{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38134/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38134","id":"gutenberg_38134","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38134","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Parapsychology"],"text":"E-text prepared by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness, and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made\navailable by Internet Archive/American Libraries\n(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)\n\n\n\nNote: Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See\n      http://www.archive.org/details/beyondbe00hubbrich\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n\nBEYOND\n\nby\n\nHENRY SEWARD HUBBARD\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBoston\nArena Publishing Company\nCopley Square\n1896\n\nCopyrighted, 1896,\nby\nHenry Seward Hubbard.\n\nAll Rights Reserved.\n\nArena Press.\n\n\n\n\nBEYOND\n\n\n  TO\n  LOVERS OF THE TRUTH,\n  WHATEVER\n  LAND MAY CLAIM THEM FOR ITS OWN,\n  TO THE\n  EARNEST MEN AND WOMEN\n  OF MY TIME,\n  THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY\n  DEDICATED.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nA word of explanation in reference to my title may be appropriately\ngiven here. By Beyond, I mean what is sometimes called the unseen world,\nbut which might better be called the immaterial world, since that which\ndistinguishes it from the world proper is not merely that it is\ninvisible, but that it cannot be made visible to mortal eyes.\n\nHowever, I have not assumed to treat of all that the word might be made\nto cover, but have confined myself mostly to that territory, with the\nentrance to it, which may be said to adjoin the earth, and which\ntherefore is more immediately interesting and important to be acquainted\nwith, and have addressed myself especially to those who seem to be\nconstitutionally unable to perceive the reality of this other world,\nalthough willing and anxious to be convinced.\n\nIf there is any one thing more than another which I hope to convey, it\nis that the truths which pertain to the superior life do not conflict\nwith common sense, however they may rise beyond the perfect grasp of\nthat power of the mind.\n\n                                                   HENRY SEWARD HUBBARD.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nTO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,\n\nGreeting.\n\n\nI had known for some time that I had a book to write, but not exactly\nhow I was going to set about it, when there fell under my notice the\nfollowing appeal, whose unique and touching eloquence, I venture to say,\nis without a parallel in our literature.\n\n\"There have always been those, and now they are more numerous than ever,\nwho maintain that the dead do return.\n\n\"Far be it from me to dogmatically negative the assertions of honest,\nearnest men engaged in the study of a subject so awful, so reverent, so\nsolemn, where the student stands with a foot on each side of the\nboundary-line between two worlds.\n\n\"We know a little of the hither, can we know aught of the thither\nworld?\" 'How pure in heart, how sound in head, with what affections\nbold,' should be the explorer on a voyage so sublime! Never from 'peak\nof Darien' did the flag of exploration fly over the opening up of a\nrealm so mighty.\n\n\"How stale and trite the fleet of a Magellan to the adventurous soul who\nwould circumnavigate the archipelagoes of the dead!\"\n\n\"How commonplace Pizarro to him who would launch forth on that black and\ntrackless Pacific across the expanse of which has ever lain the dread\nand the hope of our race!\"\n\n\"They know little who are robed in university gowns. What know they who\nare robed in shrouds? We gather but little from the platform; what can\nwe learn from the grave? The wisdom of the press is foolishness. Is\nthere no voice from the sepulchre? It is we, not you, who are in\ndarkness, O ye dead! The splendor of the iris of eternity has flashed on\nyour plane of vision; but our heavy eyelids droop in the shadow of the\nnimbus of time.\n\n\"Can you tell us naught? Can we never know your secret till, in the\ndust, we lay down our bones with yours?\"\n\n\"We are here in the care, the poverty, the sin, and, above all, in the\ndarkness. Oh, if ye can, have mercy on us; shed a ray from your\nshekinah-light athwart the darkness of our desolation. We are trodden\ndown by our brothers among the living. Help us, our fathers from the\ndead.\"[A]\n\nHow profoundly these words moved me cannot easily be told, for my entire\nlife, up to this point, seems to have been made up of the various stages\nof a preparation enabling me to respond to just such an appeal as this,\nechoed, as I know full well it is, from the hearts of thousands of my\nfellow-beings. Yet one who should enter the rose-embowered cottage by\nthe sea where I sit writing, would never dream that I guard treasures of\nknowledge gathered in the hidden realm that lies beyond the sense.\n\nFor years have passed, and lonely life has changed to family life, and\nthere have been times when I have felt almost at home again within the\nconfines of the purely earthly realm of thoughts and things. Not quite,\nhowever, for that would be impossible. And now, shall I branch out in a\ntale of strange adventure? Shall I seek to convey to my readers what led\nto those experiences which have so isolated me in thought? Shall I\ndescribe their outward aspect, the channel through which they were\nreceived, as for instance, a dream, a trance, a vision, or _other ways\nless known_?\n\nTo do so might amuse or entertain, but that is not my object. Besides, I\nunderstand thoroughly that in these modern days it is the truth, and not\nthe truth-teller, that is wanted. If a man has anything to say, let him\nsay it, and if it bear the stamp of truth, if it will stand the test of\nanalysis the most severe, it will be accepted. If not, he may show a\nticket of his travels beyond the moon, but that will not avail him.\n\nAll that I ask of my readers is that they will permit me to write of\nthat realm which is so hidden from mortals that many of them deny its\nvery existence, as though I knew all about it. Whether I do or not, no\nmere statement, in the absence of other evidence, could in the least\ndecide.\n\n                                                             THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nBEYOND.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nIn the world of thought to-day, few things are more significant than the\nextent to which the religious dogmas of the past are being questioned,\nanalyzed, and, in general, made to give account of themselves.\n\nPeople are discovering that it is lawful to use the mind as a crucible,\nand to submit any and all statements, irrespective of their age, to the\nelectric current of modern fearlessness of thought, before accepting\nthem as truth.\n\nScientific formulas, many of them, fare little better, and are made to\nyield up the kernel of fact they contain, stripped of the husk of\ntheory in which it has long been buried.\n\nFor the living truth is demanded such value as we obtain in our own\nlife-experiences, if possible; and whenever this can be obtained without\npaying the price it costs us in life, of pain, or loss, or a mortgaged\nfuture, then, indeed, the demand becomes imperious.\n\nAnd this has become especially true of late years in regard to things\noccult. Formerly the boundaries of the earth-life marked the limit of\nthought and aspiration, and those who seemed to have the widest\nexperience within those bounds were often the loudest in proclaiming\ntheir utter failure to find any lasting satisfaction in all that life\ncould give. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, was echoed and re-echoed\nuntil the gloomy thought spread like a cloud over the sky, chilling all\nnoble effort, and blighting the aspirations of the young and hopeful.\nBut a brighter day has dawned. These boundaries, which formerly seemed\nlike walls impenetrable, have grown thin and shadowy, and it is\nastonishing to note how people everywhere are asking, as with open mind,\nIs this future life we have heard of so long, an actual fact? If so,\nwhat is the nature of it? What are its relations to present facts? and\nhow may I obtain a common-sense view of it? Just what are its relations\nto me, and what are mine to a future life? Where can I obtain clear\nlight on the subject?\n\nThis condition of things brings it to pass that a peculiar\nresponsibility rests upon one, like the writer, to whom has been given\nextraordinary facilities for acquiring the knowledge now so greatly in\ndemand. To relate what those facilities were, how or why given, and what\nprice in the currency of the hidden realm was paid for so much of its\ntreasures as was brought away, might interest the curious, as I have\nsuggested, but it would not materially affect the value of what is to be\ngiven. That must stand or fall by its intrinsic worth, not by the\ncircumstances associated with its acquirement.\n\nIt may be imparted, however, that this knowledge was obtained at a\nperiod separated from the present by an interval of fourteen years, that\nso momentous were the personal experiences associated therewith, that\nthe few weeks during which they occurred, together with those\nimmediately preceding and following, seem to constitute, as it were, a\nseparate existence, whose length, if it were to be measured by such\nevents as leave their indelible impress on the soul, far exceeds the\nentire remainder of my life.\n\nThat I have kept this knowledge locked up so long has been due to\nvarious causes beyond my control, and I am more than glad that I am at\nlast able to put on record some fragments of it, at least, whose value I\ndo not underestimate, although very rarely in the history of the world\nhas it been given out in this way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nPerhaps I cannot open my subject in any better way than by giving a few\nreasons why a knowledge of The Beyond has remained a sealed book for\ncenturies.\n\nMy first reason will not be a very satisfactory one, because I cannot\nnow enter into it as fully as I could wish; but it belongs first, and\ncannot be omitted. A knowledge of The Beyond has remained hidden from\nmen, first, because those intelligences who were capable of imparting it\nhave refrained from doing so. Some of these intelligences were actuated\nby selfish motives. They could more easily control those whom they hoped\nto enslave, by keeping them ignorant. Others have remained silent out\nof respect for an edict proceeding from a far height at a time when all\nmen were believers in a future state, and so many of them were absorbed\nin speculating upon it, and holding communications with the departed,\nthat the earth was neglected, and in danger of going to waste. Hence the\nedict, which was promulgated through the kings who were able themselves\nto see the need of it.\n\nAnother very important reason why this knowledge has remained hidden, is\nbecause to embody it in a language appropriate to it, and, at the same\ntime, avoid obscurity, is exceedingly difficult.\n\nWhy? Because it belongs to a different world, a world which has no\nnearer relation to this one than thoughts have to things. To illustrate\nwhat I mean by this, suppose you should wake up some night and find\nyourself in silent darkness and unable to move a muscle. Suppose you\ncould not even feel the bed under you, being conscious only of being\nsupported in a horizontal position. So long as these avenues of sense\nremained closed, the world of things would not exist to you, and you\ncould not say, of your own knowledge, that it continued to exist for\nanyone else.\n\nWhile the situation would be a startling one without doubt, I am going\nto assume that you would have a sufficient degree of self-control to\nkeep your mental balance. This would be the easier as you discovered\nthat your mental vision was as clear as ever, and that your real self,\nwhich is back of all your senses, had received no shock or injury. You\nwould naturally wish to know just what had happened, and it would be apt\nto disturb you somewhat to find that your reasoning powers failed to\nrespond when you called upon them to solve the problem, as naturally\nthey would, since the brain, with which they do their work, would share\nthe inaction of the body. Now, if the world of things had thus vanished,\nwhat could remain? In the first place, memory. You would be able to call\nup the pictures of the past, and live over again in your mind any scene\nthere depicted. But you would not be confined to living in the past.\nAlthough unable to see or to hear, you would be able to assume the\nmental attitude either of looking or listening, and as you sought to\npenetrate the gloom of your surroundings, you would be conscious of\nlifting eyelids which perhaps had never been raised before, and the\nmystic light of another world would dawn upon you. Shadowy forms of\ngraceful outline would be seen, at first dimly, then with greater\nclearness. You would not mistake them for mortals, and, having no\nacquaintance with other-world intelligences, you might take them for\nmoving pictures, destitute of any kind of life.\n\nPresently you would become aware that connected thoughts were passing\nthrough your mind, without conscious volition on your part, and assuming\nthe attitude of a listener you would discover that the inner world of\nsound was opening to you. The subject treated of might not relate to you\npersonally, but you would hail with delight the opportunity to prove\nyourself in communication with other minds.\n\nPresently some sentiment is expressed which you do not approve, and you\nput forth an impulse of will-power in protest. Instantly comes a\nthought-message directly to you. Who has arrested my current of thought?\nThe meaning of this is at once apparent. You are like a telegraph\noperator who has been listening to a passing message, containing a\nfalse statement, and has stopped it. You might now withdraw your protest\nand allow the message to pass as something which did not concern you, or\nyou might assert your individuality and reply to the sharp question by\nsaying, \"Because I allow nothing to pass through my mind which I do not\napprove.\" If you adopted the first course, you might be let off with a\ncurse, and told to mind your own business hereafter; but if you should\nmanifest the temerity indicated by the second, a thundering \"What?\"\nmight fall upon your new sense, and you would discover that you had a\nfight on your hands. It may be supposed that you would mentally assume\nan upright position, which in that world corresponds to the act of\nrising here, and brace yourself for the contest. But it is not necessary\nto carry the illustration any farther at this time. I merely wished to\nshow how _thoughts_ may take the place of _things_ in the mind's arena\nwhen, for any reason, things are shut out.\n\nA third reason why a knowledge of The Beyond is not more generally\ndisseminated, is that false ideas in regard to death are so predominant\nthat it has become a habit with the great majority to dismiss from the\nmind all thoughts having, or that are supposed to have, any possible\nconnection with it, and therefore the avenue of approach to the minds of\nsuch is kept closed by themselves.\n\nIt may be asked why the solitary student is not able to attain to a\nsatisfactory solution of the great problem, although seeking it with\nutmost earnestness. And I answer, first, because he probably seeks for\nit in the same way that he would seek for earth-knowledge, which is an\nerror; and, secondly, because those who would otherwise gladly give it\nto him are able to read his motives, and finding them purely selfish,\nthey turn away and leave him, while those spirits who have occult\nknowledge to _sell_, demand pay in a coin which the student is seldom\nwilling to give, namely, a certain degree of control over him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nMathematicians have frequently discussed the possibility of what is\ncalled a fourth dimension.\n\nThey have shown by clear reasoning that if we could suppose a person to\nbe acquainted only with objects of two dimensions, that is, plane\nsurfaces, the possibility of a third would be as difficult to comprehend\nas now are the speculations on a possible fourth. For instance, it would\nbe as mysterious an operation to transfer anything from one point to\nanother without moving it along the surface that lay between, as is now\nthe manipulation of solid objects, like the passage of matter through\nmatter, by the masters of occult science.\n\nThis fine example of reasoning from the known to the unknown may be\ncompared to Leverrier's researches in one respect, and that the most\nimportant one, namely, that the looked-for fact in all verity awaits\ndiscovery, and that the scientist who shall first boldly declare that\nthe objective world about us, which seems to occupy and does occupy all\nof space that we can reach by ordinary means of thought, is merely a\nveil which hides a world just as real, and having just as real relations\nto us, as the first is supposed to monopolize, and which, in its\nessential nature, is independent of space, and its concomitant,\ntime,--whoever, I say, shall first boldly declare this, will fairly win\na crown of laurel.\n\nWhen I say that this world has real relations to us, I do not mean us as\nmere aggregations of matter in a highly organized form; I mean us, the\ncreatures of hope and fear, of joy and depression, gay at heart or\ncareworn with responsibility; us to whom friendship, love, and purity\nare realities and not mere names, and who cherish the firm belief that\nloyalty to our ideals and devotion to truth are immortal in their\nnature, and that it may be possible that we ourselves may yet become as\nimpassive to the assaults of time.