an authority. Every re- 
 ligion is the product of the human brain and heart seek- 
 ing truth and the highest good. This does not imply 
 that inspiration is not a factor in the origin of re- 
 ligions. So far from that being true inspiration is so 
 common and so varied and so diverse in its effects that 
 
 45 
 
it may be said to enter into all that pertains to man's 
 mental, moral and spiritual activities. 
 
 But inspiration is not infallible or authoritative and 
 depends for the truth and the value of its message, upon 
 the source from which it springs and the channel 
 through which it flows. Doubtless Mahomet was inspired ; 
 so was Zoroaster; so was Buddha; so was Socrates. 
 
 If our Orthodox friends persist in the view that one 
 religion their religion is different in origin, authority, 
 nature, destiny, from all other religions, the burden of 
 proof is theirs, not ours. 
 
 The natural, logical inference is that one thousand 
 trees growing in the same soil, breathing the same at- 
 mosphere, under the same sun, have had a common ori- 
 gin. If you assert and ask men to believe that one of 
 these trees has had a miraculous origin while the others 
 all had a natural origin, you must prove your case. Men 
 naturally believe in nature and reject miracle and they 
 will simply laugh your assertion out of court, till you 
 prove that a miracle was required to produce one out of 
 a thousand trees all the rest having a natural origin. 
 Similarly should you contend that one man out of the 
 countless millions of earth's inhabitants was born by 
 miracle; or that one planet out of the innumerable sys- 
 tems in the heavens required a miracle for its produc- 
 tion; or that one book of all books came into existence 
 by miracle! in each case you must prove your conten- 
 tion, because the native judgment of mankind affirms 
 otherwise and we naturally infer that if natural causes 
 produced all men, all planets, all books except one, the 
 great probability is that natural causes produced them 
 all. 
 
 This line of reasoning does not require us to ignore 
 the distinctions in religions, in men, in books, in trees. 
 We may readily recognize one tree as the largest and 
 most beautiful of the forest without considering it the 
 product of miracle. So with men, books, religions the 
 fact that one is superior to all others by no means com- 
 pels us to believe its origin a miracle. 
 
 All religions have a humble origin, a youth, a man- 
 hood and an old age and decay. They all undergo 
 changes, owing to the changing views of the times and 
 
 46 
 
social and political environment. They spring out of 
 each other generally as shoots spring from the roots of 
 fallen trees. They are all in a state of flux never con- 
 tinuing uniform in their teaching, practice and policy. 
 
 The special claims that have been made for Christian- 
 ity as a Supernatural Religion are today discredited by 
 the teachings of Science and the studies of "Compara- 
 tive Religions." The claim of Originality in its teach- 
 ings can now no longer be maintained. Even the Old 
 Testament is a copy of early Babylonian and Assyrian 
 literature as the Code of Hammurabi proves. The cardi- 
 nal teachings of Christianity divine fatherhood, human 
 brotherhood, love and service of mankind, truth, justice, 
 charity and kindness are all found with greater or 
 lesser fullness in other religions, many of them cen- 
 turies older than the Christian Church. Christianity has 
 had its evolution and is now being remoulded and re- 
 shaped by the enlarging science of today and the higher 
 moral consciousness of the race. The Christianity of 
 Jesus and the Synoptists was quite different from the 
 Christianity of St. John a hundred or more years later. 
 The Christianity of St. John was superseded by that of 
 500 A. D., and the Christianity of Luther's time different 
 still and the Christianity of today unlike any preced- 
 ing type of the same religion. 
 
 The character of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels is 
 one of rare beauty and it is hard to over-estimate the 
 high moral and spiritual effects of that portrait wheth- 
 er a fiction or a fact upon mankind. Yet assuming 
 Jesus to have been as pure and blameless and as high an 
 authority as Orthodoxy represents, nothing seems more 
 certain to a candid student of N. T. Christianity and 
 the Orthodoxxy of today than this: Jesus never taught 
 the fundamental principles of Orthodoxy, and he did 
 teach many principles utterly at variance with the 
 church teachings of our times. Candid judgment upon 
 all the facts in the case will place him among the Seers 
 of the Ages, among the Prophets, among those who be- 
 lieved in and practiced communion with the intelligences 
 of the Spirit Realm. He never claimed authority for 
 himself only for the Truth. He claimed no wisdom, 
 
 47 
 
power, gift, or authority not equally open to his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 As to Miracles and Prophecies it is vain to allude to 
 these as proofs of the miraculous origin of any partic- 
 ular religion, since all religions are based upon miracles 
 and prophecies of the very same nature and seemingly 
 just as well authenticated viz: healing the sick, rais- 
 ing the (so-called) dead foretelling events, etc., etc. 
 
 As to the supposed effects of Christianity being an 
 argument for its supernatural origin, it is very difficult 
 to say that because a man professes the Christian re- 
 ligion, his good deeds spring out of his religion. If so, 
 whence the good deeds of many heathen? Whence the 
 high morality of other religions ? Whence the bad deeds 
 of professing Christians? 
 
 A multitude of causes enter into the formation of hu- 
 man character and the determination of human conduct. 
 
 Let us illustrate. Here is a boat going down stream 
 and in it are five rowers. In the front is a priest, next 
 to him a teacher, and next to him a scientist, and next 
 to him a spiritualist, and last of all a sceptic, all with 
 their paddles in the water. After a time the priest 
 breaks the silence and says: "Gentlemen, have you ob- 
 served how far and how fast the boast has gone since I 
 placed my paddle in the water ? Surely no one can doubt 
 that our progress is largely due to my vigorous pad- 
 dling." "But," cry the whole company in chorus, "we 
 also are urging forward the craft. What right have you 
 to a monopoly of credit?" And while they dispute the 
 relative credit due to each for the progress of the boat, 
 I hear the current finding voice and saying: "For one 
 mile of progress through all your joint efforts, please 
 credit me at least five. I do more than all of you com- 
 bined." Then I hear the wind speaking: "Gentlemen, I, 
 too, contribute to the progress of your craft. In fact 
 I do more to speed it than all your paddling." 
 
 Religion is in fact only one of the many factors that 
 assist the progress of humanity, and, unfortunately, it 
 has often been so abused as to retard human progress 
 rather than promote it. Art, music, education, govern- 
 ment, science, invention, industry, commerce, and many 
 other factors contribute to the growth of human knowl- 
 
 48 
 
edge, a higher morality and the growing spirit of human 
 brotherhood. 
 
 But two great elements not usually recognized or 
 duly credited enter into human progress and better- 
 ment. These are first the "Spirit of Progress," inherent 
 in the soul itself that divine urge within the man that 
 is ever prompting the individual and the nation to reach 
 out and on and up to higher and better things. This is 
 the "Current" alluded to in my illustration the Evolu- 
 tionary Force within the soul itself. 
 
 In addition to this force within the soul that every- 
 where and always tends to progress there is a Force 
 without the Soul, which I denominate Inspiration, com- 
 mon to all lands and ages, which may be compared to 
 the influence of sunshine on plants and animals. The im- 
 press of the great Realm of Spirit, which Longfellow de- 
 clared floats over and about this mortal realm "like an at- 
 mosphere," is universal, constant, and mighty for good. 
 
 So there is no evidence that is conclusive as to the 
 miraculous origiin of the Christian religion in the fact 
 that many professed Christians lead lives of lofty moral- 
 ity and benevolence. Even if we believe this fact di- 
 rectly to the example and teaching of the blessed Nazar- 
 ene, we are by no means warranted in regarding the 
 origin of Christianity as a miracle, or in confounding his 
 simple and beautiful teaching with the travesty known 
 as Orthodoxy today. 
 
 In a succeeding paper I shall point out the similar 
 teachings, customs, practices and beliefs of Christian 
 and non-Christian religions. 
 
 One of the most important departments of study re- 
 lating to Religion has had its inception in our own day 
 the "Science of Comparative Religions" the study of 
 which discloses amazing degrees of similarity in all the 
 great religions, the difference being mostly those of 
 terminology and such incidental changes as would result 
 from the peculiarities of climate, race, customs and hab- 
 its of the people. From this study we learn that new 
 religions spring out of old ones by the budding process, 
 by new shoots springing out of the old trunk, and hold 
 various degrees of relationship to each other just as sys- 
 tems of education and philosophy and government do. 
 
 49 
 
Allowing for differences in intellectual and spiritual 
 unfoldment, all religions practically teach the same mo- 
 rality, have the same stages of inception, growth, ma- 
 turity and decline, and the relationship between them 
 can be traced as clearly as the relationships between 
 nations and races. It seems, therefore, most natural 
 and rational to refer them all to a common and natural 
 origin as eexpressions of the spiritual nature of man in 
 its search for the good, the true and the beautiful 
 man's search for the chief good. 
 
 Just as in a forest of trees growing out of one soil, 
 under one sky, in the same atmosphere, under one sun, 
 it is natural to suppose that every tree had a purely nat- 
 ural origin so with all religions, bibles, and religious 
 leaders. Reason forbids us from giving a supernatural 
 origin to one bible, to one religion, to one Saviour or 
 Messiah and making all others human. Reason declares 
 that since the dawn of human history there has never 
 been an infallible book, an infallible creed, an infallible 
 church, nor an infallible man. 
 
 If you dispute this natural inference, the burden of 
 proof rests on you to prove the supernatural character 
 of your book or church or man. 
 
 Max Muller declares that there is no religion which 
 does not teach us to do good and avoid evil. Frederick 
 W. Harrison says that the new religion is very old and 
 that in studying religions you are constantly meeting the 
 same features, though differently named. 
 
 The Institutions of religion are the same practically in 
 all the systems you have monks, missionaries, priests 
 and pilgrims in them all. The Ritual is very similar in 
 all; prayers, liturgies and sacraments. The Instruments 
 are about the same: incense, candles ,holy water, relics, 
 etc. The Symbols of all the religions are practically 
 one: the cross, the serpent, the all-seeing eye. 
 
 You have prophecies and miracles (so-called) in all. 
 The sick are healed, the dead (so-called) are restored 
 and evil spirits cast out in all. The Holy Days are prac- 
 tically the same in all the great religions : Christmas and 
 Easter being selected at the same seasons in all the re- 
 ligions, though under different names, among the Per- 
 sians, Grecians and Romans. 
 
 50 
 
The Artistic Designs in all the religions are The Ma- 
 donna and Child, which were worshipped alike in Arabia, 
 Egypt and Thibet. None of the great religions seem 
 final and absolute and authoritative, not even Christiani- 
 ty, for Jesus declared he had much truth yet to give his 
 followers for which they would have to await the teach- 
 ings of the Spirit, not being prepared to receive these 
 teachings at that time. 
 
 Christianity itself has undergone immense transforma- 
 tions under the law of evolution and is constantly chang- 
 ing its methods and teachings. In doctrine, practice, and 
 methods the Christianity of Jesus differed from the 
 Christianity of the Apostle John one hundred years 
 later and this in turn differed widely from that of A. D. 
 500 and this most radically from the mongrel collection 
 of teaching known as Christianity today. 
 
 Again all the sacred books (bibles) practically taught 
 one doctrine, contained the same legends of Creation, 
 flood, babel, the fall of man, and accounts of miracles. 
 That our Bible accounts of these legends and histories 
 are not original but borrowed from earlier systems of 
 teaching is now as certain as any facts can be made by 
 overwhelming evidence. The Code of Hammurabi is 
 much older than that of Moses and contains the essential 
 features of Judaic legislations and economy. 
 
 Sacrifice one of the great institutions of religion, 
 existed in all primitive religions and is a clear evidence 
 of the savagery under which these religions were con- 
 ceived and brought forth. Among savages today the 
 petty king or tyrant is -appeased and bribed with gifts, 
 mostly of animals, and as his favor was to be won only 
 in this way or by the blood of his enemies, men in their 
 fear of the Supreme naturally imagined God was to be 
 propitiated in the same way. Religion was begotten in 
 fear, and in this dogma of "Salvation by Blood," we 
 have the ear-marks of its savage origin. From animal 
 sacrifice the step to human sacrifices was easy and nat- 
 ural and in the Old Testament times the people had not 
 outgrown the doctrine of human sacrifices. Witness the 
 command to Abraham and the temptation to sacrifice 
 Isaac. The actual sacrifice of Jeptha's daughter is an- 
 other fearful illustration. And the hewing of Agag to 
 
 51 
 
pieces by Samuel, the blood-thirsty prophet of Jehovah, 
 "before the Lord," was as this Hebrew expression im- 
 plies a sacrifice of human life to Jehovah. 
 
 Circumcision was not peculiar to the Jews. It was a 
 primitive Arabian custom and spread from there into 
 India, Turkey, and was found among the ancient Canaan- 
 ites, among South Sea races, among the Kaffirs of Africa. 
 
 Baptism was long in use in the other great religions 
 before John the Baptist conducted his mission. It was 
 the Ceremony of Initiation of the Candidates into the 
 Mysteries of Religion in Egypt and other lands. It was 
 always associated with the doctrine of the "Second 
 Birth," as we shall see. The Candidate in the ordeals to 
 which he was bound to submit was hypnotized and put 
 into a trance for three days. His spirit was sent into 
 the astral realm that it might contact the elements! 
 fire, air, earth, and water, learn to face the sights and 
 sounds of the astral realm and learn how to guide, in- 
 spire and teach those who needed similar instruction. 
 
 On the fourth day the Candidate was awakened his 
 body lying during these three days in a rock-hewn sepul- 
 chre with a cross upon it-and baptized, clothed in pure 
 linen, and he was then said to be "born again." 
 
