5OMJ ASSURANCES 
 
 IMMORTALITY 
 
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 JOHN B.R BERRY 
 
GIFT OF 
 
Some Hssurancea 
 
 of 
 
 Ifmmortalits 
 
 By John B. N. Berry 
 
 R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 
 
 18 EAST 17TH ST. NEW YORK 
 
COPYRIGHT 1909 
 
 BY 
 JOHN B. N. BERRY 
 
 Immortality 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Who and What is God? 9 
 
 Where is the Soul ? 15 
 
 Man's Immortality 19 
 
 Spiritism 27 
 
 Materialization 40 
 
 Faith ., 46 
 
 Intuition and Conscience 52 
 
 Prayer 56 
 
 Love 61 
 
 Trust Hope 65 
 
 303979 
 
Some Assurances of Immortality. 
 
 WHO AND WHAT IS GOD? 
 
 All men accede to the proposition that there 
 must have been a first cause, but many deny 
 that personality was a concomitant of the first 
 cause. Some take an agnostic position; not a 
 few have some conception of God, but refuse 
 to wrap Him up in a word or superinscribe him 
 with anything likened unto an anthropomorphic 
 form. 
 
 Before we should formulate an opinion, or 
 reach a conclusion, we must have a concept of 
 the subject and work out the proposition to its 
 logical conclusion. In facing this question of 
 the first cause, as both judge and jury, we must 
 decide for ourselves alone the verdict that is to 
 make us heirs of immortality, or the flotsam 
 and jetsam of matter and chance. 
 9 
 
19 flc.ms Aas'iranoes of Immortality 
 
 Whilst some of the old biblical characters 
 state they had seen God : Jacob, "I have seen 
 God face to face, and my life is preserved:' 7 
 Isaiah, "For my eyes have seen the King, the 
 Lord of hosts," yet St. John says, "No man 
 hath seen God at any time: the only begotten 
 Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he 
 hath declared him": and Christ, talking to 
 Philip, when Philip said unto him, "Lord, 
 show us the Father and it sufficeth us," an- 
 swered, "He that hath seen me hath seen the 
 Father," thus epitomizing all we have that is 
 authentically given us concerning the person- 
 ality of God, for I propose to demonstrate the 
 first cause to be God, a personage. 
 
 Our mental unfolding will not admit of 
 adoration and submission to a vague attenua- 
 tion of an all-pervading essence; it is too un- 
 graspable for our powers ; less concrete than the 
 most diaphanous of our hallucinations! We 
 must have Infinite Power, Absolute Mind, All 
 Pervading Influence to win the surrender of 
 <our wills, the abnegation of all that the human 
 suggests, so as to be in accord with the God- 
 voice within us. 
 
 It is more rational, indeed, it is easier to be- 
 
Who and What is God? 11 
 
 lieve in a personal God than to give sanction to 
 any such idea as all things are but the product 
 of nothing. The mind that postulates thus 
 may be said to be awry with presumptuousness. 
 Though we may not know, with a know-ledge 
 that is demonstrable, yet we can know with an 
 understanding as sure to us as anything we must 
 accept because of its logical deducement. 
 
 Agnosticism is stupidity, in its final analysis ; 
 and stupidity separates us from all that uplifts 
 and ennobles. Decision for or against, on one 
 side or another, we must make, if we would ful- 
 fil the law of our being; otherwise w r e are a 
 species of human vacuum abhorred by nature. 
 
 Deny God if we choose! for being a free 
 agent that is our prerogative ! But no rational 
 creature wishes to deny God from pure contrari- 
 ness. It is because of the lack of mental illumi- 
 nation of spiritual discernment that the 
 mind does not find its bent in contemplating 
 the higher and more ennobling things of life. 
 Yet, sooner or later, we must approach the end, 
 our thoughts must turn to the beyond, and 
 God obtrudes. 'Tis then we want our question 
 answered Who and What is God ? 
 
 If He is only an all-pervading spirit, or es- 
 
12 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 sence, we are not drawn to the Heavens, death 
 has not lost its horrors ; but if God is our Heav- 
 enly Father, a personal intelligence, then we 
 can give ourselves to Him, trust to His love, and 
 accept Christ as our Saviour; for we are then 
 bound to Him by our Soul's intelligence and 
 yearnings. 
 
 How important then is it to have this ques- 
 tion of the personality of God determined in 
 our minds, so that our doubts and fears may be 
 hushed and we be brought in harmony with 
 Him, to the end that we may be developed spir- 
 itually to be worthy of that eternal life prom- 
 ised by the Saviour to all who have faith in, 
 and confess Him before men ! 
 
 To know God is so easy it is appalling that 
 we know Him to such a limited degree, in such 
 a vague sense ! 
 
 If we are ignorant of our mathematics, we 
 can never be sure of our sums; understand it, 
 and we will work out the right answer to our 
 arithmetical problem without fear of contradic- 
 tion. So understand God and our doubts van- 
 ish, and we will be able to abide in faith and 
 trust, through all the involved scientific specu- 
 
Who and What is God? 13 
 
 lations that may be offered to perplex and annoy 
 our minds and souls. 
 
 Apart from the assurances given us by the 
 one altogether perfect Being that there is a 
 place called Heaven, a creator, God; who is 
 our Father; that He has numbered the hairs of 
 our heads, and loves us, careth for us, assur- 
 ances that cannot and should not be gainsaid by 
 any man, no matter what his mental illumina- 
 tion may be (so long as Christ is not proven the 
 blasphemer the Jews asserted Him to be,) we 
 can have the supplementing endorsement of our 
 own intelligence, an endorsement we realize as 
 a prime factor in all our acts ! if we but just see 
 the reasonableness, the simplicity of the logic 
 which proves conclusively there is must, in- 
 deed be a personal God. 
 
 When we behold the earth, and the planets of 
 space, we know beyond a peradventure that this 
 earth and these planets strewing our horizon, 
 are real, not imagined. As we contemplate w r e 
 realize that this earth and these planets arc the 
 effect of some cause. Again, we understand that 
 the cause producing this earth and the planets 
 about us, is, in itself, but an effect of some 
 
14 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 other cause ; and thus, to oblige the evolutionists, 
 we get back to the primal cause, where all are 
 agreed. To conceive this primal cause to be 
 God, and a personal God, let us view this 
 earth and these planets, for another purpose. 
 
 We know as well as we can know anything 
 that these are governed by laws, for some of 
 these laws are partially comprehended by us. 
 This granted, and who will doubt it? how 
 can we suppose law without presupposing intelli- 
 gence? or supposing intelligence without pre- 
 supposing personality ? 
 
 This earth and all upon it; the planets 
 circling in space, had a cause, of which these 
 are but the effect : and this first cause the Cre- 
 ator we can understand, as readily as we can 
 that two and two make four, is God; and this 
 God must have personality because He is intelli- 
 gence, and there is no intelligence apart from 
 personality. 
 
 The first cause God, our Father in Heaven, 
 without beginning, Omniscient Omnipotent 
 Omnipresent, because He is infinite, gives us 
 eternal life if we trust and love Him, by giv- 
 ing our faith to His only begotten Son. 
 
Where is the Soul? 15 
 
 WHEKE IS THE SOUL? 
 
 The lexicographic definition of the soul is the 
 spiritual, rational and immortal substance in 
 man, which distinguishes him from brutes ; that 
 part which enables him to think and reason, and 
 which renders him a subject of moral govern- 
 ment. But where is the soul located? Is it a 
 "substance?" as the definition states, and how 
 does it render man a subject of moral govern- 
 ment? 
 