\n\nShall I say us, also, the creatures of doubt and despair, whose sky is\nhopelessly clouded, and to whom anything resembling happiness has become\nonly a memory? The world of which I speak has the same direct relations\nto us all.\n\nThe idea is a common one that this invisible world is to be sought, if\nat all, among the imponderable gases, that if it have objectivity, as it\nis supposed it must have, the nature of it will resemble these forms of\nmatter; and that by traveling out in thought, so to speak, along this\nline, we shall presently arrive at a sufficiently accurate concept of\nwhat these invisible realities are like.\n\nIt is this delusion, that the unseen is by so much the unreal, instead\nof the contrary, that I hope to do something to destroy.\n\nLet me give an example of occult power of a scientific sort, as\nexercised by free spirits.\n\nOne wishes to speak to a friend. What does he do? He simply speaks the\nname of that friend in his mind. Immediately, and without further effort\non his part, there appears before his mental vision a clear outline\nrepresentation of the form of that friend, ready to answer with perfect\ndistinctness any question that may be asked of him. It is telephone\ncommunication without apparatus, and with the appearance of the friend.\nWere the two in close sympathy, perhaps engaged in the same kind of\nspiritual labor, so that the question would be of a kind not unexpected,\nthe rapidity of action common to spirits would make it possible to ask\nthe question and receive the answer in an infinitesimal fraction of a\nsecond.\n\nI have called this occult power of a scientific sort. By this I mean to\nindicate, what is sometimes forgotten, that The Beyond has its science\nas well as religion, and that it is only because its science has been a\nsealed book so long and the corruption of revealed religion has been so\ngreat, that, as a result, the acceptance of occult science itself as\ntruth is called, by some, _religion_, although removed from it as by\ninfinity. It is true, however, that the devotee to occult science who\nshall persistently declare its genuineness in the face of opposition,\nscorn, or even persecution, is on the road to illumination, and he may\nhimself become a gateway between physical life and death, through which\nmay pass and repass the message, the tone, or even the phantom form\nwhich testifies of a world beyond the grave. To such a one, his belief\nbecomes a sure and certain knowledge of a scientific fact, as verified\nby sympathetic experience times without number; and the time is not far\ndistant when these attainments will receive the same recognition, as\nbelonging to the domain of reality, as those of physical science now\ndo.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nScience, as such, is a knowledge of physical facts. Religion, as such,\nis an apprehension of spiritual truths.\n\nThe work of the scientist is to separate facts from delusions, and then\nto arrange and classify his knowledge. The work of the religionist is to\nseparate truth from error, to make it effectual in practice, and give it\nto the world.\n\nIn their essence, science and religion are neither enemies nor friends.\nThey are not necessarily associates, but their respective domains are\nincluded in the domain of thought, and thought is an attribute of the\nego. The ego in us, then, is in touch with both religion and science:\nwith science, primarily, through this material body, which, surcharged\nwith vital magnetism, moves at its will; and with religion through that\ninner conscious self which so avoids expression through matter, that it\nmay remain contentedly under lock for more than half a lifetime, and\nwhich, even when released, may need a special impulse to induce it to\nexpress itself in words.\n\nThe religious nature in man is, in fact, so hidden that it seems at\ntimes impossible to draw it out in any manifestation whatever, which\nfact causes many to deny its existence altogether; and there is to-day a\nwidely prevalent doctrine, world-wide I might say among scholars, that\nall the facts observable which could possibly be grouped under the head\nof religion may readily be distributed among mere physical phenomena on\nthe one hand, and scientific or intellectual on the other.\n\nThe skepticism in regard to the verbal authority of the sacred writings\nis intimately associated with the same doctrine, as is shown by the way\nthe errors and the truth of the Bible are made to seem one, and the\nwhole is rejected as error.\n\nIt is taught, in effect, that all which goes by the name of religion is\nunworthy the serious attention of the thoughtful, that it had its origin\nin the barbarous stage of our development as a race, and ought to be\nlaid aside as a garment outgrown. The days of this particular form of\nunbelief are numbered.\n\nWhy? Because it is to be demonstrated that religion is something more\nthan moonlight vaporings of the credulous, something other than the\nsimple faith of children; that religion is not only a spiritual reality,\nbut that it has a body of its own.\n\nIn order that the meaning of this statement may not be mistaken, let it\nbe remembered that some of the most powerful forms of matter,\nelectricity, for example, are entirely invisible.\n\nTherefore, when I say that religion has a body of its own, it is not\nnecessary to go delving for anything. That body itself may be\nundiscoverable by any sense save feeling. Have you ever been in the\npresence of a man who could fairly be said to _embody_ religion? Of\nthose who manifest its spirit so pure and unselfish, there are\ncomparatively few in the world, but of those who, to that spirit, add a\nfull manly or womanly strength, the number is brought so low that\nmultitudes of people may perhaps never have come in contact with any.\nSuch as these bear about with them a consciousness of power so great as\nto utterly destroy every kind of fear save one, the fear of doing wrong.\nThe name of Savonarola will occur to many of my readers.\n\nIt ought not to be necessary to add that I am using the word religion in\na different sense from that attaching to it in such a phrase as the\nWorld's Parliament of Religions.\n\nIf I should say, There are many sciences, yet science is one, I should\nexpect to be fairly well understood.\n\nI would make the parallel declaration, There are many religions, but\nreligion is one.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nIs there any common ground on which science and religion meet? There is.\nThey meet in modern Spiritualism.\n\nBut because modern Spiritualism consists of a body of facts and theories\non the one hand, and a countless number of soul-stirring experiences on\nthe other, it follows that it takes a great many different people to\nfairly represent modern Spiritualism.\n\nSome have devoted themselves to it exclusively on the religious side,\nothers as exclusively on the scientific side. According to the bent of\ntheir nature, and with an equal degree of courage, the earnest, devoted\nstudents of science, on the one hand, and those of religion, on the\nother, are approaching from opposite poles this forbidden ground.\n\nDisregarding the warnings of the older religious teachers, that evil,\nand only evil, haunts the grewsome place, one wing of the army of\ntruth-seekers is making the discovery that if all the manifestations of\nmodern spiritualism are to be attributed to one source, and that an evil\none, then never was a house so divided against itself before. They are\nprepared to show that some of its most astonishing phenomena begin and\nend in good to all who witness them, and they declare that only a\nculpable misuse of the powers of the mind would lead to any other\ninference than that these good results come originally from good\nsources, and are therefore worthy of that reverence which of right\nbelongs to the good, wherever it appears.\n\nThe other wing of the army of truth-seekers also contains its heroes.\nHave you not told us, they say to the great scientists who have laid\ndown the principles on which investigations of all kinds should be\nconducted, that science claims the world for its field, and especially\nthe world of phenomena?\n\nWhy, then, do so many of our captains and colonels, who should represent\nthe thought of the higher officers, so persistently endeavor to prevent\nus from obtaining for ourselves the store of facts upon which, we are\ntold, the theories of spiritualism are based?\n\nIs it possible for us to have intelligent opinions even, to say nothing\nof carefully-drawn conclusions on this matter, without following the\nusual course, so strenuously insisted on in all other branches of\nscientific research, that of personally observing the phenomena for\nourselves? And so when they get no answer to this, or no answer which\nsatisfies those who love the truth for its own sake, they proceed,\nthese scientific explorers, and with caution enter the unknown country,\navoiding, as far as possible, that portion which they recognize as\nespecially occupied by the other division of truth-seekers before\ndescribed.\n\nAnd they find no lack of material upon which to exercise the keenest\nfaculties of their minds, while their interest becomes so great that\nthey are soon ready to exclaim, Why was I kept away from here so long?\n\nAll indications, say they, favor the idea that in this direction rather\nthan in any other is to be sought the solution of that profoundest of\nmysteries, the problem of life, and, with faces aglow with interest,\nthey pursue their explorations, always ready, however, to declare that\nthey have not changed their course, they are still in the pursuit of\nscience and have not the slightest idea of joining hands with\nreligionists on any pretext whatever.\n\nAll of which goes to show that the realm of the occult may be\nconveniently divided into two grand divisions, one of which may be\ncalled occult science, and the other occult religion; and that part of\nboth which has been recently brought to view is the domain known as\nmodern Spiritualism, where, as I have said, science and religion meet. I\nwish it could be said that scientists, as such, and religious teachers,\nas such, have also not only met, but shaken hands across the narrow line\nwhich still divides them even here, on this which I have called a common\nground.\n\nBut it is to be feared that there is all too little thought of any\npossible terms of peace between the opposing forces.\n\nLet us hope that out from the cloudy mysteries of the debatable land\nitself may come the gleam of a star whose brightness shall illumine all\nwho lift their eyes, and whose pure, sweet influence shall change foes\nto friends, as heart shall answer heart beneath its shining.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nThere are many, however, who have an invincible repugnance to this\nmethod of research, and I would here say for the benefit of such, that\nwhile I am on friendly terms with spiritualists generally, I am not\nindebted to them for what I have to give. My observations of the\nphenomena of spiritualism, although wide and varied, have all been made\nsince I came to know, independently, that there are intelligences above\nman, and that there is a world distinctly different from this, where\nthey have their home.\n\nSpiritualistic phenomena, as observed through mediums, have, in a\ngeneral way, confirmed what I knew in regard to the other world, but I\nfind many of the prevalent ideas which are supposably based on these\nphenomena to be erroneous in the extreme. For instance, it is taught as\na doctrine that there is no death, and those who teach it point\ntriumphantly to the demonstrations of the survival of those whose mortal\npart has been laid in the grave, not realizing that in so doing they\nprove themselves to be still in bondage to the old error, that death and\nannihilation are one and the same, and that consequently whoever has\nescaped the one, must necessarily have escaped the other.\n\nTo prove that a man who has severed his connection with the mortal state\nhas not suffered annihilation, proves nothing whatever as to his\nacquaintance with death.\n\nEven the passing from one world to the other, which is commonly\nassociated with death, is not the same thing, for many possess the\npower of so passing while still tenants of the clay.\n\nIf death, then, is not annihilation, nor the mere passing from one kind\nof life into another, what is it? It is the severing of the magnetic\nbonds which unite the body of the individual to the body of the race as\na whole.\n\nWe do not often consider what an important element in our lives are\nthese magnetic currents which link us to our fellows.\n\nSilent and invisible as they are, they hold us with a tremendous power.\nWhat our friends, our neighbors, our relatives think us capable of\ndoing, that we can do with comparative ease; but anything out of the\ncommon, calling for the exercise of ability which they do not suppose us\nto possess--how nearly impossible it is for us to do it, however\nconscious we may be of the inherent power!\n\nAs a part of the race we are bound to it by magnetic currents so long as\nour mortal life continues, and the cutting off of these currents by\ndeath may be to our consciousness the greatest misfortune or the\ngreatest happiness we have ever known.\n\nNow I am not preaching, I am simply stating that which I know to be\ntrue. I know it in the same way that I know anything wherein experience\nshuts out even the shadow of a doubt.\n\nTo speak of the misfortune of death: suppose you were a clock which for\ntwenty-five years had been a part of the world's life, keeping good time\nand always on duty. Then suppose you were suddenly laid away in the dark\nand dusty attic of a warehouse until some estate should be settled that\nwould require an indefinite number of years.\n\nThe comparison is not perfect. The clock is not only mostly automatic,\nas we are, but entirely so. That in our nature which is essentially\nfree is not even touched by death, but the bodily activities and\nassociations may be our only field of action, and these are cut off\nabsolutely, while memory recalls every event of the life that is\nfinished, and especially every decision which has had the slightest\ninfluence upon our destiny. The positive element in us which has found\nconstant vent in physical action is rendered helpless by the complete\nparalysis of all the motor nerves. We cannot even think, for this\nrequires some movement of the brain. A consciousness of being left\nbehind while the world travels on, a feeling that this experience had\nnot been foreseen in the least, nor in any way provided against, spite\nof warnings which now seem to echo and re-echo through the\ndarkness--these are what is left us in place of the sunlight, the\nbreezes of evening, the voices of children, the light of the stars.\n\nBut death may be release, it may be happiness, it may be ecstasy beyond\nthe power of words to tell. We may have cast the long look ahead in\ntime. We may have decided that since bodily life is limited at best, it\nshall not be first in our regards: its appetites, its demands, shall not\ntake precedence above those calls which find their answer in the depths\nof being, calls to rise out of the mire of reckless self-indulgence, and\nclothe ourselves in the garb of a true manhood and womanhood, taking for\nour model those who count not their life dear unto them, but reach out\nfor eternal values.\n\nThe pathway is not wide, and they who pursue it may find themselves at\nclose of life (I am not speaking especially of old age) almost alone.\nThe energies of the spirit have grown by constant exercise, and the\nsoul has grown strong, imparting its vibrations to the body, which has\nso responded that, one after another, the magnetic links which have held\nit to the slower progress of the race have snapped asunder. We are far\nahead, and the spirit longs for purer air than it can find on earth. We\nhave anticipated all the pains of death. We have endured them in our\nstruggle for the mastery of ourselves. Death now but sets the seal upon\nour victory, gives us the freedom we have earned, ushers us into the\nsociety for which we have prepared ourselves, crowns us heirs of\nimmortality.\n\nNow, whether death shall be this happiness or that misery, in either\ncase it will be remembered as a great fact of consciousness, the\ngreatest ever known, and the doctrine that there is no death will never\nbe able to find lodgment in the minds of those who have experienced it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nIt may be worth our while to inquire how this extremely modern doctrine\ncame into being, and if we can solve the problem, it may reflect light\nupon the genesis of other doctrines very much older and equally\nerroneous.\n\nThere is something so startling, so unexpected, in the phrase, \"There is\nno death,\" that we are quite safe in assuming that it did not originate\nin the mind of a mortal. In fact, one would be obliged first to disown\nhis mortality before he could utter it with any consciousness of\nspeaking the truth. If, then, the words have come from the Beyond, it\nwould appear that some super-mundane intelligence has been promulgating\nerror. But let us not be too hasty. Let us remember that in our\ngrandfather's time the great majority of people looked upon death as the\ntermination of existence. It was an impenetrable darkness. Those who\nclaimed to know anything different were so few, and their evidence was\nso mysterious, as to have a scarcely perceptible effect on this portion\nof our race. Death had come to mean annihilation, and when the\nage-long dictum, shutting the two worlds apart, was removed, those\nspirit-teachers who were commissioned to scatter the darkness were\nobliged to use expedients. Laying aside their own understanding of the\nword death, and taking up the erroneous meaning attached to it by those\nwhom they wished to reach, they sent out this incisive denial, There is\nno death. The paraphrase would be, There is no such death as you believe\nin, which was the truth, and had the effect of truth upon the minds of\nthose who heard it, lifting them out of the darkness, flashing upon\nthem, light. The word was a medicine of wonderful effect, but it was not\nintended as a food, and spiritualists of to-day who make it a part of\ntheir daily diet are most seriously injured thereby. Who that has ever\nattended the average seance but can recall the careless trifling, the\ninsensate levity, of many while waiting for the hour. By their conduct\nthey seem to say, What is death more than a mere journey to another\ncountry? Or a seance, what is it more than a telephone office? Most\nstartling will be the event to such as these.