 The Eucharist was celebrated centuries before our era 
 in many lands, notably in Mexico where the ancient 
 Mexicans had a supper in which they ate the flesh of 
 their God. Father Grueber, the Catholic missionary in 
 Mexico, believed the Devil must have instituted this long 
 in advance of Christianity, to ridicule the real and true 
 Christianity when it should appear. 
 
 The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not pe- 
 culiar to Christianity. Divine Incarnations, and virgin- 
 born gods and goddesses are frequent in Greek and Ro- 
 man Mythology. Osihis of Egypt was a son of God, 
 taught a chosen race, went out to evangelize the people, 
 was slain and descended into hell, rose from the dead 
 and presides over all his followers. 
 
 Buddha was virgin-born. He was called the "Word" 
 or "Logos." Also called the "Saviour of Men." He em- 
 barrassed his teachers in his childhood by his superior 
 wisdom. He was tempted. He went out to evangelize 
 his people. He made the great Renunciation of his 
 
 52 
 
kingdom, his home and friends. He declared he would 
 never accept any salvation for himself which should not 
 belong to all men. He abolished caste and cruelty. He 
 taught the doctrine of the forgiveness of injuries. He 
 received the outcasts. According to the legend he was 
 slain, descended into hell and rose again. 
 
 The Forty Day Fasts are by no means peculiar to 
 Bible teaching and the Christian religion. Originally, 
 the fasting period was one week, but this was changed 
 A. D. 519 to a fast of forty days. The Mexicans had 
 such a fast in honor of the Sun. In Egypt there was a 
 fast and mourning period for Osiris of forty days. In 
 Persia such a fast became a festival of salutation to 
 Mithra, the Sun-God. 
 
 Nor is Easter peculiar to Christianity. The word is 
 by many traced to Ishtar, the virgin mother of Tam- 
 muz, the Saviour-god of the Babylonians. 
 
 While most open-minded students of primitive Chris- 
 tianity trace its origin to some such personality as that 
 of Jesus in the Gospels, it must be confessed that when 
 we seek to fix upon definite facts and dates in the life 
 of Jesus and apply the rules of the Higher Criticism to 
 his life story, we find ourselves in a sea of uncertainty 
 and conjecture. For example, the date of his birth has 
 never been fixed with any degree of certitude. Accord- 
 ing to Canon Farrar, the great Anglican authority, 
 every date between June and September has been ad- 
 vanced as the date of his birth. The one thing that is 
 definitely known among scholars is the common date as- 
 signed, December 25th, is not the date of the birth of 
 Jesus. This date was sanctioned by Pope Julius I, 337 
 A. D. St. Chrysostom declares that the date of Jesus' 
 birth was fixed in December to be in harmony with the 
 celebration of the birth of the heathen Savior-Gods 
 which were celebrated in that month. It is a singular 
 fact that there is no representation of a crucified Jesus 
 in art for six centuries after the date assigned for his 
 birth. The first symbol of Jesus was that of a lamb, 
 then of a lamb upon a cross, and at the Sixth Synod of 
 Constantine, A. D. 608, it was ordered that the recog- 
 nized symbol of Christianity should be a man upon a 
 cross. 
 
 53 
 
The Saviour-Gods of the different religions were all 
 born in December (the Winter Solstice) and all died 
 (were put to death) in March (the Spring Solstice). 
 
 Between Krishna and our Jesus no less than five hun- 
 dred striking points of resemblance have been pointed 
 out. He was according to the belief of his followers, an 
 Avatar, a manifestation of the divine. His mother was 
 Deva-Maya; he was of royal descent; was born in a 
 dungeon ; was attended by angels ; his life was sought in 
 his childhood; he escaped by flight; he wrought mira- 
 cles; he was assaulted by devils, etc., etc. You say, 
 Krishna's life story is a copy of that of Jesus but 
 Krishna lived several centuries before the time of Jesus. 
 
 Mithra, the sun-god, was born in a grotto at our 
 Xmastide and was called Saviour. Quexalcoatle, ages 
 before the time of Cortez, was worshipped as Saviour. 
 He was born at Xmastide and crucified between two 
 malefactors. The stories of the life of Krishna, Apollo, 
 Baal, Bacchus, Ra of Egypt, and other Saviours is strik- 
 ingly like our Gospel story. 
 
 Many customs common to all the religions are directly 
 traceable to the sun and sun worship and the motions 
 of the planets. 
 
 Four Great Religions: Hinduism, Brahminism, Budd- 
 hism and Christianity, count their followers by scores 
 and hundreds of millions and have vast political influ- 
 ence, social life, great literatures, extended histories and 
 vast volumes of traditions. 
 
 Brahmanism is theistic and monotheistic and its hymns 
 are highly praised by Max Muller and other competent 
 critics. God is styled the Almighty Lord of Life the 
 King of the Invisible World Light and Glory Spirit - 
 Wisdom Happiness Everlasting Incomparable. He is 
 that which cannot be thought yet without which there 
 can be no thinking. He is that which cannot be seen, 
 yet without Him there can be no seeing. It recognized 
 the fact of sin, but taught no forgiveness of sin. Its 
 fundamental concept was Naturalism, stern and in- 
 exorable. 
 
 Buddhism is Protestant Brahmanism. It is Rational- 
 istic, humanitarian and some assert it is atheistic, em- 
 phasizing law. It taught a lofty morality, among which 
 
 54 
 
are the laws : Thou shalt not kill ; Thou shalt not steal ; 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not lie; 
 Thou shalt not become intoxicated. 
 
 It is a system of Self -Salvation through right belief, 
 right judgment, right language, right purpose, right 
 practice, right obedience, right memory and right medi- 
 tation. It emphasizes four great moralities that should 
 receive much more attention in the Christian Ethics 
 than they do duties very much ignored by Christian 
 peoples generally: obedience and respect to parents; 
 kindness to children; mercy to animals; and tolerance 
 and charity toward those who differ with us in opinion 
 and religion. 
 
 Those who imagine Christianity is the only religion 
 worth while, who look upon all the other great religions 
 as spurious counterfeits of the one true and absolute 
 religion, will have many surprises awaiting them when 
 they read the history of these religions and study the 
 lofty morality found therein. 
 
 Two things will surprise such people: First, the strik- 
 ing resemblance between the moral precepts of the so- 
 called heathen religions and those of the Bible and 
 Christianity; and, secondly, the lofty character of the 
 concepts of God and duty held by the teachers of these 
 religions. 
 
 Among the features of Buddhistic morality highly em- 
 phasized, and not sufficiently expressed and practiced 
 among Christian people, we may mention : Obedience and 
 Respect to Parents; Care, Kindness and Love to Chil- 
 dren and the Poor; Mercy to Animals; Tolerance and 
 Charity toward those differing with you in Religion. 
 
 In Edict VI on the Delhi Pillar is engraved Buddha's 
 prayer as an illustration of the spirit which should ani- 
 mate all his followers: 
 
 "I pray every manner of prayer for those who differ 
 from me, that they, following my proper example, may, 
 with me attain unto eternal salvation." 
 
 Here is another statement of Buddha's, quoted, re- 
 vered and emulated by his followers: 
 
 "A man who foolishly does me a wrong, I will return 
 to him the protection of my ungrudging love. The more 
 
 55 
 
evil comes from him to me, the more good shall go from 
 me to him." 
 
 Buddhism taught its followers to invoke the dead. It 
 taught that all men were brethren and should be as one 
 family. 
 
 So close a resemblance has been noted between Chris- 
 tian teaching and the teaching of Plato that the follow- 
 ers of each have long disputed whether Plato got his 
 doctrines out of the Old Testament or the New Testa- 
 ment teachers borrowed from Plato. Plato taught the 
 supremacy of God and endowed him with the highest 
 mental and moral attributes. He taught an effective 
 Providence over the lives of men. He taught the doc- 
 trine of rewards and punishments. He taught that man 
 was made in the image of God, and man's chief happi- 
 ness and good were found in becoming like unto God. 
 He taught no forgiveness of sins, no marvelous change 
 of man's nature, no divine redeemer. 
 
 If the history of the Essenes is true there is very lit- 
 tle that is original in Christianity. 
 
 The morality taught in many of the great religions 
 and that of poets and philosophers is in many cases al- 
 most identical with that of the Christian system. 
 
 Confucius taught that man's duty was "simply reci- 
 procity." 
 
 Pythagoras taught "the love of all for all." 
 
 Meander taught "To live is not to live for one's self 
 alone; let us help one another." 
 
 Seneca said: "We are members of one great body. We 
 must consider we are born for the good of the whole." 
 
 Lao-tse taught: 'The wise never return an injury but 
 with benefits." 
 
 Plato said: "It is never right to return an injury." 
 
 Tertullian, one of the Church Fathers, declared: "The 
 soul is an older authority than prophecy." 
 
 Justin Martyr, one of the Christian Fathers, declared: 
 "Those who live according to reason are Christians 
 though you may call them atheists." 
 
 The very word, philanthropy, expressing the highest 
 and best in all religions, was a Greek word in use cen- 
 turies before Jesus was born. 
 
 56 
 
Heathen writers wonder why if Christianity is the one 
 true religion Christian nations manufacture alcohol and 
 opium and demoralize heathen lands, and why Christians 
 are less kind to animals and more warlike than the 
 heathen. 
 
 Minister Wu of China, in this country years ago, 
 boasted that his country had not waged an aggressive 
 warfare for four thousand years. What Christian land 
 could boast of similar peaceful conduct? 
 
 When Bishop Heber in India urged and exhorted that 
 heroic Indian scholar, reformer and religious leader, 
 Swami Narain, to unite with the Christian church, he 
 answered: "Nay for Christ is incarnated not in one 
 but in many." 
 
 57 
 
THE POETS AND SPIRITUALISM 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Long before the Sun's crest is above the horizon in the 
 morning, the careful observer sees foregleams upon the 
 clouds of the coming Majesty. Later on there are golden 
 crests on the mountain peaks and then the hill tops are 
 kissed into beauty, and soon the wondrous revelation of 
 the King of Day over the eastern horizon. 
 
 So it is with new truth and the revelations that come 
 from the unseen, spirit spheres. The tall men, "sun- 
 crowned who live above the fog/' catch the first rays of 
 coming revelations. The clearest intellects, the most 
 intuitional among men, first receive and reflect the light 
 of the new dispensation of truth. Then, as the sunshine 
 gradually finds its way into the valleys and lights up the 
 ravines of the landscape, so the truth gradually perme- 
 ates into brain and heart of the stolid masses. 
 
 The poets have ever lived nearest Nature's heart, they 
 have heard her voice, interpreted her meaning, reflected 
 her moods and sentiments, and seen most deeply into her 
 wondrous working. 
 
 The true poet is the prophet of nature and of humani- 
 ty, and the world owes an unspeakable debt to the sweet 
 singers of every age. How they have charmed away the 
 cares and sorrows of humanity ! How have they exalted 
 man's spiritual nature and given expression to its no- 
 blest aspirations and achievements ! How they have de- 
 lighted us with their visions of beauty, of truth, and of 
 purity! How have they entranced us with the melody 
 of their numbers and the richness and grandeur of their 
 conceptions! They have sung to us of truth, charity, 
 love, justice, liberty and brotherhood, and have helped 
 as have no other class to spiritualize the race. 
 
 With few exceptions the great poets have been Spir- 
 itualists. Even where they were ignorant of the special 
 
 58 
 
doctrine of Modern Spiritualism spirit return and com- 
 munion they have taught the spiritual philosophy and 
 their poetry will be found to align more readily with the 
 broad and liberal religion of Spiritualism than with any 
 form of creedal religion. 
 
 Before discussing the relation of Spiritualism and 
 Poetry, a few introductory words, chiefly by way of defi- 
 nition. 
 
 Spiritualism may be regarded from a theoretical or 
 practical standpoint. Its theory implies a spiritual basis 
 and origin to the universe. With Pope it sings : "All are 
 but parts of one stupendous whole, whose body nature 
 is, and God the soul." Man is a microcosm. Death is 
 the birth of the soul into higher and nobler life. Reason, 
 love, consciousness, survive the tomb. The soul entering 
 on its new career beyond the grave, can, in accordance 
 with laws of its own being, impress its presence and 
 manifest its thoughts and desires to friends on the 
 earth-plane. 
 
 Practical Spiritualism is the application of all demon- 
 strated truth to right living resulting in health, intel- 
 lectuality, charity, and the exercise of all spiritual gifts 
 and graces in life. It is the application of the known 
 laws of soul life to spiritual development and unf oldment. 
 It is a recognition of the nearness and power of the 
 spirit world and an attempt more or less successful to 
 cultivate those senses of the soul that reveal the spir- 
 itual universe around us. Its watchword is progression 
 and its face is ever "towards the heights." 
 
 Multitudes of men and women are unconscious spir- 
 itualists. They feel as Wordsworth says, "Heaven lies 
 all around," and are dimly conscious at times that the 
 loved and lost are near them and not in some distant, 
 far-away heaven. They feel the breezes that blow from 
 the spirit land and though they "see but dimly through 
 the mists and vapors," yet in their hearts they recognize 
 the presence and power of the unseen spirit realm about 
 them. The great poets, preachers, authors, inventors, 
 artists, and leaders of men, have ever felt themselves 
 instruments of some power and intelligence greater than 
 their own. 
 