 We hear the word spoken without any thought 
 to grasp its true significance, simply taking it 
 to mean that part of our entity which alone sur- 
 vives the dissolution of the corporeal by the 
 processes inaugurated by death. 
 
 We do not know where the soul is located, nor 
 of what it is composed ; but that we possess the 
 element we call the soul most men of all types 
 and climes accede to. 
 
 If we possess this soul, how can we reconcile 
 this fact with the other fact that no man ever 
 
16 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 has seen it? All other parts of the human 
 have been laid bare by the scalpel, made evident 
 by the senses, demonstrated by the faculties, but 
 this soul of ours escapes our senses and faculties, 
 since it has neither form, visibility, or palpabil- 
 ity. The subtle emanations of flowers we per- 
 ceive; the indefinable charm of beauty so im- 
 pinges upon our susceptibility that we are 
 swayed by it ; the potency of melody thrills us ; 
 all these subtleties are within the boundaries of 
 our understanding, but the soul escapes all our 
 powers to grasp its nature or comprehend its 
 character. The infinitesimal infusoria, num- 
 bers of which will scarcely cover the point of 
 a pin, each with shell of beautiful and varying 
 form ; the tiny drop of water, a world of animal 
 existence, man explores and demonstrates; 
 nothing material, seemingly, is beyond the 
 grasp of his powers to apprehend, and, to a de- 
 gree, comprehend; but before the soul man can 
 only stand mute and yield his recognition 
 through faith. 
 
 It is that something which is the vital force, 
 the living principle, cognizable in our thoughts, 
 but eluding the definiteness of expression. It 
 is not breath or breathing, for we know the 
 
Where is the Soul? 17 
 
 dynamics of this function ; it is a something in 
 us, writ large in our inner consciousness ; some- 
 thing altogether august in us, realized by our 
 superconsciousness through the potency exer- 
 cised upon us by the inner self; an essence of 
 our being as is the fragrance to the flower or 
 the flavor to the fruit; a something that domi- 
 nates us and is beyond the power of analysis, 
 superior to our purely human self, the fragrance 
 and flavor of our nature. 
 
 As we can know nothing other than we have 
 experienced, so the accumulated experiences we 
 gain of a something subtly-subtile existing in us, 
 tends to confirm us in the knowledge of a power 
 emanating from our subtile-self that is more 
 than and superior to, the purely human. 
 
 The soul if having its seat in the mind, may 
 be the medium through which we are made cog- 
 nizable of and amenable to the immutable laws 
 of God. The mind, the will, is the arbiter of 
 our lives, for thoughts and desires, the creations 
 of the mind, are capable of making us pure, 
 true, good, or impure and hurtful. If our 
 thoughts, creations, desires are pure, true, good, 
 then just as we strive to keep them so, this 
 subtile power within us advances them higher 
 
18 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 and makes us better, adding so much more of 
 an exquisite sense of happiness that we have a 
 realization of a higher existence. If the mind 
 forms impure, hurtful thoughts, there is evi- 
 dence, esoteric as well as exoteric, that "adder's 
 poison is under our lips." 
 
 Another element of the soul's existence is 
 what we know as conscience, the voice of the 
 soul, the judge of our thoughts, words, deeds 
 God's voice within us. 
 
Mans Immortality 21 
 
 less, indeed, he be attuned to those spiritual 
 vortex waves which ever and anon draw our 
 thoughts God-ward. One has to be of exceed- 
 ingly fine fiber to be able to realize the delicate 
 cords the infinite fingers play upon in making 
 celestial music in our discordant human na- 
 tures, though sometimes we do find a rare na- 
 ture attuned to the purposes of the Deity, even 
 though rudely incased. But such is the stub- 
 born self-assertiveness of the purely human, 
 comprehension is difficult of those more delicate 
 whisperings from heavenly spheres. 
 
 These rare souls of earth sometimes catch mel- 
 odies duller ears are sealed to; and even to the 
 duller ears, at times, the chimes of heaven are 
 faintly heard, demonstrating that there is 
 within us a higher self that perceives things un- 
 knowable to our normal self. 
 
 !N~o mortal mind ever conceived of a thing 
 non-existent. It is not an attribute of the finite 
 to create. The best we can do is to be so re- 
 sponsive to the influences emanating from the 
 Infinite as to place ourselves in harmony 
 therewith and give forth as reflective evidence, 
 the swayings of our inner subtler self. Radium 
 existed from the beginning, but only one found 
 
22 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 it, and that after thousands of years had 
 elapsed; and though but few of us have seen 
 it, and very few of the few who have seen it are 
 able to comprehend it, none now may deny its 
 existence. The mind of man is so cramped it 
 expands slowly, but it is absorbent and takes up 
 that which has been proven is.: 
 
 To state the proposition that a bit of sub- 
 stance, one quarter of an inch square, will fill 
 a space 16 feet by 16 feet by 10 feet, equiv- 
 alent to 4,423,680 cubic inches, without dimin- 
 ishing itself, would be denied by those of more 
 than the average intelligence ; yet, if illustrated 
 or explained by the bit of musk maintaining its 
 bulk while filling the space with its particles, the 
 problem is grasped, comprehended, accepted. 
 So, if we but realize that no mortal mind could 
 have originated the idea of the spirit's return to 
 its former earthly habitation, we begin to under- 
 stand that the many evidences vouchsafed us 
 must be based upon an infinite principle, that 
 will become cognizable to us if we contemplate 
 the spirit power as we do the subtler emanations 
 from mere material things. 
 
 In the average man may be reflections of the 
 likeness of God. The more he considers the 
 
Mans Immortality 23 
 
 higher nature he perceives is within him, the 
 truer reflection will he gain from the mirror of 
 his soul, of that higher and truer self that is 
 God-given, and the more this introspection is 
 cultivated the more readily will he perceive of 
 the things which before were but as objects to 
 the blind. 
 
 The evidences of the spirit's return have been 
 sufficiently shown to prove that it cannot be 
 blotted from the records by the refusal to ac- 
 cept it by those who do not care enough about 
 it to give it their meditations and investiga- 
 tions. 
 
 If the question is sincerely studied it may be- 
 come a Jacob's ladder, stretching to Heaven, by 
 means of which we may approach the realms 
 now hidden from our ken. 
 
 That we may have unto ourselves the more 
 visual communion with the realms of the post- 
 mortal state, we must understand, as far as 
 knowledge can be obtained, the philosophy as 
 well as the science concerning the spirits of 
 those who were on earth, if the comforting solace 
 of a belief in spirit nature is to be ours. 
 
 While we may not know, we can gain a belief 
 that will be the vestibule of knowledge. 
 