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nBut it is time that we took a comprehensive view of this outer world\nwhich lies beyond the domain of sense.\n\nWhat is the most striking difference between that world and this one? I\nanswer, the world we are now living in is a material world, which to\nunderstand most thoroughly we must acquire a knowledge of the properties\nof matter. This we begin to do in earliest childhood by the use of our\nsenses, and this we continue to do, to a greater or less extent, as long\nas we live, calling into play the reason, highest sense of all, as soon\nas it is developed; and by the use of this, the royal sense, with the\nothers as its servitors, we may arrive at a very thorough comprehension\nof the world of matter, so far as its relation to our needs is\nconcerned.\n\nOn the other hand, the world that lies before us is, above all else, an\nimmaterial world, using the phrase to denote an almost entire absence of\nmatter, but not in the least to indicate any absence of reality. No, for\nthis future life is a reality more positive in its character than the\nfoundations of the pyramids, and its manifestations, being neither more\nnor less than the manifestations of living beings, can only be\nunderstood when that fact is kept in mind. They do not lend themselves\nto the inspection of the curious, these denizens of another life, but\nwhen conditions favor, they take hold of human instrumentalities and\nwield them with a power and skill that defy all resistance for the time,\nand leave on all who are present an ineffaceable mark.\n\nIt may be objected that this statement is incapable of proof, that, of\nall who have crossed the line between life and death, none have returned\nto bring positive evidence of the existence of such an unknown country,\ninhabited in such a way. The contrary is asserted, and while facts do\nnot need the bolster of argument, whoever is in possession of a fact can\npresent arguments relating thereto tending to throw light upon it. It is\nasserted by those who claim to know, of whom the writer is one, that an\ninhabited domain is in immediate touch with the earth, although not\ndiscoverable by any of the scientific instruments of investigation, such\nas the telescope, the microscope, or the spectroscope, nor yet by the\nsurgeon's scalpel.\n\nThe camera, however, which may be called an instrument of record, has,\nat certain times, produced evidence which has excited a vast amount of\nargument pro and con.\n\nThis will not now be entered into, but attention is called to a very\nimportant consideration bearing upon the whole subject.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\nI hold in my hand a lens. This lens, in its shape, resembles a certain\nother lens through which I look in examining it. It was, indeed, modeled\nafter the other, which is a part of my organ of vision. I place the\nglass lens in a microscope, and a hitherto unknown world is revealed to\nme. It was there before, but I could not see it. Do I see it now _with\nthe lens_? It is evident that the lens is merely an aid to vision, since\nthe lens in my eye is also necessary to convey the picture to my mind.\n\nBut now another question: Do I see with the lens which is a part of my\neye? Is not that also merely an aid to vision? Let us consider. Since I\nhave two eyes, I may lose one of them without losing the power to see.\nIf I am so unfortunate as to lose one, then, if the eye is not merely an\naid to vision, but part of the vision itself, it would naturally follow\nthat I should see only half as well as before; but this, very evidently,\nis not true.\n\nI can read as well as ever. For the examination of anything on a flat\nsurface, one eye is as good as two.\n\nNotice, also, that the lens of the eye and the glass lens are not only\nalike in shape and transparency, but that both are composed of material\nsubstances that can be analyzed, and that both are used to acquire\nknowledge of such substances and the relations existing between them.\nThe glass lens is merely a supplement to the lens of the eye. It is one\nstep further removed from the vision, but even the lens of the eye\nitself is not the seeing power. That lies back of all.\n\nTake now the ear-trumpet, a contrivance to concentrate sound to a given\npoint. It is intended as an aid to hearing, but it is not inseparably\nassociated with the power to hear. A person with normal senses does very\nwell without it. How about the ear itself?\n\nDoes that constitute a part of the hearing power of a man? If it does,\nwhat is the necessity of the auditory nerve? If the hearing and the ear\nwere one and the same, there would be no need of this connecting link\nwith the brain. The external and the internal ear, like the ear-trumpet,\nare purely material, and by means of them we are able to cognize those\nmaterial emanations called sound.\n\nI speak of sound as a material emanation, because whatever sound comes\nto us through the ear comes from some material source. The ear, being\nmaterial, is adapted to convey such emanations to the brain, through\nwhich the mind becomes conscious of their existence.\n\nThe sense of touch, also, is exclusively adapted to the acquainting of\nits owner with still another aspect of things material. Hardness,\nsoftness, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, and other attributes of\nmatter become known through this sense, and it may be considered a rule\nwithout exception that when the sense of touch is excited, some material\nobject is responsible. The same thing is true of the senses of smell and\ntaste, but as their field of action is comparatively limited, I will\nallow the first three named to represent the whole number.\n\nThe organs of sight, hearing, and touch, then, are the three principal\navenues through which we obtain knowledge of matter, they themselves,\nhowever highly organized, being also material.\n\nNow, I have said that there is an inhabited domain in immediate touch\nwith the earth, although not discoverable by any of the scientific\ninstruments of investigation. Sight, hearing, and touch do not sustain\nthis, and declare such a domain non-existent. If we bear in mind that\nthese organs deal with matter only, it may be freely admitted that they\nspeak the truth. The world whose existence we are asserting is an\nimmaterial world, and although it be immaterial, it can be shown that it\nhas, nevertheless, a claim upon our profound attention.\n\nCertainly, after what has been shown, it ought not to lose in interest\non that account. _For, if our bodily senses are, by their very\nconstitution, unable to bring us any reports save such as pertain to\nmatter, their silence in regard to the world we speak of counts for\nnothing._\n\nBut it may be said that all entities are material. This is a specious\nplea, but the generalization is too broad. Let us test it in a familiar\nway. Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of\nIndependence, and attached his name to the immortal document in a clear\nand legible manner. All this has to do with matter. Even the emotions\nwhich he may be supposed to have experienced while affixing his name,\nalthough not in themselves material, had a material effect upon his\nframe.\n\nI say that those emotions were not in themselves material. I might take\nmy stand here, but prefer to go one step further, and put a question:\nWhat were those emotions? and then add, This question is not in itself\nmaterial.\n\nIt might be made a subject of thought. An essay might be written upon\nit, which would be esteemed good, bad, or indifferent, according as the\nauthor rightly apprehended the character of the man.\n\nThe question may never have been put into language before, but it is now\na real entity, and our mental powers, acting freely, will have no\ntrouble in so regarding it. It will be seen that, while it may become\nassociated with things material, may be written so as to be seen, spoken\nso as to be heard, or even stamped to reach the apprehension of the\nblind, these material associations are no essential part of the\nquestion, since it might arise in the mind without any such aid, and be\nexamined there without calling into play any one of the bodily senses,\nor any combination of them.\n\nIt may be said that this is an idle question, unworthy to take an\nimportant place in an argument, but it cannot be said that it is a\nfoolish question; and it may well stand as a representative of other\nquestions, questions which might have been substituted; questions which\nhave arisen in many minds at the same time, and the answering of which\nhas involved the overthrow of kingdoms, thereby demonstrating, if\nnecessary, the reality of their existence.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nIn order to make progress in the search for wisdom, it is necessary that\nwe should bind ourselves to follow where truth may lead.\n\nWe cannot maintain our name as followers of the truth, if, whenever her\nfootsteps turn in some particular direction, we refuse to follow, or if,\nwhenever the path leads in the direction in which we have predetermined\nnot to travel, we begin to cast aspersions on the sincerity of our\nleader.\n\nAll who would attain the freedom which large possessions give, must\nlearn sometimes to lay aside prejudice of every kind, and follow\naccording to the general law which bids us proceed until some real\nobstacle presents itself, or some real danger confronts us.\n\nMy illustration has led us to the point where it appears that we are\nable to say, Realities are not always material in their nature. In other\nwords, materiality and reality are not inseparably associated. They may\nbe separately considered, and dealt with as though not related. The\nquestion, What were Franklin's emotions when signing the Declaration of\nIndependence? is a real question. In the world of mind it has a reason\nfor existence, and because the world of mind is associated with the\nworld of matter, and, in some ways at least, takes precedence, that\nwhich is real in its domain may be asserted as real in the presence and\nby use of some of the appliances of the latter.\n\nThe converse of the truth, that realities may be devoid of materiality,\nmay be given here as an aid to the understanding.\n\n_Material_ things are not always _real_ in their nature. The scenery of\nthe stage, the portrait in oil, effigies in wax are familiar\nillustrations, and it will be observed that none of these are intended\nto deceive. They are merely examples of material things used in an\nunreal way.\n\nIn looking at them, we may, by the powers of mind which we possess,\nendow them with a temporary reality, which will aid in producing mental\nresults, or we may refuse to so endow them, in which case they remain\nbarren of effect upon us. I have given examples of things real but not\nmaterial, and of things material but not real. Take another example of\nthe first of these: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals\nrests upon a basis that is not material. It rests upon an idea. If the\nidea that cruelty to animals is harmful, not only to them, but to those\nwho inflict it upon them, could be at some future time disproved, then\nwe should expect that the society would disappear. At present it is\nsufficient to say that the society has a _real_ foundation which is in\nno danger of being destroyed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nIt will readily be seen that to take firmly the position that realities\nmay be devoid of materiality involves a great deal, and those who\nendeavor to prevent this thought from taking root in any particular mind\nare apt to hold up before him examples of the immaterial which are not\nreal. Most dreams are of this nature. Their confused outlines make\ntemporary impressions on the memory and are then forgotten. But we have\nnot to do with such as these. We recognize that real things may be\nmaterial, such as certain houses, lands, or mountains, and that unreal\nthings may be immaterial, like passing dreams just spoken of; but the\nimmaterial which is none the less real is what we bring into view. And\nif we are ready to admit, or to go further and declare, that reality and\nmateriality are not necessarily conjoined, we are then ready to give a\nfair hearing to the statement that a real but immaterial world,\ninhabited by real but immaterial beings, is in closest relations with\nour own.\n\nThese real but immaterial beings, because they _are_ real and\nintelligent, are possessed of the primal attributes of all intelligent\nbeings: they have memory, feeling, emotion, will.\n\nIn power they differ widely from each other, and in their essential\ncharacter there are as many shades of difference as with mortals.\n\nLet us speak first of their power. This is mostly exercised in their own\nfield, that of the immaterial, yet to suppose that it is any the less\nreal in its effects upon our lives is to forget how small a part our\nsenses directly play in influencing our motives. The end and object of\nour efforts may be to obtain the means to gratify our senses or those of\nour friends, but the process through which we are obliged to work is so\ncomplicated, it involves the play of so many forces, it brings us into\nrelations with so many people, each with his own plans and purposes,\nthat we are continually making decisions based upon what we consider as\nprobable, rather than certain, results. This is the opportunity of the\nspirits, and we often discover that all our efforts have simply tended\nto the advancement of others, while we are left in the lurch. The man\nwho keeps his temper under such circumstances may be favored by the\nreceipt of a thought-message. It enters his mind as ideas do, with a\nflash, and if he is wise he will carefully elaborate it into words. I\nhave been working for myself only, bending everything as far as\npossible to my own enrichment. Others have been doing the same. What\nright have I to complain if they have done with me, by their superior\npower and foresight, what I have tried to do with them? None at all.\n\nMorally we are on the same level. Let this misfortune be a lesson to me.\nHenceforth I will at least make an effort to do as I would be done by.\n\nAs he makes this resolution, a warm glow suddenly pervades his being. He\nfeels at once lighter and stronger, and then perhaps he does a little\nthinking for himself. \"If I believed in angels, I should say that they\nwere near, and touched me then; I never felt anything like it.\" Little\ndoes he suspect the truth, that the whole idea which he so carefully\nelaborated in his mind had been flashed into it from without by an\nangel-friend, and that when it had borne its natural fruit in a good\nresolution, it became possible for the same friend to convey to him a\ntouch of her own delight.\n\nIt may be objected that illustrations like these prove nothing as to the\nsource of the experience; that to deny that invisible intelligences so\nplay upon men is as rational, or more so, as to say they do. But we are\nnot limited to such comparatively indefinite evidence. For nearly fifty\nyears it has been permitted, or commanded, or both, that these invisible\nbeings should demonstrate the reality of continued existence, and they\nhave been doing so in a great variety of ways. For particulars,\nreference is made to the periodical literature devoted to the subject,\nand to the scores of books which have been written upon it.\n\nIt is not my purpose, however, to enter into this field of evidence\nwith any approach to minutiae, for it was not here that I acquired the\nability to say, The occult world is a real, inhabited domain. I know\nwhereof I speak.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\nIn searching for truth in the fields of thought, we often run counter to\nour own prejudices, and almost unconsciously call a halt. There are some\nwhose self-conceit is so great that they invariably do so the moment\nthat any of their prejudices is in the slightest danger of a shock. But\nit is rather to the seeker who has in part divested himself from this\nhampering load, which he had perhaps inherited like a humor of the\nblood, that I now speak.\n\nWhat is to be done? How proceed in such a case? The remedy is simple.\nWhenever you are dealing with abstract ideas, and find one that is\nrefractory, either in itself for want of further analysis, or because of\nsome special weakness of yours which incapacitates you from subduing\nit, never give it up; if you do, you will find yourself under it like a\ntoad under a stone for an indefinite length of time. No, the right thing\nto do is to pass at once from the abstract to the concrete, and find in\nmaterial things the counterpart of the truth under examination, and then\nproceed. The effect is often wonderful.\n\nTo illustrate. Suppose you are examining the abstract idea of the\nexpediency of doing right. You may have some particular case in mind,\nprobably will have, if the decision is to count for anything in your\nlife. You may call to mind the famous saying, It is better to be right,\nthan to be president. You will recognize the principle involved in this,\nbut is it of universal application? you may inquire. Is there not some\nway by which I can take the free-and-easy course and yet incur no\npenalty? A great many people appear to be able to, why should not I?