 The poets have ever been men and women whose spir- 
 
 59 
 
itual senses were developed to apprehend the spiritual 
 realities around them. Consciously or unconsciously they 
 have sung the Philosophy of Spiritualism and many of 
 them have expressly declared its central doctrine of 
 spirit return and communion. Do you ask me for proof 
 of this statement? Here it is: 
 
 1. Nearly all the great poets have expressly confessed 
 that the source of their poetry was outside themselves. 
 What mean the frequent invocations to the Muse as in 
 Homer, Milton and others if this explanation be not 
 accepted. 
 
 2. The lofty character of the thought, the beauty and 
 grace of their numbers, and the divine charm of their 
 sentiments, all show a heavenly origin. 
 
 3. The true poet only pours forth his song when his 
 lips are touched with the live coal of inspiration. At 
 other times he walks with common men the ordinary 
 paths of thought and feeling. Only when the "afflatus" 
 or "Muse" or "spirit control" or "inspiration" (call it 
 what you will) is upon him, does he essay his flights to 
 the realms of fantasy. 
 
 4. Like the prophet, the poet is subject to peculiar 
 spiritual experiences. He has reveries, trances, visions, 
 dreams, and is ,at times, in conscious touch with what 
 seems distant in time and space. 
 
 5. Like the medium or psychic, the poet has ever been 
 dependent on harmonious environment. The laws that 
 govern poetic development are the laws that govern 
 mediumship. 
 
 6. The poet, like the medium or prophet, has ever 
 broken loose from conventionalism in thought and 
 speech. Like mediums they have been men apart from 
 the masses. They have generally stood outside parties 
 and churches and been liberals in thought, reformers in 
 politics and heretics in religion. 
 
 Where will you find a stronger arraignment of Phari- 
 seeism in religion than is found in the good Quaker 
 poet, Whittier? Where stronger denunciation of the re- 
 lentless persecuting spirit (as expressed in orthodoxy) 
 than is found in Shelley's Queen Mab? 
 
 Where will you find bitterer satire, or more effective 
 
 60 
 
though concealed logic than in Holy Willie's Prayer? 
 
 "O Thou wha in the heavens dost dwell, 
 Wha, is it pleases best thysel, 
 Sends ane to heaven and ten to hell, 
 
 A' for thy glory, 
 And no for ony guid or ill 
 
 The've done afore thee; 
 
 What was I, or my generation, 
 That I should get sic exalfation? 
 I wha deserve sic just damnation 
 
 For broken laws, 
 
 Five thousand years 'fore my creation 
 Through Adam's cause." 
 
 Or, belonging to our own day, read "The Creed That 
 Is to Be" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and learn that "no 
 priest-made creed can alter facts" and that too long 
 humanity has "learned upon a tortured Christ." 
 
 7. But the poets have also taught much expressly and 
 much more by implication of the central truths of Spir- 
 itualism. 
 
 Even in the hymnology of the churches there is true 
 spiritual philosophy, despite the fact that much of it is 
 mere doggerel and perpetuates the crudest and most 
 absurd conceptions of religious ideas. Take by way of 
 illustration a hymn from a popular sectarian collection 
 entitled "The Power of Prayer" 
 
 "Oh, wondrous power of faithful prayer! 
 What tongue can tell the Almighty grace? 
 God's hands, or bound, or open are, 
 As Moses or Elijah prays. 
 Let Moses in the spirit groan, 
 And God cries out, let me alone. 
 
 Let me alone that all my wrath 
 May rise the wicked to consume" 
 
 but enough. Surely hymns embodying such conceptions 
 of an angry God held back from wreaking his vengeance 
 on his children by the more merciful efforts of men, 
 ought to be relegated to the attic of worn-out theology 
 in place of being sung into the minds and hearts of ten- 
 der children ! Such views are blasphemy, a libel on God, 
 a shame and disgrace to the churches which promulgate 
 them. 
 
 61 
 
The Bible is largely a book of poems and many of 
 these are beautiful and instructive lessons in our philoso- 
 phy. As we have already stated even in the Church 
 hymnology, amidst the barren desert sands of the crys- 
 tallized opinions of past ages, there are delightful oases 
 of pure spiritual thought and sentiment. Take that 
 matchless hymn of Frederick Faber's 
 
 There's a wideness in God's mercy 
 Like the wideness of the sea 
 
 For the love of God is broader 
 That the measure of man's mind." 
 
 In the light and love with which such a song floods 
 mind and heart, the doctrines of an angry God, of an 
 arbitrary judge, of a damnatory decree, of an everlast- 
 ing hell, disappear as mists before the morning sun. 
 
 Take another of our modern hymns: "Lead Kindly 
 Light, amid the encircling gloom." Students of the 
 spiritual philosophy know of lights that appear as did 
 those at Pentecost in the circle of believers of other 
 lights apparent only to the spiritual sight of lights 
 that glow and coruscate about the form of angelic vis- 
 itors and can understand Newman's hymn as a thor- 
 oughly spiritual poem. It is the inner soul light, the 
 light that never yet shone on land or sea, the light that 
 Merlin sought in that poem of Tennyson in which his 
 own soul experiences are represented, where Merlin 
 hastens to the harbor, launches his ship, spreads all sail 
 and follows "his gleam," which is not of the sunlight, 
 not of the moonlight, not of the starlight. Spiritualists 
 know the deeper meaning of Newman's verse 
 "And in the morn those angel faces smile." 
 
 Take another: "Nearer, My God, To Thee." This hymn 
 is, in its conception and outworking, a thoroughly spir- 
 itual one. It is based on Jacob's Dream and Vision 
 and teaches spiritual truths throughout: that suffering 
 spiritualizes men; that souls progress in knowledge and 
 spirituality through all the varied life experiences; that 
 in sleep we may get nearer to God (that is, to the spir- 
 itual realms and existences), and that beckoning angels 
 are ever ready to assist us in rising into the higher 
 realms of thought and feeling. 
 
 62 
 
None of our modern poets has more distinctly and 
 effectively taught the truths of our system than Henry 
 Wadsworth Longfellow. Spiritualism makes every man 
 the architect of his own fortune, the builder of his own 
 future habitation, and emphasizes the fact that our 
 place and station in society are nothing but incidents 
 entirely unimportant but the spirit which we cultivate 
 and in which we live is everything. "Not what we do, 
 but how we do it." Where can you find this grand doc- 
 trine of democracy, this teacher of human brotherhood, 
 this dignifier of humble, honest and pure life, more 
 beautifully set forth than in "The Builders." 
 
 All are architects of Fate, 
 
 Working in these walls of Time, 
 Some with massive deeds and great, 
 
 Some with ornaments of rhyme. 
 
 Nothing useless is, or low; 
 
 Each thing in its place is best; 
 And what seems but idle show 
 
 Strengthens and supports the rest. 
 
 In the elder days of Art, 
 
 Builders wrought with greatest care 
 Each minute and unseen part 
 
 For the Gods see every where. 
 
 Let us do our work as well, 
 
 Both the unseen and the seen; 
 Make the house, where Gods may dwell, 
 
 Beautiful, entire, and clean. 
 
 The true path of soul progress for this life, and by 
 implication for the next, is laid out in "Excelsior" which 
 in title, spirit, aspiration and continued progress amidst 
 difficulties is a compend of the spiritual philosophy. 
 
 How forcibly, too, one of the main tenets of Spiritual- 
 ism, that whatever a man sows he must reap, that deeds 
 cannot be annulled or their consequences obliterated, 
 that all our words and deeds are irrevocable, is brought 
 out in "The Arrow and the Song." The arrow shot into 
 the air, and lost to sight, is found "long afterward" in 
 the heart of an oak so no deed is lost ; and as the song 
 breathed into the air is found long afterwards in the 
 heart of a friend, so every act reaps recompense. 
 
 63 
 
In the "Psalm of Life" we have the soul's survival of 
 death, and the great fact that every life has its lessons 
 and proclaims a Gospel to men, set forth in forcible 
 numbers. His poem "Resignation" is one of the sweet- 
 est messages ever breathed by poetic lips upon the ears 
 of the afflicted. It is the Nectar of Divine Consolation 
 wrung out of his crushed heart after the loss of a child. 
 In a similar hour of grief that overshadowed my home 
 I found this poem the first inspired word to which my 
 soul instinctively turned. 
 
 In "Footsteps of Angels" a sort of waking trance 
 he sees "the forms of the departed enter at the open 
 door" and realizes the companionship of loved and lost 
 friends and comprehends the unuttered desires and 
 blessings of his angel visitors. 
 
 In "Haunted Houses" he declares: 
 
 All houses wherein men have lived and died 
 Are haunted houses. Through the open doors, 
 
 The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, 
 With feet that make no sound upon the floor. 
 
 There are more guests at table than the host 
 
 Invited: the illuminated hall 
 Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts 
 
 As silent as the pictures on the wall. 
 
 The spirit-world around this world of sense 
 Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere 
 
 Wafts thro' these earthly mists and vapors dense 
 A vital breath of more etherial air. 
 
 Sandolphon, the Angel of Prayer, who changes the 
 prayers of the saints into flowers in his hand, expresses 
 in part that divine Alchemy taught in Spiritualism, by 
 which pure desires and thoughts are changed into beauty 
 of character and environment. 
 
 Tennyson, however, is the great Prophet of Spiritual- 
 ism in our day. The sweetest singer of our times has 
 been the clearest in his enunciation of the truths of our 
 philosophy "In Memoriam" is a Gospel of Spiritualism. 
 It expresses the universal longing for spiritual com- 
 munion, and it lays bare the psychic experiences of the 
 poet which he describes in language well understood by 
 every spiritual person. His recent biography contains 
 
 64 
 
facts concerning his own peculiar clairvoyant trances 
 which show that he was a seer and like all the prophets 
 had his "peculiar" experiences. Tennyson had the deep- 
 est conviction of the reality of spiritual things and often 
 felt that the material was the vague and shadowy and 
 unsubstantial, while the spiritual was the permanent 
 and unchanging. "In Memoriam" is the outpouring of a 
 human heart in intensest longing for and measurable 
 realization of the "Communion of Saints." It is inimi- 
 tably sweet, tender and beautiful and will live as long 
 as love and friendship abide. Addressing his friend Hal- 
 lam he says: 
 
 "And doubtless, unto thee is given 
 A life that bears immortal fruit 
 In such great offices as suit 
 The full grown energies of heaven." 
 
 He was never identified in any public manner with 
 Spiritualism, but he often expressed to friends his belief 
 in its central truths and he sang its higher purer Gospel. 
 Prof. Knight relates in Blackwood how in conversation 
 with him Tennyson told many a tale of spirit return and 
 expressed his belief in the truth of the stories related. 
 Speaking of the Intercommunion of Saints, he said: 
 
 "I do not see why its central truth is untenable. If we would 
 think about this truth, it would become very natural and reasonable 
 to us. Why should those who have gone before, not surround and 
 minister to us, as legions of angels surround and minister to our 
 Lord." 
 
 He had clairvoyant trances so deep that he suffered 
 partial or entire loss of consciousness to physical sur- 
 roundings and in which he had a very vivid sense of 
 spiritual things sometimes at a distance and awaking 
 out of these trances, like Wordsworth, the Poet, he fre- 
 quently would have to grasp something in his hand to 
 assure himself of its real material existence. 
 
 In these states, like Paul, he hardly knew whether he 
 was in the body, or out of the body (in the astral) . His 
 son relates this statement from him: "Yes, it is true 
 that there are moments when the flesh is nothing to me, 
 when I feel and know the flesh to be the vision, God and 
 the spiritual the only real and true. Depend upon it the 
 
 65 
 
spiritual is the real. It belongs to me more than the 
 hand and the foot. You may tell me that my hand and 
 my foot are only imaginary symbols of my existence, 
 I could believe you; but you never, never can convince 
 me that the T is not an eternal reality, and that the 
 spiritual is not the true and real part of me." 
 
 In 1887 he wrote to the Queen a letter in which oc- 
 curs this extract: 
 
 "Yet if the dead, as I have often felt, tho silent be more living 
 than the living; and linger about the planet in which their earth 
 life was passed, then they, while we are lamenting that they are 
 not at our side, may still be with us; and the husband, the 
 daughter and the son, lost by your Majesty, may rejoice when the 
 people shout the name of their Queen." 
 
 Where will you find more beautiful poetic setting of 
 a trance experience of soul communion with "the dead" 
 than in these lines: 
 
 "So word by word, and line by line, 
 The dead man touch'd me from the past, 
 And all at once it seem'd at last 
 The living soul was flashed on mine. 
 
 And mine in this was wound and whirl'd 
 About empyreal heights of thought, 
 And come on that which is, and caught 
 The deep pulsations of the world. 
 
 Eonian music measuring out 
 The steps of Time the shocks of Chance 
 The blows of Death. At length my trance 
 Was cancell'd, stricken thro' with doubt. 
 
 Vague words but ah, how hard to frame 
 In matter,- moulded forms of speech, 
 Or ev'n for intellect to reach 
 Thro' memory that which I become." 
 
 Tennyson taught the recognized Truths of Spiritual- 
 ism. 
 
 1. The soul of the individual, as well as humanity in 
 general, is mounting upward in endless progression: 
 
 "Yet I doubt not, thro' the ages one unceasing purpose runs, 
 And the thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the 
 suns." 
 
 66 
 
And again: 
 
 "Eternal process moving on, 
 
 From state to state the spirit walks." 
 
 And again: 
 
 "I hold it truth, with him who sings 
 To one clear harp in divers tones 
 That men may rise on stepping stones 
 Of their dead selves, to higher things." 
 
