/I 
 
 ;/ 1C
 
 BORN AGAIN 
 
 BY 
 
 ALFRED LAWSON 
 
 Author of 
 
 "MANLIFE" 
 
 "CREATION" 
 
 "LAWSONOMY" 
 
 "DIRECT CREDITS" 
 
 AND MANY OTHER BOOKS 
 
 Inventor of 
 
 THE AIRLINER 
 
 TRANS-OCEANIC FLOAT SYSTEM 
 
 TWO-TIER PASSENGER COMPARTMENT 
 
 AND MANY OTHER MECHANICAL DEVICES 
 
 The Discoverer of 
 
 THE CAUSE OF SEX 
 
 THE CAUSE OF GROWTH 
 
 THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 
 
 THE CAUSE OF ATTRACTION 
 
 THE CAUSE OF CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 THE CAUSE OF CAPILLARY ACTION 
 
 ZIG-ZAG-AND-SWIRL MOVEMENT 
 
 CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT OF MATTER 
 
 THE LAW OF PENETRABILITY 
 
 THE EQUAEVERPOISE 
 
 The Founder of 
 
 LAWSONOMY The Knowledge of Life 
 THE DIRECT CREDITS SOCIETY 
 
 HUMANITY PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 606 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Mich.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1904 
 
 by 
 ALFRED WILLIAM LAWSON
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 NE day, not many years ago, while walking 
 along a street in Detroit, Michigan, I was 
 stopped by a ragged and forlorn beggar, 
 with the request lor a few cents to buy something 
 to eat. 
 
 I gave him a dime and walking on a few paces 
 stopped to observe his following movements. Con 
 trary to my supposition that perhaps he would enter 
 a saloon and buy whiskey he went as fast as his weary 
 legs would carry him in a straight course toward a 
 restaurant on the opposite side of the street. 
 
 As he was about to enter the place his attention 
 was attracted by a more pitiable wretch than him 
 self standing outside who had but one leg, was partly 
 blind, and whose nose was almost eaten off by 
 disease. 
 
 He paused for a moment and looked sympatheti 
 cally at the crippled beggar and then started again 
 toward the door of the restaurant, but before enter 
 ing he stopped once more to take another look, and 
 after a few moments hesitation he deliberately 
 turned about, handed the other fellow 7 the dime and 
 walked away without feeding himself. 
 
 Of all the heroic deeds I have ever witnessed, I 
 recollect none quite so grand and noble as this act, 
 for notwithstanding this poor beggar may have been 
 heir to every other weakness a human being could 
 possibly contract, still he contained that spark of 
 unselfish love for his fellow beings, without which 
 no man is more than a mere brute, and for that 
 reason I respectfully dedicate this work to his 
 memory. 
 
 ALFRED WILLIAM LAWSON.
 
 BORN AGAIN
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Judging from my own experience it is my opinion 
 that many strange and wonderful events have hap 
 pened during the past in which man took part, that 
 have never been recorded. 
 
 Many reasons could be given for this, but the 
 main causes perhaps, are that the participants have 
 lacked the intelligence, education or literary ability 
 to properly describe them. 
 
 In these respects I must admit my own inferiority. 
 But I feel that should I not promulgate an account 
 of my own remarkable life for the benefit of man 
 kind then I would betray the trust nature has con 
 fided in me. 
 
 So I warn the exquisite literary critic and the 
 over-polished individual who prefer fancy phrases 
 to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat jar 
 their delicate senses of perception. 
 
 And having offered these few remarks I shall in 
 troduce myself to the reader: 
 
 My name is John Convert. The earth is my home 
 and country. All men are my kin, be they white, 
 black, red, yellow or brown. I was born somewhere 
 on the Atlantic Ocean between Liverpool and New 
 York while my parents w r ere emigrating from Eng 
 land to America. My mother died giving me birth.
 
 6 . BORN AGAIN 
 
 Whether or not it was because I first saw the 
 light of day while in a state of transit that caused 
 me afterwards to acquire a thirst for travel and 
 adventure I cannot say, but true it is that during 
 my whole life I have been constantly moving from 
 place to place. 
 
 Then again my father was a Methodist preacher 
 and the good Lord ostensibly sent calls to him from 
 every nook and corner of the United States, for as 
 long as I can remember he too was continually 
 changing abiding places. In fact, it seems to me now 
 when I look back that he seldom preached twice 
 from the same pulpit. Whether this was due to bad 
 preaching or because he had the courage to tell the 
 good church folk many plain truths concerning them 
 selves, I know not, but I do know that in many ways 
 my father was a very good man, and also a very 
 learned man perhaps a little too learned to be 
 wise, for, like most great scholars he may have 
 forced so much book stuff into his brain that he left 
 no room for progressive thoughts of his own. He 
 was, however, quite unlike many clergymen of the 
 present time who apparently think and certainly 
 act as if their main work was to flatter and amuse 
 the women. 
 
 My father was straightforward, honest, kind and 
 truthful. He was dogmatic in his religious beliefs, 
 combative by nature and never happier than when 
 fighting the Devil in his own corner, as he expressed 
 it. Furthermore, he was haughty, stubborn and 
 egotistical, and these traits of character I inherited 
 from him.
 
 BORNAGAIN 7 
 
 But while I honestly inherited combativeness, 
 stubbornness and egotism from my father, these 
 characteristics became very objectionable to him 
 when displayed by myself. So from my earliest 
 childhood days there was a continual tug of war 
 between us to see who would be master of the house. 
 
 There was one inheritance I received from my 
 father, however, that I have always felt profoundly 
 grateful to him for, namely, a sound physical con 
 stitution. One of his earnest teachings, which, by 
 the way, was generally ridiculed, was that parents 
 should not bring children into the world unless 
 they themselves had led temperate lives and were 
 in perfect health. In this respect he lived as he 
 preached and practiced temperateness in all things. 
 
 As I grew up I was taught to take care of myself 
 physically, as well as mentally and morally. At the 
 age of eleven I was as large and strong as most boys 
 of sixteen, and at sixteen there were few men who 
 could outdo me in feats of strength and endurance. 
 My education was limited to what I learned at the 
 different public schools which I attended, and with 
 out exception I was always rated as the very worst 
 boy of the whole institution. I do not believe that 
 ever a day passed that I was not sent to the principal 
 for refractory conduct, and in many instances I was 
 suspended or expelled entirely. Fighting was my 
 chief offence as I was always ready and anxious for a 
 fistic encounter with any boy who was willing to 
 battle. In short, I was a very unruly child with an 
 independent spirit, who recognized the authority of 
 nobody to give arbitrary commands.
 
 8 BORN AGAIN 
 
 In consequence of these facts my father and I had 
 frequent altercations and as my innate love for 
 travel and adventure asserted itself I ran away from 
 home when but eleven years old, an age when 
 most children are mere babies, and started out in 
 the world to seek my own success. 
 
 I began to earn my own living by selling news 
 papers on the streets of Chicago, and from that time 
 on became a wanderer upon the face of the earth; 
 working at various occupations and engaging in 
 many schemes and pursuits in an endeavor to pay 
 my way through life, and during the next eleven 
 years I not only visited every part of the United 
 States, but nearly every country in the world, during 
 which time I experienced enough adventures to fill 
 many books if put into print, but as they have no 
 bearing upon this narrative I must pass them by 
 without mention. 
 
 So at the age of twenty-two, being then a worth 
 less vagabond, I was aboard a three-masted schooner 
 working my way from Australia to England as a 
 common sailor. That was during the year of 1881.
 
 CHAPTER 2 
 
 Phrenologists after studying the bumps on my 
 head have invariably told me that I lacked diplo 
 macy. This, as I understand it, simply means an 
 incapability of acting the hypocrite. And it does 
 seem under the present system of human existence, 
 that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds innum 
 erable obstacles to overcome, which otherwise might 
 be avoided. 
 
 So, lacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is some 
 times styled, led me into trouble with nearly every 
 body with whom I had any dealings. 
 
 Indeed, had it not been for this very defect in my 
 nature, I should not have been forced to pass through 
 the most remarkable life, I think, ever experienced 
 by living man. 
 
 The ship had barely passed out of the harbor 
 before I had undiplomatically aroused the enmity 
 of all the other seamen, and within two weeks I was 
 thoroughly detested by every man aboard from the 
 captain to the cook. 
 
 The crew was composed of an unusually tough 
 set of characters who avcwed from the beginning 
 that they did not like Yankees and would make life 
 insufferable for me before reaching the next port. 
 Fist fights became frequent and each one of the
 
 10 CORN AGAIN 
 
 sailors took a "punch at my head" at different times, 
 only to learn that I enjoyed that kind of sport and 
 retaliated in a way that laid the offender up for 
 repairs afterward. The fact that in these encoun 
 ters I always gained an easy victory over my oppo 
 nents caused a more intense feeling of bitterness to 
 exist than ever, and to make matters worse the cap 
 tain s wife, who was the only woman on the ship, 
 took sides with me against all the others. This ap 
 parently angered the captain, for on one occasion, 
 after he had given orders to have me put in irons 
 for breaking one of my shipmate s ribs, and she 
 interceded in my behalf, he became furious and 
 threatened to have me thrown overboard. This 
 threat, however, only had the effect of making me 
 more stubborn and defiant. 
 
 As a cowboy I had fought Indians and real bad 
 men in the western states of America, hunted ele 
 phants in Africa, tigers in India, and roughed it as 
 a gold seeker in Australia until I had become hard 
 ened against danger and absolutely fearless, so that 
 a menace against my life did not worry me in the 
 least. In fact, I really enjoyed the situation and 
 dared the captain to do his worst. 
 
 We had been out of Sydney about four weeks, 
 and although I did not know the exact latitude and 
 longitude, I imagined we must have been a consid 
 erable distance to the south and east of Cape Colony. 
 
 It seems to me now that I heard somebody say we 
 were a little further south of the regular course 
 taken by vessels sailing around the Cape. 
 
 It was one of those pleasant nights in December, 
 which one must experience in southern waters to
 
 BORN AGAIN 11 
 
 appreciate, that I took my turn on watch in the 
 forward part of the boat. It was past midnight and 
 one of the darkest nights I have ever known. The 
 sea was rather calm but a good breeze astern caused 
 the ship to make good headway. I was all alone and 
 paced back and forth from side to side peering out 
 into space and darkness ahead. Occasionally, I would 
 remain for several minutes leaning against one of 
 the railings. Except for the splashing of the sea 
 against the side of the ship, all was quiet. 
 
 As I stood in one of my meditative moods, looking 
 straight ahead, I was suddenly attracted by some 
 thing which caused me to turn quickly and look in 
 the opposite direction, and then I observed the 
 forms of four men coming quickly toward me, but 
 before I realized their object_or had time to speak, 
 they grabbed me by the arms and legs. I struggled 
 furiously for several moments and freeing my hands, 
 dealt one of them a vicious punch which felled him 
 to the deck, and it seemed for awhile that I would 
 shake them all off, when suddenly I received a ter 
 rible blow on the side of my head which partially 
 stunned me, and during the instant of inactivity on 
 my part I was raised bodily high in the air and 
 plunged overboard into the waters below.
 
 CHAPTER 3 
 
 It was in a semi-conscious state that I struck the 
 water head foremost, and it was by instinct, I sup 
 pose, that I immediately started to swim away from 
 the side of the vessel. 
 
 Although I was a powerful swimmer it seemed 
 as if I should never reach the surface again. The 
 sudden and unexpected plunge had caused me to 
 go into the sea with my mouth open and thereby 
 swallow a large quantity of salt water. When almost 
 on the verge of strangulation, however, by a supreme 
 effort I finally managed to reach the air again, more 
 dead than alive. It was then some time before I 
 regained my breath and fully understood what had 
 happened. I assure the reader that it was not a very 
 pleasant sensation to find myself out in the middle 
 of the ocean without even the support of a life pre 
 server and the ship sailing away in the distance. 
 During my adventurous career I had faced death a 
 score of times without the slightest emotion or sem 
 blance of fright, but as I floated about on that broad 
 expanse of water alone I then realized for the first 
 time in my life what a tiny, helpless microbe I 
 really was. 
 
 Oh, you little mortal known as man; you 
 microscopical mixture of protoplasm and egotism;
 
 BORN AGAIN 13 
 
 you atomical speck of ignorance and avarice; you 
 who believe that the earth, moon, stars and all crea 
 tion was manufactured for your special benefit; if 
 you could only be shown your actual size in the 
 universe as I was on that occasion, I think it would 
 result in the eradication of some of your innate 
 vanity and selfishness, thereby proving an incalcu 
 lable blessing to you. 
 
 So now, I was placed in a position whereby I 
 could feel and reflect upon my own littleness. I had 
 absolutely no hope of being saved from a watery 
 grave, feeling that it was only a matter of an hour 
 or two before I should succumb to the inevitable 
 and sink to the bottom of the sea. Still I was un 
 willing to give up the few bones entrusted to my 
 care until finally overcome by exhaustion and so I 
 kept afloat by lying on my back and exerting myself 
 as little as possible. 
 
 At length, however, my strength gave way en 
 tirely and I felt that the time had arrived when I 
 must come face to face with the God whom I had 
 been taught to believe in from infancy according to 
 the Christian faith. Then it seemed that a million 
 thoughts crowded themselves into my brain at the 
 same time. 
 
 How would He receive me? What dire judgment 
 would He pass upon me? Had I ever done anything 
 to merit His pleasure? I could not recollect one 
 good deed I had ever accomplished of sufficient 
 importance to call to His attention, but on the con 
 trary I recalled a thousand bad acts I should not 
 have committed. I had spent a roving, aimless exist 
 ence in which I had done practically nothing to
 
 14 BORN AGAIN 
 
 increase the production or knowledge of the world, 
 I had lived for myself alone a life of mere pleasure 
 seeking, without ever a thought of others rights or 
 happiness. I remembered that during a hunting 
 expedition in Africa how I had once shot and killed 
 seventeen spring-bok in one day, and how I had 
 swelled up with conceit to know that I had de 
 stroyed the lives of that many living things. True, 
 they were not human beings, but were they not 
 creatures of nature as well as myself? What right 
 had I to take the life of any living thing at all, let 
 alone for mere pleasure? What excuse could I now 
 offer if tried for that cowardly offence? Would I ask 
 God s forgiveness? If so, would it be any better to 
 ask Him to forgive me just before I died or imme 
 diately afterward? What difference would it make? 
 Then again I wondered if God would have any more 
 respect for me if after committing the deed I whined 
 and begged for mercy. Would He not consider that 
 cowardly on my part? Would He not think better 
 of me if I went forward bravely and said: Here I 
 am, O God, I know I have done wrong, now punish 
 me as Thou see st fit. 
 
 What would I do if I were to occupy the Creator s 
 position as supreme judge in a case of that kind? 
 Would I not think far more of the man who would 
 come forward courageously and take the punish 
 ment he deserved than the creeping, cringing and 
 whining being who begged for mercy? Would God 
 the Creator be more unreasonable about the matter 
 than I, whom He had created? 
 
 I had always thanked God as well as my parents 
 for the extraordinary physical strength and courage
 
 B O R N A G A I N 15 
 
 with which I was endowed, and during my life of 
 trials and hardships that courage had never been 
 shaken by man or beast, but now I felt that the 
 crucial test was about to be applied. Would the 
 courage the Almighty gave me weaken when about 
 to face Him who had bestowed it upon me? 
 
 With these and similar thoughts passing through 
 my mind and my strength exhausted, I took one 
 long breath and sank beneath the water.
 
 CHAPTER 4 
 
 Sinking slowly down with a feeling of drowsiness 
 stealing away my senses, I was suddenly awakened 
 by my body coming to an abrupt stop and resting 
 upon some hard substance. My first impression was 
 that I had collided with some huge sea-monster and 
 was about to be devoured. So placing my hands and 
 feet firmly upon it I sprang upward with all the 
 force I could command in an effort to get out of its 
 reach, but to my great surprise my head and half of 
 my body shot out of the water into the air above and 
 down I came again square upon my feet with a jolt 
 that caused my teeth to rattle. And there I stood 
 with my head and shoulders out of the water while 
 my lungs inhaled long draughts of pure fresh air. 
 I was too astonished to think and too weak to move, 
 so I just stood there motionless until I had regained 
 my equilibrium. I could never forget how sweet life 
 seemed to me at that time. For a long time I re 
 mained standing there without giving a thought as 
 to what I was resting upon, and when I did direct 
 my attention to the question I was incapable of 
 forming a satisfactory solution to the mystery. Ac 
 cording to the charts there was no land in that part 
 of the ocean. Could it be a whale, I wondered? The 
 more I thought of it the more perplexed I became. 
 
 The night was very dark and I could see nothing
 
 BORN AGAIN 17 
 
 about me in any direction, so I concluded that the 
 only thing to do was to remain standing just where 
 I was until daybreak. It was a long and tedious wait 
 and I suffered much from stiffness and cold, but at 
 last dawn appeared and I anxiously strained my eyes, 
 looking about in every direction. 
 
 Then my head nearly burst with a feeling of joy- 
 ousness, for within two hundred yards of me I dis 
 cerned the outline of what appeared to be a hill of 
 rocks protruding from the deep, and as the light 
 grew brighter I started to wade slowly towards it. 
 
 This was an extremely tiresome undertaking, as 
 the bed upon which I had been resting was very 
 rocky and uneven and I received many bruises be 
 fore finally reaching its base. My limbs too were 
 thoroughly numb and almost refused to work, but 
 with each step ahead the water became shallower 
 and my progress less arduous. 
 
 As I went forward I thought it was by the mirac 
 ulous hand of God that my life had been saved, for 
 the time being at least. Then, again, it occurred to 
 me, that if it was the hand of the Almighty that 
 saved me, it must have been by His hand also that I 
 was thrown overboard, for if He directed the one 
 act He must have surely directed the other. So why 
 blame the sailors for attempting to take my life if 
 it was God s will that it should be done? 
 
 Reaching the base of the rocks in a feeble condi 
 tion and staggering like a man under the influence 
 of liquor, I threw myself down and went to sleep 
 just as the sun peeped over the horizon. 
 
 Several hours later I awakened with a start to find 
 the burning sun directly overhead and my body
 
 18 BORN AGAIN 
 
 dripping with perspiration, my throat parched and 
 an awful feeling of thirst within me. My tongue felt 
 as though it was several inches thick and it seemed 
 as though I would choke immediately for the want 
 of something to drink. Aside from the thirst, how 
 ever, I felt considerably refreshed and sprang to my 
 feet with my usual agility. 
 
 The first thing that attracted my attention as I 
 looked about in a curious manner, was that this 
 strange pile of stone which protruded from the sea, 
 bore evidence of having once been a part of some 
 mammoth building which had apparently been 
 shaken down and now lay in a chaotic heap. Some 
 of the stones were of tremendous size and different 
 in shape and quality from any others I have ever 
 seen. Their designs showed that wonderful skill 
 must have been employed by the workmen who 
 originally cut and fit them into position. The whole 
 mass formed a sort of a ragged hill about one hun 
 dred feet in diameter and the highest point about 
 forty feet above the sea level. 
 
 In looking about, I discovered to my great delight 
 that among the crevices of the rocks there were many 
 little places which acted as basins to store up water 
 from the recent rains, and I immediately took ad 
 vantage of these conditions to quench my thirst and 
 bathe my face and head. This done I began climbing 
 up toward the top of the pile. It took considerable 
 time and patience to make the ascent, as the stones 
 were massed together in a most irregular and pre 
 cipitous manner. Reaching the highest point, I 
 eagerly scanned the surrounding horizons with the 
 hope of seeing some passing ship, but nothing except 
 sky and water met my gaze.
 
 BORN AGAIN 19 
 
 Seating myself upon the topmost rock, I became 
 buried in the depths of meditation, and as I sat 
 perched up there alone without even a glimpse ot 
 a sea-fowl for companionship I felt as if I was the 
 only living thing extant; in fact, I actually imagined 
 myself as being the center and objective point of the 
 universe. God in His great wisdom had flung me 
 there for some purpose or other and was watching 
 my movements to the exclusion of everything else, so 
 I thought. Aye, even the warmth from the rays of 
 the sun had been arranged for my special benefit. 
 How big a little faith will make one feel sometimes. 
 
 For several hours I remained in one position, 
 musing over my strange situation and wondering 
 what the final outcome would be. At last, after the 
 sun had gone down and darkness began to encircle 
 me, I decided to look about and find a suitable place 
 to lie down and sleep for the night. 
 
 So I began to climb from rock to rock until I had 
 reached the opposite side of the jagged plateau, 
 when suddenly one of the great stones wabbled, I 
 lost my balance and slid down an incline into a sort 
 of a pit. Then my feet struck something which mo 
 mentarily stopped my unexpected descent, but it 
 proved to be a mere shell, and crashing through it 
 1 landed with a violent jolt about ten feet further 
 below. 
 
 Although somewhat stunned and a trifle confused 
 [>y the suddenness of the fall, I quickly regained my 
 equanimity and looking upward I saw a small hole 
 which my body had passed through, the shaggy 
 rocks above, the dark sky and a few stars, but the 
 strangest thing of all was, that the grotto into which 
 I had fallen was as light as day.
 
 CHAPTER 5 
 
 After all I had passed through during the pre 
 ceding twenty-four hours, then to be suddenly cast 
 from the outer darkness into a hole as light as if 
 illuminated by the mid-day sun was a revelation 
 that caused me to seriously doubt my own senses. 
 But having spent a life of travel and adventure in 
 which I had faced many unexpected dangers and 
 inexplicable sights, I soon regained my normal 
 presence of mind and began to look around with 
 considerable interest. I was now fully convinced 
 that the great pile of stone which I had so strangely 
 reached had at one time formed a gigantic structure 
 moulded together by human ingenuity. 
 
 The enclosure I found myself within might have 
 been a hallway of the edifice, but it was hard to 
 positively distinguish it as such, for the building in 
 falling had placed things in an almost unrecogniz 
 able condition. Some of the great stones from above 
 had passed through the ceiling and floor, while 
 others had become wedged together before reaching 
 the surface, thus forming a very ragged and peculiar 
 aperture. 
 
 In places where there were no obstructions I 
 noticed a beautiful white marble floor, while here 
 and there a fragment of the walls showed that the
 
 BORN AGAIN 21 
 
 art of decorating had at one time reached a degree 
 of proficiency quite unapproachable by our modern 
 artists. The space I found myself in was too irreg 
 ular in its outlines to form an adequate idea of what 
 it might have been used for. In some places I had 
 to stoop to pass along, while in others I was forced 
 to climb over great blocks of stone. 
 
 After being in this passage about half an hour 
 making an inspection of the premises, I discovered 
 a small opening which led into another apartment. 
 It appeared that a great door had separated the two 
 rooms, but had apparently become broken with the 
 fall of the building and left a space barely wide 
 enough for my body to pass through. So in I went. 
 Or out I went, I was not quite sure which, for after 
 squeezing through the doorway a scene presented 
 itself to my astonished gaze that I must confess my 
 inability to properly describe. 
 
 The view before me was a mammoth park with 
 its variety of trees, flowers and shrubbery of every 
 possible description. 
 
 Straight ahead in the distance and plainly dis 
 cernible was a running brook which flowed along in 
 a devious course and emptied into a lake far beyond. 
 And there, in all its majesty was the sun just sinking 
 behind the horizon, its brilliant radiance forming 
 the most beautiful effects of colorization upon the 
 distant clouds it has ever been my good fortune to 
 behold. 
 
 I stood in motionless reverence for several min 
 utes as my mind expanded with wonder at the mag 
 nificent panorama, while my nostrils inhaled a most 
 delicious fragrance from the innumerable plants
 
 22 BORNAGAIN 
 
 which seemed to put new life into my enervated 
 body. 
 
 What strange phenomena is this, I soliloquized? 
 On the outside of the earth the sun had gone down 
 and darkness prevailed, while down here, in under 
 its crust I found it blazing away in all its splendor. 
 In fact it seemed that an entirely new world had 
 suddenly been thrown in front of me. 
 
 Was I really alive or had I passed into some other 
 world, was the next question to enter my mind. I 
 remembered that I had fallen a considerable dis 
 tance into this strange place and was somewhat 
 stunned in the tumble. Perhaps, thought I, my body 
 is still lying somewhere among the rocks above while 
 this is only my spirit wandering about in a fanciful 
 manner. 
 
 But no, looking downward I plainly saw my 
 massive frame dressed in sailor s clothes just as I had 
 left the ship and I was positive of being alive, awake, 
 and in my right senses. 
 
 And the wonders multiplied. 
 
 Looking to the right of the entrance, a short dis 
 tance away, I observed a marble platform elevated 
 about two feet from the ground, in the midst of huge 
 flower-beds and shaded by large trees, upon which 
 sat a number of men, silent and motionless, with 
 various musical instruments in their hands as if 
 they had just finished playing and were taking a 
 short rest. 
 
 These instruments were of an entirely different 
 pattern from any I had ever seen. 
 
 And the men! Oh, if I only had the power to 
 show them to my fellow beings as I saw them. What
 
 BORN AGAIN 23 
 
 an imposing, noble looking lot they were. They 
 were all about the same size and not one of them 
 could have been less than eight feet in height. 
 
 In looking at them closely, I noticed that they 
 possessed most magnificent physiques. They were 
 neither fat nor lean and their well-groomed bodies 
 showed plainly that no horse or piece of machinery 
 ever received better care or attention. While they 
 appeared to be from thirty to forty years in ages, not 
 one of them wore a mustache, beard or any other 
 shaggy decoration of the face. Their foreheads were 
 broad and massive and extended to the center of 
 their splendidly shaped craniums. Extraordinary 
 intelligence, kindness and gentleness showed forth 
 from every feature of their handsome countenances. 
 Judging from their well-proportioned frames, each 
 one looked powerful enough to battle single handed 
 with an elephant. Judging from their faces not one 
 of them would have hurt a flea. 
 
 Each man appeared to be buried in the depth of 
 thought serious thought notwithstanding every 
 physiognomy plainly showed that the utmost happi 
 ness and contentment existed within each, and good 
 will between all of them. The skin of their faces, 
 hands and feet was as white as snow, transparent, 
 and backed by a beautiful pink. 
 
 At first sight I thought they were the gods. 
 
 Uniformly clothed in closely fitting garments 
 from the ankles to the neck, their superb forms 
 showed complete symmetrical perfection. The hue 
 of their raiment was indescribable for I had never 
 seen the like before. In fact the colors actually ap-
 
 24 BORNAGAIN 
 
 peared to change before my steady gaze. Their feet 
 were bare, very shapely, and the toes of greater 
 length than ordinarily. 
 
 As I stood rooted to the ground and viewed them 
 with intense admiration, I wondered why they did 
 not speak or take notice of my presence. But finally 
 in order to attract their attention I shouted, hello. 
 My voice sounded rather harsh and peculiar on this 
 occasion, and was more like the bray of an ass than 
 anything else, but they made no motion as if they 
 heard me, or were aware of my existence. Walking 
 over to the nearest one, I reached up and touched 
 him on the shoulder. Then I sprang back in amaze 
 ment, for instead of giving any sign of recognition he 
 merely placed his instrument in position, as did all 
 the others, and with slow, graceful movements be 
 gan to play. The first strains of music, although 
 distinct and supernaturally grand, seemed to be 
 miles away but gradually increased in sound as if 
 coming nearer and nearer. At the same time I ob 
 served that the musicians, who were not only using 
 both hands in the manipulation of their instruments 
 but with graceful dexterity their feet as well, were 
 becoming enthusiastic and appeared to throw their 
 very lives and souls into the work. If at first while 
 inactive they appeared to be extraordinarily intel 
 lectual beings, now in action they looked divine. 
 Their eyes blazed like miniature suns shooting forth 
 sparks of a thousand different hues. It seemed as if 
 the very music itself came from the expression of 
 vheir faces. And on, on, on, came the intoxicating 
 strains, increasing in volume and excellence until 
 I imagined that all heaven had broken loose in one
 
 BORNAGAIN 25 
 
 great effort to charm my feeble senses, and then 
 with a thunderous climax it ceased instantly, the 
 musicians smiled and bowed pleasantly to one an 
 other, and then resumed their former attitudes. 
 
 No mortal s pen could describe my ecstasy while 
 listening to the music produced by this body of I 
 must say heavenly creatures. There was something 
 strange and analogous about it, too, that seemed to 
 recall a mysterious dream or vision I had once passed 
 through. Whether it was caused by the music or the 
 kindly expressions of love for one another on the 
 faces of the players I know not, but nevertheless 
 great tears spontaneously rolled down my cheeks, 
 the first I ever recollect having shed, and at the 
 conclusion of the piece I remained transfixed to the 
 spot for several minutes in deep cogitation. 
 
 Once more, however, my inquiring nature aroused 
 me and I walked over toward the leader. His face 
 was turned slightly in another direction, so I de 
 cided to step up on the platform, get squarely in 
 r ront of him and look straight into his eyes. So with 
 a light movement I sprang for the rostrum. But 
 instead of reaching it my foot and head struck not 
 the platform but solid wall, and a second later I 
 found myself in a heap on the ground. Then I 
 started to think. Next I began to feel and finally 
 a broad grin overspread my face, for the scene be 
 fore me was not real after all, but a wonderful paint 
 ing on the interior of the building.
 
 CHAPTER 6 
 
 Putting my hand against the surface and walking 
 along I discovered that this great scene which ap 
 peared to stretch away into the distance for several 
 miles, including the trees, brook, lake, sun, clouds, 
 sky, and everything else, was painted on the wall, 
 ceiling and floor, of a circular room. The ceiling 
 was arranged in the shape of a dome, while the floor 
 made a concave connection with the wall. 
 
 The whole apartment could not have been over 
 fifty feet in diameter. The entire room was covered 
 by one painting, and so well had the work been done 
 that the only way I could discern the difference be 
 tween the real and artistic scene was by extending 
 my hands in front of me and feeling my way along. 
 
 But what about the music? Surely I heard it, and 
 without doubt the skilled musicians had performed 
 their work right before my eyes. And the sun, the 
 light, and the fragrance from the flowers, what 
 about these? 
 
 While in a state of perplexity at not being able to 
 understand these mysterious things, my eyes fell 
 upon something which I had not noticed previously, 
 at the same time causing me to give a sudden start 
 as if pierced by an electric shock.
 
 BORNAGAIN 27 
 
 To the left of the door through which I had 
 entered and lying in a reclining position upon a 
 bed of flowers, similar in shape to a modern sofa, 
 was the most beautiful object, I think, ever created 
 a woman. And such a woman. 
 
 Oh, ignorant humanity, why do you not breed all 
 women like that one? 
 
 Although nearly twenty-three years have passed 
 since then, still the vision of her is as fresh upon 
 my mind now as at that moment when my eyes first 
 beheld her. And as I think of her now I am unable 
 to repress the tears from filling my eyes, strong man 
 that I am. 
 
 Dressed in a tight-fitting costume like those worn 
 by the men, with the addition of a net-like drapery 
 of light material entwined about her, and lying in 
 a comfortable position partly on one side, with her 
 lovely head resting upon one arm, her shapely body 
 and limbs posed gracefully and her eyes closed in 
 slumber, she impressed me as being the queen of 
 the universe. 
 
 This is the most beautiful part of the whole pic 
 ture, thought I, taking a few steps forward. What 
 artist s imagination could ever have created such a 
 sublime and realistic work? 
 
 As I stood in reverent contemplation of her my 
 admiration was unbounded. It seemed as if my feel 
 ings would burst within me. My first love for woman 
 was then and there confirmed for all time. I decided 
 I would stay and spend the rest of my days right 
 there, silently attesting my everlasting devotion to 
 that divine likeness of ideality. Had I not discovered 
 that the whole thing was a work of art, I should
 
 28 BORNAGAIN 
 
 have felt positive that she was really alive and 
 merely lay there in peaceful repose. 
 
 Then a sudden thought passed through my mind 
 which gradually expanded into an irresistible desire; 
 I would press my lips to hers and thereby seal my 
 love forevermore. 
 
 Trembling like a timid school-boy I advanced 
 closer. How lovely she appeared. How real. Bending 
 forward and putting my head in juxtaposition to 
 hers it seemed as if I actually heard her heart beat. 
 It may have been my own. 
 
 With my face flushed and feeling that perhaps I 
 might be taking an unfair advantage of one who 
 would not appreciate my caress, I tenderly touched 
 her lips with mine. For another moment of such 
 indescribable ecstasy I would gladly pass through 
 all the imaginary tortures of the infernal regions. 
 But it ended there. 
 
 No sooner had our lips come together than I 
 became aware of the fact that the adorable object 
 before me was real and not artificial as supposed. 
 
 As if by magic her mouth twitched slightly and 
 her whole frame quivered perceptibly; then she 
 opened her eyes and finally with a most graceful 
 spring she landed squarely upon her feet directly 
 in front of me. 
 
 I jumped backward in utter amazement. 
 
 And there we stood face to face staring into each 
 other s eyes. 
 
 I then noticed that she was about seven feet in 
 height and although not lean still there was not an 
 ounce of superfluous flesh on her serpent-like figure.
 
 BORNAGAIN 29 
 
 Like the men, she too was bare footed, and her 
 hair, a dark silky texture, was short and very artis 
 tically arranged. Her snow white face, transparent 
 with pink, was the acme of loveliness, with an ex 
 pression of gentleness, purity and modesty plainly 
 stamped upon every feature. Her dazzling eyes 
 sparkled with the brilliancy of huge diamonds. 
 
 Evidently she was as much astonished as myself 
 at the strange course of events. 
 
 Although she did not speak still I received an 
 impression from her as if put into so many words 
 which plainly said: "John, am I dreaming or what 
 awful experiment have you attempted to transform 
 yourself into such a hideous creature?" 
 
 I tried to speak but my first effort nearly choked 
 me. Then in a voice which seemed to be unusually 
 coarse I finally blurted out: "My dear lady, will you 
 kindly tell me who or what you are?" 
 
 These words seemed to puzzle her more than ever 
 and after hurriedly glancing about the room she 
 looked me over carefully from head to foot. 
 
 Speaking once more I said, "Madame, can you 
 understand my language?" 
 
 Then I received another strange but unmistak 
 able impression which replied: "I can understand 
 your thoughts but not your babble." "Are you able," 
 she continued telepathically, "to give an explanation 
 of this extraordinary metamorphosis?" 
 
 "The only information I can offer," answered I, 
 "will be cheerfully given. My name is John Convert, 
 late seaman aboard the schooner Brawl, bound from 
 Sydney to London. Last night I was thrown over 
 board by my shipmates and after floating about the
 
 30 BORNAGAIN 
 
 deep for several hours I landed upon this pile of 
 ruins surrounded by the sea. In making an investi 
 gation of the exterior I lost my foothold, fell into a 
 crevice and breaking through a thin crust I landed 
 in the outer passageway which finally led me into 
 this room. I must confess that everything here is as 
 inexplicable to me as I appear to you." 
 
 As I spoke she seemed to be laboring under in 
 tense mental excitement and tears came to her eyes. 
 
 "I understand it all now," she made known to me 
 in her mysterious way, "the experiment failed." 
 
 "What experiment was that?" questioned I in 
 surprise. 
 
 Looking me straight in the eye as though trying 
 to impress upon my mind the importance of her 
 communication, she answered, "the attempt of man 
 to change the course of the earth in space."
 
 CHAPTER 7 
 
 "And so you intorm me that there is nothing left 
 of beautiful Sageland but a heap of ruins surround 
 ed by the sea," mused the lovely the idea struck 
 me to name her Arietta "tell me what happened 
 to the rest of my people." 
 
 "Not knowing anything about the matter it is 
 impossible for me to answer that question," replied 
 I; "and although I have traveled through nearly 
 every country on earth still no such people as you 
 or the magnificent objects represented in that pic 
 ture have ever come to my attention before. In fact 
 I have never read of such a race or even heard of a 
 country by the name of Sageland." 
 
 At this remark she turned abruptly and walked 
 or rather flew, so easy and graceful were her 
 movements over to a portion of the wall and 
 looked long and earnestly into a peculiar instrument, 
 then returning she said: (without the use of words) 
 "according to my chronometer, more than four 
 thousand two hundred and thirty years have elapsed 
 since the awful catastrophe." 
 
 "Four thousand, two hundred and thirty years!" 
 ejaculated I, "great heavens, that must have been 
 about the time of the flood." 
 
 "What flood?" inquired she.
 
 32 BORNAGAIN 
 
 Then I proceeded to tell her how in those days 
 the people of the world being so wicked that God 
 during a terrible fit of anger made it rain for forty 
 days and forty nights, causing the destruction of 
 every living thing on earth except one Noah, his 
 family and a male and female of every animal, bird 
 and insect, who were saved by being taken aboard 
 of a huge ark built for the purpose by Noah. And 
 then after every living thing not aboard the boat 
 was destroyed, how the waves receded, Noah and 
 his flock were safely landed upon a mountain peak, 
 and God put a bow into the sky as a pledge that he 
 would never do such a thing again. Arietta appeared 
 somewhat amused at my recital of the story and at 
 its conclusion merely remarked: "Noah evidently 
 had more good sense than his god." Then s^ie added: 
 "As to the rainbow, that was seen by the inhabitants 
 of the earth millions of years before Noah s time." 
 
 "So the world has retrogressed during the past 
 four thousand years," mused she sadly. 
 
 "Retrogressed! No indeed, the world has made 
 great progress and has now reached a wonderful 
 state of civilization," answered I, proudly. 
 
 Motioning me to an opposite position she majes 
 tically seated herself upon the couch and after 
 seriously looking at me for some time she finally 
 said: "This is one of nature s most extraordinary 
 proceedings and there are many things I wish to 
 talk with you about, but before going into the 
 details of this matter I am anxious to get a view 
 of the world as it exists now. You have observed 
 that unlike the lower animals, in which rank unfor 
 tunately you belong at the present time" here I
 
 BORN AGAIN 33 
 
 interrupted her by bursting forth into loud laugh 
 ter, not because I enjoyed being called an animal 
 myself but at the thought of how some of my civ 
 ilized friends would feel if informed that they were 
 lower animals. 
 
 My intervention, however, not disturbing her in 
 the least, she resumed: "In our nomenclature your 
 species was known as the Apeman, and represented 
 in the chain of evolution the link between the Ape 
 and Man. Our scientists placed the Apeman within 
 the ranks of the lower animals for reasons I shall 
 make c.lear later. But to continue, you have observed 
 that unlike yourself I have been conversing with 
 you without the use of the voice but with the mind, 
 the most effectual agent of communication and one 
 of the senses the Apeman has not cultivated. Now 
 I shall show you how to see without eyes. 
 
 "Mind sight is an occult force which was exer 
 cised to great advantage by my people. This force 
 eliminates both distance and obstruction and ex 
 poses to view the object sought even if it is located 
 on the opposite side of the globe. Any mind, if 
 sufficiently strong, can contract distance and bring 
 any mundane scene within its range while pene 
 trating solid matter as if it did not exist at all. So 
 by utilizing this power, which I possess to a consid 
 erable degree, it is my intention to make a hurried 
 survey of the earth s surface in order to obtain an 
 exact idea of present conditions. Furthermore, by 
 the subtle concentration of our mind forces together 
 I shall convey to your inner vision the actual scenes 
 witnessed by myself, and you shall act as my mental 
 consort on a trip around the world."
 
 34 BORNAGAIN 
 
 After the many wonderful things I had_ already 
 seen it was my opinion that there was nothing im 
 possible for this beautiful woman to perform, so I 
 mildly informed her that I was at her service, and 
 ready for the journey to begin. 
 
 "Well then," said she, "before starting I wish to 
 warn you that no matter what you see, hear or feel 
 on this trip you must not disturb our observation 
 with your primitive babble, apish laughter or by 
 trying to offer any comments whatsoever." 
 