24 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 The mind, looking back into the inexplorablc 
 vastness of the past, or upward or forward to 
 the unimaginable extent and unfathomableness 
 of eternity, when it takes in the spaces of the 
 universe, the innumerable worlds which are dis- 
 persed in every direction through the immeasur- 
 able tracts of creation, and consider that our ex- 
 istence "may run parallel with interminable 
 ages," and that in the revolutions of eternity we 
 may exist in regions of space inconceivably dis- 
 tant from our present habitation, associate with 
 orders of intelligible beings, and pass through 
 new scenes and changes in distant worlds, should 
 we believe these mental conceptions are but 
 products of our limited faculties, or that they 
 come to us as unfoldings of Omnipotence, 
 through the comprehension of and harmony 
 with some of His laws ! The beginning of time 
 is beyond the power of our imagination to con- 
 ceive of, though we can project our thoughts 
 from earth to the sun, and comprehend that it 
 is equal to thirteen hundred thousands of the 
 size of the earth. We can look at the planet 
 Jupiter, 490,000,000 miles distant; then to 
 Saturn, 900,000,000 miles away, and yet have 
 but a faint conception of the extent of creation 
 
Man's Immortality 25 
 
 or how numerous the worlds which exist within 
 the limitless range ; still less can we conceive of 
 the power and intelligence of that Being who 
 called all these things from nothing into exist- 
 ence. 
 
 The contemplation of these mighty works of 
 Omnipotence convinces us of the infinite source 
 of varied felicity which He has in His power 
 to communicate to body-intelligences, to enliven 
 our hopes of splendors of that "exceeding great 
 and eternal weight of glory" which will burst 
 upon spirits of good men when they pass to 
 regions of immortality ; and induce us to aspire, 
 with a more lively ardor, after that heavenly 
 world "where glories of the Deity and the mag- 
 nificence of His works will be more clearly un- 
 folded." 
 
 Astronomy tells us that the space which sur- 
 rounds the utmost limit of our system, extend- 
 ing in every direction to the nearest fixed star, 
 is at least 40,000,000,000,000 miles in diame- 
 ter; and it is highly probable that every star is 
 surrounded by space of equal extent ; that bodies 
 of such prodigious distances exert a mutual in- 
 fluence on one another ; the moon, at a distance 
 of 210,000 miles, raises tides in the oceans of 
 
26 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 the earth and air currents in the atmosphere; 
 the sun, at a distance of 95,000,000 miles, raises 
 the vapors, moves the oceans, directs the course 
 of the winds, fructifies the earth, distributes 
 light, heat, and color through every region of the 
 globe. Is it thinkable that such manifestations 
 of the Deity are irrelevant to the eternal welfare 
 of man ? 
 
 Reason, conscience, will, the powers of the 
 soul, constitute the spiritual nature of man, 
 enabling him to choose and resolve and make of 
 him a responsible being, amenable to the im- 
 mutable laws. 
 
 Matter is made up of parts; it is capable, 
 from its nature, of being decomposed and dis- 
 solved. But decomposition and dissolution are 
 not destruction. If destructibility does not fol- 
 low divisibility in matter, can we assume de- 
 structibility in the case of mind ? 
 
 Self-action and self-government of mind exalt 
 it immeasurably above unconscious matter. Its 
 intellectual, and especially its moral powers, its 
 almost unlimited capacities, and its lofty aspira- 
 tions, create a strong presumption that it is 
 formed for a higher destiny than unconscious 
 matter. 
 
Spiritism 27 
 
 SPIRITISM. 
 
 Do spirits return after the death of the hu- 
 man, or are the various manifestations of ma- 
 terializations but shams and delusions? are 
 questions we cannot exclude from consideration, 
 no matter what our doctrinal belief may be; 
 and notwithstanding the many years so-called 
 spirit manifestations have been before the pub- 
 lic in the character of exhibitions for gain, the 
 inquiring mind of the seeker for basic truths is 
 as much in quandary as ever, because so in- 
 volved have been the manifestations, seemingly 
 clean and genuine, with those that OBVI- 
 OUSLY WERE THE PRODUCT OF 
 CHARLATANISM. 
 
 The question has claimed the attention and 
 received the thought of profound minds, and 
 many volumes have been written, pro and con, 
 on the subject, with but little of a determining 
 character. 
 
 After the Psychological Research Society of 
 England had pronounced the various and 
 
28 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 strange manifestations of Dr. Slade, tricks and 
 frauds, and for winch he was convicted and 
 imprisoned on the charge of obtaining money 
 under false pretenses, Zoellner, in his Trans- 
 cendental Physics, staked his professional repu- 
 tation as an intelligent and honorable man, upon 
 his statement that Dr. Slade, did not perpetrate 
 any fraud when he wrought the SAME MANI- 
 FESTATIONS before Von Hoffman, Weber 
 and himself, and could only attribute these phe- 
 nomena to the powers of a fourth dimension. 
 
 Florence Marryat, in "There Is No Death," 
 seemingly proves by the many manifestations of 
 materializations chronicled in that book, that 
 such a sincere and intelligent investigator could 
 not be gainsaid in her conclusion that spirits of 
 the departed can and do return to earth and 
 manifest themselves; whilst Mr. Truesdale, a 
 citizen of Syracuse, K Y., in his book, "Bot- 
 tom Facts," describing the various wonderful 
 manifestations he had often mystified audi- 
 ences with, showed the methods by which the 
 tricks were performed, placing them on no 
 higher level than the manipulations of the ma- 
 gician. 
 
 There have been some evidences of spirit in- 
 
Spiritism 29 
 
 fluence, or manifestations, and of materializa- 
 tions, that have occurred in my presence, and 
 under my scrutiny, that left no doubt in my 
 mind that there were no tricks of any character 
 employed; that they were as impossible of de- 
 tection as were Dr. Slade's manifestations be- 
 fore Zoellner, Von Hoffman and AYeber ; and if 
 caused by human powers or talent, must be as- 
 cribed to a fourth dimension, or a fourth state 
 of matter. 
 
 Many of the seances were of the commonplace 
 character, TOO OBVIOUSLY FEAUDS ; but 
 there were others that transcended all my pow- 
 ers to ascribe them to any other domain of cause 
 than that of spirit made visible, audible, and 
 palpable; one in particular stands out so con- 
 spicuously that it hushes all inclination to ques- 
 tion its verity. 
 
 An acquaintance whose mind was of that 
 quality that he was recognized as well equipped 
 by study and experience to reach conclusions 
 entitled to consideration, was so pronounced, 
 and seemingly so sincere in his belief that the 
 spirits of the departed return, that he regularly 
 attended circles where the spirit of his little 
 daughter who departed this life in childhood 
 
30 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 manifested herself in a materialized form. 
 So solicitous was he that I test the matter for 
 myself, that I called at a house where seances 
 were held, arriving something like an hour be- 
 fore the time set for the commencement of the 
 entertainmnt, so as to carefully examine the 
 room and furniture. The meeting-place was a 
 plainly furnished parlor, in an . old-fashioned 
 dwelling, in a locality that was in its transition 
 state between its former desirableness as a resi- 
 dential section of the better class, and the be- 
 ginning of a cheap tradesman's and transient 
 boarding business. In the front part of the 
 room were two windows; on the side, a door 
 leading to the hall, and a door in the rear; a 
 tete in the corner between the door leading to 
 the hall and the front windows; a table in the 
 centre of the room, just under the chandelier; 
 about a dozen chairs; and across the left-hand 
 corner, in the rear part of the room, a portiere 
 was stretched, making a triangular enclosure, 
 the hypotenuse formed by the drapery. There 
 was no opening of any kind behind the portiere ; 
 the carpet covering the floor was tacked down. 
 So far as my careful scrutiny enabled me to 
 determine, I was convinced that there was noth- 
 
Spiritism 31 
 
 ing which could be availed of to f aciliate in the 
 commission of tricks, fraud or delusion. 
 