\nThis is the point where you need to transfer the case from the abstract\nto the concrete form, and ask yourself, Suppose I were mixing chemicals\naccording to a certain formula to produce a certain compound, and\nsuppose one of the ingredients were wanting. Should I go ahead and trust\nto luck, and expect to get the compound just the same as though I\nfollowed the directions? Surely not. What would the science of chemistry\namount to if such a thing were possible? How could anything new be\ndiscovered if the governing principles could not be depended on, or, in\nother words, if like causes did not _always_ produce like effects, and\nunlike causes, unlike effects?\n\nThe most intrepid explorer in the scientific field might well despair of\nthe prospect in such a case. But this is chemistry, and the laws of\nconduct are not so rigid, you may say. That is just where you miss the\npath. Until you attain to a belief in the unity pervading all things,\nfrom the lowest to the highest, this unity differing in outward\nappearance or manifestation only, and not in essential character, you\nwill find no peace nor rest. The laws of conduct less rigid than the\nlaws of chemistry? Say, rather, infinitely more so. For the higher the\nplane of action, the less likelihood is there of any superior force\ninterposing to divert the current of events from its natural course; and\nthe laws of conduct, remember, pertain to the life of the soul, which\nmakes them higher than the laws of chemistry by two removes, for the\nlaws of health relating to the physical body come in between.\n\nBut the laws of conduct are not well understood, you say. That, indeed,\nis true. We have only a few keys opening into this realm of the soul,\nand most people are content to take public opinion as a sufficient guide\nrather than to take the trouble to explore for themselves.\n\nBut it is the plane just below this, that of bodily life and death,\nwhich we are attempting more especially to elucidate. There seems to be\nno systematic teaching in regard to this that is worthy of the name of\nscience.\n\nThe problem of life itself, what it is as a force differing from other\nforces, how to deduce from the manifestations of vitality what vitality\nis, remains unsolved. And why so? For a very simple reason. Because\nthose who attempt the problem are unwilling or unable to conform to the\nconditions which they recognize as necessary in all other departments of\nscientific research. They do not study life _objectively_. They may\nthink they do. They may think that to study life in other men or in\nanimals is a truly objective method, but this is a fallacy.\n\nThe theory that life needs to be studied from an outside standpoint in\norder to be comprehended, is all right, but the man who uses his own\nlife-force in studying that of other men or animals is not outside the\nsubject of his thought at all. The active currents of his own being\ncontinually intervene to obscure the processes of thought and render his\nconclusions valueless.\n\nIt may be true that no other method which can be called objective is\nimmediately apparent, but it does not follow that there is no other; and\nif we simply enlarge our ideas of what is possible, we shall find the\ntrue method to be just what we ought rationally to expect, and that is\nthis: The student who wishes to solve this problem, either for his own\nsatisfaction or for the enlightenment of others, must eliminate from\nthe problem the one disturbing element, _his personal life-force_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\nDoes it seem absurd to say that, in order to study life, a man must die?\nFor that is what this method amounts to in the last analysis.\n\nNow, I beg of you not to be unnecessarily alarmed. I have said nothing\nabout burial. If death were only another name for annihilation, then\ndeath and burial would be inseparably associated, no doubt. But suppose\nit should be true that it is an error to associate the thought of\nannihilation with any man, is it not clear that whoever permits that\nerror to have any place in his mind is sure to give a meaning to the\nword death which does not belong to it? Is it not evident that the\nthought of death in that case must borrow blackness and mystery of a\nkind that does not pertain to it? Most surely. But let it be said again,\nthat death is a reality; it is not a fiction, nor a mere seeming. A man\ncannot possess bodily life and at the same time be dead. The two\nconditions are incompatible. Otherwise there would be no advantage to be\ngained toward the study of life by experiencing its opposite.\n\nShall I try to tell you, from the standpoint of experience, what death\nis? Perhaps it will be best to tell you first what it is not. It is not\na snuffing-out like a candle, unless we could suppose one where the\nspark should remain quietly alive until the candle was relighted.\n\nIt is not a going to sleep, unless we assume it possible for the\ndream-life to be woven on to the daytime consciousness at both ends\nwithout a break, so that the dreamer, however strange may have been his\ndreams, and whatever the testimony of others may be, is able to say,\nwith conscious truthfulness, I have not slept at all.\n\nDeath includes, without question, an entire suspension of bodily\nsensations and activities. The consciousness of _being_, however,\nremains, and with it, as a necessary consequence, the consciousness of\nbeing alive, however shut in by the enclosing walls of a senseless\nframe.\n\nWhat is to follow does not occur to the mind. A peace that is absolute\nbelongs to a death that is clean. Appetite of every kind is dead with\nthe body. Desire is not; resignation takes its place. What is this\nresignation like? It includes a consciousness of a more potent yet\nkindly will, and contentment with the result of the action of that will.\n\nThe Giver has resumed His gift, the gift of life, for the benefit of him\nwho has parted with it. The resulting peace is permeated with\ngratitude, not different in kind, although different in manifestation,\nfrom that which the little child expresses in every motion of his happy\nlittle body, when he seems to say continuously, I am glad to be alive.\nThe man is glad to be dead.\n\nDo you think it impossible that such an experience could come to any one\nwho should afterwards recover life to describe it? Very likely. But stop\nfor a moment and consider. When a man dies, the result may be said to\nmanifest in a twofold way. First: To the man himself, who is, to say the\nthe least, cut off from his customary outward activities. Second: To the\nworld at large, where the word is passed around, Such a one is dead; and\none acquaintance after another, as he hears the news, turns to a certain\npart of his mental organism and marks it down in black where it is not\nlikely to be forgotten. Henceforth he will send out toward that friend,\nnow become a name or memory, a different kind of mental current.\n\nBut wait: the word comes, Not dead after all--a false report.\nImmediately the operation is reversed. The black marks are rubbed out,\nthe little switch is re-turned, and the friends all agree, to save\ntroublesome thought, that the man who was supposed to be dead was not\nreally so, and the old question asked by Job, If a man die, shall he\nlive again? is prevented once more from obtruding itself.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\nMy aim is to make this book practical, that is, to clothe its thought in\nsuch garb as to render it available for use, not to scholars merely, but\nto all thoughtful minds.\n\nI shall endeavor in this chapter to gather up a few missing links in my\ntrain of thought, and afterwards endeavor to give you a glimpse of the\nBeyond. The question I seem called upon to answer is, How can a man be\nalive and dead at the same time? and in order to answer it, it will be\nnecessary to analyze the thought called death, and separate it into its\nvarious parts.\n\nThe man is dead, says local report, and the consciousness of society\nundergoes that natural change in regard to the man which I have\ndescribed.\n\nHis name becomes associated with things that were, but no longer are.\nEven those who theoretically believe that the man continues to live\neither in happiness or misery, have, most of them, so little confidence\nin the theory which they have subscribed to, that they never dream of\nputting forth a mental current based on the theory. To all intents and\npurposes, society consigns the average man to annihilation, with a\nhalf-careless \"Poor fellow, so he's gone. We'll see no more of him.\nWell, no time to weep, seeing as he didn't leave me anything. What new\ndevice for entrapping the elusive dollar shall I conjure up to-day?\"\n\nI am dead, says the man himself as the shadows which have been gathering\nupon his senses culminate in a rayless silence, and every thought of\nmotion becomes a recollection, a mere theory of fancy, that will not\neven approach the dominion of the will.\n\nDeath, as a state of consciousness, is a thing entirely new to him, but\nhe cannot reason on the subject. To reason is to live, to set the brain\nin motion, to perform mental operations; this is no longer possible.\n\nWhat shall this state be compared to? It is like that of one isolated in\na secret cell of his own house, the key turned on him from the outside,\nevery avenue of communication cut off, dead to the world and all that it\ncontains. If a total loss of appetite can be associated with the state,\nit might continue for an indefinite period; and if the power of\nthought-transference comes in, a new kind of life has been begun.\n\nBut science says that no man is really dead who still retains his\nconsciousness, by which statement science belies its name. Calling\nitself knowledge, it spreads abroad its own ignorance. How many a\npost-mortem has been held in the hope of finding the secret chamber\nwherein that part of man which cannot die has gone to rest! How often\nthe sweet peace of death has become a conscious madness, by this means,\nGod only knows. Gentlemen, desist.\n\nTo find a chamber whose occupant is invisible debars you forever from\nobtaining the proof that you have found it. But perhaps it is not the\nsoul itself that is the object of this search, but rather some special\nphysical representative that might be found still quivering with life\nand so betray its master. All folly.\n\nThe soul when uncontaminated informs the whole outward body. It has its\npains and illnesses, more or less affecting the outer form, yet all\nunrecognized in materia medica, and when its mortal brother is struck\nwith death, bends all its energies to make escape, lest it, too, take on\nmortality. Failing in its effort to make a doorway for its exit, it\nsuffers for awhile through sympathy, till the final moment sets it free\nfrom pain within its small dark house, no longer small, because made\nclear, transparent, by the touch of death, when the dying has been\nbrave. No trace of foreign matter may remain to start a dissolution, in\nwhich case the soul preserves the body from decay without more trouble\nthan a little watchful care.\n\nSight, hearing, touch, through vibratory currents reach round the world\nand even touch the clouds; the body has become, in fact, a mansion\nperfectly adapted to the needs of its proprietor, who finds a new world\nopen to his delighted consciousness, and thanks God fervently for his\nperfect victory over death, as well as for his comfort and protection\nwithin the white, still walls which form, in fact, the first\nabiding-place of the spirit.\n\nWith this still form as passive aid, the soul, with little pain, is able\nto make the mental transition which its change of circumstance requires.\nNo longer concerned directly with any thought based on material needs or\nmaterial changes, it finds itself in touch with the moral causes which\nunderlie these changes; and because moral force is most familiarly\nmanifest in and through people, these, and their relations to itself,\nfill all the mental horizon.\n\nIn this new field of perception, nothing impresses more than the\nenormous differences in spiritual rank and attainment existing among\nmortals who, judged by tape-line and scale, stood fairly equal, and whom\nhuman law necessarily places on a plane of perfect equality, or\nperhaps, through its deference to wealth, makes unequal in the wrong\nway.\n\nThe thoroughness with which past illusions are stripped away from the\nmind tends to leave the spirit fairly aghast at its previous blindness.\n\nFrequently forgetting that the motor nerves of the physical form are no\nlonger responsive to its touch, it starts to rise, that it may go and\ntell the world of these wonders just discovered, but finds itself in the\nfirm and quiet grasp of death, a touch that seems to speak and say:\n\n\"Never mind; that is all right. You forget you are not free. Lie still\nand learn your lesson.\"\n\n\"But shall I not return?\"\n\n\"Possibly, but the mortal life is no concern of yours at present. You\nare dead.\"\n\nAll this as in a flash, for words do not belong to this state, ideas\nrather, the spiritual essences of thought that seem to need no time\nwhatever to make their mark upon the mind.\n\nTo some of these the mind is so receptive that they sink at once to the\nvery core of being, while others are held upon the surface.\n\nThis last communication, You are dead, is sure to be so held. It seems\nsuch an evident conclusion to respond, If I am dead, there is no death\nbut this seems such a contradiction to life's long lesson, namely, that\namidst a wilderness of uncertainties, death is the one thing certain.\nAnd then the recollection of the shrinking of the soul at thought of\ndeath, how to account for that, if there were no reality behind\nappearances so countless?\n\nThis in another flash of ideation that leaves a sense of mystery as of a\nproblem not worked out, and which may not be while death as a condition\nrests upon the form. I say, may not be, but would not be understood to\nmean that the hindrance is mechanical in this case. A pure soul, even in\ndeath, has certain reserve forces which can be put in action if the need\nis great enough, but the consciousness of being in a friend's control,\nespecially when that control is apparently absolute, will tend to check\nall restless impulse in this region of the dark, till now all\nunexplored.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nBut if the soul might not take up and solve the problem for want of time\nand space, we at this writing are not so limited.\n\nFirst, let us state it clearly. If death does not mean a loss of\nconsciousness necessarily, what is its distinguishing feature as\ncompared with life? And what, if anything, is there in it to dread? The\nconfusion of mind so general on these topics can be accounted for in a\nvery simple manner.\n\nThe body has its life and its death, and the soul has its life and its\ndeath, and we have but two words to describe the four conditions. This\nmakes it so nearly impossible to generalize on the subject and at the\nsame time maintain clearness.\n\nFor while the student of natural history attributes life and death to\nthe body alone, and the idealist goes to the other extreme and makes\nlife and death purely subjective--attributes of mind, not matter--the\nphilosopher who would have his mind open on both sides, not only to\nthose thoughts which enter unheralded, but also to those which seem to\nhave their origin in physical vibrations and enter the sensorium through\nthe body,--the philosopher, I say, finds it necessary to discriminate\ncarefully in the use of these words, life and death, and to make it\nclear which is meant, the body or the soul, whenever he attributes\neither condition to man.\n\nI have said the two words cover four conditions. What are they? In the\nfirst the body is alive, and the soul is alive. Beautiful condition of\ningenuous youth! In the second, the body is alive, and the soul dead.\nThe man who by a course of persistent indulgence in all manner of crime\nand sensuality has stifled the voice of conscience, and finally reached\nthe point where he is ready to say, \"Evil, be thou my good,\" attains to\na form of quiet.\n\nThe soul dies, and its decaying powers are absorbed by the body, which\nbecomes henceforth an embodied poison, most dangerous and even deadly to\nthe contact of the sensitive.\n\nThe third condition is that of the soul first described, in which the\nbody has either temporarily or permanently parted with its life, while\nthe soul remains intact. Still a part of the world's seething life,\nbecause action and reaction of the powerful causative soul-currents\ncontinue with such a soul, the interment of the body will decide whether\nthe temporary physical death shall become permanent or not. In those\nexceptional cases where the body is preserved from the paroxysms of a\nblind grief which, when they include contact, tend to snap the last\nthread of vitality, or, still more important, from the embalmer's\nignorant knife, which slays unnumbered thousands--when the body is\npreserved from both these dangers by a previous isolation, great\npossibilities are in store.\n\nA forty-days' fast in the wilderness was the experience of one such\nsoul, after which he was able to say of his bodily life, No man taketh\nit from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,\nand I have power to take it again.\n\nFor his bodily life was restored to him, and death of the body had no\nmore terrors to the man who had attained superhuman powers.\n\nThe fourth and last case, that where the death of the body follows that\nof the soul, will not be enlarged on.