 At this remark I was brought to a realization of 
 the fact that Arietta, whom I so ardently loved, aye 
 even worshipped, was treating me in about the same 
 manner as I would have treated a pet monkey had 
 I been teaching it some new tricks. She evidently 
 regarded my smiles and feelings for her with about 
 the same consideration as I should have given to 
 those of some grinning female baboon had it been 
 trying to make love to me. 
 
 Her last thoughts, therefore, aroused my sensitive 
 nature, and a violent outburst of temper was the 
 result. I did not mind being called an Apeman so 
 much, but hated the idea of being treated like one, 
 so working myself into a passion I severely censured 
 her, and with much bluster and many gestures en 
 deavored to impress upon her mind how much 
 superior I was to what she had imagined. 
 
 It was some time before my anger abated, and 
 then I noticed that she appeared quite unmoved by 
 my wrath but sat looking calmly and alternately at 
 me and one of the figures in the picture, while her 
 face bore an expression of sadness and pity.
 
 BORN AGAIN 35 
 
 Then I felt ashamed to think of what a lack of self- 
 control I had exhibited, and humbly begged her 
 pardon. 
 
 "Now," said Arietta, kindly, and I fancied that 
 she called me John, "your soul is at present running 
 the machinery of a very inferior mind and body 
 which plainly shows all the cruel passions and idiotic 
 ideas of the Apeman. This has happened through 
 no fault of your own but is the result of circum 
 stances over which you had no control so that you 
 are not responsible for your present condition. 
 
 "However, I now say that you have been chosen 
 by nature for a great and glorious work and from 
 this time forward you must make use of your reason 
 ing faculties for reasonable purposes and cast aside 
 all the animal passions, silly ideas and antiquated 
 superstitions which you have inherited from the 
 ignorant of ages, and begin afresh. 
 
 Before starting on our journey perhaps it would 
 be well for us to take some refreshments in order 
 that our minds may remain strong and clear during 
 the trip. We take our nourishment in a different 
 way from you cannibals," said Arietta, as she went 
 to one of the artificial flower gardens, began inhaling 
 and motioned me to do likewise. 
 
 "But we are not cannibals," I mildly remon 
 strated, "we do not kill and eat human beings." 
 
 "Do you not kill and eat the flesh of other living 
 things?" inquired she. 
 
 "Yes," replied I, "our diet consists of the flesh of 
 birds, fish and cattle which God with great wisdom 
 created for that purpose."
 
 36 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "Did he? Then you must worship a cannibal god, 
 for it is but a very short step between eating the 
 flesh of your own species and that of others. That is 
 one reason why our scientists ranked the Apeman 
 with the lower animals. 
 
 But come, inhale this perfume and see if it is not 
 far more refreshing and less disgusting than to fill 
 your stomach with roasted flesh." 
 
 At her suggestion I stationed myself near the 
 flower bed which contained a large variety of the 
 most beautiful plants I had ever seen. She touched 
 several of them lightly and immediately the air was 
 saturated with a most delicious fragrance caused, 
 no doubt, by an automatic arrangement concealed 
 within each flower. 
 
 I stood like one in a most delightful dream in 
 haling the invigorating fumes, and with each suc 
 ceeding breath my body became stronger and my 
 mind brighter until I thought I should surely die 
 from the effects of exuberant joy, when my atten 
 tion was attracted by Arietta, who said: "Come, you 
 greedy little pig, don t you know when you have had 
 enough?" Then she added, "but I forgot that among 
 your species greediness is considered a virtue."
 
 CHAPTER 8 
 
 "Greediness considered a virtue among my 
 species." Surely I must have misunderstood her, 
 thought I, once more seating myself, preparatory to 
 beginning my mental journey with Arietta. And I 
 was glad to know that she would shortly view our 
 civilization as it existed, feeling positive that she 
 would then change her ideas regarding my species 
 being lower animals. I felt that it was my own 
 fault because she harbored such an opinion and that 
 I was to blame for being such a poor representative 
 of my race for her to judge by. 
 
 "Now, let s be off," said she, "as I feel that my 
 time will be short with you and we had better make 
 the best of it while it lasts." 
 
 "Time short with you." Those words gave me 
 more pain than if a sword had been thrust through 
 my body. "By all the gods of eternity, I would not 
 care to live ten minutes if anything happened to 
 that heavenly being," thought I, gazing at her with 
 rapturous feelings of tenderness. "Call me a lower 
 animal, a hideous creature or a greedy pig, and treat 
 me like one if you will, but do not leave me. Stay 
 and let me be your slave forever." Those were my 
 sincere thoughts. She understood them, but made 
 no response.
 
 38 BORNAGAIN 
 
 Settling back in a comfortable position with my 
 eyes fastened upon Arietta in loving adoration, the 
 scene changed instantly and I found myself once 
 more upon the rocks in the middle of the sea. The 
 sun was just rising in the east and another day was 
 begun. 
 
 Then our meteoric flight commenced, and quicker 
 than it takes to relate I was high up among the 
 clouds and peering down at a familiar landscape. I 
 recognized the location at once as the district occu 
 pied by and surrounding Cape Town, South Africa. 
 
 I had been there before. But how peculiar every 
 thing appeared now as I looked down from above. 
 I could plainly discern the harbor and great table 
 land in the scene before me, although apparently 
 shrunk in size, but the city itself resembled a little 
 toy village, while the largest ships in the harbor re 
 minded me of the tiny boats I used to construct 
 when a child and float about in the bath-tub. But 
 where, oh where, was the greatest of all exalted 
 things that for which the entire universe and all 
 that it contains therein was constructed mighty 
 man? He could not be seen. In fact he was as com 
 pletely invisible as the pestilential germ on the 
 back of a sick flea. "If I only had a microscope," 
 thought I, "perhaps I could see him." Then I be 
 gan to descend, until finally I discovered innumer 
 able little creepers moving about in all directions. 
 They were men. At first sight they looked to be 
 about the size of ants, but as I got closer to the earth 
 they increased in bulk until they appeared to be at 
 least three inches in height, and then their import 
 ance became noticeable. As they moved about in 
 great numbers and I came into close proximity with
 
 BORN AGAIN 39 
 
 them, I observed that the actions of some was appa 
 rently sensible but that the doings of the most of 
 them was positively ridiculous. For instance, here 
 was one set of creatures diligently toiling to produce 
 something and getting nothing, while here was a 
 set of idlers doing absolutely nothing but receiving 
 everything. The real producer of all the necessities 
 and luxuries of life was actually giving nine-tenths 
 of the fruits of his labor to a class of loafers and 
 schemers who took it as a divine right, and then 
 begrudged him the one-tenth he received of his 
 own production. I observed that for every one of 
 these producers there were ten non-producers who 
 spent their time and efforts devising the best ways 
 and means to confiscate that which had been pro 
 duced. It seemed strange that the producer would 
 allow this state of affairs to exist; but he did, and 
 seemed quite elated sometimes to think that the 
 non-producer would permit him to live at all. I 
 noticed that most of the non-producers were fat and 
 bloated from being over-fed and from guzzling pre 
 pared liquors, and that they were clothed with the 
 finest materials the producer could contribute, while 
 the producers themselves were lean and hungry 
 looking objects, and were dressed in rags. I had 
 seen these same things many times before without 
 giving them any consideration, but now for the first 
 time, I felt that there was something wrong with the 
 people of the world. It seemed to me now that the 
 entire system of human endeavor had been started 
 wrong and was running along upside down. But 
 what was the cause of tins curious state of affairs? 
 One word alone explained it all Selfishness.
 
 40 BORNAGAIN 
 
 Then there came to me a sentence, the imprint 
 of which has never been effaced from my memory, 
 viz: "Selfishness is the root of all evil; eradicate self 
 ishness from all human beings and the earth will be 
 heaven." 
 
 Reader, go over those few words again, and again; 
 ten times; fifty times; one hundred times if neces 
 sary to thoroughly impress their full meaning upon 
 your intellect. Study them; practice them; teach 
 them; sing them to all the world. Take them for 
 your everlasting motto and you will have no need 
 for all the stupid theories ever created by man. 
 "Eradicate selfishness from all human beings and 
 the earth will be heaven." 
 
 And now I observed that great numbers of these 
 little men were being unloaded from the various 
 ships in the harbor, and upon landing started im 
 mediately in a northerly direction. I understood the 
 reason. Gold had been discovered in the Transvaal, 
 and thousands upon thousands were coming from 
 every quarter of the globe in anticipation of getting 
 some of this metal. And what is there about gold 
 that caused people to go such vast distances and bear 
 many hardships and even risk their lives in desper 
 ate efforts to obtain it? Is there more real value to 
 gold than other metals? Not at all. There is no 
 more intrinsic value to gold than brass, but cen 
 turies ago, a semi-savage glutton discovered that he 
 could not eat all the swine he could raise nor legally 
 steal all his contemporaries could breed, so he orig 
 inated a plan whereby he could secure for himself 
 what others had produced through the agency of a 
 financial system in which gold could be used as a
 
 BORN AGAIN 41 
 
 medium of exchange. He found that he could get 
 other and less crafty savages to go and dig the gold 
 for him in return for swine. He also found that the 
 breeders would exchange swine for gold. So he 
 started by giving the diggers one swine for ten 
 ounces of gold and the breeders one ounce of gold 
 for ten swine. This transaction he called business. 
 
 This system of business has been handed down 
 from generation to generation until it has become 
 a part of man s very nature. He knows very little of 
 anything else. Gold being the financial medium of 
 business he is taught to crave it in his infancy and 
 as he grows older gold becomes his idol his God. 
 
 In order to gain possession of gold or its equiva 
 lent man forgets his soul and sells his honor. He is 
 willing to crush the weak, cheat, steal or even mur 
 der his fellow beings to obtain it. And no matter 
 whether he has little or much of it he considers any 
 person insane who dare suggest the abolition of the 
 financial system which permits individual accumu 
 lation and breeds selfishness and crime. 
 
 With a change of mind, I landed thousands of 
 miles further north into the interior of uncivilized 
 Africa, the home of wild beasts. Here something 
 occurred which caused me to think that after all, 
 perhaps Arietta was right in classing my species with 
 the lower animals. Under ordinary conditions I 
 should not have given the incident a second thought, 
 but now my mind being directly connected with 
 hers, I was, no doubt, impressed in the same manner 
 as she while viewing these things. 
 
 A party of English gentlemen were on a hunting 
 expedition. They appeared to be intelligent beings
 
 42 B O R N A G A I N 
 
 of aristocratic birth. Men whom the average indi 
 vidual would take as examples to emulate. But here 
 they were in Africa, thousands of miles from home, 
 with the sole purpose of killing something for plea 
 sure. A short distance away was a family of lions; 
 a male, female and several cubs. The lion and 
 lioness lay close together, apparently casting loving 
 glances at one another and enjoying the antics of 
 the little ones who were playing together nearby. 
 Occasionally the little ones would run over and kiss 
 their elders in a most affectionate way, which seemed 
 to greatly please the parents. Never have I seen a fam 
 ily of human beings display so much real affection 
 toward each others as this family of lions. But alas, 
 their happiness was at an end. Man s appetite for 
 killing must be appeased. One of the hunters had 
 caught sight of the happy little family, and slinking 
 behind a tree before his presence became known to 
 the lions he signaled to his comrades, who sneaked 
 torward from tree to tree until they were within 
 easy range of their prey. Then fixing their rifles and 
 taking deliberate aim at the unsuspecting victims, 
 and without giving them any chance to defend them 
 selves or little ones, these so-called brave and civil 
 ized hunters pulled the triggers and the happy old 
 lion and the lioness simultaneously expired, pierced 
 by a dozen bullets. And what became of the little 
 ones? The sight was too pitiable to describe. After 
 the effects of the first fright, caused by the noise of 
 the shots, had passed, they instinctively rushed to 
 their parents for protection. Oh, the anguish de 
 picted upon the faces of these little things when 
 they discovered that their loving progenitors were 
 no more. Their looks and moans were heartrending.
 
 iJORN AGAIN 43 
 
 But there were others made happy. A sudden shout 
 of joyousness burst forth from the throats of a dozen 
 civilized men who eagerly rushed from behind their 
 fortresses to view the work of destruction. They had 
 displayed fine marksmanship and were greatly 
 pleased. Good shooting, said one of the brave fel 
 lows. Splendid, exclaimed another. But what shall 
 we do with the cubs? asked the third. Better finish 
 them also, remarked a fourth, as I am very fond of 
 cub meat, and would like nothing better than a 
 broiled steak from one of their little carcasses. After 
 a few minutes parley a decision was reached that it 
 would be uncivilized to allow the little ones to wan 
 der about the jungle alone for fear that they might 
 become the prey for other wild animals, so they 
 killed them also; and filled their stomachs with 
 them. 
 
 Then after they were through, a flock of vultures 
 descended and finished the work. Men and vultures 
 are somewhat alike in this respect; they both eat the 
 flesh of carcasses. But a good word can be said for 
 the vultures, however; they never kill.
 
 CHAPTER 9 
 
 It is not my intention to give a full descriptive 
 account of my peculiar journey around the world 
 with Arietta, nor to recount the many strange things 
 witnessed. Suffice it to mention that we visited nearly 
 every country on the globe through the power of 
 mind sight, and I was enabled to see any terrestrial 
 occurrence as well as if having been on the spot in 
 person. In fact, being under the direct influence of 
 Arietta s perception, conditions appeared much 
 more comprehensive to me than ever before and I 
 felt like some great judge looking down upon the 
 earth and its inhabitants with an impartial eye. 
 
 But somehow these inhabitants did not seem to 
 impress me as being in such a high state of intelli 
 gence as I had formerly been led to believe they 
 were. Everywhere human beings were fighting and 
 snarling amongst themselves like ferocious beasts. 
 Their man-made law granted the right of the strong 
 to victimize the weak either through the power ol 
 physical or mental force. In fact it was considered a 
 divine right for men of superior intellects to receive 
 more of the fruits of the earth than those of smaller 
 mental capacity. One-half of the world was over-fed 
 while the other half was under-fed. 
 
 Aside from a slight difference in political and 
 financial theories, the characteristics of all the peo-
 
 BORNAGAIN 45 
 
 pies of the world were the same; the predominant 
 features being greed, vanity, egotism, intemperance, 
 gluttony, fraud, theft, bribery, deceit, brutality, 
 murder, superstition and filth. Even America, the 
 much boasted land of the free, the country which 
 God in his infinite wisdom had taken from the bad 
 English and given to the good Americans, contained 
 people with these traits, and the so-called great men 
 of this country appeared like a lot of silly little 
 pigmies engaged in an eternal quarrel over a few 
 trinkets. Few of them could see further than their 
 own noses unless it was to see something that would 
 increase their own selfish desires. 
 
 Equality, of which these people boasted so much, 
 existed merely in their imaginations. The actual 
 meaning of equality, as the Americans understood 
 it, was that the physical and mental gladiators and 
 weaklings alike were put into one great prize ring 
 and given an opportunity to fight for their lives and 
 nature s gifts, Those who were capable of battering 
 down and trampling upon their adversaries were 
 legally entitled to all the luxuries the earth provided 
 and more than they could use, but those who were 
 unfortunate enough to have been born weaklings 
 and were unfit to cope successfully with the huge 
 monsters in the ring, were crushed in the struggle. 
 
 Fraud was the slogan of the government officials 
 and nearly all of them practiced it, from the highest 
 to the lowest functionary. 
 
 Money was the power behind the curtain and he 
 who had the largest bank account was catered to 
 like an over-grown hog surrounded by a lot of suck-
 
 46 BORN AGAIN 
 
 ling pigs. "God helps those who help themselves" 
 was their accepted motto. In other words, God helps 
 the strong and not the weak. 
 
 If the Creator gives any of His attention to the 
 innumerable bickerings of these earthly microbes 
 He must feel greatly flattered by having this splen 
 did motto thrust upon Him, for according to it, one 
 was supposed to go to the assistance of the man who 
 could swim, while he who could not, must be left 
 to drown. 
 
 A certain so-called great American, one Mr. 
 Moundbuilder by name, expressed great faith in 
 this doctrine. By employing thousands of his fellow 
 men to do the hard work while he sat in an easy 
 chair and confiscated the difference between what 
 they earned and what he paid them, he accumulated 
 several hundred million dollars for his own use. 
 About the time he was ready to die he learned to 
 his great sorrow that it was necessary to leave all 
 this slush behind. 
 
 So this great philanthropist decided to bequeath 
 it to only those who were sufficiently strong and 
 willing to continue his policy of crushing the weak 
 and incidentally erect some monuments to his own 
 memory. 
 
 After much consideration as to how the strong 
 would derive the most benefit from his ill-gotten 
 goods, he concluded that the weak-minded and sickly 
 creatures who were bred from the system he abetted 
 and the over-worked and under-fed laborer would 
 have no opportunity to read books, so he established 
 hundreds of Moundbuilder libraries and Mound- 
 builder universities in all parts of the world.
 
 47 
 
 To those who were already strong enough to reach 
 a position where they could enter a university and 
 did not really need his aid, the idea was a grand one, 
 as it would help to increase their strength, thereby 
 making it much easier for them to confiscate what 
 the weaklings could produce in the future. Thus 
 the plan to make the strong stronger, the weak weak 
 er, and Moundbuilder immortal, would be perpet 
 uated. 
 
 But the cherished hopes of Mr. Moundbuilder in 
 this respect will never be realized, for the day is not 
 far distant when earthly mortals will be able to 
 reason and then he will be recognized simply as a 
 vain-glorious old humbug. 
 
 Another celebrated American who was classed 
 nmong the great men of the day was a certain Mr. 
 Porkpacker. This individual conducted an estab 
 lishment where thousands of animals, bred for the 
 purpose, were slaughtered daily. He had accumu 
 lated millions of blood-stained dollars in this way, 
 and was generally conceded to be a man of great 
 business ability. He was pointed out to the rising 
 generation as one of the most successful men in the 
 country whose example should be followed. Just 
 pause a moment and think of it. Here was a man 
 who directed a business where thousands of living 
 things were murdered daily, set forth as a good ex 
 ample to follow just because he had secured millions 
 of dollars bv the operation. Oh, ye mortals! Man 
 considers the wolf a blood-thirsty beast because he 
 kills and eats the flesh of human beings for subsist 
 ence. What kind of a bestial monster would the wolf 
 consider man if it saw him in his slaughter-house 
 killing thousands of innocent beef, sheep and hogs
 
 48 BORNAGAIN 
 
 daily? Or what would it think of civilized man if it 
 saw him shooting myriads of tame and harmless 
 pigeons for amusement, or broiling lobsters alive 
 to satisfy his gormandizing desires? Perhaps the wolf 
 would set man below its grade, if interrogated upon 
 the subject. But tyrannical man, intoxicated by his 
 own egotism, assumes that all these things were 
 created for his special benefit. If the wolf could be 
 questioned about the matter, it too might claim that 
 its civilization permitted the killing and eating of 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Porkpacker was considered both great and 
 good by his fellow beings, for each year he gave 
 thousands of dollars for the erection and mainten 
 ance of the church and likewise contributed largely 
 toward his pastor s salary. Would it be good policy 
 then for the pastor to believe that it was wrong to 
 kill sheep, when one of the large contributors was 
 earning money in that business? No, no. So the 
 church upheld the slaughter-houses and proved by 
 the scriptures that they were simply doing what the 
 savages had done thousands of years previously ac 
 cording to divine right. 
 
 Once I listened to my father preach a sermon on 
 the beautiful innocence and purity of the lamb. For 
 an hour he spoke feelingly of the many virtues con 
 tained by this gentle little creature and after he was 
 through he immediately went home and filled his 
 stomach with roasted lamb for dinner. 
 
 Civilized creatures want to know when the time 
 will arrive that the lion and lamb will lie down 
 together in peace and harmony. Possibly the lamb
 
 JBORNAGAIN 49 
 
 would like to know if the time will ever come when 
 its carcass will not be utilized to appease the vora 
 cious appetites of civilized creatures. 
 
 In looking over the so-called great business men 
 and financial swindlers of America they certainly 
 presented a motley collection of physical and mental 
 monstrosities. They spent so much of their time in 
 the mad rush for dollars and how to spend them, 
 that physical and mental improvement received very 
 little attention. Their brains became stagnant for 
 the want of proper training and their bodies were 
 allowed to rot and become useless for the need of 
 exercise. Some were so fat they could not walk, 
 while others were too lean to stand. A great many 
 of them used either canes or crutches as an aid to 
 hobble along or vehicles to convey them from place 
 to place. Nearly all were cripples, more or less; 
 rheumatism, gout, paralysis and numerous other 
 ailments being the cause of their helplessness. 
 
 Few of them seemed able to understand that all 
 these infirmities were directly caused by the want of 
 proper exercise and from the gluttonous habit of 
 overloading their stomachs with foods of many kinds 
 and meat especially. Apparently it was beyond their 
 comprehension that nature commanded them to im 
 prove their physiques for the benefit of coming 
 generations. 
 
 Men who professed to be athletes when they were 
 past the age of thirty were considered childish, while 
 the exponents of physical culture were generally 
 looked upon as cranks. 
 
 Eating, drinking and smoking were adapted as the 
 best modes of recreation, while fishing and shooting
 
 50 BORNAGAIN 
 
 pigeons, quail, squirrels and other harmless living 
 things were regarded as good, healthy amusements. 
 
 Of all the brutal methods of diversion ever adopt 
 ed by man, fishing is perhaps the most cruel. If the 
 reader does not think so, just stop for a moment and 
 imagine yourself being hooked to a great line by the 
 mouth and your body being drawn far up into space 
 and into another atmosphere, there to strangle 
 slowly to death. You would not like it, would you? 
 Then why should the fish be treated so? Do you 
 not suppose that the fish have feelings like yourself? 
 
 Oh, if all my fellowmen could only have taken 
 that trip around the world with Arietta and seen 
 things as I saw them, cruelty in all its various forms 
 would be a thing of the past. That trip and my sub 
 sequent experience with her proved to be the best 
 education I could have received from any source. 
 It taught me the real meaning of the word kindness, 
 without which, not only toward human beings, but 
 toward all living things, man will never rise above 
 the savage state.
 
 CHAPTER 10 
 
 We were just twenty-four hours making our 
 journey around the world, when suddenly I found 
 myself once more gazing into the beautiful eyes of 
 Arietta. While she bestowed a kindly look of sym 
 pathy toward me, her features plainly showed that 
 her gentle nature had received an awful shock from 
 the terrible and degrading sights we had witnessed. 
 And there was much reason why this pure and lov 
 able woman should be shocked at what we had seen, 
 for even I, a worthless and hardened vagabond, had 
 become thoroughly disgusted with my own species. 
 
 "And what do you think of your highly civilized 
 people now?" she inquired sadly. 
 
 "They are a race of tail-less monkeys and filthy 
 beasts with myself included," responded I, with 
 vehemence, and then I began a tirade of abuse 
 against the entire human family. 
 
 "Stop," exclaimed Arietta, "you must not allow 
 malice to enter your mind against any living crea 
 ture, no matter how beastly or brutal it may be. 
 Hatred will not make the world better; it needs 
 love. No living being is responsible for what it is 
 any more than you or I are accountable for being 
 in existence.
 
 52 BORNAGAIN 
 
 "But while each individual inherits the good or 
 bad instincts of its predecessor, still it has the power 
 to make better or worse its own condition. Love 
 will not only make better your own condition, but 
 that of your fellow beings as well. Do not expect to 
 find in others that which you do not possess yourself. 
 It is your duty to set a good example, not wait for 
 others to accomplish what you have not done your 
 self. So begin right now with love. Cast away all 
 unkind thoughts and never allow another to enter 
 your mind, no matter what the provocation might 
 be. I admit that the Apeman of today is no better, 
 in fact, in many respects is much inferior to the 
 Apeman who lived over four thousand years ago, 
 but that is because he took the wrong road in trying 
 to reach real manhood. He is still on the wrong 
 path, but must be turned about and started in the 
 right direction. He must be taught that Heaven is 
 here on earth, if he will only make it so. But the 
 earth will never be a paradise, so long as he allows 
 a grain of selfishness to remain in his system. In 
 yonder picture you can see what real men were like. 
 Study their countenances carefully and see if you 
 can read that any one of them ever committed a 
 selfish act or even permitted an unkind thought to 
 enter his mind, for if he had, you could plainly read 
 it from his features, the face being the mirror of our 
 thoughts and actions, and no matter what we do or 
 what we think from the time we are born until we 
 die, every act and thought is indelibly stamped upon 
 our faces and can never be erased until the material 
 of which we are composed has disintegrated and re- 
 entered the great chemical basin from which all 
 living things receive their substance.
 
 BORN AGAIN 53 
 
 It is to be hoped that with each turn of the chem 
 ical wheel the succeeding generation will be re 
 moulded on a better scale, until the Apeman and all 
 lower animals have passed through a successful 
 course of evolution and finally emerge into real 
 manhood the highest type of earthly beings. 
 
 This goal is but a few steps and within the power 
 of the Apeman to reach, but he must take his steps 
 in the right direction. 
 
 A whole nation of those magnificent beings you 
 see in the picture, once existed in real life. Their 
 ancestors were Apemen who were started in the 
 right path, and after persistently sticking to the 
 upward march of unselfish progress for many gen 
 erations, ultimately reached the class of men you 
 see before you; giants, physically, mentally and 
 morally." 
 
 Here she paused and looked long and affection 
 ately at those wonderful figures in the painting. 
 
 Then a feeling of intense jealousy suddenly crept 
 into my brain, and I thought I would surely go mad 
 under its terrible pressure. Arietta was in love with 
 one of those real men, while she held merely a com 
 passionate feeling for me. 
 
 I, the Apeman, standing six feet two inches in 
 height and weighing over two hundred pounds 
 avoirdupois, heretofore regarded as a marvel in 
 physical development, now, in the presence of these 
 eight-foot giants, felt like a shrunken pigmy. For 
 merly it was generally conceded that I was a rather 
 handsome fellow. This woman thought I was hid 
 eous. Previously, I had felt proud of my nicely 
 curled heavy black mustache, now I thought it made
 
 54 BORNAGAIN 
 
 me look like a monkey. The splendid features of 
 the real men were not disfigured by a hair or blem 
 ish of any kind, while their skin was as soft and 
 smooth as that of a new born child. During my trip 
 around the world, I had observed that the more 
 man s body was covered by hair, the more ape-like 
 he appeared, especially when decorating his face 
 with it, and I was certain that my appearance was 
 just as ludicrous in the eyes of Arietta as those I had 
 seen. Therefore my admiration for the stately ob 
 jects portrayed in the picture was beginning to turn 
 into hatred. I inwardly wished they were alive that 
 I might have an opportunity to combat with one or 
 all of them in order to show Arietta that I possessed 
 the courage to fight until death for her love. 
 
 While lost in the midst of such reflections Arietta 
 turned her gaze upon me fixedly and said: "What 
 barbaric thoughts have you permitted to enter your 
 mind now?" 
 
 "I was wishing," replied I rather sullenly, "that 
 the man you love in that picture was alive, that I 
 might have the chance to demonstrate my worth in 
 a fight to secure your favor; perhaps, then, you 
 would discover that I had some good qualities." 
 
 "And do you suppose if I saw you fighting like a 
 savage bulldog that I would admire those brutish 
 tendencies in your nature?" inquired she. "Do you 
 think that the animal instincts of fighting and killing 
 are good qualities to possess? Has your trip around 
 the world borne no good results? You have observed 
 that your own species, like other savage beasts, 
 quarrel, fight, maim and kill each other through 
 selfish motives, and you have condemned them for
 
 BORN AGAIN 55 
 
 it; now you would continue to do the very same 
 thing yourself and think that I would consider it 
 courageous. According to one of our primitive laws, 
 the courageous man was he who feared no one and 
 caused no one to fear him. 
 
 These men of the picture were the bravest of the 
 brave; and still if one of them were alive today he 
 would not fight with you, no matter how much you 
 might ill use him, for he would know that it required 
 more real strength to take abuse than to give it. He 
 would suffer more pain if he hurt you than if you 
 injured him. And still he could have crushed you 
 with greater ease than a cat can a mouse, if he were 
 cowardly enough to do it. That is the real courage 
 of unselfishness the kind your species cannot un 
 derstand. 
 
 Your fellow beings applaud cowardice which they 
 mistake for strength of character. They seem unable 
 to comprehend that it requires far more courage to 
 suffer pain than to inflict it upon others. They have 
 inherited their erroneous ideas from the wild beasts 
 who preceded them, and at the present time few of 
 them know any better. 
 
 But they must be taught differently and the teach 
 ers must set the examples, not merely offer advice. 
 
 The different countries of the world today sup 
 port large armies of soldiers who are sent to the 
 battle-fields to slaughter each other for selfish pur 
 poses. The strongest side is naturally victorious, 
 and after killing as many of their adversaries as pos 
 sible, return home to receive the applause and ad 
 miration of their countrymen. They are considered 
 heroic because they were successful in slaying their
 
 56 BORNAGAIN 
 
 weaker opponents. Your society worships these hu 
 man butchers and the more lives one of them has 
 destroyed the bigger the monument is erected in his 
 honor. 
 
 How many of these butchers would have the 
 courage to take an insult from a weaker party with 
 out resenting it? 
 
 It requires great bravery for the strong to refrain 
 from taking advantage of the weak; it demands real 
 heroism for the strong to equally share the results 
 of their labors with the feeble. For the strong are 
 doubly blessed in having strength while the weak 
 are unfortunate and need sympathy." 
 
 "Would it not be courageous for one person to 
 die for the love of another?" inquired I. 
 
 "That would depend altogether upon the circum 
 stances," replied Arietta. "It would require far 
 more courage to sacrifice your life for one you did 
 not love as there would then be no selfish motive 
 behind it. As I understand your feelings, you love 
 me and imagine that you would not care to live 
 without me." 
 
 "Yes," said I fervently, "I shall take my own life 
 sooner than leave you." 
 
 "That is not courage at all, it is simply cow 
 ardice," answered she. "Through your own selfish 
 ness in trying to obtain something beyond your 
 reach, you lack the strength to live without it. It 
 takes far more courage to live when you want to die 
 than to die when you want to live. Unselfishness is 
 the very highest type of courageousness and one 
 must live for the good he may do the world instead 
 of his own personal aggrandizement.
 
 BORNAGAIN 57 
 
 Thousands of our noble men sacrificed their lives 
 yearly for the good of the world. Our laws permitted 
 a certain number of them to leave their heavenly 
 country periodically to go among the Apemen, and 
 try and teach these barbarians the meaning of un 
 selfish love They never returned. They fully real 
 ized before starting on these missionary trips, that 
 they were depriving themselves of all the luxuries 
 the earth provided for a life of hardship and suffer 
 ing; a life of insults and all the cruel tortures the 
 ferocious Apemen could inflict upon them. But it 
 pleased them to know that they possessed the cour 
 age to withstand all the insults heaped upon them, 
 while trying to alleviate the conditions of others. 
 
 Unlike your present missionaries they did not go 
 into different countries backed up by loaded guns 
 ready to annihilate all who did not believe their 
 doctrines. If you hit a man on the head with a club 
 and then tell him that you love him he will not be 
 lieve you. They understood that to teach the Ape- 
 men to love one another they must set themselves 
 up as examples, not with mere words, but by un 
 selfish and courageous acts. They also knew that 
 they had no divine right to enter another country 
 and force upon the inhabitants their laws and cus 
 toms. They merely went to teach their methods and 
 in trying to do good for others were willing to accept 
 insults in return for their kindness in order to prove 
 their sincerity of purpose. 
 
 "At first, these good men were looked upon as 
 gods by the Apemen who wished to worship them 
 as such, and had they been vain-glorious like the 
 Apeman himself, they would have allowed this false
 
 58 BORNAGAIN 
 
 idea to exist. But no, there was not a grain of vanity 
 or selfishness in their systems. They had not left 
 their homes and friends to be worshiped, but had 
 gone away to show the Apeman how he might reach 
 real manhood, if he would but follow their instruc 
 tions. They taught the eradication of selfishness 
 from all living beings and the abolition of the system 
 of individual accumulation, practiced then and now 
 by all of your species. Of course when the financial 
 rulers of the different tribes and nations learned that 
 these men were teaching that all living beings should 
 have an equal chance in life, and that the weak 
 should enjoy the same comforts as the strong, and 
 that. their tribute laws were unjust, they became 
 wroth and ordered our men to be put to death by 
 the most cruel methods. Some were burned at the 
 stake; others were buried alive; several were put 
 into dungeons and their bodies allowed to rot; many 
 were cast into fiery furnaces, while a number of 
 them were thrown into dens containing lions and 
 tigers. 
 
 All these tortures and innumerable others, did 
 these brave men suffer that they might impress upon 
 the Apeman the real meaning of courage and un 
 selfishness. And through the power of mind sight 
 we used to see these heroic volunteers unflinchingly 
 suffer these indignities for the cause of righteous 
 ness, notwithstanding we had the power to anni 
 hilate the entire Apeman species, if we had so de 
 sired. 
 
 Our chemists could have turned on currents of 
 poisonous air and asphyxiated whole nations of them 
 at once; our electricians could have sent an electric
 
 BORNAGAIN 59 
 
 shock around the earth that would have left a path 
 of destruction a thousand miles in width; our scien 
 tists could have concentrated the full force of the 
 sun s rays upon any particular city they might choose 
 and burn it up instantly; but they did not. We had 
 the power to destroy, but the courage of forbearance. 
 "The highest honor our nation could bestow upon 
 a man was to allow him to leave his heavenly coun 
 try and become a martyr to his own unselfishness in 
 trying to uplift the Apeman species. And had it not 
 been for the unfortunate catastrophe which I shall 
 explain to you later, our plans would have succeed 
 ed and the earth today would have been heaven with 
 no such creature in existence as the Apeman."
 
 CHAPTER 11 
 
 "Did your people believe in God?" inquired I of 
 Arietta. 
 
 "Yes, we believed in Natural Law as controlled 
 and operated by a living God; a super-grand ruler 
 who guides the machinery of life and does not devi 
 ate from eternal and immutable laws; an all-wise, 
 everlasting and unchangeable being far beyond the 
 faintest conception the brain of man has ever been 
 able to formulate. His power unlimited; His laws 
 supreme; His goodness incalculable. 
 
 "Natural Law explains that He created the prin 
 ciple from which humanity evolved, but that it 
 remains for all living things to make better or worse 
 their own conditions. His laws may be studied and 
 practiced by all human beings, but to claim to know 
 the reasons of the Creator s actions would be to 
 assume His wisdom and knowledge. His purposes, 
 therefore, are unfathomable, at least until man be 
 comes more intelligent. 
 
 "Natural Law sets forth that notwithstanding the 
 earth is but a mere speck in the universe, still, it 
 being a part of the vast machinery governed by the 
 Almighty, there is a reason for its existence and a 
 work for it to perform. Like other bodies in space, 
 it contains particles of living matter which are con-
 
 BORN AGAIN 61 
 
 stantly passing through a course of development 
 with methodical changes from life to death and from 
 death to life. But while all living things live and 
 die, the material thereof is used over and over again 
 indefinitely. Human beings are a species of these 
 particles. 
 
 "All living things are composed of physical, men 
 tal and spiritual manifestations. The machinery is 
 physical. The mind is that part of the machinery 
 having power to control its movements. The soul is 
 the spark of life and acts as a moral guide to the 
 mind. Soul and conscience are synonymous. 
 
 "The soul, always pure, is continually striving to 
 improve the condition of the mind. The mind alone 
 is responsible for the disposition of the body and 
 the evils arising therefrom, the soul merely acting 
 as its instructor for good. 
 
 "If the mind would consult and always follow 7 the 
 advice of the soul it would do no wrong. It is the 
 mind which inherits evil instincts and but for the 
 good influence of the soul, living creatures would 
 not exist in harmony. 
 
 "As the mind hardens against righteousness the 
 sway of the soul is lessened, but as the mind softens 
 towards goodness the soul increases its power. There 
 is a continual struggle between the soul for good 
 and the mind for evil, but the soul will eventually 
 gain the ascendancy and all living things will be 
 cleansed of impurities. 
 
 "The body, including the mind, of each living 
 thing dies, the material disintegrates and passes into 
 the composition of other forms. The soul never 
 dies; it remains in one body until its collapse and
 
 62 BORNAGAIN 
 
 then transmigrates into another. The soul of man 
 today may be that of a lower animal tomorrow; 
 therefore he should use the greatest kindness and 
 consideration toward all living things. 
 
 "There is only a certain quantity of matter upon 
 earth to be moulded together in living forms and a 
 certain number of souls to abide therein, so that 
 with the increase of mankind there must naturally 
 be a decrease in the ranks of other animals, hence it 
 remains the duty of man to extend in number and 
 quality his own species until all the material in 
 existence is utilized by human beings of the very 
 highest intelligence. Humanity, however, will never 
 rise above the savage state until the barbarous cus 
 tom of killing and eating other animals is abolished. 
 
 "Selfishness is the root of all evil; eradicate selfish 
 ness from humanity and the earth will be heaven. 
 
 "Man s heaven is here on earth if he is only cap 
 able of making it so, but men cannot enjoy heavenly 
 blessings with hellish minds, and no selfish being 
 can properly enjoy the sweets of life. 
 
 "The real essence and pleasure of life can only 
 be extracted when mankind labors harmoniously 
 together as a unit, instead of each individual 
 struggling separately and murderously to obtain the 
 largest portion of the earth s blessings. 
 
 "The production of the world s wealth must be 
 utilized so as to create justice for everybody that 
 will harm nobody. Happiness must arise from serv 
 ing others instead of oneself. 
 
 "No good mortal can thoroughly enjoy comforts 
 that are beyond the reach of his fellow men, there 
 fore all human beings should work together as one;
 
 BORNAGAIN 63 
 
 enjoying together the fruits of their combined ef 
 forts; the weak and the strong alike. There must be 
 but one master the entire human race bound to 
 gether as one. 
 
 "When mankind, acting as a unit, masters itself, 
 then will it rule the earth and gain knowledge of 
 extraneous matters; thus the wisdom of inhabitants 
 of older and more advanced worlds will be attained 
 and intercourse with them practiced, thereby un 
 raveling many apparent mysteries of the universe. 
 
 "You must please God by kind acts toward all 
 living creatures. Your success is determined by 
 conforming to His natural laws. 
 
 "A united world, with all living things on the 
 same plane of perfection and working harmoniously 
 together for the common good is the heaven 
 humanity should strive to reach. 
 
 "It is within the power of mankind to perfect 
 itself, but this can only be accomplished through the 
 unselfish efforts of the whole people. Each indi 
 vidual can make better or worse his own condition 
 and thereby stamp a good or bad impression upon 
 the lives of his descendants. 
 
 "He who passes his life without adding to the 
 knowledge and goodness of the world has lived for 
 naught, and he who fails to improve his own worth 
 morally, mentally or physically has spent a life of 
 uselessness for which his descendants must suffer; 
 for to misuse oneself is to commit a crime against 
 posterity. 
 
 "Each generation should be an improvement 
 upon the preceding one.
 
 64 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "Having been entrusted with a piece of living 
 machinery, it is the duty of everyone to give it the 
 very best care and attention possible, that its value 
 might be increased to nature, hence moral, mental 
 and physical perfection are the highest aims of life 
 to achieve. 
 
 "Parents should have no off-spring when one or 
 both of them are insane, diseased, gluttons, drunk 
 ards or criminals. 
 
 "Practice moderation in all things that you may 
 live longer and acquire strength to enjoy natural 
 blessings and bestow character upon those to follow. 
 
 "Pleasure can only be extracted from temperate- 
 ness; it increases or decreases in proportion to quan 
 tity, and he who takes sparingly, lives longer to enjoy 
 the most. 
 
 "Do not over-work, over-study, over-eat, over 
 drink, over-sleep, or commit any excess whatsoever. 
 The surest way to make the world better is to begin 
 with yourself. Such is the essence of Natural Law."
 