 2. There is an honest doubt as well as an honest faith 
 ---and doubt is oft the true pathway to nobler faith and 
 richer knowledge. 
 
 "You say, but with no touch of scorn, 
 Sweet-hearted, you, whose light blue eyes 
 Are tender over drowning flies, 
 You tell me, doubt is Devil-born. 
 
 I know not: one indeed I knew 
 In many a subtle question versed, 
 Who touch'd a jarring lyre at first, 
 But ever strove to make it true: 
 
 Perplexed in faith, but pure in deeds, 
 At last he beat his music out. 
 There lives more faith in honest doubt, 
 Believe me, than in half the creeds." 
 
 3. Our earthly losses are all spiritual gains. By di- 
 vine Alchemy inwrought in the laws of our being and 
 worked out evolutionary every trial, loss, suffering and 
 hard life experiences is transmuted into spiritual riches. 
 The apparently evil is real good only undeveloped. 
 
 "I hold it true, what'er befall; 
 I feel it when I sorrow most; 
 'Tis better to have loved and lost 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 4. Old forms of thought, belief, and sectarianism 
 must give way to the New Thought, Nobler Sentiments 
 and Diviner Manhood of this age. 
 
 Hear him, ye croakers for the "good old times" of 
 your fathers, ye creed worshipers and believers in the 
 depravity of human nature, as he sings of the "common 
 love of good" in what I call 
 
 67 
 
THE NEW GOSPEL OF THIS AGE 
 
 Ring out the feud of rich and poor 
 For those that here we see no more 
 Ring out the feud of rich and poor 
 Ring in redress for all mankind. 
 
 Ring out a slowly dying cause, 
 And ancient forms of party strife 
 Ring in the nobler modes of life, 
 With sweeter manners, purer laws. 
 
 Ring out the want, the care, the sin, 
 The faithless coldness of the times; 
 Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes 
 But ring the fuller minstrel in. 
 
 Ring out false pride in place and blood, 
 The civic slander and the spite; 
 Ring in the love of truth and right, 
 Ring in the common love of good. 
 
 Ring out old shapes of foul disease; 
 Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; 
 Ring out the thousand wars of old, 
 Ring in the thousand years of peace. 
 
 Ring in the valiant man and free, 
 The larger heart, the kindlier hand; 
 Ring out the darkness of the land, 
 Ring in the Christ that is to be. 
 
 5. The old creeds pronouncing man accursed and con- 
 signing him to endless misery must give way to man's 
 realization of his own divinity and to the nobler opti- 
 mism of our times. 
 
 While the churches were still generally pronouncing 
 the earth and man accursed through Adam's transgres- 
 sion and teaching that the multitude was in the way to 
 endless death, Tennyson sang to the world this 
 
 GLORIUS OPTIMISM 
 
 Oh yet we trust that somehow good 
 Will be the final goal of ill, 
 To pangs of nature, sins of will, 
 Defects of doubt, and taints of blood; 
 
 68 
 
That nothing walks with aimless feet; 
 That not one life shall be destroyed, 
 Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
 When God hath made the pile complete; 
 
 That not a worm is cloven in vain: 
 That not a moth with vain desire 
 Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire, 
 Or but subserves another's gain. 
 
 Behold we know not anything; 
 I can but trust that good shall fall 
 At last far off at last, to all, 
 And every winter change to spring. 
 
 Tell me, is not "In Memoriam," with its blessed Opti- 
 mism a better Gospel for today than Jeremiah's Lamen- 
 tations? Is not Tennyson, with his sweet Evangel that 
 "good shall be the final goal of ill," that "not one ilfe 
 shall be destroyed," that every winter shall "change to 
 spring" a better Teacher for today than Paul with his 
 doctrine of depravity, of election and predestination and 
 the damnation of all non-elect? 
 
 69 
 
NEW THOUGHT, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 
 AND SPIRITUALISM 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I am asked to compare and contrast the Teachings and 
 Claims of New Thought, Christian Science and Spirit- 
 ualism. 
 
 I hope to do so with appreciation of whatever is good 
 in each of them, and with a candid recognition of what 
 may appear to me as their limitations and errors. 
 
 To begin with, they all belong to the Great Liberal 
 Movement of Human Thought and, in their teachings 
 and spirit, have a good deal in common. They are all 
 outside the pale of Orthodoxy, so far as religion is con- 
 cerned. They are all streams from one great Fountain 
 Head of liberal thought, which began with that master- 
 ly work of Andrew Jackson Davis in 1847 : "Principles of 
 Nature, Her Divine Revelations," containing the an- 
 nouncement of a new age, the publication of a new Phil- 
 osophy of Life and the Gospel of a new Religion for the 
 world. The Philosophy of Spiritualism thus preceded its 
 Phenomena, as history dates Modern Spiritualism from 
 March 31st, 1848, the night on which a code of communi- 
 cation between the two realms was discovered. Almost 
 immediately after the marvelous manifestations at 
 Hydesville came Davis* Great Harmonia in five volumes, 
 followed by "The Origin of Species" by Darwin, and his 
 co-discoverer, Alfred Russell Wallace, announcing the 
 principle of evolution. Then followed a book "Dealings 
 With the Dead," about 1860, by Pascall Randolph, which 
 contained many paragraphs and passages strikingly sim- 
 ilar, in fact almost verbatim, to others found in "Science 
 and Health" published in 1875. Following this book, 
 "Dealings With the Dead," came the work of Dr. Quimby 
 as a metaphysical healer and teacher, and Evans with 
 his Mind Cure. Mrs. Eddy, as patient and pupil of Dr. 
 
 70 
 
Quimby, taught his lessons and gave him credit for 
 them at the time, and afterwards embodied them with 
 much other matter, drawn from a great variety of 
 sources, in "Science and Health" in 1875. 
 
 In their origin and up to a certain point in their 
 course, New Thought, Christian Science and Spiritual- 
 ism are all parts of one Progressive Movement, but 
 afterwards became marked with strong contrasts and 
 many points of opposition. 
 
 THE COMMON GROUND OCCUPIED 
 
 First, they all reject the Old Theology. They each 
 teach the Wider Hope for humanity. Practically, all 
 New Thought Teachers and Christian Scientists would 
 endorse our N. S. A. declaration that "the door of re- 
 formation is never closed, either in this world or the 
 next." All of these movements stand solidly against sal- 
 vation by vicarious atonement. They are one in reject- 
 ing the absurdities and abominations of the Orthodox 
 Scheme of Redemption. Practically, they all believe in 
 Salvation by Character and not by "blood," or "faith" 
 or "sacraments." Another point of agreement is that all 
 three movements stand solidly in favor of Metaphysical 
 Healing and against Medical Monopoly. Historically 
 they are related and may fittingly be compared to the 
 root, the trunk, the branches and the fruitage of one 
 Great Tree. They are products of one great enlarge- 
 ment of Human Thought, or, shall we say, outpouring 
 of the Spirit, which has come to America within the 
 last 75 years. Spiritualism may justly be regarded as 
 the Great Tidal Wave of new thought, and new theology 
 and new religion, spreading over America, out of which 
 sprang Organized Christian Science and the Great Meta- 
 physical Movement of today. Spiritualistic propaganda 
 made Christian Science possible. Christian Science, it is 
 true, was organized as a religious movement before Spir- 
 itualism, but the ground had been prepared for it, the 
 public interest created, the wider and more liberal 
 thought had been promulgated, and, without this, Chris- 
 tian Science and New Thought could not have been 
 launched. The Founder of Christian Science, once a 
 
 71 
 
practicing medium in Boston, owed her initiation into 
 religious work, her inspiration and her success to Spir- 
 itualism and the teachings it had inspired. 
 
 When one begins to carefully study New Thought, 
 Christian Science and Spiritualism, he finds many of the 
 same teachings, under different names and with differ- 
 ent interpretations. He finds many basic facts and prin- 
 ciples alike, recognized by each movement, but with new 
 names for old truths and new philosophy for the same 
 old facts. The New Thought, the New Theology, the 
 New Healing, the New Philosophy, is the old revamped 
 and baptized with a new name. 
 
 Modern Spiritualism is the old Spiritualism of the 
 Prophets and the Apostles, a duplication of the Spiritu- 
 alism of the New Testament, with its trances, visions, 
 inspirations, angelic messages, prophecies and "Gifts of 
 the Spirit," with adaptations and modifications suited to 
 this age. 
 
 The New Thought, with its teachings of the power of 
 thought, mental healing, optimism, suggestion and suc- 
 cess, is as old as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Pythago- 
 ras, and is simply an elaboration of principles recognized 
 in earlier times and more or less fully expounded in the 
 Bibles of the past and in the works of Andrew Jackson 
 Davis. 
 
 Christian Science, which is pure Idealism as a Philoso- 
 phy, and pure Pantheism as a religion, is as old as Ber- 
 keley. "Science and Health" is a compilation from 
 Berkeley and Swedenborg, from "Dealings With the 
 Dead," and from Dr. Quimby, and Evans' Mind Cure. 
 There are original features, it is true, but they are 
 not numerous or important. 
 
 THE NEW THOUGHT TEACHING 
 
 The New Thought Teaching of Man's Greatness and 
 the unlimited powers of thought and suggestion, of will 
 power and imagination, are all found germinally in the 
 philosophers of the past, and, especially, in the Great 
 Harmonia of Andrew Jackson Davis. In the Thinker, 
 the Seer, the Physician of Davis are found all the prin- 
 ciples of the New Thought Teaching, not so fully elab- 
 
 72 
 
orated, it is true, but fundamentally stated. No philoso- 
 pher has given the world a nobler concept of the dignity 
 of man or of the latent possibilities locked up in the hu- 
 man soul, than Andrew Jackson Davis. Here New 
 Thought and the Spiritual Philosophy are one. They 
 are one, also, in their teaching of metaphysical healing. 
 They are one in their glorious optimism. They are one 
 in their wider hope for humanity, in their belief in the 
 final salvation of all men. They are one in their teach- 
 ings of the laws of harmony and the essentials of happi- 
 ness and success in life. 
 
 The New Thought Teaching emphasizes the greatness 
 of man. Teaches him self-respect and self-reliance; 
 shows him how to unfold his own powers; cultivates in 
 him hope, cheer, optimism, courage and will power; in- 
 structs him how to heal himself; how to snatch victory 
 from defeat; how to be happy in adverse conditions; 
 how to get Poise and Power and Beauty of Character. 
 It is a tonic in human life, a spur, an inspiration and 
 guide to health, happiness and success. It comes to mul- 
 titudes with a refreshment as pleasant and salutary as 
 an ocean breeze to one wearied with desert travel. But, 
 with all its excellencies, the New Thought has its serious 
 limitations. 
 
 LIMITATIONS OF THE NEW THOUGHT 
 
 As a tonic to the masses and as a spur and inspiration 
 to multitudes whose religion is filled with "other-world- 
 liness" and devoid of those practical teachings which 
 lead to progress, growth and success, the New Thought 
 propaganda is of great value. As a substitute for Re- 
 ligion, or a Gospel in itself, or as a movement fitted to 
 replace the Churches, it falls lamentably short. It is, 
 at best, but half a gospel. It is a gospel of earth, not 
 heaven, of time not of eternity, a gospel whose main 
 purview is of earthly values and acquirements and not 
 of the life unending, and of spirituality. 
 
 Doubtless there are New Thought Teachers who take 
 a wider and more spiritual view of life than the majority 
 of their number, and in their teachings enforce the de- 
 velopment of man's spiritual faculties and give instruc- 
 
 73 
 
tion and inspiration to men in reaching spiritual as well 
 as physical health spiritual riches as well as material 
 riches and thus present a nobler and fuller gospel to 
 mankind. 
 
 But, speaking generally, New Thought Teaching takes 
 in its compass life between the cradle and the grave. It 
 looks on man as intellect rather than spirit. It asserts, 
 in much of its literature, that "the mind is the man" 
 which is a fallacy for the mind is a faculty of the man 
 and not the man himself. Its objective to use a mili- 
 tary phrase is health, happiness and success, and these 
 may be obtained in their ordinary meaning, and yet the 
 man who obtains them may still be far from the king- 
 dom of heaven. 
 
 The New Thought is, therefore, no substitute what- 
 ever for the Gospel of Jesus which was one of Spiritual 
 values one of the noblest ethical systems known and 
 certainly did not make its objective worldly good, but 
 spiritual attainment. 
 
 It may be objected by many New Thought Teachers 
 that I am doing scant justice to their movement. Let 
 us hear their objection stated. It is this: 
 
 "You criticize the New Thought Movement for being 
 earthly in its aims and limiting its vision and its teach- 
 ings to earth and time, rather than to spiritual inter- 
 ests and the unending life. Is it not true that the proper 
 living of the earth life is the best possible preparation 
 for the ilfe hereafter?" We not only believe that the 
 best possible preparation for the future life is the proper 
 living of this life, but we assert most boldly that any 
 professed system of ethics taught as a preparation for 
 the after life which does not include a clear recognition 
 and a faithful discharge of life's duties here, is utterly 
 valueless. 
 