 After an interval of some twenty minutes 
 people commenced to drop in, and when nine 
 persons were assembled, the medium requested 
 all to be seated, the chairs having been arranged 
 in a semi-circle within a few feet of the triangle 
 formed by the corner of the room and the cur- 
 tain. The gas was turned to a taper, but every- 
 thing in and about the room was clearly distin- 
 guishable. 
 
 The medium seated herself on a camp-stool 
 just outside the curtained-off space. She ex- 
 plained that semi-darkness was necessary inas- 
 much as spirits had not power to become mani- 
 fest in the light, and that music was requisite, 
 to enable the spirits to gather strength for ma- 
 terialization ; and to that end all were requested 
 to sing hymns. "Rock of Ages," "Nearer, My 
 God, to Thee," and other well known hymns 
 were sung, all in a subdued tone awkwardly ren- 
 dered. Soon a deep, stentorian voice cried out, 
 "Come inside !" This, the medium stated, was 
 the spirit of a Mr. Severance, her control. She 
 went behind this curtain, and in a few moments 
 there appeared a globule of light just where the 
 
32 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 portiere was drawn aside. It moved slightly up 
 and down, from side to side, then forward, ex- 
 panding the while, until it had assumed form 
 and shape, floating out to the circle, and around, 
 until it was cognizable to every one present ; the 
 human lineaments being clearly defined and 
 flushed as if with life. 
 
 Some one in the circle inquired, "Whom do 
 you wish to communicate with ?" and the spirit 
 answered, giving the name correctly, continuing 
 to float, not walk, until in front of the person 
 whose name was spoken. The party, whose 
 name the spirit had uttered, asked : 
 
 "What is your name ?" 
 
 "Nina Willis !" was the answer. 
 
 "Nina, your father told me you died when 
 you were a child; now you appear a young 
 woman !" 
 
 "Yes ! We grow in the spirit land." 
 
 "What are all those lights in the quilling of 
 your gown?" for she, or this manifestation of 
 her spirit, wore a gown of a material like cheese- 
 cloth, the bosom gathered in diamond shapes; in 
 the center of each glowed and shimmered opa- 
 lescent lights, like unto the flashings of the fire- 
 
Spiritism 33 
 
 fly, though the lights were continuous, not in- 
 termittent 
 
 "Yes !" was spoken, the face downward bent, 
 so that the eyes, luminous and liquid in their 
 expression, could see them: "They are beauti- 
 ful, but look at my hair," the while turning her 
 head, throwing the mass to the front, each 
 strand glistening and shimmering with lights as 
 though it had liquid fire running through it. 
 The hair, of a light color, and long, was ver- 
 itably of the human kind in all its characteris- 
 tics, save its iridescent luminosity. 
 
 "Tell me, 2una, if you are from the spirit 
 world, how is it you are wearing a cotton gown, 
 material of the earth?" the while taking hold 
 of the long sleeve of the garment. 
 
 "You think you hold in your hand a material 
 substance, and are holding me by it ?" 
 
 "Yes! I think so." 
 
 "I will show you that I am a spirit, that my 
 garment is not material, for I will disappear 
 right before your eyes and at your feet." 
 
 Slowly, directly in front of me, whilst I was 
 holding the sleeve of the garment, grasped tena- 
 ciously, and intently looking at the form before 
 
34: Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 me, Nina Willis, or this apparition, shrunk, 
 faded, vanished, as the breath disappears from 
 the mirror, and I held nothing in my hand. 
 
 Many such evidences of the phenomenon we 
 call spiritism have I seen, and been unable to 
 account for on any hypothesis other than that 
 the spirits of the departed can and do reappear 
 on earth, as this most intimate and personal ex- 
 position of the materialization of Nina Willis 
 so convincingly assures. 
 
 Whilst human abilities are various and hu- 
 man judgments unreliable, no man's say-so may 
 be accepted as beyond question, in cases of this 
 character especially, for no matter how certain 
 one may be in his opinion, based upon his knowl- 
 edge and experience, there are many things 
 which may be overlooked or be beyond his pow- 
 ers of analysis or synthesis, that may vitiate the 
 conclusion reached; still science, because of the 
 many strange and marvelous manifestations so 
 inexplicable upon any theory other than they 
 are what they are professed to be, has accepted 
 the fact that enough has been demonstrated, in 
 the materializations, to warrant investigation 
 and definition, so as to formulate, in exact 
 
Spiritism 35 
 
 terms, the theory of the visibility of the subtle 
 thing we term the spirit of the departed human. 
 
 In the realms of science we have progressed 
 sufficiently far to hush doubts as to things here- 
 tofore supposed impossible, so that we no longer 
 question our ability to see through a brick wall. 
 The cathode rays photograph and make visible 
 the bones and organs of our bodies, whilst the 
 "W rays catch and display the pictures of our 
 thoughts. 
 
 Wireless telegraphy is now accepted as a mat- 
 ter of course, but is it not quite as mysterious, 
 even though comprehended somewhat, as Spirit- 
 ism? 
 
 \Ve know and understand some of the laws by 
 means of which we can transmit messages hun- 
 dreds of miles without wire or other mechanical 
 channels, the fact being established, yet it may 
 be stated that Spiritism can be as easily com- 
 prehended, though not now understood, if we 
 suppose the same laws applicable to spirit return 
 as to the sending and receiving of wireless mes- 
 sages. 
 
 When we speak the atmospheric waves are 
 vibrated sixteen thousand times a second; and 
 
36 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 in singing some sixty thousand times in a sec- 
 ond, but in sending sparks from an electric oscil- 
 lator the vibrations are sixty millions to the sec- 
 ond. These electric vibrations pass through 
 earth, water, over mountains, penetrating brick 
 walls, overcoming all obstructions ; and a simple 
 contrivance, called a coherer or resonator, 
 catches these messages, carried by these electric 
 waves, exactly as started, and gives them up to 
 us. Why, then, should it be considered incred- 
 ible for spirits to manifest themselves, coming 
 from spheres unknown, passing through the 
 ether, and all opposings of a material character, 
 becoming audible, palpable, visible to us ! 
 
 Ether, as a substance, is so high in the scale 
 of matter, that we cannot sense it, but Faraday 
 enables us to gain some comprehension of it in 
 his description of the fourth state of matter: 
 "If we conceive a change as far beyond vapori- 
 zation as that is above fluidity we shall perhaps 
 not fall short of a conception of radiant matter. 
 As we ascend from the solid to the fluid and 
 gaseous states physical properties diminish in 
 number and variety; therefore, if we could 
 think of a matter as many times removed from 
 radiant matter as the latter is from solids we 
 
Spiritism 37 
 
 would have a substance almost as far beyond 
 our analytical powers as ether itself." 
 
 Thus whilst the nature of ether is not really 
 known, in a measure we understand the laws 
 governing it, one of these laws being that ether 
 vortex rings are absolute and constant, and when 
 thus transformed cannot, by any method known 
 to man, be destroyed. According to Plato, ether 
 signifies perpetual motion. 
 
 If by Faraday's fourth state of matter, or 
 Zoellner's fourth dimension, we are enabled to 
 attribute these phenomena to laws as fixed and 
 definite as those we operate by in the three di- 
 mensions, may we not, when we have acquired a 
 better knowledge of the fourth dimension, be in 
 a position to reach other worlds as readily as we 
 now penetrate space, and use the ether as a 
 medium by which to communicate with other 
 planets ? 
 