 CHAPTER 12 
 
 "At the present time," proceeded Arietta, "the 
 earth resembles a huge table over-loaded with good 
 things and surrounded by a pack of gluttons each 
 striving to secure the largest portion. And in this 
 piggish scramble the strong obtain more and the 
 weak less than is needed while enough is wasted to 
 amply supply the whole. The best forces of the 
 participants, which should be utilized for other pur 
 poses are also lost in the ravenous struggle, for it 
 requires more power to retain than obtain these 
 things. 
 
 "The same avaricious principal individual ac 
 cumulation is the foundation of every government 
 in the world today, and consequently all of your 
 social systems are being run upside down. Your 
 people spen,d their time and strength in looking for 
 remedies instead of stopping the source trom which 
 all evils flow. Corruption is the result of a diseased 
 root and as long as that remains, iniquities will con 
 tinue to multiply. Extirpate the cause, however, 
 and sin will depart like magic. 
 
 "The system which allows the individual to ac 
 quire personal wealth is the direct cause for nearly 
 every evil in existence. There is no remedy for a
 
 66 BORNAGAIN 
 
 wrong unless you eradicate it entirely, and just as 
 long as a nation clings to the pernicious plan which 
 permits separate persons to store up the products of 
 the earth for private uses, just so long will selfish 
 ness be the characteristic feature of the people, and 
 all kinds of criminals will be bred from the material 
 which otherwise would prove very useful to a unified 
 world. According to present methods success is based 
 upon what each individual accumulates and not 
 what mankind is capable of producing. 
 
 "The foundation of existence is effort, without 
 which the inhabitants of the world would perish. 
 United exertion produces better results and with 
 less toil than competitive efforts. With united labor 
 in force, every living being must work, for he who 
 consumes and does not produce is a thief. If all the 
 inhabitants of the world combined their labors on 
 the most economic basis, there would be enough 
 comforts for all created by one-tenth of the power 
 expended at the present time. Each person would 
 add his mite to the whole, and in return would re 
 ceive as much as anyone else. All worthless occupa 
 tions would be done away with, and the power 
 thereof directed into useful channels. Labor would 
 rule the world instead of money. For of what good 
 would be all the money on earth if there was no 
 labor to produce the necessities of life? At present 
 there exists but one honest toiler whose labors en 
 rich the world, to ten schemers who spend their time 
 plotting to secure the results of his work; and these 
 parasites actually confiscate the largest portion of 
 that which is produced. The schemers feast and 
 govern, while the laborers fast and are governed.
 
 BORNAGAIN 67 
 
 Can you imagine more unnatural conditions than 
 one class of beings producing all the comforts and 
 receiving none in return? 
 
 "With the abolition of the noxious system of 
 individual accumulation, money would have no 
 value and all the evils arising therefrom would cease. 
 Take away the opportunity of the individual to 
 accumulate wealth for himself, and you remove the 
 temptation for fraud, theft and numerous other 
 crimes, for there is then no incentive left for them. 
 Expel the motive and selfishness will disappear, and 
 each mortal give his best efforts toward perfecting 
 himself morally, mentally and physically for the 
 good he may render the world. 
 
 "Teach the child that it will not have to worry 
 over the future; that it will not have to lie, cheat, 
 steal, murder or take any advantage of its fellow 
 beings in order to receive its share of the good things 
 of life; explain to it that the real incentive is to give 
 its best services toward increasing the general pro 
 duction of the earth, that all mankind may enjoy 
 the sweets thereof together in peace and harmony; 
 impress upon its young mind, that he who works in 
 excess of others for the good of mankind, lives the 
 noblest life and receives the highest esteem of his 
 fellow beings and the blessed approbation of his own 
 soul, and that child, reaching maturity, will be a 
 thousand times more useful to himself and human 
 ity than he who has been taught to hoard up riches 
 for his own special purposes. 
 
 "Individual accumulation is responsible for 
 crime; crime necessitates laws; man-made laws breed 
 tyranny.
 
 68 BORNAGAIN 
 
 "Abolish individualism, and crime, tyranny and 
 nine-tenths of your superfluous laws will be exter 
 minated. 
 
 "A few well-defined and just laws properly en 
 forced are sufficient to successfully operate the gov 
 ernmental machinery of the human race according 
 to Natural Law."
 
 CHAPTER 13 
 
 "Telepathy," continued Arietta, "proved to be 
 one of the greatest factors for good utilized by our 
 people. Through its agency we not only found that 
 it was the most natural and complete way to converse 
 with one another, but also learned to think collec 
 tively as well as singly. 
 
 "The brain is both a receiver and transmitter of 
 thought, and all minds are directly connected with 
 each other by an invisible force. Thought is an 
 element of life and exists everywhere; it is not orig 
 inated by the mind, but is a utility for it. Thoughts 
 are sustenance for the brain, as air is for the lungs, 
 or food for the appetite; they are good and bad in 
 quality, and it is within man s power to accept or 
 reject them at will. By admitting good and repelling 
 bad thoughts, the brain acquires moral as well as 
 mental strength but vice versa it is poisoned, and 
 degeneracy is sure to follow. 
 
 "Nature created both the mountains and the 
 thoughts; look and you can see those lofty hills; 
 think and you can receive inspiring thoughts. Shut 
 your eyes and you cannot see; close your brain and 
 you cannot think. The broader the mind, the great 
 er the ideas to enter. 
 
 "Ignorance is bred from a closed brain; intelli-
 
 70 BORNAGAIN 
 
 gence from an open one. He who is incapable of 
 thinking is like the blind who cannot see or the deaf 
 who cannot hear. The thought is the mightiest 
 force for good or evil, humanity has to contend with; 
 time is measured by it and pure meditation makes 
 the days short and sweet, while evil notions lengthen 
 and depreciate them. The mind that retains good 
 ideas and refuses bad ones is of incalculable value to 
 mankind for it has an instantaneous effect upon 
 other minds in all parts of the earth. 
 
 "It is easier for many minds working in harmony 
 together to grasp a thought, than for the single brain 
 to receive it without aid. No one earthly being ever 
 conceived a great idea unassisted. One might have 
 believed and proclaimed the origin of an idea, but 
 unknown and innumerable others secretly aided in 
 its conception. The strongest intellect, however, 
 retained and gave it to the world, and he who ac 
 cepts, practices and impresses the thought upon 
 others, deserves the credit thereof. 
 
 "It took several generations of continuous exper 
 imentation by the Sagemen to acquire the funda 
 mental principles of telepathy and many more to 
 establish the custom of conversing with the mind 
 instead of the voice. In the beginning, the evil ones 
 looked upon the practice with horror, for it w T as 
 impossible to conceal anything from their fellow 
 beings. But this very fact alone caused them to keep 
 clean and allow no impure thoughts to enter their 
 minds that would lower them in the estimation of 
 their associates, and after a few generations of active 
 use it was accepted as one of the great benefits of 
 nature.
 
 BORN AGAIN 71 
 
 "Whenever a great problem confronted the nation, 
 a hundred or more of our deepest thinkers would 
 simultaneously concentrate their mental forces upon 
 it, and if unsuccessful in reaching a satisfactory con 
 clusion, then the whole people would devote an 
 hour each day upon it until finally solved. Thus in 
 thought as well as in action we labored together as 
 a unit, harmoniously working out vast ideas that 
 never could have been conceived by a single brain, 
 and each mortal receiving an equal share of the 
 many blessings derived therefrom. 
 
 "And there again is where your individual system 
 retards natural progress. A little Apeman receives 
 part of one of nature s ideas. His immature brain 
 is incapable of receiving the whole of it so he spends 
 his entire life stumbling along in the dark, vainly 
 searching for the remainder. Sometimes he becomes 
 insane or dies under the strain of the burden, and 
 mankind loses the portion he had already under 
 stood. It was his greedy desire that caused him to 
 struggle alone for something that many minds could 
 easily have brought forth had they been called to his 
 assistance. But no, his purpose was not to aid hu 
 manity, but get money and the power to wield over 
 his fellow creatures by accepting and having pat 
 ented for himself one of nature s gifts. 
 
 "And then again one of your little Apemen finally 
 does conceive a good idea, or part of one, after thirty 
 years, more or less, of constant strain upon his men 
 tal faculties. So the progress of the world must be 
 held in check for that length of time for an inven 
 tion that could have been produced and put into 
 useful operation by the combined efforts of many
 
 72 BORNAGAIN 
 
 minds in a few days, weeks or months. But it is the 
 individual system and not the individual himself 
 which causes this stupendous waste of time and 
 power, and as long as it is kept in force the leakage 
 of human progress will naturally be beyond cal 
 culation. 
 
 "It seems a pity," said Arietta, looking at me 
 sympathetically, "that your brain is not sufficiently 
 developed to enable you to grasp the magnificent 
 principle of life as it was understood by the Sage- 
 men, but it would be as hard for you to comprehend 
 an attempted explanation of the whole subject as 
 it would be for a monkey to understand algebra. 
 So I have to be content with impressing upon your 
 little intellect just as much as it will absorb. 
 
 "But come, you look tired, let us partake of some 
 refreshments. And remember, do not overload your 
 stomach."
 
 CHAPTER 14 
 
 Do not overload your stomach." This admoni 
 tion caused me to feel like a child once more, and I 
 was uncertain whether I ought to laugh or become 
 indignant over the remark. Still I fully realized the 
 necessity of this warning; not only for myself alone, 
 but for the entire human race from which I sprung. 
 
 How many beings are there in the world today 
 who would not profit by following this advice? How 
 many are there with sense enough to heed it? I 
 cannot recall to memory any person I have ever 
 met who had absolute control of his appetite. 
 
 "We take pleasure in living, but do not live for 
 pleasure," continued Arietta, as she touched an in 
 visible spring concealed within a dainty flower and 
 graciously invited me to eat or rather to breathe. 
 And as I inhaled the delicious fumes it seemed that 
 the very breath of life itself was injected into every 
 pore of my body. 
 
 "That is enough of the soup," commented Ar 
 ietta mirthfully, "now try the roast; now the entree; 
 and here, perhaps, a little dessert will not hurt you; 
 there, that is plenty; a little is strengthening but too 
 much is poisonous. 
 
 "You see, this process of living is very simple 
 indeed; our chemists merely extracted the vital
 
 74 BORNAGAIN 
 
 parts of vegetables, herbs, cereals, fruits, nuts, 
 flowers, etc., and reduced them to aeriform. These 
 artificial flowers are arranged to conceal small tubes 
 from which the nutriment flows. By operating these 
 automatic springs the substance is allowed to escape 
 in such quantities as is required for meals. Very 
 simple, is it not? Much cleaner and better than 
 munching a piece of fat pork, don t you think? And 
 there are no cooks needed to prepare it, no waiters 
 to serve it, nor any dishes to wash afterward. Our 
 food was arranged ready for consumption at the 
 great national laboratories and piped directly to 
 the people, to use as they pleased." 
 
 "It is all very wonderful," exclaimed I, looking 
 up to Arietta as if she were the goddess of life itself, 
 "but there is one thing in particular I am anxious 
 to know and that is: what causes daylight here when 
 darkness prevails on the outside of this building?" 
 
 "Very simple," explained she, "about a thousand 
 years before the great catastrophe our scientists dis 
 covered a method whereby they could store up the 
 rays of the sun for light, heat and power, and after 
 much experimenting they found that they coul<;l 
 mix these rays with other ingredients into solid sub 
 stances. 
 
 "The light you observed in the hallway before 
 entering here is merely compressed into the material 
 of which the walls are composed and as long as that 
 remains light will shine from it. 
 
 "The light in this room comes from the miniature 
 sun you see in the picture; that too will give forth 
 radiance as long as the material holds together.
 
 75 
 
 "Our scientists were remarkable men; they not 
 only made use of the sun s rays in many different 
 ways for the benefit of mankind, but actually con 
 trolled the power of the sun itself insofar as it related 
 to the earth. They also restrained the atmosphere 
 which surrounds the earth and made the weather 
 conditions to suit their own welfare. But these 
 things are so infinitely beyond the Apeman s com 
 prehension, who feels that he has almost reached 
 the limit of human resources with his crude little 
 steam engines, that it would only be a waste of time 
 and power to try and explain them to you, besides 
 being a considerable strain upon your half-grown 
 brain." 
 
 "This is certainly a wonderful painting," said I, 
 looking about the room with much admiration. "I 
 have never seen anything to compare with it before." 
 
 "There is nothing about it that is extraordinary," 
 remarked Arietta, "it is merely a l. ttle ornamenta 
 tion of my own private apartment which I did my 
 self according to my own fancy. Any of our ordi 
 nary house decorators could have done as well or 
 better. All of our children were taught to paint and 
 they devoted considerable of their spare time to the 
 art, but the works of the real artists were placed 
 upon exhibition in the national galleries where- 
 everybody could see and enjoy their magnificence." 
 
 "I observe an absence of jewelry about your per 
 son," mentioned I, "was it not the custom of your 
 people to wear jewels?" 
 
 "Do you think that to wear rings around your 
 toes and suspended from your nose is a sensible 
 thing to do?" inquired Arietta.
 
 76 BORNAGAIN 
 
 "No, no; decidedly not," answered I, "such are 
 the customs of the barbarians only, but our civilized 
 people wear rings around their fingers and in their 
 ears." 
 
 "Indeed, and wherein lies the difference?" asked 
 she, good naturedly. 
 
 It then struck me rather forcibly that there was 
 no difference and that it was just as ridiculous to 
 wear rings from the ears and around the fingers as 
 it was to have them suspended from the nose and 
 about the toes. 
 
 "But were there no diamonds in your country?" 
 questioned I. 
 
 "Yes," replied Arietta, "there was a large pile of 
 them in the national museum which we looked 
 upon as old junk sort of relics of the savage Ape- 
 men. When our children were shown these things 
 and informed that a king of an Apeman nation 
 would gladly sacrifice the lives of a hundred thou 
 sand of his subjects in an attempt to gain possession 
 of them, or that his subjects would murder their 
 friends, brothers, wives or children in an effort to 
 secure some for themselves, it was impossible for 
 their youthful minds to fully understand why the 
 Apeman should become so ferocious and idiotic over 
 such trifles. They naturally looked upon your spe 
 cies as you would view a tribe of monkeys fighting 
 amongst themselves for the possession of a string of 
 glass beads. The Apeman like the monkey is in 
 capable of seeing his own absurdities." 
 
 "And what about gold?" I inquired. 
 
 "We had a building constructed of it," answered 
 she. "One of the first things the Sagemen did after
 
 BORNAGAIN 77 
 
 they abolished the system of individual accumula 
 tion was to take all the gold there was in the country, 
 and mould it into a huge edifice to be used as a 
 national museum, and represent a sort of monument 
 10 a dead system." 
 
 "It must have been a magnificent structure," said 
 I, in amazement. 
 
 On the contrary," replied Arietta, "it was the 
 most hideous building in our land. As a curiosity it 
 was worth seeing, but as an object of grandeur it 
 was a total failure. There is more real beauty in 
 one of nature s tiniest flowers than there would be 
 in a mountain built of gold and studded with dia 
 monds, but the little Apeman who considers gold 
 the standard of value cannot understand this." 
 
 "When you mentioned the absurdity of wearing 
 jewelry," said I, "it brought to my attention the 
 fact that you wear no shoes upon your feet, and that 
 your toes are much longer and far more shapely and 
 supple than is the case nowadays." 
 
 "Yes," answered she, "that is because we made 
 use of our toes as well as our fingers for useful pur 
 poses. It appears to me that the Apeman has pei- 
 mitted his feet to grow into mere hoofs with which 
 to stump along upon, and from what I observed 
 during my excursion around the world, your people 
 are even allowing their hoofs to become worthless," 
 and here she smiled as she recalled to mind some of 
 the gouty, rheumatic and over-fed mortals she had 
 seen during that trip. 
 
 As Arietta smiled, her beautiful lips parted and 
 lor the first time I noticed, much to my surprise, 
 that she had no teeth. A woman of our own kind
 
 78 BORNAGAIN 
 
 without teeth generally presents a rather dilap 
 idated appearance, but here was a woman that I 
 thought actually looked more lovely without them. 
 
 "Well," remarked Arietta, noting my astonish 
 ment, "I do not have teeth to bite and chew with 
 like the lower animals. The Sageman shed his teeth 
 shortly after he discontinued the filthy animal habit 
 of devouring flesh and other solid substances for 
 subsistence, and substituted the more scientific, 
 cleanly and healthful method of inhalation."
 
 CHAPTER 15 
 
 "Now we shall enjoy a little music," said Arietta, 
 as she turned her attention to the pictorial orchestra. 
 
 "Music," repeated I, "then it was real music I 
 heard a short time ago and not a mere fancy of my 
 own." 
 
 "I was not aware that you heard it at all," replied 
 she. "Yes," responded I, "when first coming into 
 this room, the men in the picture appeared to me to 
 be alive, and washing to attract their attention I 
 touched the shoulder of the leader, and then it was 
 that I thought I heard the sweetest and grandest 
 music it has ever been my good fortune to listen to." 
 
 "In that case," said Arietta, "your ears did not 
 deceive you, for you certainly heard real music. You 
 see in this picture, an exact portrayal of that which 
 existed over four thousand years ago. This delinea 
 tion is an almost perfect representation of one of our 
 national bands as they once appeared in life ready 
 to play. The music, of course, is reproduced mech 
 anically, the mechanism being concealed from view 
 behind the scenery. When you placed your hand 
 upon the shoulder of the leader you unconsciously 
 pressed the spring which set the machinery in mo 
 tion, causing a reproduction of the same strains once 
 rendered by these men."
 
 80 BORNAGAIN 
 
 "But this being a painting, I cannot understand 
 how the figures moved as if playing upon their in 
 struments," said I. 
 
 "They did not move at all," answered Arietta, 
 "it was your soul that brought to your senses the 
 movements that once took place among these men 
 in real life. Music is inspired by the soul, and like 
 wise has a direct influence upon it. No Sageman was 
 considered an eminent composer if his work lacked 
 the force to convey the soul of the listener to the 
 actual scene from whence the inspiration was de 
 rived. No doubt your inferior brain was incapable 
 of grasping the magnificent conception of the author, 
 but the selection being so enrapturous your soul 
 awakened and brought your senses to the point 
 where you could see the movements of the musi 
 cians. Perhaps the next rendition may have a 
 stronger effect upon your soul which will cause you 
 to get an outline of what was intended by the com 
 poser. The composition which the orchestra will 
 now reproduce for your benefit was considered by 
 our people to be the musical masterpiece of all time. 
 It was named The Soul s Retrospection, and was 
 composed by the leader of this band only a few 
 years prior to the great catastrophe." 
 
 "Look," said Arietta, with much feeling as she 
 waved her hand toward the exalted director, "take 
 a good look at this model of a perfect man and you 
 may be able to realize just what qualities he had to 
 possess before acquiring the tremendous intellectual 
 strength necessary to produce the wonderful work 
 that will shortly be impressed upon you. Note the 
 extraordinary look of kindness, gentleness and self-
 
 BORN AGAIN 81 
 
 denial that is stamped upon his handsome features. 
 See the expression of thankfulness and intense rev 
 erence he maintained for the many splendid gifts 
 nature bestows upon all mankind capable of accept 
 ing them. Observe the optimistic appearance of one 
 that believed the earth was real heaven and who 
 strived to make it so. Notice the cast of superior 
 intellectuality caused by devoting his time and 
 mentality to natural thoughts, instead of allowing 
 absurd civilized theories to take root in his expan 
 sive brain. Behold the magnificent physique, the 
 result of the constant care and attention he gave to 
 the machinery nature provided him with. Ah, me! 
 such a noble being, and to think that there is not 
 another piece of flesh and blood on earth at the 
 present time to compare with him seems cruel." 
 
 At this point Arietta appeared almost overcome 
 with sadness and emotion as she buried herself in 
 contemplation of a glorious past and an unknown 
 future. Great tears rolled from her beautiful eyes, 
 and unconsciously from my own as well. 
 
 How utterly helpless I felt at that moment. I 
 knew of no way to cheer her, although I would have 
 gladly given up my life to do so. Aye, more than 
 that, my love for her was so strong that in order to 
 make her happy, I should have welcomed back to 
 life again, if such a thing were possible, any one of 
 those handsome fellows in the picture. However, 
 by a superb display of will power, she quickly re 
 gained control of herself, and becoming cheerful 
 once more, bade me recline upon one of the lounges 
 while she pressed the spring which set the musical 
 apparatus in motion.
 
 82 BORNAGAIN 
 
 And as I followed her directions, there suddenly 
 burst forth the voluminous and harmonious sound 
 of a hundred strange instruments, causing an inde 
 scribable thrill of ecstasy to take possession of my 
 senses, until it seemed that there was nothing left 
 of me but an invisible spirit. And then, even the 
 music apparently stopped, and a peculiar feeling 
 overcame me as if my soul had actually left its 
 charge and was flying about in an effort to find a 
 convenient resting place. Suddenly, as if half awake 
 and half dreaming, I found myself within a luxuri 
 ously furnished hall, surrounded by a score of richly- 
 clad beings, who were bowing, kneeling, and cutting 
 up all sorts of silly antics about me. In a dreamy sort 
 of a way, I looked down at myself and discovered 
 that I was arrayed in the gorgeous garments of a 
 king, and weighted down with dazzling jewels from 
 head to foot. Then everything became clear enough 
 to my memory; I was the king, and these idiotic 
 creatures fawning and cringing about me were my 
 obedient subjects; my slaves; the willing tools which 
 kept me in power. A gouty feeling in my feet, a 
 dyspeptic ache of the stomach and an alcoholic pain 
 in the head, caused me to be in a very disagreeable 
 mood, and I felt like kicking the entire gathering 
 out of my presence. 
 
 "Sire," squeaked a knock-kneed, sickly looking 
 civilized creature about five feet high, who wore 
 knee breeches, silk stockings and fancy ribbons, as 
 he bowed low in addressing me, "those ungrateful 
 subjects of your majesty, the ignorant common 
 laboring horde whom God in His infinite wisdom 
 has entrusted to your noble guidance, have become 
 dissatisfied and turbulent again, and are disturbing
 
 BORNAGAIN 83 
 
 the peaceful prosperity of the domain by clamoring 
 for bread more bread and less toil is their beastly 
 cry. A delegation of their representatives requested 
 me to beg your majesty to grant them an audience 
 that they might state their imaginary grievances to 
 you in person." 
 
 "More bread and less toil," shouted I furiously, 
 "the audacity of the vermin! By the gods! I shall 
 teach those craven beggars that I am the master and 
 will tolerate no new-fangled ideas. Give orders to 
 the generalissimo to have this delegation beheaded 
 at once and to put to the sword every dissatisfied 
 laborer in the land." 
 
 But as I uttered those words, intermingled with 
 terrible oaths, and with intense hatred for the 
 wretches who dared to complain against such con 
 ditions a sudden change affected me and I found 
 myself within a dark, filthy little room, seated at a 
 bare table, with a feeling of hunger gnawing at my 
 stomach. My limbs felt tired and sore from a hard 
 day s toil. Beside me sat a thin, haggard, sorrowful 
 woman and several half-famished children piteously 
 crying for something to eat. Oh, what a dismal, 
 melancholy feeling. 
 
 "What is it," mused I, observing my bony hands, 
 crooked limbs and ragged clothes, "that causes my 
 inability to earn enough money to supply bread for 
 myself and family, after working fifteen hours a day, 
 while thousands of men in this land do not work at 
 all and have luxuries to waste? What unnatural law 
 governs the world that starves myself and family 
 who work, and over-feeds the pet dog of the aris 
 tocrat, who loafs?
 
 84 BORNAGAIN 
 
 Then another change, and behold, I am clad in 
 the garments of a hunter, seated upon the back of 
 a spirited horse and in mad pursuit of a fleet-footed 
 antelope. I raise my rifle and blaze away at the 
 frightened beast. There, I have hit the mark and 
 brought him down at the first shot, much to my 
 delight. But lo, it is not dead yet; see how it pants 
 and struggles in desperation, as it tries to regain its 
 feet. Now I am right upon it, and quickly dis 
 mounting, I take hold of its horns, draw a long keen 
 knife from its sheath, and with a powerful stroke I 
 almost sever the victim s head from the body. And 
 as the warm blood pours forth in every direction 
 and the last sign of life departs from its shivering 
 body, I view the work of destruction with the fiend 
 ish glee of a noble sportsman. 
 
 But hold! What causes me to tremble with fear 
 as though some blood-thirsty monster were pursuing 
 me with the intention of crushing out my life s 
 blood? Ah, I understand. I am the four-footed beast 
 and am running, running, running as fast as my 
 weary limbs will carry me. And such a terrified 
 feeling overcomes me as I look backward and dis 
 cover I am pursued by the most dangerous, savage 
 and cruel animal in existence man. How relent 
 lessly he dogs my footsteps. On, on, on he comes 
 until he is right behind me and there is no chance 
 to escape nor any hope for quarter. At last being 
 brought to bay I turn about and decide to give 
 battle to my pursuer. But look! The cowardly 
 savage will not fight after all. No, he will not ad 
 vance and fight fair, but at a distance and out of 
 harm s way, he stops, and pointing a weapon at me,
 
 BORN AGAIN 85 
 
 takes deliberate aim, there is a loud report, a quick 
 flash, and the scene once more changes. 
 
 And thus I transmigrated from one thing into 
 another, in a seemingly endless procession of lives, 
 experiencing all the peculiar sensations of the many 
 bodies I temporarily inhabited. In some cases I was 
 the big strong brute either physically or mentally 
 taking advantage of the puny weakling. In others, 
 I was the miserable weakling, being crushed by the 
 over-powering strength of the bully. But whether 
 strong or weak, either physically or mentally, I was 
 always the moral coward and selfish creature, ready 
 to cater to those who were stronger, and take advan 
 tage of those who were feebler than myself, until 
 finally I emerged into a most extraordinary being, 
 utterly deficient in all human weaknesses. 
 
 Master of a physique absolutely free from all 
 imperfections, and controlling a mind powerful 
 enough to grasp nature s beautiful ideas unadulter 
 ated, I found myself seated upon a platform in the 
 center of a mammoth theatre and surrounded by the 
 finest body of musicians the earth has ever produced 
 the immortal Sixth National Band of Sageland. 
 Then I fully realized that as leader of this won 
 derful group I was about to render for the first time, 
 my latest musical conception and masterpiece 
 "The Soul s Retrospection" which would prove to 
 humanity beyond a doubt, the positive truth of one 
 of nature s grandest secrets the indestructibility of 
 the soul. 
 
 It was generally believed that music was the direct 
 inspiration of the soul. It was also thought that the 
 soul was one of the unchangeable forces of nature
 
 86 BORNAGAIN 
 
 whose duty it was to operate and purify different 
 pieces of natural machinery known as animal lives; 
 starting each on its brief career and remaining a 
 part thereof until the mechanism exhausted its 
 power and collapsed, after which it attached itself to 
 another bit of animal matter, remaining therewith 
 until its death, and so on indefinitely. 
 
 And now, after a life of unswerving devotion to 
 this purpose, I was about to establish the truth of 
 these theories by producing a musical composition 
 that would cause the listener s soul to leave the body, 
 and going backward, revisit, as in a dream, the 
 various animal forms it had previously inhabited. 
 How extremely happy I felt to think what a great 
 blessing humanity was about to receive direct from 
 nature, through the instrumentality of myself and 
 the incalculable good that would result therefrom. 
 Not only would it prove of vast scientific value to 
 my own countrymen, but also to the millions of 
 ferocious Apemen in all parts of the world, who 
 could now be made to understand that no soul is 
 immune from hardship, misery and torture until all 
 living things on earth have reached the highest stage 
 of perfection. 
 
 The news that the first production of "The Soul s 
 Retrospection" was about to be given had attracted 
 great attention among the Sagemen, and I observed 
 that the great National Auditorium, which was 
 capable of seating four hundred thousand persons, 
 was crowded to its very doors, a proceeding I had 
 never witnessed before, notwithstanding my com 
 panions and I had appeared there many times pre 
 viously to give musical performances. I also noticed
 
 BORNAGAIN 87 
 
 that the transmitters in all of the domes of the audi 
 torium were open and ready for use and I knew 
 that my countrymen in every part of Sageland were 
 at their musical receivers ready to obtain the in 
 stantaneous results of our efforts. All of the cele 
 brated wise men and great scientists, while openly 
 skeptical concerning the claims of my composition, 
 showed their interest in the matter by being present 
 personally and appearing anxious for success to 
 crown my efforts. 
 
 As my eyes wandered over the great assemblage 
 completely filling tiers upon tiers of seats, as far back 
 in every direction as the natural eye could reach, I 
 felt positive that there was at least one person pres 
 ent who had no doubts of successful results. "Ah, 
 where is she?" mused I, looking about for a sign of 
 recognition. 
 
 "Here I am," came the quick telepathic response, 
 and immediately my gaze fell upon the loveliest 
 woman on earth Arietta nature s companion to 
 my soul. 
 
 I am utterly powerless to describe the feeling of 
 joy experienced as our eyes met in mutual admira 
 tion. Being held momentarily spellbound by her 
 loving glance, I fully recognized the fact that she 
 was the acme of purity the guiding star of my life. 
 And with such a guide there was no such thing as 
 fail. 
 
 All in readiness, I arose to my feet and the entire 
 audience did likewise, as a token of appreciation for 
 past services rendered. Acknowledging the honor 
 and waiving them seated, without further ado I sig 
 naled my assistants to begin.
 
 88 BORNAGAIN 
 
 Never did a body of musicians commence a diffi 
 cult task with more determination to create, through 
 the medium of their instruments, an exact interpre 
 tation of the author s purpose. In no degree could 
 they have succeeded more admirably than on this 
 occasion. Never was an entire audience so com 
 pletely carried beyond the borders of reality than 
 now. From the first until the last note not a twitch 
 of a muscle could be seen in all that mass of human 
 ity, which now resembled a great concourse of mo 
 tionless statues. The musicians themselves, with 
 their minds and souls bent upon giving the fullest 
 expression to their grand work, were the only evi 
 dence that any life at all remained in the large audi 
 torium. How bravely they stuck to their laborious 
 undertaking; how beautifully they executed their 
 divine work. 
 
 At last the piece was finished, and looking about, 
 I observed that the great audience jumped to its 
 feet instantly, and every person present frantically 
 extended both hands above the head a sign that 
 we had been successful. Never before did I see 
 my countrymen under such intense excitement and 
 jubilation as now. Men hugged each other; women 
 cried with joy. The world is saved, was the general 
 exclamation. 
 
 Amid the great confusion that followed, I noticed 
 Arietta with her arms outstretched toward me a 
 sign that she was betrothed to me forever. Her 
 beautiful face was the picture of happiness and love. 
 As I descended from the platform and started for 
 ward to clasp her in my arms the entire audience 
 seemed to vanish into nothingness, and my head
 
 89 
 
 began to whirl. I turned and looked backward, 
 and to my great astonishment and confusion beheld 
 myself still seated upon the platform. It seemed to 
 me that I was divided into tw 7 o parts. I rubbed my 
 eyes in amazement and looked again. There was 
 the leader of the band sitting on the platform 
 motionless and surrounded by his faithful help 
 mates. I looked in the other direction. There was 
 Arietta reclining upon the couch with her lustrous 
 eyes fixed upon me. I glanced clown at myself and 
 found that I was the same old John Convert dressed 
 in sailor s clothes. 
 
 For several moments I stood there buried in the 
 depth of serious meditation. Then slowly walking 
 over near Arietta, I stooped and resting upon one 
 foot and knee, I tenderly took her hand in mine 
 and bowed my head in reverence. I understood it 
 all now.
 
 CHAPTER 16 
 
 "What a wonderful world this is! What writer 
 of fiction could draw upon his imagination for any 
 thing to compare with this extraordinary freak of 
 nature?" soliloquized I, arising and taking a seat 
 opposite Arietta and staring at her in amazement. 
 
 "There is no such thing as a freak of nature," 
 corrected Arietta, "the utmost reason prevails for all 
 of her acts; but the simplest of nature s laws appears 
 complex and incomprehensible to the Apeman, who 
 merely uses his brain as an organ for self-gratifica 
 tion instead of an instrument to grasp natural laws 
 for which purpose it is intended. And therefore, 
 while your famous Apemen stunt the growth of the 
 brain by misusing it for the base purpose of accumu 
 lating individual wealth, our great men utilized 
 their brains to receive, understand and operate the 
 wise laws established by nature for the equal benefit 
 and betterment of all mankind. And therein lies 
 the chief difference between the piece of human 
 machinery your soul now occupies and that which 
 it once directed over four thousand years ago. "Be 
 hold," said she, dramatically pointing at the director 
 of the band, "that you were," and then casting her 
 eyes upon me, "that you are." Does your mind lack 
 the strength to fully appreciate the magnificent
 
 BORN AGAIN 91 
 
 lesson nature has forced upon you, and which, no 
 doubt, stands unparalleled in the history of your 
 species? 
 
 "Oh, if each little Apeman could only be made 
 to understand, that the present body is but one 
 little installment of the innumerable lives his soul 
 has to preside over, and that the rich and power 
 ful today may be the weak and lowly tomorrow, he 
 would begin at once to treat all living things with 
 equal kindness and sympathy. If he could only 
 realize that the dog he kicks, the horse he mistreats, 
 or the poor mental or physical weakling he takes 
 advantage of might possibly be impelled by the 
 same soul that moved the form of his deceased 
 father, mother, or offspring, his selfishness and 
 cruelty would vanish forever. If he could only 
 comprehend that the soul suffers as well as the flesh 
 it stimulates, and that it must naturally continue to 
 do so, more or less, until every particle of living 
 matter has been cleansed and remoulded into the 
 highest type of earthly being, he would strive to 
 reach perfection himself and urge others to do like 
 wise. For all terrestrial life must go up or down 
 together; a moment of selfish pleasure now, means 
 an age of suffering and torment in the future. Such 
 are the immutable laws of nature. And these laws 
 must be obeyed before mankind can climb the 
 ladder of greatness. 
 
 "It sometimes appears as if Natural Law works 
 very slowly before reaching a given point, but there 
 is always a reason for every one of its movements. 
 While apparently incomprehensible, still it was in 
 accordance with an eternal law, that you were sent
 
 92 BORNAGAIN 
 
 back here again after an interim of over tour thou 
 sand years. My soul, which had been held a captive 
 during all that time, might have remained here for 
 millions of years had you not come back to release 
 it from its peculiar bondage. But you did return, 
 and nature thereby demonstrated that it never for 
 gets anything, from the workings of the great living 
 things of which the suns, moons and planets are but 
 mere organs, down to the minutest microbe of the 
 microbe. 
 
 So you can readily perceive that at least two of the 
 bodies which your soul has inhabited were chosen 
 to perform great services for the human race. First, 
 by a natural course of instruction, you proved to 
 the Sagemen over four thousand years ago that the 
 soul was indestructible. And now, through a mys 
 terious operation of nature you are brought back 
 here in an inferior organism and have had a positive 
 manifestation of the identical principle thus estab 
 lished, in order that you might resurrect and make 
 known to all mankind the unalterable truth- 
 Natural Law. Do you not feel highly honored to 
 be called upon twice for such grand missions?" 
 
 "But I cannot understand," said I, "why nature, 
 after having allowed the Sagemen to reach such a 
 state of physical, mental and moral superiority, 
 should destroy them just when they had reached 
 the threshold of success." 
 
 "Nature did not destroy the Sagemen," replied 
 Arietta, "they extinguished themselves in making 
 an effort to accomplish something beyond their 
 powers. They tried to operate a law with which 
 they had not become sufficiently familiar to insure
 
 BORN AGAIN 93 
 
 success. If one of your little Apemen experiments 
 with steam or dynamite and is blown to atoms, that 
 is his own fault, not nature s. 
 
 "For a thousand years the Sagemen had made 
 remarkable progress along scientific lines. They 
 had mastered themselves, and had learned to think 
 both individually and collectively; and also to 
 properly distribute and enjoy the products of their 
 combined efforts. They had acquired a thorough 
 knowledge of the particles of which the earth is 
 composed, and had secured control of the atmos 
 phere that surrounds it. They had harnessed the 
 chemical properties of the sun after reaching the 
 earth, and had gained possession of many other 
 valuable utilities by following the course of Natural 
 Law, but when they undertook to regulate the 
 earth s path in space they simply over-stepped the 
 confines of their abilities and failed. That was one 
 of nature s laws they were not thoroughly acquainted 
 with. However, as it requires many drawbacks to 
 achieve extraordinary success in all things, human 
 ity should not be discouraged over this failure, but 
 gradually work its way up again until it has not 
 only reached, but surpassed the high standard of 
 excellence attained by the Sagemen. 
 
 "In the great stretch called time, the length of 
 one little human existence is but a mere fraction of 
 a moment. Therefore, one should devote his best 
 efforts during that brief period, to making better 
 the conditions of the place in which he has to spend 
 many lives, for, according to what he has done in 
 one life, so must he contend with in the next. If, 
 while possessing physical and mental strength in
 
 94 BORNAGAIN 
 
 one body, he assists in upholding a corrupt social 
 system which takes from the weak and gives to the 
 strong, he must expect these same conditions to 
 exist when he returns as a weakling. For as long 
 as hogs are bred and slaughtered, so must he take 
 his chances of being one of them. How much better 
 to help mankind seek a higher plane of intelligence, 
 in which equality would be a reality, thus firmly 
 cementing the tie of sympathy and love between all 
 living things. In this case he would have no fear 
 concerning his chances upon the next visit, no 
 matter in what form he might appear. And how 
 much better to carry on the work of decreasing the 
 birth of the lower animals and increasing the num 
 bers and quality of the higher species, until there 
 was nothing left on earth but the very best type of 
 human beings for all souls to inhabit. 
 
 "Natural Law is very easily understood if the 
 mind is properly directed toward it. Great thoughts 
 are easily conveyed from one to another after the 
 strong intellects have conceived them. Nature itseli 
 is simply the principle of the utilization of creative 
 life. This principle plainly shows an evolutionary 
 tendency of all living particles toward a final state 
 of complete intelligence. This intelligence is ab 
 sorbed by the mind. The mind itself is expanded 
 in proportion to the quantity it takes in, and is 
 capable of directing it for either good or evil pur 
 poses. 
 
 "The difference between good and evil is merely 
 that between unselfishness and selfishness. 
 
 "Owing to its immature growth, the mind has a 
 tendency to use the intelligence it acquires for selfish
 
 BORNAGAIN 95 
 
 ends. And here is where the soul or conscience has 
 its work to perform, in trying to direct it into good 
 channels. 
 
 "Intelligence means the ability to think, or un 
 derstand the thoughts conceived by others. The 
 most intelligent mind will listen to the soul, and 
 use the thought as an unselfish medium with which 
 to aid others. The poorly developed brain stifles 
 the pleadings of the conscience and utilizes it as a 
 selfish weapon to secure the power to take from 
 others. 
 
 "The battle of existence is constantly carried on 
 between selfishness, which is bred from the very 
 lowest form of intelligence, and unselfishness, which 
 represents the very highest state of mentality. 
 
 "A well-balanced mind wants all men to enjoy 
 equal rights and opportunities in common with one 
 another, affording each a chance to rise as high as 
 his capabilities will permit. For the more intelli 
 gent beings there are in existence, the better for all 
 concerned. If you want to eradicate disease, you 
 must stamp out the conditions that breed it. Before 
 you can reach the highest form of intelligence, you 
 must exterminate the causes which create selfishness. 
 And he who labors to improve others, unconsciously 
 produces better conditions for himself."
 