\n\nThere are such cases, but such can receive no lessons from a printed\npage. The language of events alone can reach them, and even when the\nsoul is not dead, but rather entombed in the body, and rendered torpid\nfor want of air to breathe, the effect is the same, so far as reaching\nthem is concerned; the death of the body wakens such imprisoned spirits,\nonly to plunge them into an untold agony of despair as they discover\nthat life, with all its opportunities, has been worse than wasted, and a\nbare existence alone remains, minus friends, minus hope, minus resource\nof any kind even to conceal the abject poverty which is seen to be the\ndirect result of wilful and persistent wrongdoing all the way to the\nbitter end.\n\nIf we can suppose that such a soul, at this twelfth hour, under the\ntremendous pressure of this awakening, should suddenly resolve to\naccept the situation, and to brace every nerve to endure the horrors of\nthe event without complaint, while it would not be possible to say\n_when_ there would be any change for the better for such a one, the\nreason would be because time is not to such a soul; while it still\nremains true that mercy is as truly an attribute of infinite power, as\njustice must always be.\n\nIf, on the other hand, we suppose that such a soul breaks out into rage\nat the discovery of its loss, hurling anathemas at the author of its\nbeing, it will thereby plunge itself into darker depths, parting with\none after another of its faculties, until final extinction of the\nindividuality closes the scene.\n\nI have now shown the four conditions which our dual constitution in\nrelation to life and death makes possible. Some enlarging on these\ntopics, which concern us all, may not be unprofitable. We all enter\nlife in the first described condition, with body and soul both alive,\nthe body visible and tangible, the soul more or less so, according as\nits environments since conception have favored its growth.\n\nComparatively few of us ever reach the second condition I have\ndescribed, in which the body remains alive while the soul is utterly\ndead. The protests of this, which is called the immortal part of us,\nbecause the death of the body in itself does not impair its vigor,\nusually prevent so great a calamity from occurring.\n\nSome kind of a compromise is entered into, by which the soul is allowed\na certain amount of freedom, on condition that the body shall remain\nundisturbed in its favorite pleasures. Sometimes one day in the week is\nselected, in which the soul is permitted to rule.\n\nSometimes a single department of life's activities is placed under its\ncharge, and to meet the man on the favored day, or to have dealings with\nhim in this favored department, gives you a very exalted idea of the\nindividual. Sometimes in his business relations a man will be found\nconscientious in the extreme, while in his family he acts the tyrant and\nthe brute. Sometimes his family almost worship him, while thousands\nspeak his name with detestation. In either case the body, not the soul,\nthe outer and visible, not the inner invisible self, is the leading\nfactor in the man, and the court of last resort.\n\nThe man is still in slavery to the mortal; he has no knowledge of any\nlife except the earth-life; the faith-knowledge which he might have,\nwere his soul given its freedom and permitted to use its higher powers,\nis shut out by the disorder of his condition, wherein a servant in\nrank, the body, rules over the prince entitled to the throne.\n\nThis is the prevailing condition of the human family to-day, the\ndifference between most people in this respect being merely one of\ndegree, some giving the prince more, and some less of freedom. A few\nmillions at most have given the nominal power into his hands, retaining\nthe real for bodily uses. To curry favor with these, tens of millions\nprofess to have done the same. In thousands only is the soul truly\nregnant, and these are widely scattered, and more or less hidden, lest\nthey be driven out of life.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nWhen I say that I have been outside and have returned, I speak the\ntruth, and yet my words seem to express an untruth. It is because, as I\nhave said before, that other kind of existence is so different from this\nthat it uses a different language to express even a simple idea, a\nlanguage which the kind we know as figurative most nearly resembles,\nalthough that is far enough from being the same. I should therefore use\nfigurative language to embody what I have to say in regard to that other\nlife, if literary considerations were alone to be regarded; but my aim\nis to benefit, and I decline to use a form of speech which has been so\noften sold as merchandise that many people no longer believe there is\nany truth attached to it. I use instead the plain, everyday speech, and\nsay without qualification that I have been away, that I am acquainted\nwith the conditions that follow after death, that I lean on no man's\ntheories, not even on those which I might make, if I were given to\ntheorizing, which I am not. No, I rest on facts, plain, cold facts,\nwhich are none the less so because they are registered in the mind of\none man instead of many; facts of consciousness not to be gainsaid,\nalthough, in order to express them so as to make them most useful here,\nit is necessary to translate them into a language so far from the\noriginal, that only those who keep the fact of the translation in mind\ncan hope to receive the truth in something like its purity.\n\nI am well aware that I can scarcely hope to convince my reader that it\ncould be possible under any circumstances for one to enter the kingdom\nof the dead, to take on the powers and conditions belonging to that\nrealm, to become a component part of that world of mystery to the extent\nof dismissing all care in regard to the possibility of return, and even\nto transmit such a thought-message as this. The responsibility for my\nbeing out of place rests upon you all; I was compelled to undergo the\npain of the passage at your will; and now that you repent and ask me to\nreturn, I will take my time and think about it. I am well housed in a\ngood body on this side. I do not know that I would go back if I could.\n\nThat, after all this, and after a succession of spiritual events which,\nmeasured by their effect on one's consciousness, should correspond to a\nperiod of centuries on earth, one should actually make his way back and\ntake up again the broken threads of his earthly life, and weave them\ninto something resembling an orderly design once more,--to convince my\nreaders of the possibility of this is so nearly impossible that I shall\nnot seriously attempt it, although it is true.\n\nIt will be said that even though I suppose that this is actually true of\nmyself, it does not follow that I am not suffering from an\nhallucination.\n\nIt will be argued very naturally that in so far as I am now a tangible,\nactual human being, just so far is it impossible that I should ever have\nbeen actually dead; and as to becoming habituated to the kind of life\nwhich may remain after the body loses its animation, for any one now\nliving to make such a claim is the height of absurdity.\n\nAny one who shall take this stand will need to be reminded that bodily\nconsciousness is one thing, and soul-consciousness another, and that\nthere may be _spiritual_ existence beyond that. Comparatively few\nmortals have not at some time in their lives awakened at least\nmomentarily to soul-consciousness, and can remember, if they care to\ntry, how suddenly and completely the bodily consciousness retired into\nthe background at its coming.\n\nThousands can testify that this soul-consciousness in them so dominates\nthat of the body as to render bodily pains powerless to disturb the\nregnant soul.\n\nThese may be able to understand that in the world toward which they\nhasten, another advance will become possible, wherein the\nsoul-consciousness shall become subordinate to the higher life of the\nspirit.\n\nTo make this a little clearer let me say that what you are now conscious\nof as your soul, the sensitive inner nature, that feels a slight as\nthough it were a blow, that spurs the organism to years of anxious toil\nin the hope of gaining independence, that scorns to beg, yet in the hour\nof danger sometimes feels to pray--this inner self is to be your body\nwhen death shall come to break the tie that holds you captive in the\ndust. Every consideration to which your soul is now sensitive shall\nbecome, as it were, the laws of nature then. You will suddenly discover\nthat ill-will, for instance, is a current actually tangible, as much so\nas an electric current was to your physical body. You will learn\nexperimentally that kindliness of spirit, good-will, and gratitude are\nequally tangible to your new and finer senses. You will perceive that a\ngenerous spirit diffuses light, and a selfish one dwells in his own\ndarkness, and this kind of light and darkness you will be astonished to\ndiscover has taken the place of what you formerly knew by those names.\nYou will soon perceive that a deceiving spirit knows how to wear a\nfalse light as he pretends to a genuine interest in your welfare, and\nthat a truly friendly one will sometimes hide his light, if thereby he\ncan obtain advantage for your benefit.\n\nIf your life has been little more than a revolution around yourself,\nmeasuring everything by its relation to your personal advantage as you\nsaw it, you will be surprised to find how small and dark a space will\nbound your being; and it may be a long time before you cease to dwell\nupon the memories of the world left behind, or cease to hope that in\nsome way you can return to make a better use of its opportunities. And\nwhen you shall fairly come to understand that you have been living in\nthe generous air and sunshine of the spirit of God, and that, instead of\nseeking to imitate Him by making your life a blessing to those less\nfavored than yourself, you have employed your brief span in the effort\nto appropriate to your private use everything that could be lawfully\nseized on, you will wonder why the certainty that earth-life is limited\nhad not impressed you more; and when you perceive, through the\nsoul-consciousness which has taken the place of the bodily, that you\nhave no data whatever upon which to base even a surmise as to how long\nyour new kind of life is to continue, such measureless despair may fall\nupon you as shall even make tears impossible.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nOn the other hand, if anywhere along your life-journey you have\nscattered any seeds of kindness, they will every one of them bear fruit\nin the Beyond.\n\nFrom the moment when you perceive and acknowledge to yourself that you\nare not in every way fitted to enter the courts of heaven and become\nassociated with those to whom selfish thoughts have become simply\nmemories, you are likely to have experiences tending to refine and\npurify your nature. No longer active in the outward, you must bear what\ninfluences come upon you from without as best you may. An infant in the\ncradle is not more helpless than the great majority of those who enter\nthe Beyond; and the invisible nurse that may have you in charge will\nnot ask you what kind of medicine is most agreeable, but will administer\nwhat is best for you.\n\nPicture to your mind, if possible, what it would be like to lie\nphysically helpless, with your outward consciousness telling you that\nyou no longer appear as a man, or as a woman, but only as an infant to\nany eyes able to see you, while at the same time your mental vision is\nperfectly clear and takes in all your past life in every aspect of its\nrelation to other lives, and especially in its relations to the great\nall-pervading life which seems now to be somehow lost out of all\npossible reach.\n\nSuppose that while those reactions called pain and pleasure are more\nvitally potent than ever, because of a vastly heightened sensitiveness,\nmental as well as physical exertion has become impossible, a succession\nof states of consciousness taking their place; and then suppose a\nmaster hand, with all the resources of mesmerism at his command, should\nbegin playing upon your organism, proving to you by every touch that not\na line of all your past history but is an open book to him, and his only\naim is to bring you to a willingness to confess your weaknesses\nand follies, your neglect of duties, as well as your open\ntransgressions--one thing at least would surely result: you would\ndiscover, and never forget, that spiritual things are not less, but\nimmensely _more_ real than any physical entities with which you ever\ncame in contact.\n\nIt is such a great mistake to suppose that because you have nothing in\nyour experience corresponding to such a condition as that which I have\njust described, therefore you never will have.\n\nWhat kind of reasoning can be weaker than this? Have you not two kinds\nof consciousness, one of the world and all it contains, and one of\npersonal existence in its various relations? Do you not perceive that\nyour body, vitally active as it is, and swayed by every thought you send\nout, belongs properly to the first of these fields of consciousness,\nwhile that which makes up your character--your preferences, your\npredilections, your faults, your foibles, your beliefs, and your\nprejudices--belongs to the second?\n\nCan you not see that a suspension of the outward consciousness, in other\nwords, a suspension of your power to sense the material world through\nyour material senses, has no necessary connection with any suspension of\nyour inner consciousness by which you might be able to say, I cannot\nmove; I cannot see, hear, or feel anything, but I am still a white man,\nready to swear by the flag and by my right to my personal liberty, and\nif any one takes the trouble to hunt me out he will find me the same man\nI always was?\n\nHundreds of thousands thus lie in their graves, thankful if they know\nits location, and waiting as only the dead can for the time of their\ndeliverance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\nAccept another glimpse of the Beyond. One of the most distinctive\ncharacteristics of this country or state of being is activity of mind.\nLet me explain why I say country or state of being. It is either the one\nor the other to the consciousness according to the point of view. Looked\nat externally, it is seen to be a new environment, a different kind of\nlife; but when its atmosphere becomes yours, the effect upon your mental\norganism will be so great that you will rightly regard it as a state of\nbeing to which earth-life bears the relation of a pre-natal one. This\ncomparison, however, has one defect, for while we of the earth have no\nconscious memory of our pre-natal life, they of the Beyond recall every\nleading event of earth-life as clearly as though no time had intervened.\n\nThe change of state brings on the mental activity spoken of, the effect\nof which on the material side manifests as heat or magnetism, or both.\n\nThe lifting off of the weight of dead matter causes a feeling of\nbuoyancy, and the vibrations of the particles of the gaseous body may be\nso great that it will seem to expand until one seems everywhere present\nover a vast territory in the same way that we are now present in all\nparts of our physical bodies.\n\nThe first event of prime importance to you will be the demonstrating and\nestablishing of your spiritual rank. Just where do you belong? In the\nsociety of what people, or what class of people, are you content? Does\nany accusation lie against you? If so, what have you to say in regard to\nit?\n\nAre there any special credits that you claim which seem never to have\nbeen acknowledged? Is there anything you wish to confess? To what\nconcealment do you claim a right?\n\nThe answering of these questions may be a very simple matter, or may\ninvolve the welfare of nations. While the friends left behind will\ncontribute their quota of evidence, those with whom you have been\nassociated who have preceded you to the unknown country will be the most\nactively interested in your case. You will find some waiting for your\ntestimony on some point involving their own status, and when you come to\nspeak of the matter you may have to struggle against a tumult of voices\nbefore you succeed in testifying. Where questions of fact are involved,\nof sufficient importance to justify it, most wonderful agencies can be\nset in motion to determine them correctly in the region of the Beyond.\n\nThat precise point in the ether where the event occurred, and which has\nlong since been left behind by the passage of the solar system through\nspace, can be visited and made to yield up its record as by kinetograph;\nor the surroundings may be reproduced as on a stage, and the one who\npersists in falsifying is suddenly placed there and told to act his part\nagain according to his own story. He will find it very difficult to play\na false part in the presence of those who know the truth.\n\nIt may be noted that this picture of a soul on trial is quite different\nfrom that given before, where it is held as the prisoner of death; but\nit is only necessary to bear in mind that events may succeed each other\neven in a country where time is not, and that such succession marks the\nstages of one's growth.\n\nIf any of your faculties are in a dull or torpid state because the\ncircumstances of your life have been such that they never have been\ngiven a field of action, the invisible actors of the Beyond who may have\nyou in charge will know how to awaken, stimulate, and call these\nfaculties into an active state before the final decision is rendered, to\nthe end that no injustice may be done you on their account. Should the\nverdict of the lower court be such that you are not willing to abide by\nit, you may take an appeal to a higher court.\n\nAt the last you may even appeal from the judgment of angels altogether,\nand demand a trial by the great Spirit of the universe, but you will not\ndo this recklessly when you know that it involves a trial by ordeal, or\na contest of sheer will-power, sustained by conscious innocence alone,\nwith planetary forces.