 But what constitutes a proper living of the earth life ? 
 Who lives the earth life properly? Can any one get a 
 right view of life its value, its responsibilities, its op- 
 portunities, who is ignorant of or indifferent to the life 
 unending? What gives to life its value, its responsibili- 
 ty? What makes life worth the living? What gives the 
 mightiest motive to good conduct? What makes wrong 
 action so ruinous, so disastrous, so deplorable? Ah, it is 
 
 74 
 
the life unending the life that shall stretch out in un- 
 counted billions of years after the sun grows cold and 
 the moon grows old. No one has the right perspective 
 in life, no one can be duly impressed with its value, no 
 one can have the mightiest incentive to right living, 
 without a knowledge of Immortality. 
 
 Notice here the Contrast between New Thought and 
 the Gospel of Jesus. He came with two great purposes 
 in view to bring life and immortality to light and then, 
 on this foundation, to build his ethical system and illus- 
 trate in himself the heights to which humanity could 
 rise. He demonstrated immortality. Cavil, if you will, 
 and say he only demonstrated the continuity of life. 
 Quite true; that is all that can be demonstrated by re- 
 appearance from the dead. But, practically, that is a 
 demonstration of immortality, for no one will doubt, 
 after such a demonstration, that death cannot destroy 
 life, that death is an event in life, that man lives on 
 forever. This demonstration was needed in the times of 
 Jesus, and it is needed now. All ages, all nations need it. 
 Yet there are times when the world specially needs it. 
 And this is one of those great crises in human history 
 in which, as never before, men need to know their im- 
 mortality. It is needed today as a foundation, principle 
 and mainspring, in all religious work and in all religious 
 education. Today the world is in greater need than ever 
 before of this demonstration. Past ages cannot supply 
 the needs of today. We need our daily manna from 
 heaven. 
 
 A religion or a cult, therefore, that is without this 
 demonstration, that is silent on the after ilfe, that has 
 no knowledge of present-day resurrections, of present- 
 day appearances of spirits and angels, no knowledge of, 
 or intercourse with, the great spirit realm (etheric), 
 which Longfellow declares 
 
 "Floats about this world of sense 
 like an atmosphere," 
 
 is surely no Gospel for the times, however excellent its 
 practical teachings may be. No teaching can claim to 
 be even a Gospel of the present life which does not an- 
 swer the deep problems of man's intellect and supply the 
 present longings of man's heart. 
 
 75 
 
New Thought, so far as I have been able to read and 
 judge its teachings, is practically silent on the subject 
 of death and the after life. It has no philosophy of 
 death that adequately explains the death process and 
 the facts of Psychic Research. It is mute, and seem- 
 ingly indifferent to the questions of men concerning in- 
 tercommunion between the two worlds. It recognizes the 
 influence of mortal mind upon mortals (telepathy), but 
 it is dumb and unresponsive as to the influence of de- 
 carnate intelligences on mortals. It is voiceless as to 
 whether or not our departed friends visit us, where they 
 are, how engaged, and it is silent on the thousand and 
 one questions rational minds ask themselves about the 
 future life. Unfortunately, too, many New Thought 
 Teachers frown upon all efforts to prove and to improve 
 communications between the two realms of life. 
 
 Surely a movement that seemingly ignores the work 
 of Psychic Research for nearly forty years, embracing, 
 as it does, the Scholarship of Europe and America, that 
 is silent in the presence of a world-wide demand to know 
 whether real intercourse exists between mortals and 
 spirits, that is without a demonstration of life's con- 
 tinuity and without comfort for a world mourning its 
 millions dead; surely such a movement cannot be a Re- 
 ligion or a Gospel for the world. And so, to our New 
 Thought brothers on the path of progress we would say : 
 "Come and see. You are on the way; you are doing 
 good ; your teachings are good so far as they go ; search, 
 investigate, prove and then preach the fuller Gospel 
 which the world needs today." 
 
 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 
 
 One of the great marvels of pur times has been the 
 phenomenal growth of the Christian Science organiza- 
 tion. Probably the world's history has not a parallel to 
 it. It has extended to all lands and excited attention 
 and interest on the part of the whole religious world. It 
 is a great movement, not only in numbers and wealth, 
 but great in its influence on the thought of the world 
 and on the lives of its followers. Its growth and popu- 
 larity continue and it bids fair to eclipse the success of 
 the past by its greater success in the future. 
 
 76 
 
Christian Science, between 1890 and 1906, grew over 
 900 per cent. Only 27 per cent of its members are men. 
 This is about the same proportion as in other churches. 
 Sturdy old New England is not good soil for Christian 
 Science, neither is the Orthodox South. The Middle 
 West and the Pacific Slope are where its great strength 
 is found. The West is fond of optimism and compla- 
 cency, and Christian Science has both. As there is no 
 evil in the world; as evil, in fact, does not exist, there 
 is no reason why we should not be happy and very com- 
 placent, even when the foolish people of the world, in 
 "the error of their mortal minds," believe war is a real 
 evil, and are fretting over the death of a paltry 25,- 
 000,000 men. 
 
 The Mother Church of Christian Science, at Boston, 
 has assets of about $7,000,000, and the Christian Science 
 Monthly has 60 pages of Christian Science Healers, 
 about 10,000 in all. An army of 10,000 whose profes- 
 sion is to heal disease and remove evil which do not 
 exist. 
 
 Another of the optimistic features of Christian Sci- 
 ence is that there is no sin. Man is incapable of sin. Sin 
 is another of the errors of mortal mind. Either there 
 is no law in the universe, or, if there is, man is incapa- 
 ble of violating it. Surely, this relieves the world of a 
 vast amount of trouble and anxiety. 
 
 And there is no personal devil, according to Mrs. 
 Eddy, and, for once, I am in accord with her. Impartial 
 history, however, will show that Mrs. Eddy most clearly 
 recognized evil in the world ; that her own life is a strik- 
 ing refutation of the doctrine that there is no sin; and 
 that, if the world is without a personal devil, Mrs. Eddy, 
 in her dogma of Malicious Animal Magnetism a revival 
 of the old Witchcraft doctrine of Europe and of Salem 
 has given to the world the best substitute for his Satanic 
 Majesty ever invented. 
 
 WHAT IS CHRISTIAN SCIENCE? 
 
 It is a professed Philosophy of life and a new and 
 divine revelation, according to Mrs. Eddy, its founder, 
 "discovered" by her and yet "revealed" to her by God 
 about 1867, and contained in "Science and Health and 
 
 77 
 
Key to the Scriptures." Christian Scientists, of course, 
 claim that the present authorized edition of "Science and 
 Health" is the one by which Mrs. Eddy's work and 
 Christian Science must be judged, earlier editions hav- 
 ing been suppressed and bought up, and revised into the 
 perfected bible known as "Science and Health," and now 
 placed before the world as of equal authority and value 
 with the Bible, the two constituting the sole text books 
 of this movement. 
 
 Dr. Julia Seton, in a personal letter to "Reason" mag- 
 azine, declared that the purported confession of Mary 
 Baker Eddy, published by us some time ago, given 
 through the hand of Mrs. Amelia Hoagland, formerly 
 Mrs. Waters, of Los Angeles, never came from Mrs. 
 Baker Eddy, as Mrs. Eddy was one of the masters (I 
 presume, reincarnated on earth), and "the masters," 
 according to Dr .Seton, "never made any mistakes." Yet 
 it seems that even Mrs. Eddy was capable of making 
 mistakes or there would not have been so many revis- 
 ions and amendments to her works, nor such painstak- 
 ing efforts to suppress the earlier editions of her books. 
 
 Christian Science is pure Idealism, as a Philosophy, 
 and pure Pantheism as a Religion. As a Philosophy, it 
 declares nothing exists but Mind and, as a Religion, 
 nothing exists but God. Its arguments put into syllo- 
 gism would be: Nothing exists but mind; God is the 
 only mind; therefore evil is a myth, it is an "error of 
 the mortal mind." The Allness of God leaves us without 
 any comforting doctrine of the Fatherhood and Mother- 
 hood of God, for, if God is all, he has no children. It 
 strips the universe of the doctrine of divine love, for 
 God has no one to love; He is all there is; He is It. 
 
 "SCIENCE AND HEALTH" 
 
 As for the great text book known as "Science and 
 Health," it is undoubtedly a compilation, derived from 
 many sources, and, like all such compilations (our Bible 
 included), it is far from consistent with itself. The 
 essential feature of it, that which makes it distinct from 
 other books, is its treatment of disease and the cure of 
 disease. This feature, with certain slight modifications 
 
 78 
 
by Mrs. Eddy, is the system practiced by Dr. P. P. 
 Quimby, of New England, and taught by him to Mrs. 
 Eddy and used by Mrs. Eddy, at first with full acknowl- 
 edgement of its Quimbian authorship. Dr. Quimby's 
 son, who was his secretary, and knew all about Mrs. 
 Eddy being a patient and a pupil of his father, wrote a 
 lengthy letter in 1894 to Dr. Minot Savage. I have that 
 letter in my possession at home. He declares in this let- 
 ter that Mrs. Eddy was healed by his father; that she 
 adopted his system; and gave him, at first, full credit 
 for his teaching. He says, if Mrs. Eddy denies this, she 
 lies. Mrs. Eddy publicly praised Dr. Quimby as her 
 healer and claimed he used the healing power of Christ. 
 She wrote a poem on his death. 
 
 There is no doubt that Berkeley's philosophy is found 
 in "Science and Health." There are many paragraphs 
 in "Science and Health" almost verbatim with para- 
 graphs found in a book published about 1860. I believe 
 the title was: "Dealings With the Dead." It is men- 
 tioned, and the parallel passages given, in a book pub- 
 lished by The Austin Publishing Co., of Rochester, by 
 Mrs. Delia Horn, a former pupil of Mrs. Eddy. The book 
 is called "Timely Aid." A gentleman in Seattle has 
 found nearly 100 Scripture interpretations in "Science 
 and Health," almost verbatim with similar ones in the 
 writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. 
 
 Let me call attention, before I offer further adverse 
 criticism, to certain good features in "Science and 
 Health" and in the Christian Science Movement. 
 
 First, "Science and Health" is an utter rejection of 
 the Old Theology of the Churches. It has no dogma of 
 the Fall, and no depravity of man's spiritual nature, and 
 no vicarious atonement, and the great benefit of Jesus' 
 blood-shedding on Calvary is as a manifestation of the 
 love of God. It throws overboard the "Plan of Salva- 
 tion," the ritualistic and sacramental services, and it 
 leads its followers out of the prison house of the creeded 
 system. That is one great boon Christian Science has 
 conferred on the world. Despite all its erroneous teach- 
 ings, Christian Science has started millions of people out 
 of the corral of the creeds toward mental emancipation. 
 
 Second, its Healing work cannot be doubted. True, it 
 
 79 
 
is quite possible that there are many exaggerations in 
 the reports; yet no one who has studied the case fairly 
 doubts that many signal cures are made. Let it be noted, 
 however, that this healing power, in any organization, 
 is no proof of the correctness of that organization's 
 claims. It does not prove the Christian Science Philoso- 
 phy of the cures correct. Metaphysical healing has ex- 
 isted in every age, among a multitude of sects and 
 churches that have taught the most contradictory philos- 
 ophy of their cures. Healing power does not always 
 imply clear thought and logical process. 
 
 Third. Another great benefit of the movement has 
 been this: through its rapid growth, its members and 
 its money power, Christian Science has aided the great 
 battle we are all fighting for freedom from Medical 
 Monopoly. Spiritualist and all Mental Healers and all 
 who practice Suggestive Therapeutics may well be glad 
 of so large and powerful an ally as Christian Science in 
 the war against Medical Monopoly. 
 
 Taken as a whole, the Christian Science movement is 
 especially interesting to spiritualists from two stand- 
 points: first, as originating with one who practiced me- 
 diumship, and secondly, as starting a great multitude 
 away from church influence and control who will not 
 find Christian Science soul-satisfying and will some day 
 become investigators and converts to Spiritualism. 
 Christian Science will be the half-way house between 
 the Churches and Spiritualism. 
 
 LIMITATIONS, INCONSISTENCIES AND "ERRORS 
 OF MORTAL MIND" IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 
 
 To start with, neither Mrs. Eddy nor her followers 
 have been able to live up to the idealism of "Science and 
 Health." A philosophy which cannot be lived is not a 
 true philosophy, for nature and life are the tests of 
 truth. No man can live as though there were no mat- 
 ter. He may profess the non-existence of matter, but 
 his conduct belies his profession. In extreme cold weath- 
 er the Christian Scientist gets his sense of warmth and 
 comfort, not out of his philosophy, but out of the same 
 coal fire that heats the ordinary mortal. He does not 
 satisfy his sense of hunger with "Science and Health" 
 
but with a porterhouse steak. He clothes his non-exist- 
 ent body with very real and costly clothing. Elbert 
 Hubbard, the last time I met him, told of a recent lec- 
 ture given where, before the lecture, a stentorian voice 
 from the gallery cried out, "Is there a Christian Scien- 
 tist in the audience?" There was no response. Then 
 a second and louder call rang through the building. At 
 last a demure little lady rose in front of the platform 
 and acknowledged she was a Christian Scientist. "Do 
 please, come up here quickly," called out the voice again, 
 "and change seats with me for I feel a draft." 
 
 Christian Science may, and, if logically interpreted, 
 does confound all moral distinctions in conduct, and yet 
 Christian Scientists, in their private life and conduct, 
 recognize these distinctions as other people do. Whether 
 there is any evil in the world or not, Mrs. Eddy recog- 
 nized a deadly evil in Animal Magnetism and in mental 
 mal-practice. So the old world will go on as before 
 Christian Science was born, admiring and loving its 
 Florence Nightingales, its Grace Darlings, its Joan of 
 Arcs, its heroes and martyrs for truth, its Socrates, 
 Brunos, and its Christs, and condemning its traitors, its 
 cowards, its betrayers of innocence and its Judas Iscar- 
 iots, to the end of time. 
 