 CHAPTER 17 
 
 "The history of Sageland," continued Arietta, 
 "during one thousand years prior to the great 
 catastrophe was simply a record of heaven on earth, 
 in which the inhabitants lived for and loved one 
 another. The abolition of the pernicious system 
 of individual accumulation was the direct cause for 
 the existence of this beautiful state of affairs. For 
 when the people discovered that they could no 
 longer hoard up wealth for personal advantage, but 
 were required to give their best efforts toward 
 general production in exchange for the necessities 
 of life, they lost all evil desires and endeavored to 
 secure the highest esteem of their fellow-beings by 
 perfecting themselves mentally, morally and physi 
 cally for the good of the community. 
 
 "The system by which the State required each 
 individual to devote a portion of his time toward 
 general production, and which gave him in return 
 for his services a home, food, clothes, education, 
 entertainment, and, in fact, everything necessary 
 to his welfare and comfort, is so simple and easy of 
 comprehension that any living thing above the 
 intellectual line of the Ape should be able to under 
 stand it. 
 
 "In the first place, the State was simply the peo 
 ple all of the people working harmoniously to 
 gether as a unit. Every child was educated from
 
 BORNAGAIN 97 
 
 its infancy in the economic principles of the State, 
 and upon arriving at maturity was given a voice in 
 its government. There were no privileges whatso 
 ever granted to any particular person or persons, no 
 matter how superior their intelligence nor how 
 valuable the services they rendered to the country. 
 As long as any one, whether strong or weak, lived 
 up to the laws of the State and applied himself to 
 the best of his ability, just so long was he allowed 
 a voice in the government and an equal propor 
 tion of the benefits accorded to all. 
 
 "Both men and women enjoyed equal rights. 
 
 "Every man and woman in the country was a 
 public servant; they all worked for the public good. 
 Each law adopted was put into force through the 
 direct vote of all the people. Municipal and sec 
 tional laws were made uniform throughout the 
 entire nation. The public oflicials were chosen from 
 the wisest men and women of the land. These 
 officials formulated the laws, but none of them 
 became operative until sanctioned by the people 
 through suffrage. And no matter whether the law 
 was great or trivial, it was left for the people to 
 decide whether they would accept or reject it. The 
 majority always settled the question, and the law 
 went into operation for a stated period, at the expir 
 ation of which time the question would again be 
 reconsidered and voted upon if necessary. The 
 laws were few and perfectly plain, and could not be 
 evaded. Nor was there any advantage to be gained 
 by evading them. The principle simply decreed, 
 that all persons must devote a certain portion of 
 their time to advancing the conditions of the coun-
 
 98 BORNAGAIN 
 
 try which gave them sustenance. The State allotted 
 to the individual the employment for which it was 
 demonstrated he was best fitted. The working 
 hours were few, so that there was no strain upon 
 any one, no matter what labor he had to perform. 
 
 "The average length of time the individual was 
 compelled to work for the public was four hours 
 daily, the balance of the time being at his own dis 
 posal, but usually occupied as follows: four hours 
 study; two hours for physical exercise and recreative 
 games; three hours to music, painting and other 
 intellectual amusements; three hours for nourish 
 ment and eight hours for sleep. While it was not 
 compulsory to pass one s time as stated, still it was 
 generally taught and believed that in so doing the 
 individual developed his greatest qualities. 
 
 "As the State provided everything the individual 
 needed from time of birth until death, it gave him 
 an opportunity to devote his time to higher and 
 purer thoughts and purposes than the mere animal 
 desires for selfish gain, and thus exterminated the 
 cause of deception, fraud, theft and all other crimes 
 arising therefrom. 
 
 "According to our laws the public owned and 
 operated everything, and produced and distributed 
 all of its own goods. And in doing this it set aside 
 all superfluous vocations that merely wasted public 
 power and turned these forces into other channels 
 for the common good. For instance: as the State 
 owned all of the land and everything that was pro 
 duced, and simply gave to the individual that which 
 he was capable of consuming, there was no need for 
 such things as taxes. And without taxes there was
 
 BORNAGAIN 99 
 
 no public labor wasted by tax collectors, lawyers, 
 treasurers, auditors, clerks, book-keepers, etc. 
 
 "Then again, the individual being able to obtain 
 everything free of charge, money became valueless, 
 all the evils of the financial system eliminated, and 
 the preponderance of labor expended in upholding 
 this unnatural system was used for productive pur 
 poses, thus doing away with such occupations as 
 money making, money lending, banking, broking, 
 speculating, gambling, etc. 
 
 "Without money in existence, and labor being 
 the only purchasing power, and as every want was 
 satisfied by the State in return for the individual s 
 services, there was nothing left to steal, and conse 
 quently no necessity for utilizing the labor of an 
 army of human beings as police, detectives, judges, 
 lawyers, juries, etc. 
 
 "And as all the public necessities were produced 
 and distributed by the most systematic, direct, and 
 economic methods, straight from the store-houses 
 to the consumers, there was no use for merchants, 
 traders, jobbers, agents, salesmen, clerks, peddlers, 
 etc. 
 
 "As each individual was compelled to give a per 
 centage of his time toward general production, in 
 order to be a member, in good standing, of the 
 community, and able to enjoy all the rights that 
 such membership accorded, there was no chance to 
 avoid honest work and no room for such parasites 
 as tramps, beggars and society loafers. 
 
 "So that in abolishing the stupid system of in 
 dividual accumulation and substituting nature s
 
 100 B O R N A G A I N 
 
 plan of united labor and honest distribution, all 
 useless vocations and parasitic accessories were ex 
 tirpated entirely, thus transferring that tremendous 
 leakage of human power into honest production, 
 the beneficial results of this change being: shorter 
 work hours, increased education, refinement, com 
 fort, and security for everybody, and the extermina 
 tion of selfishness and crime. 
 
 "United labor merely utilized the various forces 
 of nature, to produce and distribute all the necessi 
 ties of life for the general welfare of mankind, 
 by the most intelligent, humane, and unselfish 
 methods." 
 
 "But," said I, as Arietta paused for a moment, 
 was it not a very difficult matter to make all men 
 give their best efforts to the State when there was 
 no incentive for personal gain other than that which 
 everybody else received, and did not those who 
 were capable of accomplishing more work than 
 others, complain of the benefits given those with 
 less ability and not so industriously inclined as 
 themselves?" 
 
 "Those same questions were asked and answered 
 over five thousand years ago," replied Arietta, "and 
 were subsequently proved to be fallacies. If a man s 
 highest aim in life is to foolishly pile up worldly 
 products for his own piggish satisfaction, then he is 
 really on no higher plane than the swine; for the 
 rich accumulate wealth like the hog does filth, for 
 what, they know not. 
 
 "It requires far more ability to build a strong 
 moral character and a kindly feeling for others, 
 than it does to accumulate a mountain of produce.
 
 101 
 
 The Sagemen, with their splendid intellects, would 
 gladly have worked themselves to death for the 
 public good had not the State restricted the work 
 ing hours and required each person to give proper 
 care and attention to himself as well as to the public. 
 
 "Immediately alter discarding the old system of 
 individual accumulation, the Sagemen passed a law 
 that all persons refusing to do their portion of work 
 for the public should be considered insane, and put 
 into asylums until such time as they regained their 
 proper senses. No work, no freedom, the statute 
 said. But even in the beginning there was very 
 little use for these asylums, and within two genera 
 tions they became obsolete for the want of inmates. 
 
 "The vast majority of human beings are anxious 
 to appear in the best possible light in the eyes of 
 their contemporaries and are swayed either forward 
 or backward by the sentiment of others. If public 
 opinion says to the individual: you are held equally 
 responsible with everybody else for the general wel 
 fare and conditions of your country, and if you 
 show a lack of self-respect by trying to evade the 
 small portion of work necessary to pay for your 
 keeping, then you shall be judged mentally and 
 morally unsound, and not fit to associate with re 
 spectable people, he will not only do all that is 
 expected of him, but will try to out-work everybody 
 else in order to secure the highest esteem of his 
 fellow beings. 
 
 "The system of individual accumulation as now 
 practiced throughout the entire world is a most 
 brutal plan of existence. It is either directly or in-
 
 102 BORN AGAIN 
 
 directly responsible for all the crime and suffering 
 humanity has to contend with. It causes men to 
 forget their souls in the desperate struggle for a 
 mere living. It saps the strength of the individual 
 and then censures him for being weak. It robs 
 him of the fruits of his labor and then blames him 
 for being poor. It forces him to steal and then 
 punishes him for being a thief. It drives him to all 
 sorts of crime, and then condemns him for being a 
 criminal. It encourages and gives everything to the 
 strong and discourages by taking everything from 
 the weak. It originated with the primitive savages, 
 and is the most beastly and debasing system conceiv 
 able. It keeps mankind in the very lowest stage of 
 intelligence, and in a condition of helplessness on 
 one side and slavery on the other. It has been 
 saturated with so many idiotic laws and so-called 
 remedies since its inception that it now resembles a 
 great network of legalized corruption. Laws for 
 this and laws for that, and laws to offset other laws 
 are enacted until the power of the human race is 
 wasted, in either making or breaking the innumer 
 able edicts made to uphold a weak and rotten system. 
 "You cannot make right by patching up wrong. 
 
 "A new and effective system cannot be created by 
 changing the features of an old and putrid one. 
 An entirely new foundation must be constructed 
 in order to insure solidity and strength. That was 
 the reason the Sagemen uprooted entirely the can 
 cerous system of individual accumulation and 
 planted in its place the scientific and mutually bene 
 ficial plan of united labor and equal distribution as 
 decreed by Natural Law.
 
 BORN AGAIN 103 
 
 "The Apeman being the foremost of living par 
 ticles on earth at the present time, and nature being 
 capable, willing and generous enough to abundantly 
 provide for all of his needs, he should immediately 
 cast off the yoke of greed and devote his time and 
 best efforts to a nobler work than the petty accumu 
 lation of plunder."
 
 CHAPTER 18 
 
 "In equal proportion to man s moral and mental 
 strength, so should he be well-balanced physically," 
 proceeded Arietta. "In fact, he cannot accept his 
 greatest opportunities unless perfectly sound and 
 healthful. The mind derives its power of conception 
 from the body, as well as the body secures its im 
 petus from mind, therefore, the development of the 
 frame should at least keep pace with that of the 
 intellect, if not exceeding it. There is nothing more 
 delightful to behold or conceive than a perfect 
 physical man, whose features manifest strong moral 
 and mental attributes, as exemplified by the por 
 traits of the Sagemen." 
 
 "Excepting a perfect woman as depicted by your 
 self," thought I, with uncontrollable rapture, as I 
 feasted my eyes upon her exquisite form and lovely 
 countenance. Taking notice of my passionate cogi 
 tation, she interjected, "Nature created the male 
 and female, and in order to perpetuate life itself, 
 the union thereof is necessary; therefore, the highest 
 aim of each should be to win and hold the love and 
 companionship of the other. To do this success 
 fully, each must strive to reach the very highest point 
 of physical, as well as mental and moral excellence. 
 Our men adored women as the most sacred and 
 beautiful objects of life; the women revered men as 
 the grandest things extant. 
 
 "According to the philosophy of Sage who, by 
 the way, was the founder of our government, and 
 the first to expound the principles of Natural Law
 
 105 
 
 men belonged to the community, and not the 
 community to man. He contended that it was just 
 as essential to the general welfare of the public for 
 the individual to build himself up from a healthful 
 standpoint, and likewise make himself pleasing to 
 the eyes of others, as it was to construct sanitary and 
 artistic houses. 
 
 "Health and beauty are natural; disease and de 
 formity are acquired, and are therefore crimes 
 against mankind. There are three good reasons 
 why it is criminal for one to neglect health. First, 
 by going contrary to Natural Law, he unfits himself 
 to give his best labors toward the progress of his 
 species. Second, by breeding disease in himself, he 
 forces it into the community. Third the most 
 heinous crime of all he passes down to his offspring 
 the ghastly inheritances resulting from his own de 
 graded weaknesses, which, in turn, are handed down 
 from generation to generation. 
 
 "Intemperance, such as over-eating, over-drink 
 ing, over-work, over-rest, and many other forms of 
 over-doing things, together with worry and unclean- 
 liness, is directly responsible for disease and deform 
 ity. All living things would be healthful, if they 
 contained enough intelligence to live according to 
 Natural Law. 
 
 "Besides using moderation in taking nourishment, 
 work and pleasure, the Sageman was careful about 
 his exercises, assiduously devoting from two to three 
 hours each day to physical culture. He practiced all 
 manner of games and acrobatic performances, in 
 order to bring the body up to its best possible shape. 
 Suppleness, agility, and gracefulness were desired in 
 preference to brute strength. Running, jumping,
 
 106 BORN AGAIN 
 
 swimming, and flying were considered a necessary 
 part of every one s daily routine, from early youth 
 until old age and death." 
 
 "Flying," exclaimed I, incredulously, "you surely 
 do not mean to inform me that the Sagemen could 
 fly?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Arietta, "the practice of floating 
 in the air was begun shortly prior to the great catas 
 trophe and many of our men and women were 
 becoming adepts at it. You see, after the Sagemen 
 discontinued the animal method of eating flesh and 
 other solid substances and adopted the aeriform 
 process of nourishment, he naturally became much 
 lighter in proportion to his bulk, and gravitation did 
 not hold him so tightly to the earth as formerly. Of 
 course it took many generations of tendency in that 
 direction before he could even acquire the rudi 
 ments of aerial propulsion. But after the dread 
 feeling of worry and want was finally eradicated 
 from his mind by the abolition of the individual 
 accumulative system, he then began to apply himself 
 carefully to physical development, and as running, 
 jumping and acrobatic work have the best symmet 
 rical effects upon the human form, this kind of exer 
 cise was extensively followed, and as each generation 
 succeeded in outdoing the feats of the preceding 
 one, the entire nation finally evolved into one of 
 extraordinary springing propensities. 
 
 "What will you think, when I tell you that any of 
 our men or women could jump over the highest 
 building there is in the world today, or run faster 
 than any of your steam locomotives? It seems hard 
 for you to realize such things, but still these are 
 facts. In these days, the Apeman devotes his time
 
 B O R N A G A I N 107 
 
 to the construction of machinery with which to carry 
 around his decaying and almost useless frame, while 
 the Sageman utilized the power of his own body to 
 propel himself as nature intended. 
 
 "The gradual increase from year to year, and 
 generation to generation, of the Sageman s ability 
 to make high leaps, and his continual desire to re 
 main in the air as long as possible, eventually bore 
 evolutionary results by man learning to fly. And 
 like swimming, so with flying, the mind plays the 
 biggest part tow r ards its accomplishment. 
 
 "As you appear incredulous regarding my state 
 ments, I will just give you a little illustration," said 
 Arietta, and before I was aware of her intentions 
 she arose, and with an almost imperceptible spring 
 went straight up to the ceiling, and then with a 
 graceful movement somewhat similar to a fish swim 
 ming in the water, she went half way across the room 
 and slowly descended to the floor again. "There is 
 no good reason why a man should not fly as well as 
 swim," said Arietta, being seated once more. "Time 
 and inclination work wonders, and the human race 
 has no limit to its achievements if it only takes the 
 right course. 
 
 "In order to obtain the best results physically, the 
 individual must live according to the simple laws of 
 nature. Plenty of good healthful exercise must be 
 taken regularly and without strain. The intelligent 
 direction of the mind must also be brought into 
 action with all muscular efforts. Man s daily em 
 ployment should be a mixture of both mental and 
 physical labor, for all brain work strains the mind 
 and weakens the flesh, w r hile all bodily exertion 
 over-taxes the frame and retards the growth of in-
 
 108 BORN AGAIN 
 
 tellect. Deep breathing, an abundance of pure fresh 
 air and plenty of sunlight are indispensable to per 
 fect health. Daily baths are essential to keep the 
 exterior of the body clean, while the interior must 
 be kept in good order with a moderate supply of 
 simple, wholesome and unadulterated foods. Na 
 ture s plain beverage, water, is all that man should 
 imbibe. No evil thoughts must be allowed to enter 
 the mind. Cheerfulness, self-control, kindliness and 
 optimism are great aids in promoting health. Pes 
 simism, worry, anger, fear and violent emotions are 
 poison to the system. There should be nothing in 
 life to fear. The unselfish know no fear. Those who 
 teach it, or cause others to fear are common enemies 
 to health and progress. 
 
 "The beastly custom of drinking intoxicating 
 liquors, now prevalent throughout the world, is 
 one of the very worst forms of robbing the indi 
 vidual of his physical strength and vitality, as well 
 as his reason and moral character. 
 
 "The tobacco habit also; that idiotic and ridicu 
 lous performance of filling the mouth with smoke 
 merely to blow it out again, is another dangerous 
 obstacle thrown in the path of good health. It seems 
 strange that the Apeman cannot open his eyes wide 
 enough to see the danger as well as the absurdity of 
 these silly customs which sap his strength and leave 
 him in a state of abject weakness. What a pity he 
 cannot exert enough will power to overcome these 
 stupid and harmful practices. 
 
 "If you want to use your faculties when you are 
 old, exercise them properly when you are young. 
 
 "Improve yourself and you make better the 
 world."
 
 CHAPTER 19 
 
 "Sageland, previous to the catastrophe," resumed 
 Arietta, "was a small oblong continent surrounded 
 by what are now known as the Indian and South 
 Atlantic Oceans. It ran from north-east to south 
 west. Its extreme length was nine hundred and 
 twenty-eight miles and its greatest width was three 
 hundred and ninety-six miles. There were a little 
 over thirty million inhabitants in the land. 
 
 "Unlike the different countries of the present 
 time, there were no large cities in Sageland. The 
 population w^as scattered over the entire surface of 
 the country at intervals and was domiciled in two 
 distinct ways, namely: the rural form of dwelling, 
 in w^hich a single family occupied a separate house 
 for its own private use, and the borough settlements, 
 whereby several thousand persons lived together 
 under one roof. 
 
 "The great structures known as borough build 
 ings covered about a square mile of land each, and 
 were from fifty to eighty stories in height. They 
 were very artistically designed, most luxuriously fur 
 nished and the sanitary arrangements absolutely 
 perfect. They contained, besides a private room for 
 each individual, public reception rooms, libraries, 
 music halls, theatres, gymnasiums, baths, etc. No 
 person was allowed more than one room for private 
 use, but a family could have a suite of apartments
 
 110 BORN AGAIN 
 
 in proportion to its own number. The reception 
 rooms, music halls, theatres, libraries, gymnasiums, 
 baths, etc., were entirely public and all persons were 
 at liberty to come or go as they pleased. The room 
 in which you are now seated was my own private 
 apartment in a borough building which was occu 
 pied by seven thousand people. 
 
 "I have already explained the method whereby 
 we received our sustenance, the different aeriform 
 substances being piped directly from the laboratories 
 to the consumers personal apartments, thus obviat 
 ing the necessity for dining halls and kitchens. 
 
 "There being no such agency as commerce in 
 Sageland, through which the necessities of life were 
 bought, sold, exchanged, or stolen, there was, of 
 course, no need for such establishments as wholesale 
 or retail stores, banks, etc. Neither were there any 
 jails. Great national work-shops, laboratories, and 
 store-houses, a national auditorium, art gallery, 
 museum, and observatory were the only buildings 
 erected besides the rural and borough dwellings. 
 
 "The chief industries of our people were plant 
 ing, reaping, condensing and distributing dietary 
 substances; manufacturing such things as machinery, 
 clothing, paints, musical and scientific instruments, 
 and building. Railroads, steamships, mail service, 
 the telegraph and telephone had become obsolete 
 with the Sagemen. In the first place, it was not 
 necessary for men to travel at all in person, for by 
 the power of mind sight they were able to see what 
 took place at any particular place on earth, and also 
 they were capable of communicating with each 
 other telepathically at any distance just as easily as 
 I am now conversing with you.
 
 BORN AGAIN 111 
 
 "Great centrifugal and centripetal engines, cap 
 able of transplanting any quantity of material from 
 one place to another, were constructed for carrying 
 purposes, while automatic transmuting machines, 
 by which one element could be turned into another, 
 cut down the necessity of transportation to a min 
 imum. Machinery, directed by the human mind, 
 and deriving its power from the sun and other forces 
 of nature, did all of the Sageman s laborious work. 
 
 "The Sageman s discovery and partial utilization 
 of the two great forces of nature, centrifugal and 
 centripetal power, were the causes of his final de 
 struction, however, for he not only used them ad 
 vantageously here, but by that method actually tried 
 to regulate the earth s course in space to suit him 
 self. And furthermore, he not only contemplated 
 steering his own world in whatever direction or part 
 of the heavens he might choose, but his ultimate 
 plans were to visit, inhabit and control the move 
 ments of all the great bodies of the universe. 
 
 "These laudable purposes, while no doubt prac 
 tical, failed by being undertaken prematurely as 
 forewarned by many of our ablest thinkers, who, 
 unfortunately, were in the minority when the ques 
 tion of making the initial trial was voted upon. And 
 by this failure the earth was rent in a fearful manner, 
 its map considerably altered and Sageland and its 
 people wiped out of existence entirely. 
 
 "Many millions of Apemen who inhabited the 
 balance of the globe at that time must also have 
 perished from the effects of the awful convulsion 
 which no doubt shook the earth to its core. And so 
 it was, I presume, the upset atmospheric conditions 
 of the earth resulting from this catastrophe, forty-
 
 112 BORN AGAIN 
 
 two hundred and thirty years ago, that is responsible 
 for the legend by which the Apeman blames the 
 Creator for sending a flood to destroy the inhabitants 
 of the world, good and bad alike. 
 
 "But notwithstanding his superior intellectuality 
 the Sageman was far from being infallible. He often 
 made mistakes as he relentlessly struggled along in 
 search of knowledge. 
 
 "Natural Law teaches that the main object of life 
 is to absorb, concentrate and utilize intelligence. 
 Intelligence rules the universe. The Sageman con 
 sidered it his duty to first control himself, then the 
 earth, and finally the universe. But he became im 
 patient, and wanted to explore the heavens before he 
 had assimilated all terrestrial life, and concentrated 
 sufficient power to insure success. He was anxious 
 to control new worlds before he had put his own 
 into the best order. Had he waited until the Ape- 
 man and other living particles could have reached 
 the same state of intelligence as himself, and then 
 concentrated and utilized the combined mental 
 strength of the whole to solve the great problem, no 
 doubt he would have been more successful in his 
 first attempt at universal navigation. 
 
 "However, he tried and failed, and by that failure 
 thoroughly demonstrated the futility of one part of 
 humanity trying to rush ahead of the whole, and the 
 absolute necessity for all mankind to work unitedly 
 and harmoniously, and go forward as a unit to ac 
 complish the greatest results within its power." 
 
 "But," inquired I, "what law or chance was it that 
 destroyed all of your countrymen, and still preserved 
 you through all these ages?"
 
 BORN AGAIN 113 
 
 "That is the most remarkable circumstance of the 
 whole affair," answered Arietta, as she cast a loving 
 glance in the direction of the leader of the band, and 
 then, reverently pointing toward him, she continued, 
 "he was the foremost man of his day, and it was 
 generally conceded by all of our people that he was 
 the greatest man the earth ever produced. Like Sage, 
 the founder of our government, he lived entirely foi 
 others. His sole aim in life was to make better the 
 conditions of all living things; to make hardship, 
 sorrow, suffering or misery an impossibility on earth. 
 In order to be of the greatest service to others, he 
 knew that he must not only be unselfish, but also 
 build up his body, brain and character to the very 
 highest degree of efficiency and perfection. And he 
 did so. He built himself up from a physical, mental, 
 and moral standpoint, until it seemed to others that 
 he was the personification of intelligence, love, vir 
 tue, and magnificence. While possessing the great 
 est brain power, still he was the most humble man in 
 Sageland. Although a giant in physical strength, 
 yet he was as gentle as a lamb. He was the greatest 
 thinker of all time, but there was no room in his 
 brain for an impure thought. Notwithstanding he 
 was still a young man, being but fifty years of age, 
 nevertheless he had attained distinct success and 
 fame as a musician, composer, scientist, inventor, 
 architect, and athlete. He endeavored to unravel all 
 the mysteries of nature which attracted his attention. 
 
 One of the many occult forces he experimented 
 with was human magnetism. It was his belief that 
 man could preserve himself indefinitely, either in a 
 state of animation or suspended vitality, by the
 
 114 BORN AGAIN 
 
 strength of his own will power. He often said that, 
 barring accidents, he would live to be a thousand 
 years old. In order that he might thoroughly study 
 the subject and discover, if possible, the exact forces 
 that caused life and death, he often used me as an 
 example for his experiments. Many times he had 
 caused me to lie in a trance for several months dura 
 tion without the slightest change in my appearance 
 showing itself. While my aid was necessary to sus 
 pend animation, yet when once under the influence 
 of the strange forces by which it was accomplished, 
 my senses departed entirely, and I had no power to 
 revive myself, but had to depend upon him to restore 
 consciousness. 
 
 "Ten days prior to the date set for the first trial 
 whereby man was to navigate the earth in space, I 
 allowed him to put me under the spell of these influ 
 ences, and although it seems like yesterday that it 
 happened, still over forty-two centuries have since 
 passed by. Uncounted billions of human beings have 
 lived, suffered and died since that time, but the same 
 soul which guided the magnificent being who put 
 me into that trance, has lived through it all, and by 
 a mysterious power, has finally returned to release 
 my soul from its incarceration. It was a natural 
 law which caused me to sleep peacefully through all 
 those centuries, and likewise it was according to 
 nature s principle that you were brought back here 
 to awaken me. 
 
 "The seed of united labor sown by the immortal 
 Sage, which proved so prolific in love and progress 
 to the Sagemen, was not entirely destroyed by the 
 great catastrophe, but lay smouldering in this tomb
 
 BORN AGAIN 115 
 
 during the dark ages of superstition, ignorance and 
 cruel civilization, that have since elapsed, and must 
 now be replanted in the soil of human hearts, and 
 its benevolent results spread throughout the earth, 
 offering peace and good will to all living things. 
 
 "And you, who are guided by the soul of my final 
 consort," said Arietta, as the full rays of her lumin 
 ous eyes were fastened upon me, "I entreat you to go 
 forth as a messenger of truth and justice and teach 
 the principles of Natural Law to all of your species."
 
 CHAPTER 20 
 
 "But what about yourself?" inquired I of Arietta, 
 as I met her sympathetic gaze with a look of adora 
 tion. "If you would visit the different countries of 
 the world you could revolutionize things in a very 
 short time, I am sure. You could explain the prin 
 ciples of Natural Law to the people, and teach them 
 methods of which I know nothing. The wise and 
 learned men of the present time would understand 
 your explanation much better, and would give the 
 subject far more serious consideration than if I, a 
 poor ignorant fellow with neither education nor 
 standing, undertook to instruct them. The whole 
 world would stop and listen to you. The inhabitants 
 would set you up as a goddess, and rally to your 
 standard as mistress of the earth. Besides, the power 
 your apparently unlimited intelligence would cre 
 ate, your wonderful beauty would immediately 
 charm every mortal who once set eyes on you. Kings, 
 emperors and potentates of all kinds would fall 
 madly in love with you at first sight, and you would 
 have but to command to bring them to your feet as 
 slaves ready to do your slightest bidding. To further 
 your own purposes you could" but here I stopped 
 short in my recital, shocked by a thousand little 
 demons of jealousy entering my brain as it occurred 
 to me that perhaps Arietta would forget me entirely
 
 BORN AGAIN 117 
 
 if all the great persons of the earth showered honors 
 and favors upon her. I felt intensely miserable at 
 the very idea of such a thing. 
 
 "Do not allow silly thoughts to enter your head," 
 said she compassionately, "I shall never leave this 
 place. This room has been the scene of the happiest 
 hours of my life in which my coeternal companion, 
 incased in the flesh of a real man, plighted his ever 
 lasting love and devotion to me. And by a simple 
 and intelligent law of nature I have been held a 
 captive in this room through countless genera 
 tions to witness the transformation and return of 
 that faithful comrade to release my soul from cap 
 tivity. And now this room shall be my mortal 
 sepulchre. 
 
 "Although I should like, ever so much, to go forth 
 and devote many years to teaching the Apeman the 
 glorious principles of Natural Law as prescribed by 
 my beloved countrymen, yet it is not within my 
 power to do so. 
 
 "Owing to the constant change in the chemical 
 composition of the atmosphere, and the vast differ 
 ence in its present arrangement and that of four 
 thousand two hundred years ago, it would be im 
 possible for me to live five minutes outside of this 
 chamber. In fact I have noticed that the supply of 
 air, which must have been hermetically sealed within 
 this vault at the time of the catastrophe, has been 
 gradually escaping by way of the hole through which 
 you forced a passageway. Hence within a very short 
 time my life will have oozed away for the want of 
 proper stimulus. Then again, the period in which 
 the particles of this human frame should naturally
 
 118 BORN AGAIN 
 
 cling together has long since expired, and should I 
 but expose myself to the elements now existing on 
 the exterior of this place, I should no doubt, crumble 
 into dust and be blown away with the winds. Not 
 withstanding nature compels the mutability of all 
 things, its laws however remain unchangeable, and 
 as the time has passed and the conditions altered 
 since I should have lived my natural life, this mate 
 rial of which I am now composed must soon collapse, 
 its parts disintegrate and return to the elements 
 from whence they came. 
 
 "But my soul shall continue to live, and the same 
 law which brought you back here to me will also 
 bring our souls together many times and in different 
 forms during eternity. And as you now possess the 
 strength, intelligence and opportunity, it is your 
 sacred duty to go forth and teach Apemen to love 
 one another and practice kindness toward all living 
 things, for you know not in what shape I may return. 
 As you would be kind to me now, so must you treat 
 all of nature s creatures. And remember, that the 
 soul you so ardently worship now and so reverently 
 loved over four thousand years ago, cannot return 
 in a perfect form if there are none such forms to 
 inhabit, or in a good and pure being if there are no 
 such beings extant. But, on the contrary, if in the 
 future none but good and beautiful lives exist on 
 earth, my soul cannot possibly occupy anything else. 
 Thus, Natural Law plainly teaches that, as you pre 
 pare earthly conditions in one form of life, so must 
 you tolerate them in the next. In fact, our own 
 future safety and happiness depend upon all living 
 things reaching a high state of perfection and 
 equality.
 
 BORN AGAIN 119 
 
 "And now," said Arietta, arising and exhibiting 
 considerable emotion, "having briefly instructed you 
 in Natural Law as deeply as your limited mental 
 capacity will permit, the time has arrived that we 
 must part, for I feel that I am growing weak and 
 cannot live much longer. In fact, it has been through 
 the power of my will alone that I have been kept 
 alive until now. So prepare yourself to go." 
 
 "Go!" ejaculated I, jumping to my feet with an 
 awful feeling of anguish as I realized the full mean 
 ing of her words. "Me, go? Never! I shall remain 
 here and we shall die together. I could never live 
 without you. There would be left no object in life 
 worth living for." And then, advancing forward, I 
 took her shapely hand in mine, and, looking directly 
 into her lovely eyes with much earnestness, said: 
 "I fully understand that in comparison to the Sage- 
 man, I am a hideous and degraded creature. And I 
 also know that the love that filled the heaves of your 
 contemporaries for one another was sublime, having 
 for a few moments during that musical spell been 
 moved by the same emotions that once impelled the 
 exalted being of which I am the re-incarnation, but 
 believe me when I say that my love for you now is 
 ten thousand times stronger than it was then. I 
 worship you. I shall die for and with you. Aye, even 
 nature itself cannot keep me alive after you have 
 gone. I may not be the equal of the Sageman in 
 other ways, but I shall prove that my love for you is 
 equally as great." 
 
 During this outburst of my thoughts, Arietta stood 
 in a motionless attitude, holding my outstretched 
 hand and returning my excited gaze with a look of 
 mingled pity and sorrow. "Is it possible," said she,
 
 120 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "that there is not one Apeman in the world today 
 with sufficient strength of character to relinquish his 
 own selfish desires for the good of his species? Can 
 it be that not one Apeman exists whom nature can 
 rely upon for the great work of uplifting humanity, 
 who is brave enough to resist the temporary fascina 
 tion of a lovable woman? And have I lived to see 
 the reincarnated soul of the bravest and noblest man 
 that ever breathed, bound within the flesh of a 
 wretched coward incapable of living for any greater 
 purpose than his own self-gratification? Am I to 
 understand that one who is controlled by the spirit 
 of my everlasting associate, intends betraying na 
 ture s trust by shirking the responsibilities of man 
 hood, because he lacks the courage to live? Will 
 there be promulgated among the records of time an 
 account of my immortal partner having deserted his 
 post of duty by sneaking out of the world before his 
 allotted time? Would this being, who is blessed with 
 physical strength and a well-balanced brain, allow 
 himself to sink to the level of a craven suicide, be 
 cause he cannot secure something beyond his reach? 
 Does he think that nature brought him into exist 
 ence for no other purpose than to feed his own petty 
 desires? Would he deliberately die like a useless 
 poltroon, and leave the world in its present state of 
 savagery and wretchedness, without even attempting 
 to be of service to humanity in the very work it 
 requires the most?" 
 
 "Stop! Enough!" cried I. "You have wounded my 
 feelings to the very core. I ll admit that I am weak 
 in this instance. Very weak indeed. But this is the 
 first time that my courage has ever been assailed by 
 anyone, and to have you above all persons, openly
 
 BORN AGAIN 121 
 
 insinuate that I am a coward is far worse than having 
 inflicted upon me the crudest tortures of the Ape- 
 man s prospective hell. I am only an Apeman, but 
 as I said before, I love you beyond all power of ex 
 pression. You no doubt, cannot understand my 
 puny feelings any more than I can fully comprehend 
 your lofty ideals or the full meaning of your higher 
 knowledge of things. The very greatest hardship 
 for me to undergo would be to live after you have 
 passed away. But, if by the promise of so doing I 
 can gain your respect and one encouraging look or 
 word of approval, I will not only rescind the text of 
 my previous statement and live, but I swear to you 
 in the name of the Creator of the law which governs 
 all things, that I shall strictly follow to the letter 
 any instructions you may wish to offer concerning 
 my future movements, no matter what they might 
 be. So make my task a hard one, for the courage you 
 so unfeelingly attacked must be tested to its full 
 limits. I am ready to obey your commands." 
 
 Having thus addressed Arietta, I straightened my 
 self up to my full height with as much dignity as I 
 could assume, folded my arms across my chest and 
 awaited her orders. 
 
 "The Sagemen never urged their desires by a 
 command," replied Arietta, "they simply requested 
 that which they would like to have done. The re 
 quest I shall make concerning your future duty can 
 be incorporated in a very few words, but it will re 
 quire a lifetime and great strength of character to 
 execute. But as you have promised like a man to 
 follow my instructions, I shall die with implicit con 
 fidence in your determination to do so. So consider
 
 122 BORN AGAIN 
 
 well the following mandate, for it contains the es 
 sence which will stimulate you to heroic deeds: 
 "Always consult your soul for advice,, 
 "Do no act your conscience will not sanction." 
 Three times Arietta slowly repeated this precept, 
 and then placing her hands upon my shoulders, she 
 continued: "The first time you act contrary to the 
 admonition of your soul, then you will have broken 
 your promise to me. Now go," said she, turning me 
 about until I faced the doorway, "I must request 
 your immediate departure. Go, and try to be a man. 
 We shall meet many times in the future, so while 
 you have the chance try and make better the condi 
 tions of life, that we may eventually meet on the 
 same plane of equality without the shadow of strife 
 or animosity to mar our happiness. Good-bye." 
 
 With the meaning of these words ringing in my 
 head, I fully understood that my audience with 
 Arietta was at an end, and overcome with grief and 
 gloom I weakly responded, "good-bye," and then 
 added, "I shall never break my promise." 
 
 Then with a heavy tread I walked to the opening 
 through which I had entered, turned half around 
 and took one long, last, loving look at Arietta and 
 passed into the corridor beyond. At the same time 
 I fancied I heard her gently sobbing.
 
 CHAPTER 21 
 
 Suffering with a dejected feeling of despair, I 
 wended my way through the chaotic anterior hall 
 in search of the hole through which I had so mirac 
 ulously entered. It seemed as if life s sole aim had 
 suddenly been stricken from the range of my vision. 
 I could not understand why nature should be so 
 cruel as to give me but one momentary glimpse of 
 that angelic mortal and then thrust me away from 
 her in such an indifferent manner. I wondered why 
 the world was not populated exclusively by such 
 lovely beings. Was it because the people themselves, 
 through their individual accumulative system, cre 
 ated conditions whereby only the most abject and 
 debased mortals could survive? Was this system 
 responsible for petty selfishness, instead of conscience 
 governing man, causing him in his greedy scramble 
 for temporary gain, to keep others in a state of help 
 lessness, ignorance, and squalor, thus propagating 
 an inferior race of physical, mental, and moral pig 
 mies as the foremost inhabitants of the earth? Why 
 could not humanity organize itself as a great unit of 
 unselfish effort and equality, for the purpose of up 
 lifting and strengthening all of its component parts, 
 instead of those parts pulling down, weakening, and 
 destroying one another in a ferocious struggle for 
 individual predominance?
 
 124 BORNAGAIN 
 
 As these and similar thoughts crowded themselves 
 into my brain, my attention was attracted by soft 
 strains of music emanating from the room I had 
 just left, and I stood still and listened. Arietta had 
 evidently set the orchestral mechanism in motion 
 again, and was accompanying it by tenderly singing 
 her own requiem. With tremulous modulation, her 
 vocal chords produced sounds such as I had never 
 heard before, and of which I am powerless to give 
 the faintest description. Like a statue, I stood and 
 listened to the almost supernatural melody, and 
 inwardly prayed that it might continue forever. But 
 suddenly both the music and singing ended, and 
 absolute quietness prevailed. It may have been a 
 pure fancy on my part, but as I waited in breathless 
 silence, hoping for more music, the apparition of 
 Arietta seemed to pass directly over my head, and 
 continued right on up through the solid roof of the 
 hallway. 
 
 Startled beyond expression at what I now consider 
 a mere delusion, I shouted Arietta at the top of 
 my voice several times, and receiving no answer, 
 either telepathically or phonetically, I came to the 
 awful conclusion that she was no more. 
 
 Is it unmanly to cry? If so, I must confess my 
 unmanliness, for on this occasion it was impossible 
 for me to repress the tears from coursing down my 
 cheeks, as I realized that the last of nature s grand 
 est and noblest earthly beings had passed away. But 
 the tears I shed apparently softened my nature, and 
 as I stood buried in the depth of meditation con 
 cerning the preceding events, I became impregnated 
 with the desire to try and do some real good in the 
 world; to make myself useful to mankind; to live
 
 BORN AGAIN 125 
 
 for others instead of myself alone. And then and 
 there I resolved that I would devote the remainder 
 of my natural life to teaching human beings the 
 beautiful principles of Natural Law, as I understood 
 them, without expectation of compensation or future 
 reward. I would go forth, as Arietta had requested, 
 and plant the seed of real truth, justice, love, and 
 equality in human hearts to the best of my ability, 
 and trust in the souls of men to further aid in its 
 universal and everlasting productiveness. I felt posi 
 tive that the theory of the Sagemen was right, and 
 that the soul just released from Arietta was even 
 then beginning life in a different form. Would it 
 not be criminal on my part to make no effort to 
 better earthly conditions for her future welfare? 
 Perhaps, conjectured I, the soul of my own mother, 
 who died at the time of my birth, might, even at that 
 moment, be incased in a degraded body, surrounded 
 by want and misery, caused by the operation of that 
 selfish, brutal and murderous civilized system, which 
 encourages the strong to squeeze the very light and 
 hope from the weak, thus forcing and keeping man 
 kind in a state of continual degradation. A system 
 that was created in the beginning by savages, and 
 which is upheld at the present time by savages. 
 