\n\nNot brief nor trifling is a contest such as this; not once in a\nthousand years does such a thing occur; but the fact that the way to it\nis always open in the Beyond proves with what infinite tenderness the\nindividual is guarded against injustice.\n\nBut it is impossible that I should know of what I am speaking, some\nreader says. I grant you that it seems so, but would discussion settle\nit? Is it not time the door was opened? Is there no need?\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n\nAn illustration of the difficulty of generalizing when speaking of\nmatters on the spirit-side just now occurs to me.\n\nSuppose that you as a mortal were permitted to witness a combat between\na soul on its way upward and a foul spirit seeking to gain control. The\nspirit may be able to take on any form it pleases, and approaches in the\nguise of a friend. But the soul receives a warning touch and speaks out\nsharply: \"Stand; keep your distance. Who are you? and what do you want?\"\nWith every smooth and crafty method of tone and word the spirit seeks to\nconvince that he is what he claims to be, a friend, and entitled to\napproach. The soul, with its senses sharpened by fear, uses every\neffort to discern the character of the stranger, weighs and analyzes\ninstantly every expression of the wily foe, and before the answer is\ncompleted, decides positively and prepares to strike. The spirit\nperceives the motion and shifts his footing in time to escape the\nblow--a thought-impulse, weighted to kill. Does the spirit respond in\nanger? Oh, no; his object is not to injure, but to gain control, so he\nremonstrates, with pretended grief, that one whom he loves should so\nmistake him. But the soul is not to be deceived, and gathers up its\nstrength for another blow. The spirit pours out a perfect stream of\nflattering words, intended to lull his intended victim into a momentary\nlack of vigilance, and ventures a little nearer, hoping to touch the\naura and disappear from view, only to become manifest as an invisible\npower within the soul, an active agent in undermining its powers until\nthe opportunity shall present to seize the very throne itself and revel\nin the possessions of its victim.\n\nBut the soul is cautious, and in virtue strong, and so, conscious of\ninvisible protection, suddenly fixes the demon with his eye, and before\nhe can escape launches at him a bolt that leaves him helpless and\nwrithing, dead as a spirit can be. \"I killed him,\" says the exulting\nsoul, as it passes on its way.\n\nYou would be apt to say, \"He did not kill him at all; he only disabled\nhim.\"\n\nNow, while it is true that what I have described corresponds in\nappearance to what we should here call disablement merely, its full\nmeaning cannot be understood without entering the consciousness of the\nspirit who was struck down.\n\nTo such a one activity, or the ability to act, constitutes life;\ninactivity, or the inability to act, constitutes death, not death as we\nknow it, but a living death, in which the fierce vibrations of a life\nthat knows no end, being confined as though by a broken wheel in its\ncarriage,--being confined, I say, to the gaseous envelope, the\npropulsion of which has absorbed half its fire, soon heats the envelope\nto a torturing degree.\n\nIllustrating in another way, the evil spirit, being disabled from\ncontinuing his customary activity, is forced to reflect, to look back\nover his course, and face the evils he has done. Horrors take hold of\nhim. The most poignant dread of being overtaken by those whom he has\ndespoiled of all that made life dear, until in despair they have\ncommitted suicide, and started out to find their tormentor, takes hold\nof the miserable wreck, who has not even the consolation of looking\nforward to some certain end to his sufferings, because neither time nor\nthe last sleep are known in the region of the dead.\n\nIs this experience, do you think, any less to be dreaded by a selfish\nspirit than is death by a mortal who is consciously not ready? It is\ntherefore properly called death in the language of the spirit, made up,\nas that language is, of ideas only.\n\nBut in calling it death on the earth-plane we are using a word that has\na much different meaning here.\n\nWhen we say, \"The man is dead,\" a funeral, or at least a burial is\nsuggested. Not so there.\n\nIn this we have an example of the difficulty of conveying information in\nregard to the conditions of the Beyond, without using words that are\nliable to be misunderstood.\n\nOnly those who have attained to the ability to converse in the light,\neye to eye, without words, are entirely free from these obstructions to\nmental intercourse.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\nAstronomy teaches us that our earth, together with the other members of\nthe solar system, is traveling through space, at the rate of eight miles\nper second, around a distant center, in an orbit requiring many\nthousands of years to complete.\n\nWe learn from this that we are constantly changing our place in the\nuniverse, and are entering new etherean fields, not only every year, but\nevery day and hour. Since we are unconscious of this motion, it may seem\nto have no vital relation to us, yet, by a knowledge of the fact, we may\ngain an insight into the wonderful resources of this great machine for\nrecording events.\n\nEvery thought and feeling of which we are conscious makes its mark, not\nonly upon our bodies, both the outer and the inner, but also upon the\nether through which we are passing. I am alluding not to the words in\nwhich we clothe or perhaps conceal our thoughts or feelings when\ncommunicating with one another, but to the thought-current itself at the\npoint of origin.\n\nThis would be the same in the minds of all men of equal intelligence,\nwithout regard to nationality; and those beings who are able to read the\nmarks left by these currents would find them written in unmistakable\ncharacters, and of a size proportionate to our rate of travel, on the\nfair ethereal page.\n\nIn one respect we are at an enormous disadvantage in our relations,\nconscious or unconscious, with the denizens of the Beyond.\n\nOur thought-motions compared with theirs are like an ox-team to a\nlocomotive. It is a fact, and there is no use in quarreling with it. On\nthe other hand, through our association with matter we are able, without\npermanent injury, to bear oppressions of the spirit which would be death\nitself to them; and those among them who would take delight in insulting\nus are deterred from doing so by our insensibility to the stinging\nthought-current. We ourselves would not insult a post for being one.\n\nThese oppressions of spirit, or depressions, as we blindly call them,\nare a part of the system by and through which we are made to manifest\nwhat manner of person we are; and our blindness as to the real meaning\nof the life we have come into possession of, our persistent mistaking it\nfor an end, instead of a means to an end, brings it to pass that the\ntests we undergo as to our fitness for this or that position in the\nreal though hidden life that awaits us all, are real and genuine tests,\nwhich they could not be, to their full extent, if we clearly understood\nat the time just what was being done. Every thoughtful man and woman\nlooking back over life can discern how this or that decision has been a\nturning-point leading on to unexpected success or paving the way to\ndisaster or defeat. When the test is complete, some inkling of its\nmeaning often dawns upon us, and we resolve to be on guard next time,\nand then perhaps we start off on some rainbow chase, only to discover\nthat we are the prey of delusion once more. Then, perhaps, we get angry\nand curse the whole machine as the product of some stupid blunderer,\nthereby avoiding the confession of any mental obliquity on our own part.\n\nNot all of the delusions of mortality are of a kind that lead to such a\nresult. Some have been imposed upon us by our risen brothers of the\nother sphere, and have held sway over our minds, as they did over our\nfathers' minds, and over their fathers' before them, none of us living\nlong enough on the mortal side, or obtaining sufficiently clear\nindependent light, to enable us to become free. The shaking off of the\nfetters of this mental bondage is a special characteristic of our own\nday; and those who have listened to the torrents of eloquence poured\nfrom the lips of the young mediums upon this subject, know that this\nwork, the necessity for which, as I have indicated, is largely due to\nother-world intelligences, is now being forwarded from the same quarter\nwith tremendous power. Verily, there must have been a revolution in the\nheavens, or this would not be. And such, indeed, is the case. The\ntremendous power of an organized hierarchy under the controlling\ninfluence of a single mind so prominently in evidence here, is without\na counterpart on the other side to-day, although the sins against\nhumanity which have been charged against the priesthood of past ages\nshould more properly be laid at the door of their invisible inspirers,\nthen in the height of that power which is no longer theirs. To-day the\nenemies of racial progress are to be sought for on earth, where the\nintoxicating dreams of power without responsibility have found lodgment\nand worked their corrupting influence in the minds of not a few of our\nbrothers, who seem to forget that they are still members of the race\nthey are seeking to enslave, and that their responsibility for misusing\nthe power entrusted to them will be accounted all the greater in\nconsequence.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n\nThe range of subjects coming within the scope of my title is so great\nthat I cannot undertake an exhaustive treatment of any within reasonable\nlimits, but I hope to supply a few keys by the use of which reverent\nminds of any and every school of thought may be able to enter upon\nsuccessful explorations.\n\nThe amount of evidence necessary to convince a sincere inquirer that\nthis earth-life, important as it is, is but the threshold of existence,\nis not very great, but it must needs be adapted to the individual mind.\n\nTo obtain this evidence is worth more to any man or woman than any other\npurely mental acquirement can be.\n\nFor it is a mental acquisition, the possession of which is related to,\nand has a natural influence over, every other we can call our own. Yet\nit has not, in itself, any transforming effect upon the life and\ncharacter.\n\nWhen such a result follows, other influences share in the work. He who\nhas lost friends that were a part of his life, the mother whose children\nhave fainted away into the world of mystery, the philosopher who has\ngiven the strength of his years to the search for truth, are all\nprofoundly affected by the discovery; while those in whom the affections\nare less strongly developed, or whose mental powers give them no\nadequate perception of the profound and far-reaching relations of this\ngreat truth, may hold it as lightly as they do their dreams, and receive\nfrom it no more benefit than they do from them.\n\nWhoever is capable of analyzing a thought or the expression of a\nthought, can find evidence of the world beyond strewn along his path on\nevery hand.\n\nAll figurative expressions are merely unconscious devices to give to\nthought somewhat of the objective reality it possesses to dwellers in\nthe Beyond. For instance:\n\n\"There are names which carry with them something of a charm. We have but\nto say 'Athens,' and all the great deeds of antiquity break upon our\nhearts like a sudden gleam of sunshine; 'Florence,' and the magnificence\nand passionate agitation of Italy's prime send forth their fragrance\ntowards us like blossom-laden boughs, from whose dusky shadows we catch\nwhispers of the beautiful tongue.\"\n\nIs it doubted that the Athens of which the author speaks will be found\nembodied in forms real and tangible in that other world which takes to\nitself all that attains to immortality in this one?\n\nWhy do authors speak of a _cold_ greeting, of _walls_ of reserve,\n_rivers_ of kindness, or the _sunshine_ of love?\n\nThey may not be able fully to explain, but expressions like these point\nto features of the landscape in that world where the inner becomes the\nouter and takes on those garments of reality which belong to it by\nright.\n\nThe things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen\nare eternal, and when we have broken connection with our temporal\nbodies, or attained a true and perfect control over them, we may enter\ninto this knowledge, to find it truly a heavenly inheritance.\n\nBut it is not alone through figurative and poetic language that we may\ndiscover evidence of the existence of an immaterial world.\n\nThe broad fields of philosophy and literary criticism receive their\nlight, their water, and their air, outside the world of sense almost\nentirely. Scarce anything in these domains has any causative relation\nwith the world of matter.\n\nFor instance, take this passage from one of the magazines:\n\n\"But what does the work of higher criticism really mean? It means,\nbriefly, as applied to the Old Testament, the revision of certain\ntraditions concerning the structure, the date, the authorship of the\nbooks--traditions which had their origin in the fanciful and uncritical\ncircles of Judaism just before, or soon after, the Christian era.\"[B]\n\nA careful analysis of the meaning of this will show that it begins and\nends in the domain of abstract thought. To use a figurative expression,\nit does not touch the ground anywhere. If our bodies and their needs, if\nthe earth and its products which minister to those needs, if, in brief,\nthe material universe really comprised the _all that is_, such a thought\nas is contained in the passage quoted could never have come into being.\nFor it has no practical relation to things as such.\n\nYet there is nothing especially obscure about it. It was written for men\nand women of ordinary intelligence, who are supposed to take an interest\nnot merely in sacred truths, which, indeed, are not dealt with in the\narticle from which I quote, but the structural forms containing those\ntruths.\n\nAll of which, rightly interpreted, points to another phase of existence,\nwhich is either near to or far from us according to the stage of our\ndevelopment, a phase which may become measurably real to us even before\nwe enter fully upon it, and which has the strongest possible claims upon\nour attention.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n\nThere is no more fruitful source of error to the student of occult\nphilosophy than the assumption which he continually makes, that the race\nand the individual may be treated as one when their relations to a\nhigher power are being considered.\n\nIt appears that the study of the laws of chemistry may be partly\nresponsible for this. A molecule of any substance, having in itself all\nthe properties of that substance, may be reasoned upon and regarded as\nthough it were, as it is, an epitome of the mass. In the same way it is\nassumed that man, the individual, is an epitome of the race, and that,\nin endeavoring to obtain a philosophical view of him, we may pass in\nreview before the mind what we know of the race, and what we know of the\nindividual in a general way, without drawing any line of distinction\nbetween what is true of the one and what is true of the other.\n\nNow, while this mental process may have a certain value when both are\nconsidered externally, those who attempt to solve the deeper problems of\nthe race or the man, by means of it, are sure to fall into error.\n\nIt is not borne in mind that our race is scarcely conscious of itself as\na unit, and if it were, it would in the present state of knowledge\nregard itself as alone in the universe, flying through space on a\nrevolving globe with enormous velocity, along an unknown orbit. There\nmay be other inhabited worlds peopled by other races of beings, but as a\nrace we do not know this to be true; and only a dim perception of the\nsurvival of a few of its own members that have lived their little lives\nand passed away since time began, relieves the sense of isolation with\nwhich the race looks out into the surrounding darkness.\n\nThe student of history contemplates the rise and fall of nations and\ntraces the causes which have led to their overthrow. He observes the\nsame influences at work to-day as in the olden time, and when the\npremonition of like disasters comes home to him, he is ready to exclaim,\n\"There is no hope! There is no God!\" And in so speaking he gives\nutterance to the soul of our race, which is still groping in the\ndarkness for light and a place of rest.\n\nHow much of this is true of man as an individual? Very little,\ncomparatively, as we shall see. In the first place, as individuals, we\nare conscious of companionship. We look around us and out over the world\nand see great numbers of our fellows whose life and surroundings are\ncomparable with our own. Such differences as we perceive in each other\nonly give evidence that our fellow-beings are real, not simply\nreflections of ourselves; are objective entities, not elusive shadows.\nAnd by as much as we are conscious of an individuality apart from that\nof our race, by so much may we hope to separate the thread of our\ndestiny from the tangled mass. Examples of such a separation are to be\nfound among the great names of the earth; and a study of their lives\nwill teach us how best to shape our own. It will also teach us that\nrace-life and individual life are not necessarily the same, that the\nindividual may absorb light for which the race is not yet ready, and set\nhis standards of thought and action far beyond what is yet possible to\nthe race as a whole.