 The Catholic World condemns Christian Science as 
 immoral. First, on the ground that it denies the reality 
 of sin. To a moralist, it must seem a rather dangerous 
 dogma to teach humanity, surrounded as we are in life 
 with temptations and opportunities for wrong doing, 
 that man cannot sin against God and that sin is a de- 
 lusion. It condemns Christian Science on the ground 
 that it denies freedom of will to man, and this removes 
 his sense of responsibility. It further condemns it on 
 the ground of using the Bible to sanction its teachings 
 yet denying most of the fundamental Scripture teach- 
 ings. It condemns the doctrines of Christian Science 
 further, on the ground that it makes marriage a mild 
 form of error. Mrs. Eddy herself declared that "it is 
 possible to maintain morality and progeny in Science 
 and yet abolish marriage." Yet when Mrs. Woodbury, 
 one of her followers, followed Mrs. Eddy's teachings to 
 a logical conclusion and claimed to have immaculately 
 
 81 
 
conceived a son, she was promptly excommunicated. 
 Mrs. Eddy held there was something higher in the 
 wedded life than motherhood, which is one of the many 
 dark and puzzling statements of "Science and Health." 
 In fact, to people who really want to know the meaning 
 of language, this great text book is a book of puzzles 
 and conundrums. For example, what is the meaning of 
 this definition of children: "Spiritual thoughts and rep- 
 resentations of life, truth and love?" She also defines 
 children as sensual and mortal beliefs. Jesus, not being 
 instructed in Christian Science, believed that children 
 were real individuals and declared, "Of such is the 
 kingdom." 
 
 Take a few of the errors of mortal mind found in 
 "Science and Health" in the chapter on Spiritualism. 
 "Spiritualism is the offspring of the physical senses." 
 "I never could believe in Spiritualism." Yet Mrs. Helen 
 P. Russegue went in company with a lady who desired 
 and got a spirit reading from Mrs. Eddy in Boston, and 
 Mrs. Eddy, on that occasion, told Mrs. Russegue she 
 was going to found a new religion and leave Spiritual- 
 ism out of it. It was not popular, and she asked Mrs. 
 Russeque, on that occasion, to join her in the enterprise, 
 and Mrs. Russeque declined. This statement of Mrs. 
 Russeque was published in "Reason" some years ago. 
 She recognized the fact that Jesus cast out evil spirits, 
 but her interpretation of evil spirts was "false beliefs." 
 
 This was another instance where Jesus showed his 
 lack of instruction from Mrs. Eddy, for he evidently re- 
 garded evil spirits as individual intelligences and spoke 
 to them as he spoke to men. "So-called spirits," she 
 tells us, "are but corporeal communicators." "The so- 
 called dead and living cannot commune together." She 
 charges Spiritualists with believing that "men die as 
 matter and come to life as spirit." "Spiritualism con- 
 signs the so-called dead," so she tells us, "to a wretched 
 purgatory, where the chances for improvement for the 
 departed narrow into nothing, and they return to their 
 old standpoints of matter." "Matter or body," she 
 gravely tells us, "is a false concept of mortal mind." 
 And yet, in another passage, she tells us that the "Di- 
 vine Mind will care for the human body as it clothes the 
 
 82 
 
lily." This sounds to us like a contradiction, for, if the 
 body is only a false mental concept of mortal mind, it 
 would seem as though God himself would have some 
 difficulty in clothing it like the lily. In another place, 
 Mrs. Eddy declares that the departing in the vestibule 
 of death, "may hear the glad welcome of those who 
 have gone before." 
 
 MALICIOUS ANIMAL MAGNETISM 
 
 The inconsistency of denying the existence of evil, 
 save as a false concept, and then practically creating a 
 great Devil of Fear and Superstition, called by Mrs. 
 Eddy "Malicious Animal Magnetism," seems to have 
 dawned on the leaders of the movement and on Mrs. 
 Eddy herself, for most of her teachings on this subject 
 have been vigorously cut out of later editions of "Science 
 and Health" and her Christian Science monthly. Mr. 
 Podmore charges Mrs. Eddy with "doing all in her power 
 to revive the power of fear which oppressed Europe for 
 centuries." And Dr. Jastrow, Professor of Psychology 
 in the University of Wisconsin, also points out the dan- 
 gerous character of this teaching and asks, if denying 
 an evil will annihilate it, why asserting an evil will not 
 create it. 
 
 From "The Nation," May, 1910, we extract the fol- 
 lowing editorial comments on "Malicious Animal Mag- 
 netism" as taught by Mrs. Eddy: 
 
 "Nature usually asserts herself strongly against all 
 perfectionist theory. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
 the sect whose chief tenet is the non-existence of evil, 
 should be greatly troubled by evil in the form of ma- 
 licious animal magnetism. The term means nothing 
 more than that enemies, generally of the same faith, 
 may, though at a distance, injure the mind of the suf- 
 ferer. It is the reverse of the beneficient absent treat- 
 ment by which disease may be cured by a remote 'men- 
 tal healer.' Under the terror of such projected malevo- 
 lence, several unhappy persons have committed suicide. 
 * * * It is impossible not to mark the significance of a 
 monistic creed, which asserts the sole existence of God 
 and good, beginning to asume the dualistic form. * * * 
 If a case had been presented to a seventeenth century 
 
 83 
 
magistrate of the state of Massachusetts or of Lan- 
 cashire, he would have known all about it, and would 
 have pronounced it a common case of witchcraft and, 
 had any respectable evidence been produced against the 
 offender, would unhesitatingly have condemned the 
 witch to the gallows. * * * If this apparently new phe- 
 nomenon were referred to an alienist, he would prompt- 
 ly class it as a case of incipient insanity. The spectacle 
 of an ideal and highly benevolent faith spontaneously 
 developing some of the ugliest superstitions of the past, 
 and, in the name of mental health, actually undermining 
 the intellects of certain of the faithful, is, to the his- 
 torical student of religions, both pathetic and instruc- 
 tive. * * * Here is a cult beginning to stultify itself 
 within the lifetime of its Founder." 
 
 Mrs. Eddy claimed that her first husband was killed 
 by Malicious Animal Magnetism. Dr. Jastrow claims 
 Mrs. Eddy as the author of this fearful doctrine. In 
 Hampton's Magazine he tells of a woman ,who believed 
 Mrs. Stetson, the rival of Mrs. Eddy and, at that time, 
 head of the Christian Scientists of New York City, had 
 exerted this Malicious Animal Magnetism upon her. 
 Here is what the woman says she experienced from the 
 Malicious Animal Magnetism of Mrs. Stetson: "At mid- 
 night I was awakened by an icy blast sweeping through 
 the open window from the direction of New York. My 
 teeth chattered; my heart fluttered; luminous waves 
 rolled over me, covered with the faces of the dead. I 
 felt just like a man being electrocuted. It seemed, in- 
 deed, my soul went from my body, that I saw through 
 the walls of the house; and, in the hour of agony, I saw 
 Mrs. Stetson's blue eyes all around the room." She at- 
 tributed also the death of her baby to Mrs. Stetson's 
 evil influence. 
 
 There is no doubt of two facts: First, that Mrs. Eddy 
 taught this 17th Century Witchcraft, and that she at- 
 tributed her own illness, her failure, the desertion of her 
 friends and the death of her husband to it. Mrs. Eddy 
 believed in it so thoroughly that he ran out of the house 
 to the neighbors at times to escape the blasts of Ma- 
 licious Animal Magnetism directed against the family. 
 Richard Kennedy, Mrs. Eddy's first practical pupil, was 
 
 84 
 
publicly prosecuted for using Malicious Animal Magne- 
 tism, and Daniel Stafford, his successor, was also ac- 
 cused. Thus you have a revival, for a time, of the dog- 
 mas and beliefs of European and Salem Witchcraft. 
 
 Christian Science will yet pass through many stages. 
 It did in Mrs. Eddy's time. Now the attempt to stereo- 
 type the movement by a fixed and final edition of "Sci- 
 ence and Health," by autocratic rule that would make 
 the ideas and wishes of Mrs. Eddy forever binding on 
 her followers, I predict will fail. There will be revisions 
 of "Science and Health," and they are sadly needed 
 and a broadening out of the teachings into some sem- 
 blance of harmony with the thought of the age. The 
 chapter on Spiritualism will be omitted or altered be- 
 yond recognition in the future. This revision is abso- 
 lutely needed to remove the direct contradictions that 
 are found in it. It is needed to clear up, and make in- 
 telligible to the public, sentences and phrases that no 
 one seemingly can understand. In fact, some of the ex- 
 pressions in "Science and Health" remind one of Talley- 
 rand's statement, that the purpose of language is to con- 
 ceal thought. A revision is needed to remove the de- 
 nials of the truth of Spiritualism, which the whole world 
 seems destined to accept. With the marvelous psychic 
 phenomena multiplying al lover the world, with the pub- 
 lished results of Psychic Research by the best scholars 
 and thinkers of the world; with the growing demand in 
 this world war for a true philosophy of life and death, 
 and communications from the unseen realm, Spiritual- 
 ism is marching on to conquest among thinkers today 
 faster than any other teaching in the world. It is only 
 a question of time when the world acknowledges its 
 Truth. And where then will "Science and Health," with 
 its denials, stand? 
 
 The many intelligent thinkers in the ranks of Chris- 
 tian Science who long for a fuller Gospel than their 
 church affords, will compel revisions and modification of 
 its teachings. This is borne out by the large numbers 
 of Christian Scientists who attend Seances and who find 
 their way into our classes and services. 
 
 The intelligent classes now enrolled in the Christian 
 Science Movement will not long tolerate the absurdity 
 
 85 
 
of limiting the spiritual instruction of humanity to two 
 books, however excellent those books may be. 
 
 It cannot be that a great Liberal Movement like Chris- 
 tian Science will put itself squarely in opposition to the 
 Societies for Psychical Research and the Scholarship and 
 Science of today, by denying wireless communication be- 
 tween mortals and spirits. 
 
 The attempt to exploit Christian Science as the true 
 Gospel of Jesus is doomed to utter failure, since Jesus 
 recognized and practiced Spirit Communion and took his 
 followers to a seance on the mountain, and prophesied 
 and arranged for the greatest seance in history at Pen- 
 tecost. Jesus recognized the reality of the material 
 realm, laid his hands on the sick, cast out evil spirits, 
 and never professed any power or grace not open and 
 free for all men all of which is in strong contrast to 
 Christian Science teachings and methods. Jesus made 
 no claim for the finality of his Gospel. He repeatedly 
 declared that he had many things to say to his follow- 
 ers, but they were not ready for them. He assured them 
 that the spirit should be outpoured upon them and guide 
 them into all truth. He left the way open, therefore, 
 for future inspiration, future revelations, claiming no 
 monopoly of the trtuh, no monopoly of healing power, no 
 wonderful discoveries for copyrighting and exploiting 
 to the world. All of which seem to be in strong contrast 
 to Christian Science teachings and practice. 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF REV. MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 The confession of Mrs. Eddy, in pamphlet form, has 
 now been for some time before the world, as given 
 through the hand of Mrs. Amelia Hoagland of Los An- 
 geles, a psychic and lady most widely and favorably 
 known throughout America. It has attracted the atten- 
 tion of such men as Sir Wm. Crookes, F.R.S., of Eng- 
 land, Dr. Hyslop of the American Psychic Research So- 
 ciety, and thousands of intelligent readers who believe 
 it reflects the remorse of Mrs. Eddy in Spirit Life over 
 the suppression of the great truth of Spirit Return. 
 Having had direct personal testimony from those who 
 knew Mrs. Eddy as a practicing Medium and knew, from 
 her lips, of her intention to renounce Spiritualism, be- 
 
 86 
 
cause of its unpopularity, and knowing the absolute sin- 
 cerity of Mrs. Hoagland, I believed, at the time the Con- 
 fession was first presented to me, and believe now, that 
 it is a genuine Spirit Message emanating from the 
 Founder of Christian Science in the spirit realm. I be- 
 lieve, for the sake of Mrs. Eddy and for the cause of 
 truth, that it should be widely circulated to the world. 
 In the pamphlet I give the story of the origin of the 
 Confession, the Confession itself, and my reasons, in 
 summary, for believing it came from the Founder of 
 the Christian Science Movement. 
 
 * * * * * 
 MODERN SPIRITUALISM 
 
 Modern Spiritualism, as expounded to the world in its 
 literature and by its accredited teachers in both worlds, 
 while claiming no perfection, is recognized by its stu- 
 dents as the most rational, inspiring and comforting 
 philosophy of life yet given to the world. But Modern 
 Spiritualism, as expressed to the world by its followers, 
 like every other religion, is characterized by many sad 
 failures and mistakes. One great failure in connection 
 with Modern Spiritualism was its lack of organization 
 as a Religious Movement for over forty years after its 
 advent. Perhaps, however, from the standpoint of the 
 general public, the Spiritualism of this unorganized 
 period was able to diffuse its spirit and its message so 
 widely that these became the seed of many new move- 
 ments (New Thought, Christian Science, Theosophy, as 
 well as the organized and officially recognized Spiritual- 
 ist Association). The Spiritualist Movement has been 
 the fruitful mother of nearly all the great liberal move- 
 ments of the last half century. 
 