 How long I stood there, seriously thinking on this 
 subject, and forming new and laudable resolutions 
 for the future, I do not know; but at last I awoke to 
 the fact that I was still nothing more nor less than a 
 common adventurer, held captive on an isolated 
 projecture in the middle of the sea. This became 
 more apparent as I faintly heard the ocean s waves 
 dashing against the rocks on the outside of the place. 
 So, following in the direction of the sounds, they
 
 126 BORN AGAIN 
 
 became louder and more distinct, until finally I 
 found myself looking up at the very hole through 
 which I had bored my way so unceremoniously. It 
 was night, and I could easily distinguish the stars 
 in the outer darkness. In making a careful survey 
 of the surroundings, I discovered that it was going 
 to be a much more difficult task to get out than it 
 was to get in this extraordinary grotto. The aperture 
 was located about three feet above my head; was 
 barely large enough to squeeze through, and there 
 was no way by which I could climb up to it. I ob 
 served, however, that adjoining the hole there was 
 a huge marble pillar running upward and outward 
 in an oblique slant, and wedged in its position by 
 several other massive stones, but with its end pro 
 truding below the rest. So, without wasting any 
 time, I leaped up and caught hold of it with both 
 hands, and then, adopting the tactics of a gymnast, 
 I began slowly working my way through the hole 
 feet foremost, like an acrobat going over a hori 
 zontal bar. 
 
 This feat, which required great muscular strength, 
 flexibility, and tenaciousness, was the very hardest 
 physical performance I ever accomplished, for, be 
 sides being unable to get a firm grip on it, I found, 
 to my dismay, that the great pillar I clung to was 
 insecure in its position, and threatened to fall and 
 crush me beneath its weight. 
 
 And as inch by inch I slowly and persistently 
 worked my way upward and outward, so inch by 
 inch did it slowly, but surely, work its way down 
 ward. Passing my feet and legs beyond the brink of 
 the opening, I doubled myself up in such a way that 
 the lower half of my body rested upon a sort of a
 
 BORN AGAIN 127 
 
 level platform, and, with head downward, I pushed 
 my way up until I found myself kneeling upon the 
 crust I had previously broken through, and which 
 I subsequently decided must have been a great pane 
 of glass, covered by the coagulated settlings of the 
 air, which for centuries had been forming a solid 
 coating. I remained in a kneeling position for sev 
 eral moments, catching my breath and regaining 
 strength. I feared to move, lest the thin layer upon 
 which I rested would once more give way beneath 
 me. It appeared to waver, as did everything else 
 around me. After a short rest, I carefully arose to a 
 standing position, and then observed that I was 
 located in a sort of a pit, surrounded by rocks of 
 various shapes and sizes. As I cautiously climbed 
 upward, each one of them appeared to tremble at 
 my very touch, until just as I reached the topmost 
 point the whole mass apparently gave way at once, 
 I lost my balance and fell forward, there was a ter 
 rible crash, and after that I became dizzy and con 
 fused. 
 
 The most peculiar and disconnected sensations 
 then passed through my mind. First I thought there 
 was a great hole in the side of my head, which I 
 tried to fill with small stones. Then my head became 
 full of holes, and finally I fancied that I possessed 
 a half dozen heads and all of them w r ere cut and 
 bleeding. And then apparently all of these heads 
 were suddenly and mysteriously severed from my 
 body, and floated away in space like a lot of toy 
 balloons. Following that, it felt as if every bone in 
 my body had been broken, and I was taking these 
 bones from their places and trying to repair them. 
 Then I imagined that I had several different bodies,
 
 128 BORN AGAIN 
 
 and all of them were bruised and mangled. These 
 forms increased in numbers until I could see nothing 
 else but them, and they appeared to be struggling 
 to extricate themselves from beneath a huge object 
 which seemed to grow in size until it was as large as 
 a mountain. Finally released, they began climbing 
 up the mountain until the summit was reached and 
 then gradually decreased until there was but one 
 left. 
 
 "What is the matter with me?" I wondered. "Who 
 am I, what am I, and where do I belong?" I tried 
 to think coherently, but my mind was feeble and 
 incapable of grasping an intelligent thought. Day 
 and night went and came many times, but still I 
 remained on that mountain wondering, wondering, 
 wondering. Sometimes I would expand until I felt 
 larger than the mountain itself; then again I would 
 shrink to the size of a flea. One time I would feel 
 as if I were up near the North Pole, surrounded by 
 ice and freezing to death. At another time I would 
 imagine that I was in the middle of the Sahara 
 Desert, being roasted alive by the scorching rays of 
 the sun. And, still again, I would feel that I was 
 shipwrecked upon a barren island, and was slowly 
 dying for the want of food and water. Sometimes 
 I fancied that I could see ships all about me, and I 
 would yell, and roar at the top of my voice to attract 
 attention, but without results, as they would pass 
 beyond view without taking any notice of me. At 
 other times it seemed that ships would cast their 
 anchors right in front of my eyes, and apparently 
 remain stationed there for weeks and months at a 
 time, and yet no one would come to my assistance. 
 At last there appeared to be ten thousand ships all
 
 BORN AGAIN 129 
 
 of the same pattern lowering small boats into the 
 water, and these boats manned by stalwart oarsmen 
 started to race with each other in my direction. 
 What an evenly matched contest. On, on, on they 
 came, bunched closely together, each using the same 
 uniform stroke as if all were guided by the same 
 coxswain. Now they were right upon me. "Great 
 race," I shouted, as they came within hearing dis 
 tance. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" 
 
 "The poor devil is mad," I fancied I heard some 
 one exclaim, and my mind became a blank.
 
 CHAPTER 22 
 
 FIRST VOICE: "This is a most peculiar case of en 
 teric fever, in which the patient baffles all medical 
 aid towards a cure. The fellow has been out of his 
 head ever since he was brought here, two months 
 ago, and fancies that he has been in a trance since the 
 time of Noah and the Ark. He has a strange halluci 
 nation that he can be awakened from his protracted 
 nap by a kiss from a certain female, whom he de 
 scribes as Arietta the Beautiful. Although he is as 
 crazy as a loon, yet some of his utterances are really 
 remarkable for the depth of logic they contain. The 
 case has its amusing side also, for every woman by 
 the name of Arietta who visits this hospital cannot 
 resist the temptation of kissing the man, in order to 
 ascertain whether they possess the secret charm to 
 restore his right senses. But so far the osculatory 
 experiment has proved a dire failure. He bears 
 evidence of being a handsome and distinguished 
 person, notwithstanding he is a charity patient, and 
 without friends. His identification is unknown, he 
 having been picked up on the street in his present 
 condition by the police, who had him sent here. I 
 fully believe but Miss, you are crying. Evidently 
 your nature is too emotional for the sick room, so 
 come, we will pass along."
 
 BORN AGAIN 131 
 
 SECOND VOICE: "No, wait a moment, Doctor. I 
 I think I am positive that I know this man. In 
 fact, I was very well acquainted with him a few years 
 ago. It all seems so strange, but well you see- 
 he often told me that he loved me. Yes, my name 
 is Arietta, but I did not love him, nor even like him. 
 My father and mother hated him, and we all had to 
 secretly leave home and travel abroad in order for 
 me to avoid his undesirable attentions. But not 
 withstanding that, my heart now bleeds for him in 
 his terrible plight, and I want to do something for 
 him. My conscience would not allow me to pass 
 along without trying to aid him. You say that in 
 his ravings he claims that a kiss from Arietta would 
 save him. I have never done such a thing before in 
 my life, but now an irresistible force from within 
 has taken possession of me and I feel that it is my 
 duty to try the experiment myself, and see if it will 
 have the effect of restoring his normal condition. 
 Therefore, Doctor, whether this strange method 
 proves efficacious or not, I shall rely upon your 
 honor to keep the secret, and never mention the 
 incident to him. If he knew of it I should die of 
 shame. My parents would disown me for such an 
 act." 
 
 As though awakening from a long and profound 
 sleep the aforesaid colloquy seemed to have been 
 impressed upon my mind, and then I opened my 
 eyes and looked about in astonishment. The strange 
 ness of my position and surroundings surprised me 
 beyond expression. I was lying upon my back in a 
 small narrow bed stationed within a large oblong 
 room about one hundred by fifty feet in dimensions. 
 Long rows of little white beds extended from one
 
 132 BORN AGAIN 
 
 end of the apartment to the other, each containing 
 the form of a human being. Most of these forms 
 appeared to be soundly sleeping, some lay awake 
 silently meditating, while others tossed about nerv 
 ously from one position to another as if in terrible 
 agony. An occasional howl of torture rent the air. 
 Moving hither and thither among the different beds 
 were women attired in white dresses and wearing 
 little white caps on their heads. They carried in 
 their hands, spoons, tumblers, trays, and various 
 instruments and vessels of peculiar design. 
 
 At the front of my bed stood a man of medium 
 height and build, with a heavy reddish mustache 
 and pointed beard. At one side, half way between 
 the head and foot of my bed, was the figure of a 
 woman, apparently about twenty-one years of age. 
 She was tall, slender, graceful, and magnificently 
 gowned in street clothes. Her head w r as shapely 
 and covered with an abundance of dark brown hair. 
 Her physiognomy was intellectually strong, and the 
 whole cast of her features showed extraordinary 
 beauty. Her eyes were clear and bright, and ex 
 pressed a tender and sympathetic nature. She was 
 looking straight at me in a half-startled sort of a 
 manner, and appeared to be backing away from the 
 bed upon which I lay. As my eyes met her steady 
 gaze I involuntarily exclaimed, "Arietta!" Then 
 instantly my memory returned, and I remembered 
 all that had taken place, as explained in the preced 
 ing chapters. 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, that my mind became 
 clear and well-balanced, I became extremely puzzled 
 as I looked at this beautiful woman, to note that 
 she bore a striking resemblance to the sublime
 
 BORN AGAIN 133 
 
 being, who had just passed away among the remnants 
 of Sageland, and I became still further confounded 
 when she timidly approached me and softly said: 
 "You are John Convert, are you not?" 
 "Yes," answered I, "that is my name." 
 "And do you recognize me?" inquired she. 
 
 "I recognize in you a living demonstration and 
 positive realization of the principle of re-incarna 
 tion, as embodied in the Sageman s theory of Nat 
 ural Law," answered I, slowly and deliberately. "I 
 recognize in you the soul of Arietta, of Sageland, 
 my eternal companion, and a fulfilment of her 
 prophecy that she would be born again. But while 
 I make this declaration with the utmost positiveness, 
 still I am at a loss to understand how such a thing 
 could be, as the soul of that lovely being, having 
 but just left its material body, should according to 
 Natural Law, have attached itself to an embryo 
 form, while you are a full-grown woman." 
 
 At these words she appeared considerably amazed 
 for a moment, but quickly recovering herself, she 
 said with much sympathy and tenderness of feeling: 
 "Come, now, Mr. Convert, try and think clearly 
 and talk sensibly. Don t you recollect how, three 
 years ago, we became acquainted in Paris; how per 
 sistently you followed me all over Europe, then 
 crossed the Atlantic aboard the same steamer, and 
 finally journeyed out West to my home? Don t you 
 remember how angry Papa became, and how he 
 threatened you with dire punishment if you did not 
 stop annoying us?" 
 
 "No," said I emphatically, "there must be some 
 mistake, for I have never visited Paris and I dis-
 
 134 BORN AGAIN 
 
 tinctly recollect having been in Japan three years 
 ago, as I celebrated my nineteenth birthday in 
 Tokio." 
 
 "Now that is absurd," said she, with a mingled 
 look of pity and suppressed amusement. "Three 
 years ago you told me that you were forty years 
 old. Don t you recollect how you once cautioned 
 me not to consider you an old man simply because 
 your hair was white, and how angry you became 
 because I called you Grandpa? Come now, think 
 real hard." 
 
 At these words I began to seriously doubt my 
 own identity, but after a moment of calm delibera 
 tion I replied, "No, I do not recollect any such 
 happenings, and moreover, I am not forty years 
 of age, but twenty-two, and neither is my hair white 
 but black as you can plainly see. Will you please 
 tell me where I am? My mind is a trifle confused at 
 the strange surroundings." 
 
 "You are in the Ruff Hospital, New York," 
 answered she. "I, myself, have been spending some 
 time in this city, and, strangely enough, took a 
 notion that I should like to see the different hos 
 pitals. It was purely accidental that I ran across 
 you. The doctor says you have typhoid fever, but," 
 she added, in an encouraging manner, "you will 
 soon be well. So cheer up, and try to concentrate 
 your mind, so that you can think properly." 
 
 "Ruff Hospital, New York!" ejaculated I, in 
 astonishment. "How the deuce did I get away over 
 here? Oh, I understand; I fell among the rocks and 
 was hurt; then the sailors came and rescued me, and 
 I was brought here. That seems like a few moments
 
 BORN AGAIN 135 
 
 ago, but I presume at least a month must have 
 elapsed since or the ship could not have reached this 
 port. What month is this, January?" 
 
 "No, this is the month of March," replied she. 
 
 "March!" exclaimed I. "Great heavens, how the 
 time has flown! Why, that is about three months 
 that I have known absolutely nothing. Let s see, it 
 was December 5th that I was thrown overboard, 
 and it must have been December 7th that Arietta 
 died. That s right, December 7, 18811 shall 
 always remember that date and keep it holy. It 
 must be now March, 1882." 
 
 "Why, Mr. Convert, you are certainly dream 
 ing," responded she, "this the year 1903, not 1882. 
 But how strange that you should get so mixed in 
 the dates December 7, 1881, was the day I was 
 born. That was over twenty-one years ago, instead 
 of three months, as you fancy." 
 
 At this juncture the red-whiskered individual 
 came forward and said: "It seems to be a hopeless 
 case, Miss. He has talked in that same strain ever 
 since he came here. Perhaps after his fever abates 
 somewhat he may regain his equanimity, but to me 
 it looks as if his mind will always be unbalanced. 
 He has a nasty scar right over the temporal region, 
 which portends ill for his future reason. Perhaps 
 it would be better not to talk to him any further at 
 present. He is awfully weak, and appears more 
 excited than usual. You have evidently made some 
 impression upon him, however, and if you would 
 visit him every few days he might eventually be able 
 to recognize you, which would have a strong tend 
 ency to set him mentally straight again."
 
 136 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "Very well," said she, hesitatingly, as if not 
 anxious to go. "May I call and see him tomorrow, 
 Doctor?" 
 
 "There are only three visiting days here each 
 week, Miss; Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 
 between the hours of three and four P. M. But 
 any time you call, if you will ask at the office for 
 Doctor Savage, that is my name, I shall consider it 
 a pleasant duty to render you any service within my 
 power," replied he, looking at her with unsup- 
 pressed admiration, of which she apparently took 
 no notice. Then continuing, he said, "Would you 
 kindly give me your card that I may know your full 
 name in case you call at other times than the regular 
 visiting hours?" 
 
 She opened her pocket book as if to take out a 
 card, stopped and reflected a moment, and then 
 said, "Well, never mind my last name; just remem 
 ber me as Arietta," and before I could collect my 
 wits sufficiently to voice my agitated thoughts they 
 passed from the room together.
 
 CHAPTER 23 
 
 As I lay musing over the strange occurrences 
 recorded in the previous chapter, and wondering 
 whether my entire life was a reality or merely a 
 peculiar dream, one of the white-capped nurses 
 strode up to the side of my bed and without the 
 slighest warning roughly pushed a little glass tube 
 in my mouth. Not knowing whether she wanted 
 me to swallow it or was merely trying to puncture 
 a hole in my tongue, I put it out again and asked 
 what she intended doing. 
 
 "Now look here," said she, in an irritated way, 
 "I have about lost all patience with you, and unless 
 you do as I tell you hereafter I shall have the orderly 
 punish you again." 
 
 "But," said I, in amazement, "you have not 
 mentioned yet what you would have me do." 
 
 "I have told you fully a hundred times to put this 
 thermometer under your tongue and keep it there," 
 replied she, exhibiting considerable temper, as she 
 viciously jammed it once more into my mouth and 
 twisted it under my tongue. "You are about the 
 biggest chump that ever came into this hospital," 
 continued she, grasping my wrist as though she in 
 tended breaking it and simultaneously taking my 
 pulse and temperature.
 
 138 BORN AGAIN 
 
 A few moments later she jerked the thermometer 
 from my mouth, glanced at it hurriedly and then 
 entered a record upon a chart suspended from the 
 head of my bed. Then calling one of the male 
 attendants, she instructed him to fill the tub pre 
 paratory to giving me an ice bath. This attendant 
 went to the corner of the room from whence he 
 secured a bath tub on wheels, which he pushed over 
 to the side of my bed. The tub was already partly 
 filled with water, and I afterward learned that owing 
 to the laziness and filthiness of the attendants, the 
 same water was often used over and over again for 
 i;he different typhoid patients. I observed that this 
 attendant, who was otherwise called an orderly, was 
 about as ignorant and degraded a specimen of 
 humanity as a much boasted civilization could possi 
 bly breed. 
 
 He was about six feet tall, round-shouldered, 
 knock-kneed, and weighed about two hundred 
 pounds of flabby flesh, mostly covered by filthy 
 garments. His head was pyramidal in shape, and 
 covered by a mass of unkempt red hair. He had 
 practically no forehead. His eyes were dull and 
 bloodshot. His nose was flat and bent to one side, 
 and his whole face was covered with pimples. His 
 mouth was wide and beastly, and filled with tobacco. 
 His mustache was irregular, and dyed almost to the 
 roots by tobacco juice. His breath was odoriferous 
 with fumes of whiskey, cigarettes, and foul stomach 
 disorders, causing a poisonous stench to pollute the 
 surrounding atmosphere. One could not look upon 
 him without a feeling of sickening disgust. He was 
 a twentieth century civilized American. He was 
 not, of course, the highest type of a civilized Amer-
 
 BORN AGAIN 139 
 
 ican, but nevertheless he was of a high enough order 
 for a civilized country to breed, rear, and put in 
 charge of its sick and unfortunate members. 
 
 As he pushed the tub along he carelessly allowed 
 it to strike the end of my bed, which gave me a 
 shock as though I had been pierced by a thousand 
 daggers, causing an involuntary groan to escape 
 from my lips. 
 
 "Shut up there, you old duffer," said he, looking 
 at me in a stupid, expressionless sort of a way, "you 
 are not hurt yet. I ll give you something to cry 
 about if you don t quit making such a fuss over 
 nothing. You re the biggest baby I ever saw." 
 
 Having fixed the tub in position, put some pieces 
 of ice into the water, and adjusted a small portable 
 partition around my bed, which obstructed the 
 view of the other patients, he called for the assistance 
 of another attendant, and began preparations to put 
 me into the tub. As they uncovered me, I glanced 
 down at my emaciated form and was astounded at 
 my own appearance. Nothing now remained of 
 the once muscular and powerful frame I had always 
 felt so proud of, but sickly looking skin and bones. 
 Raising my arm to the level of my eyes I discovered 
 that it was shriveled, and ghastly to behold, and it 
 fell back to my side with a sickening thud for the 
 want of strength to remain erect. It seemed as if 
 a great fiery furnace was located within me and that 
 I was fairly burning alive. Ten thousand different 
 pains were shooting back and forth in every part of 
 my body, but the most excruciating of all was a 
 terrible pain in the center of my back, which caused 
 me to think that my spinal column had been dis 
 located. And then as if all of the tortures of a refined
 
 140 BORN AGAIN 
 
 civilization had suddenly been thrust upon me, as 
 though some supernatural hellish agency was instru 
 mental in causing me to go the full limit of human 
 suffering, those two devilish orderlies took hold of 
 me, one by the head and the other by the feet, and 
 without any leverage whatever to break the strain 
 upon my backbone, they raised and then dumped 
 me into the tub of ice-water below. I had always 
 considered myself invulnerable to bodily pain, and 
 from early youth had schooled myself against out 
 ward manifestation of suffering, no matter what the 
 circumstances might be, but on this occasion the 
 power of resistance deserted me entirely and I gave 
 vent to a howl of rage like the bellowing of a mad 
 dened bull, and partly arising, endeavored to clutch 
 the throat of the unfeeling beast at my head, but 
 too weak to accomplish my purpose I fell back into 
 the tub exhausted. At the same time the orderly 
 took hold of my own throat and almost strangling 
 me, beat my head against the tub several times 
 cursing me under his breath in the vilest of language 
 at the same time. 
 
 "Look out you don t kill him," cautioned the 
 other orderly at the foot of the tub, " or we might 
 have to go through another of those damned inves 
 tigations." 
 
 Just then the doctor and nurse came within the 
 inclosure, and inquired as to the cause of the com 
 motion. 
 
 "This damned idiot has broken loose again, and 
 I am teaching him how to behave himself," replied 
 the orderly. 
 
 "Well, he certainly needs a lesson in good be 
 havior," chimed in the nurse; "I cannot understand
 
 BORN AGAIN 141 
 
 why he has not been sent over to the Island for more 
 strenuous treatment long ago." 
 
 "Why don t you do as told?" inquired the be- 
 whiskered Dr. Savage, in a harsh tone of voice, as he 
 approached close to me, but I was too weak and ex 
 hausted to answer, and merely looked from one to 
 the other with the utmost feeling of contempt. After 
 censuring me sternly and advising me to behave my 
 self in the future, the doctor strolled away as if such 
 incidents w f ere of trifling importance. 
 
 I was kept in that tub of ice-water, freezing, for 
 fifteen minutes, while the nurse and orderlies lazily 
 rubbed my arms, legs, and trunk, and poured pitcher 
 after pitcher of ice-water over my head, in an effort 
 to reduce the fever. It was a barbarous method of 
 treatment, and seemed of several hours duration, 
 but it allayed that intense burning sensation, and 
 put new life and vigor into me. As they were 
 about to transfer me back to the bed again, I quietly 
 informed the nurse that my back was in a terrible 
 condition, and requested that the orderlies be in 
 structed to handle me a little more carefully, and 
 to take hold of my body instead of my head and feet 
 when lifting me up, so that the strain would be less 
 on the middle of my back. 
 
 "There is nothing the matter with your back," 
 snapped she. "I have told you many times before 
 that you only imagine your back hurts. Further 
 more, we understand our business without any 
 advice from you." 
 
 And with this rejoinder, the orderlies once more 
 took hold of my head and heels, and after much 
 tugging and twisting, managed to lift me up into
 
 142 BORNAGAIN 
 
 the bed. This time the pain seemed even greater 
 to bear than before, but, summoning all my will 
 power, I managed to take the brutal treatment in 
 silence, and said no more. 
 
 Back upon the bed again, shivering and shaking 
 with cold as though my bones would break, I was 
 covered with heavy blankets, and shortly afterwards 
 fell asleep, thoroughly exhausted, and feeling assured 
 beyond a doubt that I had once more returned to 
 civilization.
 
 CHAPTER 24 
 
 It is not my intention to give a full description of 
 hospital life as it came under my personal observa 
 tion, nor to recount the many cruel acts or cases of 
 stupid negligence on the part of the house staff as 
 perpetrated upon myself and other patients, during 
 my stay in the Ruff Hospital as a ward patient, as to 
 do the subject justice would require at least a volume 
 in itself. Neither is it my desire to hold responsible 
 any particular person or persons for the existence 
 of such a barbarous state of affairs, in which de 
 graded wretches inflict punishment upon the sick, 
 knowing that this is but one of the logical results 
 bred from the debasing system kept in force by a 
 semi-intelligent class of selfish brutes, who are crafty 
 enough to gain control of others by teaching the 
 cruel and savage doctrine known as the "survival of 
 the fittest." I have nothing but a feeling of com 
 passion and sorrow for those abject creatures who 
 mistreated me when I was sick, knowing that they, 
 as well as those whom they mistreated, were but the 
 victims of this pernicious financial system under 
 which we exist. 
 
 In the desperate struggle for a mere existence, 
 most men and women are forced into employment 
 for which they are entirely unfitted, and conse-
 
 144 BORNAGAIN 
 
 quently take no other interest in their work than 
 that of receiving their weekly or monthly stipend. 
 This fact was thoroughly demonstrated to me by the 
 action of several nurses who appeared to look upon 
 their work as tasks to be executed mechanically, 
 instead of duties to be performed with pleasure. 
 Then again, others who really preferred the work 
 were either kept away from it entirely, or else made 
 dull, peevish and irritable by the great number of 
 hours they were forced to be on duty each day, thus 
 turning what should have been pleasant employ 
 ment into a drudgery. And like the nurses, so were 
 the orderlies; their daily work hours were so long 
 and their pay so small that only the least intelligent 
 and most stupid moral idiots could be secured to 
 take positions that should be filled by men of the 
 very highest intelligence, character and sympathy. 
 
 The physicians themselves I found to be inexper 
 ienced youths, generally masquerading under a set 
 of whiskers, which some people are foolish enough 
 to mistake for brains and ability. Coming direct 
 from the medical colleges, they accepted these posi 
 tions in order to gain some practical experience at 
 the expense of the lives of the hospital patients. 
 
 The bricklayer, who devotes his life to the honor 
 able work of building the edifice; the hod carrier, 
 who gives his best services to the community in an 
 equally honorable employment; the locomotive 
 engineer, who safely carries from city to city a train 
 load of human beings each day for many years, are 
 only fit to be practiced upon by inexperienced phy 
 sicians, and abused by irritable nurses and cruel 
 orderlies, if they are finally overcome by sickness 
 and enter a charity hospital for treatment.
 
 BORN AGAIN 145 
 
 For several days I lay upon my little ward cot: 
 in the Ruff Hospital, with my life hanging in the 
 balance, and obliged to accept for succor the abuse 
 and mistreatment of an inferior house staff. And 
 worse still, I had to be an eye witness to cruelties 
 imposed upon other and less fortunate sufferers than 
 myself. I feel sure that many a poor fellow that I 
 saw carried away upon a stretcher, a lifeless corpse, 
 had given up all hope of recovery and died, for the 
 want of a few cheering words and kindly sympathy 
 from some one. instead of the constant abuse and 
 brutality he was subjected to. 
 
 I fully believe that I myself must have inevitably 
 succumbed to my pitiless treatment, had it not been 
 for the fact that the young girl, Arietta, visited me 
 each day for a half hour, bestowing upon me a tender 
 sympathy, and manifesting the greatest concern for 
 my welfare and recovery. 
 
 I was placed in a most peculiar position. I could 
 get no information whatsoever from the doctors, 
 nurses, or orderlies, and even Arietta said very little, 
 and cautioned me against talking or exciting myself 
 in any manner. I learned enough, however, to know 
 that twenty-one years had actually elapsed since my 
 wonderful experience with Arietta of Sageland, and 
 felt convinced beyond a doubt that the beautiful 
 young girl, who took such an interest in my welfare, 
 was impelled by the same soul as my noble instruc 
 tress in Natural Law. But I was intensely mystified 
 and unable to conceive what had become of the time 
 between the going of the one and the coming of the 
 other Arietta. 
 
 Twenty-one years had been swallowed up as com 
 pletely as if they had never been. Nearly one-half
 
 146 BORN AGAIN 
 
 of my life had passed away, of which I could give 
 absolutely no account. A look into the mirror was 
 a convincing proof of this fact, for therein I saw a 
 white-haired and premature old man, with a thin, 
 haggard and drawn countenance, which plainly 
 showed the results of having lived a life of hardship, 
 and almost unrecognizable as my own face. My 
 heavy black mustache was gone, and in its place 
 nothing but white stubble remained. The more I 
 endeavored to reach some tangible solution of the 
 mystery, the more confused I became. According to 
 the girl, Arietta s story, I had been introduced to 
 her at a reception in Paris three years previously, 
 had apparently fallen desperately in love with her, 
 and made myself obnoxious by following her every 
 where she went for several months. But as neither 
 she nor her parents liked me, I was finally eluded, 
 and had not been seen for over two years. According 
 to her account, I was generally looked upon as a rich 
 gentleman of leisure and bad habits, who did 
 nothing but travel and spend money recklessly. This 
 being the case, the foremost questions of my mind 
 were: Where had I gotten the money to spend so 
 extravagantly? Had I lived those twenty-one years 
 as a rational being, earning and accumulating wealth 
 and still not knowing anything about it? Arietta of 
 Sageland had told me that there was no such thing 
 as a freak of nature, and that everything worked 
 according to Natural Law, but my case certainly 
 seemed to be an exception to the general run of 
 things. What would be the final outcome of my 
 mysterious career, was a question to be answered 
 that was entirely beyond the limits of my imagina 
 tion. It gave me a severe pain in the head to con-
 
 BORNAGAIN 147 
 
 template beyond the surface of the subject, and I 
 finally allowed the whole matter to slip from my 
 attention and bent my efforts toward recovery from 
 the effects of my physical ailments. 
 
 One day Arietta said to me in as kindly a manner 
 as possible: "Mr. Convert, the doctor informs me 
 that the reason you do not get well is because you 
 lack the will power to do so." 
 
 "Will power," exclaimed I, "my dear sweet girl, 
 that is all I have left. It is the only force that is keep 
 ing me alive in the face of the cruelest treatment 
 man could possibly receive at the hands of his fellow 
 beings. Without will power I should have been 
 killed long ago by these people, but through that 
 agency alone I have been enabled to defy death and 
 I promise you that I shall get well in spite of them." 
 
 "Why, Mr. Convert, how can you talk so harshly 
 against these kind people? I am sure they are doing 
 everything within their power to make you well." 
 
 "You think so because you know nothing of the 
 case," answered I. "You simply visit this place for 
 a half hour each day, at a time that everything is 
 moving along smoothly, and merely get a surface 
 view of matters. It is my earnest hope that you may 
 never get a practical insight into these things by 
 being placed in the same position as myself or these 
 other poor fellows all around me. If all the poor 
 unfortunates I have seen carried out of this ward, 
 corpses, have died for want of the same kind of will 
 power I require, then all I can say is that the doctors 
 here should be held responsible for a great many 
 cases of actual murder." 
 
 "Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking 
 in this way?" inquired she.
 
 148 BORNAGAIN 
 
 "Just this," replied I, "these doctors are treating 
 me for the wrong ailment. I am suffering no more 
 from the effects of typhoid fever than you are, but 
 still these doctors are trying to cure me of a malady 
 which does not exist. Since recovering my memory 
 I have observed that the many typhoid patients all 
 around me have been bathed from five to ten times 
 daily, while my fever rises to a point which necessi 
 tates an ice bath to reduce it but once each day, and 
 always at the same hour, five o clock in the after 
 noon. In any part of the world where malaria is 
 prevalent these symptoms indicate nothing more nor 
 less than chills and fever and should be cured within 
 a day or two by a few doses of quinine. I have ex 
 plained this to the doctors several times, but with 
 a wisdom born of book learning they have con 
 temptuously disregarded my advice and still con 
 tinue to treat me for enteric fever, and then lay the 
 blame upon me for not getting well. Do not doubt 
 me, my dear girl, I know what I am talking about. 
 Up to a few days ago my memory was obscured, but 
 now I am in my right senses and fully capable of 
 using all of my reasoning faculties to their fullest 
 extent. Some day I shall explain many strange things 
 to you, of which you know nothing. But now I must 
 devote all of my thoughts and forces toward regain 
 ing my former physical strength, and likewise in 
 crease my moral and mental vigor for a future great 
 work." 
 
 Arietta said no more at that time, but to my great 
 surprise, the next day I was transferred from the 
 charity ward to a paid private room in another part 
 of the hospital. The furnishings of this room were 
 of the most luxurious description, and the nurse
 
 BORNAGAIN 149 
 
 informed me that it was the very best and highest 
 priced apartment in the building. I afterwards 
 learned that the cost of renting this room, including 
 attendance, was one hundred dollars per week. 
 Arietta had secured it for me. 
 
 It was really remarkable how quickly the value of 
 my life increased in the eyes of those hospital attend 
 ants, by the expenditure of a little money. From a 
 worthless proletariat I was suddenly transformed 
 into a man of great importance. There were two 
 private nurses to wait on me, and they moved with 
 the celerity of antelopes in response to my slightest 
 bidding. They appeared to be bubbling over with 
 kindness and attention, and seemed to anticipate my 
 every want. The orderlies treated me as if I were 
 the crowned ruler of the universe, while the doctors 
 displayed an unnatural politeness that was almost 
 amusing. I found out later that Arietta was to fee 
 them all handsomely in case of my early recovery. 
 My new nurses were always ready to answer ques 
 tions and give me any information I wanted. 
 
 Upon arriving at my new and sumptuous quar 
 ters, one of the nurses informed me that I was to 
 receive a personal visit from the great Doctor Know- 
 all that day. She further informed me that he was 
 considered to be the leading physician of America 
 and that he never made a professional call for less 
 than one thousand dollars. As if by appointment 
 Arietta and this doctor arrived at almost the same 
 moment. Several of the house physicians also fol 
 lowed him into the room anxious to learn what 
 diagnosis this celebrated practitioner would make 
 of a case which had so baffled them. He lost no time 
 in unnecessary talk but got down to work imme-
 
 150 BORN AGAIN 
 
 diately, first looking over the charts which recorded 
 my condition since my entrance to the hospital. 
 Then he examined me carefully, with various in 
 struments, from the tip of my head to the sole of 
 my foot, meanwhile asking me many questions on 
 widely different subjects. 
 
 At last he turned to the house physicians and 
 said: "It is my opinion that when this man first 
 entered the hospital he was merely suffering from a 
 simple case of malaria and not enteric fever, as you 
 have diagnosed. Since then his kidneys have become 
 affected, and he now suffers from both malaria and 
 lumbago. For the fever, give him ten grains of 
 quinine three times a day for two days and gradually 
 diminish the quantity until the fever abates entirely. 
 Begin to feed him after the second day. For the lum 
 bago, give him at least two quarts of lithia water to 
 drink each day. Now as to the man s mental calibre, 
 I find him perfectly sane and normal. But owing to 
 a fracture of the skull sustained by him some time 
 in the past, the two sides of his brain have become 
 separated, causing two distinct personalities to exist. 
 When one side of the brain works, the other side 
 remains dormant, and vice versa. He likewise pos 
 sesses a dual memory, and is only capable of recol 
 lecting events as they happen separately and dis 
 tinctly, according to the side of the brain which 
 takes the impression. Consequently, this man may 
 have lived a perfectly sane life during the past twen 
 ty-one years, of which he claims to have no recollec 
 tion. He may at any time in the future resume either 
 personality by some slight mental disturbance, but 
 his two personalities will always remain as strangers 
 to each other."
 
 BORN AGAIN 151 
 
 Having thus delivered himself, the doctor, who 
 apparently was bent upon making a few more 
 thousand dollar calls that day, hurriedly, but with 
 great dignity, strode out of the room, closely fol 
 lowed by the other physicians. 
 
 After they had departed, and we were alone, 
 Arietta pulled a chair up close to the head of my bed, 
 and, looking steadily and earnestly into my eyes, 
 said: "I sincerely hope, Mr. Convert, that you may 
 never again resume your other personality."
 
 CHAPTER 25 
 
 The change from a charity patient to the highest 
 paid patient in the Ruff Hospital bore magical 
 results, and I was soon on the road to recovery. 
 The quinine knocked all the fever out of me within 
 two days. The food I was given to eat after fasting 
 two months, began to strengthen me at once and 
 within ten days I was able to walk about the room. 
 Arietta never failed to visit me at least once each 
 day, and on some days, two and three times. With 
 each visit she brought flowers, fruit, or some little 
 delicacy, and I was not long in discovering that she 
 was taking more than an ordinary interest in me. 
 As the days flew by, her visits became more frequent 
 and of longer duration, until finally it seemed as if 
 she almost lived in my apartment. Many times she 
 came in the morning and remained all day, taking 
 her lunch with me in the meantime. As my health 
 improved, and I became more vigorous in bodily 
 strength, those same feelings of admiration and love 
 I bore for the first Arietta took a firm hold of me 
 until it seemed that she was a part of my very life. 
 Ah! those were happy and heavenly days indeed. 
 The happiness I enjoyed there, was of that kind 
 which can only exist between two souls fore-ordained 
 and mated to each other for all eternity.
 
 BORN AGAIN 153 
 
 As the time went by all too rapidly we had 
 much to talk about. Arietta described the many 
 progressive strides made by science and invention 
 during the twenty-one years in which my mind was 
 a blank, and I told her hair-raising stories of my 
 early travels and adventures in all parts of the world. 
 We said very little regarding my other personality. 
 That subject appeared distasteful, and caused her 
 to shudder whenever it was brought up. She seemed 
 to think that in my other character I was all that 
 was low, mean and contemptible, while she openly 
 avowed that my present self was noble, honorable, 
 and manly. 
 
 There was one hitch, however, which seemed to 
 take root and stand threateningly in the path of 
 absolute harmony between us, and that was my 
 belief in Natural Law. She refused to believe the 
 story I told her of the wonderful Sagewoman of 
 whom she was the re-incarnation, claiming that it 
 was nothing more nor less than a fancy of my dis 
 ordered brain. She also seemed greatly displeased 
 when I informed her that it was my intention to go 
 out into the world and teach the principles of Nat 
 ural Law. 
 
 It pained her to think that I would talk against 
 the great financial masters of civilization and ques 
 tion their so-called philanthropic deeds. Her faith 
 was so strong and her nature so gentle that I re 
 frained from discussing the subject in any form, 
 after I found how much she grieved over it. So I 
 said no more about my experience with the divine 
 Sagewoman and my promise to follow her instruc 
 tions during the remainder of my natural life, but
 
 154 BORN AGAIN 
 
 confined my conversation to other subjects, and to 
 the full enjoyment of her daily companionship dur 
 ing my period of convalescence. 
 
 Day by day my weight and strength increased, 
 until at last the time arrived for me to quit the 
 hospital and go into the outer world. I had made 
 no plans as to what I should do when thrown upon 
 my own resources, but felt confident that once well 
 and strong I should find plenty of work to do with 
 both my hands and brain. Arietta, who appeared to 
 have an unlimited bank account, was generously 
 supplying me with every comfort and luxury that 
 money could purchase, notwithstanding my earnest 
 protests against it. The tailor had visited me, taken 
 my measure, and returned a fine black frock suit of 
 clothes. The hatter had furnished a silk tile, the 
 shoemaker, shoes, and the haberdasher all the other 
 articles necessary to complete my wearing apparel 
 in the most up-to-date style. The barber, the mani 
 curists, and even the chiropodist had visited me and 
 taken extra pains in polishing me off. 
 
 "You are the handsomest old gentleman in New 
 York," said Arietta, girlishly, as she saw me for the 
 first time dressed in street clothes, and all ready to 
 take my departure. "But you do not look so old, 
 after all," she added reflectively, " if it were not for 
 your white hair you might pass for a man of thirty- 
 five. My! what a great big fellow you are! Really, I 
 am afraid that all of the women at the Waldoria will 
 become infatuated with you at first sight," continued 
 she, critically looking me over from head to foot. 
 
 "And what do you mean by the Waldoria?" 
 inquired I.
 
 BORN AGAIN 155 
 
 "The Waldoria Hotel," answered she. "I have 
 arranged for you to live there until you have 
 thoroughly recuperated and regained your full 
 strength there, now, no more objections, or I shall 
 become angry. At present, you are in my charge, 
 and must do just what I tell you." 
 
 "Notwithstanding I consider the task of follow 
 ing your instructions a most pleasant one," replied 
 I, "still it seems to me that I am not doing exactly 
 right in accepting your most generous offerings, for 
 the simple reason that I shall never be able to repay 
 you for all you have done." 
 