\n\nIf, now, we form our conceptions of the character of the power\noverruling us, by an exclusive study of those events which affect great\nnumbers, we are liable to serious error. If the sound of thunders\nintended for the ear of the race be concentrated so as to fall upon our\nindividual hearing, they will certainly deafen us completely.\n\nOn the other hand, those whose narrower vision sees only the play of\nevents as they affect the lives of individuals are also liable to error\nin forming their estimate of the character of the overruling power.\n\nHere tragedy visible and invisible plays its part, and sometimes\ninjustice in the extreme appears to triumph. There is no possibility of\navoiding error in judgment from this point of view, without constantly\nbearing in mind at least three things: first, that outward disaster is\nsometimes an inevitable result of long-hidden crime; second, that to the\ninnocent, death is a release from prison, a promotion from a lower to a\nhigher sphere of action, and that those who are able to look beyond the\ninstruments used to break their fetters, to the kindness that sets them\nfree, can mount on the wings of delight to a diviner air; and third,\nthat the dwarfing of the faculties of a soul during the short space of\nearth-life will turn out to be a far less serious matter to the soul\nthan to the one responsible for it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n\nThe question may be asked, Wherein lies the difference between man the\nunit, and the race which is an aggregation of these units? What\nphilosophical difference is possible? In answer, I would say that while\nthe individual and the race alike possess body and soul, the individual\nat times manifests a power of becoming greater in every respect than the\ninfluence of heredity or surroundings can at all account for. Such\nindividuals tell us of some powerful influence descending upon them, as\nit were, from a higher sphere, and to this they attribute the changes in\ntheir life and powers which make all their friends to marvel. No such\nstimulating and transforming influence has ever manifested itself on so\nbroad a scale as to affect our entire race at once, and we must conclude\nthat the time has not come for such an event. As a race, our eyes are\nnot lifted above the earth. We care little about our origin, and still\nless about our destiny. The love of war and bloodshed, delight in the\nflowing bowl and all its attendant revelry, are still characteristic of\nour race, and the heavy clouds that are gathering in our sky are not yet\nblack enough with impending evil to arrest us in our downward course.\n\nAh! well for us it is that we are not to be left alone to rush headlong\nto destruction in our blind folly. Terrible as are the forces we have\ninvoked against ourselves, those which shall save us from death by all\nmanner of intoxication are infinitely greater.\n\nThe wasting fever of war undoubtedly must come, such war as the world\nhas never seen before, but when the coveted excitement, changed to agony\nuntold, is at last over, when our physical forces are entirely\nexhausted, the loving Parent whose outstretched hand we have always\nrefused, will show a pitying face. A draught of infinite peace will be\nimparted to our spirit, and we shall rise in newness of life to enjoy\nthe forgotten delights of obedient childhood, and make this old world\nover into one entirely new.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n\nI had not thought to touch this strain when I began to write of the\nBeyond, but some things almost write themselves, and I have not\nforgotten the closing words of the appeal with which this book opens.\n\"We are trodden down by our brothers among the living. Help us, our\nfathers from the dead.\"\n\nAh! if the wire which carries this petition outward can bear the\nstrength of the return current, it may possibly convey such tidings as\nwords are not able to express, for is it not true that the sweetest\nstrains are cradled within a silence which speaks more profoundly to the\nsoul than does the music to the ear? Let us hearken.\n\n\"Do you wish to know what stands in the way of our coming to the rescue?\nNothing but your unbelief in the possibility of our coming. Thank God\nthat unbelief is growing weak. Could you know what exhausting labor is\nours in our efforts to reach you, you would pray rather for light to\nenable you to do your part. Believe, oh, believe that we have not\nforgotten. In agony of spirit we are striving to awaken you from\nslumber, to instil into your minds the supreme truth, that no good thing\nthat can be named is impossible of occurrence. You are ready to believe\nit for the material, why not accept it in the spiritual?\n\n\"Religious liberty is your priceless privilege. Can you possibly gain it\nby setting foot on religion itself? Be sane. Learn to discriminate.\nThrow away the chaff, but keep the wheat. Death is a magician, not a\nmurderer. The pain all comes beforehand. The passage itself is not\npainful. Death merely turns the key in a door you never saw before, and\nyou step out into such a freedom as you never dreamed of. 'Be thou\nfaithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,' suggests a\ngreat truth. Try to get hold of it. No man, and no body of men, no\nspirit, nor any combination of them, can prevent you from making your\nlife a success. There are prizes to be won. Why not try for them?\n\n\"But you say you are trying. Sword in hand, you are battling for the\nright. Yes, we know, and sometimes you are wounded, and help seems never\nto come. Hold fast. We are building a road.\n\n\"It is already finished, and the cars are on the track. You shall not\ndie of wounds like these. Help is near. Your prayer is heard. We knew\nit would be. From the heights beyond the heights has come the order,\n'Descend in power. Earth's children are ready to receive you.' And we\nare not few nor weak. Our phalanx moves in a light which nothing can\nwithstand. Believe it, and stand upon your feet. We are already here.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n\nThere is another grand division of my subject, but the difficulty of\npresenting it through the medium of written language is even greater\nthan that already dealt with, and only a slight attempt will now be\nmade. Not only do thoughts take the place of timings in the Beyond, but\n_emotions take the place of forces_. By emotions in this connection I\nmean those currents of energy which have their rise in, and are more or\nless under the control of individualized intelligence, as love and hate,\njoy and sorrow, hope and fear, happiness and distress; and by forces I\nmean those which are sometimes called blind forces, such as attraction\nin its various forms, heat, electric vibration, and the like. As these\nlast pertain especially to matter, we should expect them to retire into\nthe background in a world where mind-realities, or facts of\nconsciousness, absolutely dominate. And so they do. And here may be a\ngood place to indicate what part matter really plays in this immaterial\nworld. Let me call attention to the world of art. Let us recall its\ngreat names, and the masterpieces which have given them fame, the\nwonderful poems, the paintings, the sculpture, and the musical creations\nthat will never die, and then pause and consider how slight are the\ndemands made by this wonder-world on the lower world of matter. The poet\nand the musician call for writing materials, the sculptor needs some\nclay and a few modeling tools, the painter some pigments and brushes,\nand a bit of canvas. With these slight aids the noble conceptions of\ngenius are materialized for the delight of future generations.\n\nTake another illustration. When a ship goes out of the harbor, it is to\nbe assumed that she takes her anchor with her, and carefully guards it\nagainst possible loss.\n\nIt is likewise true that within the scope of the great and splendid\nactivities of a free spirit, a material anchor is somewhere safely cared\nfor, yet such an anchor has no more prominent relation to the activities\nof the spirit than the anchor of a ship has to the ship's power to cross\nthe sea. If we could think of a ship with nothing else to do but to lie\naround the harbor, the relative importance of the anchor would increase\nvery much; and if it had no anchor of its own, it might attempt to tie\nup to some other vessel that had one. And so with earth-bound spirits\nwhose testimony is sometimes quoted to the effect that spirit-life is\nas dependent on matter as any other. Most of them are blissfully\nignorant of their own poverty, and move about the earth, that is to say\nin the lower or earthly strata of thoughts and feelings, because they\nhave no desires above them.\n\nThey remember this life as a lost heaven, and are continually bemoaning\nthat loss in secret, while their activities take the form of influencing\nmortals to this or that kind of sensual indulgence, which they wish to\nshare through sympathy. Every impulse and desire is bent upon a possible\nrecovery of the earth-life, and they are so ignorant of, and indifferent\nto, any higher form of life, that it remains without existence to them.\n\nI would not say they are insensible to the enlargement of their powers\nconsequent upon their release from the confinement of an earthly body.\nThey could not be. Their discovery that death does not destroy the\ninner consciousness was a great surprise to them, but the novelty of the\ndiscovery soon wore away. What seemed so strange at first, became a\ntruism, a simple scientific fact, previously unknown, and unable in\nitself to supply any stimulus to their higher powers.\n\nIt is evident that the testimony of these upon the subject is worthless,\nwhile those who have battled for and won the prize of recognition in a\nhigher sphere give abundant evidence of their freedom from the bondage\nof matter, and the desires that have material things for their object.\n\nResuming my subject, not only matter, but those forces which are\ninseparably associated with it, retire into the background, nay, almost\ndisappear, in the Beyond. Emotions take their place.\n\nThe atmosphere, or that which corresponds to what we know by the term,\nseems charged with some powerful element, resembling electricity in its\neffects, but differing from it in that it seems to be sensitive to\nthought, and to be capable of responding to it with dynamic force. A\nshock from this element is in every respect as real to the consciousness\nas an electric shock is to us. It comes from without and expends its\nforce upon the gaseous body. Being sensitive to thought, it does not\nimpress one as being capricious in its nature, but as though acting\naccording to some law which it is of the highest importance to discover,\nif possible.\n\nWith the perceptive and intuitional faculties wrought up to the highest\nstate of activity, it is presently discovered that it is not thought in\nthe abstract, but thought surcharged with feeling or with devotion to a\nprinciple, some cherished sentiment of the soul, which has the power to\nexcite this hitherto unknown element; and gradually it dawns on the mind\nthat this element corresponds to public opinion on earth, that it\nemanates from the inhabitants of that part of the spirit-realm, and that\nif your mind does not happen to be in accord with theirs, you must\neither get away or do battle for your life. By life, I mean your power\nand freedom of expression, the very breath of the spirit, what a\nprinting-press is to a newspaper, cut off from which, the paper is dead.\n\nManifestations of emotion, both in kind and degree, depend upon two\nthings, our spiritual state or condition, and the nature of our\nsurroundings. Passing over the first of these, it is evident that\nearth-surroundings greatly limit the expression of emotion; and when we\nobserve the effect of a powerful current of this kind upon the physical\ntissues of the body, weakening and consuming them as by a flame, we see\nthat the length of our stay here is involved in our ability to control\nour emotions.\n\nNot so in the Beyond, where our stay is without assignable limits, and\nwhere the pent-up emotions of a lifetime at last find vent, and pour\nthemselves out as by flood-gates to the sea.\n\nAnd it is here that music plays its part in that wonder-world. For as\nideas have each their appropriate form, so every emotion has a musical\nstrain peculiar to it.\n\nAnd who can describe the healing power of music under a master's hand?\nReading the mind and soul as an open book, and informing every tone with\nthe vibrations of a perfect sympathy born of knowledge, he administers\nto the soul whose life has been a tragedy long-drawn-out, such throbbing\nwaves of strength and consolation, himself remaining hidden, as seem to\nissue from the very stars, and drown the memory of that age-long pain in\nan ocean of oblivion.\n\nAh! believe me, it is another world, where the powers of this one do not\nrule.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n\nAnd yet, as I have indicated, it is possible to live so far below one's\nmoral and spiritual possibilities, that the loss of life will seem the\nloss of heaven, and the men of power on earth whom one has envied will\ncome to seem very gods, worthy of being worshipped. Such a delusion as\nthis is in part due to the absence of a common time-element.\n\nDuration is measured only by the succession of various states of\nconsciousness, and these change so rapidly under the influence of the\nvibratory intensity of the new life, that the events of a day lengthen\nit out until it seems like a year upon earth; and day and night being\none in the Beyond, so far as activity is concerned, although they differ\nsomewhat in magnetic conditions, when one of these year-long days is\npast, the spirit, glancing across into earth-life, at some money king,\nwith thirty years of active life before him, can scarcely avoid endowing\nhim with a kind of immortality, and may devote the fiery energies of the\nsoul to building up the fortunes of such a one, with no higher object\nthan that of keeping the mental balance and avoiding reflection.\n\nThis necessity for keeping the balance supplies motive for a great deal\nthat is done by spirits in the lower strata of life in the Beyond. It is\nnot, strictly speaking, mental balance, but organic, affecting the whole\nbeing. A spirit possessed of any conscious individuality whatever must\ngenerate a certain interior force to maintain it. This keeps his body in\na state of equilibrium between the inner and outer pressure, and the\nbody of a spirit is naturally as valuable to him as ours is to us. It\nprotects him against currents of thought and emotion that are not\nadapted to his needs, and when evenly balanced he is able to put forth\neffective will-power along the plane of his development and below.\n\nAny one who has not learned what soul-action is will have it to learn\nsoon after the exchange of worlds. No other form of activity is possible\nthere. No spirit strikes another with his hand, nor presents him with a\nvisible token of wealth, yet battles are fought and presents given. As a\nsuggestion: when you say to your friend, \"Good-bye and good-luck to\nyou,\" you are making him a spiritual present, although you may not be\naware of it.\n\nWhenever you launch a curse, if only in thought, you strike a blow,\nagainst which conscious rectitude is an actual armor, and the only one.\n\nThe very slightest impulse of ill-will directed toward any one is an\naction of the soul that may do real harm, and certainly makes a record.\n\nThese statements will commend themselves as true to most of my readers,\nmany of whom, however, would not be able to explain why they are so sure\nof what they have learned from no teacher, and cannot recall from the\npages of experience. Let me suggest.\n\nFrom six to nine hours' sleep is an essential part of our daily lives.\nWe suppose ourselves to actually sleep, not only in body but in mind and\nsoul as well. Perhaps some who have very little mind and even less\nspirit, do sleep when their body sleeps, but there are very large\nnumbers of people who, the moment the brain becomes quiescent, enter at\nonce on the most active part of their daily existence.\n\nThis is especially true of such as during their waking hours have\nattained some knowledge of spiritual values, and have taken their stand\non this or that platform of principles, religious, moral, or even\npolitical, and who would be ready to contend in argument, or even, if\nnecessary, take up arms, in defense of their positions; in other words,\nwho have a conscious location in some field of thought or fortress of\nbelief.\n\nThe extent to which we influence others, or are influenced by them,\nduring our sleeping hours, very few realize, because unable to recall,\nwhen waking, the experiences of the night just passed; but be sure that\nno reform can ever make much progress until the agitation for it becomes\nsufficiently powerful to link the day to the night, and engage the\nactivities of partially freed spirits while their bodily consciousness\nis lost in slumber.\n\nIt is here that lessons are learned and impressions made, the recalling\nof the results of which may surprise us as to the extent, and puzzle us\nas to the origin, of our knowledge.\n\nReaders of Emerson will find this a key to some of his mysterious yet\ndelightful sayings.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n\nThose who have never entered into any kind of associate life where they\nmight learn to think and act for others as well as for themselves, will\nhave a particularly hard time on the other side.\n\nFor no one can go through life without becoming responsible for\ninnumerable acts, even if he does nothing more than make room for\nhimself, and defend his own footing; and if he persists in living for\nhimself, it follows that his motives will never rise above the care of\nhimself, and, possibly, of those who contribute to his comfort.