 By means of the oscillator, electric waves are 
 projected that cannot be destroyed, and which 
 possibly reach all planets; and it may not be 
 overtaxing the imagination to suppose that with 
 an adequate resonator we may catch the efforts 
 at communication from distant planets and ulti- 
 mately decipher them. 
 
38 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 If again, by the powers of a fourth dimen- 
 sion, we may suspend the laws of impenetrabil- 
 ity, disintegrate molecules and re-incorporate 
 them by mere volition, may we not expect, at no 
 distant time, to reach that state of development 
 whereby through more adequately compre- 
 hended laws we may communicate with the spir- 
 its of those once upon earth and now dwellers 
 in other realms ? 
 
 The "X" and "1ST" rays and wireless telegra- 
 phy are marvelous, yet are now accepted as mat- 
 ters of course becaues of the endorsement of sci- 
 ence, hence it is fair to suppose that it may not 
 be long before the scientific investigations now 
 going on may endorse the claims of spirit ma- 
 terialization, as true. But apart from this, a 
 case in point may be cited from a source most 
 men will be willing to yield acquiescence to, that 
 may go very far in some minds to settle the be- 
 lief as beyond questioning, independent of sci- 
 ence, that the spirits of the departed humans 
 can return and hold communion with us. "Then 
 said Saul unto his servants, seek me a woman 
 that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her 
 and inquire of her. And his servants said to 
 him, 'Behold, there is a woman that hath a 
 
Spiritism 39 
 
 familiar spirit at Endor.' And Saul disguised 
 himself, and put on other raiments, and he went, 
 and two men went with him, and they came to 
 the woman by night, and he said, 'I pray thee 
 divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring 
 me him whom I shall name unto thee.' 
 
 "Then said the woman, 'Whom shall I bring 
 up unto thee ?' And he said, 'Bring me up Sam- 
 uel.' " 
 
 The Bible makes it plain that the belief in the 
 return of departed spirits is very ancient. 
 
40 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 MATEEIALIZATIOK 
 
 Even among those accepting the tenets of 
 Spiritism, materialization is doubted by many. 
 This is because mediums as a rule do not sub- 
 mit to these tests which the fair-minded deem 
 proper. The manifestations must be in semi- 
 darkness and the materialized not touched not 
 tested by clear vision and feeling. The reasons 
 given are: 
 
 "Light impairs the gathering of strength suffi- 
 cient to take on form, and touch destroys the 
 accreted molecules, and the entity of the spirit's 
 visibility is dissipated." 
 
 This excuse may suffice for the credulous and 
 unthinking ; but to the serious, sincere and capa- 
 ble, it smacks too much of sophistry. 
 
 Even the capable and sincere who vouch for 
 the fact of materialization having been demon- 
 strated under their scrutiny the explanation is 
 offered by the doubter that the subject was self- 
 hypnqtized; that he imagined seeing and hear- 
 ing the things suggested by the medium. 
 
Materialization 41 
 
 The explanation at best is but a vague plausi- 
 bility to those who have not witnessed the par- 
 ticular phenomenon detailed ; but to the careful 
 investigator, who has safeguarded against de- 
 lusions, and who has seen and heard the vari- 
 ous evidences of spirit manifestations, self-de- 
 lusion or hypnotic suggestion cannot be acceded 
 to as the solution of the enigma. 
 
 Were mediums above suspicion the general 
 run of mediums willing to submit to reasonable 
 tests then these doubts as to materialization 
 would vanish, and the question be solved, either 
 as a fact or a fiction, and a fraud. 
 
 If there has been one honest materialization 
 then there can be others that will stand the 
 closest scrutiny. 
 
 That there have been honest materializations, 
 my experience justifies me in believing, notwith- 
 standing the assertion, entirely gratuitous, that 
 I was hypnotized, or by auto-suggestion, how- 
 ever that may be, self-deluded. 
 
 The experience related in the Chapter on 
 Spiritism, warrants my acceptance of materiali- 
 zation as a fact, but another incident witnessed 
 by me, supplements and substantiates this be- 
 lief to such a degree that my faith is so merged 
 
42 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 into knowledge that it cannot be displaced as a 
 verity by the incredulity of those lacking my 
 particular observations. 
 
 At a gathering held by the medium where the 
 materialization detailed took place, I witnessed 
 one quite as positive and assuring. 
 
 An elderly man, whose life had been a sea- 
 faring one, was a regular attendant, primarily 
 to receive visits from his little grandson. This 
 old man was of rugged constitution, hale, vig- 
 orous and mentally alert. His merriments and 
 his strong voice gave evidence that senility had 
 not placed its stamp upon bodily vigor or men- 
 tality. 
 
 The usual routine had been gone through with 
 and several manifestations of materializations 
 taken place, when was seen another of the 
 nebulous formations at the parting of the cur- 
 tains, gradually unfolding and enlarging, until 
 a form of a little boy developed, apparently 
 about seven years of age. The old Captain rec- 
 ognized his little grandchild, and called out, "Is 
 that you Tommy ?" 
 
 This body characterize it any way you may 
 answered, "Yes, Grandpa," and started on 
 a run the distance of fully ten feet and when 
 
Materialization 43 
 
 reaching his grandfather, he jumped into his 
 lap and outstretched arms, the old man patting 
 and hugging the lad, and kissing him with all 
 the ardor we see displayed towards the actual 
 physical being. 
 
 No one present doubted that this grandchild 
 of the old captain was veritably present in bod- 
 ily substantiality, and the old man's voice, ten- 
 derness and joy, evidenced his absolute faith in 
 the actual presence, visible and palpable, of his 
 grandchild. 
 
 Were the captain and the others of the audi- 
 ence hypnotized by the medium, or self -deluded 
 by auto-suggestion, and none of them conscious 
 of the change in themselves ? 
 
 It is hardly thinkable. The little fellow, his 
 voice heard by everyone in the circle, asked, 
 "How is Mamma ?" and the captain answer- 
 ing, "She is well." "Give my love to Mamma, 
 and tell her I'm happy," said the spirit boy. 
 
 The captain asked Tommy if he had learned 
 to ride his bicycle yet? (The inference from 
 this inquiry being, that in some former mate- 
 rialization he had told his grandpa that he was 
 trying to ride a bicycle.) The boy said, "I'll 
 show you," leaping from the lap of the old gen- 
 
44 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 tleman, and instantly he was seen circling 
 around with such velocity that the many con- 
 centric circles appeared as one broad ribbon of 
 hazy light, the speed gradually slowing down, 
 and then they beheld him standing in the 
 center of the circle, where he slowly diminishd 
 and vanished from sight. 
 
 On another occasion I have seen several ma- 
 terialized spirit-bodies at one time in the center 
 of the circle, though the light w r as so dim they 
 were of vapory indistinctness, each singing, 
 some in alto, others in soprano, again others in 
 tenor and base, evidencing their individuality 
 in form and voice, and dematerializing in the 
 presence of all. 
 
 If there were any trick or delusion here where 
 the room had been examined most carefully, and 
 absence of all paraphernalia noted, then this 
 medium possessed a skill or an art that would 
 have won her fame and fortune on a larger 
 stage, for as far as it was possible for a careful 
 examination of the room and furniture to dis- 
 close, it was simply out of the question for this 
 woman to have made provision for the secreting 
 of so many persons as assistants in her perform- 
 ances. 
 