 "I have been amply repaid already," said Arietta, 
 "by the miraculous transformation of a very bad 
 and offensive man whom I did not like, into a 
 thoroughly good one whom I do like. So say no 
 more about the matter, for the present at least. After 
 you have fully recovered from the effects of the 
 terrible ordeal through which you have just passed, 
 then I shall consider any protests you may have to 
 offer, but not before. I have ordered the carriage 
 to come for you at noon, and have given instructions 
 to have you taken to the hotel. When you arrive 
 there, you will go to the head clerk s desk and hand 
 him your card." Here she gave me a small package 
 of visiting cards on which was inscribed "John 
 Convert." "You will then ask to be shown to your 
 apartments, which have been settled for in advance 
 for one year, after which make yourself as comfort 
 able as possible in the place. Do not mention your 
 business in any way as it pertains to you and me. It 
 will be impossible for me to see you as often as I 
 should like, but whenever it is convenient I shall
 
 156 BORN AGAIN 
 
 have you come and see me. I am stopping at a 
 different hotel in another part of the city, and for 
 reasons best known to myself, I shall continue to 
 withhold my last name from you, as you seem to 
 have no recollection of it whatever, and it will also 
 be necessary for the present to meet you in some out- 
 of-the-way place, which I will designate later. 
 Perhaps some day you will learn who I am, and all 
 about me, but until I am ready to furnish you with 
 further information concerning my identity, I shall 
 rely upon your honor as a man not to undertake, by 
 any methods whatsoever, to discover who I am, or 
 where I reside." 
 
 With this mysterious admonition and a tender 
 farewell, Arietta left me in the depth of meditation 
 as to what strange occurrence nature s storehouse 
 might still contain for me, and a few minutes later 
 I was notified that the carriage was in waiting.
 
 CHAPTER 26 
 
 It would be almost impossible to record my im 
 pressions of the different things that came to my 
 notice for the first time in twenty-one years, as I 
 was driven from the hospital to the hotel. 
 
 While great progress had taken place in many 
 lines during that time, still after having had such a 
 realistic mental picture of the wonders of Sage- 
 land stamped upon my mind, the new inventions, 
 such as trolley cars, automobiles, etc., which I had 
 never seen before, seemed crude and insignificant. 
 
 As I passed from street to street I could not fail 
 to observe the great disorder that prevailed every 
 where, in the foremost city of the world. In the 
 first place, I was struck by the inharmonious and 
 ragged appearance of the buildings. Here was a 
 tall skyscraper of nice white marble thirty stories 
 high, towering up into the clouds like a great bean 
 pole, while on one side of it was a squatty little two- 
 story red brick structure, and on the other side a six- 
 story brown stone building, the whole forming a 
 most irregular and distracting appearance to the eye. 
 In other places, right in the heart of the city, and 
 adjoining well-designed buildings, were vacant lots 
 inclosed by high ugly board fences, on which were 
 painted fantastic and ridiculous advertisements. 
 
 These defects, of course, could only be thoroughly 
 remedied by putting into force the logical economic
 
 158 BORN AGAIN 
 
 principle of State ownership of all land and build 
 ings, instead of permitting the individual to do as 
 he pleased with property made valuable by the 
 community. 
 
 The disarrangement of the buildings, however, 
 merely typified the incongruous and illogical dis 
 organization of the people themselves. For instance, 
 here was a big, strong, well-fed fashionably groomed 
 young man, walking along the street, carrying no 
 heavier burden than a light walking stick, while 
 just beside him was a half-starved old woman, almost 
 bent double under the weight of a large basket of 
 clothes she had washed for somebody else. 
 
 Then again, here were two big, strong men, 
 perched upon the driver s seat of a magnificent 
 carriage, drawn by two great powerful horses, and 
 conveying about the city for recreation a dyspeptic 
 lap-dog, while trudging along the gutter in search of 
 work or something to eat was a weak, ill-fed, broken- 
 down old man, who had, no doubt, given the best 
 years of his life to the actual labor which had in 
 creased the wealth of the community. 
 
 Along the streets everywhere were dirty young 
 boys of tender age, who should have been at school 
 or play, rushing madly in every direction, trying to 
 earn a few cents by the sale of newspapers, polishing 
 shoes, and acting as chore boys. 
 
 Little brass bands were scattered about here and 
 there, braying forth inharmoniously, and organ 
 grinders and street piano players were rending the 
 air with bad music in return for a few pennies, 
 thrown to them by passing pedestrians.
 
 BORN AGAIN 159 
 
 Venders of fruit, shoe-strings, collar-buttons, 
 and other light merchandise were scattered along 
 the sidewalks and gutters, trying to earn a living by 
 the sale of their wares, while beggars occasionally 
 stopped the more fortunate members of society with 
 pathetic importunities for money to buy bread. 
 
 Cabmen and horses were wasting the public 
 power by standing idly about waiting for engage 
 ments, or else driving aimlessly in all directions, 
 searching for patronage. 
 
 Wagons of every description were rushing about 
 hither and thither in a wretchedly unsystematic 
 method of retail delivery, utilizing in many cases 
 the labor of two men and a team of horses to carry 
 a small package several miles distant. 
 
 Countless little retail merchants, with an incal 
 culable force of managers, clerks, book-keepers, 
 errand boys, etc., were fairly throwing away the 
 public power in enormous quantities through the 
 brainless struggle of competitive trade. 
 
 All these imperfections could be extirpated by 
 the abolition of the money system, thought I, as 
 the carriage came to a standstill in front of a great 
 brown stone edifice, and the driver announced that 
 we had reached our destination. The door of the 
 carriage was swung open by a uniformed employee, 
 and, alighting therefrom, I was immediately ushered 
 into the main office of the leading institution of its 
 kind in the World the Waldoria Hotel. 
 
 It was quite a new sensation for me to enter this 
 great hostelry as a guest, having spent the fore part 
 of my life as a rough adventurer who had never 
 known the meaning of luxury or refinement. But
 
 160 BORN AGAIN 
 
 still, somehow or other, it always seemed natural 
 for me to carry myself properly in whatever posi 
 tion I happened to be placed, and on this occasion 
 I felt composed and at my ease as I entered and 
 made known my identity to the head clerk. 
 
 This pompous servant showed extraordinary 
 affability and politeness toward me, which caused 
 me to wonder how I should have been received by 
 him had I been a shoemaker, a carpenter, or some 
 other honest son of toil, whose labor increases the 
 wealth of the world, instead of a moneyed gentle 
 man of leisure and extravagance, as he evidently 
 supposed me to be. 
 
 "Your secretary has deposited five thousand 
 dollars to your credit here, Mr. Convert," said he, 
 handing me a blank cheque book, "so if you will 
 kindly give me your signature for certification, you 
 can then draw upon that amount as you see fit." 
 
 In astonishment I was about to inform him that 
 I had no secretary, and that the money was not 
 mine, when it occurred to me that perhaps Arietta, 
 or her agent, if she had one, must have pretended 
 to be my secretary. So I said nothing and did as 
 requested. 
 
 Upon being shown to my apartments, a hand 
 somely furnished suite of two rooms and a bath, 
 upon the tenth floor, I was further amazed to find 
 therein a trunk, two dress-suit cases, a traveling bag, 
 and six suits of fine clothes, made in different styles, 
 from an evening dress to a sack business suit. And 
 the bedstead, tables and bureaus were literally 
 covered with articles, such as a bath-robe, pajamas, 
 underwear, shirts, collars, cuffs, gloves, hats, shoes,
 
 BORN AGAIN 161 
 
 etc., all brand new and marked "John Convert." 
 Upon the dressing case was a small jewel box, con 
 taining several kinds of gold cuff buttons, diamond 
 scarf pins, and a solid gold watch, on the inside of 
 which was inscribed, "From Arietta to John." 
 
 It took some time for me to get over the wonder 
 ment into which I was plunged at the sight of these 
 things, and the contemplation of how far Arietta 
 intended going before ceasing her benevolent acts 
 towards me, but after spending an hour or two in 
 becoming accustomed to my surroundings and put 
 ting the various articles away into the bureaus and 
 wardrobes, I decided to make a general survey of 
 the entire hotel premises. 
 
 I learned that the Waldoria Hotel was thirty 
 stories high, and covered an entire block in the 
 most fashionable district in New York City. In 
 many ways it resembled a small city in itself, con 
 taining a bank, theatre, music hall, photograph 
 gallery, art studio, gymnasium, laundry, electric 
 plant, Turkish baths, tonsorial apartments, brok 
 ers offices, library, and various ball-rooms, besides 
 four different restaurants, two cafes, and several re 
 ception and smoking rooms for the use of its patrons. 
 
 The entire roof of the building was utilized as a 
 promenade and summer garden for musical enter 
 tainments. 
 
 The hotel could accommodate about three thou 
 sand guests, who occupied apartments, the rentals 
 of which cost from three to one hundred and fifty 
 dollars per day. About two thousand employees 
 were necessary to keep the establishment in good 
 running order. Each floor had a separate clerk
 
 162 BORN AGAIN 
 
 and corps of attendants, and nobody could gain 
 admission to any of the apartment floors except the 
 occupants and their guests. 
 
 All of the apartments of the hotel, from the 
 magnificent "Royal Suite" to the single bedrooms 
 of the transients, were furnished in the most luxuri 
 ous manner possible. Costly draperies, priceless 
 paintings, and exquisite furnishings of every descrip 
 tion, adorned the drawing-rooms, ball-rooms, foyers 
 and restaurants. Statues of ancient personages orna 
 mented the different hallways, while the carved 
 marble and woodwork seen everywhere showed 
 splendid workmanship. Sweet strains of music 
 from the orchestras stationed in different balconies 
 could be heard in most any part of the building. 
 
 Seated on either side of the long, commodious 
 corridors, on lounges overhung by palms and 
 tropical plants of various descriptions, were men 
 and women of the fashionable set, who represented 
 the largest portion of wealth of the community. 
 
 The women with their low-cut gowns, highly 
 perfumed, and weighted down with jewels of every 
 kind, formed a brilliant spectacle that was bewitch 
 ing and bewildering to behold. They vied with 
 one another in the display of their gorgeous gowns 
 and jewels, with the desire to impress upon each 
 other thereby the wealth they possessed and the 
 position they held in society. In fact, wealth seemed 
 to be the predominant feature of their whole 
 existence. 
 
 Beautiful young women scarcely out of their 
 teens, could be seen paying all of their attentions to 
 decrepit, bald-headed old men of apparent opulence, 
 while on the other hand, young and athletic look-
 
 BORN AGAIN 163 
 
 ing men were courting women old enough to be 
 their grandmothers. In either case, the young were 
 quite willing to sell their persons for wealth. These 
 unnatural facts plainly demonstrated to what depths 
 the human being, will go in an endeavor to secure 
 money, or the power derived therefrom. 
 
 In the restaurants, the most criminal extravagance 
 was practiced by these moneyed people, in many 
 cases the costly viands and high-priced wines ordered 
 being only partly consumed, and the remainder left 
 to be thrown into the waste barrel. In fact, it ap 
 peared that the individual s importance was gauged 
 by the amount of money he could spend, and men 
 who no doubt in a great many cases squeezed the 
 pennies from the poor laboring classes through theii 
 different financial methods of confiscation, thought 
 nothing of spending from five to fifty dollars for a 
 single meal. 
 
 In short, I found the Waldoria Hotel to be a sort 
 of a heavenly place, infested principally by hellish 
 beings a welcome nest for people with money but 
 a very unwelcome place for persons who had none. 
 It made absolutely no difference how people got 
 their money as long as they had it. 
 
 The stone masons, iron-workers, carpenters, 
 painters, plumbers and other laborers who built the 
 beautiful edifice were not allowed inside of it. The 
 furniture makers, carpet and tapestry weavers, inte 
 rior decorators, etc., through whose skill the hotel 
 was made grand, were not permitted to enjoy the 
 magnificence of their own creation. But owing to 
 the stupid money system, which these laborers them 
 selves help to keep in force, the results of their com-
 
 164 BORN AGAIN 
 
 bined efforts were either usurped by an unproduc 
 tive class fortunate enough to be born rich, or those 
 shrewd enough to accumulate money, such as trust 
 managers, bankers, real estate speculators, stock 
 jobbers, and brokers, gamblers, burglars, money 
 loan swindlers.
 
 CHAPTER 27 
 
 In looking over the daily newspapers the next 
 morning my attention was forcefully called to the 
 fact that fully nine-tenths of the news columns was 
 given to the promulgation of crime in all its various 
 forms, of which ninety per cent, could be directly 
 traced to the money evil, of which the system of 
 individual accumulation must be held responsible. 
 For the benefit of future generations who may desire 
 information that will give them an exact idea of the 
 real value of their civilized ancestors, I herewith 
 reproduce a few extracts from the newspapers, word 
 for word, just as the despatches were published. 
 
 "Albany, N. Y., Special Despatch: It is reported 
 on high authority that State Senator Grab has re 
 ceived a half million dollars, to be distributed 
 among the various senators and assemblymen, for 
 the purpose of securing their votes in exchange for 
 certain legislative laws that will favor the Gas Trust 
 in its iniquitous squeeze of the people for higher 
 rates. Several senators have openly threatened to 
 vote against these measures, claiming that Senator 
 Grab is acting the hog and will not divide the booty 
 fairly among them." 
 
 "Fall River, Mass.: Ten thousand workingmen 
 and women have been thrown out of employment 
 by the mills of this city, owing to the unprecedented
 
 166 BORN AGAIN 
 
 rise in the price of cotton, caused by the recent 
 manipulations of that famous Wall Street speculator, 
 Dan Bull, who by forcing up the prices in the specu 
 lative market has added millions to his own bank 
 account during the past few weeks. The mills have 
 been shut down indefinitely and starvation is now 
 facing thousands of men, women and children as a 
 consequence." 
 
 "Brooklyn, N. Y.: The marriage ceremony be 
 tween the Right Reverend Q. T. Getrich, Bishop 
 of New York, and Mrs. E. Z. Money was solemnized 
 here today with great pomp, and attended by some 
 of the very wealthiest and most fashionable people 
 of the country. It has been suggested by some un 
 godly reprobate that perhaps the young and hand 
 some bishop married the fat and aged widow to gain 
 possession of her millions, but this sacrilegious im 
 putation is furiously resented by all pious church 
 members." 
 
 "Chicago, 111.: Municipal ownership of public 
 utilities seems to have been given a serious setback 
 by the very costly and unsuccessful experiment this 
 city undertook in operating its own electric and 
 water plants during the past year. It appears that 
 city officials are just as susceptible to the charm of 
 money as private corporations, and just as willing, 
 by corrupt methods, to fleece the public in order to 
 obtain it. It is evident that as long as there is money 
 in use there will always be boodlers." 
 
 "Baltimore, Md.: The pure food inspectors of 
 this city after having made an inspection of the dif 
 ferent canned goods, have come to the conclusion 
 that at least ninety per cent, of the same is adulter 
 ated and that the public is being slowly poisoned to
 
 BORN AGAIN 167 
 
 death. The greed of the various concerns which 
 produce these things for bigger profits, causes them 
 to use cheap chemicals in their adulterative methods 
 in place of higher priced and genuine substances. 
 These inspectors make the astonishing statement 
 that they believe all foods and drinks are more or 
 less adulterated and that in the general rush for 
 money profits, the inhabitants of the world are 
 actually poisoning each other by slow degrees." 
 
 "St. Louis, Mo.: An epidemic of diphtheria is 
 raging in this city and hundreds of children are 
 dying daily from the effects of its ravages. The 
 deaths in most cases are children of the poorer classes 
 who cannot afford to pay the exorbitant prices lately 
 put upon antitoxin by the Medicine Trust. This 
 trust, which controls the supply of antitoxin, has 
 increased the price nearly two hundred per cent, 
 during the past year at different intervals, until it 
 has now become absolutely prohibitive to all except 
 the wealthy. Unless there is something done imme 
 diately to alleviate this condition of affairs, the lives 
 of thousands of young children will be blotted out, 
 which might otherwise have been saved." 
 
 "Kokomo, Ind.: An awful tragedy took place in 
 this town yesterday when Peter Doles, apparently 
 driven insane from poverty andwantof employment, 
 killed his wife and five children bv splitting their 
 heads open with an axe, and afterward thrust a knife 
 into his own heart. Doles was at one time a wealthy 
 citizen of this place, but speculation was the cause 
 of his downfall." 
 
 "Philadelphia, Pa.: A terrible state of affairs has 
 been brought to light here by the police who have 
 discovered that a regular system of child murder has
 
 168 BORN AGAIN 
 
 been in practice for some time by a syndicate of 
 fiends who murder children for the insurance. These 
 fiends, who secured their victims from regularly 
 operated baby farms of illegitimate children, would 
 have their lives insured for large sums and then 
 destroy them afterwards, in order to obtain the in 
 surance money." 
 
 "Paterson, N. J.: U. R. Dire was sentenced to be 
 hung today for the murder of his father. Some time 
 ago, young Dire obtained information that his mil 
 lionaire father was about to make a new will, and 
 cut him off without money, so he deliberately en 
 tered into a cold-blooded plan with his father s 
 secretary to murder the old man by poison. The 
 secretary afterward turned State s evidence and upon 
 his testimony the young man was convicted." 
 
 "Reno, Nev.: This town was the scene of murder 
 ous outlawry last night when an organized band of 
 burglars gained entrance to a local bank, and blew 
 up the vaults. The night watchman discovered their 
 presence, and raising an alarm brought the police 
 and other citizens to the premises. Then occurred a 
 general encounter between the police and the burg 
 lars in which over a hundred shots were fired, caus 
 ing the death of three policemen, two private citi 
 zens and four of the burglars. The remainder of the 
 desperadoes jumped on their horses and escaped 
 with the money." 
 
 "Boston, Mass.: Rev. D. D. Sly, the eminent, 
 clergyman of this city, announced today that he has 
 received a call from the Lord to take up his work in 
 another field. He will leave at once for New York 
 City, where he will take charge of a fashionable Fifth 
 Avenue pastorate. Reverend Sly s salary will be
 
 BORN AGAIN 169 
 
 increased from two thousand five hundred to five 
 thousand dollars per annum through the change, 
 which once more brings up the question as to whe 
 ther the Lord was ever known to call a pastor to a 
 new field at a lower salary." 
 
 "Buffalo, N. Y.: A case brought up in court here 
 today shows to what extent the extortionate loan 
 sharks will go in their greed for money. Itwasproved 
 that two years ago O. U. Curr loaned Mrs. Kate 
 Poor, a washer-woman with three small children, 
 the sum of fifty dollars on household furniture. A 
 contract was entered into, whereby the widow was 
 to pay interest at the rate of twenty per cent, per 
 month until the principal had been paid. Mrs. Poor 
 stated under oath that she has already paid Curr, in 
 monthly installments, over three hundred dollars 
 and that she is still indebted to him for the original 
 loan of fifty dollars." 
 
 "Scranton, Pa.: Trades Unionism is receiving a 
 great deal of public censure at present in this city, 
 owing to the recent disclosure made against Judas 
 Pilate, a union agent, who has been blackmailing 
 different contractors for several years past, by mak 
 ing them pay him large sums of money, under 
 threats of ordering union men to strike. It has been 
 proved that Pilate has secured over fifty thousand 
 dollars by this method. His followers, however, still 
 remain loyal to him, notwithstanding he sold them 
 out many times and brought disrepute upon Trades 
 Unionism." 
 
 "Harrisburg. Pa.: The various manufacturers of 
 cigarettes in this state have banded together to 
 defeat the Anti-Cigarette League in its efforts to
 
 170 BORN AGAIN 
 
 have laws passed forbidding the sale of cigarettes 
 to children. While the manufacturers do not deny 
 that the cigarette is wrecking the physical, mental, 
 and moral character of the American youth, they 
 contend that it will prove detrimental to their busi 
 ness interests, and thereby cause a loss of many 
 thousand dollars if the Anti-Cigarette Law is put 
 into effect. Reliable statistics for the past three years 
 show that one hundred thousand children are ruined 
 annually by smoking cigarettes." 
 
 "Pittsburg, Pa.: The Steel Trust has made a 
 general reduction in the salaries of all its employees 
 throughout the United States, which will decrease 
 the wages of the worker from ten to twenty per cent., 
 and affecting in the neighborhood of two hundred 
 thousand men. It is estimated that this sweeping 
 reduction will save the Steel Trust approximately 
 twenty millions of dollars per year. Owing to the 
 manipulations of the Wall Street schemers, this 
 saving becomes necessary to keep the Trust in exist 
 ence, as in the great merger of the several different 
 steel companies, the actual valuation of the plants 
 was increased one hundred times over in watered 
 stock, so that it not only becomes necessary for those 
 who do the labor to pay dividends on bona fide in 
 vestments of the capitalists, but to pay dividends on 
 watered stock criminally increased one hundred fold 
 besides. This decrease in wages will cause great 
 suffering among the laboring classes, for, owing to 
 the increased cost of living caused by the raising of 
 prices by the various food trusts, it is almost impos 
 sible for the ordinary man to make both ends meet. 
 It appears to all thoughtful students of political 
 economy that the object of those in control of the
 
 BORN AGAIN 171 
 
 money markets is to limit the supply of necessities 
 of life, so that the demand for them will force prices 
 up, and, by decreasing production, will cause a 
 superfluous quantity of labor, which, in turn, will 
 force wages down. With cheap labor to produce, 
 and a high selling price for the production, the trust 
 managers and other financiers have easily solved the 
 question of how to legally confiscate the wealth of 
 the world." 
 
 "New York City: A great war is now being waged 
 between the rich tenement house owners and their 
 poor tenants on the East Side, which promises to 
 end in lawlessness, riots, and much suffering in con 
 sequence. It appears that the owners of these houses 
 have increased the rents from time to time until they 
 are now beyond the reach of the tenants ability to 
 pay. At least three thousand of these occupants have 
 banded together to fight the last raise, while the 
 landlords have also combined to evict them unless 
 they comply with the terms. The tenants, who are 
 mostly hard working laborers, claim that it is utterly 
 impossible for them to meet the extortionate prices 
 of foods, fuel, gas, oil, and rents, now being forced 
 upon them by the financiers with the small amount 
 of wages that they receive for their work from the 
 industrialists, and if they are evicted from their pres 
 ent homes it is a problem as to what they will do or 
 where they will go. The landlords claim that is none 
 of their concern; that they themselves are merely 
 following the system now in existence of getting all 
 they can, through their property rights, according 
 to the law of supply and demand. Some of them 
 even claim that these tenants are nothing more than 
 vermin, anyway, and that it would be well to push
 
 172 BORN AGAIN 
 
 them all into the East River and exterminate them 
 entirely." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The newspaper articles, which I have reproduced, 
 are but a few of the thousands chronicled daily of 
 the terrible crimes which take place in all parts of 
 civilized world over the individual possession of 
 money, or its equivalent. 
 
 What can be done to stop such a savage, barbarous 
 civilization? 
 
 This question can be answered in a few words. 
 The abolition of the money system. The eradication 
 of individual accumulation. The substitution of 
 united labor and honest distribution. The adher 
 ence to the principles of Natural Law. 
 
 Had the people of the Earth understood God s 
 Natural Laws during the past and a United Labor 
 Organization been established instead of the system 
 of individual accumulation, the world long ere this 
 would have been a heavenly abiding place for the 
 human family, instead of a seething furnace of petty 
 quarrels, murderous fights, and selfish strife among 
 all of the inhabitants. 
 
 Why should one hog have more to eat than 
 another? Why should one man have more luxuries 
 and privileges than another? Why should the man 
 who conceives an idea receive a greater reward than 
 he who puts the idea into execution? Why should 
 the man who works with his brain have more of the 
 sweets of life than he who works with his hands? 
 Why should the man who lays the brick have more 
 of the world s goods than he who carries the brick 
 and mortar to him? These questions do not apply
 
 BORN AGAIN 173 
 
 alone to the capitalist, but also to the laborer as well, 
 and as long as the laboring classes champion the cut 
 throat policy of grading man s allowance according 
 to his ability, of giving more to one than another, 
 owing to a slight difference of brain capacity, he 
 should not, after showing his own greediness in this 
 respect, expect the capitalist not to be greedy also. 
 He must learn that all men should have equal op 
 portunities and benefits from the whole production 
 of united labor. As long as money exists, so long 
 will fights and quarrels take place between capital 
 and labor, and between the different branches of 
 labor as well. The laborer will fight the capitalist 
 until he in turn becomes a capitalist, and then he will 
 turn about and fight the laborer. So there is but 
 one reasonable method to pursue in order to better 
 the conditions on earth, and to eliminate suffering 
 and crime entirely, and that method is to strike at 
 the very root of the cause, and abolish money and 
 the system of individual accumulation.
 
 CHAPTER 28 
 
 My sojourn at the Waldoria Hotel was a rather 
 pleasant one in many ways. I enjoyed the luxury 
 and refinement of the surroundings. The harmoni 
 ous music of the orchestras was pleasant to listen to, 
 and the magnificent paintings and beautiful works 
 of art were pleasing to the eye. I also took some 
 pleasure in wearing the different suits of fine clothes 
 with which I had been supplied, and in making my 
 own person appear as well as possible in the eyes of 
 others. I even enjoyed entering the spacious and 
 luxurious restaurants and eating sparingly of some 
 of the delicious viands prepared by the scientific 
 chef. In fact, the many delightful advantages to be 
 derived from living at the Waldoria directly ap 
 pealed to me as being some of the blessings supplied 
 by nature for all human beings to enjoy 
 
 But still there was a serious drawback to my thor 
 ough and absolute enjoyment of these conditions, 
 when I took into consideration the fact that I was in 
 no way responsible for their existence. I was accept 
 ing something from the community, but giving 
 nothing in return. I felt that in living at the Wal 
 doria, and doing no work for the community, I was 
 like a great sponge soaking up the life-blood of 
 honest toil, and returning nothing for the sustenance 
 it afforded me. I felt that I should at least go to
 
 BORN AGAIN 175 
 
 work and do something that would help to pay for 
 my keeping. True it was that I had the money to 
 pay for these things, but where did the money come 
 from? Where does all money come from? To have 
 money to pay for things does not mean that one has 
 earned them. So I decided that I would go to work 
 as soon as possible, and give to the community an 
 equivalent for the things I enjoyed. 
 
 But then, the great difficulty arose when I tried 
 to find something to do. It made little difference 
 what Jcind of work I should engage in as long as it 
 was of a productive nature. But when I went around 
 looking for employment, I discovered that there was 
 none to be had. 
 
 It is certainly a most unnatural system which fails 
 to utilize all the power at its command for the good 
 of universal production, and it seems hard to realize 
 that such conditions can exist; but during my wan 
 derings from street to street, store to store, and fac 
 tory to factory, throughout the great commonwealth 
 of New York, I discovered that besides myself, there 
 were also thousands of other earnest men tramping 
 the streets, willing, but unable, to find work. At 
 last, however, I was put in the peculiar position of 
 having to pay to work. 
 
 One day, after a week of unsuccessful attempts to 
 obtain employment, I ran across one of the sub- 
 bosses of the street-cleaning department. Making 
 known my desire to him, I was amazed when he told 
 me that he would let me work on condition that I 
 paid him twenty-five dollars for the job and prom 
 ised to give him ten per cent, of my wages each 
 month. He informed me that all of the men under
 
 176 BORN AGAIN 
 
 his charge had to do likewise. In fact, he intimated 
 that in order to hold his own position as sub-boss 
 he had to pay this money to bosses higher up in the 
 department. 
 
 And so in order to feel that I was at least doing 
 something for the community to earn my right to 
 live, I was forced to pay for the opportunity and also 
 to aid in keeping alive one of the many systems of 
 graft, which unnaturally swallows up the results of 
 honest men s labor. 
 
 So I began work as a street-sweeper a position 
 looked upon generally as one of the lowest in the 
 scale of human employment. 
 
 Why the man who sweeps the streets, making 
 clean and wholesome the thoroughfares, which have 
 to be traveled constantly by the people, and saving 
 the public from filth and disease, should be looked 
 down upon by the rest of his fellow beings for doing 
 this great service, seems beyond the limits of sane 
 reasoning; but such is the case in this world, where 
 money is the god worshiped by all. 
 
 An illustrative incident occurred while I held the 
 unique position of street-sweeper, and at the same 
 time being a guest at the fashionable Waldoria 
 Hotel. I had become acquainted with many of the 
 wealthy guests of the place, who, no doubt, suppos 
 ing me to be a man of riches, courted my society to 
 some extent. In fact, I had become rather popular 
 among the permanent residents. There was one 
 family in particular, a certain Mrs. Snipe and her 
 two daughters, who took every occasion to pay me 
 attentions, until one day as I was engaged in my 
 daily work on the street, some distance from the
 
 BORN AGAIN 177 
 
 hotel, I noticed a carriage approaching which held 
 Mrs. Snipe and her brood. They were all looking 
 straight at me, but gave no sign of recognition as 
 they passed along. That evening, after I had changed 
 my working clothes, which by the way, resembled 
 the white duck outfit worn by an African explorer, 
 and, having left them in the tool-house, I went home 
 and attired myself in evening dress. Again I met the 
 Snipe family in one of the foyers of the hotel. The 
 old lady, accompanied by her eligible daughters, 
 approached me and said: "Mr. Convert, I have 
 something awfully funny to tell you. It is just too 
 funny to keep to myself. You have a double; w r e saw 
 him today. Now, don t get angry when I tell you 
 where we saw him and who he is, but he resembled 
 you so much that if it were not for the position he 
 occupied I should have sworn it was you. He was a 
 member of the street-sweeping brigade, and if you 
 wish to see him just go over to Fifth avenue and 
 Twenty-sixth street tomorrow and you can see for 
 yourself. There, now, you are not angry, are you?" 
 
 "No," answered I, "the person you refer to I have 
 seen many times. There is nothing to be angry 
 about. Certainly, not because he holds the honor 
 able position of cleaning the streets which you have 
 to travel." 
 
 "Honorable," retorted Mrs. Snipe; "you must be 
 joking. I cannot understand how an aristocratic 
 gentleman like yourself would otherwise make such 
 an absurd remark." 
 
 "I am not joking at all," said I; "in my estimation, 
 the street-sweeper belongs to the most honorable 
 portion of mankind. He is down-trodden by society
 
 !78 BORN AGAIN 
 
 now, owing to an unnatural system which permits 
 the strong to take the largest portion of wealth and 
 rule; but the day will come when men who sweep 
 the streets or occupy other positions of worth to the 
 community, will enjoy the same luxuries and sur 
 roundings that you and other non-producers now 
 enjoy. They will live in the palaces now occupied 
 by the parasites who do no work. Such places as the 
 Waldoria Hotel will be utilized for their benefit, 
 and those who do not work, those who claim the 
 right to live without labor, will be thrown out en 
 tirely." 
 
 "Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking 
 in such a beastly way? If you are so fond of those 
 vulgar street-sweepers, why don t you become one 
 of them?" 
 
 "I have," I answered. "The man you saw today 
 sweeping the streets was none other than myself, and 
 I am proud of it." 
 
 "You are either joking or else you have gone out 
 of your mind," said Mrs. Snipe with a look of dis 
 gust. But upon my reiteration that I was really the 
 man she saw, both she and her daughters abruptly 
 left my presence and never looked at me afterwards. 
 They no doubt communicated the text of our con 
 versation to the different people of the hotel, also, 
 for I discovered later that the other guests with 
 whom I had become acquainted, not only refused 
 to converse with me, but regarded me as a sort of 
 curiosity or peculiar freak of nature. They would 
 pass me on the street, where I was working at differ 
 ent times, in their gorgeous carriages, and, calling 
 each other s attention would pass jokes at my ex 
 pense, and laugh loud and mockingly at me. At first
 
 BORN AGAIN 179 
 
 these things troubled me to some degree, but gradu 
 ally I gathered courage to bear their sneers cour 
 age such as I had never experienced before. 
 
 I had faced all manner of dangers during my life 
 without fear, but I had never known the real mean 
 ing of courage until I made up my mind to do right 
 under all conditions, and accept the ridicule of my 
 fellow beings without resentment. In my humble 
 position I could now appreciate the philosophy and 
 the true greatness of the Sagewoman s beautiful les 
 sons of unselfishness. I felt that I was just beginning 
 to get strong strong in the grandest attribute a 
 human being can possess moral courage. The great 
 Sagewoman s teachings on forbearance were begin 
 ning to take root in my nature. I was learning to 
 understand that I must work and feel for others, 
 regardless of my own selfish desires. 
 
 One day, while I was busily engaged in my daily 
 toil, my attention became attracted to a big, fash 
 ionably dressed man, standing on the sidewalk near 
 by, calmly smoking a high-priced cigar. He was 
 apparently about thirty years of age, six feet tall, and 
 weighed over two hundred pounds. He was beastly 
 in appearance, and looked as if he considered his 
 own selfish wants as the only things in the world 
 worth attention. He probably had never done an 
 honest day s labor in his life. A ragged old man, 
 about sixty years of age, who apparently had given 
 his whole life to productive toil, but now feeble and 
 half-starved in appearance, approached and appealed 
 to him for a few cents with which to buy something 
 to eat. The big fellow roughly told him to go along 
 and not bother him, and the old man, not doing as 
 he was ordered, the young man deliberately swung
 
 180 BORN AGAIN 
 
 his fist and struck the poor beggar between the eyes, 
 knocking him senseless to the pavement. For a mo 
 ment I was dumbfounded by this exhibition of 
 brutality, and then instantly every drop of blood in 
 my body was set boiling at the sight. I lost control 
 of myself. My old-time pugnacious spirit asserted 
 itself, and I sprang forward like a maddened bull, 
 striking the brute a vicious blow upon the head with 
 my fist, and sending him sprawling several feet away. 
 As he scrambled to his feet, in a dazed condition, I 
 rushed forward furiously, with the intention of fell 
 ing him to the ground. After allowing him to regain 
 his feet, I raised my arm to deal a well-directed blow 
 with all my strength, when something within me 
 suddenly cried out: "Don t strike." "Don t make a 
 brute of yourself because the other did." "Let the 
 law take its course." And, as I hesitated momentar 
 ily, there passed through my mind like an electric 
 flash, these words: 
 
 "Always consult your soul for advice. 
 
 "Do no act your conscience will not sanction." 
 
 Then instantly recognizing the mandate I had so 
 faithfully promised the great Sagewoman to obey, I 
 overcame* my rage and allowed my arms to fall to 
 my sides without striking another blow. 
 
 Two policemen hurriedly approached the scene. 
 I stated what had occurred and requested them to 
 take the bully to jail. To my surprise, however, at 
 the command of the well-dressed ruffian, who I 
 afterward learned was a wealthy financier, both 
 myself and the beggar were taken to the station- 
 house. I was fined ten dollars, and the poor old man 
 was sentenced to jail for thirty days.
 
 BORN AGAIN 181 
 
 While I knew that in this case the law of justice 
 had been misapplied in favor of the cowardly 
 wretch with money, nevertheless I felt that I had 
 gained incalculable strength in self-control by not 
 acting contrary to the warning of my soul and mak 
 ing of myself the same kind of a brute as the one 
 whom I had intended to injure.
 
 CHAPTER 29 
 
 Central Park is a tract of land situate in the 
 middle of residential New York. It is oblong in 
 shape, being two miles in length, half a mile in 
 width and covering an area of about eight hundred 
 and sixty acres. The ground has been artificially 
 changed from a wild waste to one of the most beau 
 tiful spots to be found anywhere. It is coursed by a 
 net-work of splendid drive-ways, equestrian roads 
 and foot-paths running in all directions among the 
 many little rocky hills and miniature lakes. Trees, 
 flower-beds and shrubbery of various kinds have 
 been cleverly arranged by skilled artists to form a 
 delightfully picturesque effect. Chirping birds of 
 many colors and tame squirrels in multitudinous 
 numbers find this park a heavenly abiding place 
 where the danger of annihilation is minimized. Play 
 grounds for the children are laid out in different 
 parts of the domain while a zoological garden where 
 animals are kept imprisoned in small cages for the 
 term of their natural lives, is put forth as one of its 
 many features. 
 
 As one passes through the entrance gate at Sev 
 enty-eighth street and Central Park West, and turns 
 first to the right, then to the left, and finally to the 
 right again, following a foot-path similar in its wind 
 ings to a letter S, and crossing two small bridges, he
 
 BORN AGAIN 183 
 
 will come to an abrupt ending of a narrow path 
 running into an immense projecting rock. Here is 
 located a canopied seat just large enough for two 
 people. Facing this shelter is a small lake, on the 
 edge of which overhanging trees afford delightful 
 shade during the hot months. That was the place 
 selected by Arietta for our meeting ground. It was 
 an out-of-the-way, quiet and romantic spot where 
 we spent many pleasant afternoons and evenings 
 enjoying each other s company. Whenever Arietta 
 \vanted to see me she sent a note which never failed 
 to bring me there. In fact, such a feeling of enchant 
 ment did the place hold for me, that many times I 
 wandered out there and sat alone for hours, musing. 
 
 But notwithstanding that our many meetings had 
 the effect of strengthening our mutual admiration 
 and love for each other, and that I was beginning to 
 fairly idolize this beautiful young woman, still cer 
 tain things came to pass that I could not understand, 
 and which caused me to feel that Arietta s actions 
 were very mysterious, and that there was something 
 about her life she was trying to withhold from me. 
 
 In the first place she would never meet me any 
 where else except in that obscure nook in the park, 
 and in departing would not permit me to escort her 
 beyond the Seventy-eighth street entrance, where 
 she would abruptly bid me a hasty adieu, with in 
 structions that I must take another route. 
 
 That, in itself, appeared to be a strange proceed 
 ing, but one evening as I entered a fashionable Fifth 
 avenue restaurant on one of my tours of inspection 
 of plutocratic conditions, I was amazed to see her 
 seated at one of the tables, drinking wine with a
 
 184 
 
 male companion. Her face was flushed from the 
 effects of the beverage, and she was acting a trifle 
 hilarious, and displaying traits of frivolity such as 
 I had never observed in her before. As I caught her 
 eye she gave a quick start, and then deliberately 
 turned her head in another direction, and pretended 
 not to have seen me. At this act I rushed out into 
 the street, and it was with great difficulty that I was 
 able to control my feelings. 
 
 The next evening I met her in the park, and was 
 further surprised when she not only failed to men 
 tion the incident, but intimated that she had spent 
 the evening at an entirely different place. She ap 
 peared so innocent, however, and was so charming 
 in her manner that I almost immediately forgot the 
 affair, and said nothing about it. A few nights later, 
 though, as I was walking down Broadway, near 
 Twenty-seventh street, I noticed a large crowd of 
 men and women gathered and questioning a by 
 stander as to the reason thereof, I was informed that 
 a stylishly dressed lady was "too drunk to navigate" 
 and was in the hands of a policeman. As I craned 
 my neck to get a glimpse of the unfortunate woman, 
 I was shocked beyond expression to find that it was 
 none other than Arietta who had created the commo 
 tion. Horrified, I rushed through the crowd, push 
 ing men right and left, until I had reached the 
 policeman, who was holding her up by the arm and 
 trying to ascertain her name and address. She could 
 hardly stand, and seemed dazed to the point of fall 
 ing, but as I spoke her name, her memory revived 
 somewhat, and, fixing her half-closed eyes upon me, 
 she said: "Why, hello Jack" And then, turning to 
 the officer, remarked: "This is my friend Jack; he
 
 B O R N A G A I N 185 
 
 will take me home." I could not understand the 
 reason she called me Jack. She had never addressed 
 me in that way before. But without delay I informed 
 the policeman that I would take charge of her, and 
 requested him to call a cab. When the vehicle arrived 
 it became necessary for me to lift her bodily into it, 
 and then I was at a loss to know just where to take 
 her. In order to get away from the crowd, however, 
 I told the driver to go on and I would give him the 
 address later. 
 
 "Tell him to take us to the Seraglio Apartments," 
 she mumbled. 
 
 "Do you know where the Seraglio Apartments 
 are?" I inquired of the driver. 
 
 "Yes, sir, in Central Park West," replied he, as 
 he whipped up his horse and started in that direc 
 tion. 
 
 Arietta said no more, but remained silent, as if 
 stupefied from the effects of the intoxicating drink 
 she had taken. 
 