\n\nIf such a man, by speculation or otherwise, becomes able to surround\nhimself with the tokens of wealth, there will not be wanting those who\nwill bow low to him; and when he is called out of life, with perhaps no\nparticularly heavy weight on his conscience, he will strut into another\nworld carrying with him a very large sense of his own importance.\n\nNow, there is no need to enlarge upon the emotions he will arouse, the\nintense though secret hilarity with which he will be taken in hand, and\nthe endless variety of hazing operations to which he will be subjected;\nbut he will be sure to make the unexpected discovery that death is a\nlost friend, long before the last spark of self-conceit is extinguished\nwithin him.\n\nIt is scarcely possible to convey an idea of how small a part individual\negotism is allowed to play in the world beyond.\n\nIn this world our race, as a race, is under protection. We are all more\nor less conscious of this in our own person.\n\nEven the most stolid, when suddenly reduced to the extremity of\ndistress, find themselves calling upon God, almost without conscious\nvolition.\n\nIf it were not so, if this protection were withdrawn, our race would\nshortly cease to be.\n\nIn the spirit-world, or in that part of it which adjoins this,\nfiguratively speaking, which we enter as individuals, this sense of a\ngeneral protection disappears. We find we are to stand or fall on our\nown individual record. We cannot lose ourselves in the mass. There is no\nmass. Time and space no longer exist for us. They are gone with the\nbodily senses and mathematical reasoning to which they were a prime\nnecessity.\n\nSight, hearing, and touch of the soul have awakened, however, and how to\nuse these new senses whose field of action is so immensely greater than\nthe senses we have parted with, engages our attention.\n\nTheir first reports are so different from anything we have known that we\ndiscredit them entirely, are sure we must be dreaming, and put forth\nstrong efforts to wake up. Failing in this, we look about us and\nendeavor to get our bearings.\n\nAlthough time and space have left us, eternity and infinity have taken\ntheir place, and a feeling of awe steals over us at the realization, a\nfeeling that extends in part to ourselves as we discover a certain\nelement within us which now for the first time recognizes its home.\n\nThen, in a flash, we perceive as never before, the essential narrowness\nof the limits of earth-life, and our mental vision shows us that\nwhatever may have raised that phase of existence above the merely\nsensual or animal, had its home in the Beyond, and was only a visitor on\nearth.\n\nWe find ourselves ushered into the domain of causes, and a thousand\nperplexities of memory disappear in a magical way, as we become sensible\nof the tremendous force of the activities at work in this heretofore\nhidden realm.\n\nA spirit sometimes finds himself as if on a stage, and the pressure of a\npowerful will bids him to act out his own character. He consents, for\nwhy should he not? Scene follows scene; men and women from every walk of\nlife, those whom he has known, and those of whom he has read, appear and\nact their part; kings and courtiers come and go, prophets and peasants,\nsoldiers and merchants; and he finds some link connecting him with them\nall. Perhaps a plot is formed to destroy his reputation; thread by\nthread the web is wound about him. How shall he get free? Is it not all\na dream? But he is made to feel that he must not insist upon knowing.\nSomething like an electric shock answers his thought, and bids him to\nconsider his surroundings real, whether they are or not, and forbids him\nto think of such a thing as applying a test. And, indeed, there is small\nleisure for anything of that kind. He finds himself obliged to put forth\nenergies he never dreamed of possessing, to keep from going distracted.\nThe stage widens until it becomes the floor of a world. The audience\nswells to millions. He reaches out for their sympathy, but they do not\nrespond. They do not pretend to know whether he is a true man or a\nscoundrel. If he cries, \"I am true,\" they answer, \"Prove it.\" What can I\ndo to prove it? But they turn away unconcerned, while another strand of\nfalsehood is thrown around him and he is brought to his knees, where he\nis made the target for scorn and contempt, which come like arrows to\npierce his form. In the depth of his despair, he sends out a piercing\ncry to the spheres above him for help.\n\nJust then he discovers that he is clothed in armor, with a good sword at\nhis side. He did not know it before, he could not possibly say how or\nwhence it came, but it is not a time for curious questions. He seizes\nthe blade and with one sweep severs the cords that bound him, stands\nupon his feet, and then, in a voice that startles himself, he calls upon\nhis enemies to show themselves. Instead of that he hears their\nretreating feet, the clouds lift, the applause of the audience gives him\nback his lost strength, and he is ready for the next ordeal.\n\nNow it may not be supposed that during such a scene as this, it would be\npossible for the spirit to receive and answer thought-messages from his\nfriends on earth, but it is even so. A spirit with a heart will at least\nmake the effort to respond to every demand made upon it, but if among\nthe circle of his friends one sends out the message, \"Come now, if you\ncare anything about me, I wish you would help me find this gold-mine.\nWhat do you have to do anyhow?\" the spirit may be excused if he fails to\nrespond, and does not immediately proceed to explain just what he has to\ndo.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote A: Editor _The Agnostic Journal_, London, England.]\n\n[Footnote B: _The Arena_, January, 1894, \"The Higher Criticism.\"]\n\n\n\n\nVision of Thyrza:\n\nTHE GIFT OF THE HILLS.\n\nBy IRIS.\n\n\nThe author is convinced that war, strife, poverty, misery, disease, and\ndeath are the result of man's reckless self-indulgence; and that so long\nas he shall be actuated by greed and selfishness in his tillage of the\nsoil, in the various industrial pursuits, and in the marts of trade, he\nwill \"sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.\"\n\nBut the lamentable state of things will not continue forever. The\nauthor, with \"prophetic mind,\" perceives that the time will come when\nman will live in harmony with Nature, and yield himself to the guidance\nof \"Divine Love.\" So guided and inspired, he will refine, purify, and\nennoble the life of his fellow-men. Then agriculture will be \"restored\nto right uses\" and held in its pristine honor; and the earth will yield\nits fruits abundantly. A noble simplicity and wholesomeness will\ncharacterize the life of man, and universal peace will gladden his\nheart. The whole world will rejoice in the return of the Golden Age.\n\n  Cloth, 75 Cents.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Company,\n\n  COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.\n\n\n\n\nHis Perpetual Adoration;\n\n--OR,--\n\nTHE CHAPLAIN'S OLD DIARY.\n\nBY REV. JOSEPH F. FLINT.\n\n\nThis is an extremely interesting and realistic war story, told in the\nform of a diary left at his death by a veteran who had been a captain in\nthe Northern army, and with Grant at Vicksburg and Sherman on his march\nto the sea. Two or three of the great events of the war are told in\nstirring fashion, but the narrative deals mainly with the inside life of\nthe soldier in war time, and its physical and moral difficulties. A fine\nlove story runs throughout, the hero having plighted his troth before\nsetting out for the front. Being wounded in Georgia, he is cared for in\nthe home of a Southerner, who is at the front with Lee's army, but who\nhas in some way earned the bitter hatred of the wife whom he has left at\nhome. She falls desperately in love with her wounded guest, and to him\nthere comes the sorest temptation of his life. How he comes out of the\nordeal must be left to the reader of the story to discover.\n\n  Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Co.,\n\n  COPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF NADA.\n\nBY BONNIE SCOTLAND.\n\n\nThe Land of Nada, the scene of this charming fairy story, is an\nenchanted country, ruled over by King Whitcombo and the beautiful Queen\nHaywarda. Prince Trueheart and his blue-eyed baby sister, Princess\nDorothy, and their wonderful adventures; the enchanted cows and\nchickens, the wonderful lemon tree whose trunk yields three different\nkinds of beverages, are some of the wonders of this delightful land; as\nare, also, the doings of fairies, genii, goblins, and enchanted hawks.\nHow the blind prince recovers his sight, how the baby princess is\nspirited away, cared for, and finally restored to her home, and how the\nwicked goblin and the two hawks that spirited her away are punished, may\nbe read in this delightful fairy story, which teems with graceful\nconceits and charming fancies, and which can be read, not only by\nchildren of tender years, but by those of larger growth.\n\nThe style in which the book is gotten up makes it very suitable for a\nChristmas present.\n\n  Cloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Company,\n\n  Copley Square, Boston, Mass.\n\n\n\n\nNICODEMUS: A POEM.\n\nBy Grace Shaw Duff.\n\n\nIn this fine blank-verse poem, written by the well-known New York\nauthoress, Mrs. Grace Shaw Duff, is given, in autobiographic form as\nfrom the lips of Nicodemus himself, a poetic account of the two episodes\nbetween that ruler of the Jews and Jesus, as related in the third and\nseventh chapters of John's gospel. The poem is full of local color, and\nopens with a striking description of sunrise on the morning of the last\nday of the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Then follows a picture of\nthe unusual stir in the city due to the crowds attending the feast,\nafter which there is a fine word painting of the scene in the temple,\nwith its motley throngs of maimed and halt, of venders of unsavory\nwares, of idlers, and of graver men.\n\nThe description of the midnight visit of Nicodemus to Jesus may be\nquoted in full as a typical specimen of the tone, manner, and fine\nmusical versification of the whole poem:--\n\n  \"One night from sleepless bed I rose, and went\n  To where He lodged, and bade the porter say\n  One Nicodemus--ruler--came, and speech\n  Would have with Him. There was no moon, but hosts\n  Of stars, and soft, pale glow from shaded lamps\n  Made silver light. The air was still, with just\n  Enough of light to waft at times a faint\n  Sweet oleander scent, and gently float\n  Some loosened petals down. I heard no sound\n  But sudden knew another presence near,\n  And turned to where He stood; one hand held back\n  The curtain's fold; the other clasped a roll.\n  No King could gently bear a prouder mien;\n  And when I gracious rose to offer meet\n  Respect to one whose words had won for Him\n  Regard, I strangely felt like loyal slave,\n  And almost 'Master!' trembled on my lips.\n  A deep, brave look shone in his eyes, as if\n  He saw the whole of mankind's needs, yet dared\n  To bid him hope; and when he spoke, his words\n  And voice seemed fitted parts of some great psalm.\"\n\nThe book is beautifully printed on first-class paper, and is finely\nillustrated with numerous half-tones, after sepia-wash drawings by that\nexcellent artist Fredrick C. Gordon; and each section of the poem has a\ncharmingly artistic vignette for the initial capital letter. The binding\nis in keeping with the general get-up, and the book would make an\nadmirable Christmas present.\n\n  CLOTH, 75 CENTS.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Co., Copley Sq., Boston, Mass.\n\n\n\n\nThe Woman-Suffrage Movement\n\nIN THE UNITED STATES.\n\nBy A LAWYER.\n\n\nThe author of this book believes that the Bible is the inspired word of\nGod, and that those who accept its teachings as authoritative must be\nopposed to the woman-suffrage movement. Though he bases his arguments\nmainly on the teachings of Holy Scripture, he does not overlook the\nlessons of history. But history only confirms him in his contention that\nmarriage is something more than a civil contract terminable at the\npleasure of the partners. From the true point of view marriage is an\nordinance of God. Should it ever become the general belief that it is\nother than a sacrament, there would be \"no protection, no honorable or\nelevated position, no high social plane or place for woman.\" And if\nmarriage is a sacrament, there is but one valid cause for divorce--the\none laid down in the Word of God. The husband is the head of the\nhousehold, and his commands should be respected and obeyed, for\nobedience and protection are correlative terms; the interests of husband\nand wife should be identical.\n\nThe various \"cries\" of the advocates of woman suffrage, as \"taxation\nwithout representation,\" \"liberty, fraternity, and equality,\" are\nconsidered and declared to be without force, and this declaration is\nsupported by cogent reasons. The author is confident that if woman\nsuffrage were enacted into law it would not only harden women but work\nirreparable injury to man, for those now opposed to the movement would\nthen \"reconcile the principle and its effects upon their environment\nwith the Bible by throwing the Bible away.\" Thus, the \"attack strikes at\nthe root of all moral and religious training.\"\n\nThe book merits a wide circulation. Candid advocates of the movement\nwill desire to know what can be said against it; and its opponents will\nbe glad to have at hand reasons so forcible and illustrations so apt in\ncondemnation of woman suffrage.\n\nWe cheerfully say so much for the book, though, as is well known, we are\nstrongly in favor of the movement towards a larger liberty of action for\nwoman; and we are looking earnestly and expectantly for the coming of\nthe day when woman emancipated and enfranchised shall work out her\ndestiny in perfect freedom.\n\n  154 pp. Cloth, 75 cents; Paper, 25 cents.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Company,\n\n  Copley Square, Boston, Mass.\n\n\n\n\nThe Heart of Old Hickory.\n\nBy WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE.\n\n\nEight charming and popular stories by this gifted young Tennessee writer\nare collected in this beautiful volume. Each of these stories is a study\nthat reveals a different phase of human character, and each study is a\nwork of art. Several show the author's subtle skill in dialect-writing,\nand all reveal the hand of a master in delineating character. Here we\nhave inimitable humor, gleeful fun, delightful sallies of wit, and\ngenuine pathos, all combined with extraordinary descriptive powers.\nRaciness, strength, vividness, and felicity of expression characterize\nthe author's style. He is to be pitied who can read these stories\nwithout being widened in his sympathies, elevated in thought, quickened\nin conscience, and ennobled in soul. The stories are the work of a\nliterary genius, and go far to justify an admirer of her writings, who\nhas himself no mean fame as editor, author, and critic, in calling Will\nAllen Dromgoole the \"Charles Dickens of the New South.\"\n\n  Cloth, $1.25; Paper, 50 Cents.\n\n  The Arena Publishing Company,\n\n  Copley Square, Boston, Mass.\n\n\n\n\nWHICH WAY, SIRS, THE BETTER?\n\nA Story of Our Toilers.\n\nBy JAMES M. MARTIN.\n\n\nThis is the story of a labor strike, its causes and consequences. The\nchief character, Robert Belden, is a self-made man, who, from being\noffice-boy in the Duncan Iron Works at Beldendale, Pa., had risen, by\ndint of intelligence, hard work, and attention to business, to be\npartner and business manager of the concern.\n\nA temporary depression in the iron trade makes it necessary for him to\ngive notice of a reduction of ten per cent in the wages of his\nemployees. The latter are dissatisfied, and, after calling a meeting of\ntheir union, demand from him an inspection of the books of concern by a\ncommittee on their behalf, so that they may have the assurance that the\nreduction is necessary. As the disclosure would injure the business, the\nmanager refuses to comply with this demand, and the workmen go out on\nstrike. Thereupon the manager, in order to fill his contracts, employs\nlaborers from a distance, and hires a band of fifty guards from a\ndetective agency to protect them and his works. A dreadful riot ensues,\nwith bloodshed and loss of life, and the works are closed.\n\nAfter a time the manager proposes a new arrangement with his former\nworkmen, whereby, under the system of profit-sharing, they shall receive\na share of the profits in addition to their wages. The plan works\nadmirably. In a comparatively brief period the workmen become well-to-do\nand contented, many owning their own homes, and Beldendale becomes the\nmodel of a prosperous and happy manufacturing town.\n\nThe story has evidently been suggested by the terrible strikes and riots\nin the coke fields of Pennsylvania, and the later ones at Homestead and\nBuffalo, and the author's object is to show the uselessness and the evil\nresults of strikes, and to propose \"a better way for the solution of the\nperennial conflict between capital and labor.\" His admirable story does\nthis most effectively. It is written in that unassuming, straightforward\nstyle which is so impressive when dealing with \"the short and simple\nannals of the poor,\" and it should be read and pondered over and taken\nto heart by every capitalist and employer of labor in the country, on\nthe one hand, and by every workingman, on the other.\n\nCloth, 75 Cents; Paper, 25 Cents.\n\nThe Arena Publishing Company,\n\nCOPLEY SQUARE, BOSTON, MASS.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n\n  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.","title":"Beyond","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":25034}