Materialization 45 
 
 If I was deluded or deceived in any way; if 
 there were any human agencies or tricks in these 
 manifestations, then my attributes fail to im- 
 press me with any sense of self-delusion, sway- 
 ing suggestions or questions of doubt. 
 
 These were the most perfect performances I 
 ever witnessed; they were the most marvelous 
 expositions of legerdemain, or they were the 
 veritable materialization of departed spirits. 
 
 Until I have as visible palpable and assuring 
 evidences given me that I was a victim of some 
 hallucination, I must yield my belief to that 
 assurance my sincere investigation urges that I 
 beheld veritable materialization of the spirit of 
 the departed human. 
 
 If, therefore, materialization is a fact, there 
 should be means, methods, capabilities, to prove 
 the matter beyond cavil, and if there are any 
 sincere, honorable mediums holding the belief, 
 then they should submit their manifestation to 
 the careful scrutiny of the intelligent and 
 earnest seeker for truth in order that Spiritism 
 may be kept on the broad base of actuality, so 
 that the testimony of many may be the answer 
 to the critics who claim that Spiritism is but the 
 thing that jcharlatans conjure with. 
 
46 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 Faith ! "The substance of things hoped for, 
 the evidence of things not seen." This is more 
 rhetorical and epigrammatic than exact, for 
 faith is real; almost, in a sense, tangible and 
 visible in its power. It is more than hope, for 
 in it we place a trust, a reliance, that is not 
 vague, indefinite or nebulous, but realized by 
 our inner consciousness, or subtler self, as a 
 fact. 
 
 The degree of development of our faith indi- 
 cates the quality of our character in its spiritual 
 evolvement: the less defined the grosser our 
 nature ; the more dominant, the higher and truer 
 is our abstraction from the things which con- 
 taminate. 
 
 Faith is not a blind yielding of our wills or 
 our intelligence "to things hoped for to things 
 not seen," but an intelligent giving of our trust, 
 of our soul's and mind's acquiescence, to 
 things inter muros, beyond the ken of our hu- 
 
Faith 47 
 
 man inspection. It is not an evidence of things 
 not seen so much as a yielding of our belief in 
 the assurance given by another. 
 
 There are several degrees and qualities of 
 faith, each expressive of the varying phases of 
 our trusts and judgments: A faith in man or 
 woman that impels our regard: that faith our 
 minds yield to statements made to us, even when 
 we are not drawn to the person making them; 
 faith in a plan or enterprise ; faith in the means 
 employed, or that we surrender ourselves to: 
 then that sublimest of all our faiths, the sav- 
 ing faith. 
 
 All these meanings are embodied in the word 
 Faith : trust in the concrete ; to draw, to bind, 
 in its primitive signification. 
 
 There are three words, which supplement and 
 amplify each other, that probably loom larger 
 and mean more to us than any other three words 
 in our language: home love faith! These 
 we use too perfunctorily, not realizing their 
 great potency in the upbuilding of our charac- 
 ter. 
 
 From the beginning of the mental unfolding 
 and the first emotions manifested in infancy, 
 the mother and babe are drawn and bound to 
 
48 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 each other by love faith : the truest and sweet- 
 est of human endowments. Again, this love 
 faith assumes another form, that of ardor and 
 admiration, causing the binding of our love and 
 faith, for better, for worse, until death us do 
 part. Another phase is when we trust ourselves, 
 or our loved ones, to be transported out of our 
 protection away from our care. All these 
 variations of faith appertain mostly to our re- 
 lation with our fellow being, but the faith relat- 
 ing to the spiritual part of us saving faith 
 sooner or later becomes the most consequential 
 fact in life, since the life here, in its highest 
 form, and the life that is to be hereafter, are 
 predicated upon the degree or quality of our 
 spiritual or saving faith. 
 
 Faith is a necessary concomitant of all our 
 acts. In eating, drinking, sleeping or walking; 
 in our dealings with our fellowmen, we must 
 trust and rely upon have faith in things we 
 have no control over; for each step we take, 
 each act, is an evidence of our surrender to 
 someone, to something, since we cannot know 
 the results to be unfolded by the next instant. . 
 
 We may have faith in, or we may doubt, 
 just as we are inclined or choose concerning 
 
Faith 49 
 
 the events, or of the lives of the personages por- 
 trayed in the annals of the past, for only the 
 correctness of our reading, of our understand- 
 ing, and of our opinions of the world's history, 
 would be involved; but regarding that one 
 unique personage Christ, we are to be held ac- 
 countable for the attitude we take concerning 
 Him. We are bound, compelled, to accept Him 
 for just what is historically stated as His words 
 and acts, or, abide the consequences of our re- 
 jection of Him as the Saviour; for belief 
 faith in Him he makes the prerequisite for 
 our eternal life. 
 
 To yield acquiescence, is faith, a faith that 
 has no variableness of meaning, but is, must be, 
 absolute trust. He must be to us The way, the 
 truth and the life/ or we condemn him, "Be- 
 cause ye have heard his blasphemy, considering 
 himself equal with God." 
 
 This faith in Christ must be a living a soul, 
 mind and heart faith ; not a mere word to con- 
 vey a meaning of a state of trust ; for upon this 
 acceptance of Christ as the Messiah, as the one 
 in whom we must believe, if we would have life 
 eternal depends all that this earth-life signi- 
 fies. 
 
50 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 When this saving faith is ours, not tenta- 
 tively, conditionally, nebulously, but actually, 
 then we are transformed, become a new creature, 
 for we are bound drawn to the eternal one, 
 and realize that now we "Shall not walk in dark- 
 ness, but shall have the light of life" to guide us. 
 
 When we yield our mental consent to all that 
 Christ claimed Himself to be, have faith in 
 Him, we gain a rest for our perturbed souls, the 
 spiritual nature becomes illumined, until by this 
 faith He is comprehended, and we realize "That 
 whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but 
 have eternal life." 
 
 This saving faith is a transposing power ! 
 
 To gain this faith it is not requisite to know 
 science, philosophy or theology, nor to sub- 
 scribe to creed or dogma, or perform ceremoni- 
 als, only have faith ; trust implicitly in Christ, 
 and strive to live His doctrines. 
 
 Each age adds something of and to religion, 
 until this simple and sure foundation, love of 
 God and faith in Christ, is too frequently sub- 
 ordinated to non-essentials, the grotesque ex- 
 crescences of superstition, and the paraphernalia 
 of ceremonialism. Dogamtic religion so cramps 
 the intelligent and binds the ignorant, that the 
 
Faith 51 
 
 tendency is to make us afraid of God; instead 
 of trusting in Him as a loving Father, of all 
 wisdom, power and mercy; -our truer, higher, 
 individuality, our spirit-nature, cowers before 
 Him as an austere Deity. 
 
 Religion is losing its efficacy because faith is 
 not the prime factor, but too frequently only an 
 ancillary adjunct to an ism ; to the end, that the 
 benefits may the better accrue for the worldly 
 good of the persons who claim to represent God. 
 True worship is to live the life of Faith, of 
 trust in Christ; the spiritual comprehension of 
 the imminence of God; and constant efforts to 
 be in harmony with His immutable laws. 
 
52 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 INTUITION AND CONSCIENCE. 
 
 Ealph Waldo Trine, concluding his defini- 
 tion of Intuition, states, "Some call it the 
 voice of the soul ; some call it the voice of God. 
 It is our inner spiritual sense." This definition 
 better applies to Conscience than to Intuition, 
 ntuition is a swaying by inner impressions, 
 whilst Conscience is the moral sense in us de- 
 termining the right and wrong of our affections 
 and conduct. 
 