 "What a pity," thought I, as we sped along, "that 
 this young woman, w T ith all of her beauty, grace and 
 charm, and with all of her splendid traits of char 
 acter, should fall a victim to the awful curse of 
 drink! Could this condition have been brought 
 about because she had no work to perform and too 
 much time and money to squander recklessly? What 
 a pity that there are human beings who make and 
 sell poisonous stuff for money which not only robs 
 those who use it of their reasoning power, but which 
 undermines the very foundation of the human race! 
 Those people who make and sell liquor, knowing 
 that it will ultimately destroy the lives of thousands
 
 186 BORN AGAIN 
 
 of human beings, are just as much murderous poi 
 soners as would be the chemist who would know 
 ingly give a deadly drug to an intended suicide." 
 
 When we arrived at the apartment house, which 
 was one of the most magnificent in New York, it was 
 with some difficulty that I was able to arouse her 
 sufficiently so that she could walk with my assist 
 ance. Entering the vestibule, I asked her if she could 
 get along without further help, but she insisted that 
 I should go to her rooms, so getting into the elevator 
 we were taken up to the eighth floor. 
 
 As though he was accustomed to this sort of an 
 affair, the elevator attendant went ahead and opened 
 one of the doors on the right of the hallway, and 
 after turning on the electric light, and we had en 
 tered, he withdrew at once, quietly closing the door 
 after him. 
 
 I then found myself within one of the most ele 
 gantly furnished drawing rooms imaginable. At one 
 end of the apartment was an archway gorgeously 
 draped with costly tapestries which partially screened 
 another room beyond, which served as a bed-cham 
 ber. 
 
 Arietta staggered forward, half pulling me along 
 with her into this other room, and throwing herself 
 upon the bed, ordered me, in a dazed sort of a way, 
 to remove her clothing. 
 
 I was dumbfounded at this extraordinary com 
 mand and felt that I was placed in an extremely 
 awkward position. I did not like the idea of allowing 
 the poor girl to remain over night, in the uncom 
 fortable position she had taken, bound as she was by 
 tightly fitting garments, and still I realized that it
 
 BORN AGAIN 187 
 
 was a very delicate undertaking to follow out her 
 instructions, knowing full well tha.. if she were in 
 her right senses she would be horrified at the thought 
 of such a thing. But as I stood looking at her for 
 several moments in a state of perplexed indecision, 
 and wondering what course to pursue, she began to 
 moan as if in agony, and without further hesitation 
 I decided to go ahead and do my best to make her 
 position more comfortable. So I began by taking off 
 her shoes. 
 
 "What a superb foot!" mused I enthusiastically, 
 as I unlaced and removed her pretty little shoes. 
 "Was there ever another quite so shapely or entranc 
 ing? And the ankle! How daintily its joints showed 
 beneath embroidered hose of exquisite material." 
 Hardly had I begun this task before I realized that a 
 strange magnetic force was stealing upon me. With 
 such a feast for my eyes to contend with, it seemed 
 as if my senses were being gradually overcome by 
 the intoxicating clutch of voluptuous dreams. 
 
 The shoes off, I turned my attention to the collar 
 which apparently caused her much uneasiness. The 
 collar, as I discovered, was a part of the bodice and 
 could not be taken off without removing the whole 
 garment, which task required considerable time, 
 patience, and careful maneuvering to perform. This 
 I finally accomplished, however, with the aid of 
 Arietta, who revived occasionally from her comatose 
 state long enough to give a few indistinct directions, 
 and then as my eyes rested upon her lovely arms, 
 neck and shoulders, I was plunged into ecstatic emo 
 tion such as words have not the power to express. 
 
 At last I succeeded in loosening the stays and dif-
 
 188 BORN AGAIN 
 
 ferent cords and ribbons usually worn by women, 
 which alleviated her distress considerably, and after 
 throwing a light robe over her form was about to 
 arrange her position so that she might rest comfort 
 ably, when to my utter astonishment she threw her 
 arms around my neck, kissed me several times, and 
 whispered in my ear, "You won t leave me alone 
 tonight, will you, darling?" 
 
 This seemed to be almost too much for me to 
 bear; the cravings of my sensual nature began a 
 desperate struggle with my better self. My blood 
 started to tingle with the heat of passion. Evil 
 thoughts crowded themselves into my brain. The 
 more of these evil thoughts I allowed to enter my 
 head the less power of resistance I held against their 
 subtle ravages. I was losing self-control. I felt pow 
 erless to battle successfully against the temptation. 
 
 Stealthily walking over to the door, I softly bolted 
 it and then stood still for some time and listened. 
 It was past midnight and everything was quiet. I 
 turned out the light and started to go over to Arietta. 
 As I did so, something within me seemed to cry out 
 with shame against such cowardice. As I paused for 
 a moment, the voice from within became stronger in 
 its disapproval of my intentions. Apparently I be 
 came divided into two parts, and each was strug 
 gling for the mastery of me. One side was trying 
 with all its might to push me forward, while the 
 other was attempting to hold me back with reproach 
 ful warnings. These two parts were my material 
 and spiritual selves, contending for supremacy. I 
 wavered back and forth, from one to the other, and 
 it seemed that the material side was about to con-
 
 BORN AGAIN 189 
 
 quer and carry me down to disgrace, when suddenly 
 there passed through my mind like a great wave of 
 strength the Sagewoman s wonderful precept: 
 
 "Always consult your soul for advice. 
 
 "Do no act your conscience will not sanction." 
 
 And recognizing the full meaning of these words, 
 I immediately turned about, unbolted the door, and 
 quietly left the apartment, feeling that the soul was 
 still master of my actions.
 
 CHAPTER 30 
 
 Almost from the first day after I left the hospital 
 I began to feel an earnest desire to follow out the 
 instructions of the great Sagewoman in regard to 
 teaching my fellow beings the philosophy of Natural 
 Law, and, knowing of no better way to begin this 
 work, I decided to go out and lecture upon the 
 streets to all persons who might care to listen. I set 
 aside three evenings each week to preach the Truth, 
 and took a position at the corner of Fifth avenue, 
 and Twenty-third street, just opposite the "Flat- 
 iron" building, with nothing but a soap-box for a 
 platform; it was here that I devoted many evenings 
 instructing the masses in the principles of Sage- 
 manism. 
 
 At first I felt a little awkward, and could not find 
 sufficient words to express myself properly upon the 
 subject, but gradually there came self-reliance, 
 which enabled me to communicate my thoughts to 
 others, and within a few weeks I had acquired a 
 fluency of speech whereby I could talk for hours 
 without embarrassment. 
 
 During my first attempts at public speaking, few 
 people would remain more than a moment or two 
 to hear what I had to say, but with the increased 
 force and power of speech, which I acquired with 
 practice, my audiences grew larger and larger, until
 
 BORN AGAIN 191 
 
 finally the streets were blockaded with their num 
 bers at these meetings. Many of my hearers, both 
 rich and poor alike, got into the habit of coming 
 repeatedly to listen to these talks, and after a short 
 time they would come to me one by one and request 
 personal tutorage in the principles set forth. In fact, 
 the number of these proselytes increased to such an 
 extent, and their intentions were so earnest and 
 serious, that it finally became necessary to engage a 
 hall, where we might hold private meetings. It was 
 in this way that there was finally organized the so 
 ciety for the propagation of the principles of Natural 
 Law. Little by little the society gained in numerical 
 strength, until I felt sure that the seed of this grand 
 work had been planted in human soil for all time 
 to come, and that its fruits would blossom forth in 
 abundance as time passed by. 
 
 But while success appeared to be crowning my 
 humble efforts in this direction, and the more prog 
 ress I made in this propaganda, the more opposed 
 to my methods Arietta became. She grew intensely 
 antagonistic to my work, and tried in every way to 
 have me discontinue it. She could not believe that 
 all human beings were born to have equal rights 
 and privileges in the world. She had been taught 
 from infancy that there must always be a master and 
 a servant, and that the Deity was responsible for the 
 position held between them. She believed that it is 
 the Creator s will that some people are born in 
 wealth and luxury, while others are born and bred 
 in poverty and squalor. She repeatedly endeavored to 
 persuade me to desist in the work I had undertaken. 
 
 My efforts to convert Arietta as a believer in 
 Natural Law were futile, and a great gulf seemed to
 
 192 BORN AGAIN 
 
 be springing up and separating us from one another. 
 I felt that I was placed in a very difficult position. 
 On the one hand, I loved this beautiful young 
 woman more than words can convey any idea of. 
 She seemed to be a part of my life. I would have 
 gladly suffered any pain or torture, if by so doing 
 it would have afforded her one moment of pleasure. 
 On the other hand, I had sworn most solemnly to the 
 great Sagewoman that I would devote the remainder 
 of my natural life to the dissemination of the prin 
 ciples in which she had instructed me. I often won 
 dered at my strange predicament. Here I was being 
 censured by the re-incarnated soul of the great Sage- 
 woman for carrying out the very work she taught 
 me, and for fulfilling my promise to her. 
 
 The climax of this peculiar situation was reached 
 one night at our meeting place in the park. Arietta 
 had sent me an urgent despatch to come and see her 
 without fail, and then she had stated that it was her 
 intention to leave New York the next day on a pro 
 tracted trip through Europe. She said she had come 
 to bid me good-bye, and that it was to be good-bye 
 forever, as she never intended to see me again. She 
 appeared depressed and sad upon this occasion, and 
 her eyes were filled with tears. In answer to my 
 inquiry, as to her reason for leaving me in this way, 
 she said that it was because she could not uphold 
 me in my crusade against all civilized principles. 
 
 She told me frankly that she loved me and that 
 she cared nothing for any other man in the world 
 except myself, but that she could not do otherwise 
 than go away and forget me. She claimed that 
 nothing further could come of our friendship as 
 long as I continued an emissary of Natural Law;
 
 BORN AGAIN 193 
 
 that her parents would oppose it; that her friends 
 would be against it, and the whole world would 
 sneer at it; and that to be placed in such a trying 
 position was more than she could possibly bear. 
 According to her, there was no good reason why I 
 could not give up my undertaking, to please her. 
 She had everything in the world to make me happy 
 and was willing to give me anything within her 
 power, if I would only relinquish my purpose and 
 promise never to think of it again. She told me 
 that she was wealthy, that she had millions in her 
 own name, and that her father and uncles were 
 multi-millionaires, to whose wealth she would be 
 the sole heir. She said that if I would promise to 
 quit the work I was engaged in, that she would give 
 me her hand in marriage, and also deposit in the 
 bank to my credit one million dollars on the follow 
 ing day as a dowry, with which I could do as I 
 pleased. She was serious and apparently in earnest, 
 and I did not doubt one word of what she said as 
 being the truth. So I was placed in the position of 
 choosing between great wealth, the woman I loved, 
 and all other earthly pleasures on the one hand, 
 and a duty which I had solemnly sworn to perform, 
 on the other. 
 
 It was a trying situation, to say the least. With 
 bowed head I sat and considered all phases of the 
 matter, with much earnestness and equal indecision. 
 To think that Arietta would leave me forever was to 
 feel that my heart was being torn from its fastenings. 
 To have her as my wife, this alone seemed to be the 
 very greatest happiness that life could afford, and 
 mayhap, the promise of a million dollars was not 
 without its allurement. A position in the very best
 
 194 BORNAGAIN 
 
 society of the country also loomed before my vision, 
 as I considered these things. On the other hand, if 
 I refused, I could look forward to a life of poverty, 
 hard work, and the abuse of my fellow beings. The 
 temptation was a trying one, and it seemed impos 
 sible for me to refuse Arietta s offering. As I raised 
 my head and looked into her beautiful eyes, which 
 expressed great love, and tenderness, and expecta 
 tion, I felt that I could not say no to her. It seemed 
 as if I had been placed between honor and tempta 
 tion, and was about to fall into the arms of the 
 latter. I hesitated a moment, undecided as to what 
 to do, when something within me distinctly said: 
 "Be a man. Give up all earthly pleasures during 
 this life and teach Natural Law, according to your 
 promise." Then once again the wise words of the 
 great Sagewoman passed through my mind: 
 
 "Always consult your soul for advice. 
 
 "Do no act your conscience will not sanction." 
 
 Instantly arising and feeling that I should follow 
 the advice of my soul above all other considerations, 
 I determined to do that which was right. I concluded 
 that to lose Arietta, and all the pleasures incidental 
 to a life with her, was but a temporary loss, but the 
 opportunity of setting a great example to my fellow 
 beings, a precedent that would have lasting influ 
 ence, might never arrive again, and that it was my 
 solemn duty to seize this chance while I had the 
 power to do so. 
 
 So, standing erect and without further hesitation, 
 I took Arietta s hand in mine and said: "My dear 
 girl, to lose you will cause me much suffering and 
 pain, so much that it would be impossible for you
 
 BORN AGAIN 195 
 
 to form any conception of it. To lose you is to 
 deprive me of all that is dear and sweet in this life. 
 To permit you to go without acceding to your wishes 
 taxes my strength to the utmost limit, but believe 
 me, the life of one little human being is of short 
 duration in the immense sea of time, and while I am 
 giving up the delight and pleasure of your compan 
 ionship now, I am doing so in order that I may lend 
 my feeble efforts toward the establishment of a social 
 system whereby the conditions of this world will be 
 made such that at some future date our souls may 
 be able to join each other in peace and harmony and 
 enjoy the blessings of a heavenly world, free from 
 money, which I hope will eventually be the result 
 of my present labors. Therefore, in acting contrary 
 to your wishes now, I feel that I am working for 
 your future happiness. I shall remain at my present 
 post of duty, trying to uplift mankind, I shall follow 
 the dictates of my conscience in doing this, and as 
 long as the bones of my little anatomy hold together 
 as a living being and my brain has the power to 
 reason, I shall teach the principles of Natural Law 
 even if all the world follows your example and turns 
 against me." 
 
 At the conclusion of this little speech my emotion 
 overcame me and I could say no more. 
 
 Arietta also appeared overcome with sadness, and 
 was unable to speak. She withdrew her hand from 
 mine and without a word turned and walked slowly 
 away, sobbing bitterly as she left. 
 
 I stood and watched her retreating form in a dazed 
 sort of a way. With each step which put us farther 
 apart, increasing darkness obscured my vision. I
 
 196 BORN AGAIN 
 
 wanted to call her back but a lump came in my 
 throat and I could not speak. My brain was in a 
 whirl. A terrible feeling of gloom over-shadowed 
 me. I labored under great excitement. My head 
 seemed as if it were ready to burst. I felt that I was 
 going mad. The trees and everything else appeared 
 to be moving about in great confusion. Those same 
 symptoms which I experienced after falling among 
 the rocks of Sageland returned. My body seemed to 
 be dividing into several parts and then becoming 
 one again. I tried to control myself but without 
 avail. All of a sudden I saw standing before me two 
 Ariettas, one at the right hand and the other at the 
 left. The one at the right I instantly recognized as 
 the great Sagewoman, while on the left stood the 
 girl Arietta. They were facing and pointing in 
 opposite directions. Looking to my right I saw a 
 path running up a steep hill which seemed almost 
 impossible to climb and upon which was inscribed 
 the word strength. To my left I observed a path 
 running down the hill upon which was written the 
 word weakness. At the top of the hill everything 
 looked bright and cheerful and orderly, while at the 
 bottom darkness and confusion prevailed. Above 
 the extreme top, as though stamped in space like a 
 great rainbow, these words appeared: Natural Law, 
 Wisdom, Love for Others. At the bottom, and 
 almost obscured in the gloom, I faintly discerned 
 the following: Money, Ignorance, Love of Self. 
 
 As I stood speechless at this wonderful vision 
 everything suddenly became dark and I knew no 
 more.
 
 CHAPTER 31 
 
 The next impression my memory has any record 
 of was a huge ocean steamer, floating away upon the 
 deep. Great volumes of smoke were pouring forth 
 from its smoke-stacks as it majestically glided over 
 the water. Upon its many decks were hundreds of 
 human beings, scattered about in little groups, gaily 
 chatting and enjoying to the fullest extent the de 
 light experienced by an ocean voyage. Among all of 
 the happy faces, however, there was one that ap 
 peared sad and forlorn. It was the face of a beau 
 tiful young woman, standing alone against the rail 
 ing of the promenade deck, who was weeping in 
 silence. As she raised her eyes and looked in my 
 direction, I instantly recognized the girl Arietta, 
 and realized that she was leaving me forever. And 
 then, like one in a dream, I held out my hands and 
 mutely implored her to return. She appeared to be 
 within a short distance and looking straight at me, 
 but still made no sign of recognition. I could not 
 understand the reason for such coldness on her part, 
 and in astonishment rubbed my eyes and looked 
 again, when lo and behold, she had vanished from 
 sight. But far out into the distance, almost to the 
 horizon, I could plainly see a large steamer headed 
 toward the vast ocean beyond. I looked around in 
 a confused sort of a way, and discovered, to my sur-
 
 198 BORN AGAIN 
 
 prise, that I was standing almost at the water s edge 
 on one of the docks near Battery Place. It was day 
 light, and the sun was shining overhead. I then con 
 cluded that I must have been out of my head for 
 some time, and questioning a stranger, who stood 
 nearby, I learned that just fourteen hours had 
 elapsed since I had bade Arietta good-bye, and I 
 could form no recollection of the slightest incident 
 that happened since then. 
 
 After watching the steamer until it had disap 
 peared from view, I slowly walked to a bench in 
 Battery Park and sat down, in the depths of despair, 
 to reflect upon the strange occurrence. I must have 
 sat there for about an hour in deep meditation, 
 when my attention was attracted by a newspaper 
 urchin, shouting at the top of his voice: "Paper! 
 Extra! All about the great murder." At the same 
 time he rushed up to me, pushed a paper into my 
 hand, took the penny I offered him mechanically, 
 and scampered along. 
 
 "Another murder," mused I; "what a pity human 
 beings cannot dwell together without taking each 
 other s lives." 
 
 Glancing over the headlines, I learned from the 
 big black type that a beautiful young woman had 
 been murdered in cold blood. Reading further, I 
 was horrified to find that the young woman s name 
 was Arietta Fogg, and that she was murdered in her 
 own rooms, at the Seraglio Apartments, Central 
 Park West. I could hardly believe my eyes saw the 
 thing aright. I felt sure that it must be an optical 
 illusion wrought by my constant thought of Arietta. 
 I looked again and again, yet read ever the same 
 words, and, laboring under tremendous excitement,
 
 BORN AGAIN 199 
 
 I hurriedly perused the account of the murder. It 
 stated that about eleven o clock of the previous 
 night Arietta Fogg had arrived at the apartment 
 house, and had been taken to her rooms by the ele 
 vator attendant. A half hour later a tall, smooth 
 faced, white-haired gentleman arrived, and was 
 shown to her apartments. This man was seen by 
 the watchman to leave the place at three o clock in 
 the morning, and the chambermaid discovered her 
 at ten o clock in the morning, dead, and covered 
 with blood from several stabs in the body. 
 
 Cold perspiration oozed from every pore of my 
 body as I read and re-read this article, over and over 
 again. I was puzzled, dumbfounded, horror-stricken. 
 The description given of the apparent murderer 
 tallied exactly with myself. Straining every nerve I 
 endeavored to regain some impression that might 
 lead to a knowledge of my actions from the time 
 Arietta left me the night before until I had recov 
 ered my senses that day. But try as I might, I could 
 no more recall to memory the slightest movement 
 on my part during that time than I could recollect 
 any event which happened during the twenty-one 
 years of which my life had been a blank. 
 
 Like a man under the influence of liquor I arose 
 and staggered hurriedly forward until I reached the 
 "L" station where I boarded a train and rode up to 
 Eighty-first street. Here I alighted and walked rap 
 idly over to the Seraglio Apartments. A vast crowd 
 of curious people was collected about the place, 
 and as I approached, all eyes were apparently turned 
 upon me. 
 
 Hastening forward I bounded up the entrance 
 steps and almost flew into the vestibule. There were
 
 200 BORNAGAIN 
 
 little knots of people standing about the hallway, 
 talking in low tones. Even their voices hushed as I 
 hurried into the elevator and told the attendant to 
 take me up to the eighth floor. The operator ap 
 peared to be almost frightened out of his wits at the 
 sight of me, but after a momentary pause he ran the 
 elevator to the eighth floor, peering at me all the 
 time as he might have eyed a wild beast who was 
 about to devour him. Many people were in the 
 upper hall-way, but looking neither to the right nor 
 to the left, I went straight to the door of the room I 
 had entered the night I had taken Arietta home. 
 Finding it locked, without a moment s hesitation I 
 threw against it, all of the force my gigantic frame 
 could command which caused it to give way and fly 
 open before me. I then observed that there were 
 several men in the room, in different positions and 
 groups, as if making a study of the surroundings. 
 Lying upon the bed, in the room adjoining, was the 
 form of a woman partly covered by a spread, and 
 being examined by a man who might have been the 
 coroner. As I rushed forward like a madman, every 
 one there became frightened and made way for me 
 to pass. 
 
 Approaching the bed I eagerly scanned her fea 
 tures, and being positive of her identity I took the 
 inanimate form of Arietta in my arms and kissing 
 her tenderly, was overcome by emotion.
 
 CHAPTER 32 
 
 Arrested for the murder of Arietta Fogg, after 
 being positively identified by the elevator attendant 
 and the night watchman as being the only person 
 who visited her apartments on the night of the crime, 
 was the next incident of my strange career. Thrown 
 into prison, and caged like a savage beast in a little 
 cell hardly large enough to turn around in, has been 
 my lot ever since that awful tragedy. The case at 
 tracted widespread interest, and the newspapers 
 teemed with sensational accounts of it. At the trial, 
 all of the evidence pointed directly to me as the 
 perpetrator of the deed. The elevator operator swore 
 that I was the man whom he had taken to Arietta s 
 apartments shortly after eleven o clock that night. 
 The watchman testified that he saw me leave her 
 room at three o clock in the morning. On the stand, 
 I was made to tell, under oath, that Arietta and I had 
 been lovers; that we had been together that same 
 night in the park, and had parted at about half past 
 ten o clock; that she had informed me of her inten 
 tion to never see me again. By these statements the 
 prosecuting attorney showed the motive for the 
 crime. I could give no account of my time between 
 half past ten that night and the next day at noon, 
 which was another strong point against me. I had 
 pleaded not guilty, feeling that as I knew nothing 
 about the crime I could not very wisely do other-
 
 202 BORNAGAIN 
 
 wise, but also, stating that I had suffered a tem 
 porary aberration of the mind during that time, and 
 that if I really did commit the deed, which I could 
 not believe possible, then I had done it in an entire 
 ly different character or personality from my normal 
 self. 
 
 My attorney endeavored to have me sham insanity 
 during the trial, and he became irritably insolent in 
 his manner toward me because I positively refused 
 to do so. He told me that if I stuck to the truth I 
 would surely be convicted, but if I followed his 
 advice by openly assuming idiotic tactics in court 
 and making false statements under oath, according 
 to his directions, he could save me without any 
 trouble. He frequently growled and cursed at me 
 for the straightforward way that I gave my testi 
 mony, claiming that his professional reputation was 
 being ruined by my telling the truth. He privately 
 acknowledged that, in his opinion, I was guilty, but 
 that if he were successful in having me acquitted, he 
 would achieve great fame thereby, and incidentally 
 be able to increase the size of his future clients fees. 
 
 It was proved in court alas, the saddest blow I 
 had yet received, that Arietta was a frivolous young 
 woman, who practically lived a life of ease and 
 luxury, by monetary gifts derived from two wealthy 
 men, one a United States Senator and the other a 
 prominent Wall Street financier. That was the most 
 painful testimony of the whole proceedings. It did 
 not seem possible to me that the dear, sweet, inno 
 cent girl, whom I had loved so much for her gentle 
 ness and kindness of nature, could possibly lead such 
 a dual existence, and I could not understand why 
 she should have deceived me, with accounts of her-
 
 B O R N A G A I N 203 
 
 self so at variance with the facts. When I thought 
 of her as she had always appeared to me, excepting 
 those times when I saw her under the influence of 
 liquor, she seemed like a good angel, who was far 
 beyond even the suspicion of reproach; and so when 
 I learned the worst, I pictured her at her best, and 
 my love remained unshaken. While I realized that 
 it was the poor girl s weakness that led her into 
 temptation, still it was plain to discern that the cause 
 of her downfall was money and the miserable crea 
 tures who utilized it to buy her very life s blood and 
 drag her along the mire of shame. The poor girl is 
 dead, but the great men, through whose efforts she 
 was disgraced, are still alive, and are considered emi 
 nently respectable by the community. 
 
 The curse of money could not have been more 
 forcibly demonstrated than by this incident. The 
 unfortunate young woman craved money, and sold 
 herself for it. My deepest sympathy goes after her to 
 the grave. The ringer of scorn is now raised against 
 Arietta by the whole world, but if she could be 
 brought back to life again, I should gladly take her 
 by the hand and say, that my love for her was as 
 strong as ever, and that I would defend her against 
 the insults of the depraved society which reared and 
 educated her in the vices which it now deplores. 
 
 It took the jury just forty-five minutes to reach a 
 decision against me, by bringing in a verdict of 
 murder in the first degree. My sentence was that I 
 pay the penalty of the crime with my life by being 
 electrocuted. 
 
 The trial was severe and brutal from beginning 
 to end, from my point of view. I was bullied by the
 
 204 BORN AGAIN 
 
 prosecutor, scathingly censured by the judge, libelled 
 by the press, cursed by the public, and deserted by 
 my own attorney. I was treated like a cowardly 
 beast of the most depraved type. 
 
 But with all the abuse that was heaped upon me, 
 I endured it without a murmur, calmly claiming 
 that I was not responsible for the deed, but perfectly 
 willing to take any punishment the law meted out 
 to me. There was one thing, however, which stood 
 out prominently amidst the many shoals of my mis 
 fortune, which made me feel that I had not lived in 
 vain. My faithful little band of followers, whom I had 
 taught the principles of Natural Law, remained 
 loyal to me until the very end. Not one member of 
 the society was there who would believe that I was 
 guilty of such an atrocious crime. They insisted 
 that there was some mistake, and spent much time 
 and money in trying to ferret out the mystery. They 
 called upon me as often as the prison regulations 
 would permit, and amid scenes that were touching, 
 protested their undying fidelity to me and the cause 
 I espoused. Each individual promised most solemnly 
 to carry on the work I had begun as long as his life 
 lasted, and I feel sure that, although the end of my 
 time is drawing near, the work entrusted to me by 
 the great Sagewoman is born again, and will grow 
 to huge proportions as time passes on. 
 
 And so I have come to the end of my story. To 
 morrow I must die. In writing this book, I have 
 tried to confine myself exclusively to the truth. I 
 have felt all along, however, my inability to do the 
 subject justice. There are many things that the
 
 BORNAGAIN 205 
 
 great Sagewoman tried to impress upon me which 
 my little brain was not strong enough to grasp. 
 There are also many things which are perfectly clear 
 in my mind, that I have been unable to convey to 
 others, but I have done my best, and that is all that 
 can be expected of any one. I should like to have 
 given more attention to the arrangement of this 
 work, but unfortunately the time allowed me has 
 been very short, and I have had to rush it along in 
 order to complete it. I have produced this treatise 
 while confined within my cell in the death-house, 
 and therefore have had many disadvantages to con 
 tend with. I shall give the manuscript to the little 
 body of men and women who are banded together 
 and known as the Natural Law Society, of which I 
 had the honof to be the founder, with the under 
 standing that it will be published and distributed 
 at the earliest possible date. I could wish that the 
 reader might peruse the contents of this work a 
 second time, if it is not asking too much; at least 
 that lie might go over carefully and thoughtfully 
 that portion of it which contains the teachings of 
 the great Sagewoman. While I probably have failed 
 to present clearly much of the great wisdom directly 
 received from her magnificent brain, there may arise 
 in the future, wise men, who will be capable of 
 reading in these lines much more than even I, who 
 write them, am able to comprehend. It is my one 
 hope that great men will spring up in the future 
 and take hold of this work men with minds so 
 strong, so broad, so courageous, and so unselfish, 
 that they will be willing to devote their lives to the 
 noble task of trying to put the whole human race 
 on a footing of equality. There can be no equality
 
 206 BORNAGAIN 
 
 so long as those who are strong want to take more of 
 nature s gifts than those who are weak, and no man 
 can ever be great who thinks that one human being 
 is entitled to more than another. That is selfishness. 
 Selfishness and greatness are the extreme opposites. 
 
 This is my last day on earth, to use a common 
 but erroneous expression. At noon today my soul 
 will be separated from its body by the hand of man, 
 acting according to a most unnatural, diabolical, 
 and murderous law. And the poor unfortunate 
 creature, who actually slays me, will do so, not be 
 cause he has a thirst for blood, but for money. Money 
 furnished by the State a Christian civilization 
 which bred and reared us both. 
 
 I am now forty-four years old, and have just 
 reached the threshold of mental strength. As I am 
 in perfect condition physically, and have a splendid 
 constitution as a foundation, there is no good reason 
 why I could not have lived at least forty years more. 
 Forty years longer could I have served the world at 
 my very best, but my fellow beings have decided to 
 kill me, right at a time when I could have been of 
 the most use to them. I am really sorry that I must 
 die, not because I fear death, but because my oppor 
 tunity to do good to others is taken from me. Twenty- 
 two years ago I was anxious to die, aye even by my 
 own hand. I thought that there was nothing to live 
 for at that time. But the beautiful teachings of the 
 great Sagewoman awakened new ideas of responsi 
 bility within me, and now I can see that the grand 
 est thing within the reach of a human being is to 
 live; live as long as nature will allow; live for others.
 
 BORNAGAIN 207 
 
 If I should pray my one request of the Creator 
 would be that I might live out my life, in order to 
 spread the principles of Natural Law to the further 
 most corners of the earth; or, that I might be born 
 again in a well-constructed body, with a mind cap 
 able of grasping nature s ideas in their entirety, and 
 interpreting them to my fellow men in a way that 
 could not be misunderstood. If the Creator would 
 grant me this request, and I could have the ability 
 and the pow r er to change the conditions of the earth 
 to those existing in Sageland before the Catastrophe, 
 I would gladly give in exchange for the privilege, 
 my eternal soul as a sacrifice, and take upon myself 
 everlastingly, all of the misery, suffering, and torture 
 now inflicted upon the rest of mankind. 
 
 Good-bye, dear reader, and may your soul always 
 guide you. 
 
 END OF JOHN CONVERT S WORK. 
 
 Epilogue on following pages.
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 FROM THE; NEW YORK DAILY 
 
 (Special Despatch:) 
 
 "SiNG SING, N. Y., 11 A. M. Electrocution day 
 here always attracts many curious people about 
 the prison walls, but the much heralded execution 
 of John Convert seems to have brought an unusual 
 number of persons to this neighborhood, and the 
 hill overlooking the prison is almost black with 
 people, who have come from all parts of the State. 
 
 "Viewed from this hill, Sing Sing prison presents 
 the appearance of a huge, square pen, covering 
 many acres of land, and enclosed by a high, brick 
 wall on the three land sides, and a tall, iron picket 
 fence on the side adjoining the Hudson River. 
 
 "On the top of these walls, sentinels are stationed 
 at intervals, who walk back and forth, armed with 
 breech-loading rifles, and under orders to shoot dead 
 any prisoner attempting to escape. 
 
 "Within the enclosure, at the north end, are sev 
 eral red brick buildings, which are used as work 
 shops for the twelve hundred time prisoners, now 
 incarcerated here. Running along its eastern border 
 is a massive stone structure, about seven hundred 
 feet long, fifty feet wide, and sixty feet high, with 
 windows crated by heavy, iron bars. This is the 
 main building of the prison, and is used principally
 
 BORNAGAIN 209 
 
 as a dormitory for the inmates and offices for those 
 who have charge of the institution. 
 
 "The extreme south end of the main building is 
 walled off separately, and occupied exclusively by 
 prisoners whom the State has doomed to death. This 
 place is called the Death Chamber. Inside of this 
 chamber is a high steel cage, four tiers high, and 
 divided into several cells, w T hich are about eight by 
 six feet in dimension. Thick, cement walls, floor, 
 and ceiling, make each cell separate and distinct 
 from the others. Heavy doors of barred steel open 
 outward onto the different platforms, which run 
 all the way around the inside of the cage. Armed 
 patrolmen, known as death guards, are kept con 
 stantly walking around these platforms. Within 
 this cage is John Convert and many other notorious 
 murderers, waiting their turns to be put to death, 
 as punishment for their heinous crimes. 
 
 "At the south end of the Death Chamber is a 
 solid iron door, which leads into an adjoining little 
 red brick building, about fifty by twenty feet in 
 dimension, one story high, and containing two 
 rooms. These rooms are perfectly bare, excepting 
 that in one of them there is a chair, and in the other 
 a table. About ten feet from the door leading from 
 the Death Chamber is the electric chair, by which 
 the State kills its worst criminals. In appearance it 
 is similar to a plain, old-fashioned garden arm-chair, 
 with a high back. Connected to this chair are sev 
 eral straps, by which the condemned man is har 
 nessed in a sitting position, so that he cannot move. 
 These straps are adjusted across the head, chest, 
 abdomen, both fore and upper arms and the ankles. 
 They are not bound too tightly, but left taut in
 
 210 BORN AGAIN 
 
 order to allow for the expansion of the body. The 
 electro connections are at the head and the inside 
 of the right calf, the trousers being cut from the 
 knee downward, so that a contact can be made with 
 the bare flesh. Just back of the chair is a large 
 closet, which conceals all of the electrical apparatus 
 necessary to throw on or off the current at the will 
 of the Electrician, by whose hand the condemned 
 man is sent to eternity. Stationed within the closet, 
 the Electrocutioner can see what is going on outside, 
 but cannot be seen from without. Just back of the 
 closet is a partition dividing the two rooms, through 
 which is a door leading into it. In the center of this 
 other room is a stationary table, upon which the 
 autopsy is performed. 
 
 "All of the machinery has been thoroughly tested, 
 and found to be in good running order, and neither 
 the State s Electrician nor the Warden expect the 
 slightest hitch in connection with today s proceed 
 ings. The twelve witnesses invited by the Warden, 
 and made necessary by law, together with the brain 
 experts, have arrived upon the scene, and everything 
 is in complete readiness for the electrocution of 
 John Convert." 
 
 FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY 
 
 (Special Despatch:} 
 
 "SiNG SING, N. Y., 1:15 P. M. One of the strang 
 est and most pathetic tragedies that has ever hap 
 pened in the State of New York has just taken place 
 within the house of electrocution here, the result of 
 which must cause the whole civilized world to pause 
 and shudder. Your correspondent earnestly prays
 
 BORN AGAIN 211 
 
 that he may never again be called upon to witness 
 another such horror, the effects of which have com 
 pletely unnerved him and beggars even a faint de 
 scription. 
 
 "At precisely twelve o clock today, with the State 
 Electrician, medical experts, and witnesses, mutely 
 stationed in their places, the great iron door leading 
 from the Death Chamber was suddenly swung open, 
 and between two guards the gigantic form of John 
 Convert walked over to the electric chair, with a 
 firm and unfaltering step. Immediately, all eyes 
 were turned upon him, and at the same instant there 
 was a subdued murmur of surprise by many of those 
 present at the magnificent appearance of the man. 
 
 "Tall and erect, with finely formed limbs, and 
 powerfully built shoulders, he easily towered above 
 all of the other occupants of the room. With a clean 
 shaven face, the handsome features of which ex 
 pressed extraordinary intelligence, kindness, and 
 gentleness of nature, combined with wonderful 
 strength of character, and a shapely head, overhung 
 by an abundance of beautiful snow-white hair, he 
 looked more like an ambassador from heaven than 
 a convicted murderer. He wore a black Prince 
 Albert suit of clothes. As he reached the side of the 
 chair he paused, and calmly looking from one to 
 the other of the assemblage, he began to address 
 them in a clear and melodious voice. Almost from 
 the first utterance, his hearers became electrified by 
 his charming manner and eloquence, and for nearly 
 half an hour were held spellbound, while he ex 
 plained the principles of Natural Law, and the vast 
 benefits the human race could derive by putting 
 them into effect.
 
 212 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "In a convincing way he drew a beautiful picture 
 upon the minds of those present of a heaven that 
 should be established here on earth by and for all 
 living things, in which they should work unitedly 
 and harmoniously together for a common and un 
 selfish cause, instead of each one pulling in a differ 
 ent direction for his own selfish purposes. He ex 
 plained that all living things were composed of the 
 same material, which was constantly undergoing a 
 change from life to death and from death to life by 
 being moulded and remoulded into different forms, 
 which are constructed according to the intelligence 
 absorbed by the whole. That it is within- the power 
 of the human race, if working together as a unit, to 
 reconstruct all living matter on earth into more 
 perfect organisms, just as it is within the power of 
 man to re-mould a pile of dead scrap iron into new 
 and useful machinery. That these results could 
 only be accomplished by the eradication of selfish 
 ness from the human race, and that it was impossible 
 to extinguish selfishness as long as the money system 
 was kept in force, and individuals were recompensed 
 according to their craftiness to help themselves. He 
 told of the soul being everlasting, and how a wise 
 law of nature breaks the monotony of its existence 
 through the process of re-incarnation, and that the 
 soul of the rich aristocrat of today may be the soul 
 of the suckling pig tomorrow. He said that it was 
 within the power of every living thing to do good, 
 if only following the advice of the soul, and that the 
 oftener this advice was taken the easier it became 
 to do right, but that the less the soul s warning was 
 heeded, the more hardened and vile became the 
 nature of the individual. He told of how children
 
 213 
 
 inherit the weaknesses of their parents, and men 
 tioned how much grander it is for parents to give 
 their children character without gold, than to give 
 them gold without character. 
 
 "So earnestly and pathetically did he present the 
 whole subject, that at the conclusion of his discourse 
 there was not a dry eye in the room, and as he 
 calmly took his seat in the electric chair, the whole 
 assemblage, including the guards, stood motionless 
 for several moments as if in a hypnotic trance. And 
 then, as the guards reluctantly began to adjust the 
 straps about his body, three men burst into loud 
 sobs and rushed from the room, bitterly denouncing 
 the electrocution as savagery, and refusing to wit 
 ness the proceedings any further. With the excep 
 tion of the condemned man, everybody was com 
 pletely unstrung. But John Convert, in the shadow 
 of death, did not lose his wonderful self-control for 
 a moment, but sat with perfect equipoise in that 
 murderous chair, calmly watching with apparent 
 interest the work of fastening him in. 
 
 You have that strap around the abdomen 
 twisted, he coolly remarked to one of the excited 
 guards, and then quietly added, you are not suffi 
 ciently hardened for this kind of work, my man, but 
 perhaps your children may be. And as if stung by 
 remorse at these words, the guard suddenly burst 
 into a frenzy of grief and cried out in piteous tones: 
 No, no! Don t say that! I love my children. I under 
 took this objectionable work for their sakes, that I 
 might be able to give them the same advantages that 
 other children enjoy. But now that you have spoken, 
 I can see that I am paying for their advantages at 
 the expense of their moral characters, and that they
 
 214 BORN AGAIN 
 
 too might follow in my miserable footsteps and, 
 eventually sell themselves for money. But listen, I 
 have but just taken this position, and now I am 
 getting my first experience at this kind of work, and 
 I feel as if I were about to commit murder. And 
 now, after hearing your wonderful words, my con 
 science is crying out within me to stop, and so, in 
 the presence of these witnesses, I not only renounce 
 all further connection with this abominable act, 
 but I most solemnly swear that I believe in Natural 
 Law, and that I shall henceforth devote my life to 
 teaching its principles to my own children, and also 
 to those of my fellow beings. My eyes have suddenly 
 been opened. For the first time in my life I feel like 
 a man. 
 