 Another failure of Spiritualism, which has cost it 
 much, has been its neglect to teach and practice Spir- 
 itual Healing as a fundamental of its work. Another 
 serious failure has been its neglect to organize its fol- 
 lowers into classes for systematic study. Spiritualism 
 has failed in too many instances to guard its rostrum 
 from incompetents and, in some cases, from impostors. 
 It has often failed in its leadership, where men and 
 women have sought office rather than have the office seek 
 
 87 
 
them. Incompetent leadership has been the ruin of 
 many an organization. Yet, despite these failures, all of 
 which are incidents to every new movement, Spiritual- 
 ism can be said to have already accomplished a great 
 and blessed work for mankind. 
 
 1. It has done for our age what Jesus accomplished 
 for his age, in bringing life and immortality to light. 
 Jesus did not argue or discourse much about immortali- 
 ty. He assumed that it was true and then, by his res- 
 urrection, gave the demonstration of it. We accept, with 
 our Orthodox friends, the eleven different appearances 
 of Jesus after his death, but these to us are spirit 
 manifestations and prove an inherent power in every 
 man to triumph over death. To our age and time, Spir- 
 itualism is the risen Christ proving that life is ever lord 
 of death. 
 
 2. Spiritualism has powerfully modified the thought 
 of the age. It has compelled the clergy to think, con- 
 verted a goodly number of them, and changed the tone of 
 pulpit teaching vastly for the better. It has compelled 
 the clergy to play the soft pedal on the doctrines of elec- 
 tion, predestination, eternal damnation, and upon many 
 foolish and fantastic notions fomerly taught about 
 heaven and hell. Spiritualism, by its Optimism and its 
 wider hope for humanity, has brightened and rendered 
 less dreadful and fearsome the subject of religion in 
 general, and almost entirely stopped the preaching of 
 those awful dogmas of the Devil and the Judgment Day. 
 Every church attendant in the world is under obligation 
 to Spiritualism for the improvement in the religious 
 teachings since the advent of our Movement. 
 
 3. Spiritualism meets the world demand for knowl- 
 edge of Death and the After Life. Before Spiritualism 
 came in, the church teaching of Death and the After 
 Life was very discordant, very misty and indefinite, and 
 whatever direct and explicit teachings were given on 
 these subjects were full of fear and dread for men. To- 
 day, through our Philosophy, the world has a rational 
 concept of death as an event in life, and men are grad- 
 ually growing into rational conception of the future life. 
 This is due to Modern Spiritualism. 
 
 Our critics declare that "Spiritualism has, with all its 
 
 88 
 
pretended messages, really given us nothing of value 
 concerning the Future Life." 
 
 We affirm, in reply, that Spiritualism has given us 
 great basic and supremely important teachings about 
 the Spirit World, which have entirely altered the world's 
 concept of man's future. Let me summarize: 
 
 1. It asserts that the spirit is a natural world, gov- 
 erned by law, and not a realm ruled by a personal God. 
 
 2. Man has liberty of thought and action there as he 
 has here. There is no shut-in heaven or prison hell. 
 
 3. It asserts that the life after death is a continu- 
 ance of the life here, each man beginning there as he 
 left off here, death making no change in character. 
 
 4. It asserts that rewards and punishments are nat- 
 ural and not artificial; that forgiveness of sin does not 
 void the penalty of sin. 
 
 5. It asserts that men are not saved by "blood," or 
 "faith," or "vicarious atonement," or "election," or 
 "sacraments," or "masses," but by knowledge and obedi- 
 ence to the truth. It preaches salvation by character. 
 
 6. It asserts the possibility and indulges the hope 
 of the final salvation of all men, since the door of re- 
 formation is never closed in this world or the next. Some 
 day, somehow and somewhere every human soul shall 
 come into knowledge of, and harmony with, truth, and 
 happiness and heaven. 
 
 7. It asserts that mortals and spirits alike are en- 
 dowed with inherent powers by which, through natural 
 laws, they may communicate with those at a distance, 
 and that the door of communication is open between the 
 two worlds to all who learn the truth and comply with 
 the conditions. 
 
 8. Punishment in nature is natural, certain and re- 
 medial and never vindictive or arbitrary. 
 
 9. That departed souls do not lose memory of, and 
 interest in, their earth friends and human affairs, but 
 often complete their unfinished earth work through the 
 organism of sensitives on earth. 
 
 10. That mediumship is the channel of inspiration, 
 communication and revelation in spirit spheres as it is 
 here a great and universal divine plan through all or- 
 ders of being and through all planes of human evolution, 
 
 89 
 
by which the wiser and more advanced may instruct and 
 inspire the younger members of God's family. 
 
 These are a few of the great fundamental teachings of 
 Spiritualism regarding the Future Life. They show that 
 Spiritualism is to the religions of the world what the 
 aeroplane service is to the allied armies "the eyes of 
 the army." It is the aerial service which looks forward 
 and maps out the line of advance. Spiritualism is map- 
 ping out humanity's future and every one knows that 
 even the churches are accepting these great fundamental 
 teachings of Spiritualism concerning the Future Life. 
 
 Spiritualism comforts where all other sources of 
 comforts fail. Sorrowing humanity today weeps at the 
 tomb of millions of her dead. Bereaved humanity is not 
 comforted by the record of miracles and resurrections 
 two thousand years ago. Nor will it be satisfied with the 
 promise of miracles and resurrections two thousand 
 years in the future. 
 
 Nothing but knowledge and demonstration of the 
 After Life today, nothing but the touch of the vanished 
 hand and the sound of the voice stilled in death, will 
 comfort earth's sorrowing ones today. Spiritualism 
 alone gives this Nectar of divine comfort to men. 
 
 No other Philosophy or Religion places so high an 
 estimate upon human nature, or unfolds more clearly the 
 laws of human growth and progress, or furnishes such 
 strong motives for obedience to law and truth, or brings 
 men so closely in touch with angelic helpers, as Modern 
 Spiritualism. 
 
 It compasses in its philosophy this world and all 
 worlds. It is eclectic taking in all demonstrated truth, 
 all nature teaching, all truths gained by human experi- 
 ence, all the inspired teachings of the ages and in addi- 
 tion giving us the instruction and help of the spirit 
 world today. 
 
 The Mission of Spiritualism is, therefore, to instruct, 
 comfort, to unfold and develop, and inspire humanity, 
 here and hereafter. 
 
 90 
 
THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF A GOOD 
 MEMORY 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Few people are as deeply impressed as they should 
 be, with the practical value of a good memory. Most 
 persons look upon it as a desirable possession, but es- 
 teem it rather a luxury than a necessity. The fact is 
 a strong and active memory is one of the most power- 
 ful factors of success in life. In business, in society, in 
 professional life, in literary pursuits, a good memory is 
 in constant requisition, and contributes very largely to 
 success. An active and retentive memory adds very 
 largely to the enjoyment of life. It makes its possessor 
 a better and more instructive conversationalist, more 
 successful in all pursuits that involve intercourse with 
 one's fellowmen, and, if the lessons of the past are im- 
 proved upon, wiser and nobler in character. 
 
 A good memory saves its owner from a multitude of 
 annoying and troublesome experiences that fall to the 
 lot of forgetful people. Not long since a minister, an 
 acquaintance of the writer, had two engagements to 
 
 preach, one on a certain Sunday in E , and one on 
 
 the following Sunday in G . Trusting to his 
 
 memory, which was a treacherous one, he found, on ar- 
 riving late Saturday evening in G , that his ap- 
 pointment was at E ; sitting down, he telegraphed 
 
 his wife, a very sensible and matter-of-fact lady, "Am 
 
 in G , should be in E ; what shall I do? 
 
 To which, as fast as the electric current would carry it, 
 she sent the following sensible reply: "Go to bed." 
 
 Now, as the above is only a fair illustration of a 
 multitude of annoying experiences and disadvantages, 
 which are constantly befalling persons of bad memory, 
 it may be worth while to analyze the incident, and 
 classify the results that sprang from it. The first 
 result, then, was the disappointment of his audience, 
 
 91 
 
to which we must add his own and that of his good 
 wife. The second result was undoubtedly a feeling of 
 mortification over a failure, from which the exercise 
 of an active memory would have saved him. The third 
 result was financial loss, telegrams, railroad fare and 
 incidentals. The fourth result was loss of time the 
 trip having to be repeated at a later date. Here then, 
 we have a summary disappointment, mortification, 
 financial loss, and loss of time, all directly traceable to 
 a single lapse of memory, and from all of which a trusty 
 memory would have saved him. 
 
 A good memory then is strongly to be desired, that 
 it may save us from adding needlessly to life's disap- 
 pointments. Throughout life's career many engage- 
 ments must be met, many duties discharged, many 
 labors transacted, the proper performance of which 
 requires an alert memory, one that answers instantly 
 and correctly the demands of the hour. If our mem- 
 ories respond to the occasion, and act the part of faith- 
 ful monitors, life proceeds with satisfaction and success. 
 If, on the other hand, memory, like banks which refuse 
 to pay on demand and require thirty days' notice, fails 
 to present to the consciousness at the right time and 
 place the ideas appropriate to the occasion, the result 
 is disappointment of ourselves and others. 
 
 A second reason why all, especially young people, 
 should desire and seek after a good memory, is that 
 they may escape those constant mortifications which 
 come to those who are troubled with lapse of memory. 
 
 Another strong reason for desiring an active memory 
 is found in the fact that it saves its possessor from 
 financial losses which always result from deficient mem- 
 ory. A good memory is equivalent to a good invest- 
 ment yielding its owner certain cash dividends. If the 
 testimonies of business men who are victims of bad 
 memory were collected, it would be found that there is 
 a large annual loss to be credited to this cause alone. 
 In the neglect to meet engagements promptly, to attend 
 to certain details of business where delay means loss, 
 to take advantage of opportunities at the favorable 
 moment, all of which result largely from deficient mem- 
 ory power, business men lose large sums annually. How 
 
 92 
 
many men from lack of proper thought, resulting from 
 sluggish memory, have to take two journeys where one 
 should have been sufficient, to write two letters or 
 send two telegrams, or two express parcels, where one 
 should have answered, and, in numberless other ways, 
 are often put to loss. 
 
 A good memory is a great time saver. Not only does 
 it save the time and vexation so many experience in 
 "cudgeling their brains" for facts and ideas which 
 should be ever at hand, but enables its owner to per- 
 form nearly all the activities of life more expeditiously, 
 accurately and successfully. It saves needless effort. It 
 economizes human energy. By saving from needless 
 disappointment, vexation and effort, it, in effect, length- 
 ens life. 
 
 A good memory is a necessary handmaid to a sound 
 intelligence. It furnishes the reflective powers with the 
 materials of knowledge. Bias declares : "Memory is the 
 mother of wisdom; for what is wisdom without mem- 
 ory, but a babe that is strangled in its birth." 
 
 Prof. Scott declares that "if we examine the endow- 
 ment of men of genius and those famed for intellectual 
 exertions, we shall find that a retentive and capacious 
 memory formed the basis upon which their fame was 
 reared." 
 
 For practical purposes, our knowledge and past ex- 
 perience are valuable to us just in proportion as mem- 
 ory retains them and furnishes us with them on de- 
 mand. He who knows a great many things and has 
 had very valuable experience, is practically in the posi- 
 tion of the man who knows little and has had but little 
 experience, unless his memory serves him promptly and 
 well. The maxim of the old scholars was that so often 
 repeated by Casauban Tantum quisque scit quantum 
 memoria tenet: Every man knows just what he remem- 
 bers. 
 
 In 1555, Gulielmus Gratarolus published a work on 
 the art of memory, and in 1562 William Fulwood pub- 
 lished an edition of it, "Englyshed," under the title of 
 "The Castel of Memorie." In the dedication and preface, 
 Fulwood drops into poetry. 
 
 Lord Macauley had a phenomenally powerful memory. 
 
 93 
 
When only three or four years of age he took in whole 
 pages of what he read. His mind at that time would 
 seem to have mechanically retained the form of what he 
 read. His maid said he "talked printed words." Once, 
 when a child, when making an afternoon call with his 
 father, he picked up Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel," 
 for the first time. While his seniors were conversing 
 he quietly devoured the treasure. When they returned 
 home the boy went to his mother, who, at the time, was 
 confined to her bed, and, seating himself beside her, re- 
 peated what he had read by the canto, until she was 
 tired. In after life, one day at a board meeting at the 
 British museum, Macaulay wrote down from memory, 
 in three parallel columns on each side of four pages of 
 foolscap, a complete list of the Cambridge senior wrang- 
 lers with dates and Colleges attached, for the 100 years 
 during which a record of the names had been kept in 
 the university calendar. Many other examples of this 
 kind, showing Macaulay's wonderful memory, might be 
 presented; he once said, if all existing copies of "Para- 
 dise Lost" and "Pilgrim's Progress" were destroyed, he 
 could restore them from memory. 
 
 Magliabechi, court librarian at Florence, was the lit- 
 erary prodigy of his times. He had crammed into his 
 head the contents of an immense library. He could, 
 upon demand, not only supply any quotation desired, 
 but was also able to give page and paragraph. He at 
 last became regardless of all social and sanitary rules 
 and almost rotted amid a confused heap of books. 
 