 Intuition is as a sensitized plate receiving in- 
 stantaneous impressions and showing us the 
 subtle picture produced by thought, act or deed 
 in their initiatory or concluded state, the more 
 accurately to direct or aid in the forming of our 
 judgments. It is the picket on the outpost of 
 our acts and contacts, to warn us of the presence 
 of antagonisms, whilst Conscience is the judge 
 censuring us for our errors sins. One is a 
 forerunner, the other manifests its power only 
 after the error or sin has been committed. ^ 
 is auxiliary to judgment, but ancil- 
 
Intuition and Conscience 53 
 
 lary to decision. Conscience inflicts anxiety, 
 grief, sorrow for the error of judgment, for the 
 sin of decision. By keeping our thoughts 
 purged through concentration upon God and 
 His immutable laws: for thus the concupis- 
 cences are relegated to innocuousness, we get 
 into that state of harmony with the Infinite that 
 will give our minds that delicate sensitization 
 which will enable us to perceive antagonisms 
 and help to direct us to right judgments. Ele- 
 vated thought, pure-mindedness, act and react 
 upon our natures, refining and spiritualizing us, 
 until we are brought into closer relationship 
 with God, and more and more reflect in our 
 thoughts and desires, God's will and Christ's 
 teachings. These inner faculties or principles 
 are the spirit gauges or indicators which show 
 man's slower and less accurate minds, the subtle 
 influence unperceivable by the grosser senses; 
 and if we watched more closely these gauges or 
 indicators of the subtler spirit in us, relied less 
 upon our conceits, yielded less to our human 
 inclinations, fewer errors of judgment would 
 result and we would escape much of the lash- 
 ings Conscience inflicts upon us for our wrong- 
 doings. 
 
54: Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 In the feminine we see this power of intui- 
 tion implanted to a greater degree than in the. 
 masculine, and women rely upon it rather than 
 upon reasoning for their judgments. This may 
 be attributable to their more sensitive character, 
 their more delicate natures, but, too, it is a com- 
 pensation for the lack of the rude and enduring 
 in their physical make-up. 
 
 The eternally right is more accurately re- 
 garded as the power i$ developed in us to seek 
 after the things which be of Heaven rather than 
 after the benefits of the world. Man too long 
 has been directed in his spiritual evolvement, 
 to the lanes and byways rather than to the high 
 road of the soul's growth ; the immaterial things 
 appertaining to religion being made more prom- 
 inent and emphasized more than the disclosure 
 and cultivation of the God-nature in us, for it is 
 the state of the mind, not the definition of the- 
 ology which determines our relation to God. 
 
 The world, when the masses were ignorant, 
 relied, indeed had to rely, upon teachers, and in 
 the multiplicity of teachers there was diversity 
 of doctrines, until the simple truths promul- 
 gated by Christ have become obscured by the 
 pronunciamentos of ecclesiasticism. 
 
Intuition and Conscience 55 
 
 These God implanted faculties are our guides, 
 our admonishers, God's voice audible to our in- 
 ner consciousness; and if we yield ourselves to 
 the directings of these soul attributes we will 
 receive the light of Heaven in our minds and 
 have the power of God to aid us in our lives. 
 
56 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 PKAYEE. 
 
 Prayer in some form or other, is used by all 
 peoples. It is a natural instinct peculiar to no 
 clime, race or age. K'o matter how limited the 
 understanding of, or belief in a Deity, Man 
 prays. He may be indifferent in his worship 
 of God, yet when he is forced to recognize his 
 limitations, and is face to face with a dire neces- 
 ^^^sityjliis inner, higher self, cannot be held in 
 check longer, and be his language what it may, 
 a supplication for help breaks from his lips. 
 Man must of a necessity pray, sometime, some- 
 how ! The how is the important thing. 
 
 Some pray only when keen distress topples 
 over conceit and presumption, and helplessness 
 and incapability to contend longer with adverse 
 conditions becomes evident. Then and only out 
 of the fear born of coward conscience, a plea for 
 help is offered up. 
 
 Some pray that God will grant them special 
 
Prayer 57 
 
 blessings, that they may have from Him the 
 things craved, but beyond their capacity to 
 achieve, taking Christ's words, "and all things 
 whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, 
 ifft shall receive," as their warrant. 
 
 Prayer is beneficial always, for it is an uplift 
 of the soul to its source, but is answered only 
 when our prayers are in harmony with the im- 
 mutable laws of the Divine One. 
 
 . If Christ's words meant just according to the 
 letter that "all things whatsoever ye ask in 
 prayer, believing, ye shall receive," then, all we 
 would have to do would be to ask believing 
 and all things we craved would bo ours : and if 
 such were answered the surer would be our be- 
 lieving. But out of our experience can we be- 
 lieve that God grants the prayers we put up to 
 Him, for this and that specific thing ? Have we 
 so found it to be the case ? There seems to be 
 a deeper meaning to Christ's teachings. Christ, 
 the day before, went into the temple of God, 
 and cast out all there that sold and bought in the 
 temple, and overthrew the tables of the money 
 changers, and the seats of those that sold doves, 
 and he healed the blind and the lame; and on 
 the following morning, as he returned into the 
 
58 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 city, he hungered, and when he saw a fig tree 
 and found nothing thereon but leaves only, he 
 said "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward 
 forever, and presently the fig tree withered 
 away. And when the disciples saw it they mar- 
 veled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered 
 away." Jesus explains the lesson he thus im- 
 pressed upon their minds, "Verily I say unto 
 you, If you have faith and doubt not, ye shall 
 not only do this which is done to the fig tree, 
 but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be 
 thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it 
 shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye 
 shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 
 All power may have been given to the disciples, 
 but it may be doubted, if we pray, believing, we- 
 can accomplish the removal of mountains by our 
 faith, possibly because we do not have faith do 
 not believe to that absolute unquestioning de- 
 gree Christ illustrated. 
 
 It does not seem possible for us so to believe. 
 God is not mutable in his resolves, but His laws 
 are immutable, therefore are not to be changed 
 by prayer; he does not suspend the execution 
 of his resolves, alter and change his providential 
 schemes because we in our ignorance cannot 
 
Prayer 59 
 
 know the import of what we ask. A fruitless fig 
 tree: failure in its mission, it therefore must 
 wither ! That seems to be the lesson Christ em- 
 phasized. 
 
 If we would take our place in God's economy 
 we must be fruitful,! fulfil our station and do 
 our part acceptably. I We must conform to God's; 
 laws, or perish. / 
 
 For God to answer all sorts of prayers, be- 
 cause we ask, believing, would produce chaos. 
 God makes his laws, and in order to be in har- 
 mony with them therefore with God we must 
 think, desire and do according to them, and our 
 prayers should be through Jesus for His guid- 
 ance in all our desires and acts, that we may 
 only desire and act according to the will of the 
 Father, not for our wills, \vishes and purposes 
 to be granted unto us. All our cares, needs, 
 burdens, difficulties, sins, should be carried to 
 God and with faith believing these, though 
 they be as mountains, will be cast into the sea 
 for these mountains of sins can be removed 
 by His divine grace operating in our lives. 
 