 "At this unexpected turn of affairs, the counte 
 nance of John Convert lighted up with a look of 
 divine happiness that was truly glorious to behold, 
 and, addressing the guard, he said: Well spoken, 
 my noble man. May you accumulate sufficient 
 strength to enable you to faithfully follow out your 
 splendid resolution; may your future deeds be so 
 unselfish, heroic, and fruitful, towards uplifting 
 mankind, that the grandchildren of your enemies 
 may live to praise your name. 
 
 "These words seemed to have a cheering effect 
 upon the guard, who affectionately shook the hand 
 of Convert, and then left the room. 
 
 "During this time, however, the other guard had 
 continued the work of adjusting the straps, and 
 finally having them properly arranged, stepped 
 backward a few feet and raised his left arm as a sign 
 to the Electrocutioner in the closet that everything
 
 BORN AGAIN 215 
 
 was in readiness. And then, just as John Convert 
 uttered the words, Always Consult Your Soul for 
 Advice, a terrible, dull, buzzing sound took the 
 place of his voice, his body suddenly expanded, as 
 if about to burst, his limbs were drawn up and dis 
 torted, blue flames shot forth with a weird glow, a 
 sickening odor of burning flesh saturated the air, 
 and quicker than it takes to tell, the deadly current 
 had penetrated through every fibre of his body. 
 
 "And then, as all turned away their heads from 
 the awful sight, a loud crash was heard, and the door 
 leading from the court-yard into the other room 
 burst open, and in rushed the Warden, yelling like 
 a madman: Stop it! For God s sake, stop it! You 
 are killing the wrong man! And pulling open the 
 door of the closet which concealed the Electrician, he 
 threw off the current with his own hands. At the 
 same time, amidst great confusion, several of the 
 spectators rushed forward and began unfastening 
 the straps which bound the unfortunate man to the 
 chair, after which the body was carried into the 
 other room and laid upon the table. 
 
 "Following in the footsteps of the Warden, was a 
 tall, beautiful, young woman, hatless, and with hair 
 disheveled and dress disarranged. She was panting 
 heavily, and a wild, terrified look gleamed in her 
 eyes. She appeared dazed and almost exhausted. 
 Catching sight of Convert, she frantically tried to 
 get near him, but was held in check by one of the 
 doctors, while the other one made a hurried exam 
 ination of the body. And then, this doctor, appa 
 rently suffering from great mental excitement, 
 turned toward those present, and, with his eyes full 
 of tears, chokingly whispered, Too late, he is dead.
 
 216 BORN AGAIN 
 
 "At these terrible words, the young woman ut 
 tered a heart-piercing shriek, and, rushing forward, 
 threw herself upon the corpse, as she piteously 
 moaned: You have murdered him. You have mur 
 dered him. " 
 
 FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY. 
 
 "The following statement, made by one of Chi 
 cago s most beautiful and brilliant young society 
 women, is the sequel to the most extraordinary case 
 that ever attracted public attention in this country: 
 My name is Arietta Wright. My father is R. U. 
 Wright, of Chicago, 111., the well-known financier 
 and multi-millionaire. A few years ago, while in 
 Paris, I was introduced to a man by the name of 
 John Convert. I supposed he was an American, but 
 at that time did not take enough interest in him to 
 inquire as to who he was or where he came from. 
 Later, however, I found that he was continually 
 crossing my path, and appeared anxious to court 
 my attention. He was a tall, well-built, handsome 
 man, with a clean-shaven face and snow-white hair, 
 apparently about forty years old. But there was 
 something about his looks and actions that I did not 
 like, and I tried to avoid him as much as possible. 
 But he was not to be avoided very easily, and, after 
 persistently following me all over Europe, he crossed 
 the ocean in the same steamer, and finally came to 
 my home in Chicago. He got to be such a nuisance 
 that he was refused admittance to our house, and in 
 order to get rid of him entirely, I secretly left Chi 
 cago and went abroad again. A few months after-
 
 BORN AGAIN 217 
 
 ward I returned home, and found that he had left 
 for parts unknown, and the incident was soon for 
 gotten. 
 
 During the month of March, 1903, about two 
 and a half years later, important business called my 
 father to New York for a stay of several months, 
 and mother and I, accompanying him, we took 
 apartments at the Opulent Hotel, on Broadway, 
 near Seventy-eighth street. 
 
 About that time I decided to visit the different 
 institutions of New York, and one day as I was being 
 shown through a charity ward of the Ruff Hospital, 
 I was astonished to see John Convert lying sick upon 
 one of the cots. He had a wild and peculiar stare in 
 his eyes and at first gave no sign of recognition, but 
 seemed to be undergoing an intense mental strain, 
 as if trying to recall to mind some event that had 
 escaped his memory. The doctor informed me that 
 he was an unidentified charity patient suffering with 
 typhoid fever and was evidently insane. He told me 
 that the man imagined he had been in a trance for 
 over four thousand years, and could only be brought 
 out of it by a kiss from one he called Arietta. My 
 heart seemed to melt with pity and sorrow, and my 
 dislike changed into love for the man upon hearing 
 these words, and without hesitation I kissed him, 
 at the same time hoping most sincerely that the act 
 would have a salutary effect. Strange as it may seem, 
 the whole expression of his countenance changed 
 instantly as if by some magic force; his eyes lighted 
 up radiantly, and looking at me in great astonish 
 ment he uttered my name Arietta. But while I 
 was quite elated over my strange success, I was also
 
 218 BORN AGAIN 
 
 much surprised and puzzled at his following utter 
 ances, whereby he claimed that I was the re-incarn 
 ated soul of Arietta of Sageland, who, according to 
 his story, had died on the same day I was born, over 
 twenty-one years before, and from which time he 
 could form no recollection of events whatever. 
 
 Subsequently, I was informed by an eminent 
 brain specialist, who examined him, that he was 
 mentally sound, but that owing to a severe fracture 
 of the skull received some time previously his brain 
 had become divided into two distinct parts, causing 
 two personalities to exist and enabling him to recol 
 lect events only as they were separately recorded on 
 either side of the brain. By this explanation I 
 readily understood the reason why he did not rec 
 ognize me and also for the wonderful change which 
 took place, both in his character and my feelings 
 toward him. On that day my first and last love for 
 man was born. 
 
 As time passed by, and he recovered his health 
 and strength, he appeared to me the most beautiful 
 character I had ever known, and with each succeed 
 ing day my love for him grew stronger. But while 
 love formed a strong mutual link of attachment be 
 tween us, another force succeeded in putting vis 
 apart. 
 
 He believed in Natural Law and unselfishness, 
 with equal rights for both strong and weak alike. 
 I believed in financialism and selfishness, with the 
 strong enjoying more earthly blessings than the 
 weak. 
 
 He believed in a Supreme Being, who created 
 immutable laws whereby the entire machinery of
 
 BORN AGAIN 219 
 
 the universe is governed. I believed in earthly con 
 ditions to suit my fancies. 
 
 He believed in re-incarnation, and the power 
 of the soul to eventually master the flesh and create 
 a heaven on earth. I believed in the transmigration 
 of the soul to some obscure heaven where there 
 would be nothing farther to do but rest during all 
 eternity. 
 
 He was broad in his views and never tried to 
 restrain me from thinking as I liked. I w r as narrow 
 in mine, and quite unwilling that he should believe 
 in any theory except my own. 
 
 " These and other differences of opinion caused 
 us to separate. 
 
 One night last June, the same night that awful 
 murder took place in the Seraglio Apartments, I 
 met John Convert at our regular meeting place in 
 Central Park for the last time. It was my habit to 
 meet him in an out-of-the-way corner of the park, 
 because I did not want my parents or friends to 
 know of it. For this same reason, I had never told 
 him my last name or place of residence. At this 
 meeting, I informed him that he must either give 
 up all further connection with the movement he 
 had instituted toward the regeneration of mankind, 
 or bid me good-bye forever. He chose the latter 
 course, although I know that his heart was fairly 
 bursting with grief when I left him. 
 
 Now, that it is too late, I can fully appreciate 
 what a grand, noble fellow he was. I offered him a 
 million dollars to forsake the cause he had pledged 
 himself to uphold. Think of it, one million dollars! 
 A sum of money for w r hich most civilized men would
 
 220 BORNAGAIN 
 
 gladly sell their eternal souls. But John Convert, 
 a believer in Natural Law, could not be bought at 
 any price, and even though I offered him my hand 
 in marriage, an offering which many Crown Princes 
 of Europe have repeatedly begged for, still he would 
 not recede from the grand purpose he had under 
 taken. 
 
 Well, we parted, and the next morning I 
 boarded a steamer bound for Europe. But I was 
 wretched and unhappy, and felt that life was a bur 
 den to me. I was unable to drive the image of John 
 Convert out of my mind, and as I stood upon the 
 deck of the steamer, as it passed along the river 
 leading to the ocean. I looked back toward New 
 York, and fancied I could see poor John standing 
 alone, and forlorn, upon one of the docks, with his 
 arms outstretched, sadly imploring me to return, 
 and with a feeling of remorse I started for my state 
 room to lie down and have a good cry. 
 
 As I hurried along the dark passageway, 
 leading to my room, I was almost startled out of my 
 senses by coming face to face with the very man I 
 thought I had left behind, John Convert. He ap 
 peared to be even more startled than myself, and, 
 stepping backward a few paces, he fairly trembled, 
 as he hoarsely exclaimed: My God, Arietta, is that 
 really you? At these words I became frightened, and 
 as the faint rays of light from a distant port-hole fell 
 squarely upon his face, I observed a wild, peculiar 
 stare in his eyes, and noticed that his whole coun 
 tenance was overcast by a most villainous expres 
 sion. At that moment, I remembered the doctor s 
 warning words, that he might change personalities 
 at any time that he was subjected to severe mental
 
 BORN AGAIN 221 
 
 excitement, and I now recognized in the man stand 
 ing before me the same character I had met in Paris. 
 Just as quickly as love had taken possession of my 
 feelings for John Convert in the hospital, just that 
 suddenly did it depart when I saw this detestable 
 looking creature in front of me. In an instant he 
 became loathsome to my sight, and without waiting 
 for another word I rushed into my state-room and 
 bolted the door. 
 
 Not once did I leave my room during that trip 
 across the ocean, but when the steamer arrived at 
 Liverpool, and I started to go ashore, the very first 
 person my eyes rested upon was John Convert; and 
 from that time on he incessantly dogged my foot 
 steps all over Europe. The more I saw of him, the 
 more debased and despicable he appeared to me. 
 The good, kind, old face, that I had loved so well, 
 had now apparently become distorted by a murder 
 ous expression, and the soulful eyes which had in 
 toxicated me with ecstasy, now depicted the nature 
 of a degenerate. I shunned him as I would a leper, 
 and many times I wished that I had left him to die 
 in the hospital, instead of aiding him to recover. 
 He became so objectionable to my sight, that I 
 threatened to have him arrested if he did not stop 
 following me about. But this had no effect upon 
 him whatever, and after three long, weary months 
 of travel on the continent, in which I attempted to 
 elude him, without success, I finally returned to 
 England and boarded a steamer at Southampton for 
 New York. I fully expected to see John Convert 
 make the voyage also, but to my surprise and great 
 joy I saw him standing on the pier after the steamer 
 had left her moorings and was steaming away. He
 
 222 BORNAGAIN 
 
 stood waving his hand at me, and I watched him 
 until beyond the range of vision, then went down to 
 my state-room, with a feeling of relief, as though a 
 great load had been lifted from my shoulders. One 
 of the first things that attracted my attention after 
 entering the state-room, was a large, well-filled en 
 velope, lying upon the bed, and addressed to me. 
 Tearing it open, I found an assortment of various 
 documents, among which was the following letter. 
 
 My dear Arietta: At last realizing that you are 
 beyond my reach and that further efforts to win your 
 love would be useless, and feeling that after all, my 
 affinity is not really you but she whom I recently 
 killed, and as my conscience is torturing me until 
 I can find no rest or contentment in life, I have 
 decided to avenge the many crimes I have commit 
 ted during the past by taking my own life, and ere 
 you read these lines I shall be dead. 
 
 " My life has been a most miserable failure, and 
 were it not for the fact that during my last hours 
 I feel a strong desire to try and make amends, 
 through you, to the man I have been impersonating 
 for many years, I should quietly pass out of exist 
 ence without further ado. 
 
 " In the first place my name is not John, but 
 Edward Convert, son of Henry Convert, and grand 
 son of Peter Convert, who many years ago was a 
 wealthy banker of London, England. 
 
 My grandfather had two sons; James, the elder, 
 being my uncle, and Henry the younger, my father.
 
 B O R N A G A I N 223 
 
 About the time my father reached maturity, 
 both he and my uncle fell in love with beautiful 
 twin sisters of a poor family, and in due course of 
 time each took one as a wife. This was done in direct 
 opposition to my grandfather s commands, and so 
 incensed did he become over the affair, that when 
 he died shortly afterward, it was found that he had 
 cut them both off with a mere pittance, while the 
 bulk of his estate which was valued at several million 
 pounds, was to be held in trust until the eldest son 
 of my uncle James had reached maturity, after 
 which it was to be delivered to him intact. 
 
 At that time neither my father nor uncle had 
 children, and being of different temperaments my 
 uncle a pious clergyman, and my father a broker 
 with gambling tendencies they soon parted and 
 lost track of each other. 
 
 My parents emigrated to Canada and resided 
 in Toronto for some years, in which city I was born. 
 When I was about five years of age my mother died, 
 and a short time later my father moved to Buffalo, 
 N. Y., and entered into the brokerage business there. 
 As I grew up, I was educated with the sole idea that 
 the only purpose for which I had been created was 
 to get money. At home I was taught by my father 
 and in school through books that my success in life 
 would be judged according to the amount of money 
 I could accumulate. Was it any wonder, then, that I 
 grew up to worship money as the real god, and to 
 finally sell my soul for it? Oh, the terrible curse of 
 money! And what an awful crime for parents to 
 teach their children to love it! Had I not been 
 taught from infancy to crave money, I might have 
 become a useful member of the human family, and
 
 224 BORNAGAIN 
 
 utilized my brain power for some worthy cause, in 
 stead of using it to scheme, cheat, steal, and even 
 murder, in order that I might obtain it. 
 
 "Well, one day when I was about sixteen years 
 old, my father, having just returned from one of his 
 western trips, informed me that he had accidentally 
 run across his brother James, the clergyman, in a 
 little Kansas town named Eden. He said that my 
 uncle told him that his wife had died sixteen years 
 before, while giving birth to an only son, as they 
 were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently this 
 son, who had been named John, ran away from 
 home when he was but eleven years old, and had 
 never been seen or heard of since. My father said 
 that Uncle James had evidently brooded over the 
 matter so long that he was broken down in health 
 and could not live much longer. Then he showed 
 me a picture of John Convert, when he was ten years 
 old, and said that it looked exactly like me at that 
 age. Finally, he told me that Cousin John was the 
 sole heir to his grandfather s estate, and intimated 
 that it would be a splendid stroke of business for 
 me to go to Eden and pretend to be the long-lost son, 
 and, after reaching the age of twenty-one, claim 
 the estate as my own. My father told me that as 
 soon as he heard my uncle s story, his well-trained 
 financial brain had immediately formulated this 
 excellent plan, and consequently he led my uncle to 
 believe that he had no children of his own. He also 
 ascertained the names of the different places where 
 my uncle had lived during the past, and proposed 
 that I should visit these localities and become ac 
 quainted with John s old playmates, in order to 
 acquire a thorough knowledge of his youthful char-
 
 B O R N A G A I N 225 
 
 acteristics and any other useful information neces 
 sary to carry out the deception successfully. 
 
 Well, I entered into the plot with enthusiasm, 
 and within six months presented myself to Uncle 
 James as his son. 
 
 At first the scheme worked to perfection, and 
 there was great rejoicing in the little town of Eden, 
 where the Rev. James Convert was an honored and 
 respected citizen of the community. But as time went 
 by, my uncle apparently began to doubt my iden 
 tity, for at times he would look at me long and 
 searchingly, and then, with a sorrowful shake of the 
 head, would remark that I lacked the character of 
 the boy he had known as his son. So, fearing that 
 he might ultimately discover the fraud and foil our 
 plans, my father and I jointly murdered him by a 
 slow process of poison. Then, with the necessary 
 papers in my possession, and plenty of reputable 
 witnesses from Eden to swear that I was the ac 
 knowledged son of the Rev. James Convert, at the 
 age of twenty-one I took possession of my grand 
 father s vast estate in England. 
 
 But the fear of the rightful heir turning up 
 sooner or later to expose the fraud began to haunt 
 me, and, feeling my insecurity as long as he was alive, 
 I began a long and tedious search for John Convert, 
 which extended to all parts of the world, and cov 
 ered a period of over twenty-three years, with the 
 sole purpose of killing him if found. 
 
 In the meantime, fearing that my father might 
 become conscience-stricken sooner or later, and 
 make a confession of our crime to the authorities, 
 I killed him also; and of the three murders, of which
 
 226 BORNAGAIN 
 
 I am now responsible, I feel less concern over my 
 father s death than of the other two; for was it not 
 from him that I inherited the instincts to lie, cheat, 
 steal, and murder for money, and by his instructions 
 that these instincts were developed, instead of being 
 discouraged from infancy? 
 
 Well, although I searched in nearly every nook 
 and corner of the globe, I was unable to find even 
 a clue to my missing cousin, but during that time a 
 most peculiar affair happened, which resulted in 
 my killing a third victim. 
 
 As you will remember, I met and became in 
 fatuated with you in Paris over three years ago, and 
 then followed you to Chicago. After learning that 
 you had secretly departed for Europe again in order 
 to avoid me, I made up my mind to bother you no 
 further, and taking a trip in the opposite direction 
 I spent considerable time touring Australia, Africa 
 and Asia. It was about two years after, while stop 
 ping at a fashionable hotel in Berlin that I discov 
 ered a young woman boarding there by the name of 
 Arietta Fogg. So closely did she resemble you that 
 I supposed it was you living there under an assumed 
 name. At first when I accused her of being Arietta 
 Wright, of Chicago, she denied it emphatically. But 
 later, after learning that I was a millionaire, she pre 
 tended that I was right in my supposition and led 
 me to believe that she had left home for an indefinite 
 period owing to some family disagreement and was 
 now traveling incognito. She permitted me to show 
 her many attentions and gradually we became very 
 good friends. So infatuated with her charms did I 
 become that I was her abject slave. We went to
 
 BORNAGAIN 227 
 
 Italy and Egypt together and I lavished money upon 
 her without stint. I proposed honorable marriage 
 to her a hundred times, but she always refused, say 
 ing that she preferred a free and independent life. 
 We went to New York, and there I discovered that 
 there were other men besides myself interested in 
 her, and that she had two different places of resi 
 dence. Several times I saw her in fashionable res 
 taurants dining with other men, and following her 
 one night into the Seraglio Apartments, I found that 
 she occupied a suite of rooms there, of which I had 
 known nothing. She was somewhat under the influ 
 ence of liquor that night, and the information I 
 secured from her was of such a kind that it almost 
 drove me mad with jealousy, and in a fit of frenzy 
 I stabbed her to death with her own toy dagger and 
 left her lying on the bed. The next morning I 
 quietly boarded the steamer for Europe, and keep 
 ing out of sight until away from land, I started to 
 go to the purser s office to pay for my passage, when 
 the very first person I met was you. You can well 
 imagine how it startled me to see one whom I 
 thought was dead. But after the first shock had 
 passed away, and learning from the list that Arietta 
 Wright was a passenger, I gave the whole matter 
 thoughtful consideration and finally concluded that 
 Arietta Fogg and Arietta Wright were two different 
 persons and that the other was merely a beautiful 
 adventuress and your double. 
 
 Well, you know the rest. You never did noi 
 never would care for me, and as the great wealth 
 I so wrongfully acquired cannot buy happiness or 
 peace of mind, I shall ask God to forgive my sins and 
 then blow out the brains that have become so useless.
 
 228 B O R N A G A I N 
 
 Somewhere in this world the right John Con 
 vert may be earning his bread by the sweat of his 
 brow, entirely ignorant of the fact that he is a 
 millionaire by birth, for it was his father s intention 
 never to disclose this secret to him, preferring that 
 he should spend his time as a useful laborer, rather 
 than a moneyed loafer, living without work. Whe 
 ther he resembles me at this age or not, I cannot say. 
 Perhaps not, for my hair has become prematurely 
 white from sin and worry. Then again, he may 
 wear a beard, while my face is clean shaven. But no 
 matter where he is, what he does, or how he looks, 
 I shall trust in you to do all within your power to 
 try and locate him, and deliver into his hands the 
 enclosed papers, which will be the means of restor 
 ing his possessions to him. 
 
 1 If you are fortunate enough to find him, beg 
 his forgiveness for me, and say that the cause of all 
 my wickedness was money, and a father who taught 
 me to love it. With a prayer to God for mercy, I 
 bid you good-bye. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 EDWARD (JOHN) CONVERT/ 
 * * # # * 
 
 Notwithstanding the dreadful contents of this 
 letter, I felt like crying with joy after reading it, as 
 my mind once more became occupied with thoughts 
 of the splendid character whom I had so ardently 
 loved, but shamefully deserted in New York three 
 months previously. I made up my mind to return 
 and ask his forgiveness, and then join him in his 
 praiseworthy labors of uplifting mankind. Oh! what 
 happiness I experienced during the next few dav=
 
 B O R N A G A I N 229 
 
 in anticipation of seeing him again and hearing his 
 manly voice. But alas, how little we know what 
 sorrows are in store for us! The steamer arrived at 
 her wharf at ten o clock this morning, and a few min 
 utes later I was seated in a carriage speeding along 
 in the direction of the Waldoria Hotel. At forty 
 minutes past ten I inquired of the clerk for John 
 Convert. Then came the appalling information 
 that he was to be electrocuted at noon for the mur 
 der of Arietta Fogg. The rest seems like an awful 
 nightmare. Getting a schedule of trains for Sing 
 Sing, I rushed outside the hotel, and, jumping in 
 the first cab I saw, handed the driver a roll of bills, 
 and told him they were all his if he could get me to 
 the depot in time to catch the eleven o clock train. 
 Through the streets like mad we whirled, and, 
 reaching the station, I quickly alighted and ran to 
 the ticket office, and from there to the train, which 
 I boarded just as it started away. It was an express, 
 which made no stops before reaching Sing Sing, and 
 was due there at exactly twelve o clock, the time 
 set for the electrocution. I told the conductor that 
 I would give him a million dollars if he would land 
 me in Sing Sing fifteen minutes ahead of time, but 
 he apparently thought I was insane, and paid no 
 attention to my frantic entreaties to go faster. To 
 make matters worse, the train arrived five minutes 
 late, but, hoping against hopes, I got into a carriage 
 and was driven to the prison. 
 
 "Here the attendants thought I was crazy, as I 
 rushed into the reception room, crying out to stop 
 the electrocution, and they would not permit me to 
 see the Warden, who was in his private office. Hear 
 ing my cries, however, the Warden came out to see
 
 230 BORN AGAIN 
 
 what was the trouble, and as quickly as possible I 
 explained to him the circumstances surrounding the 
 murder of Arietta Fogg, and showed him the written 
 confession of Edward Convert. He read just enough 
 to make sure he was right, and then with an ex 
 clamation of horror he rushed out of the office, fol 
 lowed by me. Through grated doors, long, dismal 
 corridors, and a court-yard, we ran, and coming to 
 a little, red brick house, he broke open the frame 
 door with a crash, and hurried inside, only to find 
 that we were just a minute too late. 
 
 "After a fit of sobbing, Arietta Wright quieted 
 herself long enough to say: "Telegraph the news to 
 all parts of the civilized world that the State of New 
 York has just murdered the noblest mortal of which 
 history has ever made mention. Tell the inhabitants 
 that through his teachings a new dispensation has 
 sprung into existence, and that Sagemanism is born 
 again. Publicly announce my firm belief in the 
 beautiful principles of Natural Law, and say that 
 henceforth I renounce all further allegiance to a 
 financial civilization which permits the strong to 
 victimize the weak, and upholds a corrupt and un 
 natural system, which allows schemers, thieves, 
 gamblers, sneaks, loafers, spongers, and all other 
 kinds of human parasites to grow fat off the labors 
 of those who toil. Say that I shall take up the work 
 where John Convert left off, and devote the remain 
 der of my life and all of my wealth towards the cause 
 he advocated. 
 
 (THE END.)
 
 27 YEARS AFTERWARD 
 
 You have just finished reading "BORN AGAIN"; it was published 
 in the year of 1904. 
 
 Now, the next book you should read is "DIRECT CREDITS FOR 
 EVERYBODY"; it was published in the year of 1931. 
 
 "BORN AGAIN" was written by a young man of about 35 years 
 of age and "DIRECT CREDITS FOR EVERYBODY" was written 
 by a middle aged man of about 62 years of age. 
 
 During the 27 years that passed between 1904 and 1931 Alfred 
 Lawson gained an immense quantity of practical experience that 
 added greatly to his earlier knowledge. 
 
 One must get practical experience to have positive knowledge. 
 
 Up to the age of 35 Alfred Lawson had gotten practical experience 
 as an itinerante newsboy, bootblack, farmer, painter, foundryman, 
 carpet weaver, coat maker, sailor and professional baseball player, 
 manager and organi/er which afforded him an opportunity to travel 
 extensively throughout America, Europe, Africa and Australia. 
 
 Then after writing "BORN AGAIN" Alfred Lawson turned his 
 attention to "Big Business" and became identified with a number of 
 corporations, leagues and associations in the capacity of Organizer, 
 Manager, President and Chairman of the Board. 
 
 He also became an inventor, a planner, a manufacturer, an indus 
 try builder and founder of airlines. 
 
 So for more than a quarter of a century he was thrown together 
 with financiers, big and little, and thus had an opportunity to gain 
 the practical experience necessary to understand finance in all of its 
 slippery manipulations. 
 
 So, Lawson was schooled in Labor; he was schooled in Industry 
 and he was schooled in Finance. 
 
 Therefore his mind was trained from every angle of earthly eco 
 nomics as adopted by mankind and he is capable of judging hap 
 penings as they are and not as theorists would make you believe 
 they ought to be. 
 
 So if you want to understand things as they actually are; and it 
 you want to get a balanced opinion of things free from all class 
 prejudices and misrepresentations, then read "DIRECT CREDITS 
 FOR EVERYBODY" before you do another thing as it will be to your 
 everlasting advantage to do so no matter who you are nor what you 
 were taught heretofore. 
 
 A paper bound copy of "DIRECT CREDITS FOR EVERYBODY" 
 can be purchased for 25 cents. 
 
 HUMANITY PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 606 WOODWARD AVENUE DETROIT, MICHIGAN 
 
 231
 
 Develop Your Intelligence 
 
 If you would understand economics you must 
 learn: 
 
 1 Lawson s eight word definition of Economics. 
 2 How the Equaeverpoise establishes economics. 
 3 The difference between Finance and Capital. 
 4 The difference between Interest and Profit. 
 
 5 The difference between the recall and the 
 redemption of money. 
 
 6 The difference between money with value 
 and money without value. 
 
 7 How money is inflated and how it cannot 
 be inflated. 
 
 8- How to balance purchasing power with pro 
 ductive power. 
 
 9 How to stop the thief from stealing your 
 property. 
 
 10 Why impractical theories will not work in 
 actual practice. 
 
 1 1 Why the brain must be fed Truth, not 
 Falsehoods. 
 
 12 Why Justice for Everybody will Harm 
 Nobody. 
 
 Such knowledge can only be gotten through the 
 study of Lawson s Direct Credits Literature. 
 
 232
 
 The Aeronautic Educator 
 
 Between the years of 1908 and 1914, Alfred Lawson assumed 
 the role of aeronautic educator, and for more than seven years he 
 spent his entire time and money educating the public in aviation 
 and aerostation, scientifically, industrially, militarily and sportively, 
 through the medium of his magazines. 
 
 If anyone wants to know of the great gap that existed between 
 Lawson s teachings in aeronautics and what the rest of the world 
 believed could be accomplished in aeronautics, all one has to do is 
 to read the magazines that he published and edited, and compare 
 his writings with the writings of everybody else on that subject dur 
 ing those years. 
 
 Lawson published two pioneer aeronautic magazines, "Fly" at 
 Philadelphia, Pa., during 1908 and 1909, and "Aircraft" in New 
 York during 1910, 11, 12, 13, 14. He sold his interests in each of 
 these magazines while they were at the height of their success. But 
 in the meantime he had educated America aeronautically and gave 
 to the aircraft industry the roots from which it has been able to 
 grow substantially ever since. 
 
 Aircraft is one of the words most frequently spoken these days 
 but prior to 1908, when Lawson coined it, that word was entirely 
 unknown. In 1910, when Lawson established the magazine "Aircraft," 
 he had the word trade marked by the United States Patent Office. 
 
 In 1912, when Lawson edited the Glossary of Aviation terms 
 for Webster s Dictionary, he put the word "Aircraft" into the dic 
 tionary and defined it as "any human device that flies or floats in 
 the air." 
 
 Relative to the "Aircraft" magazine, we quote from the book 
 "Airliner," page 13, the following: 
 
 "Under Lawson s skillful management and editorial work 
 Aircraft jumped into popular favor, and within a few months be 
 came generally recognized as the leading authority on aeronautics 
 in America. Lawson s superior grasp of the entire aeronautical move 
 ment, his keen perception of its possibilities, his extraordinary enthu 
 siasm and optimism, even under the most trying conditions, his 
 bulldog tenacity in holding on in spite of every attempt to shake 
 him ojj, tiis thorough honesty of purpose in advocating a new prin 
 ciple, his great foresight into the future, and his remarkable ability 
 to make others see things as he could see them, together with a 
 splendid literary style, all combined to make Aircraft the leading 
 aeronautical periodical of the world, and its success for several 
 years while under his management was assured." 
 
 233
 
 Lawson, Inventor of the Airliner 
 
 The airliner will always be recognized as a distinct gift to man 
 kind from Alfred W. Lawson one of those rare gifts by rare men 
 which humanity can never repay the inventor for. 
 
 For many years Lawson had been preparing for this great in 
 vention, and when the time arrived for action he made a perfect 
 job of it. 
 
 Lawson knew from the beginning that the airplane would be 
 useless until it had an earning capacity until it could compete with 
 other methods of transportation from an economic standpoint. 
 
 Air transportation, therefore, was assured when Lawson created 
 the airliner and gave to the airplane a commercial status with an 
 economic foundation. 
 
 Before Lawson invented, designed, built and navigated the first 
 airliner, the airplane had no earning power except for exhibition 
 purposes in which itinerant aviators took up a passenger or two at 
 a time for a few minutes novelty ride and for which was invariably 
 charged the exorbitant fare of one dollar per minute. 
 
 At such a rate it can be readily understood that in case a pas 
 senger wanted to ride from New York to Chicago and the time 
 required for the trip was eight hours or 480 minutes, that it would 
 cost the passenger $480 as against say $48 by railroad train ten 
 times as much so that competition with the railroads was out of 
 the question. 
 
 Before Lawson created the Airliner most airplanes were built 
 to carry one passenger that is to say, it required one pilot for 
 each passenger transported. 
 
 Quite naturally, then, such air service could not compete with 
 a railroad train carrying hundreds of passengers and hauled by a 
 locomotive with but one engineer and one fireman, any more than 
 another railroad could if it used one locomotive and one engineer 
 for each passenger carried. 
 
 Lawson, being a practical man, set about to construct an air 
 craft that would carry large numbers of passengers with but one 
 person to pilot it. 
 
 His first Airliner could carry 18 passengers with one pilot, while 
 it required 18 planes and 18 pilots to haul 18 passengers by the 
 old methods. 
 
 Lawson solved the economic problem of air transportation by 
 constructing large ships with spacious cabins and large cariving 
 capacity, and thereby made the airplane an asset to mankind. 
 
 234
 
 Lawson, Founder of Airlines 
 
 The definition of the word "airliner" by Alfred W. Lawson in 
 1919 was: "A heavier-than-air craft of commercial design with cabin 
 capable of seating eighteen or more people and of sufficient height 
 to allow passengers to walk erect from end to end without inter 
 ference from crosswires or bracings of any sort." 
 
 Such a ship had never flown the skies before. 
 
 The airline took its name from the airliner, which by the way 
 is the highest type of heavier-than-air craft, just as the airship is 
 the highest type of lighter-than-air craft. 
 
 In the lighter-than-air craft the Montgolfier Brothers were first 
 to build and demonstrate the spherical balloon; Guyot was the first 
 to build and Tisandier the first to demonstrate the cigar shaped 
 balloon or non-rigid dirigible: and Zeppelin was the first to build 
 and demonstrate the rigid dirigible, or airship. 
 
 In heavier-than-air craft the Wright Brothers were first to build 
 and demonstrate a motor driven, man-carrying airplane; Curtiss 
 was the first to build and demonstrate the flying boat and Lawson 
 was the first to buiiu and demonstrate the Commercial Airliner. 
 
 It is worth noting that all three basic factors of the lighter- 
 than-air craft were invented by Europeans and first demonstrated in 
 Europe, while all three basic factors of the heavier-than-air craft 
 were invented by Americans and first demonstrated in America. 
 
 So airliners and airlines were first started in America, although 
 the Zeppelin Transportation Company operated airships in Germany 
 previously. 
 
 During the year of 1920 the United States Post Office Depart 
 ment showed its faith in Lawson by giving him a contract to carry 
 the mail through the air over three different routes for the sum of 
 $685,000.00 a year. 
 
 The service was to have begun by May 13th, 1921, but owing 
 to the financial depression which overspread this country during the 
 latter part of 1920 and 1921, Lawson s backers were unable to fur 
 nish the cash to carry on the business, and Lawson, for the want of 
 sufficient finances with which to operate upon, was compelled to ask 
 the Government to cancel the contract. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the airlines Lawson mapped out in 
 1919 for the people of the U. S. A. is practically the same map of 
 airlines that now spread out all over this great land and the money 
 value of which runs up into the billions of dollars. 
 
 235
 
 WORLD S LEADING PASSENGER 
 AEROPLANE BUILDER 
 
 During the seven years that Mr. Lawson has 
 been the world s leading passenger aeroplane 
 builder he has evolved three distinct types of air 
 liners, each many years ahead of the world s best, 
 each a step further to attain maximum safety, 
 economy and comfort. 
 
 The new double-tier 100-passenger super-air 
 liner which he is now building, however, makes 
 all of ms great work of the past Loon small by 
 comparison. Mr. Lawson believes that these 
 giant aeroplanes will be able to carry passengers 
 for less cost than the railroads. For military 
 purposes whole armies can be transported from 
 place to place more quickly, efficiently and eco 
 nomically than by any other method of convey 
 ance. With a thousand of these Lawson super- 
 airliners an army of 100,000 troops could be 
 quickly transplanted behind the enemy s lines 
 and fight the enemy from both front and rear of 
 their positions. 
 
 From SCIENTIFIC AGE for January, 1927. 
 
 236
 
 ILLINOIS AIRCRAFT CORPORATION 
 
 Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 September 6th, 1918. 
 My Dear Mr. Lawson: 
 
 Carl Bates and I have received your Bulletins 
 and have read them with great interest. Were 
 it not for the fact that you are so far in advance 
 of the other earth beings in this air game ive 
 would think it extraordinary that a man could 
 ivrite and prophesy the things that will surely 
 come to pass in the near future. 
 
 The other day Carl and I were going over 
 some of the bound volumes of aircraft. Written 
 all through its pages are the prophesies of things 
 that are now taking place. So to us Alfred W. 
 Lawson s qualities are known and it is no sur 
 prise to us to read these bulletins. The thing 
 that does vex us, however, is to see some of the 
 parrots and other classes of imitators trying to 
 get away with your stuff in the press. 
 
 Your sincere friend and aerial neighbor, 
 
 CAPT. HORACE B. WILD. 
 
 237
 
 Direct Credits for Everybody 
 
 Direct Credits for Everybody is the book that thrills everybody 
 that reads it, that is, those who have a spark of Justice within 
 themselves. 
 
 We may have thought that we knew something about Economics 
 before studying Direct Credits for everybody, but after studying it 
 for awhile, we all realize that we had been harboring a lot of false 
 notions upon the subject. 
 
 There is a good reason why we never learned the truth about 
 Economics, and that is because all Avenues of Publicity have been 
 closed to the truth, as the truth would show up those who gain 
 by teaching false Economics. 
 
 There is no chance for any one to learn the truth about Econ 
 omics under present false publicity and fraudulent school methods. 
 The people are taught tricks but never get knowledge. The tricks 
 they are taught are the tricks of the financier. 
 
 What the financier, or his agents teach, is not Economics, but a 
 cheating game that enables them to take the people s wealth from 
 them. What others have written in books is not Economics, but 
 schemes by impractical theorists. 
 
 So, when one reads Direct Credits for Everybody for the first 
 time, one feels like a man who has just satisfied his thirst at an oasis 
 in the desert. 
 
 The records show that nine out of every ten people who read 
 Direct Credits for Everybody become ardent followers of its prin 
 ciples. 
 
 What is there about that little seventy-page book that awakens 
 the souls of almost everybody that reads it? Nothing but the truth. 
 So, as the people have been starving for the truth during their 
 whole lives, those who get it from Direct Credits for Everybody are 
 aroused to the noblest impulses within themselves, and feel as if 
 they have received a divine inspiration. 
 
 Lawson has given to the world a new sentence of five words 
 that will never die. They are: "Justice for everybody harms nobody." 
 
 Then he tells the people that they must have "a purchasing 
 power equal to their productive power." That sentence shows both 
 justice and incentive. 
 
 All Economic writers of the past mention but two classes in the 
 struggle for existence Capital and Labor but Lawson proves that 
 there are three distinct classes at war with one another Finance, 
 Capital and Labor. He shows that there is as much difference be 
 tween Capital and Finance as there is between milk and a sponge, 
 and that Finance will soon swallow up Capital and crush Labor. 
 Lawson says that Capital and Labor must stand together and fight 
 together to save themselves from destruction. 
 
 238
 
 LAWSONOMY 
 
 FROM GOD TO MAN 
 
 By ALFRED LAWSON 
 
 LAWSOXOMY is the base of absolute knowledge. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE is Truth arid if it isn t Truth then it is not 
 Lawsonomy. 
 
 LAWSONOMY being the base of absolute Knowledge it shows the 
 base of all Natural Laws. 
 
 THERE ARE NO THEORIES connected with Lawsonomy every 
 thing must be provable or it is not Lawsonomy. 
 
 TRUTH is that which is, not that which ain t. As there ain t no 
 ain t, Lawsonomy teaches only that which is. 
 
 THEORIES are that which ain t guesswork so the people have 
 been miseducated during the past, to a large extent, in that which 
 ain t. 
 
 AS LAWSONOMY is the base of absolute Knowledge it naturally 
 shows the base of ECONOMICS. It shows God s Economics which is 
 THE UTILIZATION OF EVERYTHING WITHOUT THE LOSS 
 OF ANYTHING. It gives God s formula how it is done. 
 
 ONE MUST STUDY LAWSONOMY to get the base of Direct 
 Credits for Everybody. 
 
 DIRECT CREDITS FOR EVERYBODY shows how Economics 
 should be operated here on Earth Lawsonomy shows how Econom 
 ics is operated throughout all Space. 
 
 ONE WILL OBTAIN a greater understanding of Direct Credits 
 for Everybody if one studies Lawsonomy. 
 
 IT REQUIRED SIXTY YEARS for the founder of Lawsonomy to 
 understand its principles no one s mentality can grasp it in a day 
 or a year. Your mental strength will increase in proportion to the 
 study you give it. 
 
 LAWSONOMY 
 
 . . . Showing the Physical Manifestation of Life 
 VOL. 1 CLOTH BOUND - 223 PAGES PRICE $2.00 
 
 HUMANITY PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 606 WOODWARD AVE., DETROIT, MICHIGAN 
 239
 
 A 000752447