 Jedediah Buxton, who died in 1774, possessed a re- 
 markable memory. Although a schoolmaster, he was 
 so illiterate he could scarcely scrawl his own name. On 
 one occasion he mentioned the quantity of ale he had 
 drunk since he was twelve years old, and the names of 
 the gentlemen who had given it to him. The whole 
 amounted, he said, to five thousand one hundred and 
 sixteen pints, or "winds," as he termed them, because, 
 like the toper Bassus, he emptied his jug at one draught. 
 Although he had received very little instruction in 
 arithmetic, and had never been assisted in his youth, 
 beyond learning the multiplication table, yet, without 
 the aid of pen or pencil, he could multiply five or six 
 
 94 
 
figures by so many, and in a much shorter time than it 
 could be done by the most expert arithmetician. The 
 product of the sum, which in his memory he had worked 
 out, he would repeat, if it were required, a month after- 
 ward. He could, moreover, leave off the operation, and, 
 without the slightest error, resume it at the end of a 
 week or a month, or even after several months. 
 
 Dr. Abernethy had a singularly retentive memory. 
 One day he invited a company of friends to do honor 
 to his wife's birthday, when one of the guests of a 
 poetical turn of mind, composed some verses compli- 
 mentary to Mrs. Abernethy. The doctor listened at- 
 tentively to the reading of them, and then exclaimed, 
 "Come, that is a good joke, to attempt to pass off those 
 verses as your own composition ; I know them by heart." 
 All were mute with astonishment, while Dr. Abernethy 
 recited the verses without a single error. The "poet" 
 was completely amazed, mystified and angry. The 
 amused host explained his power of memory, and offered 
 to repeat any piece of the same length that any of the 
 company would recite. 
 
 Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War during the Rebellion, 
 had a fine memory. One evening, in the early part of 
 1868, Dickens, then on a reading tour in this country, 
 was dining with Charles Sumner, Stanton being present. 
 To the surprise of Dickens, Mr. Stanton was able to 
 repeat from memory a chapter from any of the novel- 
 ist's works. Mr. Stanton explained that during the war 
 he had formed the habit of invariably reading some- 
 thing by the author of "Pickwick" before going to bed. 
 
 Cyrus, it is said, knew the name of every soldier in 
 his army. Otho, the Roman Emperor, owed, in a great 
 measure, his accession to the Empire to his prodigious 
 memory. He had learned the name of every soldier of 
 his army, when he was their companion as a simple 
 officer, and used to call every one by his proper name. 
 The soldiers being flattered by such attention, persuaded 
 themselves that such an emperor could not forget in 
 his favors those whose names he so well remembered. 
 They all, therefore, declared for him and enabled him 
 to overthrow his rival. 
 
 Richard Porson, professor in the University of Cam- 
 
 95 
 
bridge, was alike distinguished for his learning and his 
 memory. He had the Greek authors, book, chapter, 
 verse and line at the tip of his tongue. When a lad at 
 Eton, as he was going to his Latin lesson, one of the 
 boys, wishing to play him a trick, took his latin Horace, 
 from him, and slipped into his hand some English book. 
 Porson, however, who had learned Horace by heart be- 
 fore he went to Eton, was nothing disconcerted at the 
 trick, but when called upon to begin, opened the Eng- 
 lish book which had been placed in his hand, and with- 
 out hesitation commenced, and went on regularly, con- 
 struing the Latin into English with the greatest ease. 
 The tutor, perceiving some signs of amusement and 
 mirth among the boys, and, suspecting there was some- 
 thing uncommon in the affair, asked Porson what edi- 
 tion of Horace he had in his hand. "I learned the les- 
 son from the Delphin edition," replied the pupil, avoid- 
 ing a direct reply. "That is very odd," said the master, 
 "for you seem to be reading on a different page from 
 myself. Let me see the book." The truth, of course, 
 came out, and the master said he would be happy to 
 find other pupils acquitting themselves as well under 
 similar circumstances. 
 
 Mezzofanti is said to have known seventy different 
 languages and dialects, and upon one occasion to have 
 succeeded, after twenty-four hours* study, in readily 
 conversing in a language which before was entirely un- 
 known to him, and which seemed totally different from 
 all he knew. An old beggar of Stirling, some years ago, 
 yclept Blind Aleck, knew the whole of the Bible by 
 heart, so that he could give verse, chapter and book 
 for any quotation, or vice versa, correctly give the 
 language of any given verse. 
 
 Wesley tells us in his Journal of a young Irish preach- 
 er who had such a knowledge of the Greek Testament 
 and such powers of memory, that, on the mention of 
 any word from the Greek text, he would at once tell 
 you all the various passages in which the word occurred, 
 and the different shades of meaning in each. Charles 
 Dickens, it is said, could, after passing down a street 
 for the first time, tell you the names of the shop- 
 keepers in order, and the kind of business in which 
 each was engaged. 
 
 96 
 
In former times men looked upon memory as a 
 purely intellectual activity, having little relation to 
 bodily conditions. Today, through the fuller study of 
 the brain and nervous system in their relations to 
 mental phenomena, the tendency among a large class 
 of writers is to consider memory a department of phy- 
 siology. The intimate relations between the growth 
 and development of memory and the cultivation of the 
 organs of sense, is now admitted by all. If, as Sir Wm. 
 Hamilton holds, the soul feels at the finger tips, and if, 
 as most eminent physiologists now believe, the whole 
 body is the organ of the mind, there seems good reason 
 for accepting Kay's doctrine, that memory has its seat, 
 not only in the brain, but also in the organs of sense 
 and in the muscles. 
 
 It is known today that no mental activity takes place 
 without a corresponding and definite change in the 
 bodily structure. Not only is this the case in regard 
 fo sensation and perception, but also in recollection, 
 imagination and fantasy. A change of brain structure 
 accompanies every thought, and it is now asserted that 
 in recalling any idea that has come to us through the 
 senses, we use the senses again and in much the same 
 way as when first we received the idea. Wundt ob- 
 serves that nerve action is the same in sense perception 
 and in memory. 
 
 Prof. Bain declares that, "the organ of the mind is 
 not the brain by itself, it is the brain, nerves, muscles, 
 organs of sense, viscera," and if every sensation and 
 thought leaves permanent traces in our physical struc- 
 ture, it naturally follows that memory is closely allied 
 with the education of our senses and the training of 
 our bodily powers. Memory writes its record, not alone 
 upon the brain, but upon the organs of sense, the 
 nerves, the muscles and the entire body. From this 
 fact it may be inferred that the record of all our past 
 lives may be found in our bodies. A man becomes a 
 part of all he has seen and heard and thought about. 
 The record of every man's life is in every man's body. 
 Memory is in this sense eternal. Nothing we have ever 
 heard, or known, or felt, is ever lost. We carry its 
 trace within us. It is true we may not be able to recall 
 
 97 
 
all of our experiences and bring them again into con- 
 sciousness, but the consciousness, as we shall see a little 
 further on, is but a small part of our mental life. If 
 we "feel at the finger tips," it is quite evident we re- 
 member at the finger tips as well, and very much of 
 the musician's memory is in the muscles of the hand 
 and arm. Memory is, therefore, not one faculty, but a 
 condition of activity of all the faculties. 
 
 The fact that memory very largely depends on phy- 
 sical conditions has been noted from the earliest times. 
 The memory is more active in health than in sickness, 
 in vigor and strength than it is in physical weakness. 
 Memory is more active and reliable in the morning than 
 in the evening, because the physical nature is then re- 
 created by sleep and rest. "Fatigue in any form," says 
 Herbert Spencer, "is fatal to memory." 
 
 Not only is this the case, but it is also an admitted 
 fact that our physical condition, when we receive an 
 impression through the senses, very largely determines 
 the depth and permanence of the impression itself. If 
 the powers of the body are fresh and vigorous, the 
 senses active, the attention fixed, the impression is 
 deep and lasting and every one knows how faint the 
 impression upon the mind when the body is wearied, 
 the senses dull and the attention wandering. Ribot de- 
 clares that "the reproduction of impressions depends in 
 a general way upon the circulation," and there can be 
 no doubt that the character of the impression, as well 
 as its recall to consciousness, depends on the condition 
 and circulation of the blood, in short, upon the state of 
 health. 
 
 According to Ribot, memory includes three things, 
 viz.: the retention of certain states; their reproduction, 
 their localization in the past. The first two are indis- 
 pensable; the third, what we call recollection, and which 
 he calls localization in time, is purely psychological. It 
 is the element which constitutes perfect memory, yet 
 it is the unstable element, and may be regarded as an 
 added element to memory proper. "Do away with the 
 first two and memory is abolished; suppress the third, 
 and memory ceases to exist for itself, without ceasing 
 to exist in itself." 
 
Muscle fibre, which at first responds feebly to the 
 excitation transmitted by a motor nerve, responds more 
 energetically the more frequently it is excited, pauses 
 and rests being presupposed. The most highly devel- 
 oped tissue of the body, nerve tissue, presents in the 
 highest degree the two-fold property of retention and 
 reproduction of past states. This furnishes, in some 
 degree, a type of organic memory, yet not the true 
 type which is to be found in the secondary automatic 
 actions as opposed to the primary or innate automatic 
 acts. These secondary automatic actions are the very 
 groundwork of our daily life our acquired movements, 
 such as walking, writing, the acquired movements of 
 the laborer and mechanic. Acts which now seem to us 
 entirely natural were acquired by laborious effort. 
 Lewes observes that when a child is learning to write 
 he cannot move the hand by itself, but must also move 
 the tongue, the muscles of the face, and sometimes the 
 feet. In time by practice he can suppress all these use- 
 less motions, and write while he consciously gives at- 
 tention to other matters. 
 
 Dr. Carpenter mentions the case of an accomplished 
 pianist who executed a piece of music while asleep a 
 feat which must be attributed largely to the muscular 
 sense which possessed the memory of the succession of 
 movements. Consciousness here, as in other recorded 
 cases, dropped out of the activity, showing that in the 
 mechanism of memory it is, in a sense, a superadded 
 element. 
 
 It is of the first importance to the student who would 
 strengthen his power of recollection that he should gain 
 clear ideas of the mental operations involved therein, 
 and of the laws which govern memory. In place of a 
 single mental operation memory involves several, and 
 what is ordinarily called memory is but the final stage 
 of a process which implies: 1. Acquisition of the orig- 
 inal idea or state. 2. Retention. 3. Reproduction. 
 4. Recognition or what some have called localization 
 in time. To the subject of the acquisition of ideas and 
 the importance of employing the right methods we shall 
 devote a special chapter, in which it will be seen that 
 this has a most important bearing upon the retention 
 
 99 
 
and reproduction of our ideas. In regard to retention 
 of ideas it is sufficient here to state that the consensus 
 of opinions among metaphysicians is strongly in favor 
 of the view that no idea or mental impression once re- 
 ceived is ever lost though many of them pass beyond 
 the power of voluntary recall. 
 
 RULES FOR STRENGTHENING THE MEMORY 
 
 1. Seek and preserve vigorous health as a funda- 
 mental condition of a good memory. 
 
 2. Train the senses to careful observation and ac- 
 curate discrimination. 
 
 3. Deepen and intensify your first impressions of 
 what you would memorize, (a) by concentrating the 
 thought upon it, (b) by exercising the will power in re- 
 gard to it, (c) by allowing the object or thought to re- 
 main for a sufficient length of time before the mental 
 vision. 
 
 4. Test your memory to determine whether you com- 
 mit more easily by sight or sound, also to find which 
 you retain more firmly, the images of sight or the sound 
 images. 
 
 5. Select for memorizing purposes some book of the 
 Bible or some poem of English literature, and assign 
 yourself a limited number of verses for daily memoriz- 
 ing at a selected hour of the morning. 
 
 6. Preserve the period religiously for the two-fold 
 purpose of committing the daily portions (3 to 5 verses), 
 and reviewing the lessons previously committed. 
 
 7. In committing to memory and in reviewing, use 
 those senses by which you have found the mind works 
 most effectively in these processes. 
 
 8. Make it a rule to thoroughly comprehend every 
 idea or fact you would commit to the memory. 
 
 9. Do not burden memory with useless tasks, or with 
 too much at a time, depending for growth and enlarge- 
 ment on the regularity and suitability of the exercise, 
 rather than its difficulty. 
 
 10. Do not attempt to force the memory to recall an 
 
 100 
 
idea. If memory can recall an idea at all, it can gener- 
 ally do so easily. Many a person has lost entirely an 
 idea, which he might have recalled by easy suggestion 
 to his memory, by "cudgelling" his brains for it. 
 
 11. Repeatedly recall the mental images to conscious- 
 ness, and make them as vivid as possible. Catch the dim 
 pictures, and hold them in the mind's vision until they 
 become clearer. Visualize these mental pictures, and 
 make them so distinct that those senses through which 
 they were received shall be called into a measure of 
 activity again. 
 
 12. Trust your memory: do not treat it with sus- 
 picion. The unconscious powers of the mind work large- 
 ly upon suggestion and a suggestion of memory failure 
 to one's self is often a procuring cause of failure. 
 
 13. Form the habit of mentally recalling in detail 
 every evening your experiences during the day. 
 
 14. Form the habit of relating to your friends as 
 fully as possible and in order the incidents of your trav- 
 els, accounts of concerts, lectures and entertainments 
 attended. 
 
 15. Form the habit of writing out weekly from mem- 
 ory a summary of the minister's sermon, taking care to 
 include the argument and main points. 
 
 16. Form exercises for yourself in overcoming your 
 special memory difficulties, practising the recall of those 
 classes of ideas over which the mind seems to have least 
 control. If your memory of names, faces or dates 
 should be defective, assign a period every morning to 
 exercising the memory along these lines. 
 
 101 
 
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