 Prayer so modifies the mind and regulates 
 the course of our lives that we are thereby, ac- 
 cording to our faith, the better enabled to avoid 
 
60 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 making mistakes of a serious character, or trans- 
 gressing His laws. 
 
 A man relying upon himself may be said to 
 be presumptuous, dispensing with the need of 
 God's aid, and though he may seemingly pros- 
 per the time comes when he finds himself in a 
 blind alley, plump against a blank wall, with 
 the alternative to retrace his steps or perish. 
 
 God never mends his work. It is perfect from 
 the beginning to the end. Man's prayers can- 
 not change His will, but his earnest, sincere 
 prayers tend to bring him so in harmony with 
 God that he knows His will and the more read- 
 ily accords thereto. 
 
 Unless we pray that we be brought into har- 
 mony with the will the laws of God, and yield 
 ourselves to the influences emanating therefrom 
 that His will be done, we then suppose Him 
 to be a capricious, a mutable being. 
 
Love 61 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 With the thrills and emotions of our human 
 loves we are very well acquainted, but who of 
 us gives consideration to that 'love w r hich is an 
 essence of the soul-nature, the love that elevates, 
 purifies, soothes and blesses ? The love which 
 is the outgrowth of the altogether human, for 
 a while allures and thralls the senses, but lacks 
 the intrinsic values of that love which springs 
 from the soul, for it is but of fungus growth^ 
 and soon wilts under adverse conditions. yThat 
 element of our being which only is entitled to 
 the appellation love, springs from the purest 
 sources; mental regard, heart devotion; the 
 subtler admiration of the spirit part of us ; and 
 is lasting and progressive. 
 
 Nothing emanating from our attributes 
 a soiling character when prompted by this love. 
 
 The babe's love for its. mother, innate, indi- 
 genous, absolute! is the purest, truest, sweetest 
 of all emotions or swayings ; and endures amidst 
 
62 Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 the divergencies of after-years vicissitudes. It 
 typifies the sacredness of this feeling as it should 
 always be with us, the yearning for, the faith 
 in, the yielding to, the devotion of all that is 
 
 that is noblest, truest, purest best. 
 Love, in this highest sense, is an evidence of 
 the divine nature in us, and is the power for 
 holiness; linking us to the source of Being; 
 drawing down from the heavens those influ- 
 ences which light up the dark places and sweeten 
 the acrid emanations of our wilfull and crude 
 iman natures. 
 
 his soul-love is the delineation marking^the 
 boundaries between the lower nature and that 
 partaking of the angelic. And as we have it 
 from its lowest form to its highest best, are w r e 
 graded in this life, from the entirely human up 
 to the God-likenessed. The human love per se, 
 is but a face of man under a mask of the divine, 
 the unattractive in itself garbed in the tempo- 
 rary habiliments of the beautiful; and like all 
 that is not intrinsic, sometime or other it is dis- 
 covered to be a seductive counterfeit. But this 
 soul-love endures, elevates, ennobles under all 
 conditions and at all and for all times; wins, 
 
Love 63 
 
 holds, and delights all who are brought within 
 the sphere of its charms. 
 
 Suavity may be taken as the outward evidence 
 of kindliness of disposition, but unless pure love 
 is its basis, a love that loves to love for pure 
 love's sake, it will be but as the dull, uncertain 
 flaming of the flambeau in comparison with the 
 constant effulgence given forth by the sun. 
 
 After infancy but few of us are able to real- 
 ize this highest, truest affection, because of our 
 discordant human emotions. In our adult-age 
 we perceive it nebulously, in the far-off expanse 
 of our introspections ; and have some conception 
 of its perfecting character, of its sublimable 
 power; our grosser natures, our more selfish- 
 selves dominating, so that we cannot lift our- 
 selves out of the slough of our emotions to the 
 Pisgah heights where the fulness of love that is 
 true and pure, may be known. 'He that feareth 
 is not made perfect in love/ the Scripture 
 teaches us, and we realize that doubting and 
 fearing takes from us the human love that we 
 accept as the perfect love, replacing it with dis- 
 trust ; and all that was in us of yielding, shrinks 
 away and antagonizes, so that that we named 
 
64: Some Assurances of Immortality 
 
 love, is no more. But true love, such as is de- 
 fined by Christ, worketh no ill, endures and in- 
 creases as we approach the end of life. 
 
 This true love is so difficult of attainment by 
 poor humanity, the spurious has worked itself 
 into dominance because of the desire for that 
 which we think may soothe and be a solace ; and 
 even though we realize our lack of the higher 
 love, and the desirableness of it, yet not even 
 feeble or desultory efforts are made to acquire 
 the genuine, so that we may be nearer to, and 
 made partakers of, that happiness which we 
 realize must flow from real soul affection. 
 
 The fact that this pure love is of the infant 
 life, and that its influence is perceptible 
 through the after years, may we not have the 
 comforting assurance that in God's providence 
 He ordains for us a state where this love will 
 have its fruition, if we but keep it alive by that 
 faith which will insure us eternal life true 
 love of God, and confessing Christ before men. 
 
Trust Hope 65 
 
 TRUST HOPE. 
 
 Alone ! O God ! 'tis now I feel 
 
 The chilling influence of the world's rude blast. 
 
 Its cold burthen is settling o'er 
 
 My withered hopes, like snow on faded flow- 
 ers. 
 
 The rosy tints of the summer 
 
 Sky, that once o'erhung my path and diffused 
 their 
 
 Dazzling radiance over greater 
 
 Faults than mine, have vanished, and the 
 murky clouds 
 
 Of winter shut out the very 
 
 Light of Heaven from my anxious gaze. Plenty 
 
 And Ease have both departed, and 
 
 Penury mocks my utter desolation. 
 
 The luxuriant home's exchanged 
 
 For a lowly cot ; the soft couch for the straw 
 
 Pallet ; rich viands for the coarse 
 
 Food of the poor: summer friends forsake me, 
 and 
 
66 ' tfoms Assurances of Immortality 
 
 The unpitying world passes 
 
 Me by, with scarcely a word of sympathy. 
 
 Death robs me of the dear ties that 
 
 Bound me to this earth, and leaves me in fearful 
 
 Misery. Covetousness and fraud 
 
 Extort the last penny, and I am doomed to 
 
 Wander about this world alone ! 
 
 The sweet anticipation of better days 
 
 Are forever abandoned. Faith 
 
 A delusion! Love, the shadow 
 
 Of prosperity, hath glided away, like 
 
 The sun that goes down in the West. 
 
 Alone ? Mistaken fancy. No not alone ! 
 
 E'en if forsaken by the world, 
 
 God will never forsake His trusting creatures. 
 
 Though my path through life be hedged with 
 
 Thorns, I'll not repine, but preserve a holy 
 
 And undying trust in Heaven ! 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 f B 9 1935 
 
 
 
 7J ? n T finiVM7 
 
 JAN 2 1936 
 
 
 :' - :' . : 
 
 R: CT 3 CB 
 
 DEC 3-0 193* 
 
 DEC 2 3 1333 
 
 IUAU- - 4 
 
 taNn/BOB* 
 
 
 
 
 ;MOV 1 4 ws 
 
 IIIAI t < jiAr>A 
 
 
 JUN 1 1 1959 
 
 p 
 
 vEC'D LD 
 
 
 JUrt 2 ;^5g 
 
 
 
 
 27 QcV59^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^l-.t-,-'b "JD 
 
 
 OCT 14 1359 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LD 21-100m-8,'34 
 
303979 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY